Dunstan, S. Centurion Main Battle Tank 1946 to present. Owners' Workshop Manual. An insight into design, construction, operation and maintenance of the British Army's most successful post-war tank

The Centurion is significant in the history of British armoured fighting vehicles as well as being one of the most important post-war Western tanks. Introduced into British Army service in December 1946, versions of Centurion were still serving with British forces in the Iraq War of 2003, some 58 years later. Centurions have also seen combat in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, in the Middle East wars, and in the Indo-Pakistan War (1965) where it fought against US-supplied M47 and M48 Patton tanks.

The first 60 pages or so deal with the development history of the vehicle, including the most important variants, modifications, combat upgrades and foreign modifications. The following section is then devoted to the technology of the "Centurion", with step-by-step descriptions of the driver's compartment, fighting compartment, engine compartment, transmission and chassis. The volume also presents special variants of the "Centurion", most of which are task-specific engineer versions, including minesweepers, armoured recovery vehicles, armoured vehicle launched bridges and bulldozers. Finally, the volume takes a look at the use of the "Centurion" during the Cold War and in various conflicts around the world (Korean War, Suez Crisis, India-Pakistan War, Six-Day War, Vietnam, Yom Kippur War, Angola and the first Gulf War in 1990/91).