Guelton, Frédéric Chars et Blindés de la 2nde Guerre Mondiale

Tanks and armoured vehicles are the most important pillars of military arsenals. After the war of attrition that was World War I, the victorious powers slowly began to develop new tactics suitable for combat with tanks. It was only the emergence of German tank divisions that accelerated national strategies and production. After the first campaigns of the Second World War, each general staff evaluated the results in order to learn from them. The armoured units achieved unimaginable successes in terms of occupied territory, speed of advance and disorganisation of the enemy army. In addition, they carried out these operations with significantly fewer human casualties and a significantly lower rate of destruction of non-military objects (collateral damage) than any other modern weapon system to date. As a result of this observation, tanks and armoured vehicles became essential pillars of military arsenals. Apart from these significant tactical advantages, they are the most spectacular, photogenic and publicly known of all land forces equipment. Their presence is synonymous with technical perfection, as this informative and richly illustrated work shows with historical photos, some of which are previously unpublished and colourised, modern photographs and precise, annotated illustrations. Here, the history of these fascinating military vehicles and their necessary technical developments during the Second World War is traced. The most important models, the flagship of the national industries of the belligerents, are described in detail and presented in the context of the major battles in which they took part. The book is supplemented by a presentation of the impressive tank collection of the Tank Museum in Saumur, some of which are still in working order, as well as a complete list of the most important tank museums in Europe.