Armoured Warfare in the British Army 1914-1939

Armoured Warfare in the British Army 1914-1939 written by Lt Col Dick Taylor

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25.00 - Hardback - Pages 248

This is the first volume in a three-volume illustrated history of the evolution of armoured manoeuvre warfare in the British army, covering the period from 1914 until 1939. Author Dick Taylor’s tour de force covers the evolution of the tank and armoured cars in response to the specific conditions created by trench warfare, the history of the use of tanks during the war, as well as the critical period between the wars in which the tank was both refined and neglected. He also looks in detail at the amalgamations and mechanization of the horsed cavalry which led to the formation of the Royal Armoured Corps in 1939.

His detailed and absorbing narrative covers the social and human aspects of the story as well as the technology and explains how the nation that invented and first fielded the tank in 1916 struggled to maintain the lead after the Armistice.

This book or small book series takes a look at tanks during the Great War and up until the Second World War. Unfortunately, the British tank was never a going to be the best in the world, but it was the first. This book explains the reasons for this from political in-fighting, to there no being group thinking to improve on the original tanks and therefore not enough money put into the weapon in the inter-war period. This book should be commended for the very comprehensive information and detail within, the author Dick Taylor has done a fantastic job I feel I have learnt so much from this book. The book contains a lot of information tables and some really good photographs of the process and design.

If I wanted to learn about the British tank, I would most certainly recommend this one and this is just the first in a series of three. This is a highly commendable book, very well written and well done.