The Sherman DD (Duplex Drive) tank was a brilliant innovation; the design and development of a tank that could float and even 'swim' in water was controversial. Each tank was enveloped in a waterproofed canvas screen, launched at sea from landing craft and then 'swam' to shore, where the screens were deflated, allowing the tanks to operate as fighting vehicles. This book discusses the Sherman DD's many variants, including the prototype Valentine DD tank and examines the successes and tragic failures on the beaches of Normandy and further into North-West Europe, including the challenge of crossing the River Rhine.

The Sherman DD (Duplex Drive) tank was a brilliant innovation; the design and development of a tank that could float and even 'swim' in water was controversial. Each tank was enveloped in a waterproofed canvas screen, launched at sea from landing craft and then 'swam' to shore, where the screens were deflated, allowing the tanks to operate as fighting vehicles. This book discusses the Sherman DD's many variants, including the prototype Valentine DD tank and examines the successes and tragic failures on the beaches of Normandy and further into North-West Europe, including the challenge of crossing the River Rhine.

A beautifully illustrated pocket guide to 40 of the most iconic World War II tanks. From the rapid blitzkrieg assaults to the great battles in North Africa and desperate clashes on the Eastern Front, tanks played a vital role in World War II, becoming one of the key components of the 'combined arms' philosophy of warfare. But how well do you know the most famous and infamous tanks of the period, and how their speed, armour and armament compare? Which Soviet tank proved impervious to German firepower? Which stopgap design turned out to the one of the best-armed tanks of its day? The World War II Tank Spotter's Guide answers all of these questions and more, providing essential information on 40 legendary tanks, such as the Panther, Sherman, and T-34. Featuring full-colour artwork to aid recognition, as well as all the details you need to compare their performance, this is the perfect pocket guide to the Allied and Axis tanks of World War II.

Part of a trilogy covering the last year of fighting in the European theater of World War II, and in time for the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Sand and Steel gives us the full story of the Allied invasion of France.

Churchill's American Arsenal reveals how the technology, know-how, and production power behind the victorious Allied partnership during World War II extended beyond the battlefront and onto the home-front. Many weapons and inventions were credited with winning World War II, most famously in the assertion that the atomic bomb "ended the war, but radar won the war." What is less well known is that both airborne radar and the atomic bomb were invented in British laboratories, but built by Americans. The same holds true for many other American weapons credited with the Allied victory: the P-51 Mustang fighter, the Liberty ship, the proximity fuze, the Sherman tank, and even penicillin all began with British scientists and planners, but were designed and mass-produced by American engineers and factory workers. Churchill's American Arsenal chronicles this vital but often fraught relationship between British inventiveness and American technical might. At first, leaders in each nation were deeply skeptical that such a relationship could ever be successful. But despite initial misunderstandings, petty jealousies, and continuing differences over priorities, scientists and engineers on both sides of the Atlantic found new and often ingenious ways to work together, jointly creating the weapons that often became the decisive factor in the strategy for victory that Churchill had laid out during the earliest days of the conflict. While no single invention won the war, without any one of them, the war could have been lost.

Winston Churchill, Britain's iconic war time Prime Minister, is inextricably linked with the victorious British Army of 1939 to 1945. Yet hindsight, propaganda, and the imperative of the defeat of Hitler and Imperial Japan, have led to a tendency to oversimplify the image of Churchill the war leader, and 'his' Army. For whilst Churchill was undeniably a towering statesman, his relations with both the Army and War Office were ambiguous and altered considerably not only with the progress of the Second World War, but over decades. In this comprehensive book, Stephen Bull examines every aspect of the British Army during the Second World War, and considers in detail the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation that was tested to its limits on many fronts but made an immense contribution to the successful Allied outcome. The book explores the structure of military power from the men who ran it, the Generals to the detail of the regiments they commanded. It looks at the uniforms the soldiers wore and the badges and insignia they bore on their uniforms. The weaponry Churchill's army used is discussed in detail, from small arms including rifles, bayonets, grenades, carbines and machine guns to the massed firepower of the artillery along with the increasing sophistication of tanks and other military vehicles during the period. Finally the role of auxiliary and special forces and their contribution to the campaign is considered. The comprehensive text is enhanced by more than 200 contemporary photographs.

A coming-of-age novel set in the early 1960s in Minneapolis, The Summer Sherman Loved Me is an honest look at the struggles of a twelve-year-old girl that transcends time. As Margaret tries to sort out her strained relationship with her mother and her feelings for her neighbor who claims to love her, readers join her in her journey discovering what it means to grow up.