During World War II, tanks and armored fighting vehicles evolved as their production increased. Designs varied as they were equipped with larger guns, turrets, radios, and other features for specialized tasks. Readers will get a detailed view of the Whippet, Tiger, Maus, and many other tanks, with a particular focus on the specifications and armament attachments. Each tank’s role in the war is described alongside photographs of it in battle, providing a look into military technology that will entrance military history buffs and reluctant readers.

“A riveting tale told through personal accounts and sketches along the way—ultimately, a story of success against great odds. I enjoyed it enormously.” —Tom Brokaw The first book to tell the full story of how a traveling road show of artists wielding imagination, paint, and bravado saved thousands of American lives—now updated with new material. In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs—artists, designers, architects, and sound engineers, including such future luminaries as Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, Victor Dowd, Art Kane, and Jack Masey—landed in France to conduct a secret mission. From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1,100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units. Every move they made was top secret, and their story was hushed up for decades after the war's end. Hundreds of color and black-and-white photographs, along with maps, official memos, and letters, accompany Rick Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles’s meticulous research and interviews with many of the soldiers, weaving a compelling narrative of how an unlikely team carried out amazing battlefield deceptions that saved thousands of American lives and helped open the way for the final drive to Germany. The stunning art created between missions also offers a glimpse of life behind the lines during World War II. This updated edition includes: A new afterword by co-author Rick Beyer Never-before-seen additional images The successful campaign to have the unit awarded a Congressional Gold Medal History and WWII enthusiasts will find The Ghost Army of World War II an essential addition to their library.

Although airplanes were used to some degree in conflicts prior to 1939, World War II was when military aviation truly became a vital component of war plans. Many sophisticated warplanes were developed, increasing the power and accuracy of aerial bombing and tactical air support. This resource provides an in-depth look from every angle at aircraft such as the P-51 Mustang and Boeing B-29 Superfortress, demonstrating how these planes contributed to how each nation waged war during World War II.

This book lists all the important tanks used in the Second World War, both by the Allied (England, France, Russia and the USA) and Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan). Thomas Anderson, an expert on the history of the Second World War, offers an in-depth volume detailing the vehicles, their use in battle and relevant technical specifications. This comprehensive survey is full of authentic eyewitness accounts as well as being profusely illustrated with many photographs having never been published before.

This is the land equivalent of Jane's Battleships, a comprehensive encyclopaedia of all the combat vehicles of World War II from Somaliland to Japan. A nation-by-nation overview of each country's development of tanks and their involvement in World War II is before providing an A-Z of each army's tanks and fighting vehicles including armoured cars, personnel carriers, amphibious craft and mortar carriers. Quirkier profiles of vehicles such as the German TKS tankette are given.

This lavishly illustrated volume details the design, development and operational history of the British-made tanks in World War II. Plagued by unreliable vehicles and poorly thought-out doctrine, the early years of World War II were years of struggle for Britain's tank corps. Relying on tanks built in the late 1930s, and those designed and built with limited resources in the opening years of the war, they battled valiantly against an opponent well versed in the arts of armoured warfare. This book is the second of a multi-volume history of British tanks by renowned British armour expert David Fletcher MBE. It covers the development and use of the Matilda, Crusader, and Valentine tanks that pushed back the Axis in North Africa, the much-improved Churchill that fought with distinction from North Africa to Normandy, and the excellent Cromwell tank of 1944–45. It also looks at Britain's super-heavy tank projects, the TOG1 and TOG2, and the Tortoise heavy assault tank, designed to smash through the toughest of battlefield conditions, but never put into production.