Customer Reviews

Death by Design: The Fate of British Tank Crews in the Second World War

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This book explores a little researched area of the Second World War: armored fighting vehicle design. The thesis in and of itself is nothing new to students of the conflict: namely that British tanks were inferior to their German opponents in armor (Quality and thickness), firepower (main tank weapon, and fire control) and reliability. What is new is the perspective from a crewman and his contemporaries. The narrative is a sad story of official indifference and political infighting that cost unnecessary lives during the fighting in the ETO. Unfortunately, these insights are somewhat clouded by a confusing and contradictory work. For example, the 75mm medium-velocity gun on the Sherman series is rightly derided for its lack of penetrating power; however, later it is lauded for its overall usefulness (due to the effective HE round it fired) without reservations. The reader is left to wonder, "did crews think the weapon was effective or didn't they"? The text is unclear on this point and often repeats its assertions although they are reworded. This doesn't normally bother me in larger books, but in a work of only 200+ pages it shows some inattentive editing. The author's opinions of the British leadership in the armored branch at this time, that very few understood armored warfare, are impassioned and validated by other research and make interesting reading. If you are a serious student of WW2 armored warfare you will find some value here. A general interest reader may wish to wait for another edition.