Customer Reviews

The Devil's Chariots

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Splendid work on the history of the first tanks, their development from tractor designed farm equipment. The book details the in fighting with the early pioneers who saw the armored land-crawler as a vital part to break the German front lines and save countless lives. Some terrific old photos and a superb collection of line drawings of all the major British tanks along with all sorts of details and facts. Anyone interested in tank warfare in it's infancy should read this book.

When I bought this book I was hoping for an exposition of the development of tanks. Although there was some of this, mostly it was about how the British Army bureaucracy obfuscated and delayed while thousands of infantry died in pointless mass attacks. But in spite of its faults, I did enjoy it. It was fascinating to know that a lot of the development was done by the British Navy under the direction of Winston Churchill.

The most splendid book on early tank development I have ever read. I traces down all the difficulties the engineers and inventors faced when proposing a new idea for breaking the trench-stalemate to the military establishment. Almost all of this establishment believed in the well-proven tactics of the 19th century.
Actually the idea of an armored fighting vehicle was NOT so new; Leonardo da Vinci worked with the same idea.

Interesting book, the tank was originally conceived as a land ship and Winston Churchill was a key driver of it ... amazing stuff.
The tank was designed to overcome machine guns and trenches which dominated the battlefield, and it took the British a while to realise that their true value was in fact as a form of modern heavy cavalry, so the first use of tanks was largely wasted until Cambrai.
Lots of photos and illustrations - good book.