Tanks (up to 1945) - USA: Books - History, Types and Construction

United States Tanks and Tank Destroyers of the Second World War

Only after the Nazis invaded Poland and France did the United States Government authorize mass production of tanks. By the end of the War American industry had built nearly 90,000 tanks, more than Germany and Great Britain combined.

The first big order in May 1940 was for 365 M2A4 light tanks, the initial iteration of the Stuart series, with almost 24,000 constructed. The Stuart series was supplemented by almost 5,000 units of the M24 Chaffee light tank. There was also the failed M22 Locust light tank intended for airborne operations.

The M4 series of medium tanks, best known as the Sherman, were the most numerous with some 50,000 in service with not only the American military but British and other Allied armies. It was not until later in the war that the M26 Pershing heavy tank was built.
Initially the US Army doctrine saw tanks as primarily for the exploitation role. Later the concept of tank destroyers evolved to counter large scale German armored offensives. These defensive AFVs included the half-track-based 75mm Gun Motor Carriage M3 and the full-tracked M10, M18, and M36.

This comprehensive and superbly illustrated book describes in authoritative detail the characteristics and contribution to victory of these formidable fighting vehicles.

American Tanks & AFVs of World War II (hard cover)

The entry of the U.S. into World War II provided the Allies with the industrial might to finally take the war to German and Japanese forces across the world. Central to this was the focus of the American military industrial complex on the manufacture of tanks and armored fighting vehicles. Between 1939 and 1945, 88,140 tanks and 18,620 other armored vehicles were built, almost twice the number that Germany and Great Britain combined were able to supply.

In this lavishly illustrated volume, armor expert Michael Green examines the dizzying array of machinery fielded by the U.S. Army, from the famed M4 Sherman, M3 Stuart, and M3 Lee through to the half-tracks, armored cars, self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers, armored recovery vehicles, and tracked landing vehicles which provided the armored fist that the Allies needed to break Axis resistance in Europe and the Pacific.

Packed with historical and contemporary color photography, this encyclopedic new study details the design, development, and construction of these vehicles, their deployment in battle and the impact that they had on the outcome of the war.

American Tanks & AFVs of World War II (paperback)

The entry of the US into World War II provided the Allies with the industrial might to finally take the war to German and Japanese forces across the world. Central to this was the focus of the American military industrial complex on the manufacture of tanks and armoured fighting vehicles.
Between 1939 and 1945, 88,140 tanks and 18,620 other armored vehicles were built - almost twice the number that Germany and Great Britain combined were able to supply.

In this lavishly illustrated volume, armour expert Michael Green examines the dizzying array of machinery fielded by the US Army, from the famed M4 Sherman, M3 Stuart and M3 Lee through to the half-tracks, armored cars, self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers, armored recovery vehicles and tracked landing vehicles that provided the armoured fist that the Allies needed to break Axis resistance in Europe and the Pacific.

Publishing in paperback for the first time and packed with historical and contemporary colour photography, this encyclopedic new study details the design, development, and construction of these vehicles, their deployment in battle and the impact that they had on the outcome of the war.

Tanks are Mighty Fine Things! - How Chrysler's Detroit Tank Arsenal Built the Tanks that helped win WWII

WWII was not just a war of weapons, but also a war of production. One of America's greatest victories on this front was certainly in the city of Detroit, where auto assembly lines were transformed into an arsenal of democracy.
Chrysler's Tank Arsenal was the nation's most spectacular war plant, a place where history was made. From it came 25,059 medium and heavy tanks of twelve different types, including the tanks that turned the tide of the war in North Africa.

Commissioned by Chrysler President K.T. Keller as a "thank you" for the men and women who made a difference, "Tanks are Mighty Fine Things" was published in 1946 and written by Wesley Stout, the former editor of the Saturday Evening Post. It features rare photographs of the Arsenal and the Sherman, Grant, Pershing and other tanks and armored vehicles it produced.