7069 - British Armour in North-West Europe - Volume 1. Normandy to Arnhem
by Dennis Oliver ISBN 962-361-164-1
72 pages, 16 color plates, 165 photos


Dennis Oliver began looking at British armored vehicles with a well-conceived book focusing on Sicily and Italy, and he now commences a two-part series about British armor in Northwest Europe. This first volume takes the reader from the amphibious landings of D-Day through to the ambitious Allied attempt to wrest Arnhem from German forces.
Readers will be pleased to know the author is not so much interested in details of the overall campaign, but rather the focus is totally upon the armored vehicles themselves. This is made obvious right from the outset, when the writer gives a very useful summary of the various armored divisions, independent armored brigades, independent tank brigades, armored car regiments, armored Royal Artillery units and reconnaissance regiments that took part in the NW European campaign. The book is replete with black and white photos printed on high-quality paper that portray British vehicles and tanks in action. Vehicles such as the Stuart, Sexton, Cromwell, Sherman, Churchill, Universal Carrier, Staghound and Humber armored cars, halftracks, M10 and Priest all make cameo appearances. The photos have been well chosen and accurately portray the wartime look of these combat vehicles.
In the center of the book are 16 color plates that constitute an extremely detailed study of vehicle markings. These plates show markings, insignia and vehicle names with numerous detailed close-ups. The photo captions are written decisively and with authority, so readers will learn a lot from the author's immense breadth of knowledge on this fascinating subject, as well as from perusing the excellent photographs.