THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO TANKS OF THE WORLD. by Forty, George - 2005

London: Hermes House, 2005. 256 pp, 4to (12" H). Profusely illustrated with colour and b&w photographs. "(A)n authoritative directory of tanks and their immediate derivatives, such as ARVs (armoured recovery vehicles), tank destroyers, command versions, bridgelayers, mine-clearers and other Funnies. It begins with a guide to the history of the tank and its evolution: the first tank action at Flers during World War I, the Blitzkrieg of 1940, the desert war in North Africa, the D-Day Funnies of the Normandy beaches, tanks used in the jungles of Korea and Vietnam, the Arab-Israeli wars and the two desert wars of the Persian Gulf. Next, there are two A-Z directories focusing on over 230 tanks, the first covering World War I and II and the inter-war years, and the second covering the post-war years. From the world's first tank, the No. 1 Lincoln Machine 'Little Willie', to the contemporary M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank, with its state-of-the- art weapons systems, the book covers a vast range of armoured fighting vehicles. Each entry includes a lively description and history, with a specification panel detailing the tank's official name, date, crew, weight, dimensions, armament, armour, powerplant and performance. All the tanks are accompanied by identification photographs, many of which are full-colour and have never previously been published together in one volume." Book is Fine. Dust jacket has large crease and some associated wrinkles at bottom of rear panel, otherwise clean and bright.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Very Good-.