The Tank Book Book Review

The Tank Book: The Definitive Visual History of Armored Vehicles

Softcover, 256 pages, profusely illustrated

Published by Dorling Kindersley 2019

Language: English

ISBN-13: 978-0-2414-2049-2

Dimensions: 10.2 x 0.9 x 12.1 inches

The Dorling Kindersley publications are billed as “visual histories”, they are large format books which rely on large numbers of photographs with either short texts or captions to tell the story.  Each double page spread introduces a variation on the general topic in a short and easy to comprehend segment.

In this case the subject is tanks, although the term is applied in its broadest sense.  There are several variations of armored vehicles which are not technically proper tanks, such as engineering vehicles, reconnaissance vehicles, wheeled troop carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, etc.  These are grouped to allow the reader to compare contemporary vehicles of several nations or to show the evolution of one particular nation’s vehicles.  A wide variety of subjects are illustrated with clear color photographs of either restored museum examples or types which are in active service.

Of interest to modelers are the spreads which focus on individual vehicles which are photographed from several angles.  These show many useful details themselves, and are frequently accompanied by photographs in a “walk around” style depicting internal and external equipment.

I normally don’t pick up broad-topic survey-type books, but this one caught my eye.  The quality of the photography is exceptional, and there are many close-up pictures which may well prove useful.  I found this copy at Half Price Books for $10, a bargain.  A great browser, I only wish my copy was in hardcover as I can see myself returning to this book frequently.