The Tank Factory: British Military Vehicle Development... by William Suttie

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Received a copy of this book.


It seems to be a very nice history of the UK Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment and the various tanks and some of the projects developed there. It doesn't, however, cover any specific designs in much detail, and does not cover the development of Chobham armour except in passing and includes no technical details on Chobham armour.

 

[Krishna_j]

so is it a history of the factory and less on the development and designs ?

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Contents


1 The Birth of the Tank
2 British Tank Development Following the First World War
3 Vehicle Testing in the Interwar Years
4 Rearmament
5 Tank Development in the Second World War and the Role of the DTD
6 Vehicle Testing During the Second World War
7 Chobham Common
8 Post-war Evolution of the Chertsey Establishment
9 Development of the Chertsey Site
10 Chertsey Facilities
11 Equipment, Concepts, Designs and Development
12 Survivability Research and Development at Chertsey
13 Mobility Research at Chertsey
14 Fighting and Subsystem Research at Chertsey
15 Special Devices


The first six chapters are a comprehensive history of vehicle development and testing to the end of WW2. Then its about about Chertsey, until Chapter 11 onwards which is postwar developments.

 

[JFC Fuller]

Just received a copy of this myself, at first pass it seems well researched and stuffed full of information. It is also well stocked with images, not so much images for the sake of them but informative and seemingly precisely chosen ones. My only criticism is that it could have been much longer, as Paul says there is not a lot of detail on specific projects and many of these are especially interesting.

 

[uk 75]

JFC


After reading your comment I found a copy in the new look Foyles Bookshop in London (well stocked military section).
Shame its not bigger but the images of things like the original Chieftain AVRE and an account of Project Prodigal and the fact that it is nice and light prompted me to buy there and then. We do need a good heavy Hunicutt style book on British Postwar kit.


uk 75

 

[SteveO]

Just finished this one and really enjoyed it. As mentioned previously it does leave you wanting more information and images on the fascinating projects covered. 2nd edition please Mr Suttie!

Great book as is though.

 

[Hood]

I picked this up over the summer at the National Archives bookshop.
It's a good read and covers most things, but it is quite short.

I'd like to say History Press (formerly Tempus) do a great job publishing these smaller niche books, many of which are autobiographical to some extent (such as John Forbat's duo 'Vickers Guided Weapons' and 'TSR2 Precision Attack to Tornado'). Despite their small paperback size they have a good range of well reproduced photographs. The price has crept up from £16.99 to £20 or more in recent years, which is a lot for a small paperback but the quality is good and few other publishers would touch these kinds of topics. My mini-library of History Press books covers submarine-carried aircraft, airfield archaeology, Concorde, MTBs and other gems like Richard Payne's 'Stuck on the Drawing Board'. Long may they continue to publish!

 

[phil gollin]

.

NOT directly related, but might be of interest, a couple of future releases ;

-----------------------------

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472817559/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=AO3PW2Y5652W&coliid=I7DZP5A841SOQ

British Battle Tanks: The First World War
(General Military)
Hardcover
– 23 Aug 2016
by David Fletcher


----------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0750966238/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=AO3PW2Y5652W&coliid=I2J7I9DXP4IE4W

War on Wheels: The Mechanisation of the British Army in the Second World War
Paperback
– 8 Sep 2016
by Philip Hamlyn Williams

----------------------------------

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191077796X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=AO3PW2Y5652W&coliid=I38RVGW95JG2T1

Everything worked like clockwork... - The Mechanization of British Regular and Household Cavalry 1918-1942
(Wolverhampton Military Studies)
Hardcover
– 15 May 2016
by Roger Salmon (Author)

--------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473843758/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=AO3PW2Y5652W&coliid=I2PT8ECAV5IQOI

The Royal Armoured Corps in the Cold War 1946 - 1990
(Images of War)
Paperback
– 30 Mar 2016
by M. P. Robinson (Author), Robert Griffin (Author)

-----------------------------

 

[SteveO]

£3.99 at the Tank Museum Shop at the moment!

The Tank Factory

By William Suttie. Despite being the inventor of the tank and responsible for campaign-winning tactics, by the start of the Second World War the United Kingdom had fallen well behind other nations in the design and build of armoured vehicles.

tankmuseumshop.org

 

[Foo Fighter]

It would be rude NOT to, would it not? I picked up a copy for the other ex tanker here too the old guy was 93 a few days ago.