The World Encyclopedia Of Military Vehicles

Some encyclopedias answer questions. Others quietly create entirely new ones, such as "Did anyone really need an armoured snow tractor with a flamethrower?" or "How many wheels can a military vehicle have before it simply becomes a small village?" The World Encyclopedia of Military Vehicles cheerfully tackles these matters by assembling hundreds of machines whose sole purpose was to carry soldiers, supplies or occasionally both at alarming speed across almost every imaginable battlefield.

Pat Ware’s comprehensive volume charts the development of military transport from the earliest armoured cars and primitive tanks through to modern fighting vehicles, engineering equipment, troop carriers, reconnaissance machines and logistical workhorses. It’s a reminder that while history often celebrates generals and famous battles, somebody still had to invent something capable of dragging several tons of steel through mud while being enthusiastically shot at.

Packed with hundreds of colour photographs and informative entries, the book explores vehicles from nations across the world, explaining their design, development, specifications and operational histories in a style that’s accessible whether you’re a lifelong military historian or simply someone who wonders why one tank looks suspiciously like another until you discover they’re separated by thirty years and three different wars.

The illustrations are plentiful and well chosen, making this much more than a reference work. It’s equally enjoyable as something to dip into at random, where every page offers another improbable creation dreamed up by engineers confronted with impossible military requirements and somehow deciding that adding another axle was probably the answer.

This copy is in Fine condition, with clean pages, a bright dust jacket and only the sort of gentle signs of careful ownership that reassure you it hasn’t spent the last decade being used as a wheel chock for an actual armoured personnel carrier. It presents beautifully and is an excellent example for anyone looking to add a substantial military reference work to their shelves.

Offered by Crappy Old Books, where the name continues to promise battered paperbacks with tea stains while quietly producing handsome volumes like this instead. Whether you’re researching military history, settling pub debates about Cold War hardware, or simply admiring mankind’s extraordinary ability to engineer increasingly elaborate methods of driving very large objects across difficult terrain, this encyclopaedia is ready to report for duty.

Keep browsing: See more War books Other books by Pat Ware