Kindle Price: $17.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

A. J. Smithers
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

A New Excalibur: The Development of the Tank 1909–1939 Kindle Edition

by A. J. Smithers (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 19 ratings
See all formats and editions
The story of the inventors, engineers, soldiers, and politicians behind the emergence of the armored fighting vehicle.
 
The birth and infancy of the tank had an enormous number of technical problems to be solved—but the issues with its construction paled in comparison to the endless squabbles among the people involved. This fascinating study of the vehicle which was born out of the stalemate of the Western Front in the First World War looks at all the obstacles that had to be overcome.
 
As is inevitable in almost any work of history set in the first half of the century, the figure of Winston Churchill looms large—but the role that he played in this instance is remarkable even by his standard, when it is remembered that at the crucial time he was First Lord of the Admiralty and theoretically had nothing to do with warfare on land. Foremost among the leading actors in the drama are Sir Eustace Tennyson-d’Eyncourt, Sir Ernest Swinton, Bertie Stern, Sir William Tritton, and Walter Gordon Wilson.
 
This is the first exhaustive study of the men behind the earliest tanks. The story of their furious quarrels and the machines they produced combine to make a remarkable and compelling study.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    441 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Pen & Sword Military Classics
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 1986
  6. File size
    73938 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00L6Z9GSU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Military Classics (January 1, 1986)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 1986
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 73938 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 441 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
A. J. Smithers

A. J. Smithers

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
19 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tom Ainsworth
5.0 out of 5 stars The Early Days of the Tank
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2020
Verified Purchase
Great history of tank development.....showing the men under Churchill who brought the tank into existence.
Helpful
 Report
Bayard B.
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good especially on British WW I tanks. Just a little on tanks of the 1920s - 1930s.
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2022
I thought this was a very good book on the early development of the tank, especially in Britain. Most it it describes the creation of the tank before and during WW I. It offers a very detailed development history of the first tanks that were designed, manufactured, and deployed in 1915 as a consequence of the trench warfare that had evolved after the German attack on Paris had been repulsed. There are interesting (although short) discussions of things like the development of the caterpillar tread and internal combustion engines. The last 40 pages or so discuss the almost demise of tank development in the 1920s.

There is quite a lot on the battles involving the first tank units in 1915 - 1918. There are no tabulations of dimensions, weights, armament, or performance characteristics although occasionally some information is provided within the text.

Another excellent book on British tank design development issues after WW I is “The Second World War Tank Crisis: The Fall & Rise of British Armour 1919 - 1939” (2021) by Taylor.
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
Chock full of a lot of interesting facts on the development of tank warfare. Extensive insight on the evolution of tanks. Great Read.
Helpful
 Report
Elvin Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining and highly readable book. It is no ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2017
An entertaining and highly readable book. It is no wonder that we had to wait for the US to come and help us. Apparently no one in Government could make a decision and carry it through. Obviously senior civil servants and senior generals came from the same box of incompetents who went to the wrong school. Someone said recently that our 2 most successful PMs, Churchill and lloyd George did not go to university. There must be a lesson in that.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Mr. S. Bilton
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
A story of Heroism.
Report
Elvin Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff and refreshing style.
Reviewed in Australia on December 31, 2015
Verified Purchase
Very good with a pleasant and refreshing style. Governments are still the same, hesitant and undecided.
Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great
Report
ComputerSteve
4.0 out of 5 stars Very UK focussed with good B&W photos
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2019
Verified Purchase
An excellent overview of BRITISH tank delelopments up to the eve of WW2. The ffirst part of the book describes the political struggle within the British Armed forces that resulted in the Navy taking the lead in the development of tanks with their Landships project.

About half the book then details the initial developments and actual use of tanks during WW1, along with good number of B&W photos of each of the early tanks. One of the things that comes out is how Officialdem tried their very best to obstruct, cancel and prevent the development, maunfacturing and deployment of tanks and then swithed to throwing them away at every opportunity.

The British did very little in the 20's and eraly 30's with tanks, other than handing over control to the morons of the Army Cavalry Regiments who regarded tanks as armored knights and adopted the obsolete tactics of the medieval mounted charge which would cost us so dearly during the first 2 years of WW2. As the Cavalry demanded fast moving chargers, the Infantry demanded mobile pill-boxes.

The book has quite a lot of detail on those who advocated combined arms attacks and co-operation between the forces led by tanks and how these ideas were ignored by the Briutish (but adopted by the Germans). The British contiuned to believe in that so well practiced suicide attack of a slow walking infantry supported by slow moving tanks with the fast moving Cavalry Tanks waiting at the rear ready to pursue the broken enemy.

The book then records how the demands of the Cavalry and Infantry drove British tank development into the dead end designs with which we started WW2. It makes depressing reading. I guess the author wanted to avoid rubbing salt into the wounds because whilst the Germans and Soviets led tank development in the years prior to WW2 they get very little mention. A few details of the machines produced by the French for some amusing reading and at least show that it wasn't just the British who didn't have a clue.

The final 1/4 of the book covers the period before in the run-up to WW2 when Britian continued to focus on building mobile pill-boxes and chargers. There are some decent photos, some in colour, of the tanks with which Britain started WW2.

The book lacks details of the development of foreign anti-tank guns which did so much to drive the British Infantry demands for massivly armoured tanks with useless pea-shooters.

It also lacks details of how the British ended up with anti-tank guns in capable of countering the German tanks. Of course British anti-tank guns were the responsibility of the Artliiery who were typically set up 5 to 10 miles behined the front line, so perhaps it's not surprising that they focussed on a counter to the Cavalry tank, not the infantry tank.

Another thing the book lacks is tables of actual build details - dates, costs and quantities woud have been nice to see, although most of this can be found in the text if you look hard enough. Much the same applies to details of the engines, armour and guns, although how the British Infantry Tank - the Matlilda - ended up a specially designed 2pdr gun (the Navy had a perfectly good anti-aircraft 2pdr gun but the Army designed their own) that was not equipped with a High Explosive shell is obscure.

It is, in short, an excellent review of how the British developed the tank, despite the War Office, the Generals and the 'establishment' but then allowed these morons to spend the next 20 years sabotaging any further development.
Report
mickp
4.0 out of 5 stars A good narrative account but really only covers WW1
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2016
Verified Purchase
A very readable narrative account of the development of the tank during WW1, rather misleading title as it only briefly outlines affairs between the wars. If you were looking for a good source book for research purposes then this isn't for you as the author freely admits to not referencing a lot of his source material.
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report