Matilda Infantry Tank 1938–45 (New Vanguard)

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the British Matilda Tank earned His Majesty's Royal Army many Laurels. Designed to escort attacking infantry against enemy positions, the Matilda's sister vehicle, the Crusader Tank, took responsibility on the outside for the flanks and subsequent breakthrough opportunities. This turned out to be easier demonstrated in theory than practice in North Africa, but the foundation was laid nonetheless for the employment of heavy and medium tanks working in combination. The Germans furthered this concept with their Panther and Tiger Tanks. David Fletcher writes a balanced look at the technical and operational aspects of this excellent tank, developed before the beginning of the Second World War, clearly superior to anything the Axis could place in the field at the time. Mentioned also in this book is the Matilda's performance against the Japanese Army up until the close of the war. Peter Sarson's cutaway drawing of the Matilda inside is wonderful and on its own justified the purchase of this book. I found this book to be an entertaining and enlightening read.

Just finished it, a good reference into the Queen of the Desert and why she was not that much a Queen. She tried hard though

Covers history and variants we never knew about, well worth it to get insight into a wonderful machine! Not to mention how best to use it in action!

A very brief history on this tank. Pictures and color plates nicely done. Talks almost nothing about the lend lease versions. This is due to the space limitations on most Osprey books.

nice book great service

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of photos and some of the obscure variants covered - an excellent "quick" reference book!

It's Osprey, it's about a British tank, it's brilliant - that about sums it up.The previous reviewer cited lack of combat performance as a gripe, but to be fair, Osprey books are for that - they're for the serious modeller/researcher/wargamer.If you're in this camp, this book is absolutely first rate - covers all of the various versions, cutaways, excellent large photos, unit details, markings etc. Short of a full list of WD numbers, what more do you need?

Very good book with lots of useful information

Excellent book, even the pictures are good and clear on my Kindle

very good book

Good interesting read. Good series of books.