Last year Greenhill published Ian Hogg's The Greenhill Military Small Arms Data Book. Now a companion volume, also a fine, valuable new reference work, is to be published and is The Greenhill Armoured Fighting Vehicles Data Book. The armoured fighting vehicle has revolutionised warfare this century, adding mobility to potent lethal power, and dominating the battlefields of every major conflict. This indispensable reference book, compiled by the leading expert on all aspects of military equipment, presents in detail the essential data for each armoured vehicle ever built along with evaluations of impact and performance, and insights into limitations and peculiarities. Ian Hogg writes: "The first time I ever fired an artillery piece was against a tank target on Exmoor, and I soon discovered an aptitude for the business. Since then I have always had a fond regard for tanks – as targets, that is – and have kept a watchful eye on what the rascals are up to. And, of course, by extension, I have watched the rise and rise of 'Infantry Armour' – APCs, MICVs, IFVs – because I sometimes think that they are the true inheritors of the mantle of the tanks of 1916 which were, let us not forget, designed to help the infantry on to their objective and not, as some tank protagonists seeemed to think in the 1930s, to go off to a remote corner of the battlefield and have a private scrap with the other side's tanks. Armoured cars and reconnaissance vehicles of various sorts are a third category; the 'poor relations of the tank', as a non-military acquaintance of mine calls them, and that seems to be a common belief. It is not true, of course; they are comparing bananas with coconuts. There are things to be done on the battlefield for which you need something quiet and nimble, and these machines exhibit some brilliant technology in getting a quart into a pint pot. And, bringing up the rear, the self-propelled gun, assault gun, tank destroyer ... whatever you choose to call a piece of autonomous artillery. I have had a soft spot for SP guns ever since a Secton pulled my gun tractor out of the mud of Imber Ranges on a winter's day many years ago. It is a sobering thought that every vehicle in this book – and there are more than eight hundred of them – has been designed and built within the lifetime of men (and women) still living. That there are still men who can look you in the eye and tell you that they watched the Tank Mark 1 lumbering across the mud of Flanders all those years ago. If you bear that in mind, the sheer number and diversity of vehicles listed here will surprise you, even shock you. The aim of this book is to provide, in one volume the basic data on armoured fighting vehicles since the first armoured cars trundled out at the beginning of the century." This definitive work lists every vehicle's weight, speed, armament and armour, and gives a date of introduction and complete service record, for each tank, assault gun, infantry support vehicle, armoured personnel carrier, tank destroyer, self-propelled artillery, scout vehicle or amoured car ever produced. The Greenhill Armoured Fighting Vehicles Data Book covers the history of AFVs from Little Willy and the earth-shattering prototypes of World War I, to classics like the Sherman, Tiger and T34 tanks, lesser-known AFVs such as the Chi-Ha, and the ultra-modern vehicles of today's armies such as the SP2000. The Greenhill Armoured Fighting Vehicles Data Book: Covers more than 800 vehicles from troop transporters to tanks Serves as a comprehensive guide to all the world's fighting vehicles Details every make and model, successes and failure Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 100 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com