Tank - by Mark Urban (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Tank is a definitive history of one of the most influential machines in modern warfare--and the remarkable people who designed them, fought in them, and tried to predict their future.

Tanks have long embodied the power and brutality of industrial-age conflict. To some, they are terrifying engines of destruction; to others, symbols of liberation rolling across occupied soil. Even as new technologies--drones, precision missiles, artificial intelligence--promise to make armored vehicles obsolete, tanks continue to define, and be defined by, the battlefields on which they serve. From their debut in 1916 to World War II, the tank clashes of 1990s Iraq, and today's war in Ukraine, their impact remains undeniable.

In Tank, bestselling historian and former Royal Tank Regiment officerMark Urban tells the story of the tank through ten of the most important vehicles ever built. Beginning with the British Mark IV of World War I and moving through icons such as the T-34, the Tiger, and the M1 Abrams, Urban traces the evolution of tank warfare and the strategic, political, and technological forces that shaped it. Drawing on newly released archival materials, interviews, declassified documents, and insights from figures ranging from Winston Churchill to Volodymyr Zelensky, he reveals how tanks transformed warfare--and how warfare transformed tanks.

Officially supported by The Tank Museum, this is an enthralling, authoritative account of the armored vehicle that changed combat forever.

Praise for Tank:
"Punchy. Trenchant. Heavyweight. Mark Urban's Tank blows the doors off... Take cover!" --Damien Lewis, SAS Great Escapes
"An illuminating and exciting drive through the mud and blood of twentieth-century warfare." --Dr. Robert Lyman, Operation Suicide

Review Quotes

Punchy. Trenchant. Heavyweight. Mark Urban's Tank blows the doors off, just as you'd expect from such an accomplished author. Take cover!--Damien Lewis, author of SAS Great Escapes

A really accomplished blending of technology, tactics and politics, and it couldn't be more relevant as we experience new phases of conflict . . . an engaging read--Dr Emily Mayhew, author of The Four Horsemen

An illuminating and exciting drive through the mud and blood of twentieth-century warfare . . . With his customary panache, Mark Urban demonstrates convincingly that tanks have been not merely armoured horses, but the key to enabling armies to manoeuvre through contested battle space--Dr Robert Lyman, author of Operation Suicide

Mark Urban brings his signature flair and vivid storytelling to Tank . . . essential reading for all students of war--Dr Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana

Tank takes the reader deep into the heart of armoured shock action on the battlefield with all its horror and drama--Stuart Tootal, co-author of SAS: Sea King Down

About the Author

Mark Urban is a writer and columnist for the Sunday Times, specialising in defence and foreign affairs. Until 2024, he was the Diplomatic Editor of BBC's Newsnight programme. He formerly served in the British Army, both in the Royal Tank Regiment and in the Territorial Army. He is the author of several books, including Red Devils, Task Force Black (his deep-dive look at the SAS in the Iraq War, which was a Sunday Times number one bestseller) and The Skripal Files, a Sunday Times Best Politics Book of 2018.