Development of the Leopard 1 can be traced back to November 1956, when the operational requirement for a new battle tank was formulated by the Federal German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr).

Originally a Franco-German project, the tank under design was named the ''Standard-Panzer''. The French later dropped out, however, and on 1 October 1963 the ''Standard'' tank was officially named ''Leopard'', an appropriate choice considering Germany''s wartime pedigree with the formidable Tiger and Panther.

This book traces the development and service record of the Leopard 1, detailing its control systems, modifications and variants.