Jack Livesey – författare

Updated and extended for the new 2025 edition. Now an impressive 576 pages, this book is an authoritative history and directory of tanks and their immediate derivatives, such as ARVs (armoured recovery vehicles), tank destroyers, command versions, bridgelayers, mine-clearers and other Funnies, and AFVs such as armoured cars, armoured personnel carriers and self-propelled artillery, covering a vast range of wheeled, tracked and semi-tracked vehicles. This unique volume, with over 1200 wartime and museum photographs, brings together the most significant tanks and AFVs in military history. The tank was developed as a means of transporting firepower around the battlefield, while armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) give tactical support to the tank. This book is an authoritative history and directory of tanks and their immediate derivatives, such as armoured recovery vehicles, tank destroyers, command versions, bridgelayers, mine-clearers and other "Funnies". It also explores a wide range of AFVs, such as armoured cars, armoured personnel carriers and self-propelled artillery, covering wheeled, tracked and semi-tracked vehicles. From their first appearance to their present-day roles, the development of each vehicle is discussed in depth. All of the major conflicts around the world are examined, such as the Somme, Blitzkrieg, El Alamein, Kursk, D-Day, Korea, Vietnam, Arab-Israeli conflicts, and the Iran-Iraq and Gulf wars. The book also features substantial A to Z directories of over 400 vehicles, from the world's first tank - the No. 1 Lincoln Machine "Little Willie" - to the contemporary M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank and Varta APC, as well as madcap ideas such as those developed by the British for the Home Guard. This unique volume, illustrated with over 1200 wartime and museum photographs, brings together all the most significant tanks and AFVs that have played important roles in military history.

After D-Day, the Allies sought to encircle and destroy the German Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer Army (part of which effort included an unsuccessful air campaign that remains controversial to this day), leaving tens of thousands dead. The campaign leading to the formation of the Falaise Pocket is rife with myths, and in this book Jack Livesey has gone back to primary sources to throw new light on what actually happened. Addressing every aspect of the battle, from both the ground and air conflict to the roles played by the different nations, he offers a definitive account of a controversial campaign. He brings his extensive technical expertise to bear when discussing the capabilities and shortcomings of the weapons involved (some of them revolutionary, such as napalm) and examines the real effectiveness (or lack of it) of the rocket-firing Typhoons of the RAF's Tactical Air Force. Were the Germans really finally routed, as many have said? Livesey says no.