French Tanks of World War I (New Vanguard, 173) Paperback – Illustrated, December 21, 2010

Great read regarding WWII French armor covering history and development of some of the first tanks.

Concentrates on the FT-17 but does supply good information on the development of French tanks throughout WW I. Close ups of the FT-17 are excellent reference works.

With all the coverage of the British tanks of WW1 it is only fair that a volume in English about French tanks of the same war should be put into the Osprey 'New Vanguard' series to level this up a bit. After all the French fielded more tanks than any other nation in WW1 and it was a French design, the FT-17, that heralded the modern tank with its turreted layout. And it was the FT-17 that went on to have a combat career far beyond any other tank of the war, serving through to the early years of the second world war.Essentially this slim volume gives a very brief overview of the development of French tanks and it was highly interesting to note how the French asked the British not to deploy their tanks too soon, but rather wait until the French army also had a number in the field to try to take advantage of introducing the new weapon concurrently. Alas the British jumped the gun. Whatever the story there, Steven Zaloga manages as ever to pack a fair amount of information into one of these brief volumes. He does this via no-nonsense prose and is aided by a range of photographs which should be of interest to many readers. A bibliography is included at the rear of the work however Zaloga makes the point that much of it is in French.The work is fleshed out by illustrations from Tom Bryan and these in particular will be of interest not only to the general reader but especially modellers. This makes this a handy book to pick up as it is quite generalist in its appeal.

Informative quick reference to an interesting period of a developing technology.

A very nice addition to the New Vanguard series. The focus of this slender Osprey volume is French tanks during World War I. The tank was an innovation during this bloody conflict. French tanks began with a design that simply did not work. This book focuses on the transformation from ungainly to (Page 4) "a 'bee swarm' of small, inexpensive tanks that could overwhelm the Germans with mobility and mass." The culminating design produced the Renault FT.The tank itself was developed to alter the battlefield stalemate ensuing from trench warfare. The tank would, it was hoped, overcome the barriers of German defenses--trenches, barbed wire, and defensive firepower.One fine feature of this volume: depictions of the various tanks (e.g., the FT on page 4 and the Schneider CA on Page 9). There are abundant numbers of photographs throughout, and this adds to an understanding of the different tanks. The book nicely describes the original large tanks and the logic of moving toward smaller, lighter, more mobile vehicles. The volume also discusses the pushback against development of the Renault FT. A good example of bureaucratic politics in the military realm.Then, we move to the tank in combat, how it was used, and the organization of tank units. Page 39 provides a statistical summary of the different types of French tanks as they were involved in combat.In sum, a nice addition to this Osprey series. And a very well done examination of French tanks in World War I.

Good reference

Nice book good subject

A good book with many clear pictures of the tanks discussed. Most of the book deals with the Renault FT tanks, the most well known and photographed, French tank of WWI but good coverage is also given to the earlier Schneider CA and St. Chamond tanks. The main criticism of this book is that the subject is much larger than can be contained in just 48 pages. With so little written about French tanks in WWI you must add this to your library.