Burning Steel: A Tank Regiment at War, 1939-45

(Paperback, Main)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This is the story of a tank regiment: the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry in the Second World War. Raw and visceral personal recollections from the men themselves recall some of the most dramatic and horrific scenes imaginable - the sheer nerve-wracking tension of serving in highly inflammable Sherman tanks, the sudden impact of German shells, the desperate scramble to bail out, and the awful fate of those who couldn't. Even if they made it out of the tank, they were still vulnerable to being brutally cut down by German infantry.

Yet amidst these horrors, the humanity of these men shines through. And as we follow in their tracks, through letters, diaries and eye-witness accounts, they will change how we think about tank warfare forever.

Reviews

'Excellent ... a raw and visceral, bird's-eye view of the action from the men who were there' - Saul David

'What Hart has done superbly is to weave many voices into one seamless narrative ... Conveys in sobering detail the relentless grind of modern warfare' - Simon Griffith

'Dramatic and horrific scenes ... Peter Hart puts us in the shoes of the soldiers who served in tanks in the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry' - BBC History Magazine

Praise for Peter Hart:
'A superb account of the tactics that finally brought victory on the Western Front' - Max Hastings

'Thought provoking, erudite, yet eminently readable and entertaining: Peter Hart is a historian and author at the peak of his powers' - Richard van Emden

Author Bio

Peter Hart was the oral historian at the Imperial War Museum for nearly 40 years. A prolific military history author, he has appeared in various television programmes, acted as a guide for the army, runs his own battlefield tour company and has a successful weekly podcast series Pete & Gary's Military History.