Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history is a fascinating visual introduction to the armoured battles of the Second World War in the Far East and Asia-Pacific regions, from 1937 to 1945. In contrast to the experience of the armies that fought in Europe and North Africa, in the Far East tanks remained an infantry support weapon, and their role is often neglected in histories of the conflict. Japanese armour confronted tanks deployed by the Chinese, Russians, British and Americans. Early in the war, against Chinese forces which lacked armour, the Japanese had some success, but their light and medium tanks were no match for their Allied counterparts. Later Japanese designs were better armed, but they were built in such small numbers that they could do little to stem the Allied advance. The role of armoured vehicles in each theatre of the war in the Far East is shown in a selection of over 150 rare wartime photographs that record armour in action in China, Manchuria, Mongolia, Malaya, Burma and during the battles fought for the Pacific islands.

Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history is a fascinating visual introduction to the armoured battles of the Second World War in the Far East and Asia-Pacific regions, from 1937 to 1945. In contrast to the experience of the armies that fought in Europe and North Africa, in the Far East tanks remained an infantry support weapon, and their role is often neglected in histories of the conflict. Japanese armour confronted tanks deployed by the Chinese, Russians, British and Americans. Early in the war, against Chinese forces which lacked armour, the Japanese had some success, but their light and medium tanks were no match for their Allied counterparts. Later Japanese designs were better armed, but they were built in such small numbers that they could do little to stem the Allied advance. The role of armoured vehicles in each theatre of the war in the Far East is shown in a selection of over 150 rare wartime photographs that record armour in action in China, Manchuria, Mongolia, Malaya, Burma and during the battles fought for the Pacific islands.

“An important review of armoured warfare, armoured vehicle design, tactics, and operational issues during World War 2 . . . it comes highly commended.” —Dr Stuart C. Blank, Military Archive Research During the first years of the Second World War, Allied forces endured a series of terrible defeats at the hands of the Germans, Italians and Japanese. Their tanks were outclassed, their armored tactics were flawed. But the advent of new tank designs and variants, especially those from the United States, turned the tables. Although German armor was arguably still superior at the end of the war, the competence of Allied designs and the sheer scale of their production gave them a decisive advantage on the armored battlefield. This is the fascinating story that Anthony Tucker-Jones tells in this book which is part of a three-volume history of armored warfare during the Second World War. Chapters cover each major phase of the conflict, from the early blitzkrieg years when Hitler’s Panzers overran Poland, France and great swathes of the Soviet Union to the Allied fight back in tank battles in North Africa, Italy and northern Europe. He also covers less-well-known aspects of the armored struggle in sections on Allied tanks in Burma, India and during the Pacific campaign. Technical and design armored are a key element in the story, but so are changes in tactics and the role of the tanks in the integrated all-arms forces that overwhelmed the Axis. “The matter of armoured vehicles and their role in the turning of the tide against Germany is covered brilliantly in Anthony Tucker-Jones’s excellent treatise.” —Books Monthly “Very Highly Recommended.” —Firetrench

A gripping account of the final period of the war in the Asia Pacific during WWII. The last installment of the War in the Far East trilogy, Asian Armageddon 1944-1945, continues and completes the narrative of the first two volumes, describing how a US-led coalition of nations battled Japan into submission through a series of cataclysmic encounters. Leyte Gulf, the biggest naval battle ever, was testimony to the paramount importance of controlling the ocean, as was the fact that the US Navy carried out the only successful submarine campaign in history, reducing Japan’s military and merchant navies to shadows of the former selves. Meanwhile, fighting continued in disparate geographic conditions on land, with the chaos of Imphal, the inferno of Manila, and the carnage of Iwo Jima forming some of the milestones on the bloody road to peace, sealed in Tokyo Bay in September 1945. The nuclear blasts at the end of the war made one observer feel as if he was ‘present at the creation.' Indeed, the participants in the events in the Asia Pacific in the mid-1940s were present at the creation of a new and dangerous world. It was a world where the stage was set for the Cold War and for international rivalries that last to this day, and a new constellation of powers emerged, with the outlines, just over the horizon, of a rising China. War in the Far East is a trilogy of books comprising a general history of World War II in the Asia Pacific. Unlike other histories on the conflict it goes into its deep origins, beginning long before Pearl Harbor, and encompasses a far wider group of actors to produce the most complete account yet written on the subject and the first truly international treatment of this epic conflict. Author Peter Harmsen weaves together complex events into a revealing and entertaining narrative, including facets of the war that may be unknown even to avid readers of World War II history, from the mass starvation that cost the lives of millions across China, Indochina, and India to the war in sub-arctic conditions in the Aleutians. Harmsen pieces together the full range of perspectives, reflecting what war was like both at the top and on the ground.

A pictorial history and analysis of the tank warfare between Red Soviet and Nazi forces along the Eastern Front during World War II. On the Eastern Front during the Second World War, massive Soviet and German tank armies clashed in a series of battles that were unmatched in their scale and ferocity. Several of them have attained almost legendary status. But epic encounters such as these were only part of a broader story, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates in this selection of graphic photographs. While the images give a fascinating inside view of combat, they also reveal the daily routines of tank warfare 65 years ago. Training, maintenance, transportation, and supply are shown, as are the daily lives of the tank crews and the often appalling conditions in which they worked and fought. The photographs also record in vivid detail the destructive reality of armored warfare, from the initial triumphant advance of the German panzers deep into the Soviet Union to the massive Red Army counter-offensives which drove the German armies back to Berlin. Praise for Armoured Warfare on the Eastern Front “Each chapter includes a useful introduction and the pictures each come with an accurate and informative caption, describing the item in the picture and placing it in context, comparing it to its opponents at the time or looking at production numbers. This is a high quality piece of work, and a useful photographic guide to the armoured vehicles of the Eastern Front.” —History of War

A new look at how Britain’s defence establishment learned to engage Japan’s armed forces as the Pacific War progressed. Douglas Ford reveals that, prior to Japan’s invasion of Southeast Asia in December 1941, the British held a contemptuous view of Japanese military prowess. He shows that the situation was not helped by the high level of secrecy which surrounded Japan’s war planning, as well as the absence of prior engagements with the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army. The fall of ‘Fortress Singapore’ in February 1942 dispelled the notion that the Japanese were incapable of challenging the West. British military officials acknowledged how their forces in the Far East were inadequate, and made a concerted effort to improve their strength and efficiency. However, because Britain’s forces were tied down in their operations in Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean, they had to fight the Japanese with limited resources. Drawing upon the lessons obtained through Allied experiences in the Pacific theatres as well as their own encounters in Southeast Asia, the British used the available intelligence on the strategy, tactics and morale of Japan’s armed forces to make the best use of what they had, and by the closing stages of the war in 1944 to 1945, they were able to devise a war plan which paved the way for the successful war effort. This book will be of great interest to all students of the Second World War, intelligence studies, British military history and strategic studies in general.