Tank!: 40 Hours of Battle, August 1944

by Ken Tout

Genres: Military History, World War II, History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Chaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book is a novelette-sized experiential treatment. It is raw, full of the period banter between the men of a tank battalion in Normandy. The characters crass humour is exquisitely raw.

Much of the book is claustrophobic as it describes life in a Sherman tank during the height of the Normandy Campaign. It was a meat grinder where casualties were anywhere from 60 - 70%, with Allied armies often fighting top-notch German Armoured divisions.

But the democratic armies won - and is partially explained why in "Tank." We were practical if fatalistic, which made for our high morale, one of our best assets.

"Tank" sometimes reads like a prose poem. I heard it read, though, and I'd like to get a printed version to better study its language.

You'll enjoy this.

[Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serious, short, comedic view of a WW2 tank commander 4/5 stars

[Paddy Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as I expected! Fantastic

[Henri Goddard-Pantic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, a must read for any historian or someone with an interest in WW2.

[Josh Clubley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and gripping all the way through. Makes you feel very lucky not to have to go through his experiences.

[Blunt Of Mercia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely good. One of the best portrayals of war in fiction — up there with All Quiet on the Western Front.

[James Latham · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable tale of tanking in the British Army in World War 2.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a fictionalized account, this book rings absolutely true as a memoir of what it must have been like to be British tank trooper on the front line in Normandy, 1944. The author, who was himself a tank trooper during this campaign in WWII, made himself the central character of the story, but fictionalized the other members of his crew and armored troop by making them each conglomerations of different troopers he knew during the war. He admits that not all of the events portrayed happened during the two days he recounts--certain incidents he recalls have been borrowed from other times during the war and inserted into this story. The result, however, is a very readable story revealing the thoughts, deeds and experiences of a yeoman trooper on the front line. The particular attack he recounts is his part in the attack to close the Falaise Gap in the summer of 1944. Anyone interested in what it was like to be a gunner or commander of a Sherman tank in WWII will find this fascinating. Recommended.

[Mark Lawton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb account of a period of a couple of days in the Normandy advance. Not to be missed.