Tank

It is the embodiment of modern war. From the boxy monstrosities that clanked over trenches and broke the stalemate of World War I to the dreaded German Panzers that extended Hitler's grasp across Europe, to the burning Iraqi hulks that marked the progress of Operation Desert Storm, the tank dominated military theory and practice throughout the twentieth century. And yet it was always far more than this-a fixation in the public mind, a curious compound of fact and fantasy.

In Tank, Patrick Wright offers an entertaining, insightful, even meditative account of this emblematic vehicle. A brilliant work of military history, this book also explores the tank as a social and cultural object. The author interweaves classic armored campaigns such as the blitzkrieg and Desert Storm with the stunning political impact of tanks in the streets of Prague in 1968 and in Tiananmen Square in 1989. He also explores how the tank became the symbol of technological futurism and unstoppable progress, as well as of totalitarian oppression.

Patrick Wright is effortlessly witty and compelling from start to finish, from an interview with legendary Israeli warrior General Israel Tal to a tour of the high-tech armor training center at Fort Knox, to discussions of songs, movies, and television images that kept the tank at the forefront of popular imagination.

Patrick Wright is Professor of Modern Cultural Studies at Nottingham Trent University, U.K. His books include Living in an Old Country, A Journey Through the Ruins, and The Village That Died for England.