Cromwell and Centaur Tanks

Designed with the hard lessons of the North African campaign in mind, including the adoption of a dual-purpose gun capable of firing high-explosive and anti-tank rounds, the Cromwell was one of the most successful of the British cruiser tanks produced during the Second World War.

The lack of heavy armour was made up for by the tank's high speed provided by a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. The Centaur was externally almost identical to the Cromwell, the major difference being the installation of the less powerful Liberty engine. While the Centaur equipped the Royal Marines during the Normandy battles, the Cromwell served until the end of the war and formed the basis for the Comet.

In his fifth book in the TankCraft series, author and illustrator Dennis Oliver uses official wartime photographs and comprehensively researched, exquisitely presented color profiles to tell the story of the penultimate British cruiser tank. In common with all the titles from the TankCraft series, the large full-color section features available model kits and accessories as well as aftermarket products.

In addition to the color profiles there is a gallery of expertly constructed and painted models. A separate section explains technical details and modifications made during production and in the field, giving the modeller all the information required to recreate an authentic replica of one of the tanks that served from the Normandy beaches to the final battles in Germany.

About the Author

Dennis Oliver is the author of over twenty books on Second World War armoured vehicles including Codename Swallow: British Sherman Tanks at Alamein; To The Last Bullet: Germany's War on 3 Fronts; Westwall: German Armour in the West 1945; Tiger I and II Tanks of the German Army and Waffen-SS: Eastern Front 1944; Sherman Tanks of the British Army and Royal Marines: Normandy Campaign 1944; Panther Tanks: German Army and Waffen-SS, Normandy Campaign 1944; Jagdpanther Tank Destroyer: German Army, Western Europe 1944-1945 and Churchill Tanks: British Army, North-west Europe 1944-1945.

200 colour illustrations