In this video we rant a bit about some of our least favorite tank books.
Book Review: Steel Steeds Christie
July 17, 2015 by 1 Comment
A couple weeks ago we had posted some reviews of the book “Steel Steeds Christie” by Edward Christie in the 1986 issues of ARMOR. Steel Steeds Christie is a rare and largely forgotten book and it generated an overwhelming negative reaction from knowledgeable AFV historians at the time of it’s publication. However, it remains one of the few books dedicated exclusively to the topic of Walter J. Christie, one of the most important figures in post WWI tank development. Shortly after posting the old ARMOR reviews of the book, friend of the site “Volketten” informed us that he had recently purchased a copy of this hard to find volume. He wrote up a description of book which we have posted below.
“Steel Steeds Christie by J.Edward Christie
a book review by Vollketten
This is a difficult book to review because I really wanted it to be good. The designs of Walter Christie have interested me for quite some time so I got hold of a copy of this rather hard to find and far too expensive book with an inbuilt bias to want to like it. And that bias continued despite reading the rather unpleasant reviews of it in old editions of Armor Magazine which failed to dissuade me from getting a copy. This continued right until I opened it and started reading.
From the Editor: The Forgotten Legacy of Harry Knox
January 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I find it interesting that the names of individual tank designers, or at least the heads of design teams, got much more recognition in the Soviet Union than in the Western world. Ask the average tank enthusiast to name a western tank designer and you probably won’t get many responses beyond “Walter Christie” or “Ferdinand Porsche.” However, start reading about Soviet designs and you will run into all sorts of names like Koshkin, Kotin, Morozov or Kartsev. Of course, part of this has to do with the Western tendency to attribute vehicle design to a corporation while the Soviet system relied on design teams named after the lead designer. [Read more…]
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