French Tanks of World War II (1): Infantry and Battle Tanks

Osprey New Vanguard #209

by Steven J. Zaloga, Ian Palmer (Illustrator)

All the French medium and heavy tanks of 1940 are in this title: Renault FT, Renault R-35, FCM-36, Hotchkiss H.38, Char B1bis, Renault D-1, and Renault D-2.

The first volume of this two part series will cover the infantry tanks and battle tanks that served in 1940. Starting with the Renault FT of World War I fame, it will cover the modernization of the FT in the inter-war years. The focus of the infantry tank section will be on the attempts to replace the FT with designs such as the Renault R-35, FCM-36, and the Hotchkiss H.38. Derivatives of these types will also be covered such as the R-40. France also had a separate family of battle tanks starting with the Renault D-1, Renault D-2, and finally the best known tank of the campaign, the Char B1 bis. This book will provide a brief development account these tanks types, covering the tactical rationales for their design and their basic technical features. It will also briefly address their performance in the 1940 campaign, pointing out the salient features of the combat record.

48 pages, Paperback

First published February 20, 2014

About the author

Steven Zaloga is an author and defense analyst known worldwide for his articles and publications on military technology.  He has written over a hundred books on military technology and military history, including “Armored Thunderbolt: The US Army Sherman in World War II”, one of the most highly regarded histories of the Sherman Tank.  His books have been translated into Japanese, German, Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Russian. He was a special correspondent for Jane’s Intelligence Review and is on the executive board of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. From 1987 through 1992, he was the writer/producer for Video Ordnance Inc., preparing their TV series Firepower.  He holds a BA in history from Union College and an MA in history from Columbia University.

Mr. Zaloga is also a noted scale armor modeler and is a host/moderator of the World War II Allied Discussion group at Missing-Lynx.com, a modelling website. He is a frequent contributor to the UK-based modeling magazine Military Modelling. He is a member of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society.

Reviews

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent text from Zaloga as per usual, the color plates weren’t my favorite being too digital appearing for my personal taste, but by no means the worst Osprey art I’ve encountered either.

[Laurance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by Zaloga and Osprey Publishing.

Some great illustrations, packed fulled of photos and filled out with easy to digest but still complete information.

This is the type of book that helps dispel the myth of none motivated, ill prepared and cowardly French. The numerous amount of projects, designs and experiments on the go shows how the country kept up with developments abroad and did what it could to be prepared when war came.

Should be added to anyone's list of World War II books.

[Keiran Thegreat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, well written and full of great information. The illustrations are fascinating and very accurate. It would have been nice to combine a few plates of traditional hand-drawn art with the computer graphics Ian Palmer has used for the illustrations, but I suppose it is always easy to want more.
Overall an excellent addition to Osprey's New Vanguard range.