Cromwell and Centaur Tanks: British Army and Royal Marines, North-west Europe 1944-1945

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 this book, Dennis Oliver uses official wartime photographs and comprehensively researched, exquisitely presented colour profiles to tell the story of the penultimate British cruiser tank.