Armoured Warfare in the British Army 1945-2020

In this, the third volume in his comprehensive, highly illustrated three-volume history of the evolution of armoured manoeuvre warfare in the British army, Dick Taylor covers the post-war period, up to the present day. He explains how the Royal Armoured Corps contracted rapidly after 1945, then faced the twin challenges of National Service and heavy involvement in numerous wars and campaigns around the globe.

He recounts how the RAC became a fully-professional organization by the early 1960s, and continues the tale of disbandments, down-sizing and amalgamations. In a narrative which is as much a social history as an operational one, the vivid personal accounts of soldiers feature heavily throughout. The story of the Cold War in Germany (BAOR) is told. Then, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the book describes the role British armour played in conflicts in the Gulf, the Balkans and Afghanistan.

Dick Taylor’s thoroughgoing account concludes with an assessment of the RAC in 2021 in the immediate aftermath of another defence review.