When the words “Sherman tank” are uttered, the first thing that comes to mind for many of us in the US, is Patton’s 3rd Army fighting German Tiger tanks in Northern Africa or his columns of armor racing through Europe after D-Day. The Sherman tank played a role much broader than this and Samsonov has done a very good job explaining the Soviet introduction to, evaluation of, and eventual combat use of the Sherman.

Like any good book, this one gets you thinking beyond generalities. I, for one, was surprised that there was feedback and even some pushback from recipients of armor under the Lend Lease Act. Evidently more than a few people who were fighting back against Germany were not thinking that something is better than nothing. To my surprise, I discovered that the Sherman tank underwent significantly more extended trials by our allies than I had ever imagined, and rightfully so.

Mike Guardia is a veteran of the United States Army and the author of a number of military history books. His most recent book, Skybreak takes a look at the operations of the 58th Fighter Squadron of the United States Air Force during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in the fall of 1990, the 58th Fighter Squadron was one of the many USAF units deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield – the coalition effort to deter further aggression by Iraq – and eventually Operation Desert Storm, the coalition campaign to forcefully remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Flying the newest version of the F-15C Eagle, the 58th was tasked with protecting coalition aircraft from interference by Iraqi Air Force aircraft. During the air campaign the F-15s of the 58th downed 16 Iraqi aircraft ranging from MiG-29s to Su-22s without a loss.

Helion is a UK based company that produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published almost 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year, for readers around the world.

A native Texan, Linda was born in Del Rio. Linda retired from the U. S. Government in 1997, after being employed in various occupations during her 33 years Civil Service career, in which she worked in various locations, including the Laughlin AFB, Charleston Naval Base, USAF HQ Europe, Wiesbaden, Germany, NASA, and the Internal Revenue Service in Houston. She has previously written Flight of the Dragon, detailing the story of Chang-di ‘Robin’ Yeh, a Taiwanese U-2 pilot, and Remembering the Dragon Lady, first-person memoirs of many of the pilots, specialists and family members who supported the early US spy-plane projects.