Comments: Softcover, 208 pages, color and black-and-white photos
ISBN: 978-1-4738-5436-9
Price: $24.95
Publisher: Pen and Sword
From the publisher: Numerous wheeled armored fighting vehicles have seen service in the U.S. armed forces on and off for over 80 years.
There have been various changes of policy and twice, after the Second World War and Vietnam, they went out of favor but their use is now well established.
This well researched and superbly illustrated book describes all the different types and variants since the first M1 was ordered in 1931. The M8 armored car was widely used during World War Two but it was not until Vietnam that further wheeled AFVs came into service, notably the M706 armored car.
After a lull the U.S. Marine Corps adopted the Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) in 1983. The U.S. Army first used armored Humvees in 1994 and variants remain in service (M1141 and M1116). Other types today include the Guardian (M1117) and the Army version of the LAV named the Stryker. To meet the operational requirements of Iraq and Afghanistan the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP) was ordered in bulk from 2007.
FSM says: This broad survey collects a lot of photos of American AFVs from before World War II to today. Because of the numbers used, a chapter each is devoted to the LAV and Humvee but there’s plenty here besides. Modelers will appreciate the clarity of the images for details like armor and stowage.