Treat 'Em Rough!: The Birth of American Armor, 1917-20

The first full study of the US Army's World War I Tank Corps—and how it inspired future American generals.

Tanks caused havoc among the Germans when they first appeared on the battlefields of Europe in 1917. These metal monsters broke up the trench warfare stalemate and thus hastened the armistice.

Because of production delays and political maneuvering, no American tanks made it into the war, and American tankers had to use French machines instead. But a new breed of army officers, of...