It was not the most heavily armored tank--it was tall and ungainly, and its firepower couldn't match the German tanks it faced--but by dint of sheer numbers and downright reliability, the M4 Sherman became the winning workhorse of World War II.

This book gives readers an inside look at one of the best-known American tanks from the point of view of tankers and other military personnel who experienced the M4 Sherman firsthand. With diagrams and descriptions of various components, it also details the triumph of American industry, which came into the war without a modern tank and overcame the Axis powers with 50,000 M4 Shermans. From harrowing first-person accounts of tank combat to close-ups of the M4 Sherman's mechanical make-up, this book gives readers an unprecedented insight into the tank that, more than any other, embodied American pluck and power.