Armoured Trains: An Illustrated Encyclopaedia 1825-2016

摘要

If we were to place reference books on a scale from general to specific, this one would evidently be about as far towards the specific side as could be. While its subject is indeed highly specialised, it is covered so comprehensively that the book is unlikely to be superseded. It was first published in French in 1989, but for the English translation, it has been revised and updated in the light of information which has since come to light. The author, a Lieutenant-Colonel of the French Army, remarks that in those cases (which are not numerous) where there already is an exhaustive account of the armoured trains of a particular country, he has chosen not to try to approach the same level of detail, but has provided the basic facts and relevant illustrations. The text is arranged country by country, and each entry has an up-to-date bibliography, though most of the works listed are so specialised that they are unlikely to be found outside their country of origin. Coverage extends beyond trains in the strictest sense to self-propelled railcars and to more conventional armoured vehicles that had been adapted for use on rails, but not to railway guns, except those few which were armoured.