Designed with the hard lessons of the North African campaign in mind,
including the adoption of a dual-purpose gun capable of firing
high-explosive and anti-tank rounds, the Cromwell was one of the most
successful of the British cruiser tanks produced during the Second World
War.
The lack of heavy armor was made up for by the tank's high speed
provided by a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. The Centaur was externally
almost identical to the Cromwell, the major difference being the
installation of the less powerful Liberty engine. While the Centaur
equipped the Royal Marines during the Normandy battles, the Cromwell
served until the end of the war and formed the basis for the Comet.
In his fifth book in the TankCraft series, author and illustrator Dennis
Oliver uses official wartime photographs and comprehensively researched,
exquisitely presented color profiles to tell the story of the
penultimate British cruiser tank. In common with all the titles from the
TankCraft series, the large full-color section features available model
kits and accessories as well as after market products.
In addition to the color profiles there is a gallery of expertly
constructed and painted models. A separate section explains technical
details and modifications made during production and in the field,
giving the modeler all the information required to recreate an authentic
replica of one of the tanks that served from the Normandy beaches to the
final battles in Germany.
