This is a crucial new study on one of the seminal events in military history dispelling many of the myths surrounding Cambrai 1917. Common perception classifies it as the 'world's first tank battle' when in fact it was not. Instead, as the author points out, the importance of Cambrai was that it was the first use of armour as an operational shock tactic and with this emergence of the pre-eminence of armour, the conduct of war was irrevocably changed. The battle also heralded the use of aircraft marking the birth of modern combined arms techniques. Written by a military historian and serving soldier, this is a fascinating insight into a battle which was a stalemate yet spawned a host of war-winning tactics.

Author Biography

Alexander Turner is a serving British Army officer in the Irish Guards. His operational experience includes Northern Ireland, Kosovo, the Iraq War of 2003 and service as a United Nations Military Observer. He has a BA in War Studies from King's College, London, and led a battalion battlefield tour to Vimy Ridge in 2002. The author lives in London, England.