The invention of tanks in World War I brought a revolutionary new weapon to the battlefield, and the tank came of age in World War II at the cutting edge of Hitler"s Blitzkreig. As the German Panzers threatened to overrun Europe, the Allies raced to give their own tanks ever better armament and protection, just as NATO vied with the Eastern Bloc for supremacy in the massive battleplans of the Cold War. What was it like to be a gunner in the Battle of the Bulge, the Eastern Front, the deserts of North Africa or the dusty plains of Iraq? From the Sherman and the Tiger to the Abrams M1, Battleground shows how tank crews dealt with the deafening noise and scorching heat of battle in control of tons of sophisticated killing machine. With real-life insights and detailed drawings, this book takes readers inside the greatest tanks ever developed in the most crucial duels of modern land warfare.