Centurion Tank Manual (Owners' Workshop Manual): 1946 to present

Having read the superb trilogy by Dick Taylor on Chieftain and its descendants, it was inevitable that this one, by that prolific writer Simon Dunstan, would be read.By and large, this is another excellent volume in the series, although as with a number of others, they seem to be getting a bit, shall we say, peremptory? Or is “rushed” a better description?Yes, this is good, and while I find Centurion visually less appealing than some tanks, and weak in its slowness-at least on road, to think of it as anything other than a stunning success would be foolhardy. In fact, for longevity, it may realistically take the record as, highly modified, it’s still in active service at the front line and still (potentially) effective. That may put it ahead of T-34 in that respect, one of few possible competitors for the title.As always, we get a good type history and lots of in-service anecdotes. As usual, we also lack a nice three-view. That’s a bit of a drone of mine on these volumes, and you have to say that within the space available, this does another great job. Former military friends of mine used to say that influential Israeli families would only allow their progeny to serve in Chieftain regiments.So, buy it, it’s great. A few quite small cautions, though:Although one can say Comet was too late to affect the war significantly, it did allow the UK to field a truly effective and competitive tank, and I think our author neglects this one a bit. At Bovington, Comet and an early Cent used to be sat side by side, allowing a clear developmental link to be seen.On p 17 the picture caption mentions Churchill’s 75mm gun, but it’s a picture of one with 2-pdr. Unhelpful. Captions like these in books had confused me on a number of issues for many years.In the discussion on HE performance between the 17 pdr and 77mm guns, better HE performance of the 77mm is mentioned. Being actually derived from 17 pdr and the same 76.2 mm calibre in fact, I thought the 77mm HE shell was the same as the 17 pdr’s, just mated to the shorter fatter case. One reference even gave me the same MV for HE. Any possible advantage in rate of fire due to the slightly shorter all up round was always going to be marginal, and is discounted quickly. A shorter round could conceivably lead to a shorter gun and more recoil room allowing greater elevation for better range, but this is unlikely and not mentioned.On p 36, the logistics and ordnance availability issue is very confusingly described, and I still don’t think I have it right in my head.One section towards the end is formatted very differently to the rest of the book as if it was culled from another volume altogether.Small things that don’t detract from an excellent book that as always to cover everything you’d like would need to be many times longer.

All this seies of books are so interesting

This was the perfect present for Dad, he used to drive them; now he can remind himself of his time doing his National Service!

As an ex-crew member of Centurion tanks when in BAOR this book is spot on. Surprised to see so many photos, plus every page is "glossy" super quality. One of the chapters briefly descibes some of the early teething problems with the Cent, but to be honest, the 4 years I was on them, I dont recollect it breaking down - EVER. Must have been luck, but all round, the book sort of welcomed an old friend back

Excellent read

Bought as a gift for a relative, but sneaked a look inside, seems very informative and interesting. Like the idea of printing it as a workshop manual, brought back many happy memories of maintaining my own cars over the years.

Purchased this as a Birthday present for a retired motor mechanic , who transported the first of these tanks just after the 2nd world war. He was delighted with if

Books on the Centurion are like rocking horse poop so i welcome this book. This is a well written and illustrated book with plenty in to satisfy the enthusiast and modeller.