In this classic of World War II armor, now available in paperback, author Steven Zaloga, a world-renowned expert on the Sherman tank and American armor, compares the Sherman to other tanks, including the Panther and Tiger. Some tank crews referred to the American M4 Sherman tank as a death trap. Others, like Gen. George Patton, believed that the Sherman helped win the war. So which was it: death trap or war winner? Zaloga answers that question by recounting the Sherman's combat history, focusing on Northwest Europe (but also including a chapter on the Pacific) and following the Sherman into action on D-Day, in Normandy, during Patton's race across France, in the great tank battle at Arracourt, at the Battle of the Bulge, across the Rhine, and in the Ruhr pocket in 1945. Includes hundreds of photos and riveting accounts of armored warfare during World War II.