AK Interactive - the Age of the Main Battle Tank (AK130014)

This 304-page hardback from AK Interactive digs into the machines that invented the modern tank category — the Main Battle Tank. Written by MP Robinson and Dick Taylor, it's aimed at AFV modellers who want the history behind the kit, not just a stack of walk-around photos.

What to expect

The book tracks Western MBT development through the 1960 to 1975 period — the fifteen years when tank design leapt from the old medium and heavy classes into a single 105mm-plus gun category. It covers the American and NATO programmes plus neutral Switzerland and Sweden's own designs, with around 220 profiles and archive photography charting the successes and the dead ends along the way.

Whether you're building a Chieftain, an M60 or a Leopard 1, it's the context that makes the model make sense — why that hull shape, why that gun, why that era.

A reference book, not a step-by-step guide. Browse our hobby books for more AFV reference and modelling inspiration.