This book was the first of a new series from Squadron/Signal Publications on U.S. Armor. Because of the great amount of material available, this first book is limited to the M4 Sherman gun-armored tanks that saw combat service with U.S. forces. The M3 medium tanks, lend-lease M4's used by other nations, and all special-purpose or modified Shermans - bulldozer tanks, flamethrowers, rocket launchers, wading tanks, TRV's, etc - will be covered in a companion volume. At the time of its first service evaluations in early 1942, the M4 Sherman was easily one of the best all-around tanks in the world., but there is no denying that when U.S. tanks were forced to fight against numbers of good enemy tanks, like the Panther and Tiger, many Shermans and crews were lost because the antitank capabilities of their vehicles had been deliberately subordinated. Perhaps it is a wonder not that the M4 succeeded in spite of its early problems, but that, given the restrictions imposed by circumstances, it was as good as it was.