Peter Hart

In the 1880s, control over northeastern Africa was a political minefield into which Prime Minister Gladstone did not want to step - until his emissary Charles Gordon was besieged in Khartoum, and the city became the focal point for war. It was the height of European colonialism. Injustices were administered, bloody battles fought and civilians caught in the crossfire. Among the British officers were figures who would later adopt starring roles in the First World War, such as Egyptian Army sapper Captain Herbert Kitchener. By turns shocking and dynamic, Chain of Fire examines the terrible desert wars using the testimonies of the men who fought there.

In the 1880s, control over northeastern Africa was a political minefield into which Prime Minister Gladstone did not want to step - until his emissary Charles Gordon was besieged in Khartoum, and the city became the focal point for war. It was the height of European colonialism. Injustices were administered, bloody battles fought and civilians caught in the crossfire. Among the British officers were figures who would later adopt starring roles in the First World War, such as Egyptian Army sapper Captain Herbert Kitchener. By turns shocking and dynamic, Chain of Fire examines the terrible desert wars using the testimonies of the men who fought there.

This is the story of a tank regiment: the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry in the Second World War. Raw and visceral personal recollections from the men themselves recall some of the most dramatic and horrific scenes imaginable - the sheer nerve-wracking tension of serving in highly inflammable Sherman tanks, the sudden impact of German shells, the desperate scramble to bail out, and the awful fate of those who couldn't. Even if they made it out of the tank, they were still vulnerable to being brutally cut down by German infantry. Yet amidst these horrors, the humanity of these men shines through. And as we follow in their tracks, through letters, diaries and eye-witness accounts, they will change how we think about tank warfare forever.