The entry of the US into World War II provided the Allies with the manufacturing and engineering might that finally gave them the ability to take the war to the German and Japanese forces across the world. During the course of the war over 80,000 tanks were built by the Americans, almost twice what Germany and Britain built combined during the same period, and American tanks rapidly became the backbone of the Allied armored warfare effort against the Axis powers. The M4 Sherman, M3 Stuart, M3 Lee tanks poured out of American factories and onto battlefields providing the armoured fist that allowed the Allies to turn the tide of the battle. Although less heralded than their tank output, the American heavy armor was ably supported by a dizzying array of Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) and variants, half-tracks and armored cars, self propelled artillery, tank destroyers, armored recovery vehicles, amphibian tractors and tracked landing vehicles or Amtracs. Highly illustrated and meticulously researched, American Tanks and AFVs of World War II details the full range of vehicles used during the war.