Books by P M Knight

The A43 Black Prince arose from the need for a "Super Churchill", armed with the powerful 17 pounder anti-tank gun that could augment the firepower of the standard Churchills within the tank brigades. The resulting machine would prove to be both durable and reliable during evaluation testing, and promised to be an effective weapon in the hands of users. However, the war would come to an end before production could commence, and the AFV Division of the Ministry of Supply would instead concentrate on newer designs for the post-war era. This book provides an in-depth examination of the legendary Black Prince, and its place within the history of British tank design.

The Covenanter was intended to be the main equipment of the Armoured Divisions during the early years of the Second World War, and was a generally reliable tank that was well suited to its primary task of home defence. Due to a rather convoluted series of events, mainly involvingmaterial shortages, it would not see service overseas, and as Britain's strategic circumstances evolved it would increasingly be used as a training tank.If the Covenanter's active service was relatively uneventful, its development life was the veryopposite, with two drastically different variants of the original machine being created, and constant refinement being undertaken while it was in the hands of its users. The Covenanter was reflective of the many blind spots in the British Army's pre-war thinking as regardsArmoured Fighting Vehicles, and from its travails much practical experience was gained that benefited subsequent tank designs.