Strike Swiftly: The 70th Tank Battalion: From North Africa to Normandy to Germany

My faher was in this battalion, the 70th tank, during WW2, when he saw this book was available, he instantly wanted it, I ordered it from Shelmarbooks, and I am very pleased! The book was wrapped up so good and packaged so that no damage came to it during shipping...I will order again someday for sure..I can't wait to see his face on Christmas morning, imagine being an actual living part of our history!!!Sincerely, Christy, N.W.Pa

Marvin Jensen's "Strike Swiftly" is a great addition to any library. Jensen shows the people behind some of the great events of the Second World War. As he traces the 70th Tank Battalion from pre-WW II through the end of the war, he honors his brothers in arms, both living and dead, with solid history of events and a more solid account of the people. Inspiring and easy to read, the stories are often humorous and the reader will appreciate the fact that the U.S. Army in WW II was a citizen's army. Jensen details well small unit armor tactics and explains day to day army life. If you like military history and enjoy it from the soldiers point of view, Jensen is right on target!

Strategists and historians, writing about World War II, D-Day, the landings at Normandy, and the battles to liberate Europe would do well to read Mr. Jensen's compelling book about the role of the 70th Tank Battalion. As an historian, he has a fine sense of history. As a participant, a fine memory. His account is made vivid and immediate by the accounts of the men themselves, who were responsible for the allied victories. I doubt if you will read better descriptions of the citizen army, trained for the landing, but for little else the men were to encounter on land, than the narratives of these ordinary men from an extraordinary battalion. We have read this book and highly recommend it. Natalie & Norman Friend

I am biased, being Marvin's son. However, not only did I gain a great understanding of what happened to the ordinary soldier during the war, but I found a gap filled in the history books. Most of the time, 'history' books are told from the point of view of national strategy and of the leaders thereof. Although important, they do not tell the true human story. I've loaned this book to a number of friends of my generation, and all of them returned it with glowing praise. They say they finally understood what dad (or uncle or...) went through during the war and had a new-found appreciation of that involvement. Recommended.