With trench warfare, First World War combat rapidly became a complete impasse: What could be done to overcome an enemy so well dug into the ground, protected by dense networks of barbed wire and supported by powerful artillery? The battle tank was one of the solutions to this thorny question that rattled senior Allied commanders. The result of recent advances in technology, industry and engineers' imagination, this invention had a promising future. How were these combat machines first imagined and then developed? In what circumstances were they deployed in battle? What models of battle tanks were used in combat between 1916 and 1918? This book invites you to discover the history of these surprising machine, these ?tanks? that were to perpetually change the art of warfare.