In World War I the American motor vehicle industry was tested by the sudden appearance of vast transport challenges. The nation’s immense manufacturing capabilities and abundant natural resources combined with increased standardization and mass production to enable the industry to meet the military’s needs. Motor vehicles and aircraft were quickly cemented as the most influential military tools of the early twentieth century. This book both describes the development and use of a wide range of specialized motor vehicles during World War I and analyzes how their advent indelibly altered modern warfare and transportation.

The late Albert Mroz was a author, artist, photographer, and musician. He was employed as a machine designer in Silicon Valley for more than 20 years. He was a member of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Society of Automotive Historians, and the American Truck Historical Society, and was on the advisory board of the Hays Truck Museum.

Albert Mroz

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 326
Bibliographic Info: 332 photos, chronology, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3960-7
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5476-1
Imprint: McFarland

Credits and Acknowledgments      ix
Abbreviations      x
Preface      1
Introduction      3

I. Bullets, Blood and Gasoline      7
II. The Hunt for Pancho Villa      50
III. Clever Minds and Motors      76
IV. Slogging Through Mud and Smoke      115
V. Accelerated Progress in the Industrial Revolution      163
VI. New Allied Vehicles Dominate      231

Chronology of the War, 1914–1919      283
Bibliography      305
Index      309

• “probably the definitive book on all types of military vehicles employed during World War I”—Military Heritage
• “richly illustrated…valuable”—The Listening Post.