As World War II progressed, it became apparent to the United States Army brass that the M4 Sherman main battle tank was no match for the heavier tanks fielded by the German Army.  American battle doctrine of the time was that United States tanks were not to fight one-on-one with an enemy's tanks, leaving this assignment instead to tank destroyer units.  The problem with this thinking was that the German doctrine was just the opposite, which resulted in frequent encounters in 1944 between the M4 Sherman medium tank and the German's heavier Panther, Tiger I and King Tiger Tanks.  The outcome of these uneven match-ups was predictable and usually resulted in a number of M4 Sherman tanks being destroyed for every German tank kill.  After 1942, the Americans began using various chassis, gun and turret combinations in a bid to create an effective "heavy tank" capable of taking on the German's heavy armor.  The T26 evolved from this testing program and it in turn lead to the T26E3 and finally the M26 Pershing heavy tank, which became available in March of 1945 just as the fighting in Europe was coming to an end.  The M26 was classified as a "standard" tank model and it went on to form the basis for a number of follow-on tanks including the M46, M48 and ultimately the M60, which served the United States Army for the next 40 years.  The book, M26 Pershing Walk Around (Color Series) profides a inside and out pictorial study of the M26 Pershing main battle tank.  In addition to an informative narrative, "M26 Pershing Walk Around (Color Series)" includes the following features: 1) Approximately 19 black and white illustrations; 2) About 209 color photographs; 3) 14 black and white illustrations; 4) 1 color illustration; 5) 3 two-way color tank profile illustrations; 6) 8 color side tank profile illustrations; 7) 1 four-way black and white line illustration and 8) 2 color cover paintings.  This book is 80 pages and is in new condition.  The author is David Doyle with Don Greer (colorist) along with Ike Anderson and Matheu Spraggins (illustrations).  Edition published in 2008.