The Italian army, unlike those of the British and French, did not use tanks in combat during World War I and, by November 1918, only one training unit equipped with French Schneider and Renault tanks had been formed. Consequently, during the 1920s the Italian army had just one single tank type in its armored inventory--the Fiat 3000. Only in 1927 was the first tank unit formed as a branch of the infantry and not as an independent organization, while the cavalry rejected the idea of both tanks and armored cars and decided to stand by the use of horses for its mounted units. Between 1933 and March 1939, a further 2,724 CV 33 / L 3 tanks were built, 1,216 of which were exported all over the world. By the time Italy entered the war in June 1940, the army had 1,284 light tanks, 855 of which were in combat units, including three armored divisions. Variants of the CV 33 / L 3 tanks included flame-throwers, bridge-layers, recovery vehicles, and a radio command tank. Some L 3 tanks were still in use in 1945, by both the Germans and the German-allied Italian units of the Repubblica Sociale. “I immensely enjoyed this convenient compendium. Photos, extended captions, color plates and informative illustrations season Osprey's savory study. Bibliography and index complete contents. Grab this entertaining little book.” ―www.cybermodeler.com, David L. Veres Colonel Dr Filippo Cappellano is the chief of the Italian Army Historical Branch (Ufficio Storico SME). A renowned military historian, he is the author of several books, essays and articles on the history of the Italian Army and particularly in the field of 20th century weapons, organization and tactics. He has collaborated with the leading Italian defence industries and universities, and for Osprey he has written Italian Light Tanks 1919 – 45 and Italian Medium Tanks 1939 – 45 . Pier Paolo Battistelli earned his PhD in military history at the University of Padua. A scholar of German and Italian politics and strategy throughout World War II, he works both in Italy and abroad writing titles and essays on military history subjects. He is a contributor to the Italian Army Historical Office and has written numerous books for Osprey. Richard Chasemore completed a four-year course in technical illustration in 1992. Since then, he has worked on a wide variety of projects in publishing and advertising, using both traditional and digital media. He has lectured in airbrush techniques, and written six educational books on digital art. A long-standing contributor to the top-selling Star Wars Incredible Cross Sections series, his contribution has taken him to Skywalker Ranch in California to work with Lucasfilm's concept artists. Richard also enjoys music and is a co-founder of Superglider Records.