5 h 9 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 9 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the machine you build to help your country also makes your workshop a target for enemy spies?
In Tom Swift and His War Tank, the young inventor from Shopton turns his practical mind toward a fighting machine for the American army. His plans promise a way to serve his country, but enemy agents want to stop him. Building the tank is only part of the challenge: Tom must also protect its secrets.
Barton Swift, Tom’s father and a fellow inventor, supports the work, while loyal friend Ned Newton stands beside Tom through trouble. Workshop detail meets quick action as invention and espionage pull the story forward. Published in 1918 under the name Victor Appleton, this adventure also offers a glimpse of popular fiction cheering on the First World War effort.
What you’ll discover
- An inventor with purpose Meet a bright, practical young man who turns his skill toward his country’s wartime needs.
- Secrets worth protecting Follow the suspense as enemy spies threaten the plans at the heart of Tom’s work.
- Inside the family workshop Explore a household where Tom and Barton Swift share a life built around making things.
- Machinery meets adventure Enjoy workshop detail alongside quick action, with a new fighting machine at the story’s center.
- A window into wartime See how an early adventure story links invention, service, and enthusiasm for the war effort.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy inventors, workshop secrets, spy hunts, early machines of war and cheerful friendships. It suits anyone who likes a brisk adventure where cleverness and loyalty carry the day.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A young inventor keeps his war work secret
- Doubt follows Tom through Shopton
- Spies circle the fence and are caught
- The night test shows what Tom has built
- Grippers and a roll down the ravine
- A barn, a farmer and three thousand dollars
Who’s who
- Tom SwiftA young inventor from Shopton who builds a huge tank in secret and wants to protect it from enemy spies.
- Ned NewtonTom's loyal friend, a banker who sells Liberty Bonds and proves a sharp detective.
- Mr. DamonAn eager older friend who blesses everything from his overshoes to his collar button and joins every adventure.
- Mary NestorA kind girl Tom cares about, hurt by his silence but proud of his war work.
- KokuA giant brought by Tom from a distant land, devoted to him and posted as guard.
- Eradicate SampsonAn old servant who guards with a badge and wants to prove he can detect spies.
- BlakesonAn old rival tunnel builder who hangs around Shopton and seems eager to learn Tom's secrets.
- Mr. NestorMary's excitable father, who thinks Tom should enlist and fears explosives.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 5 h 9 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Tom Swift und sein Kriegspanzer in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Tom Swift und sein Kriegspanzer
by Victor Appleton · 1918
Tom Swift hides a steel giant behind a high fence while friends wonder why he skips the army.
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In short
What would make a famous young inventor skip the army while his neighbors whisper that he is a slacker? In Tom Swift and His War Tank, Victor Appleton sends Tom to Washington for an exemption, then hides a huge machine behind a tall fence.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A young inventor keeps his war work secret
Tom Swift is restless. He tells Mr. Damon only that he must do something he does not want to do, and that it is his bit for the war. He will not say more, even to his oldest friends.
The secret grows through the early chapters. A new building rises at the Swift plant, ringed by a tall solid fence and watched by guards. Ned Newton, a young banker who sells Liberty Bonds, brings Tom a photograph of a British tank and expects delight. Tom answers with a cool, thoughtful look and a hint that something like it may come soon.
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What is Tom Swift and His War Tank about?
Tom Swift builds a huge tank secretly for the war effort, while spies try to steal its secrets. With help from his friends Ned Newton and Mr. Damon, he tests the machine and tries to keep it safe.
Who is Mr. Damon and why does he bless everything?
Mr. Damon is Tom's older, eccentric friend who met him in the first Tom Swift book. He cries Bless my overshoes or Bless my collar button, naming whatever comes to mind, and he is always ready to join Tom's adventures.
Who is the villain in Tom Swift and His War Tank?
The enemies are a band of German spies and their helpers. They include Blakeson, an old tunnel-building rival, the smooth stranger who calls himself Simpson and a machinist named Carl Schwen.
The author
Victor Appleton
American collective adventure fiction pseudonym
Victor Appleton was a pen name used by several writers for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, an American book production company. Books published under this name included the Tom Swift series, which began in 1910, and the Moving Picture Boys series. The name does not identify one person with a single lifespan.
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