Battleships

For nearly a century the battleship was the embodiment of national power and prestige. The dreadnought in her day was a marvel of navel engineering and the most complex weapon of war every built. In the space of little more than a decade the wooden ship of the line, which had dominated the oceans for centuries, was rendered obsolete by the battleship.. .

Their like will never come again simply because the age of the Battleship has long-since been eclipsed by that of the Aircraft Carrier. But, whilst it lasted, it produced some incredible ships which, in many cases, met equally incredible ends. In this book by and acclaimed author and historian, we have the complete story of those iron and steel ships which replaced the wooden vessels of the Nelsonian age. Commencing with the ironclad "La Gloire" and ending with the USS New Jersey, we are taken on a thrilling ride of freakish ships, the first arms race, the Dreadnought, the end of European naval domination of the high seas and beyond. From the Japanese victory at Tsushima, the inconclusive Battle of Jutland in WW1 to Midway and Leyte Gulf in WW2, we find the even mightier ships - such as Hood, Bismarck, Tirpitz and Yamato disappearing from the face of the earth one by one. In this book we are able to relive some of the greatest-ever naval encounters. With excellent illustrations, photographs, maps and charts, this is book which should be read by all those with an interest in the subject. Then leave it a short while - as I did, and read it again. Somehow it seems far more interesting second time around. NM

This lavishly illustrated book offers a concise history of the battleship from the end of the Age of Sail to the Iowa Class. Focusing on the world wars has been common in such books; this one also covers the pre-Dreadnaught era, and does it well. There are ample photos of the ships themselves, of scale models, and line drawings. The text was written by a lover of the big ships, as is evident in the section on H.M.S. Vanguard, the last British battleship, described as, "a magnificant sea boat," that handled beautifully, without the lumbering movements of less aquadynamic vessels. Having been a lifelong fan of the battleship, and having made the pilgrimmage to Wilmington, N.C. to see U.S.S. North Carolina, I can say that this is one of the best books in the genre, and a good one for beginners who want a short, conplete history of ships the like of which we'll never see again.