Customer Reviews:
 A VERY FAST STUDY GUIDE FOR CONCISE BATTLESHIP INFO January 9, 2007
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IN A NUTSHELL: CONCISE ILLUSTRATED OVERVIEW IN A HANDY COMPACT VOLUME
Organized by country and class, the major battleships of world war 2 are given a concise and useful overview plus a larger than expected narrative regarding some of the highlights of their design and service record which begins with the following stats for each class of vessel ;
TYPE: DISPLACEMENT: DIMENSIONS: ARMAMENT: ARMOR: PROPULSION: PERFORMANCE: COMPLEMENT:
NAME - BUILDER - COMMISSIONED DATE [of each ship in class]
Also, at least 1 photo, illustration and/or interior anatomy of the vessel class is included for each class. In some cases, such as the Bismarck, all of the above are included.
SOMETHINGS TO BE AWARE OF:
Color photos, however, are only included for the 'Iowa' class U.S. Battleships but these color photos depict the Iowa class ships after there last refit in the 1980s, and therefore include notable features that did NOT exist during World War 2 [helicopter landing pads - electronic equipment & their antennas] which makes them inconsistent with the theme of the book and the other ships' photos. Bear in mind that for the most part, the other battleships in this volume were sunk or scraped at least a half century ago or stated differently, 30-50 years before the improvements pictured in the Iowa class photos were installed! Helicopters did not even exist [as more than a prototype] during World War 2.
JUST WHAT DIFFERENCES WITHIN CLASSES ARE NOTEWORTHY?
Certain ships of the same class, such as Dunkerque and Strasbourg of the 'Dunkerque' class have major differences in their designs. This text however, often overlooks these types of differences. In fact, this book states, that the Strasbourg; "differed from her sister ship only in the details of her bridge". This is not correct as the Strasbourg has much more armor than the Dunkerque, over 2,000 tons of additional armor is certainly noteworthy.
PERHAPS A CERTAIN BIAS?
This text does show a certain preference for English ships. Certainly, there is much to be said for the innovations of the British Navy, but often that translates into a somewhat more positive narrative regarding the British ships than deserved and a bit more negative toward the German, and Italian Battleships than deserved as well.
BOTTOM LINE: SHRINKS BATTLESHIPS' DOWN TO A SIZE THAT IS MORE EASILY GRASPED
'An Illustrated Data Guide to Battleships of World War II (Illustrated Data Guides)' by Christopher Chant, offers a very neat and compact format with a great deal of substance for so small an illustrated volume. Excellent for students and enthusiasts who would like a quick reference guide to the topic of World War 2 battleships of the world. Bear in mind however, that this is niether an all inclusive volume or a completely objective analysis of the subject. With the aforementioned in mind, this is a book I can recommend for its organized, concise, illustrated and fairly comprehensive treatment of a rather large topic.
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