Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century

By Bernard Ireland

Book Overview

The greatest arms race in history began in the first years of the 20th century as World Powers expanded their fleets. Germany challenged the Royal Navy's global dominance, the U.S. and Japan... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0004709977
• ISBN13: 9780004709970
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: HarperResource
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 2.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 9.5" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

Pleasant, well-presented and very readable

This is my favourite reference book on battleships, just because it is so attractively balanced. Coloured diagrams of most classes mentioned, together with plentiful photographs, supplement very readable text descriptions. Before the end of the contents, the reader has been thrilled by photographs of Royal Sovereign, Resolution and Revenge (seen from the next ship ahead in line), the pre-dreadnought Agamemnon, and Malaya in company with Alabama and South Dakota off the coast of Norway. The layout is a bit capricious, with some classes being relegated to brief mentions or telescoped into the sections on similar ships. Now and then, the author sees fit to pop in a "feature" - for instance the account of Heligoland Bight and the Falklands that appears opposite the text on the Invincible class battlecruisers. These are welcome, although they sometimes break up the logical progression of designs through the years. I am not qualified to judge the book's accuracy, so I cannot dispute or confirm any statements made on this score. At least there were no errors gross enough to leap off the page at me.

Not perfect, but quite likeable

Not ground-breaking by any means, but did have some unusual photos, i.e. the Nevada after being A-bombed, battlecruiser casualties at Jutland, etc. A good survey or gift for a budding battleship nut.

REVIEW BY ZOOMER; WARFARE AFFICIANADO

GREAT BOOK. SUPERB ARTWORK WITH MANY DOUBLE PAGE AND 3 VIEW (TOP, FRONT, AND PROFILE)ILLUSTRATIONS OF THESE GREAT VESSELS. I BOUGHT IT FOR THE ARTWORK ALONE BUT THE TEXT IS ALSO HIGHLY INFORMATIVE THOUGHT NOT AS "DEEP" AS SOME OTHER BOOKS.

Smartly written, comprehensive guide to BB/BC's

Entertaining work with a substantial amount of technical detail as well. Most but not all classes of Battleship are covered. Design aspects and battle histories are both discussed. Quite a few nice pictures and illustrations.

This is a great book for all naval enthusiasts

The minute you open the book, the pages come alive with illustrations, text, and statistics for many ships. Many navies are represented, including Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Great Britan, Japan, and the United States. You are told the strengths and weaknesses for most ships, and, more importantly, what their fate was in battle, or in peace time. It gives detailed descriptions of almost all aspects of the ship, and how these aspects influenced the ship's performance in battle. I recommend this book for those interested in naval history, ships, and military history.