Ship: Illustrated History

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful work by one man
Review: About two-thirds of the book covers every type of oar and sail powered ship. The remaining part is devoted to power ships and opens with illustrations of early manually-paddled craft. After the famous "Charlotte", "Comet", Savannah" and "Sirius" there are two-page spreads of the Brunel's "Great Eastern" and the "Great Britain", the first propeller driven ship to cross the Atlantic. The book is very well bound and a delight to the serious ship enthusiast.

Rating:
Summary: Ultimate Reference
Review: I first encountered this book almost 30 years ago and I still consider it the ultimate reference for the historical development of all types of watercraft, from inflated animal skins, coracles (bull boats), reed boats and dugout canoes to nuclear powered ships with an enormously impressive coverage of the steps (and side trips) in between. The illustrations are meticulous and where my certain knowledge runs, absolutely authentic. I would also love to get my hands on the same author's book, "The Search For India" which, from my memory of the library copy I pored over in the '70s, is an equally impressive scholarly combination of prose and illustration on the history of exploration. I already own his book entitled "Columbus" which is another piece of meticulous scholarship with the same type of wonderful illustrations which transport the reader "there."

Rating:
Summary: Superb volume on development of ship technology and history
Review: This book is a must for naval history buffs. Theillustrations are all colour line drawings by theauthor and it's surprising it is not better known. Norman Boyd