Warships of the USSR and Russia 1945-1995

Rating:
Summary: Warships of the USSR and Russia 1945-1995
Review: Somewhat disappointing for a book by native source author. Text on ship classes is sparse, akin to the Jane's series. Expected to be more like Conway's series with substantive, informative, explanative text not available elsewhere; book didn't deliver in this respect. Line drawings look more than hand drawings; especially disappointing given Norman Friedman's involvement with this book. Good beginning when viewed as a first of more to come. The USSR and Russian navies have the mystery of the Imperial Japanese Navy (1860-1945); a distinct lack of definitive works. Hope revised and updated works are coming. Would be interesting for enthusiasts to compare this book's information with Jordan's 1983 book of USSR Navy (1960-1983) to determine how much new information since USSR breakup.

Rating:
Summary: Warships of the USSR and Russia 1945-1995
Review: Somewhat disappointing for a book by native source author. Text on ship classes is sparse, akin to the Jane's series. Expected to be more like Conway's series with substantive, informative, explanative text not available elsewhere; book didn't deliver in this respect. Line drawings look more than hand drawings; especially disappointing given Norman Friedman's involvement with this book. Good beginning when viewed as a first of more to come. The USSR and Russian navies have the mystery of the Imperial Japanese Navy (1860-1945); a distinct lack of definitive works. Hope revised and updated works are coming. Would be interesting for enthusiasts to compare this book's information with Jordan's 1983 book of USSR Navy (1960-1983) to determine how much new information since USSR breakup.

Rating:
Summary: An exellent documentary of the soviet fleet, superb info.
Review: The technical information given in this book surpasses any other examples own. As an fan of the Russian navy I would recommend this to any naval enthuisiast. unfortunately the print is not in colour but it is of high quality.

Rating:
Summary: Good Reference on the Soviet Navy
Review: This book is perhaps the first of its subject to use first hand sources. The various developments of Soviet naval vessels post-war is outlined plus a history of each vessel is mentioned. The book is at its best in giving the bureau number and designation as given by the Soviets, unlike most Western books which use NATO nomenclature. For the first time, many significant ships, especially the submarine classes, are outlined.

My only complaints are with the illustrationsand paper quality. The drawings are not to a consistent scale and many of them are rendered in a heavy black ink which makes details hard to distinguish. Photo quality could be better, but of course Cold War era photos of any quality are hard to come by. Photo and drawing reproduction quality could be improved if the book wwas printed on glossy paper (a suggestion for the next edition).

Rating:
Summary: Good Reference on the Soviet Navy
Review: This book is perhaps the first of its subject to use first hand sources. The various developments of Soviet naval vessels post-war is outlined plus a history of each vessel is mentioned. The book is at its best in giving the bureau number and designation as given by the Soviets, unlike most Western books which use NATO nomenclature. For the first time, many significant ships, especially the submarine classes, are outlined.

My only complaints are with the illustrationsand paper quality. The drawings are not to a consistent scale and many of them are rendered in a heavy black ink which makes details hard to distinguish. Photo quality could be better, but of course Cold War era photos of any quality are hard to come by. Photo and drawing reproduction quality could be improved if the book wwas printed on glossy paper (a suggestion for the next edition).