All the World's Battleships: 1906 To the Present (Conway Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Decent, but not outstanding
Review: As a compendium of all the battleships and battlecruisers built from 1906 onwards, Ian Sturton's book is an essential reference. But the line drawings are rather basic and only show a profile of each ship, and the photgraphs although well chosen are poorly printed and lack contrast and detail. There are better sources of information and debate, but as a collection of often esoteric vessels this deserves a look

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating but dated classic
Review: As a compendium of all the battleships and battlecruisers built from 1906 onwards, Ian Sturton's book is an essential reference. But the line drawings are rather basic and only show a profile of each ship, and the photgraphs although well chosen are poorly printed and lack contrast and detail. There are better sources of information and debate, but as a collection of often esoteric vessels this deserves a look

Rating:
Summary: Good, detailed and comprehensive, but monochrome
Review: Compared to "Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century", this book is more detailed and comprehensive, at the cost of a certain drabness. For instance, it explicitly describes every single US battleship from the South Carolina class of 1906 (BB26-7) to the six planned Iowas (BB61-6) and the cancelled Montanas (BB67-71). Every class is illustrated by a good (though single page width) line drawing showing a side view, and every two pages have one or two black-and-white photographs as well. Occasionally, there is a fine double-page photo like the beautiful one of Hood in a moderate sea on pages 88-9 (in my opinion worth £12.75 in itself).

Greatest emphasis is placed on technical details of construction and equipment, with sufficient explanation of design decisions. Brief accounts of each ship's active life are given, although of course this is not a book about naval history.

All in all, this book represents fine value for money. My only reservation is that it adopts a resolutely prosaic tone and (no doubt due to budget limitations) has a rather dull appearance. With a bit of colour and a rather more expansive allocation of space, this could be a truly exceptional book rather than just a good one.

Rating:
Summary: What you see is what you get.
Review: Towards the end of the 19th Century, the world's first great arms race was running a full speed. As either Britain or Germany (the two largest navies in the world at that time) built a big battleship - so the other side would simply design one that was even bigger. This attitude towards supremacy in weapons became infectious and, as far as battleships were concerned, continued right up to 1937 with the design and building of the ultimate Battleship of all time - the Yamato with it's 18.1in guns.

Conway Maritime Press are well known for their factual books on ships - especially warships, in which they provide the finest technical documentation. "All the World's Battleships - 1906 to Present" is hard-back measuring 11¼" x 8¾" with 190 pages of detailed and factual information. Commencing with Argentina all the world's battleships are listed by country - under which heading they are then displayed by "class of ship" commencing with the oldest vessels and ending with the latest. For each class there is one or more of those profile line drawings for which Conway's books have become so well known. These are followed by all the usual technical details such as; Displacement, dimensions, machinery, armour, armament and complement followed by the names of each ship within that class and it's builder, date laid down, date completed and fate. Next is a very "readable" potted history from which we learn of any political intrigue, variations between vessels, refits, new equipment, whatever defects or other problems that may have beset either the class or a specific ship and a short résumé of the fate of each vessel.

Finally, the book is well illustrated with an excellent selection of black and white photographs throughout with at least one photograph on almost every page.

It has been suggested that a few wretched typographical errors may have crept in (I didn't notice them!) and that one or two of the photographs may not be as sharp as we have come to expect in this day and age. Those photographs which are not pin-sharp are included because they are the only photographs which exist and come from an age when (a) cameras were not widely available, (b) all photography was in black and white and (c) photography itself was in it's infancy.

Altogether, I would describe this book as excellent value for money.

NM

Rating:
Summary: Decent, but not outstanding
Review: You get what you pay for.

Pros: Inexpensive, somewhat comprehensive in detail and scope (especially regards to "might-have-been ships such as the Owari, G3, and Lexington classes)

Cons: Weak editing in a few glaring cases (Bungo Straights, furore, calbier), black and white photos, line drawings only.
Inconsistent attention to detail (section on German ships went into detail on turret types, but this is not repeated with other nationalities).

Other notes:
1)Could be made more succesful if they included articles on various battleship related topics such as Washington Treaty, pre-dreadnought race, influence of politics upon battleship development, etc. The book has only a short intro before they begin talking about the various ships.

2) Useful as a reference book in conjunction with other books, but would not rely solely on this book as a reference.

Would recommend this as a "buy", but be aware of its limitations.