Fleets Of World War Ii: Amazon.ca: Richard Worth: Books

Product Description

For decades, the legions of World War II buffs interested in Allied and Axis naval history were limited to expensive, multi-volume works written for specialists. No longer will this be the case. Fleets of World War II, packed with data and illustrated throughout, is not a simple list of ships but a fascinating and often pungent appraisal of those ships and the fleets they served. Japan built the world's largest battleships with guns bigger than anything in the Allied arsenal-but was bigger in fact better? The British engaged in a wartime flurry of ship production-but did they build the ships they needed for victory? Fleets of World War II dispels the clutter, providing a straightforward appraisal that is nothing short of revelatory.A complete resource, the book includes every nation that took part in the war, along with the key neutrals. Each fleet is surveyed in totality, from the mighty battleships to the humble motor launches. The systematic, plain-English presentation makes for easy reference: nation by nation, ship by ship, with a multitude of details on design, strategy, and combat available nowhere else.

About the Author

Richard Worth, a free-lance writer and contributor to the Naval Gazette, has won the Award for Excellence in Military History from the Association of the United States Army. He lives in Florida.

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars A great start or finish to any naval collection, May 4 2004

By

"wolfshanze" (Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fleets Of World War Ii (Hardcover)

I am incredibly pleased with this book. I've been collecting WWII naval books for some time and this was the feather in the cap of my personal library. As others have stated, finding a book with extensive stats or storylines on the Bismarck or Iowa is quite easy, but it's very difficult to find good (consistent) material on the minor navies of WWII and thier less-famous warships.

If you're looking for in-depth analysis of a particular ship or overly detailed statistics or schematics, this book is NOT for you. On average each ship has only the base stats covered (tonnage, knots, etc) and about a paragraph of analysis/comments. So if you want detailed information on the major warships in WWII, there are better books that focus on the "big names".

What this book excels at, is filling all the nooks and cranies always missing from the more focused works. Do you want to know about Norwegian, Swedish or Finnish Pansarskepps? It's here... Do you want to know about China's pre-WWI cruisers? It's here... Trying to find out the warships of neutral countries like Portugal, Spain or Turkey? It's all here. Bottom line, this book gives a cursory glance over every major and minor warship from well-known to obscure and belligerant to neutral. While not the most in-depth book on any single ship, I have never seen a single book cover as many ships from as many nations in WWII as this book does, which in my opinion makes it a great start or finish to any WWII naval library you may keep at home.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Attn author: don't stop with this one book., Dec 9 2003

By

Alan R. Reno (Brigadoon, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fleets Of World War Ii (Hardcover)

Ten bucks off the cover price is the one improvement this work needs. A fine book for a landlubber such as myself seeking a non-technical intro to WWII battlefleets. Ships normally given short-shift in other naval tomes (Mine-sweepers, corvettes, patrol craft etc) are painstakingly listed and described.
Other reviewers moaned the lack of line drawings...oh, please. Looks like you'll just have to read the fine print. Too many WWII books are long on graphics, short on theory.
I enjoyed the nitty gritty details as in each of the Yamato's main turrets weighed as much as a destroyer, that Italian designs mounted their gun muzzles too close for any degree of accuracy, that many US cruisers were top heavy, to the point of instability, with the latest gear.
I'm glad I made this purchase. Enjoy.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A good read..., Aug 22 2003

By

S. OCALLAGHAN (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fleets Of World War Ii (Hardcover)

The author has done a great job. This book is full of obscure facts and some suprising opinions that will get the reader thinking. It has filled a void in the field and I recommend it without reservation.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent Starting point
This seems to have a listed every nation that existed during the entire time frame of the conflict (1939-1945). They are listed in alphabetical order of the Nation. Read more

Published on Dec 6 2002 by Charles H. Berlemann Jr.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Completely Worthless
The notes on the inner flap of the dust cover promise more than this book delivers. For instance, it says, "The British engaged in a wartime flurry of ship production - but did... Read more

Published on Aug 10 2002 by Mr. Roy B. Mccammon