- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (Feb 15 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1591149738
- ISBN-13: 978-1591149736
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 898 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #79,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't be done better!, Jan 22 2012
By Richard Rinn - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Warships After Washington: The Development of the Five Major Fleets, 19221930 (Hardcover)
First of all, I am not expert in interwar weapons control, naval design, geopolitical history, or the complex interplay all three. However, John Jordan clearly is! I know enough in each of these areas to recognize someone who has a remarkably integrative grasp of his subject matter, and brings to it rare enthusiasm and shrewd insight. Suscinct but thoughtful text is matched by numerous excellent diagrams, charts, and photo illustrations. Nerdish though it may sound, this is a book to savour and appreciate slowly. Flipping at random through its 300+ pages is an exercise of discovery; concentrated reading brings a wealth of carefully marshalled information and detailed analysis. Ever wonder why the naval war of World War II was fought the way it was? Personalities, national command philosophies and strategies, geography, and many other factors were obviously important; but Jordan demostrates from a technical point of view why the combatant navies were built and euipped such as they were as of September 1, 1939 or December 7, 1941. Wars (at least initially) are "come as you are" and are fought with the weapons developed and built during preceeding peace time. The Washington and subsequent London Treaties determined how many and what types of ships would be at hand when hostilities erupted. What is perhaps most interesting are the unintended consequences of a well-meant attempt to restrain a naval arms race and restrict procurement of progessively larger and more lethal battlehips: see, for instance, Jordan's virtuoso discussion of "Treaty" cruisers. Having dealt with the period 1922 to 1930, it would be great to see him apply similar methodology to other eras of warship design; a post-London Treaty book dealing with the 1930's and early 1940's would be most welcome!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A clear, well written book, Feb 12 2012
By Ben Ice "Ice? Nein." - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Warships After Washington: The Development of the Five Major Fleets, 19221930 (Hardcover)
This book covers a period of naval history that is often neglected but is very important. Books tend to cover the wars and the ships during the wars. This book instead examines the interwar period and shows how the politics of this period molded the designs of the warships after World War I.The Washington Naval Conference and its associated treaties arose out in the aftermath of World War I from the desire, particularly a desire of a near bankrupt Britain, to prevent another naval race. The resulting Five Power Naval Treaty placed limits on the total size of naval fleets in terms of total fleet tonnage and on displacement of individual warships. Mr. Jordan's book looks at how these treaty mandated size limits affected warship design and naval strategy, particularly in the context of the changing technology of the time.
The author handles this complicated subject with aplomb. The writing is clear and the ideas are well presented. This is a fairly technical area of history that the book makes more understandable.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid and a new look at an old topic, Mar 6 2012
By jack greene - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Warships After Washington: The Development of the Five Major Fleets, 19221930 (Hardcover)
John Jordan has written a solid book on naval warships of the five major powers in the 1922-1930 period - hence the name - after the Washington Treaty.He has done solid research on primarily technical issues on why certain warships were designed and built in that period. He is particularly strong on the French. He has a really excellent conversion table at the start of the book for working in metric and English sizes for speed, length, boilers, guns, etc. Jordan is very successful in the use of numerous diagrams of the ships with much detail. He goes into many of the problems of the designs as well, spending a lot of time, for example, on why certain guns had poor rates of fire. In describing the warships he goes beyond a simple Jane's Fighting Ships layout of what the thickness of armor was or the trial speed. He discusses in detail why a layout of the armor worked or didn't or why a ship did or did not make or maintain its designed speed.
Kudos to the publisher Seaforth for producing a physically high quality book, along with excellent photographic reproduction and layout. Some small errors, the Italo-Turkish War was 1911-12, the sinking of the ex- Austro-Hungarian battleship Viribus Unitis was after it was transferred to the Yugoslavian Navy (and renamed) and was not sunk in October 1918, but November 1.
If you are a naval wargamer of this period or you are interested in ship design and the weaknesses and strengths of various interwar ships, this is a must have book. It is not definitive on the subject (it needs to be expanded), but certainly a keeper.
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