[Subnuts]

Amazon is being annoying and taking forever to publish my review of "Tribals, Battles, and Darings" (must have unwittingly p&^#d in their cornflakes again), so I thought I'd post it here instead.


(TL,DR: It's okay but has issues.)

I genuinely dislike being excessively critical of an author's first book so soon after its publication. Normally I'd see how far they've evolved after three or four books and THEN look back at their first. "Tribals, Battles and Darings" seems like a terribly well-meaning work, attempting to explain the rationale behind these ships, the operations they were involved in, and the lessons the modern Royal Navy could learn from them. Keeping that in mind, this book definitely has some issues which should have been worked out before publication. Considering that the ships described within were often criticized for biting off more than they could chew, it's somewhat ironic that it suffers from the same problem.

What we're left with, mainly, is less a study of these ships' design, development, and operations, and more a somewhat rambling vindication of the "back pocket cruiser" concept. More than half of it consists of blow-by-blow accounts of all the major battles and naval operations the British "Tribals" were involved in. Mildly interesting, but there are no maps (crucial to understanding complex naval engagements), and some bits are questionable, the "Bismarck" being hit by three torpedoes and burning after the destroyer encounter of May 26/27, 1941, and the truly bizarre explanation of "combing" a spread of torpedoes, being two obvious examples. The writing lacks confidence and focus all too often; while several naval battles are mentioned without explanation, Dr. Clarke feels the need to explain what ASDIC was and how depth charges worked. There's also virtually nothing on the Australian and Canadian ships of these classes.

I purchased the Kindle edition, so I'm not sure if the hardcover has the same problem, but there are dozens of typos and editing errors. The picture quality is decent, but except for a couple of diagrams (including perspective deck plans of the "Daring" class), they're all exterior shots. As much as I wanted to love this book, I'm feeling distinctly underwhelmed. Considering how many times this book was delayed over the last year, it STILL feels unfinished, the complete absence of any technical details, or even a basic specifications sheet for each ship, being a glaring example. If you're interested in how these ships came to be, check out Norman Friedman's "British Destroyers and Frigates." If technical details and diagrams are more your thing, "Destroyer Cossack" in the "As Detailed in the Original Builder's Plans" is excellent.