British Cruisers of the Victorian Era - A Review

[Subnuts]

Well, I figure it's been a long time since I wrote a real full-length book review, so the other night I took off my work shirt and put on my Subsim shirt, made a physic connection with Sailor Steve (okay, not really, but I'm sure he'll be nodding his head throughout this review), and got to work. Bring some coffee - this is a long one!

-Review can be found here in Subsim Book Reviews

[Sailor Steve]

HEY! I'm not a psychot...psychi...one of those!

Seriously, nice review. We all have different talents, and writing full-on reviews is not one of mine. If I didn't already own the book I think you'd have me buying it.

[Onkel Neal]

New book review by Subnuts!

Oh, Norman Friedman, how you beguile me sometimes. You have this amazing knack of hunting down obscure bits of information and incorporating it into your books. You make the frustrating and arcane process of ship design and naval architecture seem really interesting. You make me care about naval tactics, the politics of national defense, block coefficients, and low-angle fire control. You somehow have this amazing ability to combine all this stuff into a single cohesive naval history book. But darn it, as an actual human being, reading your books can put a real strain on my mental facilities. It usually pays off in the end, but I sometimes find myself having to put together a sort of "cheat sheet" halfway through. But I love your stuff anyway. Why?

[MGR1]

I have to second Subnuts, it's a very good book!

I can also thoroughly recommend Friedman's other volume on British cruisers, as well as both destroyer books.

Mike.

[Subnuts]

Interesting that this book got a pretty big sales bump on Amazon after my review was posted on the main page. I guess a cautious recommendation goes a long way when it's a cautious recommendation on subsim.com.

Still, I want to give Norman Friedman's new book on naval anti-aircraft guns and gunnery a go. Maybe if I can get a review copy. Hint, hint...

[Sailor Steve]

Cool! I have his book Naval Firepower, which got some mediocre reviews on Amazon. Most of the complaints concerned the fact that it's not about guns, but about the development of Fire Control - rangefinders and gun directors. I like it, but I take it for what it is, and I've learned a bit. On the other hand Peter Padfield's Guns At Sea covers the same ground with less detail but more easily understood.

[iambecomelife]

I was shocked to see this review...I literally just bought the book as a reference for the British cruisers I'm modeling for my WWI mod, "Wolves of the Kaiser". I haven't spent nearly enough quality time with it, but I agree wholeheartedly with the praise and criticism.

On the plus side you really do get an excellent idea of how politics, other nations' fleet doctrines, and empire building affected each cruiser design. Literally every cruiser crevice seems to get a mention...lol...from coal scuttles to torpedo tubes to the different lifeboats. And the drawings themselves have a wonderful level of detail.

On the negative side, I too was frustrated by how many details were sunk in the space between each pair of pages...extremely disheartening when I need good line drawings to design my models. I'm thinking about getting another copy and having the binding removed so the profiles can be scanned properly.

Nevertheless, it was a great buy for an armored cruiser lover like myself...they have a special place in my heart bc these were very attractive, imposing ships. Not to mention that they figured large in nearly all of the Royal Navy misadventures I read about when I was a boy...for instance, HMS Hampshire sunk with Lord Kitchener, and HMS Black Prince vs. the whole High Seas Fleet at point blank range. And then, of course, there were Aboukir/Cressy/Hogue and the "Live Bait Squadron", which kind of disturbed me as a kid....THREE in one day? Really?....

Anyways, a fact-packed read with a few technical issues detracting, but a cruiser lover's delight. A great reference on the fleet's unsung heroines. My verdict is 4/5 stars.