New Naval Book

[DaveBrt]

OT, but of interest to some on this Forum:

Aidan Dodson, Before the Battlecruiser: The Big Cruiser in the Worlds Navies, 1865-1910.
Naval Institute Press, 256 p, 8 1/2x11, 450 illustrations, hardcover, $57.95, November 2018

The battlecruiser is perceived by many as the most glamorous of warships, remembered for its triumphs and tragedies in both world wars. Often forgotten are its lineal ancestors, the big cruisers that were constructed as capital ships for distant waters, as commerce raiders, and as fast scouts for the battle fleet during the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first years of the twentieth.

In this new book by bestselling author Aidan Dobson, the two hundred or so big cruisers that were built for the world's navies from 1865 are described and analyzed in detail.

Dodson is a senior research fellow at the University of Bristol. The author of seventeen books and over four hundred articles and reviews.

 

[Legion Para]

 

[USS ALASKA]

Hopefully this will be a useful volume to go along side Friedman's 'British Cruisers of the Victorian Era'. Looking at the author's other works on Amazon, most are about Ancient Egypt. Saw only one other about Naval Vessels.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[nitrofd]

This does sound interesting but my stack of unread books at the momment i think would stop me from buying it sadly.

 

[rebelatsea]

What with all those railroad book and now this I need a bigger house or a padlock on my credit card !

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

This does sound interesting but my stack of unread books at the momment i think would stop me from buying it sadly.

I'd agree, except that I have a number of Egyptology books by Dodson and he's a terrific writer. (Odd change of topic for him, but hey, I'm interested in both too, so it's not all that strange.) So, on the Amazon Wish List it goes!

 

[AndyHall]

This does sound interesting but my stack of unread books at the momment i think would stop me from buying it sadly.

Wait -- a pile of unread books is a reason to hold off buying more? WHAT IS THIS HERESY?

 

[kevikens]

Do you know if the ABC steel cruisers authorized in the 1880's were envisioned in those terms?

 

[DaveBrt]

I'd agree, except that I have a number of Egyptology books by Dodson and he's a terrific writer. (Odd change of topic for him, but hey, I'm interested in both too, so it's not all that strange.) So, on the Amazon Wish List it goes!

Dodson was also a Project Manager for a RN escort's development.

 

[Carronade]

Do you know if the ABC steel cruisers authorized in the 1880's were envisioned in those terms?

They don't strike me as the big or first-class type, more like conventional or light cruisers (not that that was a designation at the time).

Maine was our first attempt at an armored cruiser (ACR-1) although the armored cruiser type evolved into something quite different while she was under construction. Maine actually ended up being quite similar in size, speed, armament, and armor to her battleship companion Texas.