The Independence Light Aircraft Carriers [Hardcover]

Andrew Faltum (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Nautical & Aviation Pub Co of Amer; 1St Edition edition (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1877853623
• ISBN-13: 978-1877853623
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,063,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too general ..., March 18, 2003

By 

Rick Jackson (Oklahoma City, Ok) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Independence Light Aircraft Carriers (Hardcover)

This is a very rare instance of a `dis-recommendation'. This is the second of two books by this author, the other focusing on Essex class carriers. While the other book was nothing remarkable, it was OK. For this book the subject is, as the author stated, one that has received little previous coverage. Taking the two into account, I decided to include it on my Christmas gift list hoping to flesh out my library concerning this type of ship.

The problem with this book is that it reads almost exactly as the first. Instead of being an in-depth analysis of the ships, it consists mainly of history any buff will already own in a dozen other books. The very first chapter gives some of the history and reasons the class came into being, but after that it mostly consists of a recap of the campaigns and battles of the Pacific theatre. Since these were mostly the focus of fleet carriers---well as I said, if you have any other book covering the air war in the Pacific, you have this book. The most that can be said is that some of the anecdotes are from the perspective of those that served on light carriers, but this just isn't enough.

All this is made worse by the cost of the book. ... If you can get it for about half price and don't already have other books on these carriers already, then you might consider buying it. A much more cost-effective alternative would be US Light Carriers In Action published by Squadron/Signal. The history coverage might not be as in-depth, but it has many more useful pictures and diagrams and is nearly one-third the price.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a ..., October 29, 2002

By 

Roger B. Coon (Bozeman, MT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Independence Light Aircraft Carriers (Hardcover)

This book is essentially the same thing as the earlier Essex
Class Aircraft Carriers. Whole chapters are nearly identical.
The book is basically a very, very sketchy history of US carrier
ops in WW2 with a very little bit of Independence class material
tossed in. The author probably spent less than 5000 words
on the Independence class itself.
Someday someone will write a true history of the class, this
isn't it.

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent reference source for CVLs., September 17, 2010

By 

paa bear - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Independence Light Aircraft Carriers (Hardcover)

This is an excellent reference source for an often neglected or overlooked class of warships that played a very important part in WWII. I strongly recommend it for anyone interested in Naval Aviation.