Customer Reviews

Ironclads At War: The Origin And Development Of The Armored Battleship

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While the subject matter of this book was of great interest to me, I found it to be so poorly written that it was unreadable; the prose is dull and redundant, there are numerous grammatical errors, and the information provided is utterly superficial. The same material is covered in much greater detail in H. w. Wilson's "Ironclads in action" (1895), a book of which this seems to be but a poor repetition. Even the graphics in Conway's "All the worlds ships 1860-1905" are far superior. If you are a serious scholar of naval history - or even a casual wargamer - find another book.

It is particulary good in its coverage of those ironclads in the service of other nations beyond the Royal Navy and the United States Navy. Contains well-done sections on the Seven Weeks War at sea, the wars of the South American Pacific coast including the Huáscar, and the Japanese Civil War.

This book should be praised for its coverage of the entire scope of naval combat during the "ironclad" era. The author gives a good explanation on how the armored ship came about and what impact they had on the countries developing them. It is the only book that I have seen that covers one of the largest fleet actions in the Americas, the naval battle of Riachuelo. This battle and the war that it was fought in are usually left out of naval histories. There are some details that are wrong, which is why I don't give this book 5 stars, but it is far better than books that give us re-hash and imply that the only important events in the period were the American civil war and the extremely dull battle of Lissa. Let's see more books like this. one.

I knew everything about the battleships, but what about their ancestors, the ironclads? Now, with this book, everything on that forgotten subject is revealed in great details. And not just about the Monitor and Virginia, but for every other major and minor navies in the world in that period. When you're tired of books about Pearl Harbor, try this one for a change!

Ironclads have been neglected by naval historians. However, they could be considered the ancestors of the battleships and they saw a lot of fighting. So, their history remains largely to be written. This book is an attempt to cover that void. But do not be fooled by the need to complete your personal naval library. I am not knowledgeable in all the campaigns described but the chapters concerning the south american wars are waste and I have my doubts about the japanese civil war. This book can be used as a limited basis to develop your knowledge about these ships, but do not accept it as a gold standard or you will perpetuate many wrong concepts in your understanding of naval warfare.