Customer Reviews

Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Your first impression upon recieving this will be just how huge it is. At just over 6cm (2.5 inchs) in thickness you had better strengthen your shelves and coffee tables. The huge impression does not stop there for inside the covers is a cruiser policy, design and operational history that makes excellent books like "Norman Friedman's US Cruisers - An Illustrated design history" and "Robert's - Britsh cruisers of WWII" look childlike in comparison (and these last two titles are amongst the best that money can buy being far better than their closest rivals). This book is for the dedicated naval buff and anyone intent on research in this topic.

Those of you who thought they had all the information they needed on Japanease cruisers from either "Whitley's - Cruisers of WWII" or "Conway's all the world's fighting ships 1922-47", think again. These books often berate the Japanease designs and certainly don't do them justice. Where as the authors of "Japanease cruisers of the Pacific War" have gone to great pains searching through even Japanease sources to write the most complete work on Japanease cruisers that there will ever be. You could say that the title often strays a little from cruisers as it delves deeply into policy and then the conplex subject of firecontrol. If you wanted to know how a type 94 Japanease director and computer functioned, its in this book along with simple diagrams and any of its ancesters used on board Japanease cruisers in WWII. In fact the number crunchers among you might enjoy the dispersion figures and statistical chances of hitting a target at 20000 metres and so on....

For those who just want to know the life and times of these ships, thats in there too. Modellers will find this work invaluable, for while the ship diagrams are small (they have to fit inside), none the less the diagrams and details on the ships superstrutures, the modifications they underwent, the internal arrangements, the armour schemes etc. are all in there. As far as I can tell only paint schemes and crew member names have been left out!

On general Japanease policy and Japanease ambitions in the interwar period and beyond, this work will prove an invaluble resource. Containing amongst other things, some Japanease inteligence of the time and their projected building programs. For example we now know that the 1940 Battlecruiser B64 often quoted in the west, should be B65 and that a class of 6 (not 2) ships were planned.

Like any book, there are some weaknesses. For me it was in the layout which was quite alien and tiring. A graphist here or there might have made it easier on the eye especially when flicking back and forth. However for the dedicated reader this work will leeve your jaw dropping in places such as when you learn that the cruiser Nachi underwent a final torrid ordeal of 9 torpedo and 20 bomb hits (a lot for a cruiser) and so on. This outstanding work has yet to become widely known as the definitive work on the subject. I fear that by the time it does, it will be no longer available with a high second hand market price. My advice is get it while you can or pay far more in the future.

This book is one of the best English language works on a specific subject, that of the cruisers of the Japanese Navy during World War 2. During the early phases of World War 2, Japanese cruisers posted an impressive combat record. The authors are experts on the IJN and many of the sources are unavailable outside Japan

For the modeler and historian, all aspects of Japanese heavy and light cruisers are illustrated, including armament, profile drawings, and operational histories. Some of the successes and failures of Japanese design, including the Takao class, possibly the most successful Japanese heavy cruisers to the Mogaim class, which attempted to place a heavy armament on a lightly constructed hull and were considerably overweight and later rebuilt, are explained in great detail

The profile drawings are well detailed, albeit extremely small; however they are useful in showing the arrangements of the ships. For the modeler and naval historian, this is a must book. With the recent proliferation of better detailed IJN cruiser models, this book is needed in any naval library.

I am speechless regarding the content of this book. No doubt it is quite heavy to carry around, but the quality of the book is not compromised at all. I have 2 books by Norman Friedman - U.S. Battleship Designs and U.S. Cruiser Designs - and I must say that the level of technical information is easily comprehendable by the average reader in the Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Also, the line drawings are not that small as was mentioned by the other reviewers, and they are the dream of all scale model enthusiasts who want to have the side and top views of the Japanese cruisers.
In conclusion, save your money and get this book while you can... You will not regret your decision (I didn't...).

Despite the effort to write this mammoth book (at 880 pages the largest in its class, requiring 50 years of research) the bottom line seems to be missing. It is a bottomless pit of facts, but lacks conclusions about the overall effectiveness of these warships, either against each other or against comparable ships of rival navies. Now I know how much a forward 8" gun director of the Atago weighed, but I still don't know how that director was integrated into the fire control system of the ship or how it contibuted to the net effectiveness of the ship. There is also no synthesis among the classes, that is, an evaluation of the overall results of the Japanese cruiser building program, rated against the programs of other navies. For a book this substantial, a Conclusions Chapter is a "must", and the fact that it is not there accounts for my low rating. However, the pure technical detail of the book was tremendous and the pictures and line drawings were superb. Now, can I find a place for it on my shelf?

This book should be considered the best book about IJN cruisers. The leading author, Dr. Lacroix, is considered the leading authority in the topic.The amount of data enclosed in its many pages is simply overwhelming. Pictures and drawings have been perfectly reproduced. Everything known about these fine ships is written in this book. Do not expect personal arguments or conclusions. This text is absolutely objective. It is one of the best books in my personal library.

This book is EVERYTHING it is advertised to be. The term "definitive" is often overused, but not in this case.

First thing I thought when recieving this book from our tame white van man was: that is very well packed. Till I discovered that about the whole package was the book itself.
I found it a very interesting read.
It gives a complete insight in the development history of these cruisers and show the choices made in designing these ships and the factors (technical or political) that influenced these choices.
The amount of detail is amazing. Where can you find drawings of the development of the bridge structures, even of individual ships within their classes ?
It must have been an incredible amount of work to sift through all the material that went into this book and write it up to a balanced and succesfull story about these ships.
Apart from my enthousiasm for this book it has a few small drawbacks.
Some of the drawings are printed on such a small scale that the keys are hardly readable. I would have liked some more photographs; but I very well understand the choices made, and they are certainly sufficient.
The operational histories are a bit dry and a bit to much of: and then we went there and then we went there.
What I missed was a reasoned discussion about the operational value of these ships in conflict with or in comparison with other relevant warships of their time.
But I consider them minor compared to the wealth of ordered information and relevant background as for instance the structure of the japanese navy, radar development and gun control systems. Illustrative for the quality is a nice detail as the description of the significance of the ships names.
A treat tot read, but reserve enough time to do it.

This is possibly the best book on a specific aspect of the Imperial Japanese Navy available in the English language. The authors are well-known experts on the Japanese navy and this book makes use of primary and secondary sources unavailable outside Japan.

For the modeler and historian, all aspects of Japanese heavy and light cruisers are illustrated, including armament, profile drawings, and operational histories. The profile drawings are well detailed, albeit extremely small; however they are useful in showing the arrangements of the ships. A caveat, this book is BIG, weighing at almost eight pounds, but for the naval historian/modeller,it is absolutely indispensable.

This book is the best source on Japanese cruisers for any type of source wether its for the dedicateted historian or model enthunist. I myself am building a 4.2m model of the heavy/seaplane cruiser Mogami and by reading this book and using its exilent drawing I found out that the plan were total wrong parts copyed from other ships. Note for Modelers this is an exilent book for begining a model it includes hull profiles, profile drawings and brige cut away drawings. Put this togeather with Janusz Skulski's book Anatomy of Ships Book The Heavy Cruiser Takao and you have just about all the deatalis for an IJN cruiser.

This is one of the best bathroom reads I have seen in a long time. ...Stuff like the average thickness of every plate of every cruiser in the Japanese Imperial Navy makes this something that you just cannot put down.

It is the Mother of All Reference Books on Japanese Cruisers. There is nothing to compare with it.

It is quite simply stupendous and will garner more than few stares from inquisitive guests.