Customer Reviews

Navy Times Book of Submarines, The: A Political, Social and Military His

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While much of any history of submarines will focus on things mechanical, this book goes much farther and more than justifies its sub-title, "A Political, Social and Military History." I was fascinated to see that the political and social aspects of military systems -- or strategies -- have not changed much over the four hundred or so years covered by this book. A comment on comments of "Reader from Rochester" who offered an unflattering review -- where Reader found "superior attitude," I found (and enjoyed) sardonic humour. Be that as it may, Reader ought to hire-out as a professional copy editor, because the irritating errors he spotted (i.e., typos) obviously slid by the publisher's fact-checkers and proofreaders. As for the 3"/50 caliber deck gun -- that's a designation used for naval guns, where "caliber" is the length of the barrel measured as a multiple of the diameter of the bore. Thus, in this instance, a 3" bore and a 150" tube. Obviously, the publisher's copy editor didn't understand this, either, and stuck a period in front of the 50.

I picked up this title to round out my collection--and discovered that it seems to have made some portions of "my collection" obsolete. Following Harris's lead, I could see where a lot of other authors, including several who are very well-known today, seem to have been copying each other without making any apparent effort to check their facts. Oh, there may be some errors in this book; I found one--the WWII USS Nautilus probably did not "give the coup de grace to the crippled Japanese carrier Soryu," although a lot of authors have also said so. Whatever--this is not only a "must have" for any serious student of naval warfare--but is actually an enjoyable read.

This book stands out from others in its subject area by the amount of space it devotes to coverage of the very early days of submarines, a subject little covered by others.

However, my enjoyment of it was greatly diminished by the manner in which the author repeatedly heaps scorn upon the other books which apparently contain factual errors that are now finally being corrected in this volume. I rapidly tired of the author's superior attitude, and eventually found myself being annoyed by it.

But despite the fact that this book is quick to criticize other submarine books for being "riddled with errors," it suffers from the same defect itself! Many ship's names are misspelled (Thetis, Ramillies, Plantagenet, etc), gun calibers are quoted in an erroneous manner (I've never heard of a 3 inch / .50 caliber), Hitler's birthday is given incorrectly as 4/18, and numerous other words and names are misspelled. And these are only the ones that I recognized straight away; who knows if other facts are garbled. Perhaps this author too was "in a hurry" to go to press, and thus committed the same mistake of allowing errors to slip through. I realize that the items I listed are mostly of a minor nature, but for a book which makes such a big deal about the errors of others, they are inexcusable. The only other submarine book that I have read which contains the same density of defects is Peter Padfield's "War Beneath the Sea", but then Padfield doesn't assume any tones of superiority, so he is much easier to forgive.

In all, a useful addition to the submarine bookshelf, but flawed, mostly by the author's tiresome attitude.

If you want a general history of submarines from the start till now its okay.

It covers the early history very well right up to WW1. Has quite a few quite interesting facts nothing though I felt of any major significance.

WW2 is sort of covered.

What particularly did annoy me is that the post war era, I felt this section was very short and badly covered. What there is almost all about the US, a little about Russia and almost nothing about anyone else.

.. . Harris's overview proves a useful guide to a mass of data and doctrine frequently forbidding to nonspecialists. The book's strongest feature is its narratives of German U-boat operations in the world wars. These emphasize the submarine's role as an economy-of-force weapon for lesser naval powers and the contingency of allied victory in both campaigns. Harris later develops the subject of preparedness more directly, assessing innovations recently made by the Russians and insisting that nuclear boats remain inherently superior to even the best modern diesel designs and should therefore be central to the U.S. Navy's procurement program. Elsewhere, Harris downplays the "official" point of view. This fact enhances his study as a counterpoint to Dan van der Vat's British-accented Stealth at Sea and as a useful, if unbalanced, popular introduction to the subject.

I have read nearly every decent book you can get on U-boats and submarine warfare during WWI and WWII. This new book is one of the better books that offers you a more complete understanding of their historical background and role. Most people know about the U-boats and the terrible campaign they waged against Merchant shipping during both World Wars but who knows about the very early submarines, their sometimes unfortunate crews and their inventors.

This was a great story and I was unsure if I would find the history behind the submarine as interesting as its role in naval warfare but I did. The author tells a great story that never gets boring and keeps you reading page after page with interesting bits of information and first hand accounts of those involved. I found this book easy to read and it was a joy to lay back and read a few pages each night.

I gave this book to my father -- a World War II Merchant Mariner, who came under frequent U-boat attack. But I read it first, and was amazed at the range and depth of the material. I learned more about submarine -- and anti-submarine -- warfare from this book than I ever had in 25 years as a naval officer! And, I must say, I enjoyed the journey. Captain Kathleen Kelley, USNR

This is a very readable, engaging history of submarine technology, events and politics. Highly recommended. Contains a number of black and white illustrations and photos but is primarily text.

Covers submarines from very early origins (1580!) to present times. The book is weighted towards the pre-1945 era: about one third of the book covers pre-1914 developments with much of the rest covering the two world wars. There's relatively light coverage of the Cold War and present era - less than 50 pages.

Category: submarine history

Technical content: average

Overall: excellent

I found this book an informative and fast moving history of the submarine from the earliest example through today's nuclear fleet. Of special interest are the convoluted politics and people involved. The reading is light but detailed, serious but yet sometimes humorous and the references informative. The correction of past misunderstandings and their sources provide a true perspective of submarine development.

By Admiral Frank B. Kelso, USN (Retired), career submariner and former Chief of Naval Operations: "Captain Harris has written an informative and entertaining history of submarines and the people involved in their invention and operation. The book covers the period from the early vision of a submarine to recent times, and includes a great deal of history that was new to me . . . . This book will likely disappoint those who are looking for greater detail in the history of U. S. submarines in World War II . . . . Others will think that the nucler era needs more attention. But Harris does give us the early days of the submarine in great detail. He describes those early years in most entertaining prose and has uncovered and pieced together submarine history which was both new and exciting... This is a book of submarine history and its leading characters. Throughout their history, submarines have fascinated many. This book will explain the fascination and make for enjoyable reading." (February, 1998)