Customer Reviews

USS Olympia: Herald of Empire

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

 

 

I don't usually write reviews in response to other reviews. But the previous review is so unfair that I felt compelled to reply. Ship modelers are not the only, or even the primary, readers of naval history. "USS Olympia: Herald of Empire" is a very good history of a famous American warship, in the tradition of Tyrone Martin's "The Most Fortunate Ship: The USS Constitution" and Edward Stafford's "The Big E: The USS Enterprise." Its author, Benjamin Franklin Cooling, is one of our preeminent naval historians.

For anyone interested in naval history the absence of a multitude of diagrams and pictures is not a drawback. It may, in fact, be an asset. While I appreciate some appropriate photos, maps and perhaps a ship design, my real interest is in an historical text, which recounts the history of the vessel and the engagements it fought.

I have no interest in picture books filled with hundreds of photos and drawings with virtually no text about a ship's hisory. If, by mistake, I were to order such a book I would probably send it back for lack of interest. Others, of course, may, for their own reasons, find such a book fascinating. Chacun son gout.

I recently went to see the USS Olympia berthed in Philadelphia. This was the third time I have gone to see this historic ship. Before going to see it this time I decided to read a book I received as a gift years ago. You guessed it, USS Olympia: Herald of Empire.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I cracked it open. To my delight the USS Olympia came alive. Cooling does an excellent job of using the diaries of enlisted men as well as many other sources to give you an idea of life aboard the ship. I felt like I was a part of the crew sailing around the Far East from port to port. This is as much a history of the men aboard the USS Olympia as it is about the ship itself.

Cooling takes you from the naval architect's drawing board and construction all the way to the present condition of the USS Olympia. In-between, you take a journey with the crew to the Far East station in the 1890's, to the Battle of Manila Bay, and then you eventually get to World War I (including intervention in Russia), with the journey of the Unknown Soldier across the Atlantic and ending with the restoration project of modern times. All the while you get a good idea of what life was like on the ship, on a yearly basis.

The book is not perfect. Cooling periodically gives figures about ship costs compared to other vessels (the USS Olympia was apparently an expensive ship to operate). This becomes tedious after awhile, but it was not enough of a bother to lower my star rating.

On the whole, this book was very pleasing to read and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with an interest in maritime, Spanish-American War, or even just general history. After picking this book up, I couldn't put it down.

If you are looking for a well-written, picture-laden documentary on one of the most famous of U.S. warships, I think you'd better keep looking. B.F. Cooling's "U.S.S. Olympia: Herald of Empire" was a HUGE disappointment. For those of us who are used to well-illustrated ship's biographies in the manner of the Squadron series or some of the other books in the US Naval Institute Series ("American Battleships 1886-1923" comes to mind), this volume will NOT satisfy. There was not a single ship's plan, elevation, rigging diagram, or side-by-side comparison; not a single map, not a single illustrative drawing--only a dozen or so poorly-reproduced, tiny, and fuzzy photographs of the ship and some of the men that served aboard her. Ship modelers beware--you and the Revell "USS Olympia" model are still on your own. In addition, the prose was overwrought and burdened with useless minutiae and excess detail, plus quote upon quote from diaries, news accounts, and personal recollections without streamlining or editing--all just thrown together. Most of this stuff was not needed and certainly not engaging enough to include. And the price of this book--way too much for what you get. My advice--steer clear of this one.

As another reviewer said, I don't always write my reviews in response to other reviews. However, the reviewer who complains that this is not an acceptable book because it isn't aimed at modelers, is basing his comments and rating on selfish and unrealistic expectations.

I too am an avid modeler. I also love naval history. I bought this book to enhance my knowledge of the subject, and found it to be an EXCELLENT book. It also helped my modeling of the subject, not through plans, but through inspiration. This book gives an account of the subject from a historical perspective, and focuses not only on the physical ship herself, but also the exploits of the ship and her crew, as well as contextual ties between the ship, the United States Navy, and the geopolitics during her time of service.