Warships After Washington: The Development of the Five Major Fleets…

If you read just one book about the Washington treaty, this should be it. The author gives an overview of the state and ambitions of the five powers in question, and then details by ship class how construction was affected by the treaty in the period up to the London Conference of 1930. You get a lot of analysis of ship design, mainly in the light of later war service.
Even so, the subject is vast and complicated, so inevitably there are shortcuts and oversights. The US and Japanese capital ship programmes are hardly touched upon, for instance. Stil, essential reading for anyone with an interest in WWII warships. ( )

Traces the development of the five major fleets between the two great naval treaties, Washington and London. Many of the ships involved ended up fighting in WWII. Discover the creation of the "treaty cruiser" of 10,000 tons and 8" guns. ( )