Antony Preston (1938–2004)

Preston is so damn cranky, and he lets it all out in this very idiosyncratic list of crappy warships. Some of them are hilariously bad: early ironclads that flipped over after a 20 degree list; the circular Popovkas which spun when firing their guns and could not make way against even a mild current; hydrogen-peroxide powered submarines that mostly choked their crews. However, the hilarious follies are outnumbered by the banally bad-pricey cruisers that couldn't take heavy seas, attempts to show more outmatch falsely reported speeds on foreign ships, and way too many attempts to "fit a quart into a pint glass" by second-rate powers like the French and Japanese.

Unfortunately, this book is caught halfway between freakshow and system. Preston knows what kinds of ships he likes: tough, moderately-sized, seagoing ships, with conservative armor and armament. He is merciless on anything innovative, sometimes rightfully with a Swedish combined cruiser-aircraft carrier-minelayer, and sometimes unfairly as when he dismisses missile armed corvettes as a class. He hates it whenever "enthusiasts" get ahold of naval procurement, but I get the feeling he'd be happiest with 72 gun ships of the line, and damn this newfangled steam. show less

The book is organized into two major sections. The first is a narrative history of the gunboats and gun vessels that served in Victorian times from their first use in the Crimean War up through their removal from the Navy by Jackie Fisher early in the twentieth century. The second major section is a catalog of the two types of vessels through their various classes. This updated edition of Send a Gunboat has some additional material, including a section on the restoration of HMS Gannet. show more Additionally there has been some re-organization, including moving the footnotes all to one section at the end of the narrative history. There are numerous photos, illustrations and maps. The book does have some drawbacks. Due to the breath of the period covered, all of the gunboat/gun vessel actions are not described in detail, and certainly a working knowledge of Victorian military and political history would be of benefit to the reader to help make appreciation of some of the activities more meaningful. Still, overall it's a well done effort with excellent production quality. show less

Generally effective book, similar to the Osprey military history books that emerged roughly about the same time. In this case, focusing on a particular class of corvette, the ship that bore the brunt of dealing with the U-Boats during the Battle of the Atlantic. Solid book.

This is a good handbook containing Battlecruisers, Dreadnoughts and Super Dreadnoughts as well as some Coast Defence Ships. There are also some ships of the cancelled post-War designs. The photos are good, the deck plans and line drawings are of high standards. As this book deals with minor navies as well as the six big navies, it is an excellent purchase.