D. K. Brown (1928–2008)

In this monograph on the "victory...of perceived political necessity over military reality," the author traces the road to British assault on the French navy on an almost communique by communique basis, as political and naval partnership is braided together and then rapidly flies apart, leading to disaster. Brown is very hard on Churchill, and probably deservedly so, but one still has to admit that Winnie had more reason than most leaders to embrace the preemptive option under the show more circumstances in question. show less

A real sheets and rivets book, quite informative for fans of the WWII navies. The prose is clear and not riddled with clichés. Pricy, though. But it does contain completion as well as launch dates. If only commissioning dates were added?

Everything you thought you knew about the early Victorian navy is wrong. This book helped me to think about how and why military organization implement technical innovation in a new way, and is hightly recommended.

This is the second volume, this one dealing with the smaller vessels, mostly anti-submarine, that the British navy ran during WWII. For the kind of buff I am, one of the principal features of this book is the list of Completion dates of the ships. Now, all I need are the commissioning dates...