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Participating in almost every major sea battle in World War II, cruisers found themselves pressed into a myriad of roles. They escorted battle lines, guarded convoys, patrolled oceans--even acted as mini-battleships, going toe-to-toe with dreadnoughts three times their size. Their duties ranged from the tedious but necessary to the desperate and deadly, yet history has given them little attention. In the Shadow of the Battleship gives these ships their due, with essays to explain the lineage and quirks that made cruisers what they were--the cornerstone of maritime supremacy.