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Submarines: The World's Greatest Submarines from the 18th Century to the Present
Submarines features the most significant submarines built, from the German U-9—which sank three British cruisers on September 22, 1914—through the huge Japanese I-400 class, to the great nuclear-powered submarines of the Cold War, such as the USS Los Angeles and Soviet Oscar class.
Also included are the “undersea cruiser” Surcouf; the highly successful Type VII U-boats of World War II; and the latest attack and ballistic missile submarines, such as HMS Astute, USS Virginia, the Chinese Type 094, and the Russian Yasen class. Each entry includes a brief description of the submarine's development and history, a color profile or cutaway, key features, and specifications. Packed with more than 200 artworks and photographs, Submarines is an accessible guide for those interested in naval history.
Also included are the “undersea cruiser” Surcouf; the highly successful Type VII U-boats of World War II; and the latest attack and ballistic missile submarines, such as HMS Astute, USS Virginia, the Chinese Type 094, and the Russian Yasen class. Each entry includes a brief description of the submarine's development and history, a color profile or cutaway, key features, and specifications. Packed with more than 200 artworks and photographs, Submarines is an accessible guide for those interested in naval history.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published June 14, 2022
5 people want to read
About the author
David Ross
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 2, 2024
N.b. - this is for the 2024 reprint.
It is a book about submarines. What more do you want?
Okay, so you need an explanation as to why this is cool? It is a book that talks about the history of submarines in warfare, starting with the Turtle of the U.S. revolution, through the U.S. Civil War and subsequent highly experimental phase, and into World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and unto the modern day. The book uses individual submarines to tell the history in general, though usually these are representative of a class. (There are one-offs though, even later than you might expect there to be.)
What is very cool is the art. It is beautiful and instructive. There are a few things that I had read about in the past that this book did a lot to help me understand through its visuals. Admittedly, as we get later in history, both because of the size of the vessels and the secrecy that still surrounds some of them, these become less instructive.
These are brief histories, in the sense that they are each only a few pages, without any sort of interstitial material other than the implied narrative of engineering. These are detailed histories in that the book does get nuts and bolts about the boats' forms and capacities.
What should not be cool, but is, is that the histories about the submarines are not conceptually consistent. What this means is that one might focus on the technology involved, whereas another might focus on battles that one was in, and another might focus on how it was modified over the years. As a rule, I do not like this sort of thing in histories, as it makes it harder to follow one thread, but here is the exception to that rule in the way that this allows the author to focus on whatever was the most interesting about that particular submarine and tell the best story out of the lot.
The weakness is that it is an overview, and as such it is easy to drown in detail without context. And I admit that I do not have the technical knowledge to assess all the assessments. But look, if you are like me and sometimes have that feeling come over of a desire to read about underwater propulsion systems, you are looking at the right book.
My thanks to the author, David Ross, for writing the book and to the publisher, Amber books, for providing the ARC to me.
It is a book about submarines. What more do you want?
Okay, so you need an explanation as to why this is cool? It is a book that talks about the history of submarines in warfare, starting with the Turtle of the U.S. revolution, through the U.S. Civil War and subsequent highly experimental phase, and into World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and unto the modern day. The book uses individual submarines to tell the history in general, though usually these are representative of a class. (There are one-offs though, even later than you might expect there to be.)
What is very cool is the art. It is beautiful and instructive. There are a few things that I had read about in the past that this book did a lot to help me understand through its visuals. Admittedly, as we get later in history, both because of the size of the vessels and the secrecy that still surrounds some of them, these become less instructive.
These are brief histories, in the sense that they are each only a few pages, without any sort of interstitial material other than the implied narrative of engineering. These are detailed histories in that the book does get nuts and bolts about the boats' forms and capacities.
What should not be cool, but is, is that the histories about the submarines are not conceptually consistent. What this means is that one might focus on the technology involved, whereas another might focus on battles that one was in, and another might focus on how it was modified over the years. As a rule, I do not like this sort of thing in histories, as it makes it harder to follow one thread, but here is the exception to that rule in the way that this allows the author to focus on whatever was the most interesting about that particular submarine and tell the best story out of the lot.
The weakness is that it is an overview, and as such it is easy to drown in detail without context. And I admit that I do not have the technical knowledge to assess all the assessments. But look, if you are like me and sometimes have that feeling come over of a desire to read about underwater propulsion systems, you are looking at the right book.
My thanks to the author, David Ross, for writing the book and to the publisher, Amber books, for providing the ARC to me.
April 21, 2022
Submarines: The World's Greatest Submarines from the 18th Century to the Present, by David Ross, is a visually engaging as well as informative journey through the history of the submarine.
I will admit to a bit of bias here, I served as a reactor operator aboard a submarine when I was younger and my father was career Navy, so this falls well inside my areas of interest. Though by doing so it does open itself up to perhaps harsher criticism. Fortunately, I found little here to take issue with.
While this very specifically highlights specific submarines it also serves as a nice history as well. There are certainly gaps as a history book but I don't get the impression this is really intended as a history book, more of a historical overview, which it does nicely. The illustrations show not only the features but, coupled with each write-up, the innovations that were made and what was carried forward to later vessels.
For those who have a love of submarines there may be some you would have liked included, such is the case with any book that has to make a selection for inclusion. I would have loved a section on the US vessel NR-1. While certainly an important submarine, my interest is also fueled by the fact my division chief had been a crew member and I have heard many stories. It not having an entry, however, does not detract from the wonderful coverage included.
In some ways this is a cross between a Jane's military book and a history book. Unlike Jane's, it is not a comprehensive accounting of current equipment, and unlike a history book it is not written as a narrative. That is not a complaint, it never aspires to be either of those and it succeeds very well as an episodic historical overview using different submarines as each episode. Great as either a reference or a book to read straight through.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
I will admit to a bit of bias here, I served as a reactor operator aboard a submarine when I was younger and my father was career Navy, so this falls well inside my areas of interest. Though by doing so it does open itself up to perhaps harsher criticism. Fortunately, I found little here to take issue with.
While this very specifically highlights specific submarines it also serves as a nice history as well. There are certainly gaps as a history book but I don't get the impression this is really intended as a history book, more of a historical overview, which it does nicely. The illustrations show not only the features but, coupled with each write-up, the innovations that were made and what was carried forward to later vessels.
For those who have a love of submarines there may be some you would have liked included, such is the case with any book that has to make a selection for inclusion. I would have loved a section on the US vessel NR-1. While certainly an important submarine, my interest is also fueled by the fact my division chief had been a crew member and I have heard many stories. It not having an entry, however, does not detract from the wonderful coverage included.
In some ways this is a cross between a Jane's military book and a history book. Unlike Jane's, it is not a comprehensive accounting of current equipment, and unlike a history book it is not written as a narrative. That is not a complaint, it never aspires to be either of those and it succeeds very well as an episodic historical overview using different submarines as each episode. Great as either a reference or a book to read straight through.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
May 21, 2022
The history of military submarines is revealed to be a lot more full of surprises than some may suspect in this Amber Books volume, a straight (ie a touch out of date) reprint and retitle of the author's 2016 release. Here are man-powered vehicles, ones with wheels that trundled along the seabed avoiding sand-traps and steep bits, and eventually crosses and medals for commanders who proved their worth – "in the ill-fated Dardanelles campaign, the exploits of the submarines were among the few successful aspects". And that, believe it or not, includes plonking a dhow on top of the conning tower as a disguise.
The book is the exact same, in layout and format – and quality – as the author's other reissue, on aircraft carriers. The first double-page spread for every boat includes the larger diagram, annotated and generally a side-on, although some have cutaway-styled imagery, and some are angled more cinematically. The second spread starts with a contemporary image, and includes a databank and a box-out on a relevant side-issue, meaning the writing has to succinctly give all the author cares to, about the ships' construction, design, toxic atmosphere for the crew (and the mice used as carbon monoxide monitors) and wartime career. So if you didn't know the history of mini-subs powered by London bus engines, you can now – things can get too technical at times, but it's easy to gloss over that and see what the general browser would prefer, in this very competent volume.
The book is the exact same, in layout and format – and quality – as the author's other reissue, on aircraft carriers. The first double-page spread for every boat includes the larger diagram, annotated and generally a side-on, although some have cutaway-styled imagery, and some are angled more cinematically. The second spread starts with a contemporary image, and includes a databank and a box-out on a relevant side-issue, meaning the writing has to succinctly give all the author cares to, about the ships' construction, design, toxic atmosphere for the crew (and the mice used as carbon monoxide monitors) and wartime career. So if you didn't know the history of mini-subs powered by London bus engines, you can now – things can get too technical at times, but it's easy to gloss over that and see what the general browser would prefer, in this very competent volume.
June 21, 2022
This book was so interesting. I know nothing about submarines but have a very big interest in anything maritime and navy related. So I just had to read this book when it came up for review. I learnt so much from reading it and was fascinated from the very start.
What was so brilliant about this book was its layout. Each submarine was in chronological order. Each had a little flag for the country it served for. Then a brilliant section telling its life history from making, serving tours through to how it ended. Then there was a fantastic picture taken of it. Along with many diagrams of its layout, with important features labeled. It flowed really and I could tell it was well researched and the language was easy to understand. It definitely kept my attention throughout.
I recommend this book to everyone who has an interest in naval warfare and who love submarines and just want to learn more. It's a fantastic history book.
So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating this fantastic and very interesting book packed to the brim with information.
What was so brilliant about this book was its layout. Each submarine was in chronological order. Each had a little flag for the country it served for. Then a brilliant section telling its life history from making, serving tours through to how it ended. Then there was a fantastic picture taken of it. Along with many diagrams of its layout, with important features labeled. It flowed really and I could tell it was well researched and the language was easy to understand. It definitely kept my attention throughout.
I recommend this book to everyone who has an interest in naval warfare and who love submarines and just want to learn more. It's a fantastic history book.
So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating this fantastic and very interesting book packed to the brim with information.
March 6, 2023
I haven't been so excited and engrossed about reading a book for a long time. This book is a chronology on submarines from the earliest examples to those in service currently. The evolution of the submarine over time is a great story in itself.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews