My wife and I recently had to go to a garden centre, and whilst I was wandering around trying to keep myself occupied I came across a display of bargain books. One immediately caught my eye, and as the price was very reasonable (£3.99 reduced from £8.99), I bought it.
THE IRONCLADS by Peter Hore (published in 2006 by Anness Publications; ISBN 978 1 84476 299 6) is a slim (96 pages), A4-sized, soft-back monograph about the development of the armoured battleship from The Crimean War to the launch of HMS Dreadnought. It claims to have over 200 archive and museum photographs, illustrations and diagrams, and I am pleased to say that quite a few of them were new to me ... which is something that I cannot always say about publications that have made similar claims in the past.
Most of the book is devoted to a country-by-country description of the major pre-Dreadnought battleships that were built, and although this information is widely available in other publications, this slim volume was well worth its asking price.
THE IRONCLADS by Peter Hore (published in 2006 by Anness Publications; ISBN 978 1 84476 299 6) is a slim (96 pages), A4-sized, soft-back monograph about the development of the armoured battleship from The Crimean War to the launch of HMS Dreadnought. It claims to have over 200 archive and museum photographs, illustrations and diagrams, and I am pleased to say that quite a few of them were new to me ... which is something that I cannot always say about publications that have made similar claims in the past.Most of the book is devoted to a country-by-country description of the major pre-Dreadnought battleships that were built, and although this information is widely available in other publications, this slim volume was well worth its asking price.
I bet the comments from your good lady wife are best left censored, my own is always amazed at the curio's of interest a wargamer can find in the most banal of places ;)
ReplyDeleteGeordie,
ReplyDeleteThat would have been the usual reaction except that on an adjoining bookstand was a copy of a book about 'The Archers' (she is an avid fan of the programme!) that I had bought for her.
She was so pleased with her present that she paid scant interest to my other purchase.
Sometimes I do get something right!
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThere are 3 companion volumes available - Battleships, Cruisers and Destroyers and Frigates and I have a feeling there is one on aircraft carriers as well. My local indoor market sells these although at full price. I will report back with further details.
Ogre
Ogrefencer,
ReplyDeleteWhilst I think that they are worth £3.99, full price (if it is £8.99) would seem to be a bit steep!
If you can find some at half price (or less) I might be interested. I suspect that they are the sort of book that will appear in the 'cheaper' bookshops in the run up to Christmas.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteI was looking at Ironclad Draughts and had a question about the ships' armament: is it historically based, or is there a standard number of guns assumed for each ship? The reason I ask is that although many ACW ironclads had relatively few guns, some had a fair number of them. Will this interfere with the mechanics of play? What vessels have you enjoyed using?
Best regards,
Chris
Chris,
ReplyDeleteIf you are referring to the version that is featured on the WD website, the answer is that they are all based on real ships.
I would have thought that the rules were very suitable for use with ACW ironclads, as the size the ships with only a few large guns will be able to outrange ships armed with more numerous small guns.
All the best,
Bob