A pretty good book. Battleships, submarines, and aircraft carriers usually take the limelight, but amphibious warfare becomes even more important in this chaotic world of multiple hot spots. I'd always wondered what the difference between a transport and an attack transport was. If you ever wondered why there are different types of ships in an Amphibious Ready Group, this is the book to read. Looks like it even covers amphibious tractors (LVT, LVTP) a bit. Not much on the latest LPD-17, but then LPD-17 is not in operational service yet.

A bit confusing in Chapter 2 as the author refers to attack cargo ships as "transports" when they aren't. Transports are primarily for people, while cargo ships are primarily for equipment/supplies. A few pages were double printed (looking like I'm not wearing my glasses) but they are in the back amongst the Notes and Bibliography. The book could have used more editing as there are several places where the author mentions something in one paragraph, then again two paragraphs later. Some picture captions are not correct. Still, these are small nit-picks compared to the light that this book sheds.

Most of my warship books devote a page or so to each class and, in that page, have a photo plus line drawing of the vessel. The page also includes a table of dimensions, armament, machinery etc. This is very handy for reference purposes.

This book, however, is a very general one and while there is an index at the back of each chapter, I found it very annoying. For example, when I wanted details of AEGIS / Arleigh Burke ships there was no set place to go to.

While the contents were interesting I found the book to be disappointing as a whole.

Jim Harmon

This book provides excellent overview concerning development of every category of postwar warships. Moreover, the development of naval weapons, equipment and propulsion systems is described. It is necessary to note that the aim of this book is not to describe individual classes of warships, but to inform readers about main trends in their development. Very useful part of this book is the section concerning naval literature.

Because authors are well-known experts in the field of naval affairs, the information provided by this book are serious and exact. This books was written not for naval experts, but for naval enthusiasts. As a result, the text can be recognized as "friendly" for those readers who are not educated in naval matters.

There are many books concerning development of specific categories of warships only (for example submarines or aircraft carriers). There are also many books which describe development of warships in whole (including sailing warships, steam warships and so on). The development of warships since 1945 is usually described in such books very briefly. However, progress in warships' design during this period is very significant. This book is probably the first book which describes postwar development in warships' design in more detail. This feature can be considered as the most valuable.

Conclusion: This book should not miss in library of each naval enthusiast.