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Fighting Ships in Perspective, by James G. Butler (Ian Allen, Shepperton, Surrey TWl7 8AS, UK, 1981 , 104 pp., illus., £8 .95). This large format book conveys the history of six well known capital ships of World War II. These great heavy-gun battleships dominated the fleets of the wo rld during the first half of the 20th century. After Pearl Harbor in December 1941 their role was largely supplanted by the aircraft carrier as the main striking power of the fleet. The author takes up, from Britain, HMS Rodney (1927-48) and Warspite (1915-46), the American USS Washington (1941-61) and South Dakota (1942-62) and Germany' s Scharnhorst (1939-43) and Tirpitz (1941-44), the former sunk by fleet action and the latter by bombing . A full chronological history is given, with photos and drawings not only of the ship herself but of other ships involved in her story.
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EMPIRES INTHE JIALANCE
JAMES FORSYTHE
Major Forsythe is Hon. Sec'yofthe World Ship Trust, and President of the Nor/olk Wherry Trust (see SH17:20-21).
Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942 by H. P Willmott
Acritical appraisal of the strategic policies of all the countries involved in the Pacific war is offered here by the respected British military historian H.P. Willmott His thoughtful analysis covers the whole range of political, economic, military, and naval activity in the Pacific. Instead of dealing with various battles individually, the author describes the unfolding of Japan's campaign on the ground, in the air, and at sea, and then explains the Allied responses to those initiatives. The book begins by exploring the effects of European and American colonial expansion in the Pacific and Far Eas~ pointing out the reasons for Japan's ascent to power, and concludes with the Doolittle Raid on 18 April 1942. It was this raid, Willmott says, that finally forced Japan's leaders to re-examine basic assumptions. Because the author exposes the myths and realities that motivated each of the combatant nations during this crucial period, Em pi res in the Ba lance is certain to stimulate debate among all those with a keen interest in World War 11. 1982. 520 pages. Illustrated. List price: $24.95 .
A History Book Club Alternate Selection.
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U.S. Carriers at War, by Peter Kilduff (Ian Allen Shepperton, Surrey TW 17 SAS, UK, 198 1, 128 pp ., illus., £10.95). This large format book, published in England, is by a well known American researcher and writer on the history of aerial warfare. Without attempting a full history of the Pacific War, the author has selected as his theme a series of major battles in which carriers were engaged, based on eyewitness accounts and Air Combat Activity Reports, written at the time, supplemented by later memoirs of some of the leading carrier pilots, many of whom survived and rose to high Naval rank. The narrative points up the initially heavy casualty rate suffered by the US Navy, and subsequently by their opponents as the war in the Pacific progressed. After the initial setback at Pearl Harbor, the US produced a vast carrier force including three different classes of ships, fleet, light and escort carriers (of which some fifty were built-either converted from or based on merchant-ship hulls, to speed prod uction). This fleet, the world's largest naval aviation force, scored victory after victory, pushing the Japanese back to their home islands . The detailed Air Combat Reports and eyewitness accounts make fascinating reading, nearly 40 years after the events portrayed, and the live action plates, which profusely illustrated the pages, provide a first-rate record of events as they happened. Possibly, in future editions, a short tiimetable of the operations involved might 1usefully be incorporated, together SEA HISTORY, AUTUMN 1982