TAKING THE STARS: Celestial Navigation From Argonauts to Astronauts by Peter If/and
Orig . Ed. 1998 240 pp . ISBN 1-57524-095-5 $59 .00 Produced in partnership with The Mariners' Museum of Newport News, Virginia, this book traces the development of celestial navigation instruments. In addition to a well written and interesting text it contains 198 photos and illustrations.
MARITIME HISTORY · Vol. 1: The Age of Discovery
MARITIME HISTORY· Vol. 2: The Eighteenth Century and the Classic Age of Sail
edited by John B. Hattendorf Orig. Ed. 1996 (Open Forum Series) 348 pp. edited by John B. Hattendorf ISBN 1-57524-010-6 Cloth $39.00 Orig. Ed. 1997 (Open Forum Series) 320 pp. ISBN 0-89464-834-9 Paper $29.50 ISBN 1-57524-007-6 Cloth $34.50 ISBN 0-89464-944-2 Paper $26.50
MARITIME HISTORY· 2 Vol. Set
1111
edited by John B. Hattendorf Orig. Ed. 1997 (Open Forum Series) 668 pp. ISBN 1-57524-013-0 Cloth $62.50
KRIEGER PUBLISHING COMPANY P.O. Box 9542 • Melbourne, FL 32902-9542 (407) 724-9542 • FAX (407) 95 1-367 1
To Order and Obtain Shipping Costs Call 1·800·724·0025
Visit Krieger's home page at :www.web4u.com/krieger-publishing/ • info@krieger-pub.com
SHIP MODELS SIN CE 1975
Offeri ng an extens ive selection of fu lly documented, one of a kind ship models, by the world's finest marine model artists. Also : restorations, appra isals, display cases, lighting and custom bu ilt models.
fl MARINE M 0 DEL
Membe r: International Society of Fine Art Appraisers. International Congress of Maritime Museums. U.S. Nautical Research Guild Society for Historical Archeology
GA LLER Y
Appointment p referred . Illustrated Catalog $10 or free color brochu re . 12SH DERBY SO. SALEM , MA 01970, USA • FAX 978-745-5778 • 978-745-5777
J,a~ MARITIME
BOOKS
The Guild's acclaimed quarterly NAUTI CAL
R ESEARCH
JOURNAL
Books about the Sea, Ship & Sailor
covers the technical history of ships and boats, their uses, and the lives they to uch. Its forum links bui lders of the highest quality ship models, marine artists, writers, and nautical collectors. The internationa l Guild supports annual Conferences and provides special services for members including ship model analysis and model building assistance by experts. USS30.00.
•!•
NRJ-0, 1202 1 KE RWOOD ROAD,
Catalogue Upon Request
SILVER SPRING, MD 20904 www. nau t· rCS·guild.org
1806 La urel Crest Madison, Wisconsin 53705-1065 (608) 238-SAIL FAX (608) 238-7249
Out-of-Print and Rare
44
NAUTICAL RESEARCH Gu IL D
yo u' re looking to lea rn anything abou t the design a nd sailing characteristi cs of those celebrated schoo ners, I wo uld liken it to reading abo ut wo nderful fo ods and being given th e wro ng recipes. MELBOURNE SM IT H
Annapolis, Maryland
The Winning Edge: Naval Technology in Action, 1939-1945, by Kenn eth Poolman (Naval Institu te P ress, Annapolis MD, 1997, 256pp , illus, no tes, bib lio, index, ISBN 1-5575 0-687-6; $32.9 5h c) "Desperatio n is the moth er o f in ventio n" co uld have bee n the subtitl e fo r this book . A u thor Poo l man, a Brit, describes in so me dera il how backward the Al li ed powers we re in techn ology at the beginning of Wo rl d Wa r II . T he aggressor forces of the Axis had bro ugh t subm arines, di ve bo mbers, ra iding cruisers, pocket battleships and magn etic mines, fo r example, to a high degree ofoperatio nal perfec tion befo re their o nsla ugh t bega n. T he Allies literall y had to perfect radar, so nar, antiaircraft weapons, large and sm all aircraft carriers and their aircraft co mplem en ts, better to rp ed oes and heavier depth charges in order to survive, m uch less wi n . T he author describes the engineers' and scientisrs'-"boffins" in Britspeak-soluti o ns to these needs and then goes on to ch ron icle som e ryp ical naval actio ns w here the new weapo ns we re triumphant. T he Graf Spee acti o ns, the N orwegian campaign , the Bismarck hunt, the Taran to to rpedo attack and actio ns off Maira, som e of which may be less fa mi liar to American read ers, are covered. T hen th e scene shifts to th e Pacific with carrier battl es includin g M idway and the sin gular successes of our sub ma rines. A good deal ofhisto ty is reto ld w itho ut anythin g particularly new added , but t he viewpo in t of the technologist and how his weapo ns were used to make the di ffere nce is an in te resting va rian t. O ne can' t put d own books o f this sort with o ut concluding how ve ry lucky th e Al lies were to have been fac in g a gro up of deter mi ned bur very linear- thin ki ng adversaries wh ose earl y successes prevented th em fr om openly examining their ultimate m ateri al needs for victo ry. If Hitl er h ad allowed Adm iral D i:i ni tz to build enoug h submarines, o r if th e J apanese Navy had t ra ined m o re pilots early on when they had the rim e, and had worked harder to
SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99