Thomas F. (hardtack) -
Helpful Score: 1
At 729 pages, it took me awhile to finish this book, especially since I only read it at the breakfast table--except for the last 100 pages. Fortunately, every page was enjoyable, as Mostert did an amazing job covering the over two decades of naval warfare in this period, often tied in with corresponding land operations. It was a wonderful read as I learned a lot.
This book is not just a rehashing of naval battles, Mostert takes us from the politics and naval policy decisions at the highest level of government down to how ships were built and how the men who sailed them lived and died in them, as well as deserted and mutinied.
You will learn more reading this book then if you took a college course on this subject. Mostert covers everything from the theoretical to the practical and does it in a very entertaining manner.
The book is so well researched that I was surprised when I caught him in one small error--an error he made about naval warfare in the 20th century. In the last chapter, he mentions that the Japanese battleship Yamato was sunk by American planes from aircraft carriers at Guadalcanal. While the planes were from carriers, the Yamato was sunk north of Okinawa, well over a thousand miles and three years from Guadalcanal.
This book is not just a rehashing of naval battles, Mostert takes us from the politics and naval policy decisions at the highest level of government down to how ships were built and how the men who sailed them lived and died in them, as well as deserted and mutinied.
You will learn more reading this book then if you took a college course on this subject. Mostert covers everything from the theoretical to the practical and does it in a very entertaining manner.
The book is so well researched that I was surprised when I caught him in one small error--an error he made about naval warfare in the 20th century. In the last chapter, he mentions that the Japanese battleship Yamato was sunk by American planes from aircraft carriers at Guadalcanal. While the planes were from carriers, the Yamato was sunk north of Okinawa, well over a thousand miles and three years from Guadalcanal.
