Submarines: WWI to the present Hardcover – October 15, 2016

This is important paper.

Satisfied.

More of a kids book

not worth the money. too much fluff and too little stuff.

Very in depth content on German WW2 Uboats.

Good illustrations and authoritative text. Writing as an amateur maritime history buff, I believe David Ross got his facts straight.

Pictures are mediocre. Writing isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either. As a Los Angeles Class Boat Sailor, the drawings depicting US Submarines are horrible. Tom Clancy did a better job. Research, and then research again.

This book is decidedly a mixed bag, due to the fact that it is a compilation of two rather different books, both from Amber's "Essential Identification Guides" series: David Ross's "Submarines 1914-Present" and Chris Bishop's "Kriegsmarine U-Boats 1939-45". The fact that one book covers over 100 years and the other only 6 points out the reason for this book's inconsistencies.Plainly put, Ross's part tries to cover too much in too few pages. It actually does quite well, covering a lot of boats for a lot of countries, but the coverage is by necessity somewhat limited. It is still a very good digest to submarine operations over the last century, but there is more in-depth coverage available.On the other hand, Bishop's part is, by comparison, almost too detailed. In the same number of pages, he has chapters for every one of the German U-boat flotillas, all 31 of them (16 combat, 15 training)! Each chapter shows the operational history of the unit, bios of its more important commanders, articles on its more noteworthy boats, and a listing of all its boats with results and fates. Thus within this section of the book, every U-boat that served during the war has a listing!Fortunately, there is a comprehensive index in the back that lists every boat in the book, German and otherwise. There is a general index, though an additional "names" index in Ross's original book is missing.The bottom line is that if you're a fan of WW II U-boats, this book is a valuable resource. (But if that's all you care about, finding Bishop's original book might serve you better.) If you want a complete and balanced review of submarine history, however, you'll find this book lacking, but at its reasonable price, it's still a decent jumping-off point.