World War I books?

[Karl Heidenreich]

Hey,

Which is the best World War I warship guide? Jane`s? I`ll like very much a ship to ship guide with diagrams, photos and overall information.

Best regards

[Tiornu]

There's always Conway's, but in general WWI gets much less attention than WWII.

[Karl Heidenreich]

Hi Tiornu:

Are you refering to "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906-1921"?

By the way, yesterday I recieved your book. When finished "Shattered Sword" it´s the next on line. Maybe next week.

Best regards.

[Tiornu]

Well, I hope you find it enjoyable and informative.
Yes, that's the book I'm referring to. It lists almost all the vessels of war down to motor torpedo boats and gives lots of dates and statistics. Since it covers so much, you won't find detailed drawings or more than one photo per class. I believe it also credits the Queen Elizabeth with a 13in deck or something, but every book has a typo or two....

[marcelo_malara]

Karl:

I have Jane´s Warships of WWI. I don´t recomend it. It is just a reproduction of the Jane´s of those years, with the limited info then known about the German warships. Having Conway´s 1860-1905, I think that the 1906-1922 volume is a better choice, as the info was compilated after the war.

[Karl Heidenreich]

Marcelo,

I must agree with you: if WWI Jane`s is any like to WWII then it`s not worth. The information is all mixed up, nothing in order, awfull graphics and such. Maybe Conway´s is the alternative. While looking there was another title: World War Battleships. Maybe that too...

Best regards.

[marcelo_malara]

Which is the title and author?

[Karl Heidenreich]

Battleships of World War I: A Fully Illustrated Country-By-Country Directory Of Dreadnoughts, Including Armoured Cruisers, Battlecruisers And Battleships From 1906-1918
by Peter Hore

[Tiornu]

Isn't that the one that has the picture of a monitor on the front cover?

[marcelo_malara]

Karl, forget it. No book of 10 bucks can contain serious info, it seems to be in the line of Osprey´s. Read the comentaries in Amazon.

Regards

[marcelo_malara]

Yes Tiornu. That is also a bad start: illustrate the front cover with one of the ships that had less relevance.

[Tiornu]

It's probably the publisher's fault rather than the author's. He was probably "displeased" when he first saw it.

[lwd]

As far as Jane's books are concerned I think they have considerable value. However it's not so much for their stats as these were for many the referances of the day. So they influenced what many professionals thought at the time. As technical referances they may leave something to be desired but as a tool for understanding what was thought at the time they have significant merit.

[Karl Heidenreich]

Just received Conway´s. A lot better than Jane´s, a lot better. Good advice from Marcelo and Tiornu.

[RF]

I do recall many years ago reading a booklet by (I think) Purnell's detailing some German and British battlecruisers of WW1. I no longer have it and I assume that it is now many years out of print. Pity.