Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 359.93
EAN num: 9780425178386
ISBN number: 0425178382
Label: Berkley Trade
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 448
Printing Date: August 01, 2001
Publishing house: Berkley Trade
Release Date: August 07, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 470139
Studio: Berkley Trade
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Shattering long-held myths and misunderstandings, author Brayton Harris traces the development of the submarine through an era in which writers of fiction saw the merits better than most professionals-until the Germans almost won World War I. He covers the professional and political arrogance that delayed antisubmarine development for so long that German submarines almost won World War II as well, and examines post-war progress toward the truly awesome submarine of today.
Along the way, Harris explores the shifting moral issues of 'unrestricted' naval warfare, outlines the hundred-year search for an effective underwater power plant that culminated in the nuclear reactor, and raises important questions about the future. A fascinating exploration of the steps and stumbles during development, a rousing tribute to those who fought and died, and a powerful study of the submarine's impact on America, The Navy Times Book of Submarines is an unparalleled source for understanding the great 'hunters of the deep.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
This is a very readable, engaging history of submarine technology, events and politics. Highly recommended. Contains a number of grey and white illustrations and photos but is primarily text.
Covers submarines from very early origins (1580!) to present times. The book is weighted towards the pre-1945 era: about one third of the book covers pre-1914 developments with much of the rest covering the two world wars. There's relatively light coverage of the Cold War and present era - less than 50 pages.
Category: submarine history
Technical content: average
Overall: excellent
Rated by buyers 
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If you want a general history of submarines from the start till now its okay.
It covers the early history very well right up to WW1. Has quite a few quite interesting facts nothing though I felt of any major significance.
WW2 is sort of covered.
What particularly did annoy me is that the post war era, I felt this section was very short and badly covered. What there is almost all about the US, a little about Russia and almost nothing about anyone else.
Rated by buyers 
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While much of any history of submarines will focus on things mechanical, this book goes much farther and more than justifies its sub-title, "A Political, Social and Military History." I was fascinated to see that the political and social aspects of military systems -- or strategies -- have not changed much over the four hundred or so years covered by this book. A comment on comments of "Reader from Rochester" who offered an unflattering review -- where Reader found "superior attitude," I found (and enjoyed) sardonic humour. Be that as it may, Reader ought to hire-out as a professional copy editor, because the irritating errors he spotted (i.e., typos) obviously slid by the publisher's fact-checkers and proofreaders. As for the 3"/50 caliber deck gun -- that's a designation used for naval guns, where "caliber" is the length of the barrel measured as a multiple of the diameter of the bore. Thus, in this instance, a 3" bore and a 150" tube. Obviously, the publisher's copy editor didn't understand this, either, and stuck a period in front of the 50.
Rated by buyers 
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This book stands out from others in its subject area by the amount of space it devotes to coverage of the very early days of submarines, a subject little covered by others.
However, my enjoyment of it was greatly diminished by the manner in which the author repeatedly heaps scorn upon the other books which apparently contain factual errors that are now finally being corrected in this volume. I quickly tired of the author's superior attitude, and eventually found myself being annoyed by it.
But despite the fact that this book is quick to criticize other submarine books for being "riddled with errors," it suffers from the same defect itself! Many ship's names are misspelled (Thetis, Ramillies, Plantagenet, etc), gun calibers are quoted in an erroneous manner (I've never heard of a 3 inch / .50 caliber), Hitler's birthday is given incorrectly as 4/18, and numerous other words and names are misspelled. And these are only the ones that I recognized straight away; who knows if other facts are garbled. Perhaps this author too was "in a hurry" to go to press, and thus committed the same mistake of allowing errors to slip through. I realize that the items I listed are mostly of a minor nature, but for a book which makes such a big deal about the errors of others, they are inexcusable. The only other submarine book that I have read which contains the same density of defects is Peter Padfield's "War Beneath the Sea", but then Padfield doesn't assume any tones of superiority, so he is much easier to forgive.
In all, a useful addition to the submarine bookshelf, but flawed, mostly by the author's tiresome attitude.
Rated by buyers -
.. . Harris's overview proves a useful guide to a mass of data and doctrine frequently forbidding to nonspecialists. The book's strongest feature is its narratives of German U-boat operations in the world wars. These emphasize the submarine's role as an economy-of-force weapon for lesser naval powers and the contingency of allied victory in both campaigns. Harris later develops the subject of preparedness more directly, assessing innovations recently made by the Russians and insisting that nuclear boats remain inherently superior to even the best modern diesel designs and should therefore be central to the U.S. Navy's procurement program. Elsewhere, Harris downplays the "official" point of view. This fact enhances his study as a counterpoint to Dan van der Vat's British-accented Stealth at Sea and as a useful, if unbalanced, popular introduction to the subject.
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