The battlecruiser HMS Hood is the greatest British warship since Nelson’s Victory. Throughout her long career she symbolized not only the might and tradition of the Royal Navy but also the British Empire itself, together with all the hopes and ideals that attached to it. No warship in history has ever borne such an exalted mantle and this is what sets Hood apart from all others. For this reason her destruction at the hands of the Bismarck was a national disaster which continues to reverberate down to the present time. High time, then, that a book should be written which captures the richness and complexity of her life and legacy.
To study history is to confront the reality of peoples, societies, structures, cultures and themes as complex and sophisticated as life itself.
Though the endeavour of recreating these worlds in prose and illustration must in many respects be doomed to failure, the historian can still reasonably expect to embrace them through the breadth of his research and vision. My aim in preparing The Battlecruiser HMS Hood was to provide as complete a picture as possible of the ship, her crew and her life from conception to destruction, and in doing so say something of the society of which she formed a part. The result is the first total history of a modern warship ever published, the social history of shipboard life for which naval scholars have been waiting and the behind-the-scenes account that the general reader needs to humanize the subject. Though rooted in the structural reality of the ship, The Battlecruiser HMS Hood serves as an important reminder that the technical and conjectural focus of much of contemporary naval interest by no means encompasses the complexity of the vessel, her people, her culture and her time. Rather, it demonstrates that any wishing to grasp the essence of a ship must approach her first and foremost through her people. To this extent, The Battlecruiser HMS Hood represents a new way forward in ship biography and a benchmark in naval history.
Includes:
• Complete operational analysis of the Hood’s
gunnery and propulsion systems
• Intimate coverage of life afloat in peace and war from original
sources
• Inside the Invergordon Mutiny and its aftermath
• Complete listing of principal officers
• Scheme of complement
• Daily routines in peace and war
• Day-by-day chronology
• Corrected roll of honour
• Glossary and detailed index
Specifications:
• Date of Publication: February 2005 (Chatham Publishing),
June 2005 (Naval Institute Press)
• Dimensions: 289 x 245 mm (11.5 x 10 in)
• Pages: 256 + 16 colour = 272 pages
• Illustrations: 24 colour and over 200 b/w photographs plus 16
colour renderings, 4 deck plans and 3 maps = c. 250 illustrations
• Binding: Hardback
• ISBN: 1-86176-216-X
• Price: £35.00 / US$59.95 / CDN$75.44
Read reviews of The Battlecruiser HMS Hood by clicking on the links below:
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Bill Jurens, Society of Naval Architects and Engineers
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Model Boats website (Click here and type "Bruce Taylor" in the search text box)
The Battlecruiser HMS Hood is best acquired through Naval Institute Press in North America and/or the various Amazon websites:
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Naval Institute Press
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amazon.com
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amazon.co.uk
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amazon.ca
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amazon.de
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amazon.fr
It can also be purchased through Chatham’s website.