Naval book recommendations

**Cloudy** · 12 Sep 06, 21:42

I too have "The Tide At Sunrise" and "Rising Sun, Tumbling Bear" and find "The Tide At Sunrise" to be the better volume if one was forced to choose. There are actually quite a few books on the Russo-Japanese War floating around in print or out of print. I like to read a few overview-type works and then read what people who were there have to say.

An excellent personal recollection entitled "Human Bullets" by Tadayoshi Sakurai is written from the perspective of a Japanese infantryman and ends with his wounding during an assault. Another interesting work is "The McCully Report" written by a USN naval observer at Port Arthur in which he has a great eye for detail in describing the damage to the Russian ships as they return from battle. "Maritime Operations In The Russo-Japanese War" by Julian S. Corbett is another detailed and definitive volume (actually two...) focusing on the naval aspect of the war. "The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 British Naval Attache Reports" is a great resource for eyewitness accounts by several British naval observers with the Japanese fleet.

There are also many books written by newspaper correspondents such as "With Kuroki In Manchuria" by Frederick Palmer that, while not overly specific due to newspapermen only being shown what their hosts wanted them to see, can still contribute to the big picture and give you a window back to their time through their eyes. On another tack, there is also a book on Vasily V. Vereschagin the famous (for his time) Russian war and anti-war painter whom many do not know went down with Admiral Makarov aboard the Petropavlosk. There are many tidbits out there and sometimes you can find good deals on original or reprinted books through the magic of the internet. I have quite a few books on the Russo-Japanese War and am always looking for more...

**Daedalus** · 12 Sep 06, 23:53

At least now I have some books to look for. I will take my list of what you have put in these post and look and see if I can find any of them.

**Zouave** · 13 Sep 06, 08:05

These sites may have already been mentioned, but I stumbled upon them while looking for books:

1) This one has some interesting information about ranges, projectiles, and damaged suffered by individual ships in the battles:

http://www.gwpda.org/naval/rjwargun.htm

2) And this one has all kinds of information, including photos, a bibliography and a "store" webpage that it says is under construction.

http://www.russojapanesewar.com/index.html

It also has a link to a site called SeawarStore (http://yhst-33814381268641.stores.yahoo.net/) that sells a Tsushima t-shirt and Russian/IJN naval ensign flags you can proudly fly by your keyboard!

**saddletank** · 13 Sep 06, 08:23

Thanks to everyone, some very helpful suggestions there.

**Hud** · 13 Sep 06, 18:46

If you can get it Corbett's Maritime Operations is well worth the read. Gives lots of detail including strategies and tactics. Vol 1 seems to be around Vol 2 not so common.

**NormKoger** · 19 Oct 06, 10:55

I've been enjoying my most recent read so much that I decided I just had to mention it: Arthur Herman's To Rule the Waves - How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World. It looked interesting, but I left it on the shelf for a while because I thought it might be a bit dry. Wrong. It's a great read, full of the kind of side stories and anecdotes that help bring history to life. Recommended.

Next on the shelf is Holger Herwig's Luxury Fleet: The Imperial German Navy, 1888-1918.

**Bullethead** · 19 Oct 06, 11:16

I've been reading The First Punic War by JF Lazenby in between chapters of Halpern's A Naval History of WW1.

**Hinchinbrooke** · 19 Oct 06, 16:17

I too have Herman's book on the shelf.......... as yet unread, as I've been periodically savouring N.A.M. Rodger's "The Command of the Ocean".

Sharing the nightstand is Richard F. Newcomb's "Abandon Ship", the saga of the USS Indianapolis' final voyage, which is proving a good read.

**WallysWorld** · 19 Oct 06, 16:26

I have "Abandon Ship". Read that book almost 30 years ago. Good book.

Anyone ever read the 1982 novel "Buller's Dreadnought" by Richard Alexander Hough (the same author who wrote "The Fleet that had to die")? Part of the story takes place during the Battle of Tsushima and later in World War One.

**RCNVR** · 19 Oct 06, 22:35

If you liked Arthur Herman's To Rule the Waves - How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World you might also like David Howarth's Sovereign of the Seas: The Story of British Sea Power and Navy and Empire by James Stokesbury. I do not know if they are in print but you can usually find them in used book stores.

A classic if you can find it is 25 Centuries of Sea Warfare by Jacques Mordal, he has some nice chapters on Lissa, First Torpedo Attacks, Manila and Santiago, the Russo Japanese War etc. Mordal is French and is is interesting to see a slightly different view compared to the classic British/American view.