Tuesday, 10 February 2026

Cruisers from 1865 to 1910


Really chuffed to have gotten a copy of this - it will save me having to trawl through some dozen or so books at once!

I must confess that I remember seeing the above title when it was first published in 2018 and thinking at the time “I must get a copy of that” - but never got around to it. A chance conversation with the redoubtable Mr Fox at the club, in which he mentioned the above, then served as a timely reminder about it being missing from my collection. 

A swift trawl through eBay later, a secondhand but pristine copy arrived this morning! As Samwise Gamgee remarked in the Lord of the Rings “Glory and Trumpets!” 

What. A. Book.

The title says it all and so it is an invaluable resource on the subject as it covers all the world’s navies (at least those that used large cruisers) in a single volume. I have some other titles of Mr Dodsons - the Kaiser’s Battlefleet and the Kaiser’s Cruisers immediately spring to mind - and this volume follows a similar format. There are plans aplenty along with photographs, technical details as well as some very useful design and development background.

The book covers virtually the entire period that my current title does so I am sure to be using this extensively and yes, it will most certainly be featuring in the bibliography!


9 comments:

Ray Rousell said...

Sounds interesting, Dave. Are you at Cavalier in a few weeks?

Robert (Bob) Cordery said...

David,

It’s an excellent book and I’m sure that you’ll find it very useful.

All the best,

Bob

Chris said...

This is an dispensable book for both stats and line drawings for building models.

Jim said...

Great addition to the bookshelf 😁

David Crook said...

Hello there Raymondo,

Absolutely - on both counts! It will be my first show since 2024!

Looking forward to catching up with some old faces.

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Bob,

I have only skimmed through it and you are absolutely right!

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Chris,

It most certainly is - I only wish I had gotten a copy sooner although if I had I would probably be weighed down by tons of MDF!

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Jim,

It really is - and it only cost slightly over half the RRP!

All the best,

DC

Rob Young said...

Looks like an interesting book. I've been sadly neglecting the naval side in recent months.