Britain's Future Navy

By Nick Childs Pen and Sword Books Hardback 192 pages ISBN: 9781848842915 Published: 14 March 2012

Author Nick Childs has put together a thorough examination of of current Royal Navy (RN) equipment after the 2010 massacre of the fleet with the infamous SDSR cuts. 
Childs presents many useful ideas and suggestions for the RN of the future. 
Not examined is the glut of senior officers, a problem afflicting most navies in the industrialized world as they are loathe to give of their positions despite having much smaller forces to command. In the UK, the cost of these officers includes the education of their children in private schools at taxpayer expense.

This book should be required reading for politicians bent of further military cuts.

Town Class Cruisers

2012 Maritime Books

After reading this book right after completing C Class Destroyers from the same publisher, I can tell you that reading of both was enjoyable.
Other works to date have focused on the technical history of these famous cruisers, but this one details their operational service.
Conceived in the 1930s as a response to the growing size and capability of cruisers, these ships were the British response. Four of these ships were lost in action, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Manchester & Southampton. Six served in the postwar fleet with one preserved by the Imperial War Museum in London, HMS Belfast/
Three small errors noted in the text:

• Plumper blocks called plummer blocks
• Type 279 numbers transposed as Type 297
• Confusion on Saint John, New Brunswick and St John's. Newfoundland

Profusely illustrated, this book is highly recommended.