U.S. Navy: A Complete History.Goodspeed, M. Hill, ed. U.S. Navy: A Complete History. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 9 Burr burr (bur) bur. burr n. Variant of bur. burr 1. a plant seed capsule carrying many hooked structures which catch in animal coats thus promoting dissemination of the plant. Rd., Westport, CT 06880. 2003. 728 pp. Ill. $75. Advice to the prospective buyer: a few days of exercises are essential before trying to pick up this massive tome. The latest volume in Levin's series of U.S. military service histories, this chronology is the sixth of the naval line, preceded by U.S. Navy, Naval Aviation Naval aviation is the application of manned military air power by navies. Maritime aviation is the operation of aircraft in a maritime role under the command of land based forces such as RAF Coastal Command or United States Coast Guard. , Submarines and two Marine Corps books. Like the others, this is a fine book, and Hill Goodspeed has done a terrific job of guiding its creation. Following the established format of previous titles using commissioned essays, artwork and evocative photos, this book gives the daily historical sequence of the Navy's development and activities. As in other volumes in the series, the editor's choice of paintings, contemporary studio and combat art, and modern postwar illustrations are welcome additions that perhaps show younger readers another side of military-oriented graphics. The text, written by experts and participants, includes chapter introductions, an expansive chronology and sidebars that describe people, campaigns and hardware. These are enjoyable and important, and I would have liked to see a listing of the sidebars by subject along with the table of contents, as well as biographies and credits for their authors. I must admit some ignorance of early naval history
tr.v. en·light·ened, en·light·en·ing, en·light·ens 1. To give spiritual or intellectual insight to: to browse the contents to learn just exactly how well endowed en·dow tr.v. en·dowed, en·dow·ing, en·dows 1. To provide with property, income, or a source of income. 2. a. our Navy has been with brave sailors and happy circumstances. There are other chronologies of recent publication, such as Naval Aviation 1910-1995 (Roy Grossnick, Naval Historical Center The Naval Historical Center (NHC) is the official history program of the United States Navy. It is physically located at the Washington Navy Yard, and maintains a website of considerable value. ) and Naval History (Jack Sweetman, U.S. Naval Institute), and they all have their merits. This new book's depth compares to Grossnick's compendium com·pen·di·um n. pl. com·pen·di·ums or com·pen·di·a 1. A short, complete summary; an abstract. 2. A list or collection of various items. , but Goodspeed's work is of a much broader scope. U.S. Navy: A Complete History is a quality publication that can stand as an important reference as well as the right gift for anyone interested in the Navy. |
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