Vol. 65, No. 4 winter 2020
380 makes by Fairmile, T ornycroſt , Vosper, Camper and Nicholson, and British Power Boat, along with
other miscellaneous craſt . Friedman describes modifi cations and changes through the history of these craſt with the comprehensive clarity for which he is well-known.
Lambert’s drawings which follow are excellent and comprehensive. Weapons covered include nearly everything one could put on a Motor Torpedo Boat, from the lightest caliber automatic weapons on up to a couple of types of 4-inch mounts in a submarine deck gun appendix. Mines, torpedoes and their launching equipment are covered, along with ancillary gear not normally described in such detail. External torpedo tubes are drawn in great detail. Close attention is given not just to the weapons themselves, but also to the mounts and installation arrangements of nearly every weapon in the book.
Having reviewed an earlier volume in this series, I knew what to expect in this book, and it certainly does not disappoint. Hundreds of sharp, detailed, technical drawings, deck plans, profi les and other juicy bits so beloved by ship modelers grace the 208 large-format pages. T e publisher has taken great care to make sure drawings are not spread across the binding of the book, so everything is plainly visible.
For the fan of British small craſt during this period, this book is a gold mine and a real necessity, given the lack of other good material out there. John Lambert was a draſt er of no mean skill, and his drawings are concise, clear, and invaluable to scratchbuilders and super-detailers. Very highly recommended!
Rick Cotton Katy, Texas
Napoleon’s Admirals: Flag Offi cers of the Arc de Triomphe, 1789-1815 By Richard Humble
Havertown: Casemate Publishers, 2019 6-1/4” x 9-1/4”, hardcover, 272 pages
Illustrations, bibliography, index. $45.00 ISBN 9781612008080
T is is a long-overdue assessment of the careers of many of the most important French naval commanders who served during the longest naval war in history, that between revolutionary France and Great Britain from the outbreak of war between the two nations in 1793 and the confl ict’s termination in 1815 with Napoleon’s fi nal defeat at Waterloo.
T e criterion for inclusion is, interestingly, those twenty-six admirals whose names were chosen to be included among those of the 660 warriors of the French First Republic and First Empire that are honored by having been inscribed on the four panels of Paris’s famous Arc de Triomphe. Each of them is accorded a biographical chapter on his life and naval career. T e selection of worthy names was completed only in 1853 in the early months of the Second Empire under Napoleon III, making it perhaps inevitable that the new emperor’s uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte’s younger brother Jérôme Bonaparte, should be included despite that individual’s singular lack of capability and accomplishment either as a captain or admiral. Several others who achieved far more for their country were omitted. T e author rectifi es this in part with the closing appendix ‘Absentees from the Arc’, which contains brief biographies of four more, Nielly, Vanstabel, Vence and Pléville le Pelley.
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