Anthony Preston (naval historian)
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Anthony Preston (b. 1938, d. December 25, 2004) was an English naval historian and editor, specialising in the area of 19th and 20th-century naval history and warship design.
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[edit] Life
Anthony Preston was born in 1938 in Salford, Lancashire, and educated in South Africa at King Edward VII School, Johannesburg, and the University of Witwatersrand.[1] On his return to England he spent some years at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, before becoming Editor of the periodical “Defence”.[2] During the 1970s he was employed by a specialist publisher, Conway Maritime Press, as editor of their Warships annual; he resumed this post in 1996. Anthony Preston lived in London until his death in 2004.[3]
[edit] Work
Anthony Preston was a prolific author both of books and of articles, and published on subjects ranging from the American Revolution to modern seapower; the bibliography given below illustrates the breadth of his expertise. Although he wrote on general military history, as well as most aspects of naval history and modern-day naval matters, the focus of his work was on ship design, technology and materiel. He was a pugnacious writer and was usually willing to take up one side of a controversy, even in a work of reference (see quotes below).
[edit] Bibliography
Even though restricted to books, following list (sourced primarily from Amazon) is far from complete. Only the four most recent Warship annuals are listed; other titles are listed in reverse order of publication.
- Warship 2005 (Ed). Conway Maritime Press (July 15, 2005). ISBN 1-84486-003-5
- Warship 2004 (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (July, 2004). ISBN 0-85177-948-4
- Warship 2002-2003 (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (Dec, 2002). ISBN 0-85177-901-8
- Warship 2001-2002 (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (April, 2002). ISBN 0-85177-926-3
- Send a Gunboat! (with John Major). Chrysalis Books (February 28, 2003) ISBN 0-85177-923-9
- The World's Worst Warships. Conway Maritime Press (2002). ISBN 0-85177-754-6
- The Royal Navy Submarine Service: A Centennial History. Conway Maritime Press (November 2001). ISBN 0-85177-891-7
- The World's Great Aircraft Carriers: From the Civil War to the Present. Thunder Bay Press (CA) (July 2000). ISBN 1-57145-261-3
- Submarine Warfare: An Illustrated History. Thunder Bay Press (CA) (April 1999) ISBN 1-57145-172-2
- An illustrated history of the navies of World War II. Military Book Club (January 1, 1998). ASIN B0006R987I
- Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated History. PRC Publishing Ltd. (1997). ASIN B000CORWY6
- Pictorial History of South Africa. Gallery Books (Aug 1989). ISBN 0-83176-905-X
- (with Richard Natkiel) Weidenfeld Atlas of Maritime History. Weidenfeld & Nicholson (May 1986). ISBN 0-29778-653-9
- Battleships (Warships). Lifetime Books (August 1982). ISBN 0-8119-0462-8
- Cruisers (Warships). Lifetime Books (August 1982). ISBN 0-8119-0465-2
- Sea combat off the Falklands. Willow Books (1982). ISBN 0-00-218046-4
- Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History (with Louis S Casey & John Batchelor). Exeter Books (September 1980). ISBN 0-89673-011-5
- Decisive Battles of the Pacific Wars. Book Sales (May 1980). ISBN 0-89009-293-1
- Dreadnought to nuclear submarine (The ship). HMSO/National Maritime Museum (1980). ISBN 0-11-290319-3
- (contributor) Navies of the American Revolution. Leo Cooper (April 1975). ISBN 0-85052-191-2
[edit] Quotes
- …ton for ton, the least satisfactory ships built for the RN in modern times. (of the Lion class battlecruisers) – Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships, 1906-1921 (1985) ISBN 0-85177-245-5
- Unfit for combat with any existing cruiser. (of the French Duquesne class – “The World’s Worst Warships”
- A fresh coat of paint and a display of flags can hide a multitude of shortcomings. (of Fast Attack Craft) – Ibid
- More of a political gesture than a significant contribution to the history of capital-ship design - (of the German Panzerschiffe (pocket battleships)) – “Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History”
[edit] World's Worst Warships
The World's Worst Warships. Conway Maritime Press (2002). ISBN 0-85177-754-6 is a book about warship design. While nobody sets out to design a bad warship, some ships turn out unsuitable for the tasks which they are asked to perform. Anthony Preston regarded the following designs as particularly poor.
- US Civil war era Monitors
- Turret ship HMS Captain (1869)
- Russian Coast defence ships Novgorod and Vitse Admiral Popov 1871
- Armoured rams HMS Polyphemus (1881) and USS Katahdin (1893)
- Russian Armoured Cruiser Rurik (1892)
- Dynamite cruiser USS Vesuvius (1888)
- British Powerful Class protected cruisers
- Russian Borodino class battleships
- Destroyer HMS Swift
- Austo-Hungarian Viribus Unitis class battleships
- French Normandie class battleships
- American AA Class submarines
- US Flush-decker destroyers
- British K class submarines
- British light battlecruisers, HMS Glorious, HMS Furious (47), HMS Courageous (50)
- Battlecruiser HMS Hood (51)
- US Omaha class cruiser
- Swedish Cruiser Gotland
- French Duquesne class heavy cruisers
- German pocket battleships
- Italian Condotierri class light cruisers
- Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō
- Japanese Mogami class cruisers
- Japanese Yamato class battleships
- German Bismarck class battleships
- British Implacable class aircraft carriers
- Hydrogen Peroxide fuelled submarines
- Soviet Alpha class submarines
- British Type 21 frigates
- La Combattante type missile fast attack craft
[edit] References
- ^ Publisher's preface, The World's Worst Warships (Conway Maritime Press 2002) ISBN 0-85177-754-6
- ^ Publisher's preface, Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History (Exeter Books 1980) ISBN 0-89673-011-5
- ^ Publisher's preface, The World's Worst Warships
