The World's Warships 1944

The interest of this edition is that it was prepared in the middle of the second world war. Thus, to quote from the author's foreword:

"Since the first issue of The World's Warships was prepared by the late Fred T Jane [of 'Jane's Fighting Ships' fame] in 1915, it has passed through frequent fresh editions, but basically has remained the same.

"With a first-class naval war in progress, there is a constant demand for a complete summary of the world's war fleets in a compact form. To meet this, a complete revision of the book's contents has been undertaken, bringing it up-to-date as at the end of 1943. This has been anything but a simple task, owing to the complications presented by casualties and the difficulty of obtaining details of new ships."

Thus, under Germany: Submarines, for example, we read: "Many of these are lost"

The black cloth-boards, silver to the spine, are very good despite two white paint marks on the upper board. Because of the landscape format, the binding has loosened slightly, but with no cracks or hinge damage. The top edge is lightly foxed. The plain endpapers are unmarked, as is the rest of the book's well-illustrated 148 pp on coated stock, which remain undiscoloured, making this an attractive addition to a second world war naval collection.