For the first time ever for a popular audience, an extraordinary single volume that describes-and assesses in no-holds-barred fashion-every navy that took part in the Second World War.

For decades, the legions of World War II buffs interested in Allied and Axis naval history were limited to expensive, multi-volume works written for specialists. No longer will this be the case. Fleets of World War II, packed with data and illustrated throughout, is not a simple list of ships but a fascinating and often pungent appraisal of those ships and the fleets they served. Japan built the world's largest battleships with guns bigger than anything in the Allied arsenal-but was bigger in fact better? The British engaged in a wartime flurry of ship production-but did they build the ships they needed for victory? Fleets of World War II dispels the clutter, providing a straightforward appraisal that is nothing short of revelatory.

A complete resource, the book includes every nation that took part in the war, along with the key neutrals. Each fleet is surveyed in totality, from the mighty battleships to the humble motor launches. The systematic, plain-English presentation makes for easy reference: nation by nation, ship by ship, with a multitude of details on design, strategy, and combat available nowhere else.