Neptune's Inferno

[bush]

All depends on what you like. This book is very anecdotal so for me it is a big thumbs down.

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: Mynok


Wish they'd get some of these older reference titles on Kindle.

Oh heck yes!

[Swayin]

I read this book on my iPad for 1/3 what it costs in paper, BTW ... but the lack of older nonfiction titles in either kindle or ibook format is frustrating, for sure.

[AcePylut9]

jus saw this at the bookstore and was going to pick it up.  But then I saw the price tag of 30$ and considered my unplanned extended summer vacation (hoping it's not a permanent vacation) and had to pass.

[hedotwo]

For what it's worth, I enjoyed Neptune's Inferno on my Ipad (Kindle app) and would recommend it.

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: Swayin

I read this book on my iPad for 1/3 what it costs in paper, BTW ... but the lack of older nonfiction titles in either kindle or ibook format is frustrating, for sure.

I thought digital books were the same price as paper books due to legal reasons. Am I wrong?

[witpqs]

Not legal reasons, just business reasons - they want the money!

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Not legal reasons, just business reasons - they want the money!

Good point!

[Mundy]

I got it for $15 on Kindle.

Ed-

[John Lansford]

I read it several months ago, and enjoyed the book immensely. Yes, it focuses only on the USN side of the battles, and yes, there are a lot of anecdotes, but the author walks you through the decisions that lead to these battles, and by the end of the book you've got a very good idea why there was such a steep learning curve in the USN for night surface combat. Too many dogmatic commanders, too little squadron training, and not enough overall experience among the crews. The book covers the battles from Savo to Tassafaronga, and discusses what went right and what went wrong in each one. If that's what you like to read about, get the book.

[Swayin]

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy
I thought digital books were the same price as paper books due to legal reasons. Am I wrong?

WAY, WAY cheaper as an e-book, always. when the Kindle came out, for a while they didn't have a single e-book title over $9.99; that ceiling is higher now, but not much, especially compared to the cost of a nonfiction hardback, as we know.

[Swayin]

ORIGINAL: John Lansford

I read it several months ago, and enjoyed the book immensely. Yes, it focuses only on the USN side of the battles, and yes, there are a lot of anecdotes, but the author walks you through the decisions that lead to these battles, and by the end of the book you've got a very good idea why there was such a steep learning curve in the USN for night surface combat. Too many dogmatic commanders, too little squadron training, and not enough overall experience among the crews. The book covers the battles from Savo to Tassafaronga, and discusses what went right and what went wrong in each one. If that's what you like to read about, get the book.

so true ... the reality of being unable to trust what a radar scope told them took months to sink in and cost thousands of lives ... 4 sailors for every gyrene on the island.

[Mynok]

ORIGINAL: hedotwo

For what it's worth, I enjoyed Neptune's Inferno on my Ipad (Kindle app) and would recommend it.

Ok, where are you guys seeing this book for Kindle? Help a bro out. All I saw on Amazon was paperback.

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: Mynok

ORIGINAL: hedotwo

For what it's worth, I enjoyed Neptune's Inferno on my Ipad (Kindle app) and would recommend it.

Ok, where are you guys seeing this book for Kindle? Help a bro out. All I saw on Amazon was paperback.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... no&x=0&y=0

[Mac Linehan]

Swayin -

I am sold - it is on the "buy soonest" list!

Mac

[Swayin]

I'll be anxious to hear if you liked it!

[ilovestrategy]

Swayin, what is your avatar? I see a guy in the back working on a chart but I can't tell what the rest are doing. Is that the bridge of a ship?

[Nikademus]

I was looking at the latest Nook the other day. Color, and ohhhhhhh....the ability to highlight and insert notes. I am pretty much sold at this point. Only thing stopping me is of course, the initial cost of investment. ($249) Having recently had to part with what was a very large paper library, and admittedly even had I not, I'd been starting to think along Captain Picard lines for a while (Kindle/Nook always reminds me of Star Trek TNG......where Picard could call up almost any book including the infamous "Hotel Royale" from his data reader on his desk). Just the thought of having to store, pack, and unpack such a huge aging mass of paper and ink gave me goosebumps. Some of the books too had gotten so old that they were falling apart. Thats not a problem with electronic print. My aging eyes might also like the well defined and lit screen of the newest readers too.

Text based books like Neptune and the the latest book i'm reading on the Battle of Britian are perfect for electronic readers....and no more having to tote around 100+ILBS of book bag around with the accumulating wear and tear. That way i can reserve future paper book space for the large technical references I need to restore though again, the lastest generation of readers is making even that questionable. The new Nook shows pictures and schematics quite well.

The only additional problem as was mentioned here and admitted by the Barnes and Noble rep...is that older history books are not as of yet well covered in electronic selections. The newest history books are though. I could have saved 30+$ on Battle of Britian had i gotten the Nook version and a similar amount on Neptune...which given my review.....i wish i had!

I think the writing is on the wall though. Already they are saying that electronic sales have trumped paperback sales. I think within the next 10 years, the "paper and ink" book will become largely confined to the Collector while the general public goes electronic.

[Nikademus]

ORIGINAL: Swayin

so true ... the reality of being unable to trust what a radar scope told them took months to sink in and cost thousands of lives ... 4 sailors for every gyrene on the island.

This is one area, so far at least where I fault the Author for being inaccurate for the sake of melodrama. I read the same ancedotal comments regarding the "if only" comments about radar after Savo. It definately gives an impression that "well if only they'd let us do our jobs, things would have been different"

It was far more complicated than that. Frank's book went into great detail on how "new" Radar was to the commanders of the USN so it was as much ignorance as it was "lack of trust." Also, Hornfischer glosses over the serious limitations of the early SC radar sets when used around nearby land masses. It was pointed out for example (in Frank) that despite this radar, Mikawa's lookouts sighted their adversaries well before SC got any inkling.

[Swayin]

Nik,

I hear you, and in the spirit of friendly banter, have to disagree. I think he did a good job talking at length about the limitations of SC and how it wasn't the cat's meow -- and also went into detail about how much better the SG sets were, and how half the captains didn't even know what it was or how to use it properly; the fact that Callaghan kept the two ships with SG sets - the Helena and the Fletcher, IIRC - at the rear of his column where they could do no good illustrates this in my mind. I also have to disagree that so much of his points are anecdotal; by its very nature, a recount or retelling of a battle by participants in a time when there were no "black boxes" to show hard data means that eyewitness accounts have to stand for soemthing. Anecdotal evidence - like saying "my dad smoked 10 packs a day and lived until he was 99, so smoking can't really be bad for you," seems to me to be a far leap from stating something like Hornfischers's conclusions that many of the captains involved didn't know enough about how to use their radar and that the admirals leading these TFs were often blind to the data being relayed to them by their radar sets, and were incredibly slow to act on that data and relay it to the captains in the line. It's no coincidence in my mind that Ching Lee, besides being the foremost theortician on big-gun work, was also perhaps the most knowledgable surface commander afloat in terms of knowing how radar was the great game-changer ... in his words, "We realized then and it should not be forgotten now, that our entire superiority was due almost entirely to our possession of radar. Certainly we have no edge on the Japs in experience, skill, training, or performance of personnel."

Again, this is an interesting discussion ... not trying to flame, just sticking up for what I think is a very well researched book.