[.ca] Battleship Arizona: An Illustrated History (ISBN 0870210238)

good book:
I chose to read The Illustrated History of the Battleship Arizona, written by Paul Stillwell. This is not the first book of this format that he has written The Illustrated History of the Battleship Missouri, follows the same format as well. The book started in the shipyard as the U.S.S. Arizona was being built then the author takes you through the daily routine of the ship as if you were a sailor on the great battleship. You feel as though you're in the middle of Pearl Harbor looking over the Arizona as the battle is taking place. The ship was built in 1918, and was the pride of the Pacific fleet threw out the 20's. The Arizona was featured in a Famous movie called, Here Comes the Navy. After Pearl Harbor the ship was made into a now world famous memorial. This had been one of the best books I had ever been able to read there is so much information given on this great ship, and the pictures make the ship come alive. I would suggest this book to anyone who has an interest in ships and the way they run, or a fan of history. I have not read any other books that Paul Stillwell has written, but if they are half as good as this one I would recommend it to anyone.

Outstanding historical work:
Mr. Stillwell has brought BB-39 to life in a way that hasn't been matched by anyone else who has attempted. His rendering of the life of the ship from her birth in the NY Navy yards to her death in the waters of Pearl Harbor is amazing in its clarity & detail. OK, some detail might be lacking for the technical buffs but his description of the construction, manning, & day-to-day operation of a US naval vessel in the 1st half of the 20th century is superlative. He blends both the hardware & the human element so that Arizona & her crew leap off the pages as a living, breathing combination of steel & flesh. Highly recommended for those who are interested in the Arizona herself & for anyone who would like to know many of the hows & whys of US Naval operations between the wars. PS: Scale modelers invariably recommend "Battleship Arizona" as -the- definitive work to those who are researching details of BB-39 for their own modeling projects.

Detailed and well-rounded.:
Paul Stillwell's "Battleship Arizona" is a fine work devoted to the "life and death" of the ship which became the icon of Pearl Harbor. The volume is particularly impressive and valuable for its extensive photo documentation and its stories of life and duty aboard the Arizona from keel-laying to partial scrapping and memorial construction. For those interested in the "human side" of the story, these tales are right up their alley. For those interested in the ship's configuration the photographs are remarkable. Some are also extraordinarily artistic, such as one showing a sortie under the incomplete Golden Gate Bridge. The details provided regarding the ship's loss are also particularly good. Especially impressive are De Virgilio's elevation of the wreck immediately post attack and his overhead plot of the bomb hits and misses upon the Arizona and the Vestal. The only real disappointment is the lack of a detailed "anatomy" of the ship in the form of deck plans, level by level within the ship, as completed and as modernized in the early 1930s. Provision of such drawings, and an accompanying discussion using them might have shed useful light on some of the theories regarding exactly how Arizona's magazines were detonated by the bomb hit forward. The technical details offered in the text, and recorded in the appendices are superb, and I was particularly impressed by the references to and correction of minor errors in another respected publication recorded therein. As a reader who could generally care less for the "human" side of the story with respect to warship histories, being far more concerned with design, construction and operation, I am nonetheless considering purchasing this volume for my own collection. It's that good.

Arizona at its best:
Very good book, gives you insight as to life on the Arizona from the time of her beginning until its ultimate demise. A must for any Naval Historian

A worthy tribute to the U.S.S. Arizona:
To many of us, our knowledge of the Arizona begins and ends at Pearl Harbor. The book not only brings alive the rich history of the ship during her 25 years of service, but provides a wealth of information about Navy life between the world wars. The rare pictures of the ship and her crew also bring one closer to the Arizona experience as no other single source can.