Fighting Ships of the Far East, Vol. 1: China and Southeast Asia, 202 BC-AD 1419 (New Vanguard)

Never knew much about this history or equipment. Very interesting.

This is an excellent survey, well illustrated. Knowing a certain amount about European oared warships, I was very happy to learn the differences with Chinese practice - the feathering sweep oar, treadmill-powered paddle wheels and multi-tiered fighting platforms, in particular. Illustrations are, for the most part, excellent - in fact, the best I've ever seen on my Kindle Keyboard, which allowed them to be magnified and the resulting viewport moved around the picture. I really wish this feature was available for all illustrations!Minor criticisms: the action of the feathering sweep oar is not perfectly explained or illustrated - had to look that up on the Web. It is not an easy concept for this Westerner to get his head around, but obviously works very well. Second, artillery is not covered in detail (reader is referred to the author's other books on that subject). And finally, this is about river warships on China's very large rivers, lakes and canals, China having no equivalent of the Mediterranean. Coastal and ocean-going ships are described, but since they had few special features when miliatarized and mainly dealt with Japanese pirates anyway, are not detailed.This leaves a nice comparison: how the Chinese solved similar problems to those addressed by the Mediterranean galley. Recommended highly.

After reading the two above titles, I became interested in ships of the time period. Fighting ships of the far east vol 1 certianly delivers as far as the fighting aspect of the ships are concerned. However the main shortfall is the protection services these ships would have offered to the huge exploration fleets sent abroad during that time to explore the world. If you are intersted in the fighting ships of the period from the far east, then this is one of the books for you

Great, as described. Thanks

thanks

interesting book. lots of historical info.

I liked it

I bought "Fighting Ships of the Far East" as a gift for my son-in-law who loves ancient ships.This book would a nice addition to any person's library that has this interest. The cut-aways of the warships are excellent.

Sto ancora leggendo il libro ma a prima vista sembra leggere le battaglie navali del nostro medio evo combattute a bordo di barchette da pesca.Può sembrare comico ma non lo è. Anzi da certe raffigurazioni posso dire che ha un che di tragico.Per gli appassionati è un libro da non perdere!Galland5