THE STORY OF FIGHTING SHIPS

Sometimes (too often) the book that has a chapter of fiction sandwiched between chapters of fact seems like the perfect illustration of why you shouldn't itch a racehorse with a mule. This time the non-fiction is the racehorse and the fiction is the mule. The book is proposed as the companion volume to The Story of Knights and Armor (1961, p. 955, J-313). The approach is the same -- an introduction (and a good one) to the ships and methods of naval warfare for each era up to the present followed by a short story which incorporates this information into the plot. The short stories are not memorable and rely heavily on the battle descriptions (as of course they must). Nevertheless, they become monotonous -- like a long string of prize fight broadcasts. The book is to be illustrated by W. T. Mars whose black and white halftones can probably be relied on to provide dramatic and accurate visualizations of the scenes and methods described. We would like to suggest that someone in audio-visual aids animate the non-fiction portions of the book for a winner. It would be a remarkable and gripping documentary. Here is a half and half book that can only call forth a half and half review. Good luck to schizoid cataloguing.