GREAT SHIPS: THE BATTLEFLEET OF KING CHARLES II

Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press, 1980. Hardcover. Fine/fine. 208 pp; arguably the finest reference work on warships of the seventeenth century. Extensive research by the author has produced a book which combines for the first time a balanced appreciation of Restoration warship design, with a specific account of the whole battlefleet. Not only are the ships described individually and in classes but most are illustrated with reliably identified portraits - either paintings or selections from the thousands oin minutely detailed drawings of the Van de Veldes, father and son. What is all the more usefull is that the book does not concentrate on English vessels alone; but provides a number of Dutch, French, Scandinavian and Spanish warships of the period; illustrated end papers Has date written in ink in top left corner of ffep. (photos available upon request).