Classic Warships has released the 17th book in its series of Naval Monographs of Warships. Book #17 covers the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Myoko Class Heavy Cruisers. 

There were 4 ships in this class; Myoko (Volcano), Nachi (Mountain), Ashigara (Mountain), and Haguro (Mountain). Of the 4 ships in this class, only Myoko survived the war and only as floating battery in Singapore Harbor. Of other three ships, Nachi was sunk by Aircraft from Task Force 38, Ashigara was sunk by HMS Trenchant, and Haguro sunk by Destroyers of the British 26th Flotilla.

The Classic Warships Book on the Myoko Class Cruisers is broken down into 4 sections: 1 section for each ship in the class. Each section contains a record or movement for the ship followed by photographs. Many of the photographs seen in this book have appeared here for the first time. Some of the pre-war shots are very crisp and show considerable detail. The wartime shots are very good considering how rare it is to find any wartime photographs of Japanese Warships. The centerfold of the book has a beautiful 2 page color drawing of Myoko in her 1941 fit. 

Classic Warships Publishing has gone to great lengths to create a outstanding  book on this subject. Steve has conducted considerable research in order to find rare  photographs and data on this class of ship. In this book you will find a wealth of photographs and text.  Most of the photographs are of good reproduction and very well rendered. 

Steve Wiper's Classic Warships books are designed to tell the story of the subject with pictures instead of words. Steve Wiper has become the master of this craft with his series of naval warship books. He is providing a source of information that few of us have access to and giving it to us at a reasonable cost. I would highly recommend this book, or any of Classic Warships publications, to anyone who has a love of ships.