Reviewed by Rob Mackie |
USS Minneapolis is
the second volume in the Warship Pictorial
series published by Classic Warships.
It is a 11" x 8" 56 page softbound book, the same size as the Squadron In-Action
series. It consists primarily of photos with informative captions, and grey tone drawings
of the ship during various stages of her life. Production values are very high. The black
and white photos have been expertly reproduced. They are uniformly clear and large with
none of the grainy, over-contrasted appearance I’ve seen in other books of this type.
Their large size makes them especially useful to modelers. The publisher has wisely chosen
quality instead of quantity. Squadron books of this type have more pictures, but seldom
are they as large and clear as in this volume. The drawings are especially noteworthy. There are 4 sets of grey scale plan/profile views showing Minneapolis at various stages of her life. All are 1/350 scale (20" long) and very attractive. They lack colour, as does the entire book, but the subtlety and clarity of the presentation more than compensates. There are also two sets of 1/700 two-tone plan/profile views as well as plan views of all deck levels and cabins. This book impressed me. At $10.00 it represents good value for anyone building a New Orleans class heavy cruiser, or indeed for any naval history enthusiast. I am constructing Quincy, a sister ship of Minneapolis, and this volume has proven most useful. Upcoming Warship Pictorials will cover other major US Navy cruiser classes. I was very pleased with this book and look forward to future releases in the series. |