Warship Perspective has released the second in a series of four books devoted to Royal Navy Camouflage during WWII. These books are designed to help the layman sort through the complex and often confusing subject of camouflage patterns and colors that were developed and deployed by the Royal Navy throughout WWII. 

The first volume covered the years 1939 - 1941. During this period, there was a lot of experimentation with color combinations and patterns. Many unofficial schemes were tried with mixed results. In 1942, the Royal Navy camouflage department began to issue large numbers of patterns suitable for use on any warship. These schemes are the topic for this book covering the year 1942.

Alan Raven has employed the same successful format he used in the first volume. Each pattern/color type is grouped together in sections. Each section begins with a description of the scheme and the colors used.  The following camouflage sections are covered in this book:

Most of the ship camouflage profile drawings are in black and white, however, there is an  eight page color section in the middle of the book as there is in volume I. A nice touch to this volume, is that Alan has provided an addendum to volume I at the beginning of the book. An errata for volume I can also be found on page 24. There are also more photographs than there were in volume I which enhances the overall content of the book.

If you want to learn about Royal Navy camouflage used in WWII, then this book will tell you nearly everything that you need to know for the year 1942.  For patterns and schemes from 1939 through 1941 you will need the first volume in the series. I would recommend both this book and volume I  to anyone who is interested in camouflage or Royal Navy ships in general . Alan Raven is to be commended for his thorough research and clear presentation on this subject and I am looking forward to volume III in this series.