Book Review

Warship Pictorial #23 Italian Heavy Cruisers of WWII by Steve Wiper and Gordon Hogg reviewed by Timothy Dike
The Italian Navy of World War Two has received very little coverage as a whole. Even less is known about their Heavy Cruisers, but this book will help to remedy that. This book covers the ships of the Trento, Zara, and Bolzano classes.
The book is divided up by ship, beginning with a general history of each ship. There are a number of sharp photo's of each ship showing them up close and personal. The photo's are a modelers dream showing weapons and other fittings in great detail. Each ship is covered at various times in their careers. Some of the photo's are in stunning color such as the one on the right, which if you think it looks good on the screen you should see it in print. The typical computer monitor still is a far cry from a sharp printed image.	click to enlarge images



The book has several color profiles including plan and port and starboard view of the Trento, Trieste, Zara, Fiume, Gorizia, Bolzano in 1/700 or 1/750 scale. In addition the centerfold is a two page spread of the Pola in plan and profile in 1940 reproduced in 1/350 scale. Most of these photo's are new to me, and the ones I have seen before were not reproduced as well as they are here. There is everything from construction and fitting out photo's to wartime photo.


Conclusions: A great book for anyone interested in the Italian Navy, especially their cruisers. While I doubt this book will sell as many copies as a Bismarck or Yamato book, it is these lesser known subjects that I want to see more of. I applaud Steve Wiper for taking the time to research these lesser known subjects. This book is 72 pages with over 108 photos with several of them in full color. It lists for $19.95, slightly more due to the high cost of bringing the original photos to you. I still highly recommend this book. Links: More Classic Warships books