Very well known author with a real following. The most comprehensive design history yet of modern British surface warships. Full technical details, with much new information and insight; many plans and photographs Since the Second World War the old categories of destroyer and frigate have tended to merge, a process that this book traces back to the radically different 'Tribal' class destroyers of 1936. It deals with the development of all the modern destroyer classes that fought the war, looks at the emergency programmes that produced vast numbers of trade protection vessels - sloops, corvettes and frigates - then analyses the pressures that shaped the post-war fleet, and continued to dominate design down to recent years. Norman Friedman is renowned for his ability to explain the policy and strategy changes that drive design decisions, and his latest book lives up to this reputation. Not content to merely describe the many classes in full technical detail, he uses previously unpublished material from his research in many archives to draw a new and convincing picture of British naval policy over the previous half-century and more. This is a book that everyone with a more than passing interest in British warships will want to read, and nobody professionally involved with navies can afford to miss.