Antony Preston (naval historian) 4920017 202020096 2008-03-30T10:19:06Z 220.255.7.237 '''Antony Preston''' (b. [[1938]], d. [[December 25]], [[2004]]) was an [[England|English]] [[naval history|naval historian]] and editor, specialising in the area of 19th and 20th-century naval history and warship design. ==Life== Antony Preston was born in 1938 in [[Salford]], [[Lancashire]], and educated in [[South Africa]] at [[King Edward VII School (Johannesburg)|King Edward VII School]], [[Johannesburg]], and the [[University of Witwatersrand]].<ref>Publisher's preface, ''The World's Worst Warships'' (Conway Maritime Press 2002) ISBN 0-85177-754-6</ref> On his return to England he spent some years at the [[National Maritime Museum]], [[Greenwich]], before becoming Editor of the periodical “Defence”.<ref>Publisher's preface, ''Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History'' (Exeter Books 1980) ISBN 0-89673-011-5</ref> During the 1970s he was employed by a specialist publisher, [[Conway Maritime Press]], as editor of their ''Warships'' annual; he resumed this post in 1996. Antony Preston lived in London until his death in 2004.<ref>Publisher's preface, ''The World's Worst Warships''</ref> ==Work== Antony Preston was a prolific author both of books and of articles, and published on subjects ranging from the [[American Revolution]] to modern seapower; the bibliography given below illustrates the breadth of his expertise. Although he wrote on general military history, as well as most aspects of naval history and modern-day naval matters, the focus of his work was on ship design, technology and materiel. He was a pugnacious writer and was usually willing to take up one side of a controversy, even in a work of reference (see quotes below). ==Bibliography== Even though restricted to books, following list (sourced primarily from [[Amazon.com|Amazon]]) is far from complete. Only the four most recent ''Warship'' annuals are listed; other titles are listed in reverse order of publication. *''Warship 2005'' (Ed). Conway Maritime Press (July 15, 2005). ISBN 1-84486-003-5 *''Warship 2004'' (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (July, 2004). ISBN 0-85177-948-4 *''Warship 2002-2003'' (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (Dec, 2002). ISBN 0-85177-901-8 *''Warship 2001-2002'' (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (April, 2002). ISBN 0-85177-926-3 *''Send a Gunboat!'' (with John Major). Chrysalis Books (February 28, 2003) ISBN 0-85177-923-9 *''The World's Worst Warships''. Conway Maritime Press (2002). ISBN 0-85177-754-6 *''The Royal Navy Submarine Service: A Centennial History''. Conway Maritime Press (November 2001). ISBN 0-85177-891-7 *''The World's Great Aircraft Carriers: From the Civil War to the Present''. Thunder Bay Press (CA) (July 2000). ISBN 1-57145-261-3 *''Submarine Warfare: An Illustrated History''. Thunder Bay Press (CA) (April 1999) ISBN 1-57145-172-2 *''An illustrated history of the navies of World War II''. Military Book Club (January 1, 1998). ASIN B0006R987I *''Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated History''. PRC Publishing Ltd. (1997). ASIN B000CORWY6 *''Pictorial History of South Africa''. Gallery Books (Aug 1989). ISBN 0-83176-905-X *(with Richard Natkiel) ''Weidenfeld Atlas of Maritime History''. Weidenfeld & Nicholson (May 1986). ISBN 0-29778-653-9 *''Battleships (Warships)''. Lifetime Books (August 1982). ISBN 0-8119-0462-8 *''Cruisers (Warships)''. Lifetime Books (August 1982). ISBN 0-8119-0465-2 *''Sea combat off the Falklands''. Willow Books (1982). ISBN 0-00-218046-4 *''Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History'' (with Louis S Casey & John Batchelor). Exeter Books (September 1980). ISBN 0-89673-011-5 *''Decisive Battles of the Pacific Wars''. Book Sales (May 1980). ISBN 0-89009-293-1 *''Dreadnought to nuclear submarine (The ship)''. HMSO/National Maritime Museum (1980). ISBN 0-11-290319-3 *(contributor) ''Navies of the American Revolution''. Leo Cooper (April 1975). ISBN 0-85052-191-2 *(contributor) ''Navies of World War 3''. BISON BOOKS (1986). ISBN-0-86124-114-2 ==Quotes== *''…ton for ton, the least satisfactory ships built for the RN in modern times.'' (of the [[HMS Lion (1910)|Lion]] class battlecruisers) – ''Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships, 1906-1921'' (1985) ISBN 0-85177-245-5 *''Unfit for combat with any existing cruiser''. (of the French [[Duquesne]] class – “The World’s Worst Warships” *''A fresh coat of paint and a display of flags can hide a multitude of shortcomings''. (of Fast Attack Craft) – Ibid *''More of a political gesture than a significant contribution to the history of capital-ship design'' - (of the German ''Panzerschiffe'' ([[pocket battleships]])) – “Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History” ==World's Worst Warships== ''The World's Worst Warships''. Conway Maritime Press (2002). ISBN 0-85177-754-6 is a book about warship design. While nobody sets out to design a bad warship, some ships turn out unsuitable for the tasks which they are asked to perform. Antony Preston regarded the following designs as particularly poor. * US Civil war era [[Monitor (warship)|Monitors]] * Turret ship [[HMS Captain (1869)]] * Russian Coast defence ships [[Russian battleship Novgorod|Novgorod]] and ''Vitse Admiral Popov'' 1871 * Armoured rams [[HMS Polyphemus (1881)]] and [[USS Katahdin (1893)]] * Russian Armoured Cruiser [[Rurik (1892)]] * Dynamite cruiser [[USS Vesuvius (1888)]] * British [[Powerful class cruiser|Powerful]] Class protected cruisers * Russian [[Borodino class battleship]]s * Destroyer [[HMS Swift (1907)|HMS Swift]] * Austo-Hungarian [[Viribus Unitis class battleship]]s * French [[Normandie class battleship]]s * American AA Class submarines * US [[Flush-deck]]er destroyers * [[British K class submarine]]s * British light battlecruisers, [[HMS Glorious]], [[HMS Furious (47)]], [[HMS Courageous (50)]] * Battlecruiser [[HMS Hood (51)]] * US [[Omaha class cruiser]] * Swedish [[HMS Gotland (cruiser)|Cruiser Gotland]] * French [[Duquesne class cruiser|Duquesne class heavy cruisers]] * German [[pocket battleships]] * Italian [[Condottieri class cruiser|Condotierri class light cruisers]] * [[Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō]] * Japanese [[Mogami class cruiser]]s * Japanese [[Yamato class battleship]]s * German [[Bismarck class battleship]]s * British [[Implacable class aircraft carrier]]s * [[Hydrogen Peroxide]] fuelled submarines * Soviet [[Alpha class submarine]]s * British [[Type 21 frigate]]s * [[La Combattante]] type missile fast attack craft ==References== <references /> [[Category:1938 births|Preston, Antony]] [[Category:2004 deaths|Preston, Antony]] [[Category:English naval historians|Preston, Antony]] [[Category:English historians|Preston, Antony]] [[Category:People from Salford|Preston, Antony]] [[Category:Old Edwardians|Preston, Antony]]