Books about Cruiser from Amazon.com

"Son, we’re going to Hell."

The navigator of the USS Houston confided these prophetic words to a young officer as he and his captain charted a course into U.S. naval legend. Renowned as FDR’s favorite warship, the cruiser USS Houston was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn’t a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death.

Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, the deadly rain of fire from Japanese bombers, and the almost superhuman effort of the crew as they miraculously escaped disaster again and again–until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the Houston was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner. For more than three years their fate would be a mystery to families waiting at home.

In the brutal privation of jungle POW camps dubiously immortalized in such films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, the war continued for the men of the Houston—a life-and-death struggle to survive forced labor, starvation, disease, and psychological torture. Here is the gritty, unvarnished story of the infamous Burma–Thailand Death Railway glamorized by Hollywood, but which in reality mercilessly reduced men to little more than animals, who fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, will–power—and the undying faith that their country would prevail.

Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, including testimony from postwar Japanese war crimes tribunals, and the eyewitness accounts of Houston’s survivors, James Hornfischer has crafted an account of human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it’s easy to forget that every single word is true.


From the Hardcover edition..
Price: $9.06 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The chain of islands from the Virgins through to the southern Caribbean is considered one of the most desirable tropical cruising grounds for any sailor. It can be sailed in comfort and confidence with only one language, one currency, a modicum of weather forecasting, and an ability to spot weather windows.

This book is an entertaining mine of information for the sun-soaked passage planner as well as the dreamer back home. Here is the full, vital background to help skipper and crew enjoy sailing the region.

Topics include: how to achieve easier passagemaking and sail in comfort; which are the safe and easy harbors; how to spot the weather windows; prevailing winds and currents; ideal equipment for Caribbean waters; and a wealth of practical, down-to-earth hints and tips..
Price: $24.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship sank in 14 minutes More than 1,000 men were thrown into shark-infested waters. Those who survived the fiery sinking—some injured, many without life jackets—struggled to stay afloat in shark-infested waters as they waited for rescue. But the United States Navy did not even know they were missing. The Navy needed a scapegoat for this disaster. So it court-martialed the captain for “hazarding” his ship. The survivors of the Indianapolis knew that their captain was not to blame. For 50 years they worked to clear his name, even after his untimely death. But the navy would not budge—until an 11-year-old boy named Hunter Scott entered the picture. His history fair project on the Indianapolis soon became a crusade to restore the captain’s good name and the honor of the men who served under him..
Price: $3.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Overlook is proud to put P. F. Kluge's classic Eddie and the Cruisers--the book that spawned the movies--in paperback for the first time, so it can find a new generation of readers With sparkling dialogue, superb plot and suspense that never flags this page-turner is the seminal novel of the 50's new music- rock-and-roll- and how it changed America.

Eddie and his Jersey-bred band, The Parkway Cruisers, were going places. With an album and a few minor hits to their credit the future seemed bright until Eddie died in a fiery car crash. Twenty years later a British rock band turns their old songs into monumental fresh hits.

With this comes a surge of interest in the surviving Cruisers and in a rumored cache of tapes that Eddie made before he died. That's when the killing starts..
Price: $8.39 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The pleasures and adventures of cruising under sail are amazingly affordable, say Lin and Larry Pardey. But to keep your dream on budget, financially, emotionally, and timewise, you have to decide - are you a cruiser or a consumer? In this book, a logical successor to their Self Sufficient Sailor and Capable Cruiser, they discuss topics ranging from making your getaway plans to finding a truly affordable boat, keeping your outfitting costs and maintenance time in control, then learning to feel confident as you cruise farther ahead. Their chart of the gear considered necessary by many shoreside experts, compared to that carried by several cost-conscious cruisers, will give you a convenient checklist to gauge whether you are buying true necessities or overloading your budget and boat with high-tech items that can break down and steal your sense of confidence offshore. Chapters on getting the most from your cruising funds, the attributes of successful long-term voyag! ers, how to upgrade your boat using your own hands, plus answers to the ten questions most frequently asked by potential cruisers - all will help you prepare to explore under sail..
Price: $19.59 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"The definitive book." -Cruising World

"Every culture has its bible, and until now, there wasn't one for the voyager with a passion for catching fish." --Ocean Navigator

Here is the first-ever complete guide to finding, catching, processing, and cooking fish from the decks of a slow-moving cruising sail- or powerboat. Scott and Wendy Bannerot have successfully cruise-fished tropical and temperate seas for more than two decades..
Price: $10.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book presents an overview of proposed conversions of the Iowa class battleships and Alaska class large cruisers from 1942 to 1964. This book covers 16 conversions, with line drawings and full color original art illustrations for 11 of 16 proposed projects. Coverage extends from MACK-equipped double-ended Talos Guided Missile Battleship designs to Jupiter-IRBM-carrying "Missile Monitor" designs. This is a truly unique volume that provides not only new proposed conversion information, but a look at the ongoing US Navy modernization and experimentation projects of the early postwar/cold war era. This book is a must for those who have an interest in battleships in general and the Iowa class in particular..
Price: $21.68 [Notify me when price goes down.]

At the end of the Civil War the US Navy was the most technologically advanced navy in the world, but after the war this spirit of innovation faded and America's naval might dwindled. However, in the 1880s a "New Navy" was born and at the forefront of its fleet were the mighty cruisers. Lawrence Burr details how it was these cruisers that allowed America to once again display its power on the world's oceans. Exploring how the birth of this "Steel Navy" required the development of new shipbuilding, motive power, ordnance, and armour-plate production capability, he details the design and development of these ships.

Intricate colour artwork illuminates the technicalities of the design, especially their internal workings through a cutaway of the USS Olympia, which has been restored and is now on public display. This title also places these technological advances in context, through vivid accounts of how US cruisers were fundamental to the Spanish-American War of 1898, destroying the Spanish fleet at the battles of Manila Bay and Santiago. It was their performance at these engagements that marked the emergence of the US Navy as a major naval power, and America as a world power.

.
Price: $10.71 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Participating in almost every major sea battle in World War II, cruisers found themselves pressed into a myriad of roles. They escorted battle lines, guarded convoys, patrolled oceans--even acted as mini-battleships, going toe-to-toe with dreadnoughts three times their size. Their duties ranged from the tedious but necessary to the desperate and deadly, yet history has given them little attention. In the Shadow of the Battleship gives these ships their due, with essays to explain the lineage and quirks that made cruisers what they were--the cornerstone of maritime supremacy..
Price: $21.68 [Notify me when price goes down.]

An illustrated history of battleships of the world from 1906 to 1918, featuring fascinating expert descriptions of over 70 ships that details their construction, function and history..
Price: $9.44 [Notify me when price goes down.]