Jane's Fighting Ships, 2000-2001

Sea Power, Dec 2000 by Burgess, Richard R

JANE'S FIGHTING SHIPS, 2000-2001, edited by Richard Sharpe. Alexandria, Va.: Jane's Information Group Inc., 2000. 908 pp. $530.00. [Internet: www.janes.com] In the 103rd edition of Jane's Fighting Ships its erudite editor, Capt. Richard Sharpe, RN (Ret.), continues a fine tradition.

This most widely used naval reference work in the world remains as useful as ever, and it is evident that the editors took pains to include many last-- minute developments before publication. In this edition the vast majority of the ship and aircraft photos are presented in full color, a plush enhancement that makes browsing much more pleasurable. Sharpe's traditional essay on the state of the world's navies is worth one's read, as usual, and is both informative and insightful. The close-up and pierside photos of the Russian Navy's submarines, in particular, still amaze this former analyst a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union. The layout of each section is clean and the information is presented in a painstakingly user-friendly manner. As always, Jane's Fighting Ships is thoroughly indexed and features its traditional useful tables, charts, and complementary materials-e.g., naval ensigns, naval ranks, and pendant numbers. One cautionary note: Despite its extraordinary value, particularly to professionals, Jane's Fighting Ships is expensive by most standards and is likely to get increasingly stiff competition from the U.S. Naval Institute's more reasonably priced Combat Fleets of the World. RRB