Consulting editor Norman Friedman. This volume reflects broad themes such as types of warfare or aspects of equipment, which cross many ship types.

This book, first published in 1991, provides a major analysis of the prelude to the US’s Cold War maritime strategy, showing how NATO’s maritime forces were organised in the period. It examines how the United States Navy and allied navies, particularly the Royal Navy, were incorporated into the Alliance’s nuclear and conventional deterrent forces. It looks at the structure of the main naval commands, the growth of Soviet maritime forces and the impact of the flexible response strategy on NATO’s naval posture in the 1970s. Drawing upon many declassified documents, this account fills an important gap in postwar literature on American seapower and its relation to European security. It also addresses important aspects of NATO strategy and organisation.

By 1945 the threat to warships from above and below the water's surface had come to dominate naval strategic and tactical planning. Although many of the traditional ship designation, like cruisers, destroyers, and frigate, continue to be used, they no longer imply a specific role. This volume therefore emphasizes such broader themes as anti-submarine warfare or electronics, which involve many ship types.

The Navy of the Nuclear Age, 1947-2007, the fifth volume in the monumental U.S. Navy Warship series, presents an all-inclusive compendium of the ships that served in the U.S. Navy from the Cold War up through the present day. Featuring radical new developments in warships such as nuclear-powered submarines and carriers equipped with ballistic missiles, the post-World War II period was one of unprecedented technological growth for the U.S. Navy. The Navy of the Nuclear Age contains specifications and illustrations for all the ships and submarines that have helped the U.S. to achieve its present-day status as the country with the world’s largest and most powerful navy. A further article about Paul Silverstone and the Navy Warships series can be found at: http://www.thejc.com/home.aspxParentId=m11s18s180&SecId=180&AId=58892&ATypeId=1