Product Description

Although many books have been written on the early days of radar and its role in war, this book is by far the most comprehensive, covering ground, air, and sea operations in all theatres of World War II. The author manages to synthesize a vast amount of material in a highly readable, informative, and enjoyable way. Of special interest is extensive new material about the development and use of radar by Germany, Japan, Russia, and Great British. The story is told without undue technical complexity, so that the book is accessible to specialists and nonspecialists alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #257049 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 580 pages

Review
..."this book should also teach something to even the most knowledgeable. No other history of radar discusses every country's program. Equally unique is Brown's treatment of both the technological development and combat uses of radar. And topping it off, he wraps everything in a highly readable package." Barton C Hacker "Brown's book is one of the best ever on the history of radar and war"" .. the definitive history of radar science and war." IEE Review "A great book, of permanent value: powerful, magisterial, full of surprises and freighted with deep insight into science and human affairs. It will remain for all time the definitive history of the invention and application of radar during the Second World War." Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Pulitzer Prize winner). ..."a valuable document suitable for the non-specialist reader, includes a number of smaller or greater surprises (at least for us 'youngsters') and couples, in an interesting way, human, technological, and military topics to show the complexity of modern warfare. The author has synthesized a huge amount of material in a very readable way and avoided the use of rarely known difficult English phrases - a habit of many British writers. Everyone keen on studying a less-than conventional book about radar history should acquire this volume!" IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine "Given the breadth of his canvas the author does a pretty good job, and I came out of the book with a much better understanding of the use of radar in the last war, particularly in the Pacific and Mediterranean, than I had gathered from the dozen or so books already on my shelf. ...I am glad to welcome this edition to myfamily of books on radar." Robert Hanbury Brown in Physics World ..."this book is to be recommended to anyone interested in the history of science and technology and of World War II. In particular, Brown has created a new benchmark in the writing of the history of radar." David Zimmerman in IEEE Spectrum "Louis Brown...offers in this book a compendious and scholarly history of the development of radar...Brown tells a fascinating story, and this book can be hard to put down." Robert H. March, University of Wisconsin "This important and extremely useful book is destined to become the standard work in the field. Highly recommended." W.M. Leary, University of Georgia "[It] provides a valuable resource to scholars in the field. Brown synthesizes a vast amount of material, bringing together in one volume the history of radar developments in no fewer than a dozen countries. Add in the author's witty asides - he had this reviewer laughing out loud on more than one occasion - and this is a book worth buying." Timothy S Wolters in The Journal of Military History "No other history of radar discusses every country's program." ISIS" .. a useful resource, filling a void in the literature on radar development." Technology and Culture" .. a fascinating and readable account"" .. a book you must read." Contemporary Physics .." much new discussion and analyses in Brown's book" Annals of Science "Brown's account will provide a worthwhile read." Robert W Seidel, University of Minnesota, History of Physics Newsletter, Volume VIII, No.2 s book should also teach something to even the most knowledgeable. No other history of radar discusses every country's program. Equally unique is Brown's treatment of boththe technological development and combat uses of radar. And topping it off, he wraps everything in a highly readable package." Barton C Hacker "Brown's book is one of the best ever on the history of radar and war"" .. the definitive history of radar science and war." IEE Review "A great book, of permanent value: powerful, magisterial, full of surprises and freighted with deep insight into science and human affairs. It will remain for all time the definitive history of the invention and application of radar during the Second World War." Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Pulitzer Prize winner). ..."a valuable document suitable for the non-specialist reader, includes a number of smaller or greater surprises (at least for us 'youngsters') and couples, in an interesting way, human, technological, and military topics to show the complexity of modern warfare. The author has synthesized a huge amount of material in a very readable way and avoided the use of rarely known difficult English phrases - a habit of many British writers. Everyone keen on studying a less-than conventional book about radar history should acquire this volume!" IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine "Given the breadth of his canvas the author does a pretty good job, and I came out of the book with a much better understanding of the use of radar in the last war, particularly in the Pacific and Mediterranean, than I had gathered from the dozen or so books already on my shelf. ...I am glad to welcome this edition to my family of books on radar." Robert Hanbury Brown in Physics World ..."this book is to be recommended to anyone interested in the history of science and technology and of World WarII. In particular, Brown has created a new benchmark in the writing of the history of radar." David Zimmerman in IEEE Spectrum "Louis Brown...offers in this book a compendious and scholarly history of the development of radar...Brown tells a fascinating story, and this book can be hard to put down." Robert H. March, University of Wisconsin "This important and extremely useful book is destined to become the standard work in the field. Highly recommended." W.M. Leary, University of Georgia "[It] provides a valuable resource to scholars in the field. Brown synthesizes a vast amount of material, bringing together in one volume the history of radar developments in no fewer than a dozen countries. Add in the author's witty asides - he had this reviewer laughing out loud on more than one occasion - and this is a book worth buying." Timothy S Wolters in The Journal of Military History "No other history of radar discusses every country's program." ISIS" .. a useful resource, filling a void in the literature on radar development." Technology and Culture" .. a fascinating and readable account"" .. a book you must read." Contemporary Physics .." much new discussion and analyses in Brown's book" Annals of Science "Brown's account will provide a worthwhile read." Robert W Seidel, University of Minnesota, History of Physics Newsletter, Volume VIII, No.2

From the Back Cover
Technical and Military Imperatives: A Radar History of World War II is a coherent account of the history of radar in the second World War. Although many books have been written on the early days of radar and its role in the war, this book is by far the most comprehensive, covering ground, air, and sea operations in all theatres of World War II. The author manages to synthesize a vast amount of material in a highly readable, informative, and enjoyable way. Of special interest is extensive new material about the development and use of radar by Germany, Japan, Russia, and Great British. The story is told without undue technical complexity, so that the book is accessible to specialists and nonspecialists alike.

Customer Reviews

Excellent, detailed and broad
As a geeky post-war child, I grew up reading R V Jones' populist histories of wartime technology, particularly radar. Dogma was that radar was a British invention, jealously guarded lest any enemy discover its secret. This book sets a few of those myths straight; that the cavity magnetron was invented independently by almost everyone (and even published pre-war) and the sophistication and historical significance of Japanese microwave naval radar, are just a couple.

Experts in the field probably knew many of these issues already, but for "armchair experts" like myself, looking for a technically detailed coverage that goes beyond RV Jones, and looks beyond the air war over Europe, then this is a book to have.

Almost the Final Word
This is a brilliant book which contains much hard to find information. It is very comprehensive and is almost the last word on the subject. Why almost? It seems there are some gaps on Russian WW2 radar development. Bill Gunston in his foreword to `Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War Volume 2'refers to the Gneis interception radar, introduced during the Stalingrad period.Brown does not mention this but a book of this nature takes years to research and obviously the latest information on Russian radar development became available too late. Nevertheless for serious students of WW2 this is a `must-have' book.