آخرین ناوگان تزار: سفر حماسی به نبرد تسوشیما

A stirring reconstruction of one of history's great--and least known --naval battles ... Fascinating stuff. A boon for students of military history and naval warfare.--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) On May 14-15, 1905, in the Tsushima Straits near Japan, an entire Russian fleet was annihilated, its ships sunk, scattered, or captured by the Japanese. In the deciding battle of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese lost only three destroyers but the Russians lost twenty-two ships and thousands of sailors. It was the first modern naval battle, employing all the new technology of destruction. The old imperial navy was woefully unprepared. The defeat at Tsushima was the last and greatest of many indignities suffered by the Russian fleet, which had traveled halfway around the world to reach the battle, dogged every mile by bad luck and misadventure. Their legendary admiral, dubbed "Mad Dog," led them on an extraordinary eighteen-thousand-mile journey from the Baltic Sea, around Europe, Africa, and Asia, to the Sea of Japan. They were burdened by the Tsar's incompetent leadership and the old, slow ships that he insisted be included to bulk up the fleet. Moreover, they were under constant fear of attack, and there were no friendly ports to supply coal, food, and fresh water. The level of self-sufficiency attained by this navy was not seen again until the Second World War. The battle of Tsushima is among the top five naval battles in history, equal in scope and drama to those of Lepanto, Trafalgar, Jutland, and Midway, yet despite its importance it has been long neglected in the West. With a novelist's eye and a historian's authority, Constantine Pleshakov tells of the Russian squadron's long, difficult journey and fast, horrible defeat. Race "The First Ball of the Tsar," 1890-1904 "Master the Sea!" January-August 1904 "Rumors from the Bazaar," August-October 1904 "This Is a Miserable Fleet," October 4-23, 1904, Western Europe "We Have No Coast Batteries in Dakar!" October 23-December 16, 1904, African Coast Lingering "The Yacht Squadron," October 1904-January 1905, Red Sea "Nossibeisk," December 16, 1904-March 3, 1905, Madagascar "Ten Guns Done Up in India Rubber," March 1905, Indian Ocean "A Hole Coated in Iron," March 26-May 1, 1905, Indochina "Be Prepared for Full Steam Ahead," May 1-13, 1905, Pacific Ocean Battle "They Are All There!" 6:30 A.M.-5:30 P.M., May 14, 1905 "Follow the Admiral," 5:30 P.M., May 14-1 P.M., May 15, 1905 "Slutty Old Geezer," May 14-21, 1905 "Throw Me Overboard," 5:30 P.M., May 14-6 A.M., May 16, 1905 "Return Soon," May-November 1905 "The Insulted Russian People," November 3, 1905-January 1, 1909. "On May 14, 1905, modern Eurocentric world died. For the first time, an Asian nation defeated a European power. Russia's total defeat at Tsushima, the deciding battle of the Russo-Japanese war, confirmed Japan as a rising superpower and would-be ruler of the East. In a single day the Russian fleet was annihilated, its ships sunk, scattered, or captured. The Japanese lost only three destroyers, while the Russians kept only three of thirty-eight ships and lost thousands of sailors. It was the first modern naval battle, employing all the new technology of destruction. The old imperial navy was woefully unprepared." "The Battle of Tsushima is among the top five naval battles in history, equal in scope and drama to those of Lepanto, Trafalgar, Jutland, and Midway. Yet despite its importance and its drama, the history of this battle has long been neglected in the West. In The tsar's last armada this story of adventure, perseverance and tragedy is finally told. With a novelist's eye and a historian's authority, Pleshakov tells of the Russian squadron's long, difficult journey and fast, horrible defeat" (dust jacket). A lively account of one of the greatest naval battles in history retraces the fateful journey of the Tsar's armada from the Suez Canal to the Korea Straight, where it was destroyed by the Japanese Navy in 1905. 35,000 first printing. A TELEGRAPH'S INCESSANT CLICKING INTRUDED INTO THE FROZEN stillness of the northern gloom.