River Gunboats: An Illustrated Encyclopedia Hardcover – Illustrated, September 1, 2018 by Roger Branfill-Cook (Naval Institute Press/ Pen & Sword Books, Seaforth Publishing)

Seaforth has been on a roll the last few years, pumping out one high-quality naval reference book after another, each one packed with rare insights and excellent photography. This one was originally scheduled for a mid-2016 release but kept on getting pushed back until now. While it definitely has some high points, it's a rare disappointment from the publisher, and I'm left wondering exactly why it was delayed so long.

First, the good stuff. It has a tremendous amount of depth and scope, going all the way back to the earliest steam gunboats to modern day riverine craft. It's very much a naval reference in the style of the Conway/NIP books of the late 70s and 80s. Very lean, efficient, no BS. With some polishing, this would have made an excellent companion to Conway's "All the World's Fighting Ships" quartet. Flipping through it quickly, I've come across entries on the Finnish Lake Ladoga gunboat 'Aallokas,' the German "Siebelfahres," the converted Paraguayan yacht 'Adolfo Riquelma,' and the Soviet armored river gunboats that fought at Stalingrad. Most of the craft receive a specifications table, a brief history, and one or two photographs or diagrams. Many of the most famous riverine battles and campaigns are described in detail, as are the careers of the more famous gunboats.

Although I can see this book being an excellent jumping off point for further research, it's too flawed to be a truly classic reference. While the historical elements are excellent, there's almost nothing on the design, development, machinery, or weapons of any of the craft depicted. Some boats are so sketchily detailed I'm not sure why they were even included. Considering Seaforth's usually high standards, the visual presentation is a mend. The photographs tend to be extremely small and of poor quality with blown-out contrast and compression artifacts, and the diagrams are frequently tiny and useful only for getting a basic idea of a boat's general arrangement. Although I'm not the type who demands pretty color images of gray and white boats, the lack of color photographs outside the two appendixes is a disappointment. Quite a few of the photos and diagrams are credited to internet forums or have links to Pinterest pins that probably won't exist in two or three years from now. What good will they do a researcher in 20 years?

As much as I'd love to give this a higher rating, it's too sloppy to truly recommend. Although it presents a truly fascinating collection of obscure craft, the lack of care in presentation and the lack of technical details make this one for hardcore gunboat fans only. How ironic that a book on river gunboats would be a mile wide, but only an inch deep!