About the Author

Robert L. O'Connell, Senior Analyst at the U.S. Army Intellegence Agency's Foreign Science and Technology Center, has also written Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression (Oxford, 1989) and is a contributing editor to MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History.

Reviews

"Breezy, iconoclastic, and readable, as well as extensively footnoted and scholarly....Diverting and instructive reading."--The Observer Magazine
"[A] cautionary policy study of the battleship and its role in the development of the U.S. Navy...provides a disturbing view of weapons technology and the human element....Highly recommended."--Library Journal
"Sacred Vessels has a point of view--unmistakable, uncompromising, pervasive. It is well written, never dull, highly informative, and frequently, nay, mostly, iconoclastic....[T]his is a work that should be read, discussed and used to educate and help shape critical appraisal for future naval development."--The Rusi Journal
"A book rich with insight into both battleships and the men who loved them....Shows in graphic and often humorous accounts why the dreaded battleships of the 20th century had more bluster than bite."--The Daily Progress (Charlottesville)
"Insightful and provocative....O'Connell writes with a breezy and irreverent touch [and] is well versed in navel history. His prose is both scholarly and easy to read....He makes a great deal of sense....A highly diverting study of the rise and fall of the battleship tradition in the U.S. Navy, and it is recommended vigorously to all navel warfare enthusiasts. The narrative is rich in fresh perspectives, vivid anecdotes and wise conclusions."--Great
Battles
"Excellent....Explains brilliantly--and in a very readable fashion--how myths about battleships shaped policy."--Phyllis Zimmerman, Ball State University
"A brilliantly drawn cautionary tale about the power of certain technologies to mesmorize the professionals who ar ostensibly their masters. O'Connell writes with pungent wit, but also displays a sympathetic insight into the urgencies of the human heart which permits men to invest so heavily in favored machines. I recommend this book as a text in any course on American military history, or the history of the Progressive Era."--Daniel P. Murphy, Hanover College
"Excellent, gracefully and wittily written with implications beyond its immediate subject."--Professor Michael Pierce, Tarleton State University

"Breezy, iconoclastic, and readable, as well as extensively footnoted and scholarly....Diverting and instructive reading."--The Observer Magazine "[A] cautionary policy study of the battleship and its role in the development of the U.S. Navy...provides a disturbing view of weapons technology and the human element....Highly recommended."--Library Journal "Sacred Vessels has a point of view--unmistakable, uncompromising, pervasive. It is well written, never dull, highly informative, and frequently, nay, mostly, iconoclastic....[T]his is a work that should be read, discussed and used to educate and help shape critical appraisal for future naval development."--The Rusi Journal "A book rich with insight into both battleships and the men who loved them....Shows in graphic and often humorous accounts why the dreaded battleships of the 20th century had more bluster than bite."--The Daily Progress (Charlottesville) "Insightful and provocative....O'Connell writes with a breezy and irreverent touch [and] is well versed in navel history. His prose is both scholarly and easy to read....He makes a great deal of sense....A highly diverting study of the rise and fall of the battleship tradition in the U.S. Navy, and it is recommended vigorously to all navel warfare enthusiasts. The narrative is rich in fresh perspectives, vivid anecdotes and wise conclusions."--Great Battles "Excellent....Explains brilliantly--and in a very readable fashion--how myths about battleships shaped policy."--Phyllis Zimmerman, Ball State University "A brilliantly drawn cautionary tale about the power of certain technologies to mesmorize the professionals who ar ostensibly their masters. O'Connell writes with pungent wit, but also displays a sympathetic insight into the urgencies of the human heart which permits men to invest so heavily in favored machines. I recommend this book as a text in any course on American military history, or the history of the Progressive Era."--Daniel P. Murphy, Hanover College "Excellent, gracefully and wittily written with implications beyond its immediate subject."--Professor Michael Pierce, Tarleton State University