U.S. Destroyers -- Revised Edition; An Illustrated Design History By Norman Friedman with Ship Plans by A.D. Baker III (450+ pages, photos, drawings) Reviewer:  Terry Miller Overall Rating: Four Stars--Highly recommended. An excellent book. This is a revised version of Dr. Friedman’s original book of the same name. For more than 20 years there were no new destroyers built. But with the fall of the Soviet Union and the changing threats to American security and sea power, and with the addition of the ARLEIGH BURKE (DDG-51)-class to the fleet, there was a need to discuss the design history and the philosophy behind the changes that are so readily evident when comparing the ARLEIGH BURKEs to the SPRUANCE-class before them. Also in the book are descriptions of the technological changes that needed to take place in order for destroyers to evolve to the DDG-51 level. Dr. Friedman takes us through the earliest phases of the DDG-51 design through the things that were considered and discarded, through the meticulous designs and the endless meetings on how to design, how to build, how to pay for, and how to deploy destroyers that rival even modern cruisers in size and capability. He also gives us great insights into combat platforms that were rejected for various reasons, including the Arsenal Ship which would have been a very low profile guided missile/cruise missile launching platform and into some of the designs that are leading to the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) the prototypes of which are scheduled to be deployed for testing in 2006. For any student of shipbuilding, naval architecture, naval history, or who just likes to read about his or her favorite type of combat ship, this book will be a most welcome addition to their library and will provide hours of fascinating reading on a ship type that is in transition from being the “small boys” to becoming nearly a capital ship. It is interesting to note that the original version’s foreward, written by ADM Arleigh Burke, stands alone with nothing added but coming as it did from Arleigh Burke, perhaps nothing more needed to be said. Availability: U.S. Naval Institute Press 2062 Generals Highway Annapolis, MD 21401-6780 (800) 233-8764 www.navalinstitute.org