"The Kaiser's Pirates by Nick Hewitt" Topic

I had a Barnes & Noble gift certificate and saw this book after reading a book about the Emden and battle of Panang: link
I should preface this review by saying I purchased The Kaiser's Pirates at B&N for less than half of what Amazon is selling it for.

Not really knowing about the rest of the Kaiser's cruisers, I picked this one up. I'm glad I did. This was an excellent read, very easy to digest. Various aspects are explained within the context of the story, for instance the author explains how one actually floods the seacocks to scuttle a ship. Each chapter is devoted to one of the cruisers (Emden, Dresden, Konigsberg, etc.) and three chapters devoted to Von Spee's Kreuzkrieg. The author also devotes a chapter to the armed passenger liners, which I knew nothing about prior to the book. There are some very nice photos in the center of the book, a few maps spread throughout also a quick and tidy two page conclusion at the end, but this book isn't really about trying to prove a point its just about telling you the stories and exploits (or lack thereof) of WW1 Germany's cruisers. If you want to learn more about this aspect of the Great War, I can't recommend this one enough: link

It is a great book, and a great story.

He's a great author (and a good friend)