Bøger af Norman Friedman

For most of the twentieth century Britain possessed both the world’s largest merchant fleet and its most extensive overseas territories. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Royal Navy always showed a particular interest in the cruiser – a multi-purpose warship needed in large numbers to defend trade routes and police the empire. Above all other types, the cruiser’s competing demands of quality and quantity placed a heavy burden on designers, and for most of the inter-war years Britain sought to square this circle through international treaties restricting both size and numbers. In the process she virtually invented the heavy cruiser and inspired the large 6in-armed cruiser, neither of which, ironically, served her best interests. For the first time this book seeks to comprehend the full policy background, from which a different and entirely original picture emerges of British cruiser development.After the war the cruiser’s role was reconsidered and the final chapters of the book cover modernisations, the plans for missile-armed ships and the convoluted process that turned the ‘through-deck cruiser’ into the Invincible class light carriers. With detailed appendices of ship data, and illustrated in depth with photos and A D Baker’s specially commissioned plans, British Cruisers truly matches the lofty standards set by Friedman’s previous books on British destroyers.

The Royal Navy invented the aircraft carrier and most of the key innovations which have enabled carriers to remain effective, exploiting continuing changes in aircraft technology, from biplanes to supersonic jets. This book tells (and explains) how that happened over more than a century of British carrier development, based largely on declassified official documents, both British and US. Major themes include British domination of the early years of carrier development, and the audacious and highly original plans for their use during World War I, which inspired later naval thinking on the potential of carrier aviation. The introduction of armoured flight decks in the 1930s was only the first of a sequence of British innovations, the most important of which made it possible for carriers to operate jet aircraft (the angled deck, the steam catapult, and the mirror landing sight). These British developments, particularly the steam catapult, were crucial to the survival of the US carrier force in the postwar era, to an extent often forgotten. Later the Royal Navy produced the first commando carriers, and played a crucial role in the VSTOL carrier revolution, and continues to demonstrate originality and innovation as seen in the current pair of large carriers. This book covers all British-built carriers, including those in Commonwealth and foreign service, with the historical context, both operational and technical, explained in detail, as is the connection to larger British national concerns. The book is heavily illustrated with photographs, but also reproduces official plans from the National Maritime Museum, many of which have never previously been published.

In a widely noted speech to the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Expo in May 2010, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates warned that "the Navy and Marine Corps must be willing to reexamine and question basic assumptions in light of evolving technologies, new threats, and budget realities.We simply cannot afford to perpetuate a status quo that heaps more and more expensive technologies onto fewer and fewer platforms-thereby risking a situation where some of our greatest capital expenditures go toward weapons and ships that could potentially become wasting assets." Secretary Gates specifically questioned whether the Navy's commitment to a force of eleven carrier strike groups through 2040 makes sense, given the extent of the anticipated superiority of the United States over potential adversaries at sea as well as the growing threat of antiship missiles. Though later disclaiming any immediate intention to seek a reduction in the current carrier force, Gates nevertheless laid down a clear marker that all who are concerned over the future of the U.S. Navy would be well advised to take with the utmost seriousness. We may stand, then, at an important watershed in the evolution of carrier aviation, one reflecting not only the nation's current financial crisis but the changing nature of the threats to, or constraints on, American sea power, as well as-something the secretary did not mention-the advent of a new era of unmanned air and sea platforms of all types. Taken together, these developments argue for resolutely innovative thinking about the future of the nation's carrier fleet and our surface navy more generally. In Innovation in Carrier Aviation, number thirty-seven in our Newport Papers monograph series, Thomas C. Hone, Norman Friedman, and Mark D.Mandeles examine the watershed period in carrier development that occurred immediately following World War II, when design advances were made that would be crucial to the centrality in national-security policy making that carriers and naval aviation have today. In those years several major technological breakthroughs-notably the jet engine and nuclear weapons-raised large questions about the future and led to an array of innovations in the design and operational utilization of aircraft carriers. Central to this story is the collaboration between the aviation communities in the navies of the United States and Great Britain during these years, building on the intimate relationship they had developed during the war itself. Strikingly, the most important of these innovations, notably the angled flight deck and steam catapult, originated with the British, not the Americans. This study thereby also provides interesting lessons for the U.S. Navy today with respect to its commitment to maritime security cooperation in the context of its new "maritime strategy." It is a welcome and important addition to the historiography of the Navy in the seminal years of the Cold War.

This book explains what network-centric warfare is, and how it works, using concrete historical naval examples rather than the usual abstractions. It argues that navies invented this style of warfare over the last century, led by the Royal Navy, and that the wars of that century, culminating in the Cold War, show how networked warfare worked - and did not work.These wars also illustrate what net-on-net warfare means; most exponents of the new style of war assume that the United States will enjoy a monopoly on it. This account is important to all the services; it is naval because navies were the first to use network-centric approaches (the book does take national air defense into account, because air defense systems deeply influenced naval development). This approach is probably the only way a reader can get a realistic feeling for what the new style of war offers, and also for what is needed to make it work. Thus the book concentrates on the tactical picture which the network is erected to help form and to disseminate, rather than, as is usual, the communications network itself. This approach makes it possible to evaluate different possible contributions to a network-centric system, because it focuses on what the warriors using the picture really want and need. Without such a focus, the needs of networked warfare reduce simply to the desire for more and more information, delivered at greater and greater speeds. Although it concentrates on naval examples, this book is of vital importance to all the services. It is the first book about network-centric warfare to deal in concrete examples, and the first to use actual history to illuminate current operational concepts.It also offers considerable new light on the major naval battles of the World Wars, hence ought to be of intense interest to historians. For example, it offers a new way of understanding the naval revolution wrought in the pre-1914 Royal Navy by Admiral Sir John Fisher.

In the tradition of his acclaimed warship design histories, Norman Friedman describes the forces--technical, political, and operationa--that shaped a vital element of U.S. sea power. For example, he examines the evolution in missions, such as forward-based antisubmarine warfare and strategic deterrence, that transformed the submarine from its former subsidiary role to the center of national power. U.S. Submarines Since 1945 is also the story of a technological revolution: first the emergence of fast diesel-electric craft, then the shock of nuclear power, followed by the appearance of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Nowhere else can a reader find so complete or sophisticated an account of the development of the U.S. submarine force, including not only the hulls, but also the weapons and sensors they carry. The book details what submarines were ordered, what weapons and propulsion systems they had, how they performed, and what sonars and combat systems were developed. This illustrated design history contains more than 100 photographs and more than 100 line drawings, including specially commissioned artwork from technical illustrator James L. Christley. These exclusive illustrations, along with the incisive text, capture the excitement of a revolutionary period in submarine development. Enthusiasts and professionals alike will welcome the abundance of information offered. In this revised edition, Norman Friedman explores what has happened since the Cold War, which means both new classes and new technology (some of it applied to existing submarines). New material includes weapons and sensors as they have developed since 1995. This new technology is explained in the context of very different post-Cold-War priorities. In addition, Friedman includes new information that has become available on submarines described in the earlier edition.

British Coastal Forces: Two World Wars and After is the first comprehensive study on the subject. Using contemporary official material, much of which has not been used previously, and published memoirs, Norman Friedman connects the technical story of the coastal craft and their weapons and other innovations with the way they fought. In both world wars much of the technology was at the edge of what was feasible at the time. Boats incorporated considerable British innovation and benefited from important U.S. contributions, particularly in supplying high-powered engines during World War II. In contrast with larger warships, British coastal forces craft were essentially shaped by a few builders, and their part in the story is given full credit. This book contains all the sophisticated analysis for which Friedman is so well known and a superb collection of illustrations including detailed plans by John Lambert. Like other books in this series, this one is based very heavily on contemporary official material, much of which has not been used previously - like the extensive reports of U.S naval observers, who were allowed wide access to the Royal Navy as early as 1940.

Norman Friedman's new book demonstrates how innovative the British were in their submarine design--more so than most realize.

The second part of a comprehensive history of British submarines. Contains all the sophisticated analysis for which the author is so well known.

Offer a history of US Navy attack aridraft, from the point of view of the Navy, and as understood through its previously-classified documents. The book spans a century, from the earliest airplanes conceived to operate from US carriers in 1920, to the current F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Like other books in Norman Friedman's design-history series, this one pays attention to all designs, even those that never left the drawing board. Friedman, a recognised authority on US warships, uncovers the reasoning behind the many radical changes in US cruiser design, which culminated in the series of Aegis missile ships.

Covers the development of US battleships, from the Maine and Texas of 1886, through the Montana class of World War II, up to the recommissioned Iowas. It examines the original designs as well as the many modifications and reconstructions these ships underwent during their long and active careers.

One the most comprehensive references available on the entire development of US Destroyers, from their early torpedo boat forebears to the mass-produced Fletcher-class of World War II, through the Spruance and Perry classes of the Cold War, and to the workhorse Arleigh Burke-class of the contemporary Navy.

The book unpacks Cummings's subject matter, devices, and symbolism, ultimately helping readers develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of Cummings's work.

"To win in the Pacific during World War II, the U.S. Navy had to transform itself technically, tactically, and strategically. It had to create a fleet capable of the unprecedented feat of fighting and winning far from home, without existing bases, in the face of an enemy with numerous bases fighting in his own waters. Much of the credit for the transformation should go to the war gaming conducted at the U.S. Naval War College. Conversely, as we face further demands for transformation, the inter-war experience at the War College offers valuable guidance as to what works, and why, and how."

A radically different interpretation of the First World War providing novel insights into warships and technology of the period.

The Cold War examines the events of this tense period of history - events that resonate ever strongly in this modern era of paranoia and surveillance.

The first systematic publication of the famous plans, The John Lambert collection.

Did you know that our everyday world arises form an invisible ocean of unlimited energy that surrounds and permeates us? That all events exist in potential form in this ocean, and certain ones are selected to be manifest in our reality? That this domain is the source not only of our universe but innumerable other universes as well? In The Hidden Domain, the continuation of his very popular Bridging Science and Spirit, Norman Friedman explores this realm using non-mathematical concepts that are solidly grounded in science. Ideas from physicists, from religious and philosophical sources, and from Seth (the discarnate entity brought to us by Jane Roberts) illuminate this intriguing depiction of the world that underlies all experience. BOOK REVIEWS: ¿I think Bridging Science and Spirit is one of the most insightful, comprehensive, and brilliant expressions of knowledge. I shall certainly use it as a reference guide. Many abstract ideas that I was not comfortable with are now more meaningful.¿ ¿ Deepak Chopra, M.D., author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind; The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success; The Way of the Wizard ¿Bridging Science and Spirit accomplishes a formidable task. This book will be a valuable research document for many years to come for those concerned with a perspective that honors both science and spirituality.¿ ¿ Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D.; author of Taking the Quantum Leap; Parallel Universes; The Physics of the Soul ¿Bridging Science and Spirit correctly asks, 'How does matter originate from consciousness?' This is the fundamental question of a growing body of literature regarding the new paradigm of an idealist, consciousness-based science. Norman Friedman has made an important and thoughtful contribution to this new science.¿ ¿ Amit Goswami, Ph.D., Professor of Physics, University of Oregon; author of The Self-Aware Universe ¿A masterful job of bringing innate psychic understanding and scientific knowledge together, brilliantly showing us how all is one and one is all.¿ ¿ Robert F. Butts - Husband of Jane Roberts, Channel for Seth ¿Few have understood both science and metaphysics well enough to remove our blinders to their underlying similarities ¿ and universal truths. Kudos to Norman Friedman for proving to be a master bridge builder.¿ ¿ Lynda Madden Dahl, Co-founder, Seth Network International; author of eight Seth-based books, including the Living a Safe Universe Series ¿An insightful synthesis of the outer frontiers of theoretical physics with the deep revelations of mystical insight, throwing important light on the reality we live in.¿ ¿ Peter Russell, author of The Global Brain; The White Hole in Time; The Global Brain Awakens ¿Some future historian will, I feel confident, identify the 'Great Debate' of the twentieth century around the question: 'What is science going to do about consciousness?' I would surmise that Norman Friedman's book Bridging Science and Spirit will turn out to be a benchmark in that inquiry. No one can read it without gaining some clarity on their own nature.¿ ¿ Willis Harman, Ph.D., President, Institute of Noetic Sciences; author of Global Mind Change ¿A brilliant synthesis of ageless wisdom and modern science. Friedman's writing provides pictures for our minds so we can 'see' reality.¿¿ Montague Ullman, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus, Albert Einstein College of Medic

A major new study of an ever-popular subject written by one of the most highly regarded authorities in the field

Winner of the Royal United Services Institute Westminster Medal for Military Literature `To read a comprehensive history of the technical, military and political aspects of the Cold War, based on documents from the two super powers, written by a scholar who is free of bias, is something I never thought I would be able to do.

Award-winning author and defense analyst Norman Friedman offers a first-rate, in-depth analysis of the radically new tactics and strategy used by the United States in Afghanistan. He then sets the Afghan war in the wider context of the war against terrorism, exploring the rationale for and consequences of the September 11 attacks. Friedman asserts that the terrorists' attacks were intended to inspire a wider movement in the Muslim world that would lead to a pan-Muslim empire headed by Osama bin Laden. He argues that the attempt failed largely because of determined U.S. action and that the coalition's success in Afghanistan has moved the war on terrorism towards the realm of police and intelligence operations. Although many books have examined September 11 and its aftermath, this work is the first to set the Afghan war in the context of an evolving U.S. tactical style that follows the new network-centric pattern and the first to use Afghanistan as a test of that pattern. The book also fully explores the contributions made by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps while fighting in the land-locked country and the importance of the use of maritime power in the future. Nor does Friedman neglect to acknowledge the role played by politics, including the ethnic politics of Pakistan. Finally, the author's careful examination of the new concepts of warfare as applied to the Afghan war provides valuable lessons to those concerned about future conflicts.