The Kaiser's Battlefleet: German Capital Ships, 1871–1918

An illustrated examination of the German Imperial Navy's capital ships from 1871 to 1918, presented ship-by-ship during the dreadnaught era and World War I. While the battleships of the Third Reich have received extensive coverage, little English-language scholarship exists on their predecessors from the Second Reich. Aidan Dodson addresses this gap by tracing the full development of German battleships across this period. The study follows a chronological structure, detailing technical specifications, construction timelines, and the final disposition of each vessel. Drawing on German archival sources, Dodson presents new data and corrects errors found in existing English-language references. The work includes extensive line drawings and photographs sourced from German archives, making it relevant to historians of World War I German naval operations and battleship modelmakers.