'Peter the Great created a navy from nothing, but it challenged and soon surpassed Sweden as the Baltic naval power, while in the Black Sea it became an essential tool in driving back the Ottoman Turks from the heartland of Europe. In battle it was surprisingly successful, and at times in the eighteenth century was the third largest navy in the world - yet its history, and especially its ships, are virtually unrecorded in the West. This major new reference work handsomely fills this gap, with a complete and comprehensive list of the fleet, with technical detail and career highlights for every ship, down to small craft. However, because the subject is so little recorded in English, the book also provides substantial background material on the organisation and administration of the navy, its weapons, personnel and shipbuilding facilities, as well as an outline of Russia's naval campaigns down to the clash with Britain and France known as the Crimean War. Illustrated with plans, paintings and prints rarely seen outside Russia, it is authoritative, reliable and comprehensive, the culmination of a long collaboration between a Russian naval historian and an American ship enthusiast.' (Publisher)