Even after the set had been turned off, the TV blared the announcement: "Citizens of Earth, I am Tersh Jetterax. It is my pleasure to announce to you that a new government has taken over the conduct of all public affairs." And thus the US was in the hands of the Monitors, the strangely polite yellow-clad beings whose powers were such that they could render everyone helpless - without shedding one drop of blood. Who are they? The Russians? An alien race from another planet?

Even after the set had been turned off, the TV blared the announcement: "Citizens of Earth, I am Tersh Jetterax. It is my pleasure to announce to you that a new government has taken over the conduct of all public affairs." And thus the US was in the hands of the Monitors, the strangely polite yellow-clad beings whose powers were such that they could render everyone helpless - without shedding one drop of blood. Who are they? The Russians? An alien race from another planet?

In the history of naval warfare probably no type of ship has provided more firepower per ton than the monitor – indeed they were little more than a huge gun mounting fitted on a simple, self-propelled raft. Designed and built rapidly to fulfil an urgent need for heavy shore-bombardment during World War I, they were top secret in conception, and largely forgotten when the short-lived requirement was over. Nevertheless, they were important ships, which played a significant role in many Great War campaigns and drove many of the advances in long-range gunnery later applied to the battle fleet. Indeed, their value was rediscovered during the Second World War when a final class was built. Monitors were largely ignored by naval historians until Ian Buxton produced the first edition of this book in 1978. Although published privately, this became an established classic and copies of the first edition are now almost unobtainable, so this new edition will be welcomed by many. It has been completely revised, extended and redesigned to a generous large format which allows material deleted from the original edition for lack of space to be restored.

A history of the origins, design and effectiveness of the British Royal Navy’s monitor warships during world wars I and II. Monitor warships mounted the biggest guns ever deployed by the Royal Navy, and played an undeniably important part in Allied efforts during World War One and Two. They were built as cheap "disposable" ships made out of redundant bits and pieces which the Admiralty happened to have available and could bring heavy artillery to bear on enemy coasts with pin point accuracy. Being classed as disposable they were often exposed to risks far more recklessly than more expensive battle ships or heavy cruisers. So impressive was their performance in WWI that two were retained in service into WWII and two new ones were built, astonishing allies and enemies alike with the devastating effect of their accurate fire reaching targets 10 miles or more inland. Monitors of the Royal Navy deals with the origins of Monitors and how they evolved from the bomb ketches of the 18th century. The book looks at how the various classes of monitor were designed and built and explores their careers in both World Wars, including the particular impact they had on the various campaigns in which they fought and their effectiveness as compared to other classes of ship. Monitors of the Royal Navy is sure to appeal to military history enthusiasts and world war history buffs.