WesWorld

Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War by Lacroix & Wells may very well be the finest warship reference not written by me. (Hee!) It covers pretty much every facet of its subject: design histories, design details, modifications, operational histories, drawings, photos. It also extends beyond the ships themselves to establish the administrative context of the IJN. It's a bit on the pricy side but definitely worth it. Due to its size, you can also use it to develop your musculature.
There are a few general references on IJN warships. The best is Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1869-1945 by Jentschura et al.
If you want physical details on specific ships, Janusz Skulski has done some Anatomy of the Ship books: Yamato, Fuso, Takao...?
If your interest is in naval policy, there are several excellent titles. I have to mention Sadao Asada first. He completed his doctoral thesis c1964 and has continued digging into details ever since. From Mahan to Pearl Harbor is a fine summary of his findings and a pleasant read. Kaigun by Evans and Peattie does a great job of tracing the development of strategic and tactical thought, focusing on the surface fleet. Peattie covered the carriers specifically in Sunburst. There are two books on subs in the WWII context; Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy by Polmar & Dorr gives more details on the boats while The Japanese Submarine Force and World War II by Boyd & Yoshida focuses more on operations.
To see how the IJN became hopelessly entangled in politics and national finances, try Making Waves by Schencking. It's definitely a sobering book. If you like dissertations, I'd also recommend The Political Economy of the Japanese Navy by Katada.
And some folks will tell you that no one can understand the IJN in WWII without reading Ugaki's diary, Fading Victory. That and Shattered Sword by Parshall & Tully are very good for giving the Japanese perspective often lacking in Western battle accounts.

Quoted

Originally posted by Tiornu
There are a few general references on IJN warships. The best is Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1869-1945 by Jentschura et al.

I have this one, and I agree, an excellent general referance.

The Lacroix/Wells book is really a magnificent source I also recomment (as in this thread). I would love to have something similar about british, italian, french, german and american cruisers. Is there anything out there like that? I know there are may books on specific classes or individual ships that offer good quality information but nothing like Lacroix/Wells.

Tiornu, wouldn´t that be a field of interest for you? A lacroix-style book about other nations cruiser developments?

Theres currently a bloke called Dave Murfin pulling together materials for a book on RN cruisers which is to cover pretty much everything including designs that weren't built. I can't remember how much detail he's going into. He's also got an article on the Fiji's coming out in Warship 2010 IIRC

For Italian cruisers then Gli Incrociatori Italiani by Giorgio Giorgerini and Augusto Nani. Its meant to be pretty good but its in Italian.

L&W cover the Japanese. Whitley has done a good job with the Germans. Red Admiral mentioned the Italian book (which is one of a series of books including titles on battleships, destroyers, torpedo boats, etc). The real gap is with the Allied cruisers. Steve McLaughlin is considering a Russian book, but I'm not sure where he stands on that; in the World War II setting, frankly, there's not much to cover. (Vladimir and I go in-depth with the Kirov-class light cruisers in Warship 2009.) The French cruisers are well covered in French books, but if you want any details, you have to track down individual volumes of Warship and Warship International, and some ships like Emile Bertin continue to be off the radar. The British have a book by R&R, but if you want armor schematics, you're out of luck; if "Smurf" is going to take care of this, that's great. The American cruisers are covered in Friedman, but again, no armor schematics; this is one of the things I whine about in my cruiser booklet. Many people think American cruisers were the most heavily armored, and that's not quite the case. In my opinion, of all the wartime light cruisers and heavy cruisers, the best-armored is Italy's Zara class. Wonderful ships.
I have no plans to tackle this subject, but if I can help with the British book, I will. If I take on a cruiser subject, I think it's more likely that I'll focus on armored cruisers, which have been almost totally ignored in the publishing world. That wouldn't be for a while, though; I've got plenty on my plate at the moment.

I assume R&R is Ravens and Roberts? What´s that books name?

Isn´t there an english or german version available of that italian cruiser book? Gotta check that out....

I have the Whitley book(s) on cruisers but they are not as detailed as L&W. :o/ However, German units aren´t that much of a problem to me as I have severl books dealing with individual classes or ships so in summary that works for me.

Could you please name the authors and titles of the french book please? Thanks.

Yes, R&R is Raven & Roberts, and you can probably guess the name of the book: British Cruisers of World War Two. They don't necessarily spend a lot of creativity on their titles.
Here are some of the French books:
Garier, Gérard and Patrick du Cheyron. Les croiseurs lourds français Duquesne & Tourville. Lela Presse, 2003.
Guiglini, Jean and Albert Moreau. Les croiseurs de 8000 tonnes. Marines Édition, 1996.
Guiglini, Jean and Albert Moreau. Les croiseurs legers Jeanne D’Arc et Pluton. Marines Éditions, 1999.
Lassaque, Jean. Le croiseur Emile Bertin 1933-1959. Marines Éditions & Réalisations, 2004.
Moulin, Jean. Les croiseurs de 7600 tonnes. Marines Éditions & Réalisations, 1993.
Moulin, Jean and P. Maurand. Le croiseur Algérie. Marines Édition, 1999.
None of the Italian books have been translated.

Thanks.

Have some of these French books been translated?

I believe the book on the Primauguets was translated in full and published in sections by Warship International some years ago. But I think that's the only one.