WesWorld

I'm part of several facebook pages that discuss warships and after posting a video from Alexander Clarke they basically brushed it off as rubbish which to me was surprising to say the least. Has anyone here who watches Dr. Alexander Clarke's videos on warships ever disagreed with a large portion of what he says?

Quoted from "thesmilingassassin"

I'm part of several facebook pages that discuss warships and after posting a video from Alexander Clarke they basically brushed it off as rubbish which to me was surprising to say the least. Has anyone here who watches Dr. Alexander Clarke's videos on warships ever disagreed with a large portion of what he says?

I have watched the start of several of his early videos; the one that sticks in my mind was the lecture on sloops. Truth be told, I never could sit through any of the one I saw - his presentation struck me as slap-dash and the one on sloops - where he held up the printouts of his sketches/drawings/stats page - were nearly amateur. Admittedly, for that one, he said he was dealing with serious computer-related issues. Perhaps his later ones are better organized and delivered. But what I saw of him did not impress me, and I've not gone searching for his work.

Quoted from "thesmilingassassin"

I'm part of several facebook pages that discuss warships and after posting a video from Alexander Clarke they basically brushed it off as rubbish which to me was surprising to say the least. Has anyone here who watches Dr. Alexander Clarke's videos on warships ever disagreed with a large portion of what he says?

So I've watched a large portion of his videos, and I'm also a moderator both for his live-chats and his Discord server.

Bruce's comment about AC's production quality is largely true, particularly for the earliest episodes - but it's been getting steadily better, and we're helping him improve things. Bruce called out the lecture on sloops, which I'd note was probably his third or fourth lecture overall. Because his camera and microphone hadn't arrived, he was streaming with his cell phone - hence the use of printouts and so forth. People (particularly Drachinifel) have been helping him upgrade his equipment and his presentations.

Most of the content he's produced is pretty well sourced both in terms of other academic literature and documents that he's gotten from the British archives. So if someone brushes it off as "rubbish" I'd want to know actual reasons. My one thought is that Dr. Clarke primarily talks about the RN, and I think you can reliably call him an Anglophile. So he's definitely going to say things that the wehraboos or the Murica! crowd will find obnoxious.

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Quoted from "thesmilingassassin"

I'm part of several facebook pages that discuss warships and after posting a video from Alexander Clarke they basically brushed it off as rubbish which to me was surprising to say the least. Has anyone here who watches Dr. Alexander Clarke's videos on warships ever disagreed with a large portion of what he says?

So I've watched a large portion of his videos, and I'm also a moderator both for his live-chats and his Discord server.

Bruce's comment about AC's production quality is largely true, particularly for the earliest episodes - but it's been getting steadily better, and we're helping him improve things. Bruce called out the lecture on sloops, which I'd note was probably his third or fourth lecture overall. Because his camera and microphone hadn't arrived, he was streaming with his cell phone - hence the use of printouts and so forth. People (particularly Drachinifel) have been helping him upgrade his equipment and his presentations.

Most of the content he's produced is pretty well sourced both in terms of other academic literature and documents that he's gotten from the British archives. So if someone brushes it off as "rubbish" I'd want to know actual reasons. My one thought is that Dr. Clarke primarily talks about the RN, and I think you can reliably call him an Anglophile. So he's definitely going to say things that the wehraboos or the Murica! crowd will find obnoxious.

I am glad to hear that his output is improving. I shall have to see if I can find some of his more recent work and reconsider my opinions.

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

I am glad to hear that his output is improving. I shall have to see if I can find some of his more recent work and reconsider my opinions.

I'd recommend his introduction videos (for instance, this one or this one) rather than his livestreams.

Dr. Clarke views the introduction videos as a "lecture" whereas the livestreams are a lot more loosely-organized - viewers asking questions (sometimes very off-topic) and getting answers, so on and so forth. I enjoy the livestreams (when I can make them) because of the high degree of interaction. He knows most of his regular viewers by name, and so it becomes more like informally sitting in a college history class and discussing things, rather than simply receiving an infodump. On the flip side, in the intro videos, he stays on topic more (since he's not interacting with the audience).

As an aside, some of my personal feedback to Dr. Clarke is that most of his videos are pretty lengthy, which in my opinion probably hurts his accessibility to the average listener. I suggested a well-scripted ten-minute-max weekly video in order to have something for the more casual viewer. Drachinifel nails his market really well - he's got the five-minute guides, the longer Wednesday specials, and the hour-plus Sunday Drydocks for Q&A - whereas Dr. Clarke just does longer videos.

I posted his lecture on battlecruisers on a battlecruisers page on Facebook and several of the more knowledgeable posters were actually kinda negative about what he discussed. Of all people Monty mills was also critical of his lecture, about the Hood in particular, which seemed to catch me off guard as Monty doesn't seem to be the type to dismiss anyone out of hand. Another poster named Buzz (who might be familiar to some) was outright dismissive of Dr. Clarkes lecture but he has a reputation for being rather opinionated and I fully expected the response I got from him.

So far the only thing that I disagree with AC on is that he views the Kongo's as fast battleships merely due to their role and tonnage increase post rebuild. My opinion is that the Japanese still viewed them as battlecruisers and used them as CV escorts for similar reasons as the Americans using heavy cruisers as CV escorts, simply because nothing else suitable existed until the fast battleships became available. other than that his view's to me seem logical.

I'd love to see him debate these posters with regards to each others views so I can assess just how "knowledgeable" these posters are.

Quoted from "thesmilingassassin"

I'd love to see him debate these posters with regards to each others views so I can assess just how "knowledgeable" these posters are.

If you'd like, I could invite him to do so...?

Fair warning though it would seem that Buzz has a history of banning folks he doesn't get along with but has mellowed (slightly) so I could not predict if the conversation would last long or not but I suspect Monty will at least engage in polite debate. The page is called "Battlecruisers - Dispelling the Myths".

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

I am glad to hear that his output is improving. I shall have to see if I can find some of his more recent work and reconsider my opinions.

I'd recommend his introduction videos (for instance, this one or this one) rather than his livestreams.

Dr. Clarke views the introduction videos as a "lecture" whereas the livestreams are a lot more loosely-organized - viewers asking questions (sometimes very off-topic) and getting answers, so on and so forth. I enjoy the livestreams (when I can make them) because of the high degree of interaction. He knows most of his regular viewers by name, and so it becomes more like informally sitting in a college history class and discussing things, rather than simply receiving an infodump. On the flip side, in the intro videos, he stays on topic more (since he's not interacting with the audience).

As an aside, some of my personal feedback to Dr. Clarke is that most of his videos are pretty lengthy, which in my opinion probably hurts his accessibility to the average listener. I suggested a well-scripted ten-minute-max weekly video in order to have something for the more casual viewer. Drachinifel nails his market really well - he's got the five-minute guides, the longer Wednesday specials, and the hour-plus Sunday Drydocks for Q&A - whereas Dr. Clarke just does longer videos.

I have tried, numerous times over the past week to view a number of Dr. Clarke's presentations, both the ones that you recommended, and others that are on his channel. I have to tell you I have been unable to listen to any of them for more than five minutes before becoming totally frustrated with his style (or lack thereof) presentation. His long pauses - which often involve him shifting what he is talking about - torpedoes what he is attempting to present.

For example - today I attempted to view one of his videos on the Battle of Texel (1673). He spent the first two minutes or so digressing on technical matters, but then began his presentation the history of the battle and the different views in the sources that have come down to us - so far so good. He then breaks into a sidebar about his "Bilge Pumps" presentations and the meme associated with it, and bemoan that he is recording his lecture from his bedroom due to quarantine.

I'll not say that the man does not know his stuff - I haven't been able to sit through any of his lectures or livestreams to form that opinion - but his style of presentation totally turns me off.

Well, that's fine.

Have you considered perhaps listening to the Bilgepumps podcast instead? He does more of a roundtable discussion with Drachinifel and ArmouredCarriers.com talking about various naval events. Different sort of setup, and two other noted naval historians also contributing.

I have to agree with Bruce somewhat. AC has very good info and insight into what he's discussing but he tends to drag on when discussing it. I have some patience to sit through if the topic is interesting enough but I do from time to time skim through based on his slides. Drachinifel's videos in contrast seem equal in time length but seem to move along at a decent pace. Overall two different methods to achieve the same goal I suppose.