Every so often I remember to browse over to the ship modeling websites and see what's new, and this is why.
These two glossy, softcover books provide a good photographic history of my second and third favorite carrier classes, followed by a listing (with illustrations) of all of the models of the class (the Yorktown book is missing the Aurora kit) followed by some beautiful galleries of outstanding models of the ships from all the time periods the book covers.
I thoroughly enjoyed both, and will put them to good use if I ever get back to serious modeling. As it is, I have a 1940 Yorktown and a 1944 Ticonderoga that have been sitting idle since 1993 that this book just might nudge loose. Plus a 1943 Essex I just started on in 2005 or so and a Hasegawa Essex from around 1993 still in the box (and now hopelessly obsolete).
I should stick with the books. When I think about the models I get depressed.