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Dreadnought (Paperback)

by Robert K. Massie (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
Price: £13.32 + £0.08 sourcing fee & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 1040 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (Nov 1992)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0345375564
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345375568
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15 x 4.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,039,595 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #61 in  Books > History > Europe > Germany > German Heads of State

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Product Description

Review

'Inheritor of Barbara Tuchman's mantle as the English-speaking world's pre-eminent popular historian...Robert K. Massie has now turned his attention to the arms race between Britain and Germany c.1890-1914, the most important precipitant towards the outbreak of the First World War.', Frank McLynn, .'Massie tells the story with controlled energy and attention to detail, especially human detail. It ahs not been told so well before.', Literary Review .'He can take an enormous canvas and fill every inch with action and description.', Sunday Times .'He has the supreme gift of making history live in simple, readable language.', Observer .'This is a book you are bound to enjoy. It is a chronicle of the Anglo-German naval rivalry placed against the broader background of the personal and national clashes that led to the Great War. The set pieces - the naval review of June 1897, the Jameson Raid, The Kaiser's visit to Windsor, Winston Churchill visiting the fleet, "the spring of the panther" - are dramatically recreated. The pen portraits of the political and naval establishments of Wilhelmine Germany and Victorian and Edwardian Britain are brilliantly evoked with a sharp eye for the memorable detail...Massie keeps his complex story under tight control...Monographers like myself can only envy the sheer sweep of Dreadnought and the author's rich palette of colours so deftly applied. Like Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August this is narrative history at its very best.', Financial Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Description

With the biographer's rare genius for expressing the essence of extraordinary lives, Massie brings to life a crowd of glittering figures: the single-minded Admiral von Tirpitz; the young, ambitious Winston Churchill; the ruthless, sycophantic Chancellor Bernhard von Bulow; Britain's greatest twentieth-century Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey; and Jacky Fisher, the eccentric admiral who revolutionized the British Navy and brought forth for the first true battleship, H.M.S. Dreadnought. Their story, and the story of the era, filled with misunderstanding, missed opportunities, and events leading to unintended conclusions, unfolds like a Greek tragedy in this powerful narrative. Intimately human and dramatic, Dreadnought is history at its most riveting. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An epic of immense proportions., 4 Jun 2007
By Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War (Paperback)
It was the First World War - known at that time as "The Great War" which changed Britain and Europe forever. As the Generals on both sides sent millions and millions of men to their deaths in the carnage which they regarded as warfare, there came about a change in the psyche of the British male - a change which would herald a complete alteration in the way he thought and acted towards those of the upper, ruling classes. No longer would that British male be so quick to use such words as "M'Lord" or even "Sir." No longer would he doff his cap as a mark of respect, no longer would the ordinary police Constable be so quick to "arrest that man" just because a well dressed person had ordered him so to do.

That change in British Society continues to this day and is easily traced back to the feelings of loss and despair which came with the realisation that far too many young men had died "at the front" - even though the war itself had been won and mainland Britain had escaped unscathed.

In this epic tale, author Robert Massie delves deep into why that war occurred in the first place. Every single aspect of argument and behaviour on both sides (both military and political) is exposed and analysed. As the title of the book would suggest, the theme is the world's first great arms race. When Britain produced the first Dreadnought Battleship it rendered all other battleships obsolete at a stroke (including the remainder of the British Fleet!). From that moment onwards it was always a question of who could produce the most new Dreadnoughts in the quickest possible time. Set against this wish by both Britain and Germany to be seen as the world's supreme masters of the seas was a political intrigue which few have been able to commit to print in such a masterly fashion as is found in this book.

In short, this is one of the greatest books of our time. It is also a damn fine read.

NM

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10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Immersive history, 22 April 2004
This review is from: Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War (Paperback)
Very Readable, Informative, enlightening.
Its style makes you "feel youare there" in the century preceding the great war and now I really feel Ihave a good basis to understand why the "madness" couldn't be easilystopped.
Its a long read, but only due to the immense scope of interlinkedpersonalities and events required to get the whole picture. The narrativenever becomes boring despite the sheer quantity of information to impart,and this is one book I am sure I will read again, its that good!
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5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Meticulous Piece of Research, 9 Oct 2006
By Mr. R. Williams (Twickenham, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War (Paperback)
An initial glance at this may give the impression that it is simply about the development of the Dreadnought class of battleship and the arms race that followed their creation. This is an important issue in itself, but Massie covers much more. He provides the reader with a detailed account of relations between the great powers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and of much of the stubborness, short-sightedness and bumbling that almost accidentally led to the First World War. The book provides superb mini-biographies of key players, the Kaiser, Bismark, Asquith, the earlier years of WS Churchill and many others. For people studying international relations in that period, this is an excellent source of reference, even for those who are not specifically interested in the naval matters alone.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book
Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War is a very, very good book. It is well-written with a good structure and narrative, it is fast-paced but at the same... Read more
Published 1 month ago by HBH

3.0 out of 5 stars Dreadnought:Britain,Germany and the Coming of the Great War
i was under he impression that i was going to read about the Dreadnought as the title hinted at but the dreadnought was only mentioned now and again . Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. S. Whiteside

5.0 out of 5 stars Erudite but accessible and enjoyable
You don't have to be a history scholar to learn from and thoroughtly enjoy this. I particularly liked the mini-biographies of the major players that make up the first chapters.
Published 8 months ago by Herman Melville

5.0 out of 5 stars A serious peice of work
This is a must for anyone wishing to read about the first major arms race of the 20th Century. Despite its page count I found the text easy to cover and you really get to grips... Read more
Published 9 months ago by full on

4.0 out of 5 stars comprehensive....but heavy going
The sister book of Castles of Steel, Dreadnought deals with the build up to World War I and the political situation that led to the outbreak of the Great War. Read more
Published 12 months ago by An avid reader

5.0 out of 5 stars A great narrative history, thoroughly engaging
Massie's Dreadnought is without a doubt the most engaging history book I have read. As a history undergraduate it was refreshing to find a book that was convincing in its... Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2007 by frandsen

5.0 out of 5 stars A benchmark historical work
I'm very very keen on this book. It is, perhaps, one of the best works I've ever read, and I'm almost convinced that it should be compulsory reading for the entire nation. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2007 by R. J. Bowen

5.0 out of 5 stars An epic of immense proportions.
It was the First World War - known at that time as "The Great War" which changed Britain and Europe forever. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2007 by Ned Middleton

5.0 out of 5 stars An epic of immense proportions.
It was the First World War - known at that time as "The Great War" which changed Britain and Europe forever. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2007 by Ned Middleton

2.0 out of 5 stars fair to middling
In truth I was rather disapointed in this book, having read the author's (excellent) follow-up volume "Castles of Steel" first. Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2006 by H. W. Davies

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