|
Get up to 65% off some of our top titles. Shop now |
Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links(What is this?) |
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
Iron Coffins: A U-boat Commander's War, 1939-45 (Cassell Military Paperbacks) by Herbert Werner |
by Donald Macintyre
|
by Lawrence Paterson
|
The Real Cruel Sea: The Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1943 by Captain Richard Woodman |
by Gordon Williamson
|
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Review
This is a startling and at times harrowing study of just how close Britain came to defeat in the Second World War. Goering's Luftwaffe may have failed to break the people's spirit with their night-after-night blitzes, but Admiral Doenitz's U-boats came within an ace of starving the nation into submission. Details of the critical situation were kept from the British public during wartime, but afterwards Winston Churchill admitted that the battle for control of the north Atlantic had frightened him more than anything else throughout the entire conflict. This absorbing book - which accompanies a major BBC TV series - shows us how the Royal and merchant navies fell prey to the Atlantic U-boat menace over a period of more than three years both before and after America's entry into the war. During that time the Allies lost 15 million tons of shipping and 40,000 lives, plus a colossal amount of food and other essential supplies. Viewed in that context, this long but little-understood battle could truly be said to have had greater significance than the Dunkirk retreat or the aerial Battle of Britain. Drawing on first-hand testimony from both sides, Andrew Williams examines the terrifying journey faced by every convoy of supplies to set sail across the Atlantic. In the U-boats, the sailors were even more vulnerable as the Allies hit back. Life in the 'iron coffins' was claustrophobic and stressful. The average life span of a submariner could be measured in months. The photographs accompanying the text are among the most dramatic you will find from the Second World War. If ever razor-sharp conflict was captured on film, this is it. Williams's great skill is in allowing the protagonists to tell their own stories, which say far more than mere statistics ever could. As a reference book of the Second World War, this is essential reading. (Kirkus UK)
Product Description
Accompanying the the BBc television series of the the same name, this work tells the story of Hitler's attempt to sever Britain's lifeline across the Atlantic. For Winston Churchill it was "the only thing that ever frightened me during the war". The book recounts the tale of the longest, most bitterly fought campaign of World War II. From 1939 until 1942, Hitler's U-Boats - his "grey wolves" - threatened to do what his air force couldn't - starve Britain into submission. The Allies lost a total of 15-million tons of shipping, and 40,000 sailors lost their lives during the five-year Battle of the Atlantic. Britain's imports - upon which it heavily relied - were halved during the war by the U-Boat threat, leading to enforced rationing and the introduction of the victory gardens. Gradually, the Allied losses began to decline largely due to the use of Radar - a system that could detect U-Boats on the surface of the oceans - and to the inaccuracy of the U-Boats torpedoes. Pulling on exclusive interviews with U-Boat crews, Andrew Williams draws a picture of the uncomfortable, claustrophobic and dangerous life on board the U-Boats - the "Iron Coffins" - and looks at the making of this elite "brotherhood" - 85 per cent of whom were killed. He also gathers interviews from the British and American navy to illustrate the story with numerous untold tales of enormous personal courage and horrific losses.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
THE RADIO had been humming with traffic all morning. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE RADIO had been humming with traffic all morning. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
 |
81% buy the item featured on this page: The Battle of the Atlantic |
 |
6% buy Iron Coffins: A U-boat Commander's War, 1939-45 (Cassell Military Paperbacks) £5.49 |
 |
5% buy Battle of the Atlantic |
 |
4% buy Unbroken: The Story of a Submarine £8.59 |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Europe
- Books > History > Maritime History > Naval Battles
- Books > History > Military History > Armed Forces > Naval Forces
- Books > History > Military History > Wars, Battles & Campaigns
- Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Battles & Campaigns > Battle of the Atlantic
- Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Countries > Europe
- Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Naval Warfare
- Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Origins
- Books > Home & Garden > Animal Care & Pets
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. |
