Customer Reviews

The Battle of the Atlantic: Hitler's Gray Wolves of the Sea and the Allies' Desperate Struggle to Defeat Them

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"The Battle of the Atlantic" is a fascinating and well written account of the struggle for naval supremacy between the Allies and the Germans during World War II. The primary focus of the narrative is the German U-Boat service and its charasmatic leader, Admiral Karl Donitz, as well as the British military experts who eventually devised the strategy that would defeat the submarine offensive. The stakes were very high. As the author states, thousands of merchant ships and tens of thousands of sailors were lost during the struggle. At several points, Winston Churchill privately despaired that the U-Boat menace would succeed in cutting off Britain's vital supply lines and bringing the country to defeat.

All of this is told primarily through the first hand accounts of those who lived through the battles. Particularly harrowing are the descriptions of death and survival by those who were aboard the sunken vessles. The book is well balanced, providing equal time to the men who served on both sides. Donitz emerges as the central character: a principled and dedicated fighter who ultimately allowed himself to be corrupted by Adolf Hiter's cult of personality. Augmented by a generous illustrations section and just shy of 300 pages of narrative, the book doesn't get too bogged down in minute detail.

Overall, an outstanding work of military history that should appeal both to history buffs and to general readers.

Andrew Williams has presented us with a true gift in historical writing - a narrative account of the U-boat menace against merchant shipping in the North Atlantic during the Second World War.

The author taken words from the mouths and memoirs of the participants and affected people to develop a fascinating portrayal of the war at sea between the German U-Boats and the merchant marine vessels of Britain and America.

Starting with the creation of Donitz's fleet and progressing through the high times (or, as the sailors called them, the "happy times") of the U-boat war, on to the final defeat of the German navy, this book is one not to be missed. The boat touches on such important topics as Operation Drumbeat and the Enigma machine, both of which were critical to the success (or failure) of the U-boat war.

The book does not focus primarily on life on a submarine, as might be expected, but instead truly focuses on the war within the war - the German effort to isolate Britain and starve her by sinking ships faster than the Allied forces could build them, and the Allies' desperate efforts to prevent the Germans from achieving this goal. In line with this effort, Williams brings the participants in this war back to life with his choice of utilizing their words and memoirs.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the naval war in the Atlantic ocean or the reason why the Allies were finally able to defeat the German naval threat and go on to win the Second World War against the Germans.

This book by Andrew Williams is a great read for a number of reasons, the main one is his use of stories from both sides of the conflict. The reader gets to see how Admirals Karl Dönitz of the Kriegsmarine and Sir Max Horton of the Royal Navy engaged each others forces in this titanic duel for survival in the North Atlantic. More personal however, is the use of stories from survivors from both sides, including harrowing descriptions of life on board a U-boat during wartime. Some interesting photos accompany the very readable text.

A top read!

This is an excellent history book, not just setting out the fact and event, but it also gives you a broader understanding of events though the stories told by the participants. Andrew Williams brings history to life by interviewing the crew members of the submarines, merchant and escort ships which really helps you to connect with the people who bravely fought at sea, and provides some useful insights into how the war at sea was fought. The Atlantic was the scene of a deadly cat and mouse struggle between the German and Allied navies, and reading this book gives you a real connection to the terrible battle for which so much was at stake. I would highly recommend this book to students new to this topic, but also to seasoned readers of history, for Williams' writing style is a delight to behold.