Customer Reviews

Jutland Pb

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A very nice research work since this is the first time the battle is narrated as seen from the german point of view (to english readers). In fact the battle of Skaggerak (german name for it) is a classical sea battle (gun vs gun), but amazingly plenty of data and sources are mainly filed on english side. This book tries to fill the gap since official report, archives, wireless messages and countless files are cited to unveil the encounter plot. The review of most significant facts before the clash is quite intersting and instrumental to catch the genesis of moral ascendancy of British naval power over German High Seas Fleet.

The author work is compelling: sometime the narrative brings the reader on board as witness of action and demage report to the bridge. Comunications are vividly narrated, by the way they were so poor that occasionally they approach hilarity. Unfortunately psychological traits of Adm. Jellicoe and Adm. Beatty are quite clear while Adm. Hipper and Adm. Scheer attitudes fail to pop up from the perspective. So this unbalance (perhaps lack of solid sources on the German eminent players) and a consolidated english historical background are the only limits to this fascinating volume for seriuos fellow of naval history or a general reader like me.

I can't say I disagree with the reviewer from Hamburg.. this book hardly possesses a German spin at all but instead seems to be unaligned at best.

It does, however, work nicely as a solid overview of the battle, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a book to allow a full understanding of the decisions made in the Battle and what context they sprang from. If you already have such a book on your shelf, you may not find this valuable.

Its appendices capture the germ of the information contained in the altogether dry Campbell work (which deals almost exclusively with forensic examination of shellfire), mixing it with the commanders' actions and a modicum of anecdotes by sailors in various roles within the swirl.

I found the attempt to view the Battle of Jutland from the perspective of the High Seas Fleet to be a long overdue attempt to compensate for the axiom that "winners write history". It is my view (and apparently Mr. Tarrant's) that this battle must be taken in the context of the German Naval expansion, and the Kaisers pronounced reluctance to risk his fleet in an attempt to reduce or eliminate British naval superiority in the North Sea. The pages devoted to the Dogger Bank bank action and other "preliminaries" are absolutely necessary. It must always be remembered that the failure of the German Fleet percipitated the reliance on U-Boats, which in turn were responsible for the entry of the U.S. into World War I

This is an excellent general description of the battle of Jutland, in fact one of the best I have read. The title is something of i misnomer; the author relies more than most other accounts on German sources, but not by any means exclusively, and the British side is just as well covered as the Germans. In fact, many other books on Jutland could well have the epithet "The British perspective" added.

The book is eminently readable and has a good flow and balanced views. A major plus is the excellent maps that cover most phases of the battle.

It also passes that litmus test that all to many naval history books fail: It has positions in latitude and longitude!

I might even say that if you were only to read one book on the battle of Jutland, this is a strong candidate!

This book earns its stars through being great value at this price. The book does not attempt much analysis - it is mostly just the generally agreed history, illuminated with a collection of quotes from German sources such as the Official history and von Hase' memoirs.

Like the German High Seas Fleet narrowly escaped destruction at Jutland, this book also avoids desaster by a thin margin. Title and subtitle promise unknown facts, new deatils, insights etc. which appear to lead in turn to new conclusions. However, nothing new is added to the knowledge already exsiting about this battle. Moreover, the official German account is quoted extensively, but hardly any critical comment is made on it by the author. A historian's object is to analyze sources, not their simple reproduction. In addition, unnecessary lenghty descriptions of Dogger Bank action and other encounters provoke a reader's yawn. Brief summaries of details and conclusions of clashes prior to Jutland but vital to its' understanding would have done a better job. However, the author provides partly some fine narrative which makes the reader almost feel participating in battle. To sum up, topic and material would have offered a splendid opportunity writing a fine book. Unfortunately, this did not materialize.

One of the reasons for Germany and Britian being on opposite sides in the First World War was the decision of Germany to build a battle fleet to rival Britian's. By the start of the war Germany had a large modern fleet but it was considerably smaller than Britian's.

The battle of Jutland was an attempt by the German Admiral Scheer to bring to battle a smaller part of the British Fleet and to even up the odds. What occured was a confusing battle which has been very clearly explained in this book. Basically a smaller unit of German Battle Cruiser entered into an engagment with a large unit of British Battle Cruisers. The Germans tried to lure these on to their fleet and instead precipitated an short engagment between both fleets. The Germans returned to port losing some ship to torpedoes.

During the initial fight the German Battle Cruisers were able to sink a number of the British Battle Cruisers. The reasons for this were that the British ships were lightly armoured. British shell design was also faulty and this led to a large number of their "hits" not exploding.

Whilst the Germans sank more ships the engagment was not decisive and the British were able to continue their Blockade of Germany something which contributed significantly to the German defeat. (At the end of the war front line troops were on a ration of 1,500 calories a day)

The book as well as explaining everything clearly and well has a very large number of maps to explain the position and movement of the ships in the battle. In all and example of how naval history should be written.