Customer Reviews

Lone Wolf: The Life and Death of U-Boat Ace Werner Henke

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another truly great u-boat book that gives a studied approach to the WW2 submarine conflict and also downgrades Buchheim"s Das Boot as a true picture of a U-Boat crew.Buchheim describes the typical German u-boat sailor as so young that he terms their role in the submarine service as a "childrens crusade" however according to Mulligan's statistics this is not so.Also this book compares the different type of U-Boats-the niners and the sevens and gives their capacities and their shortcomings.The crews of these boats came mainly from cental and northern Germany,the more industrial regions which contradicts what i had previously read that these crews were from rural areas. Also there is an interesting chapter about the U-boat pecking order which makes absurdity of Buchheims,' Das Boot crews","we are one in suffering"mentality.The crews from this books' read seem like they would act as individuals guarding their own turf but can function as a team,indeed that would probably make for a more efficient crew as well as better for morale.You're going to love this book if you're into the Battle of the Atlantic,human interest stories mixed with some good statistics.

"Lone Wolf" is a very interesting book, biography/history told in a compelling fashion! The author, Timothy Mulligan, is to be congratulated on the different focus which he puts on the upbringing of Kapitaenleutnant Werner Henke, a very successful, if not overly bright German Submarine Commander during the last big war (it was in all of the papers!). Mulligan Illustrates differences between Naval Academies in the USA and Germany, which are very clever weeding-out processes and pecking order heirarchies within particular submarines, I guess one can find "office politics" everywhere. There is also eye-opening material about the aspect of intelligence/espionage and propaganda as used by both sides in the "Battle of the Atlantic" Unfortunately, though not a Nazi by any stretch or use of the word, Henke was not without integrity which more than likely lead to his undoing! That and an innate gullibility led to his demise. It's a good book, though, not $120.00 good but you should read it if submarines are a vital part of your interest!