For the British, the Battle of the Atlantic was a fight for survival, as they depended entirely upon the safe transit of hundreds of convoys of merchant ships laden with food, raw materials and munitions from America to feed the country and to keep the war effort going. The ultimate success of these convoys is much more than the triumph of one side's naval technology over the other, or of the revelations of the enemy's encoded orders assiduously teased out by the brilliant young decrypters at Bletchley Park; it is more too than the simple assertion that victory went to the Allies because they built more ships and therefore shipped more cargoes, than the Germans could sink.A national decline had left Great Britain desperately vulnerable in 1939, when she had to mobilise her civilian ships and revive the notion of a 'merchant navy'. It was this disparate collection of private vessels which endured the onslaught of the German U-boat offensive until Allied superiority overwhelmed the enemy.In this important, moving and exciting book, drawing extensively on first-hand sources, acclaimed historian Richard Woodman establishes the importance of the British, and Allied merchant fleets to the war effort, elevating the heroic civilians who manned them to their rightful place in the history of the Second World War.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'The finest work to date on the cruelly ill-used and underrated merchant navy in the Second World War' -- New Statesman 20041129 'Impossible to put down ... it is the perfect book for those who love the sea, filled with the most exciting detail of navies in both world wars.' Morris Beckman -- Camden Journal 20050317 'Woodman set out to describe "the moral high point" of the British and American maritime effort in World War II. He has succeeded superbly.' Robin Knight. -- The Old Pangbournian 20050101 'It completes a trilogy which will surely serve as a semi-official wartime history of our merchant marine ! Woodman leaves us with a feeling of humility and plenty of food for thought' -- John Crossland, Sunday Times 20050101 'Drawing extensively on first-hand sources, Woodman establishes the importance of the British and Allied merchant fleets to the war effort.' -- Navy News 20050201 'Both in-depth and memorable' -- Eastern Daily Press 20050514 'Combines harrowing, sometimes humorous eyewitness accounts with a strategic evaluation of the war at sea ... A superbly researched memorial' -- Christopher Lee, Literary Review 'This is military history for grownups, unsparing and unedifying, but gripping from first to last' -- Michael Kerrigan, Scotsman 'Will surely serve as a semi-official wartime history of our merchant marine' -- John Crossland, Sunday Times 'Richard Woodman understands the sea and seamen and tells the story without artificial colouring' -- Tom Pocock, Spectator 'The gripping story of the merchant seamen and their battle for safe passage of convoys across the Atlantic' -- History Today 'The finest work to date on the cruelly ill-used and underrated merchant navy in the Second World War' -- New Statesman 'This superbly-crafted history is a fitting testament to their valour' -- Focus 'A big book, replete with scholarship and evidence of vast research ! an account which so badly needed to be written' -- Michael Grey, Lloyds List 'The Real Cruel Sea is devoted to a Merchant Navy that lacks an official memorial, even though it suffered the worst casualty ratio of any other branch of the services.' -- Independent on Sunday 'Magisterial' -- Daily Express 'A moving tribute to the sailors who fought for survival' -- The Sunday Times 20050731 'Truly an epic work that does the wartime seafarers of the Merchant Navy proud.' -- Shipping 20060601
About the Author
Richard Woodman is well-known for his Nathaniel Drinkwater series of historical naval novels, a dozen other sea-stories, histories of the development of ships and works on sea-power during the Napoleonic Wars. He has also produced two widely acclaimed studies of convoys operations during the Second World War, Malta Convoys and Arctic Convoys.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Other Cruel Sea,
This review is from: Real Cruel Sea (Hardcover)
We hear and see a lot of WWII as an important part of our history. A lot of very good men and women lost their lives in those action filled years. The numbers of people, planes, ships tanks and everything was enormous. What we forget about is the part the merchant marines played in the total war effort. They were attempting to cross t he Atlantic to supply England with war materials for a couple of years before we entered the war. The number of merchant ships and men lost is staggering. We pride ourselves with our ability to make new "Victory ships" but we need to remember that they were replacing ships that went down with everything and everybody.The Other Cruel Sea is the right title for this book. It chronicals so very well the merchant marine struggles. For example, can you imagine a one hundred ship convoy with ships that burn coal and wood trying to keep up with more modern ships that were themselves so very slow. It was a shooting heyday for the German wolf packs...not dissimilar to the pac games on the computer, except these were real ships and real men. This is not a work of fiction. But the fact is, the real story is a vibrant one and makes for good reading...and an important collection of real life and death chapters.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very happy,
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This review is from: The Real Cruel Sea (Paperback)
My book arrived well before the estimated time. It was in excellent condition. Hastle free.
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