Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Splendid - a historical treasure house !, March 19, 2001
This is a quite epic narrative history, which reads with the facility and pace of a well-constructed thriller. It is at once a social history of the Royal Navy that spans the Ironclad, Dreadnought and Great War eras, a dissertation on naval signalling and fleet-handling in a period of unprecedented technical innovation, a reflection on the challenges and stresses of leadership and a thrilling account of the Battle of Jutland from a British perspective. The book opens with a quite thrilling account of the opening phase of the battle, in which technical and human complexities are treated with equal aplomb, then breaks off - leaving the reader all but white knuckled - at the moment the German High Seas Fleet appears on the scene and forces Beatty's Battle Cruiser Force and Fifth Battle Squadron to turn northwards. It might seem an anti-climax to be diverted from this drama to the controversies that dominated the Navy in the Late-Victorian and Edwardian periods but this part of the story, with its splendidly delineated cast of larger-than-life characters, is no less gripping, especially in view of its ultimate relevance to command and control decisions at the potentially climactic encounter at Jutland. The third part of the book returns to the battle itself, with the arrival of Jellicoe's Battle Fleet, the main clash and the subsequent night action and German escape. The complexities of naval manoeuvre have seldom been so clearly portrayed in print, with excellent use being made of simple diagrams for illustration, and colour and pace are lent to the narrative by many well-chosen extracts from survivor's accounts, ranging from the light-hearted to the outright ghastly. This was indeed a battle where there was no mid-point between unscathed survival and horrific injury. The story is told almost exclusively from the Royal Navy viewpoint - that indeed of a British participant - and, thought this adds great immediacy, readers will need to look elsewhere for a more detailed account of the German movements. The final part of the book is in many ways the saddest, detailing the recriminations, self-justifications and personal tragedies involving the main participants after the war. A postscript that deals with the problem of intelligence overload as a purely Naval concern will be found by many readers to have singular relevance to large modern organisations employing E-Mail! This is, in summary, a quite magnificent piece of work and a delight for enthusiasts of naval history. The only mild criticism that might be made is that the writer has omitted to discuss how experience from the Spanish-American and Russo-Japanese Wars might have influenced Royal Naval thinking on visual signalling and fleet control under battle conditions. Japanese experience might be assumed to have been of particular relevance in view of the strong Royal Navy influence on Japanese naval development - and of the presence on Togo's flagship at Tsu-Shima of Captain William Packenham, who later commanded the 2nd. Battle Cruiser Squadron at Jutland. This minor gripe aside one can but long for more from the pen of Mr.Gordon.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The definitive account of Jutland and the reasons why..., February 23, 1998
By A Customer
Dr. Andrew Gordon's lengthy study will surely become the definitive account of the Battle of Jutland. Gordon provides an easy read with dispassionate analysis of the facts: a rational and sensible reassessment added to many revelations unearthed by the author's in-depth research. The book starts with an account of Jutland up to the delayed arrival of the 5th Battle Squadron (Evan-Thomas) to the Hipper-Beatty duel. Evan-Thomas and Beatty's handling of the advance guard (along differing tactical doctrines) provides the perfect point of departure and reference to the mid-nineteenth century Pax Brittanica, in which the Victorian Navy struggled to promote a workable combat doctrine from its opposing pool of 'authoritarian' and 'autorcratic' Admirals. The problems faced by the Grand Fleet at the onset of war, and highlighted by inadequacies at Jutland, can be traced to, and explained by, the wardroom battles of this era; particularly over the use of the cumbersome signal book and how best to adapt it to 'real' combat situations, governed by the ever-changing factors of the technological revolution. (Symbolised by the 'all big gun' Dreadnought.) Ultimately, the pioneering development in this field was arrested in its infancy by the sinking of HMS Victoria and the consequent loss of its foresighted Admiral, Tryon (inventor of TA; an initiative based battle signals procedure). The central discussion is followed by a return to the gunfire of Jutland where we witness how this 'arrested development' affected the course and outcome of the battle. The dispositions and handling of the Fleets by Jellicoe, Beatty, Scheer et al. are masterfully analysed; their respective shortcomings and doctrinal reasoning put across fairly. No encounter is left un-discussed, no surviving statement left without reappraisal. The post-Jutland analysis and Beatty-Jellicoe confrontation then come the focus of scrutiny from which we can deduce our own conclusions. Dr. Gordon's account if full of amusing anecdotes. I particularly liked the attention to individual experiences of the battle, and naval life, which are tied in to the relevant discussion: we are reminded of Tryon's last signal before the collision: "What are you waiting for?"... or that the spotter on Fisher's ill-fated battlecruiser Invincible was the German composer, Wagner's, godson. A later reference to the 'Jutland prize for creative writing' is typical of Gordon's lively prose. Furthermore, there is an interesting account of Freemasonry in the service, providing an explanation for many an admirals straight- jacket of 'dutifulness'. The book commendably puts the whole naval episode firmly into the context of the late 19th and early 20th century, with all its corresponding ideologies and imperialistic assumptions that disintegrated so painfully on the fields of Verdun and the Somme.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A study of corporate paralysis in the crucible of battle, February 19, 2004
I have read many books of military history covering a variety of campaigns, but never have I read one with such breadth and insight as this. The enormity of the drama embodied in the moment the fleets met at Jutland is for the first time matched by an author's ability to depict a context rich enough to help us understand the influences which fed this cataclysmic misfire of naval strength.Gordon focuses on the tension between doctrine's role as a useful tool for helping a widely flung set of commanders act in concert when distance, smoke, and angst prevent their communication and how a careless search for practical doctrine might invite a stifling dogma in its stead. As Gordon so fluidly writes of the malaise gripping the "fleet that had dozed unchallenged in the long calm lee of Trafalgar", the trust Nelson placed in subordinates had not long survived his death in that battle and its heir was an officious busyness centered on sparkle and conformity. Particularly delightful in this work and an aspect not to be missed is the benefit to be realized by using two bookmarks when reading it, with the second preserving your spot in the end notes. Its 100+ pages of notes manifest a stringent and complete attribution of his borrowings, but a great many of the notes are not simply citations of others work but illuminating tidbits well worth savoring as you plow along the main text. A new reader will also find that color has not been sacrificed in the rush to meet the obligations of covering so large a battle. My favorite anecdote was one of an untroubled officer on HMS Lion who, unaware that the Germans had truly been sighted, calmly finished preparing his sandwich as action stations were rung. The mental picture formed of his arriving on the bridge with mouth full and hoagie in hand is not unlike someone doing "the wave" in the audience at Ford's Theatre as Lincoln takes his seat. I mean the 5 stars. I have given 5 copies of this book to people I know, simply to ensure that they might understand the mania for naval history it has fanned in my heart. If there is any justice in this world, this book will enjoy a massive new print run.
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