See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Attack on Taranto (Stackpole Classics) Paperback – August 1, 2000

by Thomas P. Lowry (Author), John Wellham (Author)

10 customer reviews

See all 5 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$13.77

$8.00

$2.49

Paperback

"Please retry"

—

$14.99

$3.77

Attack on Taranto (Stackpole Classics)

Available from these sellers.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Angus Konstam

9

Paperback
$13.55

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On November 11, 1940, 21 slow, canvas-covered British warplanes, launched from the carrier Illustrious, attacked the harbor at the Italian port of Taranto and put most of the Italian navy out of commission. This all-but-forgotten operation, the authors argue, deserves historical recognition as an inspirational precedent for the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor 13 months later. Taranto demonstrated that battleships in a shallow, heavily defended harbor could be sunk by a handful of torpedo-bombers. That lesson Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Japanese fleet, learned well-while the American military virtually ignored it. The book includes an instructive comparison of the ways Japanese and Americans reacted to Taranto and a fine summary of the origin and development of carrier doctrine. The account of the 1940 raid itself is detailed and suspenseful. Lowry is the author of The Story Soldiers Wouldn't Tell: Sex in the Civil War; Wellham, who flew in the Taranto raid, is the author of With Naval Wings: The Autobiography of a Fleet Air Pilot in World War II. Illustrations.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"...immenesly readable, compelling and convincing account." From FLY NAVY, the publication of the Fleet Air Arm Officers Association.

"This is a very well written book by two well-qualified authors in possesion of the facts." THE GLOBE & LAUREL.

“The Attack on Taranto is far more than a ‘prelude.’ If this exciting, convincing book had been published in 1940, it could well have prevented the disaster of Pearl Harbor. As it is, Dr. Lowery and Cdr. Wellham show how America must always be alert to the activities of our enemies and those of our Allies, too, so as to avoid ‘future military surprises.’” –Bruce Lee, coauthor of Pearl Harbor: Final Judgement, and author of Marching Orders: The Untold Story of World War II. (Bruce Lee)

“This book portrays, in a most readable form, one of the daring acts of naval power that greatly acted to turn the fortunes of war at a time of grave peril not only for Britain but for all the Western world. The author shows that Taranto was an unmistakable blueprint for the shattering attack on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The Attack on Taranto is not only a book for the naval historian, but also for the lay reader. It must be read. –Group Captain J.F.W. Pembridge AFC, RAF (Ret.) (J. F. W. Pembridge, Group Captain, AFC, RAF (Ret.))

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Series: Stackpole Classics
Paperback: 174 pages
Publisher: Stackpole Books (August 1, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0811726614
ISBN-13: 978-0811726610
Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.5 x 9.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 10 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,176,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6893 in Books > History > Military > Naval
- #26892 in Books > History > Military > World War II
- #113460 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars

5 star		50%
4 star		30%
3 star		20%
2 star		0%
1 star		0%

Write a customer review

See all verified purchase reviews

Top customer reviews

Good Short Book About a Brave Band of Brits

Bykiko_55on August 2, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Not too indepth, and heavier on the Pearl Harbor comparisions than I realized. I would have preferred more information on the Taranto raid. Still, it's a good read about the night a handful of antiquated biplanes literally sank Italy's hopes of success in the Mediterranean theatre of war.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Five Stars

ByROBERT SENIORon January 13, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

EXCELLENT.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

The attack is only a small part of the book

ByNeal A. Wellonson October 14, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The other reviews give a good overview but I will add a little. The 143 page book (including appendix, notes, bibliography and index but not including 16 pages of pictures) includes about nine pages on planning, 15 on the attack, and three pages on the post-attack. The rest of the book is more general with a good bit of coverage on Pearl Harbor and some minor actions. Appendix includes British Naval Aviation, Flight Crews at Taranto, Italian Naval Ships at Taranto and more. Because of the lack of maps and aerial photos, it is interesting to use a web aerial photo program like Google Earth to aid in following the action.

Another book with a major section on Taranto is "To War in a Stringbag," a Bantam War Book that covers many actions involving Swordfish airplanes. To me it was a better read.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Five Stars

ByNeil N.on August 7, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Outstanding

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Very well done indeed!

ByThe Reviewer Formerly Known as Kurt Johnsonon October 10, 2013

Format: Paperback

On November 11, 1940, a British aircraft carrier launched its torpedo bombers on a sneak attack on the Italian fleet anchored in the heavily defended port of Taranto. The Italian fleet was heavily damaged, and its morale was shaken. Among those examining the attack was Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who had similar plans of his own...

This short book examines the attack on Taranto, all the while showing how that attack influenced the later attack on Pearl Harbor. Along the way, the author treats the reader to a history of aircraft carriers, torpedoes, the Italian and Japanese navies, and just about everything pertinent to a full understanding of the two attacks. After the Taranto chapters, there is another examining the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway. The eight(!) appendices cover such topics as British naval aviation, the raid on Bomba, Libya, the names of the British flight crews at Taranto, and much more.

This book is very well done indeed! The author takes a World War 2 episode that is largely overlooked in many history books, examines it in depth, and makes the whole thing fascinating to read. My one complaint against the book is that it contains only one map, a map of the port of Taranto. However, the book does include a number of great black-and-white pictures that really add to the text. Overall, I would call this a great book, one worth your time to read!

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Decisive Attack in Obsolete Biplanes...

ByHMS WarspiteTOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon October 10, 2011

Format: Paperback

"The Attack on Taranto" describes in tactical and exciting detail the British Royal Navy's dramatic raid on the Italian Naval Base at Taranto in November 1940, using carrier-based Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers. The raid at least temporarily crippled the Italian surface fleet at a crucial moment in the Second World War in the Mediterranean theater.

Authors Lowry and Wellham spend considerable time explaining both the planning and the execution of the mission, including its multi-faceted deception plan. As the authors repeatedly remark, the British fliers courageously made the attack at night in obsolete open-cockpit biplanes into the teeth of a heavily defended target. In fact, the Swordfish biplanes, nicknamed "stringbags", would provide good service at sea throughout the war.

Lowry and Wellham emphasize the parallels to the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, including the intense Japanese interest in Italian and German after-action reports and an inspection of the base at Taranto. Their further speculation on Pearl Harbor is perhaps less well-founded. "The Attack on Taranto" is well-recommended to student of naval aviation, as a solid account of a lesser-known but important event in the development of carrier aviation.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A Short Historical Jewel

ByDavid Caneyon September 25, 2001

Format: Paperback

This short history of the birth of one of the truly significant innovations in modern military tactics and technology is nicely written, very well researched (the co-author was a leading participant), and offers up just the kind of occassional riveting statements that military history buffs love, such as:
-the names of two African American pilots who flew biplane fighters for Haile Salasse against Mussolini (now there's college paper topic for you).
-that Adm. Yamamoto was once banned from casinos in Monaco because he won too much.
-that a German named Schwartzkoff (sp?) stole the plans of the first practical torpedo from a British engineer in the 19th century.
The story itself is short and economically written, but the book is beefed up with divergent historical lines of inquiry, from the overall strategic position of the British Mediteranean
fleet to the British use of of American Martin B-20's, a plane type apparently unknown to other WW-II history writers.
Although the narrative goes a little far afield once or twice, and makes some brisk statements begging for better source notes, it is an overall good read, about the right length, and should be in every 20th century naval historian's collection.

0Comment 7 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

Who dares wins

Thomas Lowry and John Wellham have written a splendid concise study of one of the great tactical breakthroughs in modern warfare.Read more

Published on July 13, 2006 by Brasidas

The British put three Italian battleships out of action.

As the authors quite rightly put, this was the prelude to Pearl Harbor. The Italian Navy was stationed at this harbor and posed a threat to British sea routes to Egypt, India,...Read more

Published on June 16, 2003 by Kevin M Quigg

Japan was watching

This is the story of how a small force of obsolete British Swordfish torpedo planes flew into Taranto harbor, surprised the Italian fleet, and sank three battleships.Read more

Published on April 23, 2002 by Jeffrey T. Munson

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: lights bedroom, lowe outdoor furniture, flag mason jar, easy installation outdoor light, copper yard art, camping flags