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fulminataxii's review against another edition
5.0
Twenty one years after publishing Silent Victory, his history of US submarine warfare against Japan, Clay Blair published this first volume of his history of German submarine warfare against the Allies.
Like his earlier work, this is a comprehensive history of the conflict, written in such a way as to remain engaging despite largely being a repetitive listing of the records of various u-boat voyages. Unlike his earlier work, he was able to call on extensive records from both sides of the conflict, which largely accounts for the greater length of the work, and its division into two volumes.
The first part of the book is a fairly straightforward description of the submarine war against Great Britain prior to 1942. Besides descriptions of u-boat activities, there's also a great deal of discussion of British code breaking activities, and German military politics. The latter appears to have greatly shaped the course of the war in the Atlantic.
The second part covers the war after the US entered the conflict directly. This leads the author to spend some time defending the records of the US and Canadian Navies, both of which have been maligned in previous histories, particularly those written by British historians.
Realizing that the author was himself a member of the US Navy in WWII, and thus has a certain prejudice, his arguments still seem very solid.
Overall, another excellent history. While I plan to wait a bit before starting the second volume, I look forward to doing so.
Like his earlier work, this is a comprehensive history of the conflict, written in such a way as to remain engaging despite largely being a repetitive listing of the records of various u-boat voyages. Unlike his earlier work, he was able to call on extensive records from both sides of the conflict, which largely accounts for the greater length of the work, and its division into two volumes.
The first part of the book is a fairly straightforward description of the submarine war against Great Britain prior to 1942. Besides descriptions of u-boat activities, there's also a great deal of discussion of British code breaking activities, and German military politics. The latter appears to have greatly shaped the course of the war in the Atlantic.
The second part covers the war after the US entered the conflict directly. This leads the author to spend some time defending the records of the US and Canadian Navies, both of which have been maligned in previous histories, particularly those written by British historians.
Realizing that the author was himself a member of the US Navy in WWII, and thus has a certain prejudice, his arguments still seem very solid.
Overall, another excellent history. While I plan to wait a bit before starting the second volume, I look forward to doing so.
fulminataxii's review against another edition
5.0
This concluding volume in the author's exhaustive history of the German U-Boat war has as its thesis the fact that the U-Boat war never came close to its goal of cutting the vital Atlantic supply line from the US to Europe.
Through examining nearly every patrol of the war, the author makes his case, which can be summed up by the fact that 99.4% of ships sailing in convoy made it safely to their destinations.
In between the numerous patrol reports, the author continues to cover Allied code breaking activities and German strategic decisions as they related to submarine warfare. A great deal of attention is paid to the development and deployment of the diesel engine snorkel, and the development of the type XXI and XXIII "electro" boat submarines. The author showing that they were not the "wonder" weapons that many thought they were, and would have had little impact had they been introduced earlier in the war.
The author does not fail to discuss the trial and conviction of Admiral Donitz at Nuremberg. In doing so he takes the opportunity, largely through statements from Allied naval officers, to compare the German U-Boat war in the Atlantic to the US submarine war in the Pacific. A comparison that largely favors the Germans in terms of how "clean" a war they conducted. A conclusion that I'd already made having previously read the author's history of the US submarine war against Japan, but one worth emphasizing.
When taken together with the first volume, this is an excellent history. I should point out that it's taken me over a decade from the time I picked up the first volume, to the point that I have finished this one. I do not use the world "exhaustive" lightly when I describe this work.
Through examining nearly every patrol of the war, the author makes his case, which can be summed up by the fact that 99.4% of ships sailing in convoy made it safely to their destinations.
In between the numerous patrol reports, the author continues to cover Allied code breaking activities and German strategic decisions as they related to submarine warfare. A great deal of attention is paid to the development and deployment of the diesel engine snorkel, and the development of the type XXI and XXIII "electro" boat submarines. The author showing that they were not the "wonder" weapons that many thought they were, and would have had little impact had they been introduced earlier in the war.
The author does not fail to discuss the trial and conviction of Admiral Donitz at Nuremberg. In doing so he takes the opportunity, largely through statements from Allied naval officers, to compare the German U-Boat war in the Atlantic to the US submarine war in the Pacific. A comparison that largely favors the Germans in terms of how "clean" a war they conducted. A conclusion that I'd already made having previously read the author's history of the US submarine war against Japan, but one worth emphasizing.
When taken together with the first volume, this is an excellent history. I should point out that it's taken me over a decade from the time I picked up the first volume, to the point that I have finished this one. I do not use the world "exhaustive" lightly when I describe this work.
abbotsford1234's review against another edition
4.0
Great book. My ebook edition ran to 2276 pages. It is NOT the paperback edition.