Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War

by Corelli Barnett (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1991

  $4.90

  Against the background of the Royal Navy's great strength in 1918 and its depleted state in 1939, the author relates the operational story of World War II at sea in Europe and the Far East. He explores the problems of command, control and intelligence; of the dominant personalities and inter-relationships such as between Sir Dudley Pound, First Sea Lord and Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admirality and later, Prime Minister; and the economic, technological and industrial aspects such as ship design, the building industry and Britain, together with her sea power, in decline at the end of the war.

• Used

  Paperback
  2000

  $3.29

  The accepted interpretation of Britain's wartime role as an island sea power is challenged by Correlli Barnett's brilliant demonstration that the dependence on seashore imports of food and raw materials, together with the obligations of Empire, were less a form of strength to Britain than a weakness. Topics discussed in this book range from strategic debates in London and Washington to gripping descriptions of the Royal Navy in action: the remorseless struggle against the U-boat in the Atlantic, the desperate convoy battles in the Mediterranean and the Arctic, and the battles in the Far East. It weaves in the rivalry between Allied and German technology an the all-important secret war of the cryptographers. This outstanding military historian has turned to maritime war and written an authoritative, meticulously researched and stirring account of the Royal Navy's part in World War II. His analysis shows clearly how vital it was for the war at sea to be won before land and air campaigns could bring final victory .