In Great Waters: The Epic Story of the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-45 - Hardcover

Dunmore, Spencer

4

17 ratings by Goodreads

9780771029295: In Great Waters: The Epic Story of the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-45

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0771029292 ISBN 13: 9780771029295

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, 1999

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

It was probably the most important battle of the Second World War. The German attempt to stem the vital trans-Atlantic flow of men and supplies to Britain would cost the Allies more than 2,600 merchant ships, 30,000 merchant seamen’s lives, 5,000 aircrew, and about 2,500 aircraft. The battle ranged across the ocean: from the waters of the St. Lawrence, through the treacherous open sea of the North Atlantic, to the fjords of Norway and the Bat of Biscay.

Spencer Dunmore traces the complete history of the Battle of the Atlantic, giving equal time to all aspects of the conflict: in the air, on the water, and below its surface. He follows the action from the earliest days, when surface raiders – such as the infamous Bismarck – were seen by the Allies as the greatest danger at sea, through the heyday of Germany’s U-boats and the catastrophic damage the dreaded Wolfpacks wrought on the heavily laden convoys steaming their way to Britain. His is also one of the few books to acknowledge the pivotal role of the air-force in determining the final outcome fo the battle.

Dunmore tells the story from the perspective of both sides, and includes the first-hand accounts of individual participants, both Allied and German. For all involved – whether on board merchant ships or their escort vessels, whether in submarines prowling below or aircraft patrolling above – life was a combination of awful anticipation of attack and nerve-shattering tension when it came.

Behind the scenes were the politicians and strategists, fully mindful of the stakes of this epic battle; the ingenious scientists and their race to improve radar technology, torpedoes, and depth charge; the brilliant code breakers of England’s Bletchley Park; and, most remarkable of all, Admiral von Donitz, the extraordinary mastermind of Germany’s U-boat campaign and eventual successor to Adolf Hitler himself.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

The Battle of the Atlantic, which lasted for the length of World War II in Europe, claimed nearly 2,500 Allied vessels and a like number of aircraft. On the German side, three out of four sailors on the U-boat crews that caused much of that damage died, while the surface navy was almost wholly destroyed.

A great part of the battle in the western ocean was borne by Canadian sailors and airmen, who have received comparatively little attention in American and British histories of the campaign. Canadian historian Spencer Dunmore gives his compatriots their due in this well-written account, which includes interesting interpretations of the United States's Lend-Lease program of aid to Great Britain (which, Dunmore suggests, helped undermine Britain's postwar commercial and political power) and useful studies of German tactics, which gave great leeway to individual commanders and encouraged acts of initiative that cost the Allies dearly, especially at the war's outset. Dunmore traces the battle from the early days of Nazi wolf-pack domination of the seas to the destruction of the seemingly invincible battleship Bismarck; then to the Enigma decoding of German radio transmissions, which enabled the Allies to locate and destroy the "milk cows" that fueled the U-boats in midocean; and finally to the capitulation of the Nazi armada in May 1945.

Less comprehensive than Clay Blair's two-volume Hitler's U-Boat War, Dunmore's book nonetheless illuminates lesser-known aspects of the Battle of the Atlantic. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Spencer Dunmore’s first foray into non-fiction writing, in 1991, resulted in the critically acclaimed bestseller Reap the Whirlwind: The Untold Story of 6 Group, Canada’s Bomber Force of World War II, which he co-wrote with William Carter, Ph.D. This was followed in 1994 by the equally successful Wings for Victory: The Remarkable Story of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada. Dunmore’s passionate love of flying and of a good story were evident long before, however, in his very popular fiction. His first novel, Bomb Run, was an instant hit, and a string of novels followed, including Tower of Strength, Collision, Final Approach, and No Holds Barred. Squadron, a story collection, is his most recent work of fiction. His works have been translated into many languages and published in more than fifteen countries.

Spencer Dunmore lives in Burlington, Ontario.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.