A mine of information, 30 Mar 2007
I wondered whether this book would be worth the money. If you are considering buying it, then don't wait any longer. I have had a great deal of pleasure reading this as a reference book, dipping into the book as and when I have had the time. There are gems of information on nearly every page and it is so plainly written - scholarly but very accessible.

There is enough here to satisfy a variety of tastes - everything from the life of a sailor to how the ships were built.

Excellent

Stunning, 10 Nov 2006
This is a comprehensive, well written, and visually beautiful guide to the trafalgar campaign, the characters, the navies, and the final battle. Nelson's navy is described in a way that is so clear that it would be easy for someone who had no previous knowledge of the period to follow, and yet the book is never patronising or trivial.

The illustrations alone are so beautiful that it is almost worth picking up the book to admire them, but if you do so be warned that you may find yourself reading it for longer than you intended.

There are a lot of excellent works on Trafalgar so there is strong competition for this description, but I think that if I could only keep one book about the campaign and the battle it would be this one.

A GREAT book on Nelson's Navy, 06 Feb 2006
The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.

This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.

So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.

I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.

The Best To Date, 24 Jan 2006
I always considered I had a reasonable knowledge regarding the battles of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era, and Trafalgar in particular, until I read this book.
On almost every page I found something new to me, not least the many extracts taken from the letters written by the sailors, and soldiers, who took part in the battle.
Everything the layman could want to know about Trafalgar, in the lead up, the battle itself, and the aftermath is described in detailed coloured diagrams that are easy to follow and understand.
Also, each individual ship has a section devoted to itself giving its history, specification, and a list of its principal officers and crew members.
It is packed with technical information which because of the way the book is written is as interesting to read as the description of the battle itself.
This book may be expensive but its contents make it worth every penny. If you only ever buy one book about the Battle of Trafalgar, buy this one.

the biggest and best Trafalgar book, 24 Oct 2005
I have read about a dozen books on Trafalgar. This one is different, and a real "must have" for anyone seriously interested in the topic. It combines well-researched and comprehensive text with a massive selection of full colour maps, illustrations and diagrams. At first glance some of this looks a bit childish, but on closer examination the information covered is highly detailed and accurate. I learned a huge amount, and whole heartedly recommend it.

A mine of information, 30 Mar 2007
I wondered whether this book would be worth the money. If you are considering buying it, then don't wait any longer. I have had a great deal of pleasure reading this as a reference book, dipping into the book as and when I have had the time. There are gems of information on nearly every page and it is so plainly written - scholarly but very accessible.

There is enough here to satisfy a variety of tastes - everything from the life of a sailor to how the ships were built.

Excellent

Stunning, 10 Nov 2006
This is a comprehensive, well written, and visually beautiful guide to the trafalgar campaign, the characters, the navies, and the final battle. Nelson's navy is described in a way that is so clear that it would be easy for someone who had no previous knowledge of the period to follow, and yet the book is never patronising or trivial.

The illustrations alone are so beautiful that it is almost worth picking up the book to admire them, but if you do so be warned that you may find yourself reading it for longer than you intended.

There are a lot of excellent works on Trafalgar so there is strong competition for this description, but I think that if I could only keep one book about the campaign and the battle it would be this one.

A GREAT book on Nelson's Navy, 06 Feb 2006
The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.

This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.

So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.

I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.

The Best To Date, 24 Jan 2006
I always considered I had a reasonable knowledge regarding the battles of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era, and Trafalgar in particular, until I read this book.
On almost every page I found something new to me, not least the many extracts taken from the letters written by the sailors, and soldiers, who took part in the battle.
Everything the layman could want to know about Trafalgar, in the lead up, the battle itself, and the aftermath is described in detailed coloured diagrams that are easy to follow and understand.
Also, each individual ship has a section devoted to itself giving its history, specification, and a list of its principal officers and crew members.
It is packed with technical information which because of the way the book is written is as interesting to read as the description of the battle itself.
This book may be expensive but its contents make it worth every penny. If you only ever buy one book about the Battle of Trafalgar, buy this one.

the biggest and best Trafalgar book, 24 Oct 2005
I have read about a dozen books on Trafalgar. This one is different, and a real "must have" for anyone seriously interested in the topic. It combines well-researched and comprehensive text with a massive selection of full colour maps, illustrations and diagrams. At first glance some of this looks a bit childish, but on closer examination the information covered is highly detailed and accurate. I learned a huge amount, and whole heartedly recommend it.

Forgotten Heros Recognised, 09 Jul 2006
This book will appeal to anyone interested in the detail of WW II. The author has meticulously researched the convoys that brought imports and exports to and from our shores, and carried war materials that were essential to maintaining our participation in the war. The allied victory would not have been possible without hard-fought victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The Real Cruel Sea focusses on the Merchant Navies of the UK and our allies and is a valuable compliment to other volumes covering the same conflict particularly the two volumes by C.Blair.

Although the subject matter is grim, Richard Woodman's style makes this long book a comfortable read, and despite the fact that the fundamentals of the conflict between convoys and U-boats were largely similar throughout the four years covered by the book, the narrative never becomes repetitious.

The reader is made to realise the incredible levels of stress which must have been day to day reality for the merchant seamen serving in the convoys. The use of the names of the masters of vessels personalises the narratives.

It is therefore unfortunate that the final chapter dwells on the bad behaviour of a small number of merchant seamen when the survival of this country depended on the willingness of seaman to sail into the Atlantic battlefield with its constant threat of sinkings.

In his introduction Richard Woodman is clear that he is not including statistics available elsewhere.

I believe that this is a mistake. Information summarising the details of each convoy and their losses of ships and of manpower would have been useful. The book neccessarily concentrates on those convoys that were targetted by the U-boats. An Idea of the number of convoys that sailed unscathed would enable the reader to better understand the threat to seaman and their vessels.

Most men, still alive, who sailed in convoys are now over eighty years of age. The Real Cruel Sea is a timely tribute to them, and to the memory of those who died.

At last, a serious merchant navy account, 14 Aug 2005
Mr Woodman has set the record straight for the merchant navy. We have had a myriad of serious accounts of the Royal Navy at war but the merchant navy has long been the neglected branch of the services. True, there have been books about the merchant navy in the past but they have been subjective and based on woolly recollection. The Real Cruel Sea makes full use of contemporary accounts but crucially, anchors them within a structure of material fact, time and milieu. In fact the book makes a very useful complement to Blair's U boat War volumes. If you want a good factual read, this book is for you, if you are a serious historian, The Real Cruel Sea is essential reading. Either way, anyone with an interest in the sea and our heritage, should buy this book.

I really wanted to like this book, 12 Jun 2005
Billed as the Battle of the Atlantic from the seamans' viewpoint this book offers a concise summary of the prevailing political, infrastructure and human factors that in 1939 led to the concept that the UK had a "Merchant" navy - as distinct from the warship Royal Navy.

Key tactical moments are identified from well researched sources (the biblography and index is 25% of the page count!) and the merchantman's experience is related through extracts of survivors' reports after sinking.

Though the descriptions of convoy attacks, sinkings, cargo losses and survivor accounts are painstakingly presented on page after page - the volume of reports (and I recognise thay are but a fraction of the real losses) do convey how long and weary the battle was. But the catch is that the sheer volume presented - with all the passion of a statistician - means you quickly cease to care about the lists of sinkings, the men in the boats struggling to survive and the book becomes a struggle to finish in its own right.

This is not to criticise the author's research - but his style is lacking.

Nicholas Monsarrat's "Cruel Sea" - a fictionalized account of the Battle of the Atlantic from the bridge of an escorting corvette and Tristian Jones's "Hearts of Oak" account of being sunk while on an Armed Merchant Cruiser convey more about the pain, suffering and losses of both Royal and Merchant navies than this book does. Perhaps you needed to be there like they were.

If you want a scholarly, researched work on the Merchant side of the Battle - "The Real Cruel Sea" is for you. There are a number of appropriate photographs (though most have been published elsewhere already) and some very nice pen and ink sketches of ships at the head of each chapter.

If you want to know what it was like to have to go in the water as your ship and others were destroyed around you - I would try Monsarrat and Jones first. You can get both books here on Amazon.

A mine of information, 30 Mar 2007
I wondered whether this book would be worth the money. If you are considering buying it, then don't wait any longer. I have had a great deal of pleasure reading this as a reference book, dipping into the book as and when I have had the time. There are gems of information on nearly every page and it is so plainly written - scholarly but very accessible.

There is enough here to satisfy a variety of tastes - everything from the life of a sailor to how the ships were built.

Excellent

Stunning, 10 Nov 2006
This is a comprehensive, well written, and visually beautiful guide to the trafalgar campaign, the characters, the navies, and the final battle. Nelson's navy is described in a way that is so clear that it would be easy for someone who had no previous knowledge of the period to follow, and yet the book is never patronising or trivial.

The illustrations alone are so beautiful that it is almost worth picking up the book to admire them, but if you do so be warned that you may find yourself reading it for longer than you intended.

There are a lot of excellent works on Trafalgar so there is strong competition for this description, but I think that if I could only keep one book about the campaign and the battle it would be this one.

A GREAT book on Nelson's Navy, 06 Feb 2006
The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.

This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.

So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.

I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.

The Best To Date, 24 Jan 2006
I always considered I had a reasonable knowledge regarding the battles of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era, and Trafalgar in particular, until I read this book.
On almost every page I found something new to me, not least the many extracts taken from the letters written by the sailors, and soldiers, who took part in the battle.
Everything the layman could want to know about Trafalgar, in the lead up, the battle itself, and the aftermath is described in detailed coloured diagrams that are easy to follow and understand.
Also, each individual ship has a section devoted to itself giving its history, specification, and a list of its principal officers and crew members.
It is packed with technical information which because of the way the book is written is as interesting to read as the description of the battle itself.
This book may be expensive but its contents make it worth every penny. If you only ever buy one book about the Battle of Trafalgar, buy this one.

the biggest and best Trafalgar book, 24 Oct 2005
I have read about a dozen books on Trafalgar. This one is different, and a real "must have" for anyone seriously interested in the topic. It combines well-researched and comprehensive text with a massive selection of full colour maps, illustrations and diagrams. At first glance some of this looks a bit childish, but on closer examination the information covered is highly detailed and accurate. I learned a huge amount, and whole heartedly recommend it.

Forgotten Heros Recognised, 09 Jul 2006
This book will appeal to anyone interested in the detail of WW II. The author has meticulously researched the convoys that brought imports and exports to and from our shores, and carried war materials that were essential to maintaining our participation in the war. The allied victory would not have been possible without hard-fought victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The Real Cruel Sea focusses on the Merchant Navies of the UK and our allies and is a valuable compliment to other volumes covering the same conflict particularly the two volumes by C.Blair.

Although the subject matter is grim, Richard Woodman's style makes this long book a comfortable read, and despite the fact that the fundamentals of the conflict between convoys and U-boats were largely similar throughout the four years covered by the book, the narrative never becomes repetitious.

The reader is made to realise the incredible levels of stress which must have been day to day reality for the merchant seamen serving in the convoys. The use of the names of the masters of vessels personalises the narratives.

It is therefore unfortunate that the final chapter dwells on the bad behaviour of a small number of merchant seamen when the survival of this country depended on the willingness of seaman to sail into the Atlantic battlefield with its constant threat of sinkings.

In his introduction Richard Woodman is clear that he is not including statistics available elsewhere.

I believe that this is a mistake. Information summarising the details of each convoy and their losses of ships and of manpower would have been useful. The book neccessarily concentrates on those convoys that were targetted by the U-boats. An Idea of the number of convoys that sailed unscathed would enable the reader to better understand the threat to seaman and their vessels.

Most men, still alive, who sailed in convoys are now over eighty years of age. The Real Cruel Sea is a timely tribute to them, and to the memory of those who died.

At last, a serious merchant navy account, 14 Aug 2005
Mr Woodman has set the record straight for the merchant navy. We have had a myriad of serious accounts of the Royal Navy at war but the merchant navy has long been the neglected branch of the services. True, there have been books about the merchant navy in the past but they have been subjective and based on woolly recollection. The Real Cruel Sea makes full use of contemporary accounts but crucially, anchors them within a structure of material fact, time and milieu. In fact the book makes a very useful complement to Blair's U boat War volumes. If you want a good factual read, this book is for you, if you are a serious historian, The Real Cruel Sea is essential reading. Either way, anyone with an interest in the sea and our heritage, should buy this book.

I really wanted to like this book, 12 Jun 2005
Billed as the Battle of the Atlantic from the seamans' viewpoint this book offers a concise summary of the prevailing political, infrastructure and human factors that in 1939 led to the concept that the UK had a "Merchant" navy - as distinct from the warship Royal Navy.

Key tactical moments are identified from well researched sources (the biblography and index is 25% of the page count!) and the merchantman's experience is related through extracts of survivors' reports after sinking.

Though the descriptions of convoy attacks, sinkings, cargo losses and survivor accounts are painstakingly presented on page after page - the volume of reports (and I recognise thay are but a fraction of the real losses) do convey how long and weary the battle was. But the catch is that the sheer volume presented - with all the passion of a statistician - means you quickly cease to care about the lists of sinkings, the men in the boats struggling to survive and the book becomes a struggle to finish in its own right.

This is not to criticise the author's research - but his style is lacking.

Nicholas Monsarrat's "Cruel Sea" - a fictionalized account of the Battle of the Atlantic from the bridge of an escorting corvette and Tristian Jones's "Hearts of Oak" account of being sunk while on an Armed Merchant Cruiser convey more about the pain, suffering and losses of both Royal and Merchant navies than this book does. Perhaps you needed to be there like they were.

If you want a scholarly, researched work on the Merchant side of the Battle - "The Real Cruel Sea" is for you. There are a number of appropriate photographs (though most have been published elsewhere already) and some very nice pen and ink sketches of ships at the head of each chapter.

If you want to know what it was like to have to go in the water as your ship and others were destroyed around you - I would try Monsarrat and Jones first. You can get both books here on Amazon.

Incredible acount, 24 Nov 2007
This is a magnificent "other side of the hill" book, describing what was perhaps one of the most terrifyng and courageous "jobs" of all the combatants of world war two. It's a vivid image of what was life about inside and outside a U-Boat. Great book of U-Boots.

A brilliant read which is well written, 14 Feb 2007
I was lent this book by a colleague and he has a lot to answer for as I've not been able to put it down. The descriptions of the battles are brilliant and very gritty. Even the on-shore events are not too long and help to round the whole story.

It is unbelievable what they actually went through and the orders from shore were incredible cruel and suicidal sometimes. He describes the events perfectly. I finished the book actually feeling sorry for the enemy as-was during the war. This is a must-read.




Great story and very honest but grim reminder of nazis, 27 Jun 2006
The other reviews have covered the basics well. Werner does a great job writing and telling the story. It's fascinating, fast moving, I couldn't put it down.

But he says how he found his true calling being a submariner, torpedoing ships. He got lured into militarism but paid a very high price (as did the german nation). They were crushed and occupied for 50 years. His parents and sister died in the bombing. He never realized that his cause was sick, and his fuhrer insane. I would have liked him to comment on nazism and what he was fighting for.

He knew how to shoot at ships, and run his U boat. But he hadn't the faintest idea of what the war was about. I wonder what he thought of the concentration camps when he found out about them. I wonder what he thinks of the war today. germany was attacking everyone around them. He was part of it.

However, it doesn't distract from the book. It's a great read, and the guy seems to be honest, maybe a little narrow in his outlook, but honest anyway.

Superb....Better than fiction, 02 Jun 2006
I have read loads of books on WW2. It was such a huge event.Yes, of course, being a world war thats obvious. But my point is that there are so many many aspects and stories that I doubt we will ever learn everything that happend in the vastness of WW2.

This book has left me in sheer awe and wonder. Awe in as much as what Herr Kapitan Werner endured throughout the years of the war firstly as an officer aboard a U Boat following training at the Naval College then eventually as Commander.

In the first years of war we hear of the battle in the Atlantic where convoys were very easy pickings for the 'wolfpacks'. We learn that the 'tide soon turns' and following the joining of the USA and advances in allies technology, the hunter becomes the hunted. U Boats become easy pickings for allied destroyers.

There is no doubt that Herr Werner was an extremely skilled commander but it will leave you in wonder at how he survived against all odds throughout the war. His survival includes overcoming the madness and senseless orders of U Boat Command and the sheer arrogance and mindlessness of senior officers (those in the main having seen little if any action other than indulging in their own oppulence).

We also hear of the heartbreak and loss as families of Herr Werner and his crew are wiped off the face off the earth by allied bombers.

Irrespective of which side they were on, there were millions of extremely brave and courageouse men and women during WW2 and this book provides an amazing story of just some of those. When the book brings us to the wars end you will no doubt breath a sigh of relief for the safety of the Commander and his loyal crew. Rest not....following capture and becoming a prisoner of war the story continues to have the reader glued to each page.

Believe me....fiction could not better this incredible story.

Excellent, 16 Nov 2005
This is a magnificent account of the u-boat war. Alot of detail has gone into this book, along with an excellent portrayal of the pressures that submariners had to endure in those violent times of war. Even if you are only moderately interested in the u-boat war then you must buy this book. simply excellent

A mine of information, 30 Mar 2007
I wondered whether this book would be worth the money. If you are considering buying it, then don't wait any longer. I have had a great deal of pleasure reading this as a reference book, dipping into the book as and when I have had the time. There are gems of information on nearly every page and it is so plainly written - scholarly but very accessible.

There is enough here to satisfy a variety of tastes - everything from the life of a sailor to how the ships were built.

Excellent

Stunning, 10 Nov 2006
This is a comprehensive, well written, and visually beautiful guide to the trafalgar campaign, the characters, the navies, and the final battle. Nelson's navy is described in a way that is so clear that it would be easy for someone who had no previous knowledge of the period to follow, and yet the book is never patronising or trivial.

The illustrations alone are so beautiful that it is almost worth picking up the book to admire them, but if you do so be warned that you may find yourself reading it for longer than you intended.

There are a lot of excellent works on Trafalgar so there is strong competition for this description, but I think that if I could only keep one book about the campaign and the battle it would be this one.

A GREAT book on Nelson's Navy, 06 Feb 2006
The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.

This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.

So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.

I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.

The Best To Date, 24 Jan 2006
I always considered I had a reasonable knowledge regarding the battles of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era, and Trafalgar in particular, until I read this book.
On almost every page I found something new to me, not least the many extracts taken from the letters written by the sailors, and soldiers, who took part in the battle.
Everything the layman could want to know about Trafalgar, in the lead up, the battle itself, and the aftermath is described in detailed coloured diagrams that are easy to follow and understand.
Also, each individual ship has a section devoted to itself giving its history, specification, and a list of its principal officers and crew members.
It is packed with technical information which because of the way the book is written is as interesting to read as the description of the battle itself.
This book may be expensive but its contents make it worth every penny. If you only ever buy one book about the Battle of Trafalgar, buy this one.

the biggest and best Trafalgar book, 24 Oct 2005
I have read about a dozen books on Trafalgar. This one is different, and a real "must have" for anyone seriously interested in the topic. It combines well-researched and comprehensive text with a massive selection of full colour maps, illustrations and diagrams. At first glance some of this looks a bit childish, but on closer examination the information covered is highly detailed and accurate. I learned a huge amount, and whole heartedly recommend it.

Forgotten Heros Recognised, 09 Jul 2006
This book will appeal to anyone interested in the detail of WW II. The author has meticulously researched the convoys that brought imports and exports to and from our shores, and carried war materials that were essential to maintaining our participation in the war. The allied victory would not have been possible without hard-fought victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The Real Cruel Sea focusses on the Merchant Navies of the UK and our allies and is a valuable compliment to other volumes covering the same conflict particularly the two volumes by C.Blair.

Although the subject matter is grim, Richard Woodman's style makes this long book a comfortable read, and despite the fact that the fundamentals of the conflict between convoys and U-boats were largely similar throughout the four years covered by the book, the narrative never becomes repetitious.

The reader is made to realise the incredible levels of stress which must have been day to day reality for the merchant seamen serving in the convoys. The use of the names of the masters of vessels personalises the narratives.

It is therefore unfortunate that the final chapter dwells on the bad behaviour of a small number of merchant seamen when the survival of this country depended on the willingness of seaman to sail into the Atlantic battlefield with its constant threat of sinkings.

In his introduction Richard Woodman is clear that he is not including statistics available elsewhere.

I believe that this is a mistake. Information summarising the details of each convoy and their losses of ships and of manpower would have been useful. The book neccessarily concentrates on those convoys that were targetted by the U-boats. An Idea of the number of convoys that sailed unscathed would enable the reader to better understand the threat to seaman and their vessels.

Most men, still alive, who sailed in convoys are now over eighty years of age. The Real Cruel Sea is a timely tribute to them, and to the memory of those who died.

At last, a serious merchant navy account, 14 Aug 2005
Mr Woodman has set the record straight for the merchant navy. We have had a myriad of serious accounts of the Royal Navy at war but the merchant navy has long been the neglected branch of the services. True, there have been books about the merchant navy in the past but they have been subjective and based on woolly recollection. The Real Cruel Sea makes full use of contemporary accounts but crucially, anchors them within a structure of material fact, time and milieu. In fact the book makes a very useful complement to Blair's U boat War volumes. If you want a good factual read, this book is for you, if you are a serious historian, The Real Cruel Sea is essential reading. Either way, anyone with an interest in the sea and our heritage, should buy this book.

I really wanted to like this book, 12 Jun 2005
Billed as the Battle of the Atlantic from the seamans' viewpoint this book offers a concise summary of the prevailing political, infrastructure and human factors that in 1939 led to the concept that the UK had a "Merchant" navy - as distinct from the warship Royal Navy.

Key tactical moments are identified from well researched sources (the biblography and index is 25% of the page count!) and the merchantman's experience is related through extracts of survivors' reports after sinking.

Though the descriptions of convoy attacks, sinkings, cargo losses and survivor accounts are painstakingly presented on page after page - the volume of reports (and I recognise thay are but a fraction of the real losses) do convey how long and weary the battle was. But the catch is that the sheer volume presented - with all the passion of a statistician - means you quickly cease to care about the lists of sinkings, the men in the boats struggling to survive and the book becomes a struggle to finish in its own right.

This is not to criticise the author's research - but his style is lacking.

Nicholas Monsarrat's "Cruel Sea" - a fictionalized account of the Battle of the Atlantic from the bridge of an escorting corvette and Tristian Jones's "Hearts of Oak" account of being sunk while on an Armed Merchant Cruiser convey more about the pain, suffering and losses of both Royal and Merchant navies than this book does. Perhaps you needed to be there like they were.

If you want a scholarly, researched work on the Merchant side of the Battle - "The Real Cruel Sea" is for you. There are a number of appropriate photographs (though most have been published elsewhere already) and some very nice pen and ink sketches of ships at the head of each chapter.

If you want to know what it was like to have to go in the water as your ship and others were destroyed around you - I would try Monsarrat and Jones first. You can get both books here on Amazon.

Incredible acount, 24 Nov 2007
This is a magnificent "other side of the hill" book, describing what was perhaps one of the most terrifyng and courageous "jobs" of all the combatants of world war two. It's a vivid image of what was life about inside and outside a U-Boat. Great book of U-Boots.

A brilliant read which is well written, 14 Feb 2007
I was lent this book by a colleague and he has a lot to answer for as I've not been able to put it down. The descriptions of the battles are brilliant and very gritty. Even the on-shore events are not too long and help to round the whole story.

It is unbelievable what they actually went through and the orders from shore were incredible cruel and suicidal sometimes. He describes the events perfectly. I finished the book actually feeling sorry for the enemy as-was during the war. This is a must-read.




Great story and very honest but grim reminder of nazis, 27 Jun 2006
The other reviews have covered the basics well. Werner does a great job writing and telling the story. It's fascinating, fast moving, I couldn't put it down.

But he says how he found his true calling being a submariner, torpedoing ships. He got lured into militarism but paid a very high price (as did the german nation). They were crushed and occupied for 50 years. His parents and sister died in the bombing. He never realized that his cause was sick, and his fuhrer insane. I would have liked him to comment on nazism and what he was fighting for.

He knew how to shoot at ships, and run his U boat. But he hadn't the faintest idea of what the war was about. I wonder what he thought of the concentration camps when he found out about them. I wonder what he thinks of the war today. germany was attacking everyone around them. He was part of it.

However, it doesn't distract from the book. It's a great read, and the guy seems to be honest, maybe a little narrow in his outlook, but honest anyway.

Superb....Better than fiction, 02 Jun 2006
I have read loads of books on WW2. It was such a huge event.Yes, of course, being a world war thats obvious. But my point is that there are so many many aspects and stories that I doubt we will ever learn everything that happend in the vastness of WW2.

This book has left me in sheer awe and wonder. Awe in as much as what Herr Kapitan Werner endured throughout the years of the war firstly as an officer aboard a U Boat following training at the Naval College then eventually as Commander.

In the first years of war we hear of the battle in the Atlantic where convoys were very easy pickings for the 'wolfpacks'. We learn that the 'tide soon turns' and following the joining of the USA and advances in allies technology, the hunter becomes the hunted. U Boats become easy pickings for allied destroyers.

There is no doubt that Herr Werner was an extremely skilled commander but it will leave you in wonder at how he survived against all odds throughout the war. His survival includes overcoming the madness and senseless orders of U Boat Command and the sheer arrogance and mindlessness of senior officers (those in the main having seen little if any action other than indulging in their own oppulence).

We also hear of the heartbreak and loss as families of Herr Werner and his crew are wiped off the face off the earth by allied bombers.

Irrespective of which side they were on, there were millions of extremely brave and courageouse men and women during WW2 and this book provides an amazing story of just some of those. When the book brings us to the wars end you will no doubt breath a sigh of relief for the safety of the Commander and his loyal crew. Rest not....following capture and becoming a prisoner of war the story continues to have the reader glued to each page.

Believe me....fiction could not better this incredible story.

Excellent, 16 Nov 2005
This is a magnificent account of the u-boat war. Alot of detail has gone into this book, along with an excellent portrayal of the pressures that submariners had to endure in those violent times of war. Even if you are only moderately interested in the u-boat war then you must buy this book. simply excellent

Destroyers, 27 Mar 2006
This is a very large compelation of first hand accounts by the people who were there. Taking each year of the war in turn it includes a very informative overview of the year by Admiral J.B.Hervey RN. A must for anyone interested in Naval history or just curious about life aboard ship. Added a personal touch to well documented history from the mess decks up. In a similar vein to Max Authur's 'Lost Voices of the Royal Navy'. Just make sure you've got plenty of time to read it, its nearly 600 pages long!

A mine of information, 30 Mar 2007
I wondered whether this book would be worth the money. If you are considering buying it, then don't wait any longer. I have had a great deal of pleasure reading this as a reference book, dipping into the book as and when I have had the time. There are gems of information on nearly every page and it is so plainly written - scholarly but very accessible.

There is enough here to satisfy a variety of tastes - everything from the life of a sailor to how the ships were built.

Excellent

Stunning, 10 Nov 2006
This is a comprehensive, well written, and visually beautiful guide to the trafalgar campaign, the characters, the navies, and the final battle. Nelson's navy is described in a way that is so clear that it would be easy for someone who had no previous knowledge of the period to follow, and yet the book is never patronising or trivial.

The illustrations alone are so beautiful that it is almost worth picking up the book to admire them, but if you do so be warned that you may find yourself reading it for longer than you intended.

There are a lot of excellent works on Trafalgar so there is strong competition for this description, but I think that if I could only keep one book about the campaign and the battle it would be this one.

A GREAT book on Nelson's Navy, 06 Feb 2006
The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.

This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.

So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.

I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.

The Best To Date, 24 Jan 2006
I always considered I had a reasonable knowledge regarding the battles of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era, and Trafalgar in particular, until I read this book.
On almost every page I found something new to me, not least the many extracts taken from the letters written by the sailors, and soldiers, who took part in the battle.
Everything the layman could want to know about Trafalgar, in the lead up, the battle itself, and the aftermath is described in detailed coloured diagrams that are easy to follow and understand.
Also, each individual ship has a section devoted to itself giving its history, specification, and a list of its principal officers and crew members.
It is packed with technical information which because of the way the book is written is as interesting to read as the description of the battle itself.
This book may be expensive but its contents make it worth every penny. If you only ever buy one book about the Battle of Trafalgar, buy this one.

the biggest and best Trafalgar book, 24 Oct 2005
I have read about a dozen books on Trafalgar. This one is different, and a real "must have" for anyone seriously interested in the topic. It combines well-researched and comprehensive text with a massive selection of full colour maps, illustrations and diagrams. At first glance some of this looks a bit childish, but on closer examination the information covered is highly detailed and accurate. I learned a huge amount, and whole heartedly recommend it.

Forgotten Heros Recognised, 09 Jul 2006
This book will appeal to anyone interested in the detail of WW II. The author has meticulously researched the convoys that brought imports and exports to and from our shores, and carried war materials that were essential to maintaining our participation in the war. The allied victory would not have been possible without hard-fought victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The Real Cruel Sea focusses on the Merchant Navies of the UK and our allies and is a valuable compliment to other volumes covering the same conflict particularly the two volumes by C.Blair.

Although the subject matter is grim, Richard Woodman's style makes this long book a comfortable read, and despite the fact that the fundamentals of the conflict between convoys and U-boats were largely similar throughout the four years covered by the book, the narrative never becomes repetitious.

The reader is made to realise the incredible levels of stress which must have been day to day reality for the merchant seamen serving in the convoys. The use of the names of the masters of vessels personalises the narratives.

It is therefore unfortunate that the final chapter dwells on the bad behaviour of a small number of merchant seamen when the survival of this country depended on the willingness of seaman to sail into the Atlantic battlefield with its constant threat of sinkings.

In his introduction Richard Woodman is clear that he is not including statistics available elsewhere.

I believe that this is a mistake. Information summarising the details of each convoy and their losses of ships and of manpower would have been useful. The book neccessarily concentrates on those convoys that were targetted by the U-boats. An Idea of the number of convoys that sailed unscathed would enable the reader to better understand the threat to seaman and their vessels.

Most men, still alive, who sailed in convoys are now over eighty years of age. The Real Cruel Sea is a timely tribute to them, and to the memory of those who died.

At last, a serious merchant navy account, 14 Aug 2005
Mr Woodman has set the record straight for the merchant navy. We have had a myriad of serious accounts of the Royal Navy at war but the merchant navy has long been the neglected branch of the services. True, there have been books about the merchant navy in the past but they have been subjective and based on woolly recollection. The Real Cruel Sea makes full use of contemporary accounts but crucially, anchors them within a structure of material fact, time and milieu. In fact the book makes a very useful complement to Blair's U boat War volumes. If you want a good factual read, this book is for you, if you are a serious historian, The Real Cruel Sea is essential reading. Either way, anyone with an interest in the sea and our heritage, should buy this book.

I really wanted to like this book, 12 Jun 2005
Billed as the Battle of the Atlantic from the seamans' viewpoint this book offers a concise summary of the prevailing political, infrastructure and human factors that in 1939 led to the concept that the UK had a "Merchant" navy - as distinct from the warship Royal Navy.

Key tactical moments are identified from well researched sources (the biblography and index is 25% of the page count!) and the merchantman's experience is related through extracts of survivors' reports after sinking.

Though the descriptions of convoy attacks, sinkings, cargo losses and survivor accounts are painstakingly presented on page after page - the volume of reports (and I recognise thay are but a fraction of the real losses) do convey how long and weary the battle was. But the catch is that the sheer volume presented - with all the passion of a statistician - means you quickly cease to care about the lists of sinkings, the men in the boats struggling to survive and the book becomes a struggle to finish in its own right.

This is not to criticise the author's research - but his style is lacking.

Nicholas Monsarrat's "Cruel Sea" - a fictionalized account of the Battle of the Atlantic from the bridge of an escorting corvette and Tristian Jones's "Hearts of Oak" account of being sunk while on an Armed Merchant Cruiser convey more about the pain, suffering and losses of both Royal and Merchant navies than this book does. Perhaps you needed to be there like they were.

If you want a scholarly, researched work on the Merchant side of the Battle - "The Real Cruel Sea" is for you. There are a number of appropriate photographs (though most have been published elsewhere already) and some very nice pen and ink sketches of ships at the head of each chapter.

If you want to know what it was like to have to go in the water as your ship and others were destroyed around you - I would try Monsarrat and Jones first. You can get both books here on Amazon.

Incredible acount, 24 Nov 2007
This is a magnificent "other side of the hill" book, describing what was perhaps one of the most terrifyng and courageous "jobs" of all the combatants of world war two. It's a vivid image of what was life about inside and outside a U-Boat. Great book of U-Boots.

A brilliant read which is well written, 14 Feb 2007
I was lent this book by a colleague and he has a lot to answer for as I've not been able to put it down. The descriptions of the battles are brilliant and very gritty. Even the on-shore events are not too long and help to round the whole story.

It is unbelievable what they actually went through and the orders from shore were incredible cruel and suicidal sometimes. He describes the events perfectly. I finished the book actually feeling sorry for the enemy as-was during the war. This is a must-read.




Great story and very honest but grim reminder of nazis, 27 Jun 2006
The other reviews have covered the basics well. Werner does a great job writing and telling the story. It's fascinating, fast moving, I couldn't put it down.

But he says how he found his true calling being a submariner, torpedoing ships. He got lured into militarism but paid a very high price (as did the german nation). They were crushed and occupied for 50 years. His parents and sister died in the bombing. He never realized that his cause was sick, and his fuhrer insane. I would have liked him to comment on nazism and what he was fighting for.

He knew how to shoot at ships, and run his U boat. But he hadn't the faintest idea of what the war was about. I wonder what he thought of the concentration camps when he found out about them. I wonder what he thinks of the war today. germany was attacking everyone around them. He was part of it.

However, it doesn't distract from the book. It's a great read, and the guy seems to be honest, maybe a little narrow in his outlook, but honest anyway.

Superb....Better than fiction, 02 Jun 2006
I have read loads of books on WW2. It was such a huge event.Yes, of course, being a world war thats obvious. But my point is that there are so many many aspects and stories that I doubt we will ever learn everything that happend in the vastness of WW2.

This book has left me in sheer awe and wonder. Awe in as much as what Herr Kapitan Werner endured throughout the years of the war firstly as an officer aboard a U Boat following training at the Naval College then eventually as Commander.

In the first years of war we hear of the battle in the Atlantic where convoys were very easy pickings for the 'wolfpacks'. We learn that the 'tide soon turns' and following the joining of the USA and advances in allies technology, the hunter becomes the hunted. U Boats become easy pickings for allied destroyers.

There is no doubt that Herr Werner was an extremely skilled commander but it will leave you in wonder at how he survived against all odds throughout the war. His survival includes overcoming the madness and senseless orders of U Boat Command and the sheer arrogance and mindlessness of senior officers (those in the main having seen little if any action other than indulging in their own oppulence).

We also hear of the heartbreak and loss as families of Herr Werner and his crew are wiped off the face off the earth by allied bombers.

Irrespective of which side they were on, there were millions of extremely brave and courageouse men and women during WW2 and this book provides an amazing story of just some of those. When the book brings us to the wars end you will no doubt breath a sigh of relief for the safety of the Commander and his loyal crew. Rest not....following capture and becoming a prisoner of war the story continues to have the reader glued to each page.

Believe me....fiction could not better this incredible story.

Excellent, 16 Nov 2005
This is a magnificent account of the u-boat war. Alot of detail has gone into this book, along with an excellent portrayal of the pressures that submariners had to endure in those violent times of war. Even if you are only moderately interested in the u-boat war then you must buy this book. simply excellent

Destroyers, 27 Mar 2006
This is a very large compelation of first hand accounts by the people who were there. Taking each year of the war in turn it includes a very informative overview of the year by Admiral J.B.Hervey RN. A must for anyone interested in Naval history or just curious about life aboard ship. Added a personal touch to well documented history from the mess decks up. In a similar vein to Max Authur's 'Lost Voices of the Royal Navy'. Just make sure you've got plenty of time to read it, its nearly 600 pages long!

Yet Another "Untold Story", 04 Feb 2008
In the last 50 years I've read countless books which profess to tell the "Untold Story" of this or that battle. This book is no different. Certainly, it looks at the battle from a different perpective from the two dozen-or-so other books I've have on the battle,but it does not tell me anything new.The Japanese still lost 4 carriers & the position of the various aircraft on their carriers did not alter the outcome. As for telling the Japanese side of story.....Messrs Fuchida & Okumiya did that very sucessfully in 1957.Try Peter C Smith's 1976 version for a comprehensive account of the battle.

An Excellent Read, 03 Dec 2007
The earlier reviewers have said it all. An excellent book, in depth research and analysis and conclusions that are well supported

Illuminating , 13 Oct 2007
The book aims to reappraise our understanding of the Battle of Midway and to correct a number of myths which linger in Western accounts of events.

The evidence that the authors present is compelling and provide a richer understanding of the battle. The thesis does not change the basic facts of the battle, but trims the sails of some of the more dramatic elements, such as the fact that the Japanese carriers did not have deck loads of planes ready to take-off just before the fateful dive-bomb attack. The planes were fuelled and armed, but in hangers below the deck, so their decisisve role in the fate of the ships remains the same - once the bombs hit they posed a massive hazard, but they didn't have the Hollywood quality of being about to be launched.

The general story of how the battle came about, the Japanese navy and the culture which formed it were extremely interesting. Some of the attitudes and choices which seem almost imcomprehensible - such as senior officers insisting that they go down with their ships rather than seek to fight another day or the sheer overblown complexity of the battleplans - are given a proper context and explanation. It is this element of the book that provides the greatest insight and interest.

Generally speaking the book has a flowing, accessible written style and considering the book's emphasis on some of the more technical aspects of the battle including naval doctrine it's extremely readable.

I did wish that the authors didn't feel that they had to repeat quite so often that they were about to share another stunning insight misssed by Western scholarship since 1942, but this is a minor quibble with a book that does have something new to say about an extensively written about battle and real insight into the nature of the Imperial Navy.

A recommended read for anyone interested in the naval history or who is intrigued by a glimpse into a very alien organisational culture.

First class research, 26 Apr 2006
I looked forward to this book the minute I knew it was being written, being a big fan of the "Combined Fleet" website. Some reviewers have observed it is too centred on the Japanese side and a mite too colloquial for we Brits, and in truth it is perhaps a little Americanised and some of the editing could be improved, but nothing to detract from the quality of the "read" and a little humour does not come amiss. Frankly, when one realises that Jon Parshall edited the whole bit himself and compiled the index to keep costs down, it puts this massive undertaking into some sort of perspective. It is a fascinating and informative read, very technical but for the committed navy and aviation buff, pretty much "unputdownable" and a hugely valuable addition to the genre. I am lost in admiration for this magnum opus from Messrs Tully and Parshall. If you're really interested in the subject and only read one book on the Pacific war, make it this one.

An impressive piece of work, 25 Mar 2006
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, particularly with its unusual approach of viewing the battle from the side of the Japanese. I was less enamoured by the authors' attempt to fix the book's viewpoint to the carriers themselves (thus, when the Japanese aircraft leave on a raid, we hear nothing further, apart from a few radio messages, until they return and can be debriefed). While clearly designed to emphasise the lack of information available to the Japanese commanders, I felt that this writing device unnecessarily impeded the reader's understanding of the battle.

I was also distracted by an occasionally lax writing style. As an example, at one point it is claimed that the commander had little time to "internalise" the problem.

Nevertheless, the above issues are minor. What comes shining through is the breadth and depth of the authors' research and their clear determination to produce an account that is factual and unbiased. By clearly explaining the mechanics of Japanese carrier operations of the time (without boring the reader), the authors are able to convincingly dispell many of the misconceptions and fallacies regarding this great battle.

This is an excellent account of the Battle of Midway, presented in an unbiased and logical fashion and which uncovers many previously disregarded aspects of the battle - thoroughly reccommended

A mine of information, 30 Mar 2007
I wondered whether this book would be worth the money. If you are considering buying it, then don't wait any longer. I have had a great deal of pleasure reading this as a reference book, dipping into the book as and when I have had the time. There are gems of information on nearly every page and it is so plainly written - scholarly but very accessible.

There is enough here to satisfy a variety of tastes - everything from the life of a sailor to how the ships were built.

Excellent

Stunning, 10 Nov 2006
This is a comprehensive, well written, and visually beautiful guide to the trafalgar campaign, the characters, the navies, and the final battle. Nelson's navy is described in a way that is so clear that it would be easy for someone who had no previous knowledge of the period to follow, and yet the book is never patronising or trivial.

The illustrations alone are so beautiful that it is almost worth picking up the book to admire them, but if you do so be warned that you may find yourself reading it for longer than you intended.

There are a lot of excellent works on Trafalgar so there is strong competition for this description, but I think that if I could only keep one book about the campaign and the battle it would be this one.

A GREAT book on Nelson's Navy, 06 Feb 2006
The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.

This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.

So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.

I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.

The Best To Date, 24 Jan 2006
I always considered I had a reasonable knowledge regarding the battles of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era, and Trafalgar in particular, until I read this book.
On almost every page I found something new to me, not least the many extracts taken from the letters written by the sailors, and soldiers, who took part in the battle.
Everything the layman could want to know about Trafalgar, in the lead up, the battle itself, and the aftermath is described in detailed coloured diagrams that are easy to follow and understand.
Also, each individual ship has a section devoted to itself giving its history, specification, and a list of its principal officers and crew members.
It is packed with technical information which because of the way the book is written is as interesting to read as the description of the battle itself.
This book may be expensive but its contents make it worth every penny. If you only ever buy one book about the Battle of Trafalgar, buy this one.

the biggest and best Trafalgar book, 24 Oct 2005
I have read about a dozen books on Trafalgar. This one is different, and a real "must have" for anyone seriously interested in the topic. It combines well-researched and comprehensive text with a massive selection of full colour maps, illustrations and diagrams. At first glance some of this looks a bit childish, but on closer examination the information covered is highly detailed and accurate. I learned a huge amount, and whole heartedly recommend it.

Forgotten Heros Recognised, 09 Jul 2006
This book will appeal to anyone interested in the detail of WW II. The author has meticulously researched the convoys that brought imports and exports to and from our shores, and carried war materials that were essential to maintaining our participation in the war. The allied victory would not have been possible without hard-fought victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The Real Cruel Sea focusses on the Merchant Navies of the UK and our allies and is a valuable compliment to other volumes covering the same conflict particularly the two volumes by C.Blair.

Although the subject matter is grim, Richard Woodman's style makes this long book a comfortable read, and despite the fact that the fundamentals of the conflict between convoys and U-boats were largely similar throughout the four years covered by the book, the narrative never becomes repetitious.

The reader is made to realise the incredible levels of stress which must have been day to day reality for the merchant seamen serving in the convoys. The use of the names of the masters of vessels personalises the narratives.

It is therefore unfortunate that the final chapter dwells on the bad behaviour of a small number of merchant seamen when the survival of this country depended on the willingness of seaman to sail into the Atlantic battlefield with its constant threat of sinkings.

In his introduction Richard Woodman is clear that he is not including statistics available elsewhere.

I believe that this is a mistake. Information summarising the details of each convoy and their losses of ships and of manpower would have been useful. The book neccessarily concentrates on those convoys that were targetted by the U-boats. An Idea of the number of convoys that sailed unscathed would enable the reader to better understand the threat to seaman and their vessels.

Most men, still alive, who sailed in convoys are now over eighty years of age. The Real Cruel Sea is a timely tribute to them, and to the memory of those who died.

At last, a serious merchant navy account, 14 Aug 2005
Mr Woodman has set the record straight for the merchant navy. We have had a myriad of serious accounts of the Royal Navy at war but the merchant navy has long been the neglected branch of the services. True, there have been books about the merchant navy in the past but they have been subjective and based on woolly recollection. The Real Cruel Sea makes full use of contemporary accounts but crucially, anchors them within a structure of material fact, time and milieu. In fact the book makes a very useful complement to Blair's U boat War volumes. If you want a good factual read, this book is for you, if you are a serious historian, The Real Cruel Sea is essential reading. Either way, anyone with an interest in the sea and our heritage, should buy this book.

I really wanted to like this book, 12 Jun 2005
Billed as the Battle of the Atlantic from the seamans' viewpoint this book offers a concise summary of the prevailing political, infrastructure and human factors that in 1939 led to the concept that the UK had a "Merchant" navy - as distinct from the warship Royal Navy.

Key tactical moments are identified from well researched sources (the biblography and index is 25% of the page count!) and the merchantman's experience is related through extracts of survivors' reports after sinking.

Though the descriptions of convoy attacks, sinkings, cargo losses and survivor accounts are painstakingly presented on page after page - the volume of reports (and I recognise thay are but a fraction of the real losses) do convey how long and weary the battle was. But the catch is that the sheer volume presented - with all the passion of a statistician - means you quickly cease to care about the lists of sinkings, the men in the boats struggling to survive and the book becomes a struggle to finish in its own right.

This is not to criticise the author's research - but his style is lacking.

Nicholas Monsarrat's "Cruel Sea" - a fictionalized account of the Battle of the Atlantic from the bridge of an escorting corvette and Tristian Jones's "Hearts of Oak" account of being sunk while on an Armed Merchant Cruiser convey more about the pain, suffering and losses of both Royal and Merchant navies than this book does. Perhaps you needed to be there like they were.

If you want a scholarly, researched work on the Merchant side of the Battle - "The Real Cruel Sea" is for you. There are a number of appropriate photographs (though most have been published elsewhere already) and some very nice pen and ink sketches of ships at the head of each chapter.

If you want to know what it was like to have to go in the water as your ship and others were destroyed around you - I would try Monsarrat and Jones first. You can get both books here on Amazon.

Incredible acount, 24 Nov 2007
This is a magnificent "other side of the hill" book, describing what was perhaps one of the most terrifyng and courageous "jobs" of all the combatants of world war two. It's a vivid image of what was life about inside and outside a U-Boat. Great book of U-Boots.

A brilliant read which is well written, 14 Feb 2007
I was lent this book by a colleague and he has a lot to answer for as I've not been able to put it down. The descriptions of the battles are brilliant and very gritty. Even the on-shore events are not too long and help to round the whole story.

It is unbelievable what they actually went through and the orders from shore were incredible cruel and suicidal sometimes. He describes the events perfectly. I finished the book actually feeling sorry for the enemy as-was during the war. This is a must-read.




Great story and very honest but grim reminder of nazis, 27 Jun 2006
The other reviews have covered the basics well. Werner does a great job writing and telling the story. It's fascinating, fast moving, I couldn't put it down.

But he says how he found his true calling being a submariner, torpedoing ships. He got lured into militarism but paid a very high price (as did the german nation). They were crushed and occupied for 50 years. His parents and sister died in the bombing. He never realized that his cause was sick, and his fuhrer insane. I would have liked him to comment on nazism and what he was fighting for.

He knew how to shoot at ships, and run his U boat. But he hadn't the faintest idea of what the war was about. I wonder what he thought of the concentration camps when he found out about them. I wonder what he thinks of the war today. germany was attacking everyone around them. He was part of it.

However, it doesn't distract from the book. It's a great read, and the guy seems to be honest, maybe a little narrow in his outlook, but honest anyway.

Superb....Better than fiction, 02 Jun 2006
I have read loads of books on WW2. It was such a huge event.Yes, of course, being a world war thats obvious. But my point is that there are so many many aspects and stories that I doubt we will ever learn everything that happend in the vastness of WW2.

This book has left me in sheer awe and wonder. Awe in as much as what Herr Kapitan Werner endured throughout the years of the war firstly as an officer aboard a U Boat following training at the Naval College then eventually as Commander.

In the first years of war we hear of the battle in the Atlantic where convoys were very easy pickings for the 'wolfpacks'. We learn that the 'tide soon turns' and following the joining of the USA and advances in allies technology, the hunter becomes the hunted. U Boats become easy pickings for allied destroyers.

There is no doubt that Herr Werner was an extremely skilled commander but it will leave you in wonder at how he survived against all odds throughout the war. His survival includes overcoming the madness and senseless orders of U Boat Command and the sheer arrogance and mindlessness of senior officers (those in the main having seen little if any action other than indulging in their own oppulence).

We also hear of the heartbreak and loss as families of Herr Werner and his crew are wiped off the face off the earth by allied bombers.

Irrespective of which side they were on, there were millions of extremely brave and courageouse men and women during WW2 and this book provides an amazing story of just some of those. When the book brings us to the wars end you will no doubt breath a sigh of relief for the safety of the Commander and his loyal crew. Rest not....following capture and becoming a prisoner of war the story continues to have the reader glued to each page.

Believe me....fiction could not better this incredible story.

Excellent, 16 Nov 2005
This is a magnificent account of the u-boat war. Alot of detail has gone into this book, along with an excellent portrayal of the pressures that submariners had to endure in those violent times of war. Even if you are only moderately interested in the u-boat war then you must buy this book. simply excellent

Destroyers, 27 Mar 2006
This is a very large compelation of first hand accounts by the people who were there. Taking each year of the war in turn it includes a very informative overview of the year by Admiral J.B.Hervey RN. A must for anyone interested in Naval history or just curious about life aboard ship. Added a personal touch to well documented history from the mess decks up. In a similar vein to Max Authur's 'Lost Voices of the Royal Navy'. Just make sure you've got plenty of time to read it, its nearly 600 pages long!

Yet Another "Untold Story", 04 Feb 2008
In the last 50 years I've read countless books which profess to tell the "Untold Story" of this or that battle. This book is no different. Certainly, it looks at the battle from a different perpective from the two dozen-or-so other books I've have on the battle,but it does not tell me anything new.The Japanese still lost 4 carriers & the position of the various aircraft on their carriers did not alter the outcome. As for telling the Japanese side of story.....Messrs Fuchida & Okumiya did that very sucessfully in 1957.Try Peter C Smith's 1976 version for a comprehensive account of the battle.

An Excellent Read, 03 Dec 2007
The earlier reviewers have said it all. An excellent book, in depth research and analysis and conclusions that are well supported

Illuminating , 13 Oct 2007
The book aims to reappraise our understanding of the Battle of Midway and to correct a number of myths which linger in Western accounts of events.

The evidence that the authors present is compelling and provide a richer understanding of the battle. The thesis does not change the basic facts of the battle, but trims the sails of some of the more dramatic elements, such as the fact that the Japanese carriers did not have deck loads of planes ready to take-off just before the fateful dive-bomb attack. The planes were fuelled and armed, but in hangers below the deck, so their decisisve role in the fate of the ships remains the same - once the bombs hit they posed a massive hazard, but they didn't have the Hollywood quality of being about to be launched.

The general story of how the battle came about, the Japanese navy and the culture which formed it were extremely interesting. Some of the attitudes and choices which seem almost imcomprehensible - such as senior officers insisting that they go down with their ships rather than seek to fight another day or the sheer overblown complexity of the battleplans - are given a proper context and explanation. It is this element of the book that provides the greatest insight and interest.

Generally speaking the book has a flowing, accessible written style and considering the book's emphasis on some of the more technical aspects of the battle including naval doctrine it's extremely readable.

I did wish that the authors didn't feel that they had to repeat quite so often that they were about to share another stunning insight misssed by Western scholarship since 1942, but this is a minor quibble with a book that does have something new to say about an extensively written about battle and real insight into the nature of the Imperial Navy.

A recommended read for anyone interested in the naval history or who is intrigued by a glimpse into a very alien organisational culture.

First class research, 26 Apr 2006
I looked forward to this book the minute I knew it was being written, being a big fan of the "Combined Fleet" website. Some reviewers have observed it is too centred on the Japanese side and a mite too colloquial for we Brits, and in truth it is perhaps a little Americanised and some of the editing could be improved, but nothing to detract from the quality of the "read" and a little humour does not come amiss. Frankly, when one realises that Jon Parshall edited the whole bit himself and compiled the index to keep costs down, it puts this massive undertaking into some sort of perspective. It is a fascinating and informative read, very technical but for the committed navy and aviation buff, pretty much "unputdownable" and a hugely valuable addition to the genre. I am lost in admiration for this magnum opus from Messrs Tully and Parshall. If you're really interested in the subject and only read one book on the Pacific war, make it this one.

An impressive piece of work, 25 Mar 2006
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, particularly with its unusual approach of viewing the battle from the side of the Japanese. I was less enamoured by the authors' attempt to fix the book's viewpoint to the carriers themselves (thus, when the Japanese aircraft leave on a raid, we hear nothing further, apart from a few radio messages, until they return and can be debriefed). While clearly designed to emphasise the lack of information available to the Japanese commanders, I felt that this writing device unnecessarily impeded the reader's understanding of the battle.

I was also distracted by an occasionally lax writing style. As an example, at one point it is claimed that the commander had little time to "internalise" the problem.

Nevertheless, the above issues are minor. What comes shining through is the breadth and depth of the authors' research and their clear determination to produce an account that is factual and unbiased. By clearly explaining the mechanics of Japanese carrier operations of the time (without boring the reader), the authors are able to convincingly dispell many of the misconceptions and fallacies regarding this great battle.

This is an excellent account of the Battle of Midway, presented in an unbiased and logical fashion and which uncovers many previously disregarded aspects of the battle - thoroughly reccommended

Even better than the TV series, 20 Mar 2007
This is better than the TV series, which was itself very good. 'Battle of the Atlantic' covers the history and the evolution of technology and tactics used by both sides in the convoy war in the Atlantic. Personal accounts are used to add detail and realism but not at the expense of the wider picture. I particularly liked the inclusion of diagrams explaining convoy formations.

I had purchased this initially because it was very reasonably priced, with few expectations. To my delight it turned out to be very well written and entertaining. I have not read other books on the subject, but do read a lot of history books and I would be surprised to learn if any of the others were as good as this.


Truly a marvelous read., 29 Aug 2002
This book is excellent. what more can I say. It tells the story of the Battle of the Atlantic by incomporating documentary evidence, personel accounts and great writing skill in a very compelling and readable account.

Truly a marvelous read., 29 Aug 2002
This book is excellent. what more can I say. It tells the story of the Battle of the Atlantic by incomporating documentary evidence, personel accounts and great writing skill in a very compelling and readable account.

The Battle of the Atlantic, 16 Jul 2002
This book was an eye-opener for me. The background detail on the building and shaping of the U-boat arm was fascinating, demonstrating what a model of good leadership and strategy it was. I found the descriptions of the survivors very moving; the horror of floating in the middle of an ocean in a small lifeboat is something that had not occurred to me before. Apart from the human testimony (always interesting), the book is a gripping tale of desperation and triumph on both sides, which was hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot about a campaign which has had much less visibility than the land war.