Category: The Background

The German attempts to run the Royal Navy's blockade with their own or captured merchantmen had mixed success and the various attempts are fully described.

A useful chronology of the war at sea, with fuller background information than in Rohwer's chronology. The layout is rather too confusing for easy reference.

A substantial history of the war at sea describing all actions where battleships were involved. The author advances the thesis that the battleship played an important and significant role throughout that war and that the aircraft carrier merely modified that role rather than replaced it - and in fact, the carrier was to some extent dependent on the battleship.

A sweeping overview from a professional historian, with fresh eyewitness tales and an absorbing preoccupation with the impact of the individual.

The Battle of the River Plate, the attack on Taranto, the Battle of Matapan, the sinking of Hood and Bismarck, the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse, the Channel Dash, the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Barents Sea, and the sinking of the Scharnhorst. Based on the excellent individual volumes published by Ian Allan in the 1970s, this is a rather disappointing update and expansion. A second and better volume was later produced by Grove alone. Still a useful and concise set of accounts.

This contemporary quarterly record consists essentially of a commentary and speculation on the official communiqués. As such, while covering the whole war, it reflects the state of the war at sea as reported by the British government.

A chronological abstract of newspaper reports, weak on naval affairs but giving a useful contemporary impression.

A heavily illustrated and potted account of the war at sea, concentrating on the major units and giving short two to three page "biographies" of ships of the major combatant nations. Those of the RN are Warspite, Ark Royal, Ajax, Belfast, Saumarez, Thunderbolt and Jervis Bay. Inevitably in so short a space, nothing new is said - but the pictures are excellent.

Traces the carrier’s development through a series of colourful episodes. Much concentration is put on World War II with its great and decisive carrier battles at sea.

An American naval officer who liaised with the RN on Harbour Defence tells the story of small craft surprise attack in WWII.

A review of novelties from Thucydides to Mountbatten and from fireships to X-craft. Very general, but an interesting miscellany.

In practice a general chronology, with an emphasis on merchant shipping losses.

A popular account of the removal of the Norwegian gold reserves to Britain. Concerned with the work of the "Norwegian resistance."

A straightforward compilation culled from official sources forms the second volume of the trilogy.

The Athenia was torpedoed without warning on the first day of the war by U 30. The book concentrates on the passengers and crew, from the reminiscences of the survivors. Also gives a brief account of the death of the U boat commander, Lemp, in a convoy action in May 1941. US title: Tomorrow Never Came: The Story of the s.s. Athenia.

Describes the race to save the Norwegian, Dutch, and French gold reserves in the face of the German invasions, followed by its transfer, along with the British reserves, to Canada, where much of it was used to finance the war.

A very short, basic introduction, with a chapter on the struggle for the Mediterranean.

A very elementary, brief introduction to the war of the sea lanes.

A limited edition of 300 copies. One American survivor’s account of the sinking and rescue.

A book aimed at cashing in on the temporary notoriety of the City of Flint, which in the last three months of 1939 first helped rescue the Athenia survivors then was later captured by the Deutschland, leading to an international outcry.

A review of the history of submarines, their present capabilities, and their successes in the first three months of the war.

This one volume covers all cases arising in or from WWII. It provides much useful information on how the economic blockade worked.

An early and patriotic account of the war at sea.

A brief personal account by a participant.

An interesting if bitty account of air raid, submarine and raider attacks in home waters in the early months of the war.

Pitt edited this general history, published as a part-work, but containing many original articles of naval interest, now much cited.

Something of a potboiler from this leading historian, it describes a miscellanea of WWII actions from the sinking of Royal Oak to the Walcheren landings.

In large part a potted history of submarine actions in WWII.

A broad view of the sea war in the west by a leading naval writer.

In large part the story of the major naval air actions of WWII.

An American work which aims to move the emphasis from the Pacific War and to show the equally important developments in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

A good popular general history with an excellent bibliography to lead the general reader into the subject.

A series of essays which attempts a comparative study.

Covers midget submarines, explosive motorboats, banzai charges, kamikazes, and human torpedoes.

An excellent and authoritative account of the experiences and problems of all the combatants in this area of the war at sea.

A run-of-the-mill account of mainly British actions, mainly from the first half of the war. Some good new source material is used.

First published in Germany in 1980, this translated work is an unusual mixture of contemporary official and news reports and current comment on what really happened. A chronological format is used and aims at being comprehensive.

A full analysis by a professional historian of the attempt to deprive the Axis powers of aid to their war economy from neutral sources.

A well-illustrated and scholarly account which concentrates on the Pacific battles.

Recounts some of the better-known tales.

An American work aimed at that market and adapted from their earlier work called Sea Power. Later republished by Bramhall House.

A beautifully illustrated general account with a mixture of well known and new images, well reproduced.

Some tales of the war at sea, all more or less well-known.

First published in Germany in 1992, this is a brief photographic introduction to the major events of the naval war.

Translated from the German, this diary-style chronology is probably the most detailed account of the war at sea in all theaters. It is heavily compressed and shows some German bias. A revised one-volume second edition was published by Greenhill and the Naval Institute Press in 1992 (ISBN: 1853671177) and a revised third edition in 2005 (ISBN: 1861760027).

A collection of short essays which reconsiders the role of all the major combatants in turn.

A pictorial history of the war from the excellent NBC television series of the same name.

The final volume of the author’s coverage of the war at sea begins with the invasion of Italy and continues to the end of the war, although the British contribution in the Far East is largely ignored.

A history of the first two years of the war at sea. The main events are described in an inevitably partisan fashion.

REDFORD, Duncan & GROVE, Philip D. The Royal Navy: A History Since 1900. xvi, 363p., bibliog., illus., index. London: I.B. Taurus in association with the National Museum of the Royal Navy, 2014. ISBN: 9781780767826.

This is one volume of a well-researched, well written and well received six volume history of the Royal Navy. The inter-war years, the background to war and the main actions of the sea war are well covered.

The brief but notorious wartime career of the Graf Spee's supply ship in a popularised account.

A good work by a major historian. It gives a detailed reconstruction of the last cruise of the Graf Spee and aims to reassess the final battle and its implications.

ENSER, A. G. S. A Subject Bibliography of the Second World War: Books in English 1975-1983. 225p., index. Aldershot: Gower, 1985. ISBN: 0566035146.

An updating volume, which also rectifies some omissions from the earlier work. A second edition covering the period 1975-1987 was published in 1990.

CALVOCORESSI, Peter, & WINT, Guy. Total War: Causes and Courses of the Second World War. xiii, 959p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Allen Lane, 1972. ISBN: 0713902361.

A much cited general history of the war which looks at trends more than personalities.

HASTINGS, Max. All Hell Let Loose: The World At War 1939-1945.   748p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Harpercollins, 2012. ISBN: 9780007450725

One of the best single volume histories of the war. He cleverly interweaves an overview of the war with innumerable eyewitness accounts. There is limited but positive mention of the role of the RN.

ROBERTS, Andrew. The Storm of War: a New History of the Second World War. lvi, 712p., bibliog., illus., index. London, Allen Lane, 2009. ISBN: 9780713999709.

A modern sweeping overview by a major historian with some limited naval material.

ANDERSON, Frank John. Submarines, Submariners, Submarining: A Bibliography. xii, 140p. Hamden, Conn.: Shoestring, 1963.

A checklist of submarine books, principally of the twentieth century, arranged by author, title and subject. The author list has full bibliographic details then uses coded appendices and short entries for the other lists. It covers some 450 titles in English and has 200 foreign language titles in an appendix. A new edition was published by Archon in 1975 as: Submarines, Diving and the Underwater World: A Bibliography, (ISBN: 0208015086) containing some 1500 entries.

BAYLISS, Gwyn M. Bibliographic Guide to the Two World Wars: An Annotated Survey of English Language Reference Materials. xv, 578p., index. London: Bowker, 1977. ISBN: 0859350134.

The Librarian of the Imperial War Museum provides a treasure trove of information on reference works, from dictionaries to chronologies and from maps to theses.

ROBERTS, Andrew. The Storm of War: a New History of the Second World War. lvi, 712p., bibliog., illus., index. London, Allen Lane, 2009. ISBN: 9780713999709.

A modern sweeping overview by a major historian with some limited naval material.

SMITH, Peter C. Impact! The Dive Bomber Pilots Speak. 253p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Kimber, 1981. ISBN: 0718300785.

Norway, Dunkirk, Malta convoys, Pacific carrier battles, and attacks on the Tirpitz are all represented in this account of dive-bomber development and use in WWII. Reprinted in 2007 by Pen & Sword Aviation as The History of Dive Bombing: A comprehensive History from 1911 Onward. ISBN: 1844155927.  

HEZLET, Arthur. The Submarine and Sea Power. ix, 278p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Davies; New York: Stein & Day, 1967. ISBN: 0432067302

A book of comment rather than original research. The author describes submarine campaigns in order to analyse the role and strategic use of the weapon. One-third of the book describes WWII.

KEMP, P. K. Victory at Sea 1939-1945. 383p., illus., index. London: Muller; Boston: Little Brown, 1957.

A short, single-volume official history of the war at sea. US title: Key to Victory, the Triumph of British Seapower in World War Two. A new edition was published by White Lion in 1976, ISBN: 727400274.

A sort of oral history memoir or collection of anecdotes.

SPIER, Henry O. World War 2 in Our Magazines and Books, September 1939 to September 1945: A Bibliography. 96p. New York: Stuyvesant, 1945.

A list arranged by country or by general topic of 1,500 books and the relevant articles from 35 journals. Useful if limited. A smaller edition was published in 1941. A facsimile reprint was published by Reink Books in 2017.

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War. Volume 1: The Nazis Strike First. Day-to-Day Naval Actions August 1939 Through March 1940. ISBN: 9780578029412.

This reference work lists information on all sorts of naval activity from station transfers to actions for all the combatants. Much of it comes from Kindell's unpublished typescript which was widely circulated The Royal Navy at War 1939-40. This print on demand volume encapsulates a proportion of the huge range of data which may be found at the amazing website Naval-History.net.

Convoys in World War II (World War II Commemorative Bibliography No 4). 14p. Washington: Navy Department Library, 1993.

One of 10 planned bibliographies, this covers selectively the literature of books and journals held by the Library, with over 150 entries, mainly for the Atlantic and Arctic theaters.

Another line!

GRAHAM, Gordon, & COLE, Frank. The Burma Campaign Memorial Library: A Collection of Books and Papers about the War in Burma 1942–1945. ix, 100p.  London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1999. ISBN: 0728603055.

The collection was assembled over the previous five years and donated to SOAS. This annotated catalogue contains little naval material but is useful on commando and combined operations and points to what will be an important and growing resource. A second revised and expanded edition was published in 2001 (ISBN: 0728603306).

TURNER, David. The Ultimate Sacrifice: The World War II Battleship. 80p., illus. Ely: Melrose, 2004. ISBN: 0954848012.

Dedicated to the author’s uncle, Commander Woodrow-Clark, who did not survive the sinking. The book is a disorganised ragbag of press reports, ancient myths and survivor’s stories of the sinking with some small reference to the loss of other capital ships and the tale of his personal pilgrimage to Scapa. Republished as a larger volume in 2008 by Argyll Publishing as Last Dawn: The Royal Oak Tragedy at Scapa Flow, ISBN: 1906134138. Further editions of this title were published in 2009 - for the seventieth anniversary of the sinking (ISBN: 9781906134389) - and again in 2011 (ISBN: 9781906134761).

REYNOLDS, David. The Creation of the Anglo-American Alliance 1937-41: A Study in Competitive Co-operation. xiii, 397p., bibliog., index. London: Europa; Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1981. ISBN: 0905118685.

A cool and judicious review of the rivalry between the two powers in this critical period.

CLEMENTS, Bill. The Fatal Fortress: The Guns and Fortifications of Singapore 1819-1956. vii, 199p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2016. ISBN: 9781473829565.

A good detailed account of the defences at Singapore from the Victorian period onwards. Argues that the fall of Singapore in 1942 was a failure of command rather than bad design.

The River Plate Battle. Supplement to the London Gazette of Thursday, 19 June 1947, Number 37989, pp.2759–2766.

Submitted by Admiral Harwood and concentrating on the action itself. Includes a track chart. Reprinted in 2014 in the compilation by Martin Mace and John Grehan, Capital Ships at War 1939-1945 (ISBN 1783462043).          

SIMPSON, Michael. Anglo-American Naval Relations 1919-1939 (Publications of the Navy Records Society, Volume 155). xxiii, 320p., bibliog., index. Farnham: Ashgate for the Navy Records Society, 2010. ISBN: 140940093X.

A set of documents showing how relations evolved, with a useful introductory commentary.

OLSON, Lynne. Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn The Tide of War. xviii, 553p., bibliog., illus., index. New York: Random House, 2017. ISBN: 9780812997354.

Little naval material but an excellent background account of how the rulers and military personnel of Norway, Poland, Belgium, Holland and France fled to exile in Britain as the Germans occupied most of Europe. Also tells of resistance, raids and the return home as the war in Europe ended.

RODGER, N. A. M. The Price of Victory: A Naval History of Britain 1815-1945. xxxix, 914p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Allen Lane, 2024. ISBN: 978071399412.

This magisterial volume is the final one of a trilogy providing a naval history of Britain. Authoritative, comprehernsive and definitive this is an essential source.

Dove was captain of the Africa Shell, which was captured by the Graf Spee on 15 November 1939. He was held prisoner until the Spee was chased into Montevideo, although according to his story for at least some of that time he was treated as a guest. The book was republished in paperback in 1957.

Uses the events of 1941 to illustrate the thesis that air power can win the war. That, rather than the navy, can impose an economic blockade on the Axis powers, in narrow and coastal waters, which will lead to an unbreakable stranglehold.

An early and breezy view of the sea war; it follows official British accounts. Reprinted in 1941.

A detailed review of Prien’s attack on Scapa Flow in October 1939. Prien claimed to have sunk a second capital ship as well as Royal Oak. The author suggests that this was probably Iron Duke.

Describes what happened on board the Royal Oak during the sinking, and how the survivors fared in the water. A final section attempts to cast doubt on Prien’s part in the affair.

Originally published in Germany in 1940, this is an important, if partial, source. Reprinted by Wingate-Baker in 1969.

Concentrates on the human side, relying heavily on the memories of three boy sailors and family memories of some who did not survive.

An American "with no axe to grind" attempts to tell the story of the sinking using evidence gathered from survivors and documents no longer concealed by the Official Secrets Act. A straightforward description of what happened, without the speculation that mars other accounts.

An excellent attempt to review the evidence from scratch and to bring new evidence to light.

A detailed and comprehensive review of the action.

An instant account of the battle with a decidedly patriotic view. Also covers the release of the prisoners from "the jackal Altmark."

Clearly shows the effects both of censorship and the fog of war. About half is an account of the Graf Spee and Altmark incidents.

A well-illustrated but rather limp account of the major sea battles.

The author was an able seaman on the Doric Star, sunk by the raider on 2 December 1939.

The story of Altmark and Graf Spee from the beginning of the war until the dramatic rescue of the prisoners when Cossack trapped Altmark in Jossing Fjord. US title: The Altmark Affair.

A formal record of correspondence and discussions between Lord Halifax and the Norwegian Minister in London over the invasion of Norwegian territorial waters.

An excellent modern reappraisal of the battle drawing on many previously unused sources.

A straightforward British account of all the events surrounding the last cruise of the Graf Spee.

The British Minister at Montevideo at the time of the battle presents an anthology which examines briefly Admiral Von Spee at Coronel and the Falklands, before giving full contemporary accounts of the Graf Spee's last cruise and the Battle of the River Plate from survivors and commentators. Various items of memorabilia are also included.

Concerned only with the events which took place after the arrival of Graf Spee in Montevideo.

A full account of the background to and course of the battle by a naval historian. A revised edition was published in paperback in 1974. US title: Graf Spee: The Life and Death of a Raider. The book was again reprinted in its revised form in 1987 by Alison Press. (ISBN: 0436377500).

Powell directed a film about the Battle of the River Plate. This spin-off book was written as a popular adventure story aiming at feel rather than historical accuracy. US title: Death in the South Atlantic. Reprinted in 1976 by White Lion as The Last Voyage of the Graf Spee.

A patriotic account of the sinking of the Graf Spee. This is the first of a series of volumes by a naval officer who attempts to present the public with a relatively objective view of the war.

An illustrated pamphlet glorifying the New Zealand contribution.

Includes useful chapters on naval strategy.

A fascinating study showing the constancy of New Zealand policy over 30 years. The last quarter covers the European war years until the end of 1941 when Japan unceremoniously destroyed all the plans of the empire, which were based on holding Singapore.

A study of British Imperial naval strategy east of Suez from the end of WWI to the opening of the Pacific War. Good background.

Intended as the first of two volumes on relations between the two navies, the author died just as the first volume went to press. It is a full, scholarly account of the period to the sinking of Force Z.

Considers the interaction between naval policy and foreign policy in the Pacific. Eden is cast as an enthusiast for co-operation, with Chamberlain at best ambivalent.

A strategic overview of the background to the Empire's worst defeat.

Although not strictly within the period of this bibliography, these two volumes are essential background reading.

The text of a lecture given in 1977 outlining Roskill's views, which are more fully expressed in the monograph of the same title.

A major essay links a large collection of official documents. Another excellent publication from the NRS.

Explores the development of the German plan to build a large well-balanced fleet by 1942. Then considers whether it was ever a realistic ambition.

A general review of the value of sea power to Britain in the war.

A very old-fashioned work, with a hastily revised second edition produced in 1941.

Considers the lessons learned from the sea war so far. There were at least three wartime editions.

A review of defense policy in the inter-war period.

First published in 1936, this edition encompasses some of the early lessons of the war, although the author continues to maintain the primacy of the battleship.

Based on newly released official papers, this contains little of direct naval interest, but much background on the planning of the major assaults on Europe.

ELLIS, John. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War. 544p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Deutsch; New York, Viking, 1990. ISBN: 0233979581.

Very much background material.

A study of the implications of economics for strategy and of the ultimate and inevitable victory for the controller of the supply and sea routes. Illustrated with examples from the war at sea.

The story of the central direction of the war at the highest level and a basic source. Later volumes were written by J. R. M. Butler, J. M. A. Gwyer, Michael Howard, and John Ehrman.

A distinguished submariner gives a perceptive view of his chosen subject. Inevitably, much of it relates to the role of the Fleet Air Arm and of Coastal Command in WWII.

Admiral Hezlet’s view of the major influences on modern naval strategy includes the electron. About 80 pages are devoted to WWII, where asdic and radar brought new problems and challenges.

An examination of Hitler’s strategy based on the German naval archives and the evidence of the Nuremberg trials.

A minor classic, reprinted with a new preface in 1993 (ISBN: 1853671401).

A review of politics in the region. They were much concerned with issues of neutrality and the effect of the war on shipping.

A review of politics in the region. They were much concerned with issues of neutrality and the effect of the war on shipping.

This prize-winning work has a scattering of information on naval poems and poets of WWII.

A checklist of and guide to a basic and extensive resource.

A working bibliography that "encompasses the published writings that teaching experience shows are relevant and should be among the holdings of the average university library." This worthy, if limited, aim produces 1200 books, articles, dissertations, and documents on WWII.

The first edition was published in 1976 and had some 2,000 entries. This has more than doubled by the third edition, one swollen by a substantial number of publications celebrating fiftieth anniversaries of events in WWII. A good professional work, particularly strong on privately published and locally published materials.

A bibliography of items in Western European languages. Excellent and wide-ranging background; especially good on maps.

A valiant attempt at a complete list. Arranged under a large number of alphabetically ordered subject headings with author and subject indices. Obviously compiled largely from standard sources, without reference to the original items, it both creates and perpetuates errors and ascribes some works to subject headings either arbitrarily or wrongly. Nevertheless, it is useful for most items.

Several chapters cover naval history and one is specifically on WWII, by an authority on the field, Peter Kemp. It includes an annotated bibliography of 140 books. A supplement was published by Garland in 1988, edited by Gerald Jordan. (ISBN: 0824084500.)

Although now dated, this is an essential starting point for those wishing to study the foreign language sources relevant to WWII. It records the then state of activity country by country and lists the official war histories from Afghanistan to Yugoslavia.

A model bibliography. New Zealand has a surprisingly large aviation literature and many New Zealanders saw service in Coastal Command and the Fleet Air Arm.

Some 700 unit histories are listed. When used with the two works by Maurer on the USAAF, it is possible to identify any works on units operational in the same areas as the RN.

Despite its imperfections, this labour of love is probably the most comprehensive and accurate work to date. A second edition was published by Scarecrow Press in 2003 (ISBN: 0810845342). A third edition may be produced at some future date.

A quite excellent work, covering many rare items published during and just after the war. It has four sections of souvenir books on: ships; naval aviation units; Seabee units; and miscellaneous groups. A second edition was published in 2004 (ISBN: 1889901326).

A lucid account which contrasts the success of British tactics in WW1 with the failure of Japanese tactics in WWII.

The three volumes of this work are, 1: European Theater, 2: Pacific Theater, 3: General Works and Special Studies. Each is subdivided into half a dozen broad headings which are further subdivided into topics; each volume has an index, the third being cumulative; each topic has a brief historical introduction. Some of the 10,000 entries are annotated briefly. The bibliography includes books and journal articles, some government documents and unpublished theses. It is an enormous and essential tool, but betrays its American origins in some obvious howlers concerning British items, nor is it comprehensive, being weak in wartime and immediately post-war publications.

Some 3,465 entries which add to the earlier work.

Some 4,500 books are divided into fairly general subject groupings. Although it has its inevitable crop of errors and an enormous number of omissions, this early attempt is still rewarding.

Edited interviews with 30 sailors of the period. Particularly strong on the inter-war years.

A revisionist view from the first real study of the RN's war plans and in particular its strategy against Japan. Argues that the RN's approach was both sophisticated and flexible.

Although the period from 1939 is covered in only 20 pages, this is a full and interesting account of the quasi-war on the China Station, an often forgotten area of involvement for the Royal Navy.

A damning account of folly, ineptitude, and wishful thinking by all parties.

From 1924 on, a strategic plan, War Memorandum (Eastern), was refined. This called for the Royal Navy, still the largest in the world even after the 1922 Washington Naval Treaties, to move eastwards to a defended base in Singapore and cut off Japan and force its battlefleet into a decisive battle.

Considers the links between the Navy and the heavy armaments firms. Useful background.

A study of the role of Japan in British foreign and defence policy thinking in the thirties, leading to the disastrous denouement at Singapore in 1942. Good background material.

The development of Anglo-American naval strategy.

A partial and idiosyncratic ramble through the area by a former RAN officer.

Frogmen, divers, and midget submarines were used by all the major belligerents. This records their more important operations. US title: Combat beneath the Sea.

Volume 1 covers the RN, while volume 2 covers the US and Japanese Navies from 1941 to 1943. A revised edition of volume 2 appeared in 1974. The work is intended as a definitive brief history of the wartime carrier forces. Reprinted as a single volume by Pen & Sword in 2009, including material from an unpublished third volume.

A book of oral history which examines all of the major and many minor landings, by the Map Curator of the Imperial War Museum.

A report of "the story so far." Concentrates on the Allied view.

A major primary source written by one of the main protagonists. Contains a great deal of information, some biased, on the Royal Navy. Published in various editions.

The Director of the Royal Navy's Submarine Museum gives an excellent account of how the submarines lived and fought and describes their impact in each of the theaters of war. Reprinted in 2004 by Periscope as Submarines at War 1939-1945. ISBN: 1904381227

A good general history of the coastal forces of all the main belligerents. US title: PT Boats.

A general account of the war at sea, by an officer who worked at the Plans Division of the Admiralty throughout the war. A new edition, with some revisions and more corrections, was published by the University of California Press in 1967.

An alphabetically arranged set of essays or definitions of the people, battles, and concepts of the war. A distinguished list of contributors makes this an important work, although there is the odd, if inevitable, howler such as the suggestion that Ark Royal was sunk by air attack.

Retelling well-known but stirring tales: the sinking of Rawalpindi; the abortive action between Renown and Gneisenau off Norway; the battle of Matapan; the sinking of HMAS Sydney; the battles of the Java Sea and Savo Island; the clash between the raider Stier and the Liberty ship Stephen Hopkins; the battles of Guadalcanal, the Barents Sea, and the Surigao Strait.

A clear set of some 200 maps, with basic details of campaigns and battles. Riddled with typographical errors.

A monumental and magisterial history of which the first two volumes were written by Randolph Churchill. Volumes 5-7 cover the arrival of war and the war years. Volume 7 is titled The Road to Victory. Essential and exhaustive.

Case studies showing that atrocities were at times committed by all sides and were not the exclusive preserve of "the enemy".

The Battles of Narvik and Crete, Force K, the Battle of the Java Sea, Sirte, attacks on the Tirpitz, Operation Neptune, the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. Based largely on the single topic Ian Allan volumes of the 1970s the brief accounts of the battles are crisply retold and are excellent introductions. Includes a good bibliography.

A basic guide to the sea war in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Republished by Routledge in hardback in 2003 (ISBN: 041596847X).

The tales begin with Grenville and the Revenge and end with an Argentinean submarine in the Falklands war. WWII stories described are the Scheer's 1940/41 cruise; pugnacious Japanese destroyers in the Badoeng Strait; s.s. Stephen Hopkins sinking the raider Stier; HMIS Bengal against Japanese raiders; the battles of Tassafaronga and Leyte.

Some 20 key WWII battles are examined in detail and the lessons which were learned - or should have been learned - are set out with great clarity.

There was a 750-copy limited edition as well as the standard one. The book has 176 paintings and 43 maps of various actions in the war at sea. A visual delight.

An excellent introduction covering the major actions of British and American naval forces.

Full of pictures, maps, and diagrams, this is a general history which concentrates on a few major areas.

A brief general account of the war at sea.

A sympathetic account which is descriptive rather than judgmental. Covers all the participants and all types of incidents.

Contains over 450 photographs arranged thematically. A good selection with informative captions.

Looks at the various underwater craft and submarines country by country. A predominantly operational account.

Admiral Richmond describes the principles of naval strategy.

A study of economics-based decision models to consider how best to deploy submarines, deriving principles from the German and US submarine campaigns of WWII so as to judge the role of nuclear submarines. Concludes that cargoes not tonnage must be the goal.

An important revisionist work. It questions the assumption that Britain dragged its heels over German naval disarmament, already anticipating the Cold War. It claims that in fact the Royal Navy at least and senior individuals within it were focussed entirely on the complete dismantling of the Kriegsmarine and that the process was wholly successful. Ingenious stratagems were employed to achieve that end by any means.

Argues that the RN made a complex and sophisticated response to German re-armament.

Compares the US and German decisions to adopt unrestricted submarine warfare.

A view of the Irish question in a geopolitical context, which postulates a sort of NATO-type organisation for the future. Based on the author’s view of current events.

Aims to bring together the basic data on the strength of the world's major navies and then shed light on its use in global politics.

A scholarly account of Britain's concerns in Scandinavia, from the start of the war to the evacuation of Norway. The focus on Swedish relations gives a distinctive perspective.

A comprehensive history of the war at sea from the end of the Great War to the end of World War Two. Showing the bewildering nature and complexity of the war facing those charged with fighting it around the world, this book ranges far and wide: sweeping across all naval theatres and those powers performing major, as well as minor, roles within them.

A major study of a neglected area which has particularly useful material on the Fleet Train supporting the British Pacific Fleet.

Originally written in the summer of 1939 and hastily revised when war began, this is a fascinating view of what the war was expected to bring. With hindsight it is seen to be a mixture of shrewd predictions and almost comic guesses.

An attempt to update Mahan in the light of the war and to look at the future strategic employment of naval power.

An excellent guide which also has useful lists of ministers and other appointees, operation names and lists of acronyms. Essential for anyone using primary official records. A second edition was published under the authorship of John D. Cantwell in 1993 (ISBN: 011440254X ) and a revised edition in 1998 (ISBN: 187316260X).

The distinguished sailor turned scholar discusses the strategic use of sea power.

About half of this work is devoted to a considered view of WWII, by this leading British naval historian. Reprinted in 1986 by Goodchild with a new introduction and epilogue by Geoffrey Till.

A concise description of the various types of warships now employed by the belligerents and of how the war at sea will be conducted.

Debates the question of whether air power has superseded sea power in the light of action since 1939. Concludes that lack of sea power is a fatal Axis weakness.

A fascinating account of a little-understood area where strategic ambition was blunted by logistical reality.

A strategic overview of the war between German land power and British sea power.

A layman's guide to the important and the unimportant in the war at sea to March 1941.

Attempts to prove the thesis that Allied naval power is the dominating factor in the war. Also looks at ship design and some special areas such as submarine warfare.

A general guide to the war at sea and its strategy. Looks at the relative strengths and opportunities of the belligerents.

A broad view by a leading historian with much relevant material.

A good account of the main Allied naval actions.