Williams, Andrew. The Battle of the Atlantic; the Allies' submarine fight against Hitler's gray wolves of the sea

Kliatt, Sept, 2004 by Raymond Puffer

WILLIAMS, Andrew. The Battle of the Atlantic; the Allies' submarine fight against Hitler's gray wolves of the sea. Perseus, Basic Books. 304p. illus. notes. index c2003. 0-465-09156-3. $17.95. SA

Nearly all military historians agree that control of the sea lanes in the North Atlantic was the key to victory in WW II. A titanic battle raged for nearly seven years over Great Britain's desperate struggle to stay in the war, and Nazi Germany's equally desperate efforts to sever her vital lifelines of food, arms, and men. None of the enormous land and air battles that finally doomed Hitler could have happened without the resources brought in by slow and vulnerable merchant ships, and the overworked and overmatched destroyers and corvettes that tried to protect them. The Battle of the Atlantic has been told and retold numerous times since 1945, and is a perennial favorite among military history buffs. The reason is not hard to find. Besides the enormous stakes involved--nothing less than the future of Western civilization--the subject is rife with drama: torpedoes drilling in from out of nowhere, flaming oil tankers and sinking freighters, dashing destroyers, and submarines crushed in the icy depths.

The History Channel was quick to appreciate both the dramatic and the educational possibilities of WW II, and its television series has been instrumental in depicting a struggle that is strangely missing from many classrooms. This book is a spin-off from the small screen, but is likewise a solid example of contemporary popular history that can easily stand on its own feet. Author Andrew Williams himself is a producer and scriptwriter for the BBC, but his book shows few traces of its televised heritage. Williams tells his story with the fluency of a professional writer, and the text moves right along. His tale, however, is never glib or facile. The book makes good use of research materials from German and Allied archives, and best of all it features the recollections of many aging veterans.

Each generation must understand about the time when total war was not only thinkable but necessary, and new readers must come to value the suffering, bravery and sacrifices that ordinary people had to make when they found themselves in an extraordinary situation. This book is a good place to begin.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.

Raymond Puffer, Ph.D., Historian, Edwards AFB, Lancaster, CA