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(More customer reviews)What historian Ian Hawkins has done previously for the air war, he has now done for the war on the Atlantic--put together a first-rate collection of eye-witness accounts by the men who fought and risked their lives on the Atlantic in the Second World War. Mr. Hawkins is known for his riveting use of eyewitnesses to put together books that bring the Second World War to life. His greatest book, in my opinion, "Munster: Before and After", follows the Eighth Air Force on one raid to Munster, Germany. In that book, he tells the story not just from the point of view of the men in the heavy bombers, but also went to great lengths to interview Germans who lived through the attack on the ground. Mr. Hawkins brings the same kind of meticulous research and interviewing skill to his newest book. I found the new book fascinating in the insights it gives into the destroyer war. It is obvious this was a labor of love for Hawkins, whose father was lost on a destroyer during the war. First-person history has become a common and highly effective way to tell history. Ambrose did it, so did Cornelius Ryan and Gerald Astor. It gives the reader a personalized view of the great events. I believe the previous reviewer failed to grasp the concept of the importance of first-person narrative, and that is unfortunate. Mr. Hawkins does an excellent job of tying the stories together with text on the historical background. He covers the war chronologically, from its first desperate hours, to the horrifying early years when German U-Boats ruled the high seas, right through to the end. Anyone who reads this book for what it is, a painstakingly gleaned collection of eyewitness narratives on every aspect of the destroyer war, will not be disappointed. I recommend it highly.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Destroyer: An Anthology of First-Hand Accounts by Those Who Served on the B- and C-Class Destroyers in the Second World War
As Len Deighton writes in the foreword to this haunting and thought-provoking book: 'This account of the men who took their small ships into the deepest and cruellest waters is clearly the result of years of research and hard work. These crews endured the most terrible conditions imaginable even without facing enemy fire...I think I shall never forget some of the stories. Here is a book that matches and complements that bestseller of the post-war years, The Cruel Sea. Surely no one will read this book without being deeply moved and inspired by the ungrudging sacrifice and the all-pervading cheerfulness. Some were professional sailors, some were peacetime naval men, but most of them were civilians who never truly adapted to a cold, cramped, wet, life in a bouncing tin can but did their duty nevertheless.' '...they have been where we have not. They have seen what we shall never see.'(Michael Watkins) There is no more vivid and poignant account than one at first hand, and Editor Ian Hawkins has drawn together numerous stories from those men who served on the B- and C-class destroyers, weaving them seamlessly together using excerpts from books, news articles, speeches, and his own authoritative notes. Accounts are arranged in chronological order and cover the mundanity of patrol, the strain of convoy escort, the heat of battle and loss of ships and lives. Among the more celebrated events, the accounts describe the evacuation of Dunkirk and Boulogne, the engagement of Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prince Eugen, and D-Day itself, as seen through the eyes of lieutenant commanders, captains, engineers, signalmen, telegraphists, surgeons, and crewmen. In some cases the Editor has often found eye witnesses to describe episodes from differing viewpoints and the result is a solid work that not only fills a gap in the recorded history of the War but can also be used as an overall view of it.
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