Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)At first glance, this book looks every inch a 5 Star product and as I have come to expect from this particular author, the content goes on to match that early expectation. Lessons are learned from the outset and much is explained in a manner which will not disappoint either the casual reader or the serious historian. In short, this work is not just another book about the Kriegsmarine, it is one in which Hitler's Navy is explained like never before. Many popular myths are exploded, many misconceptions corrected and all are replaced with a rational, factual assessment and explanation based on the dedicated and detailed research of a competent maritime historian.
The inclusion of a most useful résumé of the Treaty of Versailles very early in the work (page 11) does much to help the reader understand the limitations imposed upon Germany's forces, especially her Navy, after WW1. These were the very seeds from which the Kriegsmarine evolved and provides a vital to understanding of how, for example, the concept of the Pocket Battleship was born and of other circumstances which existed. Elsewhere, I was fascinated to learn how one unit of Hitler's Kriegsmarine was never disbanded but continued to serve in mine clearance duties until it eventually became part of Germany's post-war Navy.
The men, uniforms, flags, awards, organisation, bases and buildings, command and rank structure and of course the ships and U boats are all included in great detail. And when I say great detail, each aspect is tackled from a number of different perspectives in order to provide the most complete account.
When it comes to research, there are those who believe one or two trips to the local maritime museum is suffice, those who believe the answers are found on the internet, those who can't be bothered and those who choose to invent their own data in a bid to pass them off as facts (I kid you not!). Why? Because real research takes years and most people can't be bothered. In the case of this author, however, Jak Mallmann Showell has a solid reputation for accuracy of detail which has been achieved through many years of "research, research and even more research." It is because he has a complete appreciation of this aspect of his work "and" knows how and where to find the answers, that he is able to present the world with such an important document as this. Important, not only because it is the definitive work but also because it corrects so many previous misconceptions.
Altogether, this is a comprehensive account. Commencing well before the Kriegsmarine was established and ending long after it ceased to exist, this is, as I say, a complete account of "Hitler's Navy."
The reader might also consider another fine work from this author called; The U-Boat Century.
NM
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