Derek Nudd's Blog

For and Against a United Ireland by Fintan O'Toole

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


'Unlike an election, the consequences of which will rest on our heads alone, this plebiscite will decide the future for generations yet unborn.'
This quote from the introduction sums up the overriding reason for a book like this to exist. Two journalists each contribute two chapters. One is from a broadly unionist environment in Northern Ireland and the other from a broadly nationalist background in the Republic. Each argues for and against unification. The worrying thing in the context of a future referendum is that the same writer, drawing on the same data, can argue convincingly for radically different conclusions. What does that say about the temperature of debate if it should come to pass?
One clear conclusion is that a referendum or border poll (the terms are used interchangeably) would need careful thought and preparation, both to ensure losers' consent and to design the shape and institutions of the combined state, if that's the way the decision went.
Lurking in the background is the cautionary tale of Brexit where the arguments from both sides rested on slogans, there was no attempt (such as this) to look dispassionately at the issues, and no agreed vision of what post-Brexit Britain should look like. The Irish, on both sides of the border, should at least take a lesson from that.



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Nineteenth Century Torpedoes and Their Inventors by Edwyn Gray

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Robert Whitehead's 'fish' torpedo (along with the static mine) quickly dominated the market for naval weapons designed to hole a ship at or below the waterline. Until the twentieth century, however, that dominance was challenged by a panoply of inventors with varying degrees of imagination and skill. Subsequently the field was dominated by anonymous teams and incremental development.
This is the source of Gray's focus on the nineteenth century, home of innovative thinking and some weird (and frankly terrifying) contraptions. The historian's job isn't made any easier by the contemporary use of the word 'torpedo' for anything from a shrunken fireship to a ram to a mine. Some of the designs described were used operationally, some produced in quantity, some built and tested, some simply described in a patent such as will 'enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. In other words, 'I haven't a clue.'
Most of the suggested weapons failed to come up with a solution to depth keeping, which was Whitehead's key advance. Consequently they either ran on the surface or were suspended from floats or were attached to the attacking ship (the suicidal spar torpedo) or in some cases were towed by it (great idea, that). Another key concern was to answer an objection to the Whitehead, that once launched it could not be steered or recalled and might hit a friendly ship. (The same problem, of course, applies to a shell but no-one seemed to mind that). Many inventors therefore applied their minds to some form of post-launch guidance.
One example is surprising, both because it was actually practical and because eight shore batteries (including Fort Albert on the Isle of Wight) were built. The Brennan torpedo was powered by twin wires spooled out from large drums on shore, and guided by varying the speed of its two propellers.
Louis Brennan was not the only inventor to come up with a practical design but, apart from Whitehead, was probably the only one to make significant money from his efforts. Many of the others were mad (or at least obsessional), a few were bad (fraudulent) and several were dangerous to know if you were anywhere near their devices.
The book is well produced with illustrations in the text rather than in a plate section. It's overall well written, though the forward references to twentieth century practice could sometimes be better thought through.



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The Last Corsair: The Story of the Emden by Dan van der Vat

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Interesting title.
SMS Emden's record as an undisguised surface raider is beyond dispute. In an operational career lasting barely two months she sank sixteen British merchantmen, a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer, captured five other merchant ships, and shelled Madras. As with other detached raiders the effect on morale, the disruption to shipping and the resources hunting her were out of proportion to the tonnage sunk. As a final snub to the blockade the landing party stranded ashore when Emden met her fate struggled back through almost unimaginable difficulties to a heroes' welcome.
And yet, and yet....
There were three ways to try surface commerce raiding (I discount U-boats here). One was to use an overt warship such as the light and armoured cruisers at the Kaiser's disposal in 1914. Dresden lasted until March 1915 and Karlsruhe slightly exceeded Emden's merchant 'score'. ((See Nick Hewitt's The Kaiser's Pirates: Hunting Germany's Raiding Cruisers in World War I for an excellent treatment of this topic)). In WW2 this approach was exemplified by the surprising success of the 'Deutschland' class pocket battleships and 'Scharnhorst' class battlecruisers.
Then there was the use of civilian liners converted to armed merchant cruisers (AMCs). They seemed like a good idea at the time. Their speed was a good idea, limited endurance and high freeboard much less so. They were swept up in fairly short order, though on the Allied side they had some value as escorts.
Finally, and most successfully, were the inconspicuous merchantmen kitted out with hidden armament and able to adopt false identities at will. They caused serious disruption in both wars.
So, having argued that Emden was neither the last nor the most successful of Germany's surface raiders, she still set a pretty impressive record. The book is well researched and written, but I feel the author falls into the biographer's trap of over-identification with his subject. This leads to a few questionable statements.
Among the most interesting threads is the story of Julius Lauterbach, a larger-than-life merchant skipper and naval reservist who joined the ship just before the outbreak of war and ended up making his own way home. He caught my eye especially because he pops up again in my own Castaways in Question: A story of British naval interrogators from WW1 to denazification. I thought he had died in that event, but apparently not.




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The Riddle of the Sands; a Record of Secret Service by Erskine Childers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Re-reading 'Riddle' it struck me that the opening chapters have the makings of a great sitcom - Davies and Carruthers trapped in a small boat with radically clashing expectations. After that the pacing of the way the characters' adventure gradually grows more serious is beautifully judged, and the yachting passages could only have been written by someone who knew well the vagaries of the sea, small boats and the Frisian Island channels.
Perhaps the most eloquent testimony to the book is, however, the impact it had on contemporary culture and politics. At a time when France was still seen as our most likely enemy it helped, perhaps triggered, the pivot of attention towards Germany. British naval and military attaches in Berlin began to draw attention to the risks of German attack (see Seligmann, Spies in Uniform: British Military and Naval Intelligence on the Eve of the First World War) and predicted the outbreak of war sometime between 1913 and 1915. Childers' book specifically influenced the ill-fated reconnaissance of the Frisian Islands by Bernard Trench and Vivian Brandon in 1910. It is less well known that Gordon Shephard made repeated surveys of the area by yacht, and the British Consul in Emden had a snoop under cover of a family holiday. Finally, Admirals Fisher and Bayly developed plans for landings on Borkum and Sylt which intrigued Churchill as First Lord, and were only abandoned owing to lack of resource. Childers was not wrong to draw attention to the strategic significance of Germany's west coast.
The writing is undoubtedly 'of its time' but survives remarkably well, as quality does. This edition is edited by R M Bowker who has sailed as many as possible of the same tracks, though constrained by a deeper draught yacht. It benefits from charts and photos which go a long way to explain the text. Bowker adds a historical postscript which, if anything, overstates the book's influence. Readers will be much better advised to look for a copy of Maldwin Drummond's The Riddle: Illuminating the story behind 'The Riddle of the Sands'.



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The Riddle: Illuminating the Story Behind the Riddle of the Sands by Maldwin Drummond

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is clearly a labour of love by someone who knows the sea and has followed Childers' wake. Getting into the meat of it, the author offers an extended summary of the story of The Riddle of the Sands then Childers' own analogous tour in 1897. Here he sometimes blends the movements of Childers' own Vixen with the fictional Dulcibella. After this he looks at Childers' development as an author and the launch of the book by which he is known.
Here things really get interesting. Childers was not the first to raise an invasion scare but he did so persuasively, presenting his story as though it were fact and at a moment when the main fear of attack was pivoting from France to Germany. Drummond ably places the book's impact in the political and military context of the day and draws out its possible effect on events.
There is also an interesting insight into Childers' later life. I had known, for example, that that he embraced the cause of Irish republicanism and was executed by the Free State but not that he served in coastal motor boats during WW1 - a job requiring excellent seamanship as well as almost insane courage.
All in all, a comprehensively researched and valuable addition to our understanding of a time when the world was slithering toward the great lights-out.



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Ask any passer-by to name a famous pirate and they might come up with Kidd (who arguably wasn't a pirate at all), Blackbeard, Morgan, the fictional Long John Silver - but Bartholomew Roberts? How come so few have heard of the most successful sea robber of all time, who is said to have captured some 400 ships in a career which lasted from 1718 to 1722.
Roberts was working as third mate on a slaver which was taken by fellow Welshman Howell Davis. Transferring to the pirate's crew he quickly won trust and responsibility, and was elected to command when Davis was killed. A combination of skill and luck brought him astonishing results, but also notoriety that made it impossible for him to retire from the life he had chosen. A habit of dressing for battle in bright red ensured that, when finally cornered by HMS Swallow, he was a very prominent target.
The book is well researched and covers parts of Davis' career as well as Roberts'. A full chapter is given to Captain Snelgrave's account of his captivity under Howell Davis. There are some interesting illustrations but the writing can be a tad bitty and makes too much use of italics. There is a list of books consulted, but no index, notes or primary sources. It still fills an important gap.

The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd by RichardZacks

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Captain William Kidd was one of history's most notorious and bloodthirsty pirates, right?
Wrong, according to this well-researched book. It presents him as a skilled seaman and commander, ambitious, but naive in the treacherous ways of political man. Having made his name and fortune as a merchant skipper in New York (then a notorious pirate haven) he took passage to London in the futile hope of an appointment as a Royal Navy captain. After kicking his heels for a while he obtained a commission as a privateer to hunt pirates and attack the king's enemies. From which point his self-belief and gradual accumulation of enemies eventually led him to Execution Dock.
The book contrasts his career with contemporary Robert Culliford, an unsavoury piece of work if ever there was one. There is a lot of detail so keeping track of characters, events and ships needs a certain amount of focus. Some of the reproduction maps and documents are printed so small as to be barely worth inclusion. There are acknowledgements, a list of sources and index but no text notes.
All in all, an interesting and worthwhile read.



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Kane by Graham Hurley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A new departure for Hurley's WW2 historical fiction series, looking at the cataclysm from an American perspective. A slightly slow start but soon picks up pace but perhaps with too many sub-plots to hang together quite as well as it should. One passing observation is, to my mind, a surprising historical howler - I'll leave you to see if you spot it and agree. Overall, then, good but not quite up to the standard of some previous works in this series. I'm sure the main characters will resurface soon enough and get properly into their stride.



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The Double-Cross System: In the War of 1939 to 1945 by J.C. Masterman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Written just after the end of the Second World War by one of the key participants, this is an important memoir of a key operation to 'turn' and play back German spies operating against Britain during the war. It's worth quoting the objectives of the operation as Masterman gives them:
1. To control the enemy system, or as much of it as we could get our hands on.
2. To catch fresh spies when they appeared.
3. To gain knowledge of the personalities and methods of the German Secret Service.
4. To get evidence of enemy plans and intentions from the questions asked by them.
5. To influence enemy plans by the answers sent to the enemy.
6. To deceive the enemy about our own plans and intentions.
With this in mind Masterman emphasises the unique value of double agents and the need to preserve them even at the expense of foregoing short-term gain. He does not fall into the trap of claiming that they alone shortened the war or denigrating other techniques of intelligence and deception.
Writing when he did he could not admit to the existence of the GCCS decryption operation which provided a valuable check on the double agents' honesty and success, though he does archly refer to 'secret sources' from time to time. The text refers to agents only by their cover names though, interestingly, some of the photo captions give their real identities. Presumably they were added later.
His conclusion observes that, in wartime, spying is difficult and counter-intelligence is relatively easy. In peacetime the reverse is true. Having celebrated the extent to which British agencies controlled the entire German espionage effort in this country it is odd that Masterman did not consider that our own efforts might be similarly penetrated.



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The Secret Pilgrim by John le Carré

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I suggest reading this immediately after The Russia House as it picks up the fortunes of Ned, a key character in that book, before and after the events it describes. If you read this one first it contains spoilers.
Ned, out to grass at the end of his career, reviews its triumphs and disasters while asking, in typical le Carré fashion, was there any difference and was there any point? Smiley is there as catalyst and conscience. And between them Ben and Smiley ruminate on the dangerous fascination of the spying trade where values are swamped in cynical technique.
As le Carré writes, '>...ideologies ... have no heart of their own. They're the whores and angels of our striving selves.' or of the Bear (Russia), 'Without his claws he'd be just another chaotic member of the Third World. But he isn't without his claws, not by any means.'
So, not a cheerful read by any means but thought-provoking, and as relevant today as when it was published in 1990.



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