The End of Glory: War & Peace in HMS Hood, 1916-1941

by Bruce Taylor

There have been many fine books, movies, and television shows about the legendary HMS Hood. No work has ever offered the level of in-depth research combined with such a fine narrative as in THE END OF GLORY. The great battlecruiser HMS Hood was the ship that flew the flag across the world in the 1930s during the twilight years of the British Empire. In 1941 she was destroyed in seconds by the battleship Bismarck, a catastrophe that dumbfounded the British public. For the officers and crew who manned her for twenty years, she was a home. This new book, through official documents as well as the personal accounts and memories of more than 150 crewmen, offers a vivid image of the difficult life on a warship in peacetime and in war.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 3, 2012

About the author

Bruce Taylor was born in Chile in 1967 and educated at the University of Manchester and at Oxford where he received a doctorate in Modern History in 1996. He is author of The Battlecruiser HMS Hood: An Illustrated Biography, 1916–1941 (2005), co-author with Daniel Morgan of U-Boat Attack Logs: A Complete Record of Warship Sinkings from Original Sources, 1939–1945 (2011), and author of The End of Glory: War and Peace in HMS Hood (2012). He has lived in California since 1997 and makes his living as a freelance translator.

Reviews

[Rob Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Excellent Read

Very well written, and easy to read. Probably the best book I have read on the life and times of an individual ship. No other book I have read delves into the deepest, darkest, and dirtiest secrets of life at sea as this one does. One closes the book at the end feeling as if they know the ship personally, in a small way. The author has really opened up understanding life in the Royal Navy at the time, warts and all, it's mechanics, the mental and emotional journey. His examinations of certain situations, are written in a way that allows the reader to understand why decisions were made, or actions taken.
A great book, recommended.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

The End of Glory is an abridged update of the author’s earlier book on the ship (The Battlecruiser Hood: An Illustrated Biography), although at 210 pages of relatively small text, there’s still plenty of content. The aim of the book seems to have been to create something that was a bit more accessible to a broader audience, steering clear of technical details and focussing on the human story, and it does that very well – it’s excellently written, with a strong focus on the crew and what their lives were like aboard ship – but also providing a detailed description of Hood’s participation in Operation Catapult and the Battle of the Denmark Strait.

There’s a whole chapter on the Invergordon Mutiny (with the focus being on Hood’s involvement, as would be expected), and more broadly the author does an excellent job of providing readers with a broader but accessible and readable look into social issues in the RN in the 1920s and 1930s. It liberally users excerpts from material written or spoken by people who were there, in a way that adds depth, authenticity and character to the work.

The quality of the book is excellent, be it the standard of writing, editing or research. The way the text flows draws the reader along, engaging them well. Editing and attention to detail is of a very high standard. I didn’t see any obvious typos while reading, and just a couple of inconsistencies in the use of rank (most of the time in the book, the rank used is “at the time” of the event in discussion, with the text noting whether a higher rank was reached later, or it’s a higher rank, but every now and again a higher/later rank is used “at the time” with no explanation). This is, of course. the tiniest of issues, and doesn’t take away from the story at all.

The only minor gripe of any substance that affected me was that on two occasions a Latin phrase was used without translation. It was no biggy, as Google Translate could come to the rescue. Indeed that the niggles identified here are the biggest issues I had with the book is testament to its quality! As well as that, it’s worth noting that there’s still a fair bit of naval/nautical terminology used – it’s no reason not to read the book, but it may require a little bit of dictionary digging if someone reading it hasn’t had much exposure to that language.

There’s a chunky plates section in the middle of the book with a good number of images (not surprising, given the book’s heritage), as well as a guide to further reading, a Roll of Honour for those lost on 24 May 1941, and an index.

All up, it’s an easy recommend for anyone interested in HMS Hood that hasn’t already read “The Battlecruiser Hood: An Illustrated Biography”, or is generally interested in the Royal Navy in the 1920s, 1930s and the first year and a half of the Second World War.

[John McNair · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent book. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was no quick and easy read. Yet the author created a flowing narrative that drew me in completely. I learned much. Most know that HMS Hood blew up suddenly when engaged by the Bismark, but there is so much more to the story. Yes, the Hood went down quickly and, yes, it was probably a catastrophic fire in an after magazine, caused by the penetration of a 15 inch shell from Bismark, that caused it. That narrative (and the aftermath) formed the latter third of the book. First readers are made aware of the immense toil that went into building HMS Hood after the First World War, its 20 years of representing all that was good of Britain around the world (in effect, peacekeeping), its deterioration through the latter part of the 1930s until it was truly a miserable ship on which to serve, and then being thrust into a war against a foe it was no longer prepared to fight. HMS Hood's demise was almost predictable. So, there's all that to this book - the ship, its crew, its leadership, admirals who hoisted their pennants in it (there were many - HMS Hood was the preeminent battle cruiser in the world for many years). I had no idea how the tragedy struck at the very core of Britain (England in particular but also Scotland, and indeed throughout the Commonwealth). Generations on and I suppose largely forgotten now, but this book informs the reader very well as to when HMS Hood personified all that was great about Britain.

[Christopher Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, needs accompanying dramatisation

The Hood was a ship, but this book, while still making readers mourn her loss, more than anything reminds of the need to mourn those who perished on her. This book does a fabulous job of filling gaps left by many books, not just those about the Hood but war-related books more generally, that overlook what life, and death, in war was like. It doesn't attempt to glorify anything, it is an honest warts and all comprehensive discussion, interspersed with words from those who actually sailed on her, of their lives and Hood's life. As the Hood served for so long and due to her significant peacetime role, the book naturally and rightly includes her whole history. All that is missing now is for someone to use this book as a basis to turn into a TV series or movie.

As a side note, I read the Kindle version and found that it worked well. The book is primarily text, but the photos that were included work well. But there are other books on the Hood which are more visual, and they'd probably be better bought as physical copies.

See also my blog post: https://hoodcp.wordpress.com/2020/07/...