The Burning Shore: How Hitler's U-Boats Brought World War II to America

by Professor Ed Offley

[MP3-CD audiobook format in Vinyl case. * The MP3-CD format requires a compatible audio CD player.]

[Includes a bonus PDF]

[Read by Robertson Dean]

A gripping tale of heroism and sacrifice, The Burning Shore describes how a small band of mariners and aviators drove Hitler's wolf packs from America's home waters. -- On June 15, 1942, as thousands of vacationers lounged in the sun on Virginia Beach, a massive fireball erupted from a convoy of oil tankers steaming into Chesapeake Bay. By the next day, three ships lay at the bottom of the channel, victims of Lieutenant-Commander Horst Degen and his crew on the German submarine U-701. -- In The Burning Shore , acclaimed military reporter Ed Offley presents a thrilling account of Degen's rampage along the American coast and of US Lieutenant Harry J. Kane's quest to bring him down. Since the beginning of 1942, German U-boats had prowled the waters of the Atlantic, sinking merchant ships and threatening to sever the lifeline of supplies flowing from the United States to Great Britain. But when Kane and his crew spotted the silhouette of U-701 offshore that summer, the ensuing clash signaled a critical turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic--and the beginning of an unlikely friendship between the two rival commanders.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Military History, Audiobook, American History

1 pages, MP3 CD

First published March 25, 2014

Reviews

[Kieran Healy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating topic, but a rather dull explanation of it. Well researched, but I finished the book not feeling that I got an entire story. Ships were exploding within sight of shore in America, but that portion of the story seems almost a fraction of the focus. How was the civilian response? What was the press response, or how was press response curtailed by the government? Offley seemed to want to tell the story of one German submarine commander and his American pilot counterpart, but it's just not that interesting a story.

[Edward Wendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gets off to a slow start and is sometimes bogged down a bit by technical descriptions, but it is a rewarding story in the end. It provides yet another snapshot of the Second World War, and a more personalized account of both sides of this battle at sea.

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author did a good job telling a story of two individuals, while setting the scope for the story, as well as providing a full context for their encounter. There are more detailed studies of the overall U-Boat war along the American coast, but this story is a bit more focused. There are so many points one could branch out and go in to much more details, code breaking, radio direction finding, the evolution of the convoy system, and so much more. The author gives one enough detail for the overall narrative to make sense without getting lost in the details, nor creating an overly long work. That is certainly good praise for this book.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good balance between the stories of a pilot and a U-boat commander and their fateful encounter and a broader study of the submarine campaign on US coastal shipping.

[Kai Layana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love buying and reading these types of books.
Boats, yachts, historical events and books about the sea are generally excellent. If there are sequels in your series, I would love to read them.

The beauties of owning the books of important authors cannot be discussed. I'm looking forward to your new books.

For friends who want to read this book, I leave the importance of reading a book here. I wish good luck to the sellers and customers...

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[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. It was fast paced and told of the attacks from a bit of a different perspective. I have read about the War in the North Atlantic before and have read about Operation Drumbeat before. I found the minelaying operation to be something that was more devastating than I had thought. Offley also had a solid section in the book related to the Japanese attacks on the west coast and the hysteria that prevailed there.

This is a very good book that I would recommend for anyone interested in submarine warfare and the attacks on the eastern seaboard. It would also be of interest as background for anyone studying the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII or the attacks on the Pacific Coast.

[Jim Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a good overall perspective on the U-Boat war off the coast of the US during WWII. What makes this different is that it is personal. The tale of a US Pilot and the U-Boat caption of the sub he sank goes beyond the war to their friendship that came later. It's a more personal decription of this part of the war. Descriptions of what militray on both sides experienced during this phase of the war and the aftermath of the war are clear and easy to understand. As we have rewer and fewer people who were in or knew people who were in the war, this gives a perspective to younger readers.

[A. Lieberson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book on how the Germans used U boats in 1942 along the Atlantic Coast to destroy merchant ships heading to England with supplies for the War. What makes the book interesting is the two main characters. One, the captain of U Boat 701 and the Air Force pilot who sunk the U boat. The two men become friends in the 1980s.

[Michael Keenan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a compelling narrative, but a very informative read about a chapter of the World War 2 story that I don't recall learning about in school. The concept of Nazi submarines once lurking off the shore in Cape May, NJ where we have spent many summer vacations kinda blew my mind.

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

finally!

None of this information about the war off American shores was available to me when I was a child in school. Contains info from both American and German sources of information.

Well written. Slightly dry but not too much so. Would recommend!

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Offley has penned a captivating tale of Kapitänleutnant Horst Degen and his submarine, U-701, hunting for American shipping along the east coast as part of Operation Drumbeat -- and also, his American adversary and neophyte sub-hunter, 2nd Lieutenant Harry Kane.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative. I learned a great deal. Interesting and I did not know this happened so close to where I live.

[Lozza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read about the U-boat invasion on the US East coast in 1942. An example of what can happen when a country lets its guard down.

[Robert Drumheller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world should be glad that the Germans did not possess a large u-boat fleet in 1942.

[Candace Simar · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting historical rendition. I had no idea the scope and danger of U boat attacks on the eastern coast during WW2. Worth reading.

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting history. Had no idea there was this much war action that close to the U.S. shores.

[Al Levinrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but a little slow. I had no idea how much U boat activity was happening on our east coast.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but not essential. It does give some details of the stress of being on a German U-boat, but it is a bit all over the place.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy read about an important subject. Little did I realize how close the "Battle of the Atlantic" came to the U.S. coast during WWII. It was absolutely fascinating (and unsettling) to learn that German U-boats had laid mines in U.S. harbors and landed saboteurs on the shore during the war.

Offley nicely balances his focus on one particular U-boat captain and one particular anti-submarine warfare pilot with a discussion of the overall happenings of this stage of the Battle of the Atlantic. Mostly you get the personal view, but with a good sense of the overall context of what was happening, the tactics and strategies involved, etc. For the first time, I really understood what a difference the convoy system made when it was instituted. I also appreciated his detailed discussion of the German Enigma coding system... I now understand that better than I have before.

The afterword is interesting for its discussion of the growing correspondence and even friendship between the U-boat captain and the pilot who sunk him. It would've been fascinating to hear more about this!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the six months following Pearl Harbor, the United States was unable to muster an effective submarine defense along the East Coast. Uboats devastated Allied shipping in the narrow lane between the Gulf Stream and the North Carolina coast. However, by the end of July, 1942, the American defenses were so effective that the Germans gave up trying to attack coastwise traffic and the Uboats returned to hunting the Atlantic. Offley deftly contextualizes this battle in the larger story of World War II, showing us the struggle through the eyes the the opposing admirals, Andrews and Donitz, each of whom faced challenges from his own commanders as well as from the enemy. What drives the narrative, however, and makes this book a pleasure to read, is the personalized story of U-701, commanded by Horst Degen, and the A-29 bomber, commanded by Harry Kane, which sank her off Cape Hatteras on July 7, 1942. By presenting the back stories of these two officers, the details of their extraordinary encounter and their subsequent lives, Offley creates a gripping story that makes a little corner of military history come to life.

[Barry Martin Vass · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very detailed description of the war in the Atlantic for the six months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Nazi Germany sent dozens of U-boats to sink and disrupt shipping along the East Coast, as well as mine harbors in New York, Virginia and North Carolina, from December 7th, 1941 to June, 1942, and during this period the US Armed Forces were woefully unorganized and undermanned. Gradually, and sometimes by sheer force of will, America stopped the carnage and built itself into a fighting force. There are several interesting asides in this book, notably that when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor they never notified Adolf Hitler; and the shelling by a Japanese submarine on a fuel storage farm in Santa Barbara that caused no damage but terrorized the West Coast for weeks on end. The completely unexpected turnaround by the US against the U-boats came about in May 1943. This helped to ensure the flow of men and materiel to Europe, was a major factor in the Allies' invasion of Normandy and everything that happened later. An interesting read.

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the first half of 1942, Nazi Germany sent U-boats to the shores of America to savage the merchantmen and tankers plying the coastal waterways. At this stage of war, America was ill-prepared to deal with such an incursion, having too few ships, two few airplanes and ineffective naval leadership. For many months, Germany's 'grey wolves' sank ship after ship as America tried to build an effective counter force. Author Edward Offley chronicles those long, brutal months and America's eventual triumph over the U-boats in this gripping, comprehensive book published in 2014.

Mike O. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading this book I hadn't known that swarms of German U-boats were sinking scores of merchant ships and Allied warships within sight of the US east coast during the first 8-9 months of the US entry into WWII. "The Burning Shore" along with Ian Toll's book about the first 6 months of the Pacific arena, "Pacific Crucible", informs me of what must have been a fearful mindset behind blustery speech by leaders in the early days of the war.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Submarines on North American shores
There isn’t a lot that has been written about German submarines off the shores of North America during World War II, and many are blissfully unaware of this activity. The Burning Shore brings this history to life with lots of details about real events. You will probably be surprised on more than one occasion!

[Matthew Sparling · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK read with lots of facts and details. It reads more like a text book or ships log than anything else. While some of the details are interesting I found the overall telling of the times/battles/people to dull and devoid of anything interesting. It was dry even for a non-fiction book.

[Gus Breymann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had had little prior knowledge of the extent of the German devastation of shipping along the Atlantic coast. The book was informative in that respect. Also, the ending with two old enemies getting together was a surprise.

[Arthur Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the points of view as well as how it all was connected! Pretty good book about the battles that were fought right off the US East Coast. Focused mainly on one U-Boat but did a very good job at explaining it's war patrols.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decided to try this again but still just liked it - didn’t love it. What should have been an exciting book was just a bit bland. Perhaps it’s simply a stylistic difference between what the author delivered and what I look for in a great book. This was good but not great.

[Kevin Spaeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

really a 4.5 star rating

[Marguerite · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a gift so I might not have considered reading it at this time. I am glad I did. It was so interesting and terrifying at the same time. Highly recommend.