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The Atlantic Campaign
Despite the attention given to the Battle of Britain and famous land battles, many British experts believe that the war in Europe was actually won at sea. The Atlantic Campaign is packed with dramatic and extraordinary the struggle for Norway, the hunt for the Bismarck, the sinking of the Scharnhorst and Tirpitz, and the final defeat of the U-boat menace are all covered in this dramatic narrative.
376 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1988
66 people want to read
About the author
Dan van der Vat
25 books10 followersDaniel Francis Jeroen van der Vat, born in Holland and educated in Britain he worked as a journalist for British newspapers including The Times and The Guardian.
His books on twentieth-century history include many works on Naval history.
His books on twentieth-century history include many works on Naval history.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 5, 2018
No other "Battle" came as close to taking Britain out of the war as Admiral Doenitz's submarine war on the ocean lifeline between the Americas and the British Isles. Churchill claimed it was the one thing he truly feared would win the war for Hitler. Had we lost the Atlantic Campaign, we would have lost the war.
That said, writing coherently about the Atlantic Campaign can be a monumental challenge. It's a story built largely around highly technical information (10 cm radar, HF/DF, Ultra, etc), or tedious lists of ships in convoy. Attacks on convoys were typically didn't last very long, so the vast amount of time spent in the crossing was incredibly boring. A writer has to find a way to make the subject engaging and compelling. Van der Vat pulls it off.
IMO, Michael Gannon's "Black May" has always been the best look at the Campaign, but it focuses primarily on the single point in time where the scales tipped irrevocably in the Allies' favor. Van der Vat's book is at the same level of writing skill, detail, and analysis as Gannon's (high praise indeed!).
I'm particularly impressed by van der Vat's skill at addressing the roles the Allied navies played. There was the loud know-it-all US Navy under the Anglophobic Admiral Ernest King, who wanted to ignore the whole thing in favor of the Pacific, the small but vital Canadian Navy's role, and the Royal Navy with all of its hard-won experience facing down a loud, threatening, and ignorant new ally. The personalities of the people involved are the key to making his account so engaging and informative.
Highly recommend if you're interested in WWII naval history.
That said, writing coherently about the Atlantic Campaign can be a monumental challenge. It's a story built largely around highly technical information (10 cm radar, HF/DF, Ultra, etc), or tedious lists of ships in convoy. Attacks on convoys were typically didn't last very long, so the vast amount of time spent in the crossing was incredibly boring. A writer has to find a way to make the subject engaging and compelling. Van der Vat pulls it off.
IMO, Michael Gannon's "Black May" has always been the best look at the Campaign, but it focuses primarily on the single point in time where the scales tipped irrevocably in the Allies' favor. Van der Vat's book is at the same level of writing skill, detail, and analysis as Gannon's (high praise indeed!).
I'm particularly impressed by van der Vat's skill at addressing the roles the Allied navies played. There was the loud know-it-all US Navy under the Anglophobic Admiral Ernest King, who wanted to ignore the whole thing in favor of the Pacific, the small but vital Canadian Navy's role, and the Royal Navy with all of its hard-won experience facing down a loud, threatening, and ignorant new ally. The personalities of the people involved are the key to making his account so engaging and informative.
Highly recommend if you're interested in WWII naval history.
February 2, 2024
Teetered on the brink of giving this book five stars. It was there first, when it comes to putting the pieces together, and it did a grand job overall. Because it was published in 1988, it cannot be said to be "definitive" (a word I hate--nothing is definitive when it comes to writing history) but it's damned good. If you wanted to supplement it with the work of David Syrett and "Jock" Gardner, you'd be most of the way towards having an excellent overview of what happened. My own "Home Fleet" book would be of lesser import, but still useful. As it stands it was and is an invaluable addition to the literature on the war at sea 1939-1945.
December 31, 2025
Awesome book. Not dull at all. Gave a clear picture of all sides in the war.
March 14, 2024
Published in 1988, van der Vat's book is still the best overall history of the Atlantic Campaign in WW2. The book is filled with detail but not overwhelming, with nice bios of key individuals, and the author gives a very fair assessment to both sides of the campaign. Van der Vat is a fine writer, keeping the reader's interest throughout the book.
And he shows that it was the Atlantic Campaign that decided the fate of England. If it was lost, so was England. The Battle of Britain just had better PR.
And he shows that it was the Atlantic Campaign that decided the fate of England. If it was lost, so was England. The Battle of Britain just had better PR.
April 8, 2013
First book I ever found that truly did justice to the history of the war in the Atlantic ocean durring WW2. The most facinating part were all of the interviews and historical documentation from the German side. A very fair book. Something not found in many history books.
August 31, 2010
Most boring book out there about the Navy. Also, no Americans since they didn't really use the Navy in the Atlantic and the war in that ocean was mostly over in 1943.
August 5, 2011
Probably the best account of this specific naval campaign you can find all in one book. The author is uniquely readable and enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews