A former officer in the Royal Navy, John Pratt was the author of a variety of fiction and non-fiction works published under the pen name John Winton. Pratt also served for 14 years as an obituarist for The Daily Telegraph.
Initially I was not going to read this novel - how ridiculous a plot a Polaris Sub entering the Black Sea on a reconnaissance mission! What was the author thinking of? Then the penny on this dim brain dropped. The story line highlighted once again the parlous state of our armed forces. There was no other Sub available!!!And the lordships wanted the task doing… For whatever reasons…. The story line proceeded a pace - a page turner….highlighting the thin line of UK forces and our continued reliance on our US allies… A splendid read..
Really enjoyed Sam Willis’s book. He clearly has a deep knowledge of the era and the nautical side, along with a talent for writing naval battle scenes. Willis uses the painting and the ship to journey through nearly 100 years of British Naval history and it’s quite successful.