Battle of the Arctic: The Epic Story of World War Two Amongst the Ice

by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

From the #1 bestselling author Hugh Sebag Montefiore, a spellbinding and fiercely told history of one of the most extreme episodes of the Second World War.

Battle of the Arctic is a wonderful, accessible history rooted in the Second World War. As the Soviet Union played its role in the fracas, Ally convoys from the UK, the United States and Iceland fought to deliver essential supplies to Russia. In a clash of extreme elements and fierce Axis opposition, the effort demonstrated like no other the commitment from other nations to supporting the Soviet Union.

Battle of the Arctic follows not just the Royal Navy and its successful efforts to shepherd ships through storms and past floating icebergs. It also tells a part of history which has never been properly understood by the British public. It involves the forgotten heroes of the Arctic convoys, the officers, armed guards and the ordinary civilian seamen, mostly from Britain and America, but also from Holland, Norway, Russia and Poland, condemned to carry on steaming their merchant ships slowly through the icy waters to and from Russia, even though they knew that at any moment they might be sunk.

This is a thrilling and important story that will leave you thankful to be on dry ground.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction

672 pages, Hardcover

First published November 4, 2025

About the author

Hugh Sebag-Montefiore was a barrister before becoming a journalist and historian. He has written for the Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, Observer, Independent on Sunday, and Mail On Sunday. His first book Kings On The Catwalk: The Louis Vuitton and Moët-Hennessy Affair was published in 1992.

Bletchley Park, the backdrop to much of the action in his first history book Enigma: The Battle For The Code (published in 2000), used to be owned by Hugh’s great great grandfather, Sir Herbert Leon. Hugh’s father, Stephen, used to stay at Bletchley Park every Christmas, at a time when the house was humming with servants, and when the garden was tended by no less than forty gardeners. During the run up to the 70th anniversary of the capture of the Enigma codebooks from German U-boat U-110, Hugh was commissioned by Bletchley Park to supply the text and photos for an exhibition describing the capture.

The location for the climax of his next book, Dunkirk: Fight To The Last Man (published in 2006), also summoned up forgotten memories within Hugh’s family. His cousin Denzil Sebag-Montefiore lost his precious ivory backed hair brushes engraved, with his initials, which had to be thrown into the sea at Dunkirk, along with other heavy items in his backpack, so that he would be more buoyant. He eventually made it back to England, after being heaved into one of the boats ferrying British soldiers out to the larger ships waiting off shore. Another cousin, Basil Jaffé, passed the time waiting to be rescued from the shallows near one of the Dunkirk beaches by reading his miniature edition of Shakespeare’s plays.

Hugh’s next book will tell the story of another great British military enterprise: the 1916 Battle of the Somme. It is to be published by Penguin in July 2016, at the beginning of the Somme centenary.

From http://www.hughsebagmontefiore.com/th...

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is epic. The author seems to have accounted for nearly every convoy ship and escort sunk in Arctic during World War II. The research is in depth. It includes WWII politics, naval actions by German and Britain and accounts by survivors of all nations. I knew very little about the Arctic convoys prior to reading this book. I have read a lot about WWII but had very little awareness that aircraft carriers and escort carriers we much used in the Atlantic theater. The is book greatly increased my understanding of the war and in particular the delivery of supplies to the Soviet Union. It should also be noted that this book leans very heavily on the British view of the convoys and the war. This is not a bad thing, but it does need to be considered by those reading the book who may be much more familiar an American viewpoint.

The book is very long and very detailed. I am glad I read it, but I definitely would not recommend it as a book for the casual reader. If you like stories about Arctic survival, naval battles, and allied infighting, you will probably find a lot of value in this book. I like all three and enjoyed it. It does become repetitive, though this is no fault of the author. Convoy boats sunk time after time and men (and some women) froze to death each time. This happens over and over. For a book this comprehensive, there is repetitiveness.

Overall, this is a great book for any WWII naval enthusiast. If you like details, this book has them.

[Boudewijn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Battle of the Arctic combines a story of the grand strategy of the Allied alliance with stories from those who experienced it.

Churchill's attempt to keep Russia in the war meant that the British and American merchant fleet had not only to conquer German resistance, but also the weather. Due attention is given to the Scharnhorst, the U-boats and the Luftwaffe who all tried to sink the merchants, often carrying tanks and trucks, to destroy them before they even could be deployed on the Eastern front. And the (in)famous scatter command from Douglas Pound.

Very interesting to read were the chapters about the reception the Allied merchants received in Russia. The appaling hospitals, the contacts with the Russian civilians and the famine in Archalangsk - in a country where the NKVD registered everything.

And than the stories of the shipwrecked merchants. The sinking of a merchant often meant dead for the crews, not only due to the torpedo explosions but also the cold seas, where even the strongest men would not survive for more than three minutes. And even when a place was secured in a rescue ship, this not always meant survival. Some shipwrecked were never to be seen. This book is full of personal tragedies and heroes.

Hugh Sebag-Montefiorie has succeeded in writing a book that will keep you interested until the last page/minute, providing an excellent balance between (grand) strategy and personal stories.

I listened to the audiobook version (24u42min) on Spotify, told by the excellent narration by Alfred McNish.

[Alan Blyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having known some of the convoy veterans referred to or quoted in the book, it has been an emotional and very rewarding experience, often feeling like meeting old friends after many years away. As someone who has read about the Arctic Convoys for more than 30 years and takes an obsessive interest due to the loss of a family member in this theatre of war, I would say this is one of the best books on the subject that I have read. The author selects carefully which episodes in the nearly-four-year campaign to concentrate on, and has a knack for combining the best known and well documented events (such as PQ17, Battle of the Barents Sea and North Cape) with new (at least to me) material, both archival and eye-witness accounts, as well as developing lesser known episodes. World events, technical advancements and intelligence (both allied Ultra and German codebreaking) are woven amongst the often harrowing accounts of the seamen (and occasional sea women), submariners and airmen operating in the most hostile environment imaginable. At 600 pages plus 200 of appendices, maps, notes and bibliography, this could have been a challenge to get through, but the way the stories are narrated keeps the pace going from start to finish.

[Tom Fishwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good read, I learnt a lot about the Arctic Convoys and the politics behind them. It is mostly from the Allies point of view, with sources from the Axis point of view to fill in parts that need more explanation and to put in their internal politics.
Wider events of World War 2 are often glossed over, e.g. D-day, VE-day. But those that had an obvious impact on the Arctic Convoys were, e
.g. Siege of Stalingrad, Invasion of North Africa.
The book was well sourced with good explanations of the fleet actions, plus it has a lot of amazing maps.

[Mark Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. Imagine Russia’s partnership with Germany started world war II. Nazi Germany attacked Poland September 1, 1939 and Russia attacked Poland September 17. By June 22, 1941, just after Britain repelled the German attack during the Battle of Britain. Suddenly communist Russia lead by Stalin wanted 500 aircraft per month. Which at the time was Britain’s total production of aircraft. Britain would offer 250. Stalin would constantly criticize the allied effort to deliver supplies to Russia. Then after the war Russia would claim that the supplies did not offer anything to the Russia war effort.

The truth was 120% of all aluminum were supplied by Britain and USA. 140% of the all fuel was supplied by Britain and USA. Without aluminum Russia could not make the aluminum engines manufactured for the T34 tanks. 80% of all trucks were American, like studebakers, Chryslers, and Fords.

In 1941 and 1942 fronts in the desert, and Asia suffered for the supplies sent to Russia. In the end Russia never paid for military supplies, in this lend lease deal. They did pay for non military supplies like food. Food that kept Russia surviving and gave them the chance to fight back.

The battles portrayed in the books for such a long lasting campaign are describe accurately and very interesting way. Read many books during this period for the Arctic was but none do the excellent job of this book. The other thing that is illustrated well is how little medical support Russia provided to Martine crews, or how little hospitality was supplied to sailors risking their lives for Russia resupply.

The amazing thing is how Germany fought so desperately in the Arctic, using U-boats, ships, and aircraft. The truth is that Britain and USA got so much better at defense of these convoys. Using technology, and superior industrial capacity to overwhelm the attacking forces of Germany. Breaking the enigma code certainly helped, but having the right tools and enough of them made all the difference in the world, to the point it was to costly for the German attackers to continue the offense in these extremely brutal conditions. The German attackers never stopped, but towards the end the attacks were no longer effective deterrence. The supplies were getting thru.

[Taylor Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for quality of writing, research, and narrator voice acting.

3.5 stars for personal enjoyment; it was good, and I'm glad I read it. I'm not sure I will reread this, though.

The author is very thorough in presenting accounts from all sides involved -- Allies, civilians, refugees, Nazi military, etc. I love that he compiled maps and made them available to audiobook readers.

Award for best narrator portrayals of 1950s Hollywood-style stereotypical accents for Russian, German, and British and American English, among others.

[Ernest Spoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A huge, well and deeply researched World War II history. As my later father was in the US Navy in WWII I kind of gravitated toward books about the Pacific Theater, so this was a new experience for me. I had read of the Arctic convoys in magazines, like Military History but knew little of them. After a slow start, in which I was nearly bored enough to return the book to the library, the action within the narrative picked up pace. I was fascinated, and at times appalled by the accounts, some in excruciating detail, ship sinking and the heroics of the survivors.

[Julian Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure why this is listed and not published until 6 January, as I bought it on Kindle and have successfully read and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Fully bringing to the fore the bravery, heroics and horrors of the war in the Arctic, you can almost taste the sea spray and engine oil as the author takes you through the various vessels and battles which comprise this theatre of war.

A gripping read.

[Marshall Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about a relatively unknown theater in WW II. While the disaster that was PQ-17 had been much written about, this is the first campaign history of the Arctic that I’ve seen. The conditions that the survivors of sunken ships had to endure were horrifying, but I was surprised that the merchant marine casualties were much lower than I thought they would be. The map section, 24 total, are superb.

[Sheri S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

German U-boats and Allied ships had many, many conflicts in the Arctic. The Allies were attempting to transport goods and supplies to Stalin through the Arctic, but this wasn't always effective. The book tells the stories of ships that went down as well as those that made it through the perspective of survivors.

[Ids · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but very repetitive and fragmented.

[Stephen Ditman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7 stars

[Joe Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly detailed mapping. Enjoyable but very full on read.