Of all the threats that faced his country in World War II, Winston
Churchill said, just one really scared him--what he called the
"measureless peril" of the German U-boat campaign.
In that global conflagration, only one battle--the struggle for the
Atlantic--lasted from the very first hours of the conflict to its
final day. Hitler knew that victory depended on controlling the
sea-lanes where American food and fuel and weapons flowed to the
Allies. At the start, U-boats patrolled a few miles off the eastern
seaboard, savagely attacking scores of defenseless passenger ships
and merchant vessels while hastily converted American cabin
cruisers and fishing boats vainly tried to stop them. Before long,
though, the United States was ramping up what would be the greatest
production of naval vessels the world had ever known.
Then the battle became a thrilling cat-and-mouse game between the
quickly built U.S. warships and the ever-more cunning and lethal
U-boats. The historian Richard Snow captures all the drama of the
merciless contest at every level, from the doomed sailors on an
American freighter defying a German cruiser, to the amazing Allied
attempts to break the German naval codes, to Winston Churchill
pressing Franklin Roosevelt to join the war months before Pearl
Harbor (and FDR's shrewd attempts to fight the battle alongside
Britain while still appearing to keep out of it).
Inspired by the collection of letters that his father sent his
mother from the destroyer escort he served aboard, Snow brings to
life the longest continuous battle in modern times.
With its vibrant prose and fast-paced action, "A Measureless Peril
"is an immensely satisfying account that belongs on the small shelf
of the finest histories ever written about World War II.
General
Imprint: |
Scribner Book Company
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
May 2011 |
First published: |
May 2011 |
Authors: |
Richard Snow
|
Dimensions: |
227 x 153 x 29mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
368 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4165-9111-5 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
Promotions
|
LSN: |
1-4165-9111-7 |
Barcode: |
9781416591115 |
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