The Longest Battle: The War at Sea, 1939-45

by Richard Hough

Book Overview

In every theater and across every ocean, World War Two's naval battles raged ceaselessly. For those who served shipboard, danger lurked 24 hours a day from increasingly lethal weapons borne by planes... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688079539
• ISBN13: 9780688079536
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Quill
• Length: 371 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Good Overview of Naval History of WWII

The book begins in the early days of Sept 1939 with action at Scapa Flow, the English Channel and progresses to the landings on Norway, artic convoys and the battle of the Atlantic. The destruction of the Bismark, and later the Prince of Wales in the Far East is included. Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Doolittle's Raid are part of the Pacific timeline the author weaves. The sea and air battles in the Med including Malta and Crete are also here. Moving toward late 1942 there is the Guadalcanal campaign and the attack on the Saratoga in the Pacific and the reversing of the tide with the German wolfpacks in the Atlantic. Heading toward the end of 1943 there is Tarawa. Then in 1944, Operation Neptune is discussed and the book ends in the Pacific with the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Battle for the Atlantic, the Guadalcanal campaign and the battle for Leyte have the largest segments in the book. The author is concise and does have an interesting style and if you are just starting out, you will learn a lot. Most people will like this book but my suggestion is: if you have already done some reading on the naval history of the war, this book will be an extravagance for this is your basic primer . If you want a summary or are starting out then give this book serious consideration.

The Longest Battle; The War at Sea 1939-45

General accounts of WWII naval campaigns are not in short supply. Readers may wonder if the world needs another, especially a reprint first published in 1986. Yet it's a good one.A straightforward chronicle, the book begins on September 3, 1939. The author points out that the 'phony war' that persisted till May 1940 was no such thing at sea. U-boat and surface actions strained the British navy to its limit. Vicious battles in spring 1940 failed to prevent Nazi occupation of Norway but destroyed so many German surface vessels that they ceased to present a strategic threat. English naval historian Hough spends a great deal of his book on the travails of his country: the U-boat war as well as the destruction of half a dozen German surface vessels, but these remain gripping stories. The author accepts the traditional view that the Allies won the Battle of the Atlantic by a whisker although Clay Blair (Hitler's U-boat War, Random House, 1996) insists the issue was never in doubt. Americans need reminding of the 1940-42 Mediterranean campaign which was definitely won by a whisker. Fighting to hold Malta and keep supplies from Axis forces in North Africa, the British devastated the Italian fleet but suffered terrible losses from U-boats and aircraft. Victory wasn't assured until Hitler transferred much of his air force to the Russian front.On a different, gargantuan scale were the awesome fleet actions across the Pacific. Besides recounting the campaigns in all their Wagnerian detail, the author mentions a reason for the allied victory readers often forget: despite their willingness to die, Japanese naval leaders lacked the killer instinct. From Pearl Harbor to the Guadalcanal battles to Leyte Gulf, their admirals failed to press home their attacks or sailed off after a satisfying tactical victory.Samuel Eliot Morison's massive but eminently readable work remains the benchmark, but this is a fine single volume history.

A fascinating history of World War II Naval conflict.

In this book, Richard Hough covers the historical angle very well; that's a requirement. He teaches the reader about naval conflict in World War II quite nicely. But his main accomplishment is to make it very interesting. This book is a good read; Hough makes it a pleasure to learn what he's teaching. Highly reccommended.

Great Information on World War 2 Naval Operations.

If you are a World War II Navy or Air Force historian, this book is very informative. Its author told the events as they happened and included well researched eye-witness accounts.