Showing posts with label Mediteranean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mediteranean. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 May 2019

Defending The Rock: Book (Nicholas Rankin)

Along with looking in awe at Enigma Machines and the architecture of the British Library "inner space" I succumbed to buying  book from the British Library Bookshop - I think it was the trauma of being n a library and not being able to "browse"aisles of books (see below, I have his other books on Churchill's Wizards and Ian Fleming's Commandos, but confession I have not yet read them ):


I was fascinated by the premise of the book - Hitler regretted not taking Gibraltar in 1940 and blamed that action in 1945 for 'losing the war'. Fascinating reading. A nice little book that you can jump around and don't have to read sequentially. The chapters being more 'short stories' than strict chronology. The German analysis activities in 1940 were fascinating!

Sunday, 22 September 2013

Mediterranean 1914/1915 including Gallipolli Books (Naval) - Notes to Self

For me there are the big five main reference works to the Naval situation in the Mediterranean during the early period of WWI. You cannot escape the mass of detail in the Official/Unofficial Admiralty (endorsed if not actively sponsored the RN) of the  Naval History of WWI by Sir Julian Corbett (see below):

"Naval operations (History of the Great War based on official documents, by direction of the Historical section of the Committee of Imperial Defence)"


In addition there are two other books by Dan Van Der Vat (nope that' his real name fokes) worthy of reading. First, there is his "one that got away" the SMS Goeben book (see below):

 
Then there is the follow on story about the (naval) events were a consequence of the fiasco (see below):


What was also fascinating was the finding of a FREE digital copy (courtesy of Microsoft and Toronto University) of the book published privately in the 1920's (at the Admiral's own expense) by the Senior British Naval Officer (C-in-C of the Mediterranean Fleet) basically defending his decision-making and actions (see below): 


All of this rich history has a certain connection with Sir Winston Churchill, sadly not in a positive light. 

As a good overview read of WWI Naval in general  you cannot go wrong with "Castles of Steel" (see below):


I feel a stirring in my "dreadnought 1/3000 fleets" before Xmas 2013 (perhaps 2014 would be more appropriate)