The Battle of the Atlantic
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  • Published: 5 November 2015
  • ISBN: 9780241975855
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • Narrator: Jonathan Dimbleby
  • RRP: $29.99
Categories:

The Battle of the Atlantic

How the Allies Won the War

Formats & editions
Paperback
1 Aug 2016
EBook
22 Oct 2015
Audiobook
5 Nov 2015
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The gripping tale of the campaign that ultimately determined the outcome of the Second World War

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of The Battle of the Atlantic, written and read by Jonathan Dimbleby.

The Battle of the Atlantic was - though often overlooked - crucial to victory in the Second World War. If the German U-boats had prevailed, the maritime artery across the Atlantic would have been severed. Mass hunger would have consumed Britain, and the Allied armies would have been prevented from joining in the invasion of Europe. There would have been no D-Day.

Through fascinating contemporary diaries and letters, from the leaders and from the sailors on all sides, Jonathan Dimbleby creates a thrilling narrative that uniquely places the campaign in the context of the entire Second World War. Challenging conventional wisdom on the use of intelligence and on Churchill's bombing campaign, The Battle of the Atlantic tells the epic story of the decisions that led to victory, and the horror and humanity of life on those perilous seas.
  • Published: 5 November 2015
  • ISBN: 9780241975855
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • Narrator: Jonathan Dimbleby
  • RRP: $29.99
Categories:

About the author

Jonathan Dimbleby

Jonathan Dimbleby is a distinguished broadcaster and author, who has reported from Russia at pivotal moments in the country's recent history. His documentary series The Eagle and the Bear and The Cold War Game investigated the impact of the Soviet Union on the rest of the world. In 1989 he became the first British journalist to interview President Gorbachev when he met the Soviet leader shortly before his fall from power.

Jonathan Dimbleby has written several bestselling books, including a biography of his father Richard Dimbleby, The Palestinians, The Prince of Wales and The Last Governor. For many years he presented flagship political programmes for ITV, and he is well known as the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Any Questions.

portrait photo of Jonathan Dimbleby

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Praise for The Battle of the Atlantic

Winston Churchill famously described the Battle of the Atlantic as 'a war of groping and drowning, a war of ambuscade and stratagem, a war of science and seamanship' and no book depicts all of those myriad aspects better than Jonathan Dimbleby's majestic overview. His judgments can sometimes be harsh and are bound to be controversial, but they are backed up with wide reading, diligent scholarship and cogent argument. This is a truly gripping account of a campaign that the author rightly puts epicentral to the Allied victory in the Second World War.

Andrew Roberts, author of 'Masters and Commanders'

Fascinating, thought-provoking and entertaining. Explodes a number of self-serving myths

Andrew Roberts (on 'Destiny in the Desert: The Road to El Alamein')

Fresh and provocative

Peter Snow (on 'Destiny in the Desert')

A wonderfully incisive, superbly written history. What Dimbleby has nailed so brilliantly is what so many war historians miss: the big picture

Saul David (on 'Destiny in the Desert')

The epic Battle of the Atlantic can only really be understood when set against the strategic context of the time. This highly engaging history does this by combining gripping accounts of the tactics and operational fortunes of the Germans and the Allies in this bitterest of battles with an authoritative review of the strategic thinking that helps explain their motives and their responses at the highest national level, and that shows why victory was so important for both sides.

Professor Geoff Till, author of 'The Development of British Naval Thinking'

In this refreshing book Jonathan Dimbleby skilfully weaves together front line accounts and high policy discussions to provide a gripping and accessible new account of the most important campaign of the Second World War against Germany.

Professor Eric Grove, author of 'The Royal Navy since 1815'

A gripping read and a great contribution to the history of the Second World War. The author realizes his immense ambition of bringing out the human aspects of the drama at every level, from the heads of state to the crews in the Atlantic, while also bringing important nuances to received views on the struggle against the U-boats, and, indeed, on Churchill's war leadership. An epic account.

Peter Padfield, author of 'War Beneath the Sea: Submarine Conflict 1939-1945', and biographies of Dönitz, Himmler and Hess
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