Castles of Steel Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War At Sea
by Massie, Robert K
- Used
- Very Good
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0345408780
- ISBN 13
- 9780345408785
- Seller
-
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Random House. Very Good. 2003. First Paperback Edition. Softcover. 0345408780 . Card covers show light shelf wear, previous owner's name on title page and place on the fly leaf. ; A bright, solid book. A section of B&W photos ; Trade PB; 6.1 X 1.3 X 9.13 inches; 865 pages; " a sequel to Dreadnought that is imposing in both size and quality, taking the British and German battle fleets through WWI. The fluent narrative begins amid the diplomatic crisis of July 1914 and ends with the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919. Massie makes a coherent if long narrative out of a sequence of events familiar to students of naval history but probably not to many other potential readers. The focus is on the two fleets that confronted each other across the North Sea, their weapons and tactics and their complex and controversial leaders, both military and political. As in his other books, the author describes his cast of characters with the vividness of a novelist, British Admiral Beatty's disastrous marriage being a painful case in point. What emerges from that focus is not only a number of outstanding battle narratives (Jutland is only the most famous), but a closely argued case for the German fleet having been a disaster for its country's war effort. Once built, the High Seas Fleet made war with England and the blockade of Germany inevitable. Unable to break the blockade with that expensive fleet, Germany felt compelled to choose between a negotiated peace and unrestricted submarine warfare. Once the Germans chose the latter course, American intervention and disaster become nearly unavoidable. It may seem odd to describe a book of this size as an "introduction," but readers will soon understand that the size of the topic requires a long narrative. "Castles of steel" was Winston Churchill's grand phrase for the Grand Fleet and its German counterpart, and this unusually fine military narrative lives up to it as well." (Pub. Weekly) .
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Details
- Bookseller
- Ainsworth Books (CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 21044
- Title
- Castles of Steel Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War At Sea
- Author
- Massie, Robert K
- Format/Binding
- Softcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Edition
- First Paperback Edition
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0345408780
- ISBN 13
- 9780345408785
- Publisher
- Random House
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2003
- Keywords
- 0345408780, fleets, scapa flow, blockade
- Bookseller catalogs
- Militaria;
Terms of Sale
Ainsworth Books
Satisfaction guaranteed - if I have made an error in the description, I will refund book and shipping both ways. If the customer just changes his/her mind I will only refund one shipping charge. Please contact me before sending a book back. Any dust jackets on books will have a Mylar protector. Books shipped from US or Canada.
About the Seller
Ainsworth Books
Biblio member since 2003
Chilliwack, British Columbia
About Ainsworth Books
Ainsworth Books was for many years a bricks and mortar store in Vancouver, BC. When we acquired the store, we moved to a location in Delta. After three years we moved the stock home and started operation as an online, by appointment only operation. I have worked with books my whole adult life and enjoy giving recommendations.
Glossary
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- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...