<p>This collection of thought-provoking essays by arguably the 20th century's greatest naval historian was first published in 1974, but their continuing relevance fully justifies this reprint. It opens with a stimulating reappraisal of the naval attack on the Dardanelles, the success of which would have made the disastrous Gallipoli land campaign that followed completely unnecessary. Marder identifies a number of relatively minor issues that made a failure of what was in reality a great strategic opportunity to shorten the war. Other chapters cover what the Royal Navy did and did not learn from the Great War, and Churchill's controversial time at the Admiralty before he became Prime minister in 1940, while Marder's analysis of the inter-war Ethiopian Crisis asking whether military aggression can be countered by sanctions has powerful echoes of current political concerns. The final essay looks at one of the most contentious episodes of the Second World War, the British pre-emptive strike on the fleet of their one-time allies at Oran after the French surrender in 1940.Because Marder's view of history emphasises the human dimension over abstract forces, his work is always approachable in style and of as much interest to the layman as the professional historian. This book is no exception.</p>

From the Dardanelles to Oran: Studies of the Royal Navy in War Andpeace 1915-1940

Arthur J. Marder

Oxford University Press

<p>An excellent volume on the battle of Jutland in May of 1916 between the British and German Navies, in this superb volume the author explores Grand Fleet battle orders, Jellicoe's battle plans, the German retreat and the aftermath, this book contains 16 detailed charts showing positions and movements during the battle,</p>

From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904-1919, vol. 3. Jutland and after

History

Continuing on from his study of the Oran operation of July 1940, when the French warships were destroyed at Mers-el-Kebir, the author investigates the allied expedition of September that year, with De Gaulle present, which unsuccessfully attempted to break the French at Dakar away from the Vichy Government. In addition, there is the story of the Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, Flag Officer Commanding at Gibraltar at the time, who was relieved from his post after allowing a French naval squadron to pass out of the Mediterranean and so jeopardise the Dakar operation. A pet operation of Prime Minister Churchill, it was undertaken against all advice, and it turned out to be a fiasco. In the author's words, '"Menace" exemplified, in its genesis, planning, and execution, all that can go wrong in warfare; an operation fouled up by unforeseen contingencies, the accidents of war, and human error, and against a background of undue political interference, inadequate planning, and half-baked co-operation between Allies.' Using Admiralty and Cabinet papers, as well as private sources of information, Marder weaves a skilled course through all the complex material to produce a masterly case-study of how an operation is mounted and how it can go disastrously wrong. It is a classic, tragi-comic illustration of the fog of war.

Operation Menace: The Dakar Expedition and the Dudley North

Seaforth Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Arthur J. Marder. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Arthur J. Marder

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Arthur J. Marder. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

From the Dardanelles to Oran: Studies of the Royal Navy in War Andpeace 1915-1940

From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904-1919, vol. 3. Jutland and after

Operation Menace: The Dakar Expedition and the Dudley North