Game of Birds and Wolves The Secret Game that Revolutionised the War
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Simon Parkin is an award-winning British writer and journalist. He is a contributing writer for the New Yorker and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society (RHS), and is the author of A Game of Birds and Wolves and The Island of Extraordinary Captives, which was a New Yorker Book of the Year and won the Wingate Literary Prize. He lives in West Sussex.[A] <b>splendid</b> new history of the war in the Atlantic . . . Simon Parkin's book rips along at full sail and is <b>full of personality and personalities</b>. Above all, it brings a barely known aspect of the sea war out into the light. Which is<b> a triumph</b> in itself.
- John Lewis Stempel, Sunday Express
Sheds<b> compelling</b> new light on the ferocious struggle being played out in the mid-Atlantic ... [A Game of Birds and Wolves] has <b>all the elements of a film</b>
Sunday Times
In<b> a riveting, intricately researched </b>book, Simon Parkin tells the previously unknown story behind the Allied victory in the Atlantic during World War II. It's an underdog's tale - not only of British supply fleets trying to outrun German U-boats, but also of the women game designers who made that victory possible.
<b>Engaging and skilful</b> . . . [Parkin] writes with <b>real flair</b> and the human side of this story is brought out with fine vignettes and character sketches . . . If the place of women in Britain's naval war has been played down, Parkin's <b>vivid</b> story recovers it handsomely . . . Inside his narrative is a desire to show how ordinary people did extraordinary things in wartime . . . this is a good read on a corner of the war and the men and women who peopled it - one very much worthy of our attention.
- Richard Overy, Guardian
<b>A triumph</b>
Daily Mirror
<b>History writing at its best</b>
Booklist (starred review)
With <b>novelistic flair</b>, Parkin transforms material gathered from research, interviews, and unpublished accounts into <b>a</b> <b>highly readable book </b>that celebrates the ingenuity of a British naval 'reject' and the accomplishments of the formerly faceless women never officially rewarded for their contribution to the Allied defeat of Germany. <b>A lively, sharp WWII history.</b>
Kirkus Reviews
This is <b>a thrilling story, compellingly told</b>
History Revealed
<b>Enthralling . . . a pacey read with some wonderfully vivid set pieces</b>
Literary Review
<b>Gripping . . . a great read.</b>
Sorted Magazine
A hugely <b>enjoyable and exciting</b> book . . . A <b>compelling and important</b> new story, lucidly and humanely told.
- Roland Phillipps, author of <i>A Spy Named Orphan</i>,
Simon Parkin describes brilliantly the key role of WATU in the Battle of the Atlantic. I was proud to read of my mother's role as a Wren with influence far beyond her age and experience, and of my father's application of WATU-designed tactics in the key anti-U boat battle of the Atlantic.
- Vice Admiral Mike Gretton, son of Judy Du Vivier and Sir Peter Gretton,
This is the <b>riveting true story</b> of war, amazing women, and one of the most important games in history.
- Major Tom Mouat MBE, Simulation and Modelling Technology School, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom,
A <b>stunning</b> book about an unknown part of the largely forgotten Battle of the Atlantic, which is <b>a must read</b>.
- Niall Kilgour, chairman of the Submariners Association,
'Compelling' Sunday Times
'A triumph' Daily Mirror
'Gripping' Jonathan Dimbleby
1941. The Battle of the Atlantic is a disaster. Thousands of supply ships ferrying vital food and fuel from North America to Britain are being torpedoed by German U-boats. Britain is only weeks away from starvation - and with that, crushing defeat.
In the first week of 1942 a group of unlikely heroes - a retired naval captain and a clutch of brilliant young women - gather to form a secret strategy unit. On the top floor of a bomb-bruised HQ in Liverpool, the Western Approaches Tactical Unit spends days and nights designing and playing wargames in an effort to crack the U-boat tactics. As the U-boat wolfpacks continue to prey upon the supply ships, the Wrens race against time to save Britain.
With novelistic flair, investigative journalist Simon Parkin shines a light on Operation Raspberry and these unsung heroines in this riveting true story of war at sea.
'History writing at its best' Booklist
'Splendid . . . Simon Parkin's book rips along at full sail and is full of personality and personalities'
Sunday Express
'Vivid, engaging' New Yorker