Be warned: this is very long book! Indeed, it’s length very nearly put me off from reading it, but I am very glad I persevered because this is a very significant achievement. Hugh Sebag-Montefiore has managed to produce a first class piece of narrative history, one that artfully combines the big strategic arguments about support to Russia, the operational issues relating to each convoy and the tactics required to limit the casualties caused by German sea, undersea and air action, with the many, many stories of heroic personal endeavour. I feared that I might get bored with these but I wasn’t. Hugh kept the pace going perfectly and I found that all the personal stories, rather than putting me off, actually held me spellbound.
This is definitely a book that will repay your investment.
If you haven’t read anything by him before, may I also recommend his superb book on the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940? It is entitled ‘Dunkirk’, but its much, much more than merely the evacuation from the beaches, telling the story of the British commitment to the defence of France in 1939-40 and its denouement.
