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MIDDLEBROOK, MARTIN: : CONVOY: THE BATTLE FOR CONVOYS SC.122 AND HX.229

LONDON.ALLEN LANE/PENGUIN BOOKS LTD.,1976.

ISBN 0713909277.

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/NFINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright, crisp,clean,glossy laminated, monochrome photographic illustrated dw/dj panels with b/w lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present - minimal chipping with reciprocal loss to both edges and head+foot of spine/backstrip of the dw/dj and miniscule rubbing to all corners.Top edge slightly aged/ toned with minimal sporadic foxing,fore-edges brighter and cleaner without any foxing/ spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - one small (accidental?),bottom corner crease to pp41/2,else appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain speckled dark blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip,and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,slim 8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,vi-xpp+2-378pp [paginated] includes contents list/table, illustrations,maps +diagrams lists/tables,author's introduction,17 chapters,35 individual,contemporary b/w photographs along with 8 b/w maps and 3 b/w diagrams all interspersed throughout the text and the book,appendices 1-6,acknowledgements,a bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] blank with publisher's penguin colophon,and title page. Churchill wrote,'The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril'.Had the convoy link between North America and Britain been broken,the course of the Second World War would have been different. As it was,there was a period during the winter of 1942-43 when the Germans came close to cutting the North Atlantic lifeline.The crisis was reached in March 1943 when two convoys sailed from New York harbour for England. Doenitz deployed forty-two U-boats to trap these two convoys.Both were located and twenty-one merchant ships were sunk in the ensuing battle. The Germans called it 'the greatest convoy battle of all time'. 'Convoy' is the story of the battle for Convoys SC.122 and HX.299 - one 'turn' in the convoy cycle.This battle was a major turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic but,in many ways,this book could be the story of any of the hundreds of convoys that sailed the ocean in these years. One important chapter throws new light on three controversial aspects of the Battle of the Atlantic - why there was an 'Air Gap' long after full air cover could have been provided; why the convoys had to sail with disastrously weak naval escorts; how the Allies kept the secret of how they outwitted the Germans in the radio decoding war.This one chapter alone makes a valuable new contribution to the naval history of the Second World War. 'Convoy' completes Martin Middlebrook's highly praised Men at War trilogy describing a land battle - in 'The First Day on the Somme',an air battle - 'The Nuremburg Raid',and now a sea battle,all seen through the eyes of the ordinary men who took part.'Convoy' richly draws on the archives to give the viewpoint,not only of the merchant ships and their naval and air escorts, but also of the U-boats and the Allied and German land headquarters.But above all it is the memories of the men involved that makes this book a living work of history.The author has interviewed or corresponded with 271 people involved in the battle now living in eleven different countries,227 on the Allied side and 44 Germans including Grossadmiral Karl Doenitz. Please contact seller,because of the weight/ value of this item for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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