'A concise and compelling one-volume account of the Royal Navy in WWII by a talented historian.' Joe Maiolo, author of Cry Havoc: How the Arms Race Drove the World to War 1931-1941 'The tale of the Royal Navy in the Second World War is one that deserves to be told; and this book tells it exceptionally well. Vivid and immensely readable, it captures the drama of the unfolding events while also explaining their wider significance in the war. Drawing on modern scholarship as well as original sources, it retells some familiar stories but also corrects a few myths and fills in some less well known episodes. This fine book achieves the difficult aim of doing justice to the part played in the Second World War by the Royal Navy.' - Tim Benbow, Defence Studies Department, King's College London