A small selection from our large selection of naval and aviation books, from £4.99. Aviation and naval books by leading publishers. Historical books covering world war I and II as well as the age of sail including reference books on Admiral Lord Nelson.

To purchase on our manual secure order site click here

The Navy At War 1939-1945 by Stephen Roskill

Captain Roskill has long been recognised as the leading authority on the Royal Navy's part in the Second World War. His official history for HMSO, the three volume The War at Sea presents a detailed history that is unlikely to be superseded, and this book sets out the broad outline of the policies, successes and failures of the British and Dominion navies in the worldwide struggle.

The author writes with the same simplicity and ease whether he is describing the movement of ships in a single action or the relation of a whole campaign to the strategy of total war. The narrative is thrilling and the analysis clear: Roskill describes the major sea battles such as the River Plate and Matapan as well as the characteristic convoy actions of the Battle of the Atlantic, Murmansk and Malta. He covers the contribution made by British technology in the shape of Asdic and Radar but the story is, above all, about the courage and skill of the officers and men who made the victory possible.

To see our full range of books click on our bookshop

One of Our Submarines by Edward Young

"In the very highest rank of books about the last war. Submarines are thrilling beats, and Edward Young tells of four years' adventures in them in a good stout book with excitement on every page. He writes beautifully, economically and with humour, and in the actions he commands he manages to put the reader at the voice-pipe and the periscope so that sometimes the tension is so great that one has to put the book down." The Sunday Times

Commander Edward Young DSO DSC RNV(S)R started the war as an amateur yachtsman and finished it as a highly decorated submarine commander - indeed, he was the first RNVR officer to hold independent command of a warship.

Midway: The Incredible Victory by Walter Lord

They had no right to win. Yet they did, and in doing so changed the course of the war. More than that, they added a new name - Midway - to that small list that inspires men by example - Marathon, the Marne, the Somme and Rorke's Drift. Even against the greatest odds there is something in the human spirit - a magic blend of skill, faith and valour that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory.

As Winston Churchill wrote, 'This memorable American victory was of cardinal importance, not only to the United States, but to the whole Allied cause ... At one stroke, the dominant position of Japan in the Pacific was reversed ... The annals of war at sea present no more intense, heart-shaking shock ... the qualities of the united States Navy and Air Force and the American race shone forth in splendour.'

To see our full range of books click on our bookshop

Back to Top

Business in Great Waters by John Terraine

Twice within 25 years Britain was threatened with starvation by the menace of the U-boat. In this majestic study of submarine warfare, the author explains why Winston Churchill wrote 'the only thing that ever frightened me during the war was the -boat peril.' Until it had been overcome the Anglo-American entry into Europe in 1944 would have been impossible.

John Terraine concentrates on the combatants themselves, both German and Allied, but does not overlook the three main factors in the equation - the political, the military and the technological, as well as the intelligence, the weapons and the devices both sides employed in order to outwit each other. He also focuses on the fighting men on either side, seeing the action from 'where it was at'.

The Battle of Jutland by Geoffrey Bennett

'There seems to be something wrong with our ships today, Chandler' remarked Admiral Beatty to his Flag Captain at the height of the Battle of Jutland as yet another British ship blew up. At the end of May 1916 a chance encounter with Admiral Hipper's battlecruisers enabled Beatty to lead the German Battle Fleet into the jaws of Jellicoe's greatly superior force, but darkness had allowed Admiral Scheer to extricate his ships from a potentially disastrous situation. Though inconclusive, at the Battle of Jutland the German Fleet suffered so much damage that it made no further attempt to challenge the Grand Fleet, and the British blockade remained unbroken.

Captain Bennett has used sources previously unavailable to historians in his reconstruction of this controversial battle, including the papers of Vice-Admiral Harper explaining why his official record of the battle was not published until 1927, and the secret Naval Staff Appreciation of 1922 whose criticisms were so scathing that it was never issued to the Fleet. There are numerous battle plans, photographs and a new introduction by the authors son.

To see our full range of books click on our bookshop

Back to Top

Jutland, The German Perspective by V E Tarrant

On only one occasion during the four years of the First World War did the world's largest and most powerful navies meet in full battle. For so long the main indicator of the arms race between Britain and Germany - and according to some theories a major argument in the inevitability of the war itself - these two navies had long competed in construction, design and armament with each other and planned for that final battle which would decide the war at sea.

The reality of the naval war was far different to the single, decisive conflict strategists had hoped for. Instead a series of bold hit-and-run raids by German warships to bombard British coastal towns stung Royal Navy pride, and apart from fleeting chance encounters between isolated units of both fleets and the failed opportunities of Dogger Bank and Heligoland Bight the single, ultimate battle remained elusive. Until Jutland.

The Battle of Jutland took place on 31 May to 1 June 1916 as a plan to concentrate the German High Seas Fleet precisely against the numerically superior British Grand Fleet at a time and place of German choice, having lured the bulk of the Royal Navy into a trap in German waters. Bad luck, bad weather and the perennial weakness of such Great War battles - poor communications- meant the battle became a confused, rambling but desperately hard fought conflict. It also became a pyrrhic victory for Germany since although the Royal Navy suffered higher losses in men and ships, the German fleet never ventured out of harbour to seek battle again. The decisive battle that was claimed by each side as a victory was in reality a defeat of the German High Seas Fleet. 

Amazingly, this classic sea battle has never been studied from the enemy's view. Now for the first time in the English language a balanced and unique assessment of the German view of Jutland is possible. Drawing on many official sources, archives and translations of documents about the Battle of the Skaggerak (as Jutland is known to the Germans), the historian V E Tarrant has created this superb new study of the classic battle.

The author provides a complete review of Jutland usinf hitherto unseen German naval records: an inter-war appreciation by the German Office of Naval History, High Seas Fleet War Diaries, Chief of the High Seas Fleet Operations Staff papers plus action reports from individual commanders involved in the battle and the letters and papers of Tirpitz, Scheer and Hipper. As well as this wealth of untapped original source material on German views and accounts, the author also discusses the technical and material inferiority of the Royal Navy ships plus a unique revelation of the German code-breaking and signal interception played in their conduct of the battle.

Illustrated with detailed action charts representing ship movements and dispositions hour-by-hour throughout the battle, and with accurate scale drawings and silhouettes of all major warships and classes from both sides, Jutland: The German View fills an important gap in the history and understanding of this great action.

UK POST  £5

Aircraft Carriers of the World by Roger Chesneau

Aircraft Carriers of the World is the first comprehensive reference work to detail in one volume - with data, line drawings and photographs - the 360- plus carriers designed or projected by the world's navies. Although only five (and until recently only four) nations have ever completed the building of aircraft carriers, such vessels have seen service in twelve of the world's navies. Depending upon precisely how one defines the term 'aircraft carrier', some 329 ships of this type have been operated throughout the world, more than half by the US Navy; in addition, scores of carriers have been projected. All of these vessels are catalogued in Aircraft Carriers of the World, arranged chronologically according to country. Each basic design is discussed, and appearance notes and career summaries are presented for each individual carrier. In addition, each main entry is accompanied by a table giving design specifications, by a pair of constant-scale general arrangement line drawings, and by a selection of photographs carefully chosen to give as far as possible a comprehensive picture of each class and the variations within it.

The catalogue section of the book is preceded by a detailed narrative tracing the origins and evolution of the aircraft carrier as a viable fighting unit, with particular emphasis on the conflicting design requirements of, on the one hand, the ship, and, on the other, her aircraft - a problem that has proved to be one of the most taxing ever to face naval constructors. Flight deck operations and carrier tactics are also discussed, and an insight into the political argument that has continually accompanied carrier development is offered.

Containing over 400 photographs and line drawings, Aircraft Carriers of the World provides the reader with all the essential information he may wish to seek concerning what has become the largest and most complex fighting machine devised by man.

Book serial number BK22. Price £30. Hard back with 288 pages.

To see our full range of books click on our bookshop

Post UK £6

Europe £10

US £14

Back to Top

The British in the Mediterranean by Peter Dietz 

Why did Britain seize or acquire bases in the Mediterranean, and for what reasons did she decide to give them up or keep them? As British power and interests changed so did her interests in the Mediterranean. Why were some bases retained rather than others? What is the future for Gibraltar and the sovereign bases in Cyprus? The British in the Mediterranean provides a brief description of the British military and naval involvement in such places as Tangier, Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus. Peter Dietz gives an account of the gradual occupation of bases from west to east and the reasons for their acquisitions.

Historical in the main, this book also includes some account of the impact of the area on literary and social consciousness of the British visitors and settlers and the growth of British tourism in the Mediterranean is also examined. Filled with information on military architectural/archeological remains the British in the Mediterranean provides a novel approach for the tourist or the general reader, as well as for the military historian

Book Serial number BK11. Hardback 228 pages. Black and white photographs. Book price £29.95

Post

For UK £4 (max post for multiple books £6).

For Europe £6.00 per book plus one charge of £3 airmail recorded fee must be included.

Rest of World £8.00 per book plus one charge of £3 airmail recorded fee must be included.

To order your copy: