The history of the First World War is dominated by the monumental battles of Northern France
But the Great War was fought at sea as well as on land.
And it witnessed the greatest naval battle of all time.
In βThe Great War At Sea: 1914-1918β, the historian Richard Hough tells the story of those naval battles and how they shaped the eventual outcome of the war.
It is a history as much of men as of ships; men like Sir John Jellicoe, βJackyβ Fisher, and Winston Churchill, who together succeeded in jolting the Royal Navy out of its nineteenth-century complacency.
The narrative follows the race to war, including the construction of the Dreadnought, the biggest, fastest, most heavily gunned battleship in the world; and against the backdrop of feuds, scheming, and personality clashes at the Admiralty, examines the triumphs and tragedies of the great battles and campaigns.
Could the appalling losses have been avoided during the Dardanelles?
Was there βsomething wrong with our bloody shipsβ as David Beatty said at Jutland?
Why was the Battle of Jutland inconclusive?
βA truly excellent history, technical enough for the specialist, handy and well-found for laymen, and since the Silent Service could normally be relied on for its quota of personality clashes and blazing rows, human interest is well-served. So too is drama.β
β Christopher Wordsworth, The Observer
βAn admirable book which everyone interested in the history of the war should readβ
Richard Alexander Hough was a British author and historian specializing in maritime history.
Endeavour Press is the UKβs leading independent digital publisher.