Wragg: Total Germany

Total Germany: The Royal Navy’s war against the Axis powers 1939–1945 by David Wragg Pen and Sword, Barnsley, 2015, £25 (hb) 272 pages, bibliography, index isbn 9781473844643

David Wragg is a hugely prolific author, having produced some 150 monographs in the last 40 years on everything from railways to the RAF. This 250-page volume is aimed at the general reader and gives a brief history of the Royal Navy at war. Inevitably it focuses on major events which are in general described succinctly and well. There are good explanations and definitions for those unfamiliar with the topic. The first four chapters on the naval background to the war and the strengths and weaknesses of the combatants are notably well written, being both concise and informative. The next third of the book covers well-trodden ground from Norway to the Mediterranean, describing the major actions and campaigns but inevitably the brevity of the book leads to little originality, albeit everything of importance is mentioned. Then follows much the most substantial chapter covering the fall of the Far East, although it is mainly concerned with the US Navy experience in 1941–2, but again with an excellent account of the background and preparation for war. The final half of the book again gives good coverage of predictable ground from Arctic and Malta convoys to D-Day and then briefly looking at the British Pacific fleet. A final chapter looks at the state of the Royal Navy in 1945 and its development over the war as a whole. There is good coverage of the different tactics adopted by the combatants in different theatres. There are several curiosities. This is ostensibly a book about the Royal Navy’s war. Yet 30 out of the book’s 250 pages are devoted to a chapter which focuses on the story of the USN from Pearl Harbor to Midway, while the fall of Singapore and the loss of Force Z receive a bare dozen lines. And there is a tendency to be repetitive, for example explaining twice why the Empire ships were so named and twice why the Deutschland was renamed. Coverage of the role of the Dominion navies and the minor Allied navies is minimal to non-existent. The index contains such curious references as

‘Kriegsmarine, 1 et al’. Place names are used helpfully with both wartime names and modern equivalents given, with the curious exception of Leghorn (sic). The Italian navy at one point rather charmingly becomes the Regina Maria while the raider Pinguin always appears as Pingiun. These are perhaps minor proofreading points in what is a solid piece of writing. The short bibliography contains just 36 entries. Apart from three of his own works, only two references are to post-2000 books. In effect all the research of the last 20 years is ignored. One might have expected a book which offers an entry point into the subject to provide a much richer guide to further reading for those interested in particular topics. So, something of a curate’s egg of a book. Its strengths lie in the very good descriptions of background, strategy, tactics and logistics. Its accounts of the wartime actions of the Royal Navy are accurate and adequate but limited. Overall, then, it provides a good introduction to the subject but offers little to draw the reader into more in-depth study.

Derek Law

University of Strathclyde