The Longest Campaign cover art

The Longest Campaign

Britain's Maritime Struggle in the Atlantic and Northwest Europe, 1939-1945

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The Longest Campaign

By: Brian E. Walter
Narrated by: Michael Page
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About this listen

For four centuries the British realm depended on sea power to defend itself against a myriad of threats. The Royal Navy established itself as the "Sovereign of the Seas", helping transform a small island nation into the center of a global empire. But Britain's maritime services faced an unprecedented challenge during World War II, and the survival of the nation was at stake.

The Longest Campaign tells the epic story of British sea power in the Second World War. It is a comprehensive and detailed account of the activities, results, and relevance of Britain's maritime effort in the Atlantic and off Northwest Europe. Military historian Brian Walter looks at the entire breadth of the maritime conflict, exploring the contribution of the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and British merchant marines, as well as their Commonwealth equivalents.

Walter puts the maritime conflict in the context of the overall war effort and shows how the various operations and campaigns were intertwined. Finally, he provides unique analysis of the effectiveness of the British maritime effort and role it played in Allied victory.

©2020 Brian E. Walter (P)2022 Tantor Armed Forces Europe Great Britain Military Naval Forces War England Royal Navy Air Force

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All stars
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Not sure if this is a very poorly written book or a very good book read by one of the computer voices you hear on YouTube. Whatever, whoever or what is reading this totally ruins this.

The facts and figures and narrative just can’t come alive or off the pages with such poor reading. Don’t bother.

Weird

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The book is well-written and very well researched. It is as much informative as any single-volume book can be. My only negative remark is that, sometimes, the author goes a bit into too much detail concerning areas (such as the evolution of the Western Front in 1944) that I consider to be outside the true subject of the book.
Concerning the audiobook adaptation, the reader is perfect for the part both in tone and accent. I did not give him 5 stars only because there are a few instances in which he misreads the tone of a phrase, but it is nothing that really impacts the performance.

Very well-written. Sometimes it digresses a bit

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A perspective probably more genuine than those books glorifying the Pacific War as the major contributory factor in the winning of the second world war. This book reflects the various aspects of operations within the Atlantic (though references the Mediterranean and Arctic Oceans) and the struggles of not only Naval warships from the Battleship down to sloops/minelayers but also a comprehensive account of the travails of the Merchant Navies. Listen (or read) and I am sure you will get a greater understanding of the Maritime War in the Atlantic Ocean than any other book.

A stunning insight into the Maritime Struggle

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The narrator's constant misreading of numbers and dates is tediously distracting. This leads to a very poor representation of the author's work.

Tediously ungrammatical narration

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Comprehensive and extensive description but surprisingly almost totally lacking in analysis, particularly strategic analysis.

Extremely detailed but very descriptive.

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