|
The Royal Navy fleet, upon which the British Isles
relied for the security of its wealth, prosperity and independence for
so long, is now the smallest since the start of the Napoleonic wars.
Today's need is for a multi-faceted, rapid reaction,
missile and aircraft-carrying task force capable of transporting troops
and heavy assault machinery to hostile territory, as admirably demonstrated
in the Falklands War and more recently in the Gulf, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
John Parker tracks the Navy's metamorphosis through the recollections
of those who were involved in some of the greatest British naval campaigns
of the twentieth century. He delivers first-hand accounts from such
operations as the Battle of Jutland in 1916 in which Britain lost 5,672
men, classic events of World War II, such as evacuation from Dunkirk,
the costly Battle of the Atlantic and, of course, the Normandy landings
in June 1944. Incredible stories of heroism emerge, but the cost was
high: 1,525 ships totalling almost one million tons were sunk and over
50,000 British sea-going personnel perished.
The changing face of the Royal Navy in the years after
World War II emerges against a backdrop of defence spending cuts and
the needs brought about by fresh conflicts across the globe. Parker's
account leads us into the twenty-first century, with full coverage of
the war In Iraq in March/April 2003 and a vision of the future with
two new powerful aircraft carriers which will spearhead a modern Royal
Navy over the coming decades.
|
|
To be Published 5 September 2003 by Headline. Hardback. |
