Customer Reviews

Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Even a reasonably serious general reader of World War I histories is likely to be far better acquainted with the war on land than the war at sea. After all, what else is there to know besides the Battle of Jutland, the sinking of the Lusitania, the German U-boat offensive and the reactive convoy system? OK, some may have heard of Dogger Bank and recognize that Gallipoli was originally an entirely naval operation until practical difficulties turned it into the disastrous land offensive which has become synonymous with misadventures of the kind. That's it, right? Actually, no, not by a long shot. And if you want to know the "rest" of the WWI story, and perhaps come to agree with the view shared by Author Massie and many other historians that British sea power was the war's ultimate determinant, then this is the book for you.

Another reviewer points out that the book appears to have been largely derived from secondary sources, and that may well be true. But Massie's masterful amalgamation, if you will, nonetheless produces a stunning panorama that if not entirely original in its sources, is surely an example of the very finest scholarship of the kind and an "original" in both its sweep and its marvelous presentation in terms of language and story-telling.

I made the same "secondary source" comment about Winston Groom's 2002 book on the fighting in the Ypres salient, "A Storm in Flanders," but there is between the two works a distinction with a considerable difference. The Ypres story has been written about with sufficient frequency over the last 90 years that any new telling runs the risk of being downright familiar to serious WWI readers, and so it is with "Storm"; I could have sworn that I had in hand only a slight variation of the several works on the subject I have read. Thus, my conclusion that Groom's book amounted to little more than a nicely turned out rehash. Not at all worthless, just of limited value to the serious WWI reader.

Such is not the case with "Castles". The book undertakes nothing less than a thorough account of the entire war at sea and succeeds like nothing else I have ever encountered. Secondary the sources might have been, but the result is indisputably first-rate. Take our "five-star" word for it: you will not only enjoy the read, but will forever after be comfortable that you understand and appreciate the significance of the "forgotten" side of the war.

It's hard to imagine a 900 page book is incomplete - but it is. The narrative is well written and very engaging, but I found myself using other resources such as an Atlas with better charts and the Internet during my reading to better understand what was happening in the battles. The book could have been improved by more and better maps [especially of Jutland - showing Jellicoe's turn, the German turnabouts and the German escape through the British wake]. A few tables incorporating sinkings and outcomes, and comparing ship types would have helped. What is the difference between an armored cruiser and a battle cruiser? Finally, a short epilogue indicating the ultimate ends of the the main characters [Jellicoe, Fisher, Beatty, the German admirals] would have tied things up nicely. It would have been nice to see Jellicoe's 1914 'tactics' letter in an appendix [I found it on the 'Net], etc. Excellent writing, but a few things like this would have topped it off.....

I am a huge fan of Robert K. Massie, and have enjoyed all of his books ("Nicholas and Alexandria" and "Dreadnought" were my favourites). This book shows all of the virtues of this very fine popular historian: fluent prose, well drawn individual portraits, absorbing anecdotes and skilful expositions of complex historical events. I particularly enjoyed his account of the naval campaign at Gallipoli, and his description of the Battle of Jutland ranks in my opinion (along with John Keegan's Jutland piece from "The Price of Admiralty) as the best short account of Jutland ever written. However, readers who are new to Massie should know what to expect: the book is written almost entirely from secondary sources and what he presents is an excellent synthesis rather than an original interpretation; there is little new here. Minor quibbles: I wish the coverage of the German side had been more thorough, and perhaps Massie could have covered the Graf Spee story in fewer pages.

My knowlege of the war at sea 1914-1918 was limited to Jutland so I read this book to instruct me in the overview. I learned a lot of fascinating information, all of it presented in a readable and rewarding way. This is a sound study and deserves a wide readership. It is an excellent book.

In this intriguing work, Massie, Pulitzer Prize winner for Peter the Great, continues the thread of his Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War (1991). Drawing on excerpts from official sources, contemporary accounts, and personal memoirs, the author vividly and clearly chronicles the action between the British and German navies during 1914-18, offering his analysis of the period's various battles, ships, policies, and commanders. The titular "castles of steel" are battleships, which were seen at the time as the prime factor in the naval balance of power, although the Germans would have been better off putting more effort into submarine warfare against British supply lines. Including good notes and bibliography, it is suitable for all public and academic collections, especially those that do not have Richard Hough's The Great War at Sea.

I have always believed that the First World War ranks as one of mankind's most tragic and unnecessary mistakes. This book does a fine job explaining at least a portion of how this tragedy came about, at least from the naval angle and perspective. This book has enough detail to satisfy experts, but is written in a fashion that the more casual reader with an interest in history will both enjoy and benefit from reading. This is indeed a fascinating look at an underexamined subject.

Mr. Massie's basic thesis is that Germany's construction of a great war fleet (the misnamed "High Seas Fleet") was a disaster for the country. Kaiser Wilhelm appears to have caused his country to build this fleet for reasons of prestige and national pride. But to Britain the existence of the High Seas Fleet was a challenge to Britain's national survival, for Britain's domination of the seas, and prevention thereof by any possible hostile power, was not merely a matter of prestige or pride. It was life and death. By building a huge fleet at immense cost, Germany produced a dagger aimed at England's heart. As someone observed, without domination of the seas, England was finished as a power, but without domination of the seas, Germany remained the foremost European power by virtue of its army and position on the European continent. The existence of the German fleet at the onset of hostilities essentially guaranteed and necessitated England's entry into the Great War on the allied side. Once Germany began waging the war at sea--a war it did not really need to fight--this guaranteed eventual American entry into the war, which in turn inevitably tipped the balance against her. Seen from this perspective, the construction of her fleet was a strategic disaster for Germany.

The book is interesting for both its narrative and insight into the famous sea battles of the war, as well as for its discussion of great naval leaders. The reader will learn about admirals Jellicoe and Beatty, men who became legends in their own lifetimes. While most of us are familiar with Winston Churchill's later career as Britain's great war leader in the Second World War, many readers will be delighted to learn about Churchill's pivotal role in the First World War. The author's insights here are fascinating and controversial, but to me ring true.

Although this book has perhaps more detail than non-specialists necessarily want or need, it is a relatively easy read due to the author's clear, crisp style of writing, and his interesting look at not just the facts, but also the personalities, of the naval aspect of the great war. For readers interested in learning about both the causes of the great war, and the battles at sea that comprised it, this is the book to read.

As always, Massie brings us traditional narrative history in a style that actually makes the story of a horrible war "fun". This is almost a novel with its focus on the characters and physical events of the naval conflict in World War I. While I enjoyed reading the book, I recommend it with some warnings.

First, Massie is so enamored of the glory of the great navies of World War I, that I felt he lost the thread of what seemed to be his major premise: that the British navy won World War I for the Allies. If I am right about what he set out to show, I feel he failed; the story simply isn't integrated into the other events of the war sufficiently to establish the claim. In this regard, anyone looking for a serious analysis of the impact of the naval conflict on the war generally may be disappointed.

Even for the general reader, it is somewhat bizarre that almost 700 pages of this 800 page tome are about the first half of the war and the last half gets only a cursory review. This is a result of the focus on the exciting head to head battles of the war, the Falklands, the Goeben, the Dardenelles, etc. and of course Jutland; these big events were over after Jutland and after June 1, 1916, Massie is reduced to telling about the U-Boat war and the scuttling of the fleet and Scapa Flow six months after the war ended but it is, nevertheless a little wierd. Other minor quibbles are that the maps are totally inadequate and the photo selection poor. Still, as I said, this is a "fun" read (if that is the right expression for a book that is relating evens in which over and over again, a thousand men disappear in an instant). Generally, those who enjoyed Dreadnought will not be disappointed.

Massie is indeed a worthy member of that class of historians that, like Barbara. Tuchman, knows how to blend scholarship with great style, colourfull life and even entertaiment. In this case Massie deliver a full frescoe of the sea side of WWI. Petty and great men, big plans and microscopic decisions, madness and skill, folly and intelligence, all goes toguether and give to us a complete, detailed and at the same time overarching vision of that fateful but aparently second rate and often even quiet theater that was sea fight in the Great War.
The degree of detail of sometimes the most minute details -how may shells were expeded by that ship in that battle- will satisfy Psycho historians buff as me, but also a more casual -or theoretical- reader will meet the great line of the facts, the big picture, the big men.
Being a big book, I read it, nevertheless, in three days. It has been one of the most pleasant readings I have made since years.

I read DREADNOUGHT by cahance a few years ago, and Peter the Great 12 years ago. Robert Massie writes about history. He tells a story, shines a light on individauls and illuminates an age,era or season. I have enjoyed his writing and his story telling for years, and this particular book greatly.

Just how exciting can a ship chasing another be? With Massie, it is an encounter of persons and an age, it is not just the ships, but the ideas that made the ships, the ideals that forged them and the men that commanded and sailed them to that moment in time when the two ships met.

An amazing and enjoyable read!

Castles of Steel follows on from Massie's previous book on Naval politics and warfare "Dreadnought", which was a narrative primarily of the German and British Naval race in the years before World War One. "Dreadnought" finished at the eve of the war, and "Castles of Steel" picks up the thread from there. I thought Dreadnought was a superb book, and held high hopes for "Castles of Steel". I'm pleased to say that I was not disappointed, although I had a few reservations.

I have always enjoyed Massie's writing style, and he is true to form here. All the main players from Churchill to Jellicoe, from the Kaiser to Hipper, are portrayed in vivid character sketches which is something Massie does particularly well. Beattie in particular comes off as a love-struck pompous individual! As always his words flow very easily, which is always helpful when reading a book of this size; nearly 850 pages! Massie, as in "Dreadnought", deals with all the complex political intrigues very nicely from both the British and German perspective. The Naval actions are vividly described and make for riveting reading. I particularly enjoyed reading of the Falklands and Coronel engagement for as a WWI novice I had not known of either action.

There are 6 maps produced, but the one for Jutland, which was the largest Naval engagement of the war, was relatively large scale showing the general approach of the two opposing fleets rather than individual ships. I would like to have seen a few more images, but what is reproduced are very nice pictures of the main characters and ships.

I was a little disappointed that the book seemed to tail off after 1916; after Jutland, the prime focus seems to be the U-Boat war. The surface fleet is neglected after this time, but that could be that there were no significant or even minor actions taken by either side after this time; I'm not a Naval scholar so I don't know. To me, Massie does'nt seem quite as enthused when writing about the U-Boats and the counter actions by the British, but none the less, it is still very interesting. "Castles of Steel" is definitely highly recommended to all Naval and WWI historians and European political history buffs.