Hitler's U-Boat War : The Hunters, 1939-1942 (Hitler's U Boat War)

If you are into Uboat history and want all the details, this book is a must read. The author dug into historical sources and put together a deep, dense study of the boats, captains, leadership, etc. that gives you a very clear picture of what happened.Be warned, this is not light, easy reading. I am a history fan, and it has taken me a bit of time to read(I am in the last quarter of the book at time of this posing), as it is so information laden. So, be prepared to slowly absorb the information over time. Also note that the book does not cover the technical side of the Uboats, just the operational, so if you want schematics, systems information, etc, you will need to get separate books/material.My only minor quibble with the book is sometimes the author’s opinions are a little too biased sometimes, but, you should expect bit of In almost any scholarly work.

The BIBLE for WWII U-Boat historians! I prefer "Operation Drumbeat" by Michael Gannon for it's focus on Operation Paukenschlag and Reinhard Hardegan, but Blair's book (actually a two book series) is filled in encyclopedia-like data and descriptions of almost every U-Boat mission and commander It's almost overwhelming for a "bedside" book, but I powered through it over a month or so while six more books from Amazon piled up in my "to read" stack by the bed! Interestingly enough, Blair does take issue with some of Michael Gannon's findings and opinions about US response to the initial U-Boat campaign in US waters. While I respect both writers and EITHER of them have FORGOTTEN more about U-Boats than I'll even know, I still support Gannon's conclusions. Still, I suggest having BOTH. : )

Clay Blair's two-volume history "Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters, 1939-1942" and "Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945" is probably the definitive history of the German U-Boat war during World War II. These books are an excellent resource on this campaign, but are extremely long and detailed--and at 700+ pages of tiny text (for each volume), much too long and detailed for anyone except hard-core readers interested in this campaign.Blair's style is simple, straight-forward, and repetitive: the books recount nearly every single U-Boat patrol, every single U-Boat sinking, every single convoy attack, and every single U-Boat success. The chapters are organized logically with sections on patrols in the North Atlantic, patrols to the Americas, patrols to the Arctic, patrols to the Mediterranean, and patrols to far-flung theaters (the South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Asia). Blair also does a very good job placing the U-Boat battle into proper context of the larger naval war and overall war by giving brief synopses of the bigger picture of the fighting in Europe and, where appropriate, the U-Boat reactions to the campaigns.Blair also gives detailed accounts of the "cipher war," describing in technical detail how the Ultra machines worked to decode Enigma transmissions and how the Germans were ignorant that their transmissions were being read by the Allies. He also fills each book with charts, appendices, and copious amounts of raw data detailing every U-Boat loss, monthly shipping losses, and many other illuminating aspects of the campaign.Although primarily a narrative, Blair does include some analysis. Most interestingly, Blair argues that most historians of World War II greatly overstate the threat that the U-Boats posed and concludes that at no point during the war did the U-Boats come close to being the decisive weapon many claim. Blair also defends Admiral King's decisions and the overall U.S. effort early in the war against many who argue that the U.S. was caught flat-footed and unprepared and failed to take simple measures such as convoying or blacking out the East Coast, resulting in huge shipping losses off the East Coast in 1942.Also, while writing two volumes that cover every almost every aspect of the U-Boat war, Blair does not do a very good job describing the tactics and capabilities of the U-Boats and the escorts. While describing the campaign at the operational level, he never gives the reader a good picture of the tactical capabilities of the U-Boats or their equipment and weapons, or of the men who crewed them on the almost-suicide missions.Blair has written an incredibly detailed and well-researched account of the U-Boat war. These books would serve anyone interested in a detailed, blow-by-blow, patrol-by-patrol account of the U-Boat war, and they would serve well as a resource for someone studying this campaign. However, these books are too detailed for most readers.

This is not a casual, oversimplified or high school-level history tome. The reader will find no novel-esque account of the perils of underwater warfare and the tragedy that Döenitz's U-boat campaign unleashed upon the britons. Instead, the reader will be given an impartial, well-written and thoroughly investigated historical account that provides great insight into military strategies and tactics, helping to dispel common prejudices and misunderstandings associated with this part of the conflict.This is a great book for military history buffs or for the casual reader who is really interested in knowing the actual history in facts and numbers. For thrills and suspense, stick to the Discovery Channel.

A very detailed account of the operations and planning of the U-Boat war.

I agree with other readers that this book throughly describes just about every move made by the German U boat fleet between 1939 and 1942. But I feel the book is heavily biased in an additional way not mentioned by other reviewers. President Rooselvelt is mentioned only a handful of times and ALWAYS with a comment about his faulty decisions on naval deployments. Even the photograph of FDR is captioned with this caveat. I think it is a pretty safe statement that history has shown that FDR was one of the greatest of all the Presidents with an incredible list of accomplishments and extraordinary will and perseverance. The author makes light of FDR's experience as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, quite in contrast to many presidential biographers. The author is a serious toady of Admiral King, the naval commander in chief. King seemed to have frequently been at odds with civilian authorities.In contrast to the mentions of FDR, Churchill is cited endlessly. Perhaps the conservatism of this world leader was more applealing to Blair.I think this book is definitely worth reading for anyone deeply interested in WW II military history and/or U-boats. But the unrelenting opposition to the Executive during the war is tedious and uncalled for in a volume dedicated to description of the German and US naval actions. Politics belongs elsewhere.

Well written and very interesting hope now on volume 2,the information researched was amazing to read along with informative tables

数々のＵ－ボートのことがよく書かれていました。辞書を手にがんばって読みました。地図、写真は参考になりました。

Excelent book for someone like uboots history

If you want to know about the u boat war in the Atlantic then this 2 volume work must be the go for accurate information

Nothing else to say other that best book on this part of the u-boat navel component on the Second World War.