This is a major reassessment of the causes of Allied victory in the Second World War in the Mediterranean region. Drawing on a unique range of multinational source material, Richard Hammond demonstrates how the Allies' ability to gain control of the key routes across the sea and sink large quantities of enemy shipping denied the Axis forces in North Africa crucial supplies and proved vital to securing ultimate victory there. Furthermore, the sheer scale of attrition to Axis shipping outstripped their industrial capacity to compensate, leading to the collapse of the Axis position across key territories maintained by seaborne supply, such as Sardinia, Corsica and the Aegean islands. As such, Hammond demonstrates how the anti-shipping campaign in the Mediterranean was the fulcrum about which strategy in the theatre pivoted, and the vital enabling factor ultimately leading to Allied victory in the region.

Richard Hammond offers a major reassessment of the role of the war at sea in Allied victory in the Mediterranean region.

The story of one of the most important battles of the Second World War between two of its greatest generals is expertly related and explained by a leading historian, with detailed illustrations and supplementary facts.

The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. El Alamein saw two of the greatest generals of the war pitted against each other: Rommel and Montgomery. Through key profiles and a chapter devoted to 'The Armies' Battle Story: El Alamein explores what made these men inspired leaders and what led to their respective defeat and victory. Montgomery's success ensured that the Axis army was unable to occupy Egypt and therefore gain control of the Suez Canal or the Middle Eastern oil fields, thereby preventing a major source of income and power for them. The background and impact of the battle are explored in separate chapters, so offering the reader a clear insight into why what happened in this remote part Egypt was so central to the Allied cause. Through quotes and maps the text explores the unfolding action of the battle and puts the reader on the frontline. If you truly want to understand what happened and why – read Battle Story.

This book adopts an innovative new approach to examine the role of maritime power and the utility of navies. It uses a number of case studies based upon key Royal Navy operations in the twentieth century to draw out enduring principles about maritime power and to examine the strengths and limitations of maritime forces as instruments of national policy. Individual chapters focus on campaigns and operations from both World Wars and a series of post-1945 crises and conflicts from the Palestine Patrol in the 1940s to Royal Navy operations in support of British policy in the 1990s. Each case study demonstrates critical features of maritime power including: operations during the transition to war; fleet operations in narrow seas; logistics; submarine operations; the impact of air power on maritime operations; blockade; maritime power projection; amphibious warfare; jurisdictional disputes and the law of the sea; and, peace support operations. The contributors to this book all have considerable experience lecturing on these issues at the United Kingdom Joint Services Command and Staff College, where maritime campaign analysis is used to teach the principles of maritime power to officers of the Royal Navy. The book combines an authoritative examination of critical Royal Navy operations during the twentieth century with a sophisticated analysis of the nature of maritime power. As such it is of both historical interest and contemporary relevance and will prove equally valuable to academic historians, military professionals and the general reader.