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A game of birds and wolves

£10.99

It’s 1941. Imagine you’re Winston Churchill. The Battle of the Atlantic is a disaster. Supply ships ferrying vital weapons, food and fuel from North America are being torpedoed by the German U-boats. You are lying to the country about the number of ships sunk. You are lying about the number of men killed. Without the supply ships Britain will starve. The tide of the war is turning in Germany’s favour. This is the story of the game of battleships that won the Second World War. In 1941 Prime Minster Winston Churchill gathered a group of unlikely heroes – a retired naval captain and eight brilliant young women, the youngest only 17 years old – to form a secret strategy unit. On the top floor of a ramshackle HQ in Liverpool, the Western Approaches Tactical Unit spent day and night playing war games to crack the U-boat tactics.

In stock

Description

‘Compelling’ Sunday Times

‘A triumph’ Daily Mirror


‘Gripping’ Jonathan Dimbleby

1941. The Battle of the Atlantic is a disaster. Thousands of supply ships ferrying vital food and fuel from North America to Britain are being torpedoed by German U-boats. Britain is only weeks away from starvation – and with that, crushing defeat.

In the first week of 1942 a group of unlikely heroes – a retired naval captain and a clutch of brilliant young women – gather to form a secret strategy unit. On the top floor of a bomb-bruised HQ in Liverpool, the Western Approaches Tactical Unit spends days and nights designing and playing wargames in an effort to crack the U-boat tactics. As the U-boat wolfpacks continue to prey upon the supply ships, the Wrens race against time to save Britain.
With novelistic flair, investigative journalist Simon Parkin shines a light on Operation Raspberry and these unsung heroines in this riveting true story of war at sea.

‘History writing at its best’ Booklist

‘Splendid . . . Simon Parkin’s book rips along at full sail and is full of personality and personalities’

Sunday Express

‘Vivid, engaging’ New Yorker

Additional information

Weight 0.24 kg
Dimensions 19.6 × 12.8 × 2.8 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

302 , 16 unnumbered of plates

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

940.548641 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K