9780008335793_

From the author of Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man and Enigma: The Battle for the Code, a deep dive into the Second World Wars maritime epic in the Arctic.

In a reconfiguration of recent events in Ukraine, it is 1941, and Russia has been invaded. The terms of the new alliance were that Western nations would ship urgently needed war materials to Russia via the shortest but most dangerous route: sailing north of the Arctic Circle while being hunted by U-boats, the Luftwaffe, and a surface fleet spearheaded by Tirpitz and Scharnhorst. This endeavour was called the Arctic convoys.

Battle of the Arctic is about the conflict and naval battles that unfolded while Allied naval and merchant seamen, airmen, submariners, soldiers and intelligence officers delivered on this wartime commitment to Russia from 1941-45, passing through terrific storms, snow, ice and Arctic mirages. When ships went down in seas so cold that a man could die after just five minutes of immersion, it triggered events reminiscent of the do-or-die moments during the sinking of the Titanic. As is shown in this description, the aftermath of such incidents was harrowing. Men perished one by one in lifeboats, and as castaways on deserted Arctic islands where they were stalked by polar bears. Frostbitten and wounded survivors ended up in Russian hospitals so primitive that amputations were carried out without anaesthetics. Other survivors, while stranded for months in the communist state they were aiding, experienced the murky worlds of the NKVD and the gulags as well as famine and prostitution.

This narrative has been written using a remarkable collection of vivid witness accounts brought together at the passing of the last survivors, and it has been produced with the benefit of research in Russian, German, American and British archives. Polish, Dutch, Norwegian and French sources have also been quoted. This has enabled the telling of this extraordinary story to oscillate between the sailors eye view on the front line and the controversies that infuriated world leaders.

Although during WW2, the relationship with Russia was far from smooth sailing, this wartime sacrifice for Stalins Soviet Union is today used by both parties as the historical precedent for future cooperation between Russia and the West.

...(*_*)9780008335793_

Winston Churchill called it the worst journey in the world. But was even this telling quote, describing the transportation of military aid to northern Russia during World War II, an understatement?

As this books title Battle of the Arctic implies, it tells a unique story. For much of the conflict was complicated by terrific storms, snow, ice, fog, whales, and Arctic mirages, creating an atmosphere similar to Ernest Shackletons Endurance, David Cranes Scott of the Antarctic, and an Arctic version of Robinson Crusoe.

The action unfolded as Allied naval and merchant seamen, airmen, submariners, and intelligence officers delivered on their countries promise to take arms to Russia as the Germans hunted them in aircraft, U-boats, and surface fleet spearheaded by Tirpitz and Scharnhorst. When ships were attacked, and went down in seas so cold that a man could die after five minutes of immersion, it triggered events reminiscent of the do-or-die moments during the sinking of the Titanic.

Men perished one by one in lifeboats and, as castaways, they died on deserted Arctic islands where they were stalked by polar bears. Frostbitten and wounded survivors ended up in Russian hospitals so primitive that amputations were carried out without anesthetics. Other survivors, while stranded for months in the communist state they were aiding, experienced the murky worlds of the NKVD and the Gulag, as well as famine and prostitution.

Using new material unearthed in American, British, Russian, and German archives, as well as Polish, Dutch, Norwegian, and French sources and a remarkable collection of vivid witness accounts brought together at the passing of the last survivors, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore can at last tell this extraordinary story that oscillates between the sailors point of view on the front lines and the controversies that infuriated world leaders.

...(*_*)9780008335793_

WINSTON CHURCHILL called it the worst journey in the world. But was even this telling quote, describing the nightmarish torment experienced while transporting military aid to northern Russia during World War Two, an understatement?

As this books title Battle of the Arctic implies, it tells a unique story. For much of the conflict was complicated by terrific storms, snow, ice, fog, whales and Arctic mirages, so that the events at times sound like a cross between a description of Shackletons Endurance, Scott of the Antarctic and an Arctic version of Robinson Crusoe.

The action unfolded as Allied naval and merchant seamen, airmen, submariners, soldiers and intelligence officers delivered on their countries promise to take arms to Russia notwithstanding the German attempts to hunt them in their aircraft, U-boats and surface fleet spearheaded by Tirpitz and Scharnhorst. When ships were attacked, and went down in seas so cold that a man could die after five minutes of immersion, it triggered events reminiscent of the do-or-die moments during the sinking of the Titanic.

Men perished one by one in lifeboats and, as castaways, on deserted Arctic islands where they were stalked by polar bears. Frostbitten and wounded survivors ended up in primitive Russian hospitals where amputations were carried out without anaesthetics. Other survivors, while stranded for months in the communist state they were aiding, experienced the murky worlds of the NKVD and the Gulag, as well as famine and prostitution.

Using new material unearthed in American, British, Russian and German archives, as well as Polish, Norwegian, French and Dutch sources and a remarkable collection of vivid witness accounts brought together at the passing of the last survivors, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore can at last shine a revealing light on this extraordinary tale that oscillates between the sailors eye view on the front line and the controversies that infuriated world leaders.

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Battle of the Arctic

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