A Naval History of World War I

Paul Halpern is a refreshingly independent thinker. No one else has managed to write 500 pages on the subject of 1914-18 naval warfare without mentioning Admiral Alfred Mahan. And although he has had to compress mightily to fit that history within 500 pages, he still finds it worthwhile to mention such illuminating, if pointless, incidents as the Royal Navy's cattle raids in Turkey in 1916. World War I was, as has so often been noted, the great divide between the premodern world and the modern one. Nothing says so more eloquently than this little anecdote about how the Royal Navy, owner of the most advanced machines yet seen on the planet, thought it necessary to practice the kind of warfare that Homer's Greeks had . Although Halpern, professor at Florida State University, says he has had to neglect the crucial topic of logistics to fit his history into a manageable volume, in fact he presents a better discussion of the influence of bases, ships and supplies than most general histories do. His excellent chapter four, on the usually underserved Pacific war, demonstrates this. The allotment of ships and the location of bases in late 1914, along with certain decisions about troop movements, determined why some islanders today eat canned corned beef and look to New Zealand for jobs and higher education, while others eat Spam and look to the United States. And why other islanders had to suffer great hardships in 1941-45. It depended upon whether Japan or the British Dominions swept up the multitudinous islands controlled by Germany. 'These expeditions were minor footnotes to the war,' writes Halpern, 'and one might legitimately ask if it would not have been better for the German islands in the Pacific to have been left to "wither on the vine" until they could be seized at a later date after other, more pressing problems had been resolved.' But these minor events had major consequences in 1944. They determined that some islanders would be starved by blockade and blasted by naval and air bombardments, while others were not. Halpern's description of the 'minor' events is fuller than in any other general history I know. Despite a crowded agenda, he exploits to the full the romantic stories of the naval war in the Pacific, like the famous raid of the cruiser Emden, and the horrifying stories, such as the Battle of Coronel, where a ship manned with hundreds of reservists from a single Scottish town went down with all hands.

With this volume, Paul Halpern has performed an invaluable service to all those interested in the Naval aspects of The Great War.Unlike most other treatments of World War I at sea, Mr Halpern does not succumb to the temptation to concentrate on the Battle of Jutland and submarine warfare in and around the British Isles to the exclusion of all other theaters.The book includes a refreshingly detailed examination of cruiser warfare, mine warfare, riverine warfare and the first halting steps of the various Fleet Air Arms. Conflict is detailed in the Pacific, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Baltic, the Black Sea, on the Danube River and in many other generally ignored locations.Additionally, the usually irritating and occasionally disastrous effects of political considerations are also brought to light. The intricate and frequently ignored cause-and-effect relationship of one theater to another is carefully included in the narrative.Perhaps the most laudible aspect of this volume is the Mr. Halpern manages to include all of these diverse facets of the naval conflict without becoming bogged down in minutia or losing sight of the "big picture." Although much detailed information is presented and many obscure considerations revealed, the author maintains a focussed and methodical pace of delivery that holds the reader's interest from beginning to end.This book is an indispensable asset for anyone interested in a treatment of the Naval History of the First World War that remembers that there are more to the world's great waterways than the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. Very highly recommended.

Excellent, I highly recommend this volume.

This is the best analysis of WWI naval warfare ever written. Mr Halpern has written a fascinating text describing the main guidelines of the naval aspects of this conflict. Do not expect shot by shot descriptions of the battles, this book deals with the reasons leading to the different battles and their consequences and should be considered essential reading for anybody interested in World War I or Naval History.