Rating: 
Summary: You Can Smell the Cordite
Review:
By Bill Marsano. The steel battleship, that most splendid of boy's toys, so beloved of admirals and the public too, had an amazingly short lifetime. From the Royal Navy's Dreadnought of 1906 to their ultimate expression in World War II, battleships lived a mere forty years. World War II brought Germany's splendid Bismarck, Japan's Yamato and Musashi, and several American classes, the best of them being the mighty Iowas.
But it also brought naval aviation, so that for most of the war the magnificent giants were dinosaurs, often reduced to shore bombardments. Hood vs. Bismarck, after all, lasted but three salvos; Bismarck vs. Rest of Royal Navy was hardly a match; and Japan's godzillas fell to naval aviation. The only big-gun fleet action of the war was, I think, 1944's Battle of Surigao Strait, a reasonably satisfactory demolition derby between Nishimura of Japan's Force C and our Navy's reincarnated Pearl Harbor survivors.
So battleships had only World War I in which to show their stuff. Robert K. Massie's big, rich, Omaha-steak of a book tells us all about it.
Much of this war has long since faded to sound bites; at sea we get the Lusitania, submarines and a spoonful of Jutland, and that's about it. Fans of naval rifles, mines and torpedoes get get much more than that from Massie. The author of "Dreadnought," he knows tactics and strategy, facts and figures, winners and losers. He also knows--is master of--detail and anecdote. In his telling these distant events have the smell of cordite and remote personages come alive on their quarterdecks (and behind their desks).
Garmany's High Seas Fleet was markedly smaller than the Royal Navy, but it had better ships, shells and shooting. Still, the Royal Navy had its great tradition, fighting spirit and confidence in victory while the Germans were often crippled by caution. Massie is superb at showing how the Germans finally lost and the British clumsily won.
Minor events and major are all here, coherently presented. There are Coronel and Falklands; Dogger Bank and Battle of the Bight; the Scarborough Raid (Germans shelling beach resorts); the submarine war; and of course that mighty set-piece, Jutland. There the German High Seas Fleet won the silver medal tactically, giving a real smacking to the Brits, who nevertheless took the gold: At the end, the Royal Navy ruled the waves and the Germans had to run for their lives. (Oddly, it was an American newspaper that best summed-up Jutland, saying "The German fleet has assaulted its jailer but it is still in jail.")
Massie is especially good on the allies' attempt to force the Dardanelles with a fleet of battleships that would then steam up to Istanbul and shell Turkey out of the war. Ships usually come out second-best against fortresses, which don't sink, but here the risk was thought worthwhile: Most of the battleships involved were elderly and due for scrapping anyway. In fact the early stages went well for the allied armada, but when things began to go wrong, the allies were suddenly averse to risking their floating antiques, and the Turks managed to make them quit. (Later, embarrassment led to catastrophe: Gallipoli)
The principal characters, vividly sketched, are Churchill, blundering toward political oblivion, and two admirals. One was John Jellicoe, "inventor" of the dreadnought or modern battleship. A cautious but decisive commander, he trained his fleet well and never used it rashly. He understood that so long as the Grand Fleet remained intact, Germany could never break the allies' strangling blockade. And although the Germans escaped at Jutland, Jellicoe did them terrific damage. The other admiral was David Beatty, head of the battlecruiser squadron. He was brave, dashing, good-looking and outgoing--just the sort of hero the media loves.
Unfortunately he was also a relentless self-promoter, a jealous back-stabber and a bloody fool to boot. At the opening of Jutland he attacked at top speed, leaving his slightly slower but more heavily armed battleships behind, and his gunnery was poor, so his command was savaged by the outnumbered but hard-shooting Germans. Beatty wasn't the only fool involved. Ashore, the Admiralty bungled their intelligence work; afloat, rear elements of the Grand Fleet saw German units escaping--but didn't report to higher command, thinking someone else surely would.
No, not the only fool, Beatty, but surely the worst. The British public was disappointed by Jutland; they wanted a Trafalgar and, failing, that, a scapegoat. Beatty made sure they got one--Jellicoe--whom he and the press blamed for letting the Germans get away.
By two copies of this book so you can give one to a friend. What arguments you'll have!--Bill Marsano is an old devotee of naval combats, hardcover and soft.
Rating: 
Summary: A good sequel to DREADNOUGHT
Review: ...but at the same time perhaps a little disappointing. This is probably the most "readable" account of the Royal Navy in the First World War that I have read -and I have read quite a few- but at the same time I kept feeling that something was missing. Part of me wonders if it has nothing to do with Massie & the mere fact that the really important part of naval strategy in the Great War was making sure that Nothing Happened dooms any account to "something missing". At the same time however I feel that Massie could have made use of a better editor in this follow-up to his really interesting first volume on the pre-war Anglo-German arms race. Here we all too often have the text of a message or letter as it was written TO someone & then a few pages later we have the exact same text repeated as it is received by someone -it makes one keep thinking "but wait, we already KNEW that!" More than half the book is devoted to the first year of the war, and much of the rest revolves around Jutland, and while I was fascinated by the accounts of Coronel & the Falklands, I wish that Massie had perhaps given more time to the smaller engagements & perhaps to the sheer tedious hell of the blockade. At the same time, given that I am discussing an author who has already shown a predeliction to battleships (and who writes superbly about them) I probably shouldn't complain that very little of this book goes anywhere that a battleship or a battleship enthusiast hasn't gone. Massie touches on the personalities & issues of Jellicoe vs. Beatty, Churchill vs. Fisher, and Fisher vs. Everyone, but I wanted more. I am probably just greedy, but to me an ideal Massie would have been a trilogy: pre-war (already done extraordinarily well in his DREADNOUGHT); The war's outbreak through Jutland as a Vol 2. and post-Jutland to 1942 & the effective end of battleships in the South China Sea in Vol 3. Lacking that this is still a "must have" for any fan of the Navy, but I feel a little like Beatty must have felt when the High Seas Fleet surrendered without a fight:Well, this is glorious, but it isn't exactly what I wanted.
Rating:
Summary: A good sequel to DREADNOUGHT
Review: ...but at the same time perhaps a little disappointing. This is probably the most "readable" account of the Royal Navy in the First World War that I have read -and I have read quite a few- but at the same time I kept feeling that something was missing. Part of me wonders if it has nothing to do with Massie & the mere fact that the really important part of naval strategy in the Great War was making sure that Nothing Happened dooms any account to "something missing". At the same time however I feel that Massie could have made use of a better editor in this follow-up to his really interesting first volume on the pre-war Anglo-German arms race. Here we all too often have the text of a message or letter as it was written TO someone & then a few pages later we have the exact same text repeated as it is received by someone -it makes one keep thinking "but wait, we already KNEW that!" More than half the book is devoted to the first year of the war, and much of the rest revolves around Jutland, and while I was fascinated by the accounts of Coronel & the Falklands, I wish that Massie had perhaps given more time to the smaller engagements & perhaps to the sheer tedious hell of the blockade. At the same time, given that I am discussing an author who has already shown a predeliction to battleships (and who writes superbly about them) I probably shouldn't complain that very little of this book goes anywhere that a battleship or a battleship enthusiast hasn't gone. Massie touches on the personalities & issues of Jellicoe vs. Beatty, Churchill vs. Fisher, and Fisher vs. Everyone, but I wanted more. I am probably just greedy, but to me an ideal Massie would have been a trilogy: pre-war (already done extraordinarily well in his DREADNOUGHT); The war's outbreak through Jutland as a Vol 2. and post-Jutland to 1942 & the effective end of battleships in the South China Sea in Vol 3. Lacking that this is still a "must have" for any fan of the Navy, but I feel a little like Beatty must have felt when the High Seas Fleet surrendered without a fight:Well, this is glorious, but it isn't exactly what I wanted.
Rating:
Summary: This book is HUGE...
Review: ..but that has nothing to do with its size. OK, so it is a big book and you will certainly know you are carrying it if it is your chosen vacation reading. That would be a mistake, because once you are into this book it is very unlikely you will want to put it down again - and thereby miss your vacation entirely.
Its HUGENESS comes as a gripping story of political intrigue, monumental egos, grand strides across the timeline of battleship development (read 'Dreadnought' first if you can), immensely capable, brave and resolute men, truly global strategies, tales of adventure, frustration, desperation, triumph, horrific clashes of titanic proportions and a clean, fresh and engaging style that goes all the way there in explaining the Great War in its fullest context. OK, so there's no sex (..actually there is..but you'll have to find it...and its as smutty as Hollywood would want..Clue: David Beatty)
The astonishing thing is, this is not a novel..it is HISTORY (you know, that boring period you feel asleep in at school..)..
..put it down if you can. As gripping as the cold waters that consumed so many souls in it's unfolding, those 90 years ago. A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: DREADNAUGHT... PART TWO
Review: After reading Dreadnaught and Peter the Great by Massie, I did not think he could write another book of such high quality, but I was mistaken. Castles of Steel is almost part two of his "Dreadnaught" and covers the fleet action of the Btitish fleet that was missing from "Dreadnaught." Coverage of battles -- mostly in the North Sea and in the Bosphorus is as exciting as only Massie can make it. But the other virtue that Massie has is making his characters come alive -- from Churchill to the various fleet admirals -- by providing background information so intimate that the characters Massie creates become unforgettable to the reader. None of the dry biographical stuff, but the explicit good and bad of each character. Excellent descriptions of battles and battle situations, excellent description of those involved, and -- the only eye-glazing point I encountered, excellent but boring detailed parliamentary accounts, which are probably necessary to make the book whole and complete. Overall: 800 plus pages that fly by pretty fast. "Castles of Steel" is, and will be, the best book to describe this period to the average reader.
Rating:
Summary: Rule Brittania!!
Review: As always, Massie brings us traditional narrative history in a style that actually makes the story of a horrible war "fun". This is almost a novel with its focus on the characters and physical events of the naval conflict in World War I. While I enjoyed reading the book, I recommend it with some warnings. First, Massie is so enamored of the glory of the great navies of World War I, that I felt he lost the thread of what seemed to be his major premise: that the British navy won World War I for the Allies. If I am right about what he set out to show, I feel he failed; the story simply isn't integrated into the other events of the war sufficiently to establish the claim. In this regard, anyone looking for a serious analysis of the impact of the naval conflict on the war generally may be disappointed. Even for the general reader, it is somewhat bizarre that almost 700 pages of this 800 page tome are about the first half of the war and the last half gets only a cursory review. This is a result of the focus on the exciting head to head battles of the war, the Falklands, the Goeben, the Dardenelles, etc. and of course Jutland; these big events were over after Jutland and after June 1, 1916, Massie is reduced to telling about the U-Boat war and the scuttling of the fleet and Scapa Flow six months after the war ended but it is, nevertheless a little wierd. Other minor quibbles are that the maps are totally inadequate and the photo selection poor. Still, as I said, this is a "fun" read (if that is the right expression for a book that is relating evens in which over and over again, a thousand men disappear in an instant). Generally, those who enjoyed Dreadnought will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Another superb effort by Robert Massie
Review: Castles of Steel follows on from Massie's previous book on Naval politics and warfare "Dreadnought", which was a narrative primarily of the German and British Naval race in the years before World War One. "Dreadnought" finished at the eve of the war, and "Castles of Steel" picks up the thread from there. I thought Dreadnought was a superb book, and held high hopes for "Castles of Steel". I'm pleased to say that I was not disappointed, although I had a few reservations. I have always enjoyed Massie's writing style, and he is true to form here. All the main players from Churchill to Jellicoe, from the Kaiser to Hipper, are portrayed in vivid character sketches which is something Massie does particularly well. Beattie in particular comes off as a love-struck pompous individual! As always his words flow very easily, which is always helpful when reading a book of this size; nearly 850 pages! Massie, as in "Dreadnought", deals with all the complex political intrigues very nicely from both the British and German perspective. The Naval actions are vividly described and make for riveting reading. I particularly enjoyed reading of the Falklands and Coronel engagement for as a WWI novice I had not known of either action. There are 6 maps produced, but the one for Jutland, which was the largest Naval engagement of the war, was relatively large scale showing the general approach of the two opposing fleets rather than individual ships. I would like to have seen a few more images, but what is reproduced are very nice pictures of the main characters and ships. I was a little disappointed that the book seemed to tail off after 1916; after Jutland, the prime focus seems to be the U-Boat war. The surface fleet is neglected after this time, but that could be that there were no significant or even minor actions taken by either side after this time; I'm not a Naval scholar so I don't know. To me, Massie does'nt seem quite as enthused when writing about the U-Boats and the counter actions by the British, but none the less, it is still very interesting. "Castles of Steel" is definitely highly recommended to all Naval and WWI historians and European political history buffs.
Rating:
Summary: Almost as good as Dreadnought
Review: Dreadnought was a masterpiece! I eagerly looked forward to Castles of Steel. I enjoyed it, but found that it fell one star short. Massie's genius is his interweaving of biography into history. Dreadnought did this brilliantly, especially with Jackie Fisher. While Castles of Steel has extensive biographical passages on the various British leaders (including a risque love verse by Beatty), it is sadly lacking in biographical information on the German leaders. The only German leader who gets much coverage is Ludendorff, a General. I cannot believe that there are no sources of biographical information on Hipper or Scheer. The other shortcoming, which is really why I deducted one star, is the paucity of maps. There were maps showing where the battles happened, and the initial tracks for Jutland, but three or four maps of the various phases of the action at Jutland would have been very helpful, given the confusion of the battle iteslf. I would also have appreciated maps of the other actions in the North Sea. The map showing the location of the sinking of the Luisitania is a waste of a page. All in all, a good, engaging read, but it could have been better.
Rating:
Summary: A Dagwood Sandwich of a Book-Very Good but not a Classic
Review: During the mid 1990's, I spent several enjoyable months reading Robert Massie's "Dreadnought". It was one of those books that I hated finishing. Every chapter brimmed with wonderful anecdotes and stellar writing. I put "Dreadnought" right up there with Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August" as one of the classic accounts of the Great War.
At 780 pages, "Castles of Steel" requires an act of faith to pick up the book and begin reading. Fortunately, Massie delivers a well written account of the naval war between Great Britain and Germany. All of the major sea battles of the war are examined with careful but not pedantic detail. Fortunately, as a work of popular history, Massie does not need to bog down his story with the obscure details an academic history would have to include. There will probably never be a better written popular account of the Great War at Sea.
Unfortunately, Robert Massie has to crowd in an awful lot of history into his 780 pages. What gets lost in his account is the well told anecdote and the rich background detail that made "Dreadnought" such a pleasure to read. There is just enough background writing to make one miss reading "Dreadnought". "Castles of Steel" would have had to push on a thousand pages to fill it with the same level of detail. To give but one example, Massie never informs his reader about simple details such as what is the difference between a light cruiser, a fast cruiser and a battle cruiser. The maps and pictures also do not do justice to the story being told.
All in all this is a very good acccount of naval warfare during the Great War. I will probably never have to read another book on this subject. However, "Castles of Steel" does not rise to the level of classic like "Dreadnought" or "The Guns of August." I would be willing to bet that in 40 years, "Dreadnought" will still be in print and "Castles of Steel" will only be found in libraries.
Rating:
Summary: Worth The Wait
Review: For those of you who have read Mr. Massie's "Dreadnought," which detailed the German/British battleship "arms race" leading up to WWI, and who have been waiting for years for the sequel....here it is. And is it great! Fans of the author know that he is a master of narrative history. His books read like good novels, and he excels at capturing personalities with telling anecdotes. At the beginning of "Castles Of Steel" he explains how Kaiser William compensated for his withered left arm, and basically useless left hand, by building up his right arm. William also wore large rings on the fingers of his right hand. He would shake hands with a steel-like grip and watch with amusement as his victim winced. To quote the author "...the hand shaker said merrily, 'Ha ha! The mailed fist! What!' " This small episode not only tells us a lot about William's personality, but the expression he uses also reminds us of his Anglophilia (he was, after all, Queen Victoria's grandson). In a similar way, Mr. Massie conjures up the characters of other people who are important to this story. On the British side: Beatty, Jellicoe, Churchill, Jacky Fisher, David Lloyd George, etc. On the German side: Hipper, Scheer, Tirpitz, Hindenburg, Ludendorff, etc. The major pre-publication concern about this book would have been: could Mr. Massie satisfy not just the fan of narrative history but also the fan of military history. After all, unlike the author's previous books, this book was to be primarily about battles rather than personalities. It turns out that we needn't have had any worries on that score, either. In particular, the descriptions of The Battle of the Falkland Islands and of Jutland are brilliant. The author explains the events leading up to the battles, the strategy, the tactics, etc. He takes us, in a clear manner, step-by-step through the battles and the aftermath. You feel as though you are on-deck with the various admirals as they make their decisions. Mr. Massie also covers the importance of Naval Intelligence during the war - the British, early on, broke the German code and usually knew ahead of time what was planned.(Despite the fact that, seemingly by magic, the British fleet always seemed to pop up whenever the German fleet ventured out to sea, the Germans refused to believe that their codes had been compromised.) Things might have turned out very differently in the several North Seas battles if it weren't for this. Mr. Massie also covers the British blockade of Germany, the Dardanelles/Gallipoli fiasco, the U-Boat War (and the sinking of the Lusitania), the entry of the United States into the war, etc. Another big plus for this book is that it will probably generate disagreement and discussion amongst academics and serious students of the war. Mr. Massie isn't afraid to tell us about who he admires and who he doesn't much care for. Thus, he clearly thinks Jellicoe superior to Beatty (especially at Jutland)and he thinks Jellicoe was treated in a very shabby manner by the politicians - especially David Lloyd George. Mr. Massie, while admiring Churchill, thinks he made many mistakes during his tenure as First Lord (and not just during the Dardanelles/Gallipoli period), and that these mistakes were caused by Churchill's overconfidence, coupled with his total lack of any background regarding naval affairs. Setting aside Jacky Fisher's histrionics and peevish personality, Mr. Massie generally gives the First Sea Lord high marks for his perspicacity regarding military matters. After all, Fisher made the WWI British navy what it was, and he also realized the importance of submarines. The author makes a strong case that Fisher clearly knew that the Dardanelles/Gallipoli campaign, if done the way it was ultimately done, would be a huge mistake. Churchill, with his youth, energy, eloquence and misplaced (in this case) self-confidence wore down Fisher and, at least for awhile, got the First Sea Lord to shelve his doubts and get "on-board" regarding the scheme. Mr. Massie takes the sensible view that the German use of unrestricted submarine warfare forced a very reluctant Woodrow Wilson to commit the U.S. to the war. While American forces didn't win the war, the huge numbers of fresh troops streaming into Europe made it clear to Germany that she no longer had any realistic prospect of victory - hence, the German decision to accept an armistice. Mr. Massie wisely steers clear of counterfactuals, but it is interesting to think about what might have happened if Germany had resisted the use of unrestricted submarine warfare and the U.S. had stayed out of the war. At the very least, the one million German soldiers who were freed up for use on the Western front due to the collapse of Russia would not have been counterbalanced by the flood of American troops. A minor criticism of the book is the lack of maps. They are few and far between and some more would have been very helpful in following along during the extended battle sequences. But, hey, when a book is this good...well, you can't have everything!
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