With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations In The Mediterranean, 1942-1945

Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Book on the Navy in the Med
Review: After many years of neglect, this seems to be the time of the Mediterranean theater of operations during World War II. First came Rick Atkinson's excellent An Army at Dawn that talked about the birth of the American Army in North Africa. Now Ms. Tomblin's excellent companion on the Naval Operations.

It was in the Med that the Army and the Navy won their spurs. Although opposed by the American brass, the operations in the Med tought the Army and the Navy vital lessons that would have doomed the cross channel invasion pushed by American leaders for 1942 (Operation Sledgehammer) or 1943 (Operation RoundUp) at the latest.

It was in the Med that the US Army learned the importance of close air support (instead of the strategic long range favored by the Army Air Force). It was in the Med that the Army and the Navy really learned what years of neglect in fielding new equipment would really cost in lives. It was in the Med that the Navy really learned about amphibious operations that would later pay dividends in both the Pacific and the coast of France (both at Overloard and at Dragoon on the southern coast).

Ms Tomblin has done a truly supurb job of researching both the official documents and talking to the veterans from the Med to put together what will probably be the definitive book on naval operations in the Med.