Minesweepers were among the less glamorous naval vessels during the Second World War, but the work they did was vital. Ewart Brookes's novel is closely based on his own experience commanding a minesweeper patrol ship. ... Brookes was a journalist, and is good at getting across the facts of the minesweeper's existence. But he does more than this; he is good at interpersonal relationships on the ship. ... Ewart Brookes has his limits as a novelist (I felt he overdid the melodrama and pathos in some of the later chapters) but he is an excellent reporter, with a good ear. I was completely convinced by his depiction of the culture of the wardroom, with the banter and the slang, and the pink gins and copies of Men Only.