Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.
Sto caricando le informazioni... Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940-1945di Vincent P. O'Hara
Nessuno Sto caricando le informazioni...
Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. The particular value of this survey of tactical and operational naval warfare in the Mediterranean during World War II is that it brings a certain balance to analyzing the performances of the combatants. In particular, it makes a useful corrective to the superficial appearance of British superiority, when for much of the period in question it was the Italians who were maintaining a certain strategic ascendancy, despite arguably having more structural impediments to success. That said, the author loses me a little bit at the end when he makes the argument that Britain "beggared itself fighting" in what turned out to be a secondary theater. Perhaps, but then one is really obligated to offer a counterfactual as to what strategic option the British should have pursued instead. Perhaps finishing the Italians off in North Africa before getting involved in the Balkans? nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Risorse esterne che parlano di questo libro Wikipedia in inglese (29)The Mediterranean is the maritime crossroads where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet. More major naval actions were fought there than in the Atlantic or Pacific yet remarkably little has been written about the subject. This fresh study of the Mediterranean's naval war analyzes the actions and performances of the five major navies--British, Italian, French, German, and American--during the entire five-year campaign and examines the national imperatives that drove each nation's maritime strategy.Struggle for the Middle Sea provides a history of the entire campaign from all perspectives and covers Ge Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Discussioni correntiNessunoCopertine popolari
Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)940.54History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- Military History Of World War IIClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
Sei tu?Diventa un autore di LibraryThing. |
Foremost among the myths that O’Hara pursues is that of Italian incompetence, which he dispels convincingly by noting their success in achieving their primary strategic objectives throughout most of the war, as well as the tenacious challenge they posed to the British. Though the Germans are traditionally seen as the Axis power which did the bulk of the heavy lifting in the region, O’Hara disputes this as well, noting that the Kriegsmarine’s combat performance there was in fact inferior to that of the much-disparaged Regia Marina. Nor are the British and French spared from O’Hara’s revisionary analysis, as he makes a strong case for the French fleet’s ongoing effort to preserve their nation’s sovereignty while arguing that the British only triumphed in the Mediterranean as a result of the infusion of American forces into the region in the fall of 1942.
O’Hara’s points are presented in a convincing and forthright manner, one that aids the book in challenging traditional attitudes about the war there. Yet it suffers from two significant flaws. The first is O’Hara’s focus on the surface actions, a curious decision which marginalizes vital components of the sea war. Even the famous air raid on the Italian naval base on Taranto, one of the turning points of naval history, is addressed in a mere two sentences that offer little consideration of the broader impact of the raid. O’Hara’s almost exclusive reliance upon secondary and published sources is the other major limitation of his work, as his trodding of ground well covered by others limits the real novelty of his argument. Such deficiencies limit the impact of what is otherwise a provocative reexamination of the war in the Mediterranean, one that every student of naval conflict in the Second World War can read for enjoyment as well as enlightenment. ( )