A Game of Birds and Wolves
On sale
7th November 2019
Price: £20
Genre
‘Splendid… a triumph’ John Lewis Stempel, Sunday Express
‘Compelling’ Sunday Times
‘History writing at its best’ Booklist (starred review)
1941. The Battle of the Atlantic is a disaster. Thousands of supply ships ferrying vital food and fuel from North America to Britain are being torpedoed by German U-boats. Britain is weeks away from starvation – and with that, crushing defeat.
In the first week of 1942 a group of unlikely heroes – a retired naval captain and a clutch of brilliant young women – gather to form a secret strategy unit. On the top floor of a bomb-bruised HQ in Liverpool, the Western Approaches Tactical Unit spends days and nights designing and playing wargames in an effort to crack the U-boat tactics. As the U-boat wolfpacks continue to prey upon the supply ships, the Wrens race against time to save Britain.
With novelistic flair, investigative journalist Simon Parkin shines a light on Operation Raspberry and these unsung heroines in this riveting true story of war at sea.
‘Compelling’ Sunday Times
‘History writing at its best’ Booklist (starred review)
1941. The Battle of the Atlantic is a disaster. Thousands of supply ships ferrying vital food and fuel from North America to Britain are being torpedoed by German U-boats. Britain is weeks away from starvation – and with that, crushing defeat.
In the first week of 1942 a group of unlikely heroes – a retired naval captain and a clutch of brilliant young women – gather to form a secret strategy unit. On the top floor of a bomb-bruised HQ in Liverpool, the Western Approaches Tactical Unit spends days and nights designing and playing wargames in an effort to crack the U-boat tactics. As the U-boat wolfpacks continue to prey upon the supply ships, the Wrens race against time to save Britain.
With novelistic flair, investigative journalist Simon Parkin shines a light on Operation Raspberry and these unsung heroines in this riveting true story of war at sea.
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Reviews
[A] splendid new history of the war in the Atlantic . . . Simon Parkin's book rips along at full sail and is full of personality and personalities. Above all, it brings a barely known aspect of the sea war out into the light. Which is a triumph in itself.
In a riveting, intricately researched book, Simon Parkin tells the previously unknown story behind the Allied victory in the Atlantic during World War II. It's an underdog's tale - not only of British supply fleets trying to outrun German U-boats, but also of the women game designers who made that victory possible.
Sheds compelling new light on the ferocious struggle being played out in the mid-Atlantic ... [A Game of Birds and Wolves] has all the elements of a film
A triumph
With novelistic flair, Parkin transforms material gathered from research, interviews, and unpublished accounts into a highly readable book that celebrates the ingenuity of a British naval 'reject' and the accomplishments of the formerly faceless women never officially rewarded for their contribution to the Allied defeat of Germany. A lively, sharp WWII history.
History writing at its best
Engaging and skilful . . . [Parkin] writes with real flair and the human side of this story is brought out with fine vignettes and character sketches . . . If the place of women in Britain's naval war has been played down, Parkin's vivid story recovers it handsomely . . . Inside his narrative is a desire to show how ordinary people did extraordinary things in wartime . . . this is a good read on a corner of the war and the men and women who peopled it - one very much worthy of our attention.
This is a thrilling story, compellingly told
Enthralling . . . a pacey read with some wonderfully vivid set pieces
Gripping . . . a great read.
A hugely enjoyable and exciting book . . . A compelling and important new story, lucidly and humanely told.
Simon Parkin describes brilliantly the key role of WATU in the Battle of the Atlantic. I was proud to read of my mother's role as a Wren with influence far beyond her age and experience, and of my father's application of WATU-designed tactics in the key anti-U boat battle of the Atlantic.
This is the riveting true story of war, amazing women, and one of the most important games in history.
A stunning book about an unknown part of the largely forgotten Battle of the Atlantic, which is a must read.