Overview

Cunningham was the best-known and most celebrated British admiral of the Second World War. He held one of the two major fleet commands between 1939 and 1942, and in 1942-43, he was Allied naval commander for the great amphibious operations in the Mediterranean. From 1943 to 1946, he was the First Sea Lord and a participant in the wartime conferences with Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt and the US Chiefs of Staff, deliberating the global strategy for Allied victory. He also led a very active public life for almost 20 years after his retirement in 1946. Cunningham's papers are abundant for the period 1939-63 and are supplemented here by Cabinet and Admiralty records, papers of his service contemporaries and of Churchill, and by memories of his family and friends, as well as extensive US archives and private papers. This book is more frankly critical than other studies of Cunningham have been, emphasising the Anglo-American basis of his activities from spring 1942 to spring 1946 and devoting attention to his performance as First Sea Lord. The overriding aim of is to place Cunningham's life and career within the global strategic context, the shifting position of Britain in the world power stakes, and the political, economic, diplomatic, inter-service and technological constraints on sea power, as well as the limitations imposed by the distinctive culture and command structure of the Royal Navy in the first half of the twentieth century. This biography will be essential reading for all students of Second World War naval history and for practising professionals in the field, as well as being of much interest to general readers of military history.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael Simpson
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Edition:   annotated edition
Volume:   25
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.680kg
ISBN:  

9780714651972

ISBN 10:   0714651974
Pages:   344
Publication Date:   22 July 2004
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

1. Apprenticed to the Queen's Navy (1883-1908) 2. Cunningham, Destroyers and the Mediterranean: A symbiotic relationship (1908-1918) 3. Cowan's Protégé (1919-1933) 4. The Mediterranean: Challenges and crises (1934-1939) 5. The Finest Appointment (June 1939-June 1940) 6. Mussolini's War (June to December 1940) 7. Triumph into Tragedy (January to May 1941) 8. The Caged Tiger (June 1941-April 1942) 9. King and the King's Navy (June to October 1942) 10. Torch: The invasion of North Africa (October 1942-May 1943) 11. Husky: The invasion of Sicily (May to August 1943) 12. Avalanche: The invasion of Italy (September to October 1943) 13. Becoming First Sea Lord (October 1943-June 1944) 14. The Pinnacle of a Career (June 1944-May 1946) 15. Facing the Future (January 1945-June 1946) 16. The Long Ebb Tide (June 1946-June 1963)

Reviews

Professor SImpson deserves congratulations for an important contribution to modern naval history. -Dean C. Allard, The Northern Mariner

"""Professor SImpson deserves congratulations for an important contribution to modern naval history."" -Dean C. Allard, ""The Northern Mariner"

Professor SImpson deserves congratulations for an important contribution to modern naval history. <br>-Dean C. Allard, The Northern Mariner <br>

Author Information

Michael Simpson read History at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and recently retired as Reader in American History at the University of Wales, Swansea. He is the Honorary General Editor of the Navy Records Society's volumes and is author of seven books, including: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1989), Anglo-American Naval Relations, 1917-1919 (1991), The Papers of Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Somerville (1995) and The Papers of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, Vol. I: The Mediterranean Fleet, 1939--1942 (1999).

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