Overview

Award-winning historian Mike Walling captures the essence of the Arctic Convoys of World War II. In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest offensive operation ever undertaken. Operation Barbarossa saw defeat after defeat heaped on the Soviet army. With Russia's forces left staggering under the strain and in desperate need of supplies, Britain and the United States launched an ambitious operation to resupply the Soviet Union using convoys sent through the Arctic. Their journey was punctuated by torpedo attacks in freezing conditions, Stuka dive bombers, naval gun fire, and weeks of total darkness in the Arctic winter, with ships disappearing below the waves weighed down by the ice and snow on their decks. Drawing on hundreds of oral histories from eyewitnesses and veterans of the convoys, plus original research into the Russian Navy archives at Murmansk, historian Michael G. Walling offers a fresh retelling of one of World War II's pivotal yet largely overlooked campaigns.

Full Product Details

9781472811103

Table of Contents

Reviews

If the Nazis didn't get you, the weather would in this truly hellish front: the icy U-boat and Luftwaffe-patrolled lend-lease lifeline to Russia. --Gene Santoro, World War II (November/December 2012) .. .through this book I definitely had gained a renewed sense of appreciation for the thousands upon thousands of civilian seamen who had contributed to the war effort, many of whom passed into history without ever receiving their due recognition. --Peter C. Chen, World War II Database (October 2012) .. .tells the complete story of the Allied forces' Arctic Convoys and the role they played in helping Russia repel the Germans. It uses literally hundreds of oral histories from eyewitnesses and veterans of the convoys plus original research in the Russian Naval archives at Murmansk to retell a campaign that has received relatively little in-depth focus in the chronicles of World War II, and is a top pick for any military history holding. --James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review (January 2013) This volume fills in a part of history little known to the average student of the Second World War and is important in the wider knowledge of that time. - Richard Mataka, www.mataka.org Relying on anecdores from the written accounts of crewmen who served on board the merchantmen and their naval escorts, Walling provides readers with unforgettable snapshots of the horrendous experiences they faced during cobat in ... frigid waters. - Naval History magazine (June 2013)

This volume fills in a part of history little known to the average student of the Second World War and is important in the wider knowledge of that time. Richard Mataka, www.mataka.org Relying on anecdores from the written accounts of crewmen who served on board the merchantmen and their naval escorts, Walling provides readers with unforgettable snapshots of the horrendous experiences they faced during cobat in ... frigid waters. Naval History magazine (June 2013) If the Nazis didn't get you, the weather would in this truly hellish front: the icy U-boat and Luftwaffe-patrolled lend-lease lifeline to Russia. Gene Santoro, World War II (November/December 2012) ...through this book I definitely had gained a renewed sense of appreciation for the thousands upon thousands of civilian seamen who had contributed to the war effort, many of whom passed into history without ever receiving their due recognition. Peter C. Chen, World War II Database (October 2012) ...tells the complete story of the Allied forces' Arctic Convoys and the role they played in helping Russia repel the Germans. It uses literally hundreds of oral histories from eyewitnesses and veterans of the convoys plus original research in the Russian Naval archives at Murmansk to retell a campaign that has received relatively little in-depth focus in the chronicles of World War II, and is a top pick for any military history holding. James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review (January 2013)

This volume fills in a part of history little known to the average student of the Second World War and is important in the wider knowledge of that time. --Richard Mataka, www.mataka.org Relying on anecdores from the written accounts of crewmen who served on board the merchantmen and their naval escorts, Walling provides readers with unforgettable snapshots of the horrendous experiences they faced during cobat in ... frigid waters. --Naval History magazine (June 2013) If the Nazis didn't get you, the weather would in this truly hellish front: the icy U-boat and Luftwaffe-patrolled lend-lease lifeline to Russia. --Gene Santoro, World War II (November/December 2012).. .through this book I definitely had gained a renewed sense of appreciation for the thousands upon thousands of civilian seamen who had contributed to the war effort, many of whom passed into history without ever receiving their due recognition. --Peter C. Chen, World War II Database (October 2012).. .tells the complete story of the Allied forces' Arctic Convoys and the role they played in helping Russia repel the Germans. It uses literally hundreds of oral histories from eyewitnesses and veterans of the convoys plus original research in the Russian Naval archives at Murmansk to retell a campaign that has received relatively little in-depth focus in the chronicles of World War II, and is a top pick for any military history holding. --James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review (January 2013). . . effectively tells the story of the sailors or dared fight both man and nature. --WWII History This volume fills in a part of history little known to the average student of the Second World War and is important in the wider knowledge of that time. Richard Mataka, www.mataka.org Relying on anecdores from the written accounts of crewmen who served on board the merchantmen and their naval escorts, Walling provides readers with unforgettable snapshots of the horrendous experiences they faced during cobat in ... frigid waters. Naval History magazine (June 2013) If the Nazis didn't get you, the weather would in this truly hellish front: the icy U-boat and Luftwaffe-patrolled lend-lease lifeline to Russia. Gene Santoro, World War II (November/December 2012) ...through this book I definitely had gained a renewed sense of appreciation for the thousands upon thousands of civilian seamen who had contributed to the war effort, many of whom passed into history without ever receiving their due recognition. Peter C. Chen, World War II Database (October 2012) ...tells the complete story of the Allied forces' Arctic Convoys and the role they played in helping Russia repel the Germans. It uses literally hundreds of oral histories from eyewitnesses and veterans of the convoys plus original research in the Russian Naval archives at Murmansk to retell a campaign that has received relatively little in-depth focus in the chronicles of World War II, and is a top pick for any military history holding. James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review (January 2013). . . effectively tells the story of the sailors or dared fight both man and nature. WWII History This volume fills in a part of history little known to the average student of the Second World War and is important in the wider knowledge of that time. Richard Mataka, www.mataka.org Relying on anecdores from the written accounts of crewmen who served on board the merchantmen and their naval escorts, Walling provides readers with unforgettable snapshots of the horrendous experiences they faced during cobat in ... frigid waters. Naval History magazine (June 2013) If the Nazis didn't get you, the weather would in this truly hellish front: the icy U-boat and Luftwaffe-patrolled lend-lease lifeline to Russia. Gene Santoro, World War II (November/December 2012) ...through this book I definitely had gained a renewed sense of appreciation for the thousands upon thousands of civilian seamen who had contributed to the war effort, many of whom passed into history without ever receiving their due recognition. Peter C. Chen, World War II Database (October 2012) ...tells the complete story of the Allied forces' Arctic Convoys and the role they played in helping Russia repel the Germans. It uses literally hundreds of oral histories from eyewitnesses and veterans of the convoys plus original research in the Russian Naval archives at Murmansk to retell a campaign that has received relatively little in-depth focus in the chronicles of World War II, and is a top pick for any military history holding. James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review (January 2013) . . . effectively tells the story of the sailors or dared fight both man and nature. WWII History If the Nazis didn't get you, the weather would in this truly hellish front: the icy U-boat and Luftwaffe-patrolled lend-lease lifeline to Russia. --Gene Santoro, World War II (November/December 2012) .. .through this book I definitely had gained a renewed sense of appreciation for the thousands upon thousands of civilian seamen who had contributed to the war effort, many of whom passed into history without ever receiving their due recognition. --Peter C. Chen, World War II Database (October 2012) .. .tells the complete story of the Allied forces' Arctic Convoys and the role they played in helping Russia repel the Germans. It uses literally hundreds of oral histories from eyewitnesses and veterans of the convoys plus original research in the Russian Naval archives at Murmansk to retell a campaign that has received relatively little in-depth focus in the chronicles of World War II, and is a top pick for any military history holding. --James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review (January 2013) This volume fills in a part of history little known to the average student of the Second World War and is important in the wider knowledge of that time. - Richard Mataka, www.mataka.org Relying on anecdores from the written accounts of crewmen who served on board the merchantmen and their naval escorts, Walling provides readers with unforgettable snapshots of the horrendous experiences they faced during cobat in ... frigid waters. - Naval History magazine (June 2013)

Author Information

Michael G. Walling is author of several books, including Bloodstained Sea, winner of the 2005 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature. An internationally recognized World War II expert, Walling is a contributing author to the US Naval Institute's Naval History magazine and has appeared on The History Channel and PBS as an aviation and naval expert. After graduating from Montclair State College with a BA in Biology, Walling served in the US Coast Guard for six years as a commissioned officer and a senior petty officer. He has spent more than 45 years collecting stories from veterans from World War II, Korea, Viet Nam, and Iraq as well as those of pilots, merchant seamen, and civilian personnel with NATO and EUFOR in the Balkans. His research has included visits to Afghanistan; Russia; London; Sarajevo; Baska Voda, Croatia; Halifax, Nova Scotia; St John's, Newfoundland; and New Orleans.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available