A Naval History of World War I

By: Paul G. Halpern

Narrated by: Tom Perkins

Length: 27 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

This book offers for the first time a balanced history of the naval war as a whole covering all participants in all major theaters. The author takes the listener beyond just those World War I operations staged on the North Sea to include the Italians and Austrians in the Adriatic; the Russians, Germans, and Turks in the Baltic and Black Seas; and the French and British in the Mediterranean.

Important riverine engagements - notably those on the Danube - also are included, along with major colonial campaigns such as Mesopotamia and the Dardanelles. The role of neutral sea powers, such as the Swedes in the Baltic and the Dutch in the East Indies, is examined from the perspective of how their neutrality affected naval activity. Also discussed is the part played by the US Navy and the often overlooked, but far from negligible, role of the Japanese navy.

The book is also notable for its inclusion of now-forgotten strategies for naval operations that never materialized. With a clear and authoritative voice, the author lends an admirable cohesiveness to this encompassing view of World War I naval operations, both realized and unrealized.

©1994 the United States Naval Institute (P)2021 Tantor

Speed up narration

This is a very dense and dry book. That’s not to say it isn’t good. It’s just extremely technical and tedious, and unfortunately the narrator makes it worse. It’s not that he’s bad, because he’s not, it’s just this material makes for a certain narrator that could give it a bit of life and some pep. The only way to get through it is to speed up the narration and that only helps so much. The information is still very fascinating and very informative.

Well Done One Volume Discussion of a Large Event

This book did a great job of giving a balanced overview of the naval war of WW1. I learned a lot of new information about the naval war in the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. This is great overview and probably the best balanced account I have read.

Dull, but at least it's long.

I’m very interested in naval history in general, and lately I’ve found myself drawn to the naval history of the first World War. I was immediately intrigued by Halpern’s twenty-seven-hour narrative, which promised a “balanced history… covering all participants in all major theaters”. I was certain that here would be all the details that could only be covered in a book of this size.

The actual experience was very disappointing and dull. To be sure, there is no shortage of details, but most are concerned with the lead-up to various actions rather than the actions themselves. There is plenty of minutia, statistics, planning and movements that may or may not be important, but precious little of the actual results other than toss-off comments in the vein of 'such and such ship was lost with all hands'. It was like listening to a boring history lecture that drones on, and on, and on...

Which brings me to the performance. The narration was like listening to the evening news. Frequently I would have to back up the audio, finding that my attention had wandered, and I’d missed the past several minutes.

I’ll admit, there were points in the narration that immediately caught my attention. Every time I heard the author (or rather, the narrator) refer to the German Fleet as “The High Sea Fleet” I ground my teeth. Each of the several other books I’ve read on German naval operations of World War I refers to “The High Seas Fleet”. Hearing the singular always reminded me of a citrus beverage for children, not a powerful fleet of warships. However, after some searching, I found that no less an authority than Admiral Reinhard Scheer titled his book “Germany’s High Sea Fleet in the World War”. While it may be the only other instance I’ve found it referred to as such, (and it might be a result of the translation), it was Scheer’s fleet so he can call it what he wants. I will defer to the Admiral.

Although I struggled to well past the mid-point, ultimately I couldn't finish the book and returned it. I’d recommend giving this book a pass. I would suggest Massie’s excellent “Castles of Steel” instead.