The Burning Shore

How Hitler's U-Boats Brought World War II to America

By: Ed Offley

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

On June 15, 1942, as thousands of vacationers lounged in the sun on Virginia Beach, a massive fireball erupted from a convoy of oil tankers steaming into Chesapeake Bay. By the next day, three ships lay at the bottom of the channel, victims of Lieutenant-Commander Horst Degen and his crew on the German submarine U-701.

In The Burning Shore, acclaimed military reporter Ed Offley presents a thrilling account of Degen's rampage along the American coast and of US Lieutenant Harry J. Kane's quest to bring him down. Since the beginning of 1942, German U-boats had prowled the waters of the Atlantic, sinking merchant ships and threatening to sever the lifeline of supplies flowing from the United States to Great Britain. But when Kane and his crew spotted the silhouette of U-701 offshore that summer, the ensuing clash signaled a critical turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic—and the beginning of an unlikely friendship between the two rival commanders.

A gripping tale of heroism and sacrifice, The Burning Shore describes how a small band of mariners and aviators drove Hitler's wolf packs from America's home waters.

©2014 Ed Offley (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Very personal story in front of history

Very nice story, great performance of a well written book. Absolutely worth the time.

World War 2 doesn't get any better.

Exeptionally engaging. I thought this was an outstanding book regarding World War II submarine warfare. It is an outstanding story with amazing detail. The post World War 2 follow-up of the key players was also superb. Well narrated I give the book five stars.

Super interesting story

Very well written story. I would highly recommended this book to anyone interested in the Battle of the Atlantic or World War II in general.

Fantastic!

the narrator is superb and the story very engaging. if you're at all interested in World War II, the battle of the Atlantic, or submarines then this book is for you.

Well told story of North America U Boat activity.

Absolute superb narration thru out story. Any story especially a military theme with Robertson Dean as narrator I’m in

great book that connects many great stories

excellent listen that links 2 stories to make an easy listen ! I liked how the author wrote from the German and Allies sides to make a great part of American history that many people dont know about.

Finally, a Book That Fills in the Gaps

I read a lot of books on World War II, both general and specific on a whole array of topics. What I have noticed is that very little information regards the USN response to Drumbeat, the German UBoat focus on the shipping along the East and Gulf Coasts in early 1942. There are plenty of discussions of how easy it was for UBoats to sink shipping during this time, and descriptions of how freighters and oilers were sunk off of Miami and other East Coast cities, in full view of an astonished American audience. Then there is a criticism of Ernie King and how his hatred of the British caused him to avoid seeking advice from the RN and how he seemingly ignored the whole issue. While this is true at some level, we find that the US was woefully unprepared for antisubmarine warfare in late 1941. So, creating an adequate response cannot happen overnight. Offley addresses both general aspects of the USN/USAAF response as well as a specific case from the German and American perspective.

The book is short by the standards of other WW II books, leaving me wanting for more detail on this subject. However, I do feel that my long-held appetite for an understanding of how the US responded in early 1941 has been partly satisfied.

I must add that Robertson Dean is one of my 4 favorite narrators on Audible books. It is such a pleasure to listen to a book delivered by him.

The Burning Shore - WWII Atlantic Theater

Story: This book is a good exploration of the war in the Atlantic. It explores the lessons learned, stubbornly, before the adoption of British methods to include the convoy method for the merchant marine to Great Britain. As always, it is amazing when people turn down help when everything else is not working.

Reader: Good.

Production: Very good.

Fascinating, detailed insight into the u-boat era

Very well written and read. it was technically and descriptively a masterpiece, even though I had known little about the Atlantic u-boat war.

German U boats \ North Carolina!? WWII

Fine narration . Very informative. Most interesting story concentrating upon one naval action off of our nation's Eastern seaboard ( North Carolina ). While naval admirals procrastinated and argued about actions necessary to stop the German U boats that were in our coastal waters and sinking Merchant Marine vessels the European war could be lost by Germany's cutting off all supplies being shipped from our shores. This book gives both an America and German view and is most palatable. A good read.