Michael FitzGerald is the author of more than a dozen books. Hitler’s War Beneath the Waves: The menace of the U-Boats was published in 2020. This is the 5th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! I categorize this book/novel as G. Few of the European nations were ready for WWII when it began. Certainly, Germany had been building their military, but their navy hadn’t reached the level desired before hostilities broke out. That said, 1940 was a successful year for the Nazi U-boat fleet.

This book discusses the Norwegian campaign, then covers the Allied use of convoys and their associated escort ships. One of the factors that helped turn the tide against the German U-boats was the advancements in radar and HF/DF. Even so, the U-boats took a heavy toll on the convoys.

As the coverage of Allied anti-submarine aircraft is extended, U-boats found it even more difficult to hunt the ships. Most of the U-boat activity was in the North Atlantic but they also had a presence off of Norway to harass the Russian convoys.

Operations in the Mediterranean were limited and even more difficult after the Allied invasion of North Africa. A few U-boats were sent to a joint Japanese/German location in Malaysia, but their efforts were of limited success.

I enjoyed the 9 hours I spent reading this 256-page WWII history. The book is full of details, but it is very readable. I have also had the opportunity to read two other of FitzGerald’s book. Those are Hitler’s Secret Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Nazi Plan for Final Victory and Unsolved Mysteries of World War II: From the Nazi Ghost Train and ‘Tokyo Rose’ to the Day Los Angeles was Attacked by Phantom Fighters. I like the chosen cover art. I give this book a rating of 4.4 out of 5.

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I found this to be a relatively unique book amongst the litany of WWII and Hitler books out there. It was a nice change from seeing the same thing repeated one more time from a slightly different perspective.

This book is written in a conversational tone, not overly scholarly or intensely boring as some books in this genre tend to be. The author did a fine job researching and presenting his facts in an approachable manner that makes this worth the time to read. My only complaint was that I wish it had been a bit longer and more detailed in certain sections.

As someone who reads a lot of non-fiction with a focus on WWII, I found this book to be informative, interesting and worthy of a recommendation to others with similar interests. I'm glad I was afforded the opportunity to read it and look forward to future books by this author.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publishers, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Very interesting read on an important aspect of World War II. Reading this book confirmed that this is one I will recommend that my library purchase so that we have it in our collection.

Thanks to Arcturus Publishing and NetGalley for providing an early copy for me to read and review.