THIS new history of the Royal Navy, published last year to coincide with the Golden Jubilee of the White Ensign Association, is a full and exciting account of all the many campaigns, operations and deployments conducted around the world over the past fifty years.
It ranges from the Cold War and the Cod Wars to detailed and exciting accounts of the Falklands War and the Gulf Wars. It has been written and compiled from privileged access to secret and confidential Admiralty Plans and Commanding Officers' reports and contains a wealth of previously unpublished material.
The story of how the Royal Navy has adapted to meet the many new challenges of the modern world and how it has carried out its vital roles from manning the nation's strategic nuclear deterrent to guarding the vital offshore oil and gas facilities as well as protecting Britain's worldwide interests is a truly fascinating one, while the development of ships, submarines, aircraft, weapons, tactics and strategies as well as the changes in personnel and life at sea are brought to life by contributions from people who served over the period.
This is an insiders’ account of how the Royal Navy, always short of funding, has through ingenuity and determination, adapted to radical social and technological changes whilst ‘safeguarding the nation’ and its vital maritime trade from a wide
range of threats, including environmental disasters, international wars and global terrorism.
Roberts’ style is lively and readable: a true seafarer, he provides the reader with detailed accounts of a variety of naval operations and day to day life at sea, highlighting the ‘can do’ spirit of its people which has led Britain to develop one of the most professional and successful navies in the world.
As with last month’s book, Empire of the Sea, this account makes us realize how much of our safety and stability as a nation rests on the behind the scenes work of
those at sea. Much of this work is conducted out of plain sight, ‘over the horizon’, and remains unknown and unappreciated by public and politicians alike. This book sets the record straight in authentic detail.
John Roberts has spent over thirty years in the Royal Navy, serving on aircraft carriers, frigates, cruisers and minesweepers in locations which include the Far East, the Middle East, Aden, the Radfan and the Gulf.
He later held many important appointments within the Ministry of Defence, supporting many Admirals, and held a key operational role during the Falklands War.
He writes with great pride and insight about one of our most important institutions which makes the book a pleasure to read, made even greater by the illustration of over 200 colour and black and white photographs, many previously unseen.