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andrewbarnard53's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
A really good book. More background information than I thought there would but, but it all tied in really well
mring42's review against another edition
4.0
The book starts very slowly, and doesn’t focus a lot on the actual game but is more of a description of the overall battle of the Atlantic, with intermittent focus on the Wrens and the game. Still interesting and worth reading.
laurazdavidson's review against another edition
4.0
Vivid and engrossing. Did you like [b:The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz|51187948|The Splendid and the Vile A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz|Erik Larson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567638164l/51187948._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71768608]? This one's better.
littlemisscass's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent insight into naval tactics during the war, as well as the indispensable role that women played. Engaging and well-written, it varied between a thrilling narrative and an informative text - a mix that worked perfectly to maintain my interest and increase my understanding. Solid read.
weng's review against another edition
3.0
Different style of history that I usually read but I think it was an important story to tell. The hyperbole of the cover is a bit over the top though.
jakobitz's review against another edition
2.0
All in all, an intriguing story told rather blandly. I found the Epilogue to be the most interesting part of the book
travistn's review against another edition
2.0
A disjointed spaghetti of a book that needed more of an editor or focus to be great.
The book overall does a lot of telling but little showing. The point of the narrative is that this “game” developed by the Royal Navy helped turn the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic, but glosses over what tactics where really innovated. All we are told is they developed tactics like”Raspberry” but never got the notion that the author knew what that was. The other strategies discovered by the team are never even explained.
The focus on the wrens was interesting and that is a needed element of WW2 history that can be expanded upon, but again after developing several of them it then seems to gloss over contributions. In essence it was: Here is this interesting person who broke through into a masculine world by being tenacious, and then they were in this room where something happened.
There are baseline historical elements that are seemingly left out, We never get a table for the Allied shipping losses, despite the repeated emphasis that this WAS a big deal that the UK leadership focused on. We never get a sense of the ebbs and flow of the battle.
The beginning setup with a cliff hanger was cheesy and would have been REALLY annoying had I bothered to remember it. That goes for the whole book that seems to jump around in time that it’s not clear when things are happening.
I feel like this book is a great idea of an interesting subject, but it needed to either be a 30 page history article, or a 300 page book with charts/graphs.
The book overall does a lot of telling but little showing. The point of the narrative is that this “game” developed by the Royal Navy helped turn the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic, but glosses over what tactics where really innovated. All we are told is they developed tactics like”Raspberry” but never got the notion that the author knew what that was. The other strategies discovered by the team are never even explained.
The focus on the wrens was interesting and that is a needed element of WW2 history that can be expanded upon, but again after developing several of them it then seems to gloss over contributions. In essence it was: Here is this interesting person who broke through into a masculine world by being tenacious, and then they were in this room where something happened.
There are baseline historical elements that are seemingly left out, We never get a table for the Allied shipping losses, despite the repeated emphasis that this WAS a big deal that the UK leadership focused on. We never get a sense of the ebbs and flow of the battle.
The beginning setup with a cliff hanger was cheesy and would have been REALLY annoying had I bothered to remember it. That goes for the whole book that seems to jump around in time that it’s not clear when things are happening.
I feel like this book is a great idea of an interesting subject, but it needed to either be a 30 page history article, or a 300 page book with charts/graphs.
mbondlamberty's review against another edition
5.0
Entertaining and informative book with so much information.
It is not a fast read but a lot of fascinating looks behind the scenes from WWII>
It is not a fast read but a lot of fascinating looks behind the scenes from WWII>