Martin T Gilbert has created an extremely informative and concise study of the ways in which naval warfare progressed throughout the interwar years. He gives an in-depth yet lucid explanation of naval developments which were designed to combat the growing risk of U-boat attacks upon domestic convoys across the Atlantic.Once we are familiar with the uses of radar, depth charges and convoys, Gilbert takes us to the shipbuilding yards of 1940s Sunderland and tells of his personal experiences working on large-tonnage ships to be sent out to sea during the Second World War. Informative, thought-provoking and in places amusing; Gilbert's story does not fail to educate his reader about the often unacknowledged work done by small merchant shipping yards to keep the Allied fleet afloat in the Battle of the Atlantic.