At the turn of the century in England the Wynne family, like so many others, are paying little attention to the shadows cast by the coming war.
George Wynne’s father wants him to follow him into the Church, but George, inspired by a brief encounter with a mysterious sailor, is determined to join the British navy. On his first trip overseas George begins to notice the growing international tension whilst staying with his German cousin, Werner. The young men meet their American cousin, Claire, and the rivalry between England and Germany becomes personal as George competes with Werner for his new love’s affections.
As England’s pastoral serenity is shattered by the tragic climax of the First World War, so George and Werner finally face each other at the Battle of Jutland, here described in masterly and gripping narrative. Will the family ever be the same again? Or will Jutland and World War One tear the bonds that held them together?
The Grey Seas of Jutland is a classic naval adventure that will keep readers gripped to the last page.
'A treat for fans of naval fiction.' - Tom Kasey, best-selling author of 'Cold Kill'.
W. H. Canaway was born in 1925 in Altrincham, Cheshire. He served in the 8th Army intelligence in North Africa and Italy during the latter part of the Second World War, before coming home to lecture at Stafford Technical College. After ten years of this, he decided to commit himself to full-time writing. He wrote fifteen novels, including Sammy Going South, a book that was translated into a dozen languages and was made the Royal Command Film Performance of 1963.
William Hamilton Canaway, known as W.H. Canaway, also known as Bill Canaway, was the author of novels that combined adventure with natural history and a love of the outdoors.
In the early 1900s a chance encounter with a sailor sets a young George Wynne on the path to joining the Royal Navy. If the title has led you to expect a tale of naval daring-do then you might be a tad disappointed here.
This is very much a book of two parts. The first 75 percent charts George's growing up and a developing love triangle between him, his German cousin Werner - also destined to become a seafarer - and his American cousin Claire.
The last quarter of the book takes us to the Jutland of the title and George's attempt to extract a very personal revenge on Werner.
It's nicely written and well presented - bar a smattering of OCR errors - but ultimately feels like a cut-and-shut of two different stories.
Bit of a disapointment, as it was not really about the sea, but rather about a young man growing up. He did eventually go to sea, but after an awful lot of pages, most of which were quite interesting, but not at all relevent to the title. On the whole quite a good historical novel, but for me a dissapointment!
I expected this to be a story about WWI, Rather it dwells on A young mans accomplishments or lack thereof growing up in England. Not at all interesting. I need to read ratings more before acquiring books