From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: Volume IV: 1917, Year of Crisis

From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, #4

by Arthur J. Marder

The five volumes that constitute Arthur Marder's From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow represented arguably the finest contribution to the literature of naval history since Alfred Mahan. A J P Taylor wrote that 'his naval history has a unique fascination. To unrivalled mastery of sources he adds a gift of simple narrative . . . He is beyond praise, as he is beyond cavil.'

The five volumes were subtitled The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919 and they are still, despite recent major contributions from Robert Massie and Andrew Gordan, regarded by many as the definitive history of naval events leading up to and including the Great War.

The fourth volume covers the period from Jellicoe's arrival at the Admiralty to deal with the U-boat menace until his dismissal a year later. Mounting losses brought about the introduction of the convoy system and the turn of the tide in anti-submarine warfare. The volume also looks at the beginnings of naval aviation.

A new introduction by Barry Gough, the distinguished Canadian maritime and naval historian, assesses the importance of Marder's work and anchors it firmly amongst the great naval narrative histories of this era.

This new paperback edition will bring a truly great work to a new generation of historians and general readers

Genres: Naval History

561 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

The son of Maxwell J. Marder and Ida Greenstein, Arthur Jacob Marder was raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University, where he obtained his Bachelor's degree in 1931, his master's degree in 1934, and his Ph.D. in 1936 with a study of British naval policy 1880-1905.

Reviews

[Bobble Hat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marder’s masterly history reaches the potential for Britain to be knocked out of the war by commerce warfare. Well told and researched as with the whole series.