Andrew Boyd (9)

This is one of those books that 'wants to set the record straight'. The author has two main theses. One is that the Indian Ocean wasn't a backwater and that the RN could and did provide adequate defence. The second is that the disaster of Force Z off Singapore had nothing to do with Churchill, but was the result of muddled and overoptimistic thinking at the admiralty.
The author is more convincing in the second point than in the first.

This is a book for enthousiasts only. As the author show more takes issue with the accepted version of events, he assumes that everybody knows what those events were and what the story is. So he is more at home with the various committees and plans than in telling what actually happened. If you are not already familiar with the story, this can be a bit confusing. For one thing, the course of events of the destruction of Force Z is never clearly described. Still, if you are seriously interested in the RN in Eastern Waters in the Second World War, this belongs on your shelf. show less