An entirely new review of the oft forgotten vital convoys via the Arctic Ocean, where temperature, weather and the enemy made each voyage an epic. The narrative blends research, fact and anecdote to cover all convoys from the first idea through years of action. Highlights include an entire chapter on the controversial PQ17 debacle, new revelations from Russian sources and an assessment of whether the price of victory in the Arctic was really too high. The convoys cost the British dear - there were heavy losses of merchantmen and their cargoes, and of the escort vessels too, some of which were hopelessly inadequate in extreme Arctic conditions. Yet convoys longed for weather so foul it would keep the enemy at bay, leaving them merely the impossible forces of nature to battle against. Sailor's accounts of the convoys, quoted here, bring to life the appalling hazards they faced.
Paul Kemp established an early reputation as a naval historian, able to mix original research and scholarship with exciting narrative writing. He was for a while attached to the Imperial War Museum, and now writes naval history full time.
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