Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940-1945 - Paperback

by Vincent O'Hara (Author)

The Mediterranean is the maritime crossroads where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet. More major naval actions were fought there than in the Atlantic or Pacific yet remarkably little has been written about the subject. Th is fresh study of the Mediterranean's naval war analyzes the actions and performances of the five major navies-British, Italian, French, German, and American-during the entire five-year campaign and examines the national imperatives that drove each nation's maritime strategy. Struggle for the Middle Sea provides a history of the entire campaign from all perspectives and covers Germany's largely unknown-and remarkably successful-struggle to employ sea power in the Mediterranean after the Italian armistice. Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy (August 2009) has called it "a new and stunningly important view of World War II" and "a fabulously readable and important book."

Back Jacket

A welcome and clarifying addition to the existing literature on the Mediterranean campaign. --The Washington Times

. . . .A remarkably thorough narrative and analysis of a complicated topic. . . .The breadth and depth of the author's research is impressive....This book belongs in any respectable library of World War II naval scholarship. Readers already familiar with the subject almost certainly will find something new in its narrative and interpretations, and newcomers to the field will find it an excellent place to start. --Nautical Research Journal

A new and stunningly important view of World War II...a fabulously readable and important book. --Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategy Policy

The Mediterranean is the maritime crossroads where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet. More major naval actions were fought there than in the Atlantic or Pacific yet remarkably little has been written about the subject. This fresh study of the Mediterranean's naval war analyzes the actions and performances of the five major navies--British, Italian, French, German, and American--during the entire five-year campaign and examines the national imperatives that drove each nation's maritime strategy. Struggle for the Middle Sea provides a history of the entire campaign from all perspectives and covers Germany's largely unknown--and remarkably successful--struggle to employ sea power in the Mediterranean after the Italian armistice.

Vincent P. O'Hara is a naval historian and the author and editor of numerous books including To Crown the Waves and On Seas Contested. He holds a history degree from the University of California at Berkeley and lives in Chula Vista, CA.

Author Biography

Vincent P. O'Hara is an independent scholar and the author of nine works including five published by the Naval Institute Press, most recently Torch. His articles have appeared in the Naval War College Review, Warship, MHQ, Storia Militare, and other periodicals and journals. He holds a history degree from the University of California, Berkeley.