Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Added to your cart
Hardcover Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea Book

ISBN: 0679456716

ISBN13: 9780679456711

Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea

(Book #2 in the Dreadnought Series)

Select Format

Select Condition ThriftBooks Help Icon

Recommended

Format: Hardcover

Condition: Good

$5.69
Save $29.31!
List Price $35.00
Almost Gone, Only 1 Left!

You Might Also Enjoy

The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
Alistair Horne

from: $5.09

Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy 1944
Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy 1944
Max Hastings

from: $5.19

Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?
Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?
David Fromkin

from: $4.79

The Two-Ocean War
The Two-Ocean War
Samuel Eliot Morison

from: $6.79

Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy
Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy
John R. Hale

from: $7.29

To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World (P.S.)
To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World (P.S.)
Arthur Herman

from: $4.19

The First World War
The First World War
John Keegan

from: $4.39

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918
A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918
G.J. Meyer

from: $9.29

Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy
Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy
Ian W. Toll

from: $6.69

Neptune's Inferno
Neptune's Inferno
James D. Hornfischer

from: $8.29

Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521 - 1580
Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521 - 1580
Roger Crowley

from: $9.19

Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947
Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947
Christopher Clark, Christopher Clark

from: $28.53

With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain
With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain
Michael Korda

from: $4.39

The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World
The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World
Holger H. Herwig

from: $7.59

The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919
Mark Thompson

from: $16.77

Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
Jonathan Parshall, Anthony Tully, Anthony Tully, Anthony Parshall, Jonathan; Tully

from: $18.59

Gallipoli
Gallipoli
Alan Moorehead

from: $4.89

The First World War
The First World War
Hew Strachan

from: $6.29

Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War
Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War
Robert K. Massie

from: $5.99

Peter the Great: His Life and World
Peter the Great: His Life and World
Robert K. Massie

from: $4.59

Book Overview

In a work of extraordinary narrative power, filled with brilliant personalities and vivid scenes of dramatic action, Robert K. Massie, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and Dreadnought, elevates to its proper historical importance the role of sea power in the winning of the Great War. The predominant image of this first world war is of mud and trenches, barbed wire, machine guns, poison gas, and slaughter. A generation of European manhood was massacred, and a wound was inflicted on European civilization that required the remainder of the twentieth century to heal. But with all its sacrifice, trench warfare did not win the war for one side or lose it for the other. Over the course of four years, the lines on the Western Front moved scarcely at all; attempts to break through led only to the lengthening of the already unbearably long casualty lists. For the true story of military upheaval, we must look to the sea. On the eve of the war in August 1914, Great Britain and Germany possessed the two greatest navies the world had ever seen. When war came, these two fleets of dreadnoughts--gigantic floating castles of steel able to hurl massive shells at an enemy miles away--were ready to test their terrible power against each other. Their struggles took place in the North Sea and the Pacific, at the Falkland Islands and the Dardanelles. They reached their climax when Germany, suffocated by an implacable naval blockade, decided to strike against the British ring of steel. The result was Jutland, a titanic clash of fifty-eight dreadnoughts, each the home of a thousand men. When the German High Seas Fleet retreated, the kaiser unleashed unrestricted U-boat warfare, which, in its indiscriminate violence, brought a reluctant America into the war. In this way, the German effort to "seize the trident" by defeating the British navy led to the fall of the German empire. Ultimately, the distinguishing feature of Castles of Steel is the author himself. The knowledge, understanding, and literary power Massie brings to this story are unparalleled. His portrayals of Winston Churchill, the British admirals Fisher, Jellicoe, and Beatty, and the Germans Scheer, Hipper, and Tirpitz are stunning in their veracity and artistry. Castles of Steel is about war at sea, leadership and command, courage, genius, and folly. All these elements are given magnificent scope by Robert K. Massie's special and widely hailed literary mastery. This description may be from another edition of this product.

Customer Reviews

9 customer ratings | 7 reviews

Rated 5 stars
Superb!

This book is riveting.

1Report

Rated 5 stars
The conclusion to Alfred Thayer Mahan's hypothesis.

This is the fascinating and untold side of WW1. Massie takes great pains throughout his book to present the people of yore authentically and accurately. I've never read another history where the author describes the fog of war so palpably.

2Report

Rated 5 stars
The Forgotten Side of the Great War

Even a reasonably serious general reader of World War I histories is likely to be far better acquainted with the war on land than the war at sea. After all, what else is there to know besides the Battle of Jutland, the sinking of the Lusitania, the German U-boat offensive and the reactive convoy system? OK, some may have heard of Dogger Bank and recognize that Gallipoli was originally an entirely naval operation until practical...

2Report

Rated 5 stars
Worth The Wait

For those of you who have read Mr. Massie's "Dreadnought," which detailed the German/British battleship "arms race" leading up to WWI, and who have been waiting for years for the sequel....here it is. And is it great! Fans of the author know that he is a master of narrative history. His books read like good novels, and he excels at capturing personalities with telling anecdotes. At the beginning of "Castles Of Steel" he explains...

1Report

Rated 5 stars
Thoroughly Magnificent

Robert K. Massie has produced another masterpiece of narrative history, comprehensive without being dry and fascinating in every detail. In Castles of Steel he takes up the story he started with his 1991 bestseller Dreadnought: the struggle between Britain and Germany for sea mastery during the Great War.The book begins with the final days of peace in July 1914, when Europe realized that the assassination of Archduke Francis...

1Report

Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured