Destruction of Convoy Pq-17

by David Irving

Book Overview

This book tells the Real History of a naval disaster of World War II. In June 1942, the great Anglo-American convoy PQ.17 laden with cargoes for the Soviet Union headed for North Russia, escorted by a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312911521
• ISBN13: 9780312911522
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 367 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A serious book

Other commentators have explained the basis of the book, and I agree with them. I first read this in 1968 at the age of 12, one of the first "serious" history books I have read. There are a number of photographs, and the book is heavily footnoted. I recall that I enjoyed the book and also was incredulous at the stupidity of the officers back in England over the use of the convoy as bait to try and trap the Tirpitz and the failure to protect the convoy from the U-Boats and Luftwaffe. Later on in life it was hard to compare this book with the fact that Irving seemed to deny that the holocaust took place. At the time he made these allegations there were certainly plenty of folks alive who had entered the camps as liberators. But putting that aside I thought it was a very well done book, it certainly pricked my interest into a serious study of military history. For that reason alone I like this book. 4 stars out of 5.

Great work by a controversial "historian"

David Irving's The Destruction of Convoy PQ-17 is a well-researched and well-written story of one of the northern Lend-Lease convoys to Soviet Russia during World War II. Due to a series of maneuvers by the Germans, messages by the British, and mistakes, the convoy scattered and suffered very high losses to German U-boat and air attack before the survivors finally reached Soviet Russia. Irving's account of this action is one of the most readable narratives of any sea action that I have ever read. (The author is a controversial "historian" and a Holocaust-denier. This book pre-dates his public refutation of the Holocaust. However, Irving was sued for libel and lost because of some passages in the book about Captain Broome, the commander of the destroyer escort for Convoy PQ-17. Anyone reading this book should be aware of the libel action and should also realize that the action was based on a handful of passages that were taken out of later versions of the book. There are accounts of the libel trial on the internet. I did not even find the "libelous" actions offensive.) Irving's account of the battle is extremely well-researched. He recounts how confused and in the dark both the British and German commands were during the battle. Much of his story is based on archival research into both the British and German commands' actions and decisions, but he fleshes out the story with great narratives based on ship logs, the memoirs of many participants, and interviews with many of the survivors. The personal stories help add a human dimension to the story, as he recounts the difficulty of trying to survive at sea in the northern latitudes with German aircraft and U-Boats stalking the ships. Irving wrote a wonderful book that tells a fascinating and harrowing story of a WWII naval action. Even if this book is read with skepticism toward Irving's handful of criticisms of Broome, his numerous criticisms of the RN, and his later controversial history (at the time of this writing, he is in prison in Austria for Holocaust denial), it is a great work. It is a shame that someone of Irving's considerable research and writing skills has wasted them for much of his career.