The late Nicholas Monsarrat's The Cruel Sea (originally published in 1951) is a powerful and riveting novel of maritime endurance and daring set in the North Atlantic during World War II. Carefully scripted and written, the reader is drawn into this story of the British ships Compass Rose and Saltash, and their desperate cat-and-mouse game on the high seas with Nazi U-boats. This fine trade paperback edition from Burford Books will introduce a whole new generation of action/adventure enthusiasts to a truly skilled and engaging writer whose ability to involve the reader from first page to last is rarely equaled and never surpassed.

This book literally changed my life.

In the eleventh grade in Greenville, South Carolina, i had an English teacher who designated Thursday as "Free Reading Day" and encouraged the entire class to read anything they wanted to (well, within limits -- "Playboy" would have been Right Out, i'm sure.) -- and, in case you had nothing of your own, she laid out an assortment of magazines and books on a table at the front of the room.

On that table, one Thursday, was a copy of "The Cruel Sea". Since i've always been at least a bit interested in sea stories, and it looked interesting, i picked it up. From the first i was hooked solidly.

In the next three or so years, i reread it twice at least, possibly more than that.

And then i joined the Navy -- and i am sure that it was because of what i read in this book, and what i sensed behind it, in what Monsarrat -- who, like his viewpoint character, Lockhart, was there from the beginning, working his way up to command his own ship before the end of the war -- didn't so much say as assume about the sea and the Navy -- *any* Navy.

Monsarrat presents us here with a brotherhood of the sea, corny as that idea may sound. Sailors, more than the other Armed Forces, tend to regard other sailors -- even enemy sailors -- as brothers in arms, and, as Monsarrat says, the only true enemy is the cruel sea itself.

As he shows us here, the sailor who was your enemy five minutes ago, who was trying to kill you as you tried to kill him, is merely another survivor to be rescued from the cruel sea once you've sunk his ship.

And, even more so, as Monsarrat portrays it, there is a kind of brotherhood that binds sailors in the same Navy together in very mcuh a family manner -- you may not like your cousin, but you want to know what's happening to him and, when all is said and done, he IS your relative.

The best summation of this sort of attitude (which i felt to some extent myself during my time in the US Navy) comes when Ericson, the Captain, is touring his new ship as she stands under construction in a Glasgow shipyard; he meets one of his future officers, and mentions the name of his previous ship, which was lost with over three-quarters of her crew, and realises that

"He's heard about 'Compass Rose', he probably remembers the exact details--that she went down in seven minutes, that we lost eighty men out of ninety-one. He knows all about it, like everyone else in the Navy, whether they're in destroyers in the Mediterranean or attached to the base at Scapa Flow: it's part of the linked feeling, part of the fact of family bereavement. Thousands of sailors felt personally sad when they read about her loss; Johnson was one of them, though he'd never been within a thousand miles of 'Compass Rose' and had never heard her name before."

To be part of a band of brothers like that is a proud thing, and Monsarrat captures it perfectly.

He also captures the terrified boredom of being in enemy territory with nothing happening as you wait for the enemy to make the first move, and the shock, confusion and horror of combat (particularly sea combat, in which the battlefield itself is the deadly, patient enemy of both sides).

And he captures the glories and rewards of life at sea, the beauty of a glorious clear dawn at sea, the stars and the moon and the wake at night and so much more.

This is the book that made a sailor out of me.

It will tell you what it is to be a sailor.

"The Cruel Sea" was recommended to me by my mom who read it as a young woman when it was first published. I was skeptical about reading this epic of WW2 battle at sea -- thought I wouldn't want to read about war in great detail -- but I found that the pages turn themselves. It is a GREAT book -- expertly constructed and beautifully written. It is an insight into the human spirit in a time of war, but it also works so well because it does an amazing job of making the ship itself a living, breathing character, in whose destiny one becomes intimately wrapped up. The copy I have is from the 50's and I'm thrilled to see it is still in print, though not surprised. The book is a true testament to the fact that GOOD WRITING, on any subject, is fascinating and stands the test of time.

I've been a fan of Captain Beach ever since I read "Run Silent, Run Deep" in grade school and have had the pleasure of meeting and talking with him a few times. Thus I've often wondered about several aspects of his life and career, such as why a Naval Aide to President Eisenhower never became an Admiral and the circumstances of his young daughter's death, although such personal items are admittedly none of my business. Salt and Steel goes a long way toward filling in the blanks in my knowledge about this man, whom I've known and admired for years. To his credit, as I expected, he does not gloat about his successes nor complain about his failures. I found every chapter fascinating and hard to put down, even very late in the evening. My only wish about this book is that he had included more information and anecdotes about the ships he served in and the people he served with, especially President Eisenhower, Trigger II and the faulty torpedoes of WWII. With the responsible parties being long-retired and in many cases deceased, I feel that the problems and the principles involved should be aired, in the hope that they might not be repeated. Even so, I would highly recommend this book to anyone with even a casual interest in any of the subjects mentioned, including the politics of the Washington, DC bureaucracy. To Captain Beach, "Well Done, Sir!"

I started reading this book in the evening, and finished it at dawn. What an interesting book! Beach is an excellent storyteller, who clearly loves the US Navy, and the story of his life is intertwined with it. His father also had a storied career, and the tales of Beach growing up, succeeding at Annapolis, submarining against the Japanese in WW II, serving as Eisenhower's naval aide after the war, and then circumnavigating the world underwater is so gripping a story and so well told that I was sorry when I came to the last page. I loved this book!

This "memoir" is billed as a sequel to Beach's "The United States Navy: 200 Years" (1986). As such, "Salt and Steel" is a blend of stories from his 27 years in the U.S. Navy, and his views on theories of naval warfare and the application of grand strategy to national defense policy. The book offers some wonderful stories of his father and mother, and their lives together in the U.S. Navy before the 1920s. The story of the first dinner party given by the new wife of the new base commander is just delightful. The reader who is looking for more of the intense submarine stories which brought Beach fame in his novels "Run Silent, Run Deep" (1955), "Dust on the Sea" (1972), and "Cold is the Sea" (1978) will be somewhat disappointed as he does not spent much time telling any new stories from his submarine career. The tale he tells of the fellow officer who blocked Beach's own advancement to the rank of admiral is chilling in that it does not speak well for the Navy that allows such petty jealousy to have so much impact on a man's career. In sum, Beach is a good story teller, and when telling of his own career he does a masterful job. One can only hope that soon we'll have a full biography of both Edward L. Beach, Jr., and his naval officer/novelist father, in whose footsteps the younger Beach has so faithfully followed.

Edward L. Beach, Sr., recounts his amazing Navy career. Ten years after he retired, he writes of these events with the clarity of someone who lived them just yesterday. His tale of the Battle of Manila Bay is an excellent first-hand account from a different perspective. The only thing he saw during the battle were the boots of a shipmate in the grating above him, thus his title "The Battle of Irwin's Boots." He tells of the sinking of the Memphis, a cruiser under his command. (His son, Beach, Jr., tells this in a recently published book.) Every account throughout the book is a tale told by this humble sailor that was just doing his job.
It is most incredible that nearly every important Naval and Marine Corps personality of the first half of the 20th century crossed paths with this sailor. Before they made a name for themselves later in life, he knew two future Marine Corps Commandants, four star admirals, CNO's, and Navy Secretaries. He met both Roosevelts, vice presidents, Senators, mayors and other political leaders.
The only drawback of the book (and a minor one at that) is the rather lengthy discussions about his workings in Haiti. These were important issues to the US and to the Navy in the early 1900's and Beach's impact was probably quite large. It just made for some slow reading in the middle of the book. This was not bad enough to change my rating to four stars, but I couldn't pick four-and-a-half.
His son, Edward L. Beach, Jr., (Run Silent, Run Deep) adds just enough comments to provide a little backgound without overwhelming his Dad's words.
This is an excellent autobiography of a man who truly loved the "soul of the Navy" and was very proud to serve his country.

Captain "Rich" Richardson, the navy hero of "Run Silent Run Deep" is back in action. Actually, reluctant inaction is more like it. A hero, with a row of medals to prove it, Richardson works tirelessly to return to sea. Marrying his sweetheart (ex-fiance of Jim Bledsoe, Richardson's rival killed in "Run Silent") and becoming a father has taken the sailor out of Richardson. After WWII, however, going to back to work means joining the most exclusive of the nation's services - the "Nuclear Navy". With a charachter - more than loosely based on Admiral Rickover - holding the keys to the nuclear navy, Richardson's combat history is more a liability than an asset, fixing Beach's hero firmly in the past, and not the atomic future. None of Richardson's training or experience prepares him for the cold-war intrigues that envelop him once he reports aboard his first SSN. while suspenseful and (likely) realistic, Richardson's depcition of submarine warfare seems little changed from that used to drive "Run Silent" and its sequel "Dust on the Sea", even though both were set in the pre-nuclear age, when subs spent most of their time on the surface, and the deeps seemed almost as mysterious to the subs as the were to the surface ships. Little of the silent claustrophobia of submarine-warfare comes across, and the scenes pf Richardson at work seem more reminescent of some cheesy WWII sub-thriller. As in previous Beach/Richardson novels, dialog drives the action. When charachters talk, it's often in long paragraphs that make the listeners seem like servile plebes.

This is another good book from Edward Beach. I remember when I read it that I couldn't put it down because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Again, a very well written book by someone who was actually there.

I first read 'Cold is the sea' about ten years ago, and from that time I have become attached to life on a submarine. Edward Beach demonstrates and dramitizes the simple live or die choice of those who fight in a submarine. The book has become often read and the inspiration and bench mark by which I judge any exciting war novels.

First printed in 1955, (I read the 1963 edition), Run Silent, Run Deep is the model story of most submarine stories. Beach describes the harsh reality of submarine life, from the cold depths to the heat of combat with an all-knowing detail. If you ever wanted to read a naval book that was not a Mutiny or Treasure story, than try this book.

The Triumph and the Glory is the only war novel in recent years that I've read that can compare to this terrific book. Run Silent, Run Deep is the best submarine yarn ever written, although Das Boot was very good as well. Suspenseful, exceptional in recreating the confined conditions and emotional stress of undersea combat. Five stars!

This thriller was hard to put down; I read it in record time. Captain (then Commander) Beach grabs the reader's attention early in the novel and holds it tight right up to the end. One is almost sorry that the book is over, and I plan to look for the sequels and Captain Beach's other work.

It even has a love interest, but a rather demure, reserved, discreet, indirect, and tepid one by the standards of 1990s popular culture.

The climax is shocking.

It hadn't occurred to me, but other reviewers' speculation seems apt that Tom Clancy probably read this book before he wrote Hunt for Red October.

It's hard to imagine a such a pleasant gentleman, then an officer on active service, not yet forty years old, with a wife and children, banging out such a compelling yarn in his spare time. One has to admire him.

I regret having waited 45 years to read this book, though I think I remember my parents reading it much sooner. If you have an interest in the Navy, in submarines, in WWII's Pacific war, or just a spellbinding war story, then you should read and enjoy Run Silent Run Deep.

I really enjoyed this book.There is sure to be a massive wave of new found interest in the suprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the events surrounding it due to the upcoming movie, and anyone who wants to get a feel for what it was really like to be there on the deck of a battleship dodging bullets and bombs, this book is unequaled anywhere. What really makes this an outstanding book is not just the gripping account of the attack itself, but also of the time period just beforehand. Mr Mason does an excellent job of relaying the false sense of security and invincibility that we as Americans held before we were thrown headlong into the most savage and trying war in the history of mankind. Mr Mason's portrait of the life of a sailor in the days of the pre-war "Old Navy" is something to be treasured and preserved especially now that our population of veterans from that period is inexorably fading. I thought that the author could ease off on some of the "50-cent" words, as constantly having to consult your dictionary can interfere with your enjoyment of this book. Overall, a great read, and a must have for anyone interested in Pearl Harbor or naval history.

My Dad was assigned to the USS California from 1936 until she was sunk on December 7th. The book reads just like the stories he would tell. My Dad past away Nov 2002. He spent 30 years in the Navy and most of the stories he told were when he was on the "Prune Barge". He played football and baseball on the ships team. I always wondered if the sailor Mr. Mason spoke to when he was touring the ship when first assigned was my Dad - he was a MM3 - "snipe" - worked in the engine room. It sure did sound like a response my Dad would give. One of the sailors awarded the Medal of Honor, Robert Scott (Zeke) was my fathers best friend on the California. They were "Battleship Sailors".

I couldn't lay this book down, once started. Ted Mason put me back in Hawaii during those dark days of 1940/41. He vividly describes how it was to be a sailor in the rigid "pecking order" of the "Old Navy." As a Pearl Harbor Survivor myself, he made that day come alive. More important, he reminded me of the days of the fleet at San Pedro in 1939. Read it if you have any interest in how it was to be a young bluejacket in the pre-war Navy.

Forget the movie "Run Silent" from 1958 - "Dust" is a sequel to the very original book, faithful to everything about it not kept in the film. In the book (which follows Ed "Rich" Richardson throughout his career in the early days of WWII, rather than on a single cruise), Rich avenges himself on "Bungo Pete", a near-mythical IJN officer whose mastery of the science of subhunting has dearly cost the USN. one of the victims is Jim Bledsoe (played by Burt Lancaster in the film, but otherwise sharing no resemblence to Beach's creation) "Run" ends with Richardson executing the crew of Pete's ship - presumbly including Pete himself, knowing that Pete will remain a danger as long as he's alive. "Dust" opens where "Run" left off - with Rich returning to Pearl, with conflicting emotions over the morality of his act. It's the inner moral dilemma that haunts Rich throughout the book, even as the story - which returns Rich to the battle-waters of the South Pacific - has little to do with it. Instead, in "Dust", Rich has his ship essentially commandeered by his commodore and joined to others in an experiment in "wolfpacking" the Japanese. Rich's superior quickly shows signs that he's got his own problems, but Rich's demons (which also include a burgeoning love for Jim Bledsoe's widow even as he romances another woman in Hawaii, a lapse that will come back to Haunt Rich in "Cold is the Sea".) prevent him from thinking or acting forcefully against the commodore. There's a gratuitous subplot involving Rich's capture by a brutal Japanese naval commander on a lower order than Bungo Pete - it doesn't do much for the plot, while the character's unrelieved meanness makes it clear that the story needed some idiot to kick around. Getting back to the war, Beach artfully and magnificently mixes on-board intrigue with the sea battle going on around Rich's sub. Beach's flaws (characters are on the whole just decent people, making the imperfect ones look unnneccessarily unlikable; rather than dialog, Beach has his characters speak in large, unbroken paragraphs, so instead of conversations, Beach's officers engage in miniature briefings; that made sense in "Run" which had a first person narrative, but doesn't work in "Dust" which reverts to 3rd person) are outbalanced by his expertise, even for those unfamiliar with the science of submarine warfare, and easily so for those who know a thing or two.

This is the definitive work of fiction set in WWII aboard an American submarine. Beach's character development does, however, while improved since Run Silent, Run Deep, is a reflection of his actually commanding submarines and not investing a lifetime as a professional fiction writer. The plot is a hoot, but some readers should remember that this book was written several years ago by a man who fought the Japanese. Beach's depiction of the Japanese is not as sensitive to the unique Japanese culture as is currently popularized by some. Beach wrote this book as an adventure story and not to pursue an agenda. Oh, the Bungo Suido is not in the Yellow Sea.

This is a work to bring feelings of nostalgia to any former sailor. Especially a former submarine sailor such as myself. I recognized old shipmates in the antics of the crew of mostly very young men on the Triton. The operational, mechanical and navigational problems faced during the voyage of the Triton are similar to and will be recognized by any experienced submarine sailor. The technical information in the book is very "lite", but it reflects the era of restricted data in which this book was authored. Ned Beach is a wonderful narrator. His other books of fiction and non-fiction are outstanding. This book is no exception.

The "Naval Terms Dictionary" is essentually that, a dictionary of terms often used in the Navy. While it is geared for the modern navy, a good many antiquated terms (from the age of sail) are in it as well, though not all.

While the "Naval Terms Dictionary" is a great tool, I have found a few drawbacks to it. While it is set up alphabetically like a normal dictionary, it completely lacks any sort of pronunciation guide for words (some of those terms are pronounced funny) and a listing of what type of word it is (noun, verb, adj, etc). It also neglects to seperate different definitions for the words, opting to give both in a paragraph form. You can usually define the type of word it is from the definition, but it would have been a little more professional to write it in a standard dictionary format.

Overall, despite its relatively minor flaws, this book is a great tool for folks who are in the navy, or read a lot of naval history and fiction.