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

Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Massie plays to his strength as he expands upon the story begun in Dreadnaught. While the previous book focused on the personal rivalries that led up to World War I, Castles of Steel examines the sea war between Germany and Britain. The face-off between two great navies of dreadnoughts - fast battleships that were defended by big guns only - plays like a Homeric battle between Cyclops, the warring powers hurling titanic levels of firepower in battles that produced such catastrophes as Gallipoli and Jutland. Massie spins a tale of intricate strategy, and examines the larger-than-life personalities - Churchill and Jellico among the Brits, and Pohl and Tirpitz among the Germans - who masterminded these battles that forever changed the practice of war.