The Bitter Sea - Simon Ball

A gripping history of the Mediterranean campaigns from the first rumblings of conflict through the Second World War and into the uneasy peace of the late 1940s.

In the 1930s the British commanded the Mediterranean as the world's great thoroughfare, from Gibraltar in the west to the Suez Canal in the east. To the Americans, it represented the answer to anti-imperialism and to Mussolini it encapsulated his violent vision of conquest - his 'Mare Nostrum'. In the ensuing war that raged, the blue waters of the Mediterranean and the surrounding nations witnessed an epic and brutal conflict between enemies and allies alike.

Based on the most up-to-date research, including newly-released intelligence dossiers, 'The Bitter Sea' uncovers the implications of a multitude of plans, dominated by the war's most illustrious decision makers. This was total war - long drawn-out battles on land, sea and air, from the Italian air force's role in the Spanish Civil War, the siege of Malta, the menace of the U-boat and insurgency in Palestine and Cairo, to Allied victory in El Alamein and the terrifying desert campaigns of North Africa. As the author demonstrates in this fascinating narrative history, the Mediterranean was indeed 'the Bitter Sea'