The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command - Hardcover

Andrew Gordon

4.37

383 ratings by Goodreads

9781557507181: The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 155750718X ISBN 13: 9781557507181

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 1997

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At the Battle of Jutland eighty years ago in May 1916, 250 warships of the two most powerful fleets in the world clashed in an encounter which might potentially have reshaped forever the political map of Europe and the world beyond. In the event, though one in ten of the ships went to the bottom, and 9,000 men died, its consequences were less spectacular. The British Grand Fleet, which lost more ships and many more men than did its German opponent, had already enjoyed most of the strategic advantages of a victorious fleet before the action, and continued to do so afterwards in, if anything, even greater measure.
However, the battle became an enduring source of controversy not so much over the outcome but rather over the handling of the much superior British fleet. There had clearly been important failures of communication and command. This book explores those failures, revealing their origin in conflicting styles of command and different understandings of the rules of the game. In fact it digs far deeper than the events of 31st May 1916, and traces the conflict of style back into the heady days of the Victorian Empire, when the Royal Navy was assimilating the advent of mechanization, and forming its future combat doctrine in the artificial conditions of peacetime.
Andrew Gordon shows how the gallant admirals of the First World War were taught their trade, and how the doctrinal rifts exposed by Jutland were by no means new. But the significance of his book is far wider than that. By showing how far the Victorian suffocation of Nelsonic values was caused by doctrines and attitudes that tend to arise in times of peace, he identifies issues that may hold eternal relevance to the fighting services.

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About the Author:

Andrew Gordon began his investigation of Jutland in the late 1980s. He has a PhD in War Studies and is the author of an acclaimed exploration of naval policy and administration in the 1920s and 1930s.

Review:

'Anyone who is interested in warfare or the Royal Navy should read this stunningly original account of the 1916 Battle of Jutland and "the reasons why". Gordon is a compelling storyteller, and his weighty tome should frighten no one. It is a classic of the genre.' -- Sir Max Hastings, Evening Standard 'Paperback of t 20000925 'For all naval historians, riveting reading' -- Christopher Andrew, Sunday Telegraph 20000925 'The Rules of the Game is the best book I have read for months ... Gordon researches brilliantly and writes compellingly. His fans are now clamouring for him to write another big book. He is much too good to be allowed to rest on his laurels.' -- The Spectator 20001104 'They don't come much better than this' -- Alan Judd 20001104 'A superb study of military culture' -- Jeremy Black, History Today 20001104 'The most profound study of Jutland this reviewer has ever read' -- Antony Preston, Warship 20001104 'For those who love the epic of sea power ... unputdownable' -- William Waldegrave 20001104 'Does far more than just chart the Battle of Jutland' -- The Times 20050809 'A marvellous work ... a rare combination of major substance and easy accessibility' -- Jon Sumida, American Neptune 20050809

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