Critical Conflict

The is really three separate accounts of naval actions in and around the Mediterranean in 1940. The first is the 1940 naval battle off southern Italy between the Italian and British navies and is nothing special. The third covers the massive fleet/convoy movement by the British to bring supplies and personnel into Malta later in the year and is an acceptable telling of the details. Where the book shines is the second, and longest, piece which covers the events surrounding the relief of Admiral North as commanding officer Gibraltar. North was sacked after not acting as the Admiralty and Winston Churchill expected when a Vichy French fleet sailed past Gibraltar and into the Atlantic while an Allied operation (MENACE) was underway against the Vichy colony of Dakar. The author examines all aspects of the issue and gives what I consider an unbiased telling of the facts. The books contains the typos of the first edition (titled Action Imminent) and is absolutely not, as the subtitle states, an account of the "Royal Navy's Mediterranean Campaign in 1940".