The Reading List

An incomplete selection of books on World War II naval and maritime history.

Last updated: 21 April 2024

Naval Histories

• Canada
  • No Higher Purpose: The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War, 1939-1945, Volume II, Part I, W A B Douglas, Roger Sarty & Michael Whitby
  • A Blue Water Navy: The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War, 1939-1945, Volume II, Part 2, W A B Douglas, Roger Sarty & Michael Whitby
• Germany
  • The Last Year of the Kriegsmarine, May 1944 – May 1945, V. E. Tarrant
  • The German Navy in World War II, Edward P. Von der Porten
• Japan
  • A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941 -1945, Paul Dull
  • Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy 1887 – 1941, David C. Evans & Mark R. Peattie
  • The Imperial Japanese Navy In the Pacific War, Mark E. Stille
• United Kingdom
  • The War at Sea, Stephen Roskill
    • Volume I: The Defensive
    • Volume II: The Period of Balance
    • Volume III, Part 1: The Offensive
    • Volume III, Part 2: The Offensive
• United States
  • History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Samuel Eliot Morrison
    • Volume 1: The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939 – 1943
    • Volume 2: Operations in North African Waters, October 1942 – June 1943
    • Volume 3: The Rising Sun in the Pacific, 1931 – April 1942
    • Volume 4: Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942 – August 1942
    • Volume 5: The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943
    • Volume 6: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 Jul 1942 – 1 May 1944
    • Volume 7: Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1941 – April 1944
    • Volume 8: Sicily – Salerno – Anzio, June 1943 – June 1944
    • Volume 9: Sicily – Salerno – Anzio, June 1943 – June 1944
    • Volume 10: The Atlantic Battle Won, May 1943 – May 1945
    • Volume 11: The Invasion of France and Germany, 1944 – 1945
    • Volume 12: Leyte, June 1944 – January 1945
    • Volume 13: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, The Visayas, 1944 – 1945
    • Volume 14: Victory in the Pacific, 1945

Battle & Campaign Histories

• Baltic Sea
  • The Naval War in the Baltic 1939 – 1945, Paul Grooss
  • Operation Hannibal: The World War II Evacuation of East Prussia & the Disaster at Sea, 1945, Michael A. Eggleston & Frances O’Connor Rogers
  • Sea of Death: The Baltic, 1945, Claes-Göran Wetterholm
• Dunkirk
  • B. E. F. Ships: Before, At and After Dunkirk, John de S. Winser
  • Dünkirchen 1940: The German View of Dunkirk, Robert Kershaw
  • Air Power and the Evacuation of Dunkirk: The RAF and Luftwaffe during Operation Dynamo, 26 My – 4 June 1940, Harry Raffal
• Guadalcanal
  • Neptune’s Inferno: The U. S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer
• Mediterranean Sea
  • Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940 – 1945, Vincent P. O’Hara
  • Crete 1941: The Battle at Sea, David A. Thomas
  • Operation Pedestal: The Fleet that Battled to Malta 1942, Max Hastings
  • Strangling the Axis: The Fight for Control of the Mediterranean during the Second World War, Richard Hammond
• Norway
  • The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 – April 1940, Geirr H. Haarr
  • The German Invasion of Norway April 1940, Geirr H. Haarr
• The Pacific War
  • Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942, Ian W. Toll
  • The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944, Ian W. Toll
  • The Twilight of the Gods: The War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945, Ian W. Toll
  • Silent Victory: The US Submarine War Against Japan, Volumes 1 & 2, Clay Blair
• U-Boat War / Battle of the Atlantic
  • Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunters 1939 – 1942, Clay Blair
  • Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted 1942 – 1945, Clay Blair
  • Battle of the Atlantic, Marc Milner
  • Black May: The Epic Story of the Allies’ Defeat of the German U-Boats in May 1943, Michael Gannon
  • Operation Drumbeat, Michael Gannon

General Histories

• World War II at Sea: A Global History, Craig L. Symonds
• The War for the Seas: A Maritime History of World War II, Evan Mawdsley

Intelligence

• A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Secret Game that Won the War, Simon Parkin
• Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II, Stephen Budiansky
• The Secret Capture: U-110 and the Enigma Story, Stephen Roskill
• Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945, R. V. Jones

Personal Accounts

• Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal – The Great Naval Battles as Seen Through Japanese Eyes, Captain Tameichi Hara
• Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-Boat Battles of World War II, Commander Herbert A Werner
• Convoy Escort Commander: A Memoir of the Battle of the Atlantic, Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Gretton