Robert K. Massie

 

Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea by Robert K. Massie Book Description: In a work of extraordinary narrative power, filled with brilliant personalities and vivid scenes of dramatic action, Robert K. Massie, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and Dreadnought, elevates to its proper historical importance the role of sea power in the winning of the Great War. The predominant image of this first world war is of mud and trenches, barbed wire, machine guns, poison gas, and slaughter. A generation of European manhood was massacred, and a wound was inflicted on European civilization that required the remainder of the twentieth century to heal. But with all its sacrifice, trench warfare did not win the war for one side or lose it for the other. Over the course of four years, the lines on the Western Front moved scarcely at all; attempts to break through led only to the lengthening of the already unbearably long casualty lists. For the true story of military upheaval, we must look to the sea. On the eve of the war in August 1914, Great Britain and Germany possessed the two greatest navies the world had ever seen. When war came, these two fleets of dreadnoughts—gigantic floating castles of steel able to hurl massive shells at an enemy miles away—were ready to test their terrible power against each other. Their struggles took place in the North Sea and the Pacific, at the Falkland Islands and the Dardanelles. They reached their climax when Germany, suffocated by an implacable naval blockade, decided to strike against the British ring of steel. The result was Jutland, a titanic clash of fifty-eight dreadnoughts, each the home of a thousand men. When the German High Seas Fleet retreated, the kaiser unleashed unrestricted U-boat warfare, which, in its indiscriminate violence, brought a reluctant America into the war. In this way, the German effort to “seize the trident” by defeating the British navy led to the fall of the German empire. Ultimately, the distinguishing feature of Castles of Steel is the author himself. The knowledge, understanding, and literary power Massie brings to this story are unparalleled. His portrayals of Winston Churchill, the British admirals Fisher, Jellicoe, and Beatty, and the Germans Scheer, Hipper, and Tirpitz are stunning in their veracity and artistry. Castles of Steel is about war at sea, leadership and command, courage, genius, and folly. All these elements are given magnificent scope by Robert K. Massie’s special and widely hailed literary mastery.  Hardcover from Random House 28 October, 2003

Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Robert K. Massie has written a richly textured and gripping chronicle of the personal and national rivalries that led to the twentieth century's first great arms race. Massie brings to vivid life, such historical figures as the single-minded Admiral von Tirpitz, the young, ambitious, Winston Churchill, the ruthless, sycophantic Chancellor Bernhard von Bulow, and many others. Their story, and the story of the era, filled with misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and events leading to unintended conclusions, unfolds like a Greek tragedy in his powerful narrative. Intimately human and dramatic, DREADNOUGHT is history at its most riveting. Paperback from Ballantine Books 1992

Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie Paperback from Ballantine Books 1981

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie Paperback from Ballantine Books

Romanovs by Robert K. Massie Paperback from Ballantine Books

The Last Diary of Tsaritsa Alexandra (Annals of Communism Series) by Alexandra, Vladimir M. Khrustalev, Vladimir A. Kozlov, Timothy D. Sergay, Robert K. Massie The last Tsaritsa of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna, was murdered with her family on the night of 16-17 July 1918 by agents acting on behalf of the revolutionary Bolshevik government. The recently declassified 1918 diary of Alexandra-published here for the first time in its entirety-provides something no other account could do: a glimpse of the Tsaritsa`s thoughts and activities from 1 January 1918 until the night of her death. The introduction by Robert Massie places Alexandra in the historical... Hardcover from Yale Univ Pr

Last Courts of Europe: Royal Family Album, 1860-1914
by Robert K. Massie
Hardcover from Outlet
1984
Out of Print - Try Used Books

Let the Emperor Speak
by Robert K. Massie
Hardcover from Doubleday
1987
Out of Print - Try Used Books

Loosing the Bonds by Robert K. Massie Robert Kinloch Massie, an ordained Episcopal minister and longtime liberal activist, offers the most complete account of how anti-apartheid crusaders in the United States waged economic war on South Africa through a strategy of divestment and sanctions. Loosing the Bonds doesn't lack for detail and may in fact be too long. But Massie nicely combines historical analysis with his insider's account of the movement, and the parallels he draws between the United States and South Africa are often intriguing. An inspiring story of grassroots pressure sparking political change, this book is good tonic for pessimists who don't think individual actions can make a difference. Amazon.com Hardcover from Nan A. Talese Out of Print - Try Used Books

Journey
by Robert K. Massie
Paperback from Ballantine Books
1984
ASIN: 0345316290
Out of Print - Try Used Books
 
 
   

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