Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #66608 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 511 pages

Synopsis
This account of the Falklands War is by the commander of the British Task Force, Admiral Sandy Woodward. On 5 April 1982, three days after the invasion of the Falkland Islands, British armed forces were ordered to sail 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic unaware of what lay ahead of them or whether they would be committed to war with Argentina. In his memoirs, Admiral Sandy Woodward, Task Force commander from the aircraft carrier Hermes, take us from day one to day 100 of the conflict; from sailing through the waters of the Atlantic with hopes of a political settlement fading, and war becoming increasingly likely, to the repulse of the Argentinian navy and the daring amphibious landing at San Carlos Water. The war, which cost the lives of over 1000 men, has left a legacy of many historical debates and controversies, from the sinking of ships such as HMS Coventry, HMS Sheffield and Sir Galahad, and the Argentinian cruiser, the Belgrano, to wider issues such as what was it like to command and fight a modern air and naval war, the biggest naval action since the Second World War.

"One Hundred Days" is a portrayal of the world of modern naval warfare, where despite the use of sophisticated equipment and communications, the margins for human error and courage were as wide as they were in the days of Nelson.

Customer Reviews

A Fish-head's eye view
This book is interesting in that it gives you a view to the thought processes of the man in charge of the whole show, and just how hopelessly out of touch he was with the actual capabilities of the forces at his disposal he was, as well as how he seems to have a rather different view of certain important events to the reality of what happened.

Read this only in conjuction with something like Nigel "Sharkey" Ward's "Sea Harrier over the Falklands" or Jerry Pook's "RAF HArrier Ground Attack, Falklands", unless you want a rather distorted view of events.

It does give an insight into the stresses, worries and other problems the overall commander of even a small task force faces, particularly so far away from outside help, so you can empathise with him, but you wonder at times how we managed to win with someone like him in charge.

Well written & surprisingly frank accounts of the Falklands war.
Written by the Taskforce commander, this is a first class account of the naval aspect of the Falklands war, giving insights in to the technicalities, politics, strategy and human side of the whole thing. He is surprisingly open and frank with both facts and opinions, some of which ignore both politcal correctness, and political expediency. The author is unashamedly a Navy man, and the story is wholly a navy one, but it is what he knows about, so it is better for all that.

Jolly good memoirs with Robinson on board
It is a bit tragic to admit this, but I bought 'One Hundred Days' because the ghost writer was one Patrick Robinson, right-wing modern naval chronicler.
The influence of Woodward on Robinson - most notably in 'Nimitz Class' where whole chunks of Woodward's life are picked up and deposited in the text - was interesting to a 'fan' like me. The book itself was gripping.
The Falklands War was the only major naval engagement between the second world war and - well - now and as such has generated an awful lot of memoiring. Quite right too.
Woodward admits he's a bad-tempered control-freak - thus confirming everything anyone had ever suspected about a British Admiral at war - which is very much to his credit. His seemingly callous acceptance of risks and dangers to task force elements - like the SAS on Pebble Island - shows, graphically and chillingly, what senior command is all about.
Obviously - having recently read Mike Rossiter's 'Sink the Belgrano' - some bits have been left out, like his direct order for his staff to send a message to HMS Conqueror to sink the Argentine cruiser and his fury at their refusal (as this was beyond his remit). I think this is a bit like Alan Brooke's war diaries, originally and controversially released with the 'Age of Reason' historian Arthur Bryant in an edited form, then released after his death - a long way actually - as a warts and all and isn't-Churchill-a-drunken-pain-in-the-rear version. I don't wish him ill, but when Sandy Woodward goes to the great wardroom in the sky, I really hope that an unexpurgated version of his undoubtedly colourful Falklands diaries and letters appears.
Jolly good read.