Product Description

It is autumn 1941 and a German U-boat commander and his crew set out on yet another hazardous patrol in the Battle of the Atlantic. Over the coming weeks they must brave the stormy waters of the Atlantic in their mission to seek out and destroy British supply ships. But the tide is beginning to turn against the Germans in the war for the North Atlantic - their targets now travel in convoys, fiercely guarded by Royal Navy destroyers, and when contact is finally made the hunters rapidly become the hunted. As the U-boat is forced to hide beneath the surface of the sea a cat-an-mouse game begins, where the increasing claustrophobia of the submarine becomes an enemy just as frightening as the depth charges that explode around it. Written by a survivor of the U-boat fleet - of the 40,000 men who served on German submarines, 30,000 never returned - DAS BOOT is a psychological drama merciless in its intensity, and a classic novel of World War II.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78306 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

About the Author
Lothar-Gunther Bucheim was born in 1918 and grew up in Saxony. When the war broke out he joined the navy and served on mine-sweepers, destroyers and submarines on the last as an official navy correspondent.

Customer Reviews

A story of survival
Set in the late part of 1941, the U Boats no longer enjoys mastery of the Atlantic. The author, as an official Naval correspondant, joins the crew of UA a Type VII-C boat(the stable horse of the U Boat fleet) to write of life at sea.

It would be wrong to give away too much detail, as this book certainly deserves the reputation it has as one of the best war stories ever written. Those who have an interest in Naval battles or those who are interested in World War 2 will find this a truly amazing story. The author does well to describe the key characters; 'The Old Man', The Chief and the 1st and 2nd Watch Officers. Also we meet Johann, the Chief Mechanic, and a number of other crew members, all who have a key role to play onboard the submarine.

You can hear the diesel motors hammering, experience the claustrophobia, lack of personal space, frustration and boredom, sense the combined fear, excitement and exhileration during an attack, and picture the helpless situation of the crew during a depth charge run.

It is quite a long story at just over 550 pages, but has an addictive quality which makes it very hard to put down. The men do not seem to think that they are in any way brave, they just know they have to obey orders and carry out their duty. From start to finish this is compulsive reading.

The film starring Jurgen Prochnow as 'The Old Man' should also be watched, as this is a rare occasion where the film is as good as the book. If you enjoy Das Boot, consider also reading 'Iron Coffins' by Herbert Werner(one of the few surviving U Boat Captains) and also Hirschfeld's 'The secret diary of a U Boat' written by a serving radio operator.

Make sure you have plenty of time because
this is the sort of book that is hard to put down. The story differs from the film in a few ways, but that adds to the suspense if the story is familiar. The tension of life on the boat is almost tangible as we get involved with the characters and situations. The writer evens manages to make us feel that we are the 'baddies' as the British use dirty tatics like a plane mounted radar. Being stuck on the ocean floor was a scene that gripped on the film, but in the book the tension is close to unbearable. I would not want to go on a submarine now, even in peacetime.

Brilliant - No wonder the Petersen's film was so good
I read this because I am a great fan of Wolfgang Petersen's original six one-hour episode film version (sadly not the woeful 1.5 hour version with dubbed voices made for the US market). It's no wonder the film was so good. The imagery of life as a WW2 German submariner, the sordid shore-leaves, the squalor of life on board and the sheer terror of being under attack is so powerful that the lives of the characters seem to be carrying on even on the occassions when you are able to put the book down.