Product Description

When hundreds of warships belonging to the two most powerful fleets in the world clashed off the coast of Denmark in 1916, the encounter had the potential to reshape the political map forever. However, there were devastating failures of communication and command and, while the Battle of Jutland met Britain's strategic need for continued maritime dominance, the Royal Navy failed to crush its numerically inferior German opponent. The encounter has remained an enduring source of controversy ever since.

A remarkable saga of genius, tragedy and passive corruption emerges. In telling this remarkable story of Nelsonic pragmatism overwhelmed by peacetime vested interests, Andrew Gordon shows what had changed for the worse in the ‘rules of the game’ during a long century of peace, and draws fascinating and challenging conclusions. (20001104)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322712 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 720 pages

Review
'Explosive' -- Navy News 20051101 "The most profound study of Jutland this reviewer has ever read." Antony Preston. -- Warship "A superb study of military culture." Jeremy Black -- History Today "For all naval historians, riveting reading." Christopher Andrew. -- Sunday Telegraph "A marvellous work ... a rare combination of major substance and easy accessibility." Jon Sumida. -- American Neptune

Review
'Anyone who is interested in warfare or the Royal Navy should read this stunningly original account of the 1916 Battle of Jutland and "the reasons why". Gordon is a compelling storyteller, and his weighty tome should frighten no one. It is a classic of the genre.' (Sir Max Hastings, Evening Standard 'Paperback of t 20050809)

'For all naval historians, riveting reading' (Christopher Andrew, Sunday Telegraph 20050809)

'The Rules of the Game is the best book I have read for months ... Gordon researches brilliantly and writes compellingly. His fans are now clamouring for him to write another big book. He is much too good to be allowed to rest on his laurels.' (The Spectator )

'They don't come much better than this' (Alan Judd )

'A superb study of military culture' (Jeremy Black, History Today )

'The most profound study of Jutland this reviewer has ever read' (Antony Preston, Warship )

'For those who love the epic of sea power ... unputdownable' (William Waldegrave )

'Does far more than just chart the Battle of Jutland' (The Times )

'A marvellous work ... a rare combination of major substance and easy accessibility' (Jon Sumida, American Neptune )

Sunday Telegraph
"For all naval historians, riveting reading." Christopher Andrew.

Customer Reviews

Regulators V's Rat Catchers
As some reviewers have already mentioned, this is ,primarily, a book that investigates why so many potential tactical initiatives were not taken advantage of by the various Royal Navy Senior Officers.
Admiral Beatty usually gets the sharp end of the stick in any 'historical' writing of either Dogger Bank or Jutland, but this book, does, in some detail, show exactly why he rose to the highest office - where he later ruined his 'name' by the adjusting the facts to reflect better on the Battlecruiser forces, that aside, the practical results of his command approach are not in doubt (except where gunnery practices are concerned and also some foolish 'downwards loyalty').
Jellicoe is shown, effectively, to be the product of his time, nothing more, nothing less. In this readers opinion, this does him little justice, but, like all histories with a point to prove - something else has to be disproved to make room (the equilibrium argument).
The only minus for me was the overindulgent reams of paper on the historical relationship between Evans-Thomas and the Royal Family, the research was obviously (very) thorough and accurate, but did we really need to have so much detail printed in the book in order to understand the point..?
Worth much more than the cost if RN history/WW1 is something that is of interest to you.

Splendid - a historical treasure house !
This is a quite epic narrative history, which reads with the facility and pace of a well-constructed thriller. It is at once a social history of the Royal Navy that spans the Ironclad, Dreadnought and Great War eras, a dissertation on naval signalling and fleet-handling in a period of unprecedented technical innovation, a reflection on the challenges and stresses of leadership and a thrilling account of the Battle of Jutland from a British perspective. The book opens with a quite thrilling account of the opening phase of the battle, in which technical and human complexities are treated with equal aplomb, then breaks off - leaving the reader all but white knuckled - at the moment the German High Seas Fleet appears on the scene and forces Beatty's Battle Cruiser Force and Fifth Battle Squadron to turn northwards. It might seem an anti-climax to be diverted from this drama to the controversies that dominated the Navy in the Late-Victorian and Edwardian periods but this part of the story, with its splendidly delineated cast of larger-than-life characters, is no less gripping, especially in view of its ultimate relevance to command and control decisions at the potentially climactic encounter at Jutland. The third part of the book returns to the battle itself, with the arrival of Jellicoe's Battle Fleet, the main clash and the subsequent night action and German escape. The complexities of naval manoeuvre have seldom been so clearly portrayed in print, with excellent use being made of simple diagrams for illustration, and colour and pace are lent to the narrative by many well-chosen extracts from survivor's accounts, ranging from the light-hearted to the outright ghastly. This was indeed a battle where there was no mid-point between unscathed survival and horrific injury. The story is told almost exclusively from the Royal Navy viewpoint - that indeed of a British participant - and, thought this adds great immediacy, readers will need to look elsewhere for a more detailed account of the German movements. The final part of the book is in many ways the saddest, detailing the recriminations, self-justifications and personal tragedies involving the main participants after the war. A postscript that deals with the problem of intelligence overload as a purely Naval concern will be found by many readers to have singular relevance to large modern organisations employing E-Mail! This is, in summary, a quite magnificent piece of work and a delight for enthusiasts of naval history. The only mild criticism that might be made is that the writer has omitted to discuss how experience from the Spanish-American and Russo-Japanese Wars might have influenced Royal Naval thinking on visual signalling and fleet control under battle conditions. Japanese experience might be assumed to have been of particular relevance in view of the strong Royal Navy influence on Japanese naval development - and of the presence on Togo's flagship at Tsu-Shima of Captain William Packenham, who later commanded the 2nd. Battle Cruiser Squadron at Jutland. This minor gripe aside one can but long for more from the pen of Mr.Gordon.

Well researched and written. Overly tendentious.
This account is certainly well researched and written leading to a good read. The scholarship is good but the author is overly tendentious in his assertion that the behaviour of the RN senior command at Jutland (down to captains) can be explained by a history and Pax Britannica experience dominated by connections with royalty, polar exploration and freemasonary. His criticism, though, of the Admiralty, and particularly Oliver, is certainly warranted.

Coming after Campbell's turgid analysis of the fighting at Jutland Gordon's account is welcome, particularly his depiction of life at Scapa Flow in the Fleet and the social commentary of the life and times of the BCF in the Forth. But he is no Marder and Volume 3 "Jutland and After..." remains the definitive work.