The Rules of the Game
Book description
Foreword by Admiral Sir John Woodward. When published in hardcover in 1997, this book was praised for providing an engrossing education not only in naval strategy and tactics but in Victorian social attitudes and the influence of character on history. In juxtaposing an operational with a cultural theme, the author…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Rules of the Game as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Gordon’s book delights and displeases in turn.
He shows how the baked in traditions of blind obedience to orders, together with the class-based culture and selection for command, hindered the actions of the Royal Navy during WW1. Not all of his statements are correct and sometimes his naval history is shaky but the tale is well told and it is an absorbing read.
From Steve's list on how the Royal Navy won the First World War.
Gordon brings a wealth of higher education in Britain as well as service in the Royal Navy to this book, published by the prestigious Naval Institute Press (Annapolis MD) and winner of the coveted Westminster Medal for Military Literature. He focuses on the command and control difficulties that nearly turned victory to defeat for the Royal Navy at Jutland, but buttresses his battle arguments with a lengthy analytic digression – two-fifths of the book – on the traditions and practices of the British navy dating back centuries. This is the beauty of the book, in fact, a discussion so pertinent…
From Eric's list on naval warfare in World War One.
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