A gripping chronicle of the personal and national rivalries that led to the twentieth century’s first great arms race, from Pulitzer Prize winner Robert K. Massie With the biographer’s rare genius for expressing the essence of extraordinary lives, Massie brings to life a crowd of glittery figures: the single-minded Admiral von Tirpitz; the young, ambitious Winston Churchill; the ruthless, … the ruthless, sycophantic Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow; Britain’s greatest twentieth-century foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey; and Jacky Fisher, the eccentric admiral who revolutionized the British navy and brought forth the first true battleship, the H.M.S. Dreadnought.
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 this powerful narrative. Intimately human and dramatic, Dreadnought is history at its most riveting.
Praise for Dreadnought
“Dreadnought is history in the grand manner, as most people prefer it: how people shaped, or were shaped by, events.”—Time
“A classic [that] covers superbly a whole era . . . engrossing in its glittering gallery of characters.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“[Told] on a grand scale . . . Massie [is] a master of historical portraiture and anecdotage.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Brilliant on everything he writes about ships and the sea. It is Massie’s eye for detail that makes his nautical set pieces so marvelously evocative.”—Los Angeles Times
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Be prepared for a LONG European history. Well written, comprehensive, But if you are not interested in Europe leading up to WWI your best best is to pass.
Fascinating history of the development of naval power that led up to the First World War. The detailed interplay of actors helps one understand how not only how the navy changed radically with the invention of the dreadnaught; but how the personalities of leaders created the environment that resulted in the carnage of WW I.
I expected a history of naval battles using great battleships. Instead, it was a history of Germany and England for the 40-50 years leading up to WWI. Never read about a battle. Having said that, Robert Massie is a well respected historian who knows how to tell a good story. I enjoyed all 1160 pages!
An incredible look at the people, personalities, and times that led up to WWI, and the survival and strength of Great Britain’s Navy in that war.
European interplay leading up to WW1. Great historical read. Gets it details a little too much that’s ok. Over 1000 pages.
A different look at events leading up to WWI. It is a focus on the rôle of Sea Power and competition between U.K. and the German Confederation of States ( initially), later Germany to build more of the Dreadnought class of ships. As that thrust is developed, the author does a great job of detailing the personalities leading the nations involved as …
Well-researched and thorough.
Spent most of the time discussing the royalty rather than ships. a boring read.
It’s a great history of the period, the personalities and their contexts.
Massie also does a nice job describing the technology of these great ships.
The best in-depth portrayal of the personalities involved in the sparking of the First World War I’ve ever seen.
I expected this book to be about battleships. It was rather a history, detailed, chronicled, researched about how the German and British families, once inseparable, from the house of Hanover, became world war opponents.
A long read but a very thorough history of 40+ years of European naval development, political maneuvering & alliances leading up to WW I.
As with all of Maddie’s works, this is well written and gives you a window into the evolution not only of battleships but also the nation’s that built them.