Gary Staff

It is rare to have an English language book dealing with the German naval campaigns of WWI that did not involve the Royal Navy. The English speaking reader has no idea of the actions in the Baltic and the Black sea covered by this book. Therefore the value of this publication is obvious.
The other value is that the battles are related from the standpoint of the German scouting forces, which adds an interesting dimension to the narratives of Jutland and Dogger Bank.
Alas, a larger map covering the Baltic Sea, which would help in locating the battle areas is missing, and that means the maps covering the actual tactics are less helpful than they might have been. Mr. Staff's command of English is a bit doubtful, and some of his text suffers from odd vocabulary and syntax. The verb "to rend" hasn't seen this much use in centuries. Other points of this nature are measuring gun ranges in HMs which are hundreds of metres rather than the common English speaking practice of using thousands of yards. Another bit of useful vocabulary would be an explanation that the abbreviation "AG" means "Scouting Group" or "Recon Force".
It is a very useful book, necessary for calling your WWI naval collection complete and balanced.… (mehr)