Review by Martin Koenigsberg
Mussolini might have wanted to make the Mediterranean a Roman Hegemony by entering WWII, but the Royal Navy had other ideas. The Italian Navy was quite strong for its day- but had chosen to stay fully invested in Battleships and conventional naval scouting. The Royal Navy might not have invested in the Aircraft Carrier like the Japanese or the Americans- but they did have at least one carrier with every fleet – and they had Radar. When the crumbling Allied Greek expedition situation tempted the Italians to sally forth from their home ports, the British Admiral Cunningham saw an opportunity to restore some balance to the theatre of war. Angus Konstam, a mainstay of the military history community takes us through the battle and its aftermath with all the tool, photos, maps, diagrams, and tables in the classic Osprey Campaign Series style. Using all of his advantages- doctrinal as well as material, Cunningham stalked the Italians in the central part of the Med. Biplane torpedo bomber aircraft crippled Italian ships. The Royal Navy owned the night- using their comfort with night combat and their superior technology, radar. The Italian fleet was caught unprepared and lost ships and the battle. The British control of the Eastern Mediterranean that was won- would not last long as Crete and the Luftwaffe control of all of Greece were only months away. Putting the Italian Fleet out of the war would still prove a useful hurdle for the Allies to overcome. There are few adult themes, and few graphic injury descriptions, so this is a decent read for the Junior Reader over 11/12 years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast- its a good package. the Gamer gets the narrative split into a few distinct actions that would be good scenarios alone. The Modeler will probably need a few more resources- but can get inspiration for all sorts of builds/ dioramas. The Military Enthusiast gets a complex, multi-stage naval battle fully explained. I think general readers will appreciate Konstam’s direct telling of the tale.
