Includes bibliographical references and index.

The phony war that wasn't -- Caught hopping -- Rash moves -- The end of the beginning -- U-boats on the rampage -- Churchill declares "the Battle of the Atlantic" -- Moving the goalposts again -- America goes for it -- Secret weapons -- Fingers in the dyke -- Shifting fortunes -- Beating the drum -- Overstretched everywhere -- Disaster in the Arctic -- Goading the bear -- Dönitz seizes his chance -- Changes at the top -- "The Battle of the Air" -- A very narrow escape -- A dramatic turnabout -- The reckoning -- The beginning of the end -- Epilogue: fates disentwined.

The Battle of the Atlantic was - though often overlooked - crucial to the Allied victory. If the German U-boats had prevailed, the maritime artery across the Atlantic would have been severed. Mass hunger would have consumed Britain, and the Allied armies would have been prevented from joining in the invasion of Europe. There would have been no D-Day. Through fascinating contemporary diaries and letters, from the leaders and from the sailors on all sides, Jonathan Dimbleby creates a thrilling narrative that uniquely places the campaign in the context of the entire Second World War. Challenging conventional wisdom on the use of intelligence and on Churchill's bombing campaign, The Battle of the Atlantic tells the epic story of the decisions that led to victory, and the horror and humanity of life on those perilous seas