The Battle of the River Plate was the first major naval confrontation of the Second World War, and it is one of the most famous. The dramatic sea fight between the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee and the British cruisers Exeter, Ajax and Achilles off the coast of South America caught the imagination in December 1939. Over the last 60 years the episode has come to be seen as one of the classics of naval warfare. Yet the accepted interpretation of events has perhaps been taken for granted and is ripe for reassessment, and that is one of the aims of Richard Woodman's enthralling new study. SELLING POINTS: Compelling new study of one of the major naval battles of the Second World War Graphic reconstruction of the day-long battle and the pursuit, using eyewitness accounts Controversial reassessment of British and German naval planning Penetrating portraits of the two commanders, Langsdorff and Harwood REVIEWS: 'This author has made it all so very riveting, it really is a book which is hard to put down until finished.' Royal Geographical Society 'Graphic, thought provoking highly recommended.' Britain at War 40 illustrations

Author Biography

Richard Woodman is a distinguished and prolific maritime author and historian. He has sailed in a variety of ships, serving from apprentice to captain, and he is still a keen professional sailor. As an author he is perhaps best-known for his highly successful Nathaniel Drinkwater novels, but he has also published a number of other novels on maritime and naval subjects. His historical studies include Arctic Convoys 1941-1945, Malta Convoys 1940-1943, The Real Cruel Sea: The Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1943.