Battle of the Arctic

The Maritime Epic of World War II

By: Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Narrated by: Alfred McNish

From the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author comes the spellbinding, fiercely told story of the deadly Arctic campaign of World War II.

Battle of the Arctic is a wonderfully evocative history and largely unknown saga of World War II. As the Soviet Union played its role in the conflict, Ally convoys from Britain, the United States, and Iceland fought to deliver essential supplies to Russia. In a clash of extreme elements—as well as fierce Axis opposition—the effort demonstrated an unparalleled commitment from Allied nations to supporting the Soviet Union.

This story follows not just the American and British navies and its successful efforts to shepherd ships through storms and past floating icebergs. It also tells a part of history that has never been properly understood by the reading public. This involves the forgotten heroes of the Arctic convoys: the officers, armed guards, and the ordinary civilian seamen, mostly from Britain and America—but also from Holland, Norway, Russia and Poland—condemned to carry on steaming their ships slowly through the icy waters to Russia, even though they knew that at any moment they might be sunk.

Battle of the Arctic is a thrilling, revelatory historical narrative that will leave you thankful to be on dry ground.

©2026 Hugh Sebag-Montefiore (P)2026 HarperCollins Publishers

Heads Up: No Bonus PDFs

The story of the Arctic battles in WWII is well told, but a thorough understanding of the narration is very difficult without the many maps that the author constantly refers to throughout the book. In the introduction, the author identifies a website where the "accompanying PDF maps" can be downloaded (rbmediaglobal.com), but they cannot be found either at that site or on Audible. Take a pass on this and put the book on your Wish List until Audible or the publisher corrects the problem