Wolfpack

Inside Hitler's U-Boat War

By: Roger Moorhouse

Narrated by: Roger Moorhouse

From a top scholar of World War II, the “​fascinating”​ (John C. McManus) definitive history of Germany’s U-boat campaign that challenged British naval supremacy and brought international trade to its knees

Winston Churchill once remarked that the only threat to truly frighten him was the peril of Nazi U-boats. Over the course of World War II, Germany’s submariners sank over three thousand Allied ships, nearly three-quarters of Allied shipping losses in all theaters of the war. In the process the submariners endured horrific conditions and suffered a 75 percent death rate, the highest of any arm of service in the conflict. Yet their story has never been told in full.

In Wolfpack, historian Roger Moorhouse tells the story of the Battle of the Atlantic from the point of view of the German submariners. He tracks these men from the enthusiasm of the war’s early days, buoyed with optimism about their cause, through the challenges of the Allied counterthreat, to the final horrors of enemy capture and death in the depths. It is a story of courage, certainly, but also of fear, privation, and—ultimately—failure.

Drawing extensively on war diaries, archival records, and the voices of the German submariners themselves, Wolfpack is a story of technological brilliance, dramatic naval engagements, and extraordinary human endurance.

Critic reviews

“Moorhouse excels at the details. Drawing on diaries, letters, memoirs, and archives, he delivers gripping accounts of training, operation, living conditions, tactics, accounts of captains, crewmen, victims, and often tragic actions, all overlaid with a heavy dose of Nazi politics.”—Kirkus

“The ‘Allied version of history’ tends to be repeated ad infinitum, and the search goes on for realistic interpretations of the Second World War. By writing an account of the Battle of the Atlantic from the perspective of German U-boatmen, Roger Moorhouse has done much to restore the emotional balance and to complete an inclusive picture. Very readable, humane, comprehensive, well sourced, and gripping.”—Norman Davies, author of Europe: A History

“A fascinating exploration of the real war experienced by German submariners—the sights, the smells, the highs, the lows, and their greatest fears.”—John C. McManus, author of The Dead and Those About to Die

“Roger Moorhouse is becoming a major authority in his field. Wolfpack is a significant contribution and rightly places the U-boat campaign at the heart of Germany’s strategy during the Second World War. Compellingly written, he seamlessly blends fascinating technical detail with human experience—often profoundly moving—and authoritative strategic insight. Wolfpack is a superb work of history.”—James Holland, author of Normandy '44

“In this impeccably researched and beautifully constructed book, Roger Moorhouse tells the thrilling but ultimately tragic story of Germany's U-boats in the Second World War. Fighting bravely in cramped and claustrophobic conditions, Hitler's Wolfpacks came close to throttling Britain's supply lines in 1941. But thereafter, thanks to radar, convoys, and codebreaking, the U-boatmen's sacrifice—resulting in a scarcely credible death rate of 75%, the highest of the war—produced increasingly diminished returns. This superb history tells the story from a new perspective.”—Saul David, author of Operation Thunderbolt

“A thrilling account from a master of Second World War history.”—Dan Snow, host, HistoryHit podcast

Great first hand accounts and breakdowns.

I found this book to be insightful into a subject of the war I was not overly familiar with.

Great. Very Informative.

This does a great job of giving you a great overview of this multifaceted arm of the German navy as technology, funding, and tactics changed on both sides. This includes what it is like for individual sailors. Author reinforces with stories of individuals and individual boats.
I had expected a lot more individual stories with context added in. I was very presently surprised to get context with stories added in

Outstanding account from German perspective

Very well written and detailed. Highly recommended to both casual and serious students of the Naval warfare in WW2

The point if view if the Germans and their staggering losses

While I understood the reasons the constant numbering of the u boats did not add anything. But a minor irritant. I liked it a lot

Superlative

An engrossing and comprehensive, if not definitive, history of the U-boat conflict in World War 2 from the German perspective. It is comprehensive in part because it does not give up in the end (and because it meanders beyond the North Atlantic to places like the Caribbean Sea and even the Indian Ocean). I thought there would be little to say about things after the Allied invasion of France in June 1944, but I was wrong. The book gets really interesting then; hang on till the end. It is well organized and taut and well presented. The narration is pleasing and impeccable..Highy recommended for military history freaks or even the general history reader. It doesn't get any better.