Blue Water War: Maritime Struggle in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 1940–1945

A sweeping history of naval warfare in the Mediterranean and North African campaigns of WWII.

In the summer of 1940, as France collapsed and Britain prepared for invasion, Fascist Italy joined Nazi Germany in a bid to dominate the Mediterranean. Seizing the moment, Italian forces sought to reclaim influence over the region, while the outnumbered British Mediterranean Fleet supported by ground and air forces prepared for a brutal and prolonged struggle. Blue Water War chronicles this dramatic contest for control of the seas.

The conflict stretched across vast waters and coasts from Southern Europe to Madagascar, and from Africa’s Atlantic shores to the Persian Gulf pitting the Allies at different times against Italy, Germany, and Vichy France.

Through the coordinated use of warships, submarines, aircraft, and merchant fleets, the British later joined by the Americans kept critical sea lanes open, launched amphibious assaults, disrupted Axis supply chains, and ultimately destroyed Axis naval power in the theater. These hard-fought efforts enabled decisive Allied victories that shaped the outcome of the war in Europe.