Brian Walter's Blog

I recently commemorated the one-year anniversary of the release of my first book, The Longest Campaign, Britain’s Maritime Struggle in the Atlantic and Northwest Europe, 1939-1945. Today, I am happy to announce that on Friday I concluded an agreement with my publisher, Casemate UK, to publish my second book. This new book is tentatively entitled Blue Water War, the Maritime Struggle in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 1940-1945. As the name suggests, the book is a follow-up to The Longest Campaign and will cover the maritime struggle in the Mediterranean theatre during World War II. As with my previous book, it will also go into great detail regarding the corresponding ground combat that took place within the theatre (namely in North Africa, Italy and Southern France). The book is tentatively scheduled to be released in the Spring of 2022. I will provide further updates as more details become available. In the meantime, my current book, The Longest Campaign, remains available for anyone interested in reading it.

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the release of my book, The Longest Campaign, Britain’s Maritime Struggle in the Atlantic and Northwest Europe, 1939-1945. Over the past year, readers across the world have benefited from this groundbreaking book. Here are some comments:

“This book is a well-written and researched scholarly tome…a must read for anyone interested in naval warfare.” PowerShips

“I was most agreeably surprised from the moment I started to read this new book and was absorbed by this interestingly different analysis.” Scuttlebutt, the journal of the National Museum of the Royal Navy

“This is a well referenced account of the Battle of the Atlantic set within the context of the war as a whole...strongly recommended for the expert and general reader alike.” Miniature Wargames

“...an impressive piece of work that is recommended to the scholar and maritime history enthusiast alike." The Northern Mariner

"In straight and well-organised narrative form, every imaginable incident or event that occurred in the North Atlantic region during World War II is described fully and in a manner that holds the reader’s interest in a tight grip...this book is absolutely ‘un-put-downable’." Baird Maritime

“Walter has been scrupulous in his research...this is a factually rich book and a valuable reference guide.’’ Navy News

"...a worthy contribution to the vast array of World War II studies…recommended to those with a general interest in the war in Europe and experts who will find this concise account a useful review.” Sea History Magazine

“Brilliant book, best I have read on the subject for a long time” United Kingdom Amazon reviewer

“Great book! Very good read. Very well written and fact checked. Great book!” United States Amazon reviewer

“This is a very well written book…The style of writing is excellent and the information is well constructed and reads very well, it is not dry or boring nor is the author skewed in how he tells what is a very complex subject, in my view, he is fair to all concerned.” United Kingdom Amazon reviewer

“This book about the Battle of the Atlantic is incredibly well researched and presents every aspect of the battle…It is extremely interesting and very readable and should be read by anyone with an interest in the BotA.” German Amazon reviewer

Back in August I did a nearly hour-long interview for WW2 Podcast regarding the battle of the Atlantic and my book, The Longest Campaign. That interview was just posted on Thursday, 10-15-20. Yesterday, 10-16-20, the curator of WW2 Podcast informed me that the release of my interview helped garner the greatest number of downloads he had ever had in a single day. To be specific, he stated that there were over 10,000 downloads of which 7,263 were for The Longest Campaign. If you might be interested in checking out our discussion, you can find it on WW2 Podcast.

Checkout the Giveaway section in Goodreads for a chance to win a signed hardcover copy of the groundbreaking book, The Longest Campaign.

The book recounts the finest hour of Britain’s long and illustrious maritime heritage. More than just another retelling of the U-boat scourge, it explores the entire gambit of the Atlantic campaign in which Britain's maritime services, along with their American and Canadian counterparts, laid the essential foundation for the entire Allied war effort. Although arguably less ostentatious than the concurrent naval conflicts underway in the Pacific and Mediterranean, the Atlantic campaign constituted the war’s premier maritime struggle and an indispensable catalyst for the eventual Allied victory.

Some highlights of recent social outreach activates I have participated in include writing articles for Warship World Magazine (July/August 2020 edition) and Military History Now website (27 August 2020). I also participated in a battle of the Atlantic panel discussion on WW2TV (29 July 2020) that can be found on YouTube. Finally, I did an interview for WW2 Podcast, which will be posted on or about 15 October 2020. Feel free to check out these articles / media events as I think you will find them informative.