This is a book that many naval historians dip into regularly, but I actually had occasion to re-read it recently. This book was first published in 1940 and so a great deal of the scholarship within it is, unsurprisingly, now dated or disproved. Nevertheless, the book was a pioneering study and contains a great deal of information that is available nowhere else (often because the archival documents Marder used have since been lost or destroyed). In addition, it is beautifully written, includes some great character sketches, and many of the key insights, especially those covering the period 1898-1905, still hold good. It needs to be read with care, but it repays close scrutiny.
This is a long book, but that is because the author genuinely needs space to develop the setting and build the characters. This means that from the moment one picks up the book it is clear that there will be a slow burn of plot development that will at some point accelerate massively. In this it does not disappoint. The central personality of the book is suffering from artificial memory loss that implies a major secret is being hidden. As the drip feed of information about her past emerges, so the plot thickens and, with each revelation, the bigger picture emerges. I have read several books recently that were excellent until the disappointing ending. This was not one of them. It began well, held one's interest, and concluded with a flourish.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD • In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.
This stunning hardcover edition features a deluxe jacket with gold foil on the front and a full-color illustration on the reverse, gorgeous designed endpapers, a gold foil case stamp, and, from acclaimed artist Avendell, a black-and-white interior illustration.
A SHE READS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
“What is it you think you're protecting in that brain…
This is the long-awaited sequel to the excellent The Will of the Many. As the plot and several of the characters carry over from the previous book, there are ways in which it is harder for this volume to be as original as its predecessor. Nevertheless, it still manages to find ways to surprise. As with its predecessor, it contains many plot twists and unexpected revelations. It also leaves several key issues that need to be resolved in the next book. In short, it is a beautifully crafted book that builds suspense and leaves one eager to see how everything will be brought to a close in the final instalment.
This USA TODAY and international bestseller features a reversible book cover that matches the original hardcover art design, and beautifully designed endpapers.
This highly anticipated sequel to The Will of the Many—one of 2023's most lauded and bestselling fantasy novels—follows Vis as he grapples with a dangerous secret that could unravel history across alternate dimensions.
Book two of the Hierarchy quartet.
OMNE TRIUM PERFECTUM
The Hierarchy still call me Vis Telimus. Still hail me as Catenicus. They still, as one, believe they know who I am.
When and why did the Royal Navy come to view the expansion of German maritime power as a threat to British maritime security? Contrary to current thinking, this book argues that Germany emerged as a major threat at the outset of the twentieth century, not because of its growing battle fleet, but because the British Admiralty (rightly) believed that Germany's naval planners intended to arm their country's fast merchant vessels in wartime and send them out to attack British trade in the manner of the privateers of old. This threat to British seaborne commerce was so serious that the leadership of the Royal Navy spent twelve years trying to work out how best to counter it. Ever more elaborate measures were devised to this end. These included building 'fighting liners' to run down the German ones; devising a specialized warship, the battle cruiser, as a weapon of trade defence; attempting to change international law to prohibit the conversion of merchant vessels into warships on the high seas; establishing a global intelligence network to monitor German shipping movements; and, finally, the arming of British merchant vessels in self-defence.
