Williams, Andrew

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WILLIAMS, Andrew

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Home—London, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Basic Books, 387 Park Ave. S., 12th Fl., New York, NY 10016.

CAREER: British Broacasting Corporation, London, England, producer for Newsnight, 1986, assistant editor for Panorama, producer for History Unit, including programs such as Timewatch and Reputation; writer and producer of numerous television documentaries, including The Battle of the Atlantic and War Crimes: Five Days in Hell.

WRITINGS:

The Battle of the Atlantic (television screenplay), British Broadcasting Corp., 2002.

The Battle of the Atlantic: Hitler's Gray Wolves of the Sea and the Allies' Desperate Struggle to Defeat Them (based on the television screenplay), Basic Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Author of numerous television documentaries, including War Crimes: Five Days in Hell.

SIDELIGHTS: A television writer and documentary producer, Andrew Williams has tackled such important subjects as Somalia's famine, Northern Ireland's political unrest, and the horrors of ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. He has also done work on historical subjects and has expanded one of his award-winning World War II documentaries into his first book. The Battle of the Atlantic: Hitler's Gray Wolves of the Sea and the Allies' Desperate Struggle to Defeat Them describes the tense warfare that took place below the ocean surface throughout World War II from the viewpoint of both sides. "In a highly engaging style, Williams acquaints his readers with central details of the [German] U-boat campaign from the design and construction of the boats to the selection of the crews, their training in home waters, their deployment to the 'front,' and finally their routine, performance, and fates at sea," explained Eric C. Rust in History: Review of New Books. He combines biographical details on the individuals who shaped the U-boat campaign and the Allied response, with strategic analysis of the profound impact this submarine warfare had on the larger conflict. Indeed, "nearly all military historians agree that control of the sea lanes in the North Atlantic was the key to victory in WW II," noted Kliatt contributor Raymond Puffer. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once claimed that the U-boat campaign was the only thing that truly frightened him during the war, as it threatened to cut off his island nation from the imports it needed to survive.

"Williams does an excellent job bringing the battle to life once again. The reader is introduced to both protagonists, and shown how they lived, fought, and often died. The Allies' desperation is palpable, and emotions ranging from arrogance to despair on the part of Germany are easily felt," according to David G. Rathgeber in Military Review. It might surprise some readers to learn how close Britain came to collapsing in the face of German Admiral Karl Donitz's ingenious efforts to strangle England, an effort that cost the Allies nearly fifty thousand men and fifteen million tons of material. Against Donitz were ranged a remarkable group of Allied scientists and mathematicians who developed the sonar and radar technology that ultimately doomed the U-boats by breaking the codes that were so vital to maintaining secrecy and ensuring that these submarines could strike with maximum impact. The author also describes more subtle factors, such as the fact that the German air force could show Hitler more dramatic pictures of the destruction it caused and therefore beat the submarine service in the struggle for scarce resources to build more units. Williams draws on the stories of over forty participants, both German and British survivors of the battle for the Atlantic, and thus is able to convey many incidents from both sides. The result, according to Library Journal contributor Robert J. Andrews, is a "vivid account of an important campaign that will interest both the casual reader and the armchair historian."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2003, Roland Green, review of The Battle of the Atlantic: Hitler's Gray Wolves of the Sea and the Allies' Desperate Struggle to Defeat Them, p. 1374.

History: Review of New Books, fall, 2004, Eric C. Rust, review of The Battle of the Atlantic, p. 25.

Kliatt, September, 2004, Raymond Puffer, review of The Battle of the Atlantic, p. 47.

Library Journal, April 15, 2003, Robert J. Andrews, review of The Battle of the Atlantic, p. 105.

Military Review, September-October, 2004, David G. Rathgeber, review of The Battle of the Atlantic, p. 114.