Reading about privateers, pirates, and the plundering of merchant ships in exotic locations is enthralling reading. Learning of daring pursuits on the high seas during World War II with even larger stakes is even better.
In “Phantom Fleet: The Hunt for Nazi Submarine U-505 and World War II’s Most Daring Heist,” Alexander Rose has written a gripping tale involving Nazi U-boats and the American and British ships hunting them. Rose’s scrupulous research—drawing on previously classified encrypted documents and WWII intercepted transmissions—has resulted in a book revealing a little-known story of the astounding heist of a Nazi submarine.