A game of birds and wolves : the ingenious young women whose secret board game helped win World War II / Simon Parkin.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780316492096
- ISBN: 0316492094
- Physical Description: 309 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
- Edition: First US edition.
- Publisher: New York : Little, Brown and Company, [2020]
- Copyright: ©2020.
Content descriptions
General Note: | First published in Great Britain in November 2019 by Sceptre" -- Title page verso. |
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-302) and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | Last man standing -- As you wave me goodbye -- They will come -- Wolves -- Pineapples and champagne -- Never at sea -- Roberts -- Oak leaves and Christmas trees -- The aces and the note -- The citadel -- Raspberry -- The royal key -- The elephant has landed -- Nulli secundus -- The battle of birds and wolves: part I -- The battle of birds and wolves: part II -- Honours -- The gun in the night -- The sisterhood of the linoleum -- Postscript -- Epilogue. |
Search for related items by subject
Genre: | Creative nonfiction. |
Available copies
- 3 of 3 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Prince Rupert Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 3 total copies.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prince Rupert Library | 940.54516 Park (Text) | 33294002080406 | Adult Non-Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 December #1
*Starred Review* This engaging account of the military games mastered by British Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service, and the birds of the title) while teaching British, American, Norwegian, and other Allied navy personnel standard tactics employed by German U-boats (the wolves) is history writing at its best. Parkin skillfully weaves in extensive background to establish context for readers unfamiliar with the Atlantic war at sea while offering documented details, telling anecdotes, and perceptive profiles that will appeal to audiences already familiar with WWII military campaigns. There are comparisons between the expected wartime roles of British and German women; a recap of how staging mock battles, or war games, became accepted military strategy; overviews of the leadership styles demonstrated by German and Allied commanders; and painstakingly precise descriptions of strategies such as Operation Raspberry, a counter-maneuver developed through scrupulous analysis. Parkin also shows a flair for the dramatic, recreating suspenseful, real-time scenarios that bring the urgency and full import of breakthroughs and battles into sharp focus. Most importantly, this account shines a spotlight on the largely overlooked contributions of the Wrens, many of whom were still in their teens. An informative, satisfying, and overall great read. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews. - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2020 February
A Game of Birds and WolvesGames can be deadly seriousâask any soccer parentâbut we generally see them as child's play. It is therefore surprising that in war, where the stakes are the absolute highest, games play an essential role. War games allow armies to test officers' strategies and decision-making in a risk-free environment, and lessons learned on the game board are frequently transferred to the battlefield. One man who thoroughly grasped this idea was Captain Gilbert Roberts, who, along with his team of eight officers from the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS, popularly known as the Wrens), devised a game that arguably changed the course of World War II. In A Game of Birds and Wolves, Simon Parkin tells this remarkable and little-known story.
In 1941, Great Britain was in danger of being starved of food and supplies by U-boat attacks. Roberts realized that, by simulating the conditions of war as closely as possible on an auditorium-sized game board, he could devise countermeasures to the tactics used by U-boat captains. He could also train submarine hunters without the risk of failure. Ultimately, the men who played the game used their knowledge to defeat the U-boat fleet in the decisive Battle of Birds and Wolves. Without the Wrens, who not only ran the games but also helped design new scenarios and countermeasures, none of this would have happened.
Like a well-designed game, A Game of Birds and Wolves is fun, informative and intense. Parkin naturally focuses much of his attention on Roberts, whose story of triumph over adversity and skepticism is a great read. But the book really shines when Parkin reclaims the history of the Wrens. Although women played a vital role in the war, their work was often undervalued, and much of this history was lost or destroyed. The Wrens, working with Roberts, were instrumental to an Allied victory, but few among us know what we owe to them.Â
Parkin's respect and affection for these women is apparent on every page, and his extensive research and excellent storytelling go a long way toward paying that debt.
Copyright 2020 BookPage Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2019 November #1
A New Yorker contributing writer and Observer critic tells the story of how volunteers in the Women's Royal Naval Service helped the British military win the battle against German U-boats during World War II. As Parkin (Death by Video Game: Danger, Pleasure, and Obsession on the Virtual Frontline, 2016, etc.) shows, in 1940, the British navy was struggling badly. German U-boats had sunk more than 1,200 vessels and done more damage to British shipping than the German navy and Luftwaffe combined. Civilians were dying, as well, and with every ship lost, Britain had one less way to carry much-needed food and supplies back from the United States. To protect public morale and keep the Germany military in the dark, Winston Churchill imposed a blackout on all information regarding shipping losses from U-boats. Meanwhile, Gilbert Roberts, a former British naval officer forced into early retirement by tuberculosis, came up with an idea that, though initially dismissed by members of the British admiralty, eventually turned the tide of war against the Germans. Using a Battleship-style game to simulate lost sea battles, Roberts reasoned he could help naval officers to understand each situation "from all angles." His assistants included a team of exceptionally gifted young women from the newly formed "Wrens" unit. Using "string, chalk, great sheets of canvas [and] linoleum," Roberts and the Wrens devised and tested countermaneuvers, including one dubbed "Raspberry," which they taught to skeptical British naval officers. By the summer of 1942, Britain began seeing an increase in the number of U-boat sinkings, but the greatest victory came in 1943, when a convoy of British ships survived attacks by "wolfpacks" that included some of Germany's most decorated U-boat commanders. With novelistic flair, Parkin transforms material gathered from research, interviews, and unpublished accounts into a highly readable book that celebrates the ingenuity of a British naval "reject" and the accomplishments of the formerly faceless women never officially rewarded for their contribution to the Allied defeat of Germany. A lively, sharp WWII history. Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2019 December
Parkin (
Copyright 2019 Library Journal.Death by Video Game ) provides a vivid glimpse of a little-known World War II effort that pitted young British women against the full force of the Nazi U-Boat campaign in the Atlantic. The game to which the title refers was an actual game, played out on the floor in a secret British military installation by an invalid captain and a contingent of "Wrens"âyoung women who answered the call to serve with the Royal Navy in a variety of capacities during the war. This game, focused on evaluating and developing successful tactical strategies for outsmarting the ruthless German submarines that laid waste to many Allied ships, was played out on a large chess-like grid on the floor, complete with various props to illustrate ships and submarines as they plied the waters off Britain's coast. Parkin weaves this history together like a novel, switching back and forth among various characters and storylines to reveal a fascinating fight for freedom; both for Britain and the young women who defied contemporary norms to serve their country.VERDICT Vibrant and readable, recommended for anyone interested in the history of World War II, women in the military, naval history, and military history.âPhilip Shackelford, South Arkansas Community Coll., El Dorado - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2019 October #4
In this dramatic but disjointed history,
Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.New Yorker contributor Parkin (Death by Video Game ) explores the role that war games played in British efforts to defeat the German U-boat menace during WWII. After the fall of France in June 1940, Parkin explains, the British war effort depended on transatlantic shipments of food, oil, and raw materials. Knowing that England would be forced to surrender if U-boats sank Allied ships at a fast enough rate, the German navy developed aggressive tactics, including attacking at night in groups of six or more ("wolfpacks"). Seeking to stem Allied losses, British naval officer Gilbert Roberts and members of the Women's Royal Naval Service, nicknamed Wrens, created a giant board game to recreate actual U-boat attacks. Though the Wrens helped to prove that "support groups" of destroyers would prove effective against the wolfpacks, readers expecting a deep dive into the role of women in WWII will be disappointedâParkin focuses more on German submariners than he does on the individual Wrens. Though it feels like three different narratives stuffed into one, the book is packed with colorful trivia, such as the number of condoms U-boats carried for use as weather balloons and antennae extensions (1,500). This overstuffed account misses its mark.(Jan.)