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The Secret Raiders – David Woodward’s 1955 William Kimber account of the German armed merchant raiders of the Second World War, disguised ships that sank more than 850,000 tons of Allied shipping across the South Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Pacific. With map and chart endpapers. A good copy in its dust jacket, with foxing and tape marks.
1 in stock
The Secret Raiders by David Woodward was first published in 1955 by William Kimber and Co. of 46 Wilton Place, London, and made and printed in Great Britain by Purnell and Sons of Paulton, Somerset. The copyright page lists no later printings. Woodward also wrote The Tirpitz.
The Secret Raiders tells the story of the German armed merchant raiders of the Second World War: ordinary-looking cargo ships, heavily armed and disguised, that roamed the oceans between 1940 and 1943. Ships such as Atlantis, Pinguin, Orion, Komet, Thor, Kormoran, Michel and Stier sank or captured more than 850,000 tons of merchant shipping, and two of them fought famous single-ship actions, Kormoran against HMAS Sydney and Stier against the Liberty ship Stephen Hopkins.
Written with the help of the Admiralty’s historical section and drawing on official and German sources, The Secret Raiders was one of the first full accounts of this remarkable campaign. Several raiders passed the Cape and operated in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, giving the story a strong South African interest.
The Secret Raiders will appeal to naval historians, Second World War enthusiasts, readers interested in the war at sea off southern Africa, and collectors of William Kimber war titles.
Condition – Good
Hardcover in the original pictorial dust jacket, which has been sealed in a clear plastic cover taped down to the flaps. The tape has left brown marks on the endpapers. The jacket spine is sunned and browned, with chipping and small losses at the head and some rubbing. There is foxing to the page edges and to some pages, and the front inner hinge is starting to crack, though the binding holds. A Van Schaik’s Bookstore, Pretoria, bookseller’s ticket is on the front pastedown.
