WOLFPACK: INSIDE HITLER’S U-BOAT WAR – ROGER MOORHOUSE TALK. CHAIRED BY SAVILIAN PAUL LAY.

In his latest book, Wolfpack: Inside Hitler’s U-Boat War, the acclaimed historian Roger Moorhouse delves into the archives to tell one of the most extraordinary stories of the Second World War.

For Allied seamen, the U-Boat was a hidden menace, a faceless killer lurking beneath the waves; and the urgent needs of survival afforded them little time or energy to consider the challenges and privations of their enemy. Yet Germany’s U-Boat crews posted the highest per-capita losses of any combat arm during the Second World War. Around 30,000 German submariners were killed – more than 75 per cent of the total number deployed – the vast majority of whom have no grave except the seabed. Using archival sources, unpublished diaries and existing memoir literature, Roger Moorhouse gives the U-Boatmen back their voice, allowing their side of the narrative to be aired in a comprehensive manner for the first time.

Roger Moorhouse is a specialist in modern German and Polish history, particularly the Third Reich and the Second World War. He has written a number of books in this capacity, including Killing Hitler (2006), Berlin at War (2010), The Devils’ Alliance (2014) and the critically acclaimed First to Fight (2019), which was awarded the Polish Foreign Ministry History Prize in 2020. Roger’s books have appeared in more than 20 languages.

Paul Lay is an early modern historian, whose book Providence Lost: the Rise and Fall of Cromwell’s Protectorate (Head of Zeus) was shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize. He is a fellow of the Universities of St Andrews and Buckingham and a former editor of History Today. He is currently Senior Editor of Engelsberg Ideas.