Critically acclaimed military historian Peter Padfield has created the definitive account of one of the most turbulent - and crucial - chapters of World War II. Sweeping from the frigid waters of the North Atlantic to the steaming South Pacific, War Beneath the Sea is a riveting chronicle of submarine warfare. It is the first book to cover all the major submarine campaigns of the war, describing, in detail, the operations of the British, American, Japanese, Italian, and German submarine and antisubmarine forces. The submariners belonged to an elite corps, young men attracted by new technology, less formal discipline, and prospects of early promotion. For crew members, life aboard a sub was both an emotional and a physical challenge. The extraordinary hardships they endured - as well as their courage - come across with tremendous force. Exploring the full spectrum of the submarine and antisubmarine warfare experience, this brilliantly detailed account pulls no punches. Facts and figures that stagger the imagination. (e.g., between 1939 and 1945, 40,000 men were trained for U-boat service - 30,000 perished) are revealed in starkly human terms. Here is the shocking truth behind the failure of U.S. torpedo missions during the war's early years, along with startling accounts of the shooting of defenseless warriors in the water. Here, too, is new information about the capture of the famed Enigma cipher machine (including previously unpublished photographs), and its impact on the war effort. Until this decisive moment, Britain stood within a hairbreadth of defeat by Germany.