Das Boot: W&N Military

One of the best books ever written. My opinion, obviously, but the writing is excellent. Really expresses the interminable boredom and frustration and intermittent intense action and fear of death of a submarine. Love this book - great for tucking up on the sofa with.

Fabulous piece of writing which I bought in conjunction with the film on DVD. They are mutually complementary and for those who have only seen the movie, I can't recommend this highly enough.

I returned to 'Das Boot' after a 20 year absence and it proved as compelling a read as I remembered it. The story, seen through the eyes of a journalist on board to write a propaganda article, follows a German U-Boat on a single patrol in the Atlantic at a time in late 1941 when the convey system and Allied technological advances were beginning to turn the tide of battle. The book is thinly autobiographical - the author did actually sail in such a journalistic capacity on a U-boat in that period - although I suspect that the exploits described are an amalgam of the experiences of several U-boats. Certainly the dramatic and poignant ending is culled from an incident with a different boat later in the war.Despite the success of the film adaptation this is not an all action Hollywood blood and thunder story. Indeed at 560 pages the pace can at times be a little slow. Unless you have a particularly technical or nautical mind the lengthy descriptions of the mechanical workings of the boat, especially in the early chapters, can drag. But its worth sticking with it because the length is also the book's strength. It serves well to build and emphasise the boredom, routine, claustrophobia and tension experienced by the crew. You get the impression that this is a deeply authentic picture of a WW2 submariners life, right down to the graphic and earthy descriptions of every day life and conversations on board. There are no heroes and no villains. Just scared but stoical men attempting to do their duty with all the moral ambiguities that sometimes implied. The characters are one dimensional, little or nothing is known about their private lives but this too is, I am sure, consistent with the reality of serving men reluctant to let slip their brittle protective facemask of nonchalent bravado.Politics rarely intrudes into the narrative. This is a book about universal human emotion, duty and endurance in wartime which just happens to have been written from a German perspective, not about ideology or nationality. Few of the crew appear to have any Nazi sympathies and its easy for the reader to identify with them and their plight despite the nature of the regime their efforts were supporting.The translation into American English is a minor irritant at times (some of it is rather lazy - a penalty, for instance, is not a 'goal kick'!) but this remains one of the most apparently authentic Second World War novels I have read.

Gripping account of life in all aspects on a U boat. Loved the story. The translation is a little stunted and there are many spelling errors in this version but not detrimental to the book itself

I had watched the excellent film of this gritty moving story many years ago and can now see how faithful to the book it was. The author takes us on a claustrophobic voyage that reeks of fuel oil and sweat as the crew suffer the privations and fears of life aboard the submarine. Never glorifying war and always ridiculing nationalism we get a glimpse of the terror and futility experienced by ordinary human beings thrown together in an extraordinary environment. I recommend this book, especially to modern readers who are in danger of forgetting the horrors of war.

Great technical details about submarines and their men. Scary and brutal is war at sea. U boots technically superb. High command failed them.

Such a shame there isn't an English translation as much of the atmosphere is lost by a slightly crass mangling into a strange mishmash of transatlantic jargon. Much of what I suspect was a fairly accurate depiction of U boat warfare in the original German becomes a tepid (and sometimes turgid) victim of poor translation. I would really like to see a translation performed by a proper naval historian or even a competent academic which I think would revitalise this text.

Awesome book. Im not the biggest fan of war books, however this was a pure delight to read. Buchheim is a great author with zero pretentiousness about his work. The narrative is long and well structured, which draws you in to the cramped isolated feeling of being 'on the boat' right next to the narrator.By far my favourite war time book i have read. Give it a go, you will not be disappointed!

I love this book. The story is incredible. The whole time I was reading I felt like I was right there on the boat with everyone. I was picturing them attacking the convoy and also being pinged by ASDIC. I highly recommend this book to anyone curious as to what it was like on a u boat. It reminded me of a tell all story rather than a novel.

I read the English version in the early 80s. A wonderful, and perhaps important, read. As with most books, it is better than the movie… even though the movie was excellent. This is the second time I have purchased the novel. I felt the book gave great inside into the mind of the German combatants.

Qui in edizione inglese in formato kindle al prezzo di un caffè. L'ho preso per rileggerlo non trovando più la vecchissima edizione italiana che avevo letto a suo tempo. Guerra sottomarina cruda e realistica, rispecchia abbastanza l'omonimo film (quello originale, mentre la serie TV mi ha deluso alquanto)

I haven't seen the film or the series so had no idea about this book.It's probably going to be the best book I read this year (now end of March).

It’s a treat. Written amazingly. You can almost hear the sonar ping.Ideal if you like WW2 and u boat stuff.