The Sunday Times bestseller 'One of the most dramatic forgotten chapters of the war, as told in a new book by the incomparable Max Hastings' DAILY MAIL In August 1942, beleaguered Malta was within weeks of surrender to the Axis, because its 300,000 people could no longer be fed. Churchill made a personal decision that at all costs, the 'island fortress' must be saved. This was not merely a matter of strategy, but of national prestige, when Britain's fortunes and morale had fallen to their lowest ebb. The largest fleet the Royal Navy committed to any operation of the western war was assembled to escort fourteen fast merchantmen across a thousand of miles of sea defended by six hundred German and Italian aircraft, together with packs of U-boats and torpedo craft. The Mediterranean battles that ensued between 11 and 15 August were the most brutal of Britain's war at sea, embracing four aircraft-carriers, two battleships, seven cruisers, scores of destroyers and smaller craft. The losses were appalling: defeat seemed to beckon. This is the saga Max Hastings unfolds in his first full length narrative of the Royal Navy, which he believes was the most successful of Britain's wartime services. As always, he blends the 'big picture' of statesmen and admirals with human stories of German U-boat men, Italian torpedo-plane crews, Hurricane pilots, destroyer and merchant-ship captains, ordinary but extraordinary seamen.

Operation Pedestal describes catastrophic ship sinkings, including that of the aircraft-carrier Eagle, together with struggles to rescue survivors and salvage stricken ships. Most moving of all is the story of the tanker Ohio, indispensable to Malta's survival, victim of countless Axis attacks. In the last days of the battle, the ravaged hulk was kept under way only by two destroyers, lashed to her sides. Max Hastings describes this as one of the most extraordinary tales he has ever recounted. Until the very last hours, no participant on either side could tell what would be the outcome of an epic of wartime suspense and courage. Gold title * #1 bestselling author, writing on the area he knows and handles best: the thickest action and biggest human stories of WW2, with a British skew. * Huge sales record: All Hell Let Loose - 142k HB, 150k PB Catastrophe - 111k HB, 105k PB Vietnam - 102k HB, 87k PB The Secret War - 84k HB, 84k PB * One of the most vital operations of WW2, with huge implications for British spirit. Never before covered by commercial history.

Competition: SAS;Break Point;The Crew;Barbarossa;The Western Front;Enemy at the Gates;Grey Goose of Arnhem;Normandy 44;First Light;The Volunteer;The Second World War;Anglo-Saxons. Antony Beevor;James Holland;Saul David;John Nichol;Ben Macintyre;Ian Kershaw;Laurence Rees;David Price;Jonathan Dimbleby;Marc Morris.