This is the story of how the British Navy figured out how to defend against and defeat the Nazis' U-boats attacks on shipping in the North Atlantic. Great Britain had to ship everything in because it did not produce enough to sustain their people because it is an island. The Nazi U-boats were attacking all shipping knowing that if the British could not ship in enough fuel, food, and provisions they would lose the war to starvation. Utilizing women as WRENS, the women plotted where British shipping and its allies shipping were at all times, if known. They also plotted where the U-boats were. They helped the Navy as well as allies' navies to plan attacks through a series of war games. The women were not acknowledged by the nation for their contribution in training Naval officers in defeating the Nazi U-boat threat through their work in the games and plotting of ship and U-boat positions.

I enjoyed this book. I liked learning something new. This was not taught in school so I found it interesting on how games were used to train Naval officers. I liked how the women became as knowledgeable as the men on how to move the ships and attack the U-boats successfully. I appreciated the epilogue and how it told what happened to the women and other people in the tale. I appreciated how it was tough to go back to the real world after being involved in the war effort and working side by side with the sailors and how they could not speak of it because those who stayed home would not understand what they did and went through.

This is worth reading for all ages if you want to know what is left out of history classes on WWII. ( )

A somewhat rambling and disjointed account of fascinating history. ( )

Though I enjoyed this book while I was reading it, once I thought about it overnight it's a bit slighter than it looks. My basic problem is that Parkin bounces between the Battle of the Atlantic, war gaming, female service in the Royal Navy in World War II, and the life of Gilbert Roberts (the man who organized the "Western Approaches Tactical Unit," the game players of the title), to the point that I'm not really sure that any one story was covered to my satisfaction. The work reads like three or four really strong magazine articles struggling to escape. Also, considering that there's a chunk of the British population that can't let go of WWII (particularly the "England Alone" narrative), with toxic political results, I'm not sure more remembrance is really in order; just my two bits of editorializing. ( )

The book starts very slowly, and doesn’t focus a lot on the actual game but is more of a description of the overall battle of the Atlantic, with intermittent focus on the Wrens and the game. Still interesting and worth reading. ( )

Good, but not outstanding. Repetitive in parts. ( )