| One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander |  | Authors: Sandy Woodward, Patrick Robinson
Publisher: Naval Institute Pr
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 1042218
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 360
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.8
ISBN: 1557506515
Dewey Decimal Number: 997.11
EAN: 9781557506511
ASIN: 1557506515
Publication Date: April 1992
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
Great book for naval historians September 14, 2008
R. Shaw
Great book if you enjoy naval history. Unique in that it details the strategies, fears, tactics and human factor of MODERN naval warfare in the age of missiles and advanced capability sensors. Past, current or future Navy surface warfare officers will love it.
A wonderful look at leadership and at combat August 10, 2007
imu ilu (the world of hope)
Woodward had done a masterful job, with his writing assistant, of describing the issues of command, the concern about sending others into combat where they may lose their life, the need to keep in mind what is central about a mission, and so many other thoughts about what leadership means. This book is a study of BOTH (1) management of a large task (be it war, be it a large company or nonprofit, be it of government) when dealing with an adversary compelled to fight you (be it the other side in a war, be it a company fighting you for market share, be it a Democrat or Republican that believes as you do not), and (2) of management of a military war where weapons are wielded by you and weapons are wielded or threatened against you. The real-life drama of uncertainty of events, of certainty of purpose, and of just what went on in this saga is of interest to very many readers. I have British friends, I have Argentian friends, and no matter which side you believe is right (both have their points) this is a good book about a mission one is given and how one needs to carry it out, and the thoughts and second-thoughts that must go through any leader's mind.
Read this as a book about leadership, and you will do fine. Read this as a book about war, and you will also do fine. Read this as a book about both, and you'll get even more out of it.
 One Hundred Days: The Memoires of the Falklands Battle Group... March 9, 2007
Kathleen Coombe (Bandon, Oregon USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The book was received in excellent condition. The story is well written and very interesting. Would recommend it highly.
One Hundred Days -- And Still a Damn Near Run Thing February 17, 2007
William J. Bowers (Beaufort, SC)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As Wellington famously said of the Hundred Days Campaign culminating in the Battle of Waterloo, the Falklands Campaign was a also damn near run thing, according to the Battle Group Commander, Adm Sandy Woodward, in this excellent book. Writing in what can best be called a distinctly British style, Woodward takes the reader into the bridge of the Hermes, his command ship for the Falklands expedition. What we get is a brutally honest, technically detailed, and gripping narrative not only into how the British pulled off a decisive victory, but also the self-doubts and mentally taxing minutia of a Commander sending troops and sailors into harm's way. This book is especially valuable for its detailed description of how navies fight. This is no small task. For example, the reader learns how:
1. submarines track ships and the risks they run to track them and shoot them. The example of the sinking of the General Belgrano is first rate
2. how a routine matter such as cross-decking troops between ships bedevils commanders and can end in tragedy
3. ship's tactics for defending themselves against aircraft (this is particularly helpful. In the US military, we have become so accustomed to air and sea superiority that those who operate on the ground take it for granted. It's not! It must be gained and earned - if need be, the hard way.)
4. The inevitable tension that will arise between sea, air, and land commanders during the prosecution of an amphibious campaign. We get Woodward's side here, but he is brutally honest on when he was right and when he was wrong.
5. The role of destroyers, frigates, aircraft carriers, amphibs, and supply ships, and the risks they ran -- and still do -- to do their jobs.
This is one of the only books I know of that actually explains how modern navies fight, and it is thus indispensable to navy officers and to those who seek to learn more on control of the seas.
Exceptional war memoir! July 23, 2005
S. Pollock (Ontario, Canada)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is an absolutely first-rate memoir by the man who led the British fleet to victory in the Falkland Islands War. Only 50 years-old when he was chosen to lead the battle group to recapture the islands in 1982 (hard to believe this gentleman is now 73!), Admiral Sir John F. "Sandy" Woodward was courageous and competent commander. That being the case, he is also refreshingly honest and humble as he tells his remarkable story.
As the Admiral mentions in the epilogue, many will always regard the Falklands as having been "a pushover war - the mighty Brits crushing the ridiculous Args" (349). But as this book makes clear, it was anything but a cakewalk. The Argentinian sailors and pilots were brave and worthy oponents. The British fleet took heavy casualties: 6 ships sunk (2 destroyers, 2 frigates, 1 amphibious warfare vessel and the transport vessel Atlantic Conveyor with its precious cargo of 10 Wessex and 4 Chinook helicopters). Another 10 ships were badly damaged. Many of these were not sunk only because the Argentinian bombs reguarly failed to detonate. The British, of course, won decisively though, thanks to the professionalism and courage of the British forces. But it was an intense and bloody six weeks.
The campaign was also a turning point in the history of naval warfare. Although anti-ship missiles were first used to sink Syrian missile boats by the Israelis back in 1973, the destruction of HMS Sheffield by the French Exocet missiles fired from Super-Etendard fighter-bombers grabbed the attention of the world's militaries. Newsweek's subsequent cover-story on the incident read "Falklands Fallout: Are Big Ships Doomed?" Many wondered if large warships had been rendered obsolete by the effectiveness of anti-ship missiles. Indeed, the two British aircraft carriers in the South Atlantic were very vulnerable. If even one of them had been put out of commission by an Exocet, it is unlikely the Falklands could have been recaptured. It is very interesting to read about how the British struggled with some of their new high-tech weaponry such as the Sea Dart. It took some failed attempts in battle before the bugs got worked out and they got comfortable with the new system.
Admiral Woodward is an excellent writer. His descriptions of the battles are riveting, especially the moments of calamity such as when HMS Sheffield was crippled by Exocets. You really get a sense of the fear, anxiety and adrenaline. It's as exciting as any Tom Clancy novel without a doubt.
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