A Game of Birds and Wolves

Trade Paperback

The Secret Game that Revolutionised the War

'Compelling' Sunday Times

'A triumph' Daily Mirror

'Gripping' Jonathan Dimbleby

1941. The Battle of the Atlantic is a disaster. Thousands of supply ships ferrying vital food and fuel from North America to Britain are being torpedoed by German U-boats. Britain is only weeks away from starvation - and with that, crushing defeat.

In the first week of 1942 a group of unlikely heroes - a retired naval captain and a clutch of brilliant young women - gather to form a secret strategy unit. On the top floor of a bomb-bruised HQ in Liverpool, the Western Approaches Tactical Unit spends days and nights designing and playing wargames in an effort to crack the U-boat tactics. As the U-boat wolfpacks continue to prey upon the supply ships, the Wrens race against time to save Britain.

With novelistic flair, investigative journalist Simon Parkin shines a light on Operation Raspberry and these unsung heroines in this riveting true story of war at sea.

'History writing at its best' Booklist

'Splendid . . . Simon Parkin's book rips along at full sail and is full of personality and personalities'

Sunday Express

'Vivid, engaging' New Yorker