HMS Ulysses
HMS Ulysses book cover

HMS Ulysses

Paperback – Import, November 1, 2004

Price
$14.08
Format
Paperback
Pages
480
Publisher
Harper Collins
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0006135128
Dimensions
4.5 x 1.25 x 7 inches
Weight
9.5 ounces

Description

Review ‘A brilliant, overwhelming piece of descriptive writing.’Observer ‘A story of exceptional courage which grips the imagination.’Daily Telegraph ‘It deserves an honourable place among 20th-century war books.’Daily Mail ‘HMS Ulysses is in the same class as The Cruel Sea.’Evening Standard About the Author Alistair MacLean, the son of a Scots minister, was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 he joined the Royal Navy. After the war he read English at Glasgow University and became a schoolmaster. The two and a half years he spent aboard a wartime cruiser were to give him the background for HMS Ulysses, his remarkably successful first novel, published in 1955. He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century, the author of 29 worldwide bestsellers, many of which have been filmed.

Features & Highlights

  • The novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of action and suspense – an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II. Now reissued in a new cover style.
  • The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater, HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea as one of the classic novels of the navy at war.
  • It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk – a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance, crippled by enemy attack and the bitter cold of the Arctic.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(825)
★★★★
25%
(688)
★★★
15%
(413)
★★
7%
(193)
23%
(631)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Explores the group dynamics of a doomed crew

This is an important work because it captures the feeling of a doomed crew in 20th century war. Many people don't appreciate that between World War I and World War II, seamen around the world found themselves on doomed vessels and yet continued to fight, to persevere. This tale is one fictional example of men pushed past the point of no return and still kept doing their jobs.
7 people found this helpful
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The best book ever

I am a former USSR Navy seaman and read a lot of books related to Navy service. One of the greatest and mostly unknown sites of WW2 is the history of Northern Convoys.
This book, written by the Navy Officer and Patriot Alistair MacLean , is the best source for people of new generations to learn what happened that time in that place.
Glory and Remembrance to all seamen who made possible and impossible to save the World and defeat Nazism.
4 people found this helpful
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One of my favorite World War II fiction novels

One of my favorite World War II fiction novels. It is considered one of the finest written about that time period. The author's personal experience in the North Sea during the war sets the tone for the story.
3 people found this helpful
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This is arguably the best description of the incredible hardship endured by the sailors ...

This is arguably the best description of the incredible hardship endured by the sailors (both naval and merchant marine) on the Arctic convoys to Murmansk during the second world war. It faithfully details the endurance needed to conduct these operations, written by someone who went through them. I heartily recommend it to anyone.
3 people found this helpful
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Blasphemies Glore

Liked the story and the author's general style of writing but couldn't stomach the author's constant use of blasphemy. If you cut that out, the book would be only half as long. I quit reading it after page 25.
1 people found this helpful
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At the top !

What exceptional story of naval combat! Alistair MacLean gives us the best of his work. The story is that of a Marine convoy, comprising warships and vessels, civilians, merchants, the departure of British coast to Russia. However packs of U-boats attacked the convoy without respite. In the cold, snow, the misery of war, these episodes glaze your blood.

25 years after reading this book, I remember many vivid passages. A book of great emotion.
1 people found this helpful
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One of his best

I believe this was MacLean's first book, and having read some of the others and seen all the movies, I think it's my favorite. Ought to be a movie, there hasn't been a new MacLean movie in a long time.
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Really Good read if you favor stark brutal tellings of harsh human travails.

You will feel the brutal cold of the setting and grasp the challenges facing the characters in this one.... It is not a happy tale, but is a very well written tale...
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Page turners.

My new favorite author.
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Historical story

It is a little slow going and wordy almost too many characters and details but it is a story that needs telling. I think he became a better writer later on.