Lawrence Paterson offers the next chapter, telling the story of U-505 from an operational point of view. "From Lion's Roar to Blunted Axe: The Combat Patrols of U-505" carries the readers along as the boat is launched, commissioned, worked up, and sent to the front to hunt allied shipping. Few people realize U-505 made several successful patrols before her last effort off the west coast of Africa. This is Paterson's expertise: bringing to life operational histories. Those who have read his First U-Boat Flotilla and Second U-boat Flotilla books will know what to expect: detailed, accurate narrative woven around anecdotes, facts, and official records from primary sources. Paterson is a prolific writer with three published books and a fourth on the way.

Paterson fans get a bonus chapter later in the book called "Collision Course: Task Group 22.3 and the Hunt for U-505," which tells about the final fateful encounter between the Allied hunters and the Axis U-boat. Savas made a good choice here, as Paterson always breathes life into operational details and "tells history" with ease.

Many readers are familiar with Ultra and the project to break the ciphers used by BdU to communicate with and control U-boat operations. Mark Wise and Jak Showell shed light on the lesser known story of the American side of the intelligence war. Wise is a signals intelligence specialist and much of what is offered in their joint chapter entitled "Deciphering the U-boat War: The Role of Intelligence in the Capture of U-505" was new to me.

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