Future historians will be glad to know that Ron Burns was there on SS Rathlin, working the anti-aircraft guns. Overall, this is a valuable book, securing the memory of one of the millions whose bravery and travails left us the world we enjoy today. The author does however do a very good job covering the disasterous Convoy PQ 17, and this book can sit comfortably alongside much more academic (and impersonal) works as a useful 'micro' view to the macro. The book has some small failings, which are easily overlooked - the author's writing experience is not biographical or historical, which shows through here and there, leaving some passages without any anchoring context. Ron's experiences are fine examples of this, the horrors of being adrift upon a lifeboat - a struggle as old as mankind's sea-going - in particular speak to his fortitude. This book captures very well Ron's experiences of World War Two, which provide his unique perspective on the conflict in a manner similar to Stuart Hill's "By Tank into Normandy", reminding the reader that while conflicts are vast, the people who make it up are small, rendering the fortitude and courage shown in the face of conflict heroic. Book excerpt: The biography of Ronald Burns, who served as a Royal Navy DEMS gunner aboard merchant ships during WWII. This book was released on with total page pages. Personal involvement disclaimer: my grandmother lived down the street from this book's subject, Ron Burns. Download or read book This Blood Red Sea written by Anthony Hulse and published by Lulu Press, Inc.
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