Böcker av Paul G. Halpern

The Mediterranean Fleet entered the 1930s looking back to the lessons of Jutland and the First World War but also seeking to incorporate new technologies, notably air power. Unfortunately in the depression years of the early 1930s there was a lack of funds to remedy deficiencies.

The start of Volume III, 1939-1945, finds Keyes in a frustrating position. Too young for fleet command in the First World War, he was now too old for command in the Second World War. Keyes's temperament did not allow him to suffer in silence.

Roger John Brownlow Keyes, first Baron Keyes (1872-1945). Keyes was a controversial man during his lifetime and has remained so ever since. His correspondence and papers is a vast collection held at Churchill College, Cambridge, and these volumes are just a selection of them.

George Keith Elphinstone, Lord Keith (1746-1823) was a Scottish naval officer who entered the navy as a penurious midshipman towards the end of the Seven Years War. He had a long career at sea, during which he missed taking part in any major battle, but held major commands throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (except 1807-1812).

From the very dawn of history, humans have struggled with the question of cosmic destiny. Ancient cultures worldwide invoked powerful mythological images to celebrate the cyclical nature of the earth and cosmos. As Halpern shows, these persistent and provocative symbols - such as a serpent devouring its own tail - prefigure many of the controversies that continue to rage among cosmologists today. Will the universe fade into quiescence - a static graveyard of cinders, black holes, and burnt-out suns? Or will it collapse in on itself in a colossal "Big Crunch", only to explode in another cycle of time and space? The answers to these questions are stored in the ineffable cosmos, and scientists must draw on the most ingenious advances of modern physics to solve the riddles posed by the ancients. Halpern's journey leads us through the most extraordinary breakthroughs in twentieth-century physics and cosmology, and to the remarkable tools scientists employ to look backward and forward in time. He also reveals the fascinating pieces of the puzzle still missing from our picture of the universe - keys that promise to unlock our elusive destiny. What is dark matter and how much of our universe does it comprise? What is the size and age of the universe? How did events unfold in the critical seconds after the Big Bang? The answers to these and other questions will help us decipher our fate.

Originally published: London: Allen & Unwin, 1987.

Called by some a 'Mediterranean Jutland,' the Battle of the Otranto Straits involved warships from Austria, Germany, Italy, Britain, and France. This is the story of the largest naval engagement in the Mediterranean during the First World War.