David Ramsay

Admiral Sir Reginald 'Blinker' Hall, the Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) for most of the First World War, described as 'a genius in his own sphere and brilliantly successful', was one of the outstanding if largely unrecognized naval leaders of that war. Naval intelligence’s ability to read and analyse German naval and diplomatic signals on a daily basis was a significant factor in the allied victory. The Germans never realized that their codes had been broken. The revelation of the Zimmermann Telegram, surely one of the most exciting and significant events in the history of intelligence, astutely handled by Hall, was the catalyst that brought America into the war in April 1917. The German unrestricted submarine warfare campaign was then coming dangerously close to cutting Britain's supply routes. The effective interface between intelligence and operations, instituted by Hall and the anti-submarine chief, Admiral Duff, together with the introduction of convoy and with the Royal and US Navies working successfully together, resulted in the defeat of the U-boats. Hall’s dynamic leadership, talent for lateral thinking and force of personality were essential to these successes. Above all he was endowed with the guile and ruthlessness which kept him one step ahead of a formidable and determined enemy and their widespread espionage and subversion operations. In Blinker Hall: The Man who Brought America into World War I, David Ramsay examines this fascinating man and his invaluable legacy.

The saga of the Lusitania is one of the most remarkable in the annals of maritime history. State-of-the-art when she went into service and the first express liner to be equipped with steam turbines, she outclassed all her rivals. She triumphantly restored British supremacy on the North Atlantic passenger routes and became an acknowledged commercial success; she was highly popular with her regular passengers. Her sinking in May 1915 by a German U-boat, with heavy loss of life, was at that time the most savage attack on civilians in the course of war, and was widely denounced in allied and neutral countries. From that day her loss has become encrusted with legends (including conspiracy theories), many of them created by German propaganda. In this new book David Ramsay has unraveled those myths and legends and tells a clear and compelling saga of terrible maritime disaster and clashes among three powerful nations. It is a story of potentates and presidents, ambassadors and ministers of state, bankers, shipping magnates, spies, and, not least, Captain William Turner, who had to defend himself against charges of incompetence and fight for his reputation. Based on detailed research, this new book almost certainly contains the most objective account of the history of the liner and the circumstances surrounding her sinking. The sinking of Lusitania, which took a mere eighteen minutes, led to a loss of life comparable with the Titanic disaster, and the ramifications were felt across Europe and America; this masterly telling of the story will intrigue the general reader as much as it does the historian and enthusiast.

David Ramsay's "History of the American Revolution" appeared in 1789 during an enthusiastic celebration of nationhood. It is the first American national history written by an American revolutionary. The first new, modern edition of the work.