Recounting the story of one of the most bitterly fought campaigns of the Second World War, THE BATTLE of the Atlantic by Andrew Williams (BBC Books £16.99) is published to mark the 60th anniversary of the Second World War conflict.

This new book vividly recounts the tale of the longest, most bitterly fought campaign of the Second World War.

From 1939 until 1942, Hitler's U-Boats -- his "grey wolves" -- threatened to do what his air force couldn't, and starve Britain into submission. The result was arguably the most complex naval battle in history.

"Battles might be won or lost," Winston Churchill wrote, but Britain's power to fight on -- to keep itself alive -- depended above all, on the outcome of the war fought in the waters of the North Atlantic.

The U-boats' attack on the country's sea highways was, he said, "the only thing that ever frightened me during the war."

During the course of five bloody and uncertain years, Britain and her Allies lost more than 50,000 seamen and more than 15 million tons of shipping in an effort to protect this lifeline, and on the Home Front, enforced rationing became a part of everyday life.

Pulling on exclusive interviews with U-Boat crews, author Andrew Williams draws a compelling picture of the uncomfortable, claustrophobic and dangerous life on board the "Iron Coffins", and looks at the making of the elite "brotherhood" that manned them. Williams also gathers interviews from the British and American navy to illustrate the story with numerous untold tales of enormous personal courage and horrific losses.

By thoughtfully leading his interviewees through the difficult phases of the battle and including more than 60 images, some previously unseen from the veterans' private collections, Williams presents an evocative and fully-documented account of one of the greatest battles of the 20th century.