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Stark Realities Hardcover – 5 January 2005
by
Alexander Fullerton
(Author)
Alexander Fullerton
(Author)
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Product details
- Publisher : Little, Brown; 1st edition (5 January 2005)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0316727024
- ISBN-13 : 978-0316727020
- Dimensions : 14.1 x 2.9 x 22.3 cm
- Customer Reviews:
Product description
Review
'His action passages are superb, and he never puts a period foot wrong' - Observer'You don't read a novel by Alexander Fullerton. You LIVE it' - South Wales Echo'The research is unimpeachable and the scent of battle quite overpowering' - Sunday Times
Book Description
Gripping First World War adventure of U-boat conflict and thwarted desire.
About the Author
Alexander Fullerton was regarded as one of Britain's premier adventure novelists since his first book SURFACE! was a bestseller in 1953. Apart from the acclaimed Everard series he was the author of an SOE trilogy featuring Rosie Ewing. Alexander Fullerton was a cadet at Dartmouth at the age of thirteen and went to sea serving first in the battleship Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean. He wrote his first novel SURFACE! in the early 1950s and it sold over 500,000 copies. Then he worked on the 9-volume Nicholas Everard series that made his reputation. He died in February 2008.
Customer reviews
3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
16 global ratings
How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Top reviews from other countries

Baz H
5.0 out of 5 stars
The quality goes without saying...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2018Verified Purchase
... and being so close to the known conclusion of the attempt made in late 1918 for a grand finale, made for a great story creation. Fullerton at his usual high standards of both story and readable tech. The old installations around Scarpa are still there and add to the feeling of reality. The tech of the day was revolutionary and is of the same principle today... although taking up a little less space. 5 *
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Marshall Lord
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb WW1 submarine suspense story and romance
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 October 2012Verified Purchase
This exciting novel of submarines and romance is set towards the end of the First World War. The German army is losing the war, their surface fleet are on the brink of mutiny, but the U-boats are still fighting hard. Even as the war is coming to an end, certain U-boat officers are determined to strike a final blow for German honour and pride which might put their country in a less hopeless position at the negotiating table ...
The book was inspired by and very loosely based on a real event in late 1918, though the characters are purely fictional. The author, Alexander Fullerton, who as a very young man served in submarines during World War II, points out with a certain amount of glee in a historical note at the end of the book that Winston Churchill made a mistake when describing the real event in one of his books about the First World war. This error was duly picked up and repeated by C.S. Forester in his play U 97 : A Play in Three Acts based on the same incident.
Don't flip ahead and read the historical note until you have completed the book. The story is designed to keep you in suspense over the outcome, both in terms of what will happen or has happened to some of the characters and whether the Germans will succeed in sinking the British or U.S. navy battleships they plan to attack.
I don't want to say too much more about the plot to avoid spoiling the story, but here is a precis of what it says on the back of the book.
The novel starts in late 1918 with an order for all German submarines, including U81 commanded by a handsome young officer called Otto von Mettendorf, to return to base. On the way von Mettendorf can't resist firing his remaining torpedoes at a final target. This turns out to be one attack too many. Caught by the destroyers escorting his target, U81 is depth-charged to the surface and then sent to the bottom of the English Channel by allied gunfire.
British naval intelligence receives a report that U81 has been sunk with all hands. One of the people working there is a young war widow, Anne Laurie, who speaks fluent german which is why she had been given the job. Before the war and before her marriage, Anne had spent some time in Germany. She hears that "Your friend Otto's dead" from a colleague who knew that Anne had met him in Germany.
Anne replies sharply that von Mettendorf had been her friend's brother, and was not her friend himself.
Had there been something more than that between them? You'll have to read the book if you want to find out!
An absolutely excellent suspense story of war at sea, with a series of ironic twists and surprises. In particular this novel has a sting in the tail: the final twist at the end is worthy of C.S. Forester and reminded me of the conclusion of Forester's " Brown on Resolution ."
Like most of Fullerton's books this novel can be very warmly recommended.
The book was inspired by and very loosely based on a real event in late 1918, though the characters are purely fictional. The author, Alexander Fullerton, who as a very young man served in submarines during World War II, points out with a certain amount of glee in a historical note at the end of the book that Winston Churchill made a mistake when describing the real event in one of his books about the First World war. This error was duly picked up and repeated by C.S. Forester in his play U 97 : A Play in Three Acts based on the same incident.
Don't flip ahead and read the historical note until you have completed the book. The story is designed to keep you in suspense over the outcome, both in terms of what will happen or has happened to some of the characters and whether the Germans will succeed in sinking the British or U.S. navy battleships they plan to attack.
I don't want to say too much more about the plot to avoid spoiling the story, but here is a precis of what it says on the back of the book.
The novel starts in late 1918 with an order for all German submarines, including U81 commanded by a handsome young officer called Otto von Mettendorf, to return to base. On the way von Mettendorf can't resist firing his remaining torpedoes at a final target. This turns out to be one attack too many. Caught by the destroyers escorting his target, U81 is depth-charged to the surface and then sent to the bottom of the English Channel by allied gunfire.
British naval intelligence receives a report that U81 has been sunk with all hands. One of the people working there is a young war widow, Anne Laurie, who speaks fluent german which is why she had been given the job. Before the war and before her marriage, Anne had spent some time in Germany. She hears that "Your friend Otto's dead" from a colleague who knew that Anne had met him in Germany.
Anne replies sharply that von Mettendorf had been her friend's brother, and was not her friend himself.
Had there been something more than that between them? You'll have to read the book if you want to find out!
An absolutely excellent suspense story of war at sea, with a series of ironic twists and surprises. In particular this novel has a sting in the tail: the final twist at the end is worthy of C.S. Forester and reminded me of the conclusion of Forester's " Brown on Resolution ."
Like most of Fullerton's books this novel can be very warmly recommended.

AK46
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stark indeed.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 July 2018Verified Purchase
5 stars simply because although there are some inexplicable typos towards the end of the novel, the rest 'reads like a true story, which of course it's not. Brings to mind the penetration of Scapa Flow by Gunther Prien in U39!

P. Adey
3.0 out of 5 stars
Still Fullerton stands out as a great author, but this was not one of his ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 February 2018Verified Purchase
A little bit disappointing, certainly after the fabulous 9 volume set of the Nicholas Everard saga, Still Fullerton stands out as a great author, but this was not one of his best.

Roger Barnard
2.0 out of 5 stars
Boring
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 December 2018Verified Purchase
i ENJOY READING NAVAL STORIES , ACTION STORIES, THIS IS MORE A STORY IN WHICH NAVAL MATTERS ARE SECONDARY, COULDN'T FINNISH IT