Title: The road to Oran
First published: 1999
Description: "On 3 July 1940, soon after the collapse of the French front and France's request for an armistice, a reluctant Royal Navy commander opened fire on the French Navy squadron at Mers-el-Kebir. Some 1,300 French sailors lost their lives. The driving force behind this extraordinary event was the British government's determination that the French Fleet would never fall into the hands of the Axis powers. A combination of mistrust, dissembling, poor communications and outright enmity over the preceding month had catastrophic results, both for the individuals concerned and for the future of Franco-British naval relations."

"The late David Brown's detailed account conveys an objective understanding of the course of events that led up to this tragedy. The book makes extensive use of primary sources such as correspondence, reports and signals traffic, from the British Cabinet to the admirals, the commanders-in-chief and the liaison officers." "The Road to Oran is a significant contribution to the literature and will be of great interest to serious scholars of naval history and the Second World War."--Jacket.
Subjects: British Naval operations, French Naval operations, History, Naval, Mers-el-Kebir, Attack on, 1940, Military relations, Naval History, Naval operations, British, Naval operations, French, World War, 1939-1945, British & Irish history: Second World War, International relations, Naval forces & warfare, Second World War, 1939-1945, International Relations - General, Political Science, History - Military / War, Politics/International Relations, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Military - World War II, History / Military / Naval, France, Great Britain, World war, 1939-1945, naval operations, british, World war, 1939-1945, naval operations, french, World War II, Military, HISTORY, Mers el-Kébir, Attaque de, 1940, Relations militaires, Great britain, military policy, Great britain, military relations, France, military relations
Places: France, Great Britain, Mers el Kebir (Algeria)
Time periods: 20th century
LC classification: D766.99.A4 B76 2003