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Series

WWII Naval Thrillers

The WWII Naval Thrillers are four independent sea and coastal war novels arranged around survival, evacuation, resistance and intelligence. They cover an aircrew adrift in the North Sea, the Dunkirk evacuation, clandestine support for Greek resistance and naval espionage before the German invasion of Norway.

The collection uses ships, small boats, exposed coastlines and maritime communications to show how the war depended on people operating beyond the main land fronts. Each novel places a limited group under extreme pressure while connecting its mission to a wider strategic crisis.

Reading order

Books in this series (4 books)

The Sea Shall Not Have Them cover

1. The Sea Shall Not Have Them

Max Hennessy

First published 1953

4.0(1,634)

The classic war novel of espionage in the most extreme of situations. An essential flight from France crash lands in the North Sea, leaving the four remaining crew members of the RAF Hudson stranded on a dinghy. One man is critically injured, and another, a rocket…

Ride Out the Storm cover

2. Ride Out the Storm

Max Hennessy

First published 1975

2.5(5)

On 26 May 1940, Allied armies are trapped in northern France between the German advance and the Channel. Over the next nine days, naval vessels and a vast assortment of civilian craft attempt to carry hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Dunkirk to Britain. The novel…

Cotton’s War cover

3. Cotton’s War

Max Hennessy

First published 1979

4.4(977)

One man stands in the way of an army. Storming their way through Europe, the Nazis forces have made their way east to the Mediterranean, and are almost sure to conquer Greece. But they didn't bargain on coming up against Michael Anthony Cotton, a heroic marine…

North Strike cover

4. North Strike

Max Hennessy

First published 1981

4.4(1,104)

A searing tale of war and espionage from the edge of the world. Magnusson had expected to go to war though not as a spy, and certainly not in a windjammer. But it is 1939 and the Navy desperately needs information about German raiders and blockade…