The Silent Deep by Hennessy & Jinks (Allen Lane 2015) reviewed by Dr. Jeffrey Bradford Research Director, UK Defence Forum

The Silent Deep is a timely and authoritative history of the United Kingdom Royal Navy's submarine service from inception through the Cold War. Against the current political environment with the outcome of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) being the decision to postpone, or in defence acquisition parlance to "move right" the planned in-service date for the next generation submarine based nuclear deterrent vessels, understanding the path to this point is critical both for legislators, the wider defence community and indeed the general reader.

The Submarine service probably is among one of the most secretive elements of the defence and intelligence community and whilst this has been a major plus point in terms of operational security it has probably worked to a degree against their political position, both within the Royal Navy for budget and status and more broadly the political appreciation of the value of their on-going activities.