Covert Shores: The Story of Naval Special Forces Missions and Minisubs Paperback – May 5, 2016

Sutton does not disappoint here. Trying to find any information on this topic is very difficult at best. Frogmen are notoriously closed-mouthed, (well except for the SEAL book of the month club), and those assigned to SDV's even more so. This is about the best compilation I've seen put together. From the early years, to cutting edge stuff, it's all here. I like his approach, as more matter of fact than most; he is neither cheer leader nor distractor; he just describes the hardware and leaves the reader to draw his own conclusions, as to their use and so forth. He brings up a very important point, concerning SDV's, in that anything made to travel covertly, underwater, tends to stay that way; as opposed to say a stealth attack aircraft. Add in the fact that these weapons are favored by non-state or evil-state actors means nobody wants to advertise the fact that they are supplying them to these unsavory characters. So yeah, as we have seen by current events, these types of vehicles have been increasingly used in "David vs Goliath" type of confrontations around the globe. It is also of interest to note that starting from manned-torpedoes and submersibles, as covered here, we seemed to have progressed to various unmanned vehicles as of late. But this is where it all began, and is still a quite viable threat. Good read. In fact a required read, if you're into this kind of thing.

First off, the book is *big* :) Its letter-page size with small text and weighing in at nearly a kilo! I warn you as its a real page turner; for such a heavy factual book its actually surprisingly readable and you won't be able to put it down until you've finished it :DI've been following the author's blog http://www.hisutton.com so was waiting expectantly for this book to go to print.The author is a clearly a proper expert in the field. Everyone following the blog already knows this but its worth repeating. This book is head and shoulders above the usual popular kind of military book filling my bookshelf where a journalist tries to handle a technical subject that they don't grasp. The details and descriptions and commentary in the book really have the fun cynicism and dry whit missing in the gung-ho sensationalism usually found in books on special forces.The breadth of the book is excellent too. It has the same first-time-public feel as that other great book Blind Mans Bluff. Details begins to dwindle only right up at the present day; the author clearly knows rather more than they are saying about the current state of affairs. I wish it was longer :) Seriously, it feels the author has rather more amusing tidbits to share. I'd like to know a lot more about the various characters introduced in the books, particularly the garden-shed-based sub designers, for example.And the illustrations are absolutely FABULOUS! Absolutely first class. The author is an excellent artist too.The grammar is, ahem, unorthodox. It needs a thorough proof reading. But don't let this put you off, its quite easy to brush off.So, all in all, full marks! Absolutely the book we were all anticipating :)

Great book which covers a topic where there is not a lot of information. The book's forward is by Larry Bond and the list of contributors is impressive. The book covers the history of special operations craft nicely and is well done. Recommended addition to your library.

An amazing book full of incredibly well researched and well explained information about submarines and their derivatives.Hard not to learn something new and interesting on every page.Also really love the artwork!

It contains much information about frogmen's chariots in one book, thus saving readers from having to scavenge all over the place for bits of information.

This book was a revelation, I was alerted to it on the secret projects website and I was hopeful that it would cover a gap in my knowledge. Whilst the print quality is not to the highest standard the scope of projects covered more than makes up for it. A fascinating read.

Loved this book! The subject is super interesting and the illustrations and artwork are superior.

A brilliant examination into a part of modern naval special operations that is rarely discussed: mini-subs and "swimmer delivery vehicles" and their use to transport personnel into and out of enemy waters. I highly recommend.