The biggest naval battle in history occurred off the coast of Jutland in the afternoon of May 31, 1916 when the German High Seas Fleet confronted a six-mile line of grey-steel dreadnoughts of the British Grand Fleet. In this momentous 'clash of Titans' more than 200 warships of the rival navies were involved in a series of bitterly fought actions that lasted throughout the night. The result could determine the course of the First World War; as Churchill put it, 'Britain could have lost the war in an afternoon'.

Mr. Costello has written a good deal of military and naval analysis, and his take on Jutland tries to deal with the difference between the technology for finding an enemy and reporting his position circa 1916, and nowadays with GPS, Radar, and maps to be consulted with hindsight. ( )