Richard Hammond is a Lecturer at Brunel University and is Vice-President of the Second World War Research Group. He is the recipient of the Society for Military History's Moncado Prize and the Corbett Prize in Modern Naval History (Proxime Accessit).

Introduction; 1. The descent to war in the Mediterranean; 2. Resisting Mare Nostrum: the early anti-shipping; 3. Enter Germany: January-July 1941; 4. Progress: August-December 1941; 5. Axis ascendency, January-August 1942; 6. The end of the beginning, Alam Halfa and El Alamein; 7. The end in North Africa and the shipping; 8. After North Africa; Conclusion.