Rating: 
Summary: Not what you'd expect from this author
Review: Alastair Maclean's books tend to run along formulaic lines - the good guy good humouredly taking a fearful beating, the bad guy snarlingly getting his eventual comeuppance. Whether it's a Formula One race track, an island in the Barents Sea or a submarine beneath the polar ice cap, the pattern is unshakeable. Not bad, you understand, but familiar.
This book, however, is completely different. Mr Maclean served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and took part in several convoys similar to those described in this book. His experiences have coloured his writing and given this book an immediacy and a depth that the others lack. This book serves as a tribute to the men that lost their lives in the fearful Arctic Convoys of World War Two, a critical theatre of war that was largely forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: One equal temper of heroic hearts.
Review: From the opening excerpt of Tennyson's stirring 'Ulysses' to the tragically courageous ending, H.M.S. Ulysses is a wonderful tale. You feel the weariness of being constantly at action stations, the exhiliration of battle, the hunger, and most of all, the terrible cold that men such as these knew. The desperate struggle in the hurricane is unforgettable, as is the valor of the last surface action. But while a great action story, and a fine read for WWII buffs, on a deeper level, it is about the endurance of man's soul, and the redemption of it's honor. A great epic of the sea, it's ending even evocative of possibly the greatest American novel, 'Moby Dick'. Most gratifying.
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Summary: Best MacLean book ever
Review: H.M.S. Ulysses is the by far the best book written my Alistair MacLean. It is a great depiction of the heroism and tragedy of war. If you were shocked by the brutality of the opening sequence of "Saving Private Ryan" read this book to find out what naval warfare in the Arctic during World War II was like.
Rating: 
Summary: A dissenting view
Review: I know I'm the odd person out here, because virtually all the reviews are favorable & some consider this work a "classic", but, frankly, I didn't like this book. And, mind you, I like war novels & have read many of them. This book is unrelievedly gloomy & depressing & gets more so as the book goes on. There is way too much description & not enough conversation. Contrary to what several reviewers said, I found the character development weak to nonexistent. There were some interesting characters & I would have liked to know more about them, but the characters took second place to endless descriptions of the weather & damage reports. I plowed through it because I thought it was my duty to do so, but really, I found this book disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: A dissenting view
Review: I know I'm the odd person out here, because virtually all the reviews are favorable & some consider this work a "classic", but, frankly, I didn't like this book. And, mind you, I like war novels & have read many of them. This book is unrelievedly gloomy & depressing & gets more so as the book goes on. There is way too much description & not enough conversation. Contrary to what several reviewers said, I found the character development weak to nonexistent. There were some interesting characters & I would have liked to know more about them, but the characters took second place to endless descriptions of the weather & damage reports. I plowed through it because I thought it was my duty to do so, but really, I found this book disappointing.
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Summary: A tribute for the Battle of the Atlantic
Review: I read this as a very young man, experienced the sea as an older one, and found his rich descriptions of the convoy's battle with the storm to be realistic, and every bit as bad as I remember winter in the North Atlantic to be. I carry some of the scars he speaks of, and the workmanlike bravery of his characters, as well as the very human fears that some of them give in to, speak about ordinary people we all know. This one's a winner for anyone who wants to experience a winter hurricane in the North Atlantic, in the saftey and warmth of their favorite chair. I've been there, and apparently, so had the author.
Rating:
Summary: H.M.S. Ulysses: An Icy Swim in Search of Souls
Review: I recently made a couple of business trips to London. On the first I toured the H.M.S. Belfast, now part of the Imperial War Museum, moored in the Pool of London on the River Thames just inside the Tower Bridge. (See http://www.iwm.org.uk/belfast/belfast.htm for more detail.) It was a self-guided tour. With pamphlet in hand the curious tourist can poke through practically every passageway in the ship. Lifelike mannequins represent life on board one of Her Majesty's proudest vessels. Even the ship's cat is represented keeping guard over undesirable stowaways. The mighty turrets seem invincible. The crew's quarters seem cramped, but the atmosphere is adventurous and almost romantic. The ship seems large and powerful and puissant.In between trips, I picked up an old copy of H.M.S. Ulysses, by spellbinding mystery and adventure author Alistair Maclean. Through the eyes of the crew of the Ulysses I experienced real life aboard the Belfast. The Ulysses, though not exactly the same ship as the Belfast, nevertheless shared many commonalities with her. They were both used as escorts for the savage arctic convoys, brutally trying to bring supplies and arms to Russian ports desperate for help. They had similar armaments, crew, assignments, and even paint jobs. The Ulysses became the Belfast for me as I witnessed the awesome forces of nature and the brutal effects of prolonged exposure to frigid elements, sleep deprivation, death, sacrifice and just plain old fear. The ravaged and bone-weary seamen move ghostlike through day after numbing day. Branded mutineers and traitors by the brass, they're given one last opportunity for redemption. Escort one last ill-fated convoy from Scapa Flow, Britain's arctic sea base north and east to Murmansk. Harangued by reconnaissance planes, U-Boats, destroyers, stuka fighters, and even threatened by the invincible German warship Tirpitz, the Ulysses gallantly accompanies her convoy ever nearer its goal. My second trip brought me back to the Belfast. I didn't pay to go on the tour again. I didn't need to. In my mind I could envision every nook and cranny. From the Tower Bridge I gazed at the beautiful ship and remembered the Ulysses. Don't read this book unless you plan on leaving a part of yourself in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.
Rating:
Summary: H.M.S. Ulysses: An Icy Swim in Search of Souls
Review: I recently made a couple of business trips to London. On the first I toured the H.M.S. Belfast, now part of the Imperial War Museum, moored in the Pool of London on the River Thames just inside the Tower Bridge. (See http://www.iwm.org.uk/belfast/belfast.htm for more detail.) It was a self-guided tour. With pamphlet in hand the curious tourist can poke through practically every passageway in the ship. Lifelike mannequins represent life on board one of Her Majesty's proudest vessels. Even the ship's cat is represented keeping guard over undesirable stowaways. The mighty turrets seem invincible. The crew's quarters seem cramped, but the atmosphere is adventurous and almost romantic. The ship seems large and powerful and puissant. In between trips, I picked up an old copy of H.M.S. Ulysses, by spellbinding mystery and adventure author Alistair Maclean. Through the eyes of the crew of the Ulysses I experienced real life aboard the Belfast. The Ulysses, though not exactly the same ship as the Belfast, nevertheless shared many commonalities with her. They were both used as escorts for the savage arctic convoys, brutally trying to bring supplies and arms to Russian ports desperate for help. They had similar armaments, crew, assignments, and even paint jobs. The Ulysses became the Belfast for me as I witnessed the awesome forces of nature and the brutal effects of prolonged exposure to frigid elements, sleep deprivation, death, sacrifice and just plain old fear. The ravaged and bone-weary seamen move ghostlike through day after numbing day. Branded mutineers and traitors by the brass, they're given one last opportunity for redemption. Escort one last ill-fated convoy from Scapa Flow, Britain's arctic sea base north and east to Murmansk. Harangued by reconnaissance planes, U-Boats, destroyers, stuka fighters, and even threatened by the invincible German warship Tirpitz, the Ulysses gallantly accompanies her convoy ever nearer its goal. My second trip brought me back to the Belfast. I didn't pay to go on the tour again. I didn't need to. In my mind I could envision every nook and cranny. From the Tower Bridge I gazed at the beautiful ship and remembered the Ulysses. Don't read this book unless you plan on leaving a part of yourself in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.
Rating:
Summary: A Book That Should Be Famous
Review: If Alistair Maclean had written only this novel I am sure it would be ranked alongside The Red Badge of Courage, The Naked And The Dead and All Quiet on the Western Front as a classic novel of men at war. Unfortunately his subsequent thrillers, so lightweight by comparison, have meant a lot of people would pass it by. It is a powerful testament to the men who suffered and died on WW2 convoys. Brilliantly told, it evokes strong emotions as it brings you face to face with the cruelty of war, and the devotion to duty that drives men on in spite of hardship and terror.
Rating: 
Summary: A cure for "the glories of War".
Review: If all you have read by Alistair MacLean is "The Guns of Navarone", you have missed a much better read in this book. HMS Ulysses is a fine action tale, with all the drama and tension of The Hunt For Red October. But there is so much more--the realistic descriptions of life on a warship in the North Atlantic, men who reflect on the nature of war, individual acts of heroism and tragedy. All these things raise it above the common lot of the war novel. You will be inspired by some of it, fascinated by some of it, and you may even have to stop---as I did---to put the book down for a moment to recover when the terrible savagery of War becomes too gut-wrenchingly alive. Strongly recommended; a fantastic book.
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