About the book: 2005 / Here is one of the first books by the famous historian Peter Charles Smith, which is dedicated to Operation Pedestal - the breakthrough of the largest English convoy to besieged Malta in August 1942. No such convoy had previously had such an escort, and none had encountered such powerful opposition from the Axis armed forces. Peter Smith covers in detail, using sources from both sides, the preparations and progress of this operation, which became the most ambitious convoy battle of the Second World War. Translation from the English edition of 1982.