Betrayed

[Mayne’s] insights into the cultural clash between parts of the reserves and regular officers are interesting and truly original. The book is highly recommended for specialists and informed general readers in Canadian naval history. Chris Madsen, International Journal of Maritime History, Vol. XIX, No.1

Betrayed has been attractively produced and includes excellent photographs not previously published, extensive endnotes and a comprehensive index which enables the reader to easily zero in on details. Based on careful research and rich in detail, this is a revealing look at how the strains of managing the creation of a modern navy while fighting a vicious campaign proved overwhelming for both the minister and his senior professional advisor. With its rich store of details this book is an essential source of information about internal dynamics within the RCN between 1940 and 1944. Fascinating. Jan Drent, The Northern Mariner, Volume XVI, No. 4

Mayne's exhaustively researched and crisply written Betrayed is the sorry tale of tensions within the navy and between the RCN and its government.... The cognoscenti will see Mayne's book for the wonderful revelation it is. He has exposed the rich texture of the navy's internal politics and shed light on the machinations of some of the RCN's key officers during the most difficult years of the war. Marc Milner, University of New Brunswick, H-Canada

This book will be a key title in my own library. Betrayed tells a fascinating story about Canada’s effort during the critical years of the Battle of the Atlantic, shedding new light on relations between volunteer-reserve personnel and the permanent force, the complicated issues involved in the equipment of the fleet, and the quality of leadership of the wartime navy. Roger Sarty, co-author of No Higher Purpose: The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War, 1939-1943 (Volume II, Part 1)

Richard Mayne probes behind the scenes of wartime naval and staff operations and uncovers a web of careerism, politics, opportunism, grievance, intrigue, slander and betrayal. All to portray the chief of the naval staff and his senior staff as incompetent and unworthy. Percy Nelles fights back with frightening vigour but is forced out. Mayne rights this wrong. A triumph of masterful research and brilliant intuitive analysis, woven into compelling narrative and a dramatic confrontation. Places Mayne squarely in the front rank of a new generation of young Canadian naval scholars. John Griffith Armstrong, author of The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy: Inquiry and Intrigue

A fascinating topic, of significance not only for Canadian naval history, but for Canadian history writ large. The interactions, machinations, and suspicions of two key wartime social groups – the professional ‘regular force’ officers of the Royal Canadian Navy, and the volunteer ‘hostilities only’ reserve officers who swelled their ranks – offer a wealth of insights into questions of professional and social identity in times of national crisis. A remarkable book. Michael L. Hadley, co-editor of A Nation's Navy: In Search of Canadian Naval Identity