The author of the book actually served on a U-boat and he says that while the novel is fictional it is very closely based on real events. The author felt so strongly about this that he complained bitterly when the movie further dramatized the events to make it more exciting.
The book provides some interesting statistics as well. Out of the 40,000 men who manned u-boats and terrorized the shipping lanes, 30,000 of them never returned. That is a truly awful ratio. Another troubling thing that most people do not think about is how young everyone was. The book implies that most people serving on submarines were under 20 years old. However, after reading the book that is somewhat understandable because anyone suffering even the slightest bit from age would probably not be able to hold up under the constant pressure (literal and otherwise).
While I know a fair bit about World War II, most of my knowledge is confined to the land battles. I did not know that U-boats were vastly different than modern submarines, which spend most of their time underwater. U-boats spent most of their time on the surface, only going underwater to attack or to avoid being spotted.
I think the thing that I will remember most about this book is that it managed to portray German soldiers in World War II not as Nazis, not as men just following orders, but as tired boys just trying to do their jobs and make it home. The sufferings of the crew, like not being able to sleep because they are battered by a massive storm for days on end, are really brought to life by the author and descriptions like the green rings around the Chief Engineer's eyes from sleep loss are enough to make one cringe.
Overall, I would give this book an 89%.
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