The  synopsis Offers an account of the German naval strategy of attacking allied ships off the coast of the United States.  It is signed by  U-boat commander Reinhard Hardegan and by the author Michael Gannon.

Operation drumbeat was the name given to the German plan to launch U boat attacks against allied shipping off the coast of the United states.  Admiral Donietzy assigned this task to  Hardegen and two more of his submarine commanders, Richard Zapp of U-66 and Ernst Kals of U-130.  Dönitz swiftly but efficiently guided Operation Drumbeat as it began to take shape. These three officers and their commands would make up Group Hardegen. They would steam as soon as possible for the U.S. East Coast and rendezvous with two other U-boats designated Group Bleichrodt. These five submarines would unleash an unprecedented reign of terror on the pitifully unprepared American coastline during the first six months of 1942. It was a campaign that went largely unnoticed by a German populace preoccupied with the Russian front and an American public still in shock over the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and anxiously watching the Philippines. It was nonetheless a monumental clash, and for the men involved it was the center of the universe.

Michael Gannon taught history at the University of Florida from 1967 to 2003, retiring as distinguished service professor. He is the author or editor of eleven books and was a war correspondent in Vietnam.  

Reinhard Hardegen was a German U-boat commander during World War 11. He  and his crew of  ship U-123 was credited with the sinking of 25 ships, at a total of 136,661 tons.  in two war patrols off the East Coast as part of Operation Drumbeat.These attacks were designed to disrupt allied shipping and demoralize the American home front.  Upon return from his second patrol he was awarded oak leaves to his Knight's Cross.   Hardegen was one of the few "Unterseeboot" commanders to survive the war. After the war, he spent a year and a half as a British prisoner-of-war before starting a successful oil trading business and serving as a member of Bremen's city council.  When He died on June 9 2018, at the age of 105, he was believed to be the last surviving U-boat commander.

This book Operation Drumbeat is a first edition published by Harper & Row in 1990.  Actual Book  is in new condition and has never been read.  However while stored the  book cover  has a small tear across the Letters  R and A  in the title Operation Drumbeat This tear is shown as photographed.  There is a slight fray to the top of the book cover as well also photographed.  I have reflected both of these items in the asking price.  All other books on my site are in New and unread condition.