Mike Farquharson-Roberts CBE OStJ PhD MA MB BS FRCS holds a PhD in Maritime History from University of Exeter. He previously had a long and distinguished career in the Royal Navy.

"Mike Farquharson-Roberts ... is an unabashed supporter of the Royal Navy, and his book on the quality of the officer corps within the senior service from 1918 to 1939 reflects that fact very convincingly. ... It is a convincing thesis and one that scholars and those with a deep and abiding interest in the Royal Navy should find eminently satisfactory." (Malcolm H. Murfett, International Journal of Maritime History, Vol. 28 (3), August, 2016) "This volume springs from his doctoral thesis at Exeter University in 2013 and 'is born of a wish to discover how a navy that had apparently performed so far below public expectations, largely due to institutional rigidity, in the First World War, performed so well in the Second World War with many of the same officers'. ... Highly recommended." (G. F. Liardet, The Naval Review, February, 2016)

• Introduction1. The Officers of the Royal Navy Before 19182. The Naval Officer and Interwar Society3. Becoming a Naval Officer: Entry, Education and Training4. Personnel Management5. The Officers of the Royal Navy in the 1920s6. Malign Neglect? The Collapse of Executive Officers Morale7. The Officer ' 's Nadir, and the Inflection8. The Ascension: Improving Morale9. The Ascension: Admiral Chatfield and the Coming War10. The Naval Officer in World War Two: The Apogee11. Conclusion

Mike Farquharson-Roberts CBE OStJ PhD MA MB BS FRCS holds a PhD in Maritime History from University of Exeter. He previously had a long and distinguished career in the Royal Navy.

"Mike Farquharson-Roberts ... is an unabashed supporter of the Royal Navy, and his book on the quality of the officer corps within the senior service from 1918 to 1939 reflects that fact very convincingly. ... It is a convincing thesis and one that scholars and those with a deep and abiding interest in the Royal Navy should find eminently satisfactory." (Malcolm H. Murfett, International Journal of Maritime History, Vol. 28 (3), August, 2016) "This volume springs from his doctoral thesis at Exeter University in 2013 and 'is born of a wish to discover how a navy that had apparently performed so far below public expectations, largely due to institutional rigidity, in the First World War, performed so well in the Second World War with many of the same officers'. ... Highly recommended." (G. F. Liardet, The Naval Review, February, 2016)

• Introduction1. The Officers of the Royal Navy Before 19182. The Naval Officer and Interwar Society3. Becoming a Naval Officer: Entry, Education and Training4. Personnel Management5. The Officers of the Royal Navy in the 1920s6. Malign Neglect? The Collapse of Executive Officers Morale7. The Officer ' 's Nadir, and the Inflection8. The Ascension: Improving Morale9. The Ascension: Admiral Chatfield and the Coming War10. The Naval Officer in World War Two: The Apogee11. Conclusion

Mike Farquharson-Roberts CBE OStJ PhD MA MB BS FRCS holds a PhD in Maritime History from University of Exeter. He previously had a long and distinguished career in the Royal Navy.

"Mike Farquharson-Roberts ... is an unabashed supporter of the Royal Navy, and his book on the quality of the officer corps within the senior service from 1918 to 1939 reflects that fact very convincingly. ... It is a convincing thesis and one that scholars and those with a deep and abiding interest in the Royal Navy should find eminently satisfactory." (Malcolm H. Murfett, International Journal of Maritime History, Vol. 28 (3), August, 2016) "This volume springs from his doctoral thesis at Exeter University in 2013 and 'is born of a wish to discover how a navy that had apparently performed so far below public expectations, largely due to institutional rigidity, in the First World War, performed so well in the Second World War with many of the same officers'. ... Highly recommended." (G. F. Liardet, The Naval Review, February, 2016)

• Introduction1. The Officers of the Royal Navy Before 19182. The Naval Officer and Interwar Society3. Becoming a Naval Officer: Entry, Education and Training4. Personnel Management5. The Officers of the Royal Navy in the 1920s6. Malign Neglect? The Collapse of Executive Officers Morale7. The Officer ' 's Nadir, and the Inflection8. The Ascension: Improving Morale9. The Ascension: Admiral Chatfield and the Coming War10. The Naval Officer in World War Two: The Apogee11. Conclusion