This is a scholarly account of the Royal Navy participation in the Pacific War. It concludes the late Arthur Marder’s two-volume history of the Royal Navy and the imperial Japanese Navy in the decisive years 1936-1945. Before his death, Arthur Marder completed the first six chapters, and the second volume of this work has been completed by Mark Jacobsen and John Horsfield. It picks up the story at the nadir of British naval fortunes, and follows the Royal Navy’s role from 1942 to the Japanese surrender in August 1945. Marder retells the story of how Allied naval defences crumbled in the Dutch East Indies, culminating in the Battle of the Java Sea. Concentrating on the role of HMS Exeter, Marder drew upon the experiences of participants in the action to write a fresh account of the part played by Royal Navy Units in the disaster. The book offers a critical assessment of Churchill’s role in shaping the British war effort. Churchill opposed sending a major fleet to the Pacific; the authors detail the protracted struggle of the Chiefs of Staff to change his mind. Not until 1945 was a full scale British Pacific Fleet ready to take its place alongside the great American fleets assembled to attack the Ryukyu Islands immediately south of Japan. Old Friends, New Enemies draws on both British and Japanese sources to give an account of the two navies in World War II. It makes full use of hitherto unpublished personal accounts by participants, and emphasizes the key personalities who shaped events in these momentous years.