All of Griffin's books fit within a long tradition of twentieth-century military fiction; more specifically, Griffin has precedents in writers such as C. S. Forester, author of the Horatio Hornblower series; Douglas Reeman, author of a number of British seafaring novels, most treating the Second World War; and Max Hennessy, author of trilogies about the British cavalry and the RAF. In the work of all these authors, the protagonists are men who know themselves when put in positions of command. All these authors as well treat the relationships between the men in war. Perhaps most obviously, though, Griffin and the above-mentioned authors share a liminal connection to the modern "techno-thrillers" of Tom Clancy, Dale Brown, Stephen Coonts, and others. All provide a look into the technique of war — not simply the workings of a nuclear submarine (or an eighteenth-century man-of-war, or an Army helicopter) but...