Book excerpt: Spee's ships survived for as long as they did is a reflection of the primitive state of communications and methods of detection available in 1914. Their demise was as much by chance and coincidence at it was by good planning and concerted action by the British. The book includes material on several German and British ship and squadron commanders and provides a detailed overview of the opening months of the war in the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. The fact that.