Cruel Sea

The highly acclaimed ''Cruel Sea'' is one of the all-time great naval and war thrillers. The film was a smash hit when released and both it and the book continue to enjoy undiminished popularity. It covers not just the details of the battle of the Atlantic, but deals with the people who fought it - their domestic triumphs, tragedies, worries and ambitions. Nicholas Monsarrat wrote: ''This is the story - the long and true story - of one ocean, two ships, and about a hundred and fifty men. It is a long story because it deals with a long and brutal battle, the worst of any war. It has two ships because one was sunk, and had to be replaced. It has a hundred and fifty men because that is a manageable number of people to tell a story about. Above all, it is a true story because that is the only kind worth telling. First, the ocean, the steep Atlantic stream. The map will tell you what that looks like: three-cornered, three thousand miles