Battle Briefings: D-Day and the Normandy Campaign By David Reisch Stackpole, (2018) 128 pp. $21.95 The historiography of the June 1944 Normandy Campaign, centering on the amphibious assault on 6 June, has been chronicled exhaustively in the literature of military history. Journalist and military historian David Reisch’s entry into the field, his second
British & German Battlecruisers: Their Development and Operations By Michele Cosentino and Ruggero Stanglini. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2016. HMS Dreadnought and the Invincible-class battlecruisers transformed naval warfare when they were laid down in 1905 and 1906. Dreadnought, the first all-big-gun battleship, made previous ships of the line obsolescent if not
NHF Establishes ‘Teacher of Distinction’ Award for National History Day Teachers Inaugurating a new academic award, the Naval Historical Foundation (NHF) recognized 26 “Teachers of Distinction” in the 2018 National History Day (NHD) nationwide history competition for middle and high school students that concluded June 14 at the University of Maryland. The Foundation awards
Churchill’s Thin Grey Line: British Merchant Ships at War 1939 -1945 by Bernard Edwards 2018, Pen & Sword, Havertown, PA. 248 pp., $34.95. The United Kingdom has always considered its Merchant Marine to be part of its armed forces during wartime. Since time immortal, the White Ensign of the Royal Navy and the
Adrift: A True Story of Tragedy on the Icy Atlantic and the One Who Lived to Tell About It Brian Murphy with Toula Vlahou New York: Da Capo Press, 2018 240 pp., Bibliography, Map, and Illustrations If in the mid-19th century an ocean crossing wasn’t the blind leap into the unknown that it
Episode Seven—No Surrender The series continues with more riveting footage of the Pacific war, some rare and never seen. The allies are closing in on Japan. Behind-the-scenes film and the voices of combat veterans leave the viewer feeling the fight. The Philippines are liberated, but the islands are in tatters. Rarely-seen home movies vividly demonstrate
Episode Six-Fire from the Sky The viewer continues to enjoy never-broadcast color footage of the World War ll conflict in the Pacific area, even though the events in this episode have been detailed on TV many times before. In the central Pacific theater island-hopping continues, while in the south Pacific theater the battle for the
Controlled Delivery: Covert Operations in the War on Drugs: Volume 1 & Volume 2, Nick Jacobellis, Senior Special Agent U.S. Customs Service (Ret.). 2018, www.badgepublishing.com. Volume 1, 328 pp. and Volume 2, 347 pp., $13.99 per volume. Within the pages of these two self-published volumes, the author provides a firsthand look at the interdiction by
THREE MCSORLEY MEN-THE LOSS OF USS NARCISSUS (January 1866) and the torpedoing of USS COVINGTON (July 1918) and USS MENGES (May 1944) BY: CAPTAIN LAWRENCE B. BRENNAN, U.S. NAVY (RETIRED) [i] “It was a pathetic sight. . . [reminiscent] of some huge animal, mortally wounded, yet struggling on.” Commander William F. Halsey, Jr. United States
Episode Five-Striking Distance Each episode leaves the viewer wanting more. Episode Four left us looking forward to seeing more of some of the first broadcast color movies of the Pacific War. Episode Five does not disappoint. The voices from the past once again help us to feel the fight and the impact on their lives,
Steam Titans: Cunard, Collins and the Epic Battle for Commerce on the North Atlantic. William M. Fowler, Jr., New York & London: Bloomsbury, 2017. 358 pp., Illus., biblio., Index., $30. Dr. William Fowler, professor of history emeritus at Northeastern University, is primarily a naval and maritime historian. He is the author of Rebels
On Grand Strategy John Lewis Gaddis New York: Penguin Press, 2018 John Lewis Gaddis, an historian of the Cold War and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, offers this book as a derivative or emulation of Carl von Clausewitz’s classic, On War. In fact, however, On Grand Strategy surpasses Clausewitz and stands
Episode Four-The Enemy Underground As Episode Four begins, it’s 1944 and the allies’ war effort is at full throttle. Better training, increased troop numbers and secure supply lines give the allies the upper hand over the Japanese. Historic color naval combat films are enhanced by the voices of the men that fought these battles. Departing
Episode Three-Island Hopping A bold new strategy, island hopping, unfolds in the Central Pacific theater. Tarawa is chosen as the first large-scale amphibious assault with this untried strategy. All participants have been trained, but few have been bloodied. Rare color film footage takes the viewer behind the scenes as the strategy is developed and implemented,
Episode Two-Shockwaves The entire Pacific region is beginning to feel the effects of war. While significant battles lie ahead, the color footage shot by amateur and military photographers in this episode focuses primarily on activities taking place behind the battle lines and paints a portrait of military life to show there is more to war
