The First World War stands as the one of the great turning points in history. At its time, the most destructive human conflict ever experienced, the world before and after the war were distinctly different. Great empires fell, while others receded, new powers rose and ideas about patriotism, nationality, the role of class in society,
World War II was an air war. That is not to say that other arms were not important, they certainly were, but as the war progressed, victory at sea or on the ground grew to be difficult, if not impossible, without at least local air superiority. Underscoring the importance of air power at sea, Thomas
The ‘Stan is a collection of 17-short comic book style stories told by Afghanis and Americans having firsthand knowledge of America’s longest war. Each short cartoon briefly describes an individual’s personal story of the events leading up to the conflict and their roles during the actual war. While illustrated in cartoon form, the stories in
For many years after WWII, discussion of the Japanese wartime submarine force focused on its apparent failure – certainly its failure to achieve anything like the US and German submarine campaigns. Writing in the USNI Proceedings in 1961, Japanese submarine officer and historian Kennosuke Torisu notes that Japanese subs sank only a total of 171
Aside from what extraordinarily provocative stories we hear in the news today, few citizens are familiar with the U.S. presidents’ lives following their departure from Oval Office. Ex-presidents continue to have the highest celebrity status and use their influence in their follow-on efforts to support the current administration, help society through philanthropy, and focus on
Viet Nam Vignettes is a memoir that outlines the experience of Gerald Gems from the time when he volunteered to enlist in Chicago (1966), to Marine Corps Boot Camp in San Diego, to his first assignment in Hawaii, to a combat tour in Viet Nam, and finally to his discharge and return to civilian life.
Despite the vast numbers of books written on World War II in the last seventy years, there is still much we do not yet fully understand or appreciate. Prominent Naval Historian Norman Friedman fills yet another of these gaps in our knowledge with his book Winning a Future War. More specifically, Friedman helps us to
After WWII the Soviet Union found itself confronted with a new and largely unanticipated problem: the aircraft carriers of the US Navy. They were the chief defense of the sea lanes to our forces disputing the superior Red Army’s potential control of western Europe, as well as a force for “power projection,” capable of strategic
The Naval Institute’s 21st Century series on important military and naval figures seeks to review articles and writings of these figures and examine their relevance to the 21st Century. Past volumes have examined the careers of Mahan, Patton, Soviet Admiral Gorshkov, Sims, Ellis, General Thomas Power, and Corbett. This latest book in the series examines
The American Civil War saw a number of innovations in naval warfare among which was the development of the submarine. Most authors focus on the Confederate Navy’s endeavor within this field, however, the U.S. Navy also explored the development of a submarine. In charge of the U.S. Navy’s design and construction of “Submarine propeller,” better
For more than two hundred years, from Louis XIV to the twentieth century, France had the second-greatest navy in the world. It was built to challenge England’s control of the seas and enabled the building of the world’s second-largest overseas colonial empire – and American independence into the bargain. France’s navy always built ships of
World War II histories that focus on numbers of planes lost, bombs dropped, ships sunk, and tons of supplies delivered are superb at getting to the operations analysis of what turned the war in the Allies favor—but suffer from an objective dullness. The Battle of the Atlantic: How the Allies Won the War is quite
The Millionaires’ Unit tells the story of several Yale undergraduates in the early 1900s whose foresight helped open the United States Navy up to the utility of aerial operations. American military aviation was woefully behind that of the European militaries when the US entered World War I. The Yale Unit was one of the critical
All at Sea in Arctic Waters: What Life Was Really Like On Naval Ships in WW2 by Dennis McDonald, “Telegraphist (S), Bletchley U-Boat Interceptor,” is both a memoir and autobiography of a young man who volunteered for the Royal Navy during World War II and chose telegraphy as his duty. During this war, the British
Christopher McKee’s latest work is a beautifully drawn elegy of the sailors and Marines who were admitted to the “refuge on the Schuylkill” in the 19th century. When first opened it was in bucolic setting removed from Philadelphia, with all the best intentions for men who had given years to honorable naval service. But as
