By Pam Ribbey, Opus (2022) Rebuttal Review By Capt. J.R. Reddig, USN (Ret.) I read a review of this book and wanted to respond. By way of background, I served in three wars in uniform. Three that were declared, anyway. Others were undeclared, like the war in the Navy about communications intelligence. The issues were
By Pam Ribbey, Washington, DC: Opus Self-Publishing, Politics and Prose Bookstore (2022) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. This self-published booklet is, in the main, a biography of Pam Ribbey’s grandfather, focuses on her own research and discussions with him on his is role before, during, and immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Capt.
By J. Michael Wenger, Robert J. Cressman, and John F. Di Virgilio, Naval Institute Press (2022) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. This is the fourth volume in the Pearl Harbor Tactical Series published by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. The previous three volumes are No One Avoided Danger: NAS Kaneohe Bay and the
John H. Maurer and Erik Goldstein (editors), Naval Institute Press, (2022). Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The editors are well-published senior scholars, well-equipped to undertake the organization and editing of this volume which focuses on the interwar years of two global conflicts. Professor John H. Maurer is the Alfred Thayer Mahan Professor of Sea
By Capt. P.T. Deutermann USN (Ret.) St. Martins Press (2022) Reviewed by Capt. C. Herbert Gilliland, USN (Ret.) In his latest novel, P. T. Deutermann continues his successful mining of World War II themes. This time we follow the spectacular fortunes of USS Holland, a destroyer escort sent from convoy duty in the North Atlantic
Jack Paxton (Ed.), St Johann Press, Haworth, New Jersey, 2018. Reviewed by Chris Ketcherside First to Go is a collection of anecdotes from the USMC Combat Correspondents Association, with no specific author credited. It uses significant material from a previous publication, Last to Know, First to Go by Garry Cameron, the unofficial history of Marine
By Gerry Doyle and Blake Herzinger, Helion and Company (2022). Reviewed by Joseph F. Greco Much attention has been paid to the Chinese ASBM (Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile) program, a strategy that targets the U.S. Navy’s command over the East and South China Seas. As a consequence, the program brings into question the effectiveness of supercarriers
By J. North Conway. The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 2021. Reviewed by Lt. Col. Stephen A. Tribble, Ph.D., U.S. Army The Congressional Medal of Honor (CMH), established in 1861, recognizes acts of valor by military members across the Joint Force and is coveted as the most prestigious United States (U.S.) military medal awarded. Soldier
By Michael W. Shelton, Morley, Missouri: Acclaim Press, (2022). Reviewed by John E. Fahey, Ph.D. Rear Admiral (ret) Michael W. Shelton took an unusual path to the Navy. In West Point Admiral: Leadership Lessons from Four Decades of Military Service he recounts his time at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Seabee
By Dwight S. Hughes, Savas Beattie, Barnsley, El Dorado Hills, CA, (2021.) Reviewed by Capt. Richard Dick, USN (RET). Dwight Hughes’ Unlike Anything That Ever Floated is an excellent overview of the conception, hurried development, and brief (but spectacular) service of the ironclads Monitor and Virginia and the men who built, directed, commanded, and sailed in them. While not the definitive history of either ship, the book covers
By Richard L. Wright, Xlibris (2022) Reviewed By: Michael Romero, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Following the end of the American Revolution, the fledgling United States immediately found itself in dire financial straits. With no funds available to maintain them, the handful of surviving Continental Navy vessels were sold, and the service disbanded. The ratification of the
By Michał A. Piegzik Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The initial volume in this two-part work, The Darkest Hour, Volume 1: The Japanese Naval Offensive in the Indian Ocean 1942 – The Opening Moves, was reviewed by me and published in Thursday Tidings on 1 September 2022: navyhistory.org/2022/08/the-darkest-hour-volume-1-the-japanese-naval-offensive-in-the-indian-ocean-1942-the-opening-moves/. The concluding volume became available on
By Andrew Hendrie; Pen and Sword, Barnsley, UK, (2022). (Reprint) Reviewed by Capt. Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) Andrew Hendrie’s Short Sunderland is a comprehensive operational portrait of the most famous British World War II maritime patrol aircraft. The author’s impressive research briefly covers the aircraft’s development, entry into service, production, and modification, and particularly its
By Barrett Tillman, Osprey (2022) Reviewed by: Capt. Chuck Good, USN (Ret.) Much ink has been spilled over the years on how wars begin, and almost as much on the treaties and negotiations which formally signal their end and dictate their terms. At Dawn We Slept and The Guns of August remain classics on how
By Edward Farley Aldrich, Guilford, CT: Stackpole Books, (2022). Reviewed by Ed Calouro When he first set out to write The Partnership: George Marshall, Henry Stimson, and the Extraordinary Collaboration That Won World War II, author Edward Farley Aldrich did not plan to write a dual biography. His original intention was to focus on the
