By Bernard D. Cole, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2016) Reviewed by Nathan Albright China’s Quest for Great Power, the latest from Bernard D. Cole, is a combination of a high degree of knowledge about Chinese military and political strategy with some implicit recommendations for how the United States can deal with China’s ambitions. As
By James D. Hornfischer, Bantam, New York, (2016) Reviewed by Rear Admiral W. J. Holland, Jr. USN (Retired) Hornfischer has done it again! Crafting a historical narrative that is a “page turner” featuring personalities and decisions as well as crisp commentary that is not always complimentary to his subjects, he brings the scenes of battle
By Captain Steven E. Maffeo, USNR, (Ret.), Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, MD (2016) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki Any leader worth his salt will tell you that the acquisition, interpretation, and proper dissemination of intelligence is arguably the most important key to solving any problem; from identifying what is in front of you to winning
By Capt. Barry Nelson Kaye USN (Ret.), Self-published, Miami, FL (2016) Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart Captain Kaye provides an excellent account on his service in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War in the first volume of his memoir. He states that the reason he wrote this self-published book is that almost all of
By Alfred S. McLaren, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Timothy S. Wolters, Ph.D. In the fall of 1964, USS Skipjack (SSN 585) participated in in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises in the Atlantic Ocean. Skipjack’s engineer, Lt. Alfred “Fred” McLaren, was in good spirits, both because the ASW exercises afforded a chance to
By Martin Robson. I.B. Tauris, London, (2016) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA Martin Robson, a lecturer in Strategic Studies at the University of Exeter, has written a fine book that summarizes the Royal Navy’s role in the Seven Years War with balanced treatment of the British government’s strategic framework for the conduct of the
By Geoffrey F. Gresh, Stanford Security Press, Stanford, CA (2015) Reviewed by Junyuan Rao To aid the understanding of the security of the Gulf region, Geoffrey F. Gresh published Gulf Security and the U.S. Military: Regime Survival and the Politics of Basing. In this book, he explores the reasons that contribute to the giving or
By John M. Lillard, Potomac Books, An Imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, (2016) Reviewed by Phillip G. Pattee, Ph.D. John M. Lillard, Ph.D., the author of Playing War: Wargaming and U.S. Navy Preparations for World War II has worked in the field of wargaming, modeling, and simulation since 1995. He served as a
By Matthew Dallek, Oxford, New York, NY (2016) Reviewed by Capt. Jourden Travis Moger, CHC, USN Matthew Dallek tells the fascinating story of the rise and fall of the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD), America’s first federal office of homeland security. FDR created the OCD less than six months before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
By Patrick Gabridge, Penmore Press, Tucson AZ, (2015) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Robert Smalls was a black slave at the beginning of the long blockade and siege of Charleston during the Civil War. He was also a skilled waterman and harbor pilot, as well as a man of remarkable charisma and intelligence, and on
By Norman Polmar and Edward C. Whitman, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2016) Reviewed by Larry A. Grant Hunters and Killers, Volume 2: Anti-Submarine Warfare from 1943 is the second volume of a sweeping survey of submarine and antisubmarine warfare written by two very well-informed authors. During his forty-year career as a Navy civilian employee,
By Ian W. Toll, W.W. Norton, New York, NY (2016) Reviewed by John Grady Ian Toll’s Conquering Tide is the middle piece of his Pacific War history, and it is a superb fit with the first volume, Pacific Crucible. Now available in paperback, Conquering Tide tells the story of the fight after the Battle of
By James Keffer, Penmore Press, Tucson, AZ (2015) Reviewed by Rick Elkin When reading fiction, I tend to enjoy science fiction more than any genre. My taste in maritime and naval books tends to lean heavily toward non-fiction books. I enjoy “real” history. That said, I remember as a young boy watching “Horatio Hornblower” with
By Joseph A. Williams, Chicago Review Press, Chicago, Il (2015) Reviewed by Rick Elkin As followers of naval history, most of us have, at least, a small amount of knowledge regarding submarine disasters that have occurred since just after World War I, when submarines became major weapons thanks to the German use of U-Boats. However,
By Philip Kaplan, Pen & Sword Maritime, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England (2015) Reviewed by Ed Calouro Devotees of big-gun battleships apparently cannot get their fill. In Battleships: WWII Evolution of the Big Guns, prolific author Philip Kaplan has completed his third volume in the “Images of War” series about these warships. In 2004, Kaplan wrote
