By Mark Stille, illustrated by Paul Wright, Osprey Publishing, UK, (2011) Reviewed by Alberto R Savoretti, MD Mark Stille’s latest installment is a delightfully refreshing work far and above what its easy reading Osprey/Vanguard primer format suggests: you can’t judge a book by its cover! This work brings new or largely undiscovered material to the
By Steven J. Zaloga, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK, (2011) Reviewed by Rear Admiral Ed Keats, U.S. Navy (Retired) In 1944, the Japanese high command realized they had been defeated in the war against the United States. Their efforts then concentrated on procuring the best post-war terms they could gain. They believed the optimum way was
By John Protasio, Casemate Publishing, Havertown, PA (2011),239 pp. Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart The author has crafted a well-written book that covers the sinking of the British flagged passenger liner Lusitania on 7 May 1914, by the German submarine U-20. The book is divided into three sections that consider 1) the events leading up
By James P. Delgado, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, (UK), (2011) Reviewed by Jan Churchill Dr. James P. Delgado, author of Silent Killers, is extremely well qualified to present the history of man’s desire to go beneath the sea, starting with the first attempts to breach treacherous waters to the present time of nuclear submarines. Delgado is
By Gary McKay, Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh, (2009) Reviewed by John Grady James Iredell Waddell is long overdue for a full-blown biography; and Gary McKay comes close to providing it. In the last five years, the commerce raider he commanded, CSS Shenandoah, and its around-the-world attacks on Union shipping -particularly the North Pacific whaling fleet —
By Thomas Wildenberg and Norman Polmar. Naval Institute Press, (2010). Reviewed by Captain James B. Bryant, U.S. Navy (Retired) This is not a coffee table book. I thought I knew a lot about torpedoes, but this book proved me wrong. I was a Weapons Officer for two years and had experience in several generations of
By Mark Lardas. Osprey Publishing, Long Island City, NY. (2012). Reviewed by Charles Bogart This is another well-crafted Osprey book. The author has combined text and illustrations to tell a well-rounded story of the naval action that took place in the North Sea off Flamborough Head on September 23, 1779. While most Americans know this
By James A. Treadway, Thomas F. Marfiak, with contributors, iUniverse, Inc., New York, Lincoln, Shanghai (2005). Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki. USS Biddle (DLG later CG 34) had a colorful and illustrious career. The last of nine Belknap- class cruisers, she was the fourth U.S. warship to carry the name. She was delivered to the
By George Chambers, Authorhouse, Bloomington, IN (2004). Reviewed by Jim Bussert If anyone has ever wanted to get the experience of serving on destroyers for twenty years, Senior Chief Fire Control Technician George Chambers has provided the answer. His love of destroyers is evident in his descriptions and table of different classes from pre-World War
By Elliot Carlson, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2011). Reviewed by Capt. John A. Rodgaard USN (Ret.) Joe Rochefort is a legend to all United States Navy intelligence professionals and Elliot Carlson’s outstanding biography finally introduces the man behind the legend. The author also lifts the veil of mythology and mystery that has surrounded the
Introduced by J. E. Harrold , University of Plymouth Press, Farnham, UK, (2012). Reviewed by Joseph Moretz. Ph.D. Dark Seas is a reprint of a British Admiralty Battle Summary monograph originally published in 1950 intended for the private use of serving officers (B.R. 1736(35) The Battle of Cape Matapan). As a summary, it eschewed any
By Keith A. Herkalo,. History Press. Charleston, S.C (2012) Reviewed by David Curtis Skaggs, Ph.D. Of all largely ignored major military operations in what is often called America’s “forgotten war,” the Lake Champlain campaign of 1814 ranks in first place. Self-styled “amateur historian” Keith Herkalo brings enthusiasm and diligence to another inquiry into the battles
By Sam Ginder, Red Lead Press, Paperback, 339 pages Reviewed by Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn, USN, (Ret.) What a terrific escape from the routine and mundane is this book! A sitting United States Senator hires a hard-hitting former Navy SEAL to track down the Senator’s missing daughter, a beautiful and charming twenty-something. At a
By Mir Bahmanyar with Chris Osman, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK (2008), 256 pp Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, USN. (Ret.) SEALs bills itself as the ultimate book about how Navy SEALs train and fight, and it is certainly the most comprehensive and interesting one on this topic that this reviewer has ever read. Written
Edited by Nicholas Schlosser and James M. Caiella, Marine Corps University Press, Quantico, VA (2011) 204 pp. Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, USN (Ret.) Schlosser and Caiella have assembled and edited a series of presentations at a Marine Corps University symposium in 2009, which carried the same title as this book. While the focus
