By John Laurence Busch, Hodos Historia, (2010), 726 pp. Reviewed by Mark Lardas On Thursday June 17, 1819 lookouts at the Cape Clear Island semaphore station sent a report to the Royal Navy base at Cork, Ireland that a ship was afire off Cape Clear. A revenue cutter sent to investigate discovered not a vessel
By Dr. Barbara G. Jones. 2010, The Edwin Mellen Press, Box 450, Lewiston, NY., 515pp. Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart Dr. Barbara Jones has penned a well-written and interesting history of the escort carrier USS Casablanca (CVE 55). The story is told using official records, personal reminiscences, and secondary sources. The author divides her account
By Paul Williams, Fantascope Pty. Ltd., Australia (2012) Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D. Missouri University of Science and Technology In the 2012 edition of The Shenandoah Affair, author Paul Williams provides lay historians with an expanded edition of his 1992 historical novel about the adventures of CSS Shenandoah in Australia. There are basically two
By Angus Konstam, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK, (2012). Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart British Heavy Cruisers 1939-1945 is one of a series of books Osprey has published during the last 5-years covering various classes of warships. This book follows Osprey’s standard format of text, photos, and colored artist plates. The book is divided into four
By Stewart M. Harris, iUniverse, Inc., New York, NY. (2009) Reviewed by Nathan D. Wells The role that the United States Navy played in the Vietnam Conflict is well known; but there are still gaps. While the importance of Naval Aviation, Special Warfare and Riverine Forces have been well-covered by both works of scholarly and
By John D. Broadwater, foreword by James P. Delgado. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX (2012). Reviewed by Kenneth J. Blume, Ph.D. Although she had a career of less than one year, USS Monitor is arguably America’s most famous warship. Furthermore, locating and recovering Monitor form one of the great stories of maritime archaeology
By David C. Evans and Mark R. Peattie, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (1997). Reviewed by Nathan B. Albright David C. Evans served in the U.S. Navy as an ensign and a lieutenant (junior grade), and previously edited The Japanese Navy in World War II: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers. Mark R. Peattie
By Robert C. Stern, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD: (2012) Reviewed by Richard P. Hallion, Ph.D. The vast scope, momentous operations, and drama inherent in the Pacific War—think Midway, Guadalcanal, the return to the Philippines, and Okinawa, for just a few examples—have always dominated the narrative of the U.S. Navy’s contribution to the Allied victory
By John Hattendorf, Naval War College Press, 2011 Reviewed by Corbin Williamson Talking about Naval History is a collection of twenty essays and articles written by John Hattendorf, the Ernest King Professor of Maritime History at the Naval War College. Written between 2001 and 2009, these pieces complement the previous published collection of Hattendorf’s work,
By Mark Lardas, Osprey Publishing, (2011). 80 pages. Reviewed by J.J. Ahern In the last decade the number of titles published which focus on the early years of the U.S. Navy – and more particular the Barbary Wars of the early 1800s – has seen a mild increase. Granted the number has yet to even
Angus Konstam, Osprey Publishing, (2011), 63 pages. Reviewed by Rear Admiral William J. Holland, Jr., USN, (Ret.) Angus Konstam’s description of Nelson’s advancement easily identifies why he was protected by his seniors and promoted by the Admiralty. He fought and won! Nevertheless this biography is too short to fully describe Nelson’s very complex personality. The
By J. William Middendorf II, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2011), 213 pages. Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, USN (Ret) J. William Middendorf II was an undergraduate at Harvard when World War II began; he soon signed up for the Navy V-12 program and then shifted to NROTC (which took him to Holy Cross).
By Angus Konstam, Illustrated by Tony Bryan, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK (2011) Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, USN (Ret) This small gem is one of Osprey’s comprehensive series of books on military history, units, and warriors. Despite the date in the book’s title, the history of western nations’ gunboats patrolling the Yangtze River goes
By Capt. Vadym V. Utgoff., NRA Associates, Annapolis, MD. (2006). Reviewed by Charles Bogart This is the story of one man’s love affair with flying. We follow the author’s path from growing up as the child of an immigrant Russian naval officer; entrance into the Naval Academy; winning his naval wings; service in PBYs in
By Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic, USN (Ret.), Fortis Publishing, (2010) Reviewed by Rear Admiral Ed Keats, USN (Ret.) Greg Slavonic, justifiably proud of rising from Seaman Apprentice to Rear Admiral in the Navy, considers the United States military services to be a superior clan. This conceit has caused him to write Leadership in Action and
