By Charles D. Stanton, Pen & Sword Maritime, Barnsley, UK (2015) Reviewed by Nathan Albright As a former US naval officer and airline pilot whose research has been in medieval Mediterranean history, Charles Stanton is well equipped to undertake the task of writing a comprehensive introduction to medieval naval warfare. With several well-received articles in
By Mark K. Ragan, Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX (2015) Reviewed by John Grady Mark Ragan’s Confederate Saboteurs does a wonderful job of shining new light on the extraordinary steps that the government in Richmond, and more importantly the inventive men from all over the seceded states, were willing to take to win
By Nicolas Wolz, Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, England (2015) Reviewed by Winn Price The students of seapower who follows the Naval Historical Foundation’s Naval History Book Reviews have probably read several books about the First World War at sea. There are, after all, hundreds of titles, ranging from the memoirs of the participants published in the
By David Head, The University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA (2015) Reviewed by Joseph-James Ahern David Head’s Privateers of the Americas: Spanish American Privateering from the United States in the Early Republic provides a wonderfully researched and written study into the issues faced by American merchants and sailors who participated in Spanish American privateering, as
Chuck Veit, Self Published (2016) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Chuck Veit is something of a master in recreating the world of Civil War America and the personality of real individuals of that time through contemporary newspapers, letters, speeches, and diaries. In The Yankee Expedition to Sevastopol, he did a remarkable job of bringing salvor,
By Lt.Col. Seth W. B., Folsom USMC., Naval Institute Press Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Charles Bogart This is the third book by Lt. Col. Folsom concerning his experiences fighting the War on Terror. In 2006, he published The Highway War: A Marine Company Commander in Iraq. In 2010, he wrote In The Gray Area:
By Matthew T. Eng The National Maritime Historical Society (NMHS) and Naval Historical Foundation (NHF) hosted a gala event at the National Press Club on 21 April to honor the achievements of three individuals who have made lasting contributions to maritime and naval heritage. Formerly known as the Washington Awards Dinner, the newly rebranded National
By David F. Winkler, Ph.D. NHF Staff Last Friday’s SU-27 barrel roll of USAF RC-135 and earlier buzzings of USN Destroyer are rare hiccups in 44 year INCSEA accord. The Incidents at Sea Agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union had only been signed a year earlier in Moscow by Secretary of the Navy John W. Warner and Admiral of
On April 11, 2016 the Naval Historical Foundation lost a strong supporter who was part of one of the Navy’s more storied families – Vice Admiral Henry C. Mustin. His grandfather, the first Henry C. Mustin, established his fame in naval aviation history when he was launched by catapult off the underway armored cruiser North
Captain Jack “Dusty” Kleiss retirement photo, 1962; Kleiss with wife Jean, 1942 (Images provided by Jack Kleiss/Hampton Roads Naval Museum/Laura Orr) Captain Jack “Dusty” Kleiss, USN (Ret.), a VS-6 Dive Bombing pilot that served during the battle of Midway, passed away last week at the age of 100 at his residence in Texas. The Kansas
By James Goldrick, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD (2015) Reviewed by Phillip G. Pattee. Ph.D. James Goldrick, the author of several books and articles on topics of naval and defense interest, including naval history, is a retired Rear Admiral in the Royal Australian Navy. In 1984, as a Lieutenant, Goldrick published his first book, The
By Adam Makos, Ballantine Books, New York, NY (2015) Reviewed by Rear Adm. Arthur N. “Bud” Langston, U.S. Navy (Retired) Devotion is the account of an incredibly selfless heroic attempt by Lt. (JG) Tom Hudner to rescue Ens. Jesse Brown after his Corsair was hit by small arms fire forcing him to make a crash
By George E. Melton, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Alan Harris Bath, Ph.D. On 3 July 1940, at the direction of Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and the British War Cabinet, the Royal Navy bombarded a major portion of the French Fleet then in port at Mers-el Kebir in French North Africa.
By Andrew A. Jampoler, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by John Grady Having spent a great deal of time reading accounts and logbooks from the voyages of Thomas ap Catesby Jones, John “Mad Jack” Percival, John Downes, William Bolton Finch, Charles Wilkes, et al., of American encounters in the Pacific, in Asia, in
