The emotions captured by the War of 1812: patriotic fervor, anxiety, the immediacy of the moment, the joy of peace… all and more abound in In Their Own Words. Whether encouraging peers, issuing orders to subordinates, lamenting a hero’s death or reporting a glorious frigate action, these emotions spring from the stirring contemporary letters,
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the return of American Prisoners of War held by the North Vietnamese. Many of the POWs were naval aviators, and the Naval Historical Foundation, in conjunction with the National Museum of the United States Navy, is working on a number of initiatives to remember the long ordeal endured
By Thomas Boghardt, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2012) Reviewed by Capt. Winn Price USNR (Ret.) I thoroughly enjoyed this tale from the black world of cryptology. Espionage novels replete with the ‘shaken-not-stirred’ womanizers and drivers of fast cars, abound in fiction and non-fiction. Codebreakers have not received glorification in a similar genre of novels.
Edited by Kenneth E. Bingham. NMCB-8 Association, Ventura, CA (2013). Reviewed by Charles Bogart The subtitle of this book is “The 13-Man Teams That Helped Rural Vietnamese and who Fought Alongside the Special Forces.” The introduction of the book under review proclaims that it consists of excerpts taken from the book “COMCPAC REPORTS, Special Edition,
By Ronald D. Utt, Regnery Publishing, Washington, DC, (2012). Reviewed by David Curtis Skaggs, Ph.D. Entering the lists of War of 1812 naval history contenders is Ronald Utt’s Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron that seeks to demonstrate that this conflict forged the respected United States Navy that emerged in the nineteenth century. Or at
By Michael Rutstein, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Salem, MA (2012). Reviewed by James C. Bradford, Ph.D. Despite its important role in American defense policy from the Revolution through the War of 1812, privateering has never been the subject of a comprehensive study. This accounts, in part, for the fact that privateering, i.e., the system of
With the Covert Submarine Operations exhibit in the National Museum of the U.S. Navy’s Cold War Gallery serving as a backdrop, a large crowd filled the Gallery’s North Hall on the evening of 11 April 2013 (coinciding with the Submarine Force’s 113th Birthday) to witness and participate in a program titled “Seawolf and The Maritime
Edited by Jim Bresnahan, Naval Institute Press, 2011. Reviewed by Rear Admiral Ed Keats, USN (Ret) Counter factional histories have been popular with chimerical writers over many years. I can recall from high school days being fascinated with a book based on the author’s imagination of an early ending to the Civil War right after
11-12 April 2014 Greenwich Maritime Institute, University of Greenwich Global War Studies and the Greenwich Maritime Institute are pleased to announce an international conference on the naval and maritime history of the First and Second World Wars. On the centenary of the First World War, the conference seeks to promote an international and interdisciplinary dialogue
By John Gordon, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, (2011). Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, U.S. Navy (Retired) This is a book well worth reading from several standpoints. First, the role of the Navy and Marine Corps in the defense of the Philippines in World War II, as compared to the Army, is not generally
By Edward J. Drea, Washington, D.C.:Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, (2011). Reviewed by Dr. Richard P. Hallion The historians within the Office of the Secretary of Defense have established an enviable reputation for meticulously researched and well-crafted books, particularly their series on the various Secretaries of Defense. Edward J. Drea’s impressive new
On 3 April 2013, three retired naval aviators paid their first visit to the Cold War Gallery at the Washington Navy Yard, to view some of the Navy Museum’s newest exhibits. Of particular interest to them was the Ready Room Theater, a replica of an aircraft carrier squadron ready room. The three aviators, Rear
One of the services that the Naval Historical Foundation has provided to civic groups around the nation is a cadre of speakers who have naval history expertise developed through the study of naval history, or as a participant in historic events. Since 2000, the NHF has deployed dozens of individuals to address audiences from Maine
By Walter R. Borneman, Little, Brown and Company, New York, NY (2012). Reviewed by Captain Scott Mobley, U.S. Navy (Retired) Millions of men and women have served in the U.S. Navy since its founding more than two centuries ago, but only four attained five-star status. The circumstances of World War II propelled this quartet—William D.
By Chuck Veit, Self-Published, United States (2010) Reviewed by Nathan Albright Chuck Veit, the President of the Naval & Marine Living History Association and founder of the U.S. Naval Landing Party, has managed an impressive feat in A Dog Before A Soldier. In this self-published collection of essays, Veit has written something that will be
