The U.S. Naval Institute is maintaining and preserving the former Naval Historical Foundation website so readers and former NHF members can still access past issues of Pull Together and other content. NHF has decommissioned and is no longer accepting new members or donations. NHF members are being converted to members of the Naval Institute. If you have questions, please contact the Naval Institute via email at [email protected] or by phone at 800-233-8764.Not a member of the Naval Institute? Here’s how to join!

The Boys Next Door: A Marine Returns to Vietnam

Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad In 1968-1969, R. L. Tecklenburg, the author, served as a U.S. Marine in a Combined Action Team (CAP) unit in the rural Phu Loc District.  Tecklenburg provided a brief autobiographical look at his year in Vietnam.  Since leaving Vietnam, the author searched for meaning in his experiences during the conflict. 

The USS Swordfish, The World War II Patrols of the First American Submarine to Sink a Japanese Ship

Reviewed by Commander James G. Zoulias, USN. The tale of USS Swordfish provides a comprehensive look at its operational history within the context of the broader maritime campaign in the Pacific during World War II.  Because George J. Billy had an uncle who served aboard USS Swordfish, he wrote this book to document the notable

Richard E. Byrd

Richard Evelyn Byrd was born on 25 October 1888 in Winchester, Virginia. He was appointed from that same state to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and graduated in 1912. He was temporarily assigned to USS South Carolina and subsequently served on board USS Kentucky, USS Wyoming, USS Missouri, and the armored cruiser Washington.

The Silver Waterfall: A Novel of the Battle of Midway

Reviewed by David F, Winkler, Ph.D. Since its inception, the Naval Historical Foundation book review program has welcomed historical fiction submissions, recognizing that fictional writers, released from the constraints of demonstrating documented sources, can sometimes convey a better sense of what actually happened to a broader audience. Such is the case with The Silver Waterfall,

Catastrophe at Spithead: The Sinking of the Royal George

Reviewed by C. Herbert Gilliland. How could a splendid 100-gun ship of the line, quietly anchored while preparing to deploy as flagship of one of Britain’s most admired admirals, suddenly capsize and go down? Yet that happened on August 29, 1782 at Spithead, the great roadstead of the British navy near Portsmouth.  In 1782 Great

Images of War: United States Navy Submarines 1900-2019

Reviewed by Jeff Schultz. Michael Green’s United States Navy Submarines 1900-2019 provides a succinct look at the evolution of American submarines from early to modern designs, heavily supported with images, particularly wartime archival sources. It spans designs from the turn of the 20th century across the World Wars, the Cold War and the post-Cold War

Target, Hiroshima: Witnesses to the Dawn of the Nuclear Age

By Kyle Nappi Sporting a brown jacket and a light checkered dress shirt, the bespectacled grey-haired gentleman shuffled several books and photos while seated in his electric wheelchair. Then sixteen years old, I approached the fellow Buckeye State resident who, at ninety-one years of age, spoke rather succinctly but with the trademark gruff of a

Fighting the Great War at Sea: Strategy, Tactics and Technology

Reviewed by Joseph Moretz, PhD. Members of this forum will know and appreciate the many previous offerings of Dr. Norman Friedman in the field of naval technology and strategy. With several serving as standard reference works, readers of Friedman are invariably treated to a reasoned discourse anchored in primary research that never fails to inform.

Lincoln Takes Command: The Campaign to Seize Norfolk and the Destruction of the CSS Virginia

Reviewed by John Grady. If it’s a clear day and you stand on Fort Monroe’s  ramparts,  you can see the edge of the “carrier piers” at the Norfolk Naval Station.  There, a few miles away across Hampton Roads, are usually two of the nation’s largest warships — either ready for deployment or just returned. If

The Battle of Leyte Gulf at 75: A Retrospective

Reviewed by Ed Calouro. LCDR Thomas J. Cutler, USN (Ret.) is perhaps the leading authority on the Battle of Leyte Gulf.  He has been reading, analyzing, and writing about this epic encounter for many decades.  In 1994, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary, he authored The Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23-26 October 1944.            During his

Second Saturday Webinar – The Mustin Family and the Navy Reserve: A Thirteen Decade Legacy

On the occasion of Vice Admiral John Mustin’s promotion and assumption of Command of the Navy Reserve, the Naval Historical Foundation is pleased to host another ‘Second Saturday’ Webinar at 11:00am (EDT) August 8:  “The Mustin Family and the Navy Reserve: A Thirteen Decade Legacy” This webinar will feature dueling authors with NHF’s Dave Winkler

Images of War: MacArthur’s Papua New Guinea Offensive 1942-1943

Review By Lynne Marie Marx A kidney specialist and author, Jon Diamond penned Images of War: MacArthur’s Papua New Guinea Offensive 1942-1943, and he has had several military history books published, such as Stilwell and the Chindits, War in the South Pacific, and The Rhine River Valley Crossing.  His love of history and collection of

From Sun Tzu to Hyperwar – A Strategic Encyclopaedia

Reviewed by Chuck Steele, PhD. Lars Wedin, an accomplished author on strategic studies and retired surface warfare officer of the Royal Swedish Navy, has composed a noteworthy encyclopedia of military thought and strategy that, in some regards, might also be considered a series of personal meditations on those subjects. Citing heightening tensions between great powers

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, 2010-2014: Anthology and Annotated Bibliography

Reviewed by LTC Victor O. McGee, USA. In October 2014, NATO and the U.S ended combat operations in Afghanistan; however the insurgency reformed and malign forces again were mounting stronger insurrections. Marines redeployed to Afghanistan to continue training Afghan Soldiers and Police Forces to counter act the rebellion. This 6-part collection of 21 commentaries and