By Joseph A. Williams, Fort Schuyler Press, Bronx, NY (2013) Reviewed by Suzanne Geissler,Suzanne Geissle Ph.D. The State University of New York Maritime College is the oldest maritime college in the United States. A history of this college is long overdue, and Joseph A. Williams has now provided an excellent one. Williams is a librarian
By Cdr. Harold Sacks, USN (Ret.), Park Press, Norfolk, VA. (2013) Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart Cdr. Sacks has written a highly readable book about his service in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1972. He spent most of his service in the Navy on a destroyer or serving in the intelligence community. While
By Maureen Smith Keillor and AMEC (AW/SW) Richard P. Keillor, MTS, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC (2014) Review by Jason McHale The Images of Aviation series commemorates the history of flight through pictures. More than eighty books comprise this series focusing on the early experiments, famous airfields, various aircraft and other aspects of aviation history. Images
By Richard V. Porcelli, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, (2012) Reviewed by John Galluzzo Authors choosing to work with Arcadia Publishing set themselves up with a challenge. With strict word counts accompanying each image size (small and large portraits and landscapes, and double page spreads), brevity becomes more than an issue, it becomes a ritual.
By Jan K. Herman, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Nathan D. Wells The role that the United States Navy played in the Vietnam Conflict is well known, especially with regard to the beginning and escalation of the conflict. The role played by the US Navy in the war’s final days is less
By Ed Engle, Xlibris, Bloomington, IL (2013). Reviewed by Jan Churchill Edward C. Engle’s memoir offers a personal account of naval bombing operations and its dangers. Engle is a retired naval flight officer with engineering degrees from both Johns Hopkins University and the Naval Postgraduate School. After completing his education, Engle went to work for
By Rodney K. Watterson, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2014) Reviewed by Louis Arthur Norton, Ph.D. Casual readers of maritime history might be reluctant to pick up a book entitled Whips to Walls that features a photo of a grim castle-like prison on its cover. If so, they would be missing out. Captain Rodney Watterson
By Steve Sheinkin, Roaring Book Press, New York, NY (2014) Review by: Aldona Sendzikas, Ph.D. How do you explain racism to teenagers—specifically, the existence of institutionalized racism and segregation in the U.S. Navy during most of its history? This is author Steve Sheinkin’s challenge in this book for young adults about the massive explosion that
By Captain George Duffy, Xlibris Corp., Bloomington (2008) Reviewed by Captain J.A. Peschka, Jr. If you still get excited and riveted to your chair when you read a good sea story, then Ambushed under the Southern Cross is for you. This is not a history book written in academic prose with precise references and intellectual
By Lincoln Paine, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY (2013) Reviewed by Sam Craghead This book could easily be titled, “The Greatest Sea Story Ever Told.” The subtitle proffers the scope of the work, which Lincoln Paine delivers in grand style. With 599 pages of text, 48 pages of bibliography, 17 maps, 26 pages of
By Mark Lardas, Arcadia Publishing, Mt. Pleasant, SC (2013) Reviewed by Terry Miller Mark Lardas takes the reader through the history of the Port of Houston from its earliest days in the new Republic of Texas in 1836 to the present day. The 128-page book is more than half filled with photos, which adds to
By Ronald M.Williamson and Emily Savoca, Arcadia Publishing, Mt. Pleasant, SC, (2013). Reviewed By: Rodney Carlisle, Ph. D. This short photographic collection is one of more than 8,000 volumes produced by Arcadia Publishing in its “Images of America” series on a wide variety of towns, forts, historic places, and locales scattered across the United States.
By Barbara Perkins-Brown, Self Published Reviewed By Lori Bogle. Ph.D. Barbara Perkins-Brown’s Subic: A Sailor’s Memoir is a tribute to her father Bobby Earl Perkins. Perkins joined the Navy in the late 1960s to escape the segregated South only to become a victim of racial discrimination at Subic Bay Naval Base, Philippines. Written in the first person
By Aaron McDougal, 2014 NHF Summer Intern Today marks the annual Flag Day celebration commemorating the adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the national flag in 1777. The importance of the flag as the symbol of our country cannot be stressed enough. In light of this, it seems appropriate to draw attention to a
By Dave McKay, Willsonscott Publishing International Inc, Christchurch, New Zealand (2013) Reviewed by Samuel Loring Morison Everyone remembers where he or she was on September 11, 2011. Enterprise was off the coast of Yemen heading south at Flank Speed. There, the crew learned of the terrorist attack on the twin towers. Enterprise’s Captain slowed the
