By Cdr. David D. Bruhn, USN (Ret.), Heritage Books, Inc. Berwyn Heights, MD (2016) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Cdr. Bruhn is the historian of many of the Navy’s forgotten warships: ocean and coastal minesweepers, coastal transports (APc’s), tugs and salvage vessels, YP’s and converted yachts, as well as seaplane tenders – in WWII, Vietnam,
By Kevin Miller, Pelican Press, Pensacola, FL (2016) Reviewed by Charles Bogart Those who read Kevin Miller’s book Raven One will find that he has once again authored a fascinating and believable book. This time the story centers on a contemporary but fictitious U.S. Naval action in the Caribbean. The naval action within this book revolves around Cdr. Jim “Flip” Wilson who the reader
By G. H. Bennett, Bloomsbury, London, UK (2016) Reviewed by Joseph Moretz, Ph.D. Having successfully met the greatest threat to British maritime dominance since the Napoleonic era, the Royal Navy emerging victorious from the World War still faced an uncertain future. The building programs of formal and informal allies, Japan and the United States, respectively,
By Arthur Mokin, Amazon Digital Services LLC, Original Publisher, Presidio Press, Novato CA, (1991) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Searching “Monitor and Merrimac” on Amazon brought up twenty-five books of popular history or historical fiction, seventeen of which were in print or available on Kindle, including Arthur Mokin’s 1991 novel, Ironclad. Why so many? Obviously,
By Steven Burgauer, Battleground Press, Oxford, FL, (2016) Reviewed by John Bud Cunnally, Chief Electronics Technician Submarines, U.S. Navy (Retired) In 1941, the United States was in a “let’s stay out of the European and Asia Wars” mindset; Fortress America will protect us from conflicts continents away. This attitude changed on 7 December 1941. The
By David D. Bruhn, Heritage Books, Inc., Berwyn Heights, MD (2014) Reviewed by Cdr. Larry Grant USN (Ret.) The title advertises David Bruhn’s Battle Stars as a history of the yachts and fishing boats commandeered by the U.S. Navy to plug the holes in American sea defenses at the start of World War II. In
By Bernard D. Cole, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2016) Reviewed by Nathan Albright China’s Quest for Great Power, the latest from Bernard D. Cole, is a combination of a high degree of knowledge about Chinese military and political strategy with some implicit recommendations for how the United States can deal with China’s ambitions. As
By James D. Hornfischer, Bantam, New York, (2016) Reviewed by Rear Admiral W. J. Holland, Jr. USN (Retired) Hornfischer has done it again! Crafting a historical narrative that is a “page turner” featuring personalities and decisions as well as crisp commentary that is not always complimentary to his subjects, he brings the scenes of battle
By Captain Steven E. Maffeo, USNR, (Ret.), Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, MD (2016) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki Any leader worth his salt will tell you that the acquisition, interpretation, and proper dissemination of intelligence is arguably the most important key to solving any problem; from identifying what is in front of you to winning
By Capt. Barry Nelson Kaye USN (Ret.), Self-published, Miami, FL (2016) Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart Captain Kaye provides an excellent account on his service in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War in the first volume of his memoir. He states that the reason he wrote this self-published book is that almost all of
By Alfred S. McLaren, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Timothy S. Wolters, Ph.D. In the fall of 1964, USS Skipjack (SSN 585) participated in in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises in the Atlantic Ocean. Skipjack’s engineer, Lt. Alfred “Fred” McLaren, was in good spirits, both because the ASW exercises afforded a chance to
By Martin Robson. I.B. Tauris, London, (2016) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA Martin Robson, a lecturer in Strategic Studies at the University of Exeter, has written a fine book that summarizes the Royal Navy’s role in the Seven Years War with balanced treatment of the British government’s strategic framework for the conduct of the
By Geoffrey F. Gresh, Stanford Security Press, Stanford, CA (2015) Reviewed by Junyuan Rao To aid the understanding of the security of the Gulf region, Geoffrey F. Gresh published Gulf Security and the U.S. Military: Regime Survival and the Politics of Basing. In this book, he explores the reasons that contribute to the giving or
By John M. Lillard, Potomac Books, An Imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, (2016) Reviewed by Phillip G. Pattee, Ph.D. John M. Lillard, Ph.D., the author of Playing War: Wargaming and U.S. Navy Preparations for World War II has worked in the field of wargaming, modeling, and simulation since 1995. He served as a
By Matthew Dallek, Oxford, New York, NY (2016) Reviewed by Capt. Jourden Travis Moger, CHC, USN Matthew Dallek tells the fascinating story of the rise and fall of the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD), America’s first federal office of homeland security. FDR created the OCD less than six months before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
