Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. Developing the Naval Mind is an important, thoughtful volume written by two Naval Academy history professors is designed for officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps but also serves Sailors and Marines of all ranks as a compendium on developing professionalism and skills needed to rise through
Reviewed by CAPT Chuck Good, USN (Ret) Broad in scope and rich in detail, Hitler’s Navy is a comprehensive overview of the ships, organization, and sailors of the Kriegsmarine. As befits Osprey’s core competency in producing monographs of famous ships and classes, the work is lavishly illustrated and full of technical detail. For those seeking
Reviewed by ISCM (AW) David Mattingly, USN Ret. A mix of airframes; fighters, light attack planes, and helicopters all made up the carrier air wings on Yankee Station during the Vietnam War. Most notably, the RF-8 Crusader piloted by Navy and Marine Corps aviators flew over enemy territory as the “eyes of the fleet.” Kenneth
Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart If small boat action is of any interest to you, this book is a must read. While thousands of books have been written about the fight to the death between the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine during World War II, almost all of these books have concentrated on the convoy
Reviewed by Ingo Heidbrink, Ph.D. Crude oil tankers are not only some of the largest ships that have ever sailed the oceans but are the backbone of international energy trade. At the same time they normally gain little public attention, unless they are at the center of an ecological disaster. Therefore, it should be lauded
Reviewed by Rhonda Smith-Daugherty, Ph.D. In his famous work, On War, Carl von Clausewitz discussed the qualities that make up what he termed the “Military Genius.” While he acknowledged that good leaders require intellect, the real heart of leadership is intuition and courage. Since the battlefield is fluid, a leader must have the ability to
Reviewed by Ingo Heidbrink, Ph.D. On the surface Robert M. Bunes new book Wind, Fire and Ice: The Perils of a Coast Guard Icebreaker in Antarctica is an autobiographical take on a young physician’s deployment on USCGC Glacier to Antarctica in the early 1970s. As such it is a welcome addition to the body of
Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart This remarkable book is much more than a biography of Lt. Col. Barry B. Bridger; it is also a guide to living life to the fullest. The story is of two parts, Lt. Col. Bridger’s life up and through captivity and his life after leaving the U.S. Air Force. His
Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart This book is a must read for anyone interested in U.S. Naval aviation in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Lt. Commander Harry “Dirty Eddie” March Jr. joined the Navy in December 1940 and pinned on his naval wings in August 1941. He would serve in the Pacific Theater
Reviewed by Capt. Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) Schnellbootwaffe is a volume in the extensive Images of War collection from Pen and Sword. The collection focuses primarily on presenting lesser-known archival and private photographs woven with captions and text. For some subjects like military animals in the First World War and the Brandenburger commandos in the
Reviewed by Capt. Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) Crash Boat is a remarkable memoir in several ways. The story of an Army Air Forces (AAF) 63-foot crash boat, P-399 Sea Horse (an unofficial nickname), in the Pacific during the latter half of World War II, it was written in a cooperative effort between the skipper, Earl
Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D. Published twenty years after the death of the author, Franz Kurowski, the book focuses on U-48, the most successful U-Boat in World War 2. During the war, the author served as a Luftwaffe paratrooper with the Afrika Korps. After the war, he worked as a freelance journalist and wrote
Reviewed by Jeff Schultz Dr. Wigand Wüster’s An Artilleryman in Stalingrad: A Soldier’s Story at the Turning Point of World War offers insight into a pivotal World War II campaign through the rarely told artilleryman’s perspective. His frank memoir lacks the self-serving elements common to historical retellings where pride takes precedence and real experiences require
Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. This new title from the Naval Institute Press’s series, Studies in Naval History and Sea Power, is written by Christopher Buckley, son of Captain David Buckey (USN Retired) and an undergraduate history major from the University of California Santa Cruz, who obtained his doctorate at the University of Salford
Reviewed by David F. Winkler, Ph.D. Paul Stillwell has filled one of the remaining voids in the bibliographic study of America’s World War II naval leadership with his well-written narrative of Vice Adm. Willis A. “Ching” Lee who was entrusted with command of the American battleline during the Pacific war against Japan. Such a position,
