By A. Jay Cristol, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Stephen Phillips On June 8, 1967, Israeli air and naval forces engaged in the Arab-Israeli Six Day War attacked USS Liberty (AGTR 5), killing 34 and wounding 171 Americans. The incident immediately caused a conflagration of controversy. Most accusations assert premeditation. Some suggest
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 Michael J. Lacivita, Pig Iron Books, Youngstown, OH (2004) Reviewed by Nathan Albright The curious title of this memoir refers to the garbage man who came to pick up items for recycling purposes. This is just one of the many jobs the author talks about during the course of this very personal story. Explicitly,
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
By Jim Thesing, Merriam Press, Bennington, VT (2013) Reviewed by Charles Bogart The author has crafted a wonderful fictional account of the German U-boat arm during the period between July and August 1914. The climactic moment within the book is the sinking of the three old Royal Navy cruisers, HMS Aboukir, HMS Cressy, and HMS
By Youssef Aboul-Enein and Basil Aboul-Enein, Naval Institute Pree, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The Secret War for the Middle East: The Influence of Axis and Allied Intelligence Operations during World War II should not be confused with Andrew Rathmell’s Secret War in the Middle East: The Covert Struggle for Syria,
Race to the Top of the World: Richard Byrd and the First Flight to the North Pole By Sheldon Bart, Regnery History, Washington, DC (2013) Reviewed by Ingo Heidbrink, Ph.D. Race to the Top of the World, by Sheldon Bart, not only opens again the question if Richard E. Byrd reached the North Pole on
Captain Bulloch: The Life of James Dunwoody Bulloch, Naval Agent of the Confederacy By Stephen Chapin Kinnaman, Dog Ear Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. (2013) Reviewed by Mark Lardas James Dunwoody Bulloch is best known as the man behind the Civil War’s Confederate raiders. He organized the construction and outfitting of Florida, Alabama, and Stonewall, among others.
Gun Bay: A Tale of Shipwreck on Grand Cayman — An Edward Ballantyne Novel By William H. White, Sea Fiction Press, Red Bank, NJ. (2013) Reviewed by Capt. Roger Jones, USN (Ret.) Gun Bay is a sea-going novel that incorporates the historic and powerful Caribbean hurricanes of October 1793 and January 1794. These caused significant
Edited by Gary W. Neidhardt. AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN, (2013) Reviewed by Charles Bogart Editor Gary Neidhardt transcribed and annotated 115 letters that his father, Lt. Paul W. Neidhardt, wrote to his wife, Phyllis, between September 1943 and November 1945. Neidhardt, commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy in July 1942, went on to serve
By Thomas F. Jaras, iUniverse, (2013). Reviewed by Thomas P. Ostrom This book drew my attention because of my time in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in the 1960s. Between 1940 and 1980, the USCG had Ocean Station vessels in the Atlantic and Pacific performing a variety of national defense initiatives. These included search and
By Lt. Cdr. John L. Dickey; Revised by David W. McComb, Merriam Press, Bennington, VT, (2013) Reviewed by Samuel Loring Morison Not since the U.S. Naval Institute published Commander John Alden’s famous Flush Decks and Four Pipes in 1965 has such a study been published. A Family Saga is twice the length of Commander Alden’s
The Naval War of 1812 “America’s Second War of Independence:” Collections of William I. Koch and the U.S. Naval Academy Museum By Dr. William S. Dudley with Dr. J. Scott Harmon, United States Naval Academy. Annapolis, MD, (2013) In Their Own Words: The Navy Fights the War of 1812 By Vice Adm. George W. Emery,
By Mark Stille, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom, (2013) Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D. This second volume about Japanese World War II destroyers continues Mark Stille’s excellent work. Once again, the book provides many details about when the Japanese built the vessels, the changes implemented, and ultimately what happened to the ships. As with
