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!
bollinger revolution cold war soviet merchant fleet

BOOK REVIEW – From the Revolution to the Cold War: A History of the Soviet Merchant Fleet from 1917 to 1950

By Martin J. Bollinger, World Ship Society Ltd, Windsor. UK. (2012). Reviewed by Ingo Heidbrink, Ph.D. Russian or to be more precise Soviet maritime history seems to be one of the most overlooked topics in global maritime history. Of course there is an explanation for this, the obvious language barrier many scholars are facing and

fretwell kiland hanoi hilton

BOOK REVIEW – Lessons From The Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teams

By Peter Fretwell and Taylor B. Kiland. 2013, U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, MD, (2013). Reviewed by Charles Bogart Never before have I had the privilege to read a book that within only 153 pages of text provides the reader with an outline of how to be a leader. I need to mention that there is

jampoler-congo expeditions death taunt

BOOK REVIEW – Congo: The Miserable Expeditions and Dreadful Death of Lt. Emory Taunt, USN

By Andrew C. A. Jampoler, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, (2013). Reviewed by Mark Lardas The nineteenth century United States Navy exploration efforts included the Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 that circumnavigated the globe and discovered parts of Antarctica and the 1848-49 hydrographic expedition charting the Dead Sea. Both were notable successes. On the other end

delgago misadventures civil war submarine

BOOK REVIEW – Misadventures of a Civil War Submarine: Iron, Guns, and Pearls

By James P. Delgado, Texas A&M University Press, College Station: TX, (2012) Reviewed by Phillip G. Pattee, Ph.D When I saw the title of James P. Delgado’s most recent book, I mistakenly believed it would chronicle the storied life of the CSS Hunley simply because this was the only Civil War submarine with which I

mcpherson war on the waters

BOOK REVIEW – War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865

By James M. McPherson, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill NC, (2012). Reviewed by Kenneth J. Blume, Ph.D. Do we need yet another book about the naval side of the Civil War? When the book has been written by the nation’s preeminent scholar of the Civil War, the answer is certainly yes. James M.

andrade lost colony china west

BOOK REVIEW – Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory Over the West

By Tonio Andrade, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, (2011). Reviewed by STCM James C. Bussert, U.S. Navy (Retired) The Chinese naval and land military defeats versus all foreign powers, including Japan, Russia, Britain and France from 1886 to 1947, are well known. What is not well known is the Chinese defeat of Dutch forces over

nonnenkamp german austrian navies

BOOK REVIEW – The German and the Austrian Navies: Vol. I and II

By Marc E. Nonnenkamp, CreateSpace: Charleston, SC, (2011). Reviewed by Walter “Winn” Price My immediate interest in these two volume stems from the presence in my manuscript of three Imperial German Navy ships: S.M.S. Olga, Adler, and Eber. Longer term I anticipated that Marc Nonnenkamp’s research would under girt future writing leading up to the

BOOK REVIEW – Destroyerman

By John T. Pigott, (2006) Reviewed by Rear Admiral Peter B. Booth, U.S. Navy (Retired) The whaleboat was deep in the water, grossly overloaded with sailors hauled from the ocean. I grabbed the oil-soaked life jacket of the sailor who would have brought our total to thirty-five, and had started to heave him aboard when

2013 Brigadier General James L. Collins Jr. Book Prize in Military History

The U.S. Commission on Military History announces the 2013 Brigadier General James L. Collins Jr. Book Prize in Military History. The prize entails a $1,000 award to the author of any nationality of the best book written in English on any field of military history published during 2012. The Book Prize Committee, chaired by Dr.

defender dolphins goforth

BOOK REVIEW – Defender Dolphins: The Story of Project Short Time, A Brief History of the U.S. Navy’s First Marine Mammal Swimmer Defense System

By Harold Goforth, Fortis Publications, United Kingdom, (2013). Reviewed by Stephen Phillips Asymmetric tactics are the hallmark of battlefield victory for an insurgency. In the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong employed sappers – those who use explosives to destroy a specified target – to great effect. In his book Defender Dolphins: The Story of Project

childs invading america english assault

BOOK REVIEW – Invading America: The British Assault on the New World, 1497-1630

By David Childs, Seaforth Publishing, South Yorkshire, UK, (2012). Reviewed by Thomas Sheppard The arrival of British settlers in the so-called “New World” has been characterized at various times as a discovery, an encounter, or even a clash of civilizations. All these descriptions have merit, but David Childs contends that perhaps the century of English

cropsey mayday decline navy

BOOK REVIEW – Mayday: The Decline of American Naval Supremacy

By Seth Cropsey, Overlook Duckworth, New York, NY, (2013). Reviewed by Harvey M. Sapolsky, Ph.D. Seth Cropsey, a Navy secretariat official in Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations and currently a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, is worried about the future of the U.S. Navy and the fate of the nation. Because

monroe jones green silent service ww2

BOOK REVIEW – The Silent Service in World War II: The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It

By Edward Monroe-Jones and Michael Green, eds., Havertown, PA, Casemate (2012). Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The editors have assembled an anthology of 46 oral histories of variable lengths that focus on stories of men as well as old S- and newer fleet-type boats that fought against the Japanese during World War II in

stevens fatal dive grunion

BOOK REVIEW – Fatal Dive: Solving the World War II Mystery of the USS Grunion

By Peter F. Stevens, Regnery History, Washington, DC, (2012). Reviewed by Greg Stitz USS Grunion (SS 216) was already under construction when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thrust America into World War II. Her keel had been laid at the Electric Boat Company shipyard in Groton, CT on 1 March 1941. Christened and launched

bishop hitlers warships

BOOK REVIEW – The Hunt for Hitler’s Warship

By Patrick Bishop, Regnery History, Washington, DC, (2013) Reviewed by Stephen Phillips The very presence of a capital ship can often create strategic importance. Today, aircraft carriers exert this influence, but prior to the Second World War, it was battleships that were known by name that caused concern or even fear. The Hunt for Hitler’s