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Pirate Killers: The Royal Navy and the African Pirates 

Reviewed by CAPT Richard Dick, USN (Ret.).  Graham A. Thomas is a historian, biographer, journalist, and theatrical producer. He has written for the UK Ministry of Defence and has been editor of the British Army Review, the army’s official academic journal. He specializes in the history of the British Army and Royal Air Force in

Genesis of the Grand Fleet: The Admiralty, Germany, and the Home Fleet 1896-1914 

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

The Trafalgar Chronicle: New Series 4, Journal of the 1805 Club

Reviewed by CAPT Ken Hagan, USNR (Ret.) The brilliant audacity of this volume merits the highest praise. In no way is it yet another recounting of blasts, broadsides, and bloodletting. Instead, Peter Hore has assembled a collection of magnetic essays depicting Horatio Nelson as an Irishman and portraying the hardscrabble victories ashore won by the

Fighting the Great War at Sea: Strategy, Tactics and Technology

Reviewed by Joseph Moretz, PhD. Members of this forum will know and appreciate the many previous offerings of Dr. Norman Friedman in the field of naval technology and strategy. With several serving as standard reference works, readers of Friedman are invariably treated to a reasoned discourse anchored in primary research that never fails to inform.

British Town Class Cruisers: Design, Development & Performance; Southampton & Belfast Classes

Reviewed by Charles Bogart.  The ten ships that formed the Town Class of light cruisers were the epitome of Royal Navy all gun cruiser development. Armed with twelve 6-inch guns mounted in four turrets, they participated in every European Theater naval campaign of World War II and two of the class also saw action during

Six Victories: North Africa, Malta, and the Mediterranean Convoy War: November 1941 ̶ March 1942

Reviewed by Randall D. Fortson, MA Vincent P. O’Hara opens his newest work, Six Victories: North Africa, Malta, and the Mediterranean Convoy War: November 1941 ̶ March 1942, by stating that victory has a hundred fathers. The phrase originates from the diary of Mussolini’s son-in-law, Galeazzo Ciano but O’Hara intends it as a metaphor for

Sand and Steel: The D-Day Invasion and the Liberation of France

Review by LtCol Jack Harris, USMC (Ret.) The invasion of Normandy in June of 1944 was possibly the greatest endeavor in the history of mankind and Peter Caddick-Adams’s new book is possibly the best book written on the subject.  Caddick-Adams’s fourth book follows in the pattern set by Monte Cassino: Ten Armies in Hell, Snow

Dunkirk: Nine Days that Saved an Army

Dunkirk – the port city of northern France calls to mind many different images and descriptions from the Second World War, e.g., the greatest evacuation of all time, a miracle, a methodical retreat, a tactical disaster, an allied defeat, and on and on. It was an exceptional withdrawal from an untenable battle front, and a

NHF’s 2nd Annual Five-Star Mess Night

After the overwhelming success of the Naval Historical Foundation’s inaugural mess night last year, NHF hosted its second annual Five-Star Mess Night on June 8th. Guests joined the Foundation in the National Museum of the U. S. Navy in celebration of the pivotal historical milestone of the 75th anniversary of World War II’s Allied invasion

The King George V Class Battleships

The story of the Royal Navy during World War II often centers around one of the five battleships of the King George V Class (KGV): HMS King George V, HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Duke of York, HMS Anson, and HMS Howe. The author of this book has crafted a tour de force that examines

The War with Hitler’s Navy

Adrian Stewart was educated at Rugby School before taking First Class Honours at Caius College, Cambridge. Caius is also the alma mater of the broadcaster David Frost, physicist Stephen Hawking, and historian Simon Sebag Montefiore. Stewart lives near Rugby a market town in Warwickshire, West Midlands, England, close to the River Avon. He is a

All at Sea in Arctic Waters

All at Sea in Arctic Waters: What Life Was Really Like On Naval Ships in WW2 by Dennis McDonald, “Telegraphist (S), Bletchley U-Boat Interceptor,” is both a memoir and autobiography of a young man who volunteered for the Royal Navy during World War II and chose telegraphy as his duty. During this war, the British

BOOK REVIEW – Thinking Wisely, Planning Boldly: The Higher Education and Training of Royal Navy Officers, 1919-39

By Joseph Moretz, Helion & Company, West Midlands, UK (2014) Reviewed by CDR Benjamin Armstrong, PhD The years following the Great War have become something of a favorite of modern day military analysts in search of historical analogy. The development of innovative doctrine, the introduction and assimilation of new technologies, and struggles with fluctuating fiscal