Category Archives: Book Review

BOOK REVIEW – Valor and Courage: The Story of the USS Block Island Escort Carriers in World War II

Benjamin Hruska, Valor and Courage: The Story of the USS Block Island Escort Carriers in World War II. Tuscaloosa: University Alabama Press, 2021. 288 pp. Review by Lt Col Nicholas Smith Senior Instructor, United States Air Force Academy “For the … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Small Boats and Daring Men Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy

Benjamin Armstrong, Small Boats and Daring Men Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy. Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press, 2019. 280 pp. Review by Dr. Justin Simundson, PhD Assistant Professor, United States Air Force Academy Benjamin Armstrong’s … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Mahan, Corbett, and the Foundations of Naval Strategic Thought

Kevin D. McCranie, Mahan, Corbett, and the Foundations of Naval Strategic Thought. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2021. 320 pp Review by Dr. Joseph Moretz, Ph D, FRHistS Those writing on naval affairs will ever be indebted to Alfred Thayer Mahan … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II

Catherine Musemeche, Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II. New York: Harper Collins, 2022. 394 pp. Review by Dr. Gary Weir, PhD Editor Emeritus, International Journal of Naval History On Mary Sears’ eightieth … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – George Jellicoe: SAS and SBS Commander

Nicholas Jellicoe, George Jellicoe: SAS and SBS Commander. Barnsley: ‎Pen and Sword Military, 2021. 336 pp. Review by Dr. Frank Sobchk, PhD George Jellicoe: SAS and SBS Commander, offers a biographical narrative of a leader that, while he is not … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr.

Paul Stillwell, Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2021. 368 pp. Dr. Corbin Williamson, PhD United States Air War College While the most senior U.S. Navy admirals of World War II … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Warship Builders: An Industrial History of U.S. Naval Shipbuilding, 1922-1945

Thomas Heinrich, Warship Builders: An Industrial History of U.S. Naval Shipbuilding, 1922-1945. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2020. 340 pp. Review by Sean Getway Independent Scholar Naval construction requires diligent effort to both research and amalgamate to convey the complexities and … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – How the Navy Won the War: The Real Instrument of Victory 1914-1918

Jim Ring, How the Navy Won the War: The Real Instrument of Victory 1914-1918. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2018. 232 pp.  Review by Dr. Joseph Moretz, PhD, FRHistS Adjunct Professor of history, United States Naval Academy  Unsurprisingly, the centenary of the … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – The Atlantic War Remembered: An Oral History Collection

John T. Mason, Jr., The Atlantic War Remembered: An Oral History Collection. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2020. 512 pp.  Review by Dr. Corbin Williamson, PhD Deputy Chair, Department of Strategy, Air War College The Atlantic War Remembered is a collection … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Abandon Ship: The Real Story of the Sinkings in the Falklands War

Paul Brown, Abandon Ship: The Real Story of the Sinkings in the Falklands War. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2021. 320 pp. Review by Dr. Chuck Steele, PhD International Journal of Naval History In Abandon Ship: The Real Story of the Sinkings … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – British Naval Intelligence through the Twentieth Century

Andrew Boyd, British Naval Intelligence through the Twentieth Century. Foreword by Andrew Lambert. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing / Annapolis:  Naval Institute Press, 2020, 776 pp. Review by CAPT Steven E. Maffeo, USN, Ret., MSSI Formerly director of part-time programs, U. S. … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Painting War: George Plante’s Combat Art in World War II

Williams, Kathleen Broome, Painting War: George Plante’s Combat Art in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2019. 312 pp. Review by Lt Col Nicolas Smith Instructor, Department of History, USAF Academy  “[George] Plante…was looking at his watch when … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War

Bisbee, Saxon T., Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2018. 264 pp. Review by Dr Howard J. Fuller, PhD University of Wolverhampton (UK) It’s good news to … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – To My Dearest Wife, Lide: Letters from George Gideon Jr. during Commodore Perry’s Expedition to Japan, 1853-1855

M. Patrick Sauer and David A. Ranzan, eds., To My Dearest Wife, Lide: Letters from George Gideon Jr. during Commodore Perry’s Expedition to Japan, 1853-1855. Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press, 2019. 255 pp. Review by John M. Jennings … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Decision in the Atlantic: The Allies and the Longest Campaign of the Second World War

Faulkner, Marcus, and Christopher M. Bell. Decision in the Atlantic: The Allies and the Longest Campaign of the Second World War. Lexington, KY: Andarta Books, 2019. Review by CAPT John V. Clune, USMS, PhD Department Head and Associate Professor, Humanities, … Continue reading

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