The Arab Revolt: 1916-18 (Five Stars)

This was a really good book in that it provided an excellent overview of the Revolt, not just from the perspective of Lawrence and the British but also the French, the Ottomans and the Arabs themselves. It provides context of the Arab war effort, both of its regular and irregular forces, and of the politics within the Arab leadership. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the maps, photos and original artwork really make it stand out as a book on the topic, despite its small format.

The RAF and Tribal Control (five stars)

In my studies of airpower and, conversely, the creation of improvised antiaircraft weapons, I have often come across references to the post-WWI use of airpower by the British to maintain control over their Empire. In discussing the employment of aircraft against technologically-backward people of Africa and the Middle East the sources I read mentioned very little about the use of the RAF’s methodology, other than giving the impression that the British simply bombed tribes into submission. As it turns out there was more to it than that, and the process helped to shape many of the notable RAF airmen of the Second World War.

Newton’s book looks at the doctrinal origins of using airpower for the policing of the British Empire as well as the political decisions and financial factors which led to employing airpower against indigenous peoples on the frontiers. Following the end of the Great War the newly-independent Royal Air Force had to make itself relevant to the needs of the British Empire, needs which did not necessarily require large numbers of fighters to prevent bombing attacks or great numbers of bombers to strike at ports or supply bases. The British Empire, with territories around the world (which now included recent mandates from the German and Ottoman Empires), required a solution to the problem of primitive tribesmen who lived beyond the easy reach of British ground troops and who defied the British and their colonial governments. Airpower seemed to hold the promise of policing such populations.

The guns had hardly gone silent on the Western Front when the RAF began touting the idea of Air Control. The doctrinal basis of the idea had barely been discussed before it was tried in Somaliland, Iraq and India’s North-West Frontier. Backed up by British soldiers and colonial levies and provided intelligence and guidance by RAF Special Service Officers (SSOs) traveling in armored cars, airpower could be used to coerce natives into cooperation, if not submission.

Thanks to SSOs, who traveled among the indigenous population and communicated the desires of the Colonial administrators in the native language, the desired outcome was communicated to the leaders of various tribes. If the tribesmen understood but continued to defy the government, then the intelligence gained by the SSOs would be used by the RAF to “buzz” the domiciles of the key “targets,” or leaders, that the government wished to influence. And if all else failed, the SSO would provide warning to the group that the aircraft would be back to bomb and strafe. This resulted in what the British called a “reverse blockade,” a situation in which the locals evacuated their village and residences to travel out to the desert or nearby caves while British planes destroyed some homes, scattered livestock and burned crops. After living under extremely uncomfortable conditions the tribesmen would make the leader comply with British demands so life could go back to normal.

Indeed, much of the actions of the RAF echoes 21st Century warfare: the need to communicate directly with “targets” prior to taking action could be described as a Key Leader Engagement (KLE), the occasional use of airborne leaflets could be described as an Information Related Capability (IRC), the use of “buzzing” as a Non-Lethal Effect and the use of strafing and bombing of raiders as Lethal Effect. Anyone who has spent time discussing Targeting methodology would recognize many elements of the British Air Control scheme.

This is not to say that policing the Empire via airpower did not see its share of setbacks. First of all, the elimination of British ground troops wasn’t possible. Garrisons were needed but these were much smaller than if the British Army had sole charge of policing. Another element of Air Control saw the need to place the RAF in charge of the overall effort; in situations where the Army was in charge the effort to control indigents came down to “boots on the ground,” with the RAF doing close air support. Finally, the British were unable to use Air Control in Palestine, where conflicts happened in urban settings rather than in the wide open spaces. Riots between Jewish and Arab settlers did not provide targets for the aircraft, at least not without creating large numbers of civilian casualties and collateral damage.

Indeed, one thing that RAF and Tribal Control makes clear is that the use of kinetic action, i.e. bombing and strafing, was actually employed sparingly. The desire of the British was provided through Communication, the occasional demonstration of bombing and strafing lent Credibility to British threats and the Capability that the British maintained, not just in military hardware but also in civil and military targeting processes and permissions, brought the reality of airpower to bear.

In the case of the British, Air Control was about maintaining the peace, not fighting a war. The British rapidly learned the benefits of using kinetic assets in non-kinetic ways to achieve peace as a desired outcome.

Marketing the Blue and Gray (Four Stars)

Newspapers were the main media of the Civil War era, and in fact the most important. Printed daily for the most part, and with access to the network of telegraph stations throughout the North and South, the newspaper provided war news, political developments, entertainment information... and advertising. American newspapers had transitioned from a subscription base which paid the bills to ad revenue.

While advertisements were not as creative as they are today (based upon the use of existing type) they made the most use of what they had. The author provides descriptions and examples of how small shops would advertise wares. He also does an excellent job of showing how ads would be written to reflect recent battlefield successes and how southern ads emphasized the "Confederate nature" of the products being sold. Overall, a good book.

The Australian Army at War: 1976-2016 (four stars)

Australia has a well-earned reputation for being tough fighters. This has translated into the modern era as an ability to make a difference in peacemaking and peacekeeping throughout the world since the 1970s. This book looks at the fighting men who participated in these actions as well as the equipment they have been issued in order to accomplish these missions, which have literally taken them all over the world. I found the political and economic information to really put the overall state of the Australian Army in context. A valuable overview of the topic, well-illustrated.

Roughshod Through Dixie (five stars)

In April 1863 General Benjamin J. Grierson launched a cavalry raid deep into Mississippi. His mission: to distract the Confederates from General Grant's end run near Vicksburg (which would lead to its capture a few weeks later) and to destroy vital railroad track and stock needed to rush reinforcements to oppose the Federal landing once it was recognized for what it was. Grierson's Raid had all the elements to make it a success: it's own deception operation to make the Confederates believe the raid was still ongoing, light artillery for shock value, veteran troops and good weapons. This Osprey book does an excellent job of laying out the planning of the raid, the progress of the operation, its successes, its failures and its conclusion. Illustrated with photographs, original artwork and maps, this book is a great supplement to histories which only lightly touch on the subject while discussing the Vicksburg campaign in its own right or as a stand-alone book retelling this story of courage, fortitude and leadership.

The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attack on the United States (two stars)

I was extremely disappointed in this book as it was recommended to me by several sources. I thought that it would be written in a factual style but instead it reads like a New York Times op-ed, which is a pity because the story has so much potential.

It starts with the DPRK shootdown of a South Korean airliner (Trump's fault). The South Koreans respond with a limited attack employing ballistic missiles, and the United States fails to take steps to de-escelate the situation (Trump's fault). Poor Kim Jong Un is hesitant about responding with nuclear weapons until they see a tweet sent by the President that seems to imply that this is the beginning of regime change in North Korea (Trump's fault). Following a nuclear attack on targets in South Korea and Japan the President failed to react properly because "he didn't believe that the North Koreans had missiles that worked "(Trump's fault). This time DPRK ICBMs hit the United States but miss the President as he has already gone airborne and the missile his another town instead of his compound in Florida (Trump's fault).

This book simply OOZES with contempt for the President. Every democrat talking point made up during the first half of the President's first term is used: he's a bully, he throws temper tantrums, he's a womanizer, and he can't handle bad news. In a scene that parodies the "football" clip from the movie Dead Zone Trump tries to launch a nuclear attack on both North Korea and China (in the end, cooler heads prevail and why we we do such a thing anyway?). The book talks about Trump's "legal problems" without actually naming them (must be bad, though!) and once he gets an idea in his head he stubbornly refuses to get rid of it.

The Conclusion basically addresses the desperate need for Free Health Care. And in case there is any doubt as to how stupid and rotten Donald Trump is the very end includes an April 2nd, 2023 statement by the former president (he decides not to run for a second term following the nuclear strikes on America) which is full of misspellings, references to Fake News, Hillary's defeat in 2016 and the Deep State.

The morale of this story? 1.4 million American deaths would be a small price to get rid of Orangeman.

Rebel Richmond (Five Stars)

Richmond’s role as the capital of the short-lived Confederate States of America has been the subject of many books, not least of which were first-hand accounts of rebels who spent the war in Richmond either as civilians or in the Confederate government. More recently, there has been Sword Over Richmond (which is more about the Peninsula Campaign than the besieged city), Curiosities of the Confederate Capital (which simply highlights a few of the more unusual events that took place in Richmond during the war) and Ashes of Glory. Of these three, Ashes most resembles Rebel Richmond, the new book by Stephen V. Ash, because of its detail and use of vignettes to illustrate certain aspects of life in Richmond during the war. However, it is Ash’s approach to the topic that I think is the better one.

Rebel Richmond concentrates on the human aspects of life in the city. It is one thing to discuss runaway inflation; it is another thing entirely tell the reader what this meant to government clerks and workmen when simply getting food to feed your family seemed impossible. It is one thing to talk about the housing shortage; it is another thing to discuss the horrible options that many newcomers were left with when vainly trying to find a decent place to live. It is one thing to expound on the horrors of war; it is another to describe a loved one’s slow, painful death due to combat injuries. Ash’s writing really makes life in wartime Richmond real to the reader.

It was the unfortunate geography of the Civil War which saw the capitals of the U.S.A. and the C.S.A. a little over a hundred miles of each other. Washington D.C., of course, had straddled the middle line of the country since it was made the capital but the Confederacy made the conscious decision to locate their capital in Virginia (once that state seceded). This doesn’t make much sense at first glance but as explained in Rebel Richmond the city was recognized as a key asset to the successful prosecution of the war: it was a key rail junction (five railways served Richmond, but did not connect to each other), it contained a large percentage of the South’s industrial base (including the only facility able to make cannon or armor plate) and the state itself added “gravitas” to the cause, having been the home of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. In hindsight, military necessity would seem to dictate locating the capital away from the enemy frontier… possibly New Orleans or Atlanta. The selection of Richmond as the capital meant that a huge burden was placed on the city, first as a military base, then later as a frontline fortress.

In effect, the Confederacy recognized that the loss of Richmond would have strategic implications in any case. By doubling down and making the city the capital of the new country the Confederates guaranteed that the member states would provide all the resources they could to protect the primary front of the war. And who is to say they were wrong? As it happened, both New Orleans and Atlanta fell before Richmond did. It is telling too that when Richmond did fall, it’s loss fulfilled the prophecy of doom and ended hopes for a Confederate States of America.

The RCMP began as a military force sent west to enforce Canada's claims on the northern prairie. Although it continued to wear military-style uniforms it adopted civil police titles and would in fact evolve into a federal police force, working closely with provincial and municipal police forces. Mounted troopers were able to patrol in areas of the Canadian west not easily accessed by other means and the RCMP's reputation for always getting their man has become legendary. They've developed some great-looking uniforms along the way too, as illustrated in this book. Well worth checking out!

Vietnam Bao Chi (five stars)

Vietnam Bao Chi (Vietnam Military Journalist) looks at an aspect of the war not often discussed. Most historians of the period know about the civilian reporters, many of whom went on to prominent positions in print and television journalism, but few are familiar with their military counterparts. This book brings this chapter to light.

During the Vietnam Conflict the war became not just a military contest but an increasingly desperate effort to maintain the American people’s support for the war effort. As seems to be the nature of long-term/low-level conflicts, support for the Vietnam War became more and more difficult as the years went by, made worse by civilian news reporting which was able to impact U.S. citizens with network TV broadcasts every evening.

But the U.S. military had a tool of its own meant to give the American people an idea of the courage and determination of their fighting men in Vietnam. By this time the United States’ armed forces had formalized a public relations system, a sophisticated capability which was able to create written news stories, frontline still photos of the action, document military operations and even film of combat. Fighting men and women were provided not just military newspapers and magazines but also radio and even television programming. PA Units and staffs were organized to support ongoing operations and each branch of the service had its own Public Affairs specialists, trained at the Armed Forces Information School at Fort Slocum NY or the Defense Information School at Fort Benjamin Harrison IN, and allowed to go right where the men fighting the war were.
What Mr. Yablonka, himself a Vietnam veteran, military journalist and civilian reporter, has done is take several of these Soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines PAs and tell their stories in their own words.

Some had their “brushes with history,” like Mike Boggs and future President George W. Bush, or found themselves in the middle of firefights, like Chris Jensen at Kham Duc. Others saw events unique to the war, such as the return of American POWs to Clark AFB in the Philippines as witnessed by Striper Tom Lincoln, Marvin Wolf met Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky of South Vietnam before meeting John Wayne at Fort Bragg, and Sonny Craven saw for himself the Tet Offensive of 1968… and the way the event was portrayed in the media.

All of the public affairs specialists dealt with the same issues: equipment which dated from WWII, censorship for questionable reasons, organizations which seemed to make little sense. The way the Navy, Army and Air Force all trained and deployed public affairs personnel is evident from the way the story tellers relate their experiences and the problems of shooting film in the high humidity of Vietnam makes itself known in many of the narratives.

Also, it is important to remember that the job of Public Affairs was not to influence but to inform. Frustration is evident in some of the voices Yablonka chose for Vietnam Bao Chi as they discuss the low caliber of many of the civilian reporters sent to Vietnam by media outlets and their clear bias on arriving in-theater. Much of the reporting done by military journalists was ignored in what came to be known as the mainstream media.

However, not all of the public affairs personnel saw the conflict as necessary. Many were antiwar from the beginning or turned against the war in time. Objectivity was clearly hard to find at this volatile period in U.S. history.

One surprising aspect of the book is a lack of photos (in the case of photographers and cameramen) and excerpts from articles (in the case of writers). No doubt the addition of these products would have made the book more interesting in that it could provide the reader with examples of the important work done by individuals. There are photos of the Public Affairs contributors themselves, however.

The most important element of the book is the way it conveys the danger involved in serving as a Public Affairs specialist in Vietnam. While not every Public Affairs job was dangerous, Soldiers, sailors and Marines who served “in the bush” often came under fire, and occasionally the war came to those who served in relatively safe places, which is what happened during Tet. Like their civilian counterparts, several of them saw their comrades killed in action or were wounded themselves. A few were killed in action. If Vietnam Bao Chi tells us nothing else it tells the cost of getting the truth to the world.

I regret that I have been out of the loop for several weeks. I have not done as thorough a job as I normally do with these most recent reviews, but will keep plugging away!

I review almost exclusively history books (with rare exceptions). I will eagerly review any book having to do with antiaircraft or air defense. I am also interested in books on Africa, but again, mostly the history of the continent, especially in the 20th Century. Get in touch with me for more information. Most of my book reviews are also on Goodreads and Amazon.

Peking 1900: The Boxer Rebellion (Four Stars)

When foreigners began to be murdered by a group called the "Boxers" in China the great powers of the time responded with a multinational effort to rescue the diplomats and traders threatened by the group... especially those in Peking. The author does a good job of discussing the events which led up to Chinese hostility to the presence of foreigners and to the actual events (and rumors!) which resulted in intervention. An all-but-forgotten chapter in military history today, but still a neat read. Well-illustrated with photographs, maps and original artwork.

Akhenaten: Egypt's False Prophet (Five Stars)

The subject of Reeves' book is Akhenaten; a Pharoah who attempted to remake Egyptian society from country where a host of gods and idols were worshipped to a monothiestic society which recognized only one god: the Aten, or sun disc.

Reeves looks further back than most other authors for the origins of the Aten cult, seeing not just the trend of a priesthood that was becoming more and more politically powerful but also in other events during the 17th and 18th Dynasties which might have effected Akenaten's thinking. Reeves also discusses archeological proof as he tells the story (as it is known) and writes about different theories to explain this or that. Reeves does NOT fall into the trap of discussing the Aten cult as predecessor or influence on Judaism, which has become fashionable as of late. Overall, a good book.            

The Gunfighters (Five Stars)

Nothing beats these Time-Life books for the feel and look of the Old West. I really enjoyed re-reading this volume and learning the rugged life of desperados and lawman... who often were the same people at different times in their careers. Very well illustrated and it explains a lot about the handling of firearms in the wild west.

People of the Shining Mountains (Five Stars)

I recently visited the area of Colorado where the Utes once roamed free and was fascinated by some of the stories I heard there. I got this book to learn more about this tribe and I was not disappointed. It talks about the tribe's history, both before and after initial contact with the United States government, as well as their culture and relationship with other tribes of the west. I really enjoyed learning about these fascinating people.

Operation Crossbow 1944 (Four Stars)

This book looks at the German V-weapon campaign against England and Operation Crossbow, its response. Although not a large book, this volume discusses developmental problems with the V-weapons (especially the V-1). It also discusses the planned response using bombers, as well as the difficulty in maintaining this response in the light of other bombing requirements. The photographs and other illustrations make it a fascinating book.

French Tanks of World War I (Five Stars)

A great look at the French Army's attempt to break the stalemate in the trenches, not by building "land battleships" as the British did but by creating much smaller tanks in larger numbers. The technology and resources of France argued for this method, especially after the French tried out a few of the armored behemoths and found them wanting. Of course, this is a slim volume but it provides an excellent account of the development and use of the early tanks. A must-read for WWI fans!

I review almost exclusively history books (with rare exceptions). I will eagerly review any book having to do with antiaircraft or air defense. I am also interested in books on Africa, but again, mostly the history of the continent, especially in the 20th Century. Get in touch with me for more information. Most of my book reviews are also on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Miners (Time-Life Books) (Five Stars)

Excellent book. It covers almost every aspect of the gold and solver mining experience in the Old West: the life of the prospector, the dangerous underground work of the digger, the capitalists who financed finds, the assayers, the newly-minted millionaires, even the the cheats and crooks of the mining camps. Very entertaining and well-illustrated.

The Confederate Yellow Fever Conspiracy: The Germ Warfare Plot of Luke Pryor Blackburn, 1864-1865 (Five Stars)

Dr. Blackburn has been identified in some Civil War books in general terms as an expert in Yellow Fever who tried to infect target groups in the North and the Union-occupied areas of Norfolk (Virginia) and Newbern (North Carolina) using clothes used by victims of the disease. Sometimes he is also mentioned as being involved in a failed attempt to use the disease to attack President Lincoln.

H.L. Greene, however, has gone several steps beyond this thumbnail treatment of the plot. He extensively researched the topic and produces a biography of Blackburn that includes his doctoral thesis on the disease and his efforts to fight yellow fever outbreaks. Greene discusses the knowledge (or lack of it) of germ theory and how medical doctors of the time thought that "unhealthy air" transmitted the disease. Obviously, Blackburn thought that another means of transmitting the disease was via "humors," specifically yellow bile and black bile... both produced in the course of the disease. He also must have come to the conclusion that sweat could carry the disease.

When Blackburn traveled from Bermuda (where he was working with Confederate Secret Service agents involved in asymmetric attacks against the United States) he collected contaminated bed linens and clothing and packed them in such a way as they would contaminate "clean" clothing. The trunks were then shipped to "targets." Much of this information came about because of the British discovery of unshipped trunks in Bermuda after Blackburn's departure.

Fortunately, Blackburn did not properly identify the true vector of the disease and his efforts seem to have been wasted. I say "seem to" because one of the targets, Newbern, did indeed suffer a Yellow Fever outbreak at about the time that trunk should have arrived. I believe that I came across an entry that identified the Patient Zero being a sutler, which would explain how the disease started...

Written very well and in detail. There are some things that are unknowable 150 years after the fact but the author discusses some things that can be deduced from the known information and discusses various explanations for apparent discrepancies in dates and testimony. Overall, a very interesting book, well-illustrated with photographs and maps.

Armies of Russia's Wars in the Ukraine (three stars)

This book looks at the Russian efforts to seize the Crimea and to use the Donetsk and Luhansk republics as leverage against the Ukraine. The first operation, aided as it was by criminals and sympathizers, resulted in the seizure of a peninsula that is internationally considered a part of the Ukraine (except when it was administered by the Russian Federated Soviet Socialist Republic, but when you all live under communism the name of the particular slave labor camp you happen to be in doesn't really matter that much) . The Russian attempt to do the same thing in the Donbass region has been less successful for them, since the militia they sponsored has been met by Ukrainian militia and conventional forces. The progress of the war to date has been captured very well by the author and illustrated by maps, photographs and original artwork. Indeed, I would consider this a five-star product, except the author decided to take a jab at U.S. President Donald Trump by mentioning Putin's efforts to, and I quote, "Make Russia Great Again." This was irrelevant to a discussion of the conflict. A more useful discussion could have been had by discussing the world leadership vacuum created by the Obama administration which allowed Russia to keep the Crimea. Facts should be discussed in these books, not politics which are unconnected to the history discussed.

Australian Bushrangers, 1788-1880 (Five Stars)

Before I read this book I only knew about Ned Kelly... I had never heard of Captain Thunderbolt, the Clark Brothers, Mad Dan Morgan or Bold Jack Donohoe! A fascinating book, it provides background on the outlaws of the Australian hinterland, as well as information on the use of the military in law enforcement. I really enjoyed this book, the artwork and the stories. Very well done for such a short work.

Persian Gulf Command: A History of World War II in Iran and Iraq (Four Stars)

During the Second World War the British were fighting for their very survival, and as a result all the resources of the Empire were brought to bear. The British Empire was particularly keen on holding on to Persian Gulf oil.

Although only a footnote at best in most histories, this forgotten front saw intrigue, daring bluffs on the part of the British and strategic overeach on the part of the Axis. With manpower requirements running high, the last thing the British wanted to do was to get into a war in Iraq, but when a coup was staged that briefly brought in a pro-Axis government the British had no choice but to act decisively. Troops from India, armored vehicles from Palestine and RAF aircraft from North Africa rapidly took on the military clique known as the Golden Square and defeated them and the small contingent of Luftwaffe aircraft sent in to help them. 

Britain had watched the USSR, anticipating a new front which would see the Soviets invading Iran and possibly Iraq at the behest of their Axis ally. That all turned around after Hitler launched his invasion of the USSR and as a result the Soviets and the British jointly invaded the country in order to open a supply line for the Red Army from the Persian Gulf to the Caucasus... and for the first time the United States became involved in the Middle East in a big way.

This book tells the whole story of the region during WWII and the steps taken to defeat the wavering countries of Iraq and Iran and to provide war material to the Soviets... not to mention how the Polish victims of Stalin's 1939 invasion were freed in Iran and allowed to fight on the side of the Western Allies. Not just are the politics of the war discussed but also the impact that it had on the British, Soviet, American and Polish soldiers who came there... not to mention the difficulties that Allied occupation brought on the Arabs and Persians who lived there.

Well-written; includes a map and many excellent black-and-white photographs.

The End and the Myth (TLOW) (Four Stars)

One of the Time-Life Old West series, this volume looks at the passing of the wild west, or rather how it went from a way of frontier life to a part of the American story, a part which is part of our culture as it has become a piece of what we are. As the west became settled and the territories became states, the Old West was represented in dime novels, in live-action wild west shows, in movies, and in television shows. The cowboy of old became the rodeo performer, the tough frontier soldier was revived in the form of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and the rowdiness of the old mining camp gave way to the towns of the oil boom. In this way the Old West has forever become a cornerstone of America.

I review almost exclusively history books (with rare exceptions). I will eagerly review any book having to do with antiaircraft or air defense. I am also interested in books on Africa, but again, mostly the history of the continent, especially in the 20th Century. Get in touch with me for more information. Most of my book reviews are also on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy (Five Stars)

This military classic looks at the ordinary soldier in the Confederate States Army: how he ate, his punishments, how often he got leave, his attitudes towards his officers, what he fought for, his morale, his weapons, so on and so. The author used primary sources and names the soldiers (when possible) who provided insights into the life of "Johnny Reb." I originally read this book almost 30 years ago and discovered that many of my assumptions about Confederate soldiers are, in fact, based upon what I learned from this book. It provides an excellent cornerstone for any real scholar of the Civil War.

Ghosts of the Sangre de Cristo Area (Four Stars)

If you want to see old ghost towns of this region this is probably the book you want. The newest edition has coordinates. Covers everything from towns that are shadow of their former selves (Silver Cliff) to towns that have left almost no trace (Rosita) to all the shades in between. During recent travels we went to several of these and found the descriptions to be pretty accurate. Includes and folded, seperate map.

Frontier Justice in the Wild West (Four Stars)

R.M. Wilson has collected stories about the way justice was dispensed in the old west, back when lawmen were few and far between and and the process of a legal trial slow and frustrating. Murderers often found themselves at the end of a rope, with or without due process. The stories collected here cover the typical as well as the unusual. Well worth a read.

Illustrated with B&W photos and a map.

The Railroads of the Confederacy (Five Stars)

When the Civil War began the sheer mileage of railway lines of the North far outstripped those of the South. However, Mr. Black's book points out that several Confederate military operations in the South were made possible due to the ability of the CSA to concentrate at key points using "interior lines of communication." This was more obvious at the beginning of the war than towards the end, because the Confederacy was loath to place the control of the railroads under the government, unlike the North which recognized the need to to have control over the rails to support the war effort and created the U.S. Military Rail Road (USMRR). The various states backed the "property rights" of the myriad railroads and prevented (for the most part) the dismantling of minor lines in order to keep strategic ones open. But it was a doomed endeavor, as iron was almost impossible to find and the machinery needed to keep the railroads in safe working order were lacking.

Black's writing is very good and engaging. Illustrated with maps and photographs.

As If They Were Ours: The Story of Camp Tyson (Three Stars)

During World War II the United States had to create entire services and branches to its military which simply didn't exist in wartime. One of the capabilities the U.S. Army determined was essential was the use of barrage balloons, a passive air defense weapon which had been determined to be useful in preventing low-level air attacks. The technology was simple: hoist a balloon into position with its mooring cable into place. The cable would be almost impossible for a pilot to detect and if he hit at high speed it could shear off wings, damage propellers, rip off items from the fuselage, etc. Some were also equipped with explosive charges and others were part of "aprons" which were linked together with further cable hanging on the connecting line.

While the technology was outwardly simple there were skills to be learned when handling the barrage balloons and this was the purpose of the Camp Tyson. Many Coast Artillery battalions were formed there with the intention of training them in the use of these defensive weapons.  McFarlin's book discusses the training that was conducted with the balloons but only so much as he could glean from interviews with former soldiers assigned to the camp. In fact, most of the book is a trip down memory lane that just happens to include the barrage balloons in it.

This is not to say it is a bad book, more that it primarily concerns itself with the area around Paris, Tennessee. I thought it was interesting for its discussion of the segregated barrage balloon units and their employment on the Normandy beaches but much of it was redundant because the same topic was sometimes dealt with by different participants. Nevertheless, a good book to have, especially if you visit Paris and want to see the remains of the balloon infrastructure on site.

Freezing People is Not Easy (four stars)

Bob Nelson was there at the very beginnings of Cryonics, the science of freezing people in the hope of returning them to life at a future date, free of the disease that killed them and ready to resume life. However, as Nelson noted, this is not a simple task. Aside from the technical issues with properly freezing a body you have to deal with grieving family members and money. All three of these became a headache for Mr. Nelson as time went by, from the need for cryo-capsules (never acquire one from a wigmaker), to family members emphatically against the freezing of their loved one (despite his or her wishes) to deadbeats who fail to pay for upkeep on the materials needed to maintain capsules at a proper temperature or even to pay costs agreed upon in advance. Some of these issues are the same as those funeral directors have to deal with. In any case, it is an interesting read and Nelson, who was part of the team who froze the first human to be cryogenically preserved, is the just the person to tell it.

Russian Wristwatches (Four Stars)

This book provides a wide, but incomplete, sampling of Soviet-made watches. It features a lot of the Vostok and Ampfibia watches, but not Raketas. Still, a good reference for someone interested in the topic and who might be interested in collecting.

40M Nimrod Tank Destroyer and Armoured Anti Aircraft Gun (Four Stars)

This book discusses a rare antiaircraft weapon, the Nimrod Tank Destroyer and Antiaircraft Gun fielded by the Royal Hungarian Army and used on the Eastern Front during WWII. Lavishly filled with photos and tables, the book describes the evolution of the weapon system as a dual-use vehicle, for destroying enemy tanks and for engaging aircraft. They were based on the same Hungarian-made chassis as the army's light tank and so could keep up with the armored columns advancing into the USSR. The excellent license-built 40mm Bofors gun gave good service against enemy aircraft, as well as close troop support and the destruction thin-skin vehicles and even (thanks to its rapid-fire capability) light armor. However, it was clear that only larger-caliber guns could take on the KV-1s and the T-34s of the Red Army and after Stalingrad the weapon was retained as a mobile antiaircraft weapon, officially deployed in "autocannon companies."

The only book I've ever seen on this topic, it only lacks one thing: first-hand accounts of the weapon in combat. The weapon system obviously did see combat and it would be interesting to learn how the crews felt about its effectiveness, how well it did against aircraft, how was it deployed against tanks... the book never quite goes there.

I review almost exclusively history books (with rare exceptions). I will eagerly review any book having to do with antiaircraft or air defense. I am also interested in books on Africa, but again, mostly the history of the continent, especially in the 20th Century. Get in touch with me for more information. Most of my book reviews are also on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Polar Bear Expedition (three stars)

Even as WWI was wrapping up the Allies (Britain, France and the United States) sent troops to Murmansk and Archangel, ostensibly to guard war material sent to their ally Russia. Russia, unfortunately, had come under the control of the Bolsheviks and had pulled out of the war, allowing the Central Powers to turn their full attention to the Allies fighting in France and Italy.

It turned out that the Allied intervention, led by the British, had more grandiose plans than simply guarding war material which, in any case, had been looted by the Bolos prior to their withdrawal into the hinterland. The British hoped to push past the Reds and to link up with White forces opposing the Bolsheviks, perhaps even as far as the Trans-Siberian Railroad. This was held at the time by the Czechoslovak Legion, an extremely well-armed and disciplined force that was an island of order in a land of chaos.

With this plan in mind, the British broke up the 339th Infantry Regiment and sent individual companies (and sometimes platoons!) up the Dvina and Onega Rivers to push the Bolsheviks away from the base at Archangel and to hold positions for other Allied forces to jump off from in the Spring of 1919... Allied forces that never came.

The author obviously did a lot of good research on this topic, much of which is based on personal accounts of those soldiers who participated in the operations. He discusses the poor weapons the doughboys were given (American-made Mosin-Nagants), the poor food provided by the British and the sidelining of the American regimental command and control structure. Add to poor morale was the obvious fact that the Bolos were increasing in numbers and despite giving way initially were getting bolder as the winter dragged on.

The style of writing gave me some pause, however. The author tried to grab the reader's attention at the beginning of each chapter by a gratuitous scene of violence and desperation, often by people he had not introduced us to yet. Also, the book opened with a serious mistake on page one of Chapter One, when it described the German's St. Michael Offensive as "advancing eastward." Advancing eastward would have had the Germans moving towards Berlin, not Paris, or in military parlance "retreating."

Illustrated with excellent photos and maps.

B-52 Stratofortress vs SA-2 "Guideline" SAM: Vietnam 1972-73 (Five Stars)

In an effort to employ airpower against the North Vietnamese to force them to negotiate a favorable peace in the South, the United States unleashed it's B-52 bomber force against targets in Hanoi and other key locations. The 1972 bombing campaign known as Linebacker II saw the giant bombers employed against a sophisticated air defense network consisting of antiaircraft artillery, jet interceptors and SA-2 surface-to-air missiles. It became a battle of wits between the Electronic Warfare Officers aboard the bombers and the tools they had available to them to jam, confuse and confound the SAMs and the missile officers on the ground, who in turn could use sheer radar power to burn through the jamming, TOJ tactics and triangulation to get to the bombers. An awesome study packed into a small book, it includes photos, original artwork and maps to tell the story.

Lincoln's Last Trial: the Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency (Five Stars)

Some people know of Lincoln's life as a circuit lawyer, a few even know of Lincoln's "Almanac Defense" that prevented the hanging of an innocent man... but how many know of his last murder trial? In this case Lincoln knew both the accused and the victim. There was no question that the defendant killed the man in question, rather it was a matter of whether or not it was justified self-defense (as well as the validity of a deathbed confession) and how far a man could go do defend his own life. A riveting book, it adds dimension to what we already know about Abraham Lincoln, portraying him as the self-educated man that he was, with his own courtroom style. Abrams and Fisher did an excellent job on this book, making it both readable and enlightening at the same time. A definite must for anyone interested in Lincoln as a person.

Siege at Jadotville: the Irish Army's Forgotten Battle (Four Stars)

Ireland's small army has taken on many peacekeeping missions since the Emergency, but Katanga was an early test of both its resolve and its courage. Shortly after the Congo gained independence from Belgium the resource-rich province of Katanga chose to secede. The United Nations decided to get involved in keeping the Congo intact (a situation which would be inconceivable today) and sent a peacekeeping force which was wholly inadequate to the job at hand... if, indeed, the UN had ever properly defined the job at hand. A small contingent of poorly-equipped Irish troops were committed to holding the militarily insignificant town of Jadotville and were soon under siege by local gendarmerie led by white mercenaries.

It's a fascinating book. Unfortunately, I couldn't get over the idea that, as a frame of reference, it talked about the Soviets sending a man to the moon in 1960 (!) and it makes me wonder how accurate the assessment of some of the political issues discussed were.

World War II Vichy French Security Troops (Five Stars)

This is a fascinating look at the various sanctioned and unsanctioned French security forces operating in occupied and unoccupied France, from the Fall of France to the retreat of the Germans. Obviously there were many collaborators willing to fight the Maquis and their fellow French citizens, if they did not follow Petain's vision of "Work, Family, Homeland!" From the National Police to the Mobile Groups to the various fascist militias, they are all discussed here and their uniforms and weapons illustrated through photos and original artwork. A thin volume, but important in understanding the complex situation which stemmed from France's "partial occupation" and collaborationist efforts. Good research by Stephen Cullen and great illustrations by Mark Stacey.

Tales of Old Shanghai (Five Stars)

Shanghai, once a trading city quasi-independent from the Chinese government and host to Europeans, Americans and Japanese seeking to make a fortune,  is illustrated by a series of stories, news items, photographs and cartoons. In this environment, with American sailors, British judges, Japanese taxi dancers, Indian police, Chinese gangsters, French cyclists, and Russian gunmen all rubbed elbows with each other. Where Coca-Cola and opium were both available at the market and you could get a taxi with or without a girl to escort you to a nightclub. Graham Earnshaw's 140-page book does more to bring Shanghai to life than any 300-page history I've seen.

I review almost exclusively history books (with rare exceptions). I will eagerly review any book having to do with antiaircraft or air defense. I am also interested in books on Africa, but again, mostly the history of the continent, especially in the 20th Century. Get in touch with me for more information. Most of my book reviews are also on Goodreads and Amazon.

Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die (Five Stars)

In June 1944 the Allies launched Operation Overlord, the invasion of France and the opening of the long-awaited Western Front. Waiting for them were two German armies under command of General Rommel and an incredible assortment of prepared defenses. In this book author Giles Milton takes individual stories of several of the participants, German, American, British, as well as the French civilians caught up in the maelstrom that was D-Day. We are introduced to the commanders trying to figure out what is going on, to the soldiers caught up in the Hell on the beaches, the determined paratroopers lost somewhere behind enemy lines, the pilots trying to make a difference for those on the ground, and the ordinary Frenchman who wanted to be liberated but not at the cost of his life. These stories are odd, inspiring, poignant, and horrible... occasionally all at the same time. Definitely a new classic on the D-Day landings.

Thread of the Silkworm (Five Stars)

Dr. Tsien Hsue-shen was a gifted academic, a man who rapidly reached the pinnacle of Chinese science in the early 20th Century and then went to America to continue his education. Originally trained as a steam-power engineer, Tsien rapidly showed himself to be a genius when it came to airflow physics, which in turn had ramifications in aviation and the United States' efforts in rocketry, which were paltry. He helped design American rockets BEFORE examples of the German V2 were available for study. Ms. Chang paints a portrait of a man driven by his love of science and his single-minded study of problems. Unfortunately, he ultimately chose to go to Communist China (as opposed to Nationalist China) and to give the benefit of his wisdom to a regime which would design missiles capable of reaching the United States with nuclear warheads, not to mention other weapons used against America and its allies. Well-written and illustrated with photos.

Defense of Japan 1945 (Five Stars)

By the second half of 1945 Japan was all but defeated. All that was left was a final invasion of the Home Islands by the Allied armada that was being organized offshore. The militarists who had dragged Japan into war now planned a final battle for the homeland.

In this book the coastal, antiaircraft, naval and ground defenses of Japan itself are discussed and illustrated, everything from the conventional coast artillery fortresses to the rocket-launched jet kamikazes. As usual with Osprey, the book includes excellent photos, original artwork, maps and tables which explains the evolution of Japan's home island defense plan. While hardly an in-depth book, it does serve to provide an understanding of both the fixed-defenses and the mobile defenses available to the Japanese army and navy. A neat little book on this topic!

The Battle's in the Sky (three stars)

This book primarily looks at the war experiences of Sergeant Douglas Temperly, REME. Sergeant Temperly was assigned to a Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) battery where his skills as a member of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers were sorely needed in keeping the Bofors 40mm guns in good functioning order (not to mention the battery's associated vehicles). John Kruse has done a good job with the documentation he has on Temperly himself as well as unit records and other primary sources to give us an idea of the conditions and circumstances under which the Sergeant worked in wartime. While not perhaps as glamorous as being assigned to gun duties with the Bofors and blazing away at the Luftwaffe, Temperly's role (and the many thousands of men like him) as a technician was critical to keeping those guns firing. His trials and tribulations are certainly worth noting and give us a human perspective to the struggle against Germany.

That was the "upside." The downside is that the self-publishing house did no favors to the author by allowing it to go out with the layout that it did. The book has a Table of Contents that is superfluous as the page numbers it uses do not appear on the individual pages. "Extra" material at the end of each chapter is centered between the top and bottom margins of the last page of the chapter. Topic headers are often found at the bottom of the page, with the first paragraph of the material appearing on the next page. It could be that the layout is more Kindle-friendly, but I have a copy of the printed book. There are some good contemporary photos, but several are clumped together in Appendix 2 instead of with the text.

I liked the story. I wasn't so crazy about the way the book was laid out to tell it.

Tsushima 1905: Death of a Russian Fleet (Five Stars)

The Russo-Japanese War was just one of many disasters that would overtake Russia after 1900. The Battle of Tsushima saw the destruction of some of the best ships in the Russian fleet at the hands of the Japanese, a new up-and-coming naval power in Asia. Mark Lardas does an excellent job of discussing the evolution of the confrontation, from Russia's aggressiveness in northeast Asia to Japan's decision to launch a "first strike" against the Russian Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur. He also hits important points regarding both the decrepitude that the Russian fleet sent all the way from the Baltic was suffering from and the refurbishment that the Japanese ships enjoyed at port facilities during that lengthy trip.

As always, this Osprey book has excellent maps, original artwork and contemporary illustrations as well as a narrative that does justice to this topic. It even gives information about two of the surviving ships which remain as museums: the HIJMS Mikasa (at Yokosuka) and Avrora (St. Petersburg). Mikasa is both an eye-opener as an example of a pre-dreadnought warship and as a museum about the Russo-Japanese War.

I review almost exclusively history books (with rare exceptions). I will eagerly review any book having to do with antiaircraft or air defense. I am also interested in books on Africa, but again, mostly the history of the continent, especially in the 20th Century. Get in touch with me for more information. Most of my book reviews are also on Goodreads and Amazon.

Red Star Over The Pacific: China's Rise and Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy (Five Stars)

In the past, China's military technology was not a real threat to U.S. or Soviet interests. As recently as the 1980s the People's Liberation Army was largely an infantry force,  backed by towed artillery and using MiG-15 fighters for air cover. While it possessed nuclear weapons it maintained a modest number of missiles. Its navy was primarily concerned with shore security.

Not anymore.

The People's Liberation Army Navy today is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with. It is equipped with warships bristling with anti-ship missiles and new attack submarines that are hard to detect. The PLAN is also looking at how to break out of the US-lead "containment" created by the First and Second Island Chains which it sees surrounding it.

The authors do an excellent job of studying the published works of many of China's strategic thinkers and naval theorists. The development of Chinese capabilities has coincided with new ways of looking at how to use the sea weapons they now possess and how to apply historical lessons to China's strategic situation. China has not had an ocean-going fleet for centuries, and certainly not in one in the era of screw propulsion, big guns and missiles. The authors draw parallels between China's efforts to challenge the United States in the Pacific to Imperial Germany's attempt to challenge Great Britain's mastery of the Atlantic. While there are some parallels (China, like Germany, is building a fleet with technology which renders older vessels obsolete) there are differences too, that the United States ignores at its peril.

While no means an "easy read" this book is undoubtedly important for understanding where the strategic balance lays today in the Pacific. The only fault I find in it is a lack of maps and perhaps some graphics comparing Chinese and U.S.-Allied ship capabilities.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China (Four Stars)

I prefer to have a complete history written by the same person. Rather, this one is broken down by periods and then each period is covered by a different person (or persons). This leads to different weight being given to the different periods, based upon (I'm assuming) the emphasis given by the different historians writing this.

The first couple of chapters suffered from typos... not enough to seriously distract from the text but surprising in a book from Oxford. Also, the book fails to address in the later chapters the role of the PLA in China's "economic miracle" and it's relationship to both the military complex and the economy as a whole. Indeed, even FINDING the PLA listed in the index is a chore. You wind up going to Military Forces: Communist: People's Liberation Army (PLA). Even then, it does not break it down further despite the PLA's role in the Cultural Revolution and other aspects of Communist China.

Nor does it seem interested in discussing China's expansionism: the One-Belt, One-Road (OBOR) has seen the Chinese construction of overseas facilities (most notably in Djibouti) and other projects financed through international agreements which put the smaller signatories at a disadvantage. While this does make for both easier access to raw materials for China and better access for its goods to Europe and Central Asia, it also provides possible basing for China's increasing military power projection. The book barely mentions the Spratleys and does not discuss China's claims in the South China Sea, it's construction of "new" territory to enforce those claims or its disregard for international law in this area. Indeed, "Spratleys" isn't even listed in the index.

I did learn what I wanted about the post-Cultural revolution China and also revisited the period from 1900 to the 1960s. Unfortunately, it was rather redundant in places and the emphasis on civil rights in one chapter and economics in another tiresome. The volume is well-illustrated with photographs and maps. I believe that it could have been a better book, however.

Swiss Army Knives (Four Stars)

This book gives a history of the Swiss Army Knife, the two different brands and lists of various knives by type. It was informative and well-illustrated but did not include a detailed list of each knife with their features, something which could have easily be done. Also, while the book had pictures and stories about some the attachments found on SAKs it was by no means a complete list. Finally, it doesn't really talk about things like the short-lived Swiss Flame... was it discontinued because it was impossible to fly with? Was it hard to refuel?

Still, not a bad introduction.

The Red Orchestra (Five Stars)

During WWII the USSR's GRU, in charge of military intelligence, set up clandestine transmitters throughout western Europe for communist agents to beam intelligence to the Soviet Union. The story of how the network was established and how it was unraveled by using the Gestapo, the Abwehr, and the German Army's radio detection equipment to locate the "pianists" who were tapping out coded messages to the Soviets. The story has everything: tragedy, great escapes, close calls, intriguing details, incredible characters and believable villains. If you've never heard of this spy network you should really learn about it and the role it played in WWII.

To Catch a King (Four Stars)

From the author of The Eagle Has Landed, we have story about the former king of England, marooned temporarily in Portugal and the subject of a Nazi plan to use him following the invasion of England. While I was willing to suspend belief, the man portrayed in the book is not the Duke of Windsor I have read about in other books. And his manipulation of the Nazis seems unconvincing. Still, lots of action and intrigue so it winds up being a good book.

I review almost exclusively history books (with rare exceptions). I will eagerly review any book having to do with antiaircraft or air defense. I am also interested in books on Africa, but again, mostly the history of the continent, especially in the 20th Century. Get in touch with me for more information. Most of my book reviews are also on Goodreads and Amazon.

Atomic Thunder (Three Stars)

The British were determined to become a nuclear power following the end of WWII but without the cooperation of the United States they had to "go it alone," even though the American success with the atomic bomb was at least partially due to the wartime assistance of the British. Britain created the infrastructure to make bombs but needed someplace to test them. Canada was considered, but then dropped. Australia wound up being the test site for the UK's atomic bomb.

Primarily this book is about the  "atomic colonialism" of Britain towards Australia, although Australia's political leadership seems to have helped the British enthusiastically. The writing in the book gets a bit annoying as the author seems to think that the sole purpose of detonating the bombs was to impress the world, but having watched films related to the tests it was clear that the British were also interested in scientific testing which would lead to better protective gear and civil defense measures. With that being said, there can be no doubt that the British misled the Australians concerning the last series of "non-fission" tests for the purposes of establishing safety measures to prevent accidental detonation of atomic weapons. These tests certainly created unprecedented plutonium contamination, which the British later sought to downplay.

The book is rather redundant in places and for some reason does not include photos of the tests nor of some of the key people involved in the tests.