Military Books

Major Terry's personal account of his experience in the Korean "Police Action" put color into the black and white images
many "baby-boomers" have of this war. His descriptive prose (written in the vernacular of the 50's) provides the reader with a visceral feeling of the pain and simple pleasures experienced by combat troops. This book is user-friendly with it's explanation, use and application of military jargon for readers who did not serve in the armed forces.

...that will, hopefully, serve to remind us of the committed men and women who fought and died during that awful "forgotten war" on that dirty little peninsula 50 years ago. As the child of a "Pusan Commando," I have often wondered about the war that my father was so reluctant to speak of. Mr. Terry vividly illustrates that war, and wastes no time writing eulogies or second-guessing the policies of the time. He tells of the events, and little more, in a concise manner reminiscent of Hemingway, with a down-home ease and matter-of-fact manner that is sure to drawn in the reader. This book is for the Korean War what THE LONGEST DAY was for WWII. A must read for anyone.

This first-hand account begs the ultimate question facing us today:

What if we hadn't flown in the so-called "unprepared and un-equipped Army troops from Japan to hold the Pusan perimeter? What if the ports were mined, our ships blocked by fast patrol boats and thousands of miles away? What if we had waited for ships to arrive?

The answer is the North Koreans would have over-ran the South and the U.S. would have accepted this as fait accompli. Look what we did when the Chinese Communists ran the Nationalist Chinese off to the island of Taiwan a few years earlier in 1949.

Today, this is why we have a U.S. Army 2d Infantry Division and an 8th Army Headquarters on the ground in Korea today--so America is not interdicted and forced to "cut and run" either strategically or on the battlefield where BOTH Soldiers and marines oriented to fighting a linear war had to retreat or else be encircled and annihilated by superior numbers of enemy swarming across rugged mountain/hill terrain. Today, we will stand at fight, just like the gallant men of the first Korean War did. South Korea would have been lost to Communism had it not been for U.S. Army Soldiers like Addison Terry "going as is when he was called". It was men like him who then held the Pusan perimeter for weeks so we could assemble the ships together to do General MacArthur's Inchon maneuver warfare masterpiece, cutting off the enemy deep in their own rear and retaking he capital of Seoul. However, we will not have weeks and months again in the future to do this amphibious stunt again.

The lesson of this book is that we have to have AIR-delivered U.S. Army forces ready NOW to fly to the aid of U.S. Army and AF forces already on the ground "holding the perimeter"--let's not lose sight of the fact that these kinds of forces saved the day in Korea long ago, as unready as would have like them to be in favor of allegedly better forces that cannot get there at all or in time in a world that moves by the speed of the air where surface ship wakes are seen from space and targeted by mines, missiles, patrol boats and modern diesel-electric "ultra stealthy" submarines.

The nemy thought in 1950, that he could "smash and grab" South Korea before we could get men on the ground to stop him. Men like Addison Terry proved them wrong.

Addiston Terry served with the 27th Infantry in the Korean conflict. I served in the 27th Infantry in World War II. The knowledge that we were both "Wolfhounds" led me to read the book despite the fact that my previous experiences with war reminisces even by other "Wolfhounds" had been disappointments. I was happy to find that Terry had done a great job of reporting the essencs of war. His reports of a group of poorly trained, poorly equiped and under strength Companies and Batallions is brutaly true and should be (although history says it won't) a lesson to every American Citizen that maintaining strong military ground force is a must. Terry depliction of military life with its hours of boredum and moments of sheer terror, as well as the continuning hunger and always present need for sleep are excelent. I would recomend this book to every veteran and in particula to other Wolfhounds regardless of the war in which they served.

TERRY'S BOOK IS SO good I'm at a loss to give it all the praise it deserves in the framework of a brief review. He has an engaging style of writing--cuddle up with this book in an easy chair. The description of the battles is crisp; of the lulls, languid. His honesty is touching and much like Tom Sawyer ("I cried a little bit when I covered up his face") he doesn't smother you with descriptions of casualties. You respect Terry's dignity (and that of the wounded or dying) for this brevity. He only asks that you never forget. On those few occasions where he is tempted to write a bit of an epitaph ("Able had lost a good platoon leader, I had lost....") his words get in the way.

Everybody loves Terry for his stories of battles and combat. Why? Again, he lets the story tell the story. The effect is fantastic. If you are wondering why everything suddenly falls apart at Sachon Pass [earlier that morning his men were "red hot-- an untouchable force"], well you can keep wondering because Terry doesn't know, either. As you get the sense the whole situation is slipping out of control with an NKPA roadblock behind them and the flanks crackling with encircling fire, you get just as angry as the author does when he finds an artillery battery that doesn't even have a defensive perimeter in place.

So the whole book goes. The fog of war becomes fog in the text. The words become Terry's eyes and ears, through which the soul of the drama enters the soul of the reader.

The truth is the only way we can learn from the mistakes made in the Korean War. His Haman chapter handles the issue of the 24th ID's dereliction of duty with honesty and candidness. His disgust of 'civilian bureaucrats' in Washington is justified and palpable. I might point out the swollen military brass in Japan prior to the Korean War were just as pathetic. Some things will never change.

Overall the book is an excellent read. Korean War buff's might want to brush up on Norman Allen's ITEM company saga in Knox's book PUSAN TO CHOSIN. Both Allen and Terry were near Taegu when the NKPA pushed hard in mid August. Both love artillery ("100 yards left! Drop 200! Battery 3 rounds HE, 3 rounds WP, fire for effect.") and probably would have a great tablepounding evening if they could get together and share memories.

Nice detailed reference on the battleship Arizona. Detailed history. Very useful collection of pictures. Great reference for modelers.

When the pacage arrived from Amazon, I did realise that it would be such a big book just on one Battleship! The detail for any history buff, model maker is great. A good purchase but you will need a reading table to hold it!

Mr. Stillwell has brought BB-39 to life in a way that hasn't been matched by anyone else who has attempted. His rendering of the life of the ship from her birth in the NY Navy yards to her death in the waters of Pearl Harbor is amazing in its clarity & detail.

OK, some detail might be lacking for the technical buffs but his description of the construction, manning, & day-to-day operation of a US naval vessel in the 1st half of the 20th century is superlative. He blends both the hardware & the human element so that Arizona & her crew leap off the pages as a living, breathing combination of steel & flesh.

Highly recommended for those who are interested in the Arizona herself & for anyone who would like to know many of the hows & whys of US Naval operations between the wars.

PS: Scale modelers invariably recommend "Battleship Arizona" as -the- definitive work to those who are researching details of BB-39 for their own modeling projects.

IN A NUTSHELL: AN ILLUSTRATED READER THAT INCLUDES TECHNICAL APPENDICES

One could say that the above says it all.

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT: THE LIFE & DEATH OF THE ARIZONA AND HER CREWS

In great detail, this book begins as the ship's keel is laid, [16 MARCH 1914] with a picture of FDR who was on hand as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for the ceremony. It ends with the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Included, after the end of the book, are 5 appendices that include all the information that modelers and naval history enthusiasts will be seeking.

FOR THOSE READERS THAT ARE A LITTLE IMPATIENT - -

The first seven chapters of the book is about the peacetime life aboard one of the U.S. Navy's super-dreadnoughts. It is an interesting and well illustrated historical reader.

This changes abruptly for Chapter 8, "DAY OF INFAMY" which details a basic reconstruction of the morning of December 7, 1941, as it pertains to the Battleship Arizona. Highlighted most of all are the individual acts of heroism and the selflessness of many of the crew in their desperate efforts to save their fellow crewmen, their ship and themselves. Also included is a sketch which illustrates where the damage to the ship occurred, which is a huge aid in understanding what happened so quickly to the Arizona on December 7, 1941. This is short, seemingly all too short, but one must realize that the Arizona's magazines' exploded only about 10 minutes after the attack began. 1177 men of the Arizona's crew were killed in that short time with only 337 survivors, many of whom were on leave so they were not there at the time. In other words, about 85% of the crew on-board were killed in basically ten minutes. Nevertheless, the detail is quite accurate and more importantly, easy to follow and appreciate.

Chapter 9, "AFTERMATH" is pretty gruesome in some places, but this is after all a rather gruesome real life disaster. This chapter does include the attempted salvaging of the Arizona and some stories about the men who remained on board [forever in most cases].

THE APPENDICES: HISTORIAN & MODELERS HEAVEN

- APPENDIX 1 - CHRONOLOGY from 1916 - 1941, 42 pages includes a great deal of day to day missions and events of interest.

- APPENDIX 2 - COMMANDING OFFICERS - DATES INCLUDED

- APPENDIX 3 - CREW LIST - 7 DECEMBER 1941, includes fatalities and survivors separately of both the Navy and Marine Corp. Includes summary at the end.

- APPENDIX 4 - A SAILOR'S LETTERS - SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

- APPENDIX 5 - SHIP'S DATA, include detailed specs with individual breakdown of the weights of different components of the ship [eg. armor, machinery, hull etc.] both originally and after the modernization in 1931.

Within Appendix 5 there are numerous sketches [1:600 scale] which are probably copies of the ships blueprints. These are detailed to show individual compartments and components and are labeled. The alterations that were made to the ship over time have been included. A very important addition.

BOTTOM LINE:

Paul Stillwell and "The Naval Institute Press" have another winner in this volume.

I chose to read The Illustrated History of the Battleship Arizona, written by Paul Stillwell. This is not the first book of this format that he has written The Illustrated History of the Battleship Missouri, follows the same format as well. The book started in the shipyard as the U.S.S. Arizona was being built then the author takes you through the daily routine of the ship as if you were a sailor on the great battleship. You feel as though you're in the middle of Pearl Harbor looking over the Arizona as the battle is taking place. The ship was built in 1918, and was the pride of the Pacific fleet threw out the 20's. The Arizona was featured in a Famous movie called, Here Comes the Navy. After Pearl Harbor the ship was made into a now world famous memorial.

This had been one of the best books I had ever been able to read there is so much information given on this great ship, and the pictures make the ship come alive. I would suggest this book to anyone who has an interest in ships and the way they run, or a fan of history. I have not read any other books that Paul Stillwell has written, but if they are half as good as this one I would recommend it to anyone.

It's a wonderful work. More information you will ever see anywhere. Beautiful and detailed photos that help a lot in identification. I'm enjoying so much reading it.

Like a few other military books Bayonets: An Illustrated History by great author Martin J. Brayley gives us an accurate descritpion and amazing, extensive photographic material to illustrate each and every example.
For collectors and simpatizers alike this is a book worth having in any military collection.

Written by a military photographer of 24 years' experience, Bayonets: An Illustrated History offers an in-depth examination of the role of the bayonet in military conflicts worldwide from 1650 to present. More than 500 photographs enhance Bayonets: An Illustrated History. 300 different types of bayonets are closely scrutinized; almost every photograph features a capsule of notes specific to its topic. The text, while intended more for serious military historian than the lay reader, is highly accessible as it traces the design evolutions and purposes of bayonets as history passed. A welcome contribution to military and weapon history shelves.

Written by a military photographer of 24 years' experience, Bayonets: An Illustrated History offers an in-depth examination of the role of the bayonet in military conflicts worldwide from 1650 to present. More than 500 photographs enhance Bayonets: An Illustrated History. 300 different types of bayonets are closely scrutinized; almost every photograph features a capsule of notes specific to its topic. The text, while intended more for serious military historian than the lay reader, is highly accessible as it traces the design evolutions and purposes of bayonets as history passed. A welcome contribution to military and weapon history shelves.

Photography in this book is excellent and sometimes the visuals are better than the text in aiding identification. The author points out some nuances in transitions that I had not encountered before. I felt it was worth the price and very handy as a quick reference.

The 6th Brick Maxwell adventure by Bob Gandt attempts to reach new heights and easily rocketed beyond my expectations. I won't give away the plot of Black Star Rising but it contains stealth jets, a confrontation with China and disputes over oil. It's like reading today's headlines! Another new plot, another new theater of operations, same great factual action. I don't know how you do it Bob but don't stop. Brick Maxwell is someone we can believe in. Bring him back soon!

This is a Don,t put me down novel . Greatly enjoyed all three of the authors books. Full of action and incident.

I never know quite what to expect from the devious mind of this consummate writer of military suspense. What I do know, however, is that each of Gandt's action-packed novels has proven to be even better than the one before. Who would have dared to dream, for example, that in Black Star Rising our very own military forces would join the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in defending its crucial oil resources from the marauding Republic of China. Once again, alter ego Commander Brick Maxwell transports us from the carrier deck to the killing skies as he engages his arch nemesis over land and sea. And, yes, just the right amount of earthly love and lust!

My husband reads all Gandt's books and LOVES them. Says he's one of the best aviation authors ever.

Bob Gandt's Brick Maxwell series is probably the most authentic naval aviation fiction being produced today. You even vicariously pull several "G's" as Brick's plane gets flung off the carrier's catapult or tries to roll inside his opponent -- it's that authentic. Gandt has a unique way of explaining the obscure naval term or aviator's jargon that keeps you feeling "with it" while not interfering in the slightest with the continuity of the plot.

Gandt's knowledge of contemporaneous world events and his continuous exposure to naval carrier operations help greatly in lending contemporaneous authenticity to each of his novels. Try his works -- you'll love them!

Blitz Cat is the love story of a cat and her special person. When Lord Gort, a cat, discovers her special person has left, she goes in search of him. It's WWII and he's a fighter pilot she seeks through psi trailing.

The story reveals the vulnerability a lone cat faces as she traverses across countries. People and other animals can be friends or foes. Lord Gort's determination never waivers and you cheer her through myriad adventures.

Blitz cat is a great and detailed story about a cat who runs away from home during the war to find her true owner. Along the way she meats many friends,has many kittens and brings good and BAD luck to people she meets.

This book won the "Smarty Award" for children's literature in the 9-11 year old age group. If you understand that literary awards are given for political correctness, not literary merit, you'll know what's going on

The book is actually a rattling good yarn about life on the Home Front in World War II. The only problem is that it is written from the anti-war perspective of the 1980s. As a result, it dwells excessively on the horrors of war, especially the war in the air, with great emphasis on the gruesome details of what happens to people on the ground when bombs go off:

" ... the metal was all buckled and shiny where the bullets had knocked the paint off... And red seeped from the holes. A drop fell on his hand, and he licked it and it tasted of blood... "

"... a fireman being led by two others, his face like a cooked steak and his pale eyes unseeing, rolling in all directions..."

"... in the dim light of the distant fire he saw the dried foam around [the horses'] mouths, the tiny burns and wounds from the cinders..."

"... she went up in tiny bloody morsels for the birds to eat off the trees and the telegraph wires..."

" ... the man in the road was blown into eight separate pieces; head, torso, limbs flew up like curving birds..."

Is this the kind of thing you want your nine to eleven year old reading?

I was born in London, less than 4 years after WWII ended. The war dominated my childhood. I grew up with the people who lived through the blitz. And I heard and read story after story of the heroism and courage of ordinary people. Mr Westall chooses, instead, to focus on the ugliness, on the opportunism, on the occasional inevitable breakdown of human decency. Anything to make the politically correct point that war is ugly. Evidently Nr Westall never heard of John Stuart Mill, the rather pathetic english philospher whose one great statement amongst all the rubbish he spouted was

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

Did I enjoy the book? Yes I did. Would I recommend it to mature discerning adults for a slice of reality of life on the Home Front in WWII? Of course! Would I give it to my grand kids to read? Not just "no", but "hell no!!" Not until they're in their twenties!

this book was very good. It was a compeling story of a cat named lord gort who tries to find his way home. He is many miles from home and he makes his way throught many sad and rough parts of the war. On his way he meets many people of all ages and shares his story. I would recomend this book to many people of all ages.

This is one exrodinary book. This book combines the tragedy of WWII with the humor of several odd europeans. The cat is merely another character that joins together the basic outlines of True stories. Even if you aren't a cat lover or aircraft fanatic you can still enjoy the odd (and sometimes drunken) europeans. I am not usually such a book worm, but this book has turned me into such (only for this particular book though). Though I am in only jr. high this is by no means a kids book. It will most adults guessing at the constant flow of long past and forgotten terms and phrases. Yet this book does not include the graphic descriptions often related to wartime stories. The thing that most interested me was that all the stories were based around true ones. Sam

Nazi Germany's spring offensive of 1940 opened a new chapter in warfare -- never before, in the long history of European conflict, had a victorious campaign of such magnitude (and brevity) been seen. Frieser is at pains to demonstrate that the most exhaustive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the opposing forces would not have yielded any basis for predicting such an overwhelming German victory. The book focuses on the tactical details of the "sickle cut" breakthrough in the Ardennes sector and the subsequent exploitation to the Channel coast. (The operations of Army Group B in Holland and northern Belgium barely rate a mention.) Readers will appreciate the abundance of operational and tactical-level maps (in German, of course), and Friesers combat narrative translates well. The German Army, despite deep misgivings within most of the high command, implemented and (for the most part) stuck to a superior strategic concept that was executed with great energy and outstanding tactical skill. Above all, Frieser's account pays tribute to the initiative displayed by German soldiers of all ranks. From Generals down to sergeants, this army demonstrated near-unbelievable energy, adaptability, and presence of mind throughout the campaign. It is a story well-told, with lessons that will resonate with every serious student of military history.

This is the definitive account of the campaign in France and Benelux 1940. Thoroughly researched, myth-busting, superb analysis, easy to read in spite of its academic complexity.

Oberst Karl-Heinz Frieser, an officer in the Bundeswehr and military historian, delivers a detailed and thought-provoking analysis of the Wehrmacht's 1940 campaign in the west in The Blitzkrieg Legend. Frieser sets out to strip away the hype and wartime-era propaganda about Blitzkrieg in order to establish what the Wehrmacht intended to accomplish and how it achieved one of the greatest operational-level victories in military history. The book's main focus is on Panzer Group Kleist and Guderian's corps during the crossing of the Meuse; German operations in Belgium and Holland, as well as the follow-up "Case Red" offensive into the French heartland are addressed in passing. Overall, Colonel Frieser's analysis of the decisive elements of the German campaign is first-rate, as well as his discussion of the related military theory behind the German success.

The author's main thesis is strategic in nature, namely that the Wehrmacht did not plan Case Yellow as a Blitzkrieg, but expected a long, drawn-out attritional struggle against the Anglo-French powers. While the author cites Hitler's directives before May 1940 to suggest that the campaign merely sought to achieve "a favorable position" in northeast France and Belgium, this is less than convincing. Since the author makes little effort to examine German industrial mobilization other than eschewing the notion of a "Blitzkrieg economy", he does not really examine whether Germany was in fact, preparing for a long war. Based upon German production of tanks, artillery, aircraft and U-Boats, it does not appear that the Third Reich was preparing for an attritional war with the Allies. Although Hitler's deal with Stalin and his invasion of Norway do suggest that Hitler was protecting Germany's access to raw materials, the level of military mobilization in 1940 was far below what Germany was capable of achieving. The author also concludes that the campaign was decided by military factors, not social or ideological factors. He says that French generals later tried to use problems of the Third Republic to conceal their own ineptitude, but the poor morale of French troops in May 1940 was clearly widespread. Thus, the author's strategic-level hypothesis is rather weak.

The author is on much surer ground on his assessment of the operational-level factors behind the campaign. Colonel Freiser cites three developments in operational art that laid the foundations for Blitzkrieg: the overcoming of linear thinking of the First World War and the willingness to embrace risky, non-linear operations; the refinement of the stosstruppen tactics of 1917-18 and their adoption by mechanized forces; and the emphasis on schwerpunkt, breakthrough, encirclement and pursuit. The Blitzkrieg outcome in 1940 was a fortuitous result of the convergence of three factors in Germany's favor: better use of technology (communications and mechanization), air superiority and the superior German Auftragstsktik methods. Three specific factors added to the scale of the German victory: the abysmal state of French command and control deprived them of any chance of seizing the initiative; Gamelin's faulty Dyle-Breda plan wasted the French reserves on an useless effort to link up with the Dutch; and German commanders like Rommel committed unauthorized advances that were unpredictable and hence, led to a catastrophic French collapse.

The campaign narrative on the critical period of 10-25 May 1940 is superb and well supported by 48 color maps. This volume clearly surpasses works like Horne's To Lose a Battle in terms of detail and tactical insight. The description of the assault crossing of the Meuse, Guderian's decision to exploit westward and the subsequent destruction of the French armored reserves is superb. Although the author's viewpoint is German, there is still a great deal of new information presented about French operations. For example, the author notes how the French Air Force was underutilized, with one fighter wing sitting in reserve for virtually the entire campaign. In the final stages of the campaign, the author discusses the panzer halt order at great length, concluding that von Rundstedt and not Hitler, was primarily to blame. Throughout the book, the author notes the clash between the conservatives like Halder, Kluge and von Rundstedt who wanted to slow the panzers and the extremists like Guderian and Rommel, who ignored risks. I think the author's easy dismissal of the "flank psychosis" that caused the panzer halt is a bit retrospective, because it certainly must have been very hard to believe that one million Allied soldiers would simply sit there and allow themselves to be surrounded.

The author also discusses the various factors that led to the German failure to close the trap at Dunkirk, thereby allowing the BEF to escape. He then concludes that the escape of the BEF transformed the success of `sickle cut' into an "ordinary operational victory." He concludes that despite victory in France, Germany could not win against the superior economic resources of the Allies and that, "the panzer operations of the German blitzkrieg were very much like jousting against the windmills of superior industrial potentials." This is a bit much to swallow. I suppose that it is now politically incorrect for a German author to even suggest that the Third Reich might have achieved victory if Hitler had only been able to settle for something less than world domination, but the fact of the matter is that England alone could not possibly have defeated Germany. The quick German victory in the West cut the Allied powers down from 4 to only 1 and while Britain had significant air and sea potential, it had no ability on its own to contest Germany's continental power. Even with US involvement, all that industrial potential could only come ashore in France a few divisions at a time, and as long as Hitler kept the war confined to only England, Germany had hope for a win or draw. It was the invasion of the Soviet Union that changed the equation against Germany.

This is an excellent study of the 1940 blitzkrieg campaign in Western Europe and looks at the struggle of the German High Command to adopt the brilliant "sickle cut plan" when they themselves were expecting a long drawn out war and then looks how the campaign unfolded in depth. The book examines how the German victory came about even though the German forces were outnumbered and also contained in some instances inferior equipment e.g. the panzer divisions contained mainly inferior tanks of panzer pzkpfwIs & pzkpfwIIs.

The German advantages however lay in their ability to co-ordinate all arms in their arsenal e.g. airpower, armour, infantry and the German personnel on the battlefield were able to make quick decisions in the field and were always conscious of time and pushed onto their objectives. The author relates this ability to quickly react to the German training in that the German command gave out objectives and missions, but the way in how these were to be achieved was largely up to the individual officers in the front lines. It was also the unauthorised actions of commanders like Guderian and Rommel by relentlessly pushing forward with their panzers and outstripping the supporting infantry that caught both the German and Allied commands of guard. The French & Allied way was to wait for orders but once received they were generally hopelessly out of date, and time and again opportunities to launch effective counter attacks were wasted. The French Command was slow to react, unable to coordinate all arms and could not organise an effective counter attack at the operational level, they could only achieve this at a tactical level.

The author examines how the Germans came out victorious even though they contained large numbers of inferior tanks. The Germans achieved this by concentrating their armour in panzer divisions adhering to Guderians concept of "punching with the fist and not feeling with the fingers". The French tanks were superior in armour and firepower but lacked radio and had small fuel tanks. The French were constantly stopping to refuel from fuel trucks whereas the Germans tried to alleviate this by carrying fuel in jerry cans with them. The German tanks contained radio that enabled crews to better coordinate their attacks and gave them the edge. When the French did manage to mass their tanks it was in a linear fashion with no depth and the Germans were easily able to penetrate. Once the French lines were penetrated and the Germans raced on and reached the French rear areas, panic ensued and the French front virtually collapsed.

The author points out the French Command incorrectly assessed the Ardennes as impassable by armour, neglected the Sedan sector through lack of mines & incomplete bunkers and ignored reconnaissance reports of German movements and of course were far too slow to react. Also, the French airforce was not very effective because a long drawn out war was expected and therefore only a portion of available aircraft were committed.

This is indeed an interesting and well researched book and highly recommended.

This book is both an analysis of whether the campaign in France in 1940 was planned as a "blitzkrieg" and a rather good account of the campaign itself.

The author very convincingly demonstrates that the Germans in general (and Hitler in particular) did not plan the French campaign as a blitzkrieg-style attack. While the high command's conservative plans resembled a revamp of WWI plans, a few new-style officers--principally Manstein and Guderian--came up with and convinced Hitler to authorize the daring plan to attack through Sedan. The campaign would have been an even greater success if Hitler and the senior generals had not lost their nerve and continually reined-in the panzers. In any event, all the German generals were a bit stunned by the quick victory. The author concludes by saying that France was an "unplanned but successful blitzkrieg, while Russia was a planned but unsuccessful blitzkrieg."

The book is also an excellent account of the campaign, and points out many interesting facts, such as:
--the French supreme headquarters was not equipped with a single radio at the outbreak of the war;
--another senior headquarters had a single telephone line, which became inoperable every day betwee 12:00 and 14:00 while the battle was raging because the swithboard girl insisted on her lunch break;
--at the outbreak of the war, the Germans had twelve times more trained radio operators than the French army;
--while the superiority of many French tank models over the German panzers is rather well known, the author recounts an incident in which a panzer commander grew so frustrated that his panzer could not damage a nearby French tank that he dismounted and attacked it (unsuccessfully and with fatal results) with a hammer.

Meticulously sourced, well written, great book. My only quibble is the rather excessive use of the word "astonishing"...

I read this book, here in Brazil.This book is full of correct things, and I must tell you, that this book isn't very biased or ridiculous.This book even has some appendixes about bombers, losts e even one appendix with a letter.
Failures of this book are small.The biggest of them is the fact, that this book has almost nothing, about american bombers and its results.
Even so, this book is good.To example, on page 350 , the author writes:"The two great archivements of the allied strategic air offensive must be conceded to the Americans:the defeat of the Luftwaffe by the Mustang escort-fighter, and the inception of the deadly oil offensive."The British inflicted grevious injurious upon us,'said Milch after the war, 'but the Americans stabbed us to the heart.'

Bomber Command is a great book if you want to know about how bad war can be, and should be read by anyone that thinks there is some glory in war. However, the conclusion drawn by Jerry Saperstein, "as Hastings notes, there was no such thing as an innocent German civilian" is not supported by the text, and is full of hate, and is obnoxious. The statement apparently relates to the rationalization of "strategic" bombing that England the USA chose as being less expensive in US/UK lives, even if more expensive in civilian lives. In fact, at the start of WWII, bombers only got 10% of all loads withing fifty miles of the target, so setting cities on fire and then bombing them made targets that the bombers could find. The rational was that people who live in cities go to work in factories that either produce weapons or produce food, or electricity; something that supports the war effort. If this means that every German was guilty of war crimes, consider these two parallels: (1) Recently Hizboallah was accused by Amnesty International of war crime for firing rockets and aiming some of them cities (Hizbollah did kill more Israeli soldiers than civilians, so they were MUCH better than the British and US in WWII), (2) in August and September (2006) Israeli troops killed 37 children under 18 in Palestinian territory (Gaza, mostly), supported my weapons made in the USA, and by a huge amount of foreign aid from the USA. If Saperstein is correct, every Israeli, every Jew, and every American is guilty of killing each of those children (one was a young boy, killed while playing his own yard. The killing was followed by a call to his parents from Israel telling them to get out of their home). If we are all guilty of shooting children, I want out. Had any number like that of Israeli children been killed, certainly Mr. Saperstein would have found all Palestinians guilty, and it would justify taking more land from them. The facts are, you are responsible only for those things that you can change, millions of Jews/Israelis want Israel to implement UN Security Council Resolution 242, and every German knew that those who stood up the Hitler were soon killed. "Bomber Command" shows, as the war in Iraq has, that a few politicians can make huge decisions without the public even being told the facts, but the public will pay the price, even when they have no control over the actions. Guilt is not something that one person (even a writer) determines, and we have rightly condemned the German army for collective punishment for shooting civilians when they could not find partisans, a lesson we all need to appreciate.

Bomber Command is a great read, full of facts that will amaze you by their brutality, but any theory of common guilt was a rationalization to support collective punishment, just as Israel has recently done to Lebanon. Just as the bombing did not work in Lebanon, it did not work in Germany. Destroying people's homes does not make them stop supporting war, it leaves them with no alternative but fighting. If you are a war buff, or just want to know why Churchill put off invading Europe for so long, this is a must buy.

It is simple really to understand. The Germans started the war, enslaved milllions, killed multi-millions, displaced millions, experimented on thousands and euthanized thousands. Why are the apoligists 60 years later saying that we should not have bombed German cities back to the stone age? In the context of that era what other resolution could there have been? Innocents on both sides were slaughtered.

First of all, it is easy to see how this work won the 1980 Somerset Maugham Award for Non-Fiction. I was totally riveted throughout. After reading the book in nearly one sitting, I felt exhausted and numb. The book is an indictment against the entire theory of strategic bombing in WWII and the wholesale slaughter of civilians specifically. While Max Hastings devotes much time to "Bomber" Harris who conducted the night-air campaign without reflection or apologies, his sharpest barbs are for those politicians (Churchill included) and senior military planners that made policy. These hid behind an unspoken but widely understood policy that wide-area terror bombing was the only avenue available to Bomber Command for most of the war but refused to discuss the subject honestly in the public arena in the hopes that they could maintain some sense of moral superiority over their enemy. Hastings also correlates Bomber Command's policy and operations with that of the USAAF, who he writes also hid behind a pretense that collateral casualties were a regrettable but unavoidable tragedy of war. Of course the hypocrisy of this position was laid bare following the continued slaughter of unprotected German cities in 1945 long after everyone knew that the bombing would make no difference to the outcome or even pace of the war, it became bombing just for bombing's sake, or in the case of Dresden, showing the Soviets what Anglo-American air power could do; slaughtering refugees fleeing from the advancing Soviet horde. In fact, the Associated Press reported in February 1945 that the Allied Air Chiefs had embarked on a terror campaign against the German civilian population, but Hastings points out that this news scoop was 3 years late (it had of course been policy soon after the British realized they could not hit specific targets at night). The most mind numbing account is late in the book in which Hastings describes in detail the bombing of Darmstadt. The Allied armies were within 100 miles of Darmstadt and the civilians were under the mistaken impression that they would be spared. In September 1944 Bomber Command made Darmstadt its next target for destruction. As Hastings makes the point, the horror is not that the attack was particularly special or difficult, it was the routine of it all that made it so terrible. The entire process reminds me of the banal evil more often associated with the murder of the Jews; being led into the concentration camps were "the system" would process and prepare them for organized and efficient death. Such was the case of German cities by late 1944. The Luftwaffe had nearly run out of aviation fuel and could only put up a meaningful defense on occasion. The Anglo-American armies had overrun the Luftwaffe's radar belts, so even when fuel was available, the Luftwaffe night-fighters could receive no warnings or directions. The "system" identified a German city for destruction, the bombers went up, everyone did their job and went home. Numbers were difficult to come by, but perhaps 10,000 died in that raid. 1 out of every 5 was a child under 16. 1.81 women for every man (at this stage of the war most men away from the war fronts were elderly). The casualties inflicted upon the citizens of Darmstadt were less than that of many larger German cities, but demonstrates that no German city regardless of size or importance was immune to terror bombing. In fact, Hastings describes how several German cities were identified for destruction not because they contributed to the German war effort, but because they could be easily destroyed, as in the case of medieval cities with a preponderance of wooden housing. Hastings describes the eventual unspoken shame that the wholesale slaughter of the German civilian population left in the minds of the British royalty and government. After the war, Churchill tried his best to distance himself from it and declined to secure a peerage for "Bomber" Harris (a reward given to many with lesser responsibilities). The Bomber Command aircrew were not awarded a Campaign Medal, though the Luftwaffe night-fighters and flak crews inflicted between 72,000-73,000 casualties on British Bomber Command alone. "Bomber" Harris himself emigrated with his family to South Africa soon after the war, shunned by those that used him to conduct their own policies. Hastings makes clear that nobody wanted to take credit for the terror bombing policies of Bomber Command after the smoke of WWII cleared. Hastings does not fault the young aircrew themselves and has nothing but admiration for them. Even so, during his research for the book, he interviews a surviving pilot who became a teacher after the war. The former Bomber Command pilot asks Hastings if others he interviewed complained of nightmares. Perhaps something for the young to think about the next time their government orders then to bomb civilians. Does a state of war really justify the killing of defenseless civilians? Does it really matter that the other side did it first (though in fact many give credit to Churchill for having a German city bombed first in the hopes of redirecting Luftwaffe focus from the RAF airfields to British cities, giving the RAF a new lease on life at the height of the Battle of Britain. This strategy proved successful). Regardless who bombed who first, can killing nearly a million German (and thousands of French) civilians be morally justified? There seems no doubt that the western Allies gave up much of the moral superiority they seem so fond of taking for granted. The biggest irony of all is a point Hastings makes again and again, would not the war have been conducted more efficiently had the resources lavishly spent on Bomber Command been used to assist the British armies and Royal Navy instead? The morale of the German civilian population and their industrial production levels never faltered throughout the day (USAAF) and night (Bomber Command) bombings, only when the German war machine ran out of manpower and fuel did Hitler's armies finally fall back and eventually become overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers. It seems quite probable that the horrors unleashed on the civilian populations did little to actually win the war.

In this era of political correctness and "sensitivity," it may strike many as repulsive that hundreds of thousands of German civilians were the target of tons of bombs night after night from British aircraft. But the reality is that the campaign was intended to terrorize the German populaion into demanding that their leadership end the barbarous war they started. Ultimately, as Hastings notes, there was no such thing as an innocent German civilian. Each in their own way contributed or supported the slaughter and enslavement of millions by German soldiers and bureaucrats.

Hasting's contribution is to strip the British effort down to its barest essentials: its beginnings as the only effort the otherwise defeated and defenseless British could muster to the excesses of the bombing in the last few months of the war when almost everythng that could be destroyed had been destroyed.

Hasting has a wonderful approach, weaving general history into individual stories of the bombers, the planners, the civilians and soldiers.

For everyone with an interest in accurate history, "Bomber Command" is essential reading.

Jerry

The book written by the samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi circa 1645 is considered a classic treatise on military strategy, and it enjoys an audience considerably broader than only that of martial artists: for instance, some business leaders find its discussion of conflict and taking the advantage to be relevant to their work.

The term "Ichi School", which is referred to in the book, Go Rin No Sho, when referring to such books, refers to "Niten No Ichi Ryu", or "Ni Ten Ichi Ryu", which literally translated, means "Two Swords, one heaven".

Throughout the book it is clear: what is primary for Musashi is The Goal, while the means of achieving the goal are secondary. He wrote "According to this Ichi school, you can win with a long weapon, and yet you can also win with a short weapon. In short, the Way of the Ichi school is the spirit of winning, whatever the weapon and whatever its size."

The same is in business: the leaders who are attracted by the goal rather than by embellishments are the true leaders. For example, the dot-com bubble of 2000 was caused by the managers who forgot about the primary goal of the business: net income. Those who were obsessed by their stock prices regarding of massive losses and the lack of revenue became bankrupt. They put attention to the fancy office buildings and furniture rather than to the assets that generate earning. Musashi wrote about it: "Just as a horse must have endurance and no defects, so it is with weapons. Horses should walk strongly, and swords and companion swords should cut strongly. Spears and halberds must stand up to heavy use: bows and guns must be sturdy. Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative".

Musashi also encourages to maintain a balance of your skills throughout your life. This balance could be thought of as Yin and Yang. The balance is to be neither over-familiar with something nor under-familiar. The over-familiarity or over-use of one weapon is not recommended by Musashi, as it would be seen to reveal your spirituality to your enemy, and thus your boisterousness, or over-calm. The over-familiarity makes you stick to a conviction. This is a very important for the business. Take, for example, mr. Warren Buffet.

A quality standing out about Mr. Buffett is his ability to morph. If you read his materials from the 1960s, he said very different things than in the 1970s and early-1980s. Early on he was buying dirt-cheap stocks by simple statistical standards and typically smaller stocks (smallcap), later he bought "franchises", then he entered a period of buying great managements of big companies and being a long-term holder, then, amazingly, he was buying smaller things dirt cheap again just as value came back into play as the twenty-first century began. He tactically morphed steadily over the decades. Trying to freeze his tactics from any decade and replicate them in the next few would never have led you to his actual actions. Musashi wrote about that this way: "You should not have a favourite weapon. To become over-familiar with one weapon is as much a fault as not knowing it sufficiently well. You should not copy others, but use weapons which you can handle properly. It is bad for commanders and troops to have likes and dislikes."

Haven't read it yet, but looking forward to reading both of the books within the text as it is. Thanks

The Book of Five Rings is similar to Sun Tzu Art of War in that is discusses strategy, fighting, and competition from a combat perspective. The book is small in size and easy for reading while traveling. While references can found that comment this is as a book for management, it is still very much a book about combat and the samurai warrior. Interesting nontheless.

Musashi, like every great warrior, knew that strategy was as important as tactics and techniques in combat. This book will teach you things that were learned in combat and will enhance your survival potential on the battlefield, street and life.

It is not the easiest book to interpret and understand, but that hardly matters, as for the information in this book is worth your time and effort. One good book is worth a hundred crummy ones, and this book is one outstanding book. This book is divided into various distinct sections, and the serious and professional warrior should extract as much information as possible from each section. Every time I pick this book up I learn something new. This is the warrior's bible.

I highly recommend this book to all readers.

This really is a great book. It contains a philosophical outlook on dealing with people and sword fighting/combat from hundreds of years ago, but it really translates very well into today's modern business world. Everyone could learn something from this old samurai who lived in 18th century. I highly recommend this book and the book Understanding: Train of Thought to everyone.

Awesome. Imagine trapped 200 miles in Iraq, pursued by the enemy and no place to hide. "Mcnabb" captures the true essence of combat mission accomplishment, even when things don't go as planned. It's written to make the reader feel like he is the 9th member of the team. Highly recommended!

RR

Bravo 20 was a British special forces unit sent deep into Iraq during Desert Storm. Compromised by faulty intelligence, faulty radios and an unexpected enemy force, they were forced to attempt an overland escape across Iraq in the middle of a war.


The author has done a great job of capturing the essence of the SAS, one of a few true elite combat units in the world. The fact that he can write the story in the first person adds to the tension. The adventure is a great story and a reality check for those who thought that the electronic age ended the fog of war. For those tired of a world where self esteem is taught in classes as a substitute for competence and performance this is the perfect cure.

I thought the book was much more infomative and dramatic than the movie.

Not a bad read at all... I enjoy a rough & tough action novel, fiction or factual, but this book was excellent, I found myself ingrossed in every turning page, would highly recommend this book along with such titles as 'The operators' & 'Bandit Country'... Keep it real!

A TRUE ACCOUNT OF SAS MEN DURING THE GULF WAR THE MISSION AND WHAT WENT WRONG TORTURE BY IRAQS SECRET POLICE SO MUCH FOR THE GENEVA CONVENTION DEEPLY SAD AND FUNNY LOOK OUT FOR A BBC VIDEO STARING SEAN BEAN

The start is a bit dry, but soon the action starts and never stops until the last page. You will never put it down until you are done, guaranteed. You want to know who the real heroes are, just read this book and you'll see. Its the men, and sometimes women, who put there lives on the line like these guys did and sometimes have there families and health ruined because of it. Start reading and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Brennan's war is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is such an amazing story that you occasionally think it is fictional. The military accomplishments of his unit are also impressive. It makes you wonder why the US leadership did not make these practices more widespread. I have read this several times and keep coming back to it.

This book is a good read. It's interesting and well-written. I also like the fact that events and people in the book are plausible and reflect my own experiences of the war and Vietnam. In short, the book is pretty good entertainment. On the other-hand I tend to be impatient with "Tortured Warriors" filled with angst about their experiences in the war, and Mr.Brennan treats us to a full ration of his angst and self-pity. Bucko? You volunteered for it 3 times! Edit out the whining and it's 5 stars.

The quintessential combat memoir of the Vietnam War. Brennan's book is well written and he succeeds in creating gripping and vivid descriptions of combat from a soldier's perspective. This superb narrative conveys the fear and horror of combat along with shared humor and love felt among comrades. Brennan's honesty prevents him from romanticizing either his fellow soldiers, or the Vietnamese they are ever wary of, but he is able to humanize those trapped in a dehumanizing crucible. His multiple tours in Vietnam bridge the time before and after the 1968 Tet offensive, which became a turning point in the War. Upon receiving a commission and returning to Vietnam he found that mostly unmotivated and apathetic draftees gradually replaced the highly motivated professional soldiers he served with in his first tour, mirroring the larger erosion of the American military in Vietnam. His weary realization that the War will be lost and that all the sacrifices he witnessed will be squandered is both sobering and tragic. Along with Goodbye Darkness, this is a classic American war memoir.

I read this book at least once every year. My primary field of study is the history of the 1st and 2nd Indochina Wars, and I have read literally hundreds of books about those conflicts. "Brennan's War" is one of the three best (the others are Jim Morris' "War Story" and John Cook's "The Advisor"; incidentally, I would make it a four way tie with David Hackworth's "About Face", but the latter covers a much greater period of time- roughly 1946 to 1971- and therefore it is not an apt comparison.). A cousin of one of my friends served in the 1st Cav. Div. in 1970 or 1971, and he said that Brennan was essentially worshiped as a living legend by many soldiers then in the division. Without recourse to cliches like "gripping narrative" etc., let me just say that if you want to understand what it was like to serve as a combat infantryman in Viet Nam, "Brennan's War" is about as close as any of us who were not there are going to get...

Dimestore Liam

I have read this book at least 20 times. The story never fails to amaze me.