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.Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 1944--45

by: Max Hastings

October 01, 2008
At the Winchester Festival, reviewing his book, Hastings made a misguided and alarming remark, "that the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, other than Taranto Raid, played no significant part in WW2". It is therefore no wonder that he has omitted to include in his book the British Pacific Forces's successful attack on the Japanese oil refineries at Palembang (Java) in January 1945. Four British fleet carriers with 244 aircraft embarked disabled the refineries that were supplying Japan precious aviation fuel. Glancing through the book Hastings does not do justice to the Royal Navy in the Far East during 1944-45 period, until he educates himselve on the Fleet Air Arm's war effort, I will stay clear of his books. Question for you Max, which allied torpedo ... Read More:
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.Italy's Sorrow: A Year of War 1944-45

by: James Holland

March 03, 2008
James Holland's generosity of spirit and indefatiguable labour has created one of the best general histories I've read recently--and there's a lot of stiff competition about. As well as using writen sources, Holland personally interviewed survivors from all sides of the conflict; Germans, Poles, Canadians, Britons, Americans, Italian partisans and fascists. These accounts give a vivid picture of the heroism and brutality of war, and instil a sense of sympathy for (almost) all of the participants. Their stories are skillfully blended into the larger narrative, which explains what happened, and why the major players (Alexander, Mark Clark, Kesselring, Churchill, Roosevelt, Mussolini, etc) made crucial decisions. Holland is immenently fair-minded; the controversy ... Read More:
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.Hitler's Empire: Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe (Allen Lane History)

by: Mark Mazower

June 05, 2008
This is an excellent book, with a qualifying 'but'. If you want to understand the dynamic of 'Hitlers Empire', how it developed and collapsed, and the details of its particular favour of genocidal gangsterism, then this will satisfy all the curiosity you have, and then some. My only complain about the main content is that it is a bit short on personalities (though this may be an unavoidable problem - the focus of the book is, after all, on process and governance). You get little real feel for the _people_ who did all this. Mazower does not mention anyone having nightmares, or developing a drink problem (lots of people are mentioned as having drinking problems, but only for the usual, soap-opera sort of reasons, not because of a day job in the mass murder business), ... Read More:
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.The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War

by: David Halberstam

August 01, 2008
This is an excellent book, with a qualifying 'but'. If you want to understand the dynamic of 'Hitlers Empire', how it developed and collapsed, and the details of its particular favour of genocidal gangsterism, then this will satisfy all the curiosity you have, and then some. My only complain about the main content is that it is a bit short on personalities (though this may be an unavoidable problem - the focus of the book is, after all, on process and governance). You get little real feel for the _people_ who did all this. Mazower does not mention anyone having nightmares, or developing a drink problem (lots of people are mentioned as having drinking problems, but only for the usual, soap-opera sort of reasons, not because of a day job in the mass murder business), ... Read More:
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.The Greatest Battle: The Battle for Moscow, 1941-2

by: Andrew Nagorski

September 01, 2007
Anton Chekhov was certainly prophetic when he wrote that line, perhaps no more so than in connection with the titanic clash between the USSR's Red Army and Germany's Wehrmacht in the opening months of the war on the east front in 1941/1942. Andrew Nagorski's "The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow that Changed the Course of World War II" is a compelling, well-written examination of an epic and bloody battle for survival.

Winston Churchill once wrote that "history is written by the victors". Nagorski takes the view here that sometimes history also is not written by the victors when that history doesn't serve the victor's purposes. At the outset of the "Greatest Battle" Nagorski points out that while much has been written ... Read More:
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.Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War

by: Chris Bellamy

April 04, 2008
Good: A thorough presentation of the events leading to war, and the ideologies and personalities involved. A good overview to non-initiated. Although there are other books written with similar reach, most of them have been written before the opening of Soviet archives and are thus deprived of some important sources.

Bad: A somewhat chatty writing style, not very useful maps. A couple of gross factual errors regarding the Finnish participation in the conflict left me doubting the accuracy of the entire book. Bellamy takes the estimate of Finnish casualties in the Winter War from Soviet sources, and based on that hardly neutral source he claims that almost twice as many Finns were killed in that war as very thorough Finnish official statistics say (Russians say ... Read More:
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.Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940-1945

by: Patrick Bishop

March 03, 2008
It is very easy to lament the work done by Bomber Command in the mid to end years of the Second World War in Europe. This book does just that. But it also delves into the hearts of those who flew the bombers, the emotions of those who let loose the bomb doors, the feelings of those who shot at night-fighters. And the book's great achievement is in presenting a view that not only helps us understand the great personal sacrifice these men made, but the even greater emotional sacrifice they have suffered since the end of the war.
With some glaring grammatical mistakes, the book's editors should be sacked, but all in all, this is a highly endearing yet incisive account of one of the ugliest aspects of war, yet an aspect that greatly hastened the end of the suffering of Europe. ... Read More:
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.The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919

by: Mark Thompson

September 04, 2008
In the UK, were are taught about the First World War. We are taught about the trenches, the slaughter and the waste. Mostly, were are taught about the British and Commonwealth soldier's experience on the Western Front. 'The White War' teaches the English reader about what they are not taught - the Italian/Austrian front.

After declaring war on Austria-Hungary for dubious territorial reasons, Italy sent hundreds of thousands of men to their deaths on the rocks of Carso near Trieste. Men, indeed, who were most likely to be peasants from places such as Calabria in the south, who barely had the vaguest idea of 'Italy' or what they were ordered to fight for. Thomson details the grim experience and grimmer treatment of these men from their superiors. The Commander-in-Chief of the Italian ... Read More:
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.Fusiliers: How the British Army Lost America but Learned to Fight

by: Mark Urban

May 15, 2008
The author has a depth of knowledge of events which are enlightening and entertaining. Much effort appears to have gone into unearthing contemporary accounts giving a refreshing and unbiased view of events with a ring of truth about them unlike the standard texts which can be misleading generalisations. Well worth the money, not only for a gripping read as well as an historical record .
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.The Germans in Normandy

by: Richard Hargreaves

September 21, 2006
As a professional battlefield Guide I am always searching for information on the German `enemy' as too often history (as ever) is told by the victors. This is a very good addition to the view from the other side and gives a comprehensive insight into tactical and operational considerations in Normandy (strategic being necessarily a matter for Berlin).
The main focus is on the situation in 1944 and as well as including many invaluable personal accounts of individual soldiers, gives us the command problems of the senior officers. The fallacy that the Atlantic Wall could be adequatly defended by second rate garrison troops when a key component of the defence plan was to deny the landings on the beaches, is clearly shown in the frustrations of the local commanders. That the German Landser fought as well as he ... Read More:
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