Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

A Good Book with a Few Flaws.
A very informative book with many facts on US railroads during WWII. The only thing I didn't like about this book is that most of the pictures used in the book were not from the WWII era. Photography of railroads during WWII was not allowed, which made pictures of trains during that time scarce, but there are still many quality photographs taken during that era that could have been used. The captions describing the photos were vague and inaccurate and became distracting. This book would have been good without the pictures at all.

Recommended! Tells about the part railroads played in WWII
This book is a wonderful pictorial review of the U.S. railroads during World War II. Tells about the part the railroads played in the movement of men and materials, the efforts and cooperation of the railroads duringthese trying times following the Depression. Has lots of photos, a vividstory, maps of the rail lines, and even shows some of the newspaper andmagazine advertising. Highly recommended for anyone interested in WWII andrailroads. ... Read more

Product Description
Drawing on U.S. government reports, interrogation reports of Japanese officers, ship action reports and secondary sources, this book details more than 400 kamikaze attacks by Japanese aircraft, manned torpedoes, suicide boats and suicide swimmers against U.S. ships during World War II. Part One focuses on the traditions, development and history of the kamikazes, including the origins of the samurai class and its ethos, the development of kamikaze aircraft and watercraft, and the indoctrination of children in the Japanese school system. Part Two details the kamikaze attacks on ships in the waters around the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Taiwan, Okinawa and Japan. Appendices list all of the U.S. ships suffering kamikaze attacks along with casualty figures, outlines and silhouettes of various U.S. ships involved in kamikaze attacks, and silhouettes of Japanese kamikaze aircraft. ... Read more

Product Description
Operations research grew out of the application of the scientific method to certain problems of war during World War II. This book tells the story of how operations research became an important activity in the Eighth Air Force. The author emphasizes the people involved in these historical events, rather than the technical matters with which they dealt. Focusing on a time of great importance in the history of this century, the book reveals the vital role this group of civilian scientists played in the defeat of Germany. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

T-34:The most important tank ever produced
I read this short, concise and full of photos(all black & white), here in Brazil.
With a short introduction and some chapters, this book remains a good choice to read, as a short introduction about T-34.This soviet/russian tank was the easily the best tank in the world, when it was created in 1939 and put into use, in 1940.
Failure of this book is that it couldn't show the use of this tank after 1970, when it was printed and has almost nothing, about the lack of space and confort of this strong tank.
Such as Ak-47, the T-34 was ugly and crude, but it was easy to produce and stronger in mobility, protection and firepower.In this book germans claims that in 1941 and 1942, they hadn't nothing comparable to the T-34. ... Read more

Product Description
The book contains nine short stories dealing with different aspects of life during World War II. Included is the remarkable survival story of future US President J F Kennedy, the story of the dambusters and a plotted assassination attempt on Hitler. Complete with glossary, further reading section and index. ... Read more

Product Description
The Tank Killers is the story of the American Tank Destroyer Force in North Africa, Italy, and the European Theater during World War II. The tank destroyer (TD) was a bold-if some would say flawed-answer to the challenge posed by the seemingly unstoppable German blitzkrieg. The TD was conceived to be light and fast enough to outmaneuver panzer forces and go where tanks could not. At the same time, the TD would wield the firepower needed to kill any German tank on the battlefield. Indeed, American doctrine stipulated that TDs would fight tanks, while American tanks would concentrate on achieving and exploiting breakthroughs of enemy lines.

Customer Reviews (14)

Excellent
As a former Armor officer I found this to be an excellent book regarding a subject that is often overlooked in the study of WWII.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the study of armored warfare in WWII.

Tank Killers
While the subject was interestering, I found that I had a hard time keeping my interest in that I found the writing style to be shallow and dull.I have read other books by the author and found them much more interesting.Just an OK read.

Seek, Strike and Destroy
Like Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle, the U.S. Army was rudely awakened from twenty years of deep sleep by Hitler's noisy blitzkrieg victories in Poland and France. With no available ground weapon to counter the feared panzers, Army visionary General Lesley McNair was soon pushing for a unique new deterrent -- the tank destroyer (TD).

In his new book, veteran military writer Harry Yeide, also the author of Steeds of Steel: A History of American Mechanized Cavalry in World War II, gives us an informative broad history of the tank destroyer force, and a "representative look into the world of the men who fought in the TD battalions."This book is not your typical dry academic slog.Written in a clear prose, "The Tank Killers" is a fast paced, entertaining read, told in many voices.Mr. Yeide is wise enough to allow his subjects to tell their own stories.The author's disjointed narrative mirrors his principal sourcing -- unevenly written after-action reports and TD battalion histories.

Unsure how to organize the new tank destroyer force, purists dictated that the destruction of enemy tanks, operating in mass, more or less independently of infantry and artillery would be the sole mission of the new TD.

The army's brain trust believed that tank destroyer battalions would operate as mobile reserves and not as part of the front line defense.Large TD forces would swarm to the point of an attack and maneuver to strike at the enemy's flanks -- preferably from ambush.The enemy would be located by reconnaissance and TD firing positions quickly established.However, Mr. Yeide argues, this doctrine "utterly missed the realities of combined-arms warfare."

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. -- in part to please the thrifty Congress -- lobbyists announced, "One good tank destroyer can be produced for materially less than the cost of a tank, and in far less time and with less critical materials."

Not everyone in the army was on board with the new TD program.General George Patton argued that the tank destroyer "was destined to become nothing but another tank."

Two types of TD's were sent to North Africa for the U.S. Army's initial action against the Axis.The first was the M3 half track -- rightfully nicknamed: 'Purple Heart Box' -- mounting a 75mm cannon.The M3 performed fairly well in North Africa, especially as highly mobile field artillery.All to often, M3's were sent to lead the attack.

The M6 sported a copied German 37mm anti-tank gun hurriedly mounted in the back of a Dodge weapons carrier.In combat, the M6's gun was quickly found to be totally ineffective against German panzers and its crew completely vulnerable.

Several problems with TD operations were soon realized.Field commanders "tended to order TD's to expose themselves recklessly to enemy fire instead of relying on concealment and surprise. Tank destroyers were often assigned to missions for which they were not suited."

Eager officers often ordered TD's to charge German tanks in the heat of battle instead of relying on concealment and surprise.

Because of high visibility in the desert.General Bradley recommended that half the TD battalions converted to towed guns because they would be easier to conceal -- like the highly camouflaged German 88mm guns he feared.The top heavy, low clearance M3 half track TD was fazed out at end of the North Africa campaign.

For the Italian campaign, two new TD's were introduced.The GMC M10 'Can Opener' was based on a Sherman tank chassis featuring two inches of armor and a hard-hitting 3-inch gun mounted in an open turret for better observation.Later, the famous all-new M18 Hellcat arrived in time to fight at the Anzio beachhead.The M18's weight was less than half the M10's and carried an new powerful 76mm gun in an open turret.

Running up against Italy's Gothic Line, and later Germany's Siegfried Line, the TD's found few panzers to fight, and were diverted to attacking pillboxes, concrete emplacements and strong points.

In the Normandy campaign, tank destroyers faced new challenges.The towed guns, in fact, did almost no tank killing and were mainly used for indirect artillery.As before, M10's and M18's were sent to lead the assaults.

It was realized that only massed TD's could defeat Panther and Tiger tanks.Widely scattered TD's were not an effective way to fight panzers. In Normandy, M10 and M18 TD's were not well suited for offensive action against dug-in German panzers and infantry.Headquarters recommended the TD battalions be upgraded to the new M36 Jackson.

During the Normandy campaign, tank destroyer crews were trained to use bazookas, lay mines and to fight as infantry or cavalry.The unit's jeeps were assigned to carryout reconnaissance, the TD's provided much indirect artillery support.

In September, 1944, the M36 arrived in ETO, incorporating a re-manufactured M10 hull and a 90mm gun in an open power turret.The M36 could under most circumstances knock out any German tank including the Royal Tiger II.

After suffering heavy losses in the Battle of the Budge, all towed units were slated for conversion to self-propelled equipment.Again, tank destroyer units had trouble concentrating enough TD's in mass to fight off powerful German armored divisions.Although scattered about, TD's still knocked out over 500 German panzers in the Ardennes campaign.Every TD unit achieved a respectable kill ratio of at least 3 to 1 after D-Day.Sadly, vital radio communication between TD units, infantry, armor and aircraft was never really solved.

The ETO's General Board concluded by war's end "the trend toward tanks with the same firepower and mobility as the tank destroyer's and the incorporation of adequate anti-tank defenses in the infantry divisions, rendered the tank destroyers superfluous.The Board recommended that the Tank Destroyer Force be dissolved."General Patton's prediction came true.

Mr. Yeide observes, "The U.S. Army's Tank Destroyer Force in World War II must rate as one of the most successful "failures in American military history."

"The Tank Killers: A History of America's World War II Tank Destroyer Force" contains a gallery of 32 great photographs, 7 functional maps and a bonus appendix of 61 tank destroyer battalions.One of only a handful of books on the subject, this work will be a welcome addition to the bookselves of World War II and armored warfare enthusiasts.

The Tank Killers
A good book on a neglected subject.It could have been much more comprehensive, but it is a good introduction to the subject.

The Story of a forgotten part of the American Forces in WWII
One thing I've been interested in for years is the American concept of tank destroyers that was implemented in WWII.The M-10 always held a fascination for me.A beautiful vehicle, interestingly with an open top to decrease the weight of the vehicle to improve it's performance.With this said, I picked up Mr. Yeide's The Tank Killers with the intent to expand my knowledge of the American tank destroyer forces.
Initially The Tank Killers opens by describing the American realization that we would be involved in WWII and the recognition that America's armored forces were totally lacking for `modern' warfare.As a part of this realization, a desirement develops to employ a force who's focus is to intercept an armored thrust and destroy it.The Tank Killers then proceeds to describe America's initial developments in developing tank destroyers, the concepts of how they're to be used, and the training of the troops.The following chapters then go thru the different actions the tank destroyers went thru in Europe and North Africa.Each chapter provides a brief description of the actions from a higher level.Individual engagements are described but their more like summaries from battalion after action reports than the analysis of a historian or an oral history.After describing the action in an operation most chapters conclude with a nice Lessons Learned section.

The Good
This book does a good job shinning some light on forces that are often forgotten.Most histories, oral and analyzed focus on armored forces, airborne, and infantrymen.Rarely do these books provide a good focus on the support arms like the tank destroyers.For this reason alone this makes this a good book!This is shown when Mr. Yeide goes into good detail on how tank destroyer forces were to be deployed and how they were used.I particularly enjoyed reading about the use of the tank destroyer's reconnaissance forces.This is something that is totally unrecognized by most people.I also enjoyed reading about the training tank destroyer forces went thru.Interestingly, Commando style training was part of their background.Finally, there's some very nice pictures showing different tank destroyers in action and the Appendix A with a summary for all of the Tank Destroyer battalions is very nice.

The Bad
Where's the maps?Most of the maps are rather cheese wiz.There's some great actions described in here that should have had some nice maps showing how the tank destroyers fought the different battles.The number of kills is also a little hard to believe.But then what counts as a kill.Just because you hit a tank and get it to stop doesn't mean it's killed.I also found that too much was written with no real analysis done.Mr. Yeidi provided go after action summaries but fails to deliver good descriptions of actions at points, particularly situations where the tank destroyers failed to some degree (in Mr. Yeidi's defense, his description in North Africa was very good).This particularly shows in the post-Normandy timeframe when I feel Mr. Yeidi was more focused on getting thru the book about as fast as he could.

The Rating
My bottom line is that this is a 3.5 star book.There's excellent opportunities in here to make this a 4.5 star book but I think Mr. Yeidi wanted to just describe things from after action reports rather than doing some analysis and cross checking German and American data.I was particularly frustrated with his description on the 28th ID and 893d Tank Destroyer battalion at Schmidt.When I merge this with the lack of maps, the book pans to a 3 star book for Amazon purposes.
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Product Description
A writer, reporter, and above all, a good listener, Studs Turkel has spent a career posing provocative questions and actively listening to the answers. In "The Good War", Terkel talks to Americans, both famous and obscure, about their contrasting, not always golden, memories of the war that shaped their lives, World War II. This first trade paperback edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book features a new Preface by the author.Amazon.com Review
Studs Terkel, the noted Chicago-based journalist, gathers thereminiscences of 121 participants in World War II (called "the goodwar" because, in the words of one soldier, "to see fascism defeated,nothing better could have happened to a human being"). Theseparticipants, men and women, famous and ordinary, tell stories thatadd immeasurably to our understanding of that cataclysmic time. OneSoviet soldier recounts that, surrounded by the Germans, his comradestapped the powder from their last cartridges and inserted notes totheir families inside the casings; Russian children, he goes on, stillturn these up every now and again and deliver the notes to thesoldiers' families. Terkel touches on many themes along the way,including institutionalized racism in the United States military, the birth ofthe military-industrial complex, and the origins of the Cold War. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

Insightful way to see all the angles of the war
This book is a bunch of short stories, 10 or less pages each, from people who had some kind of experience from World War II. What I found interesting was that, each of the stories in the book had experiences from all different angles of the war. Examples were from African Americans who showed how segregated the military was, to British, German, and Japanese civilians showed how life was in a constantly bombed community to scientist who help build the atomic bomb and what they feel about their work.

I found from reading this book how much this war has effected my life.This war was my grandparents war and from this war I have grown up in a safe and fruitful economic environment. In which the US was thought of as one of the major powers of the world. I believe that if this war did not come about the US would not have came out of the depression in the extreme way it did. This, and other factors, would led to the US not being a major power of the world. In this different US I believe I would not have been given the opportunities that I have had and enjoyed.

Before I though of World War II as the past, but now I think of it as what has created my present.

SFT
The book arrived within a week. It was in very good condition! I would def. order from them again!

The Rank and File Of WWII Get To Speak
Strangely, as I found out about the recent death of long time pro-working class journalist and general truth-teller "Studs" Terkel I was just beginning to read his "The Good War", about the lives and experiences of, mainly, ordinary people during World War II in America and elsewhere, for review in this space. A little comment is thus in order here before I do so. The obvious one that comes to mind is that with his passing he joins many of the icons of my youth who have now passed from the scene. Saul Bellows, Arthur Miller, Hunter Thompson, Norman Mailer, Utah Phillips to name a few. Terkel was certainly one of them, not for his rather bland old New Deal political perspective as much as a working class partisan as he might have been, but for his reportage about ordinary working people. These are my kind of people. This where I come from.He heard the particular musical cadence of their lives and wrote with some verve on the subject, especially that melody of his adopted Chicago home (Musically, Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home, Chicago" fits the bill here, right?).

One thing that I noticed immediately after reading this book is that, as is true of the majority of Terkel's interview books, he is not the dominant presence but is a rather light, if intensely interested, interloper in these stories. For better or worse the interviewees get to tell their stories, unchained. In this age of 24/7 media coverage with every half-baked journalist or wannabe interjecting his or her personality into somebody else's story this was, and is, rather refreshing. Of course this journalistic virtue does not mean that Studs did not have control over who got to tell their stories and who didn't to fit his preoccupations and sense of order.I would have been surprised, for example, if the central leadership of the Allied military efforts, like General Eisenhower, got a lot of ink here but I was not surprised that, for example, the late "premature anti-fascist" Milton Wolff, the last commander of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion of the 15th International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, got a full airing on his interesting World War II exploits.

What were Stud's preoccupations in this book? Obviously from the quotation marks around the title "The Good War" there is some question in his mind and in that of at least some of his interviewees that this now storied period was all that it was cracked up to be.One, however, gets the distinct impression that, notwithstanding that assumption, those who participated in this period, called the "greatest generation" at least in America basically saw it as a necessary war to fight, whatever else happened afterward.

I have my disagreements with the premise that was this was the greatest American generation (the Northern side in the Civil War gets my vote) and what one should have done in response to the Axis threat to the world and the defense of the Soviet Union but I too will defer political judgment and let the participants tell their stories.

And what stories are being told here? Well, certainly this book is filled with interviews of the lives, struggles and fate of the rank and file servicemen (and a few women) that fought that war. Those include the stories of soldiers from the Axis powers and the Soviet Union as well. Of course we have the trials and tribulations of those who were left behind on the home fronts, including those "Rosie The Riveters" women who went to work in the factories of America (and were later kicked out on the return of the men).

Moreover, and this marks this book as different from earlier efforts to tell the war story, we have stories of the plight and successes of blacks, including the now famous Tuskegee Airmen, in this transitional racial period that in many ways is the catalyst for the later black civil rights movement of the 1950's. It is no accident that many of the early rank and file cadres of that movement were veterans of this war. As importantly we also have stories here of the effects the internment of Japanese-Americans during the war as told by those affected.

Of course, no modern account of World War II can be complete without mention of the Holocaust (Shoah), the fates of the survivors and those who didn't as well as the impact that it had on the liberators on entering the death camps. Also necessary are the interviews concerning the grizzly fates of POW on all sides. As is, additionally, the general sense that many participants sincerely thought that this war was to be something like a war to end all wars (sound familiar?), especially in light of Hiroshima.

I was somewhat surprised by the overwhelming distinction that was drawn between the "civilized" nature of the European war and the "savagery" of the Pacific war by the participants. However, I was not surprised by the general support for the dropping of the atomic bomb expressed by the bulk of the interviewees questioned nor was I surprised by the little tidbits of information about events that occurred during the war that presaged the buildup to the anti-Soviet Cold War.

For those of us who are sons and daughters of this generation that fought the war, and who came of political age in the 1960's, this little book provides more personal information in one spot than I ever learned from my taciturn and reticent parents or from the high school history books. That, my friends, makes this any extremely necessary book for your lists if you came from an even later generation and are personally farther removed from this period. Read this book! Kudos and adieu Studs.

This is the best book on WWII
"The Good War" - Studs Turkel's 5th oral history - was published in 1984.Like most of his other books, this too was a "best seller". Turkel has put together excerpts from some 124 interviews with people who lived during the war years - ex-military officers and enlisted men,defense industry workers, atomic bomb scientists, celebrities, politicians, Jews, Japanese, Germans, Russians, men, women, blacks, native Americans, rich, poor, younger, older. I've missed some, but you get the idea.
The war, notes Turkel, was good for most Americans, ergo - the title.After a long, lean depression throughout the country,there were again plenty of jobs, plenty of money, and plenty of hell-raising. Also,Americans were happy to work hard and to lend their support to the war effort - in whatever way they could - because they thought they knew why the country was at war. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't.Most active participants in the war survived the experience:there were 129 million Americans at that time,5 million served on active military duty, 1 million of those were killed, wounded, or injured in the war.Most Americans interviewedconsidered the war years generally happy ones.Many of those who served in the military considered their war-time experiences the most exciting times of their lives.
When people spoke to the tape recorder about their lives during the war years, they automatically came up with the most exciting, most memorable, most tragic, most funny, most whatever - because these are stories that they've been thinking about, telling and retelling for over 30 years. That's what makes this book so readable.It's definitely not boring and it's definitely informative.Many people recalled a specific moment in their lives, when they were unbelievably lucky, and because they were lucky,they survived with their life.
In my view, if you are going to read just one book about WWII, this should be the book!

Fascinating Look at a Bygone Era
Studs Terkel's The Good War is a very entertaining set of oral histories about World War II. By allowing people to tell their own stories in their own words, Terkel sweeps his readers along on a fascinating trip back in time. Even at roughly 600 pages, The Good War is difficult to put down.

The Good War definitely will encourage you to think. Terkel wants his readers to ponder whether war can ever be justified. Another poignant aspect of The Good War is the fact that the vast majority of the interview subjects must be deceased by now; in fact, several died before the book's original 1984 publication. The Good War is the sort of book that will force you to reflect, even long after you have finished reading it.

While I would recommend The Good War, it is possible to offer a few criticisms.

As several reviewers have noted, Terkel is devoted to debunking the notion that WWII was, in any way, good. If there was a problem in those years, Terkel doesn't just cover it, he covers it at length. The fact that Terkel wants to take away our rose-colored glasses does not bother me. But I have been lucky enough to meet many World War II veterans; most of them are much less critical of WWII than are Terkel's interviewees. So, I wonder whether we hear from a disproportionate number of malcontents.

Another criticism is that Terkel tries to take on too much - even for 600 pages. The book meanders onto a number of topics that (while interesting) stray a bit far from WWII. For instance, Terkel has strong interests in the Spanish Civil War and the Cold War. These sections may be too far from the "main" story for some readers' tastes.

On the whole, however, The Good War is a fascinating look at a lost era. You will be entertained and you will also be left with much to think about after you finish.
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Customer Reviews (1)

A nice tribute, a nice collector's item
This is a large tome, being 12 in by 11 in in size and sporting 288 heavy glossy pages. The makeup of this tome is part photo gallery and part war summary involving fighting in France, Belguim and finally Germany in 1944-45 period.

The first chapter is an introduction that explains the history and activation of 3rd Army as well as Patton's influence on it, especially when dealing with armor tactics. Patton believed in Blitzkrieg. Operations Overlord and Fortitude are also briefly explained.
The battle summary begins in late July when Operation Cobra is launched by 1st Army and the subsequent launching of 3rd Army that heads for the key ports in Brittany. Part of 3rd Army will get the green light to turn east for Argentan and eventually have Haislip's XV Corps head for closing of the Falaise pocket. Reaching the Seine River will be the next objective.
The Lorraine Campaign is next and the troubles Patton faced in penetrating the Moselle line and especially in taking the fortified city of Metz. After Metz had been taken, the discussion moves on to the Battle of the Bulge and Patton's 4th AD participation in the relief of Bastogne. This topic of Bastogne is by far the largest topic in the book and the coverage is very good.
The last battle coverage concerns the crossing of the Rhine and the drive through southern Germany to the end of the war.
In addition to the main narrative, there are interesting sidebars of the following commanders: Eisenhower, Montgomery, Bradley, Haislip, Walker, Eddy, Wheyland, Wood, Middleton, Gaffey and Gay. The authors also accumulate many questions that were originally found in books and magazines quoting General Patton's responses. Topics discussed include "use of armor divisions", "tank reconnaissance", "infantry in combat", "use of the bazooka" and many other issues.

There are 13 color maps and all are excellent. They include many, but not all, key cities, rivers and axes of advance. Most also include troop deployments to either Corps or Division level and phase lines for key dates. Eleven of the maps are full page in size and are impressive. The remaining two maps are double page size and are even more impressive. The first of these two maps covers the Western Front as of August 1st and how it will appear in May 1945.The other one concerns the Battle of the Bulge when the bulge is at its largest and as it retracts going into Jan 1945.
The other half of the book is a photo gallery and its also very good. There are photos on almost every page (excluding map pages). There are some photos that can be seen in other books but many I haven't seen before. The photos in this book are large and even if you have seen some of them before the larger size will be appreciated. The photos cover the key commanders, the soldiers, and civilians. It will take you from town to town and battlefield to battlefield as the Allies move across France. You will see some photos of rare tank variants and fighting vehicles of all shapes and sizes.
There is also an informative pictorial Appendix that shows weapons and vehicles of both sides. The range of weapons is from hand guns to tank variants. The vehicles include jeeps, dukws, half tracks, weasels and tank recovery vehicles. In addition to the photos, you get a small blog and wrap sheet that gives pertinent info.
There is also a Bibliography of popular books if further reading is desired and an Index.
This book competes in a demanding field but will hold its own against any of the competition and if you're looking for a nice photo gallery and summary of 3rd Army and its famous commander then this is worthy of your consideration. ... Read more

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Product Description

This text presents a carefully selected group of readings that allow students to evaluate primary sources, test the interpretations of distinguished historians, and draw their own conclusions. The volume covers World War II from the homefront and the battlefield, examining both the military and social impact of the war.

Designed to encourage critical thinking about history, the Major Problems in American History Series introduces students to both primary sources and analytical essays. Major Problems in World War II History follows the proven Major Problems format, with a combination of documents and essays, chapter introductions, headnotes, and suggested readings.

Customer Reviews (2)

Textbooks for less!
I used Amazon to purchase some of my daughter's textbooks for college.Saved a lot of money, things arrived on time.It was great.So much better than the school's bookstore.

A Solid Work, But It Is Not Comprehensive.
Those seeking an in-depth study of the various problems concerning WWII need look no further. The primary documents featured at the beginning of each chapter provide the reader with an up-close look at the problem, and the essays that follow them present a good revisionist look at the past. However, two flaws are worth noting: First, the footnotes are missing. This makes it difficult to ascertain where the author got his or her information from, and does not allow for the explanation of some key terms and concepts. Second, although the book does contain a short background narrative at the opening of each chapter, it is not detailed enough, and often leaves the reader with more questions than answers. Thus, it is my opinion that this book is best suited for those who have a substantial knowledge of the Second World War, and that those who seek a more general or comprehensive history of the conflict should buy something else. ... Read more

Product Description
This book describes the life of the enlisted man aboard a Farragut class destroyer during the pre-World War II years; the war preparation period in 1941; and the wartime years. It features first-person narrations collected from interviews and correspondence with the few remaining Farragut class destroyer sailors, and briefly describes the evolution of the destroyer and the Farragut class destroyers, five of which survived the war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Top of the class
I opened this book with some hesitation because often first person historical compilations are filled with bias and inaccuracies, and my other hesitation was the publisher of the book.I have not liked many McFarland books because of bad editing, poor research etc.What I found after starting to read was a book that exceeded my expectations and is truly a gem for those who love Naval History.Mr. Block stayed true to discussing only one class of ships and was wise in not putting every story available into his book.Rather he paints a general picture of the ships and selects the best accounts to let the reader experiences the Farragut's.

What was even more of a treasure was his expertise in the engineering portions of the ship.The book alone was worth reading for his discussions on the set up of the engine rooms, the fire (boiler) rooms and his frank discussion of the sub standard engineering set up of the ships. He has two diagrams worth the purchase of the book showing two different styles of boilers that had me studying both and understanding the operation of boilers even better.

What was truly a pleasant surprise is he didn't go over material available elsewhere but brought out new and relevant material.Such as the U.S.S. Dale a Farragut is explored in Tales of a Tin Can and the overloading of the metacentric height causing the entire class of Farragut's to be top heavy was discussed by the U.S.S. Dewey's captain during the 1944 typhoon by Raymond Calhoun.Block wisely avoided covering material from those books so his book would be a compliment to those two fine books.I can't wait to reread all three books together to get a better sense of the Farragut class.
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This is a magisterial new global history of World War II. Beginning in 1937 with the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Evan Mawdsley shows how the origins of World War II lay in a conflict between the old international order and the new and then traces the globalisation of the conflict as it swept through Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. His primary focus is on the war's military and strategic history though he also examines the political, economic, ideological, and cultural factors which influenced the course of events.The war's consequences are examined too, not only in terms of the defeat of the Axis but also the break-up of colonial empires and the beginning of the Cold War. Accessibly written and well-illustrated with maps and photographs, this compelling new account also includes short studies of the key figures, events and battles that shaped the war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

New History or Revisionist History ?
While this overview is loaded with good information on both the European and Pacific theaters, it is also highly biased toward Great Britain and Russia and against the United States. For me, this tainted version ruined the experience of reading what could've been a very good book.
There really isn't any new facts brought out in this book. What's new is the author's interpretations of the events as he tries to pull Britain's importance in the war closer to center alongside Russia while pushing US importance away from center.
While this is a broad ranging study of the war, it is not a comprehensive study. The author selects his material carefully. While there are sidebars on Sherman Tanks, P51 Mustangs, Spitfires, Essex carriers and more, the tactical engagements and movements are not covered in detail.

A clever writer, he uses innuendo and slights among his facts to disparage American participation in the war. While downplaying American participation, he raises British importance in the prosecution of the war and at the same time he overlooks Russian brutality like the Katyn affair, the purges, the relocations of millions to Siberia by not condemning it. He overlooks the tactical blunders of Stalin, especially in 1941. It appears Mr Mawdsley is part of the new wave of historians that are sympathetic to and condone Stalin's terror practices and Communist ways. Its really surprising a "Brit" would be this generous. Russia had been working with Germany since the early twenties to circumvent the Versailles Treaty. In 1939, Stalin signed a peace agreement with Hitler and in 1940 Stalin contently watched as the British and French got chewed up and put Great Britain in the precarious position it found itself when Churchill took over.

While being critical of FDR, Eisenhower and others, there is no equal reciprocal criticism presented for Churchill, Brooke, Montgomery, Alexander, Stalin etc.
I'm not refuting America made mistakes in the war but the uneven display of criticism wrangles. Though the author correctly points out Stalin's foresight in expanding his industrial base, he casually condones the purges of the 1930s, with numbers killed approaching a million and imprisoned even greater, as a renewal for the Communist State. Mr Mawdsley also doesn't adequately present or excludes the poor decisions Stalin and his generals made in prewar troop deployments, front line defenses, opening strategy as well as the major engagements of 1941 that cost the lives of millions needlessly and extended the war for years. National pride and interest allows events to be seen differently. In Mr Mawdsley's case, he too often exaggerates British performance at American expense and exacerbates the situation by being too easy and accommodating on Stalin and his regime. Arguments could be made for other claims made and omissions sighted but this isn't the proper forum to go further.

J. D. Morelock in his book, "Generals of the Ardennes", sums up Mr Mawdsley's attitude succinctly in the following quote about General Eisenhower and American commanders: " Yet more recently, the sharpened pens of some revisionist historians have rewritten the earlier accounts and re-interpreted the leadership performance of the senior Americans. The impetus for this later trend came from our British Allies who, stung by the seeming unfairness of standing alone against Hitler only to be rewarded ultimately by seeing their Empire crumble and their country reduced to second-rate status, lashed out in frustration and envy at senior Americans. They resented the men they viewed as military amateurs who bumbled through a global war principally on the strength of the world's greatest economy and received credit for masterminding the defeat of the German military professionals."

There are times when the author doesn't criticize but will state a fact quickly and then move on without explanation. For example it was mention that the US gave 50 billion in aid to Great Britain and Russia but doesn't mention that without this aid Great Britain would have been out of the war quickly or that this aid to Russia fed and clothed their soldiers when Stalin couldn't or the nearly 400,000 trucks and four million tires delivered helped mobilized the Red Army into a force that out blitz the Germans or the locomotives that assisted in bringing the supplies to the front or the raw materials which helped build T-34s or the communication equipment which helped lift Russia up to its potential etc etc etc. This doesn't even include the ships and the thousands of planes, tanks and jeeps that were part of lend-lease as well.

In Conclusions, the author, feeling lament and still critical of the United States, lists the accomplishments of the Allies. The section on British accomplishments is riddled with half truths and wishful thinking and is highly arguable.
I'm not against giving Great Britain or Russia their fair due but I dislike reading over inflated or distorted positions by any country or person at the expense of another and that's exactly what has happened here. The author brags that the British Commonwealth had 530 million people and controlled more land than anybody else in 1939. That's more people than the US, Russia and Germany combined but if you impartially and dispassionately compare the real accomplishments of the major combatants during the war Great Britain will not land in first or second place as the author subscribes.
I'm disappointed in Mr Mawdsley; I expected more from him than this work. For a more realistic assessment of the war, you might try the following British authors: Max Hastings, Anthony Beevor, Chris Bellamy, Jonathan Fenby and Terry Brighton.

not necessarily new
This is a good history of World War II, well written and informative. The author is slightly prejudiced from being British and (I expect) left-leaning politically. At times, the author sounds as if WWII had been won exclusively by the British and the Red Army, while the Americans only kept making mistakes. The world will never be grateful enough to Winston Churchill and the British for resisting the Nazi armies when everything seemed to have been lost. And grateful we should also be for the enormous sacrifices of the Red Army. But the Americans bled too, and plenty. And some of his generals (Patton for instance) were as good as any other general on both sides of the conflict. Still, a lot of information can be gleaned from this book, well illustrated and didactic. The author misses completely the point of armed resistance in Nazi-occupied countries. Their purpose was not to beat the German Army (which required the Allied armies)but to tie down a number of German divisions that were made unavailable for combat on the front lines.

Useful study of World War Two
Evan Mawdsley, Professor of International History at Glasgow University, has produced a fine study of the grand strategy of World War II. He starts his account in 1937, when Japan attacked China. He analyses the economies, politics and strategies of all the major combatant powers.

He points out, "In 1939 - as in 1914 - the British Empire was the largest political entity on the planet. It had a population of some 530 million and an area of 13 million square miles."

He pays special attention to the Soviet Union's huge contribution to the victory over Nazism, facing and defeating 80 per cent of Hitler's divisions. He refutes many myths about the Soviet war effort.

For example, he writes, "It is unfair, however, to charge Stalin and his government with not preparing the USSR for war." He observes that the weather was not the basic reason for the Moscow turnaround: Soviet reserves and resistance were the critical factors. And he notes, "Stalin also pulled off an industrial miracle, creating an industrial base from which Russia could prepare in the pre-war year, and re-equip after the disasters of 1941."

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Customer Reviews (1)

One of Richard Humble's best works.
Hard-to-find book in the 1970s Ballantine World War II Series.Humble examines the qualitative technological advantages of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and how a cultural reverence for the elderly often resulted in the IJN having the wrong fleetcommander in charge at the wrong time.Occasional misspelling of Japanese names & words, but one cannot find any flaw in Richard Humble as a Naval Historian. Humble's other book in the series, Hitler's High Seas Fleet, is another seminal and definitive work. ... Read more

Product Description
For more than sixty years the wartime secrecy surrounding U.S. submarines obscured their decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II. Submarines, comprising just 2% of the U.S. Navy, sank 55% of Japan's merchant ships and one-third of its navy. Now U.S. Submarines in World War II brings to life this extraordinary American undersea campaign with maps, photographs, unique drawings, and web animations. From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay this book provides a periscope's view of the patrols, the losses, and the battles that broke the Japanese Empire and gave the United States the greatest naval victory in history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great source of info and pictures on American WWII Subs!
"U.S. Submarines in World War II: An Illustrated History of the Pacific" is a tremendous resource for those interested in learning more about those brave American submarine crews of World War II.The book is packed with excellent black and white period photographs, short personal narratives, and brief descriptions of some of the most dramatic war patrols conducted in the Pacific.If you are an avid reader, novice historian, or had a submariner in your family and want to "get a feel" for "life in the boats" this book will be of great interest to you.I know have a greater understanding of my grandfather's career in the Silent Service; Thanks Mr. Kimmett!!

WW2 Fleet Subs an illustrated history
Larry Kimmet and Margaret Regis have produced an outstanding compliation of facts, figures and harrowing stories which serve to underline the incredible heroism of our WWII submariners. 25% of the men and boys whoshipped out on sub patrols never came back. Told in an engaging and wellpresented fashion, no library without this book can consider itselfcomplete on the subject. Highly recomended. You'll finish it in onesitting, but refer to it again & again. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

WWIIHistory and Efemera Collectors Buy This!!
For those of you who want to learn more about the history of WWII in terms of what you may hold in your hand, this book s for you!! Yes, it is in Black and WHITE... So what?! All the countries on both sides are covered, Allies and Axis, as well as the Neutral nations. This book is your bible for historical facts... Pricing information, pictures of notes, blls,names countries where each series was issued, etc.Great Book!!

Could have been much better!
What could have been a great book, isn't. I was very disappointed in this book; it contains a lot of information but it isn't well presented! Lack of any color is disturbing in a reference work; the currency all looks the same after a while! Some cheesy "artwork" appears to have been clipped from other publications, particularly the line art. The sections on medals could have been deleted, the subject is covered far better in many other books. This book is not a "must have"; hopefully the authors will come out with an improved second edition and then it will be.

THE BOOK
This is THE BOOK on the money of World War II.It represents hundreds of hoursof research by two prominent numismatists:Fred Schwan and Joe Boling.Indeed, no other two humans could have produced this masterpiece.Over 850 large format pages with thousands of illustrations it remains the definitive word on the subject.What is needed is a new edition; the sooner the better since this book was published in 1995.This comment doesn't diminish whatsoever the importance and usefulness of the present volume.It was named Book of the Year by both the Numismatic Literary Guild and the International Bank Note Society.I highly recommend it to all readers interested in either World War II or numismatics.

THE WWII Numismatic Reference
This is the definitive WWII numismatic reference.It's 863 pages cover coins, currency and medals of all wartime issues by Allied, Axis, and non-belligerent countries.The scope is incredible when one considers the number of government entities involved.Currencies were issued, not only by countries, but literally all colonies who were cut off from the mother country.Armies issued their own military currency.Occupying powers issued currency to control the economies of occupied countries.This is more than a catalog, it is a history lesson, as the title implies.This is as the authors intended.The book includes short descriptions to introduce each country (as they were in 1940-45).It also addresses how countries financed their military forces, including bonds, lottery tickets, tax notices, etc. Currency control measures were complex almost beyond belief.For the numismatist (or economist) interested in the WWII era this book is an absolute must.

An incredible reference
I use this book almost daily, and it is an incredible book - it does an incredible job covering money during world war two. It lists a large number of monetary issues and it is just incredible what they've accomplished here.Just incredible. Admittedly there's a few things such as the numbering system, etc. that are frustrating for me, but those things are relatively minor and I'm sure those things are going to be resolved in the next edition. Its worth every penny I paid for this book.I highly suggest this book to anyone with an interest and I suggest this for every library to own as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A history of a great Commando's sucess
I read this book, here in Brazil.I'm an agronomist and I like to read books.
This book is concise and very easy to read.There's many photos on it.All of them B& W photos.
The failures of this book are small.To exemple, the map is weak. ... Read more

Product Description
Trade Paperback. Ballantine Books ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Kasserine battle in a short and concise book.
I read this book, here in Brazil.This book has many photos(all black and white), is short and easy to read.The problems in this book are small.The maps, I think they are all weak.About bazooka's use by americans, and the capture for germans of many of these weapons, is forgotten in this book.
Both panzerfaust and panzerschrek antí-tank german weapons, came from bazooka's ideas.This is a regular and short book, about this battle.

Everything you need to know about the Kasserine campaign
This old series from Ballantine books compares favorably with many newer books on the same subjects of military history. The main strong points of the book are the wealth of photographs (all of them black and white) some of which are extremely clear and captivating, the excellent and well detailed maps and of course the authoritative text, which is rather short overall but accurate and well balanced. Recommended reading for WWII buffs. ... Read more