HOT TOPICS: B-17 TAIL GUNNER · JULIAN CORBETT · THERMOPYLAE · PELELIU · BOOK REVIEWS · JULY 4, 1812
WORLD WAR I, THE INTERWAR YEARS, AND GATHERING STORM
Korean efforts in the summer of 1907 to seek recognition at the Hague Convention faced impossible headwinds. One of these obstacles included the desire to ensure that the conference reflected well on President Theordore Roosevelt’s legacy vis-à-vis the Treaty of Portsmouth ending the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5).[1] Another obstacle lay in convincing the international powers that Korea had been forced into submission, and had not willingly signed its existence away in the Eulsa Treaty of 1905 – thus remaining a nation-state deserving of recognition instead of a protectorate. (Click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR I, THE INTERWAR YEARS, AND GATHERING STORM
In 1909, James Brown Scott, an influential American scholar of international law, published The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907. As one of the key U.S. representatives attending those proceedings, Scott’s account was recognized as the de facto history of the conventions. Scott’s lengthy two-volume work included deliberations on the laws of war and sea, and efforts to expand multinational mechanisms intended to mitigate future disputes and wars. (Click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR II: WAR IN THE PACIFIC
Codenamed Operation Stalemate II, the Battle of Peleliu's objective was to capture the airfield on the small coral island, which was a part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager. However, the fierce resistance from the Japanese Army, which had developed new island-defense tactics and well-crafted fortifications, led to an extended battle. The 1st Marine Division led the American forces, and Major General William Rupertus predicted that the island would be secured within 4 days. (click image for the complete article)
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
The Battle of Antietam, fought on 17 September 1863, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac, remains one of the most significant battles of the American Civil War. It was the first major engagement in the Eastern Theater of the war to take place on Union soil and resulted in the bloodiest single day in American history, with a combined total of 22,726 casualties. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR II: THE EUROPEAN THEATER
Operation Market Garden (September 17–25, 1944) was Field Marshal Montgomery's bold attempt to cross the Rhine and end WWII by Christmas. A cascade of planning failures—denied glider assaults, rejected reinforcements, and a 36-hour bridge delay—doomed the Allied advance and prolonged the war into 1945. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery had a reputation for caution. His meticulous set-piece battles at El Alamein and in Normandy reflected a commander who rarely gambled. (click image for the complete article)
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on 19-20 September 1863, was a turning point in the American Civil War. The Union forces, under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans, were defeated by the Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by Gen. Braxton Bragg, in what would become one of the bloodiest battles of the war in terms of casualties. This battle marked the end of the Union offensive, known as the Chickamauga Campaign, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR I: THE WESTERN FRONT: FRANCE
The Western Front, in the region today called Grand Est, saw the largest number of American soldiers in history fight in the Meuse–Argonne offensive. This epic confrontation was a critical battle in the final year of World War I, lasting from 26 September 1918 to 11 November 1918. This involved the largest contingent of American soldiers in any battle, with 1.2 million soldiers taking part. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR II: THE EASTERN FRONT
The discourse among historians has revolved around identifying the turning points of World War II, spanning from 1941-42 to the spring of 1943. Winston Churchill considered the Battle of Kursk in 1943 following Stalingrad as the decisive moment. Richard Overy, on the other hand, believes that the years between 1942 and 1944 had several turning points, and specifically, 1943 and the Battle of Stalingrad. In his subsequent work, Overy acknowledges the significance of the Battle of Kursk that took place in July 1943 as the turning point of the War. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR II: WAR IN WESTERN EUROPE
In the autumn of 1944, with Paris liberated and Allied forces advancing across France and Belgium, a sense of optimism permeated the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). The rapid pursuit of a seemingly defeated German army, however, created a severe logistical crisis. Supply lines, stretching precariously from the beaches of Normandy, could not sustain the momentum. (click image for the complete article)
The Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the Black Hawk Down incident and in Somali as Maalintii Rangers ('Day of the Rangers'), was a significant conflict during Operation Gothic Serpent. It took place on 3-4 October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, and saw United States forces, under the support of UNOSOM II, engage with the Somali National Alliance (SNA) and local militia from southern Mogadishu. (click image for the complete article)
AERIAL AND NAVAL WARFARE THROUGHOUT HISTORY
The Second Schweinfurt Raid, also known as "Black Thursday," occurred on 14 October 1943, during World War II. This air battle took place over Nazi Germany and involved the United States 8th Air Force and the German Luftwaffe fighter arm (Jagdwaffe). The objective was a strategic bombing raid on ball bearing factories in Schweinfurt, which were crucial for the production of war machinery. (click image for the complete article)
EARLY MODERN AND NAPOLEONIC WARFARE: 1500-1815
The year of 1805 marked a critical moment in European history with the formation of the Third Coalition, comprising the United Kingdom, the Austrian Empire, Sweden, and the Russian Empire, to overthrow the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's march towards European domination. The Hungarian General Karl Mack von Leiberich was given the responsibility of leading the Austrian army - 72,000 strong - against the French threat, but the outcome was far from what was expected. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR I: THE WESTERN FRONT
The First Battle of Ypres was a significant military engagement during World War I that occurred between 19 October and 22 November 1914. This battle was part of the wider First Battle of Flanders that occurred between the German, French, Belgian and British armies. It was fought from Arras in France to Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast, with the battles at Ypres marking the end of the Race to the Sea. In this phase, both sides attempted to advance beyond the northern flank of the enemy. (click image for the complete article)
During World War II, Japan suffered defeat in the Pacific due to the decisive victories of the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers. These carriers proved to be an indispensable asset for the U.S. military, enabling it to establish supremacy over the seas and project military power across vast distances. The Pacific battles fought between the U.S. and Japan were characterized by fierce naval combat, with the Americans leveraging their superior technology and tactics to outmaneuver and overpower their opponents. (click image for the complete article)
The Axis forces had been continuously advancing since the start of the North African campaign in February 1941. The capture of Tobruk by the German-Italian forces in June 1942 resulted in the Axis armies being at the doorstep of the strategically important Suez Canal. However, this advancement stalled in July 1942 at the first Battle of El-Alamein where the British forces successfully blocked the Axis forces. (click image for the complete article)
Known in recent years before his death in 2018 as a 'maverick' politician, the late Arizona senator was a U.S. Navy pilot whose five-and-a-half year struggle as a POW in North Vietnam became legendary. John Sidney McCain III was born on 29 August 1936, in the Panama Canal Zone. Growing up in a military family, he was exposed to the navy life at an early age. McCain's father and grandfather were both four-star admirals in the U.S. Navy, and he followed their footsteps to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, where he graduated in 1958. (click image for the complete article)
ANCIENT, CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL MILITARY HISTORY - POPULAR HISTORY
The Crusades were a series of religiously motivated military expeditions that took place between 1095 and 1291. The primary goal of the Crusaders was to reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslim infidels who had taken control of Jerusalem. These expeditions marked one of the most significant moments of the medieval era, and their impact on Western civilization remains evident to this day. The Crusades were initiated by Pope Urban II in 1095, who called upon all Christians to take part in a holy war to liberate the Holy Land from Islamic rule. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR I: THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR: RUSSIA
The Russian Civil War of 1917 marked the beginning of a new era in Russian history. The overthrow of the social-democratic Provisional Government in the October Revolution led to a multi-party conflict, with different factions fighting for control over Russia's political future. The conflict gave rise to the formation of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, which later transformed into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, spanning most of its territory. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR I: THE INTERWAR YEARS AND GATHERING STORM
On the evening of 8 November 1923, the cavernous interior of the Bürgerbräukeller, a large beer hall in Munich, was filled with approximately 3,000 people. They had gathered to hear an address by the powerful triumvirate governing Bavaria: State Commissioner Gustav Ritter von Kahr, General Otto von Lossow, and Colonel Hans Ritter von Seisser. As Kahr spoke, the proceedings were violently interrupted. Adolf Hitler, leader of the nascent Nazi Party, flanked by armed stormtroopers, fired a pistol into the ceiling and declared that the national revolution had begun. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR II: THE WAR IN NORTH AFRICA
Initiated in November 1942, Operation Torch was conceived as a grand strategy to diminish Axis forces’ engagement on the Eastern Front, thereby alleviating the escalating pressure on the Soviet Union. This ambitious offensive represented a strategic compromise between the United States and Great Britain, with British authorities espousing apprehensions that a direct American-supported landing in Northern Europe would precipitate a premature and potentially catastrophic engagement. (click image for the complete article)
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 marked a historic moment in world history, as it brought an end to the First World War, or World War I, that had ravaged large parts of Europe and beyond. The signing of the armistice was a significant moment for the Entente, which had been engaged in a bitter struggle against the Central Powers, led by Germany. The truce was signed at Le Francport near Compiègne, following negotiations initiated by the German government with the American President Woodrow Wilson. (click image for the complete article)
The Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War is a significant military engagement that is notable for being the first major battle between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam. The battle was part of the Pleiku Campaign conducted early in the Vietnam War at the eastern foot of the Chu Pong Massif in the central highlands of Vietnam in 1965. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR II: WAR IN THE PACIFIC
In the vast theater of the Pacific War, the island-hopping campaign executed by the United States was a methodical and often brutal strategy to advance toward the Japanese mainland. Each island, no matter how small, represented a critical objective, a potential airbase, or a fortified bastion to be overcome. Among these was Makin Atoll, part of the Gilbert Islands, which became the focus of two separate American operations. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR II: WAR IN THE PACIFIC: GILBERT ISLANDS: TARAWA
The Battle of Tarawa, fought 20-23 November 1943, was another turning point in the Allied campaign against Japan during World War II. Tarawa, an atoll in the Gilbert Islands, was the most fortified island that the Americans attempted to invade during the Pacific Campaign. The Japanese garrison at Betio, the main island of Tarawa, was heavily fortified with concrete bunkers, seawalls, trenches, and an airstrip, supported by a variety of artillery including heavy and light machine guns and light tanks. Betio Island was tiny however at less than one square mile. (click image for the complete article)
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir took place in the harsh and freezing winter of 1950, when the People’s Volunteer Army (PVA) of China entered the war to counter the presence of United Nations Command (UNC) troops in North Korea. The Chinese force, numbering around 120,000, launched a surprise attack on the US X Corps, an element of the larger UNC contingent, that was stationed near the Chosin Reservoir. (click image for the complete article)
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 1861-65
The winter of 1864 marked a pivotal moment in the American Civil War. As General William T. Sherman carved his destructive path through Georgia toward the sea, another drama unfolded in Tennessee that would effectively end Confederate hopes in the Western Theater. The Franklin–Nashville Campaign, led by Confederate General John Bell Hood, represents one of the war's most tragic and consequential military disasters—a desperate gamble that would shatter the Army of Tennessee and seal the Confederacy's fate. (click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR II: THE EASTERN FRONT: FINLAND
The Winter War of 1939 between Finland and the Soviet Union raised many questions for both combatants. It started when the Soviet Union invaded Finland on 30 November 1939, just three months after the outbreak of World War II. The Soviet Union was seeking to expand its borders and establish a buffer zone for the city of Leningrad, which was under threat from the Finnish border. Despite the immense strength of the Soviet army and air force, they suffered severe losses and made little headway for the initial period of the war. This war raised many questions for both countries that had long-lasting implications for their political, economic, and social structures. (click image for the complete article)
LEYDEKKERS PHOTOGRAPHY
American Cemetery Normandy · Auschwitz Birkenau · The Bedford Boys · Belgium · Berchtesgaden and The Eagle's Nest · Buchenwald · Dieppe, France · Equipment · Finland · Germany · The Great War · Holland · The Holocaust · Hong Kong · Italy · Juno Beach · La Cambe German War Cemetery · Landsberg Prison · Militracks 2023 · Monte Cassino, Italy · Museums · Netherlands · Normandy 2023 · Normandy 2024 · Normandy 2025 · Normandy, France · Omaha Beach · Operation Market Garden · Overlord Museum · Pointe du Hoc · Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam) · The Somme · Spottinger Cemetery · Treblinka · Vimy Ridge · War Museum Medemblik · Waterloo · World War II Veterans
ARTICLES & SEMINARS
PROF. BENJAMIN J. SWENSON'S SEMINARS & WRITINGS
Mexican-American War
18th & 19th Century History
PROF. BRIAN TODD CAREY'S SEMINARS
Ancient Military History: c.3100-c.1000 BCE
Classical Military History: c.1000 BCE-500 CE
Medieval Military History: c.500-c.1500
Readings in Military Philosophy
THE EDGE OF HISTORY
Ancient, Classical and Medieval Military History: Popular History
EARLY MODERN PERIOD
Early Modern and Napoleonic Wars
18TH & 19TH CENTURY WAR
American Revolutionary War
War of 1812
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
War Between the States: 1861-1865
WORLD WAR I
World War I: 1914-1918
The Gathering Storm: 1919-1939
WORLD WAR II
North Africa and Italy
Battle for the Seas
The China-Burma-India Theatre
D-Day and the European Theatre
The Eastern Front
Holocaust, Shoah
The Pacific Theatre
KOREA
The Korean War: 1950-1953
VIETNAM, LAOS & CAMBODIA
Vietnam War Era: 1955-1975
MODERN WAR & CONFLICT
Modern War and Conflict: 1976-Present
SEE ALSO
Aerial and Naval Warfare
Book Forum and Reviews
The Home Front
War in Film and Propaganda
UPDATES
Korean efforts in the summer of 1907 to seek recognition at the Hague Convention faced impossible…
Korean efforts in the summer of 1907 to seek recognition at the Hague Convention faced impossible…
Attention directed toward the environment in recent decades has motivated scholars to examine how…
“Fighting Back” is the martial biogrreadersaphy of Stan Andrews, a pilot who risked his life that…
John Fremont’s 100 Days: Clashes and Convictions in Civil War Missouri is a brief (216 pages) work…
In 1909, James Brown Scott, an influential American scholar of international law, published The…
In 1909, James Brown Scott, an influential American scholar of international law, published The…
Julian Stafford Corbett (1854–1922) stands as one of Britain’s most influential naval historians…
Julian Stafford Corbett (1854–1922) stands as one of Britain’s most influential naval historians…
John Fremont’s 100 Days: Clashes and Convictions in Civil War Missouri is a brief (216 pages) work…
On June 18, 1812, the U.S. Congress formally declared war against the British Empire. Responding to…
On June 18, 1812, the U.S. Congress formally declared war against the British Empire. Responding to…
“Fighting Back” is the martial biogrreadersaphy of Stan Andrews, a pilot who risked his life that…
Some War History Network members are familiar with the theatres and lore of World War I, but The…
Some War History Network members are familiar with the theatres and lore of World War I, but The…
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BOOK REVIEWS
Fighting Back- Stan Andrews And The Birth Of The Israeli Air Force
by Jeffrey Weiss (Author), Craig Weiss (Author)
Publisher: Wicked Son. Publication date: May 17, 2022. Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1637583111
Posted by Jim Gallen on June 21, 2026 at 9:04pm
“Fighting Back” is the martial biogrreadersaphy of Stan Andrews, a pilot who risked his life that the Star Spangled Banner wave above the land of the free and gave his life to see the Star of David in the sky, imbedded in a history of the birth of the Israeli Air Force. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
The First World War In The Baltic Sea, Volume 1: Essen's triumph, 1914 to February 1915
by Mark Harris (Author)
Publisher: Helion and Company. Publication date: December 15, 2025. Hardcover, 314 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1804519103
Posted by Jim Gallen on June 17, 2026 at 7:31pm
Some War History Network members are familiar with the theatres and lore of World War I, but The First World War in the Baltic Sea: Volume 1: Essen’s triumph, 1914 to February 1915 is likely to expand the ken of even the most seasoned. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Russia In Revolution
by S. A. Smith (Author)
Publisher: Oxford University Press. Publication date: January 26, 2017. Softcover, 468 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0198734826
Posted by Jim Gallen on June 13, 2026 at 3:35pm.
The Russian Revolution is one of—and arguably the most significant—sequels of the World War I. Russia In Revolution is the 38-year story of an empire whose chronic state of crisis led to a series of revolutions that transformed its country and shook the world. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy
by Damien Lewis (Author)
Publisher: PublicAffairs. Publication date: July 11, 2023. Softcover, 512 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1541700673
Posted by Jim Gallen on May 16, 2026 at 12:22am
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy is a biographical account of the Josephine Baker, entertainer, spy and activist. Born to poverty in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906 and escaped its racial and economic constraints when she emigrated to France in 1925. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
The Old Breed: The Complete Story Revealed: A Father, A Son, and How WWII in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives
by W. Henry Sledge (Author)
Publisher: Knox Press. Publication date: June 3, 2025. Hardcover, 352 pages. ISBN-13: 979-8888458488
Posted by Scott Lyons on April 21, 2026 at 7:01pm
I really wanted to like this new book but did not--I loved it. For those who have read and reread Eugene Sledge’s classic With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, published in 1981, W. Henry Sledge’s The Old Breed: The Complete Story Revealed is a treasure trove of additional material that was left out of Eugene Sledge’s original 1981 memoir. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII
by Jack El-Hai (Author)
Publisher: PublicAffairs. Publication date: September 2, 2014. Hardcover, 304 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1610394635
Posted by Scott Lyons on April 4, 2026 at 11:29pm
In theaters in late 2025 and recently released to streaming platforms is Nuremburg, starring Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, and Michael Shannon. Based on the 2013 book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El_Hai, the movie engages in a slightly different take on the author’s work, with a couple of changes that are critical and omit key details. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Red Arrow Across The Pacific: The Thirty-Second Infantry Division During World War II
by Mark D. Van Ells (Author)
Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Publication date: November 12, 2024. Hardcover, 537 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1976600333
Posted by Jim Gallen on March 15, 2026 at 8:08pm
“Red Arrow Across The Pacific” is a detailed, but engaging account of the Thirty-Second Division’s World War II service, featuring training in the United States and Australia followed by intense combat in New Guinea and the Philippines and occupation duty in Japan. Read the Full Review · All Book Reviews
Ski, Climb, Fight: The 10th Mountain Division and the Rise of Mountain Warfare
by Lance R. Blyth (Author)
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press. Publication date: 5 November 2024. Hardcover, 260 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0806194653
Posted by Dr. Randall S. Wells Jr. on February 26, 2026 at 3:27pm
Watching the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton, stoked my interest as a young boy in a subset of World War II that has seldom seen inclusion as a part of popular culture…mountain warfare. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Far From Suitable? Haig, Gough and Passchendaele: A Reappraisal
by Nicholas Ridley (Author)
Publisher: Helion and Company. Publication date: 30 April 2024. Softcover, 314 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1915113658
Posted by Jim Gallen on February 14, 2026 at 10:25pm
Far From Suitable? Haig, Gough and Passchendaele: A Reappraisal is an in-depth study of responsibility for the battle of Passchendaele and its legacy in Great War memory. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
The Coldest Winter: America And The Korean War
by David Halberstam (Author)
Publisher: Hyperion Books. Publication date: September 25, 2025. Softcover, 736 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1472872678
Posted by Jim Gallen on January 3, 2026 at 12:48am
I read “The Coldest Winter” in preparation of a one-night continuing education class I was teaching. In my reading, in breadth, length and detail, it is the magnus opus of American Korean War literature. Neither a commendation nor a condemnation of what has been characterized as “The century’s nastiest little war”, it tells the whole story, good, bad and ugly. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
The Tokyo Sixteen: The Heroes of Doolittle’s Raid on Japan in April 1942
by Geert Rottiers (Author)
Publisher: Air World. Publication date: August 26, 2025. Hardcover, 256 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1036134389
Posted by Randy Gann on December 28, 2025 at 1:35pm
The Tokyo Sixteen is a personalized, human-focused narrative of the pilots who flew the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942. This U.S. air raid launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities just 4 months after the devastating attack at Pearl Harbor. Read the full reivew · All Book Reviews
Trust and Leadership: The Australian Army Approach to Mission Command
Edited by Russell W. Glenn
Posted by Jim Gallen on November 27, 2025 at 11:52pm
“Trust and Leadership” consists of thirteen chronologically sequenced chapters, each being an essay on Mission Command as demonstrated in the operation covered from World War I to the Queensland National Emergency of 2010-2011 and extending from Gallipoli to the Southwest Pacific, Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, Somali, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Iraq, Afghanistan and domestic disaster relief and recovery. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
by Donald L. Miller, author
Posted by Randy Gann on October 25, 2025 at 1:38pm
Donald L. Miller's, Masters of the Air, is a widely acclaimed and bestselling story of the American Eighth Air Force (The Mighty Eighth) during World War II. Using interviews, oral histories, and other archives, it’s considered an authoritative account of USAAF bomber crews in World War II and the strategy ... Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Light Horse Harry: A Biography of Washington's Great Cavalryman, General Henry Lee
by Noel Garson, author
Posted by Jim Gallen on October 5, 2025 at 12:09am
I started Light Horse Harry in hopes of learning about a Revolutionary figure of whom I had only a superficial familiarity. I knew he was the failed father of Robert E. Lee to whom left little other than an historic name. I found a much more significant figure. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Victory ’45: The End of the War in Eight Surrenders
by James Holland and Al Murray, authors
Posted by Anthony M Cardo on September 18, 2025 at 8:44pm
As 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II, and just days ago, we recently surpassed the 80th anniversary of the Japanese surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri on September 2nd, 1945. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
A Day In September: The Battle of Antietam and the World It Left Behind
by Stephen Budiansky, author
Posted by Jim Gallen on August 23, 2025 at 11:59pm
A Day In September is an account and an analysis of America’s bloodiest day of warfare, September 17, 1862, when the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac clashed along the banks of Antietam Creek near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815
by Stephen Budiansky, author
Posted by Jim Gallen on June 29, 2025 at 11:09pm
Much of the cause of the War of 1812 arose out of maritime disputes: Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights. “Perilous Fight” is an exhaustive study of America’s War with Britain on the high seas, 1812-1815. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
by Arthur Herman, author
Posted by Jim Gallen on June 12, 2025 at 10:15pm
War histories usually focus on battles and strategies, generals and admirals, presidents and privates. Occasionally there is mention of the Age of Total War, of the American superiority of resources that overwhelmed Germany and Japan, but where do all of those materials come from? Read the full review · All Book Reviews
Devil Dogs: King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marines: From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan
By Saul David, author
Posted by Scott Lyons on April 8, 2023 at 7:14pm
Fans of HBO's miniseries "The Pacific" will immediately recognize marines Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge, Merriell "Snafu" Shelton, R.V. Burgin, Elmo "Gunny" Haney, Edward "Hillbilly" Jones, Andrew "Ack-Ack" Haldane and others in Saul David's 2022 book Devil Dogs ... Read the full review · All Book Reviews
The Dawn of Guerrilla Warfare: Why the Tactics of Insurgents against Napoleon Failed in the US Mexican War
by Benjamin J. Swenson
Posted by Scott Lyons on April 13, 2024 at 8:15pm
The Dawn of Guerrilla Warfare: Why the Tactics of Insurgents against Napoleon Failed in the US Mexican War is a thoroughly researched tome that deftly explores the transformation of military strategy through the lens of two pivotal conflicts separated by mere decades. Read the full review · All Book Reviews
The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945
by Rick Atkinson, author
Posted by Scott Lyons on July 7, 2023 at 10:53pm
Rick Atkinson’s The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, provides a capstone to the third and final installment of his Liberation Trilogy, a sequential historical series starting with An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, a narrative history of Allied involvement in North Africa, followed ... Read the full review · All Book Reviews
The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945
By Wladyslaw Szpilman, author. With a new forward by Andrzei Szpilman, son.
Posted by Scott Lyons on July 30, 2024 at 8:26pm
The Pianist, first written by Wladyslaw Szpilman in 1945 and initially published as Death of a City in Poland in 1946, is a compelling memoir that chronicles the harrowing experiences of Szpilman during the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, Poland. Those who have watched the 2003 Roman Polanski film adaptation will find this book an essential companion piece ... Read the full review · All Book Reviews
GREAT NEW READS
America and the Mexican War of Independence: Insurgents, Patriots, and Brethren in Arms, 1810-1821
by Benjamin J. Swenson (Author)
Publisher: McFarland. Publication date: October 1, 2025. Softcover, 190 pages. ISBN 1476696802
From the publisher, "In 1810, the Atlantic World was in turmoil. Revolution, pirates, proxy wars and clandestine operations ran rampant. Napoleon had invaded Spain, Louisiana Territory was in crisis, and Americans were preparing to declare war against the British."
Three Roads to Gettysburg: Meade, Lee, Lincoln, and the Battle That Changed the War, the Speech That Changed the Nation
by Tim McGrath (Author)
Publisher: Dutton Caliber. Publication date: November 18, 2025. Hardcover, 528 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0593184394
From the publisher: "These men came from different parts of the country and very different upbringings: Robert E. Lee, son of the aristocratic and slaveholding South; George Gordon Meade, raised in the industrious, straitlaced North; and Abraham Lincoln, from the rowdy, untamed West."
Midnight Flyboys: The American Bomber Crews and Allied Secret Agents Who Aided the French Resistance in World War II
by Bruce Henderson (Author)
Publisher: Gallery Books. Publication date: November 11, 2025. Hardcover, 336 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1668051412
From the publisher: "In 1943, the OSS—precursor to the CIA—came up with a plan to increase its support to the French resistance forces that were fighting the Nazis. To start, the OSS recruited some of the best American bomber pilots and crews to a secret airfield twenty miles west of London and briefed them on the intended mission."
The American Revolution: An Intimate History
by Geoffrey C. Ward (Author), Ken Burns (Author)
Publisher: Knopf. Publication date: November 11, 2025. Hardcover, 608 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0525658672
From the publisher: "Enriched by guest essays from lauded historians such as Vincent Brown, Maya Jasanoff, Jane Kamensky, and Alan Taylor, and by an astonishing array of prints, drawings, paintings, texts, and pamphlets from the time period, as well as newly commissioned art and maps—and woven together with the words of Thomas Paine— The American Revolution reveals a nation still grappling with the questions that fueled its remarkable founding."
Sword Beach: D-Day Baptism by Fire
by Max Hastings (Author)
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company. Publication date: November 11, 2025. Hardcover, 352 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1324117575
From the publisher: "Between 1941 and 1944, the British army contributed relatively little to World War II. On the unremittingly bloody Eastern Front, no Russian or German soldier had experienced the luxury of having four years to prepare and train for a resumption of the European continental campaign. But on D-Day―June 6, 1944―the lives of British soldiers changed."
Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln
by Matthew Pinsker (Author)
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company. Publication date: February 10, 2026. Hardcover, 576 pages.
From the publisher: "We know Lincoln as the eloquent, compassionate leader of a nation torn by civil war. But he had another, less visible side, equally central to his character and leadership: Lincoln was a master of party politics. Schooled as a Whig in the rough-and-tumble of Illinois electioneering in the 1830s, Lincoln skillfully navigated treacherous partisan crosscurrents and helped build the Republican party into a viable force. "
The Hitler Years: Holocaust 1933–1945
by Frank McDonough (Author)
Publisher: Apollo. Publication date: January 27, 2026. Hardcover, 416 pages.
From the publisher: "The Hitler Years: Holocaust is the fourth volume in Frank McDonough's brilliantly reviewed and bestselling history of Germany from 1918 to 1945. The penultimate title in the Hitler's Germany series, this book marks the end of the Second World War and the Nazi regime."
