Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and its Influence on World Events. Vol. I, 1909-1945
Norman Polmar. Washington, DC: Potomac Hooks. 2006. 576 pp. Illus. Maps. Appens. Index. $49.95.
Reviewed by Barrett Tillman
Like their authors, books have lives. Most are ephemeral, a few are ageless, Fewer still are resurrected. Aircraft Carriers belongs to the last category.
First published in 1969, Norman Polmar's authoritative history of flattops represented a landmark in naval aviation literature. It was a rarity: an immediate standard reference that would demand updating. However, decades passed without additional installments.
Now, 37 years later, Aircraft Carriers has been reissued as a two-volume set spanning nearly a century of sea-based aviation.
Volume I covers the period from 1909 through World War II. Whereas the original edition included 477 pages to the end of 1945, the current book runs 100 pages longer. In the revision, Polmar adds nearly 20 pages of footnotes, many of which make intriguing reading themselves. They range from esoterica such as development of catapults to cultural concerns such as the Japanese calendar's influence on equipment designations.
Throughout the text, development of the airplane-carrying ship is thoroughly described, from concept to execution. The Royal Navy's pioneering efforts in The Great War hold a charm all their own: witness officers in wing collars and ties grasping ropes on a Sopwith Pup seemingly hovering over HMS Furious, and pulling the "aeroplane" onto the deck.
The period between the World Wars represents the primary focus of carrier development that led to maturity. Britain was joined by the United States, Japan, and France in producing dedicated flattops, though the latter effort came to naught.
The new volume contains no coverage of Germany's or Italy's carriers, but those programs will appear in the appendices of Volume II. (Discovery of the sunken Graf Zeppelin in the Baltic in 2005 should make interesting reading.)
In addition to ships, Polmar naturally addresses the enormous variety of airplanes that have flown from carriers. Some designs will astonish even knowledgeable readers, and there exist no better examples than two British types. If the Airspeed 39 or GAL 38 does not take the "Ugliest Naval Aircraft Ever" trophy, both certainly make the finals.
Other esoteric subjects include towed sleds to launch planes in World War I and the Godzilla of aircraft carriers. Canada's proposed "iceberg" carrier-a 2,000-foot-long structure grossing some 2 million tons.
Polmar discusses not only the technical and operational but also the doctrinal aspects of each navy's carriers. For instance, the British influence on the Imperial Japanese Navy led to Nihon Kaigun often selecting nonaviators as carrier captains, in contrast to American practice.
A few errors persist from the first edition. For example, Lieutenant (junior grade) "Butch" O'Hare's Medal of Honor mission in February 1942 was flown against Mitsubishi Betty bombers rather than Nakajimu Kates. Additionally, errors exist in footnotes' content and sequence in the Midway chapter.
Apart from the massive amount of text, Aircraft Carriers is lavishly illustrated and documented. There are more than 380 photos and illustrations, 74 tables and data, and 19 maps. Most of the photos are good to excellent while the maps, duplicated from the original edition, are first-rate.
Perhaps the best indicator of how the topic has grown is that since 1969 the U.S. Navy has added seven carriers, not counting helicopter or "Harrier carriers." Nor have other navies been idle. In that period France and Russia produced tailhook ships, though the Soviet effort was stillborn. But those and many other aspects of sea-based aviation will be addressed in Volume II. due out this year.
Mr. Tillman is an historian and novelist best known for his volumes about naval aviation. His next books are a biography of General Curtis E. Le May and a novel, Pandora's Legion, both scheduled tor early 2007.
Wounded: Vietnam to Iraq
Ronald J. Glasser. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 2006. 128 pp. $21.95.
Reviewed by Captain Bruce L. Gillingham, MC, U.S. Navy
In this slim volume, essentially an extended essay, Dr. Ronald Classer, a pediatric nephrologist and Vietnam-era Army physician, draws parallels between the severe physical and mental injuries sustained by American troops in Central Command and the impact of this conflict on the country as a whole. Ostensibly a treatise on combat-casualty care, Dr. Glasser's commentary joins the chorus of those questioning American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those expecting a book about combat-casualty care or who expeet a balanced portrayal of the issues faced by returning wounded will be disappointed by the author's editorial digressions. Interweaving discussions of casualty care with military and national policy, he builds the argument that "we are all wounded" by our participation in the global war on terrorism in Southwest Asia. In (he course of developing this thesis he delivers a succinct history of advances in military medicine and points out the challenges that lie ahead for our wounded warriors. He gives little attention, however, to the comprehensive assistance and world-class treatment currently being provided to surmount these challenges.
Starting with a fictional vignette that traces one Marine from enlistment to a non-combat injury requiring medical evacuation back to the United States, the author observes that the life of our wounded servicemen and women will never be the same. In subsequent chapters he highlights important aspects of military medicine and military strategy in both Vietnam and Iraq to buttress his argument that, like the impact on our society, the magnitude of the wounds suffered by our troops are only just beginning to be appreciated.
Dr. Classer is most effective when he focuses on issues pertaining to military medicine. He correctly points out that the extremely low death rate in even the most severely combat wounded because of improvements in body armor, the heroism and skill of frontline medics and corpsmen, and the introduction of far-forward surgery with its emphasis on damage-control procedures, are only part of the story. As he states: "Death in Iraq is no longer the real measure of risk." Because of the blast injuries caused by extremely powerful improvised explosive devices, multi-system trauma-polytrauma-is commonplace. The most severely wounded, many of whom would not have survived in previous wars, face months of reconstructive surgery and extensive rehabilitation, and will require lifelong medical care at tremendous ongoing cost to the government, society, and their families.
The author also expresses considerable and appropriate concern about the high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among deployed personnel, remarking that "every American unit in Iraq is involved in hazardous duty." He cites recent studies that demonstrate that PTSD occurs more frequently in those who have had the highest combat exposure. The author also notes that many who are exposed to blast injuries but who are not visibly injured may experience subtle traumatic brain injury with impaired concentration, deficits in higher-level mental functioning, and changes in personality that are often shared with PTSD.
These are important topics and deserve an in-depth, balanced discussion. Unfortunately, the author gives short shrift to the enormous efforts currently under way, both within military medicine and the Veteran's Administration, to identify and provide world-class care for the physical and mental wounds of those who have been injured in this conflict. As well, in his effort to highlight what he terms the "national anesthesia" that has resulted from an all-volunteer force and the "privilege gap" between the serving and the served. lie ignores the multitude of public-private ventures that have been established to assist those who have been in combat. Try as he might to recreate the Vietnam-era chasm between civilian and soldier, Dr. Glasser fails to recognize that America has matured since the time he served as a pediatrician at the Army Hospital in Camp Zaina. Japan.
We now know that it is possible to criticize an unpopular war and yet still have the capacity to embrace the returning soldier. Wounded he may be. but left alone to cope with his wounds he will never be.
Captain Gillingham is a Navy orthopedic surgeon and deputy commander at Naval Medical Center. Portsmouth. He served as the officer in charge of the Surgical Shock Trauma Platoon in Taqaddum, Iraq during OIF-II-2 as well as the chief of professional services (forward) for the 1st Medical Battalion, 1st FSSG.
The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej
Paul M. Handley. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006. 512 pp. Illus. $38.
Reviewed by Major Dewnyne Creamer, U.S. Air Force
Since adopting a constitutional monarchy in 1932. Thailand has endured 18 coups, the most recent occurring on 19 September 2006. Although that coup was the first in nearly 15 years, it was a terrible disappointment to those who look to Thailand as a role model for its neighbors in Southeast Asia.
Why can't Thailand's fledgling democracy turn the corner? Paul M. Handler's answer centers on King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the one constant in the Thai government over the past 60 years. In this book, Mr. Handley assails Bhumibol's well-cultivated image as a protector of democracy by arguing that the king has consistently stifled the development of institutions of governance and is personally opposed to a democratic Thailand.
King Bhumibol is enormously popular, deeply respected, practically revered as an enlightened Buddhist demi-god. and is further protected from criticism by the enforcement of laws against lèse-majesté. The author is well aware of these sentiments, as he spent 13 years in Thailand us a journalist for the Far Eastern Economic Review. His biography is the first independent examination of the throne's role in modern Thai politics. The Thui government banned The King Never Smiles because of its portrayal of a monarch more Machiavellian than benevolent maharaja.
Bhumihol's life began innocently enough as a rather insignificant member of the royal family born to a commoner mother. He was so far removed from the lines of succession that he was born in the United States and spent most of the first 20 years of his life living in Ruropc us a carefree bon vivant. But following the abdication ol his uncle and the mysterious death of his brother (no new information is introduced: it remains unsolved). Bhumihol met his destiny as the King of Thailand.
When Bhumibol became king, it seemed just as likely that he would not be allowed to reign, let alone rule. The throne had been vacant for 17 years, and the young, inexperienced king wrestled with dictators merely to retain control of traditional duties. Handley argues that the rejuvenation of the king's role us Thailand's figurehead and key Buddhist icon laid the foundation for Bhumihol to assert genuine political power.
The Cold War provided the opportunity for King Bhumihol to rule. The United States established Thailand as its Southeast Asian bulwark against communism. The perfect blueprint included a stable society united around its Une tor its king, which uas protected by a strong military. Military dictators thus needed the monarchy to legitimi/z their governments. During the 1960s, the king and the military solidified their autocratic partnership through the slogan "nation, religion, king." The United Slates funded the military to protect Thailand from communists, private citizens and dcuuii Buddhists donated money to the king to enhance their karma, and the king nurtured the "Thai-ness" of his subjects.
As with many other U.S.-supported juntas of the Cold War. Thai leaders used the looming threat of communism to defend draconian policies and maintain their power and privilege. By the 1970s, grassroots political movements were demanding an end to government oppression and corruption through democratic reform. Even after incidents in which the king's military massacred peaceful protestors in 1973 and 1992. Thais overlooked Bhumihol's late interventions and praised him for protecting his people and ending undemocratic regimes.
Handley credits an incredibly effective royal public relations machine for building the image of an apolitical, holy, and benevolent monarch. However, as he gained experience and confidence. Bhumibol evolved from impotent figurehead to legitimizing force to unquestionable power broker. If Blumibol's consistent support for military leaders against elected officials were not overt actions, the king's speeches against democracy and "alien western philosophies." and his undermining of bureaucrats and politicians through public criticism make his true beliefs quite clear.
Whether one supports Paul Handley's argument or prefers to focus on the many positive efforts King Bhumibol has made to improve the lives of his subjects, this work is essential to understanding Thailand's modern political history and. particularly, the latest coup. Just as important, and perhaps more ominous, the book raises questions about how Thailand will adjust to its first real change in government in more than 60 years without the leadership of the 79-year-old king.
Major Creamer, formerly an assistant professor of history at the U.S. Air Force Academy, is assigned as an exchange officer with the Royal Thai Air Force.
Sea Change at Annapolis: The United States Naval Academy, 1949-2000
H. Michael Gellanil. Chapel Hill. NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2006. 416 pp. Illus. Notes. Bib. Index. $34.95.
Reviewed by Captain P. T. Deutermann, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Sea Change at Annapolis is most definitely one of those hooks where the reader profits from reading the conclusion first. As an executive summary, it's brilliant, especially since one third of the hook consists of notes and bibliography.
The book describes in detail how the Academy and its leadership have responded to three transforming issues in American society from 1949 to 2000: race, separation of church and state, and the role of women in the military. Specifically, a series of superintendents had to grapple with the complex problems of minority recruiting/affirmative action, midshipman-initiated lawsuits to end mandatory chapel attendance, and the introduction of women to the Naval Academy, and. implicitly, to combatant naval service.
The book makes it clear that the Naval Academy's leadership made a consistently loyal effort to adapt even when the issue at hand went against their professional better judgment. Professor Gelfand describes how the midshipmen were often the most unhelpful element in the institution's efforts to change, resisting change under the rubric of being somehow morally superior to their civilian contemporaries in general. The Academy's leadership is portrayed as being out front most of the time, which is of course where leaders are supposed to be. The implicit corollary, that followers are expected to follow, seems to have been lost on a surprisingly large proportion of the brigade. And yet we see the interesting dichotomy in this thesis when the author describes the somewhat unholy alliance between midshipmen and the ACLU to end mandatory chapel.
At its heart, this book is about the forced transformation of the Academy's basic culture, a transformation that (mostly) succeeded only because the leadership remained committed to and focused on the Academy's mission throughout the cultural upheaval. The mission, to prepare future leaders for the Navy and the Marine Corps, became the Academy's anchor to windward, and it's fascinating to read how the various superintendents relied on it to both advance and protect the school.
The book is an honest, well-documented, and often eye-opening account of this cultural transformation. It is also proof-positive that even for such a hierarchical and traditional institution as the U.S. Naval Academy, change is probably the only reliable constant, as is the case for the rest of us. too.
Captain Deutermann, a 1963 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, served in the Surface Navy for 26 years, where he enjoyed three sea eommands. In his second career as a writer, he has written 11 novels, the most recent, Spider Mountain, published by St. Martin's Press in January, 2007.