This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
The Unmaking of a President: Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam
Col. Herbert Y. Schandler, U. S. Army (Ret.). Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977. 419 pp. Map. Append. Bib. JU.50 ($15.75).*
Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Raymond E. Burrell, U. S. Army
^ 1978 graduate of the National War College, Lieutenant Colonel Burrell served two ‘ours of duty in South Vietnam as a field ar‘illeryman, and is presently assigned to the Nuclear Division, J-5, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.)
Colonel Schandler would agree with de Jouvenel’s maxim that “there is indeed a very heavy bill to be- paid for che misinvestment of public attention, which is a very common fault of politicians.” In President Lyndon B. Johnson’s case, the misinvestment turned out to be the Vietnam War, and the bill was his premature retire- tnent from political life. But the author's purpose is not to restate what has become generally accepted. Rather, Colonel Schandler endeavors to uncover the underlying reasons for Johnson’s “unmaking” over Vietnam.
The basic fault is found in the decision-making process employed at the highest levels of the Johnson Administration. Although Colonel Schandler believes the U. S. government’s war aims in South Vietnam were clear and remained constant,” when objectives were established by the President "the decision-making process failed to address the problem of determining cost, both in resources and time, of attaining the objectives.” As a result, as long as “the enemy maintained the strategic initiative by his willingness to increase his commitment of forces to the struggle,” U. S. costs were being established in Hanoi, not in Washington. Not until the enemy’s Tet offensive in early 1968, was the Johnson Administration finally forced to face the issue of cost in a domestic context. Only then, were the objectives that were being pursued and the strategy being followed to attain them matched to see if they were in accord.” And unfortunately for President Johnson, it was discovered that “the cost had already become too high.”
Two introductory chapters suffice to carry the reader from President Johnson’s initial decisions, to step-up U. S. intervention in 1964-1965, through developments to the end of 1967. A third provides the "mood of cautious optimism concerning the course of the war in Vietnam” which prevailed on the eve of Tet. With these chapters as background, attention focuses on the critical 60-day period between 31 January and 31 March 1968. At that time, events in Vietnam caused reactions in Washington which led to a decisive turning point in the U. S. commitment to South Vietnam.
In Colonel Schandler’s view, Tet illustrated that the American failure in South Vietnam “was caused by the lack of realization that military power alone could not solve what was basically a political problem.” Yet Tet itself, he suggests, was not sufficient at first to indicate this to the President or his inner circle of advisors. Were it not for the untiring efforts of Clark Clifford, the recently appointed Secretary of Defense, the author intimates that President Johnson might have been “persuaded by his advisors to capitalize on the Viet Cong defeat by increasing American forces and removing geographic constraints on military operations, thus going all out in order to seek a rapid and decisive conclusion to the war.” For his part, Colonel Schandler is convinced that political conditions at home, as well as in South Vietnam, would have doomed such efforts to failure.
This book is also the story of how,
American Forts: Architectural Form and Function
Willard B. Robinson. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977. 229 PP- Ulus.
Maps. Append. Bib. Ind. $15.00 ($13.50).*
Reviewed by Emanuel Raymond Lewis
(Dr. Lewis is a past contributor to the Proceedings and has written extensively on coast artillery and harbor defense. His principal work, Seacoast Fortifications of the United States, was published in 1970 by the Smithsonian Institution. He is Librarian of the V. S. House of Representatives.)
The subject of this handsome book, architecture of defense, has just recently begun to attract an American following, and is, therefore, likely to be regarded as an important contribution to a sparsely published field. The book presents a splendid collection of graphic materials on forts, including about a hundred previously unpublished plans, maps, sketches, paintings, etc. The text covers a large number and variety of defensive works, and an exceptional bibliography on fortification is provided. For many readers, these features will alone justify the book.
Critical readers may, however, be disappointed as, for example, they look for a clear indication of whether the bountiful body of forts covered (the index lists some 200) is meant to be exhaustive or a mere sample of a larger population. The reader with an interest in forts of the last 100 years may well feel cheated by the dismissal of that entire era in two paragraphs. Nor is it quibbling to pause over the title when one realizes that for most of the period since 1492 the fortifications of chief significance in this hemisphere, with few exceptions, were located outside the 48 contiguous states, the area to which this work is confined. Yet, these shortcomings, essentially editorial in nature, are by no means the book’s most serious.
In terms of substance, the books most obvious flaw lies in its presentation of the French influence upon fortification in this country, a presentation of such fervor as to border on the religious. No one with any knowledge of the subject would question the im
after taking office, Secretary Clifford was influenced by the veteran high- level civilian officials (Paul \Carnke, Phil Goulding, etc.) and quickly changed his hawkish views on Vietnam and took the initiative in a sue- cessful effort to alter the course of U. S. involvement. Starting in early February with General Westmoreland’s request for 206,000 more men, Secretary Clifford had influenced President Johnson, by the end of March, to impose a cap on U. S. military strength in Vietnam and to shift the emphasis toward Vietnamization. These were the first steps, the author maintains, on the road to American disengagement in Vietnam.
As this was more than an intellectual exercise for Clifford, Colonel Schandler does not fail to bring out the emotional strain of the struggle on Clifford’s personal friendship with Johnson. Yet, it is not made clear how Clifford, or anyone else except President Johnson himself, could have exercised the decision-making process with similar results in the pre-Tet en/ironment. It is, therefore, difficult to see how President Johnson could have salvaged his political future, while reasonable to suggest that Clifford’s success was contingent upon the situation the President found himself in following Tet.
The author shows little sympathy for the military approach, taken by General Westmoreland and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the Vietnam War. Perhaps as a result of his experience during this period in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs, Colonel Schandler identifies openly with the position adopted by Secretary Clifford. But this bias does not detract from what is otherwise a balanced, readable, and remarkably well-documented account of the decisionmaking process that unfolded as a result of the Tet offensive. In short, the book clearly represents a distinct contribution to the literature on political-military interface within the U. S. government.
•For details on ordering books and special prices see the Book Order Service note in Books of Interest to the Professional.
portance, even perhaps the preeminence of that influence. But the leap from that to the unqualified dominance of the French role, so uncritically embraced and evangelically extolled by this author, serves on balance to impair the book s credibility- Worse, in support of this view of the French influence, categorical statements appear which, in some cases, are simply not true, footnoted to re erences that do not always check out.
Another major weakness of the book is its disproportionate attention to the land-defense features of fortification (on which much of the traditional literature tends to concentrate)- While this topic is handled reasonably well with respect to both land (i.e-, frontier) forts and the land-facing aspects of seacoast forts, the chief function of the latter class of defenses— those defenses with which the bulk of the book is concerned—is all but ignored.
The functional difference between land and seacoast forts was fundamental, in that the main purpose of coastal defenses was not to protect themselves or the land on which they stood; R was to project a defensive zone over a water area—to deny access to hostile vessels—by the heavy ordnance with which they were armed. The housing of such armament was the one reason for their existence, and to a very large degree their form was determined by the nature of that armament and its development. As time passed, the form of seacoast defenses came increasingly to depend on the characteristics of their seaward-facing weapons, so that by the end of the 19th century such defenses consisted of little more,
carriages of particular models. To the extent that defensive features were incorporated in their designs, these were to protect the armament and its cresvs against incoming naval gunfire and, secondarily, to resist land forces.
The book’s most pervasive anomaly seems to derive from its subtitle, Ar chitectural Form and Function. It is difficult to imagine any field of human building activity in which the form- function idea less needs to be pointed out than fortification, the very quin-
tessence of function-determined de- Slgn. The application of the form- unction concept in this work is neither convincing (its appearance is s° spotty as to suggest tokenism) nor really appropriate. In the case of coastal defenses, the author’s understanding of function is imperfect; as to form, he has ignored a crucial determinant. With regard to land frontier forts—the one section of the book Wlth which Robinson seems comfortable—the lesson is anything but form and function. It is, rather, form and material, or form and environment; for here we are shown variation ln defensive works because of differences in everything but function: topography, climate, vegetation, building materials, etc.
In sum, this book simply doesn’t deliver. Despite an appearance of substance, its chief strength is in its graphic attractiveness, and its appeal Is to the senses rather than the mind, ft is simply, a buff’s book in scholar’s clothing.
Sidewheelers to Nuclear Power: ■A- Pictorial Essay Covering 123 Years at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Sue Lemmon and E. D. Wichels. Annapolis, Md.: Leeward, 1977. 240 pp. Ulus. Map. Append. Ind. $11.95 (S 10.76).*
Reviewed by Rear Admiral L. V. Honsinger, U. S. Navy (Retired)
One of the largest shipyards in this country today, Mare Island was the only shipyard on the West Coast for several years. During that period, both naval and commercial ships were serviced there. The book tells of this yard being first in many things. It was the site of: the first ship built on the West Coast (1859), the first conversion of a ship from coal to oil, and the conversion of a collier (the Jupiter [AC-3]) to the first aircraft carrier (the Langley [CV-l])—the first electric drive ship in the Navy. Also, the $500 wooden platform for the cruiser Pennsylvania (ACR-4), from which aviator Eugene Ely flew and landed his airplane, was built at Mare Island.
But a great Navy yard, like Mare Island, is more than the ships it builds and repairs—it is a complete community. As the authors remind us, it is “people” who service and build ships and until World War II, nearly all employees of Mare Island lived within sound of the whistle—Vallejo was miles around. It depicts buildings, snakes, quail, water systems, and of course, the beautiful St. Peter’s Chapel—first in the Navy to be used for both Protestant and Catholic services.
Many whose names are legend in the Navy and Marine Corps served at Mare Island. Hundreds prominent in our nation s history have visited there—many on the occasion of the launching of one of the 513 ships built there. The photographs which portray many of these ships, as well as people and hundreds of other scenes, were meticulously selected from thousands available in the files of the Navy, the newspapers, and the state. Each is interestingly described along with background stories.
truly a “company” town. The pictures and their descriptions tell of early life in a shipyard; of Admiral Farragut, the founder, and his family and their interest in the community. It tells of the ferries, which years ago had to bring everything to the island. It tells of the “time-ball,” the coaling sheds, the first radio on the West Coast, and the antenna towers, a landmark for
All who have served in our Navy, 0r who have loved it for its dedicated service to our country, will find this beautiful picture book full of colorful ar>ecdotes and nostalgic history. Ships, People, places, and everything else are bterally the major divisions of the book. It tells much intimate naval his- t0ry and extols Mare Island, Vallejo, ar,d its people.
This is a book anyone can pick up anytime—for a minute or an hour— and be entranced by the most interesting stories and pictures probably ever collected within one binding of the industrial operations of our Navy.
Farwell’s Rules of the Nautical Road, Fifth Edition
Cdr. Frank E. Bassett, USN, and Cdr. Richard A. Smith, RN. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1977. 751 pp.
Ulus. Append. Maps. $18.95 ($15.15).*
Reviewed by Captain William B.
Hayier, U. S. Navy (Retired)
(Captain Hayier commanded five ships while on active duty, taught seamanship at the Naval Academy, and served on the faculty of the Naval War College. He holds a license as Master of Steam and Motor Vessels, any Gross Tons, and has been on the faculty of the California Maritime Academy since 1970. A writer by avocation, his works have been published in the Proceedings and other magazines.)
The appearance of the new edition of Farwell’s will be welcomed by all segments of the seagoing community. This update of the foremost text on the Rules of the Road is particularly necessary and timely because the new 1972 International Rules took effect on 15 July 1977. Commanders Bassett and Smith have done a skillful and scholarly job of revising Farwell’s, and no practicing or aspiring mariner can afford to neglect this text.
The authors have retained the same format of previous editions. The first part still contains the rules themselves, and the second, a discussion of the "law of the nautical road.” This is followed by the appendices which have been enlarged over previous editions and now make up more than a third of the book. This all sounds logical, but if you have not examined the 1972 Rules you can’t appreciate what this has entailed. Pick up the new Farwell’s and you will be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task and the thoroughness with which it has been accomplished.
The organization and presentation of the 1972 Rules themselves are a vast improvement over the I960 Rules. The new rules are indeed much simplified and are easier to learn. The problem, however, is that the individual rule numbering for international rules now differs from the article numbering for inland rules and consequently a side-by-side comparison is no longer as easy as it was. The
authors have provided a bridge over this problem area by retaining the side-by-side comparison in their presentation of the rules in Part I. The appendices contain separate reprints so both international and inland rules can also be examined in isolation.
One occasionally hears the complaints that Farwell did not write the rules, that his interpretations do not represent the law, or that since the 1972 Rules are now in effect, the older court cases are no longer relevant. This betrays an attitude which one hopes will not result in its owner discovering—as did Thucydides that “a collision at sea can ruin your entire day.” Neither Farwell nor his successors have written the rules, but the research which has gone into this work has resulted in a presentation of the rules and their background which is priceless and available for the reading. A watch officer who knows the rules and the thinking behind them will make more intelligent and safer decisions. Commanders Bassett and Smith have added more recent court cases to strengthen their presentation. The time to delve into the rules is before—not after—assuming the watch. One of the reviewer's early memories of his first destroyer is that of the just-deposed OOD seated disconsolately in the wardroom glued to Navy Regs and the International Rules of the Road endeavoring to find what he violated that contributed to the collision in the fog.
There can be no question that this book is up-to-date, timely, and pertinent. The new boundary lines between U.S. inland and international rules are contained in Appendix A. Also covered are the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization s (IMCO) recommendations on navigational watchkeeping as well as IMCO- adopted traffic separation schemes.
One cannot review this book without adding a plea that, at the very least, inland rules be modernized and brought into conformance with the format of the 1972 International Rules. In their present form they do little to contribute to the respect which the aspiring watch officer or midshipman must have for the law. Article 14 is the prize example. How
many of us have seen a steam vessel proceeding under sail only, but having her funnel up? This is 1978!
MacArthur
Clay Blair, Jr. New York: Pocket Books, 1977. 375 pp. $1.95 (paper).*
Reviewed by Rear Admiral John R. Wadleigh, U. S. Navy (Retired)
(Rear Admiral Wadleigh served on board the USS Yorktown [CV-5] and several cruisers during World War II. He has been a frequent contributor to the Proceedings.)
Published in conjunction with the Universal motion picture of the same name, MacArthur is far superior to what its flamboyant cover and “headlined” back page indicate. It is no rehash of the film script. It is an excellent chronological supplement to the current semi-documentary from Hollywood. Author Blair blends his research from an extensive bibliography with his own background as a reporter for Time-Life to make a significant contribution as a 20th century military historian.
For Proceedings readers there is much of interest. MacArthur’s often bitter relations with the senior officers of the Navy are detailed. At the same time the author emphasizes the vital part that seapower played in MacArthur s victories—the long road back from Australia in 1944 and 1945, and the repulse of North Korean forces in the fall of 1950. As a student of U.S submarine operations, Blair stresses the employment of Seventh Fleet submarines from their Australian bases , beginning in 1942.
In contrast to the film, the weak- : nesses and mistakes of this live-star general receive plenty of attention in the book. Such objectivity, combined with an easy style and accurate chronology, make this biography a worthwhile addition to any military enthusiast’s library.
No serious student of the International Rules of the Road will be without the new Farwell's. In one volume are contained the rules, what the courts say about them, and the experience of many generations of mariners in avoiding—and having—collisions.
Books of Interest to the Professional
117
Compiled by Professor Jack Sweetman, Associate Editor
Naval affairs
Battle Cruisers: The design and development of British and German Battlecruisers of the First World War Era
N-J-M. Campbell. London: Conway Maritime Press (distributed in North America by Sky Books Press, New York), 1978. 72 pp. Illus. $7.95 ($7.16) paper.
The descriptive subtitle of this well- executed monograph leaves little to say of 'ts contents. It is the first volume of a new series, “Warship Specials,” launched by ihe British quarterly journal, Warship.
EE] Combined Operations in the Civil War
Rowena Reed. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1978. 468 pp. Illus. Maps. Bib. Ind. $16.95 ($13.55).
Conventional wisdom holds that Major General George B. McClellan, general-inchief of the Federal armies in 1861 and 1862, was a brilliant organizer but an ineffectual campaigner whose Napoleonic fantasies could not survive the test of battle. It is challenged by this major revisionist study, which argues that McClellan produced a blueprint for a quick and relatively bloodless victory through combined operations, exploiting Northern naval superiority, which was shelved after his untimely relief. A concluding section examines the subsequent evolution of combined tactics in the operations around Charleston and at Fort Fisher. Dr. Reed is an assistant Professor of history at Dartmouth College.
The Luciano Project: The Secret Wartime Collaboration of the Mafia and the U. S. Navy
Rodney Campbell. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1977. 299 pp. Illus. Bib. Ind. $9.95 ($8.96).
in the winter of 1942, Naval Intelligence officers in the Third Naval District, alarmed by the success of the German G-boat campaign off the eastern seaboard and evidence of sabotage on the New York Waterfront, concluded an unlikely agreement with jailed mobster Lucky Luciano to use his underworld connections to help seal the Port of New York from Nazi infiltration. The story of this arrangement and its aftermath is told for the first time.
Manning the New Navy: The Development of a Modern Naval Enlisted Force, 1899-1940
Frederick S. Harrod. Wesport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1978. 276 pp. Illus. Append. Bib. Ind. $18.95 ($17.06).
The Navy’s efforts to create an enlisted force to meet its 20th century manpower needs are examined in a well-researched and highly readable study. As the author, a member of the history department at the U. S. Naval Academy, notes in his preface, “Enlisted personnel are the forgotten men of naval history.” His work will do much to bring them out of obscurity.
The Secret War for the Ocean Depths: Soviet-American Rivalry for Mastery of the Seas
Thomas S. Burns. New York: Rawson Associates Publishers, 1978. 334 pp. Append. Bib. Ind. $12.95 ($11.66).
The technologies and strategies of the underwater aspects of the Soviet-American naval competition are the subject of a popular survey. Mr. Burns is a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy.
Zerstorer unter Deutscher Flagge 1934 bis 1945 (Destroyers under the German Flag, 1934 to 1945)
Wolfgang Harnack. Herford, West Germany: Koehlers Veriagsgesellschaft, 1978. 210 pp. Illus. Maps. Bib. DM 68 (Approx. $34.00).
The technical and operational history of the destroyers of the Third Reich is related in a work that will probably become the standard reference. Captured destroyers which were taken into the German Navy are included. The illustrations include 24 pages of photographs, as well as numerous line drawings, and the accounts of major destroyer actions are complemented by an outstanding collection of maps and track charts.
MARITIME AFFAIRS The Best of Sail Cruising
Anne Madden, Editor. Boston: Sail Books,
1978. 280 pp. Illus. $11.95 ($10.76).
Fifty-three major articles from the pages of Sail magazine are assembled in an illustrated anthology on the arts and practices of cruising under sail.
(3] From the Deep of the Sea
Charles Edward Smith, Edited by Charles Edward Smith Harris. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1978. 288 pp. Maps. Illus. $9.95 ($7.95).
In the winter of 1866-67, the English whaler Diana, provisioned for only two
* DEE'
OF THE SEA
** OF THE i£r,
Charles EcWdSmit
months, was trapped in Arctic ice for three times that long. The ordeal her crewmen underwent is related in the diary of her surgeon, Charles Edward Smith, as edited by his son. Long out of print, his gripping narrative is reissued in a facsimile edition.
|31 George Washington’s Coast Guard: Origins of the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service 1789-1801
Irving H. King. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1978. 229 pp. Illus. Append. Bib. Ind. $10.95 ($8.75).
Authorized by Congress in August 1790, the Revenue Cutter Service was the 18th century ancestor of today’s Coast Guard. Until now, however, its history has been largely neglected. This carefully documented study describes its operations as both a maritime police and naval force
from its origins through the Quasi-War with France (1798-1801). Dr. King is Professor of History at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy.
Jane’s Ocean Technology: 1978
Robert L. Trillo, Editor. New York: Franklin Watts, 1978. 820 pp. Illus. Ind. $72.50 ($65.25).
The technologies employed in the exploration and exploitation of the oceans are described in the third edition of this massive annual. It is divided into three sections: underwater systems, surface systems (including oil and gas exploration rigs), and air systems (offshore helicopters), and is illustrated by some 1,600 photographs and drawings.
Jane’s Surface Skimmers: Hovercraft and Hydrofoils, 1978 Roy McLeavy, Editor. New York: Franklin Watts, 1978. 408 pp. Illus. Append. Ind. $60.00 ($54.00).
The eleventh edition of this annual reference presents a global survey of the builders and operators of all types of surface skimmers and their distinctive support systems. The editor’s foreword reviews developments, civil and military, in skimmer technology and operations during the past year. Like all the volumes of the Jane's “family," the work is profusely illustrated.
The Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms Under Sail
George P. B. Naish, et al. New York: Crown Publishers, 1978. Unnumbered. Illus. Bib.
Ind. $15.95 ($14.36).
Nearly 4,000 terms relating to sailing subjects are defined and illustrated in this handsome work. It is divided into 20 topical sections, each of which begins with an introductory essay setting the various terms in perspective.
MILITARY AFFAIRS
Afrika Korps at War. Volume I: The
Road to Alexandria
Lt. Col. George Forty, British Army (Ret.). New York: Scribner's, 1978. 160 pp. Illus. Maps. $14.95.
Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps was and remains—undoubtedly the most famous German military formation of World War II. The first of a projected two-volume history describes its operations to the end of 1941. The author is well qualified for the task, having recently retired after 32 years in the Royal Tank Regiment.
Aircraft of the RAF: A Pictorial Record, 1918-1978
Paul Ellis, Editor. London: Macdonald and Jane’s, 1978. 192 pp. Illus. Ind. £ 2.95 (Approx. $5.70) ($5.13) paper.
The Royal Air Force celebrated its 60th birthday on 1 April 1978. This handsome pictorial profiles the planes it has flown.
Beaufighter at War
Chaz Bowyer. New York: Scribner's, 1978. 160 pp. Illus. Bib. $14.95.
A pictorial history traces the career of the Bristol Beaufighter, the most durable British fighter aircraft of World War II.
Eighth Air Force Story ... in World War II
Kenn C. Rust. Temple City, Cal.: Historical Aviation Album, 1978. 72 pp. Illus. $7.50 ($6.75) paper.
NAVALTERMS DICTIONARY
Add $1.00 to each order for postage & handling.
(Please use book order form in Books of Interest to the Professional
section.)
The new fourth edition of Naval Terms Dictionary is a first- rate reference, skillfully and sensibly prepared by two of the foremost naval authorities writing today. The bulk of its more than 400 pages is devoted to a glossary of U.S. Navy colloquialisms, slang, and technical terminology, followed by five appendices which add much to the usefulness of the book by explaining ship, aircraft, and missile designation systems, the enlisted rating structure, and electronics nomenclature. Naval Terms Dictionary contains nearly 5,000 terms, alphabetically arranged, cross-referenced, and succinctly defined. It will prove as responsive to needs ot the professional who must use these terms correctly as it will be enlightening to the Navy buff hopelessly confused by what must occasionally seem like a foreign language unique to Navy publications. 1978/352 pages/appendices
List price: $12.95 Members price: $10.35 A Naval Institute Press Book
By John V. Noel, Jr. Captain, USN (Ret.) and Edward L. Beach, Captain, USN (Ret.)
Between 17 August 1942, the day it flew its first mission, and the end of the war in Europe, the fighters and bombers of the Eighth Air Force flew some 500,000 sorties and dropped more than 700,000 tons of bombs. This pictorial history outlines its operations and describes its group and squadron markings.
Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe
Col. Raymond F. Toliver, U. S. Air Force (Ret.), and Trevor J. Constable. Fallbrook,
Cab: Aero Publishers, 1977. 432 pp. Ulus. Append. Ind. 117.95 (116.16).
The well-nigh incredible story of the Luftwaffe’s leading aces of World War two of whom scored over 300 victories—is told in a richly illustrated Multiple biography.
5j Jump Jet: The Revolutionary WSTOL Fighter
Bruce Myles. San Rafael, Cal.: Presidio Press, 1978. 263 pp. Illus. Append. Ind. $9.95 (*7.95).
The development of the Hawker Siddeley vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) Harrier fighter, now in use by ihe U. S. Marine Corps, is narrated in a non-technical account for the general trader. The author is a television reporter with the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Rolls-Royce from the Wings: Military Aviation 1925-71
Ronald W. Harker. Oxford, England: Oxford Illustrated Press, 1976. 168 pp. Illus. Append. f4.95 (Approx. $9.55) ($8.60).
The author of this charming memoir
joined Rolls-Royce as an apprentice in 1925 and rose through its executive ranks to the position of military aircraft advisor, which he held from 1957 until 1971. His book provides an insider's view of the vital contributions Rolls-Royce engines made to the development of military aviation during his forty-five years with the firm. He is convinced that, had the British government pursued more enlightened policies towards the military aviation industry, those contributions could have been greater still.
Seaford House Papers 1976 Philip Panton and Arthur Peers, Editors. London: Ministry of Defence, Royal College of Defence Studies, 1977. 108 pp. (Copies may be obtained by application to The Secretary,
RCDS, 37 Belgrave Square, London SWI, England.), paper.
The latest of the annual publications of the Royal College of Defence Studies, Seaford House, London, contains seven provocative papers: “The soldier and his conscience— law and ethics,” by Brigadier J.M. Glover, MBE; “The cruise missile—its potential effect on the balance of power between east and west,” by Group Captain G.B. Tyler, RAF; "Conventional warfare in Europe—imagination or reality,” by
Major-General M. Meron, Israel Defence Forces; “Forces for change in European strategy,” by Robert M. Huffctutler, U.S. Department of State; “The energy outlook,” by Captain G.J.H. Woolrych, Royal Australian Navy; “China and her influence on south and south-east Asia,” by Captain E.J. Horlick, RN; and “The military potential of lighter-than-air technology,” by Group Captain G.A. White, AFC, RAF.
A Short History of the Vietnam War
Alan R. Millett, Editor. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1978. 169 pp. Map. Bib. Ind. $12.50 ($11.25), $3.95 ($3.56) paper.
The Vietnam conflict is reviewed by a collection of 12 articles first published in The Washington Post between 1973 and 1975. There is also an original essay by Major General Edward G. Lansdale, U. S. Air Force (Ret.), probably the leading exponent of American counterinsurgency and an important figure in the development of Vietnam policy.
Silent Missions
Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters, USA (Ret.). New York: Doubleday, 1978. 654 pp. Illus. Ind. $12.95 ($11.66).
A Naval Institute Press Book
Edited by Barry M. Blechman and Robert P. Berman Foreword by Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., Admiral, USN (Ret.)
1978/336 pages/illustrated List price: $32.95 Member's price: $26.35
Add $7.00 to each order for postage & handling.
(Please use book order form in Books of Interest to the Professional section.)
navies.
Here is a comprehensive and authoritative description of East Asian navies and their relationships to the Soviet Pacific and U.S. Seventh fleets.
Guide to Far Eastern Navies contains a wealth of timely information, including an examination of the naval significance of the region as a whole and its relation to the U.S. and Soviet fleets.
The navies of China, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and the two Koreas are discussed in individual chapters by experts on each navy. Commander Bruce Swanson, USN, traces the mysterious course of Chinese naval history from the 19th century to the present. Commander James Auer, USN, and Commander Sadao Seno, JMSDF (Ret.), together describe an efficient, technically advanced, but politically handicapped Japanese self-defense force, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of that fleet. The navies of the ever-volatile Koreans are expertly examined by Norman Polmar, and Jeffrey Record explains why the Philippine Navy is principally made up of U.S.-supplied small combatants and amphibious ships. William Durch provides a study in depth of the embattled, aging, but well-maintained navy of Taiwan, which is now turning to countries such as Israel for modern armament.
Ships, aircraft, and weapons are tabulated and shown pictorially in a separate section to facilitate comparisons of these important but little-known
GUIDE TO FAR EASTERN NAVIES
Few men in any walk of life have enjoyed
as eventful a career as Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters, who recently retired as Deputy Director of the CIA. A phenomenal linguist, Walters’ service as an interpreter and troubleshooter for five presidents gave him a personal insight into many of the leading men and events of the mid-20th century. He is also a gifted raconteur, and his recollections are as entertaining as they are informative.
Soviet Aviation and Air Power: A Historical View
Robin Higham and Jacob W. Kipp, Editors. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1977. 328 pp. Illus. Ind. $25.00 ($22.50).
The development of Soviet airpower, from its origins under the tsarist regime to the
BOOK ORDER SERVICE
All prices enclosed by parentheses are member prices. Members may order most books of other publishers through the Naval Institute at a 10% discount off list price. (Prices quoted in this column are subject to change and will be reflected in our billing.) The postage and handling fee for each such special order book of a United States publisher will be $1.00; the fee for a book from a foreign publisher will be $1.50. When air mail or other special handling is requested, actual postage and handling cost will be billed to the member. Books marked [Jjare Naval Institute Press Books. Books marked Qare Naval Institute Book Selections. Please use the order blank in this section.
present day, is traced in a collection of 12 essays. Both editors belong to the faculty of Kansas State University.
United States Army in World War II: The Mediterranean Theatre of Operations: Cassino to the Alps
Ernesc F. Fisher, Jr. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army (for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.), 1977. 584 pp. Illus. Maps. Append.
Bib. Ind. $17.00 ($15.30).
The fourth and concluding volume of the Mediterranean subseries of the official history of the U. S. Army in World War II traces the campaign in Italy from the spring of 1944 to the German surrender.
The War Animals
Robert E. Lubow. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1977. 255 pp. $7.95 ($7.16).
The training and use of animals as weapons of war is reviewed in a scholarly study. Although the primary emphasis is on pigeons and dogs, there is also a chapter on sea mammals. The author is professor of experimental psychology at Tel Aviv University.
The War that Hitler Won: The Most Infamous Propaganda Campaign in History
Robert Edwin Herzstein. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1978. 491 pp. Illus. Bib. Ind. $15.00 ($13.50).
The war to which the title refers was one
ONE REASON HE’S AN ACE MECHANIC FOR HIS UNCLE HARRY IS BECAUSE HE LEARNED IT FROM HIS UNCLE SAM.
Training Programs in the Guard and Reserve are helping many men and women do better in their civilian jobs. Thousands of people are learning new skills. Or sharpening ones they already have.
A lot of what Guard and Reservists learn has business applications. And that is one reason employers and supervisors should support the Guard and Reserve and urge their employees to join.
those local Guard and Reserve units make up nearly 30% of our defense force at a cost of only a small fraction of the defense budget. Another good reason for lending your support to the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program. Most employers are behind us. Won’t you join them? Contact Employer Support, Arlington, VA 22209 for details.
of words: the propaganda campaign, skillfully orchestrated by Dr. Josef Goebbels, to maintain the morale of the German home front during World War II. All of its facets, from films to poster art, are covered in this well-balanced treatment.