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The Encyclopedia of Sea Warfare From the First Ironclads to the Present
Oliver Warner, Captain Geoffrey Bennett, Royal Navy (Retired), Captain Donald Macintyre, Royal Navy (Retired), Frank Uhlig, Jr., Desmond Wettern, and Antony Preston (Foreword by Admiral of the Fleet the Earl Mountbattern of Burma). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1975. 256 pp. Maps. Illus. $17.95 ($14.30 for members).
Reviewed by Commander D. K. Hankinson, Royal Navy (Retired)
{Commander Hankinson joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1942 at the age of IS- He served mostly in Fleet Destroyers on the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Far Fast Stations. In 1934 he qualified as a gunnery specialist, and, in 1962, passed the Royal Naval Staff Course. He commanded HMS Cambrian, a modernized fleet destroyer of the CA class, in 1962-1964 and took part in the Dar-es-Salaam incident in 1964 (described in the November 1969 Proceedings). His last service appointment was with the Directorate of Naval Plans, Ministry of Defence. In 1966 he retired in order to pursue his career as a portrait painter.)
History book? Reference book? Coffee-table book? Which is The Encyclopedia of Sea Warfare? It has an opulent, colorful, and seductive appearance, and its 256 large, glossy pages are lavishly endowed with photographs, paintings, ship profiles, and track charts of naval actions. Less than half the space is given to text.
It is a beautiful book, a brave book, which sets out to cover in one volume the whole world spectrum of naval history and ship and weapon evolution over the last 150 years, from the first ironclads of the mid-19th century to the labyrinthine arsenals of today—an Augean task indeed.
To accomplish this feat, the publishers have enlisted the talents of a group of authors of international repute, all eminent in their various fields of naval history and affairs. These are backed up by a notable team of editors, researchers, and artists.
The first section has the air of a daguerreotype; fascinating old photographs and paintings trace the first ironclads from their birth to the epic Russo-
Japanese clash at Tsushima in 1905. Along with the ironclads, mines, torpedoes, and submarines falteringly emerge as tenable weapons of war.
The Dreadnought was launched in 1906, and a new concept of sea power was born. The encylopedia examines the far-reaching effects of this advance in naval warfare as threatening clouds of war over Europe compel nations to remodel their fleets in a frenzy of new construction.
Emphasis then shifts from the development of ships and weapons to a pocket history of the 1914-1918 war at sea. Accounts of battles and campaigns are succinct and purely factual; little space is given to analysis. Full details of the antagonists and their armament are followed by a brusque description of the action, usually supported by condensed but coherent track charts. The account of the Battle of Jutland is a masterpiece of concision.
Sadly, the inter-war years and the painful adolescence of naval aviation is given scant coverage. The next 120 pages (half the book) follow with whirlwind
84
U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, August 1976
accounts of nearly every action and campaign at sea in World War II; the first part deals with Europe and the Atlantic, the second the Pacific. Again we have the crisp canter through the battle, supported by a plethora of facts, figures, and track charts. It is all good meaty stuff, expertly compiled and articulated, but such clinical and kaleidoscopic treatment of human conflict tends to blind the reader to a true understanding of the events, and some would find so rich a diet difficult to stomach. However, the dramatic action photographs do much to ameliorate this with instant atmosphere.
The final section, “The Nuclear Age,” covers technological developments since 1945 against the background of world politics, from the Cold War to the Cod War. This is a daunting assay, but the authors, by sticking mainly to carefully researched facts, tread a nimble path through the quicksands of contentious argument.
Inevitably there are minor criticisms. Ship profiles printed across two pages invite the risk of the reader breaking the back of the book; subject headings, often banal and journalistic, are of little value for quick reference; to reverse the photograph of the USS Saratoga (CV-60) is carrying artistic license a bit far; and, why switch the color code use for U. S. and Japanese forces in the track charts halfway through the Pacific war?
But the main criticism is more fundamental. There appears to be an uncertainty of purpose underlying the book. While the richly illustrated presentation indicates that it is intended to appeal to a general readership, the text is too specialized for anyone with little knowledge or interest in the subject; and, yet because so much space is given to pictures, it is too basic and brief to be more than an aide-memoire as a source of reference to the serious student or researcher. As a history it has the virtue of offering a welcome perspective on sea power over the last century, but the accent on facts and figures leaves an uncomfortable void—history, after all, is as much about people, their motives, strengths, and failings, as about events. This is no fault of the authors, who have tackled their gargantuan task in a masterly way. The weakness lies in an error of concept, in trying to be "all things to all men,” with the result that the book is not so much an encyclopedia as a delectable digest.
However, I, for one, could never resist buying it.
Duel Between the First Ironclads
William C. Davis. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1975. 201 pp. Illus. Bib. $8.95.
Reviewed by Kenneth J. Hagen
(Professor Hagan, a member of the History Department of the Naval Academy, is the author of American Gunboat Diplomacy and the Old Navy, 1877-1889, a book selected and reviewed by the Proceedings as a Notable Naval Book of 197}. He also has contributed to six other books and is presently editing a book of original essays on American naval experiences since the Revolution.)
The title of this crisp narrative is
somewhat misleading, for William Davis’ book treats more than a battle. It traces the entire history of both the Monitor and Virginia. In the author’s opinion, Stephen R. Mallory, the Confederate naval secretary, grasped the implications of ironclad warships more quickly than his Union counterpart, Gideon Welles. Very early in the Civil War Mallory perceived that “. . . inequality of numbers may be compensated by invulnerability; and thus not only does economy but naval success dictate the wisdom and expediency of fighting with iron against wood, without regard to first cost.” A few ironclads might break the strangling blockade of the Union’s wooden ships. They might even be able to shell Washington and New York.
To test his thesis, Mallory approved a plan which would transform the recently raised USS Merrimack, sunk as the Union forces evacuated Norfolk, into an ironclad. Her gun decks were covered with an iron plated casemate, and she was renamed the CSS Virginia. But the reconstruction took several months, and during that time the inventor John Ericcson, at the urging of C.S. Bushnell, persuaded Secretary of the Navy Welles and his examining board for ironclad designs to construct his Monitor.
Davis’ careful account of the creation of the Virginia and Monitor underscores the fatal liability of the Confederacy. Whereas Mallory had only one firm capable of fabricating heavy iron plate, Welles and Ericcson could turn to several factories for components by using the managerial system today defined as subcontracting. Thus, because of its industrial strength, the Union accomplished a more complicated task in the same time that the relatively unindustrialized Confederacy completed a simpler one.
Chance also played its role in the outcome of the naval race, as Davis makes clear. The Virginia would have engaged the Union ships in Hampton Roads several days earlier had not a storm kept her in port. As it, was, she singlehandedly destroyed the Cumberland and Congress, two of the U. S. Navy’s finest wooden frigates, during the daylight hours of 8 March 1862- Writing of that day of devastation, Davis concludes, “Somewhere amid the smoke, and flame, and blood of the last few hours, the centuries-long era of the wooden warship had passed forever.” The Virginia alone had ended an age.
The Monitor arrived in Hampton Roads on the evening of 8 March, and the next day interposed herself between the surviving Minnesota and the Virginia. The Confederate ironclad was forced to challenge the Monitor before assaulting the vulnerable wooden Minnesota. The struggle between the two ironclads lasted for most of 9 March, and, as Davis notes, the engagement was tactically a stalemate. However, it had a great impact upon the future of naval architecture, for John Ericcson’s invention demonstrated that a few heavy guns on a highly mobile platform were the equal of many guns of lesser caliber firing broadsides from an unwieldy ship. The Monitor’s turret and low silhouette rather than the Virginia’s sloping metal casemate were what the naval architects of Europe would refine as they evolved the modern battleship in the late 19th century.
In addition to leading his readers to the foregoing conclusions, Davis captures their attention by sketching colorful vignettes of life on board ship. He neatly conveys a sense of the crowded conditions on the Monitor, the extreme heat during battle, and the affection felt by the crew for their commanding
officer, Lieutenant John L. Worden. Davis does equally well by the officers and men of the Virginia. Readers seeking color and fast action as well as those desiring careful analysis of causative factors in the process of history will find their needs met by Duel Between the First Ironclads.
Jane’s Surface Skimmers:
Hovercraft and Hydrofoils: 1975-76
Roy McLeavy (Editor). New York: Franklin Watts Inc., 1975.476 pp. Ulus. Append. $50.00.
Reviewed byj. F. Sladky, Jr.
(J. Sladky, Jr. is a faculty member of the Aerospace Engineering Department at the U. S. Naval Academy. For the past ten years he has been involved in various aspects of advanced marine vehicles and systems. Professor Sladky is the principal author and editor of a forthcoming book, Surface Effect Vehicles—Principles and Applications. He has also organized and conducted courses on surface effect vehicles at the U. S. Naval Academy and at the George Washington University.)
The organization of the 1975-1976 Jane's Surface Skimmers is similar to that of previous issues. The content is divided into 19 chapters of which air cushion vehicles (ACV) and hydrofoils are the major ones. Each of these is organized alphabetically by country and by the manufacturer or design group. The remaining chapters deal with aspects of varying degrees of relevance to surface skimmer technology and range from licensing authorities to air cushion vehicle clubs.
The technical descriptions and content of this year’s issue, particularly the sections on air cushion vehicles and hydrofoils, are in keeping with the tradition of excellence established by the long and authoritative line of Jane’s volumes. The information on each craft or system is presented in a standardized and concise format. The descriptions include the crafts’ and systems’ major dimensions, weights, propulsion and lift systems, performances, and unique characteristics, and, in the majority of instances, are accompanied by three-view diagrams and photographs. In addition, basic information about each manufacturer or design team is provided. The reader has at his fingertips a wealth of combined technical information not available in any other publication.
There are certain aspects of this edition that are in need of revision. In addition to a number of misprints and errors in diagrams, which have a way of creeping into any volume of this size and scope, future reviews hopefully will include a reorganization of the textual sections, a more discerning selection of editorials and technical papers, and the updating of the selected bibliography and the glossary of terms.
The organization of the text leaves one with an impression that surface skimmer technology is fragmented. The majority of surface skimmer systems operate according to three basic principles—aerostatic, magnetic, and aerodynamic lift. In the text, however, these systems are divided into six separate chapters—“ACV Trailers and Heavy Lift Systems,” “Air Cushion Landing Systems,” “Tracked Skimmers,” "Air Cushion Applicators, Conveyors and Pallets,” “Hydrofoils,” and “Sailing Skimmers.” The chapter on prime movers and propulsion systems is largely incomplete. Since there are perhaps as many thrust generating schemes as there are vehicle types, it would have been extremely advantageous had Roy McLeavy provided readers with a more detailed picture. The complete lack of description of lift air systems for air cushion vehicles is disturbing.
There appears to have been little screening in the selection of technical papers cited in the selected bibliography. Some of these are very dated and of limited availability. Perhaps the weakest point in the book is the glossary of terms. The selections seem random
British Hovercraft Corporation plans to build a minesweeper version of the HIl. 7. The advantages that the BH. 7 Mk 5/1, pictured above, has over a conventional MCM displacement vessel are: faster transit speeds, low acoustic and magnetic underwater signatures, and virtual imperviousness to underwater explosions.
JANE'S SURFACE SKIMMERS
with varying degrees of relevance to the topic and in some instances definitions are counter to common usage, if not in error. Unfortunately the glossary does not dispel the terminological confusion that exists, particularly in the air cushion vehicle field.
While the editorial by Roy McLeavy and the paper by Leslie Colquhoun, a long-time recognized authority on air cushion vehicles, provide a general overview to the topic, the reader, nevertheless, is left with a limited perspective and some parochial views. The Mc- Masters and Greer paper on wing-inground-effect vehicles focuses on diverse aspects of one particular configuration, at considerable sacrifice to the depth of the discussion. The topic would have perhaps been better served with a broad- based contribution addressing the characteristics of the entire class of aerodynamic lift surface effect vehicles.
In summary, Jane’s Surface Skimmers 1975-76 is excellent in the technical description of the various systems but needs updating and improvement in organization and editing. Nonetheless, it is hoped that Surface Skimmers will remain second to none in providing the definitive word on this rapidly changing technology.
Please send me the following books I have checked:
Title
□ American Steel Navy.....................................................
□ Naval Engineers Guide .................................................
□ America Spreads Her Sails............................................
□ Weyer’s Warships 1973 ...............................................
□ Ships, Seas & Scientists ................................................
□ Naval & Maritime Chronology................................. • • •
D National Security and International Trusteeship In The Pacific
□ Nothing Too Daring ......................................................
□ Command, Control, Compromise .................................
□ Oceanographic Instrument............................................
□ Three Mile Limit...........................................................
□ U.S. Destroyer Operations, WW II...............................
□ H.H. Rogers Ships Models.............................................
□ The Royal Navy In America .........................................
□ Naval Regulations 1802 ...............................................
□ P.O.W. Ship Models......................................................
□ On the Spanish Main ....................................................
□ British Subs At War .....................................................
□ Surfboats & Horse Marines ..........................................
□ Yangtze Patrol...............................................................
□ Q-Ships & Their Story...................................................
□ The Flowers of the Sea .................................................
□ Hard-Lying ...................................................................
□ Lady in the Navy ..........................................................
□ Loss of the Bismarck.....................................................
□ Battle for Crete .............................................................
□ Sea Life in Nelson’s Time .............................................
□ Battle of the Malta Striking Forces ..............................
□ United States Coast Guard in WW II ...........................
□ Narvick..........................................................................
□ Night Action off Cape Mat............................................
□ The Attack on Taranto..................................................
□ Battle of the River Plate ..............................................
□ Operation Neptune .......................................................
□ Attacks on the Tirpitz............................................... •
□ Loss of the Prince of Wales..........................................
□ Prayers at Sea................................................................
□ U.S.C.G. 1790-1915 ................... .................................
□ From a Small Naval Obs., paper edition...............................
□ Queens of the Western Ocean ......................................
□ TheTribals.....................................................................
□ Naval Review 1962-63 .................................................
□ Naval Review 1964 ........................................................
□ Sloops & Brigs ..............................................................
□ Naval Review 1968 ......................................................
□ Dreadnought to Polaris.................................................
□ Voyage Towards the South Pole....................................
□ Sea & Air the Naval Env................................................
□ Naval Review 1971.......................................................
List | Member’s | Sale |
Price | Price | Price |
. 35.00 | 28.00 | 17.50 |
. 8.50 | 6.80 | 4.25 |
. 11.00 | 8.80 | 5.50 |
. 30.00 | 24.00 | 18.00 |
. 17.50 | 14.00 | 8.75 |
. 16.00 | 12.80 | 8.00 |
. 13.00 | 10.40 | 6.50 |
. 17.50 | 14.00 | 8.75 |
. 13.50 | 10.80 | 6.75 |
. 15.00 | 12.00 | 7.50 |
. 13.50 | 10.80 | 6.75 |
. 22.50 | 18.00 | 11.25 |
. 12.50 | 10.00 | 6.25 |
. 12.50 | 10.00 | 6.25 |
. 4.00 | 3.20 | 2.00 |
. 22.50 | 18.00 | 11.25 |
. 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 |
. 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 |
. 16.00 | 12.80 | 8.00 |
. 13.50 | 10.80 | 6.75 |
. 12.00 | 9.60 | 6.00 |
,. 8.50 | 6.80 | 4.25 |
.. 8.95 | 7.20 | 4.48 |
. 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 |
.. 6.75 | 5.40 | 3.35 |
.. 6.75 | 5.40 | 3.35 |
| 7.60 | 4.75 |
| 5.40 | 3.35 |
.. 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 |
.. 8.50 | 6.80 | 4.25 |
.. 6.75 | 5.40 | 3.35 |
.. 6.75 | 5.40 | 3.35 |
.. 6.75 | 5.40 | 3.35 |
.. 7.95 | 6.40 | \ 4.00 |
.. 6.75 | 5.40 | 3.35 |
.. 6.75 | 5.40 | 3.35 |
| 3.60 | 2.25 |
.. 9.00 | 7.20 | 4.50 |
.. 3.00 | 2.40 | 1.50 |
.. 16.00 | 12.80 | 8.00 |
.. 15.00 | 12.00 | 7.50 |
.. 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 |
.. 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 |
.. 7.50 | 6.00 | 3.75 |
.. 15.00 | 12.00 | 7.50 |
.. 8.00 | 6.40 | 4.00 |
.. 9.00 | 7.20 | 4.50 |
.. 12.50 | 10.00 | 6.25 |
.. 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 |
.. 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 |
□ Naval Review 1973 ......................................................
Book Order Department U.S. Naval Institute Annapolis, MD 21402
Name
Total $
Maryland residents add 4% tax $ Postage and handling $ Amount enclosed $
Address
Books of Interest to the Professional
Compiled by Professor Jack Sweetman, Associate Editor
NAVAL AFFAIRS
Si] Battleships: United States Battleships of World War Two
William O. Garzke, Jr., and Robert O. Dulin, Jr., with Robert F. Sumrall. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1976. 267 pp. Illus. Append.
Bib. $24.00 ($19-20).
The technical history and operational deployment of the three classes of United States battleships—Norib Carolina, South Dakota, and Iowa—completed during World War II receive definitive treatment in a handsome work which will delight scholars and buffs alike. The Alaska-class battlecruisers are also described, as are the designs for the abortive Montana-class battleships. An introductory chapter traces battleship development between the wars, and a conclusion assesses battleship technologies. Among its findings is that, with updated systems, “An Iowa- class battleship could be a most formidable, extremely well-protected adversary for a conventional warfare role in the mid-1970s.” Co-authors Garzke and Dulin are practicing naval architects; Mr. Sumrall is a curator of the Naval Academy Museum.
The British Navy: A Concise Flistory
Oliver Warner. London: Thames and Hudson,
1975. 191 pp. Maps. Illus. Bib.£4.50 (Approx. 19.00).
The long and glorious history of the Royal
Navy is reviewed in this pictorial survey by a well-known British author. There are 151 halftone illustrations, many if not most of which will be familiar to naval history buffs.
Die deutsche Marine Fibel (The German Navy Primer)
Egbert Thomer. Koblenz/Bonn, West Germany:
Verlag Wehrund Wissen, 1975. 48 pp. Illus. (Approx. $4.00, paper).
This well-executed handbook provides a quick overview of the Federal German Navy. Every class or type of ship and aircraft presently in service is illustrated (by a photograph and silhouette) and described. A number of the photos are in color, as are plates of rank insignia and specialist badges. There is also a consolidated fleet strength table with the NATO designation for each vessel.
Fighting Ships of World War II
J. N. Westwood. Chicago, 111.: Follett Publishing Company, 1975. 160 pp. Illus. $9.95.
Summaries of the operational employment of the six outstanding warship types of World War II—battleship, aircraft carrier, cruiser, destroyer, submarine, and destroyer escort- are complemented by brief histories of representative vessels from the United States, British, Japanese, and German navies in a well-illustrated pictorial. The American ships treated are the battleships Alabama (BB-60). Texas (BB-35), and Washington (BB-56); carriers Enterprise (CV-6), Hornet (CV-8), and Lexington (CV-2); cruisers Boise (CL-47), and Indianapolis (CA-35); destroyer Johnston (DD-557); submarine Cavalla (SS-245); and destroyer escort England (DE-635).
MARITIME AFFAIRS
American Practical Navigator, 1975 Edition, Volume II
Nathaniel Bowditch (original author). Washington, D. C.: Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic Center, 1975. 716 pp. Illus. $4.80. (Available through the U. S. Naval Institute.)
Since its initial publication in 1802 “Bow- ditch” has been continuously maintained as the epitome of navigation—by the author and his descendants until 1867, by the U. S. Navy from 1868 to 1972, and since by the
Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic Center.
Arctic Passage: The Turbulent History of the Land and People of the Bering Sea 1697-1975
William R. Hunt. New York: Scribner's, 1976.
395 pp. Maps. Illus. Bib. $12.95.
The eventful history of the Bering Sea frontier, from the Russian conquest of Kamchatka during the reign of Peter the Great to the present day, is recorded in this sprightly chronicle. Author Hunt, who teaches at the University of Alaska, is the state’s official Bicentennial Historian.
Coastal Navigation Step by Step
Warren Norville. Camden, Me.: International Marine, 1975. 203 pp. Illus. Bib. $12.00.
A companion to the author’s earlier Celestial Navigation Step by Step, this volume explains what a navigator needs to know to safely conduct the passage of a vessel in pilot waters. The principles and practices described are applied on an imaginary voyage (based on actual circumstances) along the U. S. Gulf Coast.
Dangerous Sea Creatures: A Complete Guide to Hazardous Marine Life
Thomas Helms. New York: Funk & Wagnalls,
1976. 278 pp. Illus. $9.95 ($4.95 for paper).
This book offers a reminder that, although they are the most publicized, sharks are by no
BOOK ORDER SERVICE
Members may order 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 75*; the fee for a book from a foreign publisher will be $1.00. When air mail or other special handling is requested, actual postage and handling cost will be billed to the member. Books marked [5] are Naval Institute Press Books. Books marked 0 are Naval Institute Book Selections. All prices enclosed by parentheses are member prices. Please use the order blank in this section.
means the only sea creatures which can pose problems for people. Among the others treated in this anecdotal catalogue are: octopus and squid; moray eels; sea snakes; rays, devilfish, mantas, and sawfish; Portuguese men-o’-war; jellyfish; and others too numerous to mention.
Ocean Racing Around the World
Paul Antrobus, Bob Ross, and Geoffrey Hammond. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1975.
234 pp. Maps. Illus. $15.00.
The four most popular and challenging international yacht racing series are the Southern Ocean Racing Conference, the “Onion Cup," the Admiral's Cup, and the Southern Cross Cup. Their development from the early 1930s to present is traced by three professional yachting writers, one American, one British, and one Australian.
Power Transmission and Automation for Ships and Submersibles
I. M. Datz. Surrey, England: Fishing News (Books) Ltd., 1975. 189 pp.IllusjElO.OO (Approx. $20.00).
The various gear forms and transmission systems presently available and potentially applicable to ship propulsion are described and analyzed. The concluding chapter presents a detailed discussion of the possibility of utilizing advanced automation techniques for the development of cargocarrying submarines. The author is technical advisor (Operations Research) at the U. S. Naval Ship Research and Development Center, Annapolis.
A Quayside Camera, 1845-1917
Basil Grcenhill. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1975. 112 pp. Illus. $8.95.
The 134 rare photographs clearly reproduced in this collection provide a nostalgic look at coastal and harbor life in North America and England in the 70 years preceding World War I. Mr. Grcenhill is director of the British National Maritime Museum.
Sea Songs as Sung by the X Seamens Institute
John Towley and Bernie Way (Editors). Glen Oaks, N. Y.: The National Maritime Historical Society and The Tapinta Foundation, 1975. 32 pp. Illus. $1.00 (paper).
The words and music of a baker’s dozen of mostly traditional sea songs as performed by the X Seamens Institute, a vocal group Of which co-editor Klay is the founder, at the South Street Seaport and Museum in New York, are complemented by photos of eight historic ships.
Stallings maritimes Jahrbuch 1975-1976 (Stallings Maritime Yearbook 1975-1976)
Arnold Kludas (Editor). Oldenburg, West Germany: Verlag Gerhard Stalling, 1975. 205 pp. Illus. (Approx. $10.00, paper).
This attractive new annual consists of a collection of articles on maritime history and affairs, followed by detailed reports on German naval and maritime activities, construction, and trade in 1974. Although the perspective is primarily German throughout, a number of the contributions are of general interest. Among the latter is an account by the late Cajus Bekker of the naval side of the October 1973 Mideast War.
Win More Sailboat Races
C. Stanley Ogilvy. New York: W. W. Norton,
1976. 132 pp. Maps. Illus. $8.95.
A winning skipper with 40 years’ experience explains approaches that the ordinary, weekend sailor can use to win more races without risking either bankruptcy or nervous breakdown.
The Wind Commands: Sailors and Sailing Ships in the Pacific
Harry Morton. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1975. 498 pp. Maps. Illus. Bib.
$29 95.
The journals and narratives of over 100 Pacific voyagers, from Ferdinand Magellan to Sir Francis Chichester, are interwoven in topical chapters to present the Pacific experience in the Age of Sail.
MILITARY AFFAIRS
History of the Art of War within the Framework of Political History Volume I: Antiquity
Hans Delbrtlck (Translated by Colonel Walter J. Renfroe.Jr.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1975.604 pp. Maps. $25.00.
Hans Delbriick (1848-1929) was one of Germany’s most distinguished historians. In his four-volume History of the Art of War, a work to which he devoted over 20 years, Delbriick applied rigorous methods of historical scholarship to the study of military history, a field which then as now attracts more than its share of romancers. This, the first English translation of the first volume of the work (third edition: Berlin, 1920), covers the period from the commencement of the Graeco-Persian Wars to the end of the Roman Civil War.
Hitler’s Wartime Picture Magazine: Signal S. L. Mayer (Editor). Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976.188 pp. Maps. Illus. $12.95.
A selection of color photographs from the German propaganda magazine Signal,
published under the title Swastika at War, was reviewed in the February Proceedings. The present volume reproduces selected articles and illustrations from the magazine’s English edition. The latter, instituted in 1940 in hopes of influencing opinion in the United States and Ireland, was soon restricted to the German-occupied Channel Islands but continued publication until the summer of 1944.
The Last Chopper: The Denouement of the American Role in Vietnam, 1963-1975
Weldon A. Brown. Port Washington, N. Y.: Kennikat Press, 1976. 371 pp. Append. Bib.
$15.00.
This is the conclusion of a refreshingly evenhanded, two-volume history of American involvement in Vietnam. An epilogue describes the final collapse of South Vietnam in the spring of 1975. The first volume, Prelude to Disaster: The American Role in Vietnam 1940-1963, was reviewed in the July 1976 Proceedings.
Manuscript Holdings of the Military History Research Collection, Volume II
RichardJ. Sommers (Editor). Carlisle Barracks,
Pa.: U. S. Army Military History Research Collection, 1975. 246 pp.$3.30.
Manuscript materials catalogued since the publication of Volume I in 1972 are described in this admirably annotated and indexed research guide. Number 6 of the Special Bibliography Series of the U. S. Army Military History Research Collection.
Strategic Air Command Missile Chronology 1939-1973
E. Michael Del Papa and Sheldon A. Goldberg. Offiitt Air Force Base, Neb.: Office of the Historian, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, 1975.
71 pp. Append. $2.65 (paper).
Significant events in the origins, evolution, and deployment of the Strategic Air Command’s guided-missile weapon systems are recorded in this official chronology.
Uniforms of the American, British, French and German Armies in the War of the American Revolution, 1775-1783
Lieutenant Charles M. Lefferts, U. S. Army (Edited by AlexanderJ. Wall). Old Greenwich, Conn.: We, Inc., 1976. 289pp. Illus. $10.00.
First published in a limited edition of 500 copies in 1926, this work represents the result of a lifetime of research into the uniforms worn in the War of the Revolution. Fifty halftone uniform plates from Lieutenant Lefferts’ watercolors are complemented by detailed historical notes on the dress and accoutrements of the opposing forces.
90
U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, August 1976
War in the Shadows: The Guerrilla in History
Robert B. Asprey. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1975. 1,622 pp. Maps. Bib. $35.00 (Two volumes, boxed).
Guerrilla warfare through the ages is surveyed to gain historical perspective on what the author considers the American military’s gross mismanagement of the Vietnam War. Volume I spans the two-and-a-half millennia from the rise of the Persian Empire to the close of World War II; Volume II surveys selected subsequent guerrilla wars—in IndoChina, Greece, Cyprus, Kenya, Malaya, Algeria, Cuba, and elsewhere, culminating in a detailed examination of the American effort in Vietnam. It is regrettable that the publishers did not see fit to provide a better paper and a quality binding (and perhaps a picture or two) for so expensive a set.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Stresses in U.S.-Japanese Security Relations
Fred Greene. Washington, D. C : The Brookings Institution, 1975. 110pp. $2.50 (paper).
The changes which have occurred in the international environment since the signing of the Japanese-American mutual security accords of 1952 and I960 have had an unsettling effect on relations between the two countries. Their impact, particularly in regard to Japan’s defense program, is analyzed in this monograph, which concludes with recommendations designed to ensure that the I960 treaty will continue to serve the interests of both parties. The author, professor of political science at Williams College, wrote this study as a senior fellow in the Brookings Foreign Policy Studies program.
1975 Yearbook on International Communist Affairs
Richard F. Staar (Editor). Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press, 1975. 678 pp. Bib.
$25.00.
The ninth consecutive edition of this massive annual is designed to provide a comprehensive survey of the organization, domestic and foreign policies, and activities of Communist patties throughout the world in 1974. Certain pro-Communist parties and groups, including guerrilla organizations, are also noted.
GENERAL
The Monsters of Loch Ness
Roy P. Mackal. Chicago: Swallow Press, 1976.
401 pp. Maps. Illus. Append. Bib. $12.50.
A distinguished biochemist of the University of Chicago, Dr. Mackal was the first person with serious scientific credentials to become interested in the fabled Loch Ness Monster. This highly readable but rigorously reasoned narrative records the result of the investigations he began in 1965. His conclusion is that there really is an unknown species of large aquatic animal in Loch Ness, most probably an evolutionary descendant of the cmbolo- mer, a giant amphibian previously believed extinct for 250 million years.
The UFO Controversy in America
David Michael Jacobs. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1975. 362 pp. Illus. Bib. $12.50.
The first thing to make clear about this book is that it is not another rustic’s account of how he was shanghaied by little green men. Quite the contrary, it is a professional historian’s objective examination of the UFO phenomena in the United States from the first wave of sightings in 1896-1897 to the recent wave of 1973-1974. His conclusion is that, after all the hoaxes and explicable incidents have been discounted, there remains a hard core of anomalies which cannot be accounted for by any hypothesis based on terrestial origins.
AUDIO-VISUAL PRESENTATIONS
Maritime Trade in the Ancient World
Lionel Casson. South Norwalk, Conn.: The Reading Laboratory, Inc., 1975. $25.00.
As Proceedings readers need no reminder, the influence of maritime trade on political, economic, and cultural affairs has been consistent and pervasive. This influence was particularly pronounced in the ancient Mediterranean civilizations. The impact of maritime trade patterns and technology upon their rise and decay, from the dawn of seaborne commerce before 3000 B.C. to the fall of the Roman Empire, is described in this audio-visual program. It consists of a 95- frame filmstrip and a 30-minute tape cassette. Dr. Casson, Professor of Classics at New York University, has written extensively on seafaring in the ancient world.
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