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94 Books of Interest to the Professional
Compiled by Professor Jack Sweetman, Associate Editor
NAVAL AFFAIRS
j±j Allied Escort Ships of World War II: A Complete Survey
Peter Elliott. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1977. 575 pp. Illus. Ind. $17.95 ($14.35).
The first combined study of its kind describes the technical and operational history of all classes of Allied escort ships
built between 1939 and 1945. It is illustrated with some 330 photographs and numerous plans. Much of the information presented has never previously appeared in print.
Weimar, the German Naval Officer Corps and the Rise of National Socialism
Keith W. Bird. Amsterdam: B. R. Griiner Publishing Company, 1977. 313 pp. Bib. Dfl. 60 (Approx. $28.20) paper.
The political attitudes and activities of the German naval officer corps during the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) are examined in an extremely well-researched and documented monograph.
Night on Fire: The First Complete Account of John Paul Jones’s Greatest Battle
John Evangelist Walsh. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978. 185 pp. Illus. Maps. Append. Bib. Ind. $9.95 ($8.96) paper.
Undoubtedly the most famous quotation in American naval history is "I have not
yet begun to fight!”—the defiant shout with which John Paul Jones answered British Captain Richard Pearson’s invitation to surrender midway through the epic engagement between the Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis. The history of that action is related in greater detail than ever before in this stirring, blow-by-blow account.
Scott of the Antartic
Elspeth Huxley. New York: Atheneum, 1978. 303 pp. Illus. Maps. Bib. Ind. $12.95 ($11.66).
In March 1912, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, and two companions died of starvation and exposure just 11 miles from a supply depot after reaching the South Pole only to find that Amundsen had beaten them by a matter of weeks. Their indomitable struggle to survive and the stoic gallantry with which they finally met their fate, recorded in the diaries and letters found on their bodies, captured the imagination of the world and made Scott a national hero. This beautifully written biography evokes a character far more complex than the simple sailor- man he was taken to be.
Submarines
Richard Garrett. Boston: Little, Brown: 1977. 143 pp. Illus. Bib. Ind. $14.95 ($13.46).
The history of submarines is traced in a handsome pictorial. The quality of the illustrations, many in color, is quite good.
Underwater Warfare in the Age of Sail
Alex Roland, Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1978. 237 pp. Illus. Bib.
Ind. $16.50 ($14.85).
The infancy of mines, torpedoes, and submarines is described in a sound and sprightly study. Primary emphasis is on the period from the American Revolution through the Civil War.
We Have Met the Enemy—Oliver Hazard Perry: Wilderness Commodore
Richard Dillon. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1978. 231 pp. Map. Ind. $12.95 ($11.66).
The brief but eventful life of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, victor of the battle of Lake Erie, is presented in a popular biography. The absence of a bibliography (especially in a book whose dust jacket claims it is based on hitherto untapped sources), notes, illustrations, or detailed maps is regrettable.
MARITIME AFFAIRS
North Atlantic Panorama 1900-1976
P. Ransome-Wallis. Middletown, Ct.:
Wesleyan University Press, 1977. 192 pp.
Illus. Append. Bib. Ind. $17.95 ($16.16).
The great transatlantic passenger liners of the 20th century pass in review in this attractive pictorial.
The Norwegian Lady and the Wreck of the Dictator
William O. Foss. Norfolk, Va.: The Donning Company, 1977. 102 pp. Illus. Maps. Bib. $4.95 ($4.46) paper.
The Dictator was a Norwegian bark wrecked under particularly tragic circumstances at Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1891. The Norwegian Lady was the name residents gave her figurehead, which washed ashore and was set up as a monument overlooking the sea. The story of the wreck and how the Norwegian Lady became a link between Virginia Beach and a little town in Norway is told in this attractive local history.
MILITARY AFFAIRS
55 Days: The Fall of South Vietnam
Alan Dawson. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hali, 1977. 366 pp. Illus. Ind.
$12.50 ($11.25).
The collapse of the Republic of South Vietnam in the face of the North Vietnamese spring offensive in March, April, and May 1975 is chronicled by a former UPI Saigon Bureau Manager.
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 [31 are Naval Institute Press Books. Books marked Qare Naval Institute Book Selections. Please use the order blank in this section.
Focke Wulf 190 at War
Alfred Price. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1977. 160 pp. Illus. $12.50.
Designed to replace the ME 109 as Germany’s front-rank fighter, the Focke Wulf 190 became operational in 1941. At that time it was unquestionably the finest aircraft of its kind flying in the European theater. Though overtaken by Allied technology late in 1942, it remained in production throughout the war, by the close of which over 20,000 had been built. Aviation historian Alfred Price tells the FW 190’s story largely in the words of its designer and those who flew it.
Luftwaffe: A History
Harold Faber, Editor. New York: Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., 1977. 267 pp. Illus. Ind. $15.00 ($13.50).
As a condensation of a 12-volume history written by former Luftwaffe officers for the U.S. Air Force Historical Division, this book examines the failure of the German air arm. The organization is topical, with sections on command and leadership, crucial decisions, and operational experience.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
The Illusion of Peace: Foreign Policy in the Nixon Years
Tad Szulc. New York: Viking Press, 1978. 822 pp. Ind. $20.00 ($18.00).
The Nixon Administration’s foreign policy is the subject of a critical review by a noted journalist. He concludes that while
Nixon promised to create a "structure of peace," he provided only the illusion.
The Political Implications of Soviet Military Power
Lawrence L. Whetten, Editor. New York:
Crane, Russak, 1977. 183 pp. Ind. $14.50 ($13.05).
The past decade has witnessed a dramatic expansion of Soviet military power. The political implications of this buildup, primarily in regard to the United States and Western Europe, are analyzed in the ten papers presented here. Mr. Whetten is Director of the German Graduate Program of the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California.
GENERAL
Bridge Across the Sky: The Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948-1949
Richard Collier. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1978. 239 pp. Illus. Map. Bib. Ind. $12.95 ($11.66).
British journalist Richard Collier interviewed over 500 American, British and German participants to produce this highly readable history of how the Soviet effort to starve the Western Allies out of Berlin was frustrated by the greatest airlift ever organized.
REPRINTS
Bantam is reprinting a selection of World War II classics in a new, paperback series of Bantam War Books. Each is illustrated by a foldout color plate and numerous pen-and-ink sketches. The following titles are presently available:
The First and the Last: The Rise and Fall of the German Fighter Forces, 1938-1945
Adolf Galland, Translated by Mervyn Savill.
New York: Bantam Books, 1978. 302 pp.
Illus. Maps. $1.95 paper.
A major general at age 30, Adolf Galland served as commander of the German fighter arm from 1942 to 1945. He was personally credited with over 70 aerial victories, the last of which were scored in the spring of 1945, when he returned to operational duty as the leader of a squadron of ME 262 jet fighters.
Fly for Your Life: The Story of R. R. Stanford Tuck, D. S.O., D. F.C. and Two Bars.
Larry Forrester. New York: Bantam Books,
1978. 369 pp. Illus. Map. $1.95 paper.
Wing Commander Robert Stanford Tuck was Britain’s top-scoring ace (29 confirmed victories) at the time he was shot down by ground fire over occupied France in January 1942. This fast-paced biography includes an account of his years as a POW and his eventual escape to join the Red Army on the Eastern Front.
Samurai!
Saburo Sakai, with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito. New York: Bantam Books, 1978. 316 pp. Illus. Map.$1.95 paper.
The leading Japanese ace to survive World War II, Saburo Sakai, had 60 kills to his credit when he was badly wounded in a dogfight over Guadalcanal. Blinded in one eye, he returned to flying duty to score another four victories before the war’s end.
Y-78
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