Atlas of the Blitzkrieg 1939-41 - Robert Kirchubel

Title: Atlas of the Blitzkrieg 1939-41

Author: Robert Kirchubel

ISBN: 978-1-4728-3499-7

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Year: 2019

Hardcover

Pages: 217

Kirchubel has been involved in developing detailed maps of various campaigns for many years. This is, however, his first complete set of maps relating to all major operations of WW2 up to the invasion of Crete (2 June 1941). Each map is accompanied by a brief synopsis of the engagements presented. He has broken out his book into a pre-war overview of each of the major players, seven distinct campaigns (Polish, Soviet, Scandinavian, Western, Air War over the UK and Germany, Naval Operations and the Balkan Region), a synopsis of the results of the Campaigns and finally an Annex presenting a visual representation of the occupied territories. The maps are very clear, comprehensive, easily followed and are excellent references for anyone studying a particular campaign; the book itself, of the highest quality. Finally, the author has included an extensive bibliography that gives the reader a myriad of options for further reading. This work should be included as a foundational reference in any student of the Second World Wars library.

A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945 Vol 4: Sicily and Italy to the Fall of Rome (14 May, 1943 – 5 June, 1944) - Christopher Shores and Giovanni Massimello

This review has been submitted to the RCAF Journal.

Title: A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945 Vol 4: Sicily and Italy to the Fall of Rome (14 May, 1943 – 5 June, 1944)

Author: Christopher Shores and Giovanni Massimello

ISBN: 978-1-91162-110-2

Publisher: Grub Street

Year: 2018

Hardcover

Pages: 696

Photos/Maps: Many hundreds/5

This book represents the fourth installment of this comprehensive review of the air war in the Mediterranean theatre of operations. The previous books have provided a phenomenal foundation for anyone interested in this period of the war. Building upon that base, Vol 4 moves forward the narrative outside of the North African theatre and into the invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland. Shores maintains the depth of detail and vast scope of research that he and his colleagues have brought to their previous works.

The structure of the narrative appeals to both the serious historian as well as the casual reader. The period covered by the book is broken into daily installments. A synopsis of the events of that day from both the allied and axis perspective is followed by a detailed breakdown of Allied claims and losses (with as much detail relating to the event as possible) and a similar synopsis of Axis claims and losses. Additional detail is provided by further breaking down the claims sections by nationality. A fascinating element to this kind of side by side presentation of the details is that the reader can compare claims and casualties by each side and appreciate the deltas between the claimed kills and the actual losses. It is indicative of the gradual but inexorable tipping of the balance away from the Axis air forces that German claims from flak as opposed to aircraft combats began to assume a more prominent place.

What sets this book, and the previous books in the series, apart, is the depth of research and detail undertaken by the authors. It is truly remarkable that, even with loss of veterans through the passage of time, so much detail and ‘personal’ elements are still captured. One begins to better appreciate the resilience of the Axis powers even as they are forced out of mainland Africa, to resist the ever increasing power of the Allied air forces. Furthermore, the authors include numerous examples of individual operations that provide a great deal of insight into the tactics and challenges unique to the Mediterranean theatre of operations.

The pictures and narrative also provide a sense of the spirit of the adversaries despite the pressures of combat and loss. One gets a real understanding of the coping abilities and the mental strength of the individuals involved in this war. Also, the African theatre of operations has been described as one of the few ‘Wars Without Hate’ in WW2. The implication being that, with the absence of significant collateral damage targets, there was less of a negative emotional component to the fighting, and a great deal more respect for ones adversaries leading to an ability to appreciate their company once the fighting was over. Be that as it may however, one is also left with a sense of the hostility of the environment within which these forces clashed. A crash caused by combat, mechanical failure or becoming lost over water or over the desert as often as not led to a slow and lonely demise. Very rarely were searches ever undertaken.

Some of the more fascinating aspects of the book include the photo montage and narrative surrounding the sinking of the Italian battleship Roma by Do217’s of KG100 using the PX1400X ‘Fritz X’ radio-guided weapons systems. A detailed account by crewmen of the two aircraft that undertook the strike is included in the book. It makes for absorbing reading and speaks to the advances in air to ground/sea weapons systems. The PX1400X is a little known system that was guided remotely via an onboard camera from its launch aircraft to target. Launched from 7000m, the ‘mothership’ was impervious to anti-aircraft fire. In the case of the Roma, the attackers escaped without a scratch.

Grub Street publishing has once again produced a book of the very highest quality. The printing is a bit small for those of a certain age; however, the layout is clean and clear. The photos have been reproduced with astonishing clarity. Many of these photos are very rare or have never been published before. The variety of aircraft types presented in the book really do emphasize the challenges to the support elements of the different nations. Overall, this work provides the reader within outstanding overarching perspective of the air war in the Mediterranean. It is very strongly recommended for those looking to garner a deeper appreciation of the Mediterranean theatre.  

A Letter to Jo - Joseph Sieracki and Kelly Williams

This review has been submitted to Soldier Magazine 

Title: A Letter to Jo

Author: Joseph Sieracki and Kelly Williams

ISBN: 978-1-60309-452-8

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Year: 2020

Softcover

Pages: 136

Photos/Maps: 9/0

This book is a graphic novel based on a letter from the author’s grandfather to his fiancé outlining his experiences during WW2. The story is raw and real; comradery, pride, loss, fear, discrimination, anger and self-destructive behaviour are all represented alongside the undiminished love and longing for his future bride. The author has included the original letter in its totality as well as a number of photos of his grandfather and grandmother during their war years. It is a surprisingly moving testament by the author to his grandfather and the graphic art conveys the intended imagery very well. Recommended.

Objective Falaise - 8 August 1944 to 16 August 1944 - Georges Bernage

This review has been submitted to War History Online 

Title: Objective Falaise - 8 August 1944 to 16 August 1944
Author: Georges Bernage
ISBN: 978-1-473-85762-9
Publisher: Pen and Sword Books
Year: 2018
Hardcover
Pages: 128

Following the stabilization and breakout from the Normandy Bridgehead,  Canadian, Polish and British forces embarked upon Operations Totalize and Tractable in an effort to cut off and destroy the German forces remaining in France. Bernage’s short treatise on the battles provide an excellent synopsis of the events from both the German and Allied perspectives; additionally the book may be used as a battlefield guide to those interested in walking the battlefields. 

Replete with photographs (many in the form of ‘then and now’) and maps, the book enables the reader to better appreciate the challenges facing the green Allied forces (for many it was their first taste of combat) as they crashed into a depleted but very experienced 12 SS Panzer Div (HJ).Drawing  upon eyewitness accounts as well as official histories, the author paints a dramatic picture of the transition from peace to full scale war for many of these soldiers.

While maintaining an operational level analysis for much of the narrative, Bernage does delve down to the tactical to discuss some of the more noteworthy elements of the fighting, such as the engagement between the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry and eight Tiger tanks led by legendary tank ace Michael Wittman (138 confirmed tank kills) at the Samson farm. Bernage writes that conventional wisdom was that it took 4-6 Sherman tanks working in tandem to destroy one Tiger, underscoring the delta between the capabilities of the two tanks. His examination of this engagement is accompanied by numerous maps, photographs and eyewitness accounts.

Another interesting element of the book is his discussion of the challenges associated with undertaking joint operations with the airforce. On numerous occasions, Allied forces were the unfortunate targets of their own aircraft due to poor intelligence, mis-identification or just poor luck. After one such raid, there were rumours amongst the soldiers that the Germans had been using captured B-17’s to bomb them. Land navigation was also an issue for the armoured forces as the Sherman tank drivers often used the position of the sun to assist in their movements. On numerous occasions, smoke screens deployed to hide their location from German observers served inadvertently to preclude their use of the sun, resulting in numerous incidents of tankers getting lost.

Overall, the production value of this book is very high. Bernage’s study of Totalize and Tractable is an excellent introduction for those wishing to learn about the environments and challenges associated with attacking and defending in the immediate aftermath of the Normandy Invasion. The book may be used both as a guide and reference for any who wish to visit the battlefields identified in this work. The narrative is clear and concise and easily followed. However, one drawback is the lack of a bibliography or any suggested reference material. Well worth a read for those wishing to get a feel for the Canadian and British operations leading up to the Falaise Gap.

Island of Fire – The Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad - Jason D Mark

This review was submitted to the Canadian Army Journal.

Title: Island of Fire – The Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad

Author: Jason D Mark

ISBN: 978-0-253-35688-8

Publisher: Stackpole Books

Year: 2018

Hardcover

Pages: 641

Photos/Maps: Numerous

The Battle of Stalingrad and the effect that it had on the ongoing fighting on the Eastern Front has been exceptionally well documented. A majority of the books look at Stalingrad from the strategic and operational context; Jason Mark’s approach is different as he has taken the battle down to the tactical level and the Battalion, Company, Platoon and individual soldier perspective. By focussing on such a finite and defined area, Mark provides the reader with a very real sense of the minutia of the fighting and the mind-numbing sense of helplessness and savagery that gripped the combatants on each side.  

As with his other books, Mark has gathered a vast array of photographs from a variety of sources that, in many cases, have never been seen before. He has also created a series of maps that reflect the narrative at that point in the story. Unlike many books where the maps are centralized, these are readily accessible to the reader at the appropriate point in the narrative. Additionally, he has also found aerial reconnaissance photos from the period that he has used to develop the equivalent of today’s satellite imagery with locations marked to provide perspective.

The amount of research put into this work is phenomenal. Mark’s area of expertise is Eastern Front with an emphasis on the Stalingrad region. As with his other works, he has uncovered and included a plethora of information not found elsewhere that adds an intimacy to the narrative. What also stands out in this work is the balance between the German and Russian perspectives. Mark has not limited his focus to only the German side, which has traditionally been a shortfall in Eastern Front books, but has placed an emphasis on presenting the same level of detail from both the Russian and German views. Thus, while the reader is engaged with, for example, the German efforts to retake ‘Pavlov’s House’, a multi-story building held by a small band of Russian soldiers under Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, they are also able to read about the concurrent efforts of the Russians inside the building to retain it. This degree of detail is rare.

This book, while emphasizing the fighting for and in the region of the Barrikady Gun Factory does cover the battle of Stalingrad from start to finish. The focus is on the units engaged in the fighting in and around the Factory within the larger context of the Stalingrad operation. Broken out by day, the reader is plunged into the maelstrom along with the soldiers themselves. Rarely is a book able to convey the degree to which this small piece of hell, within the greater Stalingrad vortex, had become the crux of so many soldier’s lives.

This is a reprint of Mark’s original Leaping Horseman Publications book and the Stackpole printing, while good, is not to the original standard. Nevertheless, the quality of writing, research and presentation of Mark’s book remains. For anyone interested in Eastern Front operations with a view towards getting a deeper sense of the reality of the fighting and sacrifice made by the soldiers of both adversaries, this book is an absolute must.

The Square and the Tower - Niall Ferguson

This review has been submitted to Cdn Army Today Magazine

Title: The Square and the Tower

Author: Niall Ferguson

ISBN: 978-0-735-22291-5

Publisher: Penguin Press

Year: 2018

Hardcover

Pages: 563

Niall Ferguson’s area of expertise is economic history; he has been the author of a number of very engaging books ranging from the impacts of empire to the history of money. With this work, he has turned his attention to the ongoing struggle for power and influence between two fundamentally different elements in the quest for supremacy. The title of the book “The Square and the Tower” refer to St Mark’s Square in Venice where the mercantile class would meet to peddle their goods and the Tower, immediately adjacent to the Square, where the rulers of Venice held court. The ‘square’ refers to a horizontal proliferation of information and influence between individuals along a common, informal plain; whereas the ‘tower’ is a vertical or stratified application of control, culminating in a defined head or council. Throughout history, traditional leadership, be they monarchs, parliaments or dictatorships, have struggled with the real or perceived influences of the non-traditional groups or social networks such as unions, freemasons, illuminati or the like.

Ferguson suggests that accepted history in the modern age has, to a great extent, been a product that has been promulgated by the more traditional elements of our societies and that there are significant components that may have been disregarded or lost as a result; less traditional stories being relegated to the bin of conspiracy theory. Drawing upon different concepts of network theory (such as degrees of separation, viral contagions and homophily), he endeavours to show that the modern revolution in unstructured technology has resulted, not in a new or unique situation, but in what he describes as a Second Network Revolution founded in such things as the internet and Facebook.

The book is not an easy read nor does it have a sense of where it would like to lie; as a scientific analysis of the issues, a journalistic report or a historical, sociological treatise. While suggesting that the impact of Networks has not been the subject of a lot of historical attention, there is ample information, studies and analysis relating to organizational development to draw that conclusion into question. Ferguson also intersperses his discussion of Network theory with a series of charts and graphs that provide visual representations in support of his discussions.

Overall, the author has presented a work that feels that it is over-emphasizing the uniqueness of its discussion. Additionally, there are elements of the work that leave the reader hanging, looking for further explanation or expansion. As a historical work, some of Ferguson's observations appear to be quite general and lacking in the deeper scrutiny one would have anticipated.

Nevertheless, while not the best of Ferguson's work, this book certainly provides the reader with an interesting and thoughtful analysis of his thesis. Furthermore, there is ample suggestion and information to stimulate follow-on questions and discussion. The on-going struggle between extra-national social networking companies and traditional methods of governance are not going away and this book provides a timely and insightful discussion.

Rising Sun, Falling Skies - Jeffrey R Cox

This review has been submitted to Sabretache Journal.

Title: Rising Sun, Falling Skies

Author: Jeffrey R Cox

ISBN: 978-1-4728-1060-1

Publisher: Osprey Books

Year: 2015

Softcover

Pages: 487

Photos/Maps: 27/5

This book is the first installment of a multi-part series on the Pacific Naval War. It covers the five month period running from December, 1941 until April, 1942; a time when the Japanese Imperial Navy ran rampant over the Allies in the Far East. His narrative conveys, in quick, accessible and engaging prose, the tragic sets of events that led to the deaths of thousands of Allied sailors and airmen. Balanced against this is his evaluation of the overwhelming capability and expertise of the Japanese Imperial Navy and Naval Air Forces.

Cox covers the broad spectrum of regional actions, ranging seamlessly from the Philippines, Singapore and the Dutch East Indies to Australia. Presented in an eminently readable style, he conveys to the reader the terror, frustration and defiance of the Allied leadership and crews as they careened from engagement to engagement. The failure to effectively coordinate common doctrine and operational tactics between the various national actors, manifested itself in the ad hoc planning and execution of forays against the enemy. More often than not, this resulted in the degradation of the Allied fleets and aircraft through damage and loss.

Most significantly however, is Cox’s clear assertion that the true weakness in the Allied cause was not the ships or sailors themselves, but the National Governments and their senior respective leadership coordinating the battle space in the Far East. Failing to appreciate the consummate skill of the Japanese, nor their capabilities (such as the Long Lance torpedo), the Allied leadership, caught flat footed, was never able to regain the initiative and remained reactive to the Japanese onslaught. Further to this, Cox identifies deep national divisions between the senior leadership that manifested itself in a lack of trust amongst the operational crews for their senior commanders. Nevertheless, Cox’s research shows conclusively that the bravery and audacity with which the Allied crews faced their adversaries, even in the face of certain defeat, never wavered.

Cox also provides an in-depth analysis of the Japanese operations; their strengths and weaknesses and their conduct throughout the campaign. The Java Campaign definitely revealed a broad range of capabilities amongst the Japanese Commanders. Their ships were of the highest quality and the crews themselves trained to a peak level that would only degrade as the war progressed. The Japanese use of their Air Arm as a means of reconnaissance, attack (enabling their ships to standoff a safe distance), observing the fall of their shots (thereby overcoming the Allied use of smoke) and interdiction of Allied air forces was doctrinally far ahead of their adversaries. Cox is balanced in his analysis however, and is very critical of a number of the Japanese Commanders who showed themselves as mediocre at best. A good case in point was the ineptitude of Admiral Hara who managed to sink more of his own ships than did the Allies while defending the beachhead on Java.

Replete with anecdotes that show the best and worst of the combatants on both sides, Cox’s work is an excellent study of the early days of the Pacific War. Cox is an outstanding author with a real gift for developing a narrative that maintains the reader’s interest while still doing justice to the subject.