Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Michael T. Isenber, an Annapolis history professor, has written a thoroughly enjoyable history of the United States Navy from the close of World War II through the end of the Cuban Missle Crisis in Shield of the Republic. This is not a PR volume for the Navy but rather a history that views the nation's sea service from all angles, exposing the problems of maintaining a Navy in light of the massive post-war draw down, the internal and inter-service rivalries that threatened to destroy the early Department of Defense in the late 1940's, the internal competition between the air, surface, and submarine services, and the scramble to meet the mobalization crisis that came with the invasion of South Korea. It continues with the struggle (and mastery) of the new technologies that challenged the Navy: nuclear power and the role of nuclear delivery by ballistic submarine, the explosive growth of electronics, and the growth of the super carrier. It details the Navy as a "people organization" employing large numbers of young men, the requirement for men to handle the increasing sophisticated weapon systems and electronics, the growth in the number of "flags" (admirals) and the integration of all races in the 1950's. It closes with a view of the Cold War Navy that sustained the blockade of Cuba during the crisis of 1962, a Navy that spanned the globe from the Western Pacific to the Caribbean to the Mediterranean. Shield's 900 pages (including bibliography and notes) is easy to read and almost novel-like in its treatment of the many people and the experiences that were the US Navy in the post-World War II period. It offers many lessons that are applicable to the services of today: Meeting expanding requirements during a (short) period of peace and the attending draw-down, the requirement to fight come-as-you-are wars (police actions), the need to incorporate explosively growing technology into an every aging fleet, and the need to recruit, train, and retain skilled personnel in competition with an attractive commercial job market. Shield is the Samuel E. Morison of the post war period in scope and thoroughness, but is easier to read than an operational history. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in American history, Military history, or the military in general.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace 1945-1962
0 comments:
Post a Comment