The U.S. Naval Academy ~ An Illustrated History (Deluxe Slipcased Navy Blue Hardcover Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)When I ordered this book back in 1995, I wanted to know more than
the history of the US Naval Academy. The Academy's alumni is a
Who's Who in American military leadership and command presence.
I only wished I had attended Annapolis. Anyone who loves our service academies should not miss the opportunity to buy this wonderful book.

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River Patrol Insignia of the United States Navy (Vietnam) 1966/1972 Review

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(More customer reviews)RIVER PATROL INSIGNIA OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY (VIETNAM) 1966-1972
SCOTT KRASKA & STEPHEN KIRBY
R. JAMES BENDER PUBLISHING, 2009
HARDCOVER, $59.95, 168 PAGES, MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHSOn December 16, 1965, River Patrol Force (Task Force 116) was organized by the U.S. Navy to direct naval forces engaged in Operation GAME WARDEN, which was designed to deny the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong use of the 3,000 nautical miles of rivers, canals, and smaller streams in South Vietnam, including the Mekong Delta and other inland waterways. Consisting of a number of river divisions, each controlling two 10-boat sections, Task Force 116 employed several aircraft and small boats. The River Patrol Force operated from LSTs (Landing Ships, Tank) that had been designed to provide floating base facilities. The Patrol began as a fleet of 28-foot fiberglass River Patrol Boats (PBRs), each manned by a crew of four, equipped with radars and radios and armed with a twin-mount 50-caliber machine gun forward, a 30-caliber machine gun aft and a rapid-fire 40-mm grenade launcher. These fiberglass boats were later replaced by aluminum boats with a speed of up to 29 knots. The Task Force also used experimental patrol air-cushioned vehicles in the Mekong Delta and the Da Nang area. Although able to move at great speeds over shallow marshy areas, these air-cushioned vehicles proved too noisy and too mechanically sophisticated for the riverine war in Vietnam. Another key element in the Task Force was air support, initially provided by U.S. Army helicopters. On April 1, 1967, the U.S. Navy activated Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron 3 (The Seawolves) at Vung Tau to provide aerial fire support, observation, and medical evacuation. U.S. Navy SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) teams also operated withy the River Patrol Force to conduct night-and-day ambushes, hit-and-run raids, reconnaissance patrols, salvage dives, and special intelligence operations. The minesweepers of Mine Division 112 were also used to prevent Viet Cong mining of the shipping channels. The VAL-4 Black Ponies was the last of the units to be formed for Task Force 116. Light Attack Squadron 4 (VAL-4) came into being on 3 January 1969 when the squadron was commissioned at Naval Air Station North Island across the bay from San Diego, California. Flying Rockwell OV-10A "Broncos", the U.S. Navy borrowed from the U.S. Marine Corps. The U.S. Navy established two detachments in March, 1969 at Binh Thuy and Vung Tau. Both detachments began flying combat sorties in April, 1969. The Black Ponies were mainly responsible for supporting Task Force 116 in the Mekong Delta. Being able to carry more ordnance farther and faster than the UH-1 helicopters of the U.S. Navy's HAL-3, it soon became the favorite of the ground troops. RIVER PATROL INSIGNIA OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY (VIETNAM) 1966-1972 is an exhaustive work that does an excellant job of describing and illustrating the relatively unknown U.S. Navy's Task Force 116 of the Vietnam War. The authors also have included photographs of lighters used by members of this unit while they were in Vietnam which further enhances the book. This book will become the standard work on this subject and should be on the shelf of any serious military historian of the Vietnam War.Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida

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Jack Tar: Life in Nelson's Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)If you read only one book of history this year that commemorates the 250th anniversary of the birth of Nelson, read Jack Tar.
During the Great War (1793-1815), the Royal Navy was the backbone of the defence of the British Isles and took a major part in the final victory.
Just as the great battles from Valmi to Waterloo were won by the troops in the field, the naval battles were in the end won by the crews - and not by the Nelsons, Hoods or Cochranes.
Roy and Lesley Adkins have worked like the archaeologists they are, unearthing hundreds of sources, extracting hundreds of relevant pieces, then carefully glueing them together until the whole image is reconstructed: the portrait of rough, hard-working men (women and children) living a perilous life on board a primitive, claustrophobic machine in a hostile environment.
Apart from the constant danger from man and nature, ships' companies appear more like small rural communities than the "rum, lash and sodomy" society depicted in "miserabilist" books like Masefield's one.
Jack Tar was no saint but the product of the very harsh 18th-century society. His voice is seldom heard in history books.
When you turn the last page, you'll have envisioned the complete life of Jack Tar from his entry as Johnny Newcome to his later life in Greenwich hospital (if he was lucky), told in his own words.
If you have no previous knowledge of the naval history of the period, don't worry, Roy and Lesley have everything at hand for you: maps, diagrams, explanation of all the nautical terms you'll need.

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Flying Black Ponies: The Navy's Close Air Support Squadron in Vietnam Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the story of Navy Light Attack Squadron Four. It began in the very late 60's and was decommissioned in mid 1972. It's mission was close air support and protection of the US and Viet Namese Navy's riverine forces/brown water navy, including the SEALS. It was started with odd looking but agile light aircraft borrowed from the Marines to fill a mission that jet aircraft and helicopters could not. The Navy had eliminated in the mid 60s the only aircraft that had been able to support these forces on the ground.
It provides historical data with foot notes that makes it valuable for students of the era and scholars. It has interspersed personal information and stories - funny and sad - from the author's recollection, interviews with persons involved, copies and originals of official documents, private letters, scripts and casette recordings done at the time by some of the subjects.
Some of the characters- real people- include the brave and the foolish, the disturbed, the failed, the reborn. One commanding officer is as classical a martinet as any in literature or history.
It reads well and the technical and military allusions always are accompanied by a subtle/parallel plain language description which makes it enjoyable for non-military readers.
For craft and reading pleasure it's remininscent of Flight of the Intruder and Hunt for Red October.

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Foreword by Stephen Coonts. The tragic, the comic, the terrifying, the poignant are all part of the story of the Black Pony pilots who distinguished themselves in the Mekong Delta between 1969 and 1972. Flying their Broncos "down and dirty, low and slow," they destroyed more enemies and saved more allied lives with close-air support than all the other naval squadrons combined during the three years they saw action. Author Kit Lavell was part of this squadron of "black sheep" given a chance to make something of themselves. The U.S. Navy's only land-based attack squadron, Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4) flew support missions for the riverine forces, SEALs, and allied units in borrowed, propeller-driven OV-10s. For fixed-wing aircraft they were dangerous, unorthodox missions, a fact readers quickly come to appreciate.After two years of research, Lavell has been able to match many of the air operations to those on the ground and tell the dramatic story from both perspectives. One of several offered in the book is the bringing together of SEAL Barry Enoch, a Navy Cross recipient, and Black Pony pilot Larry Hone, a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient, whose encounter is stunningly described in chapter 14. Lavell also provides vivid scenes of life and love away from combat and gives a concise history of the squadron along with details of its unique use of the OV-10.

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MacArthur's Escape: Wild Man Bulkeley and the Rescue of an American Hero Review

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(More customer reviews)I am pleased to say that I have now just finished the Book. I thought it was very good with wonderful sources of information. In reading the Book, I too went back to the Philippines at a time of desperation and the feeling of being deserted by my Country.

The feeling of hunger, the thirst for Torpedoes, Engines, Spare Parts, and Ammo stayed with me thru-out the Book. I tried to close my eyes and feel the horror of knowing that I was fighting a no win Battle. I came away feeling that MacArthur was a true Toot your own Horn type Commander, whose Ego was larger then the Japanese Troops surrounding the Island.

Some Higher Brass in the States were really angry that MacArthur was rescued and had hoped he might perish on the Rock. I felt a true sense of anger that MacArthur did not visit his troops more and that his every move was a type of Chess Move to Crown Himself King when all was said and done. The heroics of the PT Boat Boys should never be underestimated. They took the fight to the enemy with odds that no Bookmaker would dare take. Fighting with Tired Engines, Bad Gas, and Horrible World War One Vintage Torpedoes, they did our Navy Proud.

The book shows that PT not only stood for Patrol Torpedo Boat, but PLENTY TOUGH. It is true that Bulkeley loved to toot his own horn and was a master Talker and promoter of himself. But one thing is for sure, Bulkeley believed in the PT Boat as a fighting weapon, and believed in the men who stood on her decks. No one can ever take that away from the man. I would have to rate the Book on a scale of ten as an 11. It was informative and kept me wanting to go back and read more. Nice Job...........

Frank J. Andruss Sr.
The Mosquito Fleet Exhibit

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At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a thorough history of American PT boat operations in World War Two. It covers all battle actions of the boats and what they accomplished in all theaters that the boats operated in -- the South Pacific, the Aleutians, and in Europe and the Mediterranean, an area of the PT boat war that, for some reaon, has had much less coverage than what these boats did in the Pacific. It also details the origins and developements of the boats, and the vastly complicated logistical problems covering huge distances that often bedeviled the boats and their crews. The book features many photographs of the boats and their crews and how they lived, as well as a complete list of every man killed or wounded on a PT boat during the war, as well as the numerous medals awarded to pt boat crews. It is a great record of these versatile boats and their courageous sailors.
Yet, it is a dry history. There is little or nothing about the men that sailed these boats into harm's way. Where did they come from? Why did they choose the dangers of a PT boat? What led them to go up against destroyers in plywood/mahongeny boats? A little bit of that and it would have been a fantastic account of the pt boats. Still, for anyone that loves naval history this is an incredible book.

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Hoisting Their Colors: Cape Cod's Civil War Navy Officers Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a must-read for anyone interested in the Civil War, its navy, ships, Cape Cod genealogy, biography and adventure. Author Miller has accomplished the nigh-unto-impossible by organizing tens of thousands of researched facts - ingeniously annotated and cross-referenced - into an immensely readable book about the 179 Cape Cod naval officers. It starts with "the transformation" (how Cape Codders became naval officers)and explains the uniforms, pay rates and ranks. A glossary of nautical terms,a list and description of the ships they served in, snippets of personal letters and newsy items from the papers of the day add a lot. Starting with Sandwich, Miller works his way down the Cape to Provincetown giving an overview of each town and mini-biographies of its naval officers. The reader will find heroes and scoundrels, tragic stories, bravado, illnesses and medical care, disciplinary actions, excess and deprivation, and encounters with famous people of the day. Miller breathed life into dusty military records and 179 Cape Cod men emerged. His marvelous dry wit enhances their virtues and foibles during this super-macho era. I would give this more than 5 stars if I could. It would make a great Christmas gift.

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After painstaking research, Stauffer Miller has put together the story of Cape Cod, Massachusetts' many ship captains and mates who put aside their careers as merchant seamen to don the uniform of Union Navy officers in the Civil War. What made them do it? What was the effect of their actions on their families, or themselves? Here is their story, often of conflict within a conflict.In many cases, these men were close to great newsmakers of American history, as illustrated by two book excerpts. The first is an observation by Benjamin Dyer Jr. of Truro, on the gunboat Mahaska:"City Point, Va, May 28, 1862. We are now quite close to famous Monitor, and a queer-looking craft she is. She looks like a raft with a circular tower amidships. She bears two of three deep dents in her turret and two ugly marks, one on each bow, received in her gallant encounter with the Merrimac. Altogether, she is a naval curiosity." Sylvannus Nickerson of Yarmouth and on the gunboat Itasca witnessed something equally historic, described by the author: "While patrolling the Mississippi River in October 1862, the Itasca encountered on the east bank a herd of 1,500 head of longhorn cattle which had been brought north from Texas in one of the first of that state's famed cattle drives. When examination of the drovers' passes revealed the cattle were for the Confederate Army, the drovers went to New Orleans under arrest, the cattle to Union possession. Sailor-turned-cowpuncher Nickerson went ashore with details of me to guard the longhorns from lurking guerillas while gunboats, transports and sailors drove the whole "wild and unmanageable herd" to New Orleans in what was termed "a novel act of duty for the Navy."

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British Seapower and Procurement Between the Wars: A Reappraisal of Rearmament Review

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(More customer reviews)What an interesting work this is! It is very much an academic work with all the strengths that implies, as well as a weakness to be disucussed. The subtitle A Reapprasial of Rearmament is appropriate and is the heart of the work. There are several themes covered in this treatment of the interwar years.

The first theme is the contention between visions of a unified Ministry of Supply to manage all British defence procurement and the determination of the Admiralty to keep the highly specialized field of naval ship design construction and equipment entirely in their own hands. The author recounts all the bureaucratic manuvering carried out for 20 years to keep the Admiralty position intact and makes a fascinating and sensible story of it that rings entirely true to anyone with experience in how large organizations actually work. The position of the author is that the structure of coordinating committees set up in the late 20s was in fact the correct instrument to assure the best possible military readiness for rearmament and that postion is skillfully and convincingly argued.

The second theme is that the Admiralty continually skirted the edge of accounting legality in committing government finances to the the redevelopment of naval-industrial infrastructure in the 30s. Gordon also argues with some success that the Treasury bureaucracy to some extent turned a blind eye to these practices.
The third theme is that the industrial side of naval rearmament was considerably complicated by the revolution in military technology wrought by aircraft development in the 1929-1939 era. This is seen as a revolution fully appreciated by the Admiralty and leading to signficant changes in ship armament and protection that needed to be retrofitted as well as hastily incorporated in new designs. The author points out very specific problems this created in capacity for the thin armor plating needed for deck protection and the mountings needed for dual purpose medium calibre guns.
The fourth theme of the book is the wisdom of the political leadership (MacDonald, Baldwin, and Chamberlain) in keeping British industry as much as possible on a peace time basis up until the point of war but having an elaborate, comprehensive, and calculated plan to switch over that economy to a war basis quickly and seamlessly - a plan that was by and large executed with great sucess.
Overall, Gordon argues the Royal Navy prepared for and executed a rearmament plan in the 1930s that was the best possible under the geopolitical circumstances and that credit should be given to the professional heads of the civil service and the navy, especially Adm Sir Ernle Chatfield, who is cast as something of a hero, or at least as much as that can be done in an academic work.
This brief outline of the main themes of the book does scant justice to all the fruits of primary, archival research combined with extensive interviews of surviving participants in the history of the events. For example this would make an excellent companion to D.K. Brown's book on warship development from 1923 to 1945 Nelson to Vanguard. A different and less favorable perspective on British rearmament in the 1930s is found in the chapter by Bond and Murray in Volume 2 of Military Effectiveness ed by Millet and Murray.
The flaw in the work that prevented it from getting five stars is Gordon's apparent preoccupation with some sort of British academic debate with proponents of the view that Baldwin and Chamberlain were at best fools and only Churchill had the right answer. Perhaps in 1988 that was what the Brits were arguing about but I would think we all have a more nuanced view now. This leads the author to claim more for the policy of appeasement, which he describes as a policy of conciliation and rearmament, than it can bear. Surely we all agree that if Great Britain had been dealing with conservative, assertive, and nationalist German leaders the policy of appeasment could well have prevented war. But Hitler and his gang were not that and appeasement did not prevent war. What Gordon shows rather convincingly is that the rearmament side of the policy was executed in a calculated, cold-blooded, and determined way that is a credit to ability of the political and military leadership of the day. Their inability to understand the true nature of the National Socialist movement, it's goals and objectives, was shared by most of the rest of the world.

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On Seas of Glory: Heroic Men, Great Ships, and Epic Battles of the American Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)For non-military historians especially, Lehman provides an excellent briefing on the history of the U.S. Navy in terms of its "heroic men, great ships, and epic battles." I realize that there are already in print definitive biographies of many of the naval heroes (e.g. John Paul Jones, David Farragut, and Chester W. Nimitz) as well as definitive studies of various great ships and epic battles. For those who wish to consult such sources, most of them are included in a substantial Bibliography and they are grouped appropriately. Lehman's purpose in this volume is to focus on the evolution of a stirring as well as colorful naval tradition which extends from the Revolutionary War through the end of the Cold War. When concluding his Introduction, he observes: "the greatest victories of the naval tradition have not been the wars recounted here but the wars that were never fought because American seapower was so strong that to challenge it would be foolhardy. If we let it, the strength of that tradition will continue to underwrite peace in our land."
Obviously, even the strongest seapower could not have prevented events which occurred on September 11th but such seapower will always have an important role to play worldwide whenever human freedom must be defended or obtained. For me, a non-military historian, the greatest pleasure of this book was derived from learning about people and events of which I was previously unaware. For example, Samuel Leech (a 14-year old "powder monkey" aboard the H.M.S. frigate Macedonian) and his compelling account of his ship's defeat in battle by the frigate United States under the command of Stephen Decatur, Jr. during the War of 1812. For many readers, perhaps, Lehman provides about as much information about U.S. naval history as they may ever need or want. Other readers will be motivated to learn more about specific "heroic men, great ships, and epic battles." I am within the second group. Lehman is to be congratulated on a unique achievement: He has brought significant portions of American military history to life and done so with passion as well as erudition.

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Perverts by Official Order: The Campaign Against Homosexuals by the United States Navy (Monographic supplement #1 to Journal of homosexuality) Review

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(More customer reviews)Murphy recounts the Newport, R.I. "scandal" of World War I. The real scandal, of course, is not the fact that gay sailors were having sex but that the U.S. Navy entrapped military personnel and civilians with a series of investigatory abuses. Then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt played a key role in this witchunt - - one of the earliest documented examples of organized Navy homophobia.

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This candid book documents for the first time the U.S. Navy's use of entrapment in pursuit of homosexuals in and around Newport, Rhode Island, during the early twentieth century. This most extensive systematic persecution of gays in American history occurred with the approval of Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels and Assistant Secretary Franklin Roosevelt, as dozens of sailors were ordered to identify and even seduce gay men in order to report their names to the authorities. Noted historian Lawrence Murphy reveals the details of this sordid campaign that ultimately generated a national scandal and first raised issues of gay rights and governmental persecution of homosexuals.

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FROZEN IN MEMORY: U.S. Navy Medicine in the Korean War Review

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(More customer reviews)Was the Korean War really like M*A*S*H? Not according to Lt.(j.g.) Henry Litvin, MC who served with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in Inchon. "I was literally grasping at straws to treat shock. Stop bleeding, keep them flat and evacuate them to the rear fast. I never knew about MASH until years later when the show came out. I remember sitting with my wife watching it and being furious. They were laughing and I never remember much laughter. I don't remember any laughter where we were."
Litvin is one of several Navy physicians, dentists, nurses, and corpsmen who tell the real story of how they practiced medicine chronicled in Frozen In Memory: U.S. Navy Medicine in the Korean War, by Navy Medical Department Historian and author Jan K. Herman.
Published in 2006 by Booklocker.com Inc., Frozen in Memory is a sequel to Battle Station Sick Bay: Navy Medicine in World War II, but with one important addition. In Battle Station Sick Bay, Herman confined his interviews to only the caregivers. In Frozen In Memory, he includes stories of the Marines and sailors who were on the receiving end of Navy medicine during the Korean War.
Through oral histories, this book vividly describes the unimaginable circumstances under which these forgotten heroes worked. Operations were performed on scores of mangled young men without the benefit of x-ray equipment and using retractors made from the brass of discarded artillery shells. Corpsmen and physicians entered the field of battle right along side the Marines carrying with them a bag of medical supplies from World War II that contained bandages, a surgical kit, bandage scissors, and morphine. Casualties had to be moved back to battalion aid stations before they could get life-saving IVs and plasma. These caregivers survived on frozen C-rations that would be thawed on the engine block of a truck or jeep, ingesting whatever food particles would thaw. Many times the only water source would be contaminated snow. At the battle aid stations they would care for the wounded even though the station would be under fierce attack by enemy rockets and gunfire.
In additions to first-hand accounts from the battlefields of the Pusan Perimeter, Inchon, Seoul and Chosin, Herman also includes the stories of medical staff as they treated casualties onboard medevac flights, at Yokosuka Naval Hospital, and aboard hospital ships. These stories often go beyond the medical arena as the veterans share observations and opinions about the meaning of their war and how it had affected their lives since.
Herman also included a fascinating section in his book entitled "The Cast," a listing of those who were interviewed with a brief epilogue describing what occurred in their lives following the end of the war. As a Navy nurse historian, I was especially pleased to see the names of Navy nurses Marilyn Ewing Affleck, Rosella Nesgis Asbelle, Sarah Griffin Chapman, Nancy "Bing" Crosby, Lura Jane Emery, Bobbi Hovis, and Dorothy Venverloh, most of whom I have had the pleasure to meet through the incredible network of the Navy Nurse Corps Association.
This is a much needed and important historical account of the men and women who endured the unimaginable circumstances of war and sacrificed so much in selfless service to heal bodies. Just as many Korean War veterans will have their memories of the brutality of war frozen in memory, the reader will also find this superbly written mosaic of oral histories unforgettable. Frozen In Memory: U.S. Navy Medicine in the Korean War is a must read!


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Was the Korean War really like M*A*S*H?In their own words, Navy physicians, dentists, nurses, and corpsmen tell the real story of how they practiced medicine during the so-called "forgotten war," often in unimaginable circumstances.

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The Reluctant Admiral: Yamamoto and the Imperial Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)This was a wonderful book which went into alot of detail about the life of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. He was a much more complex person than most people think. He was no ranting imperialistic flunky. In fact, he held most of those types in contempt. So much so, that he had to maintain constant vigilance because of death threats. However, he did his duty, as he was ordered to do, even though he knew the futility of it. He was also totally against the building of the Yamato and Musashi battleships. Utter "folly" he called them and a waste of time and money. He truly believed that the future of war would be aviation. He was proved right. Its really too bad that he was killed, he would have been of great benefit to the restructuring of the new Japanese government. Anyone interested in a more "personal" look of one of the greatest Admirals in the world, will love this book, like I did.

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Rapid Fire: The Development of Automatic Cannon and Heavy Machine Guns for Armies, Navies, and Air Forces Review

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(More customer reviews)It should be evident that one cannot fully understand the history of combat aircraft, ships, or vehicles, without having some knowledge of the weapons that armed them. During the last century, heavy automatic guns have been an essential part of this armament. But unfortunately their study has been very much neglected, and with distressing regularity one finds information that is incomplete, misleading, or plain wrong. The existing literature about automatic guns and their ammunition is perhaps more reliable, but mostly limited to weapons of smaller calibre.
This book at last fills the gap by offering a wealth of information on these guns. Because it is virtually the only comprehensive discussion of this subject, it can be considered essential reading for anyone interested in the technical aspects of modern military history. The author has made the subject accessible to people without any previous knowledge about guns, but the work also contains enough extensive and detailed information to be attractive to the specialist. It is primarily a book about guns, but it does give careful consideration to the important relationship between gun design and application. It can be read as a history, but also consulted as a reference. Despite the specialist subject the book should appeal to a wide audience, encompassing researchers and modellers, people with an interest in guns as well as those with in an interest in aircraft, ships, or armoured vehicles.
Of the six chapters, the first two contain a technical explanation cartridges, guns, and related subjects. The basic operating principles behind different types of guns are clearly explained, and a brief history of their development is given. The advantages and disadvantages of different types of guns, related to their intended applications, are also discussed. The author has chosen to avoid formulas and extended discussions of ballistics, but the principles of gun action are illustrated.
The next three chapters then discuss these applications, in armies, navies, and air forces. It explains how the military of different branches and different countries approached the armament problems, and how this determined the development and isntallation of guns. The sixth chapter discusses future developments, and mentions some of the current experimental guns --- most of the book is limited to guns that saw service.
Of the five appendices the first is a history of anti-tank and heavy rifles. The second contains tables with complete data related to heavy automatic weapons, including service cartridges and guns up to a calibre of 57mm. The last three appendices contain scale drawings of cartridges and guns. The book concludes with a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
Despite its technical subject "Rapid Fire" is well-written, clear and concise. The book has been well edited and produced, and a good balance between text and illustrations was achieved. The limitations of the work are a consequence of the need to pack an enormous amount of information in a compact format, in all 297 pages including about 30 pages of color photographs. I can recommend this book without reservations, and in the hope that when knowledge spreads, errors will no longer be repeated!

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This work will be of interest to enthusiasts of the technical aspects of military, naval and aviation history. It provides a comprehensive account of the use of heavy machine guns, automatic cannons and their ammunition, featuring coverage of cartridge design and various projectiles.

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The United States Navy: 200 years Review

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(More customer reviews)The author is very knowledgeable since he was a Navy Captain in World War II.
I enjoyed reading his book.

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The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship Review

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(More customer reviews)Even if you want to believe it to be an accident, you can do better than this book. Cristol created this book based on his doctoral dissertation, which was manufactured after (and some estimate to obfuscate and diffuse) Dr. John Borne's initial doctoral dissertation on the Liberty assault which came to the conclusion Israel knew it was a US ship before they attacked.
You don't even need to open the book to know what's inside!...let's take a look at the front cover photo...
The photo, claimed in the book to be provided to Cristol by the Israeli Air Force, as a gun camera photo, shows the USS Liberty flying no flag as it is attacked, with even a large splash of munition next to it. This of course reinforces Israel's claim there was no flag flying during the attack, which would then debunk the survivors' claim they had an American flag flying(and put up an even larger US flag after the first was shot down!).
-It turns out, according to a photo analysis done for the Liberty survivors' website, this "is in fact a doctored view of the ship just as she tied up at the pier at Little Creek, Virginia, in July, 1967, upon her return from repairs in Malta." The photo evidence is too much to list but here is some of it: All the vectors and even people on the ship correspond to the Little Creek dock photo. The smoke was apparently falsified - there is no smoke or fire damage in corresponding areas of the ship, in photos taken immediately after the attack. The displacement(how deep in the water the ship sets due to weight) of the Liberty during the actual attack was much greater than the Cristol image depicted, but corresponded perfectly with the Little Creek photo (after the ship was offloaded). The munition splash apparently was added to cover a tug boat that occluded a small part of the front side of the Liberty. A photo of a real wake created by the Liberty does not correspond to what was apparently a post photo wake added to the photo of the stationary Liberty. Etcetera, etcetera. Of course, the fact that there is no flag in Cristol's cover picture corresponds to the fact it is customary to take down the flag once you get into port, as the real Little Creek photo shows. So there you have it, no need to even open this book. Sorry to say, the photo was presented as evidence in a Thames television presentation before a proper analysis and debunking was done.
This is the second book(the other is the unrelated "Hitler's Pope" by Cornwell) I've reviewed where a photo was presented as evidence, but was apparently otherwise.
If you are an Israeli apologist and want to give a better try than Cristol's book, it's not hard. But you should at least go to the survivors' website and get firsthand information so you don't look as foolish as Cristol. Now that Cristol is being dismissed, Michael Oren is the next big hope for Israeli apologists concerning Liberty. This assault is so dangerous to Israel's reputation that apologists consistently offer terminology that attempts to stop discussion on the subject rather than address concerns, such as the title of Michael Oren's writing's "USS Liberty: Case Closed". The process is consistent, first the apologist (Oren/Cristol/whoever) offers what they claim is a thorough discussion-ending report(in Oren's case even titling it as such), then the apologist goes on with a typical limited and contextually false account, then right on queue, the apologist is soon after applauded for such a "conclusive", "thorough", "definitive" account. Then eventually the apologist is dismissed by those on the other side as false after having his material reviewed, such as Cristol eventually was. Then another apologist takes over the reigns as 'lead USS Liberty reference' for the apologists, conveniently forgetting they were just supporting the last guy who who offered false claims. To some, it might seem strange Oren was given the top prize at the LA book fair for what was a rehashing the 1967 Israeli six day war in his book "Six Days of War". What Oren did conveniently offer in his newly awarded book, just as Crystol conveniently offered, was, once again, "new evidence" that the attack on the Liberty was accidental. Of course, "Body of Secrets" author James Bamford eventually took great exception to Oren's selective Liberty account, and offers insight into Oren's personal history and his close working connections to those who apparently were connected to Israeli war crimes that the Liberty would have monitored, and that, as Bamford suggests, would have been reason to snuff out the Liberty's surveillance.
The real story, and the amazing and intriguing evidence that is now coming out is mostly coming from NSA sources. The Anti-Defamation League primarily references Cristol and NSA transcripts released in 1999 of helicopter pilots sent to the Liberty after the attack. Of course, the ADL pointing to the helicopter transmissions is misleading, as the unreleased plane and boat transmissions(those taking part in the attacks) are the relevant ones. Of course the ADL doesn't address Cristol's basic problems, such as that silly cover photo passed off as an Israeli gun camera photo. Some amazing admissions have occured just recently(after 2000). There is still apparently a key NSA record of the attack, taken from a an NSA spyplane in the area of the attack, that is being withheld.
"Of four former NSA/CIA seniors with inside knowledge, none was aware of any agency official who dissented from the position that the attack was deliberate." - Naval Institute Proceedings
"That the attack was deliberate "just wasn't a disputed issue" within the National Security Agency" - former NSA director William Odom, 3 March 2003 interview for Naval Institute Proceedings
"...the board of inquiry (concluded) that the Israelis knew exactly what they were doing in attacking the Liberty."
-- CIA Director Richard Helms
"I can tell you for an absolute certainty (from intercepted communications) that the Israelis knew they were attacking an American ship."-- NSA Deputy Director Oliver Kirby
Write a letter to your Congressman and sign the Liberty petition, if you want the NSA record released!!


Click Here to see more reviews about: The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship

Draws on newly declassified documents and high-level interviews with numerous officials from the United States and Israel, including the late prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, that resolve lingering questionsA former naval aviator provides a page-turning, minute-by-minute account of the battering suffered by the U.S. Navy's intelligence ship, USS LibertyIncludes diagrams, maps, and photographs, including images taken by the gun cameras of participating Israeli aircraftOn June 8, 1967, at the height of the Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, Israeli air and naval forces attacked the USS Liberty, an intelligence-collection ship in the service of Israel's closest ally, while that vessel steamed in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula. The Israelis killed 34 Americans, wounded 171, and nearly sank the ship. Dozens of theories exist about what happened that day. Official inquiries conducted in both the United States and Israel attributed the event to faulty communications and tragic error, but survivors remain outspoken and not alone in their belief that the Israelis acted deliberately.Federal judge and former naval aviator A. Jay Cristol places the incident in its proper context. The Israeli strike, he argues, can only be understood in light of the Cold War, the outbreak of war in the Middle East, interservice rivalry within the Israeli Defense Forces, and the chaos of an operational environment. That both the United States and Israel kept much of the data concerning the incident classified for more than ten years served only to fuel the fires of intrigue and charges of conspiracy to cover up the truth, but since the incident significant portions of most of the official inquiries have now been declassified. Cristol draws on these, documents recently obtained by him through the Freedom of Information Act, and extensive oral history interviews to deliver the most comprehensive treatment of the episode that threatened to ruin Israel's relations with the United States and has served as a nagging source of suspicion for so many years.

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Sketchbook-Navy Blue Blank Book 5 1/2 x 8 1/4" Review

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(More customer reviews)I agree that these are great journals and sketchbooks. For some reason Amazon does not list the number of pages in the various Watson-Guptill sketchbooks, even though it is printed on the sticker. I have two versions of this book with the same ISBN number - one bought in 2001 with 224 pages and one bought in 2004 with 176 pages. Maybe Watson-Guptill has trimmed the size of the sketchbooks. So the most recent version has 176 neutral pH, nonyellowing archival-quality pages.

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Sketchbook Sewn Binding, Kivar Cover Smaller, Navy Blue

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Walking Point: The Experiences of a Founding Member of the Elite Navy Seals Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm not a military man but enjoy reading about special forces, SEALs, etc.. What I liked about this book was Watson's down to earth style of writing. It was not written like a book. Rather, it feels like you're listening to a story around a campfire or at the bar. While it chronicled his Vietnam and other experiences in detail, I was particularly impressed with the different chapters devoted to such things as family life, gear, weapons, etc.. Actually, I think my favorite chapter was the one on "sharks and other critters" that the SEALs encounter. Now that's interesting! I enjoyed the book so much I went out and got his first one, Pointman, which I'm getting ready to read after I finish up "The Teams." Possibly the only boring part of this book to me was the great detail given to describing the weapons used in Vietnam. I'm just not that interested in the differences between a 20 and 30 round magazine, but for those who are into this, it's a great read.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Walking Point: The Experiences of a Founding Member of the Elite Navy Seals

Click here for more information about Walking Point: The Experiences of a Founding Member of the Elite Navy Seals

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