July 2012 | Navy Reserve Website

Matthew Calbraith Perry: Antebellum Sailor and Diplomat Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)This is the first biography of this great Naval Hero in years. It was worth the wait. The significance of Perry's opening of Japan as well as his other accomplishments is amazing. This story is told in an interesting, engaging way that will interest even the casual readers of history. Enjoy!Click Here...

Semmes: Rebel Raider (Military Profiles) Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)Veteran historian John M. Taylor provides a small vantage point on the Civil War at sea, through the personna of Confederate commerce raider Raphael Semmes, in this Potomac Military Profiles entry. The naval aspects of the Civil War tend to be neglected in most histories; Semmes might have shone in any...

Rules of Engagement Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)an excellent first novel showing a racy, narrative style and a credible storyline with finely-drawn characters. The novel starts out aboard a US carrier, moves to naval intelligence and a several year investigation into espionage, culminating in a chase over many international frontiers into a military...

The Pursuit of Victory: The Life And Achievement of Horatio Nelson Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)As others have noted, there are many biographies of Nelson, and almost all of them suffer from the same problem: that a man so brilliant, talented, contradictory, demented, jealous, generous, gracious, foolish, naive and clear-thinking is very hard to understand. The fact that his death at the triumphant...

The Genesis of the Naval Profession Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)Navy Captain Endorses "Genesis": I just realized that Elias' book has not yet been reviewed. I will provide a review in greater detail later, but for naval officers who run across this book, YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. While some of the finer points of dates/places in the work may be debated, it is nonetheless...

Red Star over the Pacific: China's Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)China's maritime capacity, two associate professors of strategy at the US Naval War College argue in an important new work, is close to reaching a point where its theories will be put into practice. What this commanding of the seas "with Chinese characteristics" will look like, and what it will imply...

War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)One reviewer called this book, "a gem of a book... promises to be one of those small classics in the history of technology that sets a new standard for how the core questions of the field are framed and addressed." Right on! It's also a small classic in that it brings carefully documented history in...

First Blue: The Story of World War II Ace Butch Voris and the Creation of the Blue Angels Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)The Navy's Blue Angels are ambassadors of American ingenuity, prowess and accomplishment in the air. They are the premiere flight demonstration team in the world and proud symbol of not only Naval Aviation, but the entire US Navy. Their aerial acrobatics thrill million of spectators every year. Their...

Introduction of the Ironclad Warship (Classics of Naval Literature) Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)This is a must-read for anyone interested in ironclad development. Well written and thorough, it provides a great foundational read for anyone interested in the field. Newer books cover specific ships or technologies in more detail and are frequently based on newly found archival information, but this...

American and British Aircraft Carrier Development, 1919-1941 Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)There are many good insights and much worthwhile information here. But there is no apparent organization of ideas, either among the chapters, within a chapter, within a page or sometimes within a paragraph. Ideas and facts are presented, and repeated later, as if this were several slightly different...

British Battleships: Warrior 1860 to Vanguard 1950 : A History of Design, Construction and Armament Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)Although written for naval buffs, this book will be of interest to anyone involved in the design of systems. With the coming of steam propulsion, naval architects and technologists had to find the right balance between the three elements of speed, gunpower, and armoured protection. It took them a hundred...

America's Fighting Admirals: Winning the War at Sea in World War II Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)The American naval actions of the second world war were some of the most dramatic in the history of sea warfare, taking place over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans alike with an admiral overseeing each action and battle. The battles are here described from the perspective of American admirals who fought...

Dark Sky, Black Sea: Aircraft Carrier Night and All-Weather Operations Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)This is a sound history of U.S. Navy night operations from the beginning to the present. Along the way, the reader picks up a lot of carrier lore that applies equally to day operations. What distinguishes this book from the usual Naval Institute Press study is that Mr. Brown was one of the aviators that...

In the Hands of Fate: The Story of Patrol Wing Ten : 8 December 1941-11 May 1942 Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)As an amateur "student" of the history of WWII, this book provided me with a better understanding of the early Naval air campaign in the Pacific. Patrol Wing Ten's men and PBY Catalina planes were in the meat grinder from the very start of the war. Constantly under harrassment from the Japanese invasions,...

Guns of the American West Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)I ordered this book expecting the ultimte story on the fascinating subject of Old West firearms. Indeed, the photographs of the guns discussed are absolutely stunning. No reader will be disappointed there. But just a quick scan at some of the photo captions revealed some frustrating annoyances: 1) in...

E-Mail to the Front: One Wife's Correspondence with Her Husband Overseas Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)Wow! Where to start? Before reading E-MAIL TO THE FRONT, I appreciated America's military families in a vague sort of way. Yes, I knew they worried about their loved ones who had been deployed thousands of miles away and that it must be difficult for them to cope with the absence of a missing husband...

The Delta Solution Review

Average Reviews:(More customer reviews)It seems as if the Somalian pirates are the 2011 evil-doers of choice. Almost simultaneously, Patrick Robinson and Wilbur Smith have hit us with similar tales of revenge against pirate deeds. Sadly, both books are far from their authors best efforts. Focusing on The Delta Solution, Patrick Robinson has...