Pacific Gibraltar: U.S.-Japanese Rivalry over the Annexation of Hawai'i, 1885-1898 (ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a superb account of the complexities involved in America's annexation of Hawai'i in 1898. The author details the growing public debate, which included far more than the intrinsic value of this splendid North Pacific archipelago. Instead, the issue was at the core of the late nineteenth-century debate over empire-building in the world's largest ocean. U.S. relations with Japan were at stake as the two emergent imperial powers both saw the contested Pacific Basin as falling within their respective spheres of influence.
Professor Morgan stresses the importance of strategic factors--Alfred Thayer Mahan's advocacy of naval supremacy, the deployment of an all-steel navy, the need for coaling stations and bases on insular dependencies, and, especially, the great power rivalry between Japan and the United States--in securing Hawaiian annexation. The author's research was thorough and grounded in primary sources, while revealing of the latest scholarship. His conclusions were fresh, measured, nuanced, and logical. The writing was clear and crisp.
A fuller understanding of this complex, controversial topic makes Morgan's book required reading.
Thomas J. Osborne
Author of "Empire Can Wait:" American Opposition to Hawaiian Annexation, 1893-1898 (1981).


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The first detailed examination of Hawaiian annexation in a generation, Pacific Gibraltar offers a fresh analysis and provocative conclusions about major episodes in this complex story. Based on a sweeping reevaluation of new and existing sources in three countries, it addresses such key questions as the extent of U.S. support for the overthrow of the monarchy, including the USS Boston's mysterious return to Honolulu to land troops as the revolution began, and President Cleveland's attempt to restore the queen using naval forces to intimidate the white provisional government. Morgan also examines the U.S.-Japan annexation confrontation in 1897 and the final acquisition of the islands in 1898 as the culmination of growing appreciation for Hawaii s value to U.S. defense.An ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Book published in partnership with the Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training.

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A History of Air Warfare Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a must have for all with an interest in air power. With contributions from the world's leading experts on air power history and strategy, the book is unique in the breadth and depth of its examination of the development of air power.
The book's structure is excellent. The chapters are concise (nominally 20 pages) and provide insight into air power's role in the conflict being considered. What is very useful is the positioning, in most chapters anyway, of air power's role in a particular conflict with how it was used on other conflicts past and present. This provides a bit of cohesion to the book which is sometimes difficult in a collected work. This is particular important in this work as the authors generally examine different aspects of air power (the chapter on the Israel-Arab Wars focused on air superiority while that on the Falklands had a distinctly logistical feel about it). This is not a criticism of the book as it is not intended to be a comprehensive overview of every aspect of air power in every conflict.
Perhaps the most positive aspect of the book is that it wasn't written by or for air power zealots. The perspectives offered were balanced (in the main) and different viewpoints were raised. This was most notable in the final part of the book (Part V - Perspectives) in the two concluding chapters by Van Creveld and Hallion. Both provide an overview of the evolution of air power and its potential future, each arriving at well argued and supported (but different) conclusions.
In summary: as you read through the book you gain an understanding of how certain aspects of air power (technical, logistical, strategy or tactical) developed over a number of conflicts. At the end, you are presented with two essentially opposing views on what this history means for the future. Concluding the book in such a way makes you challenge your own interpretation of where we have been and where we are going. That is what makes this book a must read for all with an interest or viewpoint on the past, present or future of air power.

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Mister Roberts Review

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(More customer reviews)Like many stories, Mister Roberts is best known as a movie, starring Henry Fonda, however, the book on which the movie is based is the far superior of the two. It gives more detail into what makes all the characters tick, and is a little less "sanitized" then the movie. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who appreciates military humor.

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The novel, Mister Roberts, was an instant hit after being published in 1946 and was quickly adapted for the stage and screen. The title character, a Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade, defends his crew against the petty tyranny of the ship's commanding officer during World War II. Nearly all action takes place on board a backwater cargo ship, the USS Reluctant, that sails, as written in the play, from apathy to tedium with occassional side trips to monotony and ennui. This irreverent, often hilarious story about the crew of the Reluctant has enjoyed wide and enduring popularity. Heggen based his novel on his experiences on board the USS Virgo in the South Pacific during World War II, and began it as a collection of short stories. It was subsequently adapted as a play, a feature film, a television series, and a television movie. The film version with Henry Fonda, James Cagney and Jack Lemmon is one of the most popular movies of WWII.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Battlefield Angels: Saving Lives Under Enemy Fire From Valley Forge to Afghanistan (General Military) Review

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(More customer reviews)A fascinating blend of courageous corpsmen & medic profiles from the Revolutionary War to the Middle East. I had no idea how much of civilian healthcare has been pioneered or validated by military medicine: anesthesia, blood banks, plasma transfusions, air medevacs, etc.
But the strength of this book is the riveting stories of corpsmen who volunteer to become WWII POWs in order to treat wounded soldiers; who race TOWARD the enemy when the fighting erupts; or who find ways to conduct an appendectomy in a WWII submarine while on enemy patrol. This book will surprise, inspire, and move you to tears. You'll never watch a war movie or combat news report the same way again.

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"The night air chilled Caspar Wistar as he walked alongside a wagon filled with medical supplies, part of an eleven-thousand-man army creeping toward a small Pennsylvania hamlet. He wondered if General George Washington's medical corps would again run short of wound dressings when battle met the sunrise."Thus opens the magisterial new book from Scott McGaugh, author of Midway Magic. In Battlefield Angels, McGaugh pays homage to the cadre of medics, corpsmen, nurses, doctors, surgeons, and medical technicians who have provided succor and healing to the more than 40 million warriors who have served in America's armed forces since the nation's founding.Scott McGaugh tells the story of Jonathan Letterman, a Union surgeon during the Civil War who is considered the father of American combat medicine. Letterman designed the first battlefield evacuation system after an unprepared medical corps at Bull Run left thousands of soldiers to die in the place where they were wounded. We also learn about Wheeler Lipes, a young navy corpsman and submariner with minimal medical training who on September 11, 1942, conducted the first-ever appendectomy at sea. And, we hear the story of Pfc. Monica Brown, the young army medic who was awarded the Silver Star for rescuing fellow soldiers from a disabled Humvee during an ambush in the Paktika province of Eastern Afghanistan in 2007. Brown is only the second woman in sixty years to receive the prestigious award. Through these stories and many others, McGaugh traces the captivating evolution of battlefield care, from the Revolutionary War to today's battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.In Battlefield Angels, McGaugh captures the in-the-trenches moments during which medics and corpsmen fought to save the lives of their comrades. Along the way, readers will learn the fascinating history of battlefield medicine and how it has benefited both military and civilian medical practice throughout American history. McGaugh also looks ahead to the future, where telemedicine and robotic surgery promise to transform the battlefield once again. In the end, Battlefield Angels both chronicles and pays homage to the men and women in arms who fight every day to save the lives of their fellow soldiers, sailors, and Marines.

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Get Your Ship Together: How Great Leaders Inspire Ownership From The Keel Up Review

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(More customer reviews)If you read Commander Abrashoff's first book, save yourself some time -- skip this one. My own experience as a Navy officer made the Commander's first book uniquely appealing. If I had served under a commanding officer like him, I would still be in uniform.
Instead showcasing new leaders and new ideas, every chapter of the sequel informs us how the subject of the story brilliantly implemented the Commander's ideas - and giving us a new story or two about HIS ship to prove it. Instead of a cast of inspiring lead characters, the "Great Leaders" of the title are reduced to minor supporting roles.
While his first book gave a memorable presentation of management and leadership ideas, he didn't invent them. I have read the same principles in various forms in dozens of other books and articles over the years. Commander Abrashoff missed an opportunity to make waves with these tales, instead sailing back through the same waters that he covered before.

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Former U.S. Navy Commander Michael Abrashoff attracted worldwide media attention for his success in turning around a struggling ship, the USS Benfold—the subject of his acclaimed bestseller, It's Your Ship. Since then, he's been a fixture on the business lecture circuit, spreading an empowering message that any organization can be turned around with compassionate but firm leadership. He is now nearly as popular a speaker as Rudy Giuliani, Jack Welch, or Jim Collins. Abrashoff never claimed to have all the answers. He also knew that there were plenty of other creative leaders in the navy, army, air force, marine corps, and even the coast guard who could teach businesspeople how to motivate, inspire, and get great results under pressure. So he asked around, found some fascinating people in every branch of the U.S. military and the business world, and interviewed them about leadership and teambuilding. The result is Get Your Ship Together—a book that will be just as valuable as It's Your Ship. For example, Abrashoff introduces us to a working-class enlisted man who rose rapidly in the navy for his creative leadership under fire; an army platoon leader who fought in Afghanistan; the first woman to fly an Apache helicopter in combat; a former commander of the air force's elite Blue Angels; and many other unsung heroes. Abrashoff distills their stories into fresh lessons that can be applied in the business world, such as: • Make a contract with your people and honor it • Develop your subordinates better so you can buy back a little quality of life • Conduct the battle on your terms, not those of your adversary

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The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Pew and Worship Bible, Navy Blue) Review

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(More customer reviews)Other reviewers complained that there are no chapter links. I'm not sure if it is new, but the version I downloaded recently has both book and chapter links. At the main table of contents, there are links to all the books of the Bible in a single list. Once you select a book, the first page of each book has links to all the chapters in that book. It works really well that way. I can find any verse in three clicks. And the whole Bible is searchable. That along with the ESV translation means a great addition to any Kindle.

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The ESV Pew and Worship Bible's durable hardcover format, high quality Bible paper, and 65 responsive readings reflecting major biblical themes make this Bible a great choice for churches.

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