War Without Hate: The Desert Campaign of 1940-1943 by John Bierman and Colin Smith (also published as The Battle of Alamein) is the best single volume book on the war in North Africa that I've read. The title refers to the air of chivalry that still existed between British and German forces during this phase of the war. The authors are British journalists, and the focus is naturally on the British side of the conflict.
The book covers from the entrance of Italy into the war until the final capitulation of Axis forces in Tunisia, but the primary focus is on Operation Crusader and the battles around El Alamein. Around a dozen maps do an adequate job of illustrating the actions described in the text.
From the gamer's perspective there's probably not much to gain here other than a good general knowledge of the history of the conflict. The focus is at too high a level to provide much in the way of inspiration for a company level game like Flames of War. There are a few good photographs, but not that many.
I still recommend the book as a well-written primer on the military aspects of the war in North Africa.
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Book Review: Russian Armour Volume 2: Light Tanks
There are several sources out there now for most armoured fighting vehicles of WWII. Osprey and Squadron/Signal between them cover most of the vehicles used. The more famous, like the Tiger and Panther tanks, often have multiple books available covering their statistics and history in extreme detail.
Despite those sources, there are still some holes to be filled in the available reference material, and Light Tanks does a decent job of filling some of them.
First the good stuff. This book covers the light tanks and tankettes that the Soviet Union produced prior to and during WWII. These include the T-27, T-38, BT, T-26, T-40, T-50, T-60, and T-70 tanks. Many of these haven't had much coverage in other readily available books.
The book begins with a short overview of the history of light tanks in the Soviet Union, then proceeds with more detailed descriptions of each series in chronological order of development. In addition to the text, each section features period photos, photos of surviving museum pieces, profile line drawings, cut-away line drawings, and profile paintings. The resulting combination provides a lot of interesting information in a compact package.
As a personal note I have to mention that there is a picture included of a T-60, along with KV-1 and a T-34 all from the 121st Tank Brigade in May 1942 "before an attack". This photo was almost certainly taken just prior to the beginning of the second battle of Kharkov, the conflict that my personal miniature force of soviets is modelled to represent. The KV pictured appears to be a KV-1 1941 with a welded turret. It is not a KV-1e, KV-2, or KV-1 1940, and the welded turret would seem to rule out it being a KV-1s or a KV-1 1942. While not a definitive answer to the question of what kind of KV my own force was likely to have fielded, it certainly provides some useful clues. In Flames of War game terms, the KV-1 1941 and the KV-1e (which is what I currently use) have identical stats, but it's still interesting.
Now the bad stuff. First, it suffers from a lack of editing. There are several typos in the stats, such as using 1978 instead of 1938 at one point, using mm instead of m at another, and using T-24 instead of T-34 more than once. Also, it would appear that the author wrote the text directly in English, and that English is not his native language. While it is generally readable, there are several places where his unfamiliarity with English sentence structure shows through.
The worst aspect of the book is one that it shares with other books of this type and that's a complete lack of citations, either in the form of footnotes or a bibliography. There is nothing to indicate where the author is getting any of his information from. It could be from archival research, interviews with survivors, or he could be just making it up. We simply don't know because of the lack of citations. This seriously limits the usefulness of the book for any serious purpose, which is a shame because there are some interesting bits of information here.
It's a bit unfair to criticize this book for failings that exist in most books of this type, but it's become something of a pet peeve of mine so I feel that it's necessary to point out.
If you have any interest in the Soviet light tanks of WWII, then you shouldn't let any of my criticisms prevent you from reading this book as it does a good job of describing the development of Russia's light tanks, as well as providing several good photographs and illustrations.
Despite those sources, there are still some holes to be filled in the available reference material, and Light Tanks does a decent job of filling some of them.
First the good stuff. This book covers the light tanks and tankettes that the Soviet Union produced prior to and during WWII. These include the T-27, T-38, BT, T-26, T-40, T-50, T-60, and T-70 tanks. Many of these haven't had much coverage in other readily available books.
The book begins with a short overview of the history of light tanks in the Soviet Union, then proceeds with more detailed descriptions of each series in chronological order of development. In addition to the text, each section features period photos, photos of surviving museum pieces, profile line drawings, cut-away line drawings, and profile paintings. The resulting combination provides a lot of interesting information in a compact package.
As a personal note I have to mention that there is a picture included of a T-60, along with KV-1 and a T-34 all from the 121st Tank Brigade in May 1942 "before an attack". This photo was almost certainly taken just prior to the beginning of the second battle of Kharkov, the conflict that my personal miniature force of soviets is modelled to represent. The KV pictured appears to be a KV-1 1941 with a welded turret. It is not a KV-1e, KV-2, or KV-1 1940, and the welded turret would seem to rule out it being a KV-1s or a KV-1 1942. While not a definitive answer to the question of what kind of KV my own force was likely to have fielded, it certainly provides some useful clues. In Flames of War game terms, the KV-1 1941 and the KV-1e (which is what I currently use) have identical stats, but it's still interesting.
Now the bad stuff. First, it suffers from a lack of editing. There are several typos in the stats, such as using 1978 instead of 1938 at one point, using mm instead of m at another, and using T-24 instead of T-34 more than once. Also, it would appear that the author wrote the text directly in English, and that English is not his native language. While it is generally readable, there are several places where his unfamiliarity with English sentence structure shows through.
The worst aspect of the book is one that it shares with other books of this type and that's a complete lack of citations, either in the form of footnotes or a bibliography. There is nothing to indicate where the author is getting any of his information from. It could be from archival research, interviews with survivors, or he could be just making it up. We simply don't know because of the lack of citations. This seriously limits the usefulness of the book for any serious purpose, which is a shame because there are some interesting bits of information here.
It's a bit unfair to criticize this book for failings that exist in most books of this type, but it's become something of a pet peeve of mine so I feel that it's necessary to point out.
If you have any interest in the Soviet light tanks of WWII, then you shouldn't let any of my criticisms prevent you from reading this book as it does a good job of describing the development of Russia's light tanks, as well as providing several good photographs and illustrations.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Book Review: Shattered Sword the Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
If you have any interest in the naval combat that occured in the Pacific during WWII, then you need to read this book.
It provides an in-depth re-examination of the conflict utilizing sources that have been available in Japan for at least twenty years, but that haven't made it into any English translations until now. The result is that many of the reasons for the Japanese defeat, long regarded as "fact," are now exposed as fiction. Including the ideas that the Japanese carriers were caught with fully armed and fueled planes on their decks that would have launched an attack within five minutes had they not been hit by the Americans, and that Admiral Nagumo could have taken steps to avoid the initial disaster that befell three quarters of his carrier force during those attacks.
The primary sources for this re-examination are the logs of the carrier air groups assigned to the Kido Butai, the Japanese combined fleet. While the logs of the ships themselves no longer exist, the logs of their air groups do, and the authors' examination of those logs go a long ways towards recreating the course of events that led up to the destruction of Japan's premier carriers.
This account is told almost exclusively from the Japanese point of view, referring to US sources only when necessary to fully describe the situation. At the same time, the authors do not allow themselves to fall into the trap of letting this point of view portray the Japanese sailors and airmen in an overly positive light. While the tales of death and suffering that the Japanese sailors suffer should lead to a level of empathy and pity, the authors remind you that many of these same men participated in actions that resulted in atrocities, including the deliberate sinking of ships full of civilian refugees during the battle for Singapore, and the execution of captured American pilots during Midway itself. They don't bludgeon you over the head with this information, but use it to help maintain a level of balance in what is otherwise a story told from largely one perspective.
The main part of the book is divided into three overall sections. The first describes the events leading up to the battle and the plans that were made to fight it, along with pointing out many of the flaws in those plans. Then comes the bulk of the book which consists of a chronological account of the battle itself. This is followed by an analysis of why Japan lost, an assessment of the battle's importance, and a summary of the myths that have surrounded the battle and why they were created.
Also included is an extensive collection of appendices. These include a Japanese OOB, technical details and drawings of the four Japanese carriers and the planes that flew from them, a short analysis of what would have likely happened had the Japanese attempted to land on Midway as planned, an explanation of Japanese aircraft tail codes, a chronology of Japanese fighter operations during the battle, a strike roster of all aircrews involved in the operation and more. Finally, there is also an extensive section of notes, bibliography and index.
Throughout the text are a number of photographs, maps and diagrams that help illustrate the progress of the battle.
As has been said before of the battle: before Midway the Japanese knew only success, after it they knew only defeat. While the authors make a compelling case in their conclusions that this battle should not be considered decisive, it still marked a turning point in the war, whether it actually caused that turning point or not.
Whether you have prior experience in studying the battle of Midway or not, this is an excellent, well-written book that should provide you with new insights into it.
It provides an in-depth re-examination of the conflict utilizing sources that have been available in Japan for at least twenty years, but that haven't made it into any English translations until now. The result is that many of the reasons for the Japanese defeat, long regarded as "fact," are now exposed as fiction. Including the ideas that the Japanese carriers were caught with fully armed and fueled planes on their decks that would have launched an attack within five minutes had they not been hit by the Americans, and that Admiral Nagumo could have taken steps to avoid the initial disaster that befell three quarters of his carrier force during those attacks.
The primary sources for this re-examination are the logs of the carrier air groups assigned to the Kido Butai, the Japanese combined fleet. While the logs of the ships themselves no longer exist, the logs of their air groups do, and the authors' examination of those logs go a long ways towards recreating the course of events that led up to the destruction of Japan's premier carriers.
This account is told almost exclusively from the Japanese point of view, referring to US sources only when necessary to fully describe the situation. At the same time, the authors do not allow themselves to fall into the trap of letting this point of view portray the Japanese sailors and airmen in an overly positive light. While the tales of death and suffering that the Japanese sailors suffer should lead to a level of empathy and pity, the authors remind you that many of these same men participated in actions that resulted in atrocities, including the deliberate sinking of ships full of civilian refugees during the battle for Singapore, and the execution of captured American pilots during Midway itself. They don't bludgeon you over the head with this information, but use it to help maintain a level of balance in what is otherwise a story told from largely one perspective.
The main part of the book is divided into three overall sections. The first describes the events leading up to the battle and the plans that were made to fight it, along with pointing out many of the flaws in those plans. Then comes the bulk of the book which consists of a chronological account of the battle itself. This is followed by an analysis of why Japan lost, an assessment of the battle's importance, and a summary of the myths that have surrounded the battle and why they were created.
Also included is an extensive collection of appendices. These include a Japanese OOB, technical details and drawings of the four Japanese carriers and the planes that flew from them, a short analysis of what would have likely happened had the Japanese attempted to land on Midway as planned, an explanation of Japanese aircraft tail codes, a chronology of Japanese fighter operations during the battle, a strike roster of all aircrews involved in the operation and more. Finally, there is also an extensive section of notes, bibliography and index.
Throughout the text are a number of photographs, maps and diagrams that help illustrate the progress of the battle.
As has been said before of the battle: before Midway the Japanese knew only success, after it they knew only defeat. While the authors make a compelling case in their conclusions that this battle should not be considered decisive, it still marked a turning point in the war, whether it actually caused that turning point or not.
Whether you have prior experience in studying the battle of Midway or not, this is an excellent, well-written book that should provide you with new insights into it.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Book Review: Across the Dark Islands: The War in the Pacific
Across the Dark Islands is a memoir of Floyd W. Radike's WWII experiences which began as a platoon commander reinforcing Guadalcanal and ended in administrative duties in the Philippines on VP day followed by a short time occupying Japan. The story he tells is an interesting contrast to those told by members of elite Army units such as the paratroopers in Band of Brothers. Radike was not a member of such an elite unit, he was a member of a pre-war National Guard unit used to fill out a Regular Army division.
Radike himself was an outsider in the regiment having been reassigned after attending infantry school. Most of the officers in the regiment had spent years together in the National Guard and the result, according to Radike, was not the most efficient system of selecting combat commanders. Radike describes a unit with few quality officers that suffered from either incompetent National Guard leaders or overly ambitious Regular Army officers at different times in its history. It would be easy to dismiss these criticisms as the whining of a troublemaker, but Radike went on to achieve the rank of Brigadier General in the National Guard following the war, so you have to assume that he wasn't just a square peg in the Army organization.
Despite being utilized in mostly lower-risk assignments on Guadalcanal, Radike's regiment still suffered over 80% casualties due to disease and the environment. Many of the older National Guard soldiers simply couldn't take the heat and had to be sent home. Even though they weren't used as a spearhead in the fighting, Radike's company still saw its share of combat casualties before the Japanese were finally evicted from the island.
After the defeat of the Japanese on Guadalcanal Radike spent time in various duties on the island before being sent with the regiment to New Georgia where they were involved in more fighting that cost Radike his company CO and best friend in the regiment. After New Georgia the regiment was pulled out for rebuilding and sent to New Zealand and later New Caledonia before beign sent back into action in the Philippines.
Radike's unit participated in the fighting on the main island on Luzon, including the fight against the Japanese 2nd Armored Division which provides a short look at some of the armored warfare that went on in the Pacific theatre. Eventually Radike was transferred to the rear echelon after being wounded and the rest of the book covers his experiences there and in occupied Japan.
As a memoir, the book does not provide a good overview of the entire war or the specific importance of the campaigns Radike participated in to the Pacific Theatre. For that reason I recommend it to the intermediate student of the war who already has a general knowledge of the overall conflict and can better see how Radike's experiences fit into that picture.
The book does provide a good look at the experience of a nationalized National Guard unit in the Pacific Theatre and many of the problems that such a unit faced both from the enemy and its own organization.
From a gamer's perspective there's not a lot here in the way of organization detail or specifics that can be used to build scenarios. The maps are few and general and don't serve to show the location of the specific incidents Radike was involved in. They are also merely geographical in nature and do not show any military movements. There is some interesting information on the fight with the 2nd Armored Division which could probably be used to generate some interesting scenarios.
The book only contains two pictures. One on the front cover which has no caption or attribution that I could find and one of the author in his uniform following his commissioning ceremony. As a memoir, it contains no bibliography. It also lacks an index. Fortunately, there is a serviceable table of contents and the book is not overly long. I had little trouble finding things again in order to write this review.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the experience of the average GI in the Pacific. Not the Medal of Honor winner or the guy who helped raise the flag on Iwo Jimo, but the average Joe who formed the bulk of the troops fighting in the Pacific.
Radike himself was an outsider in the regiment having been reassigned after attending infantry school. Most of the officers in the regiment had spent years together in the National Guard and the result, according to Radike, was not the most efficient system of selecting combat commanders. Radike describes a unit with few quality officers that suffered from either incompetent National Guard leaders or overly ambitious Regular Army officers at different times in its history. It would be easy to dismiss these criticisms as the whining of a troublemaker, but Radike went on to achieve the rank of Brigadier General in the National Guard following the war, so you have to assume that he wasn't just a square peg in the Army organization.
Despite being utilized in mostly lower-risk assignments on Guadalcanal, Radike's regiment still suffered over 80% casualties due to disease and the environment. Many of the older National Guard soldiers simply couldn't take the heat and had to be sent home. Even though they weren't used as a spearhead in the fighting, Radike's company still saw its share of combat casualties before the Japanese were finally evicted from the island.
After the defeat of the Japanese on Guadalcanal Radike spent time in various duties on the island before being sent with the regiment to New Georgia where they were involved in more fighting that cost Radike his company CO and best friend in the regiment. After New Georgia the regiment was pulled out for rebuilding and sent to New Zealand and later New Caledonia before beign sent back into action in the Philippines.
Radike's unit participated in the fighting on the main island on Luzon, including the fight against the Japanese 2nd Armored Division which provides a short look at some of the armored warfare that went on in the Pacific theatre. Eventually Radike was transferred to the rear echelon after being wounded and the rest of the book covers his experiences there and in occupied Japan.
As a memoir, the book does not provide a good overview of the entire war or the specific importance of the campaigns Radike participated in to the Pacific Theatre. For that reason I recommend it to the intermediate student of the war who already has a general knowledge of the overall conflict and can better see how Radike's experiences fit into that picture.
The book does provide a good look at the experience of a nationalized National Guard unit in the Pacific Theatre and many of the problems that such a unit faced both from the enemy and its own organization.
From a gamer's perspective there's not a lot here in the way of organization detail or specifics that can be used to build scenarios. The maps are few and general and don't serve to show the location of the specific incidents Radike was involved in. They are also merely geographical in nature and do not show any military movements. There is some interesting information on the fight with the 2nd Armored Division which could probably be used to generate some interesting scenarios.
The book only contains two pictures. One on the front cover which has no caption or attribution that I could find and one of the author in his uniform following his commissioning ceremony. As a memoir, it contains no bibliography. It also lacks an index. Fortunately, there is a serviceable table of contents and the book is not overly long. I had little trouble finding things again in order to write this review.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the experience of the average GI in the Pacific. Not the Medal of Honor winner or the guy who helped raise the flag on Iwo Jimo, but the average Joe who formed the bulk of the troops fighting in the Pacific.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Book Review: Panzer Tactics
Panzer Tactics: German Small-Unit Armor Tactics In World War II is by Wolfgang Schneider, an officer in the modern Bundeswehr (German Army), and someone who is developing a reputation as an historian of WWII. The book outlines tactics used at the battalion, company and platoon levels of a German armored formation.
The author does this by making use of Wehrmacht training manuals and of first hand accounts gathered "through hours of discussion with former Panzer soldiers of all ranks, evaluation of combat reports and accounts of personal experiences" along with his own experience as an officer in the modern Bundeswehr. Unfortunately, we have to mostly take his word for this as the book completely lacks a bibliography or footnotes of any kind.
What it does have is a large number of excellent photographs and reproductions of pages from Wehrmacht training manuals. I didn't do an exact page count, but it would appear that over half of the 352 page book consists of photographs, many used to depict the topics covered in the writing.
I found the pages from the training manuals and their accompanying translations are particularly useful in presenting basic tactical concepts.
The main topics covered include the following taken from the table of contents: Offensive Operations, Defensive Operations, Unit Movements, Reconnaissance, Command and Control, Logistics and Maintenance, Combined Arms Operations, Life in a Tank, Training and Tank Gunnery, and Armor Tactics-Today and Tomorrow.
Not having any actual military experience myself, I don't know how the tactics described might differ from modern practice, but I did learn something in every section. They give the reader a solid idea of how the Germans employed their armored units in battle.
I'm not sure how many of the details in this book would be useful in a game of Flames of War, but many of the basic underlying tactics should be useful if you haven't already learned them from other sources. The wealth of pictures should be useful to anyone modelling a german armored force, although they lack vehicle and unit identifications in the captions, so you need to already know how to visually identify German tanks to get full use out of them.
There is one thing I have to say against the book. Near the end of the book, in the Life in a Tank section, are a couple of photos of German tank crews interacting with Soviet civilians. Part of the caption says "these pictures show-contrary to many slanderous claims-how German soldiers behaved in their contact with the inhabitants." The Eastern Front was notorious for barbarous behavior on both sides. A couple of photos showing good behavior doesn't negate the very real atrocities commited by German soldiers in the Soviet Union. As a member of the Bundeswehr, I understand that the author wants to think the best of his predecessors in the Wehrmacht, but this kind of blatant misrpresentation left a bad taste in my mouth after what was a rather good book overall. For a more accurate picture of this issue I suggest that you check out "War Without Garlands" by Robert Kershaw (a review of which is coming soon).
I'd recommend this book to the intermediate student of history. The writing style is not too technical, but the nature of the subject is inherently a bit specialized for the beginner. As someone without a formal military background I found that it gave me a better sense of the point of view of an armor officer or trooper. I imagine that someone with a military background might get a better idea of the differences between their own experiences and those of a WWII German tanker. The advanced student should find the book interesting, but will also find that the lack of citations makes it less useful for serious study.
The author does this by making use of Wehrmacht training manuals and of first hand accounts gathered "through hours of discussion with former Panzer soldiers of all ranks, evaluation of combat reports and accounts of personal experiences" along with his own experience as an officer in the modern Bundeswehr. Unfortunately, we have to mostly take his word for this as the book completely lacks a bibliography or footnotes of any kind.
What it does have is a large number of excellent photographs and reproductions of pages from Wehrmacht training manuals. I didn't do an exact page count, but it would appear that over half of the 352 page book consists of photographs, many used to depict the topics covered in the writing.
I found the pages from the training manuals and their accompanying translations are particularly useful in presenting basic tactical concepts.
The main topics covered include the following taken from the table of contents: Offensive Operations, Defensive Operations, Unit Movements, Reconnaissance, Command and Control, Logistics and Maintenance, Combined Arms Operations, Life in a Tank, Training and Tank Gunnery, and Armor Tactics-Today and Tomorrow.
Not having any actual military experience myself, I don't know how the tactics described might differ from modern practice, but I did learn something in every section. They give the reader a solid idea of how the Germans employed their armored units in battle.
I'm not sure how many of the details in this book would be useful in a game of Flames of War, but many of the basic underlying tactics should be useful if you haven't already learned them from other sources. The wealth of pictures should be useful to anyone modelling a german armored force, although they lack vehicle and unit identifications in the captions, so you need to already know how to visually identify German tanks to get full use out of them.
There is one thing I have to say against the book. Near the end of the book, in the Life in a Tank section, are a couple of photos of German tank crews interacting with Soviet civilians. Part of the caption says "these pictures show-contrary to many slanderous claims-how German soldiers behaved in their contact with the inhabitants." The Eastern Front was notorious for barbarous behavior on both sides. A couple of photos showing good behavior doesn't negate the very real atrocities commited by German soldiers in the Soviet Union. As a member of the Bundeswehr, I understand that the author wants to think the best of his predecessors in the Wehrmacht, but this kind of blatant misrpresentation left a bad taste in my mouth after what was a rather good book overall. For a more accurate picture of this issue I suggest that you check out "War Without Garlands" by Robert Kershaw (a review of which is coming soon).
I'd recommend this book to the intermediate student of history. The writing style is not too technical, but the nature of the subject is inherently a bit specialized for the beginner. As someone without a formal military background I found that it gave me a better sense of the point of view of an armor officer or trooper. I imagine that someone with a military background might get a better idea of the differences between their own experiences and those of a WWII German tanker. The advanced student should find the book interesting, but will also find that the lack of citations makes it less useful for serious study.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Book Review: The 25 Best World War II Sites, Pacific Theater
I picked up this book when my mom and I visited the D-Day Museum in New Orleans almost two years ago now. She was always encouraging me to travel more, and I thought this might give me some ideas of places to go visit. As it turns out, I have ended up visiting two of the top 25 (three actually, but I don't count #25 which is North America and includes the Museum where I got the book) and the guidebook was helpful, but it's best used as a supplement to more traditional travel guides.
The title is a bit misleading as each "site" actually contains up to dozens of individual points of interest located within a particular geographic area, many of which would qualify as "sites" all on their own.
The book begins with an introduction and explanation of how to use the book. It then starts listing the top 25 in order. Each section begins with a description of the role of the site in the war with suggestions for further reading. That's followed by a map with points of interest marked on it, along with a few basic facts including a description of the site today. The points of interest are then listed with a rating of from one to five stars, contact information if appropriate, and a description of why it's significant and what's there to see. Most sections then wind up with a description of major non-WWII related attractions in the area, general travel directions for the area, and a few hotel listings.
After the Top 25 there's a couple of pages devoted to sites that didn't make the list, a bibliography and an index.
The book makes a stab at being a general guidebook with some of the information, but I found it most useful as a supplement to more traditional guidebooks. It highlights points of interests related to WWII that a traditional guidebook might skip entirely, while the traditional guidebook does a better job of covering other attractions and finding food and accommodations.
I mentioned at the beginning that I've had the opportunity to visit a couple of the sites listed, those were both in the Philippines. #2 is the Island of Corregidor in Manila Bay, and #19 is Manila. The section on Manila was very helpful in identifying historically significant sites that I wouldn't have otherwise been aware of. My fiancee grew up in Manila and while she was aware of Corregidor, she wasn't aware of many of the sites in Manila itself, or at least not their ties to WWII. We only ended up visiting a few of them, but they were worth the time we took to do so.
I highly recommend this book if you have an interest in World War II and plan on doing any traveling around the Pacific Rim. Especially if you think you might end up in the Philippines as four of the sites are located there. Even if you don't plan on traveling, it's interesting to get an idea of what's still around today from the war.
I should also mention site 25 again, which is North America. It lists 25 points of interest scattered all across the US that have some connection to the war in the Pacific. Mostly museums. So if you live in the US you might consider picking it up even if you don't plan on actually traveling to the Pacific.
There's also a companion volume covering the top 25 sites in Europe, but I haven't read that one yet, so I can't comment on it, but they are both by the same author, Chuck Thompson, so I imagine it is probably just as good. If you are interested in it you can check it out here:
The 25 Best World War II Sites, European Theater : The Ultimate Traveler's Guide to Battlefields, Monuments & Museums
The title is a bit misleading as each "site" actually contains up to dozens of individual points of interest located within a particular geographic area, many of which would qualify as "sites" all on their own.
The book begins with an introduction and explanation of how to use the book. It then starts listing the top 25 in order. Each section begins with a description of the role of the site in the war with suggestions for further reading. That's followed by a map with points of interest marked on it, along with a few basic facts including a description of the site today. The points of interest are then listed with a rating of from one to five stars, contact information if appropriate, and a description of why it's significant and what's there to see. Most sections then wind up with a description of major non-WWII related attractions in the area, general travel directions for the area, and a few hotel listings.
After the Top 25 there's a couple of pages devoted to sites that didn't make the list, a bibliography and an index.
The book makes a stab at being a general guidebook with some of the information, but I found it most useful as a supplement to more traditional guidebooks. It highlights points of interests related to WWII that a traditional guidebook might skip entirely, while the traditional guidebook does a better job of covering other attractions and finding food and accommodations.
I mentioned at the beginning that I've had the opportunity to visit a couple of the sites listed, those were both in the Philippines. #2 is the Island of Corregidor in Manila Bay, and #19 is Manila. The section on Manila was very helpful in identifying historically significant sites that I wouldn't have otherwise been aware of. My fiancee grew up in Manila and while she was aware of Corregidor, she wasn't aware of many of the sites in Manila itself, or at least not their ties to WWII. We only ended up visiting a few of them, but they were worth the time we took to do so.
I highly recommend this book if you have an interest in World War II and plan on doing any traveling around the Pacific Rim. Especially if you think you might end up in the Philippines as four of the sites are located there. Even if you don't plan on traveling, it's interesting to get an idea of what's still around today from the war.
I should also mention site 25 again, which is North America. It lists 25 points of interest scattered all across the US that have some connection to the war in the Pacific. Mostly museums. So if you live in the US you might consider picking it up even if you don't plan on actually traveling to the Pacific.
There's also a companion volume covering the top 25 sites in Europe, but I haven't read that one yet, so I can't comment on it, but they are both by the same author, Chuck Thompson, so I imagine it is probably just as good. If you are interested in it you can check it out here:
The 25 Best World War II Sites, European Theater : The Ultimate Traveler's Guide to Battlefields, Monuments & Museums
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Book Reviews
I'm an amateur student of history, and particularly of military history. Lately my focus has been on World War II, and as a result I've found myself reading a number of books on the subject. I figured I'd share some of what I've read in the form of book reviews. The purpose of this post is to go over just how I plan to do these reviews.
First, what I won't be doing. I won't be evaulating any works for historical accuracy, at least not based on my own knowledge. I'm a student without access to primary sources, so I have no way of checking accuracy except through comparison with other secondary sources. If I am aware of a problem with a work in this area based on the comments of others, then I will try to bring that up, but it will be a case of hearsay.
Now for what I will be doing. I will discuss in general what a book covers and what its focus is. I will try to give an idea of its writing style and whether or not it's more suitable for a beginner or a more advanced student of the subject at hand.
In order to do this I plan on having three broad classifications: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. A book rated as Beginner will most likely be a well-written book that either gives a broad overview of the war or at least a significant portion of the conflict. Alternatively, a Beginner book might also be a highly readable narrative covering a more focussed topic, such as some of those written by Stephen Ambrose. It will be clear in the review why I rate a particular book as Beginner. Just because I rate a book as Beginner does not mean that it is not useful for a more advanced student, it simply means that it shouldn't put off a beginner with poor writing or a lot of technical language.
Intermediate books will be ones that are more focused than a Beginner book so that it would be useful for someone to first have a basic knowledge of how the subject being discussed fit into the overall war. These books are also likely to include a higher level of detail that might be discouraging to a beginner, but appreciated by someone who already has a working knowledge of the subject. Books that cover a particular campaign or books that are short but detailed might fall into this category. Many of the Osprey or Squadron/Signal publications that narrowly focus on equipment would probably fall into this category. Many post-war memoirs are likely to fall into this category as well. In fact, the majority of written works on WWII would probably end up rated as Intermediate if I took the time to rate them using this system.
Finally, Advanced books will most likely be books with a very high level of detail. These are books that would likely put a beginner to sleep, but which are filled with a wealth of detail that the more advanced student is likely to find fascinating, useful or both. These books unfortunately often suffer from an overly academic, or just plain poor, writing style, which is why I think it is worth clearly identifying them as for advanced study.
I will also try to mention if there is anything specifically applicable to wargaming. Either an explanation of strategy or tactics that help clarify how things work in a game, or the presence of useful orders of battle (OOBs) or maps that could help in planning scenarios or building forces.
There is one more thing that I will be doing that is unrelated to the actual review. If the book is available on Amazon, then I will put a link to it. I do this for two reasons. First, if you click the link to it and actually buy the book then I get paid some for the time I put into working on this site. Second, it gives me an easy way to show the book cover.
Hopefully some of you will get some use out of these reviews. I will be posting the first one soon (although it won't fit the above format exactly as it won't be a history book, although it is WWII related).
First, what I won't be doing. I won't be evaulating any works for historical accuracy, at least not based on my own knowledge. I'm a student without access to primary sources, so I have no way of checking accuracy except through comparison with other secondary sources. If I am aware of a problem with a work in this area based on the comments of others, then I will try to bring that up, but it will be a case of hearsay.
Now for what I will be doing. I will discuss in general what a book covers and what its focus is. I will try to give an idea of its writing style and whether or not it's more suitable for a beginner or a more advanced student of the subject at hand.
In order to do this I plan on having three broad classifications: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. A book rated as Beginner will most likely be a well-written book that either gives a broad overview of the war or at least a significant portion of the conflict. Alternatively, a Beginner book might also be a highly readable narrative covering a more focussed topic, such as some of those written by Stephen Ambrose. It will be clear in the review why I rate a particular book as Beginner. Just because I rate a book as Beginner does not mean that it is not useful for a more advanced student, it simply means that it shouldn't put off a beginner with poor writing or a lot of technical language.
Intermediate books will be ones that are more focused than a Beginner book so that it would be useful for someone to first have a basic knowledge of how the subject being discussed fit into the overall war. These books are also likely to include a higher level of detail that might be discouraging to a beginner, but appreciated by someone who already has a working knowledge of the subject. Books that cover a particular campaign or books that are short but detailed might fall into this category. Many of the Osprey or Squadron/Signal publications that narrowly focus on equipment would probably fall into this category. Many post-war memoirs are likely to fall into this category as well. In fact, the majority of written works on WWII would probably end up rated as Intermediate if I took the time to rate them using this system.
Finally, Advanced books will most likely be books with a very high level of detail. These are books that would likely put a beginner to sleep, but which are filled with a wealth of detail that the more advanced student is likely to find fascinating, useful or both. These books unfortunately often suffer from an overly academic, or just plain poor, writing style, which is why I think it is worth clearly identifying them as for advanced study.
I will also try to mention if there is anything specifically applicable to wargaming. Either an explanation of strategy or tactics that help clarify how things work in a game, or the presence of useful orders of battle (OOBs) or maps that could help in planning scenarios or building forces.
There is one more thing that I will be doing that is unrelated to the actual review. If the book is available on Amazon, then I will put a link to it. I do this for two reasons. First, if you click the link to it and actually buy the book then I get paid some for the time I put into working on this site. Second, it gives me an easy way to show the book cover.
Hopefully some of you will get some use out of these reviews. I will be posting the first one soon (although it won't fit the above format exactly as it won't be a history book, although it is WWII related).
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