October 2023 MBR The Military History Shelf

The Military History Shelf

Sustaining the Carrier War
Stan Fisher
Naval Institute Press
www.nip.org
9781682478479, $32.95, HC, 258pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sustaining-Carrier-War-Deployment-Pacific/dp/1682478475

Synopsis: The ability of the United States Navy to fight and win a protracted war in the Pacific was not solely the result of technology, tactics, or leadership. Naval aviation maintenance played a major role in the U.S. victory over Japan in the second World War. The naval war against Japan did not achieve sustained success until enough aircraft technicians were available to support the high tempo of aviation operations that fast carrier task force doctrine demanded.

When the United States realized war was imminent and ordered a drastic increase in the size of its aviation fleet, the Navy was forced to reconsider its earlier practices and develop new policies in maintenance, supply, and technical training. Not only did a shortage of technicians plague the Navy, but the scarcity of aviation supply and repair facilities in the Pacific soon caused panic in Washington.

While the surface Navy's modernization of at-sea replenishment was beneficial, it did not solve the problems of sustaining war-time aircraft readiness levels sufficient to a winning a naval air war.

Military historian Stan Fisher clearly outlines the drastic institutional changes that accompanied an increase in aviation maintenance personnel from fewer than 10,000 to nearly 250,000 bluejackets, the complete restructuring of the naval aviation technical educational system, and the development of a highly skilled labor force.

"Sustaining the Carrier War: The Deployment of U.S. Naval Air Power to the Pacific" is the first comprehensive study on the importance of aircraft maintenance and the aircraft technician in the age of the aircraft carrier, Sustaining the Carrier War, provides the missing link to our understanding of Great Power conflict at sea.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Sustaining the Carrier War: The Deployment of U.S. Naval Air Power to the Pacific" is informative enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of numerous illustrations, twenty-two pages of Notes, a four page Bibliography, and a seventeen page Index. A comprehensively researched, detailed, and meticulous work of seminal scholarship, "Sustaining the Carrier War: The Deployment of U.S. Naval Air Power to the Pacific" is a primary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library World War II American Naval Military History and Strategy collections. It should be noted that "Sustaining the Carrier War: The Deployment of U.S. Naval Air Power to the Pacific" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.12) for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.

Editorial Note: Stan Fisher (https://www.usni.org/people/stan-fisher) is a commander in the U.S. Navy and an Assistant Professor of Naval and American history at the United States Naval Academy. Before transitioning to classroom, he accumulated over 2,500 flight hours as a Navy pilot, mainly in SH-60B & MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. He earned a commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1997 and has multiple deployments on frigates, cruisers, and aircraft carriers. Fisher has also served as a weapons and tactics instructor, squadron maintenance officer, and operational test director. Additionally, he has completed tours of duty in engineering and acquisitions at the Naval Air Systems Command. He is a past recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Naval History Scholarship and earned his PhD from the University of Maryland.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn: A New Appraisal
W. A. Wallace
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
9781399046718, $42.95, HC, 280pp

https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Little-Big-Horn-Appraisal/dp/1399046713

Synopsis: Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer died at the hands of Native Americans by the banks of the Little Bighorn in Montana on the 25th June, 1876. This is an established undisputed fact. What is disputed is the real reason that he died.

With the publication of "The Battle of the Little Bighorn: A New Appraisal" by W. W. Wallace reveals that we have previously and incorrectly been indoctrinated to believe about George Custer.

30 years of diligent research has uncovered the truth in this groundbreaking history about the role that Custer's political and military superiors played in the whatever forever would be known as Custard's Last Stand at the Little Bighorn river.

Critique: Iconoclastic history writing at its best, "The Battle of the Little Bighorn: A New Appraisal" is an inherently fascinating, thoughtful and thought-provoking read from start to finish. Enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of an Author's Note, an Introduction, a one plage listing of Acknowledgments, a twelve page Bibliography, and an eight page Index, "The Battle of the Little Bighorn: A New Appraisal" is an original and ground-breaking study that is a strongly recommended pick for community, college, and university library 19th Century American Military History and Native American History collections and supplemental George Armstrong Custer curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Battle of the Little Bighorn: A New Appraisal" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.99).

Editorial Note: Wendy Ann Wallace is an established military historian known worldwide, whose previous books have sold out and has written numerous articles for various journals. The author has also successfully lectured on the American Indian Wars, reviewed military history books, is married and living in Leicestershire, England.

Alexander the Great Avenger
Manousos E. Kambouris
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
9781399073929, $46.95, HC, 304pp

https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Great-Avenger-Campaign-Achaemenid/dp/1399073923

Synopsis: Since 500 BC the mainland Greeks had been threatened by the Achaemenid Persian Empire. They had suffered major invasions but subsequent attempts to take the offensive had been thwarted. With the invasion of Alexander the Great and his army, the rules changed.

In Macedonia a new model army had been developed, taking the traditional hoplite heavy infantry in a new evolutionary direction and similarly transforming the heavy cavalry. These developments neutralized the Persians' own efforts to modernize their troops, tactics and equipment. Despite the inclusion of a state-of-the-art siege train, the structure of the reformed Macedonian army allowed an unprecedented operational tempo.

Manousos Kambouris' detailed analysis in "Alexander the Great Avenger: The Campaign that Felled Achaemenid Persia" explains that it was Alexander's intelligent use of these forces, that allowed him to dictate the course of the campaign. His excellent strategic and operational decision-making, based on an intimate knowledge of geography and logistics, along with well-timed movements and clever feints, allowed him to choose his battles, which he then won by tactical brilliance and guts.

As an historian and author, Kambouris does not neglect to assess the Persian capabilities and decision making, concluding that Darius III was not as inept as often thought. Indeed, he may have been the most militarily capable King of Kings but it was his misfortune to be pitted against the genius of Alexander, the great avenger.

Critique: Simply put, "Alexander the Great Avenger: The Campaign that Felled Achaemenid Persia" is absolutely essential reading for academia and non-specialist general readers with an interest in Alexander the Great and his conquests which arguably changed the course of human history. A work of meticulous, detailed and documented scholarship, "Alexander the Great Avenger: The Campaign that Felled Achaemenid Persia" will have a special value for readers with an interest in Ancient Greek & Mesopotamia Military History collections and supplemental Alexander the Great curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Manousos E. Kambouris has been researching Ancient Greek warfare for many years and has published numerous articles in Archeologija Prirodne Na (Archaeology and Science), Ancient Warfare, Military History, War & History, NUOVA ANTOLOGIA MILITARE, Third Eye and Hellenic Nexus. He has written three previous books on Marathon, Salamis and Xenophon's Ten Thousand. For the past 8 years he has been a historical consultant to the experimental archaeology group Koryvantes, the Association of Historical Studies. His other two volumes in this Greco- Persian military history trilogy are also available from Pen & Sword: "The Rise of Persia and the First Greco-Persian Wars" and "The Greek Victories and the Persian Ebb 480-79 BC".

The Castle in the Wars of the Roses
Dan Spencer
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
9781526797476, $26.95, PB, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Castle-Wars-Roses-Dan-Spencer/dp/152679747X

Synopsis: The Wars of the Roses is one of the most dramatic and fascinating periods in medieval British history. Much has been written about the leading personalities, bitter dynastic rivalries, political intrigues, and the rapid change of fortune on the battlefields of England and Wales. However, there is one aspect that has been often overlooked, the role of castles in the conflict.

Originally published in 2020 and now newly available in a paperback edition, "The Castle in the Wars of the Roses" is Dan Spencer's original study that traces their use from the outbreak of civil war in the reign of Henry VI in the 1450s to the triumph of Henry VII some thirty years later. Using a wide range of narrative, architectural, financial and administrative sources, he sheds new light on the place of castles within the conflict, demonstrating their importance as strategic and logistical centres, bases for marshalling troops, and as fortresses

Critique: Exceptionally well written and an inherently fascinating read, "The Castle in the Wars of the Roses" is an impressively informative and seminal contribution to the literature on the Wars of the Roses in general, and to the study of siege warfare in the Middle Ages in particular. Very highly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library British Military History collections and supplemental Medieval Warfare curriculum studies lists, it should be noted that "The Castle in the Wars of the Roses" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note: Dan Spencer (https://danspencer.info) is a historian and author who specializes in the study of medieval military history. He is also the author Royal and Urban Gunpowder Weapons in Late Medieval England (Boydell & Brewer 2019) and The Castle at War in Medieval England and Wales (Amberley Publishing 2018). Spencer also co-authored The Agincourt Companion with Anne Curry, Peter Hoskins and Thom Richardson (Andre Deutsch Ltd 2015). His doctorate in History was awarded by the University of Southampton in 2016, with his PhD thesis on The Development of Gunpowder Weapons in Late Medieval England.

The Armies of Ancient Persia: The Sassanians
Kaveh Furrokh
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
9781399024815, $34.95, PB, 504pp

https://www.amazon.com/Armies-Ancient-Persia-Sassanians/dp/1399024817

Synopsis: Throughout most of the classical period, Persia was one of the great superpowers, placing a limit on the expansion of Western powers. It was the most formidable rival to the Roman empire for centuries, until Persia, by then under the Sassanians, was overwhelmed by the Islamic conquests in the seventh century AD. Yet, the armies of ancient Persia have received relatively little detailed attention, certainly in comparison to those of Rome. Originally published in 2017 and now available fro the first time in a paperback edition, "The Armies of Ancient Persia: The Sassanians" is the first of three volumes that will form the most comprehensive study of ancient Persian armies available.

The Sassanians, the native Iranian dynasty that ousted their Parthian overlords in AD 226, developed a highly sophisticated army that was able for centuries to hold off all comers. They continued the Parthians' famous winning combination of swift horse archers with heavily-armored cataphract cavalry, also making much use of war elephants, but Kaveh Farrokh interestingly demonstrates that their oft-maligned infantry has been much underestimated.

Critique: Enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a number of Plates, Figures, Tables, and Historical Timeline of the Sassanian Empire, Maps, forty-seven pages of Notes, a twenty page listing of References, and a thirty-one page Index, "The Armies of Ancient Persia: The Sassanians" is a seminal work of original scholarship and highly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Persian Military History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, military historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Armies of Ancient Persia: The Sassanians" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).

Editorial Note: Kaveh Furrokh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaveh_Farrokh) was born in Athens, Greece and is an expert in ancient Persian languages and military history. He has been researching the military history and technology of Persia for a quarter of a century. He obtained his PhD in 2001 from the University of British Columbia, where he is now a lecturer. He is also Head of the Department of Traditions and Cultural History of the Waalm School of Cultural Diplomacy. He has written three previous books on Persian military history. The second, Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War (Osprey, 2007) has been translated into Russian and Persian, received the Best History Book Award of 2008 and was cited as among the top 3 history books of 2008 by the Independent Book Publishers Association in the USA.

The Light Division in the Peninsular War, 1811-1814
Tim Sauncers, author
Rob Yuill, author/contributor
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
9781399007948, $39.95, PB, 260pp

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Division-Peninsular-War-1811-1814/dp/1399007947

Synopsis: By the middle of 1811, Brigadier General Robert Craufurd's Light Division was emerging as the elite of the Peninsular Army and Wellington was seeking opportunities to go over to the offensive, following the expulsion of Marshal Massena from Portugal.

After a period of outpost duty for the Light Division on the familiar ground of the Spanish borders, Wellington seized 'the keys to Spain' in the epic sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. Still reeling from the loss of General Craufurd, 'The Division' led the army against Marshal Marmont and after a protracted period of marching and counter marching, the French were finally brought to battle at Salamanca. As a result of King Joseph being driven out of Madrid, the French marshals united and in the autumn of 1812, the British were driven back to Ciudad Rodrigo in another gruelling retreat.

With news of Napoleon's disaster in Russia and with reinforcements from Britain, Wellington prepared his army to drive the French from the Peninsular. A lightening march across Spain to cut the Great Road found King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan at Vitoria and the resulting battle, in which the Light Division fought their way into the heart of the French position, was a triumph of arms for Wellington's light troops.

The pursuit into the Pyrenees, had a sting in the tail when Marshal Soult mounted counter offensives in an attempt to relieve San Sebastian and Pamplona. Having thrown the French back and with the Sixth Coalition intact, the Light Division fought their way through the mountains and into Napoleon's France.

With the allies closing in on all sides, the French fought on into 1814 and the Light Bobs had further fighting before the spoils of peace in a war-weary France could be enjoyed.

Critique: Taking up where "The Light Division in the Peninsular War: 1808-1811" by co-authors Tim Saunders and Rob Yuill left off, "The Light Division in the Peninsular War 1811-1814" continues this seminal history of the British military enforced empire in the early decades of the 19th Century. Featuring an informative Introduction, six pages of Notes and a three page Index, "The Light Division in the Peninsular War 1811-1814" is an exemplary and detailed history that is solidly researched, exceptionally well written, and informatively presented in chronological order. While available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.99), "The Light Division in the Peninsular War: 1811-1814" is an extraordinary and highly recommended for community, college, and university library 19th Century British Military History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note #1: Tim Saunders served as an infantry officer with the British Army for thirty years, during which time he took the opportunity to visit campaigns far and wide, from ancient to modern. Since leaving the Army he has become a full time military historian, with this being his sixteenth book, has made nearly fifty full documentary films with Battlefield History and Pen & Sword. He is an active guide and Accredited Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides.

Editorial Note #2: Rob Yuill is also the co-author/contributor to "The Light Division in the Peninsular War: 1808-1811" which is the first volume of this 19th Century British Military History series.

Argentine Perspectives on the Falklands War
Nick Van Der Bijl
Casemate Publishers
www.casematepublishers.com
9781636241647, $34.95, HC, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Argentine-Perspectives-Falklands-War-Recovery/dp/1636241646

Synopsis: In 1982, the United Kingdom and Argentina fought a war over an historical disagreement with respect to the colonial "ownership" or rights over the Falkland Islands. Within months of the Argentinian defeat, General Edgardo Calvi, then the Argentine Head of the Army Joint Chief of Staff, was instructed to undertake a wide-ranging and formal inquiry to investigate the performance of the Argentine Army during the Falklands.

Calvi concluded that while the Army had the motivation, it lacked the organization, equipment, training, and ability to oppose an army capable of operating in a variety of environments. The war exposed political, military, and public weaknesses in a period of considerable internal unrest during the seven years of the Dirty War. Several senior officers who fought in the Falklands were imprisoned for offenses committed during the Dirty War. Secrecy and political disagreements isolated the Service chiefs of staff from the logistic and operational planning.

With the publication of "Argentine Perspectives on the Falklands War: The Recovery and Loss of Las Malvinas", the story of the Falklands War is told from the perspective of Argentine Army.

Critique: "Argentine Perspectives on the Falklands War: The Recovery and Loss of Las Malvinas" by Nicholas van der Bijl is the first book in English to examine the Falklands War from the Argentine point of view. Providing an intensely informative perspective from the Argentinian point of view, "Argentine Perspectives on the Falklands War" will prove to be a unique and greatly appreciated addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library 20th Century British Military & Argentian Military History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, military historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Argentine Perspectives on the Falklands War" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99).

Editorial Note: Nick van der Bijl served 30 years in the Army, mainly in the Intelligence Corps, that included 3 Commando Brigade throughout the Falklands campaign, three years in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. His second career was as an NHS security manager; also a Justice of the Peace for fifteen years. He is a Trustee of the Military Intelligence Museum. He is now retired and has written a number of books about the Falklands War.

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