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An August release:
by Philip LambDescription:
The outbreak of World War II started on the 1 September 1939 when Germany [under Adolf Hitler] invaded Poland. On the 3 September 1939 the United Kingdon and France in support of Poland declared war on Germany. At the start of World War II, the battles were fought mainly in mainland Europe. However, Mussolini not to be out done signed a pact with Hitler and the Axis Force of Germany and Italy were formed. The Axis Force would be operational in North Africa, Italy, Greece and the Baltic States.
The Axis Force aim was to capture and secure the rich oil reserves found in Egypt, Iraq and Iran. You may ask Why? To keep their joint forces operational Hitler or Mussolini need vast quantities of oil and fuel and the oil reserves found in the then Middle East would serve them well. With Churchill now Prime Minister, one of his major concerns were the rich oil fields found in the Middle East, and he was determined to ensure that these did not fall into the arms of the Axis Force. Allied forces from around the world and the commonwealth were quickly assembled and were posted to North Africa.
The battles fought during the North African Campaign, such as Tobruk and El Alamein are all well recorded. During the North Africa Campaigns of 1940 to 1943 the Allied Forces were confronted by a formidable force of German and Italian troops known as the Axis Force who were determined to defeat the Allied Forces and capture the oil rich countries of Egypt, Iraq and Iran. At the time Churchill had directed the Allied Forces to stop and prevent this from happening “at all costs”. After the Battles in North Africa especially after the allied win at El Alamein 1942, the Axis Forces were made to retreat and were forced back to Tunisia, which is where the book is set.
On December 11, 1941, the United States of America entered World War II, following the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. The USA along with other allies landed in Morrocco and Algiers under Operation Torch - November 1942 to May 1943. With the 8th Army having pushed the Axis Force back westward into Tunisia, it became imperative that the captured 250,000 Axis Troops were prevented from evacuating to Sicily and mainland Europe. D-Day 6th June 1944, being just 13 months away. We will never know what impact if any the 250,000 troops would have had on D-Day, suffice to say the battles would certainly have been considerably harder.
I made a post a bit ago about the war dead and book recommendations. And I just stumbled on this announcement The Last Full Measure: An American Family and How the United States Brought Home the Dead of World War II
New book due out for release later this month by John Nichol; "Blitz: When World War Two Came Home".
Blitz: When World War Two Came Home by John NicholDescription:
The Second World War was not only fought in the skies above Europe or on distant beaches. Between 1939 and 1945, Hitler's aerial onslaught crashed into lives across the UK night after night, killing more than 60,000 civilians and leaving millions homeless.
May 2026 marks the 85th anniversary of the end of the Night Blitz. But the aerial assault on Britain did not stop in May 1941.
For too long, 'The Blitz' - from the German 'Blitzkrieg' or lightning war - has been framed as a few desperate months from September 1940 that mainly affected London. In reality, the scope of the attack on the home front was far more widespread, and far more devastating. Now, John Nichol tells this supposedly familiar narrative - one of the most important events in British history - afresh.
Beginning with a search to understand his mother's experiences of the blitz on Tyneside - drawing on fragments of memory and the unanswered questions she left behind - Nichol ranges outward to reveal a truly national history. From Dover to Glasgow, Cardiff to Manchester, he uncovers astonishing accounts of catastrophe and resilience. Of 'ordinary' men, women and children catapulted into harm's way. Of heroic firefighters battling infernos, the unflinching bravery required to defuse unexploded bombs, families wiped out in an instant, communities left bereft by a single blast.
Using interviews with survivors, official records and eyewitness testimonies, Nichol gives voice to the unsung heroes who endured explosions, fire and fear, but found the courage to run towards danger. He brings the story up to date by speaking to people involved in similar situations: mass casualty events, the deadly blaze at Grenfell Tower, bomb disposal in modern warfare and individual acts of astonishing bravery. And as new military threats emerge, Nichol asks whether the country still has such resilience today.
At once gripping and compassionate, BLITZ is the definitive account of a nationwide struggle that shaped the course of the war and the spirit of a generation.
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "New book due out for release later this month by John Nichol; "Blitz: When World War Two Came Home".[book:Blitz: When World War Two Came H..."Great review, AR. Yet another entry on the TBR list!
Hello,I am looking for a few more ARC readers for my soon-to-be-published historical fiction novel, One More Hour of Daylight, set between 1939 and 1944.
The story:
In September 1939, Derrick Sedgley finds a wounded German pilot hiding in an Essex barn. The pilot asks for one thing: one more hour of daylight before whatever comes next. Derrick agrees, then, because of his injuries, reports him anyway.
That choice follows him across the war — through SOE training, into occupied France, and finally into Germany itself, where he falls in love with the pilot's sister. When the SS closes in, the debt he has carried for four years comes due in ways he never imagined.
A story about guilt, loyalty, and the moments that define us. Grounded in period detail, written in British English.
If you would like a free epub or PDF copy in exchange for an honest Goodreads or Amazon review, please fill in the short request form here:
👉 https://tinyurl.com/mpjace4c
No obligation if it turns out not to be for you. Honest reviews only — good or bad.
Thank you for your time.
My previous book, Shadowland, gained more than 900 five-star Amazon reviews, and my first book, The Flight of the Griffiin, was longlisted in the 2015 Times /Chickenhouse competition
Fables & Lies: A WWII Novel Based on a True StoryI read this novel last month, written from the German civilian viewpoint about Berlin museum curators saving their nation’s treasures. It’s also about how Himmler’s scholars from the SS Ahnenerbe twisted history to serve power
Description
WWII Berlin. Freyja Bremer, a patriotic museum assistant, marries Kaspar Voigt, an ambitious SS scholar, to protect her father. Yet she is unaware her husband is instrumental in Himmler’s twisted quest for Aryan supremacy.
As she strives to safeguard the priceless Priam’s Treasure from air raids, Freyja falls in love with Darien Lessing, an archaeologist who exposes the moral decay beneath the Regime’s myths. Her awakening drives her into perilous resistance – aiding a Jewish doctor and his wife, Darien’s sister – while uncovering Kaspar’s role in the SS’s darkest programmes, which subvert history to justify invasion, abduction and murder.
As Berlin collapses into chaos and bloodshed, Freyja, caught between duty, deception and desire, must risk everything to preserve truth in a world built on lies.
A heartbreaking yet triumphant love story, Fables & Lies shines light on lesser-known aspects of the Nazi Regime. It gives voice to the complex moral struggles of German women, the forgotten resistance of Gentiles married to Jews, the dangers of contested history, the evils of Himmler’s racial studies programme and the unsung bravery of German museum curators who saved their nation’s treasures.
A must for readers who love emotional, thought-provoking WWII historical fiction, Fables & Lies explores the complexities of survival, resistance, impossible choices and moral conflict while featuring thwarted love, dark family secrets and a journey to enlightenment. Perfect for fans of Kelly Rimmer, Laura Morelli and Anthony Doer.
My Review:
'Fables and Lies' takes the reader into the Third Reich, beyond the cold bureaucratic machinery and into the human. Like 'The Book Thief', we are taken into a situation where people have been taught, cajoled, and coerced into thinking in a certain manner, but when confronted with the human stories, these official accounts don’t accord with their own greater moral compass. The dissonance is the subject matter of Fables and Lies.
Freya Bremer grew up in the shadow of WWI and the rise of the Third Reich. Why would she have questioned the official line? But when she simultaneously meets Kaspar Voigt and Darien Lessing, this official line starts to fray and be revealed as propaganda. What options does she then have? And which one will she take?
Storr’s novel is particularly well researched. I knew little of Priam’s treasures around which the story revolves. And yet all this information is leavened so lightly into the story. This is the stuff of great historical fiction. A highly recommended read.
G.S. wrote: "Fables & Lies: A WWII Novel Based on a True StoryI read this novel last month, written from the German civilian viewpoint about Berlin museum curators saving their nation’s treas..."
Great review, GS, thanks.
A March 2027 release:
by Daniel P. BolgerDescription:
A Paratrooper's War is a combat narrative history focused on America’s 101st Airborne Division in World War II. The famous Screaming Eagles carried out crucial missions in the climactic battles of 1944–1945: the great D-Day invasion of Normandy, the perilous airborne assault into Holland, and the desperate American-led defense against the massive German counterattack known as the Battle of the Bulge.
To anchor the book, the story follows West Pointer (Class of 1939) Harry W. O. Kinnard. Caught by surprise in Japan’s Pearl Harbor attack, young Lieutenant Kinnard joined the new airborne troops and rose up the ranks to become a key commander in the 101st Airborne Division. Promoted swiftly from rookie lieutenant to full colonel, Kinnard experienced World War II from frontline foxholes to the chateaus of the high command. While leading his paratroopers into action, Kinnard worked for and with all of the great senior leaders of the war, including Dwight Eisenhower, Bernard Law Montgomery, Omar Bradley, and George Patton. And he served daily with the bold airborne generals, among them Britain’s Frederick “Boy” Browning and America’s impetuous trio: Matthew Ridgway, James Gavin, and Maxwell Taylor. Kinnard’s experiences provide unique insights into how America’s airborne war was fought and won—he has never been the subject of a combat biography, although he has long deserved one.
Jerome wrote: "A March 2027 release: by Daniel P. BolgerDescription:
A Paratroo..."
2027 shelf created, courtesy of Jerome as every year :)
A November release:
by Steven D. MercatanteDescription:
How Germany lost the Second World War is a topic that remains hotly debated to this day. On the one hand, conventional wisdom still explains Germany’s defeat during the War as inevitable chiefly because of the brute force economic and military power the Soviet Union and Allies wielded against Germany. Yet there is a growing community of historians, military analysts, and defense experts alike challenging such long-standing beliefs.
The three volumes of How Germany Lost: An Analysis of Germany’s 1941-1942 Campaigns in the Ukraine and Southern Russia aims to be the flagship of those challengers. These books build off the general outline provided by the author’s previous work, and advance those arguments in several new and interesting directions. Not least of which via getting granular in defeating a dated conventional wisdom ill-equipped to not only explain Germany’s defeat in Eastern Europe, but also help us understand the course of the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
This first volume offers the reader a unique approach to understanding how and why the Second World War ended as it did; doing so by applying long-standing rules of successfully waging war to the specific facts and circumstances of Germany’s 1941 campaign in the Ukraine and Southern Russia.
How Germany Lost also advances a new conceptual framework for understanding the war’s outcome. It will show that Germany possessed all the tools needed to win the war regardless of the numerical superiority of its foes, but lost anyway due to a negligent approach to the fundamentals of effective war-making. This book further shows that even in making those errors, and for the reasons frequently overlooked and misunderstood but discussed here, Germany came far closer to locking down hegemony over Europe than conventionally believed. In doing so Volume One offers the reader a new approach for understanding what determinants explained the war’s outcome, while refuting arguments advanced by those clinging to quantitative reasons for German defeat. This is accomplished here by building upon the existing literature, synthesizing the best available knowledge about the war, and using that information to analyse how Germany lost the war.
This book serves as a bridge between academic publications and popular histories. Perhaps the most important idea the general military history enthusiast is meant to take from these pages is that Germany lost by dint of being outsmarted and outhustled: not outmuscled. To that end How Germany Lost Volume I provides a unique basis for understanding why the events that unfolded in Eastern Europe during 1941 ended in the manner that they did, and why the lessons learned therein still resonate on the same battlefields of today.
A January 2027 release:
by Steven D. MercatanteDescription:
Nazi Germany’s role in the Second World War has generated interest since the war’s end, and for good reason. At any given time between 1939 and 1945 as much as half the planet’s population was trying to kill each other (or producing the means to do so). Over 60 million people died. More than half these deaths occurred in Eastern Europe - including an estimated 27 million in the Soviet Union alone. This is also where over 18 million Germans and several million more Finnish, Hungarian, Romanian, and other Axis soldiers faced off against nearly 35 million Soviet men and women in history’s greatest land war. The centre of gravity in this immense struggle occurred within the Ukraine and Southern Russia during the summer of 1942\. That fighting still draws attention from military history enthusiasts, as well as historians and defence practitioners alike.
The 2022 Russian invasion of the Ukraine renewed combat in locations familiar to those fascinated by the Second World War. Today’s battles further fuels debate as to how it was so many years ago that the Red Army prevailed over Nazi Germany’s armed forces (Wehrmacht). It thus befits us to understand exactly how that prior war unfolded as it did. That’s because in spite of the Nazi-Soviet war’s massive numbers, more often than not the outcome hung on a thread.
This second volume of How Germany Lost offers the reader a unique approach to understanding how and why the Second World War ended as it did, doing so by applying long-standing rules of successfully waging war to the specific facts and circumstances of Germany’s 1942 campaign in the Ukraine and Southern Russia (Operation Blue). Although taking a fresh perspective on the War, this book is not a counterfactual exercise, nor is it an alternative history of WWII. Volume II builds upon Volume I in this series to provide a side-by-side analysis of historical events in the Ukraine and Southern Russia during 1942 juxtaposed against those unfolding elsewhere in Europe and the Mediterranean.
As Volume II will show, Germany didn’t lose the war because it was buried under a sea of enemy men and war material. It possessed the resources needed to secure victory in Europe, but blew the chance anyway because of its own mistakes. All the major powers to fight in the Second World War made, at times, egregious errors. Such is the nature of warfare. As we shall see here however, during the summer and fall of 1942 Germany's reached a level of incompetence unlike any other. In spite of that, Germany still had multiple opportunities to right its war effort. Nevertheless, during 1942’s Operation Blue, and even as initial operational success produced strategic opportunity, German mistakes kept coming.
Another:
by Daniel KnowlesDescription:
In late March 1941, in the waters of the Mediterranean off the southern coast of Greece, the ships of the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet and the Italian Regia Marina clashed in what would go down as one of the most decisive naval engagements of the Second World War and the most decisive of the war in the Mediterranean. Having intercepted and broken the Italian naval cipher, British forces put to sea to intercept and ambush the Regia Marina. By the time the battle was over, 2,300 men had been killed and over 1,000 more taken prisoner. The engagement removed an entire Italian cruiser division from the Regia Marina's order of battle.
The Battle of Cape Matapan: The Decisive Engagement of the Mediterranean, March 1941 tells the gripping story of how the Royal Navy under Admiral Andrew Cunningham outmanoeuvred and outfought Mussolini’s Regia Marina through superior seamanship, intelligence and the revolutionary use of radar. What follows is a meticulous analysis of the battle that changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean, marking the beginning of the end of Italy’s naval power.
A February 2027 release:
by Jaap Jan BrouwerDescription:
Four Days in Hell explores the battles of October 1944 in the Netherlands and four bloody days in particular at the start of Operation Suitcase, part of the larger Operation Pheasant designed to liberate the area north of Antwerp. Using sources from Allied, German and Dutch civilians, the authors go into exceptional detail on a lesser-known battle. Of particular interest to many readers will be the focus on German Sturmgeschütze units in the battle.
A March 2027 release:
by Lawrence PatersonDescription:
On 6 June 1944, the Allies opened their long awaited ‘Second Front’ with the invasion of Occupied France. Ashore in Normandy they faced a disparate conglomeration of Wehrmacht and Waffen SS formations that varied enormously in size and quality. At sea they faced the tattered remnants of the Kriegsmarine in the west. In the weeks leading to D-Day the Allies had stepped up efforts to eliminate any potential German naval threat, culminating in Operation Hostile that witnessed fierce destroyer actions in the western English Channel. In the early hours of the morning of the invasion, Vizeadmiral Theodor Krancke, commander of Marinegruppenkommando West in his Paris office, placed naval forces on alert after reports of parachute landings. Despite intelligence estimates dismissing the likelihood of enemy activity during what was a period of bad weather over the Channel, Krancke ordered all available units to stand by for immediate action.
Among the forces available to him within the English Channel were Rudolf Petersen’s S-boats, five isolated torpedo boats stationed in Le Havre, minesweepers, artillery barges and patrol vessels. Ashore, naval artillery batteries were made ready for firing as Allied bombers began a systematic bombardment of the positions. In Brest, the headquarters of the 1st and 9th U-Flotillas were placed on Alarmstreife II – invasion alert. News of the Allied parachute landings had arrived at Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote, the supreme commander of the German Navy's U-boat Arm, ten minutes earlier, and two U-boat groups were placed on immediate readiness. The vanguard sailed that evening for Normandy, as part of the formidable thirty-six-boat Landwirt group. The last surviving destroyers and torpedo boats based in Biscay were also ordered to sail and make an offensive sweep to the north-east of the Cherbourg Peninsular, with the objective of attacking the Allied supply ships headed for Normandy. Three destroyers and a torpedo boat were to be pitted against the bulk of the Allied Navy in Europe.
In this book, the renowned historian and author Lawrence Paterson reveals the part that the Kriegsmarine played in attempting to stem the Allied assault on D-Day, 6 June 1944.
Thanks for posting those details, Jerome. I have gone a bit off Pen & Sword, but I will check this out just in case :)
A January 2027 release:
by Alexei IsaevDescription:
Georgy Zhukov was one of the most successful, and controversial, military figures of the twentieth century. It was the rapid offensive of Zhukov's troops in January 1945 through Poland and the cracking of Wehrmacht defenses on the Oder front which enabled Soviet forces to reach Berlin ahead of the Western allies, and so determined the fate of Eastern Europe for decades to follow.
Yet Zhukov’s style of warfare was quintessentially the Russian style of warfare. Historically, the Russian army had always been numerous and has relied on manpower more than technology to win its battles. The ‘Russian style’ also meant, above all, undertaking the offensive whenever possible and always aiming to take the initiative. Even in desperate situations, when it would be thought that the Russians had been forced onto the defensive, this would be turned around with a sudden offensive move. This is what Zhukov demonstrated at Smolensk and Moscow in 1941 – hitting back at the attackers.
Another feature of the ‘Russian style’ is the ability to take the ideas of Western military thought and adapt them to the capabilities of the Russian forces. This was demonstrated by the Red Army’s adoption of Hitler’s ‘blitzkrieg’ with its use of tank armies. This was not a copy; it was an embodiment of the idea reconfigured to Soviet capabilities and vigorously employed by Zhukov. Zhukov’s rise from a poor peasant family to become chief of the Red Army's General Staff is itself a remarkable story. He was also the man who, after the war, built the Soviet army of the nuclear era. He reached such a position of power and popularity, however, that Stalin saw him as a threat and stripped him of most of his commands.
Marshal Georgy Zhukov is based on numerous now declassified archival documents, which allow a fresh look at the important, pivotal events of the periods immediately before, during, and after the Second World War. The main focus of the book, though, is on the battles and campaigns which turned what appeared to be inevitable defeat in 1941 into the victory which brought Germany to its knees in 1945.
A March 2027 release:
by Dmitry ZubovDescription:
The Battle of Kiev was one of the largest and most devastating encirclement battles of the Second World War. Fought between August and September 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, it pitted the German Army Group South against Soviet forces defending Kiev, the capital and most populous city of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Initially, the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, refused to permit a withdrawal from Kiev, insisting the city be held at all costs. This decision proved critical. German commander Gerd von Rundstedt advanced from the west, while armoured units under Heinz Guderian were redirected southward from central Russia, creating a massive pincer movement. These forces eventually linked up to the east of Kiev, encircling a vast portion of the Soviet Red Army. The encirclement trapped four Soviet armies.
Despite fierce resistance and desperate breakout attempts, the situation became hopeless. Communication broke down, supplies ran out, and German forces systematically reduced the pocket. By late September, the encirclement was complete, and organized Soviet resistance collapsed. The scale of the disaster was enormous. Around 600,000 to 700,000 Soviet troops were killed, captured, or listed as missing, making it one of the largest encirclements in military history. The Germans also seized huge quantities of equipment and secured control over much of Ukraine, including its vital agricultural and industrial resources.
However, the victory came with strategic consequences. Diverting Guderian’s panzer forces south delayed the German advance on Moscow. This pause gave the Soviets time to reinforce their capital and prepare defences that would later halt the German offensive in the winter of 1941. In The Battle of Kiev, 1941 historian Dmitry Zubov reveals both the effectiveness of German blitzkrieg tactics and the dangers of rigid command decisions. While it was a tactical masterpiece for Germany, it also marked a turning point where early successes began to contribute to longer-term strategic setbacks.
Two more interesting books, thanks for posting the details, Jerome!
A new Australian release that may interest some group members; "Long Journey Home: The perilous escapes of Anzac POWs from fascists in wartime Italy" by Katrina Kittel.
Long Journey Home: The perilous escapes of Anzac POWs from fascists in wartime Italy by Katrina KittelDescription:
Captured at Alamein, used as forced labour on farms in northern Italy, thousands of Australian and NZ diggers escaped their captors when Italy signed an armistice in September 1943, including the author's father. Could they make it over the alps to freedom in Switzerland before winter set in?
After her father's death, Katrina Kittel discovers an old Globite suitcase in the attic, with tiny photos, postcards in beautiful handwriting from a mysterious Swiss woman, and memorabilia from his war.
Katrina Kittel's father Col Booth was captured during the disastrous July 1942 attempt to take Alamein's Ruin Ridge, and he was despatched to Campo 57 in northern Italy. He was among 80,000 Allied soldiers sent to northern Italy as prisoners of war.
They suffered cruel punishments for petty offences, periods of low rations and illness, and they were used as forced labour on farms. When news arrived of the Italian armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943, an extraordinary 52,000 Allied POWs escaped the camps, scattering in all directions across the countryside.
Col was among those who headed for the Alps in pairs and small groups, aiming for neutral Switzerland. Life in the camps had been challenging, but not nearly as nerve wracking as life in disguise and on the run, as they dodged German soldiers, Royalist sympathisers and fascist loyalists, while scrounging for food and shelter, trying to reach the navigable mountain passes before winter set in. For many impoverished mountain villagers, the 4000 lire German bounty for a captured POW was too tempting.
A March 2027 release:
by Thomas McKelvey CleaverDescription:
Based on the first-hand accounts of those who survived, renowned aviation historian Tom Cleaver tells the story of the Eighth Air Force’s Mission 115, when 291 bombers were sent to Schweinfurt to destroy the ball bearing factories on which the Wehrmacht depended.
In the face of an unrelenting German anti-aircraft defence, the mission became a bitter fight as the B-17 bomber crews of the Eighth found themselves under attack from nearly every Luftwaffe fighter unit in Western Europe. Sixty B-17s were lost and 600 men died or became prisoners of war. October 14, known forever after as “Black Thursday,” the day the Luftwaffe won.
This dramatic narrative takes us through the build-up to the mission before focussing on the desperate struggle for survival in the skies above Germany. The raid was to have profound implications as the Luftwaffe regained air superiority over Germany and the US Air Force conducted no more missions until long-range fighter escorts were available. A new air war had begun.
Jerome wrote: "A March 2027 release: by Thomas McKelvey CleaverDescription:
Based on the first-hand accounts of tho..."
Always keen to read a book on this mission!
Another:
by Trent HoneDescription:
Seizing the Offensive is a new examination of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King’s career and strategic leadership, beginning with a seemingly straightforward question: How did King become one of the United States’ most capable wartime strategists? Author Trent Hone answers that question by developing a theory of strategy as an intuitive process of “wayfinding” rooted in deep professional experience. King succeeded, Hone argues, because he knew the Navy, understood its technology, mastered its history, and—once he reached high command—adapted his approach to the unique demands of each situation.
In Hone’s account, the arc of King’s career is more than a succession of assignments and promotions. Each stage added to a growing reservoir of experience that prepared him for the unprecedented challenges of global war. As a young officer, King studied naval engineering, commanded destroyers, and served on the staff of Atlantic Fleet commander Adm. Henry T. Mayo. In the 1920s, King demonstrated exceptional leadership while directing the recovery of two sunken submarines. After transferring to naval aviation, he rose to become chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and commander of the Navy’s aircraft carriers. Qualified in submarines, aviation, and surface warfare, he became a rare “triple threat” whose breadth of expertise positioned him to anticipate—and exploit—the changing character of naval combat.
The culmination of King’s career came during World War II. Before America entered the conflict, he commanded the Atlantic Fleet and waged an undeclared campaign against Axis submarines. After Pearl Harbor, King became Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations, the only officer to ever hold both positions simultaneously. As the Navy expanded into a global force, King drew upon decades of experience to oversee operations, training, logistics, and organization on an unprecedented scale.
King confronted daunting challenges: German U-boats devastated Allied shipping, Japanese offensives shattered defenses across the Pacific, and British and American leaders struggled to agree on a common strategy. Hone shows how King addressed each problem and argues that he used strategic wayfinding to relentlessly maneuver for advantage and to identify the most direct and expeditious path to victory.
The result is a compelling reassessment of one of America’s most important naval leaders. Moving beyond familiar portrayals of King as merely irascible, inflexible, or anti-British, Hone reveals a sophisticated strategist whose career offers enduring insights into leadership, organizational challenges, and the practice of strategy.
A May 2027 release:
by Michal A. PiegzikDescription:
A campaign of oil, empire, and ambition, Tsunami in the Java Sea tells the story of Japan’s conquest of the Dutch East Indies. A sharp assessment of the campaign that secured Japan’s oil empire, shattered Allied resistance in Southeast Asia, and culminated in the decisive Battle of the Java Sea.
In December 1941 Japan unleashed a campaign of stunning reach and coordination: the seizure of the Dutch East Indies. Rich in oil, rubber, and other vital resources, the sprawling archipelago lay at the heart of Japan’s plans for a self-sufficient empire, but Pearl Harbor was only one part of a far larger grand strategy. Faced with mounting economic pressure and the Allied embargo of summer 1941, Japan sought to secure the natural resources of Southeast Asia before its war machine ground to a halt. At the center of that strategy stood the Dutch East Indies—the crown jewel of the region and the key to Japan’s quest for oil self-reliance.
In Tsunami in the Java Sea, author Michał A. Piegzik presents the first comprehensive account of the Dutch East Indies campaign built extensively on both Japanese and Dutch archival sources. Drawing from years of research in archives across Europe and Asia, he reconstructs the political decisions, operational planning, and fierce fighting that determined the fate of one of the world’s most valuable colonial possessions.
To seize the Dutch oil empire, Japan had to do far more than defeat an outnumbered enemy. Japanese commanders faced the immense challenge of conquering the vast territory of modern-day Indonesia before Allied forces could organize an effective defense—or destroy the very oil fields Tokyo sought to capture intact. The result was a remarkable series of naval, air, and amphibious operations stretching from Borneo and Celebes to Sumatra, Bali, Timor, and Java itself. Piegzik follows the campaign across thousands of miles of ocean, revealing how Japanese forces coordinated one of the most ambitious offensives of the war.
At the same time Dutch leaders in Batavia pinned their hopes on the newly formed American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command. Determined to defend the so-called Malay Barrier, powerful figures such as Vice Admiral Conrad Helfrich and Rear Admiral Karel Doorman committed everything to stop the Japanese advance. Their struggle culminated in the dramatic Battle of the Java Sea, where the fate of the Dutch East Indies was ultimately sealed.
Using Japanese operational records, Dutch military reports, and firsthand accounts from both sides, Piegzik challenges long-standing assumptions about the campaign. More than a chronicle of military operations, Tsunami in the Java Sea offers a rare view of the conflict through both Japanese and Dutch eyes, bringing a fresh perspective to a campaign long dominated by American and British narratives.
Jerome wrote: "A May 2027 release: by Michal A. PiegzikDescription:
A campaign of oil, empire, and ambi..."
Sounds like a book to keep an eye out for!
Description:
A comprehensive evaluation of generalship on the most important front in World War II.
The war on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945 was the largest sustained air-ground conflict in military history and played the decisive role in the defeat of the Third Reich. This new study seeks to analyse the command and generalship of the combatants.
The scale of the conflict was immense. Lasting over 46 months it involved over 10 million combatants at its peak, and resulted in roughly 15 million military deaths, as well as about 20 million civilian deaths. More than 50 percent of all German military fatalities in 1941-45 occurred there, and by the time the Western Allies invaded France in June 1944, the Wehrmacht was already decimated.
Who were the generals who led these campaigns on the Eastern Front? The standard historiography of World War II tends to focus on a few prominent leaders while ignoring the mass of commanders and operational-level military staffs who actually fought most of the war and this new study by renowned Eastern Front historian Robert Forczyk seeks to redress the balance.
Generalship on the Eastern Front offers an objective analytic framework for assessing the senior German and Soviet commanders on the Eastern Front through the lens of generalship and battle command, examining a total of 54 German and 140 Soviet officers.