The Desert Air Force in World War II is an informative and enjoyable read. Though I most often enjoy operational histories, I also believe it is important to get a better idea as to what it was like to experience combat during the Second World War. To that end, Ken Delve does a superlative job of gathering and presenting as a coherent narrative the first-hand accounts from the aircrews responsible for fighting against the Axis powers during the first two years of the war in the Mediterranean,...
Book and Film Reviews
Air Power In The Western Desert 1940-1942, Ken Delve, Pen & Sword LTD, 2022, $22.32, 288 pages
Steve Mercatante
on Nov 7 2022 - 6:36pm
Review Type: Book
Vladimir Kotelnikov, Helion & Company, 2021, $55.00, 574 pages
Steve Mercatante
on May 9 2022 - 2:23pm
Lend-Lease And Soviet Aviation In The Second World War will go down as the definitive book on this topic. Author Vladimir Kotelnikov has assembled in these pages as comprehensive a study as one could want regarding this subject matter. Not only is the book extremely detailed and well-researched, but it contains numerous nuggets of information even the well-informed Second World War enthusiast will find novel.
Kotelnikov walks the reader through the entire process involved in selecting,...
Review Type: Book
In Action In The Balkans, Greece And From Moscow To Kursk And Sevastopol, Bruno Bork, Greenhill Books, 2021, $34.95
Steve Mercatante
on Feb 16 2022 - 3:23pm
StuG III Brigade 191 by Bruno Bork is a unit history, and a good one at that. Sometimes books like this can take the form of transcribed after-action reports. As such, they can be dry and uninteresting. Instead, this book provides rich insight into the German usage of assault guns during the Second World War, all while paying attention to the kind of details that other works may overlook.
Replete with photographs not likely to have been seen elsewhere, the book picks up with the formation of...
Review Type: Book
Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures For Special Operations Forces, Ed Wolcoff, Pen & Sword, 2021, $39.95, 381 pages
Steve Mercatante
on Jan 31 2022 - 8:28pm
Special Forces and Vietnam Veteran Ed Wolcoff's book Special Reconnaissance and Advanced Small Unit Patrolling is a very ambitious publication. In it's pages he has sought to create a guide on Special Forces best practices within the context of conducting patrols in a special/strategic reconnaissance context. Whether he accomplished his goals is up to those with the actual training and expertise to judge. But from this reviewer's perspective, even if he didn't accomplish everything he set out...
Review Type: Book
Niklas Zetterling, Casemate, 2021, $22.95, 333 pages
Steve Mercatante
on Nov 20 2021 - 3:53pm
Niklas Zetterling's work is typically well-worth your time. Blitzkrieg From The Ground Up is no exception to that general rule. It offers a unique take on German operations and tactics during World War II, mostly done via putting you in the war-time soldiers' driver's seat.
Now, you might say "what's so interesting about that?" There are countless books out there that describe what it was like to fight during the Second World War. However, what is unique here is that Zetterling is leveraging...
Review Type: Book
The History of B Company, 756th Tank Battalion in World War II, Jeff Danby, Casemate, 2021, $34.95, 369 pages
Steve Mercatante
on Oct 10 2021 - 6:07pm
This is a unique book compared to those normally reviewed here. It is not an operational history, nor is it an in depth look at a given weapons system or battle. Instead, what Jeff Danby has created in Men of Armor is an excellent look at what it was like to train, deploy, and engage in combat as part of a Second World War U.S. armored battalion.
Quite a bit of work goes into getting right a book like this and in this regards Danby's research efforts are superb. Not only does he rely upon a...
Review Type: Book
Simon Forty, Patrick Hook, Nik Cornish, Casemate, 2021, $37.95, 256 pages
Steve Mercatante
on Sep 29 2021 - 9:39pm
Red Army Into The Reich comes to World War II fans courtesy of some familiar names. Not to leave Patrick Hook out in the cold (who doubtlessly made valuable contributions to bring this project to life) but most notable here are Simon Forty and Nik Cornish. Both are not only well known in the field but also excel at, among other things, publishing well chosen images that help bring the war to life for their readers. Which is exactly what it done here - but with a twist.
Organized into nine...
Review Type: Book
Chris Peers, Greenhill Books, 2021, $34.95, 204 pages
Steve Mercatante
on Jun 16 2021 - 1:47pm
Chris Peers is a leading expert on African colonial warfare. This expertise is on full display in Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana - as is his extensive knowledge of the battlefield where these fascinating events took place. In addition, Peers offers more than a narrative.
There is quite a bit of solid analysis provided, including a level headed approach to a subject matter that lacks the ample documentation and primary sources of, say, that available to a researcher studying the Second World War'...
Review Type: Book
Armored Warfare During The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, Anthony J. Candil, Casemate, 2021, $34.95, 264 pages
Steve Mercatante
on May 16 2021 - 1:27pm
English language books on the use of armor during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 are few and far between. Into this void now steps the well qualified Anthony J. Candil. He is a former senior officer in the Spanish Army with extensive training and experience in armored warfare. His expertise and background is evident in his approach to this topic, and is welcome.
Tank Combat in Spain is consice, well organized, and offers important insight into the employment of tanks during the war,...
Review Type: Book
Volume II: The IV. SS-Panzerkorps in the Budapest Relief Efforts, December 1944-1945, Douglas E. Nash Sr., Casemate, 2020, $37.95, 552 pages and Volume III: IV. SS-Panzerkorps from Budapest to Vienna, February-May 1945, Douglas E. Nash Sr., Casemate, 2021, $37.95, 352 pages
Steve Mercatante
on Mar 14 2021 - 7:18pm
One year ago I reviewed Volume I of Douglas E. Nash Senior's trilogy. That book was the first in a series of three examining the formation and combat history of the IV. SS-Panzerkorps (primarily comprised of the 3rd SS-Panzer Division Totenkopf and 5th SS-Panzer Division Wiking for all but a few weeks at the Second World War's end. That first volume looked at the formation of this elite corps. and covered in extensive detail its combat operations near Warsaw in the late summer and fall of 1944...
Review Type: Book
