Over the past thirty plus years the U.S. Marines have been devolving into a second army. This has created exactly the kind of redundant capability that is not only far too common within the U.S. armed forces, but also greatly undermines national security by taking the U.S. Marines away from its core historical mission.
Thankfully, that era appears to be closing. The Marines are now moving back to being an elite, mobile, hard-hitting force of amphibious light infantry. In turn they are once again embracing the corresponding mission set in which they historically have excelled.
Last year I reviewed and recommended Volume I of Douglas E. Nash Senior's new trilogy looking into the combat history of the IV. SS-Panzerkorps. I have now completed Volume's II and III and think you will like them both. Check out the new review of these volumes here!
Many of my readers probably have an interest in military history and operations in general and not just the Second World War. If so then you may have been paying attention to the advanced nature of the Russian effort to secure a dominant military position in the Arctic Circle. You may have also wondered what this effort entails and why it is such a big deal.
If so, then I have just reviewed a book about the Second World War era ground based military operations of Germany's Mountain Corps Norway that took place during the June to October 1941 portion of Operation Barbarossa.
I've spent the last two months reading the most detailed study you might ever find regarding one of the Second World War's more overlooked but great city sieges. Clocking in at 1,400 pages and two volumes this may end up becoming the definitive study of the 1944-45 Battle for Budapest, and it is well-worth your time. Take a moment to check out the review and why it is I think this two-volume set lives up to the author's ambitious goals.
Here we are again. I had previously sworn off reviewing World War II books written by former German officers. Darn it but don't I have another good one for my readers. This time we get to hear the thoughts of Panzer Group 4's former Chief of Staff - Chales De Beaulieu and his opinion as to why his panzer group failed to take Leningrad during Operation Barbarossa. Please do check out the full review. The analysis within this book's pages are well worth your time.
Astute readers may have noticed that to date I have shied away from reviewing any of the books written by German officers who fought in the Second World War. So why this book? Read on for that answer, my thoughts on the author, and a word of caution for readers.
As of this writing nearly 100,000 Americans have died of Covid-19. The vast majority of these deaths were entirey preventable. That is undisputable. What is also undisputable is the horror of dying from this disease, of dying alone. Though every one of these deaths is a tragedy unto itself - what sickens me even more is the fact that we, the supposed greatest nation on Earth, have allowed so many of our bravest to die needlessly before their time, after they had already sacrificed so much for our collective freedom.
I was going to do one of my usual Memorial Day blog posts on say, tank
I have just published my review of Special Forces Berlin by James Stejskal. After reading this book anyone would be hard-pressed to argue that "Detachment A" wasn't the best-of-the-best in the US military throughout much of the Cold War era. One could even argue that it's skillset as practiced in the late 1970's up to the mid-1980's equally stood up as best in its class in comparison to even its newest and more widely acclaimed US special forces peers in Delta Force or SEAL TEAM 6.
Igor Nebolsin does it again. My latest review covers his most recent work - Tank Battles in East Prussia and Poland 1944-1945. This is a must read for armored enthusiasts. Check out my review and see why.
