Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal, and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty...
There's a large enough market for histories and stories about ultra-rich families and their dysfunctional relationships with each other and those around them. The problem, unfortunately, is...
View ArticleThe Viaz'ma Catastrophe, 1941: The Red Army's Disastrous Stand against...
"The Viaz'ma Catastrophe" by Lev Lopukhovsky makes for an important contribution to our overall knowledge of the Eastern Front, specifically the operations that occurred in 1941, and helps to...
View ArticleArmor and Blood: The Battle of Kursk: The Turning Point of World War II by...
The book description claims 'Armor and Blood' is 'the definitive account of the greatest tank battle of World War II', unfortunately that's far from accurate. The author himself admits this book offers...
View ArticleThe Punishment Imperative by Todd R. Clear and Natasha A. Frost
As someone with a growing interesting in the state of prisons and jails in the United States I was happy to get a chance to read through 'The Punishment Imperative.' Unfortunately, as someone...
View ArticleThe Drive on Moscow, 1941: Operation Taifun and Germany's First Great Crisis...
As I'm reading through 'The Drive on Moscow' I'm somewhat confused as to where this volume actually fits into the history of the Eastern Front. More so, I'm confused about why it was written in the...
View ArticleThe Siege of Brest 1941: A Legend of Red Army Resistance on the Eastern Front...
The fighting for Brest Fortress has acquired a legendary status within the history of the Eastern Front in World War II. Knowledge of the resistance various Red Army units put up was not readily known...
View ArticleArchduke Franz Ferdinand Lives!: A World without World War I Hardcover by...
I'm usually very wary of counterfactuals. Often they're done by amateurs with little understanding of how variables can and cannot be altered. But if an academic can change a few minor events and keep...
View ArticleThe Rzhev Slaughterhouse: The Red Army's Forgotten 15-month Campaign against...
Svetlana Gerasimova's work on the battles in and around Rzhev is not a typical military history text. For those interested in detailed accounts involving commanders and the multiple battles and...
View ArticleRed Army Tank Commander: At War in a T-34 on the Eastern Front by Vasiliy...
I was somewhat surprised by the candor and openness that the author divulged of his experiences on the front during the Great Patriotic War. The majority of the text takes place from the Battle of...
View ArticleBetween Giants: The Battle for the Baltics in World War II by Prit Buttar
Prit Buttar has done an excellent job on concentrating his and the reader's attention on an area that's often ignored or simply glossed over in the greater histories of the Great Patriotic War and the...
View ArticleThe Eternal Nazi: From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS...
I'm sure on some level the authors wanted this piece to read like a 'detective novel', introducing new characters, setting up discoveries and leaving off chapters with 'cliff hangers'; unfortunately...
View ArticleSoldaten: On Fighting, Killing, and Dying by Sönke Neitzel
Like many others, I was expecting something wholly different from the description offered of this text. It seems there were a few main points the authors decided to concentrate on and then used various...
View ArticleFragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin by Ben...
Ben Judah has done an impressive job in showcasing his travels and interviews throughout Russia. Recent events with Ukraine and the Crimea have done much to put Russia in the center of western media....
View ArticleRed Fortress: History and Illusion in the Kremlin by Catherine Merridale
Catherine Merridale's 'Red Fortress' reads like a mediocre attempt at pop history. Unlike some historians who score a win with their rehashing of well known ideas, facts, and histories that's made...
View ArticleThe Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II by Charles Glass
'The Deserters' is an insightful foray into a subject that many historians and researchers of the Second World War gloss over or never even deem worthy enough to address. The First World War has a...
View ArticleRommel - A Reappraisal by Ian Beckett
The post-WWII period saw a plethora of reputations become set in stone in both axis and allied states. Since then, and through today, we are witnessing renewed interest and the questioning of those...
View ArticleTank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1942: Schwerpunkt by Robert Forczyk
In general I have mixed feelings about "Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1942". I welcome any new or original look at the Eastern Front, either from the perspective of an academic or...
View ArticleA Tale of Two Soldiers: The Unexpected Friendship between a WWII American...
"A Tale of Two Soldiers" is a slim volume detailing the friendship that grew out of a chance encounter between an Jewish American prisoner of war and a German Luftwaffe pilot. The Second World War...
View ArticleThe Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union by Serhii Plokhy
In "The Last Empire" Serhii Polokhy aims to tell the story of the dissolution of the Soviet Union during the last six months of 1991. The major players here are Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Bush, Kravchuk, and...
View ArticleA History of War in 100 Battles by Richard Overy
Richard Overy has previously put out some decent monographs, so I'm not sure why he decided on this project. To be perfectly honest, if you're new to history in general, or military history more...
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