Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

We Band of Angels

Posted on December 12, 2015 by smellincoffee

We Band of Angels© 2001 Elizabeth M. Norman325  pages When Japan invaded the Philippines and besieged the Bataan peninsula,  the Filipino-American army wasn’t the only entity enduring months of dwindling supplies and attritive warfare. Stationed alongside soldiers and sailors were … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Bataan: March of Death

Posted on December 10, 2015 by smellincoffee

Bataan: March of Death© 1962 Stanley J. Falk256 pages Japan’s strike at Pearl Harbor was not a solitary military move, but the opening play in a Pacific strategy. Having disabled the American Pacific Fleet,  Japanese forces would be free to … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Horse

Posted on December 8, 2015 by smellincoffee

Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Human Civilization© 2006 J. Edward Chamberlin288 pages How do I love thee, O horse? Let me count the ways.   J. Edward Chamberlin’s Horse begins with one lonely native American mare separated from her tribe … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Grid

Posted on December 8, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World© 2007 Phillip Schewe310 pages In every room there sits a caged beast waiting to cause mischief, but which most of the time  is put to honest work, instead.  When … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pearl Harbor

Posted on December 7, 2015 by smellincoffee

Pearl Harbor: The Day of of Infamy — an Illustrated History© 2001 Dan van der Vat,  illustrations by Tom Freeman176 pages Seventy-four years ago,  the Pacific Ocean became awash in the blood of war. Six carriers, operating for days under … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Yamamoto

Posted on December 3, 2015 by smellincoffee

Yamamoto: The Man Who Planned Pearl Harbor© 1990 Edwin Hoyt271 pages Isoroku Yamamoto was the indispensable man of the Japanese navy,  the author of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and an object of such interest to the United States … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

December 6

Posted on December 3, 2015 by smellincoffee

December 6© 2002 Martin Cruz Smith400 pages Between his girlfriend and a samurai intent on revenge, Harry Niles isn’t sure who will try to kill him first.  Raised in Japan to American parents, Harry is a misfit who trouble would … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

This week: yep, still at war

Posted on November 28, 2015 by smellincoffee

I don’t know how most people spend Thanksgiving, but after a day with family eating sweet potatoes and admiring chickens and a late-fall collard garden, I’ve been reading nonstop about World War 2.  I’m moving closer to the end of … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Devils’ Alliance

Posted on November 28, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Devils’ Alliance: Hitler’s Pact with Stalin, 1939 – 1941© 2014 Roger Moorhouse432 pages On August 23rd, 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union shocked the world by entering into a nonaggression pact.  They were not merely neighbors and rival … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Rape of Nanking

Posted on November 27, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Rape of Nanking© 1997 Iris Chang290 pages Long before bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were at war in China.  ‘War’ is not quite the word to describe  the aftermath of their invasion of Nanking, however.  There the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments