Tag Archives: 1940s

Darkest Hour

Posted on February 17, 2023 by smellincoffee

Darkest Hour© 2010 James Holland384 pages It’s déjà vu all over again.  Sergeant Jack Tanner, only recently arrived back in England from the doomed British defense of Norway,  has been sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force – only … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Spinning Atoms in the Desert

Posted on October 27, 2022 by smellincoffee

Bombast: Spinning Atoms in the Desert© 2010 Michon Mackedon236 pages Which is more breathtaking, the power of the atom bomb or the hubris of governments that use it? Michon Mackedon’s Bombast will leave readers wondering. It reviews the approach of … Continue reading →

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Life and Death in the Third Reich

Posted on October 20, 2022 by smellincoffee

Life and Death in the Third Reich© 2009 Peter Fritzsche384 pages A few years ago I read Peter Fritzsche’s An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler, which examined how the Nazi conquest of most of Europe permeated into its culture in … Continue reading →

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Overlord | Victory in the Pacific

Posted on September 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

Many years ago when the world was new, the Twin Towers stood over Manhattan, and Europe was just starting to adopt the euro, I discovered a trilogy of books in my high school library about World War 2. They formed … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Marine Combat Correspondent

Posted on September 1, 2022 by smellincoffee

Marine Combat Correspondent: World War 2 in the Pacific© 1999 Sam Stavisky344 pages Sam Stavisky was a reporter for the Washington Post on December 7th, 1941, when he and the world bore witness to Japan’s bloody ambition to rule the … Continue reading →

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Fighting for Space

Posted on August 11, 2022 by smellincoffee

Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight© 2020 Amy Shira Teitel448 pages When the age of flight arrived,   women were as eager to take to the skies as men.  Fighting for Space is a … Continue reading →

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Churchill’s Shadow Raiders

Posted on April 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Churchill’s Shadow Raiders: The Race to Develop Radar, World War II’s Invisible Secret Weapon© 2020 Damien Lewis 416 pages A decade ago, in reading Electric Universe, I was delighted to learn about Operation BITING, one of World War 2’s more extraordinary … Continue reading →

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Churchill’s Band of Brothers

Posted on April 14, 2022 by smellincoffee

Band of Brothers: WW2’s Most Daring D-Day Mission and the Hunt to Take Down Hitler’s War Criminals© 2021 Damien Lewis400 pages A few months back, I read D-Day Girls, a history of SOE operatives who prepared the way for Operation … Continue reading →

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The Betrayal of the American Right

Posted on January 27, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Betrayal of the American Right© 2007 Murry Rothbard231 pages When I began exploring politics and forging my own ideas, I steered leftward out of hatred for the war on terror and Bush’s burgeoning police state. I soon discovered, however, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Books books books

Posted on October 14, 2021 by smellincoffee

Between the nonfunctional hospital wifi and the only decent television programs being overtaken by baseball, most of my entertainment last week was good ol’ fashioned books. Midnight at Chernobyl popped onto my radar after I watched the excellent HBO series … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments