Tag Archives: WW2

The Eagle’s Claw

Posted on July 8, 2021 by smellincoffee

© 2021 Jeff Shaara352 pages Lastly, The Eagle’s Claw, a novel of historical fiction about the Battle of Midway.   Midway was one of the battles of WW2, the turning point of the Pacific War that, six months following Pearl Harbor, announced to Dai … Continue reading →

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D-Day: Remembering Those who Perished for Us

Posted on June 6, 2021 by smellincoffee

“This is New York, NBC newsroom again. Men and women of the United States, this is a momentous hour in world history: this is the invasion of Hitler’s Europe, the zero hour of the Second Front. The men of General … Continue reading →

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The Fox from his Lair

Posted on April 1, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Fox from his LairOriginal pub. year unknown, Kindle edition © 2020220 pages In the wake of a disastrous training exercise, bodies are washing up on the shores of England. If intelligence from one of those bodies falls into German … Continue reading →

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V-2

Posted on November 19, 2020 by smellincoffee

V-2: A Novel of World War 2 © 2020 Robert Harris320 pages The Wehrmacht is being pushed from western Europe, and the Waffen-SS is reeling in eastern Europe. The Luftwaffe flies no more. And yet Germany fights on, and the … Continue reading →

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COVID Reviews #6 Cleaning Up with gangsters, Navajo, politicians, and so many Germans

Posted on October 20, 2020 by smellincoffee

Back in September and early October when I was under quarantine, I didn’t have computer access, so I couldn’t take many notes or write reviews when things were fresh on my mind. I tried to post comments intermittently, but some … Continue reading →

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Of WW2 and alternate schools

Posted on September 14, 2020 by smellincoffee

Early last week I accidentally bought a ‘book’ called One Man Air Force, by Don S. Gentle. I say “book” because it’s only 50 pages, and I would have returned it (I was browsing WW2 books and hit the ‘buy … Continue reading →

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In the Garden of Beasts

Posted on July 30, 2020 by smellincoffee

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin © 2011 Erik Larson 432 pages In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt needed a man for a post no one wanted to fill: US Ambassador to Germany.  … Continue reading →

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The Splendid and the Vile

Posted on July 27, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Splendid and the Vile: A Sage of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz © 2020 Erik Larson 464 pages “Nothing could have been more beautiful and the searchlights interlaced at certain points on the horizon, the star-like flashes … Continue reading →

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To Wake the Giant

Posted on June 21, 2020 by smellincoffee

To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor © 2020 Jeff Shaara 528 pages In To Wake the Giant,  Jeff Shaara returns to World War 2, this time with a curveball.  Unlike most of his other novels,  Wake the … Continue reading →

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Code Girls

Posted on July 31, 2019 by smellincoffee

Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Codebreakers of World War 2 © 2017 Liza Mundy 640 pages At the outset of World War 2, the United States’ military intelligence apparatus, much like its military, was minimal.  Following … Continue reading →

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