Tag Archives: WW2

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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The USS Alabama

Posted on March 17, 2019 by smellincoffee

Images of America: USS Alabama © 2013 Kent Whitaker & Battleship Memorial Park 128 pages When visiting downtown Mobile, one can’t help but notice the enormous battleship parked in the bay.  It’s the USS Alabama, tenth to bear the name, … Continue reading →

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An Iron Wind

Posted on October 11, 2018 by smellincoffee

An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler©  2016 Peter Fritzsche376 pages That crowds that cheered Neville Chamberlain’s return to England with a promise of peace in his hand are easy to condemn in hindsight. But no one in the 21st century … Continue reading →

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Church of Spies

Posted on October 6, 2018 by smellincoffee

Church of Spies: The Vatican’s Secret War Against Hitler© 2015 Mark Riebling384 pages The Catholic Church was one of Hitler’s earliest enemies, barring its members from participating in the Nazi party and publicly condemning Hitler’s early actions once he had … Continue reading →

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Yesterday’s News: The Shangri-La

Posted on September 1, 2018 by smellincoffee

When the United States government formally announced that the Doolittle raid — a flight of B-17s over Tokyo in early 1942 — had been carried out, President Roosevelt informed a reporter that the bombers had been launched from a secret … Continue reading →

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The Hiding Place

Posted on August 10, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Hiding Place© 1971 Corrie ten Boom,  John and Elizabeth Sherrill241 PAGES You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalms 32 When Corrie ten Boom turned in her family radio … Continue reading →

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Alone

Posted on May 19, 2018 by smellincoffee

Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat Into Victory© 2017 Michael Korda544 pages Judging by most World War 2 histories, the war only heats up once Hitler’s rapid takeover of northern and western Europe is accomplished in the spring of 1940, … Continue reading →

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Munich

Posted on January 14, 2018 by smellincoffee

Munich© 2018 Robert Harris354 pages By this time tomorrow, Adolf Hitler could be dead… The year is 1938, and Europe is again sliding into war — a war that only one man wants.  The man is Adolf Hitler, who is … Continue reading →

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The Hemingway Patrols

Posted on November 14, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Hemingway Patrols: Ernest Hemingway and his Hunt for U-boats © 2009 Terry Mort 272 pages For some people, getting involved in the war effort meant collecting cans. For Ernest Hemingway, it meant patrolling the waters between the Florida Keys … Continue reading →

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