Tag Archives: WW2

London at War

Posted on April 8, 2017 by smellincoffee

London at War© 1995 Phillip Ziegler372 pages “London doesn’t look down at the ruins of its houses, at the remains of its churches and houses; London looks upwards, towards the Dawn,  and faces the new day with calmness and confidence.”  … Continue reading →

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Los Alamos

Posted on September 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

Los Alamos© 1997 Joseph Kanon416 pages A man lies dead in Santa Fe, but the answer to ‘whodunit’ lies in the hills above the city — or on The Hill, the site of the Los Alamos Laboratory, where something very … Continue reading →

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When Tigers Fight

Posted on August 31, 2016 by smellincoffee

When Tigers Fight: The Story of the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945© 1989 Dick Wilson269 pages “We Japanese cannot win here. We are trying to plow the ocean.” Before plunging into the abyss of hubris and attempting to claim the entire Pacific … Continue reading →

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Miracle at Midway

Posted on August 21, 2016 by smellincoffee

Miracle at Midway© 1983 Gordon Prange, Donald Goldstein and,Katherine Dillon,512 pages Miracle at Midway is a thorough history of the June 4-7 effort of the Japanese to simultaneously seize the most likely U.S. approaches to the Empire and lure the … Continue reading →

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Stalingrad

Posted on August 17, 2016 by smellincoffee

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943© 1998 Anthony Beevor494 pages In June 1941, Hitler demonstrated the truism that evil will oft evil mar by launching an invasion of the Soviet Union. Though initiated later in the year than planned, the Wehrmacht’s … Continue reading →

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World War 2 Index

Posted on May 11, 2016 by smellincoffee

This index includes only books read during the tenure of the blog, omitting those consulted but not read completely, like Walter Boyne’s Influence of Air Power Upon History,  as well those given only marginal comments, like Primo Levi’s Surviving Auschwitz. … Continue reading →

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Forgotten Ally

Posted on December 19, 2015 by smellincoffee

Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II© 2013 Rana Mitter467 pages Two years before a mad painter’s schemes plunged the world into war, China was fighting for its life.  It began the 20th century at a crossroads; the old imperial order … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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