Hi, there, Dear Reader. It’s almost midday in Lithia, Florida, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. It is – yep – a hot summer day in the Tampa Bay area. Currently, the temperature is 89°F (32°C) under partly sunny skies. With the wind blowing from the southeast at 7 MPH (12 KM/H) and humidity at 63%,Continue reading “On History: Looking Back on June 28, 1914 – Two Shots that Changed the World (and Not In a Good Way)”
Category Archives: Military History
On the War in Ukraine: Russian Cruiser ‘Moskva’ Sinks, Moscow and Kyiv Have Conflicting Narratives About the Incident
Putin’s War Suffers Setbacks As you probably know, Russia’s war in Ukraine – a blatant act of naked aggression that Vladimir Putin’s government euphemistically calls a “special military operation – is not going well for Moscow or the much-vaunted Russian military. Instead of a 21st Century blitzkrieg and a quick victory culminating in Russia’s captureContinue reading “On the War in Ukraine: Russian Cruiser ‘Moskva’ Sinks, Moscow and Kyiv Have Conflicting Narratives About the Incident”
On History: Thoughts About Operation Desert Storm’s Start, 31 Years After
Hi there, Dear Reader. It’s late morning here in Fish Hawk (Lithia), Florida, on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. It is a cold day here in the Sunshine State. Currently, the temperature is 50˚F (10˚C) under sunny skies. With humidity at 72% and the wind blowing from the north-northeast at 9 MPH (14 KM/H), the windContinue reading “On History: Thoughts About Operation Desert Storm’s Start, 31 Years After”
On Books: A (Short) List of My Favorite Books About World War II
If you’re a Constant Visitor to this blog, you’ve probably noticed that I’m a long-time history buff and bibliophile. I have been reading since I was little, and I became interested in military history – primarily World War II – in 1969 at the age of six. Although I might be misremembering things, the firstContinue reading “On Books: A (Short) List of My Favorite Books About World War II”
Book Review: ‘Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944’ (UK Edition)
“But, sir, I think we might be going a bridge too far.” – Attributed to Lt. Gen. Frederick “Boy” Browning, commanding officer of I British Airborne Corps and overall commander for Operation Market-Garden On May 17, 2018 – September 11 in the U.S. – Viking (a subsidiary of Penguin Random House) published the British editionContinue reading “Book Review: ‘Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944’ (UK Edition)”
Book Review: ‘The Battle of Midway’
On October 5, 2011, Oxford University Press published Craig L. Symonds’ The Battle of Midway, one of the 18 books in the Pivotal Moments in American History series, which is edited by David Hackett Fischer, James M. McPherson, and David Greenberg. Based on exhaustive research and drawing on a cornucopia of new revelations about theContinue reading “Book Review: ‘The Battle of Midway’”
Books and Stories: Tackling the TBR Pile One Title at a Time
It’s early afternoon here in my small corner of Florida on this last day of Summer 2020. My blinds and curtains are closed, so my study is perhaps darker than it ought to be. Even so, the weather here is still “summery,” as it’s partly sunny and humid (66%) outside. Per my PC’s weather app,Continue reading “Books and Stories: Tackling the TBR Pile One Title at a Time”
Books and Stories: A Quick Overview of Ian W. Toll’s ‘The Pacific War’ Trilogy
In his afterword to Twilight of the Gods: The War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945, naval historian Ian W. Toll tells readers that his original concept when he started working on a new history of the Pacific War (1941-1945) was for a one-volume history of the 44-month-long conflict that began with the Japanese “blitz” againstContinue reading “Books and Stories: A Quick Overview of Ian W. Toll’s ‘The Pacific War’ Trilogy”
Book Review: ‘The World Remade: America in World War I’
“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make.”— President Woodrow Wilson, on the StateContinue reading “Book Review: ‘The World Remade: America in World War I’”
Book Review: ‘A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918’
On May 30, 2006, Delacorte Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, published G.J. Meyer’s A World Undone: The History of the Great War, 1914 to 1918, a one-volume history about the most misunderstood conflict that very few people living in the 21st Century know about: World War I. Overshadowed by the global conflict thatContinue reading “Book Review: ‘A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918’”
A Certain Point of View, Too 