By Christopher Miskimon

Full Reviews

Bitter Peleliu: The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War’s Worst Battlefield (Joseph Wheelan, Osprey Books, Oxford, UK, 2022, 336 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $30, hardcover)

Captain Chaos: Navy Cross Recipient Warner V. Tyler, Carrier Air Group Nineteen, and the Battle for Leyte Gulf (Steven E. Maffeo, Focsle Press, Annapolis MD, 2022, 318 pp., maps, photographs, appendices, bibliography, $25, softcover)

Gavin at War: The World War II Diary of Lieutenant General James. M. Gavin (Edited and annotated by Lewis Sorley, Casemate Books, Havertown, PA, 2022, maps, photographs, appendices, index, $34.95, hardcover)

Meat Grinder: The Battles for the Rzhev Salient 1942-43 (Prit Buttar, Osprey Books, Oxford, UK, 2022, 463 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $35, softcover)

Ace in a Day: The Memoir of an Eighth Air Force Fighter Pilot in World War II (Lt. Col. Wayne K. Blickenstaff, Edited by Graham Cross, Casemate Books, Havertown, PA, 2022, 340 pp., photographs, appendices, index, $39.95, hardcover)

Leyte Gulf 1944 (2): Surigao Strait and Cape Engano (Mark Stille, Osprey Books, Oxford, UK, 2022, 96 pp., maps, photographs, biblio- graphy, index, $24, softcover)

The Soviet Baltic Offensive, 1944-45: German Defense of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (Ian Baxter, Casemate Books, Havertown, PA, 2022, 128 pp., maps, photographs, bibliography, index, $28.95, softcover)

The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II (Ian Buruma, Penguin Press, New York, NY, 2023, 320 pp., photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $30, hardcover)

D-Day Through German Eyes: How the Wehrmacht Lost France (Jonathan Trigg, Amberley Press, Gloucestershire, UK, 2022, maps, photographs, appendix, notes, bibliography, index, $16.95, softcover)

D-Day, Arnhem and the Rhine: A Glider Pilot’s Memoir (Robert F. Ashby, edited by Jonathan Walker, Pen and Sword Books, South Yorkshire, UK, 2022, 177 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $34.95, hardcover)

New and Noteworthy

Alarmstart South and Final Defeat (Patrick G. Erikson, Amberley Press, 2022, $35, hardcover) The third book in a trilogy on German fighter pilots of World War II, this volume focuses on the Mediterranean from 1941-44 and Western Europe in 1944-45.

Churchill’s Arctic Convoys: Strength Triumphs over Adversity (William Smith, Pen and Sword, 2022, $42.95, hardcover) The convoys which supplied the Soviet Union experienced extreme hardship fulfilling their duties. This work examines the political, naval, and logistic aspects of the convoys.

Red Army Weapons of the Second World War (Michael Green, Pen and Sword, 2022, $34.95, hardcover) The Soviet military used a wide variety of weapons, from Great War relics to the most modern designs. The book covers small arms, armored vehicles, and artillery.

12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend: From Formation to the Battle of Caen (Massimiliano Afiero, Casemate Books, 2022, $28.95, softcover) The infamous “Hitler Youth” Division fought viciously at Normandy but eventually suffered defeat. This book describes the unit’s creation and combat action.

The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe 1939–1945 (David Hobbs, Seaforth Publishing, 2022, $68, hardcover) The Royal Navy’s air force had an impact which far outweighed its size. Its operations during the war in Europe spanned the entire length of the conflict.

The U-Boat War: A Global History 1939-45 (Lawrence Paterson, Osprey Books, 2022, $35, hardcover) The author shows how the war against the German submarine force was a wide-ranging campaign intertwined with the rest of the war’s events.

Dünkirchen 1940: The German View of Dunkirk (Robert Kershaw, Osprey Books, 2022, $30, hardcover) This new work makes clear the various German tactical and operational errors which allowed the Dunkirk evacuation to succeed as well as it did. The author’s assertions are clear and well supported.

Foreign Panthers (M.P. Robinson and Thomas Seignon, Osprey Books, 2022, $19, softcover) This new title examines the use of the German Panther tank by the British, Soviet, French and other armies both during and after World War II. The book presents a number of interesting case studies.

F6F Hellcat: Philippines 1944 (Edward M. Young, Osprey Books, 2022, $22, softcover) Part of Osprey’s new Dogfight series, this book looks at the tactics used by Grumman Hellcat pilots to win the fight in the skies over the Philippine Islands in 1944.

The Desert War Then and Now (AJean Paul Pallud, After the Battle, 2022, $100, hardcover) A photo essay book, this new edition shows photographs from the war in North Africa contrasted with images of what the depicted area looks like in modern times.

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