Collecting German Helmets of World War II

In the annals of 20th-century warfare the modern combat helmet has easily become one of the most recognizable pieces of battlefield equipment. Read more

The Battle of Poltava and the Birth of Modern Russia

More than 300 years ago Russia was a supine giant convulsing internally from factionalism, making it difficult to resist hostile incursions, until 23-year-old Crown Prince Peter I ascended to the tsarist throne in 1696. Read more

16 Military History Book Reviews for Summer 2024

The Showman: Inside the Invasion that Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky (Simon Schuster, William Morrow, New York NY, 2024, 363 pp., Read more

Destroyer Matchup at Kula Gulf

The Allied invasion of New Georgia began on June 30, 1943, when a large part of the U.S. Read more

The Japanese Swords of World War II

Aprevalent image of the Japanese NCO or Officer in World War II is that of rushing the Allied lines with his “samurai” sword drawn, swinging in the air. Read more

From Raw Recruit to Seasoned Trooper

Robert Morris Peck was strolling the streets of Cincinnati one brisk November day when a yellow poster outside a boarding house caught his eye. Read more

Heliborne Enhanced Edition

Developer and publisher Klabater’s Heliborne first took to the skies back in 2017, eventually paving the way for an enhanced edition. Read more

Besiege: The Splintered Sea

Spiderling Studios first launched physics building war game Besiege on Steam in February 2020, bringing with it plenty of ways to challenge both the computer and likeminded players in simulation combat. Read more

Normandy Breakout

Concentrated against the beaches of Normandy on June 6, Operation Overlord landed 9 army divisions plus support troops on five beaches in anticipation of a breakout across France and toward Berlin. Read more

The Venerable General Matthew B. Ridgway

Siren wailing, the jeep propelling Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker headed north from Walker’s tactical command post in Seoul. Read more

Better Or Best: The B-17 Vs. The B-24

One of the most frequently discussed arguments to come out of World War II is which was the “better” bomber, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress or the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Read more

Colonel Bonner Fellers

German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, renowned as “the Desert Fox,” was a master of mobility and maneuver warfare during the see-saw North African campaign of World War II. Read more

Mark Stille’s ‘Midway: The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle’

Japan’s striking force sailed for Midway on May 27, 1942, a day later than planned, after some late preparations were complete. Read more

Flint Whitlock’s ‘To the Last Cartridge, Book II’

There are no large cities and few sizable towns in Normandy between Cherbourg and Caen. One of those towns is Sainte-Mère Église, a crossroads valuable for the invading Allied forces in June 1944. Read more

Robert Kershaw’s ‘The Hill’

Captain Stanton Johnson’s company of New Zealand infantry slowly recovered from a bombing raid by the German Luftwaffe. Read more

Harry Yeide’s ‘Betting Against America’

The United States played an important role at the end of World War I. Even during the 1930s, gripped by economic depression, America had enormous actual and potential industrial capacity. Read more

John T. Kuehn’s ‘Strategy in Crisis’

The Pacific War of 1941-1945 really stems from the Sino-Japanese conflicts of the 1930s. It most likely would not have happened had Japan not been embroiled in a war in China, which began with sporadic skirmishing and “incidents” in the early 1930s. Read more

Gregory Fontenot’s ‘No Sacrifice Too Great’

The U.S. 1st Infantry Division, nicknamed “Big Red One” for its distinctive shoulder patch, fought during the entirety of U.S. Read more

Samuel de Korte’s ‘Tuskegee Airmen’

By Christopher Miskimon

The 332nd Fighter Group was the only segregated American fighter group to see combat service during World War II. Read more

Jaap Jan Brouwer’s ‘The German Way of War on the Eastern Front’

The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union that began on June 22, 1941, involved three million German troops and their allies, against nearly five million Soviet soldiers. Read more