Gerry Embleton works on a figure of powder horn maker and company clerk John Bush, an African American soldier from Massachusetts who was captured at the fall of Fort William Henry and died in captivity.

The Art of History

By Peter Suciu

If a picture truly paints a thousand words, then Gerry Embleton has painted volumes in his career. As a freelance illustrator of military subjects, he specializes in highly detailed, accurate studies of historical costumes, including period uniforms. Read more

Wounded in ’44

Dear Editor:

In your October/November 2008 issue, Glenn Barnett’s article “Caring for the Casualties” was of particular interest to me. I was wounded on September 10, 1944, flown back to England from the 100th Evacuation Hospital outside of Brest, France, on September 18, arriving at the Army’s 121st General Hospital in the evening. Read more

“By the Grace of God You Got Through”

By Mason B. Webb

The six-month-long land and naval battles for Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands chain have been well covered in books and magazine articles, but the war in the skies above the islands has received less attention. Read more

From Bouvines to the Magna Carta, and the Founding Fathers

Every war has unintended consequences— that’s why the wise leader never starts one. When King John returned to England in October 1214 from the European continent after yet another defeat at the hands of his lifelong enemies, the French, he faced perhaps the greatest unintended consequence in world history. Read more

The Man Who Transformed the Presidency

By Al Hemingway

Never let it be said that James Knox Polk was not a determined man. Although he suffered from ill health most of his life, this did not deter Polk from working tirelessly to rise to the top in politics as a Democrat, with fellow-Tennessean Andrew Jackson as his mentor. Read more

Rolls-Royce Merlins

Dear Editor:

In “Secret Agent Man,” Peter Kross describes the outstanding British Mosquito plane as being “made of wood, which gave it tremendous speed and maneuverability.” Read more

The Red Arrows in Green Hell

By Mason B. Webb

During the whole of the Pacific campaign, no single mission was more difficult or challenging than the mission assigned to a unit of American GIs in New Guinea. Read more

The 761st Tank Battalion

Dear Editor:

I wish to commend you for your recent article in the April/May issue on the 761st Tank Battalion. As the first African American armored unit in the history of the U.S. Read more

Revolution in the South

By Al Hemingway

When historians discuss the American Revolution, they give scant attention to the hard fighting that occurred in the southern states. Read more

Shoot your way through World War II in three new games.

By Eric T. Baker

If you have children, there is a good chance that you also have a Wii. And if you have a Wii, you’ve probably played tennis on it, and maybe even gone fishing, but you probably have not played a war game on the console, or if you have, it may have been Medal of Honor Vanguard, previously the best war game available on the Wii. Read more

Tragedy and Courage in a Storm-Tossed Sea

By Mason B. Webb

In mid-December 1944, between Guam and the Philippines, the greatest enemy Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey’s Third Fleet encountered was not the Japanese but a monstrous typhoon—the largest storm the U.S. Read more