Dogfight 1942

World War II aerial combat games are surprisingly not that few and far between, at least relative to what one would expect from such a niche genre. Read more

The Life of John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams, son of the second president of the United States, John Adams, sat across from his counterpart, British Admiral Lord James Gambier, at Ghent, Belgium, desperately attempting to hammer out a peace treaty that would end the War of 1812. Read more

The Military Fez

Thanks to movies and tV, the fez is usually associated with the Middle East, notably Turkey. It has also become a form of ceremonial headgear for lodges and fraternal organizations in the United States. Read more

How Otto von Bismarck Started The Franco-Prussian War

In May 1867, French ruler Napoleon III hosted a gala Great Universal Exposition that proved to be the high-water mark of his ornate but tissue-thin Second Empire. Read more

Shakespeare was not overly concerned about facts…

One of history’s—or at least literature’s— greatest villains is King Richard III, the second and last English monarch to wear the white rose of York. Read more

Savo Island Fiasco

In the months after the U.S. Navy was taken by surprise at Pearl Harbor, fleet commanders vowed that their sly Imperial Japanese enemy would never again sneak up on them, and at first this promise held true. Read more

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Remember when you were a kid and the first assignment your teacher invariably gave you on the first day back at school was to write an essay on the topic of “What I Did On My Summer Vacation”? Read more

Debunking Pusan

There is no doubt that the 1st Marine Provisional Brigade performed magnificently during the dark early days of the Korean conflict. Read more

E3 2012 Highlights

Another year, another Electronics Entertainment Expo, aka E3. This year’s event was perhaps the most safely played yet, and while quite a few “future war”-style games were shown, there wasn’t a ton of World War II presence. Read more

D-Day Deception

An odd assortment of spies was recruited by British intelligence to fool the Nazis as to the exact time and location of the Normandy landings. Read more

The Saga of the USS Phoenix

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the Brooklyn-class light cruiser USS Phoenix lay at anchor southeast of Ford Island in the supposed safety of Pearl Harbor. Read more

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Is a Fantastic Addition to the Series.

I’ve long had a back-and-forth relationship with the Ghost Recon franchise. On one hand, the presentation has always been top notch, and the tactical elements are perfect for those who want a more methodically paced shooter. Read more

Killing Bin Laden

In the early morning hours of May 2, 2011, Stealth Hawk helicopters maneuvered their way through the inky blackness toward their target, a walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, to capture or kill the person who masterminded the September 11 attacks against the United States, Osama bin Laden, code-named Geronimo. Read more

French meddling in Mexico almost led to a post-Civil War confrontation between France and the United States.

French immigrant Alfred Duffie may have fought for the Union during the Civil War, but the meddlesome presence of thousands of other French troops in Mexico almost led to a post-Civil War confrontation between the nation of his birth and the nation of his choice. Read more

WWII in the news—a continuing saga

In last summer’s issue, I posed the rhetorical questions: Is World War II still relevant? Are people still interested in the topic? Read more

Battle of the Battleships

Dear Editor:

I enjoyed Richard Rule’s “David and Goliath” story of the midget submarine attack on the German battleship Tirpitz (May 2012 issue). Read more

Savagery at Nomonhan

On a March day in 1939, a 40-man combat patrol from the Japanese Kwantung Army, led by Major Tsuji Masanobu of the operations staff, made its way to the base of Changkufeng Hill, a 450-foot-high mountain located on a ridge line near the Tyumen River in Manchuria. Read more

The victory at Guadalcanal turned the tide of war.

In July 1942, the United States military stood at a crossroads in the Pacific. Scarcely a month after the great naval victory at Midway, during which four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk and Japanese expansionist aims in the Central Pacific thwarted, the American land offensive was set to begin. Read more

Taking to the Skies with Trickstar Games’ Damage Inc.

When Damage Inc. was first announced, it went under the title War Wings: Hell Catz, the tail end of which seems very appropriate since the dogfighter is being published by Mad Catz. Read more

Masters of Command

Among Alexander the Great, Hannibal Barca and Julius Caesar, the question is often asked, “Who was the best leader?” Read more