Full Reviews

Countdown Battle Of The Bulge: The 40 Days of World War II That Crushed Hitler’s Last Hope (Chris Wallace and Mitch Weiss, Dutton, New York, NY, 384 pp. Dec. 1, 2026 $36 HC)

Empire of Ashes: Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent into Total War (James M. Scott, W.W. Norton, New York, NY, 464 pp. Aug. 4, 2026, $41.99 HC)

Tidal Wave: The Pilots, the Princess, and the Enemy Ace—A True Story of Courage and Survival in WWII (Adam Makos, Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 448 pp., Nov. 3, 2026 $32 HC)

Bird Men: The Rise of American Airpower and the Machine that Ended World War II (A. J. Baime, Mariner Books/HarperCollins, New York, NY, 432 pp., Oct. 20, 2026 $32.99 HC)

The Phantom: The Untold Story of the American Marine the Nazis Could Not Kill (Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, Oct. 6, 2026 $30 HC)

Collapse: The World Goes to War 1931-1942 (Jonathan Fennell, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 752 pp., Nov. 24, 2026 $31 HC)

The Nuremberg Women: The Untold Story of the Eight Women Who Brought the Nazis to Justice (Natalie Livingstone, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 432 pp., Nov. 3, 2026 $33 HC)

New and Noteworthy

All Roads Lead to Rome: The Inside Story of the Liberation of the Eternal City in World War II (Mark A. Olinger, Stackpole Books/Dist. by Simon & Schuster, 479 pp., Nov. 17, 2026 $34.95 HC) Chronicles the Anglo-American battle through the Gustav and Caesar lines to liberate the first Axis capital just two days before D-Day.

The Flight Nurses’ War: The American Women Who Saved Thousands of Lives at Iwo Jima and Okinawa (Leah Garrett, Seal Press/Hachette, New York, NY, 368 pp., Oct. 13, 2026 $32 HC) Follows eight American flight nurses who triaged and evacuated thousands of severely wounded soldiers and Marines from Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945.

Flak-Artillerie (Thomas Anderson, Osprey, New York, NY, 288 pp., b/w illus. throughout, Jan. 5, 2027 $50 HC) From an expert on German armor, the history of the formidable Flugabwehrkanone (aircraft-defense cannon)—from balloons in the Franco-Prussian War to the 88 mm Flak gun and the proposed Flakpanzer 341 built on the PzKpfw V Panther chassis.

Blood Dawn: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia (Hans van de Ven, Basic Books, 464 pp., Sept. 8, 2026 $35 HC) A professor of modern Chinese history at Cambridge University offers a detailed analysis of Asia from the late 19th century colonial period to the Second World War and its aftermath.

Jagdverband 44: The Luftwaffe’s Mavericks (Robert Forsyth, Osprey, New York, NY, 448 pp., 16-pp. b/w photos, Nov. 3, 2026 $35 HC) Former General of Fighters and legendary ace, Adolf Galland, is given permission to form an elite squadron of jet fighter aces with Germany’s new Messerschmitt Me 262.

Case Green: The Birth of the Wehrmacht (Robert Forczyk, Osprey, New York, NY, 336 pp., 16-pg. b/w section, Oct. 6, 2026 $35 HC) Author and retired lieutenant colonel Forczyk traces the creation and early operations of the German army from its rearmament in 1935 to the 1938 occupation of Czechoslovakia.

Operation Sparrow: The Incredible True Story of the Spies Who Tricked Hitler and Won the War (Jason Bell, Hanover Square Press/HarperCollins, New York, NY, 288 pp., Sept. 29, 2026 $32.99 HC) The story of three OSS men intentionally captured to convince Adolf Hitler that the D-Day invasion would be in the Balkans.

The 28th Infantry Division in the Hürtgen Forest: Forgotten Sacrifice (Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr., Fonthill Media/Pen & Sword Books UK/Dist. by Casemate, 240 pp., Sept. 30, 2026 $32.95 HC) Often eclipsed by Operation Market-Garden, then the Battle of the Bulge, the 28th Infantry Division’s 12-day battle for Schmidt in November 1944 cost the division more than 6,184 casualties.

Knights of Freedom: With the Hell on Wheels Armored Division in World War II, A Story in Photos (Lt. Col. Frederick C. Brems (RET) with Fred G. Brems, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, Dist. by Simon & Schuster, 334 pp., 600+ photos, $29.95 SC) A first-hand look at the 2nd Armored “Hell on Wheels” Division’s journey from Normandy to The Bulge and beyond.

Crash of the Heavens: The Remarkable Story of Hannah Senesh and the Only Military Mission to Rescue Europe’s Jews During World War II (Douglas Century, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 448 pp., Nov. 17, 2026 $22 SC) Senesh parachuted into Yugoslavia in March 1944 with a British military mission to rescue local Jews and organize resistance. In June, the 23-year-old was arrested in her native Hungary, tortured, and executed for treason in November.

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