Full Reviews

The Cactus Air Force: Air War over Guadalcanal (Eric Hammel and John McKelvey Cleaver, Osprey Books, Oxford UK, 2022, 336 pp., maps, photographs, glossary index, $30.00, hardcover).

A Machine Gunner’s War: From Normandy to Victory with the 1st Infantry Division in World War II (Ernest Albert “Andy” Andrews Jr., Casemate Books, Havertown, PA, 2022, 351 pp., maps, photographs, $34.95, hardcover)

Great Naval Battles of the Pacific War, The Official Admiralty Accounts: Midway, Coral Sea, Java Sea, Guadalcanal and Leyte Gulf (Compiled by John Grehan, Fonthill Books, South Yorkshire UK, 2022, 339 pp., maps, photographs, index, $42.95, hardcover)

Narvik 1940: The Battle for Northern Norway (David Greentree, Osprey Books, Oxford UK, 2022, 96 pp., maps, photographs, notes bibliography, index, $24.00, softcover)

Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific (Trent Hone, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 2022, 430 pp., maps, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, $39.95, hardcover)

Barbarossa Through German Eyes: The Biggest Invasion in History (Jonathan Trigg, Amberley Books, Gloucestershire UK, 2022, 320 pp., maps, photographs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, $32.95, hardcover)

Wings of War: The World War II Fighter Plane that Saved the Allies and the Believers Who Made It Fly (David Fairbank White and Margaret Stanback White, Dutton Caliber, New York, NY, 2022, 323 pp., photographs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, $29.00, hardcover)

At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, his Bravery, and an Amazing Horse (Walt Larimore and Mike Yorkey, Knox Press, New York, NY, 2022, 446 pp., maps, photographs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, $35.00, hardcover)

To Meet in Hell: Bergen-Belsen, the British Officer who Liberated it, and the Jewish Girl He Saved (Bernice Lerner, Amberley Books, Gloucestershire UK, 2022, 277 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $13,79, softcover)

New and Noteworthy

By Christopher Miskimon

Romania’s Holy War: Soldiers, Motivation, and the Holocaust (Grant T. Harward, Cornell University Press, 2021, $44.95, hardcover). The author argues Romania was a willing participant in the Third Reich’s atrocities. The work details the many ways Romania took part in the Holocaust.

Radio Hitler: Nazi Airwaves in the Second World War (Nathan Morley, Amberley Books, 2022, $32.95, hardcover). Deutschlandsender was Nazi Germany’s equivalent of the BBC Radio 4. It broadcast propaganda around the world and within the Third Reich.

The Good Assassin: Mossad’s Hunt for the Butcher of Latvia (Stephan Talty, Amberley Books, 2022, $28.00, hardcover). Latvian Herbert Cukurs joined the SS and participated in the murder of 30,000 Latvian Jews. Mossad agent Yaakov Meidad hunted him down in the 1960s.

The True Story of Catch-22: The Real Men and Missions of Joseph Heller’s 340th Bomb Group in World War II (Patricia Chapman Meder, Casemate Books, 2022, $24.95, softcover). The daughter of the 340th’s commander wrote this interesting and entertaining look at the unit Joseph Heller served in and based his satirical work upon.

Allied Air Operations 1939 – 1940: The War Over France and the Low Countries (Jerry Murland, Pen and Sword, 2022, $34.95, hardcover). The Allied air forces were badly outmatched by the Luftwaffe at this stage of the war, but their pilots fought gallantly to even the odds. This book covers their under-appreciated efforts.

Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis’ Fortress Prison (Ben MacIntyre, Crown Publishing, 2022, $28.99, hardcover). The author details the stories of various people held prisoner in this infamous Nazi prison. The book is full of interesting details and has a smooth narrative style.

Operation Jericho: Freeing the French Resistance from Gestapo Jail, Amiens 1944 (Robert Lyman, Osprey Books, 2022, $22.00, softcover). This low-level bombing raid against a German prison in France sought to free hundreds of imprisoned resistance fighters, The book covers the planning, personalities and planes involved in this secret mission.

Britain’s Secret Defences: Civilian Saboteurs, Spies and Assassins During the Second World War (Andrew Chatterton, Casemate Books, 2022, $37.95, hardcover). With Britain under threat of invasion in 1940, a secret network of special operatives was created. Their story is told in detail in this new book.

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