Editor's Note: This year's review is written by Norman Polmar, well-known naval analyst, consultant, and author. His byline periodically has appeared in Sea Power since July 1959 (the magazine was then called Navy). He picks up this task from Col. Brooke Nihart, USMC (Ret.), who has written the Almanac's bibliographic essay since the first edition.

A large number of books related to sea power were published during 1999. Two of the volumes seen by this reviewer merit special attention:

The first is The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal by James W. Grace, who describes the savage battle in the early morning darkness of 13 November 1942 when U.S. and Japanese battle fleets engaged in a deadly exchange of gunfire and torpedoes. The forces were unevenly matched: The Japanese had two battleships (14-inch guns), one light cruiser, and 11 destroyers; the Americans had two heavy cruisers (8-inch guns), three light cruisers, and eight destroyers. But the Americans had the advantage of knowing the Japanese were in the area--and the American ships had radar.

Because of poor tactics, poor leadership, poor ship disposition, and poor use of radar, however, the battle was a debacle for the U.S. Navy. When the smoke cleared on the 13th, one Japanese battleship was dead in the water (and was later sunk by U.S. aircraft), the light cruiser was sinking, and several Japanese destroyers were damaged.

American losses were two light cruisers sunk, including the Juneau (with the loss of most of her crew, including the five Sullivan brothers); four destroyers also were sunk or sinking. The two U.S. heavy cruisers were severely damaged. Almost a thousand Americans were dead, including two rear admirals.

Except for Pearl Harbor and Savo Island, it was the worst American naval defeat of the war. Using both survivor reports and official documents, Grace has provided a detailed, minute-by-minute report of the savage battle. His book is a classic of the same type as Battleship Bismarck (1980) by Baron Burkard von Mullenheim-Rechberg, a survivor of that battleship who graphically described her destruction.

The second book is John J. Poluhwich's Argonaut: The Submarine Legacy of Simon Lake, a delightful and long-needed biography. A contemporary of John P. Holland, Lake was far more innovative in his submarine designs and concepts, but less adept at dealing with the U.S. Navy bureaucracy. Heretofore the only useful book on Lake was his long-out-of-print autobiography

Both of these books are highly readable and well illustrated. Interestingly, neither Grace nor Poluhwich is a "professional" naval historian; Grace is a retired high school history teacher, Poluhwich a college biology professor. These are their first books.

SEA POWER AND CONFLICT

The modern U.S. Navy is described in the excellent Around the World With the U.S. Navy by Bradley Peniston, a reporter for Navy Times. Peniston visited 36 ships, submarines, and bases, and all five numbered fleets, to compile his overview of today's Navy. Especially interesting are his discussions of people: One vignette tells of the men and women who work on the steel deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln during operations in the Persian Gulf. High temperatures and low humidity coupled with the donning of helmets, goggles, and long-sleeved jerseys all contribute to heat stroke and cramps. Americans are not used to working in such an environment. Peniston tells how the air transfer officer, Ens. Jennifer Blakeslee, keeps her tiny office freezer stocked with flavored ice pops to help refresh her people.

This is a thoroughly readable and enjoyable book. Its only weaknesses are the small page size (6-by-9 inches) and the paucity of photos--instead of 15 there should have been about 150.

In Shield and Sword, two leading Navy Department historians, Edward J. Marolda and Robert J. Schneller Jr., have provided an excellent history of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps participation in the buildup for the Gulf War, and of the brief conflict itself. While their book is highly recommended as a history of the conflict, it also provides the serious student of the Navy with an objective discussion of the state of today's Navy, including its problems and shortcomings.

Looking at the British side, Nicholas Lambert has provided a reassessment of Adm. John (Jackie) Fisher's policies in Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution. Adding to recent discussions in this field and bringing keen insight to the issues (including the personalities involved), Lambert concludes that Fisher's strategic genius was based on the development of battle cruisers and submarines, not the Dreadnought battleship. Beyond ships, Lambert examines the problems of paying for Fisher's new warships and manning them--both significant factors that often are ignored in discussions of Fisher's policies.

Another perspective on Fisher and his civilian counterpart in World War I, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, is found in Geoffrey Penn's Fisher, Churchill, and the Dardanelles. His book examines the two strong-willed naval leaders and their impact on the Royal Navy and the disastrous amphibious campaign to capture the Turkish straits. Lambert sees Fisher as the more effective leader and certainly the more trusted of the two by senior naval officers. Some will argue with Lambert's views, and the debates will continue.

The use of the ships that Fisher and Churchill built, and the overall Political Influence of Naval Force in History, is addressed by James Cable, a retired British diplomat and author of several important books in this field. Cable argues that only navies and aviation can influence events overseas. Employing naval history throughout the Cold War to prove his thesis, Cable provides considerable food for thought. His book is highly recommended--for the general reader as well as the readers of Sea Power.

Among the relatively few significant books about World War II that appeared in 1999 is The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940­1943 by Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani. This is a battle history in which the authors credit both British and Italian naval commanders with conducting aggressive operations. The major limitation on Italy's operations was the shortage of fuel, not backbone. Although there are numerous factual errors, the overall perspective of this book makes it significant.

Another look at the Vietnam War--America's most controversial conflict--is taken by veteran military analyst Jeffrey Record in The Wrong War. Attempting to answer "Why we lost in Vietnam," Record, who served as a civilian district advisor in the Mekong Delta, lists four reasons: (1) U.S. civilian and military leaders misunderstood the nature of the conflict; (2) they overestimated the effect of American firepower on a determined Asian enemy; (3) they overestimated U.S. domestic political support for a war of this nature; and (4) South Vietnam was never a politically viable ally.

Record makes a good case for his thesis, although, like virtually all others who have written on the subject, his sources are overwhelmingly American. There is little here (or anywhere) on the North Vietnamese viewpoint. Still, Record's analysis and writing style are outstanding.

SHIPS AND BOATS

Bruce Hampton Franklin's The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts is an excellent history and detailed description of these important warships. There are photos of all 154 Buckley-class ships, plus "action" shots, and plans. The detail photos and notes are superb. (And what is your next book about ships, Mr. Franklin?)

U.S. Battleship Operations in World War I provides a long-needed and very well-written and well-researched book on the role of these ships in "The Great War." Author Jerry W. Jones believes that "The influence of the U.S. battle fleet was indirect, but substantial," a conclusion that this reviewer would question. A small book (170 pages), and expensive, it is nonetheless an effective account of the operations of the Sixth Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet, and the use of battleships as convoy escorts--and, subsequently, troop ships to return American troops after the war.

Two accounts of the explosion in the battleship Iowa's No. 2 16-inch turret on 19 April 1989 reveal the shortcomings in Navy training and procedures for that mighty ship, and the culpable incompetence, or worse, in the Navy's handling of the investigation and placing of blame. Very different in their approach are A Glimpse of Hell, by Charles C. Thompson II, a journalist, who tells the "full story" of the disaster that took 47 lives; and Explosion Aboard the Iowa, by Richard L. Schwoebel of the Sandia National Laboratory, who focuses primarily on the detailed investigation that belatedly gave the most probable cause of the Iowa explosion.

Tom Clancy and his "longtime friend and partner" John D. Gresham have produced another in their guided-tour series--Carrier. Their book provides an interesting and detailed look at a modern, nuclear-powered carrier, its aircraft, weapons, and operations. Illustrated with photos and superb cutaway drawings, Carrier is highly recommended, although those who are knowledgeable of the subject will find a few disturbing errors. The only major shortcoming, though, is the lack of meaningful discussion about the men and women who sail the carriers.

Another book about a carrier is arguably Robert D. Ballard's best book about his underwater searches, Return to Midway. This large-page-size, handsomely illustrated book--published by National Geographic in its typical lavish style--details the Battle of Midway (4-5 June 1942), the search for the sunken U.S. carrier Yorktown and the four Japanese carriers, and Ballard's success in locating and photographing the wreckage of the U.S. flattop.

The book's photos--both historical (of the battle) and contemporary (taken underwater by towed cameras)--are remarkable. So, too, are the several paintings based on the battle and on the underwater search 56 years later.

David K. Brown's The Grand Fleet, a book that is very well-written and well-illustrated (with plans and photos), describes the design and development of Jackie Fisher's ships and submarines. The large-size book provides a look at the design and development of British warships from 1906 to 1922 (i.e., from Dreadnought to the Washington Naval Treaty). Brown, who retired in 1988 as the Royal Navy's deputy chief naval architect, is an excellent writer and historian. His book is required reading for those interested in this period of warship development.

Particularly noteworthy to this reviewer are Brown's comparisons of foreign warship designs, especially the (ill-fated) battle cruiser Hood with the U.S. battle cruiser Lexington and battleship BB 49, which was never completed.

The warships and all others, he describes, have anchors. Betty Nelson Curryer has provided an appealing, well-written, and heavily illustrated little volume in Anchors: An Illustrated History. (This reviewer hopes that she, too, is planning additional works of this kind.)

A study of an older warship, the ironclad New Ironsides, is found in William H. Roberts' USS New Ironsides in the Civil War. Intended as an oceangoing ship in contrast to the more famous Monitor, a coastal defense ship, the New Ironsides and her operations are described in detail. Although successful, she was overshadowed by the Monitor, both in publicity and in the Navy Department's estimates of which type of warship was more important for the post-Civil War fleet.

PT Boats At War, by the author of this review and Samuel Loring Morison, provides a history of U.S. motor torpedo boat operations, with the key dates, characteristics, and fate of each PT boat, PTC (submarine chaser), and PT boat tender built for the U.S. Navy.

Protecting ships against pirates is still a concern in many parts of the world. In Maritime Terror, Jim Gray and his colleagues have provided a small (66-page) guide to protecting a ship--be it merchantman, yacht, or tug--against ubiquitous pirates.

AIRCRAFT AND WEAPONS

During the 1930s several navies experimented with night carrier takeoffs and landings. But only the U.S. Navy developed and deployed night carrier air groups during World War II, and also provided night-fighter detachments to large carriers. Charles H. Brown, a former Marine pilot who helped developed postwar night-attack tactics, has provided an outstanding history of U.S. developments and operations in night carrier ops in Dark Sky, Black Sea, from the experiments in the 1930s, through World War II and the Korean War, through night/all-weather flying in the Cold War. This book's many fine points include discussions of equipment and tactics as well as operations.

Night Fighters Over Korea by the late G.G. (Jerry) O'Rourke is a detailed exposition of F4U Corsair and F3D Skynight fighters during the Korean War. F4U night-fliers regularly operated from carriers, but the F3D "Whale" was too large, awkward, and dangerous (it had a tendency to start fires on the wooden-deck Essex-class carriers) to roost aboard ship. O'Rourke--whose work was finished by fellow Navy pilot E.T. (Tim) Wooldridge--details the aircraft development, tactics, and living conditions for the F4U and F3D detachments, both aboard ship and ashore, in that conflict.

Both of these books must be considered major contributions to aviation history.

An interesting overview of air power in the 20th century is John Buckley's Air Power in the Age of Total War. The author objectively discusses the successes and failures of air power--in World Wars I and II, and in the numerous other conflicts of the past half-century. The author's summary includes a discussion of the conflicts expected in the near future--against terrorists and guerrillas, among others. Air forces have not adequately considered these challenges, according to Buckley, a lecturer in war studies and history at the University of Wolverhampton in England.

Aviation historian Jack Lambert provides a graphic look at World War II in Atlantic Air War as he presents a fascinating array of aircraft photos in this small (112-page) work. There are several never-before-published photos of Allied aircraft hunting U-boats.

A less publicized but longer "campaign" was the Navy's hundreds of flights in support of U.S. scientific activities in the Antarctic. From 1955 to 1999, Navy Antarctic Development Squadron (VXE) 6 operated against the Antarctic "enemies" of wind, cold, and whiteout. Former VXE-6 pilot Mark A. Hinebaugh describes the operations and people in the South Pole expeditions in his Flying Upside Down.

The Sidewinder is the most widely used missile in the world and, as proven in combat by U.S., British, Israeli, and Taiwanese fighters, one of the most effective. Its origins at the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, Calif., are well told by Ron Westrum in Sidewinder. A 23-year veteran of China Lake, the author provides both the story of the Sidewinder and an inside look at creative genius at work.

Another aspect of combat aviation is the use of aggressor squadrons to provide advanced fighter training. Rick Llinares and Chuck Lloyd discuss and illustrate the five U.S. aggressor units--including Navy and Marine--in Adversary, an oversize book with stunning photos.

Francis H. Dean has compiled an impressive collection of photos for America's Navy and Marine Corps Airplanes, but the published work is of marginal value. More than a thousand photos are included, but the aircraft are arranged by type (hence the AU-1 Corsair is 70 pages from the FG-1 Corsair and more than 100 pages from the F4U Corsair), with aircraft listed in order of designation (hence manufacturers and era are jumbled). The captions are redundant (and a few are strikingly inaccurate), reproduction quality is poor, and there is no index--a necessity for such "catalogues."

SPIES, SPOOKS, SPONSORS

The past year also was a bountiful one for books on intelligence and espionage, most of them related to the Cold War. Several significant books evolved from the Central Intelligence Agency's 1996 conference that revealed the breadth and depth of the Venona operation, the deciphering of secret Soviet communications with intelligence agencies in the United States during and after World War II.

The top book on the list is Venona: The Greatest Secret of the Cold War, by Nigel West, an intelligence historian and for 10 years a Member of Parliament. West provides an excellent account of how messages were decrypted and the breakthroughs that resulted--as well as the failures to decipher many of the Venona messages. His special perspective and understanding of the subject reveals many nuances not otherwise known, and his own follow-up research has identified a number of Soviet agents.

In Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr also provide an excellent account of that "greatest secret," with emphasis on Soviet espionage penetration of U.S. government agencies. Beyond such well-known figures as the Rosenbergs, Judith Coplon, Alger Hiss, and Harry Dexter White, the book records how some 350 other U.S. citizens or residents collected intelligence for the Soviets.

John A. Walker and his confederates were post-Venona spies who compromised U.S. military communications for 19 years. Former FBI special agent Robert W. Hunter describes "the detection, pursuit, and capture" of Walker in his Spy Hunter. Despite the fact that the "detection" agent was Walker's disillusioned wife, who called an FBI field office, this is a valuable book for its discussion of procedures, the events surrounding Walker's capture, and the trial (with Walker's participation) of his "best friend" and collaborator Jerry Whitworth.

As one reads the book this question continually comes to mind: Why was Walker's wife, Barbara, who participated in his espionage, never charged with a crime?

In addition to using Americans to spy for them, the Soviet Union made full use of Eastern Bloc intelligence agencies, especially the East German STASI, the title of a revealing book by John O. Koehler. The STASI was the largest Eastern Bloc intelligence/police service, with one employee for every 166 East Germans--plus millions of informers! Koehler describes the particulars of STASI operations against the East German population (did anyone read those tens of millions of reports?), penetration of the West German government, operations against the Western Allies in Berlin, and the service's collaboration with the KGB.

What should have been a major contribution to intelligence history, The Sword and the Shield, delivers less than promised. Coauthor Vasili Mitrokhin worked for almost 30 years in the foreign intelligence archives of the KGB; he studiously made copies of numerous key documents before he defected in 1992, and those form the basis for this book. Unfortunately, there is (too) much in the book of his collaborator Christopher Andrew, confusing many issues. Nigel West estimates that only 20 percent of the book is "pure Mitrokhin" and another 20 percent is material added by British intelligence; the remaining 60 percent is contributed by British intelligence historian (and history professor) Andrew.

Looking at the other side of the world, Richard H. Shultz Jr., in The Secret War Against Hanoi, describes--often for the first time in public--various intelligence and "special" operations against North Vietnam. Most of the U.S. intelligence officials involved had fought the secret wars of 1941­1945, and in many instances attempted to use the same dirty tricks that were so successful earlier. But, as the U.S. military leadership learned in the conventional fighting, the war in Vietnam was very different. The United States fought neither the conventional or clandestine campaigns very well, and lost both.

More specialized in this field is Frank Holober's Raiders of the China Coast. During the Korean War the U.S. CIA collaborated with the Nationalist Chinese intelligence forces, newly established on Taiwan and several islands just off the China coast, to harass the communist Chinese regime. A somewhat esoteric volume, Raiders provides many interesting details about these operations. But Holober, a former CIA officer, also describes the travails of dealing with the Nationalists--the politics, maneuverings, and machinations. This is good reading and a valuable look "behind the scenes." (Among the U.S. participants in these operations was a young Marine, Robert H. Barrow, who would later become commandant of the Marine Corps.)

One of the more controversial books of 1999 that must be mentioned is Robert Stinnett's Day of Deceit. Stinnett believes, after examining hundreds of decrypts of the Japanese Navy code JN-25, that the code was broken before the attack on Pearl Harbor and that President Roosevelt had the intelligence kept from his naval commanders, especially Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, the fleet commander at Pearl Harbor.

Navy codebreakers, however, recall that less than 15 percent--at most--of JN-25 was being read before Pearl Harbor, and insist that no message relating to Pearl Harbor, or to carrier strikes, was ever seen. Stinnett contends that several key messages were broken before the attack, but the fact that those messages are marked (on the original) with "JN-25" reveals that they were broken after the spring of 1942, when that designation was applied to the code.

Ironically, Stinnett is largely replowing the same ground as James Rusbridger and Eric Nave in their Betrayal at Pearl Harbor: How Churchill Lured Roosevelt into World War II (1991). Their theory was thoroughly discredited. Recently declassified decrypts as well as other material make it clear that there was no prior knowledge, in Britain or the United States, based on Allied codebreaking efforts. It seems likely, though, that, even in the absence of proof of a conspiracy, the conspiracy theories will continue.

Revised editions are rarely reviewed in this annual essay, but the fourth edition of Jeffrey T. Richelson's The U.S. Intelligence Community is worthy of comment. Its update of detailed descriptions of U.S. intelligence agencies, their operations, and techniques make it a valuable handbook for all persons interested in this subject.

PEOPLE

Navy fighter pilot, record-breaking aviator, astronaut, and senator--John Glenn has collaborated with Nick Taylor to write his autobiography, John Glenn: A Memoir. Glenn had a distinguished career in the Marine Corps even before he became the first American to orbit the earth; he had flown Air Force F-86 Sabres in Korea and broke the transcontinental speed record in an F8U-1P Crusader.

From his first airplane ride at age eight to becoming the oldest man to fly in space (at age 77), Glenn's life has been the stuff of legends, and he has dealt and worked with some of the world's most fascinating people. Most of the book, however, is about his flying days--in aircraft and spacecraft--and the people he worked with (and on occasion against). Very little of the book is about his 24 years in the U.S. Senate.

Another American hero is Edward L. (Ned) Beach, submarine commander and highly successful novelist. His 1955 novel Run Silent, Run Deep established his reputation as a great storyteller. Now, in his autobiographic Salt and Steel, Beach tells about the Navy in which he served. He describes his submarine service in World War II, his role as aide to Gen. Omar Bradley when the latter was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his assignment to be naval aide to President Eisenhower, and his command of the Triton, the world's largest nuclear-powered submarine when she circumnavigated the globe, under water, in 1960.

Beach uses Salt and Steel--which is not strictly a biography--to comment, honestly and most knowledgeably, on the strengths and weaknesses of the Navy he served so well for so many years. He also uses a few pages to defend his father, also a distinguished naval author, who was court-martialed when the ship he commanded, the cruiser Memphis, was driven ashore by a tidal wave in 1916.

With equal alacrity, Beach also defends the previously mentioned Admiral Kimmel, who commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet when it lay unprepared for war at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Whether or not one agrees with Beach on these (or other) issues, his latest book, like its many predecessors, is well worth reading.

Another semi-autobiographic work is Tom Clancy and Chuck Horner's Every Man a Tiger. Horner, a retired Air Force general, commanded the U.S./coalition air effort during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The first section of the book describes Horner's early career, important to understanding how his experiences in the Vietnam War shaped his views of air power. Clancy and Horner then take on the air campaign in the Gulf War. This is no rehash of the conflict, but an effort to bring a better understanding of the role, success, and limitation of air power in that conflict.

While U.S. casualties in the Gulf War were relatively few, many other Americans died in the undeclared conflicts and crises of the past half century. Among the casualties was Col. Rich Higgins, a Marine officer serving as head of United Nations observers in Lebanon. He was kidnapped by Iranian-backed terrorists, tortured, and murdered. His widow, Marine Lt. Col. Robin Higgins, tells his story--and hers, in Patriot Dreams, and also recounts in detail her frustrating efforts to have the United Nations and U.S. government take the actions needed to free her husband. Rich Higgins was a hero, both in life and in death.

Cameras play an essential role in military aviation and space activities. The United States has led the world in the development of the special cameras used, and in many other aspects of photography. Insisting on the Impossible, by Victor K. McElheny, is an excellent biography of photographic pioneer Edwin Land. Holding more patents than any other American save Thomas A. Edison, Land was responsible for a phenomenal number of photographic, X-ray, and night-vision devices. Central to this reviewer's interests, he was responsible for the cameras that enabled the U-2 spyplane to revolutionize intelligence collection. Those cameras--further improved--were the basis for subsequent satellite cameras. McElheny provides a valuable account of this remarkable man.

The men behind the cameras in the Royal Navy are the subjects of Camera at Sea by Neil Mercer. The book, described as a history of the R.N. photographic branch from 1919 to 1998, provides a stirring and extremely well-illustrated history of the branch, in both war (up to the Persian Gulf and Bosnian conflicts) and peace. The second half of the book (70 pages) is a collection of color photos of the Royal Navy in action from 1985 through 1998.

Another people book from England is Philip Kaplan's Fighter Pilot. Also a pictorial history, this book uses a superb collection of color and black-and-white photos and paintings to take the reader from World War I biplanes to contemporary missile-armed jet aircraft. Personal interviews, logbooks, and memorabilia enhance this fine work.

R.G. Smith is internationally known as one of the world's foremost aviation artists. With aviation writer (and former Navy pilot) Rosario (Zip) Rausa, Smith has produced his long-awaited autobiography, The Man and His Art. The modestly brief (but well-written) 15-page narrative tells of his first career as an engineer with Douglas Aircraft, and then his second as an aviation artist. The bulk of the book contains almost 150 drawings, paintings, and sketches, some never before seen by the public.

There were 1,411 commanding officers of German U-boats during World War II. Authors Rainer Busch and Hans-Joachim Röll, ably assisted by translator Geoffrey Brooks, have provided a list and short biographies of these men in German U-Boat Commanders of World War II. These bold commanders ranged in age from 20 to 62. The English-language publishers--Greenhill Books (London) and the Naval Institute Press--deserve credit for a major contribution to the reference literature of the war.

Another submariner is the subject of The Terrible Hours by Peter Maas. Charles (Swede) Momsen was a submariner and inventor who developed a variety of underwater breathing devices and submarine escape gear. The focus for the book is the sinking of the new U.S. submarine Squalus in 1939 and the subsequent rescue of 33 men through use of the McCain rescue chamber. Momsen was the genius behind the device, writes Maas, and only by fighting the Navy bureaucracy did he develop a submarine escape and rescue capability. The opposition to Momsen is somewhat overblown, but the book makes good reading.

Still another submarine pioneer--in mufti--was the late Dr. Waldo Lyon, long-time head of the Navy's under-ice research efforts. In Under Ice, biographer William M. Leary provides an admirable account of the U.S. Navy's Arctic operations and the individual most responsible for their success. Beyond his scientific prowess, Lyon was an advocate for more nuclear submarines--if they could operate under ice. In his final years, as Leary reports, he lamented the drastic reduction in the number of U.S. submarines.

When the U.S. cruiser Indianapolis was torpedoed on 30 July 1945 she sank within two minutes. It was three days before a Navy aircraft sighted the survivors. During those three terrible days sharks attacked almost continually. Only 318 men were picked up by rescuers. Sharks killed hundreds in one of the largest such massacres recorded in modern times. That story is skillfully told in Thomas B. Allen's The Shark Almanac, a comprehensive overview of the biology, history, and diversity of sharks and their cousins, the skates and rays. Allen's book includes many items of particular interest to naval readers, among them how odd sharks called cookie-cutters tried to feed on U.S. submarines, and the frustrating history of Navy-inspired attempts to develop shark repellent. He also reveals the name that shark researchers, seeking knowledge about shark vision, gave the yellow color of lifejackets: "yum-yum yellow."

A black enlisted man's view of the wartime U.S. Navy is well told in Better Than Good by Adolph W. Newton and Winston Eldridge. Newton served aboard ship during World War II and, despite racial discrimination, came to love the Navy.

Almost one hundred years earlier, Acting Volunteer Ensign John W. Grattan served in the Navy as a clerk with the North Atlantic Blockading Squad-ron. Assigned to two Union admirals from 1863 to 1865, his memoirs--Under the Blue Pennant--make fascinating reading. The book is enhanced by the introduction, editing, and notes of Robert J. Schneller Jr.

PLACES

The oldest U.S. navy yard, largely neglected in print since Taylor Peck's Round-Shot to Rockets (1949), is remembered on its 200th anniversary by Edward J. Marolda in The Washington Navy Yard. This compact 112-page illustrated history is very well done, and packed with fascinating information about the multitude of activities at the yard, its many distinguished visitors, and its workers.

Where the Fleet Begins is a history of the David Taylor Model Basin and Research Center. Rodney P. Carlisle has traced the internationally renowned facility from 1898, when it was built to replace a model basin at the Washington Navy Yard, to the present. While the book lacks depth in several key areas, its 661 pages are a valuable summary of the development and principal activities of the facility.

Fortress Europe by J.E. Kaufmann and R.M. Jurga, discusses European fortifications of World War II, both before and after Germany's victories at the beginning of that conflict. Despite the lack of sources--and photos that are too small--this is an important and comprehensive contribution to the history of World War II and a helpful reference work in an area that is often mentioned, but rarely examined.

POLITICS

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, always articulate and perceptive, presents another inside look at the political decisions that have affected the U.S. position in the world--and U.S. military forces--in Years of Renewal, the third and concluding volume of his memoirs. His 1,151 pages cover, among other topics, the Mayaguez crisis, the real start of strategic arms talks with the Soviet Union, the "opening" to China, several Middle East wars and crises, the final collapse of South Vietnam, and scores of other events--and the people, (including Kissinger himself, of course) who shaped them, and the modern world. Although to some extent self-serving, this is an invaluable work.

FICTION

Fans of Captain Jack Aubrey, rejoice! Patrick O'Brian has given readers yet another Aubrey book, Blue at the Mizzen. In this novel "Jack" risks all in a single-ship night raid against the Spanish capital of Peru. The adventure--and sailing lessons--never stop in this fast-paced volume.

Mizzen brings the series to an even score of books--plus the companion atlas and a lexicon. This reviewer, however, still prefers the Horatio Hornblower of the late C.S. Forester. O'Brian's writing is crisp, clear, and engrossing, but his hero Aubrey is too perfect--he excels as seaman, navigator, strategist, musician, and swimmer. Hornblower, often awkward and fighting to survive in the rarefied social structure above him, is much more believable.

Both Aubrey and Hornblower should beat to quarters, though, because a new rival has sailed into view. Veteran destroyer officer and novelist William P. Mack has joined the fray with Captain Kilburnie. In this novel of the Nelsonian era, Mack tells of one of the first Scots to become a captain in the Royal Navy. The action comes fast and furious (as it did in Mack's six novels about WWII destroyer actions).

Mack's writing skills are well established; Capt. Kilburnie demonstrates the admiral's flexibility.

The controversial and talented Army combat veteran David Hackworth also has written another novel, The Price of Honor. The hero is Capt. Sandy Caine, a Green Beret who, between adventures, reveals to his (female) traveling companion the details about his father's death in Vietnam--under questionable circumstances. Caine's relationship with his traveling companion is luridly described, but doesn't detract from the narrative. Hackworth is at his best, though, in describing combat and in attacking politicians and defense contractors in Washington, the targets of most of his writing, both fact and fiction.

Hackworth's bottom line: A democracy needs dedicated warriors to survive.

Author's Note: While the harvest of books has been plentiful, too many of those on the 1999 list display careless editing and a lack of attention to technical or military detail. For example, The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal alternates between "it" and "she" as a pronoun for ships; in Explosion Aboard the Iowa there is frequent reference to a key "Government" Accounting Agency report--but it is the General Accounting Office; A Glimpse of Hell is inundated with statements and terminology that demonstrate a basic lack of knowledge of naval matters; and the list continues. Readers paying the relatively high prices that publishers charge these days are entitled to a much higher quality of product, especially from those publishers that specialize in military/naval/aviation books.

In the following list, brackets indicate the months that reviews about those books were published in Sea Power.

Allen, Thomas B. The Shark Almanac. (New York: The Lyons Press, 1999). $35.00.

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Hardcover - 336 pages (June 1999)
The Lyons Press; ISBN: 1558215824 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.04 x 10.23 x 8.29

Andrew, Christopher and Vasili Mitrokhin. The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. (New York: Basic Books, 1999). $32.50.

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Hardcover - 720 pages (September 15, 1999)
Basic Books; ISBN: 0465003109 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.86 x 9.56 x 6.54

Ballard, Robert D., and Rick Archbold. Return to Midway: The Quest To Find the Yorktown and The Other Lost Ships from the Pivotal Battle of the Pacific War. (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1999). $40.00.

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Hardcover - 191 pages (October 1999)
Natl Geographic Society; ISBN: 0792275004 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.99 x 11.30 x 8.85

Beach, Edward L. Salt and Steel: Reflections of a Submariner. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $32.95.

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Hardcover - 352 pages (May 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557500541 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.82 x 9.07 x 6.14

Brown, Charles H. Dark Sky, Black Sea: Aircraft Carrier Night and All-Weather Operations. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $34.95. [April 1999]

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Hardcover - 264 pages (November 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557501858 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.85 x 9.21 x 6.22

Brown, D.K. The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $59.95.

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Hardcover - 224 pages illustrate edition (August 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 155750315X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.91 x 11.70 x 9.92

Buckley, John. Air Power in the Age of Total War. (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1999). $49.95 (soft cover $19.95).

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Paperback - 256 pages (March 1, 1999)
Indiana Univ Pr; ISBN: 025321324X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.59 x 9.21 x 6.18
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Busch, Rainer, and Hans-Joachim Röll. German U-Boat Commanders of World War II. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $49.95.

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Hardcover - 288 pages (April 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557501866 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.19 x 10.01 x 7.83

Cable, James. The Political Influence of Naval Force in History. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999). $59.95. [August 1999]

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Hardcover - 223 pages (November 1998)
St Martins Pr (Short); ISBN: 0312217544 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.88 x 8.87 x 5.73

Clancy, Tom. Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier. (New York: Berkley Books, 1999). $16.00 (soft cover). [April 1999]

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Paperback - 348 pages Berkley tr edition (February 1999)
Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 0425166821 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.96 x 8.99 x 5.99

Clancy, Tom, and Chuck Horner. Every Man a Tiger. (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1999). $27.95.

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Hardcover - 564 pages (May 10, 1999)
Putnam Pub Group (T); ISBN: 0399144935 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.89 x 9.31 x 6.41
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Carlisle, Rodney P. Where the Fleet Begins: A History of the David Taylor Research Center. (Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1998). $53.00.

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Hardcover (June 1998)
Naval Historical Center; ISBN: 0160494427
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Curryer, Betty Nelson. Anchors: An Illustrated History. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $23.95 (soft cover).

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Paperback - 160 pages (August 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 155750041X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.35 x 8.99 x 6.00

Dean, Francis H. America's Navy and Marine Corps Airplanes: Post-World War I to the Present. (Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer, 1999). $49.95. [June 1999]

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Hardcover (March 1999)
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.; ISBN: 0764305573
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Franklin, Bruce Hampton. The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $39.95.

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Hardcover - 224 pages (September 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557502803 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.92 x 10.27 x 8.25

Glenn, John, with Nick Taylor. John Glenn: A Memoir. (New York: Bantam, 1999). $27.00.

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Hardcover - 422 pages (November 2, 1999)
Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Trd); ISBN: 0553110748 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.41 x 9.56 x 6.48
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Grace, James W. The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. (Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $32.95.

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Hardcover - 256 pages (April 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557503273 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.81 x 9.28 x 6.23

Grattan, John W. Under the Blue Pennant, or Notes of a Naval
Officer, 1863­1865. (New York: Wiley & Sons, 1999). $27.95.

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Hardcover - 239 pages 1 edition (February 4, 1999)
John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471240435 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.90 x 9.53 x 6.41

Gray, Jim, Mark Monday, and Gary Stubblefield. Maritime Terror: Protecting Yourself, Your Vessel, and Your Crew Against Piracy. (Boulder, Colo.: Sycamore Island Books, 1999). $12.00. (soft cover) [June 1999]

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Paperback - 72 pages (January 1, 1999)
Paladin Pr; ISBN: 1581600151

Greene, Jack, and Alessandro Massignani. The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940­1943. (Rockville Centre, N.Y.: Sarpedon, 1999). $32.50.

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Hardcover - 352 pages (January 1, 1999)
Sarpedon Pub; ISBN: 1885119615 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.29 x 9.59 x 6.42

Hackworth, David. The Price of Honor. (New York: Doubleday, 1999). $25.95.

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Hardcover - 489 pages (October 12, 1999)
Doubleday; ISBN: 0385491646 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.36 x 9.57 x 6.52

Haynes, John Earl and Harvey Klehr. Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999). $30.00.

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Hardcover - 416 pages (May 1999)
Yale Univ Pr; ISBN: 0300077718 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.51 x 9.49 x 6.46

Higgins, Robin L. Patriot Dreams: The Murder of Colonel Rich Higgins. (Quantico, Va.: The Marine Corps Association, 1999). $29.95 (soft cover $14.95). [November 1999]

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Paperback - 200 pages 1 edition (March 15, 1999)
Marine Corps Association; ISBN: 0940328240 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.55 x 8.95 x 5.99

Hinebaugh, Mark A. Flying Upside Down: True Tales of an Antarctic Pilot. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $29.95.

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Hardcover - 312 pages (February 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557503893 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.03 x 9.24 x 6.29

Holober, Frank. Raiders of the China Coast: CIA Covert Operations During the Korean War. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $32.95.

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Hardcover - 336 pages (June 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557503885 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.91 x 9.25 x 6.26

Hunter, Robert W. Spy Hunter: Inside the FBI Investigation of the Walker Espionage Case. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $32.95.

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Hardcover - 240 pages (May 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557503494 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.81 x 9.18 x 6.22

Jones, Jerry W. U.S. Battleship Operations in World War I. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1998). $32.95.

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Hardcover - 192 pages (April 1998)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557504113 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.73 x 9.33 x 6.32

Kaplan, Philip. Fighter Pilot: A History and Celebration. (London: Aurum Press, 1999). $19.98.

Kaufmann, J.E., and R.M. Jurga. Fortress Europe: European Fortifications of World War II. (Conshohocken, Pa.: Combined Publishing, 1999). $39.95.

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Hardcover - 400 pages (June 1999)
Combined Books; ISBN: 1580970001 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.20 x 10.25 x 7.26

Kissinger, Henry. Years of Renewal. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999). $35.00

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Hardcover - 1151 pages (March 1999)
Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0684855712 ; Dimensions (in inches): 2.50 x 9.59 x 6.61
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Koehler, John O. STASI: The East German Secret Police. (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1999). $28.00.

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Hardcover - 460 pages (March 1999)
Westview Pr (Trd); ISBN: 0813334098 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.47 x 9.32 x 6.41
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Lambert, John W. Atlantic Air War: Sub Hunters vs. U-boats. (North Branch, Minn.: Specialty Press, 1999). $18.95 (soft cover).

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Paperback - 112 pages (September 1, 1999)
Specialty Press Publishers & Wholesalers; ISBN: 1580070159 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.29 x 10.80 x 8.40

Lambert, Nicholas. Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution. (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1999). $39.95.

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Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours.

Hardcover - 364 pages (June 1999)
Univ of South Carolina Pr; ISBN: 1570032777 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.50 x 9.23 x 6.31

Leary, William M. Under Ice: Waldo Lyon and the Development of the Arctic Submarine. (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1999). $32.95. [July 1999]

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Hardcover - 320 pages 1 Ed edition (January 1999)
Texas A&M University Press; ISBN: 0890968454 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.26 x 9.52 x 6.41

Llinares, Rick, and Chuck Lloyd. Adversary: America's Aggressor Fighter Squadrons. (Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer, 1999). $29.95. [June 1999]

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Hardcover (February 1999)
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.; ISBN: 076430688X
Availability: This title usually ships within 4-6 weeks. Please note that titles occasionally go out of print or publishers run out of stock. We will notify you within 2-3 weeks if we have trouble obtaining this title.

Mack, William P. Captain Kilburnie. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $25.95.

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Hardcover - 384 pages (October 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557505861 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.09 x 9.24 x 6.25

Marolda, Edward J. The Washington Navy Yard. (Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1999). $17.00 (soft cover).

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Paperback (September 1999)
Naval Historical Center; ISBN: 0945274416
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Marolda, Edward J., and Robert J. Schneller Jr. Shield and Sword: The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf War. (Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1998. $59.00 (soft cover $46.00). [August 1999]

Paperback (March 1999)
Government Printing Office; ISBN: 0160498783
Other Editions: Hardcover

Maas, Peter. The Terrible Hours: The Man Behind the Greatest Submarine Rescue in History. (New York: HarperCollins, 1999). $25.00.

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Hardcover - 259 pages 1 Ed edition (September 22, 1999)
Harpercollins; ISBN: 0060194804 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.99 x 9.66 x 6.54
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McElheny, Victor K. Insisting on the Impossible. (Reading, Mass.: Perseus Books, 1998). $30.00.

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Paperback - 510 pages (October 1, 1999)
Perseus Books; ISBN: 0738201901 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.40 x 9.21 x 6.15
Other Editions: Hardcover

Mercer, Neil. Camera at Sea: The History of the Royal Naval Photographic Branch, 1919­1998. (Shrewsbury, England: Airlife, 1999). Approx. $37.50.

Newton, Adolph W., and Winston Eldridge. Better Than Good: A Black Sailor's War 1943­1945. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $25.95.

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Hardcover - 208 pages (February 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557506493 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.83 x 9.25 x 6.30

O'Brian, Patrick. Blue at the Mizzen. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999). $24.00.

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Hardcover - 261 pages (October 27, 1999)
W W Norton & Co; ISBN: 0393048446 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.08 x 8.51 x 5.81
Other Editions: Audio Cassette (Abridged), Large Print

Peniston, Bradley. Around the World with the U.S. Navy: A Reporter's Travels. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $25.95.

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Hardcover - 208 pages (December 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557506655

Penn, Geoffrey. Fisher, Churchill, and the Dardanelles. (S. Yorkshire, England: Leo Cooper, 1999). $36.95.

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Hardcover - 208 pages (April 1999)
Pen and Sword Books; ISBN: 0850526469
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Polmar, Norman, and Samuel Loring Morison. PT Boats At War: World War II to Vietnam. (Osceola, Wisc.: MBI Publishing, 1999). $19.95 (soft cover). [November 1999]

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Paperback - 160 pages (March 1999)
Motorbooks International; ISBN: 0760304998 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.38 x 10.63 x 8.26

Poluhwich, John J. Argonaut: The Submarine Legacy of Simon Lake. (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1999). $24.95.

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Hardcover - 224 pages (November 1999)
Texas A&M University Press; ISBN: 0890968942 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.77 x 9.51 x 6.31

Record, Jeffrey. The Wrong War: Why We Lost in Vietnam. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1998). $28.95.

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Hardcover - 208 pages (June 1998)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 155750699X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.94 x 9.28 x 6.28

Richelson, Jeffrey T. The U.S. Intelligence Community. 4th Edition (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1999). $37.00 (soft cover).

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Paperback - 544 pages 4th edition (March 1999)
Westview Press; ISBN: 0813368936 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.45 x 8.93 x 5.96

Roberts, William H. USS New Ironsides in the Civil War. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $49.95. [September 1999]

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Hardcover - 272 pages (June 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557506957 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.95 x 9.42 x 6.34

Schwoebel, Richard L. Explosion Aboard the Iowa. (Naval Institute Press, 1999), $34.95. [November 1999]

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Hardcover - 368 pages (April 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557508100 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.11 x 9.26 x 6.49

Shultz, Richard H., Jr. The Secret War Against Hanoi: Kennedy and Johnson's Use of Spies, Saboteurs, and Covert Warriors in North Vietnam. (New York: HarperCollins, 1999). $27.50.

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Hardcover - 368 pages (December 1999)
Harpercollins; ISBN: 0060194545 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.40 x 9.45 x 6.53

Smith, R.G. The Man and His Art: R.G. Smith, An Autobiography. (Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer, 1999). $29.95. [April 1999]

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Hardcover (February 1999)
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.; ISBN: 076430755X
Availability: This title usually ships within 4-6 weeks. Please note that titles occasionally go out of print or publishers run out of stock. We will notify you within 2-3 weeks if we have trouble obtaining this title.

Stinnett, Robert B. Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor. (New York: Free Press, 1999). $26.00.

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Hardcover - 386 pages (December 1999)
Free Press; ISBN: 0684853396 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.17 x 9.59 x 6.49
Other Editions: Audio Cassette (Abridged)

Thompson, Charles C. A Glimpse of Hell. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999). $27.95.

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Hardcover - 430 pages 1 Ed edition (March 1, 1999)
W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393047148 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.37 x 9.58 x 6.46

West, Nigel. Venona: The Greatest Secret of the Cold War. (London: HarperCollins, 1999). approx. $30.00.

Westrum, Ron. Sidewinder: Creative Missile Development at China Lake. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999). $32.95.

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Hardcover - 304 pages (September 1999)
United States Naval Inst.; ISBN: 1557509514 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.12 x 6.27 x 9.24
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 28,554

Editor's Note: Readers interested in obtaining further information on any of the titles on the preceding list are invited to visit the NLUS website at www.navyleague.org for links to booksellers and publishers. If the information is not on the website it was not available at time of posting.