Was IBM, "The Solutions Company," partly responsible for the Final Solution? That's the question raised by Edwin Black's "IBM and the Holocaust", the most controversial book on the subject since Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners". Black, a son of Holocaust survivors, is less tendentiously simplistic than Goldhagen, but his thesis is no less provocative: he argues that IBM founder Thomas Watson deserved the Merit Cross (Germany's second-highest honor) awarded him by Hitler, his second-biggest customer on earth. "IBM, primarily through its German subsidiary, made Hitler's program of Jewish destruction a technologic mission the company pursued with chilling success," writes Black. "IBM had almost single-handedly brought modern warfare into the information age [and] virtually put the 'blitz' in the "krieg"." The crucial technology was a precursor to the computer, the IBM Hollerith punch card machine, which Black glimpsed on exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, inspiring his five-year, top-secret book project. The Hollerith was used to tabulate and alphabetize census data. Black says the Hollerith and its punch card data ("hole 3 signified homosexual ... hole 8 designated a Jew") was indispensable in rounding up prisoners, keeping the trains fully packed and on time, tallying the deaths, and organizing the entire war effort. Hitler's regime was fantastically, suicidally chaotic; could IBM have been the cause of its sole competence: mass-murdering civilians? Better scholars than I must sift through and appraise Black's mountainous evidence, but clearly the assessment is overdue. The moral argument turns on one question: How much did IBM New York know about IBM Germany's work, and when? Black documents a scary game of brinksmanship orchestrated by IBM chief Watson, who walked a fine line between enraging U.S. officials and infuriating Hitler. He shamefully delayed returning the Nazi medal until forced to--and when he did return it, the Nazis almost kicked IBM and its crucial machines out of Germany. (Hitler was prone to self-defeating decisions, as demonstrated in "How Hitler Could Have Won World War II".) Black has created a must-read work of history. But it's also a fascinating business book examining the colliding influences of personality, morality, and cold strategic calculation. "--Tim Appelo"

After Pearl Harbor, he led America?s flight to victory General Doolittle is a giant of the twentieth century. He did it all. As a stunt pilot, he thrilled the world with his aerial acrobatics. As a scientist, he pioneered the development of modern aviation technology. During World War II, he served his country as a fearless and innovative air warrior, organizing and leading the devastating raid against Japan immortalized in the film "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo". Now, for the first time, here is his life story ? modest, revealing, and candid as only Doolittle himself can tell it.

Nakata's book, aside from showcasing some of his Imperial Japanese reproduction line, is a good all around reference on I.J.A. and I.J.N. militaria. Some of the pictures are a little incongruous (i.e. photo of a Japanese South Manchurian Railroad colorguard in a section on wartime publications) but every addition is interesting. Notable pages for me were numerous photos of the front pages of Japan's national dailies at different points during the second Sino-Japanese war and Pacific (Greater East Asia) war. Bouyant reports of the fall of Hong Kong and Singapore contrast with news of the invasion of Saipan and a final, somber front page of August 14th 1945, with only the Imperial Rescript announcing surrender occupying the page. The book nicely documents changes in Army and Navy uniforms, headgear, and equipment from the 1860s through WWII. Pages of photos show different variations of field caps and helmets, additionally there are several nice color shots of recruiting posters from the war and there are several pages of excavated war relics alongside other pages of similar artifacts in original condition. Aside from a few minor organizational points the book is excellent and is a good servey of Japanese Militaria. One wonders whether Nakata will come up with a new edition, maybe showing more of his collection.

I waited over a month for this book to arrive and when it arrived I found that it was well worth the wait. The book is not, nor does it claim to be, the definitive reference on military insignia during the WWII period. It is a solid secondary reference source though, and contains a great amount of information conveyed through excellent illustrations and interesting text. The major and minor participants are covered in a clear format that makes searching out specific information quite easy, although a "beefier" index would have helped. All in all this volume is an excellent addition to my "library" and would easily find a home in collectors and history buff's collections. Besides, where else could you find the rank insignia for a Captain of Engineers in the Finnish Navy?

<div>From the author of the bestselling" Abandon Ship!" comes aclassic work of World War II history. Richard F. Newcomb is one of the true masters of military storytelling. In researching "Iwo Jima" he interviewed hundreds of Iwo veterans, both American and Japanese; read the diaries and letters of fighting men; and combed through masses of official navy and marine records to write the full story of one of the most famous battles in U.S. history. With exceptional depth, intelligence, and emotional power, Newcomb recounts the events of February 19, 1945, in which common men were thrust into impossible circumstances, demonstrating valor and even humor amid the horror and chaos of war. </div>