Praise for War Beneath the Sea "I am truly filled with awe and admiration...fascinating and a great contribution to the entire lore of submarines.... I wish I had written the book." —Capt. Edward L. Beach, USN (Ret.) author of Run Silent, Run Deep "Peter Padfield is the best British naval historian of his generation now working. [His] book...will now become the standard work on the subject." —Daily Telegraph (London) "Peter Padfield has produced by far the best and most complete critical history of the submarine operations of all the combatants in the Second World War, at the same time providing vivid narrative accounts of particular actions and events." —Lloyds List (London) "An excellent account of submarine warfare in 1939–45... [it] recreates the tribulations and horrors of that especially brutal form of warfare within a sturdily analytical and often critical framework." —The Economist "[A] marvelously complete and detailed study of World War II submarine warfare...an interesting, serious, and timely book." —Houston Chronicle "A brilliant submarine warfare study." —Military Review

In "When We Were One" W.C. Heinz (who cowrote "M.A.S.H." under the pseudonym Richard Hooker) has amassed 21 of his short pieces about World War II (and its aftermath), many of them originally written for "The New York Sun" newspaper. Heinz includes dispatches from the battleship Nevada during the D-Day invasion and several that follow a company of infantrymen during the Battle of the Bulge. The collection is uneven. Heinz's prose suffers from Hemingway envy and too many of the stories suffer from a lack of context. They would have been greatly enhanced by the author's annotations and expansion. There are two notable exceptions: one the account of a post-battle emotional breakdown by one Capt. Joe Dawson in front of his men; the other a moment-by-moment portrait of the field execution, by firing squad, of three German spies. "--H. O'Billovich"

Who's Who in the Second World War is a completely original view of World War II, as seen from the human, rather than military, viewpoint. This fascinating and authoriative guide assembles the most important and significant characters from amongst the vast array of those involved in this monumental conflict. World War II, unlike World War I, was truly a global conflict, fought in every one of the five continents, and by combatants from every continental region. It was also, as World War I had not been, a conflict of ideologies. As a result its most significant figures have a particular richness and depth, including not only soldiers and statesmen of orthodox background but three dictators of world stature, and a host of politicians, heroes, martyrs, idealists, and traitors. From the British minister Duff Cooper to the dictator Joseph Stalin, from Nancy Fiocca of the French Resistance to Hitler in all his manifestations, every angle of the war is represented in intriguing detail. Each entry conveys not only the salient facts about the life and career of each figure but also the flavor of their individuality. Full of meticulous research and up-to-date scholarship, and including a thorough chronology of the war, Who's Who in the Second World War in an invaluable aid to an understanding of the characters, as well as the action, of the Second World War.

The West Point Word War II series is one of the best sources of history on the Second World War. The Atlases associated with each volume are a must because the text refers to them frequently. The writing style is not overly technical and explains the foundations of military doctrine followed by the respective combatants in prosecuting the conflict. The authors are able to point out the fundamental errors made by each side, the results of those miscalculations and what adjustments (if any) were made. The correct deductions are also put on display for the reader. And the authors manage to make the conflict dramatic in a professional way. For example, at the battle of Midway the Americans had put all their critical assets at risk. If all the US carriers were lost the situation in the Pacific would have been ruinous. The authors clearly point out that the Japanese fleet was overwhelming, and properly used could not have lost that battle. The American command was counting on Japanese mistakes, and the Japanese made them. Thus, the West Point historians have injected the true drama of the situation in June of 1942. A lot was on the line and the history of WWII would have been far different if the US admirals had made the mistakes instead of the Japanese. The entire series is filled with this kind of drama. The background sections which cover the road to WWII is thought provoking and shows how the outcome of the war, in many respects, was determined prior to the start of hostilities. The books cover the mental attitudes that contributed to the start of the war and the course of the conflict. The series isn't perfect. The US Army writers find a little time to subtly criticize some actions of the US Navy and US Marines. They seem to like implying the Marines were getting a lot of publicity for doing the same thing the Army was doing. This is a very minor criticism and such minor diversions do not detract at all from the superlative standards set by this very complete history. Anyone interested in WWII, its causes, conduct and outcomes, must read this set (one book covers the Pacific war and the other the European war - and there is an atlas for each of these volumes for a total of 4 books).