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Looks at the history and work of the National Archives, where original documents, photographs, andother important materials are stored. ... Read more

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THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Explores the FBI's role in maintaining domestic security, investigating the nation's most horrible crimes, and grappling with internal and external enemies. Vivid color photographs with livel ... Read more

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As Hitler prepared for and then carried out his assault on Western Europe in the late 1930s through 1941, the U.S. military was severely undermanned; the army was ranked only 19th worldwide in size. For the most part the American public followed an isolationist line, feeling that Hitler's aggression was a European problem that did not affect the United States. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 abruptly ended America's isolation, and the country rapidly prepared for a world war on two fronts. Industries converted seemingly overnight to the production of war material, while government agencies sprang up to oversee the mobilization effort. For the first time, women entered the work force on a large scale; other joined the military services, primarily as nurses or in support roles. The military quickly regained its strength, rising to 8 million members by 1945.Patriotism on the home front was fueled by enthusiastic news reports of American victories. This is the story of the successes and failures of the United States in mobilizing for and at the same time fighting a world war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

How the Country Mobilized for World War II
This book is an excellent summary of how the people of the United States prepared for and mobilized for World War II.The author had done exhaustive research and has included detailed facts and figures in all parts of the book.For those who are researching particular aspects of the war, this is a very good starting point.In my case, I was interested in learning about the mobilization of industry for war production and found the book to be most helpful.

For those who have a general interest in this subject, you will find the book to be well written and interesting.

A FIVE STAR BOOK THAT WILL PUT YOU TO SLEEP
If you are looking for a comprehensive history of what was happening inthe U.S. during World War II, this is the book for you.

If you want allthe numbers and listings and all the boring details, like I did, this isgood reading and brings back a lot of memories about our"wartime" experiences in the U.S.

The author is pretty thoroughwith a tendency to put the reader to sleep by giving you more facts thanyou actually wanted. So, if you are NOT really THAT interested in thesubject, it could be a 2-star reading for you.

The author talks aboutrationing, the various services and how they were formed, what to do withGerman and Japanese aliens, rationing of moonshine,discussion aboutnisei, issei, etc., lots of nice information, (some really interestingstuff) but I was a little disappointed by the "dryness" of thewriting and the fact that the author did not mention some of the moreobvious subjects I personally would like covered, such as Axis warprisoners interned in the U.S., U-boat activity off the U.S. eastcoast...

A comprehensive book, but dry, sort of like a very good collegepaper. A confusing little book: it lacks that extra zest you expected, butyou still read every word. ... Read more

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Basic information on tax regulations, rules and procedures for companies and businessmen. ... Read more

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This book counts down the world’s most memorable military and government technology failures. Students also learn what was gained from each failure.

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A Summary of German (Not only Nazi) Crimes During Their Conquest of Poland
This small book represents a summary of detailed ongoing research on the German Army's (not only SS and Gestapo's) crimes against Polish and Jewish civilians and disarmed POWs. Coverage in this work begins with the initial German attacks on September 1, 1939, through the end of the period of military occupation (October 26, 1939: p. 47). Under the subsequent German civilian rule over Poland, the atrocities only intensified.

The Luftwaffe bombed at least 158 open towns and settlements (p. 28), dwarfing the well-known tragedies of Guernica, Rotterdam, and Coventry. In the town of Sulejow, which was devoid of military targets, the Luftwaffe killed 600-1,500 Polish civilians by strafing and bombing. (p. 29). Oddly enough Wielun and its 1,200 killed civilians are not mentioned.

German propaganda had fabricated tales of Polish atrocities against Germans in order to induce Germans to "take revenge". The Fuhrer gave a directive, dated October 4, 1939 and printed out in full (p. 44) in which he gave amnesty to any Germans who committed crimes against Poles owing to "the bitterness in connection with the atrocities committed by the Poles." (p. 44). Much earlier, however, before the start of hostilities, Hitler had given an order for the German forces "to kill all men, women, and children of the Polish race and language without mercy or pardon." (p. 43). (Nuremberg Document 003-L).

Many of the German atrocities were conducted as reprisals against legitimate wartime armed Polish resistance, as if the Germans resented even the notion that anyone would have the audacity to oppose them! Datner tabulates over 60 different incidents (by date, location, and number of victims: pp. 11-17) where the German Army murdered disarmed Polish POWs (totaling a bare-minimum of nearly 2,000 victims). He also provides a district-by-district list of murders of civilians, arriving at a total bare-minimum of nearly 12,000 Polish and Jewish civilians known murdered by the Wehrmacht. (p. 41). However, his figures were by no means complete even in terms of the data that was still coming in when he wrote this work-in-progress in 1962.

Many of the victims of German crimes suffered cruel deaths (see p. 9 for methods and locations). The Germans would often herd civilians into buildings, torch them, and then shoot anyone who got out. Sometimes the Germans would deliberately run over people with tanks. [My 9 year-old self was present at what probably was a 25th-anniversary commemoration of the 1939 war. An eyewitness broke down and cried when he recounted seeing disarmed POWs being forced to lie down and get crushed under the treads of tanks].

Later, the Geneva Convention continued to be flouted. Jewish POWs were "freed", but sent to the ghettos to eventually perish with the other Jews. Those Polish POWs who were not murdered were often deprived of their POW status and made into forced laborers. Polish POWs who escaped were, upon recapture, sent to concentration camps and hung. Plans were made in 1944 to send all remaining Polish POWs to concentration camps, but the impending German defeat prevented implementation of these plans. (p. 46).

After the war, German generals--not surprisingly--claimed that they knew nothing about the atrocities being committed by their underlings. Datner points out that this is impossible. The German soldier was extremely regimented, and could do nothing without the explicit permission of superior officers. In fact, orders to kill unarmed Polish civilians, under various pretexts, can be traced not only to Hitler (mentioned earlier), but also to the likes of Reichenau, von Bock, and Brauchitsch. (p. 43; see also p. 25).
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US-Russia Military Cooperation: programs and contacts ... Read more

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Winston Spencer Churchill was an extraordinary combination of soldier and statesman. Of aristocratic birth, he enlisted as a cavalry officer, saw action at the Battle of Omdurman and, as a civilian, reported the Boer War for the "Manchester Guardian". Captured by the Boers, he escaped dramatically, and the popular appeal of his exploits helped him into a Parliamentary seat. At the outset of World War I he became the First Lord of the Admiralty and acted as the initiator of the Antwerp and Gallipoli campaigns. These failed to bear fruit and he became a colonel in the front line on the western front. At the end of the war, his political life followed a chequered career until he received the call to become prime Minister in May 1940. In this role, many thought he proved to be the saviour of his country. Dr Henry Pelling gives a biography of the great war leader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

a very good view of churchill career
henry pelling bio of churchill now reprinted remain one of the best book on churchill life . well worth reading.

Winston, who art thou?
If the front cover of Henry Pelling's Winston Churchill represented one of its chapters, or even one of its pages, we would get a description of a purpose driven Churchill moving along, and moving things along, while the many around him followed and/or reacted to him.Unfortunately, there would also be a few comments on every other person in the picture: each soldier at attention, and each military leader behind Churchill. It is possible there would also be a few lines on the photographer who isn't even pictured.Is this an overstatement?Perhaps.Yet in Winston Churchill too many are given space who should be footnoted or left out completely. I chose the book to discover more on one of modern history's most important people, but found myself trudging along rather than being gripped by such an interesting man. The book's weakness is in covering each segment of Winston's life in such detail that he is crowded into a myriad of events and seldom stands out. Joseph Lash's Eleanor and Franklin and Edmund Morris' The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt ably present the character and even essence of a pivotal leader, but here we have a Churchill who seldom comes alive, leaving the reader to know seemingly all that happened politically during his life, without obtaining a portrait of who Winston Churchill really was.With the exception of his parents, who are covered and discussed in good detail, Churchill's wife, brother, children and important friends and colleagues receive scant attention. I found it humorous that Churchill's courtship and marriage to Clementine was covered in three pages in the chapter"President of the Board of Trade."

Chapter nineteen, covering Churchill's travels and writings before his election as Prime Minister, shows what the book could have been.It is lively and interesting. The book also thrives in discussing World War II and its aftermath.While possibly overstating Churchill's role at the expense of the other Allied leaders, it does show that Britain's finest hour was due in large part to the leadership, force and facile tongue and pen of Winston Churchill.Yet, unless one is reading a dry textbook, World War II needs little help in selling itself; that the author could not make the majority of the book come alive is disappointing.

Churchill, as a soldier, writer, social reformer, innovator, leader and spectator was involved in and led more than half a century of British life and politics.For someone interested in these times Winston Churchill is a recommendable, and glimpses of Churchill come out:he loved to eat well, he loved to travel, when able he spent most mornings working from his bed, and he accustomed himself to luxury.Yet to learn more about Churchill the man, to comb the essence of who he was, the book does not leave you wanting more, it leaves you wanting something different.

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Britain’s Indian Army mutinied in 1857, leading to the first great crisis of the British Empire. A brutal campaign of sieges, massacres and forced marches, it has become a great military legend, as described in this heavily illustrated work. ... Read more

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flawed with British arrogance, but readable and interesting
This book drips with old-fashioned racism and outrage that anyone would ever want to rebel against the british empire. It could have been written a hundred years ago. Balancing that, it's readable and concise, but could use more maps to illustrate the action for people not familiar with India. ... Read more

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A Brief Review for the WW2 Historians
This is an excellent book.World War 2 ends around page 136 so there is much more material (interesting stuff) on the formation of NATO and the unification of US armed services than Ike's experiences as Supreme Allied Commander in North Africa, Sicily, and NW Europe.Just a heads up!This book is a must for anyone's National Security reading collection.

WAR BY LAND, SEA, AND AIR: DWIGHT EISENHOWER AND THE CONCEPT OF UNIFIED COMMAND
WAR BY LAND, SEA, AND AIR: DWIGHT EISENHOWER AND THE CONCEPT OF UNIFIED COMMAND
COLONEL DAVID JABLONSKY, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED)
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2010
HARDCOVER, $35.00, 386 PAGES, NOTES, INDEX


On the eve of World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower appeared to be approaching the end of a moderately successful career distinguished mainly by exemplary staff work. A member of the 1915 Class of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he spent most of the First World War training troops at home. He never received so much as a battalion command until 1940. Graduating in the upper third of his class at West Point, Eisenhower had already displayed the warmth, friendliness, and ability to say the right thing that endeared him to colleagues. These qualities, further perfected, would serve him well in increasingly challenging relationships and would eventually lead to the "I Like Ike" campaign that swept him into the White House in 1952. But more than likeability formed the essence of the future supreme commander. Eisenhower came under the wing of General Fox Conner in the Panama Canal Zone in the early 1920s. Conner saw leadership potential in his young chief of staff and introduced him to the writings of classical philosophers and military historians. Supervising Eisenhower's drafting of military orders, he guided him through careful analysis of tactical and terrain problems. When Ike went off to the Army's Command and General Staff School, he finished at the top of his class. Continued distinction in staff assignments brought him to the attention of Army Chief of Staff, General Douglas MacArthur, who made Eisenhower his special assistant both in Washington and later in the Philippine Islands, where they were charged with preparing its defenses against future invasion. Back home in 1941, Ike caught the attention of the new Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, who put him in charge of planning for the war that seemed to be looming ever closer. He impressed again with papers that essentially outlined the main thrusts of American military actions for the next three years. By this time, coordinated war planning was being done through the U.S.-British Combined Chiefs of Staff. When a Supreme Allied Commander for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) was needed, Eisenhower was tapped by Marshall with the approval of the British. As a Lieutenant General, Ike moved to London and directed the invasion of North Africa that began in November, 1942. He also supervised the invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943, smoothly coordinating U.S. and British forces through a variety of commanders, some of whom had far more experience than he. This factor and the natural buildup of irritations among the Allies taxed his diplomatic and interpersonal skills as preparations were made for the D-Day invasion of France in June, 1944. Despite its success, German resistance continued and dissension developed among Ike's subordinates as to how to finally break it. Britain's Field Marshal Montgomery proved especially difficult to placate. But Ike kept the lid on the clashing emotions, made the tough decisions on allocations and tactics, and was deservedly lionized when victory came in May, 1945. In this well-timed book, retired U.S. Army Colonel David Jablonsky takes a fresh look at Ike's lasting military legacy, in light of his evolving approach to the concept of unified command. Jablonsky examines in great detail the career of Eisenhower and his efforts to implement a unified command in the U.S. military-a concept that eventually led to the current organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and that, almost three decades after Ike's presidency, played a major role in defense reorganization under the Goldwater-Nichols Act. After reading this well-written and researched book, you will not only admire Eisenhower's character and affirm his outstanding performance as the Supreme Allied commander during World War II but also how these two influenced his ideas on a unified command.


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida ... Read more

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Examines the extent of military power held by America's commander-in-chief--a subject of much debate since the founding of the nation. ... Read more

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Surveys the history of the Coast Guard, describing its structure, current fucntion, and influence on American society. ... Read more