Book Reviews

This new section will contain reviews of new books of interest to navy readers. It will be mirrored are our shopping site Navalshopping.com. We welcome submissions from our users.

Blood and Iron by Dan MacGregor

Reviewed by Marc Schulman

Dan MacGregor has written what is being described as book one of the adventures of Levi Rankin. This book Blood and Iron which follows the career of Levi Rankin who begin the book as a marine corporal at the Battle of Manila, is a fine quick read. It was hard to put down, and the individual battle scenes were well done. The book takes us from Spanish American War to gunboats of China and the Boxer Rebellion; battles that are hardly remembered today. The book seems loosely modeled on the recent books of WEB Griffin and while not nearly as long, it read as well. My only criticism of the book is its length. In its 240 pages many details have been left out. Little is known of Rankin before we find him on the bridge of the Olympia next to Dewey. Hopefully, Macgregor plans to fill us in the following books. Also missing is a little more historic background to the battles. I am a big believer in the power of the novel to educate its readers on history I wish Blood and Iron had spent a few more paragraphs doing that. Despite these criticisms I for one am looking forward to the next in the series and highly recommend the book to anyone looking for a great military story,

The Battle of the Atlantic

Hitlers Gray Woves of the Sea and the Allies Desperate Struggle to Defeat Them

By Andrew Williams

Reviewed by Marc Schulman

The Battle of the Atlantic is a unique book that gives an excellent look at the struggle between the German U-boats and the Allied forces that were fighting to keep the sea lanes to Great Britain open. One of its strongest strengths are the many first hand accounts that are included in the book. Lengthy interviews are included from both surviving U-boats sailors and from member of the British anti- submarine forces. The evolution of the German submarine forces is detailed in the book. Tactics of both the submarines and the allied anti-submarine forces are brought alive in the "Battle of the Atlantic". Submariners and their hunters come alive in this book. If the book has a fault is its British centric nature of the book. The American involvement in the Battle of Atlantic is hardly evident- and the roll of the escort carrier is given limited attention. Despite this flaw if you are interested in a British perspective on the Battle of the Atlantic- this is an excellent source.