Islam pre 1700 Book review by Fred LaneMartell, H.M. Looking back: The world of Islam before 1700. Evans Brothers Limited: London 1998. 62 pp, hardback, $19.99.(But check the remainders box for a bargain.) Indonesia, our near-north neighbour, has by far the largest population of Muslims of any country in the world. Some, like the Bali […]
Eric Nave: RAN code breaker Book review by Kevin A. Rickard Pfennigwerth, I. A man of intelligence: The life of Captain Eric Nave, Australian codebreaker extraordinary. Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd: Dural. 2006. 304pp., 18 pp. of plates, illustrations and maps. $29.95 paperback. A man of intelligence is the biography of an enterprising and successful Australian […]
Flak Book review by Kevin Rickard Veitch, M. Flak: True stories from the men who flew in World War Two. Pan Macmillan Australia Pty. Ltd.: Sydney. 2006. 288pp. $32.95. The journalist author has had a lifelong interest in history, especially the aviation history of World War II. He maintains that inside the head of every […]
The fall of Berlin Book review by Fred Lane Beevor, A. (2002) Berlin: The downfall 1945. Penguin Books: London. 490 pp including index and footnotes. $35.00. Antony Beevor has done it again. On top of his excellent description of the siege of Stalingrad (Naval Officers Club Newsletter 51 pp. 23-4), he now describes in authoritative […]
The Stalingrad siege Book review by Fred Lane Beevor, A. (1998) Stalingrad. Penguin Books. 494pp, including maps, photos, index and comprehensive chapter footnotes. Paperback $35 Retired British Army officer Antony Beevor won many literary prizes and reviewer acclaim with this book. Together with Harrison Salisbury’s description of the 900-day siege of Leningrad (Salisbury 1969) and […]
The Loss of HMS Glorious Book review by John van Gelder Winton, J. (1999) Carrier Glorious: The life and death of an aircraft carrier. Cassell Military Paperbacks: London. $16.95. John Winton is a well-known author of many fiction and non-fiction books concerning the Royal Navy and naval subjects generally. In this book he has […]
No end save victory Book review by Fred Lane Cowley, R. (Ed.) No end save victory. G.P. Putnam’s Sons: New York, 2001. 688 pp. ($69.95 Dymocks to USD$16.99 Barnes and Noble paperback.) Some prefer their war histories laid out in infinite precise detail, backed up by footnotes and attributions, like Antony Beevor’s Berlin and […]
The Battle of Antietam Museum More American soldiers (617,528) died during the 1861-65 American Civil War than in any other conflict involving Americans. The next worse loss of life was in WW II when 407,316 were killed (Morison and Commager 1950, p. 653). These figures cannot compare to the millions of Russian, German […]
Army Museum, WA A little gem of a museum lies quietly in a Fremantle back street, on Cantonment Hill, near the old Stirling Highway/Canning Highway intersection. Look out for khaki museum signs that point to the old Artillery Barracks in Burt St. They house time-themed galleries, while outside there is an interesting collection of “better-than-new” […]
Museum of Anthropology, UBC The Museum of Anthropology in the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada has by far the best collection of original totem poles and other carvings by the Northwest First Nations people. The exhibits are not only more numerous but are in better condition that those found, for instance, in totem […]
