Archive Results For: Interwar
Book Review-‘Warship Builders: An industrial history of naval shipbuilding, 1922–1945’ by T. Heinrich
This wide-ranging book straddles a range of topics. It will be useful to informed general readers interested in warships and shipbuilding, as well as to economic historians considering the role of the state in wartime. The title (and subtitle) might have been more specific, as much the largest part of the book is about American […] Read More
Filed under: Interwar | WW2
Subjects include: Navies | Shipbuilding & Design | Weapons
Book Review-‘Warships After London: The end of the treaty era in the five major fleets, 1930–1936’ by J. Jordan
Warships After London, John Jordan’s follow-up to 2011’s excellent Warships After Washington, aims to continue the story of naval fleet developments into the 1930s, and more specifically to cover the crucial years of the London Treaty of April 1930. This book, perhaps even more so than its predecessor, captures a period of rapid technological change. […] Read More
Filed under: Interwar
Subjects include: Navies | Shipbuilding & Design | Strategy & Diplomacy
Book Review-‘Churchill’s Admiral in Two World Wars: Admiral of the Fleet Lord Keyes of Zeebrugge and Dover GCB KCVO CMG DSO’ by J. Crossley
This is the first biography of Roger Keyes for some decades and fills a surprising gap in the literature. Keyes had a hugely successful career and was an archetypal son of the British Empire. Born in India in 1872, where his father was commander of the Punjab Frontier Force, he was one of nine children. […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | Interwar | WW2
Subjects include: Biography
Portugal and the Spanish Civil War at Sea, 1936–1939
At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, Portugal was already monitoring the political situation in Spain very closely since left-leaning Republican governments were seen to pose a major threat to the regime of António Oliveira Salazar (1889–1970), the dictatorial ruler of Portugal. The ensuing conflict, which would set the standard for […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Interwar
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies | Strategy & Diplomacy
Bellingshausen in Britain: Supplying the Russian Antarctic expedition, 1819
In August and September 1819 the first Russian Antarctic expedition, commanded by Captain Bellingshausen, visited Britain to purchase navigational and scientific instruments, charts and books. Using documents in the Russian Naval Archives, this article describes the visit in detail and reflects on what this information tells us about the framing of the expedition and the […] Read More
Filed under: Interwar | Antarctic
Subjects include: Logistics | Science & Exploration
Book Review-‘Spoils of War: The fate of enemy fleets after the two World Wars’ by A. Dodson and S. Cant
This most interesting new publication by Aidan Dodson and Serena Cant has been aimed at filling a long-noted gap in the histories of the fleets of the defeated nations of the First and Second World Wars after hostilities had ceased, describing the ultimate fates of the surrendered vessels by destruction and accident. It serves as […] Read More
Book Review-‘Trading by the Wind: Sea diaries 1919–1923’ by G. Wicksteed, edited by B. Tyler
Godfrey Wicksteed (1899–1997) came from a prominent dissenting family with Quaker connections, so it is no surprise that he became a conscientious objector in the First World War, though taking the option of enlisting in what was still the Merchant Service was not common. There his service was as deck boy and ordinary seaman with […] Read More
Filed under: Interwar
Subjects include: Biography
Book Review-‘U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Reserve ‘They Are Marines’: Uniforms and equipment in WorldWar II’ by J. Moran
The United States Marine Corps has a mantra ‘First to Fight.’ They are also ‘Last to Adapt’ having been traditionally resistant to societal changes. Reportedly, the former Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Joseph F. Dunford, who just retired as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the sole service head to oppose […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | Interwar | WW2
Subjects include: Miscellaneous
Book Review-‘Planning and Profits: British naval armaments manufacture and the military–industrialcomplex, 1918–1941’ by C. W. Miller
The evolution of British warship building infrastructure between the two World Wars has long been a significant historiographical issue, attracting attention in Churchill’s war memoirs, official histories, academic monographs, broader surveys of British strategic capacity, industrial performance, and specific aspects of warship construction. Christopher Miller’s contribution, developed from a PhD written in the Glasgow University […] Read More
Filed under: Interwar
Subjects include: Weapons
Book Review-‘Recollections of an Unsuccessful Seaman’ by L. Noake, (ed.) D. Creamer
Len Noake (1887–1929) was a seaman. He trained aboard HMS Conway and then began a 20-year career in the mercantile marine serving aboard deep sea and coasting vessels in a variety of roles from quartermaster to first officer. In his dying days he wrote his memoirs in the form of a 235-page journal illustrated with […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | Interwar
Subjects include: Biography | Merchant Marines