As Roger Moorhouse suggests in the introduction to Wolfpack, it was natural that post-war English language books about the Battle of the Atlantic would largely ignore the German perspective on the conflict. After the horrors of war, a kind of…
With Marc DeSantis
REVIEW BY GRAHAM GOODLAD General Douglas MacArthur is arguably the most controversial military leader in US history. His command career was bookended by two divisive episodes. As Army Chief of Staff in 1932, he earned notoriety for forcibly removing the…
In the second part of our series, Fred Chiaventone looks at how the conflict escalated as the two sides struggled to gain the upper hand.
REVIEW BY NICK HEWITT Developing a fresh interpretation for a well-charted subject area is always a challenge, as this reviewer knows only too well. I therefore approached Hugh Sebag-Montefiore’s reconsideration of the naval campaign fought to sustain the Soviet Union…
Although the Vandals gave their name to wanton destruction, their king Gaiseric is less well-known. Tim Newark reveals how one of the greatest barbarian warlords made Rome tremble.
Underwater archaeological investigations have located the missing bow of the USS New Orleans in the Solomon Islands’ Iron Bottom Sound. The US Navy cruiser was heavily damaged during the Battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November 1942 when it was hit…
In the final part of our series on the American Civil War, Fred Chiaventone examines the impact of devastating new weaponry and technology that emerged courtesy of the Industrial Revolution.
Nick Spenceley reconsiders Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power Upon History.
Richard Hodges introduces the Emperor Augustus’ city of victory at Actium and interviews its renowned excavator, Kostas Zachos.
In the final part of our occasional series on the rise of Britain’s imperial navy, Graham Goodlad reviews the remarkable career of Admiral George Anson.
As Japan faced defeat in World War II, suicide attacks provided it with a deadly new weapon in the Pacific, says David Porter.
Taylor Downing reviews the latest film releases.
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
MHM’s round-up of the latest military history releases.
Everyone has a story to tell. So do warships. The saga of the USS The Sullivans, which was launched in April 1943, is still making headlines today. The Fletcher-class destroyer is one of three decommissioned World War II- era naval…
The wreck of the ‘legendary’ American submarine that sank the most Japanese warships during Second World War has been found, 80 years after she was lost. USS Harder was discovered 914m below the surface, off the island of Luzon, in…
At the outbreak of the First World War, a terrible new weapon changed the rules of naval warfare. One hundred and ten years on, David Porter takes a deep dive into Germany’s submarine threat.
A U-boat that sank off the coast of Germany at the end of the First World War was most likely scuttled, according to new research. Scientists from the University of Dundee believe they have established what happened to UC-71, which…
Nick Spenceley recalls one of the great works of military history.
The discovery of an anonymous shipwreck off the coast of Sussex set archaeologists on the trail of a 350 year-old mystery. Mark Beattie Edwards reports on efforts to identify the sunken vessel and to protect its historic remains, sharing a story of bravery in battle, acts of ‘piracy’, and tragic loss of life.
Haunting new images have been revealed of shipwrecks caused by one of the most significant naval battles of the Second World War. The Battle of Midway, fought on 4 June 1942, saw the United States Navy inflict a crippling blow…
A diving team has explored the final resting place of a German U-boat that sank off the coast of Shetland during the First World War. SM UC-55 lies on the seabed some eight miles south-east of Lerwick. She was sunk…
With Marc DeSantis
REVIEW BY SG This is the first of three planned books on the last of Egypt’s dynasties, written not by an Egyptologist, but by a specialist in Classical and Hellenistic Greek history. This initial volume, covering the reigns of the…
DAVID PORTER ON MILITARY HISTORY’S DOOMED INVENTIONS
For our special this issue, Graham Goodlad analyses the achievements of Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham, universally known to his peers as ‘ABC’. In this first part, he looks at Cunningham’s life and career, while in the second he offers a detailed commentary on the battle that is widely regarded as his masterpiece.
REVIEW BY ANDRÉ VAN LOON The subject of The Coalitions Against Napoleon is fascinating and rich in potential. Moving beyond the well-trodden path of personality-based writing (such as Napoleon versus Wellington, biographies of Napoleon’s marshals, or the career of Horatio…
Eighty years on, Graham Goodlad analyses the brutal battle that brought an end to Japanese expansion in the Far East.
In this photograph, a diver explores the wreck of Södermanland, an 18th-century Swedish ship of the line now resting in the waters off Karlskrona, on the country’s southern coast. Built in Stockholm and launched in 1749, the 42-metre ship could…
It was one of the greatest disasters in Spain’s history, yet it came within hours of success. Here, Geoffrey Parker, co-author of a major new history, draws on unseen archives and vital new evidence from Armada shipwrecks to explain what really happened in 1588.
REVIEW BY PATRICK BONIFACE. Military success throughout time has been dependent on the orderly and safe supply of goods, food, fuel, ammunition, and personnel. Ancient mariners devised the convoy system to protect these vital supplies, and over the centuries little…
Review by Diana Bentley. Few episodes in antiquity are more gripping than the epic struggle for political supremacy and survival between Octavian, heir of Julius Caesar; his rival, politician and general Mark Antony; and Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt. In his…
Following the success of USS Monitor – the ground-breaking ironclad warship, designed by Swedish-born engineer John Ericsson, that played a central role in the US Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads on 9 March 1862 – the US Navy issued…
REVIEW BY GRAHAM GOODLAD The Second World War at sea has been the subject of several outstanding overviews in recent years. Phillips Payson O’Brien’s innovative How the War was Won (2015) argued for the critical importance of sea (and air)…
Edmund West reports on a medieval naval battle that is little known but was of decisive significance.