Book Review: The Second World War Explained, Michael O'Kelly

Over 180 or so pages and 20 chapters* (plus a 24 page section of black and white photos) ex-RN man Michael Kelly aims, as he says in his preface, to give younger readers with little knowledge of this information a succinct but comprehensive synopsis of WWII, which he describes as 'probably the most terrible event in the history of the world'.

For those of us - not his chief target audience - already obsessed with the history of WWII, and I'm one, this might not be an ideal read, for numerous reasons. Over at Amazon UK I note several other reviewers lambasting both book and author over mistakes and inaccuracies. The only one that really struck me - and it's as likely an editorial gaffe (it should've been spotted and corrected) as an authorial one - was when the long deceased French admiral Darlan's name appears where it should say Dönitz. 

I think those Amazon reviews are overly harsh, to be honest, and miss the main raison d'etre the author himself gives for the book. I reckon that, in its intended role, as a brief overview of as much of WWII as possible, it succeeds remarkably well. It'd make a great resource in primary and secondary education. Granted it's not in the league of the scholarly professionals. But those books aren't necessarily going to be a 'way in' to this massive and complex subject for poorly educated youngsters.

With the Brexit debacle threatening to take us and Europe back to a more inter-war state of affairs books like this are probably needed more than ever. Perhaps not so much by us military history nuts, so much as to remind people who may otherwise forget or just be plain ignorant, of the broad brush-stroke history of the fascinating but appalling events of WWII.

I have to confess that I was rather disappointed by this book, as I'd hoped it'd look more at the 'whys' of WWII. I think the title's a bit misleading. A better one would've been A Brief History of WWII. But as an entrée to a vast and endlessly fascinating subject, and despite its author's own biases and occasional mistakes, I think this is a potentially valuable addition to WWII literature.

O'Kelly succeeds in covering all the major theatres and campaigns, albeit in very broad simplistic terms. And it's a pretty well balanced account, that could be read in a single day. For my 'general readership' Amazon UK review I scored this four out of five. Here on my more special interest blog I'm scoring it three and a half 'kreuz, which accords more with my own personal take on it.

PS - Having said all of the above, I also think it's a quite good/handy thing for even grizzled old dogs like me to have a concise single volume précis of the massive cataclysm that was WWII. Reading this helped me zoom back out momentarily from the maelstrom of minutiae that most of my WWII reading usually subjects me to. It also helped remind me of things I want to read more on, such as the Dieppe raid, Kursk and the battles for Kharkov, or Operation Dragoon.

* There are also two appendices: one on 'Meetings of the Great Power Leaders', the other a timeline.

Book Review: Liberty's Provenance, John Henshaw

Subtitled The Evolution of the Liberty Ship from its Sunderland Origins, John Henshaw's new book on these vitally historically important vessels aims, in his own words, to 'once and for all' settle the issue of their provenance. Whether or not he succeeds in this once and for all aim, this is without doubt a fascinating and beautifully presented account of the evolution of a particular maritime lineage, during a very generally exciting and interesting period of world history.

I'm no expert on things nautical, but I'm finding my interest in the logistical side of both real military history and my mini-military stuff is leading me, seemingly inexorably, towards a deeper interest in sea warfare generally, and The Battle of the Atlantic in particular. As Henshaw notes, Churchill said the war on the oceans was the 'dominating factor throughout the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea, or in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome.'

And in keeping with this perspective, it's salutory to remember that whilst other theatres of conflict would have short periods of intense activity and longer periods of stasis or inactivity, the war at sea lasted the entire duration.

The fantastically named Hog Island shipyard. [1]

The level of detail here is quite daunting to a landlubber like me. Fortunately there's a glossary. The glossary is very helpful - they should be a mandatory standard feature in specialist books, in my view - but could've been better. E.g. the nautical meaning of terms such as beam and draught are given, but sheer isn't. And whilst many of the acronyms used are expanded and defined, not all are.

The book begins by looking at how in WWI a similar project was undertaken at more or less wars end, the ships made not seeing wartime service at all, and overproduction contributing to postwar shipbuilding slumps. Also late in coming was the adoption of convoys. In contrast, in WWII these projects were set in motion much earlier, and a mission to the US headed by the very young Cyril Thompson, of Sunderland shipbuilders Thompson's, was integral to the story told here, of the development of the Liberty ships.

Henshaw dedicates his book to Cyril Thompson, the 'unsung hero in the evolution of the Liberty ship', and extols their virtues by not only clearly tracing their lineage, but also highlighting how they not only met but exceeded their original brief, doing the job intended for them, and then going beyond that, forming the basis of numerous variants, and often surviving and serving long after WWII.

Liberty ship EC2-SC1.

There are plenty of photographs, liberally sprinkled throughout, many of which are great. There are also a good number of relatively poor quality. But as Henshaw explains, they're as good as he could find, and illustrate important points. Using such surprisingly scant reference material - scant when you consider over 2,700 of Liberty ships were built - Henshaw has produced what is probably the most attractive aspect of this book, the numerous line drawings.

Some of these are quite accurate, where plentiful reference such as other detailed drawings could be sourced, whilst others, as Henshaw is at pains to point out, are educated guesses based on the available evidence. I love them, and hope they might one day help me build models.

A fascinating book, well worth having/reading. 

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NOTES:

[1] Built expressly for the construction of these ships, and now the site of Philadelphia International airport.

This looks like a great kit. Definitely on my wish list!

As usual, when I read a book like this and find it exciting and inspiring, I want to get a model to build to further explore the interests that have been aroused. Trumpeter do a couple of 1/350 Liberty Ship models. I'd love to get and build one of those. Perhaps the SS John W Brown? This is also one of the only surviving seaworthy examples some of this once numerous class.

The real McCoy.

Book Review: In Action With Destroyers, 1939-45, Dennis, ed. Cummings

Unpublished during his lifetime, Alec Dennis' naval memoir is an interesting and easy read. From the ill-prepared early days, to eventual dominance and victory, he was everywhere, from the Med to Murmansk, the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.

A junior senior officer (i.e. young but holding a higher echelon role!) on the Griffin, a Destroyer, he tells how this class of ship was very active, in roles from convoy escort to U-Boat hunting, and might be called upon do anything from attending to dignitaries or picking up drowning seamen. Dennis was fortunate, as most his contemporaries boats were sunk, whereas in all his postings - the longest being four years on the Griffin - he was on 'lucky' boats, and whilst hit and damaged, was never sunk. The Griffin, like Dennis, survived the war, and eventually went, again like the author himself, to Canada.

Most of his naval wartime experiences, vividly documented here, were of a quite routine sort. Although no less intense for all that, what with the constant anxieties produced by regular aerial attacks and the omnipresent threats of mines, torpedoes, etc. And even on the occasions when he took part in notable actions - from the sinking of the Scharnhorst to D-Day - he was often in a relatively peripheral position. 

He's good on the naval pecking order, and not shy of voicing his opinions on his colleagues, who range from those he clearly liked or admired to those he was less enamoured of. The times he lived through were exciting, and saw the passing of an older somewhat Victorian Imperial order. His observations of the roving life of a naval officer at large in the world at that time are fascinating.

Most of his time was spent as a second tier officer, perhaps unsurprisingly, as he was very young. Promotion came late in the war, and he was only very briefly the actual commander of a destroyer. In remarking on how the battleship HMS Belfast, a casualty of war, not only survived but was preserved for posterity, Dennis notes rather mournfully, 'It is a pity that no wartime Destroyer was thus preserved.' It's a lament he voices several times.

It might seem overly pedantic, and is perhaps more an editorial issue, but I was annoyed by the repeated spelling of fjord as 'fiord', which I've never seen before (and hope never to see again). Strangely this reverts to fjord towards the end of the book! However, this is a very minor gripe, and overall this is a terrific book. Dennis writes with an easy familiar style, in impressive detail, and with great clarity, and even a welcome touch of wit/humour. 

Definitely recommended, especially to those interested in the naval history of WWII.