Well written but very limited combat involvement
584268
The author gives his account as a soldier in the 99th Infantry Division from the unit's arrival in France to his evacuation during the Battle of the Bulge. The author was one of the college boys who was transferred to line units during the manpower crises of 1944. He is a good writer and quite a proper man, who records his observations with fluency. A fair bit of his text is spent on the training, including the challenge of melding with the regular army soldiers in his unit.

His account of the Bulge is Ok, with a lot of focus on the awful conditions he and the others had to endure, following army incompetence in getting winter supplies through to the front. The main downfall for me, was the author's very slight involvement in combat himself. He was shelled and so on but that was about it. He does relate a reasonable number of combat stories of some other fellows in his unit, so that issue is somewhat addressed. He also gives some details on the importance of his divisions achievements in the battle. He doesn't shy away from mentioning some of the less savoury elements of combat. He finishes the war in London in an office privy to some of the most momentous signals of the time.

So overall a fair read but not a compelling one. I was certainly impressed with the author. He is a decent and brave man but my rating reflects his limited combat involvement, which is the focus of my memoir reading.
2295405
The author(s) in this book present the London as a weapon against all defenses.  Plus they present a brief overviews of the Jobava Attack, a cross between the Veresov and the London and the Pereyra Attack.  With so much material to cover, they can't go into a lot of depth.  Still it's a nicely written book a well worth having if you intend to use the London as your primary weapon as White.
3856307
Rick Shelley has a very believable way of portraying combat, and he does a very credible job of putting you in the heads of combat veterans. Better still, he understands Murphy and all the things Murphy can do to an operation.
Side Show is the second book dealing with the 13th Spaceborn Assault Team (SAT) as it fights another desperate action against the foes of the Accord of Free Worlds. In this case, the Team is part of a larger landing force trying to liberate a world that has been occupied by the enemy for some years. The Accord forces are outnumbered, but have a minor tactical edge in that they don't have to worry about holding down a hostile populace, so they can concentrate their forces. Unfortunately for both sides, the author deals with interstellar logistics in a realistic manner; that is to say, what you land with is what you've got. Period.
Faced with a scarcity or resources, and near parity of forces, both sides cautiously maneuver for position, hoping to catch the other at a moment of weakness or disadvantage. The battlefield has become nearly static, with the Accord forces at a slight disadvantage, until word comes from on-high: Send a force to rescue or kill a team of scientists that have been working on a top-secret McGuffin in a hidden lab since before the planet was occupied. Now the 13th SAT must breakout and leave the relative safety of their perimeter behind. Next, they must break contact with the enemy forces, and disguise their direction of march so as not to reveal their objective. Finally, they must rescue the scientists, and either return them to the perimeter of the Accord Forces, or kill them and destroy their work to prevent the enemy from capturing the McGuffin.
It's a desperate gamble, and the mission looks like sure suicide, but this isn't the first time the 'Lucky' 13th SAT has been sent out to die, and that's the one thing they're NOT good at doing. Meanwhile, as the 13th is chased by their perplexed foe across the wild countryside, the breakout has stirred a hornet's nest in their wake and the battlefield is static no longer. Each side is trying to turn the other's flank, and a dog-fight for final victory has erupted. Who will emerge from the witches' cauldron at the old perimeter? Will the 13th SAT make their objective on time? Will the McGuffin be as important as it's supposed to be, or is it a forlorn hope? More importantly, what will happen to the individual members of the 13th as they fight and skulk their way across a strange planet on a mission they only partly comprehend?
Read it, and find out!
The one thing of note here is that Shelly's take on future combat isn't all that unlikely, and he takes realistic note of the logistical difficulties inherent in projecting power across interstellar distances: Even with 'magical' space drives, the energy cost and time involved mean that your best bet is to send a combined arms force with as many supplies as possible, and go reasonably light on your troop numbers. Further, simple, multi-purpose weapons are likely going to be more practical than more lethal but less flexible weapons. Lastly, anything that can reduce casualties, or return casualties to the line, is a real force-multiplier, and should be sent along. Rick Shelley's Accord of Free Worlds understands this, and they equip their SATs properly. So, very few 'Gee-Whiz' weapons, just simple, serviceable, and reliable ones.
Well, I won't give a way any more, but you can rest assured that this is a very good, very well-written, but ultimately conventional combat arms story. It's well worth reading, and I strongly recommend it.
1869149
This is the third book that I have read by Bing West. I really liked the two that he wrote about the Marines in Iraq during the Global War On Terror. Hence, I brought this book. The title discloses his judgment on the Afghanistan campaign, and it shows throughout the book. As far as the stories of the Marines that he tells, it is quite good. His problem is that he has decided that the war can't be won the way it is being fought and believes that there is no practical way that it can be fought. Somewhat defeatist. That said, I would buy another book written by him as he does capture the real world in which his subjects live as honorable people.
3604583
if you are looking for anything resembling a blood-n-guts retelling of one of the toughest modern battles ... then just read the last 5 chapters or so.

yahara was a staff officer, and it shows very clearly in this book. a good 80% of the text is detailed troop movements and status reports. To keep up with the regiments and divisions, if you're into that, you'll need a notebook probably - because yahara jumps around quite a bit. Also, there are two or three battle maps of southern okinawa for reference to the movements being discussed, however they are VERY low resolution and if you want to have a full tactical grasp on what yahara specifically attempted and actually achieved, you'll want to find a more easily readable map elsewhere - if you do this, and especially have one which you can write on yourself, then you can very easily follow the progression of yahara's "war of attrition" tactics as they so effectively played out.

however, it IS rather dull in most of its retelling. The real charm of this book lies in the character of Yahara - calculating and well schooled, and full of honor that conflicts with his non-tradition order to survive while watching his beloved and respected commanders fight to the death or take their own lives.

The last few chapters of this book deal with, blow by blow, how Yahara nearly escaped the civilian camps of Okinawa (sometimes even mistaken as a woman to do so!) and how he was eventually discovered. Yahara makes an attempt to "clear his name" of the controversy surrounding his capture and failed warplan. Intermittently, the book is supported by short chapters by Frank Gibney, one of the officers responsible for his interrogation (and eventually one of his old war-buddies)These last few chapters are grippingly related by Yahara in a way which leaves you tingling and inevitably filled with respect for the men of the self-doomed and dying Japanese warrior doctrine of the time.

Included in an appendix is a full transcript of the interrogation reports - a nice little study in the historiography of how such things were carried out in the pacific theater - a standalone of its own right, to me anyway.

Overall, i wouldn't recommend this book to anyone with just a passing interest in the subject matter. But for anyone seeking detailed insight into the other side of this monumental battle, its a must.
1332569
This book gives you interesting details about why these men volunteered and how they interacted with germans. However, it contains almost no information about the units combat engagements.
2180325
Language in the Blood, Book 1 by Angela Lockwood follows Cameron Blair, a young Scotsman, from his time shortly before entering WWI and after (once becoming a creature of the night), up until the beginnings of the 21st century. Cameron is an engaging character, though some readers may have a distaste for that which he finds 'flavorful'. The story is told by jumping back and forth throughout time with each chapter focusing on a person who is/was either important to Cameron or was perhaps his dinner.

The writing itself is done well and flows nicely, but for me there was too much exposition, as if reading Cameron's diary, and not enough in-the-moment action. It wasn't until 75% into the story that a true purpose and plot driver emerged. Though an intriguing story line, it fell a little flat for me. Were I able to rate on the half-stars, I'd give this piece a 3.5/5 but am rating at a 4 because of the technical strength of the writing itself.
4387319
This book is a good read about the US Infantry divisions in Europe.  Trying to separate the divisions from their corps and Army-level support does not do justice to the entirety of the combat power a division possessed, including artillery, armor and engineers.
2382049
The idea that the hypernet gates can be used as a weapon against mankind by the shadowy aliens on the other side of Syndic space is explored in a little more detail in this novel.

The writing is interesting, but the space battles, the highlight of this series, are more limited in this novel.

Also, the author lingers on the romantic involvements of Black Jack both physically with the Vice President and the unrequited love with the captain of the flagship.  Those are my least favorite portions of the books.
1204274
First off, I enjoyed this book. If you like military sci-fi in a book that is conclusive and fast-paced, then this book could work. In that regard, it gets 4 stars.

However, the book gets 1 star in the writing (form) category. I don't come to sci-fi for superb prose, but I have minimum expectations: a writer must be able to write well. A portion of this book is based on character descriptions such as how passionately admiral Vickers feels against whats being done to fellow humans etc... However, the phrasing and depictions around this are so simplistic that they are nearly laughable: He felt angry, She made him happy etc... I mean, at some point, a writer must be able to show me that he can write better than I can (something that can be easily accomplished). There are well known complaints about sci-fi greats such as Isaac Asimov as not being good writers, just imaginative ones, etc..., yet people still loved them. Perhaps that's true, but there are limits. Ive read all of Asimovs Foundation books and "The Star Cross" makes Asimov sound like a literary Nobel price winner by comparison.

At times, it almost seemed like the author could do better, but just didn't try. If that was the case, Id prefer hed stay on sci-fi combat and strip the touchy-feely stuff (where his prose was most lacking). The combat was well done: thrilling, futuristic, satisfying and conclusive. Because thats the part I mostly care about, Im weight-averaging my ranking to 3-stars.
3445849
Good description of the actual fighting on Tarawa.  Very narrowly focused.
3182899
Just finished reading this book, and though it was okay, it felt a bit lacking. In the book we witness an insurgence from the point of view of the Legionnaires, the republics partially independent elite force. All in all it led the thoughts to (US) marines in iraq to be honest. What I missed was a better understanding of the how and the why of the conflict. We get a list of involved parties, but no explanation for the conflict itself (probably this is representative of how many American soliders experienced the recent iraq war as to that). Being from the point of view of the soliders on the spot, the action is well described and fairly exiting, though you get a "first person shooter - computer game" vibe from time to time. All in all, this book managed to keep me interested, if not invested, and the conlusion was fairly poignant. The characters were a bit one dimensional, and not very many of the "plots" in the book got resolved (why was the science team there in secret? Why the insurgence, both on the planet and elsewhere? Why did the science team get deployed from the "super-destroyer", how did the insurgence blow up the fire base and the ship in orbit, and so on and so forth). This is of course just the first book in the series, so I might give the others a go to see if the world building gets a bit better. In conclusion, I suspect you could have switched the setting to the recent wars in Iraq or Afganistan and it would have ended up as a fairly accurate description of some American soliders experience from one of those conflicts (including their understanding of why they were there and the people they were fighting)...
193193
Well written, but shorter than I thought. Written by the driver of a Tiger tank on the Eastern Front. I believe the author condensed many, many actions into one short 2-4 day bloodbath.

Pretty well written, and if you like armor, this is a good book. But beware, if you are squeamish, this is not a book you will enjoy.
219778
A great deal the content is devoted the personal lives of the two main characters.  A great deal of the topics presented seem as if they are parts of previous novels. The combat segments lack descriptive material and few in number.  Author introduces these events with little detail ten seems "jump ahead to a quick end for these combat events.  In conclusion if you're anticipating a war novel you'll b disappointed.
1098021
One oft times hears of the fighting side of naval actions yet little is paid to the logistical side that is oft time mundane and routine. This is one of those stories. The author while describing the typical activities of day spared the reader the boredom by going into depth about them. His adventures ashore while timid, show that the time in port was not hurry and dash but several days of down time. When there was action it was brief and intense and gave addage to the expression that in a combat theater things are 98% routine and boredom and 2% excitement and terror.
4113038
I looked forward to reading this book and schleped it with me on vacation to Australia and Papua New Guinea.  I enjoyed the book immensely, but have to agree with some of the comments made by the other reviewers.  While I understand the focus of the story was the forgotten Marines, as a former member of the U.S. Air Force Security Police, I was particularly interested in the story of the USAF personnel that were lost early on in the operation.  I wish there had been more research into the SP's that were assembled and deployed unsuccessfully.  The book in a way paints them as being pretenders to the mantle of American fighting man, but this is simply not true. USAF SP's were being trained extensively into a ground combat, albeit primarily defensive role by 1975.  They weren't Rangers and they weren't Marines, but they had heart and were willing to go to battle when told.  During Vietnam, no U.S. Air Base was ever overrun...thanks to the USAF Security Police.  They should have figured more prominently in the story...they deserved such respect.
3593258
The writing is very good. But it doesn't come with illustrations and refers to them constantly. It's tough to follow a battle or campaign when you can't see the map.