Predator Of The Seas: The History Of The Slaveship That Fought For Emancipation, Taylor - B+

                  In 1807, the UK enacted the Act of Abolition banning the slave trade. Efforts to catch slavers generally failed because the Royal Navy's ships of the line were immeasurably slower than the slavers. 

                  The brig Henriqueta was built near Baltimore around 1820, and like all American ships, she was built for speed. She was purchased by a Brazilian, Jose Lima, who used it to successfully build up his slaver business. The Henriqueta was very fast, and was capable of holding over 500 humans, and transported 504 survivors on her first trip from Africa to Brazil. The brig continued to transport thousands of Africans each year and made Lima one of the richest men in Brazil. However, as the British became more and more frustrated with the continued high level of slaver activity, they decided to impound ships even if there was no contraband aboard. The Henriqueta adopted the ruse of flying under an American flag. She had delivered 3040 slaves to Brazil over six voyages. But, by virtue of a very lucky shot that dismasted her, her seventh was halted and over 500 Africanfreed. The ship was auctioned and purchased by an Englishman and soon was sailing for the Royal Navy as the Black Joke. Evidencing a change in policy, "she would be set free to cruise independently in battling the very atrocities she had enabled." In her first week, she captured a Spanish vessel headed to Cuba with 155 souls aboard. Their next success was a Brazilian with 695 slaves aboard, the largest capture in the history of the West African Squadron. Among the issues facing the squadron were fever, smallpox, and  violent weather.  They also faced the excruciating frustration of capturing slavers more than once. Oft times, the buyer at auction sailed the ships back to Brazil and sold them to the previous owner. They were fighting an uphill battle as slavers delivered far more of the enslaved to Brazil, Cuba and the Indies than ever before. The US did not cooperate in any way and more importantly, France was exempt from interference by virtue of a treaty. Thousands of Africans continued to pour into the New World.  In tropical water, a ship's wood often deteriorated and by 1831, the Black Joke was not what she once was. A heavily armed Spaniard, the Marienereto, vowed to sink her. Although "the scourge of Africa's oppressors" was fading, the Black Joke prevailed. A year later, the Admiralty decommissioned the ship and she was burnt on the shore at Sierra Leone.

            In 1833, Parliament abolished slavery in the colonies effective the following year, and in the Indies in 1838. The Royal Navy was able to end Brazil's trading in 1851. The British patrolled the African coast until 1867 and are believed to have saved 160,000 Africans from slavery. Nonetheless, it should be noted that prior to fighting slavery, the English in the 16th and 17th centuries, enslaved 3.2 million Africans, of whom an estimated 700,000 died in the Middle Passage.

                

War Of The Roses Bloodlines, Iggulden - B+

               After defeating York at Sandal in 1460, Queen Margaret headed south to London where Henry VI was imprisoned. A York army blocked the road. They were outflanked when the queen's forces attacked from behind, carried the day, and recaptured the king. Their success was not rewarded when they were refused entrance to the city of London, and were forced to march away to safer surroundings. When the forces of York came to London, they were admitted and hailed. Edward, Duke of York, decided it was a propitious time, and had himself crowned Edward IV. Two weeks later, he marched north to pursue the forces of the queen. At Towton, the bloodiest battle ever on English soil took place. It was fought on Palm Sunday in a raging snowstorm and the Yorkists sent the Lancasters fleeing. Margaret, the nine year old Prince of Wales, and the enfeebled Henry fled to Scotland. Margaret and her son sailed for France, and left Henry in the care of one of his lords. 

                In 1464, Henry VI stumbled into the hands of a York loyalist, and was returned to the Tower. Edward IV, a young and inexperienced monarch, began to mistreat his most loyal servant and chancellor, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, whose own father had died in battle with Edward's. So offended was Warwick that he conspired with the king's opponents, and captured Edward IV. Now, both crowned kings of England were imprisoned, but there was a difference: the people demanded Edward's freedom and could have cared less about Henry. Warwick eventually concluded he needed to free Edward, and he and his family fled to Paris. As a guest of the French king, he was obliged to meet with two guests, Queen Margaret and her son, the Prince of Wales. Another fine book that leaves me looking forward to the fourth in the series, and the climax of the War of the Roses.

          

Masters Of The Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought The Air war Against Nazi Germany, Miller - B

                  "The Eighth Air Force had been sent to England to join the ever accelerating bombing campaign, which would be the longest battle of World War II." Casualties would be shockingly high. The 8th had 26,000 fatalities, more than the entire U.S. Marine Corps. 

                   The U.S. Air Force came to the war as believers of strategic bombing, the destruction of the enemy's means of production, and the breaking of its morale. It was aided by the Norden bombsight, which American pilots bragged allowed them to drop a bomb into a pickle barrel. The Boeing-made B-17 was a majestic machine that was amazingly fast, heavily armed, and believed to be invincible. Consequently, the planners did not foresee the need for fighter escorts. Between February 1942 and the end of 1943, the 8th grew from seven men and no planes, to 185,000 and 4,000. However, their start was inauspicious. Throughout the second half of 1942, the U.S. put planes over the continent, but the inexperienced crews could not compete with the Luftwaffe's veterans, and their bombing was totally inaccurate. That first year, they were "flying and fighting without proper equipment, armor, warmth, or rest." Their losses were so high and unrelenting that there was a near total collapse of morale and well-being in the 8th. By the time the 8th began to receive reinforcements in the late spring of 1943, they had seen only a fourth of their crews live long enough to complete their 25 mission objective.

           Over that first winter, the Yanks began the construction of over 200 airfields in England to hold the eventual thousands of planes and hundreds of thousands of men set to arrive. The objective of the RAF and USAF was to destroy the Luftwaffe, its bases, and manufacturing facilities prior to the cross-channel invasion of 1944. The first major attempt the 8th made was against two plants in Bavaria, one the Reich's leading manufacturer of ball bearings, the other, a large Messerschmitt plant. On August 17, three hundred and seventy-six B-17's took off, sixty-one were lost and another 100 were so badly damaged that they were pulled from the line. The damage inflicted on the Germans was negligible. At this point, it was evident that long range fighter escorts had to be used or the US bombing campaign would fail. In Germany, the air war now became the Reich's primary concern. Albert Speer and the Luftwaffe's leaders begged for more fighter planes. Hitler opted for flak guns and revenge rockets. A second run at the ball bearing plant in Schweinfurt again led to massive U.S. casualties. Late in 1943, the 8th added a new strategic asset to its planes, air to ground radar. The American could now fly and bomb in northern Europe's perpetually cloudy skies.

           The air war over Germany finally turned conclusively in America's favor on January 11, 1944. On a mission deep into Germany, the B-17's were escorted by a new fighter, the P-51 Mustang. A single plane protected an entire group from the Luftwaffe only a few minutes west of Berlin. The Mustang changed everything. It could fly as far east as Poland, was faster and lighter than the Me-109, and was produced in massive quantities. Additionally, the Americans were told to not fly with the B-17's, but rather to push forward and aggressively attack the German fighters. On February 20, the 8th unleashed a massive bombing operation in which they lost a handful of planes and the escorts knocked out a third of their attackers. It was a clear cut victory, and the beginning of the end for the Luftwaffe. They carried their massive raids to Berlin next and dealt the capital  blow after blow. Finally in May, American casualties dropped precipitously, and morale skyrocketed. Gen. Eisenhower diverted both the RAF and USAF to ground support throughout the summer of 1944. When the 8th was released, it attacked the synthetic oil industry and finally hit a strategic target that substantially impeded the German war effort. In the fall, a resupplied Luftwaffe made their final effort, but were overwhelmed as the US was flying missions with 500-1000 bombers constantly. Over the winter, the 8th slowed down its strategic ambitions and began to aggressively bomb German population centers.  After the war, the Allies learned that their bombing of the cities throughout the Fatherland severely depressed front line Wehrmacht troops. When there wasn't much left to bomb, they provided ground support to advancing troops. And by the first week in May, it was at last over.

             History has not been kind to 'Bomber' Harris and the RAF's indiscriminate slaughter of German citizens for the entire length of the campaign. The record of the USAF is held in higher regard, but is still considered somewhat mixed. The only truly successful 'strategic'  bombing was of the synthetic fuel infrastructure in 1944. Almost everything else was area bombing. Their greatest and most important contribution was the defeat of the Luftwaffe. By clearing the skies, they made the Normandy landings and the ensuing successes possible. In many ways, this has been a frustrating read. It tells a story of magnificent bravery, steadfastness, and strength by very young Americans called to war. But at no point does it flow smoothly, and it is very long, almost wearying at times. That said, God bless the Greatest Generation.

                 

                     

                   

Hadrian And The Triumph Of Rome, Everitt- B

                   Hadrian's place in history has been secured by two accomplishments. He realized that further expansion was unsustainable and set about securing and strengthening the existing borders. And he refreshed and rebuilt Athens, leading it to be the cultural capital of the empire.

                  Born the son of a senator in 76 A.D., he lost his father when he was ten. A relative, Trajan, was appointed his guardian. During his education, he fell in love with the Greek language and its literature. The decade preceding his birth saw the empire face two momentous challenges. A series of revolts and the suicide of Nero meant the "elimination of the imperial system's founding family," and the declaration of an independent Jewish state led to a lengthy war. The Flavian dynasty of Vespasian and his two sons followed Nero, and ruled for three decades.  When Hadrian was 20, Trajan appointed him a tribune in his army, and he was with Trajan when Trajan became emperor in 98 A.D. The new emperor's first action was to attack the Dacians on the north side of the Danube. In a multi-year effort, Trajan triumphed, and created the province of Dacia, the first addition to the empire in fifty years. Hadrian was promoted and placed in defense of the province, and was made a consul in 108 A.D. Four yers later, Trajan attacked Parthia with Hadrian as his chief of staff. They added Armenia and Mesopotamia to the empire, but both were soon in rebellion. Trajan died, and his adopted son Hadrian ascended in 117 A.D. He immediately withdrew from the east to the empire's traditional borders, and permanently suspended the policy of seeking to expand the empire.

               Hadrian's goal was to bring peace and prosperity, and he sought to emulate Augustus' reign after he had prevailed at Actium. He was interested in the legal system and was the first to codify Rome's laws. He initiated massive public improvements in Rome, and traveled to all the reaches of the empire.  In 122 A.D., he went to Britain where he took great interest in a wall to separate the colony from the Picts. He extended Latin rights and Roman citizenship throughout the empire, and in particular to his legionnaires. Judaea, once again, rebelled and the rebellion was emphatically quashed in 135 A.D. with hundreds of thousands of Jews killed, enslaved, and exiled. He passed away in 138 A.D., and was succeeded by Antonius, who governed for two decades. He was a great emperor, a successful soldier and builder, but was never  popular with the people or the Senate. Edward Gibbon admired "his vast and active genius," and his "equity and moderation."  The noted Briton considered Hadrian's rule part "of the happiest era of human history."

Clear, Davies - B

                 In 1843 Scotland, an impoverished Presbyterian minister is hired to go to a remote Shetland island and evict the sole occupant. John Ferguson is shipwrecked on the shore of his destination and saved by Ivar, the island's last occupant who speaks an obsolete Norn language. As John recovers thanks to Ivar's ministrations, they slowly become friends. It takes a while, but Ivar eventually realizes that John could only be here on a mission from the laird, who Ivar hasn't seen in years. The men become close and closer, and John dreads what he has to do, but his wife, Mary, arrives, sees how close they are and offers to take Ivar in with them. An interesting and very different story.

Strategy For Defeat: The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945, Murray - B+

                "As with all military thought, a wide variety of political, historical, and economic factors guided the development of air doctrines in the period between the First and Second World Wars." Paramount though in the rush to build air forces was a desire to avoid a repetition of the horror of the first war's trench warfare. That said, what followed was not unlike what had preceded, a battle of attrition. Throughout the 1930's, the materials necessary to build an air force - rubber, aluminum, and petroleum were in short supply in Germany. And because the country was a continental power, the Wehrmacht's needs took priority. Thus, the development of the Luftwaffe was "subject to definite economic constraints," and the requirement to support the other armed forces. Goring was an incapable manager, and the only person attending to "strategic planning, force structure, or industrial production." His inadequacies, combined with the economic limitations above, led to the collapse of the air arm late in the war. 

             The rapid victory over Poland was due to overwhelming power, and the close coordination of air power supporting ground forces. In Norway, the Luftwaffe was critical to Germany's submission of the country. In France, "the use of dive bombers to support the Meuse crossings played a major role in one of the most decisive strategic victories in the military history of the 20th century." However as the Luftwaffe was at the outer limits of the range of its planes, it suffered serious losses over Dunkirk. Although the Battle of Britain was a close run thing, to some extent the result was preordained, as the Germans had no aircraft that could compete with the Spitfire and Hurricane. For Barbarossa, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to destroy the Soviet air force. On the first few days, the Soviets lost 3800 planes. However as the year wore on, maintenance and supply systems reached the breaking point in Germany. By December, the Germans had stalled, indeed they were facing defeat. They had not prepared for the losses they suffered, and production could not keep up with the loss of men and material. For all intents and purposes, defeat was now inevitable. Throughout 1942, the Luftwaffe remained focused in the east, supporting the army as it dealt with the burgeoning Soviet response to the invasion. Only in the Crimea region did the Wehrmacht and its air support achieve offensive success. However by the end of the year, the imbalance of men and material was overwhelmingly in the favor of the Allies, who outproduced Germany's airplane production by a ratio of 2.5 to 1. 

            The air war over Germany began in 1942 when the British initiated their bombing campaign, which escalated significantly the following year. They pounded the Ruhr in March at a "terrible cost" and "flirted" with defeat. Success soon followed with the use of chaff to confound local radar. They destroyed Hamburg that summer. The British nighttime area bombing was supplemented by American daytime strategic precision bombing. When the Americans flew into German airspace and beyond the range of their fighter escorts, the Luftwaffe inflicted immense casualties on the 8th Air Force. Because Hitler was so focused on revenge, he encouraged continued construction of bombers and missiles to attack Britain instead of building more fighters to defend the Reich. That said, when Bomber Command began the arduous task of attacking Berlin, Germany was able to hold them off by coordinating a defense based upon ground radar coordination with searchlights, night fighters with radar, and flak to inflict heavy damage on the British to the point that they called off the attacks. Indeed, in the first quarter of 1944, Bomber Command lost 796 planes and crew. The US introduced the long range American fighter escort, the P-51 Mustang, and changed the dynamics of the air war. Reinforced with a massive infusion of men, fighters and bombers, the objective of the 8th Air Force now became the elimination of the Luftwaffe. During "Big Week" in February 1944, the US began flying 1,000 bombers with as many escorts against the overmatched Germans. Luftwaffe losses became "unmanageable."

             The Allies then turned to preparations for Overlord by bombing French rail and marshalling yards, the rail bridges over the Seine, and German fuel and refinery capabilities. When the invasion came, it was only "the skill and tenacity" of Germany's soldiers that prevented a rout. From D-Day to the end of the month, Allied pilots flew 130,000 sorties, ten times the Luftwaffe's. By the end of the summer, Germany and the Luftwaffe were spent. But the Allies in the west failed to capitalize on the situation and conclude the final victory, assuring eight more months of casualties for both sides and the ongoing destruction of Germany.

             This is a magnificent military history, and one those who have an interest and patience will enjoy.

            

Silent Death, Kutscher - B

                  This is the second novel in the Babylon Berlin series and is set in 1930. Gereon is called out to an accidental death of a famous actress after a spotlight falls from the rafters in a movie studio and kills her. He concludes that the spotlight was manipulated to fail, and that it is a case of premeditated murder. The technician who is likely behind it is missing, as is a second famous actress. Soon thereafter, the technician plummets to his death from a very tall building. All conclude that it was suicide but Gereon is convinced he was pushed off. Then Homicide finds the second famous actress dead in an abandoned movie theater with her vocal cords removed. A third actress's body is found in another closed theater, also with her vocal cords gone. Gereon tries to convince all that the three are related, but no one at the Alex agrees with him. He's suspended for ongoing insubordination, but heads off to follow one more clue at Wannsee. There, he confronts the killer. This novel too is quite good, but unlike its predecessor, it is a straightforward police novel lacking just about any meaningful insights into the last years of Weimar.

Gabriel's Moon, Boyd - B-

              Gabriel Dax is a travel writer uninterested in politics who happens to be in the Congo when Patrice Lumumba asks for an Englishman to interview him and record the conversation. He jumps at the task but never has the chance to even write the article as Lumumba is out of office before Gabriel returns to London. Lumumba had told him the US and the UN wanted him dead "because of the uranium." Soon, he is dead and Gabriel's life begins to go sideways. He's followed, his apartment is broken into, and is of interest to MI-6 and the CIA all because of the tapes he's buried in the yard. He soldiers on trying to write his next book, but is repeatedly asked to do small favors for MI-6, and all along the way, his life is now at risk. Pretty weak tea from an accomplished novelist.