Stephen L. Moore

Recommended by a friend. Started reading it and saw the list of other items this author has written and said, "haven't I read him before?" Well, I did, didn't think much of it and can't say I thought this was very good either. Much of the problem lies in the fact that Moore is trying to tell several stories at once, and wants to share bios of all the crewmen of several boats with us as well. In brief: a submarine has an accident and sinks in 1939. That boat will be raised and sent out on Pacific patrols later in the war. There's another sub that comes to help rescue some of the crew of the sinking in 1939. That sub will be on patrol later in the war, get sunk by the Japanese, have some of that crew become POW's on a carrier that will get sunk by the sub that sunk and was raised in 1939. Ok, so lots of coincidences here, and many storylines that have to be discussed. Unfortunately, it's easy to get confused about which storyline is going on at that moment, and unless you really discuss incidents in detail, it becomes a shallow portrayal. Also, Moore introduces us to many crewmembers all at once, but then never talks about most of them ever again. The descriptions of the subs in action are the best part of the book. I wish there would have been more of it.… (mere)

detailed account of USS Enterprise’s dive-bombers and their decisive role at the Battle of Midway.”
Sunday, December 7, 1941, dawned clear and bright over the Pacific....
But for the Dauntless dive-bomber crews of the USS Enterprise returning to their home base on Oahu, it was a morning from hell. Flying directly into the Japanese ambush at Pearl Harbor, they lost a third of their squadron and witnessed the heart of America’s Navy broken and smoldering on the oil-slicked waters below.
The next six months, from Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway—a dark time during which the Japanese scored victory after victory—this small band of aviators saw almost constant deployment, intense carrier combat, and fearsome casualties...… (mere)

FROM AMAZON: The official nonfiction companion to the History Channel dramatic series Texas Rising (produced by the same team that made the record-breaking Hatfields and McCoys): a thrilling new narrative history of the Texas Revolution and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers who patrolled the violent Western frontier.

In 1836, if west of the Mississippi was considered the Wild West, then Texas was hell on earth - a hot bed of conflict. Who would win the war over Texas? Crushed from the outside by Mexican armadas and attacked from within by ferocious Comanche tribes, no one was safe. But this was a time of bravery, a time to die for what you believed in and a time to stand tall against the cruel rule of the Mexican General Santa Anna and his forces. The Texas Rangers, a ragtag crew of men fighting on horseback, were often outnumbered by as many as 50 to one. Yet under renowned General Sam Houston, they achieved victory against nearly impossible odds, earning a legendary place in American history.… (mere)

That one has this work is due to Moore's opportunity to interview the last American survivors of this campaign, and, for the most part, the author seems to have made the most of his chance. What this means is that the main point of this work is covering the nitty-gritty of fighter sweeps and combat air patrols, with digressions dealing with the main anti-shipping strikes. The other main point is to cover the Japanese special attack operations, and how they were experienced by the U.S. naval forces supporting the battle of Okinawa. Any other topic covered is basically to provide some context.

Apart from that, about the only complaint I have about the book is that the author could have made some acknowledgement of the parallel British naval contribution to this campaign. One realizes that the line has to be drawn somewhere in writing a fairly long book, but the reader might not otherwise know that the Royal Navy had its own war with the "Thunder Gods."… (mere)