The Steep Atlantick Stream

The Steep Atlantick Stream written by Robert Harling and published by

Seaforth Publishing - £14.99 - Hardback - Pages 232

First published in 1946, this atmospheric memoir of the Battle of the Atlantic offers one of

the most original accounts of war at sea aboard a corvette, escorting convoys in both the

North and South Atlantic. The author, an RNVR lieutenant, experienced the terrors of

U-boat attacks and the hardships of autumn gales as well as the relief of shore runs in

ports as far apart as Halifax and Freetown.

The narrative begins with Harling’s voyage from the Clyde to New York on the Queen Mary (or QM, as she was known during her martial career), on route to join a newly-built corvette in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was to be her First Lieutenant, and his service at sea started in the spring of 1941, just as the battle of the Atlantic was entering its most crucial stage. During the first east-bound convoy he was to experience attacks by U-boats, the loss of merchant vessels and a steep learning curve as the ship’s crew struggled to live in the harsh wartime conditions. Later that summer they made return voyages to Iceland where runs ashore offered some solace from dangerous days at sea. Time was also spent in the South Atlantic with voyages to Freetown and Lagos, before a short interlude when he experienced the excitement of fighting with Coastal Forces. The corvette subsequently returned to escorting convoys from Halifax to Europe.

His narrative is both serious and humorous, and his picture of wartime Britain, his descriptions of being buffeted by great storm-tossed seas in the ‘cockleshell corvettes’, and the recounting of grim losses are all too real and authentic. His story ends as he leaves his ship after a violent cold developed into pneumonia, and soon afterwards he hears the heart-breaking news of her loss, along with the captain and half the crew, after being torpedoed. He is left to ponder on the many tombless dead consigned by the war to the Steep Atlantick Stream.

This is a small book but reflects the small world of these ships that the sailors had to live in. A story about a small corvette having to join forces with other likely crews to help face down the threat of U-boats in the Atlantic in WW2. This book is written by the crewman on board and conveys the ups and downs of being at sea during the lively times and the down times. This book was first published in 1946, but the book holds up well and I really enjoyed the camaraderie and humour within the book.

The New Millennium Serial Killer - Examining the Crimes of Christopher Halliwell

The New Millennium Serial Killer - Examining the Crimes of Christopher Halliwell

written by Bethan Trueman & Chris Clark and published by Pen & Sword Books

- £20 - Hardback - Pages 216

In March 2011, a major police investigation was opened in the search for missing

Swindon local, Sian O'Callaghan. When taxi driver Christopher Halliwell was

arrested, Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher didn't expect what happened

next.

After the body of another missing girl, Becky Godden-Edwards, was uncovered, the police had two murders on their hands and one suspect, but how many more unsolved murders could Christopher Halliwell be responsible for? The hidden cache of around 60 pieces of women's clothing and accessories that he led police to suggests that the number could be much higher than the two murders he has been convicted of.

In The New Millennium Serial Killer, former police intelligence officer Chris Clark and true crime podcast host Bethan Trueman use their in-depth research to present a comprehensive study into convicted killer Christopher Halliwell. Discussing the crimes for which he was convicted but presenting them alongside the unsolved cases of missing and murdered women who fit with his victim type, and who went missing in the areas where he was familiar, from the 1980s to the time of his arrest in 2011. With many jobs over the years which allowed Halliwell to travel to different areas of the UK, along with a passion for fishing and narrow boating, including Yorkshire, East Lancashire, and the Midlands.

With a foreword by former Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher, The New Millennium Serial Killer presents a fascinating account of this cruel killer and tells the heartbreaking stories of over twenty women whose cases remain unsolved today, seeking to find justice for their loved ones who are still waiting for answers. Do they remain with Christopher Halliwell and the collection of women's items?

This is a fantastic book that would be widely approved by many true crime fans, following the trail of Christopher Halliwell. The book follows the trail of Haliwell, a man that had the chance to travel around the country doing lots of different jobs. So for this reason, it gave him the chance to avoid detection as he wasn’t in one area, but also gave us the chance to wonder whether all the crimes he committed were actually ALL of the crimes he should be punished for. A really good book that is easy to read, but keeps the reader gripped with fascination, I thought it was very well written by the author’s Bethan Trueman and Chris Clark. I really enjoyed this true crime book and would happily recommend it to other true crime fans.

The London Boys - David Bowie, Marc Bolan and the 60s Teenage Dream

The London Boys - David Bowie, Marc Bolan and the 60s Teenage Dream written

by Marc Burrows and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 264

Rock n roll fanatics, mods, beat group wannabes, underground hippies, glam rock icons:

David Bowie and Marc Bolan spent the first part of their careers following remarkably similar

paths. From the day they met in 1965 as Davie Jones and Mark Feld, rock n roll wannabes

painting their manager's office in London’s Denmark Street, they would remain friends and

rivals, each watching closely and learning from the other. In the years before they launched

an unbeatable run of era-defining glam rock masterpieces at the charts, they were both just

another face on the scene, meeting for coffee in Soho, hanging out at happenings and

jamming in parks. Here, they are our guides through the decade that changed everything,

as the gloom of post-war London exploded into the technicolour dream of the swinging sixties,

a revolution in music, fashion, art and sexuality. Part duel-biography, part social history, part

musical celebration of an era, The London Boys follows the British youth culture explosion

through they eyes of two remarkable young men on the front lines of history.

A fantastic book that looks at the early lives before super stardom of two of Britain's

biggest stars in David Bowie and Marc Bolan from the 60’s, with a good bit of social

history thrown into the mix. The book looks at the teenage years and early careers

of these two music stars during the decade of the 1960’s. London youth culture and

the music industry are all revealed here through great stories and if you're a fan of

these two guys or the sixties, you should really enjoy this book. Some good work

and research has gone into this book, and it's one I would happily recommend to

anyone.

Masters of Warfare - Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical Antiquity to the Cold War

Masters of Warfare - Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical

Antiquity to the Cold War written by Eric G. L. Pinzelli and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 336

In Masters of Warfare, Eric G. L. Pinzelli presents a selection of fifty commanders whose

military achievements, skill or historical impact he believes to be underrated by modern

opinion. He specifically does not include the household names (the ‘Gods of War’ as he

calls them) such as Alexander, Julius Caesar, Wellington, Napoléon, Rommel or Patton

that have been covered in countless biographies.

Those chosen come from every period of recorded military history from the sixth century BC to the Vietnam War. The selection rectifies the European/US bias of many such surveys with Asian entries such as Bai Qi (Chinese), Attila (Hunnic), Subotai (Mongol), Ieyasu Tokugawa (Japanese) and Võ Nguyên Giáp (Vietnamese). Naval commanders are also represented by the likes of Khayr al-Dīn Barbarossa, Francis Drake and Michiel de Ruyter.

These 50 “Masters of War” are presented in a chronological order easy to follow, with a concise overview of their life and career. Altogether they present a fascinating survey of the developments and continuities in the art of command, but most importantly their contribution to the evolution of weaponry, tactic and strategy through the ages.

This book takes a look at military commanders throughout time, men who excelled at strategy, tactics and leadership. The author Pinzelli also openly admits that he has tried to look at the lesser leaders in war, so not your Caesar, Napoleon or Wellington. Then added to that, the book has tried not to have a western bias but concentrate more on an Asian or Eastern theme. Now my knowledge of the Eastern theatre of war isn’t the best yet, but I did enjoy learning more about various military leaders I hadn’t heard of before. So yes, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I will use this as a good reference book. I suppose my only disappointment was that I would like to see a balanced book from all battles so we could clearly see who the real top military leaders were. A really good book, one for the military enthusiasts.

Hitler's Nest of Vipers - The Rise Of The Abwehr

Hitler's Nest of Vipers - The Rise Of The Abwehr written by Nigel West and

published by Frontline Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 376

Modern historians have consistently condemned the Abwehr, Germany’s military intelligence service, and its SS equivalent, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), as incompetent and even corrupt organizations. However, newly declassified MI5, CIA and US Counterintelligence Corps files shed a very different light on the structure, control and capabilities of the German intelligence machine in Europe, South America, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

It is usually stated that, under Admiral Canaris, the Abwehr neglected its main functions, its attention being focused more on trying to bring down Hitler. Yet Canaris greatly expanded the Abwehr from 150 personnel into a vast world-wide organisation which achieved many notable successes against the Allies. Equally, the SD’s tentacles spread across the Occupied territories as the German forces invaded country after country across Europe.

In this in-depth study of the Abwehr’s rise to power, 1935 to 1943, its activities in Russia, the Baltic States, Ukraine, Japan, China, Manchuko and Mongolia are examined, as well as those in Thailand, French Indo-China, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, and the Arab nations. In this period, the Abwehr built a complex network of individual agents with transmitters operating from commercial, diplomatic and consular premises. Before, and in the early stages of the war, it later became apparent, the Abwehr was controlling a number of agents in Britain. Indeed, it was only after the war that the scale of the Abwehr’s activities became known, the organisation having of around 20,000 members.

This is a book about the German Abwehr that would grow into a large organisation that had tentacles throughout many international countries. Written by the author Nigel West, probably the best person to write this book due to his huge knowledge and writings based upon the various intelligence services. Always a detailed and comprehensive writer this book is no different, and will be an important book for anyone interested in the intelligence services.

The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler's U-boats

The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler's U-boats written by

Timothy S. Good and published by Frontline Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 256

No weapon platform sank more U-boats in the Second World War than the Allied aircraft.

Whether it was an American plane operating from American escort carriers, US aircraft

from Royal Air Force bases, or British aircraft from bases throughout the world, these

officers and men became the most decisive factor in turning the tide of the Battle of the

Atlantic against the German submarine threat. While the German crews could threaten

escort vessels with torpedoes, or avoid them by remaining submerged, their leaders

never developed an effective strategy against aircraft.

However, the Allied aircraft did not enjoy much early success. British, Canadian and Australian air crews that fought the U-boats from 1939 until 1941 achieved few triumphs. They possessed neither the aircraft nor the bases necessary to deliver consistent lethal attacks against German submarines.

In 1941, the Royal Air Force finally began implementing an effective aircraft response when it initiated training on the American-built Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Supported by other types then in service, these four-engine bombers would prove to be decisive. With America’s entry into the war, the United States Navy and the United States Army Air Forces also began employing Liberators against the U-boats so that by mid-1943, the Admiral Karl Dönitz, commander of U-boat forces, withdrew his submarines from the North Atlantic in recognition of the Allied aircraft’s new dominance.

From Dönitz’s retreat to the end of the war, Allied aircraft continued to dominate the U-boat battle as it shifted to other areas including the Bay of Biscay. Dönitz eventually ordered his U-boats to remain on the surface and engage Allied aircraft as opposed to submerging. This approach did lead to the demise of some Allied aircraft, but it also resulted in even more U-boat being sunk. Most critically, Dönitz acknowledged with his new policy that he knew of no tactics or weapons that would defend his submarines from Allied aircraft. In the end, it was a matter of choosing whether his submariners would die submerged or die surfaced. Either way, Allied aircraft prevailed.

This book The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler’s U-Boats was a book I was quite interested to read, mainly because its not a subject I have read too many books about. But this book can certainly be said to be a very comprehensive book full of much detail and knowledge, the author Timothy S. Good certainly knows quite a bit about this subject. The book was written in chronological order and we learn a lot about the planes, communications, various operations and fighting between the two sides and the locations of war in the Atlantic. The only downside I found really to the book was that it was very US-centric and coming from an area that was heavily involved in the campaign on the Atlantic, I was hoping to learn a little more about my area. But other than that it was a very comprehensive and detailed read, and one I will pick up and read again soon.

Allied Air Operations 1939–1940 - The War Over France and the Low Countries

Allied Air Operations 1939–1940 - The War Over France and the Low Countries

written by Jerry Murland and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 -

Hardback - Pages 192

While much has been written about the Battle of Britain, the air war over France and

the Low Countries from September 1939 to June 1940 has been largely neglected –

until now. As expert aviation author Jerry Murland reveals in this fascinating book,

there may have been little ground action until May 1940 but the war in the air was far

from ‘phoney’.

In contrast to their adversaries, the Allied air forces on the mainland of Europe were poorly equipped, regardless of increased development from 1934 onwards. But in spite of this, when the German invasion began, the Low Countries of Holland and Belgium fought back tenaciously. While development of the Spitfire, Blenheim and Wellington was continuing at a pace, the RAF with only four squadrons of Hurricanes among a force of outdated bi-planes, was a little more prepared than the French, but still woefully outgunned by the Luftwaffe.

While the Allied air forces of Britain, France and the Low Countries may have been inferior, the gallantry and tenacity of their pilots makes for inspiring reading.

This is a work that will enthral and inform all those interested in the history of the Second World War, particularly aviation enthusiasts.

Allied Air Operations Over France and the Low Countries is an often missed or

forgotten part of the war, but it actually is the front piece of the war in which France,

Belgium & Holland had to take on the brunt of Germany and the Luftwaffe. Jerry

Murland has written an excellent book here, which is very good indeed in its detailed

and comprehensive research and chronological look at events and air battles at the

start of World War Two. While we hear very little about how the low countries acted or

fared during the early part of the war, a lot was actually learnt and the likes of Holland

and Belgium put up a big fight against the Luftwaffe. I enjoyed the way the book was

laid out and Murland writes a good book, which is complimented by some good

photographs. I really enjoyed this book and would happily recommend this book to

others.