Book Reviews

Title: Sisters of Valor
Author: Rosalie T. Turner
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Reviewer: Claudia Pemberton

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0979237521

The '60's were a turbulent time in our country, and it was especially difficult for the service wife as protests against the war were so personal against the serviceman. In SISTERS OF VALOR four very different service wives come together to find the support they need. The story continues until today when the wives look at what the Vietnam Era meant to us as a country, as families, and as individuals.

Title: For the Fatherland
Author: Walter Zapotoczny, Jr
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Reviewer: David Tschanz

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1439235929

Growing up in Germany in the 1930s, Kurt Schultheiss was like the other kids in his neighborhood: rambunctious, inquisitive, and the center of his parents' world. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he was also the picture of Aryan purity, a poster child for the band of "magnificent youngsters" with which Adolf Hitler plotted to build his "new world." As Hitler's power grew, he created the Hitler Youth, a breeding ground for the Nazi SS. As members of the Hitler Youth, Kurt and his friends enjoyed camping, weapons training--and complete indoctrination into the Nazi philosophy of world domination. Eventually Kurt became part of the infamous Einsatzgruppen, a group notorious for atrocities committed against Jews and Russians at the German Eastern Front. In this captivating novel, an elderly Kurt looks back on his life and struggles to find atonement for the terrible sins of his youth, offering in the process his explanation for how youthful potential can go so terribly wrong.

Title: Grey Wolf: A Novel in History
Author: David Huffman
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Reviewer: Buddy Cox

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1449909078

World War Two is about to begin and a German Naval Officer is going to war. Again. Oskar Keppler, a U-boat veteran of the Great War, takes command of the Type VII submarine U-115. Based on the actual War Diary of a German U-boat at the outset of World War II, this novel presents the U-boat experience from the perspective of those who lived it. Vivid descriptions of life in a diesel-electric powered submarine: day after day of mundane drilling, horrendous smells and ever deteriorating food are punctuated by moments of action, elation, terror and dread. In perhaps the most important single patrol of the first half of the Battle of the Atlantic, a handful of men will change the balance of power, and strategic capabilities of their adversary, for years to come.

Title: EMBEDDED: A Marine Corps Adviser Inside the Iraqi Army
Author: Wesley Gray
Genre: Military, Marine Corps
Reviewer: Joyce Faulkner

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1591143403

In 2006, 1st Lt. Wesley Gray was deployed as a U.S. Marine Corps military adviser to an Iraqi Army battalion in the Haditha Triad. For 210 days, he lived and fought beside Iraqi soldiers in the most dangerous and austere province of western Iraq. Al-Anbar was filled with an insurgent population traumatized by a recent massacre of twenty-four men, women, and children shot at close range by U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of one of their comrades in a roadside bombing. Despite the high tensions created by the shootings, Gray was able to form a bond with the Iraqis because he had an edge that very few U.S. service members possess -the ability to communicate in Iraqi Arabic. His language skills and his understanding of the culture led the Iraqi soldiers to call him a brother and fondly name him Jamal. By the end of his tour he was a legend within the Iraqi Army. Gray draws on the brutally honest and detailed record he kept during his tour, including extensive interviews with Iraqi soldiers and citizens. He offers a comprehensive portrait of the struggles of the Iraqi people to make their country a nation once again and includes a compelling report on the status and prospects of the U.S. government's strategy for success in Iraq.

Title: U.S. Air Force Prototype Jet Fighters Photo Scrapbook
Author: Dennis Jenkins and Tony Landis
Genre: Military, Air Force
Reviewer: Hodge Wood

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1580071376

The U.S. Air Force began developing jet fighters as World War II came to a close. The Cold War that soon developed saw a significant increase in fighter production programs as America tried to counter the perceived Soviet threat. World War II's best piston-powered fighters could barely top speeds in excess of 450 mph. But the post-war jets developed by the U.S. Air Force were soon breaking the sound barrier, flying to Mach 3, and Mach-4 capable aircraft were on the drawing board. U.S. Air Force Prototype Jet Fighters details the evolution of these aircraft, using dozens of never-before-published photographs from government archives.