RogerBW's Blog

The Commodore, C. S. Forester 25 June 2024 - 3 comments

1945 Napoleonic naval fiction, fourth written but ninth by internal chronology. Hornblower is settling uncomfortably into rural life when he's given a squadron and sent on a diplomatic and military mission to the Baltic.

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Tomorrow the World, John Biggins 01 April 2024

1994 historical military fiction, fourth and last in its series, but this time falling back on the early life and career of Otto Prohaska of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

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The Two-Headed Eagle, John Biggins 11 March 2024 - 2 comments

1993 historical aviation fiction. For a few months in 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Otto Prohaska of the Austro-Hungarian Navy is a heroic aviator.

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The Emperor's Coloured Coat, John Biggins 24 February 2024

1992 historical naval fiction. In spite of his best efforts, Linienschiffsleutnant Otto Prohaska of the Austro-Hungarian Navy is not going to avert the First World War.

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A Sailor Of Austria, John Biggins 06 January 2024 - 1 comment

1991 historical naval fiction. In 1915, Linienschiffsleutnant Otto Prohaska of the Austro-Hungarian Navy takes command of a submarine…

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To Clear Away the Shadows, David Drake 28 June 2023

2019 military SF, thirteenth and to date last of this series. As the truce continues to hold, the Far Traveller explores a forgotten section of space.

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Though Hell Should Bar the Way, David Drake 09 June 2023

2018 military SF, twelfth of this ongoing series. Roy Olfetrie's father was caught on the take, so Roy had to leave the Academy; but a chance meeting puts him aboard Daniel Leary's latest venture…

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Death's Bright Day, David Drake 02 May 2023

2016 military SF, eleventh of this ongoing series. Another neutral star cluster, where one arm of the enemy Alliance seems to be fomenting a rebellion against another. So Leary is sent in to be a mercenary…

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The Sea Without a Shore, David Drake 14 March 2023

2014 military SF, tenth of this ongoing series. A variety of missions, well outside the scope of anything official, brings Daniel and crew to a planet in rebellion.

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The Road of Danger, David Drake 18 February 2023

2012 military SF, ninth of this ongoing series. After the events of the previous book, Daniel Leary and the Princess Cecile are sent to get a privincial admiral moving in the right direction to head off a war-starting coup. Of course it's always more complicated than that.

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Casablanca 26 January 2023

1942 wartime romance and comedy, dir. Michael Curtiz, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman: IMDb / allmovie. As refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe collect in Casablanca on the way to Lisbon and freedom, everybody comes to Rick's Café Americain.

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What Distant Deeps, David Drake 16 January 2023

2010 military SF, eighth of this ongoing series. There's an election coming up, so famous commander Daniel Leary should be got away from the capital of the Republic before he accidentally endorses someone. But backwater postings never stay backwaters for long.

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Inglourious Basterds 20 December 2022

2009 war, dir. Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent: IMDb / allmovie. Dakka dakka dakka aieee for you Tommy ze var is over.

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Flying Colours, C. S. Forester 09 December 2022 - 1 comment

1938 Napoleonic naval fiction, third written but eighth by internal chronology. Captured at the end of the previous book, Hornblower is to be taken to Paris for a show trial and execution.

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Red Cliff 08 December 2022 - 1 comment

2008 war, dir. John Woo, Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro: IMDb 1 and 2 / allmovie 1 and 2. A true historical epic, based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

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The Hurt Locker 26 November 2022

2008 war, dir. Kathryn Bigelow, Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie: IMDb / allmovie. War is a drug.

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In the Stormy Red Sky, David Drake 25 November 2022

2009 military SF, seventh of this ongoing series. An irked senator, a shaky ally, and a major defeat for the RCN…

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When the Tide Rises, David Drake 04 October 2022

2008 military SF, sixth of this ongoing series. Another small war, another planet.

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) 07 September 2022 - 1 comment

2003 historical war, dir. Peter Weir, Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany; IMDb / AllMovie. In 1805, HMS Surprise goes out hunting a French frigate…

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Some Golden Harbor, David Drake 23 July 2022

2006 military SF, fifth of this ongoing series. Dunbar's World is being invaded from Pellegrino, and the RCN is called on by their allies to help. But they don't really care that much, so they send one underarmed ship and Daniel Leary.

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A Ship of the Line, C. S. Forester 07 May 2022

1938 Napoleonic naval fiction, second written but seventh by internal chronology. After his triumphs in the Lydia, Hornblower gets command of a ship of the line, if an ugly and unseaworthy one, not to mention short of crew.

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The Dance of Time, David Drake and Eric Flint 04 May 2022

2006 alternate-history war story, last of six books. The Malwa have been pushed back but still hold their home territory; Belisarius and allies must finish the job.

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P-51 Dragon Fighter 26 March 2022 - 7 comments

2014 fantasy, dir. Mark Atkins, Scott Martin, Ross Brooks: IMDb / allmovie. In the Second World War, the Nazis have got dragons. That's about it really.

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The Tide of Victory, David Drake and Eric Flint 25 March 2022

2001 alternate-history war story, fifth of six books. Belisarius and his allies take the war to the Malwa, invading the subcontinent and pushing them back into their heartland.

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The Green Berets (1968) 29 January 2022 - 1 comment

1968 war, dir. John Wayne and Ray Kellogg, Wayne, David Janssen: IMDb / allmovie.

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Hamburger Hill (1987) 22 January 2022 - 4 comments

1987 war, dir. John Irvin, Dylan McDermott, Courtney B. Vance: IMDb / allmovie. Even the breaks between war are fairly hellish.

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Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) 19 January 2022

1987 war, dir. Barry Levinson, Robin Williams: IMDb / allmovie. A laugh a minute in good old Vietnam.

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Full Metal Jacket (1987) 15 January 2022 - 1 comment

1987 war, dir. Stanley Kubrick, Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey: IMDb / allmovie. Boot camp is hell, then it gets worse.

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Platoon (1986) 12 January 2022

1986 war, dir. Oliver Stone, Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger: IMDb / allmovie. Turns out war isn't as bad as you thought; it's worse.

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The Way to Glory, David Drake 08 January 2022

2005 military SF, fourth of this ongoing series. With riots breaking out after an officer who lethally suppressed a mutiny is found not guilty at his court-martial, Daniel Leary ends up serving under him. This is unlikely to end well.

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Archangel Blues, Eluki bes Shahar 06 January 2022

1993 SF, last of its trilogy. Saint Butterflies-are-free Peace Sincere has a new job: stop the war by killing the man who's starting it. But of course things are going to get much more complicated.

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Fortune's Stroke, David Drake and Eric Flint 14 December 2021 - 3 comments

2001 alternate-history war story, fourth of six books. Belisarius delays the Malwa's best general in the Zagros Mountains to stop him reaching Mesopotamia; his wife Antonina forges an alliance with the Axumites.

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Arctic Gambit, Larry Bond and Chris Carlson 08 November 2021

2018 technothriller. Those sneaky Russians have a new terror weapon, and only a pre-emptive attack can prevent World War III.

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Driving the Deep, Suzanne Palmer 03 November 2021

2020 SF, second of its series. Fergus has got back to his found-family, the Shipmakers of Pluto; but when he goes to Earth to tie off one last bit of unfinished business, things suddenly get desperately complicated again.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark 17 October 2021 - 7 comments

1981 adventure, dir. Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Karen Allen; IMDb / AllMovie. In 1936, the treasure-hunting "archaeologist" Indiana Jones tries to beat the Nazis to the lost Ark of the Covenant.

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Das Boot 15 October 2021

1981 war, dir. Wolfgang Peterson, Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer; IMDb / AllMovie. In late 1941, U-96 goes out hunting Allied ships…

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Darktraders, Eluki bes Shahar 30 September 2021

1992 SF, middle volume of a trilogy. Saint Butterflies-are-free Peace Sincere, a smuggler pilot without a ship, has nearly got her inconvenient protégé back to safety… but it's never that simple.

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Apocalypse Now (1979) 12 September 2021 - 4 comments

1979 war, dir. Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall: IMDb / allmovie. Captain Willard is sent upriver to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, who's fighting the war just a bit too well.

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The Long Way Home, Ed Dover 20 June 2021 - 5 comments

1998 non-fiction. A Pan Am Boeing 314 Clipper was en route from Noumea to Auckland when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. They were instructed to make their way back to the USA as best they could.

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Fatal Thunder, Larry Bond and Chris Carlson 19 April 2021

2016 technothriller. As China and the rest of Asia recover from the war in the previous book, an Indian conspiracy plans to shift the stalemate in Kashmir.

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Destiny's Shield, David Drake and Eric Flint 11 April 2021

1999 alternate-history war story, third of six books. Belisarius takes an army to help the Persians throw the invading Malwa out of Mesopotamia; his wife Antonina suppresses civil unrest in Alexandria.

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Finder, Suzanne Palmer 02 April 2021

2019 SF, first of a series. Fergus is a finder, a probably-reformed thief turned repo man for (in this case) a stolen starship.

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The Happy Return, C. S. Forester 25 March 2021 - 3 comments

1937 Napoleonic naval fiction, first written but sixth by internal chronology. Hornblower, commanding the frigate Lydia, is sent to the Pacific coast of Nicaragua to aid a local insurgency against the Spanish.

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Shooting the Rift, Alex Stewart 24 March 2021

2016 SF. Simon Forrester is rather forgotten beside his mother the warship captain and his sister the space marine, even if he is unreasonably good with computers. So he sets off to make his own way…

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Designated Targets, John Birmingham 06 March 2021 - 2 comments

2005 alternate-history science fiction war story. The "uptimers" from 2021 are helping their Allied counterparts from 1942, but both sides have future tech and people to exploit.

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The Far Side of the Stars, David Drake 27 February 2021

2003 military SF, third of this ongoing series. Peace has broken out between Republic and Alliance, which means that Leary's command, the captured corvette Princess Cecile, is being sold out of service. But she's bought by a foreigner who needs a ship and a crew for his expedition to backwater space.

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Lt. Leary, Commanding, David Drake 12 December 2020

2000 military SF, second of this ongoing series. With a heroic reputation from the previous book, which can be both good and bad depending on who has power over him, Leary waits to learn his next assignment… then gets sent to a volatile allied world where political games are rapidly becoming deadly.

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In the Heart of Darkness, David Drake and Eric Flint 06 December 2020

1998 alternate-history war story, second of six books. Belisarius is a guest of the Malwa empire in India, as they try to bribe him to turn against Justinian's Constantinople; meanwhile his wife Antonina works on developing a military force to use crude gunpowder weapons, which will be tested sooner than they expect.

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Hellflower, Eluki bes Shahar 24 September 2020

1991 SF, first of a trilogy. Saint Butterflies-are-free Peace Sincere was happy as a smuggler pilot, but she had to go and save an inexperienced mercenary from the local lowlife, and then things just got complicated.

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Grunt Life, Weston Ochse 20 September 2020 - 7 comments

2014 military SF, first of a trilogy. Ben Mason tried to kill himself when the PTSD got too much for him… but instead, They recruited him to go up against an alien invasion that most of humanity doesn't even know about.

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With the Lightnings, David Drake 17 July 2020 - 3 comments

1998 military SF, first of an ongoing series. Lt Daniel Leary of the Republic of Cinnabar (space) Navy is the impoverished fifth wheel on a diplomatic mission to the new government of Kostroma. Adele Mundy's family on Cinnabar was disgraced and put to death, largely by Leary's father, and now she's working as librarian to the new Kostroman ruler. Neither of them is expecting a revolution fomented by the Alliance of Free Stars.

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An Oblique Approach, David Drake and Eric Flint 17 June 2020

1998 alternate-history war story, first of six books. In 528 AD, the young Byzantine general Belisarius is given a message from the, or a, future: a powerful enemy is rising in India, and will subjugate the world with massive armies and devastating weapons if not prevented. And he's the man to prevent it.

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Thoughts on the Armistice after a hundred years 12 November 2018 - 2 comments

I spent a quiet day yesterday.

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The Wimsey Papers, Dorothy Sayers 27 June 2018 - 3 comments

1939-1940 short articles published in The Spectator; various characters from the Wimsey stories write to each other about the early days of the Second World War.

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Sea Strike, James H. Cobb 27 April 2018 - 1 comment

Naval technothriller, second in the series dealing with Captain Amanda Garrett and the USS Cunningham. As a Chinese civil war turns one-sided, US forces intervene to prevent nuclear holocaust.

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Most Secret, Nevil Shute 04 May 2017

1945 war story (written in 1942 but held back by the censor). Four mismatched officers come together on a project to build up French morale by deploying a flamethrower against German coastal forces.

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Into the Storm, Taylor Anderson 02 April 2017 - 3 comments

2008 alternate-history science fiction war story. During the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942, two antiquated four-stacker destroyers sail into a squall… and come out somewhere else.

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The Guns of Navarone, Alistair MacLean 29 March 2017

1957 thriller/war story. The island of Navarone, off the Turkish coast, contains a set of naval guns in a rock fortress that can't be effectively bombed, surrounded by a massive occupation force. Two sabotage missions have failed, one by boat, one by parachute. It's time for the third.

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HMS Ulysses, Alistair MacLean 25 March 2017

1955 thriller/war story, MacLean's first novel. Ulysses, a heavily-modified Dido-class cruiser, has been worked nearly to death on the Arctic convoys, but in spite of that, and of an arguable mutiny among the men, she's sent out for one more run.

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Weapons of Choice, John Birmingham 23 February 2017 - 1 comment

2004 alternate-history science fiction war story. In the near future, an American-led multinational naval force is approaching an Indonesia turned muslim-fundamentalist, when it finds itself hurled through time to 1942, just before the Battle of Midway.

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The Longest Day 23 November 2016 - 5 comments

1962 war, dir. Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki and others: IMDb / allmovie

The tale of the D-Day invasion in 1944, with a literal cast of thousands.

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Viper Strike, Keith Douglass 08 August 2016

1991 military fiction; second in the Carrier series. A complex plot sees Burmese, Thai and Chinese renegades orchestrating a breakup of SEATO for purposes unclear at first. Carrier Battle Group 14 is going to get caught in the middle.

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Carrier, Keith Douglass 04 August 2016

1991 military fiction; first in the Carrier series. An American intelligence ship and her crew vanish on the high seas; the North Koreans admit nothing. Carrier Battle Group 14 is sent in to get them out.

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Afterburn, Keith Douglass 24 October 2015 - 4 comments

1996 alternate-world military fiction; seventh in the Carrier series. "Tombstone" Magruder is still CAG aboard USS Thomas Jefferson, which is sent to the Black Sea for peacekeeping operations in the context of the ongoing Russian civil war.

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Darkest Hour, James Holland 10 October 2015

2009 war story, second in Holland's Sergeant Jack Tanner series. In May of 1940, Tanner is in a training company on the south coast, but will soon be going to France with the BEF. But an old nemesis from his days in India has shown up again.

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The Odin Mission, James Holland 08 August 2015 - 2 comments

2008 war story, first in Holland's Sergeant Jack Tanner series. In April of 1940, British forces in Norway make a fighting retreat in the face of the oncoming German invasion. Jack Tanner, of the King's Own Yorkshire Rangers, must also deal with poor officers, being cut off from friendly troops, and a civilian who has to be smuggled out of the country.

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Countdown, Keith Douglass 04 June 2015

1994 alternate-world military fiction; sixth in the Carrier series. "Tombstone" Magruder is still CAG aboard USS Thomas Jefferson, which now gets involved in the Russian civil war of 1994+4.

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Maelstrom, Keith Douglass 27 February 2015

1993; fifth in the Carrier series. "Tombstone" Magruder, CAG aboard USS Thomas Jefferson, continues to fight against the Russian invasion of Norway in 1993+4.

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Gold from Crete, C. S. Forester 04 January 2015

1971 collection of earlier fiction; various stories of action during the Second World War.

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USS Seawolf, Patrick Robinson 16 November 2014 - 2 comments

In an attempt to get details of the latest Chinese missile submarine, an American attack boat is sent in to shadow her. Spoilers.

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The Good Soldier Schweik, Jaroslav Hasek 12 November 2014

After the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire goes to war. Josef Švejk, a dealer in stolen dogs, does his best to get by.

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Chickenhawk, Robert Mason 25 October 2014 - 6 comments

Robert Mason flew Hueys for a year in Vietnam. This is his story.

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Flame-Out, Keith Douglass 13 October 2014

Fourth in the Carrier series. "Tombstone" Magruder is now deputy CAG aboard a Nimitz-class carrier, and Russia is invading Norway.

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Choosers of the Slain, James H. Cobb 06 October 2014 - 4 comments

Naval technothriller. Argentine troops invade key locations in Antarctica, and the only force in a position to do anything about it is a new US Navy destroyer.

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HMS Unseen, Patrick Robinson 02 September 2014 - 2 comments

Airliners over the Atlantic are being shot down by submarine-launched missiles. How can this be stopped? Spoilers.

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Kilo Class, Patrick Robinson 17 August 2014

In the mid 2000s, China tries to buy seven Kilo-class diesel submarines from Russia. The Americans aim to prevent this. Meanwhile, something odd is going on at Kerguelen Island.

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With Blood and Iron, Douglas Reeman 15 August 2014

In the latter days of the Second World War, a U-boat group leader tries to maintain morale and keep his crews alive.

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Nimitz Class, Patrick Robinson 04 August 2014 - 1 comment

In a now-alternate 2002, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier suddenly disappears at sea, apparently in a nuclear accident. What happened?

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One Hundred Days, Admiral Sandy Woodward and Patrick Robinson 16 July 2014 - 2 comments

In 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands; a Royal Navy task group was sent to take them back. This is the memoir of the task group's commander.

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Red Army, Ralph Peters 27 June 2014 - 1 comment

The invasion of Europe, seen entirely from the Soviet point of view.

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I Was A Stranger, John Hackett 21 June 2014 - 2 comments

In September 1944, then-Brigadier John Hackett commanded the 4th Parachute Brigade during Operation Market Garden. He was wounded at Arnhem and captured, and spent several months hiding with members of the Dutch underground.

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Trinity's Child, William Prochnau 15 June 2014 - 2 comments

The USSR launches a limited nuclear strike against the USA. Things get worse.

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Private Angelo, Eric Linklater 11 June 2014

In a tale that begins with the Italian armistice of 1943, the reluctant soldier Angelo bounces around war-torn Italy, serially drafted into one army after another. He is a very poor soldier. If only he had the dono di coraggio.

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The Third World War: The Untold Story, General Sir John Hackett 06 June 2014 - 5 comments

Some time in the 1980s, the USSR invades Europe.

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Red Storm Rising, Tom Clancy (and Larry Bond) 30 May 2014 - 2 comments

Some time in the 1980s, a terrorist attack on oil infrastructure leads the USSR to invade Europe.

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Shattered Trident, Larry Bond and Chris Carlson 05 May 2014

In 2016, China and an alliance of South-East Asian nations go to war over the Spratly Islands.

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Alternate Generals 26 April 2014 - 2 comments

Anthology from 1998 of alternate histories based on different decisions by military leaders; edited by Harry Turtledove, Roland Green and Martin H. Greenberg.

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Exit Plan, Larry Bond and Chris Carlson 14 April 2014 - 2 comments

Jerry Mitchell, aboard an Ohio SSGN, goes on a mission to extract two Iranians with knowledge of the nuclear weapons programme from that country. Mild spoilers will follow.

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Armageddon Mode, Keith Douglass 05 April 2014 - 3 comments

Third in the Carrier series. "Tombstone" Magruder is a naval aviator aboard a Nimitz-class carrier, as the USA gets involved in a major conflict with India.

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SSN, Tom Clancy 21 March 2014 - 4 comments

In 1997, an Improved Los Angeles-class attack submarine, USS Cheyenne, joins the war against China.

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Fateful Choices, Ian Kershaw 15 March 2014

Kershaw examines ten choices made during the years 1940-1941 that, in his opinion, substantially affected the course of the Second World War.

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A Prayer for the Ship, Douglas Reeman 12 March 2014 - 1 comment

Sub-Lieutenant Clive Royce is assigned to a Motor Torpedo Boat working off the east coast of England during the Second World War.

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Operation Mincemeat, Ben Macintyre 25 February 2014

This is the story of the well-known deception operation in the Second World War: dropping a dead fake courier into the sea near Spain, in the hope that his deceptive paperwork would be taken seriously by the Germans and misdirect them as to the location of Allied landings in the Mediterranean.

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Operation Crossbow 26 January 2014

1965, dir. Michael Anderson, George Peppard, Sophia Loren: IMDb / allmovie

This is a highly-fictionalised account, a triple-stranded story of the German V-weapon development programme, the British efforts (the actual Crossbow) to work out what was going on and develop countermeasures, and as part of that a mission to insert agents into the rocket development and construction programmes.

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Mrs Miniver, Jan Struther 12 January 2014 - 2 comments

Yes, I'm talking about the book, or more accurately the collection of newspaper columns, not the film. The film is a wartime story, made as part of the Allied propaganda effort. The columns are earlier and more interesting:

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