Category: Reviews

The Great Edwardian Naval Feud – Beresford’s vendetta against ‘Jackie’ Fisher

By Richard Freeman

Pen and Sword Maritime

Reviewed by Dr Tim Coyle

REGULAR readers of Headmark book reviews will recall the recent review of Historical Dreadnoughts, the ‘history wars’ between Professor Arthur Marder and Captain Stephen Roskill, the great historians of the Royal Navy in the 20th century. This book, The Great Edwardian Naval Feud, is the story of an earlier struggle, that between the titans of the Royal Navy, the volcanic genius Admiral John ‘Jackie’ Fisher and the patrician and folk hero Admiral Lord Charles Beresford (universally known as ‘”Charlie B”). Continue reading

Brayton Harris, Admiral Nimitz, The Commander of the Pacific Ocean Theatre.
Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2011, pp. 230, price not stated.

Walter Borneman, The Admirals: The Five-Star Admirals who won the war at sea.
Little Brown and Company, 2012, price not stated.

Reviewed by Mike Fogarty

THE UNITED States Navy promoted four of its admirals to five-star rank during WWII and after. Effectively, they were all styled and titled in the rank of Fleet Admiral. This was a subtle tilt at the Royal Navy, some of whose own top-ranking (and equivalent) naval officers were appointed as Admiral of the Fleet. Continue reading

FIRST VICTORY 1914
HMAS Sydney’s Hunt for German Raider Emden
MIKE CARLTON
William Heinemann: Australia 2013
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/mike-carlton/first-victory

Reviewer: Desmond Woods

THIS timely book is about much more than just the search for Emden, though her legendary cruise and the Battle of the Cocos Islands are very well covered from both the German and the Australian viewpoint.  But the book is also about the urgent transition that had to be made from peace to war in the last half of 1914, for Australia, the RAN and the RN. It also explains the fate of the ships and men of the German East Asia Squadron which was rightly perceived in 1913 as being a real threat to Australia’s maritime trade and potentially her cities. Continue reading