Favorite Books

There are a select few books that are in my library the I do not want to live without and yesterday in a used book shop in York PA I found this, a copy of Peter Fleming's Operation Sea Lion. My original purchase of this is what got me to start my studies of this what-if campaign. The connection to James Bond and that this was a book written before the release of the British knowledge from signal intelligence only came latter. I was young.

My initial copy was found in a used book shop in Ferndale California back in 1986. My new copy was bought for the sole purpose of it having an intact book jacket. Yes I do love this book that much.

Do you have similar books you love?

Sea Lion Books Part 1

Wanted to share with you my reading list for this project. It will grow as there are a number of titles I am reading grow.

Read

• Operation Sea Lion by Peter Fleming 1957
• Invasion: The German Invasion of England, July 1940 by Kenneth Macksey 1980
• Sea Lion by Richard Cox 1977
• More to come…

Reading

• Hitler's Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 by Henrik Lunde 2009
• Hitler's Armada: The Royal Navy and the Defence of Great Britain, April - October 1940 by Geoff Hewitt 2008
• The Home Guard: A Military And Political History S.P. Mackenzie 1995

On the reading list to get

• Ultra goes to war by Ronald Lewin 1978
• The Ultra Secret by F. W. Winterbotham 1975

On order

• When Britain Saved the West: The Story of 1940 by Robin Prior 2015
• If War Should Come: Defence Preparations on the South Coast, 1935-1939 by Philip MacDougall 2013

 As the list grows I will move it over to its own page. Any suggestions are welcome.

Book Review - Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat

Recently, I purchased a MiG-19 on a whim. It was a good price and the arms race going on in Lebanon 1982 was heating up as Mark was showing off his A-4. So in defense the pro-Syrian side purchased the MiG-19. My total knowledge of this MiG came from the Internet. And while much of the information on Wikipedia is good (better than nothing) I was looking for even more. Osprey having in general good monographs, I purchased Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper.

On first reading through this short work I was disappointed. As I was trying to put this post together I reread many of the sections and my opinion improved.

I find the book to have two key strengths. The book is a rare find as it is coming from the Arab/Egyptian point of view. As little is written about either the Egyptian or Syrian air forces this book is an asset to anyone interested in the Arab Israeli Wars from 1967 to the present. I assume that if I read Arabic I may have a better chance finding sources on their militaries. While many of the reported air-to-air battles are sketchy in the book they do allow a gamer to set up historical battles to game. I look forward to using these for a Bag the Hun meets Bag the MiG.

Unfortunately the books weaknesses were more academic. There are no maps so figuring were the airfields are located is a problem. There are also no notes on sources. While this is common for many of the Osprey publications I find that this subject is so unique that they really need to be there.

The authors also start out with the thesis that the Arab/Egyptian forces did better than what was reported in the West. Their lack of documentation and possible charts make it difficult to determine if they proved their point. I do understand they Arab/Egyptian units were very brave as it takes courage to take off in a jet while your airfield is under attack. The Arab/Egyptian were also not help in many ways by their Soviet allies.

While they labor the points that Israel claims of losses to AAA were really lost to Syrian or Egyptian fighters, it does not reverse the fact that the losses were weighed heavily towards the Arab/Egyptian forces. Also the US in Vietnam had similar problems with reports on reasons for losses.

Over all I am happy with the purchase as it fits a hole in my collection. I hope when the authors release their book on MiG-15 and MiG-17 units that there will be improvements.

Book Review - The War For Lebanon 1970-1985

It took me longer than I wanted to, but I have finished The War For Lebanon 1970-1985 by Itamar Rabinovich. I hope this will be a reoccurring part of my blog as I go though my library of books on this period. If you have any thoughts or requests, please let me know.

This book is an excellent source for the political side of the conflicts that have had effects on Lebanon from the mandate period to the present. While my interest with “Operation Peace for Galilee” is a very small part of this time period, the background materials were of considerable use. Most political factions and the major players positions and plans are reported on in great detail.


The conflicts and the changing sides require the reader to have a chart of the members of the different teams. The initial maps are useful but additional maps would have been helpful showing the changes in militia/political control in Lebanon.


Rabinovich’s work is scholarly and a very slow read. If you are interested in the Middle East in the latter 20^th century you should give it a read.

Bibliography

When I started this project I was planning on doing more than just painting up a few miniatures and fighting out a couple of urban battles. I have always been interested in the Arab Israeli Wars, as my personal library shows. Why would a good Catholic school boy be interested in a conflict between differing religions. I don't know. Could be watching the conflict happen during Saturday morning cartoons back in the 1970s. I do remember buying the first few issues of Born in Battle Magazine (oh how I wish I still had those). Fast forward five years and I in the Mediterranean Sea during the latter parts of the Lebanon conflict. 

After my military service I worked on both a degree in History and a library on the Middle East. Most of my books were on the 1948 and 1973 conflicts. Only recently at the urging of Mark Kinsey did I look at Lebanon. What you will see with this bibliography is the best I can currently find on Lebanon from the invasion to the siege of Beirut. Most of the works are general as there is a lack of company/battalion histories for the IDF. While I understand the reasons and still does not make it any less frustrating. Online works are also limited for the IDF. The Lebanese militias and the PLO are easier to find online but as a historian I take what they say with a big bag of salt. 

The Lebanon specific books are written shortly after the conflict. This causes them to not have the benifiet of reflection or time seperation. Alas nothing has been written recently, at least not in English. Another reason why I need to learn Hebrew.

Rule-Sets
Clarke, Richard. Troops, Weapons & Tactics. TOOFATLardies. 2007.

Clarke, Richard, and Nick Skinner. I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum. TOOFATLardies. 2005.

Stoesen, Chris. Rock the Casbah. TOOFATLardies. 2008.

Published Materials
Creveld, Martin Van. The Sword and the Olive. New York, N.Y.: Public Affairs. 2002.

Gabriel, Richard A. Operation Peace For Galilee. New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang. 1984.

Gelbart, Marsh. Modern Israeli Tanks and Infantry Carriers 1985-2004. London; Osprey Publishing.   1985.

Herzog, Chaim. The Arab-Israeli Wars. New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books. 1984.

Kahalani, Avigdor. A Warrior’s Way. New York, N.Y.: S.P.I. Books. 1994.

Katz, Sam. Merkava Main Battle Tank MKs I, II, & III. London: Osprey Publishing.1997.

Katz, Samuel M. Armies in Lebanon. London; Osprey Publishing. 1985.

Katz, Samuel M. Fire & Steel - Israel’s 7th Armored Brigade. New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books. 1996.

Katz, Samuel M. Israeli Elite Units since 1948. London: Osprey Publishing. 1988.

Liban A 1:200,000 scale map of Lebanon by Institut Geogra Phique National

Petit, Michael. Peacekeepers at War. Boston, MA.: Faber and Faber. 1986.

Pollack, Kenneth M. Arabs at War. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 2002.

Rabinovich, Itamar. The War For Lebanon. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. 1985.

Schiff, Ze'ev and Ehud Ya'ari. Israel's Lebanon War. New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster. 1984.

Zaloga, Steven, J. Armour of the Middle East Wars 1948-78. London; Osprey Publishing. 1981.

Zaloga, Steven J. Tank Battles of the Mid-East Wars (2) The Wars of 1973 to the Present. Hong Kong: Concord Publications Company.