As selected by the MHQ editors:
Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, by James D. Hornfischer (Bantam, $30). Reviewed by Jeffrey G. Barlow.
The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization, by Jim Lacey (Bantam, $26). Reviewed by Debra Hamel.
Perilous Fight: America’s Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812–1815, by Stephen Budiansky (Knopf, $35). Excerpt.
Desert Hell: The British Invasion of Mesopotamia, by Charles Townshend (Belknap, $35).
The Whites of Their Eyes: Bunker Hill, the First American Army, and the Emergence of George Washington, by Paul Lockhart (Harper, $27.99). Essay by the author.
Conscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family—a Test of Will and Faith in World War I, by Louisa Thomas (Penguin, $25.95).
Lincoln on War: Our Greatest Commander-in-Chief Speaks to America, edited by Harold Holzer (Algonquin, $24.95).
The Crimean War A History, by Orlando Figes (Metropolitan, $35). Reviewed by Jeremy Black.
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, by Timothy Snyder (Basic, $29.95).
The Union War, by Gary W. Gallagher (Harvard, $27.95).
The Age of Airpower, by Martin van Creveld (Public Affairs, $35).
The Civil War of 1812 American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies, by Alan Taylor (Knopf, $35). Reviewed by Thomas B. Allen.
What It Is Like to Go to War, by Karl Marlantes (Atlantic Monthly, $25). Excerpt.
1861: The Civil War Awakening, by Adam Goodheart (Knopf, $29.95).
The Battle of Midway, by Craig L. Symonds (Oxford, $29.95).
Leningrad: The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941–1944, by Anna Reid (Walker, $30). Reviewed by Robert M. Citino.
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Coffee Table Books
Bombs Away! The World War II Bombing Campaigns over Europe, by John R. Bruning (Zenith, $50)
The Library of Congress Illustrated Timeline of the Civil War, by Margaret Wagner (Little, Brown, $35)
Elite Fighting Forces: From the Praetorian Guard to the Green Berets, edited by Jeremy Black (Thames & Hudson, $35)
Send your picks for books of the year to MHQeditor@weiderhistory.com. We’ll post them here.
