Naval History Titles for Review

Email Daniel Yesilonis at daniel.yesilonis@casematepublishers.com to request your review copies. These are the newest titles available, but books not on this page may still be requested.


Upcoming Books Available for Review

The Flight of the Vikings

Daring Escapes in Small Boats from Nazi-Occupied Norway, 1940-45

Andrew Orr

9781036103682

Pen and Sword Military

Chronicles the courageous escapes of Norwegians fleeing Nazi occupation in 1940, weaving their stories into a comprehensive saga of resistance and vengeance.

When the full might of Nazi Germany descended without warning upon neutral Norway in April 1940, many brave Norwegians wanted to escape to Britain to join the fight against the occupation of their country. The most natural route to freedom was to take to the cruel North Sea in small boats, following in the ancient traditions of their Viking ancestors. Facing perils of betrayal by collaborators and pursuit by the Gestapo, these brave Norwegians were in flight, but they were absolutely determined to return as avengers of Nazi oppression.

For the first time, the stories of these remarkable escapes have been woven together into a single comprehensive Viking saga, set in the social and military context of the Nazi occupation. Extensive research has revealed many new boats and dramatic escapes, with at least 360 boats carrying over 4,000 fugitives now known to have crossed to the Allies. The onward progress of the avenging escapers is followed into the renowned Kompani Linge commandos, the famous Shetland Bus and the other free forces. Attempts by German intelligence to infiltrate spies are revealed - and how most of them were caught and turned into double agents.

Hitler had dreams of turning Norway into a semi- autonomous Aryan utopia, but he was to be confounded by the obstinate defiance of the Norwegian people, and by the free Vikings who returned to wage war against him.

Into the Endless Mist

Volume 2 - The Aleutian Campaign, September 1942-March 1943

Michal Piegzik

9781804514627

Helion and Company

A detailed account of the Aleutian campaign, highlighting key naval battles, Japanese mistakes, and the decisive role of weather in shaping the conflict's outcome.

At the beginning of June 1942, in the wake of the enormous Japanese struggle to bring a conclusive victory in the Pacific War, the Imperial Japanese Navy commenced Operation AL (AL Sakusen). By conquering Attu and Kiska in the Aleutians, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy intended to turn them into bastions that, supplied directly from the Kurile Islands, would check any American advance against the home islands from the north until at least the summer of 1943. The great disaster at Midway foiled the Japanese plan to create a greater defensive perimeter, though, ironically, as a result of the same battle, the Americans lacked the forces to quickly reconquer the two lost islands, and instead initially engaged in a low-level campaign of attrition against the Japanese forces over the winter of 1942 into 1943.

Volume 2 of Into the Endless Mist continues the story of the relatively little-known Aleutian Islands campaign from September of 1942. The Americans, using their industrial capacity and taking advantage of Japanese mistakes, moved against Kiska by landing on Adak and Amchitka and using these as bases from which to conduct an attritional air campaign against the Japanese garrisons and the ships sent to support them. Japanese efforts to provide reinforcements and supplies to their garrisons in the Aleutians would lead to the naval battle of the Komandorski Islands (Attsu oki kaisen) in March 1943, which also marked the end of the era of the classic duel of gun-armed ships without air support.

Although this battle did not decisively end the campaign, the period of balance between the US and Japanese navies in the North Pacific had ended and it was only a matter of time before the islands were retaken by US Army ground forces. Operation Landcrab, the US counter-invasion of Attu would end with the first Japanese ‘honourable defeat’ (gyokusai), in which the garrison sought to inflict a terrible toll on the attackers at the cost of their own complete destruction in a banzai charge. However, a painful lesson was learnt and soon after, despite all pessimistic predictions, the Japanese garrison of Kiska would be evacuated in what would become known as the ‘miracle at Kiska’ (Kisuka no kiseki) in Japanese historiography.

Into the Endless Mist Volume 2: The Aleutian Campaign, September 1942 – March 1943 concludes the account of the forgotten struggle in the Aleutians, and is based on meticulous research of American and Japanese primary sources, testimonies, monographs, and papers. This volume is illustrated throughout with original photographs and includes the @War series’ specially commissioned signature colour artworks.