New Book Wednesday: 3rd June 2020
Hello and Happy New Book Wednesday, we just wanted to take a moment to express our sympathies with the events taking place in the US. This is an opportunity for us all to educate ourselves and do all that we can to offer support and solidarity to BAME people throughout the US and the UK that suffer from racism and oppression.
Here are this week’s new books!
Never Too Old for a Pierhead Jump by David Black
Harry Gilmour is back in David Black’s latest military thriller. It’s only been out for five days and already has 5 stars on Amazon and has been called ‘a cracking yarn’ and ‘one of the most enjoyable tales of war’. If you aren’t familiar with the series, dive in and discover the untold story of life in the navy’s submarine service in the Second World War.
The year is 1944, and Lieutenant Harry Gilmour is recovering in Beirut from an ill-fated British campaign to seize the Greek Islands.
After four years at sea, he is expecting a shore job as his next appointment. Instead, a flash signal from C-in-C Mediterranean arrives: Report to Alexandria and assume command of HM Submarine Saraband.
His new command has just arrived there en route to the Indian Ocean and the war against Japan. But there’s been trouble on board, ‘Conduct prejudicial to naval discipline,’ and the skipper and first lieutenant have been summarily removed. Now it’s up to Harry Gilmour to pick up the pieces.
With a sullen, uncooperative crew, Harry must navigate Japanese convoy routes through the shallow, treacherous waters of the Malay Archipelago. There, endless, sweltering hunts for targets through the island chains leave Saraband’s crew even more exhausted and demoralised. Yet, if they are to survive against an Imperial Japanese Navy growing in anti-submarine expertise, Harry must turn them into a taut fighting machine.
Because waiting for them, as the war in the Far East grinds towards its final conclusion, is a mission as daring and audacious as it is vital. One that could deliver the Royal Navy’s most spectacular success of the war.
The Secrets of Mabel Eastlake by Donald Olson
It’s 1939 in Hollywood, a year long proclaimed as the greatest year of cinema. But behind the cameras, on a dark night in the home of starlet Mabel Eastlake, two violent murders take place which will haunt her for the resort of her life. The Secrets of Mabel Eastlake is atmospheric, melodramatic, and evocative of Hollywood’s lost golden age.
Two violent murders occurred on the same night in 1939, in the fabulous Art Deco mansion of screen star Mabel Eastlake.
According to an old Hollywood legend, her lover, Jimmy Flame, killed both her husband and her mentor-Director before dying in a car crash while trying to escape. After the scandalous trial Mabel Eastlake closed herself into her Beverly Hills mansion with her stand-in Fancy Barlow and her dresser, Cygnet Sackville, and never again appeared in public.
Mabel Eastlake’s unbelievable secret, the truth about her surprising life, leaves investigative reporter Alex Klein stunned — and may leave him dead. A wily New Yorker and Mabel Eastlake fan, Alex gains access to the legendary screen star’s home only to find himself trapped in a bizarre world of intrigue and danger.
With its larger-than-life characters and slyly subversive plot, The Secrets of Mabel Eastlake is a compelling tale of truth and illusion in Hollywood’s most glamorous era, the Thirties, when real life was even more unbelievable than the stories on the silver screen.
This is the incredible true story of the West Point class of 1941, men who graduated into the Second World War, and played decisive roles in American military policy throughout the twentieth century. The book has been praised as ‘absorbing’, ‘illuminating and far reaching scope’ and is a fantastic read for those interested in the history of American conflict.
Bataan. North Africa. Sicily. Omaha Beach. The Ardennes. This is the inspiring true story of the West Point class of ’41, which graduated into combat leadership in World War II and went on to shape policy in Korea, during the Cold War, and in Vietnam.
From Sandy Nininger, awarded the first Medal of Honor of World War II for his actions leading Philippine Scouts in the early days of the war, to Charlie Fletcher, Ed Rowny, Paul Skowronek, Herb Stern, and dozens of others who quickly found themselves leading companies, battalions, and regiments, these young officers struggled with the fog and terror of war and early command. In a postwar era of unprecedented military latitude, they helped shape defense strategy, led development of America’s rocket programs, and created the theory and practice of helicopter airmobile combat that came to dominate in Vietnam.
In Europe, Asia, and with the Soviets, ’41ers practiced diplomacy and tradecraft as architects of American Cold War policy. All the while, they clung tightly to tenets of duty and moral courage inculcated at West Point: often tested, but holding firm to the bonds that make up the “Long Gray Line.”
West Point ’41: The Class That Went to War and Shaped America is an uplifting story of ordinary young men in extraordinary times, in extraordinary places, who graduated directly into the teeth of battle and displayed unwavering leadership, honor, duty, and determination.
The Falklands Conflict by Ronald Payne, Christopher Dobson and John Miller
Another brilliant history of war, The Falklands Conflict is an in-depth account of the biggest challenge to Margaret Thatcher’s premiership and British sovereignty in the Southern hemisphere.
On 19 March, 1982 a party of Argentine demolition workers landed at Leith Harbour, South Georgia, with a contract to dismantle the island’s long-abandoned whaling station.
The contract was bona fide but the landing was in open defiance of all British customs and immigration requirements. When the authorities at the small settlement at Grytviken demanded they either obtain a visa or leave, the Argentinians refused. Two weeks later Argentine troops successfully invaded the Falkland Islands.
In Britain, an affair that had begun for most people as a small item at the end of a workaday news summary suddenly became more than mere headlines — the world watched aghast as Britain prepared for war.
Here is the full authoritative account: the historical background, the Argentine invasion of April 2nd, the launch of the British task force and the retaking of South Georgia, the sinking of the General Belgrano and HMS Sheffield, plus the full naval and military actions of the British counter-assault. These are backed up by detailed descriptions of the behind-the-scenes diplomatic and political initiatives in London, Washington and at the UN.
The Alistair Duncan Thrillers by Douglas Stewart
Finally, a series of thrillers from Douglas Stewart. Alistair Duncan is a cut and thrust solicitor from Bristol. Across these three thrilling novels Duncan investigates a mysterious road accident with links to a French juggernaut; international con men; and a suspicious death by electrocution. The series has been called ‘superb’, ‘tense’ and ‘authentic’ and all three books in the trilogy are available now!
We hope you are continuing to stay safe. Happy reading! We’ll be back next week with more exciting new books.
