Reviews Neptune: The Allied Invasion ofEurope and the D-Day Landings by Craig L. Symonds. (Oxford University Press, New York, 2014, 422pp, photos, maps, biblio, notes, index, ISBN 978-0-199-98611-8; $29.95hc) "Neptune," the code name for the planning phase of Operation Overlord, set in motion the greatest naval invasion in history, one not likely to ever be matched. Naval historian Craig L. Symonds, in his new book Neptune: The Allied Invasion ofEurope and the D-Day Landings, uses an analysis of Neptune to focus his study of Overlord from the 1939 beginning of World War II to the breakout from the No rmandy beaches. He employs his extensive knowledge and skill at synthesis to turn an oft-told story into vibrant on-the-scen e history. Symonds touches all the bases: Allied leadersh ip conBicts, explosive American industrial production, life for the men and wo men who made Overlord work, shipping woes, weather challenges, an d the landing itself. Sea History readers will be especially pleased with attention given to the wide variety of vessels employed in the operation. And Symonds does not slight the men who commanded and operated those vessels, from Higgins boats to battleships. Many bound for Europe across the Atla ntic Ocean had never seen an ocean before they enlisted, or were drafted, and some of them were in command. The landing is especially well narrated. Solid w riting has the reader feeling the suspense, where the outcome is already known. The US and British armies are accorded the credit due them for their stellar role in making Neptune-and thus Overlord-a success, but the invasion was a rem arkable feat for the US and Royal navies, from the movement of a million and more men from the U nited States and Can ada to the United Kingdom and then on to the beaches of Normandy. These men had to be fed, clothed, armed, and m oved o n shore; the navies also made logistical history in transporting vehicles and stores from diverse origins to the beaches. Even the breakout from Omaha beach was closely linked to the US Navy. Destroyer commanders risked life and ship to move inshore and deliver battle-saving fire support to the trapped men on the beach , trapped men-mostly
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soldiers of the US Army but also sailors of the US Navy who were trapped ashore when their vessels we re put out of commission-who displayed remarkable initiative in overcoming Germ an resistance and saving the invasion. The US Navy corpsmen, valued for their service to the US Marines in the Pacific, added to th eir credit the saving of thousands of soldiers and sailors of the United States and her Allies during the landing and breakout. Neptu ne and Overlord were as much naval victo ries as army successes. DAVID
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WHITTEN
Auburn, Alabama
Thousands of Maritime College graduates have m ade names for themselves in service to their country and in shapi ng the maritime industry. As the premiere nineteenth-century seaport, it is not surprising that the City of New York and its board of education led the charge in 1873 to create a school for merchant m ariners. This coincided with fed eral legislation passed in 1874 (and supported by naval officer and reformer Stephen B. Luce), authorizing the n avy to loan a training vessel and instructors to the school to assis t in the instructi on of practical seam anship. Williams traces the development of the school and its growing pains from 1875 to the present. Ir was initially a floating grammar school under city jurisdiction; in 191 3 control was transferred to the State of New York a nd course offerings became more reflective of a high school
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NEW! Four Years Before the Mast: A History of New York's Maritime College by Joseph A. Williams (Fort Schuyler Press, Bronx, NY, 201 3, 384pp, illus, biblio, notes, index, ISB N 978-0-9899394- 1-6; $ 19.95pb)
Four Years Before the Mast: A History of New Yorks Maritime College is the first fulllength study of the State University of New York's (SUNY) Maritime College. Author Joseph A. Williams argues that scant attentio n has been paid to the school fo unded to train merchant mariners despite its status as the "oldest active mari time ed ucational institution in the United States." Williams's position as lib rarian and archivist at the school's Stephen B. Luce Library ignited hi s interest in the subj ect and provided access to a host of primary so urces that o utline his detailed institutional history.
The S.S. United States and the Blue Riband. Historian Lawrence M. Driscoll brings to life this epic adventure of the fastest superliner to ever sail the North Atlantic. Hardcover, 8Yzxll, 256 pp. 169 photos. $35 + $5 S&H. THE LAST GREAT RAcE;
FREE CATALOG 1-800-711-8985 Online catalog at www.glencannon.com 51