the skies and waters to today’s satellite and supercomputers’ ability to predict a storm’s likely track days in advance. Dolin’s history begins with the observations and the impacts hurricanes had on European mariners and settlers who arrived in the New World to explore, settle and, of course, plunder. Every one of those endeavors was shaped by the stunning arrival of storms far more powerful than Europeans had ever experienced—or could even imagine. Dolin recounts—often in the words of those who lived through nature’s fury—how the map of the world we know today was shaped by the winds and waters that, seemingly at random, sent treasure ships to the bottom, destroyed one armada while sparing another, and wiped settlements from the map. As his story progresses into modern times, Dolin chronicles the work and insights of meteorologists who attempt to predict where such storms will strike and how to mitigate the damage they cause. He weaves into the narrative how science, like any other human endeavor, can both drive genius and be derailed by ambition and arrogance. Dolin’s ambition is to weave half a millennium of turbulent seas and powerful winds into a clear story that is, at turns, cautionary and inspiring. He has, in this clear and well-written tome, succeeded. Richard P. O’Regan Toronto, Ontario Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944–1945 by Ian W. Toll (W. W. Norton & Co., New York, 2020, 944pp, illus, maps, notes, biblio, index, isbn 978-0-393-08065-0; $40hc) Ian Toll exploded onto the [maritime history] scene in 2006 with the publication of Six Frigates. This work examined the creation of the United States Navy through the construction of the warships authorized under the Naval Act of 1794—Constellation, Congress, Chesapeake, President, United States, and the indomitable Constitution. The impact of this work was recently noted by outgoing Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite when he decided to name the newest frigates in the US Navy fleet the Constellation-class. Toll planned to follow up on this work with a volume on the
aspects of Toll’s narrative is the amount of detail and research he put into this critical period. Right from the start, he introduces new material on the conference between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his two chief commanders in the Pacific, Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur. Thanks to Toll’s access to the diary of General Robert C. Richardson, who hosted the conference in Hawaii, he can describe the weight of the decision made by FDR to decide on the invasion of the Philippines over Formosa (Taiwan).
The Glencannon Press 4 col. inches (2.25 x 4.5 inches) Preferduring rightthe hand page, bottom right. US Navy in the Pacific Second World War. What was one book became a trilogy—Pacific Crucible (2011), The Conquering Tide (2015), and now Twilight of the Gods (2020). Focused on the US Pacific Fleet, from the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the surrender of the Japanese Empire on board the deck of the battleship Missouri in 1945, Toll provides a sweeping narrative of the oceanic struggle faced by America. In a vein similar to Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy—An Army at Dawn (2002), The Day of Battle (2007), and Guns at Last Light (2013), following the US Army in the European Theater of Operations in the Second World War—Toll aims to perform a similar goal for the Navy in the Pacific. Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942 covers the first six months of the war, from Pearl Harbor to the American victory at Midway. The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944 takes the reader from the campaign for Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands to the Central Pacific drive from the Gilberts to the Marianas. This latest work, Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944–1945, starts off with the war at a critical decision point. Twilight of the Gods covers the last year of the war. This period has not been afforded as much discussion in general histories as the earlier parts of the war. One of the most surprising and refreshing
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The Ferryboat Berkeley by Patricia Shannon Anderson The complete history of this historic craft now located at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. More than 200 pages, 29 in full color. Available May 1, 2020. FREE Catalog 1-510-455-9027 Online at www.glencannon.com
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