5 comments about Air War in the Falklands 1982 (Osprey Combat Aircraft 28).

1. The book is fairly good. Had a few factual errors (Rio as the capital of Brazil for example), as well as a couple of typos.
   
   Good description of the overall event, although light on the sinking of the General Belgrano, which was a major combat event in terms of significance and loss of life (even though not air combat related).



2. Christopher Chant has written a fine account of the Falklands air war keeping a perfect balance between the British and the Argentinians and explaining in great detail the tactics, the weapons and the controversies of that campaign. The appendices at the end of the book are also a treasure of information and statistics.



3. No pictures of the pilots,gun cameras or the "MiG" killing Harriers.Makes mistakes like the BBC reporters at the time by calling NAVY pilots "Flight Luietenants" and vice versa for the RAF pilots, as Luietenant. No in depth look at the battles or pilot's accounts.I think Commander "Sharky" Ward will do a backflip to see that he was in Mike Blisset's squadron,800 NAS, at one stage in this book.
   I really think Mr.Chant should get some tipps from Shlomo Aloni's books about the Isreali Aces.



4. I write from a modelmaker point of view. The book has an adequate but basic history of the war. However colour profiles has many bad mistakes: even the front cover pictures represents wrongly the post-war camouflaged Sea Harrier. The code of XZ451 was "006" during the hostilities. Colour plate no 4 has a same machine but a different text under it: ZA174 had a medium grey scheme. I also doubt that Argentine navy A-4 Skyhawk (plate no 8) wore Super Etendard style camouflage during the conflict (if ever). Photos are very useful even there is also pre- and post-conflict photos among them. Argentine losses are listed, British are not. But it is nice to read that Mr Chant tries to be neutral, for example, the "own goal" Gazelle loss (6th June 1982) is mentioned. I still believe this book belongs to modelmakers and historians desk but it cannot be trusted solely as an concise history of the Falklands air war.



5. The subject of the book, to my understanding, is the coverage of the aerial operations during the 1982 Falklands campaign. I don't know what the goal of the author was, but I took it straight forward - as the subject. So the main idea is to go through the conflict, showing different applications of the aviation and main events.
   
   I believe Osprey format is not sufficient to cover such topics in a comprehensive way. It is simply impossible to put all the data, pictures, maps, stories, etc into the 96pp book.
   
   The book gives general information on every aspect of the aerial operations, briefly covers the events, giving the pictures and drawings in a proportion applicable to all Osprey books.
   The information and photos are the same that can be found in other sources, nothing new. Some mistakes here and there. The color plated are poor, I would wish a better quality and more of them. I would not relate to this book as a research, it is a publication of a known story in Osprey format.
   
   The book doesn't give any value to the enthusiast researching the Falklands war, I would suggest other sources. What it gives - a very brief and general coverage of events and air ops, in a user friendly and easy reading.

2 comments about Falklands Air War (U.K.).

1. Falklands war, 1982, between Argentina and Britain, has been and remains a fascinating subject for modern aviation warfare enthusiast. The campaign that captures the imagination by the challenges taken by British task force and Argentinean counter effort focused on preventing the landing. During a very short period of engagement (1st May - 14 June)over a small piece of land, many air battles were fought, resulting in dozens of aircraft shot down, several ships sank, many 'first time' and 'record breaking' events. Not surprisingly, the first books began to appear back in 1983, shortly after the end of hostilities. Since then, several books became available, accompanied by many more articles in very respectable aviation publications - Air Enthusiast - to name one.
   This book, up till now, is the best one available on the subject.
   General: the quality of the book is great; I personally like album format books, so this one fits my library perfectly. With many color and b/w photos, some - rarely seen in publications on the topic, the book gives a good and easy reading.
   The book is divided into 2 main sections - War Chronology and Assessment.
   War Chronology - taking coverage of historical background, pre war, invasion, shooting war and post war operations. The information is presented in day by day chronology of events. All the events are connected to the people, particular aircrafts and ships. The data is given from both sides - British and Argentinean.
   Assessments - data on aircraft types, weapons and their roles are covered together with individual aircrafts and ships.
   The book is not an encyclopedia of Falklands campaign - it lacks some features available in other sources, but a well done research and comprehensive coverage of the conflict from historic perspective. One would wish more details on the Argentinean side, pilot stories, ship attack profiles and aerial engagement diagrams. It will be great if we could see the people that made the history from both sides - pilots.
   This book will be a great complementary to any aviation enthusiast, interested in modern aviation warfare and history. Although, it would be more fair to give this book 4.5 but I give it 5, as I liked it very much.



2. A day by day detailed account of this largely forgotten conflict. One thing that I found quite interesting of this book is that it has a 360° degree vision of the War, with both Argentinian and British accounts of the conflict.
   
   For anyone interested in modern air warfare this will be a very welcome addition.

1 comments about The Secret War for the Falklands: The SAS, Mi6, and the War Whitehall Nearly Lost.

1. The used book was as described and arrived on time. I am fully satisfied with the book and the service.

5 comments about Diver: A Royal Navy and Commercial Diver's Journey Through Life, and Around the World.

1. This one of those books you don't want to put down. It falls a little bit short on the fact that the author uses a lot of military terms and abbreviations, making it a little bit harder for understand all the details in the book - but the story is very exciting and often made me laugh out loud. If you are interested in the life of a navy diver, the job of a bomb disposal team and a saturation diver in the oil industry - then this is a book for you. I think few people really want the experiences Tony Groom has, but I sure most of us want to read about it. Great book, thanks Tony!



2. While some people see scuba divers as some sort of crazies, at least they aren't handling explosives. "Diver" is the story of Tony Groom, a man who enlisted at the age of seventeen to become a diver for the Royal Navy. Serving countless years under extremely dangerous conditions, he speaks on his past career and his current career as a commercial diver. A tale of a man who truly loves what he does when no one else would think of doing it, "Diver" is an enthusiastically recommended tale.



3. As a diver I enjoyed the book alot but if you are looking for a deeply revealing book on the technicalities of deep and extreme diving you'll need to keep looking. I was surprised at how little of the nuts and bolts of this fascinating lifestyle were actually offered up.
   
   Grooms style is offhand and anecdotal, speaking a great deal to the camaraderie (or lack thereof) within the fraternity. In the end I was disappointed.



4. A very entertaining book. Tony Groom is very humorous. A great book for divers. He told about how he first joined the navy only to become a diver and nothing else. And then he went on war... After that being a commercial diver, saturation diver.. Basically his whole life is about diving!
   
   The only thing I don't quite like is the part about the Falkland war. It's too long.. I know it's an important period of the writer's life (he survived!) but it's too long for my personal liking. However I totally respect the writer. It always amazed me what commercial or navy divers can do under the most extreme condition. I would recommend this book to every diver.



5. What an awesome read! I am a diving instructor who frequently dives with sharks and thought that was quite exciting, but it does not compare to the excitement and adrenaline rushes a Royal Navy or Commercial diver experiences on a daily basis. I do not normally enjoy autobiographical books, but this book changed my views. It is easy to read, flows naturally, and makes you feel as if you are there sharing the experiences of the author. I especially enjoyed the humour that had me rolling on the floor laughing at times. Will definitely make it a point to look out for more books by this author.

5 comments about One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander.

1. Woodward had done a masterful job, with his writing assistant, of describing the issues of command, the concern about sending others into combat where they may lose their life, the need to keep in mind what is central about a mission, and so many other thoughts about what leadership means. This book is a study of BOTH (1) management of a large task (be it war, be it a large company or nonprofit, be it of government) when dealing with an adversary compelled to fight you (be it the other side in a war, be it a company fighting you for market share, be it a Democrat or Republican that believes as you do not), and (2) of management of a military war where weapons are wielded by you and weapons are wielded or threatened against you. The real-life drama of uncertainty of events, of certainty of purpose, and of just what went on in this saga is of interest to very many readers. I have British friends, I have Argentian friends, and no matter which side you believe is right (both have their points) this is a good book about a mission one is given and how one needs to carry it out, and the thoughts and second-thoughts that must go through any leader's mind.
   
   Read this as a book about leadership, and you will do fine. Read this as a book about war, and you will also do fine. Read this as a book about both, and you'll get even more out of it.



2. Great book if you enjoy naval history. Unique in that it details the strategies, fears, tactics and human factor of MODERN naval warfare in the age of missiles and advanced capability sensors. Past, current or future Navy surface warfare officers will love it.



3. Assorbing account from the perspective of the taskforce's commander that doesn't get clogged down in minutiae, like many books of it's type.
   
   It features a number of interesting anecdotes, like the abortive attempt to retrieve a depthcharge-laden helicopter from the water, which could have resulted in disaster if they had detonated near the Hermes. The book also outlines how the defective Sea Wolf and Sea Dart systems resulted in needless loss for the British forces.
   
   An amusing aside is Woodward cursing the ground forces for dragging their feet in deploying from San Carlos, but in hindsight realising the enormous difficulty Thompson was operating under at the time.



4. A fascinating insight into the British military mind. I almost put it down around page 50 as unrealistic--which of course, it can't be--and then persevered. The problem for me was that the British Naval strategizing and decision making is quite different from what we Americans believe to be good military leadership. Admiral Woodward struggled over decisions, plodded to the inevitable end, worried about losing boats and helicopters over men, often had to check in with Britain to confirm--or approve--decisions, found it nearly impossible to react quickly to circumstances. The war had lots of time for organizing, rethinking, dotting t's and crossing i's. This is not the Israeli six-day war, nor the American 100-day ground war in Iraq. Where's the Patton in Woodward?
   
   Once I got beyond that, I loved it. It is a fascinating look into the British military mind. Woodward was a humane leader, constantly complemented his fellow officers, understood those sailors broken by war--held no grudge against them. He valued history and knew it in minute detail.
   
   I read this book because it includes a description of the sinking of the cruiser, General Belgrano, the only time in history a nuclear sub has sunk a cruiser. This, like everything else, was covered in excellent detail and satisfied my need to know.
   
   Overall, I'd say read this book with no preconceptions about what war should be and you'll enjoy every page of it.



5. British Admiral Sandy Woodward recalls his experiences from the 1982 War in the Falklands in this 1992 classic, "One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of The Falklands Battle Group Commander." He offers very candid and poignant perspectives on what it was like to bear the burden of command of this naval armada. Even in 2010, this is an important work since the War in the Falklands is still the only war featuring a successful, sustained aerial assault of jet aircraft against a naval battle group.
   
   Sir Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins "The Battle for the Falklands" is still the most complete book on the campaign, featuring not only the combat operations, but also the political perspectives of London, Buenos Aires, and Washington DC. Readers will learn about the operational level of war for the naval combat in this book. This book is a perfect complement to Brigadier Julian Thompson's "3 COMMANDO BRIGADE IN THE FALKLANDS: No Picnic"

4 comments about The Falklands War 1982 (Essential Histories).

1. I found this to be extremely informative as well a gripping read. Excellently written and involves the reader to make the material come alive. If you have any interest in this conflict this is *the* authoritative read.



2. If you are looking for a narration of the Falklands War from the English point of view, this is the right book for you: brief, exciting and with many illustrations. However, if you want an exhaustive, updated and impartial chronicle of this conflict, you will be disappointed with this work of Duncan Anderson.
   The reasons are not difficult to guess. In the section "Select bibliography", the author mentions NINE books; only "half-book" (the work of Virginia Gamba-Stonehouse with Lawrence Freedman) have Argentine origins. Hardly surprising, the text of Anderson is strongly unilateral and full of errors. Here a brief selection:
   3) Page 11: no mention to the first English invasion of Buenos Aires in 1806 under the command of Popham and Beresford (the same expedition who occupied Cape Colony before)
   "...an along with [Argentine] independence in 1820..."
   Argentine independence took place in 1816, not 1820
   "In 1831 the American frigate Lemington..."
   The US-American ship's name was Lexington
   8) Page 25: "...Harriers...would have to face some 120 Argentine machines of equal of superior performance."
   A quarter of these 118 Argentine aircraft were COIN/trainer turboprops (Pucará & Turbo Mentor) with a maximum speed of 500 km/h. Only 32 machines (8 Mirage III and 24 Daggers) were theoretically superior to the Sea Harrier, but they operated at the limit of their range (they wouldn't perform any air refuelling) and their missiles were very inferior to the AIM-9L Sidewinder
   12) Page 32 (photo): "Douglas A-4C Skyhawks."
   These are A-4B of the Grupo 5 de Caza (Fight Group 5)
   14) Page 35 (map): "Task Group 79.1 & 2 (Aircraft-carrier and 2 destroyers)" and "Task Group 79.4 (3 frigates)"
   These groups included four destroyers (Hércules, Santísima Trinidad, Comodoro Py and Comodoro Seguí) and three corvettes (Drummond, Granville and Guerrico)
   15) Page 37: "Unknown to the RAF, the Argentine engineers who had constructed the airfield had made a mistake when plotting its position on survey maps. As a consequence, the airfield's position on maps the crew was using was 1,000 m from its actual position."
   Really? Perhaps the Argentine engineers made this error on purpose for the British maps; or perhaps that was only an excuse of the British pilots for their failure to hit a 1,250 m runway meanwhile their Argentine colleagues hit frigates that were ten times smaller...
   "...one bomb hit the centre of the runway, cratering it badly and ensuring it could not be used by fast jets."
   The bomb hit only a border of the runway, that was never able to operations with fast jets because it was still too short
   17) Page 40: "She [the Belgrano] sank within 45 minutes, with the loss of 368 lives."
   The Belgrano sank within one hour, with the loss of 323 lives
   18) Page 41: "During the next 24 hours Lynx helicopters sank and disabled two Argentine patrol boats on their way to the islands."
   No Argentine patrol boat was sunk. The Skua missiles were unable to sink the 800-ton Alférez Sobral: damaged and with seven killed it was able to reach Puerto Deseado without help. The Sobral wasn't on the way to the island but on the search of the crew of the Canberra shot down at 1 May: the two airmen were never found
   19) Page 43: "The first success came on 9 May when Coventry, a Type 42, shot down two Skyhawks and a Puma helicopter."
   The two A-4C were not hit by Sea Darts missiles but they crashed due to bad weather (like two Sea Harriers three days before)
   "...a bomb from the second attack wave hit Glasgow, but passed through her without exploding."
   Right, but Glasgow was so badly damaged that some days later it had to take the way back to England
   21) Page 50: "In fact, the settlements [at Goose Green] held 1,500; with added reinforcements the number was to rise to 1,630."
   At 26 May, the settlements held only 845 men (included 202 ground crew from the airfield). At 28 May two reinforcements came: a platoon of the Regiment 25 (44 men) and the Company B of the Regiment 12 (132 men)
   23) Page 53: "As he [Jones] single-handedly stormed an Argentine trench from the rear, he was cut down by a burst of machine gun fire from behind".
   I don't want to offend the memory of "H" Jones, but I must tell you the other version of his death:
   As the Company A was stopped by the fire of the defenders of Darwin in a path between two minefields, three Paras took off und shuttled their helmets. The Argentine officer, Lt Juan José Gómez Centurión, accepted the parliament's offer and met one of the enemy soldiers who introduced him as Lieutenant Colonel Jones and demanded the surrender of the Argentines. Surprised and annoyed, Gómez Centurión broke up the parliament and both officers went back to their men. At this moment a British MG that used the break to flank the Argentine's position opened fire and hit three Argentine soldiers. Gómez Centurión saw Jones behind a fence and fired twice with his rifle: Jones was hit from a bullet in the neck and died.
   24) Page 54: "...the Argentines [suffered] 55 dead and 86 wounded. In addition, 1,536 physically uninjured Argentines became prisoners of war."
   The Argentines suffered 50 dead and almost 120 men were wounded. Only 1,083 soldiers surrendered
   "...the Argentines...were...equipped with automatic weapons...and supported by mortar and artillery fire and ground attack aircraft."
   The Argentines had only four machine guns (one 12,7mm and three 7,62 mm), whereas their enemy had 56 MG (14 to 1). As the Argentines, the Paras had 105mm guns (at the end six), 81 mm mortars (at the end eight) and air-ground support. And they had something that the Argentines didn't have: 12 granade-throwers M79, MILAN and Blowpipes missiles and naval fire support from the 114mm gun of the frigate Arrow
   26) Page 58: "The frigate Cardiff, returning from bombarding Stanley, sighted the landing craft."
   Cardiff was not a frigate but a Type 42 destroyer. By the way, one hour before a British Gazelle helicopter was shot down by "over-anxious" crew of Cardiff: four men were killed
   27) "The landing craft [Foxtrot 4] was saved from almost certain destruction by the arrival of two Sea Harriers..."
   The Foxtrot 4 was sunk together with the transported material
   29) "...British gunners were trained to a much higher standard."
   The principal advantage of British artillery was the 17 km range of their guns compared with the 10,5 km range of Argentine OTO Melara howitzers
   "...additional fire support was to be provided by automatic 4." guns of four warships..."
   The standard gun of British warships is 4,5in (114mm)
   36) Page 86: "Nearly 100 Argentine dead were found in positions on the ridge [Wireless Ridge]..."
   The Regimiento 7 lost in Longdon and Wireless Ridge only 35 killed
   Finally: in this book I couldn't find any reference to the help of the Chilean dictatorship to Britain (military intelligence, aggressive movements of his army and navy against Argentine, a British Recce-Canberra unit that operated with Chilean colours from the Patagonia, etc): this help was acknowledged in public by Margaret Thatcher in 1999, when her friend, ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet, was arrested in England.
   
   More than twenty years after the conflict, such inaccuracy is simply unacceptable. It is lamentable that Anderson, in spite of his notables academic records (he is head of the Department of War Studies at Sandhurst), has been incapable to write a true valuable work on this tragic conflict.



3. As usual, Osprey describes war histories in a very effective way. This book is ideal for anyone who wants to have a neat idea of what happened in Falkland/Malvinas in 1982.



4. I wanted to read a concise overview of the Falklands war to add to what I remembered from the time. The Osprey books generally do a good job with quick overviews and this one was just what I wanted with the right amount of detail.

4 comments about ARGENTINE FIGHT FOR THE FALKLANDS.

1. For those of you looking for something different to Sir Lawrence Freedman's official history, or Max Hastings 'Falklands War', try Martin Middlebrook's 'The Argentine Fight for the Falklands'. I bought it thinking it was another Argentine perspective. But for Falklands analysts it is still worth having in the library. Pages 131-132 alone are worth the price. Two British frigates were very nearly sunk by an Argentine submarine. Why they survived makes interesting reading and is very useful for capability analysis today.



2. I have never read one of Mr Middlebrook's books before, but I am now searching for other titles by him. Because this was one of those books that I had a hard time putting down. Up front let me say that my nationalty is British and I can remember the Falklands War like it was yesterday. However despite having read numerous accounts of the British Victory very little has been said from the perspective of the soldiers who wore the Argentine Unform. This book changes all that, and thru what where obviously some pretty intense interviews as you read this book you start to get a feeling and even an understanding of the passions and emotions of the young soldiers facing the Brits. In the western press we hear about the superiority of the British War machine during the conflict; however the Argentines did put up a spirited if ineffective defence of the Falklands. Another thing that I thought was very interesting about this book is that we get to see how and why misinformation was distributed in the fog of war. I suppose the difference between the British and Argentine governments is that we laid open the books after the conflict to the public versus the Argentines who outright lied to preserve face. Then there are the issues of the foot soldiers on the Argentine side who despite facing what is arguable the best trained army in the world, displayed uncommon gallantry far and above what the pro British press has previously reported. About the only thing I wish Mr Middlebrook had fleshed out a little more is politcs of the Argentines on the mainland.



3. A good book covering the angles from a different side - detailed in some areas but silent on others especially as a cross reference against the very British publications (eg Max Hastings etc).
   A very good book on the individual stories and very well worth the read if nothing more than on the very different perspective from the Argentine side.



4. This is an excellent book, compelling and well written. The author clearly went to tremendous efforts to research and understand the Argentine perspective. The many quotes from the Argentine military help one get an understanding of the rather miserable experiences they had fighting the British. Rather worryingly, the author gently suggests they might try again, even though the current Argentine govenment has allegedly ruled out the military option.

5 comments about Ghost Force.

1. *
   
   I am so sick of the political undercurrents in Patrick Robinson's books that I have stopped reading them. Though the stories are good, Robinson diminishes them by labeling and pigeonholing and demeaning anybody he does not agree with politically - especially Democrats. I stopped reading Scimiter SL-2 because I got so sick of it. I'm sure HarperCollins would sell more books if they could get him to stop the bashing.
   
   Comment by Jack (1 comments.) -- June 1, 2008 @ 7:58 pm



2. I've been a big fan of Patrick Robinson's books -- until now. Adm. Morgan's my kind of officer and the writing was, up until now, quite good. Ghost Force, however, feels rushed and stilted. The writing, sentence structure, and general feel seem almost like a basic high school creative writing exercise gone awry. Even the military action, usually so well-crafted, feels wrong. As a former U.S. Army SF Medic, I know a little about combat action and this just doesn't come off as well as Robinson's other works. A good novel doesn't have to be hurriedly shaped around current events and most of us don't read this type of story for political edification but for a good old-fashioned, kick butt escape. Better luck with the next one, Mr. R.



3. I found this to be very entertaining and a good escape.I did not want to put it down. After reading other reviews that were negative, I was just wondering if we had read the same book. The characters were developed adequately to be able to enjoy a thriller like this book was supposed to be. If character development is my main focus,I will read" Moby Dick". This book is simply a great way to spend some hours enjoying a good thriller. If you are offended at the implications that cutting defense budgets to the bone has a negative impact on the ability to fight a war and win it, then you probably would not like this book. This world is a mean and dangerous place and only through strength can you truly have peace. If your world view is that understanding the pain of someone who has attacked you, is only important after you have totally defeated them in battle, then you will probably like this book.



4. PR's plots scare me to death with their possibility. He may be the only one thinking ahead of the "bad guys". I hope our Homeland Security agencies are reading his books.



5. I read this book in late 2009 and thought it a very good read, the story being set in 2010 and 2011.
   I also well remember the Falklands conflict of 1982 and many parts of the story depicted the inadequate military response that would be available now, bearing in mind the defence cutting by the British Government.
   Writing this review now (23 February 2010) it would seem Patrick Robinson may have either had inside information or was extremely adept at predicting the future!

5 comments about The Story of the Night: A Novel.

1. The only other of Toibin's books that I have read was "The Master", which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is brilliantly subtle; my slight and confusing attraction to Henry James has, probably, more than something to do with my reaction. My thought was that such a profound writer should have a few more equally enjoyable books under his belt. I was, at least as concerns this work, horribly mistaken. I did try to like this book. I kept waiting for some depth or maybe some honest emotion. What I got was intolerably lackluster 1st person in short 7 word sentences that drove me /batty/, and a 'love' that is more based on lust than anything else. There is not one drop of feeling anywhere, and this includes the protagonist's reactions to his political situation since he doesn't actually /care/ at all. I skimmed to the end of the book to see if maybe I might be missing something worthwhile, but found nothing that would have made this book worth having bought in the 1st place.



2. The story of the night is a very interesting story set in Argentina post-Peron. There are many wonderful review on this site that will cover the plot and I encourage you to read them. To add to the already existing review I would like to discuss the way Toibin, the author, managed information regarding the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Many are familiar with at least some aspect of the beginning of this epidemic in America and the frustrations and difficulties with the lack of available information. What is unique about this book is how the author treats the dissemination of this information to Argentina. The reader is placed in a position of understanding that information regarding AIDS in Argentina was scarce and treatment even less available. The author provides a looking glass from which we can view the beginning of the AIDS epidemic from a perspective other than our own. If this intrigues you at all, I encourage you to look at some further reviews of this novel.



3. Colm Toibin is one of my favorite Irish authors writing today. Among his books that I've read to date ("The South", "The Heather Blazing", "The Blackwater Lightship", "Mothers and Sons" and this one - I haven't read "The Master" yet), "The Story of the Night" is my favorite.
   
   Set in Buenos Aires during the Falklands war and its aftermath, the novel tracks the development of Richard Garay, a gay schoolteacher, the son of an Argentine father and English mother. At the novel's opening, the generals are still in power, and Garay is closeted and emotionally stunted. Toibin, who covered the trial of General Gualtieri as a reporter, is extraordinarily effective in conveying the sense of menace that prevails, and the way people are forced to hold their emotions in check in order to survive.
   
   The Falklands are lost, the generals lose their hold on power, and the story traces Richard's gradual emotional development in parallel with the opening of Argentine society. The aspect of Toibin's writing that I like best is his extraordinary emotional intelligence, which he deploys here to full effect, in a sensitive and moving account of Richard's story. Richard is a complex, and not entirely sympathetic, character, but Toibin draws us in to his story, and makes us care deeply about his fate.
   
   An evocative and moving story, which I highly recommend.



4. I just finished the book and in general enjoyed it. The setting of Argentina during the Falklands war was a unique setting for a gay themed novel. I thought the characters were well developed and they evolved in ways that I was not expecting. The basic tale held my interest and toward the end it caught me my surprise. But, I do have to say the ending was a bit of a disappointment and rather left me hanging in the middle of a very dramatic situation. Nonetheless it is in the upper 10 percent of gay novels that I have read and I think that is high praise. I think few will be disappointed.



5. Even though I read the whole book, the main character's homosexuality did not interest me at all. I was hoping that it would be relevant to the story. I was thinking that Donald and his wife would try to use this feature of his character to achieve something through him for the US State Dept; but it turned out as far as I could determine that the American characters were not needed for the story. In other words, if there had been an aspect of intrigue in the story due to his homosexuality, I would have found it interesting and perhaps well written.

5 comments about The Battle for the Falklands.

1. The Falklands war was one of the most peculiar wars of the 20th century.
   Argentine`s Galtierei was a gambler who lost against the determined Mrs Thatcher and her "crew". But today he would perhaps have got away with it.
   
   The authors have described the development of the conflict very thorougly,
   with interesting descriptions of the considerations on both sides, and of the battles. Exciting subject - well written!



2. Sir Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins have written a masterpiece in "Battle for the Falklands". In a single volume, between the two authors they provide a comprehensive look at the diplomatic efforts and an unparalleled record of the events on the ground.
   
   Almost 30 years later, what lessons does the Battle for the Falklands have for the world? The lessons from "Aftermath" contain lessons learned that are still very applicable today. There is an oft quoted maxim in the US Military that "Amateurs talk about strategy, dilettantes talk about tactics, and professionals talk about logistics." The Falklands battle only serves to reemphasize that lesson. The Argentine soldiers had stockpiles of materiel in the towns that never made it out to the field. The British soldiers had to completely redesign their logistics plan when they lost a significant portion of their helicopter fleet when the Atlantic Conveyor sank.
   
   After two major American wars with instantaneous reporting from embedded reporters, the world does not have the patience to wait two weeks for news from the front. More importantly, there are lessons here for releasing information to the media. In the battle for Goose Green, the defenders heard media reports that the British were ready to attack. Until that moment in time, the defenders had no idea the British were even in the area.
   
   From a battle study perspective, the book contains all the important elements - the strategic context for the battle, the sequence of events, and the units involved. It also contains the most important element - that of the personal histories of the men involved in the fighting.
   
   The only perspective missing is that of the defenders. Considering the nation was run by a military junta whose only goal was to stay in power, we will probably never see the opposing side of the war. Overall, it's a fantastic book that would do justice to any military historian's library.



3. Covering the political, diplomatic and military aspects of the Falklands crisis and conflict, the authros produced a nice account of those days of April - June 1982 tragic events within a very short time from the actual events. The book does not leave any stone unturned regarding the British side, but it somehow poorer about the Argentinians, their strategy, tactics and experiences. There are some good maps included and also some b&w photos. The strong point of the book is the description of the decision making processes, the sketches of the personalities involved and the many misjudgements and misunderstandings that bothered both sides, while embarking on an improbable war. Recommended, especially in conjunction with Martin Middlebrook's excellent book "The Fight for the Malvinas" as a balance from the Argentinian side.



4. this was a great book on the falkland war i would recommend it to any millitarty history buff!



5. Engaging and complete is the less I can say about this book. The authors tell the story of British side of events, from a brief description of the history of the island, the Argentine occupation by force and the following diplomatic offensive -- to the preparation, deployment and succesive war either by sea and land. The book is full of interestings facts, like the logistics problems of the British, the submarine warfare and the difficult task that it was to deal with air and missile attacks (exocets). Here you see the importance of aircraft carriers, submarines, frigates, artillery fire, good radar systems, ground-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles and no less important, a good prefessional army.
   The Argentine Junta gambled and they lost, and they lost big since this totally diminished any bargaining position. There is no such thing as share sovereignity, and to finish the war was the best thing to do by the British. There was a cost of lives, we could not see much about the sufferings in combat, we just could see how the Argentine airplanes made brave incursions on the British ships and we can only imagine the horrors of this war in both sides. When I saw the images of the Argentine concripts in their trenches, I just felt pity for them -- What on earth the Argentines were thinking, really? Patriotism only is not enough againts an army with tradition and experience. Fortunately, the war was short and no more blood was shed at Port Stanley. For Chile, this was the best outcome indeed for peace and stability reign again in the region. Finally, I consider the Falklands and South Georgia of strategic importante, we might not think this now but you never know what the future can say.