So, you know how sometimes you figure out you’re going to do something in a few months, set all the conditions, and then think “Of course I’ll remember that!”? Come to find out, when there’s a pandemic, cancer scare, and various other issues, you don’t remember to do that things because you’re busy doing something else. […]
Aces High!
Warship Wednesday–Decking the Hulls (Carrier Doctrine #2)
As you guys may have noticed, I am completely willing to lean on the works of others. With that in mind, for today’s discussion, we’ll talk about a topic which as absorbed much ink: decks. Specifically, armored vs. unarmored iterations thereof. So, without further ado, I’ll turn it over to the video host Drachinifel and […]
Zeroes vs. Spitfires
Come friends, I’d like to provide a resource regarding one of aviation buffs favorite questions: “Which was better, the Zero or the Spitfire?” Note: Well yes, I know that’s actually an Oscar catching the business from one Adam Haynes above. Something about I might have wrote the book. However, half the time Allied pilots couldn’t tell […]
Audiobook News, "Surly" Edition
To Slip the Surly Bonds is now available on audiobook here!
Warship Wednesday–Death of a Prince
It is my intent to do a 2019 Year In Review blog post at some point before the end of the month. Until then, feel free to read some in-depth analysis of the Prince of Wales‘ loss. Much like reading an autopsy report will tell you quite a bit about how the human body fails, this […]
It's Time to Get A Little Surly!
To Slip the Surly Bonds has gone live on Amazon. This was a long time coming, but all the hard work has paid off. There’s an exclusive Taylor Anderson short story in here, a whole bunch of award-winning authors, a story from your humble narrator involving P-38s on Guadalcanal…yeah, it’s worth the price of admission. […]
EJECT! EJECT! EJECT!
Sometimes old videos make a person look at things in different ways: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09DckvwFrXY&w=560&h=315] While I haven’t gotten there yet, this video does make me think differently about jet combat in the Usurper’s War universe. Without giving away spoilers, there will be a pseudo-Cold War in the aftermath of the in universe World War […]
The Strategic Bombing Campaign Part V: The North American “Barndoors”
This is a continuation of Strategic Bombing Part IV Barndoors (a.k.a., Airframes) As bad as the pilot differential was, Adolf Galland might have still been able to cobble together a defense even with tired airframes and exhausted pilots. That is, Galland might have been able to do it if Germany’s numerous strategic miscues hadn’t come […]
The Strategic Bombing Campaign Part IV: Biplanes, Barndoors, and Badasses
It’s been awhile. Sorry about that, there was a little matter of a dissertation, a book, and an anthology. For those who are new to the blog, I regularly talk about air warfare as a category, starting with 1914 and moving up through World War II so far. Last time I talked about daylight bombing, […]
The Butcher and the Hamburg Delusion (Strategic Bombing Campaign III)
So when last we mentioned the British, they were busy creating the world’s first man made firestorm over Hamburg. Now, if I left it at that, you’d have the impression the British had broken the code, enjoyed success, and basically wondered why the Americans were being stubborn. Well, in the name of Monica, Nuremberg, and […]
Strategic Bombing Historiographical Paper (2006)
So remember when I said I had reading list? Well, I can do even better than that–I have an entire historiographical paper about the Allied Bombing Campaign in World War II. It’s a bit dated (I wrote it back in 2006), but the end notes and bibliography have more than enough things to get a […]
Yankee Doodle Went to Town…With A Load of HE…: Strategic Bombing Campaign II
Having covered the Western Campaign, the Battle of Britain, and the first phase of RAF Bomber Command‘s assault on the Third Reich, it’s time to start the United States’ portion of the Strategic Bombing Campaign. Again, in the interest of brevity, I’m going to do a little background then make liberal use of the fast […]