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Allies At Dieppe, 4 Commando and the US Rangers: Operation Cauldron Written By Will Fowler. Osprey Publishing, UK, 2012. Digital Release available on Amazon, iTunes, & NOOK Books Review by: Ben Sparks,  The Commando Raid on Dieppe, France, August 19, 1942, codenamed Operation Jubilee, was one of the first major attempts undertaken by British and Allied forces before the June 6th landings of D-Day 1944, to attack the Nazi’s. The US Rangers among the other more numerous British and Commonwealth forces of 4 Commando cut their teeth in Operation Cauldron, one of the only successful actions of the bloody Raid on Dieppe. While this wasn’t the first operation of the Commandos, the bloodbath at Dieppe became a blemish on the celebrated but heavily critiqued reputation of the special forces units of Britain and the Commonwealth from 1940-1945. Fowler’s Allies at Dieppe, looks to debunk the assumption that the Dieppe Raid was a complete failure, narrating the operations of 4 Commando an...

Churchill’s War Lab: Code-breakers, Scientists, and the Mavericks Churchill led to victory. By: Taylor Downing. (Overlook Press, New York . 2011. 397 pp.) Reviewed By: Benjamin Sparks Taylor Downing’s book Churchill’s War follows the already well covered topic that is Sir Winston Churchill during World War II. This book follows his life and his leadership record, from his adventures in Africa at the end of Queen Victoria ’s reign to World War I and onto World War II. As the title suggests however this book focuses on Sir Churchill’s rather hands on approach to his countries war with Nazi Germany over occupied Europe from 1939-1945. This book looks to construct the image of Churchill as not just the stoic leader of Britain ’s wartime government but as a forward thinking “outside the box” strategist who was ahead of his time in many regards. Downing’s account starts slow explaining the childhood and early record of Churchill, the reader is quickly reintroduced to this ambitious, if no...