23) The First South Pacific Campaign: Pacific Fleet Strategy December 1941-June 1942 by John B. Lundstrom I ended up being rather disappointed with this one especially when I had the expectation of it being about the Battle of the Coral Sea the first naval engagement in history whereby the adversaries did not see each other in direct surface vessel combat and the first engagement whereby it was fully engaged by aircraft carriers. This is more about American strategy during the early stages of the Pacific campaign and didn’t contribute to me any more than what I already knew.

24) Notes on Nationalism and 25) Fascism and Democracy both by George Orwell both these books (although books is a rather loose description as they are really essays) can serve as a companion read to Orwell’s 1984. I found them both to be insightful and alarming. While they refer to the time period they are written (the latter stages of WWII) they serve as warnings of what dangers extreme politics can pose.


The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched they must be felt with the heart

Helen Keller