Roy Irons

Whilst strong on politics, this books' greatest weakness lies in the fact that everything has to have the Churchill connection however tenuous. Churchill, whom the author constantly refers to as 'the Giant', did actually visit British Somaliland in 1907 spending a whole two days at Berbera, though it is not clear whether he actually landed there. He then wrote an exhaustive report on the condition of the Protectorate, and sailed away.
When I was researching the role of the RAF in the final 1920 campaign (Cross and Cockade International, Vol.38 Number 2, 2007) I found little evidence of any useful role played by 'the Giant'. Rather it was Sir Hugh Trenchard, 'Father' of the RAF who played the pivotal role.
However, back to this book. There is a surprising amount of material available, published and in the official records, for these relatively minor Colonial Campaigns which the author has accessed. It is disappointing, therefore, that it is quite light on the actual struggles of colonial forces against the insurgent forces - the final 1920 campaign occupies a scant ten pages in a 226 page text. The role of the Royal Navy in the 1920 campaign is relegated to a mere three lines - it was considerably more significant than that.
Not recommended. Despite its own faults (see my review), The Warrior Mullah by Ray Beachey is a better account.… (meer)

The slightly overheated title gives an inaccurate first impression of the book. It's a serious piece of scholarship, rooted in primary sources, that covers the development, deployment, and effect of the V-1 cruise missile and V-2 ballistic missile. Irons tells the story in detail, and is careful to include its less spectacular aspects (production, logistics, cost) as well as the now-(relatively)-familiar stories of crumbling buildings and daredevil pilots chasing down V-1s and "tipping" them to upset their primitive guidance systems. The book concludes with several valuable appendices, including tables of statistics and a reprint of an Allied report on the V-weapons' effectiveness.

If you're interested primarily in the V-weapons as weapons, rather than in the political and ethical dimensions of the V-2 program or its role as a precursor to space travel, this is the book for you.… (meer)