Engineers Of Victory

Paul Kennedy, 2013 Beaverton Library 940.54 KEN

Silly me, I expected a book about individual engineers ... the folks who measure stuff, do calculations, create physical objects or processes, produce documents, train manufacturing staff, debug problems. How many engineers (including inventors) are even mentioned (much less depicted)?

• XXV Barnes Wallis (bouncing bomb)

• XXV Percy Hobart (tank concepts, not engineering)

• 056 Stewart Blacker (Hedgehog multiple mortar)
• 059 John Randall, Harry Boot (cavity magnetron)
• 060 Adolf Herz (19th century inspiration for Randall)
• 061 Humphrey de Verd Leigh (Leigh Lights, antisubmarine aircraft searchlights)
• 070 Helmuth Walter (electric U-Boat)
• 077 Wright Brothers ("knocking at their door" ... nope, they tried to sell, were often rebuffed)
• 092 Sir Robert Watson-Watt (radar)
• 117 Sir Henry Royce (Rolls-Royce)
• 119 J.R. Mitchell (aircraft)
• 122 Withold Challier (performance engineer)
• 163 Jozef Kosacki (acoustic mine detector)
• 187 J. Walter Christie (M1928 tank)
• 187 Mikhail Koshkin (T-34 tank)
• 194 V. G. Grabin (57mm antitank gun)
• 270 American sergeant Curtis Culkin (Rhinoceros tank)

The book describes World War II (and other military history) as viewed from Paul Kennedy's perspective, which is mostly leaders and troop movements and weapons.