13162. de Quesada, Alejandro. U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. 2010. Osprey. 64p. Soft wraps. Illustrated with period photos and artwork by Stephen Walsh. Noted military author Alex de Quesada reveals much of the history of the U.S. Coast Guard throughout World War II. In particular, he draws attention to the little-known story of how the U.S. Coast Guard operated a number of the landing craft throughout D-Day in 1944 as well as providing crucial anti-U-boat patrols throughout the war years. A number of Coast Guard servicemen were lost in these two campaigns, and their undeniable contribution to the war effort deserves greater recognition. The Coast Guard also provided aviators and gunners to the Merchant Marine and manned Port Security Services. These roles are all fully explained and illustrated with rare photographs and specially commissioned artwork. Chapters include: Introduction, Pre-war Coast Guard, The Coast Guard Auxiliary, The Coast Guard at War, Home Front, The Aleutian Campaign, The Battle of the Atlantic, North Africa and Italy, Normandy invasion, Pacific Theatre: From Pearl Harbor to the Philippines, Victory, Uniforms, Bibliography. Quite interesting. (M). $19.95. (x)

13177. de Quesada, Alejandro. The U.S. Home Front 1941-45. 2008. Osprey. 64p. Soft wraps. The outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939 led to cautious attempts to raise volunteer organizations among American men and women, to back the armed forces in the event of the USA becoming directly involved in the conflict. The attack on Pearl Harbor caused a huge surge of patriotic response, and voluntary enlistment in a wide range of armed forces auxiliary and civilian support services swelled vastly. Looking firstly at the background and general character of wartime life in the United States, this book covers a number of these services, providing an interesting comparison with the conditions on the British Home Front and the experiences of other countries caught up in the war, examining organizations from the Red Cross to the Coast Guard and for the first time, containing full-color reconstructions of over a dozen uniformed services. Chapters include: Enemy And Homegrown Facism, Home Defense & Premilitary Training, Patriotic Service Organizations, Humanitarian Organizations, Maritime Services including Army Transport Service – Coast And Geodetic Survey – Merchant Marine – Us Coastguard Auxiliary,·Aeronautical Services including Air Transport Command – British Flying Training Schools – Civil Air Patrol – Relief Wings Inc – Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron – Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, The Workforce including Civilian Conservation Corps – “Rosie The Riveter”: Women Ordnance Workers – Women’s Land Army, Children At War, Select Bibliography, and more. Quite interesting. (M). $19.95.