For half a century German warship camouflage has proven a mystery to enthusiasts and model makers due to widespread destruction of naval archives at the end of WWII and ad hoc application of 'unofficial' schemes in theaters like Norway. This first of a two-volume work is based on close examination of all available photos; including many only recently discovered. The authors challenge many accepted views while greatly expanding the general understanding of the subject. The fruits of their labors are presented in the form of exquisite color illustrations of every scheme and variation for which evidence is available.
#106224 in Books 2016-09-06 2016-09-06Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.20 x .44 x 5.50l; 1.25 #File Name: 1590179021168 pages
Review
33 of 38 people found the following review helpful. The philosophical and religious roots of today's reactionary politicsBy Jerry RichardsonThis book discusses the basis of reactionary politics in the West and; to a lesser extent; in the Middle East. Reactionary politics is much more thought out than most people think. As Mark Lilla wrote in this book revolutionary politics has been written about much more than the politics of reaction. Lilla traces the origins of reactionary political thought back to the aftermath of the Reformation; particularly the Counter-Enlightenment. The writings of the apostle Paul also get special consideration. For inheritors of the Enlightenment-Protestants; Liberals; and Bucky Fuller fans ( I'm all three )-little encouragement is provided. Lilla offers the correct diagnosis but little in the way of a cure. A good but depressing book.Note(9/09/2016): I want to point out that this book IS NOT a criticism of the conservative outlook. Lilla points out that reactionary thinking has; in essence; Gnostic roots.43 of 46 people found the following review helpful. Less than I expected but it shed light on Lilla's thinkingBy Dan KnaussI was disappointed when I found this book is composed of old NYRB essays (and one from Harper's) without any effort to deepen and synthesize them. (If you have not read them already; so much the better; but you can find them online for free.) I was expecting something more along the lines of The Stillborn God; which is excellent.The first chapters on Voegelin and Rosenzweig are close to outstanding; and the third one on Strauss is very good. As introductions to and appreciations of these thinkers; they alone are worth the price of admission. If you are very familiar with these thinkers; Lilla's treatment can seem spotty; coy; and even a bit eccentric; but the way he reads them is fair enough and interesting for what it reveals about Lilla. Strauss is often beat up because of his disciples; and Voegelin is usually ignored; because of or for lack of disciples. There are some omissions I found odd -- Voegelin's philosophy of consciousness and sources; as well as his life story. Strauss and especially Rosenzweig are comparatively more humanized with biographical detail that provides context for their work.The final four essays are much less balanced -- so even more revealing about their author -- but of dubious value in understanding the subjects they purport to analyze. While I enjoyed Lilla's invective directed at Brad Gregory; it's not very deep and probably not all fair; but in general I think it is accurate. Alain Badiou definitely figures as Lilla's whipping boy; but to get to him Lilla has to take on St. Paul as the key to all political heresies. This is a little far out; as is Lilla's apparent sympathetic identification with Michel Houellebecq and the antihero of Soumission.Ultimately Lilla has done little in these essays to delineate the boundaries of the reactionary from a legitimate conservatism. (Following Corey Robin I don't believe such a distinction is possible.) However; Lilla's meditations say a great deal about the unsettled; bad conscience (or is it the mauvaise foi?) of a neoliberal convert for whom there are more enemies on the left than the right.50 of 54 people found the following review helpful. A solid set of essays; but it could have a lot moreBy C. D. VarnWhile some will read this as a 'history of reaction;' this insightful and easily digested volume of essays is more like several essays on the subject. Generally; following a format related to book views and discussions in the history of ideas; collected around the central theme. I was little surprised to find that Lilla had published most of the chapters in New York Review of Books. While this is a limiting factor to the book; it does not make it un-insightful or particularly dross; or even repetitive as like some similar books. In fact; the obvious comparison is to Corey Robins "The Reactionary Mind;" which while also being largely a series of essays as review; had a more coherent thesis but was far more repetitive in its assertion and conflated conservatism with reactionarism. Still as Lilla points out; the reactionary impulse may be more dominant in political thinking these days even on the left; but far more ink as been spilt on the revolution mind. Indeed; even I can only think of Berlin and Robins as clear precursors to Lilla's focus here.Lilla starts with an assertion going back to DeMaistre; the reactionary is NOT a conservative. The reactionary is a utopian of nostalgia as opposed to the utopian of progress. While this is not actually the clearest of definitions; Lilla is able to use it trace a variety of kinds of thought which rhyme in function and affect. Lilla starts the book with careful and highly sympathetic studies of Rosenzweig; Voegelin; and Leo Strauss. Indeed; in the case of the latter two men; Lilla goes to pains to disentangle them from the use of their work. Lilla; like Isaiah Berlin who influenced him; can't help but admire something of the vitality of counter-Enlightenment thought and may almost be too sympathetic to his case studies for many of his political allies. He is far fairer to Voegelin and Strauss than to Alain Badiou in the later chapters.It is the series of essay in the second half of the book that are both the interesting but also the most frustrating. Lilla seems limited by the magazine form that chapters were originally published in; but almost all the arguments need to linger. Lilla's thesis on the reactionary impulse to the "road not taken"--generally in some relationship to the Enlightenment although sometimes against the entirety of post-Socratic European history--is fascinating and seems apt; but he does not fully develop it.Lilla's assertion that "epochal thinking is magical thinking" is fascinating and feels true; but he doesn't give enough examples nor does he explicitly call back the three case study thinkers in the beginning of the book which could be used to justify the claim. Lilla is erudite; and more or less expects his reader to be as well. Yet book that makes fairly strong demands on readers; its magazine style does have the benefit of being immediately accessible in style and a joy to read. This is particularly true in the essay on Michel Houellebecq and the two opposed currents of reactionary thinking in France. Indeed; Lilla does not explore this enough; but often the reactionary impulses biggest enemy is based in a different reactionary impulse with an opposing nostalgia. Lilla is a subtle thinker and a strong writer; but one wishes he developed his thinking beyond collecting his reviews on the topic and writing some thematic essays to tie them together.Despite these caveats; I strongly recommend the "The Shipwrecked Mind."
