Four Random Books 28: Mavericks

Sharkey Ward's account shows a Sea Harrier squadron using film, sight calculations, and repeated firings to diagnose rocket accuracy.

A night sortie becomes an impromptu radar-intercept exercise that exposes differences in equipment and operator experience between Sea Harrier squadrons.

A senior pilot warns Ward that an experienced airman is undermining squadron methods, prompting a direct command response.

Robert Harvey's roster of unconventional commanders raises doubts about whether the book's maverick label fits every selection.

Garibaldi's rise from merchant seaman to revolutionary leader is placed in the demanding commercial world of nineteenth-century ship command.

The first British merchant aircraft carrier had severe design compromises but only three weeks to become a functioning convoy escort.

Empire MacAlpine's ship's company blends merchant seamen, Fleet Air Arm personnel, gunners, communicators, medical staff, and aviation handlers.

Merchant mariners and naval aviation personnel develop procedures that shorten the time a MAC ship must leave the convoy course for flying operations.

The Pete Ellis biography follows the Fourth Marine Brigade from recovery and replacement training into the November 1918 advance.

The Second Division presses toward the Meuse as the German position collapses, but late-war attacks still produce severe Marine casualties.

Decorations and senior recommendations advance Pete Ellis's standing even though he never commands a wartime unit in France.

Ellis's postwar writing argues that maneuver cannot replace fire superiority and that operations still depend on meticulous planning.