Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Independent military scholar Fredriksen's current volume joins a series of similar chronologies covering the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy as well as last year's noteworthy three-volume Chronology of American Military History (Facts On File, 2010). According to Fredriksen, his objective here is to color the great canvas of U.S. Marine Corps history and tradition with relatively modest strokes. The chronology begins with the Marine Corps' origins, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, when on November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress officially created the First and Second Battalions of Continental Marines. From there, it moves briskly into the twentieth-century, where the institution served with distinction in both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and Operation Desert Storm. This twentieth-century component comprises 276 pages of the volume, which concludes its coverage on December 15, 2009. Fredriksen closes the volume with a useful bibliography of secondary works for further research. Included in the easily navigated volume are a handful of black-and-white photos and illustrations as well as a few sidebars providing additional information on such seminal figures, groups, and technologies in Marine Corps history as its first commandant, Samuel Nicholas; the Navajo code talkers; and the controversial vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the VM-22 Osprey. Although not necessarily a good choice for those looking for information on the relevance of the Marine Corps in today's military establishment, Fredriksen's straightforward presentation is recommended for academic and public libraries seeking to provide material on the critical role of the institution in American history.--Odom, Brian Copyright 2010 Booklist