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THE MILITARY SHELF Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests Paul K. Davis ABC/CLIO 0-87436-782-4   $60.00 This solid reference will reach from high school to college-level libraries with its survey of invasions from ancient to modern times. Reviews of each battle include observations of underlying political and social influences, effects of warfare on language and tradition, and lasting legacies of conflict. While the encyclopedic form allows for quick reference, this is much more than just a listing of dates. Going Back: A Navy Airman in the Pacific War Charles Furey Naval Institute Press 2062 Generals Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401-6780 $32.95  1-800-233-8764 Going Back is Charles Furey's superbly written memoir that follows him from his state-side training, his service as an aircrewman on a patrol bomber, and his long recovery from a fiery plan crash, all the way to his poignant homecoming. Along with harrowing accounts of air actions over the South Pacific and grim de_script_ions of wounded men in hospitals, Going Back includes many vividly portrayed characters and offers remarkable insights.  Going Back provides a colorful yet honest recollection of the war years that addresses such timeless themes as loyalty, humor, family, and profound loss. Going Back is a memoir that will strike a responsive chord in readers old enough to have lived through those perilous times themselves, as well as those for whom World War II is just a chapter or two in their school history book. Memoirs, first hand accounts such as Furey has given us, will flesh out dry chapters of historical text with the vivid stories of what it was really like, and why there are no more ardent advocates for peace than those who, themselves, once had to go to war. Highly recommended! Dauntless Marine Alexander S. White Pacifica Press 1149 Grand Teton Drive, Pacificia, CA 94044 0-9649875-0-3  $24.95  1-415-355-6678  1-415-359-3699 (fax) Dauntless Marine is a riveting biography of U.S. Marine dive-bomber pilot and squadron leader Major Joseph Sailer, Jr.. Sailer was the hard-charging hero of the late-1942 air war over Guadalcanal who engaged in matchless feats of aerial combat on twenty-six dive-bombing missions during the darkest days of America's first Pacific War offensive in defense of Guadalcanal's isolated and vulnerable air _base_. In Dauntless Marine, biographer Alexander White evokes not only the Marine pilot's wartime experiences and ultimate death at the controls of his Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber, but also the making of this superb combat aviator. Drawing on the personal papers of Sailer and his family, interviews with surviving members of his squadron and others who knew him, and research in military archives, Dauntless Marine is the first full-length account of this largely forgotten war hero who was devoted to his large Philadelphia family, enjoyed his short life fully, and dealt with daily problems and major crises alike with clam, cool-headed competence. Dauntless Marine is a much appreciated and long overlooked contribution to the literature of the War in the Pacific. First Captured, Last Freed: Memoirs of a P.O.W. in World War II Guam and Japan Edward E. Hale Helen Heightsman Gordon, Publisher 3775 Modoc Road, Apt. 135, Santa Barbara, CA 93105-4478 1-881591-12-3  $15.00  1-805-569-5698  1-805-569-9908 (fax) Ed Hale was one of 80 American fighting men captured in a surprise attack on Guam, December 8, 1941 and was not freed until September 2, 1945, when Japan officially surrendered. The 79 survivors had endured forced labor, bitter cold, extreme hunger, beri-beri and other diseases, deprivation of news from home, and miserable living conditions. Along with 300 other P.O.W.s they rejoiced when American planes flew over Hirohata in 1945, dropping precious food, medicine, soap, shoes, clothing and magazines. The P.O.W.s made their own flags out of parachute silk, red lining from a blackout curtain, and a blue shirt