20th century military history book – “Saving Israel” (Stackpole Books, 2020) – Boaz Dvir interview

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2ZnM73r

Boaz Dvir is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker. He spent ten years researching the creation of the Israeli Air Force in 1948. He produced a documentary on the subject titled “A Wing and a Prayer” which was shown on PBS. He then wrote a book on the subject. We spoke about the Israeli Air Force of 1948, the secret methods needed to create it, the writing of the book, and what it took to research it.

(THE AUDIO PLAYER IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.)

0:51 – Boaz talks about why he wrote this book.

3:41 – Boaz talks about how the Israelis were armed with Nazi weapons in 1948.

4:25 – Boaz summarizes what led up to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948.

7:35 – Boaz talks about what he focuses on in the book.

12:32 – Boaz talks about how the Arab were threatening to annihilate the Israelis.

14:41 – Boaz talks about the US Army flight engineer who started the operation to arm Israel.

19:59 – Boaz talks about how the Jewish-American underground set up an airline to fly people into Israel.

23:05 – Boaz talks about how Adolf became an international arms smuggler.

26:54 – Boaz talks about military resistance to the smuggling of weapons.

31:41 – Boaz talks about what the Israeli Air Force consisted of before the 1948 war and what had been created by the end of the war.

32:58 – Boaz talks in detail about the planes they brought into Israel.

35:35 – Boaz talks about the initial operations on both sides during the 1948 war.

39:22 – Boaz talks about the air war during the 1948 war and the initial Arab advantage.

41:54 – Boaz talks about how Israel used Nazi weapons in the 1948 war.

45:14 – Boaz talks about the research he did for the book.

49:10 – Boaz talks about coming across one of the old C-47s used in the 1948 war.

51:19 – Boaz talks about how amazing it was to talk to the US WWII veterans.

54:26 – Boaz talks about the emotional responses to this subject matter.

54:53 – Boaz talked about his surprise at US antagonism towards Israel in 1948.

59:10 – Boaz talks about how the USSR indirectly armed Israel.

1:04:01 – Boaz talks about influence of Jewish Russians on Israel.

1:05:22 – Boaz talks about the British pilots who flew against Israel and the shoot-down of a British reconnaissance plane.

1:08:21 – Boaz talks about the two types of Egyptian pilots that the Israeli pilots faced in 1948.

1:09:52 – Boaz talks about the victims of the war.

1:17:14 – Boaz talks about how the people in his book were innovative.

1:22:30 – Boaz can be found on facebook at Boaz Dvir and on twitter @BoazDvir.

 

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2ZnM73r

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780811737265/Saving-Israel-The-Unknown-Story-of-Smuggling-Weapons-and-Winning-a-Nation%E2%80%99s-Independence

https://twitter.com/boazdvir?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

 

Guests: Boaz Dvir

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, tags: Israel, Holocaust, Arab-Israeli war, Nazi, Palestine, Jewish, United Nations, US Army Air Force, aviation, neutrality act, WWII, world war two, Britain, Trans-Jordan, ATC, concentration camp, RAF, Royal Navy, arms smuggling, arms embargo, Egypt, Iraq, Hawaii, US Navy, FBI, Czechoslovakia, California, New Jersey, 1948 war, dogfighting, pilots, Negev, B-17, El Al, Tel Aviv, Messerschmitts, Nazi, Spitfires, Syria, flight logs, Israeli Air Force museum, greatest generation, Soviet Union, Stalin, Ben Gurion, Cairo, P-51, Panama, Wing and a Prayer, PBS

 

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2ZnM73r

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Iraq War military history book – “The Warriors of Anbar” (Da Capo Press, 2019) – Ed Darack interview

Ed Darack is a prolific writer who wrote a book about his experiences embedded with a Marine unit in Iraq. We spoke about his experiences there and the Marines he wrote about. Check out the book here.

1:02 – Ed talks about how he got into writing this book.

5:52 – Ed talks about how he logistically managed being embedded with the unit in Iraq.

10:02 – Ed talks about the time period the book covers – 2006 to 2007.

11:14 – Ed talks about what he wanted to focus the book on. He focused on the individuals.

18:50 – Ed talks about the size of the Marine battalion versus the population of the area they were operating in.

22:23 – Ed talks about the artillery, tank, and air support the battalion had.

24:26 – Ed talks about the support this battalion had in theater.

26:30 – Ed talks about the morale of the unit.

27:54 – Ed talks about relations between the Marines and other units operating in the area.

29:18 – Ed talks about what he focused on in the book.

30:18 – Ed talks about how he approaches the analysis in the book.

32:14 – Ed wanted to paint a clear picture of modern war.

33:13 – Ed talks about what it was like to interview the Marines and their family.

34:40 – Ed talks about the Marine Corps birthday.

35:24 – Ed talks about how he did the research for the book.

37:26 – Ed talks about Iraqi reactions to the Marines.

38:13 – Ed talks about what he enjoyed about doing the book.

40:35 – Ed talks about what he found most surprising.

41:20 – Ed talks about some friction at the RCT level.

43:55 – Ed talks about awards that the unit received.

45:34 – Ed talks about his hope that the book will help people understand the job that the Marines do.

47:11 – Ed talks about the information that couldn’t get into the book.

48:19 – Ed talks about getting the book published.

49:24 – Ed talks about his next writing project on Operation Redwings and articles for Smithsonian Air & Space magazine.

50:13 – Ed is on darack.com and has various social media accounts.

51:12 – Ed thanks the battalion for letting him on board.

Links of interest

Check out the book here.

https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/ed-darack/the-warriors-of-anbar/9780306922664/

http://darack.com/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: Ed Darack

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, hawaii, marines, mountain warfare training center, afghanistan, kunar, nangahar, battalion, 3/3, 2/3, iraq, embedded, haditha triad, al-anbar, operation redwings, al-qaeda, hachette books, navy, fleet marine, female marines, lionesses, air wing, air and space, smithsonian, whiskey company, deployment, beirut bombings, baghdad, fallujah, ramadi, AQI, islamic state, colonel farouk, ODA, fireteam, squad, platoon, company, MEU, rct2, rct7, harriers, isr, blackhawk, information operations, IED, wagu beef

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.