Spotlight on e-books

 Adelphi series

The Academy Library has access to some niche e-book collections; the Adelphi papers now called the Adelphi series from the International Institute for Strategic Studies is one such collection. This collection covers strategic studies and international political concerns and surprisingly it is most easily accessed through the UNSW Electronic Journal Portal.

Recent 2011 publications from the series include:
Afghanistan to 2015 and Beyond edited by Toby Dodge and Nicholas Redman. (Adelphi 425-6)
Cyberspace and the State: Toward a Strategy for Cyber-power by David J. Betz and Tim Stevens. (Adelphi 424)
On Nuclear Deterrence – The Correspondence of Sir Michael Quinlan edited by Tanya Ogilvie-White. (Adelphi 421-3)
Yemen and the Politics of Permanent Crisis by Sarah Phillips. (Adelphi 420)
No Exit: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons and International Security by Jonathan D. Pollack. (Adelphi 418-19)
Deterrence during Disarmament: deep nuclear reductions and nuclear security by James M. Acton. (Adelphi 417)
Trapped Giant: China’s Military Rise by Jonathan Holslag. (Adelphi 416)

The Academy Library also has a large collection of print copies from the series, they can be found through a catalogue search on title or series in the Academy Library catalogue.

Spotlight on e-books

Black Ops, Vietnam : An Operational History of MACVSOG

by Gillespie, Robert

During the Vietnam War, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACVSOG) was a highly-classified, U.S. joint-service organization that consisted of personnel from Army Special Forces, the Air Force, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance units, and the CIA. This secret organization was committed to action in Southeast Asia even before the major build-up of U.S. forces in 1965 and also fielded a division-sized element of South Vietnamese military personnel, indigenous Montagnards, ethnic Chinese Nungs, and Taiwanese pilots in its varied reconnaissance, naval, air, and agent operations. MACVSOG was without doubt the most unique U.S. unit to participate in the Vietnam War, since its operational mandate authorized its missions to take place “over the fence” in North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, where most other American units were forbidden to go. During its nine-year existence it managed to participate in most of the significant operations and incidents of the conflict.

 

  Find it in the UNSW e-book collection: click here to access.

Spotlight on e-books

Terramechanics and Off-Road Vehicle Engineering  

Wong, J.Y.

This book will be of great interest to any professional engineer or automotive engineering student working on off-road vehicles. Reflecting the increase in off-road vehicle production and development-recreational, agricultural, construction, military-this book equips readers with all of the necessary knowledge to successfully design and model off-road vehicle systems, and provides a comprehensive introduction to terramechanics, the mechanics of vehicle/terrain interaction.

Find it in the UNSW e-book collection: click here to access. 

Browse the e-book collections

CSIRO e-books …everything from acarology to zygaenid moths with 4WD driving skills & effective science communication thrown in.

My eye was caught by Ian Parsonson’s Australian ark: a history of domesticated animals in Australia (1788-1998) but if history of the colony is not your cup of tea then there are plenty of other fascinating reads from CSIRO Publishing that are available online.

The Academy Library subscribes to CSIRO ‘s E-Book Collections. The Collections, released each year, contain a combination of the previous year’s new book releases and selected publications from CSIRO Publishing’s back list.

Browse the collections online here. 

Project Azorian aka Project Jennifer aka Hughes Glomar Explorer Project

Azorian the raising of the K-129

Part 1 of Michael White’s documentary ‘Azorian the raising of the K-129′ was shown on SBS2 last night with Part 2 of the documentary due to be broadcast Tues 18th Oct. at 8.30 pm.

It’s an absolutely fascinating account of the feats of engineering and subterfuge involved in the US’s secret attempt to raise a wrecked Russian submarine K-129 from 17,000 ft. below sea level during the 1970′s.

For those interested in more details the Academy Library has access to the e-book Project Azorian the CIA and the raising of the K-129 / Norman Polmar and Michael White and an earlier print book The Jennifer Project / Clyde W. Burleson

The National Security Archive‘s Nuclear Vault at George Washington University also has additional information including links to primary source material.