IN WHICH THE BALLOON GOES UP ... " The Short Victorious War " by David Weber, first published by Baen Books in April 1994  was the third  book in the "Honorverse" series, featuring the far future space navy officer Honor Harrington. The message of the book, strongly hinted at in the title, and even more so in two real-world quotes which Weber makes before the prologue, is particularly topical at the time of writing this review in April 2026, some 32 years after the book was first published. The first of those quotes, often attributed to the Russian interior minister Vyacheslav Plehve on the eve of the 1905 Russo-Japanese war, is  " What this country needs is a short victorious war to stem the tide of revolution. " The second, from the Irish journalist Robert Lynd, is     Among those currently wishing they had paid more attention to Robert Lynd's way of thinking must be the current Russian President, who is now into the fifth year of a war he expected t...

The story of how the then Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo first met the then General Anakin Skywalker on Batuu at the time of the Clone Wars, and how many years later Grand Admiral Thrawn worked with Darth Vader in the same area of space, is told in Timothy Zahn's book, "Thrawn: Alliances." This book was previously reviewed on this site here: Book Review: "Thrawn: Alliances" by Timothy Zahn, original novel I thought this short account explaining Thrawn's reaction in the "Ahsoka" series to learning that Anakin has been Ahsoka's Jedi master may be of interest.  PROFESSOR X.

An interesting piece of fan fiction in which Grand Admiral Thrawn was sent to investigate an alien civilisation - and it turns out to be the "Imperium of Man" from the Warhammer 40k universe. Presented in the form of a message from Thrawn to Emperor Palpatine reporting his findings.

This piece is a parody, repeated for amusement, and it is not intended to imply that the views expressed in this "interview" represent the real opinions of either Tucker Carlson or of Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo.  

 Hat tip to the "Blasters and the blades podcast" who tweeted this ...

Admiral Sir Henry Leach, who was Britain's First Sea Lord and chief of the Defence staff during the Falklands war, once said, "Isn't it bizarre that no one complains when the army or air force loses a tank or plane, but all hell breaks loose when a warship sinks? Warships are meant to be used—and some will be lost. But we are here to employ our forces, not languish in fear of risk or for enemy ..." Leach was able to say that partly because he knew exactly what it costs when a warship goes down with hundreds of men. His father, Captain John Leach, had been the captain of the Royal Navy battleship "Prince of Wales" and went down with the ship when it was sunk by Japanese aircraft in 1941.  A similar comment from Admiral Andrew Brown Cunningham, who was the RN's Commander in Chief for the Mediterranean theatre, on the losses his ships were taking from Luftwaffe attacks while evacuating British soldiers from Crete during Word War II: " It takes the Navy...