Martijn Lak from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands as one of two reviewers for The Journal of Military History, January 2014:

[A]s Robert M. Neer shows in his great, chilling, very well-written Napalm: An American Biography, the weapon did not always have such a terrible image and press, quite the contrary. For a long time, it was applauded for its fierce effectiveness and the fear it instilled in America’s enemies. Developed in a secret Harvard University war research laboratory, it was in fact, according to Neer, seen as a war winning weapon, especially in the Pacific and later on in Korea, where it saved US and UN forces from defeat. … Neer has written an excellent and eloquent study on one of the most feared weapons of all time. It is full of details, such as the U.S. plan to attack Japan with millions of suicide bomber bats wearing tiny napalm bombs. Neer also pays attention to napalm’s role in popular culture, in movies and (protest) songs. His chilling descriptions of the effects of napalm on people and cities makes you hope that the weapon will never be used again.

Daniel Weimer, Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia:

Neer’s “American biography” positions napalm within the broader context of the United States’ domestic and foreign relations history. … As a whole, Napalm is innovative in its contextualization of napalm over a sixty-year period. … Clearly designed for a wide audience, Napalm is accessible and highly readable, and is well suited for undergraduate use.

Click here to read the full reviews.