No comments about Business and Politics in America from the Age of Jackson to the Civil War: The Career Biography of W. W. Corcoran (Contributions in Economics and Economic History).

2 comments about Budapest Exit: A Memoir of Fascism, Communism, and Freedom (Eastern European Studies, No 7).

1. Budapest Exit. A Memoir of Fascism, Communism,and Freedom.

   This book answers the question,"How would Huck Finn have survived through war, bombings, occupation, revolutions and an escape to freedom". Csaba Teglas is the Finn like story teller in thes autobiographical history/survival story. Teglas, born in 1930, counterpoints his growing up in Hungary with the life of his two sons in a suburb of New York City. His descriptions of family, friends, places, experiences and events are examined in the historical perspective of bombs, bullets and hunger. At 26 Teglas escaped to freedom. A freedom without money, language or a marketable job skill. Read the book and find out how he used the traits honed under fascism and communism to build a life in Canada and the United States.

   Mr. Teglas Has written a timeless story of a youth triumphing over adversity. This is and uplifting book which gives a powerful lesson of what can be accomplished if one has grit and determination.

   I give this book 5 Stars




2. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this first-hand account of a young boy growing up first under the Nazis and then the Communists. Mr. Teglas tells his story with incite and humor and I marvel at the spirit of his countrymen during these harrowing times. We, lucky to be born and brought up in the United States, simply have no idea what it would be like to live under oppression. "Budapest Exit" paints a vivid picture of a life our children hopefully will never know.

2 comments about Jubal: The Life and Times of General Jubal A. Early, C S A, Defender of the Lost Cause.

1. This book doesn't really seem to deal with Early the general as much as it does Early the leader of the Lee cult after the war. Skip ahead to the last few chapters.



2. For those well familiar with the Civil war, this is a great biography of Early in that it concentrates on Early the person and the General while assuming that you have the basic facts down on the Civil War. The author does not spend too much time on minute detail on troop movements that has been covered many times before but provides in-depth insight to "Old Jube" and his actions. A tough and controversial fighter, until reading this book I didn't know that the former Commonwealth Attorney and life long bachelor from Franklin County sired four children refusing to marry his companion because she was beneath his station. Great historical highlights such as Early's controversial role on Lee's left at Gettysburg, his great assignment defending Fredericksburg against great odds while Lee takes the rest of the army to Chancellorsville, his zealous and dictatorial grip on the Lost cause syndrome, and his public branding of the ill equipped Longstreet (not a lawyer and politically naive) as the cause of Lee's defeat at Gettysburg. Wonderful that it highlights the second battle of Fredericksburg and how the Federals found out the heights were lightly defended. In addition, the author makes an excellent case that when defending the valley after Jackson, Early did as well as Jackson until Grant sent Sheridan and a 40,000 man army to defeat him. The author notes that aside from poor use of his calvary and his negative tongue-lashing, Lee's "bad, old man" was a tough fighter and a major player in the Army of Northern Virginia.

No comments about Civil War Eyewitnesses: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles, 1986-1996.

5 comments about The Custer Myth: A Source Book of Custeriana (The Custer Library).

1. By far the best of the vast Custer literature. Graham gathers together in one place primary data and lets you draw your own conclusions. On Custer, Graham is the only author I have read who writes without massaging his data to support some preconcieved theory. This book, incidently, was published in 1953, not in 1993.(It would be helpful if Amazon would note first copyright dates in book listings.) This book was not bashed out to meet a schedule or catch a market window; Graham gathered data literally for decades. Being an army officer-- Judge Advocate Corp--gave him access to files and access to survivors who were eyewitnesses to the fight at Reno's end of the field.



2. This is Graham's great collction of testimonies about Custer and the Little Big Horn from the Sioux, Cheyene, Rees, Crows, scouts, officers, soildiers and others. An incredible collection of material laid out in categorical chapters. Graham lays this often quoted collection out without prejudice and although he questions the Indian participant's accounts due to their lack of perception of exact time and spatial realities, he presents it all the same. What is quite fascinating are the virtual raw letters of Benteen to William Goldin. The letters show Benteen's bitter side particularly toward Custer and demonstrates that Reno was also not held highly on his list, if anyone was. Also, has Godfrey's great history of the battle and the book even includes challenging letters from Grahams critics to his personal responses. A great book for those that want to know all from multiple perspectives of the participants.



3. This book gives no definitive answers on the biggest puzzles of Little Big Horn ... which is its greatest strength. By pulling together all the available testimony, from both sides and all angles, it's proof of how 'the fog of war' -- as well as participants' own agendas -- makes any battle more confusing to its participants than to those who come after. For the reader, piecing together the conflicting accounts, and assessing the characters/viewpoints/axes-to-grind of those giving them, it's a total immersion not just in the facts but in the feelings, prejudices and atmosphere of the time. A wonderful book. And one that should be basic training for every student of history, whatever their period. This is how history is.



4. It is my opinion that the three most famous battlefields on US soil are (in no particular order) the Little Big Horn, Gettysburg, and the Alamo. Each has a legion of students and enthusiasts accompanied by a number of printed resources. Stackpole Books has added to the printed resources on the Little Big Horn with its' collection of books known as The Custer Library. The most important of these books, in my opinion, is "The Custer Myth" It contains just about all of the available first person accounts of the battle known to exist. Many of the accounts are rather short but all are interesting. For the "Last Stand" buffs, it is like waking up on Christmas morning to find that you got everything you wanted except actual newsreel footage. For the casual observer of the subject, this may be the downfall of the book. After all, the stories greatly overlap and repeat each other. In doing so, they add another dimension of personalizing the battle even more. No Custer enthusiast should be without this book and no private library of American History is complete without it either. Do yourself a favor and add it to your library as well.



5. It was great to find a book published well over 50 years ago, so I could see what "spin" the author had on the battle. Surprisingly, the author did not laud Custer--the title comes from the author's belief that Custer was more made up than real. The author, though retired military, made what appeared to be a fair attempt to reconstruct the attacks from the Indian's point of view. The book does not compare to "Lakota Noon" in analysis, but the author states at the beginning he is just presenting the facts as reported by others. The book also contained other interesting information from Sitting Bull that even my boss, a Lakota, had not seen. Be warned, though: It's a long book with a lot of self-serving statements by Army officers.

No comments about Bearing Witness: Memories of Arkansas Slavery Narratives from the 1930's Wpa Collections.

No comments about Four Brothers in Blue: Or Sunshine and Shadows of the War of the Rebellion, a Story of the Great Civil War from Bull Run to Appomattox.

No comments about Lincoln, El Desconocido/ Lincoln the Unknown (Biografias Y Testimonios).

No comments about Lincoln of Kentucky.

1 comments about The Civil War Memoirs of Captain William J. Seymour: Reminiscences of a Louisiana Tiger.

1. (The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

   Captain Seymour has left us a lively and lucid account of his Civil War experiences, from a rare account of the bombardment of Fort Jackson (New Orleans) in April 1862, to later service with the 1st Louisiana brigade with the Army of Northern Virginia.

   Seymour, a New Orleans newspaperman, shows a fine disregard for accuracy which sheds no glory on his profession, but editor Jones gently footnotes the narrative with the necessary corrections.

   Interesting read; worthwhile.