4 comments about With The Possum And The Eagle: A Memoir Of A Navigator's War Over Germany And Japan (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series).

1. Reads like a good, fast paced novel. Exciting, building chronicle of the air war over Europe and the Pacific.
   
   Explains with starteling clarity the cockpit horrors that left no alternatives to the area bombing of Dresden and Tokyo. Makes it very clear that the A-Bombs were redundant and unnecessary.
   
   A terribly real sense of our "losing years" and the desperate process of a war of attrition. The author, being one of only two survivors of his navigator's class of 22, lets us glimpse the terror and the heroism of an air war where victory would finally go to the combatant who had more young men to "expend"...



2. Ralph Nutter writes with extraordinary candor and clarity about a period in our history when he and others of his generation faced terrible odds in the struggle to save the world from Fascism. His account is as compelling as it is straightforward and unvarnished. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the true meaning of courage under fire.



3. Although we had to wait until after General LeMay's death, we finally find within "With the Possum and the Eagle" the real story of the leadership of General Curtis LeMay. If you're interested in the history of World War II and the significant role aviation had in both the European and Pacific campaigns, Ralph Nutter's account is difficult to put down. Nutter's close proximity to senior aviation leadership during the war gives the reader a rare glimpse into what those wartime leaders faced and the decisions they had to make vis-a-vis both logistical and environmental constraints to operations. A superb account.



4. Possum was General Haywood Hansell; Eagle, General Curtis LeMay.
   
   Ralph Nutter was a student at Harvard Law when Pearl Harbour occurred. A few weeks later he was in the Army Air Corp headed to navigator school. (A few years later he was the only survivor of his 22 fellow graduates.) A few months later and he was in England as a navigator on a B-17. In an incident where he knew where they were and none of the others did, Eagle made him the lead navigator of the group.
   
   As the European was was winding down, he was transferred to the Pacific and B-29's. Again he was made lead navigator. Eventually LeMay was sent to the Pacific and Nutter returned to work with him.
   
   This book is both a story of the war, and a story of leadership in war time. His insights on LeMay are enlightening and impressed me. LeMay's general reputation is a lot lower than that held by Mr. Nutter.

No comments about Barefoot Conquistador: Cabeza De Vaca and the Struggle for Native American Rights (Exceptional Biographies for Upper Grades).

1 comments about The Sky's the Limit: The Story of Vicky Jack and Her Quest to Climb the Seven Summits.

1. As an avid reader of climbing books I jumped into this book with anticipation. Sounded good but what a disappointment. At the end of the book you are none the wiser about the personality and the motivations of Vicky Jack. The character portrayed is one dimensional and cardboard like - surely there is more to this climber than what is protrayed?

1 comments about The Secret Life of Laszlo Almasy: The Real English Patient: The Real English Patient.

1. Many readers will no doubt be familiar with the Count Almasy as portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in Anthony Mingella's brilliant film "The English Patient" based on Michael Ondaajte's book of the same name. In both the film and book, Count Almasy shares a doomed passionate romance with Katherine Clifton, who dies in the desert. The Count is horrifically burnt in an aircrash attempting to retrieve the body of his lover, and later succumbs to his wounds, and his grief for Katherine, but not before recounting his tale to a caring nurse. What many people may not know, is that Count Almasy was in fact a real life figure (in fact, by name, the only true life figure in the whole film/book - all the other characters were ficticious, although a few were very loosely based on real characters with name changes), who did indeed partake in a number of desert explorations in the pre-war Libyan desert.
   
   John Bierman (Author of "Alamein: War without hate", "Fire in the Night: Wingate of Burma, Ethiopia, and Zion" among others) has written a very engaging biography of "Count" Laszlo Almasy, peeling back the myth of Almasy, and revealing the real "Count". For a start, it seems the "Count" was not in fact a real Count - although aristocratic, his family did not possess any titles. And another thing - it seems the Count may have been a homosexual, and may have at one time had a lover in the German army.
   
   At times, because documentary evidence concerning the Count is scarce, the content is just supposition, guesswork, and speculation. As a result, this isn't a true in-depth biography due to the lack of material, which is frustrating although no fault of the author. The book itself isn't particularly weighty, and would be completed with a few solid evenings of reading.
   
   Bierman does quite clearly state when he is dealing with known hard facts. Much of the desert exploration that was conducted by Almasy and others in the "Zerzura Club" is documented. What is also documented reasonably well is Almasy's war efforts in support of Rommel's Army in Africa, although at times, some of it is patchy. At other times, particularly when written/oral evidence cannot be substaniated, Bierman also quite clearly indicates this. An example is the account related by Bierman, based on written journals by a British adventurer and sometime spy, of a pursuit of Almasy by Communist agents through the streets of Rome, in which the British agent helped Almasy evade capture as a way of thanking the Hungarian for his activities as a British agent during the war. So it would seem Almasy was playing both sides of the fence - although as Bierman stresses, this is merely speculation. I did find that Almasy's activities post WWII was relatively light, although at one stage he was tried as a war criminal. It transpires that Almasy, although fighting on the side of the Nazis, was no Nazi (unlike his brother) and in fact saved jews from the authorities in the dying days of the war.
   
   Nonetheless, Bierman was written a very interesting account (as far as it is known) of one of the more mysterious and enigmatic characters of wartime. Illustrated with a couple of maps, and two inserts of black and white photography, this book would be an ideal companion to Saul Kelly's somewhat dry (no pun intended) "The Lost Oasis", which gives a broader overview of the activities of some of the notable Libyan desert explorers both during the war, and prior to it.

No comments about Road to the Sea: The Story of James B. Eads and the Mississippi River.

1 comments about The Love Temples of Khajuraho: A Memoir of Love, Lust, and Exotic Places.

1. The Love Temples of Khajuraho by Steve Reichstein is an entertaining blend of travel log and coming of age story. In an autobiographical book Reichstein recounts a one year trip he took around the world in 1964. Having been rejected by a seductive southern belle, he sets off on a journey around the world in the hope that the experience will give him the maturity and poise that will be needed to win her heart. His trip is taken at a time when America is on the cusp of the radical cultural and political changes that will dominate the rest of the decade. The book consists of his wonderfully written observations of the people he meets and the societies he encounters on his quest. The other theme is his constant wondering if he his gaining the kind of transformative experiences that will provide him with maturity he believes he needs. His experience at the Love Temples with its highly erotic images produces an experience that is transforming but not in the way he imagined. Depressed rather than enlightened, he continues his journey feeling defeated and disappointed. His meeting with his southern belle at the end of the book finally provides him with what he was seeking, the kind of transformative experience that most young men must experience if they are to make to transition from youth to maturity.

No comments about Captain Granville Perry Swift: California Pioneer and Sonoma Bear.

No comments about The Stettner Way: The Life and Climbs of Joe and Paul Stettner.

2 comments about Fury Beach.

1. Fury Beach by Ray Edinger combines thorough research with a rousing good story. The lengthy bibliography and index suggest the extensive research that went into producing this book. Well written, it is actually two stories for the price of one: a tale of an Arctic voyage of discovery and scientific research and the heart-warming story of the interaction of two cultures, an Inuit tribe and Englishmen, meeting for the first time and things actually go right. People treat each other with kindness and respect. Friendships result. I particularly liked the short snippets of biographies at the close of the book that explained what happened to the participants after the adventure ended. There are many illustrations, all charming.



2. John Ross, who had earlier failed to find the Northwest passage and had created a mirage of `Lancaster sound' in 1818 returned in 1828 to lead an expedition by steam to seek out the Northwest passage and map the arctic. He ended up stranded for almost four years. His men survived on meager rations while learning from the natives. A small party led by his Nephew James Ross also discovered the Magnetic North Pole.

   This is an amazing account of the ordeal of this harrowing journey into the arctic wasteland. Well written, its greatest downfall is that it includes only one map. This book will be enjoyed by anyone interested in the arctic, seafaring, adventure or survival stories. For further reading `Barrows Boys' by Fleming, `Into Thin Air, and `Sea of Glory' by Philbrick will be of great interest.

1 comments about Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans (American Biography Ser).

1. A lively, descriptive and exciting narrative of Thomas James' adventures up the Missouri River in 1809-1810 and to Sante Fe in the years 1821-1823. His writing abilities are brilliant and the reader will find themself anxiously flipping through the pages to see what happens next. In 1809 James joined the St.Louis Missouri Fur Company and relates the experiences of his crew being mistreated by Manuel Lisa, then joining up with John Colter, along with several other personal accounts of the day to day activities and survival strategies they encountered. He was one of the first to describe and take part in the trade business from St. Louis to Sante Fe and it is absorbing to read of his confrontations with the Comanches and the Spanish during these years. This is a must read for early American West enthusiasts.The book itself may be difficult to find, but it is certainly well worth the effort.