2 comments about John Laurens and the American Revolution.

1. Those caught up in the hype of the movie *The Patriot* will be eager to read this extensively researched and captivating narrative of a true patriot from South Carolina during the American Revolution. Massey brings John Laurens to life in this superb biography of a planter's son-become-military-hero who believed in giving slaves who fought for the American cause their freedom.



2. I think that it's cool that Dr. Massey is one of my professors! I'm at Freed-Hardeman University in West Tennessee and we're a pretty small school, so it's neat to have a professor who's published!

5 comments about An Emotional Gauntlet: From Life in Peacetime America to the War in European Skies.

1. Stuart Wright owes m several hours of sleep that I missed because I had a very hard time putting the book down. The style is fascinating and compelling. Even though I was a B-17 driver, even though I went to the Eighth on a replacement crew (not original cadre), even though I never had the pain of losing a crewmember, teh book riveted my attention because of the resonance it established between me and the characters of the book's crews. This book is a towering addition to the literature of the Eighth Air Force. Thank you.
   Craig Harris B-17 pilot 457th BG, Station 130 Glatton.
   e: charris4@nc.rr.com



2. A long look at one airplane, one crew involved in the air war against Germany during World War II. The airplane is the Corky, a B-24 Liberator. The story starts with the people the made up the crew before they entered the military service. Finally on Tuesday 7 September 1943 the crew met together as Crew 25, 734th Squadron, 453 Bomb Group. Five months later on the 5th of February the first of a couple of milk runs over France, within a week they were over Germany. By the 25th of June the crew, not without loss, had completed their combat tours. Their war was over.
   
   Stuart Wright is from the small village in England where the 453rd was stationed. He grew up on stories about the Yanks in and around the village. A chance meeting when he was fourteen began a friendship and collaboration with Bill Eagleson, the pilot of Crew 25. Years of research later, this book is the result. As Mr. Wright says: "This is not so much a book about airplanes or war; but a book about people." One crew of people that made a difference.



3. One of the problems for those interested in books about air warfare in World War Two is that you've read it all before. At least it seems that way. There are books so imitative of other books that the reader may question whether he read it all before.
   You won't get that feeling when you read "An Emotional Gauntlet". No, Sir. This is as fresh as the smell of 100 octane on a crisp morning. Author Stuart J. Wright brings freshness to his topic that we thought had been burned away in the 50's and 60's.
   
   You are not confined to barracks when you read "Gauntlet." The author takes you to British hamlets and cities where the Luftwaffe can be expected when least expected. B17s and 24s machine guns hammer.
   
   This is good stuff! You are not going to fall asleep reading it. Stuart was too young for WW2 but he researched his book for more than ten years! He interviewed a great many survivors of Europe's air war some of whom you may recognize if you flew out of Blighty when the going was rough or at any other time.
   
   This is not pulp fiction. Veterans of the Eighth may well recognize planes and people from their own wartime experiences Former bombardier Alan Eagleson, a character in the book has turned up at air shows in the Greater Boston area and your Reviewer, a 10th AF vet, has enjoyed talking to him.
   
   "An Emotional Gauntlet" is filled with photographs. What fun on a snowy evening to scan the photos with the aid of a magnifying glass and perhaps identifying a long lost pal in a long ago scene. READ IT AND ENJOY!
   John Brennan



4. This is a must read for anyone interested in the daily life of a real B-24 combat crew. Stuart has done an excellent job of presenting the difficulties and challenges of an American air crew in England, as he takes you from the early days of crew training to each of the (very)tough missions flown. One feels as if you are actually part of this team. I came away with a sense of awe and admiration for these men "just doing their job" amid the daily horrors of combat over Germany, and the very real risk that they would not be coming back every time they flew.



5. As an aspiring WW2 B-24 and 392nd BG researcher, I regard Wright as a real teacher in his use of archival and original sources. A review of the bibliography, notes and appendix is a quick education in how to use available research tools. Going thru the boxes of unit histories, Missing Air Crew Reports and German KU files on downed allied aircraft at the National Archives in Washington, DC, is something I also would like to do. His efforts in tracking people down by any means, including letters to very old addresses, is a new option for me. In addition Wright is a fine story teller and interesting to read.The Corky crew flew during the first half of 1944, some of the toughest, highest attrition missions as the 8th AF broke the Luftwaffe prior to D-Day. The detail of each crewman's life during the war and after is such a huge task, requiring years and years, very hard to put this down. Our father was a Lead Pilot in the 392nd BG, a few miles from Old Buckenham, and flew on these same missions, so this is indeed a special book for us.

5 comments about Oblivion: The Mystery of West Point Cadet Richard Cox.

1. As a graduate of West Point I had never heard of this case, of course the Academy covering things up is not unheard of. I also recommend another novel about West Point titled THE LINE by another graduate.



2. I enjoyed the story; it is a very interesting subject. But too many leads and dead ends are thrown in, and the book becomes confusing and disjointed. Also, it ends with Robinson's story being accepted as the final word as to what "really" happened. How do we know we can take this man's word as gospel, any more than what anyone else said? How do we know it's not just another hoax or more speculation? Or, as the book suggests, was it merely an effort to get Jacobs off the case, for whatever the reason may be? I applaud Jacobs and his excellent, painstaking research. But I still don't think we have a definitive, reliable answer to this mystery. To be sure, the offered conclusion is plausible, but there remain too many questions left unanswered. A good yarn, but I remain unconvinced.



3. ...and I wanted it to be good so badly! But, it just was not to be. This is a book about someone who did a lot of research and decided to publish every word of it, rather than just the pertinent information. It becomes irritating to continue to learn information about the subject, only to be told that it is all totally worthless. And, the end is anti-climactic. In the end, a diligent researcher accepts the word of a single source as fact. Doesn't seem like the same man. Perhaps he was just ready to retire. I suggest this would make a pretty good movie, but not a book.



4. This book held my attention as I read it practically cover to cover. It is very interesting, albeit annoying at times as the author goes in great detail about numerous leads, only to have them ruled out a few pages later. I can see why the author did that -- to show the exhaustive work done by CID and FBI investigators, and also to give the reader a small, small taste of the incredible frustration these investigators must have felt at the time. The problem with the book is that it is highly anti-climatic. The researcher, Jacobs, did not "give up" (as some have implied), he basically solved the mystery it's farthest moral extent. I do recommend reading this book, as it shall hold your attention through and through, but be prepared to be disappointed with the anti-climatic end.



5. I've been interested in the Richard Cox mystery since I was very little and read about it in LIFE magazine in 1950 and then a few years later in CORONET. From time to time over the years I would research the topic hoping for new information. I'd almost given up until I came across this book , containing lots of details never before disclosed. Unfortunately, as mentioned in some of the above reviews, the proposed "solution" at the end is thoroughly unconvincing.

2 comments about Bad Hand: A Biography of General Ranald S. Mackenzie.

1. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Coverage of Ranald Mackenzie is rather sparse and this book does a great job of detailing the man's entire life. Mackenzie was one of the many frontier heros who did not gain the notariety of other Indian fighters, but he was one of the most successful. Mackenzie showed the ability to learn from his mistakes and adapt tactics as necessary. He also served in all the theaters of Indian warfare (Northern Plains, Southern Plains, US/Mexico Border, and Arizona). This book is easy and entertaining to read and will hopefully help us remember an Indian fighter that history has tried to forget.



2. This was a good book. General MacKenzie WAS the great American Indian/bandit fighter which spawned the myth(?) of the American West in the next century (John Wayne played MacKenzie's role in "Rio Grande"). As for his place in history, he was not shot down in his prime the way the inept Custer was, and as a result, he has all but been forgotten in Western lore (his going mentally insane didn't help matters either).

   The book reads easily, flows well and the author doesn't bog you down with unimportant details. I recommend this book to anyone with a mild-to-high curiosity about the Indian Wars and the history of the American Southwest in the late 1800s.

No comments about Warrior Against His Will: A German Sapper's Account of World War One.

No comments about Patrick Ferguson: A Man of Genius.

No comments about The Volunteer: A Canadian's Secret Life in the Mossad.

5 comments about Shane Comes Home.

1. Having known Shane personally I am amazed and greatful of the rare talent the author, Rinker Buck possess.
   He has managed to capture the man that Shane was without actually ever knowing him personally and be able to tell the story of a brilliant, intelligent dedicated Marine.
   I am certain that those who read this book will come to appreciate the man, the marine, the hero that Shane was.
   If anyone deserved to be remembered and honored this way, it was definetly Shane!



2. Shane Comes Home captures the eccense of a life well lived. It is a an accurate account of growing up in a country where not everybody is supportive of our war effort, yet avoids any partisan bias towards the war. It is extremely well-written with a touch of humor and irony, and an easy read. Though throughout the book the author makes a few references about Shane leaning a little to the Right, that is not unexpected from an educated military man. If there is ever a soldier, or a person for that matter, I would like to emulate it would be Shane Childers. He is an almost super-hero character, constantly on the move saving people from harm, all the while trying to find out who he really is. This book is for anybody who enjoys a good story, not just for soldiers or military folks. I highly enjoyed it and recommend it for its pro-American stance, regardless of your politics.



3. Living in San Clemente, CA, I remember the local reports of Shane's death. He lived in SC when he deployed to Iraq. When I learned he was a Citadel grad (I'm from VMI) during one of Rinker's radio interviews, I had to buy this book and did by the end of that day. That said, I was very leery of how a New England columnist would present a topic as dividing as the Iraq War has been.
   
   I was not disappointed. Rinker left the divisive politics aside and focused on the man, family and Corps behind the hero. He provided and incredible story of a true American hero. No doubt, Shane is a hero.
   
   This work certainly could have been be written about many more of the countless heroes in this day. Rinker provides a first hand insight how the families of our heroes deal with their greatest loss. This is a must read.



4. I didn't think I wanted to read this book at first, but am glad I purchased it and read it. Another reviewer said that it was about the man, the military and his family and this is very true.The book goes into all of Shane Childers life from childhood to his final moments interspersed with the details and goings-on of the preparation for the funeral. That was the letdown in the book for me. After all the talk about the ceremony, etc., the funeral services itself was only described in like 2 paragraphs. I thought for sure every detail of the funeral service and committal would have been mentioned. But it seems as if every biography I read goes right up to the death of the individual and then one paragraph or so about the funeral. Writers don't seem to think the readers care about hearing about the ceremonies and burials, but I for one do. This was a real personal account of one man's life and I was glad to get this close to an actual situation. It does bother me SO much though that the author NEVER capitalizes Marine, Marine Corps, etc. I don't know proper grammar perhaps but I think that a Marine is a title and the Marine Corps is an organization and should be capitalized, even if in proper grammar it shouldn't. Make sense?? A soldier is a soldier, a sailor is a sailor---but a Marine is a MARINE. Very good reading!!



5. A Most Amazing Young Man
   
   Shane Comes Home is a book about a most amazing young man, Marine Lt. Therrel Shane Childers by Rinker Buck. I purchased the book because his family comes from Cabell County, West Virginia, the place I live and worked as a deputy sheriff. I do not know the family but I patrolled the area they came from, Salt Rock, WV. I knew the roads well, Smith Creek, Madison Creek, the "Dog Fork" of Madison Creek, Hickory Ridge, and WV State Rt. 10. I thought I would read a little about the area I knew so well and maybe the mention of some of the people I know, but I was in for a pleasant surprise. Rinker Buck does an excellent job of telling the story of the first American to loose his life in combat in the Iraq War. The story of this amazing Marine is so well told I couldn't put the book down. There is little about the war, it is about the unpleasant job of notifying the parents of a fallen hero. It is about a young boy growing into a man who was loved by everyone he met. I am only sorry I never had the pleasure of meeting Shane, but after reading the book I feel like I have known him all his short life. Anyone who is fortunate enough to read this book is in for a real treat.
   
   Fred E. Moskey, Retired Cabell County Deputy Sheriff.
   moskey25@comcast.net

1 comments about The Real Guardians: Five True Stories of Coast Guard Heroes and Their Rescues in New Orleans Following Hurricane Katrina.

1. Anyone who sat glued to CNN during the aftermath of Katrina will appreciate these personal tales of rescue participation from Coast Guard personnel. Written in a casual, conversational style, this book will appeal equally to adults and young adults. It would make an excellent gift for any student considering there future career options, since the book outlines a variety of vocational choices within the organization. While showing how challenging it is to become a member of these rescue teams, it also illustrates the variety of choices which led each of these individuals to their vocation, and makes the challenge seem attainable. In this day and age, when truly valuable role models appear to be in short supply, these profiles provide a useful counterpoint to rap stars and rock bands. This book would be equally useful on the shelves of career counselors, and in classrooms studying Katrina.

2 comments about My Son My Hero A Mothers Journal: Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith MEDAL OF HONOR War on Terrorism.

1. Janice made me feel like I was going through her painful experience right along with her. There were segments in the book she had me crying and others smiling as she shared her wonderful son's life. I was honored to meet this gracious woman and her family during the one of the dedications for her son. Keep writing JP.



2. "After reading My Son, My Hero: A Mother's Journey, I am very moved by Janice Pvirre's commitment to honoring her Lord even through the heroic and tragic circumstances of her son's death. I highly recommend this book as an encouragement to mothers and to anyone traveling along that journey after losing a loved one, no matter the circumstances. We lost our twenty-one-year-old son in 1989 and that book has ministered to me in a wonderful way."--Clytee Harness, Senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Elfers, Florida