1 comments about Bravo Fortissimo Glenn Gould: The Mind of a Canadian Virtuoso.

1. Many performers have the talent to master their instrument and to play it well - but very few carry with them the magical power of charisma alongside that talent. "Bravo Fortissimo Glenn Gould: The Mind of a Canadian Virtuoso" is a look at, agreed to by many pianist critics, the most influential Canadian piano player in history and the power he held over crowds during his performances and the quirky and eccentric behavior that followed him off the stage. A thoroughly well researched biography and psychological examination of a mad genius to the classical music world, "Bravo Fortissimo Glenn Gould: The Mind of a Canadian Virtuoso" is a must for any collection looking at music and the people who perform it.

2 comments about A Question of Honour: The Life Of Lieutenant General Valentine Baker Pasha.

1. the authour appears to be a distant relative of the subject of this book. I gave the book four stars, not because of any real "depth" to the biography, but solely because of the relative dearth of biographies of this ill-served man, Valentine Baker. for a general outline of valentine baker's life, this is a good read. however, one hopes that someone will do some serious research into the man's life and write the definitive biography of a sad, unsung hero of the late 1800s.



2. This fascinating little book tells the life of Valentine Baker, once British General but exiled into the service of the Turkish and Egyptian governments. The story of Baker's family (his brother Samual was a famous African explorer) and his own personal travails is told against a backdrop of life in the British Army from the Crimea to Khartoum. Readers of other works on the individual battles will the find the whole story told here with a unique sense of continuity. The various adventures of British forces in the Crimea, Turkey and Egypt were not unrelated events but part of a foreign policy as complex and tortured as our own today.
   Baker's own personal story is also fascinating, and his interaction with other famous figures of the time (the Prince of Wales, General Wolseley, Gordon, Gladstone, etc.) shows them in a very revealing light. Their relationship with Baker reveals their personal side, something lacking in most history books.
   The only unfortunate thing about the book is that the author does not identify her relationship with the Baker family. One assumes she is somehow related to the subject of the book, based on it's dedication to her husband "Valentine Edward Baker". It would help to put the tale in perspective if we knew a bit more about her point of view.

3 comments about Once a Marine: Collected stories by enlisted Marine Corps Vietnam veterans - their lives 35 years later.

1. Hello Chuck....and Claude....Although I ordered 100 of our books in hardback, I was too impatient to wait for them to be delivered so I went on line and purchased the electronic version of our book and just finished reading it...Chuck, I know you made some reference to our book being better than the "Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw and to that end I say..... We may be the "Last Generation". The days of sitting on the front porch swing listening to family discussions and getting up at 4:00 AM to deliver newspapers for $2.50 a week and attending school for all grades in a one room schoolhouse are but a faded memory. We may be fortunate enough these days that our children and grandchildren do not have to endure these conditions but maybe by reading our accounts, they just may be able to benefit from our experiences and enhance their lives in some small way.
   
   Thank you both for all of your hard work. My wife could not believe that our book was a thought in October of last year at our reunion and now is published. She should know by now that when a Marine takes charge things get done.
   Semper Fi! Joe Wadlow



2. Since I left the Marine Corps in September 2004, I have struggled with a few things. First being if I was really still a Marine, or is the motto "Once a Marine, Always a Marine" just a really good recruiting slogan? Second, what do I bring to the table in terms of intangibles based on my experiences and service? This book trancends generations and clearly opened my eyes to 1- I am, and always be a Marine, and 2- I bring to the table certain skills that no civilian, or member of any of the other services can comprehend. From the moment I read it, it changed how I looked at myself as a professional. I am no longer just a middle school teacher, I am a Marine who is teaching middle school. I think, come the fall, I will enter the classroom with a better understanding of how to utilize what the Corps taught me in terms of leadership, teamwork, and a dedication to the mission, and to use it in a way that civilians can appreciate and not turn off my students or co-workers.



3. Big results from a "small project" . The book is a collection of writings by former Marines who served during the Vietnam era. Each story is a life in three parts growing up, being a Marine and the impact of being a Marine on later life.
   
   In a society that seeks to manufacture self esteem as if it can be bottled, the Marines possess the "secret" formula that evades so many. Worthwhile self esteem is not given, it is earned. Their culture and the intensity with which it is injected into young men frees them of so much of what burdens today's youth. As Ronald Reagan said many years ago, " many young people today are looking for a purpose in their lives, our Marines to not have that problem."
   
   Discipline, teamwork, commitment to mission and to fellow Marines leaves a lifelong change as these stories document.
   
   This is a great book for young people considering the service as a place to grow or a career. It's also a reminder that there's not just one "greatest generation" in our nation's history.
   
   Highly recommended

5 comments about Army 101: Inside ROTC in a Time of War.

1. When I heard that a book had been written about my ROTC unit during the time that I was a cadet, I was intrigued. I was also curious, how I never really knew that anyone was working on such a project, especially when I should have known. I was for all intents and purposes a cadet who was in the center of things within the unit, including its Cadet Battalion Commander in the fall of 2005. All I remember was reporter coming to a couple of our field exercises and taking pictures while hardly talking to anyone. David Axe's Army 101: Inside ROTC in a Time of War is a biased and consistently inaccurate portrayal of the Gamecock Battalion during the time that I was cadet.
   
   To start with, Army 101 is ripe with inaccuracies about the ROTC and the Army in general. Axe quotes graphic running cadences that I have never heard, and he talks about cadets using M60 machine guns in training at Fort Jackson. Not once do I recall having M60 machine guns on any field training exercise. He makes several attempts to interject cadet lingo, but gets it terribly wrong. For instance he mentions that the cadet in charge the Ranger Challenge team was referred to as the "Ranger Daddy." As a four year Ranger Challenge team member during the period covered in the book, not once do I remember that term being used seriously. My favorite thing is the contention that most of the Cadets belonged to fraternities or sororities. There were a few cadets who participated in Greek organizations, but as I recall most did not. In fact, I would argue that "frat guys" were looked down on amongst the cadets with a few notable exceptions.
   
   I will admit that The Gamecock Battalion had its faults. I remember the old Sergeant that was sexually harassing the female cadets. The man was a pig. The thing is, he was exposed, and he got what was coming to him. I also readily admit that the training exercises were not precision examples of infantry tactics, but poorly orchestrated gaggles of people. The thing is, the real infantry soldiers conducting raids in Iraq started out learning how to patrol by walking in poorly orchestrated gaggles. Axe hints at this, and begins to make that point that ROTC uses infantry tactics as its training vehicle to teach leadership. The problem is that he doesn't emphasize it well. The point of those exercises literally was to see how the cadet leaders reacted when things went bad, and not to prepare them for conducting the perfect raid on an insurgent bomb making factory in Fallujah. New Lieutenants coming out of ROTC still have a great deal of full time training before they get sent out onto the battlefields.
   
   Furthermore, Axe seems to have cherry-picked the cadets that he interviewed to back up his obvious anti-war and anti-Army bias. He for the most part bases his book the few cadets who failed, had doubts about the program, felt persecuted, were sub-standard, and or were not respected by the majority of the cadet battalion. I would not argue with wanting to present that side of the story if he had based his book on the majority of cadets. The majority of young men and women were there to learn how to be leaders so that they could simply go and serve their country.
   
   My question is this, why wasn't I interviewed? Why weren't the majority of fellow cadets like me interviewed? The answer comes when I look up that the wall as I write this review. On the wall above my desk are the framed mementos of my time in ROTC. I look up and see my diplomas from Airborne School and Air Assault School. I see my Commission. I see the things that would in Axe's eyes, made me one of those "hardcore" cadets hell bent on getting to the "sandbox" so I could start killing savages. To him I would be a blood thirsty killer, because I was a "squared away" cadet, and not one of the minority of cadets with a chip on my shoulder. Thing is, if he had taken the time to ask me or the majority of my fellow cadets some questions he would have not been able to write this book the way he did. He would have had to write a story about young men and women who joined up to serve their country, have an adventure, be leaders, and do their part despite all the hardships. He would have to write a book about people who see that there is a job to be done, and they figure that it might as well be them leading in its completion. Army 101: Inside ROTC in a Time of War was written about the University of South Carolina's Army ROTC, but it was not written about the USC Army ROTC that I served in, and led.
   
   - 2LT Samuel T. Brown
   United States Army, Aviation



2. As a current ROTC Professor of Military Science, I was very excited to learn that a book had been written about Army ROTC. I ordered a couple of copies and I and the staff read on, hoping to incorporate the book into our Freshman course. I will say that the book is at least written at the high school / college freshman level, so it has that going for it (and that it can be read in a couple of hours). Unfortunately, Axe does a woeful job in accurately portraying a "Year in the Life" of an ROTC program, and too often intersperses expletive-laden descriptors as color commentary, and throws in the occasional Political-Military opinion into the mix, disrupting the flow of the narrative and turning off many readers in mid-stream.
   
   This book did not do its theme and subjects great justice, and I hope a better book on the Reserve Officer's Training Course does surface in the near future - particularly in these times our nation deserves a better appreciation as to what its sons and daughters do to adequately prepare them to be junior leaders in this ever-changing Contemporary Operating Environment.



3. Written by freelance journalist and war correspondent David Axe, Army 101: Inside ROTC in a Time of War is a straight-talk look at the state of the modern Reserve Officers Training Corps, and the lives of the college students who participate in them - in effect, minoring in the military while pursuing degrees in other fields. Drawn largely extensive interviews with ROTC recruits, Army 101 touches on everything from nighttime training exercises to the procedures and jargon of the ROTC classroom to the annual Ranger Challenge, a.k.a. "the varsity sport of ROTC". Of special note is how the war in Iraq affects ROTC recruitment and graduates; deployment in Iraq is sometimes even used as a punishment for egregious offences. "In 2004, when the situation in Iraq begins to turn south and the media start asking questions, Cadet Command issues 'public affairs guidance' to all ROTC units. The twenty-eight-page document advises cadets and cadre to be wary of reporters and even provides stock responses to potential questions [such as] Q: Should the US have taken military action against Iraq? A: Our national leaders must decide the question of whether or not the US should take military action. It would clearly be inappropriate of me to attempt to second-guess them." An unbiased, insightful look into the trials and challenges facing America's "civilian soldiers", especially recommended for anyone considering joining the ROTC.



4. I honestly don't understand the points of view of those rating this book with one star. Having gone through ROTC in a Pittsburgh college, I found his book very reminescent of my experiences, down to the amateurish ambush exercise to the "Advanced Camp" (mine was at Ft Bragg). This is a good book, short, but illuminating as to the ROTC culture in many universities, with the addition of the Iraqi conflict looming over them. This book is not intended to be an in-depth discussion of ROTC and its pros and cons, but rather a snapshot of the experiences of one class. I think David Axe has written this book well and I recommend it to both ROTC grads who want to smile at the stories and those wondering what it's all about.



5. Full disclosure: I am a serving Army officer, a product of ROTC, and OIF veteran. I'm no right-winger, didn't vote for Bush, and was glad to see Rumsfeld go. But I went into Army 101 thinking it would be a snapshot of ROTC, for better or for worse, and was unpleasantly surprised by the tone of this micro-novel and the half-truths I found on every page.
   
   It was a very quick read, without any weighty intellectualism to slow me down as I tore through this nasty little book. Axe-- a writer for the Village Voice, no less-- finds a way to work his anti-war sentiment into every crevice of this book while simultaneously failing to accurately capture the spirit and motivation of the young men and women who are preparing to lead the next generation of American Soldiers. Axe skips out on the key notes-- the patriotism of these cadets, their desire to serve their country, regardless of our President or foreign policy-- and then dishonors them by highlighting their shortcomings and smears the more motivated amongst them with the typical catcalls of warmonger and babykiller, although couched in more contemporary terms. Other comments here suggest that he missed the more motivated and "squared-away" demographic of cadets, and I'm unsurprised that he found time to talk to the ones who couldn't hack it. Smart, motivated, successful young men and women who are eager to serve their nation and willing to face death in defense of their principles aren't the sort of thing that gets a lot of ink in the Village Voice.
   
   I hate to use the term "agitprop", but I'm afraid this book is little more than that, and rather unexceptional agitprop indeed. Michael Moore writes books like this, only with better research, less obfuscation of his bias, and just as much ignorance.
   
   Not worth the money in hardcover, and I doubt it will last the test of time. Skip this, or wait until a paperback copy lands in the free book bin of your local second-hand book store.

5 comments about Nothing Friendly In The Vicinity.

1. This is an interesting book for one reason in particular. It is the only first person account of submarine warfare I know that was written by an enlisted sailor in the navy. It's well written a good story and shouldn't take long to finish.
   
   This book centers more on the personal triumphs of the people on board the submarine and less on the strategy of submarines in the war. All in all, a great account of their war patrols.
   
   As a radio nut I think it's particularly interesting that the author was a radio man in the service. I can't think of a book written by anyone in the service who played a role in radio service. As a result of mission he was in a key position to observe everything that was going with the ship and its place in history.
   
   If you liked this book you might like to find War in the Boats, Wahoo, Clear the Bridge, and Silent Running by Calvert.



2. I try to read most of the submarine books that come along and in the case of this title, I'm glad I did. The author, Claude C. Conner, wrote it for his children,I bet he's surprised to find he has so many of them! Being aimed at those uninitiated to submarine lore, the book is quite easy to read and very easy to comprehend; certainly the glossary demistifies much of the goings-on of the diesel boats of bygone years.
   
   The book is also jam-packed with thrilling stories of The Guardfish's patrols both when the author served on her and when he didn't! The book is easily read in one or two sittings as a result of the author's knack for telling true submarine adventure tales.
   
   The title alludes to an unfortunate "friendly" fire occurence, the only one during World War II in which a US fleetboat sank another US Navy surface craft. Most of the last 4 or so chapters recount some of the slickest brass hat equivocating, obfuscating and ring-knockery to be beheld in naval literature, some things in life never change!
   
   All in all, this is a terrific book, not only for it's portrayal of naval history and heroism but also for it's depiction of human nature. Pick up a copy, and when you're finished, pass it along. Or make your friends buy a copy at Amazon dot com!



3. Highly recommend to any one interested in WWII sub warfare. Great stories that read well, easy book to follow, and very entertaining.



4. Mr.Connor's book is boring! He recalls his experiences on the "GARDFISH" which was no "experience" at all. That's 1/3 of the book. He then shares his memories on a repair ship. Another 1/3. Then devotes the final 1/3 to the mistaken sinking of a friendly ship..the rescue of the surviors and the boring trial which followed. Don't buy this book in expectation of reading exciting missions of an US submarine..there isn't any!
   I cannot encourage anyone to buy this book.



5. This was a gift to my submariner relative and to quote him "this was at least a 9 out of 10 good read. And for anyone interested in WWII subs and wasn't there, it is a definite 10."
   
   It's the story of the Guardfish, but much more. The day to day operation of the boat is explained, such as "blowing the head," (flushing the toliet) and "Qualification" (passing all the tests that earn you the right to remain on a submarine after a 6-month preliminary trial).
   
   Tragedy is blended with the comedic aspects of living on a sub and told in first-person that lends an immediacy to the action. The only complaint made by my relative "somebody should have told him (Conner, author) about the operations mistakes he made. But they were few.

1 comments about Edward A. Wild And the African Brigade in the Civil War.

1. General Edward A. Wild was one of the more controversial officers of the Civil War. A staunch abolitionist, after losing an arm at South Mountain (prelude to Antietam), Wild aided Massachusetts governor John Andrews in raising all-black fighting units. A number of black regiments were created and together were known as the African Brigade. Sent to South Carolina, Wild and his men arrived only weeks after the action at Battery Wagner that saw the heroism of 54th Massachusetts Volunteers (Colored) and the death of its leader, Robert Shaw.
   
   Wild was an unyielding defender of his black troops and their ability to be the equal of any soldiers in the army. His outspokenness and, at times, disobedience of orders, on their behalf got Wild in trouble. He hated Southern sympathizers and especially guerrilla fighters; his treatment of them was at time horrendous. In 1864 he led a raid through northeastern North Carolina against these "land pirates" (Wild's words). Sometimes prisoners taken (these might include civilians, even women, and not just soldiers) would be tortured, even hanged. Authorities North and South became outraged at Wild's actions. Eventually he was court martialed and demoted (for disobeying orders and not for his treatment of others). Suspended from the battlefield for 6 months, he returned in time to lead the XXV Corps before Richmond in April 1865. After the war Wild stirred up more controversy with his confiscation of private property in Georgia as a member of the Freedman's Bureau. The last years of his life were spent silver and gold mining, first in Nevada, then in Canada, and finally in Colombia, South America, where he died in 1891.
   
   His wife probably summoned up Wild best: "He was very heroic, he would not give up, he had a very strong will and proved it all his life." Sometimes that "strong will" got him in a lot of trouble and prevented him from seeing how his actions might be misconstrued or outright wrong. But it also made him a hero to his black troops, who saw a man willing to fight for his convictions and their rights.
   
   Casstevens presents a thoroughly researched and detailed account of her subject's life (though 90% of the book deals only with his Civil War years). The information is presented in bullet fashion: short subsections within each chapter dealing with specific events or incidents. Style is not a concern with Casstevens, only presenting the facts in a clear, straightforward manner. In that she succeeds well. The notes, bibliography, and index are excellent; the book is definitely designed for the researcher in mind.

1 comments about The Mysterious Private Thompson: The Double Life of Sarah Emma Edmonds, Civil War Soldier.

1. "The Mysterious Private Thompson" is a first-rate, riveting book about a woman who ran away from home to avoid an arranged marriage and disguised herself as a man to make her way in the world. She first became a successful traveling book salesman and then, astoundingly, served as a Civil War soldier for two years. Not only is the story fascinating as to how someone could maintain a disguise so effectively for so long a period of time, but the story's historical context is so carefully researched and deftly conveyed that you are almost unaware that this is a history book as well as a human interest story. I learned more in this book about the Battles of Bull Run, the Peninsula Campaign, the Battle of Fredericksburg, plus Generals McClellan and Burnside, than I had in all my years of school. Laura Gansler is a brilliant, gifted writer and I highly recommend this book.

1 comments about Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf: First Commandant of the Coast Guard (Library of Naval Biography).

1. Anyone interested in Coast Guard History... or it's new Department should take a day or so to read this book. It excellently reviews the career of the first Commandant from his childhood & midshipman days (that's right, he was in the Navy first), to his days as an arctic hero... the author does a great job telling a compelling story. I suspect some research was difficult, as the Commodore probably did not keep detailed notes, nor publish an autobiography (He died shortly after retiring as Commandant.)

   Bottom Line: Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it.

2 comments about Letters Home: The Story of an American Military Family in Occupied Germany 1946-1949.

1. Mark Falzini, a noted and respected archivist with an expertise in the Lindbergh kidnapping case, has put into the public hands a valuable look at life in post-WWII Germany. "Letters Home" brings to view the lives of Americans living overseas during the years following the war, a glimpse of life rarely seen in other historical books and documents written about the era.

   For any American who has lived in there, these letters home will bring back vivid memories of Germany, and a fresh outlook on what families of military members went through simply to create a life of normalcy.

   Few books provide the slice of America Overseas that "Letters Home" does. For any history buff, this book is a must-have, providing eye witness accounts of a significant time in history.




2. Letters Home will be of interest to the history buff and especially to anyone who lived overseas in the years immediately after World War II.
   
   The military family of the title is the Kales, stationed in Würzburg, four of whose seven children attended the Nürnberg (Area) American High School, located at 19 Tannenstrasse in Fürth. "Barby" Kale was one of four seniors in the first NHS graduating class, 1948. Don and Dick Kale were underclassmen. Herbert "Bub" Kale, graduated in the NHS class of 1949. The parents were Major Samuel S. Kale, the Displaced Persons Officer for the Unterfranken area, and Julia Kale.
   
   All of the Kales wrote letters to their relatives back in New Jersey. Dad and Mom's letters are short, mostly personal, dealing with family matters. Barbie, Don, and Dick wrote only obligatory letters to their grandparents. Bub is the prolific letter writer. His letters are lengthy, filled with details, and reflect his many interests. His letters make this book historically significant.
   
   Mark Falzini, son of Barbara (Kale) Falzini and a professional archivist, summarizes the historical backdrop for the letters in Part I of the book. His ten-page account of those first school days in a dependent school will be of interest to any Military Brat, whether from those early days or from the last days in the 90s.
   
   He explains how the Kale children commuted between the town their parents lived in and the town where they went to high school, as did most of the high schoolers. Barby remembers her first dorm room in Erlangen. "There were two other girls that shared my room, and at about six o'clock in the morning, this little German man would come into our room and fix our stove--you know, stoke the coal so that it gets warmer. He used to bump my bed all the time. We had army cots with metal at the end." The families paid $2.00 per month for dormitory expenses. There was a monthly charge for meals, $1.00 per day. In Erlangen the boys ate Sunday dinner at the Kaiserhof. During dinner, a German would stroll among all the tables playing his violin. Some of the boys would put Jello on their spoons and flip them up, trying to get the jello into the chandeliers.
   
   In the much longer Part II of the book, Falzini prints the actual letters, edited only for relevance. In an early letter, Bub gives us a candid portrait of his English teacher: "Miss Leamer is a whopper. She's pretty (etc) but her looks deceive you and she's bowlegged. She laid her cards on the table the first class she had. . . . [S]he told us her pet peeves--1) using pencil sharpeners, 2) forgetting anything, 3) not doing lessons and on and on. . . . She told us that she works all weeks always but on Fri & Sat she quits and goes out and has a swell time--no matter what. She scared us to death right away--but maybe we'll learn something."
   
   In other letters, Bub tells of his bird watching (he later got a Ph.D. in orinthology), his work with the Boy Scouts in the displaced persons camps (he arranged for used Scout uniforms to be sent from the States for the Lithuanian Scouts), three family sightseeing trips (one to Belgium and the Netherlands, a second to Southern Germany and Austria, and a third to France), and much more.
   
   After returning from Holland in the summer of 1947, Bub writes, "It [was] a relief to be out of Germany. You never know how much you dislike Germany until you leave it and go see one of its neighbors! In Holland you do not feel that depressing condition that prevails in Germany, where the people are just plain poor. They have virtually nothing and they stare at you all the time no matter how many times they have seen you. . . . The Germans pity themselves, they wonder why they are starving--and are almost always angry." No, the Germany the Kales experienced was not the Germany that many later residents and visitors remember.
   
   Scholars will find Letters Home a valuable primary source. Many will find it valuable as validation of their time overseas as a Military Brat.

3 comments about Salvage Man: Edward Ellsberg and the U.S. Navy.

1. Admiral Ellsburg was a great American. He was intelligent beyond books. He figured out methods for how to do things that we still use today. It is truely fascinating to learn about this man who did so much for his country.



2. Edward Ellsberg (1891-1983) was a brilliant marine engineer who developed salvage techniques still in use today. His work often saved the hides of the senior navy brass who frequently caused the situations Ellsberg fixed. His raising of two sunken submarines in the 1920's led to public recognition and special promotion by act of Congress. During WWII his work played an immense role in furthering the Allied war effort. His name deserves to be remembered as that of a truly great American who strove to do his best in any situation and who placed excellence above personal gain. I enjoyed this work after having grown up reading Ellsberg's own books. Alden has done an outstanding job of which Ellsberg would be proud.



3. Mr. Ellsberg's accomplisments are hardly known outside a select group. Yet what he was able to do during the war impacted the entire war effort in that theater of operations. The techniques he used are still practiced today. The tone and view are from an officers perspective so if you want to learn about what it was like to be a diver I recommend "Descent into Darkness" by Raymer. Salvage Man shows the behind the scenes action that is often not known or completely misunderstood by those at the working level. As a working diver I could appreciate the size and scope of the tasks Mr. Ellsberg was expected to accomplish. In typical military or diving fashion, he was not given the people or equipment that would have been expected. This book is great for sharpening your skills if you are a diver or supervisor who would like to see other ways of getting things done.