5 comments about Guantanamo: What the World Should Know.

1. This book provides a really concise, clear and powerful explanation of the American interrogation camp at Guantanamo Bay Cuba. The author who represents some of the detainees and has interviewed them paints a vivid picture of their hideous treamtment. He demonstrates that the camp is not only outside the law, but a threat to the safety of us all. If you want to know why Guantanamo has become iconic in the Muslism world for everything wrong with the US, read this book.



2. This book consists of interviews of Michael Ratner, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, by writer Ellen Ray, plus relevant UN and other documents. Ratner was co-counsel in Rasul v Bush, which the New York Times called "the most important civil rights case in half a century" because on 28 June 2004 the Supreme Court ruled against President Bush that the US military could not hold what it called `enemy combatants' indefinitely, without charge and without access to legal representation. The Court ruled that the prisoners had the right to challenge their detentions in civilian courts.
   
   The Bush government then set up `combatant status review tribunals', supposedly to decide whether the detainees had been correctly designated as enemy combatants and therefore were being rightfully detained according to the laws of combat. However, the administration breached the Supreme Court's ruling that the prisoners had the right to challenge their detentions in civilian courts, since all the tribunals' members are military officers.
   
   Guantanamo is `an interrogation camp', which is flatly illegal, under US and international law. It harks back to Stuart Britain's offshore penal colonies which were beyond the reach of law, forms of executive imprisonment which the 1679 Habeas Corpus Act made illegal. The US detention centres in Iraq, Afghanistan and Diego Garcia and on board US aircraft carriers are modern Devil's Islands.
   
   The International Committee of the Red Cross has reported that US forces had inflicted on the 550 prisoners illegally held at Guantanamo Bay psychological and physical coercion that was `tantamount to torture'. It said, "the construction of such a system, whose stated purpose is the production of intelligence, cannot be considered other than an intentional system of cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and a form of torture." At least three children, between 11 and 13, were held at Guantanamo; some are still there today.
   
   The British state is guilty of collaboration and connivance with these illegal US state actions. British courts, like US courts, are using as evidence statements made under duress and torture in these US-run camps, thereby condoning the use of torture.



3. You need to read this book. Since the suicides of last week, the US government has sealed off Gtmo from the world - no lawyers, no press. It is vitally important that we understand what is going on there and close Gtmo down. Michael Ratner and Ellen Ray have collaborated to produce a highly readable "primer" on this disgraceful period in US history. I used this book in my human rights courses.
   Susan Gzesh, Director, Human Rights Program, the University of Chicago



4. 
   With the exception of those on the payroll of the United States Government, Michael Ratner (with staff he directs at the Center for Constitutional Rights and volunteer lawyers he assembled) knows more about Guantánamo than anyone.
   
   The book is a quick read at 93 pages of text.
   
   For those who have grown up believing that the rule of law is central to our democracy, it is a chilling read.
   
   Published in mid-2004 it reviews a broad array of the issues which had arisen as of that time and which continue to inform the realities on the ground at Gitmo today. It provides a careful analysis of the ways in which "rule by executive fiat" deviated from the U.S. Constitution, the entirety of the Anglo-American legal tradition, the Geneva Conventions, and international law.
   
   He discusses how a great percentage of persons were selected to be prisoners at Guantánamo, a great many by bounty hunters capturing persons far from any battlefield, the bounties paid for by U.S. tax dollars. He discusses extraordinary rendition of prisoners rendered to countries known to torture, the "outsourcing" of torture.
   
   He recounts the abuse and torture suffered meted out to those interrogated at Guantánamo and links the methods used there to those later made infamous by the exposé of interrogations at Abu Ghraib.
   
   The more serious reader will appreciate the 66-pages of primary source documents collected in the appendix covering a broad range of topics from the original lease of Guantánamo from the Cuba to relevant parts of Geneva Conventions to a series of memoranda issued by various departments of the executive branch which framed some of the major issues that the detentions at Guantánamo present for our country.
   
   For anyone concerned about the state of our democracy, this is an important book.



5. Although published in 2004, this book is a timely read. It makes a compelling case why the recent Supreme Court decision (in June 2008) about Guantanamo prisoner's rights is indeed in line with the United State's Constitution, why the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo has been unconstitutional, and how the denial of their human rights is another example of the Bush administration's war and constitutional crimes.
   
   Anyone who cares about American morals, and the importance of upholding human and Constitutional rights, will appreciate this book.

5 comments about That Devil Forrest: Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

1. have nearly every book written on Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was a complex man, a man that should stand out more amongst the 'peacocks'. Who, having had any knowledge about the War Between the States, does not know JEB Stuart? Forrest did not believe in plumbed hats, jackboots or riding around the Union army to prove a point to the Union troops and his Father-in-law. He believed war was fighting and fighting means killing, and his brilliant military tactics demonstrated this. I think by being raised on both sides of the pond, Forrest first fascinated me because I saw much the same 'force' in Forrest I admired in William Wallace. They were common men, men who were willing to give all in a cause they believed, men that were driven by fighting at 110% and never giving quarter. Many of Forrest's tactics of near guerrilla fighting came from Lighthorse Harry Lee's tactics against the British in the Revolutionary War (Robert E. Lee's daddy by the way!!), a character in himself and much in the vein of Mel Gibson's Patriot. The North despised Forrest - why?? Because he was SO EFFECTIVE. One wonders, what the outcome of the War Between the States would have been had Forrest commanded the Army of the Potomac instead of Lee. Grant and Sherman hated him - Grant giving him the label of 'that devil Forrest', while Sherman admired him - grudgingly - considering him "the most remarkable man our civil war produced on either side", and by Lee `the most extraordinary man the Civil War produced'. Historian Shelby Foote called him one of the two great geniuses of the period (Lincoln being the other). Sherman moaned in disgust that Forrest's men could travel 100 miles faster than his troops could 10. Forrest 'liberated' more guns, horses and supplies than any other single Confederate unit. He did not play at war. He rose from the rank of private to a Lieutenant General - the ONLY man to do that in the Confederate army, but he was just as a complex man before and after the war.

   Perhaps, you will not come away liking Forrest, but you cannot doubt his sheer genius, his driven power and his ability to spur men to match his dedication and willingness to give all - just as Wallace did.

   There are many books that give interesting views of Forrest, but I hold a special spot in my respect for this book, for unlike the others that were written with the distance of time and careful study, this was written by John Allan Wyeth - a surgeon who died in 1922. Wyeth served as a private in the Confederate army until his capture two weeks after Chickamauga. This was written by a man who lived through the war, not an arm chair historian. So his view is unique, more vivid than any other writer or biographer on Forrest. The text is base almost solely on accounts of military papers and records and the people who knew Forrest personally.

   So if you have come searching for information on Nathan Bedford Forrest, you collection MUST have a copy of this work.




2. Nathan Bedford Forrest was one interesting character. A self made millionaire, most definitely an entrepreneur by today's standards, he was a maverick in every facet of his life. Shelby Foote called him the only genius, other than Abraham Lincoln, that the Civil War produced: High praise indeed.

   It is easy, with the benefit of hindsight, to paint him with the brush of evil and dismiss him. Slave trader, first Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan, the Ft. Pillow massacre, these are not the calling cards of sainthood. But if we try to view life as he saw it, if we can empathize with him enough to where we can react to his environment, during his times and with his skill set, then maybe we can come close to understanding Mr. Foot's comment.

   The Southern High Command did not develop senior generals well. They anointed 8 at the start of hostilities. Without exception, those that weren't killed or injured were still in charge of things at the end of the war. Forrest was one of the few who earned the right to fill the ranks of those who fell.

   Independent, devoted to the cause and goal driven he pounds his way to the top. One of his key adversaries, William Tecumseh Sherman, gives him his finest accolade with the words 'that Devil Forrest'. He is a tenacious fighter and good at his job. Judge for yourself, but no one on either side fought under greater hardship, with fewer resources, while amassing a string of truly pivotal victories than he did. No Lost Cause apologia here, Forrest is the genuine article, a true Confederate war hero. You may not wind up liking him but you will wind up respecting him.




3. I've read the dry memoirs of a few Civil war heroes. Grant, Sherman, Sheridan. They're fine. But if you want the real guts'n'drive factor of this war, this doctor's story of Forrest is what you're after. As another reviewer has mentioned, when you get into other major characters you actually find less good action, more weakness, time-wasting. Forrest has his flaws, but more along the lines of all of ours. Hold a grudge if you like, but give the story its due. This has it all, in spades.

   The doc is a passionate storyteller but doesn't prejudice the tale. He's written to a fine line.

   The other major biographer, Steel, is known as the fairest (and the most recent and "professional"), but with him we get excessive DRYNESS. Who needs that. Moreover, Steel bends over backwards to discredit the hero Forrest, giving more than equal time to every potshot against him. This is called fairness. The shots never hit their mark even with Steel, yet he gives them their due and their due dilutes, taints and distracts the story. ---Even more so than Forrest's own flaws do! (Touche'.)

   Wyeth is a clean historian yet lets the story's vigor come through just right. The adventures of Forrest will keep you riveted from start to finish. There's no other way to put it.

   Forrest's covering of Hood's (?) final retreat was, in that day, declared to be the inevitable future subject of EPIC poems. We haven't seen any such thing, sadly. But that's the scale of this story. It would still be worth the effort, I think. A movie anyone?

   Of course, every angle is worth savoring---including the old partisan Lytle's "Critter Company" bio.

   But enjoy the doc. --JP




4. I'm torn on this review. I'm a new student to the ACW, but new enough to still know that NBF is one of the more intriquing characters of the war. I thought I did my research well and picked the right book to read about him by choosing "That Devil Forrest."

   Well, I'm a little disappointed. Not because the book is bad, but more because it wasn't what I quite expected and mostly because I read it out of place (more later on this). The focus is 95% on the military side, which is not all bad. After all, that's what makes him the wizard of the saddle. But the problem is I found the account very dry at times. Much of it is rehashing Official Records and what others have said in their memoirs. I never got the feeling of being there, in the middle of the battle, with bullets zipping by my ear. The only way I can describe it is a very nuts and bolts reading of what troops went where and what troops did what, with a little bit of prose thrown in. Certain chapters are handled better than others, but from time to time I found myself drifting away from engagement to engagement because there wasn't much to make it unique.

   Now, I realize not every one can write like Catton or Foote, but considering Wyeth did ride in Forrest's cavalry, I was hoping for a little more from that POV.

   As far as the details of the engagements, they are extremely well done. Clearly you will walk away from this book understanding how many casualties he infliced, what companies and who their leaders were who rode on particular missions, etc. It is truly a micro history and if you are unfamiliar with the bigger battles that may have intiated NBF's specific participation (i.e. Shiloh, Murfressboro, etc.) you might get a little lost in the details.

   I think I need to read more of a true biography first, and then follow up with "That Devil Forrest" to fill in the military details. That would make a very good one two punch.

   So, in short, if you're fascinated by Forrest, but know little of him, I wouldn't start with this book. I think you'll get lost in the details. However, if you have a thorough understanding of the ACW and good back ground info on Forrest the man, I think you'll find this book a good compliment if you're after the details. Another high point is the footnotes and references are impecable. Although the author has a very clear biased opinion about his feelings toward Forrest, he does back up the numbers so to speak.




5. New Yankee Doodle
   
   Yankee Doodle had a mind
   To whip the Southern traitors,
   Because they didn't choose to live
   On codfish and potatoes.
   
   Yankee Doodle, doodle doo,
   Yankee Doodle dandy,
   Aand so to keep his courage up,
   He took a drink of brandy.
   
   He was the best Confederate general of the entire Civil War, according to his superior. Born in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, into a well-to-do family, he was a Southerner born and bred for greatness. After the war, he had ties in Memphis, (a world away from the values and customs of Middle Tennessee) where a park including a statue of him is in existence. There is an unusual statue of him outside Nashville on I65; look for the Confederates flags and you'll marvel at this site created and paid for by a prominent lawyer. This slanderous book (all Myths) was devised by two UTK English professors with false information from Memphis sources.
   
   I can't fanthom why this review was not listed on my site. It is a sore spot for me as I personally told one of the writers that what they had researched is not true. After the book was printed anyway, I told the other one on the phone the same thing. He said the nasty part about Fort Pillow which they based their myth on was in Memphis documentation. That does not make it right or true. None of us at the meeting had heard about what happened at that place, and yet they based a slander about what might not have happened.

5 comments about From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General (Memories of War).

1. General Paik's work stands out among the many works on the Korean War because of his focus on the operations of the Republic of Korea (ROK) forces. Highly recommended to readers looking for information that goes beyond the American contributions to the struggle. The operational details and accounts of the interaction of American and ROK commanders are fascinating. The book suffers slightly from a lack of detailed maps that assist readers in following the movements of the oppossing forces.



2. I'm glad I found this gem of a book. I've read more then a few Korean War books and they take a decidedly American point of view. It's not to say that this is wrong, but it's certainly unbalanced. Many of these other books go on to describe the ROK army as cowardly, unreliable and prone to breaking. Finally there is a Korean commander that puts the record straight.
   
   Yes, it was true that the ROK army at the time were not up to American Army standards, but it's not fair to put the same expectations on them. It doesn't take a genius to know what happens when militia goes against a heavily equipped professional army head-to-head in the open field. Militia loses every time, just look at how the British man handled continental armies in the first few years of the Revolutionary War. In 1950 the ROK army was the equivalent of a militia as it was very much under equipped, with no armor, air force and very little artillery (some 60mm and 80mm mortars and a few light 105mm pieces).
   
   The U.S. had purposely left the ROK army under equipped and it was designed from the ground up as a lightly armed anti-guerilla force. The ROK army had a very poor junior officer corps, there was not school to train junior officers. The U.S. was too preoccupied in rebuilding Japan and sent very limited funds to South Korea. Proper equipment was not sent, no school for junior officers was established. Anyone who knows something about military matters knows that the backbone of an effective army are the junior officers, the lieutenants, captains and majors that lead the troops into the teeth of enemy fire. The North Korean Army (NKA), on the other hand, had an effective junior officer corps because many of the veterans were anti-Japanese guerilla fighters. Furthermore, the Russians supplied NKA with T-34 tanks, YAK fighter bombers, 155mm artillery, etc. Heavy artillery, tanks and close air support gave the NKA heavy offensive power.
   
   It is not mentioned very often, but American trooped faired NO BETTER against the NKA during the first few months of the war. 24th ID troops ran from their positions when their antiquated WWII era bazookas just scratched the paint off NKA T-34s. It was carrier based air power that saved the Americans from being overrun.
   
   General Paik tells stories of desperate battles, where ROK soldiers wrapped satchel charges around their bodies and threw themselves in suicide missions onto NKA tanks. ROK soldiers did the best they could with the weapons and training they had on hand. General Paik provides a fair and often underappreciated reason for why ROK units faired badly in the early part of the Korean War. As far as I'm concerned, any student of the Korean War cannot consider himself a expert unless he's read Paik's book. It is wrong to not put into consideration the viewpoint of the nation that contributed the most manpower and had the most casualties of all the UN forces. No Korean War library can be considered complete without this book (how many Korea War books have a glowing foreword by Mathew B. Ridgeway himself, huh?).
   
   General Paik Sun Yup was the 29 year old commander of the ROK 1st division. The 1st ROK division had the distinction of the only ROK unit that never retreated from their positions without orders. It was also the only ROK unit that was attached to a U.S. Army Corp for the duration of the war and given tasks expected of a regular U.S. infantry division. General Paik was adamant about the fact that given the proper artillery, armor and air support, the 1st ROK division always performed as well, if not better then any regular U.S. infantry division. The 1st ROK also had the distinction of being the first UN unit to enter Pyongyang, beating several better equipped U.S. units in the race to the NK capital.



3. I really enjoyed reading this book by probably the most celebrated Korean General of all time. While it is true that the Korean Army wasn't usually up to the standards of the American Army, Paik's units always seemed to be pretty close in every history of the war. Highly recommended book for anyone that wants to learn more about the Korean War.



4. This is an excellent autobiography. The General's career and development is amazing to have reached 4-Stars at such a young age. His modesty and emphasis on the South Korean Army's development into a complete military organization while at war is remarkable.
   What makes this book sobering is when the General describes how thousands of South Koreans volunteered and were sent straight into combat with little training, only to quickly become casualties themselves, sacrificing their lives for their country. Another key item from the General's writing is how only after having the time to fully train, equip, and organize into Divisions with adequate firepower, were they able to successfully conduct offensive operations.
   Bravery and courage helped them hold against the North Korean Communist attack along the desperate Pusan perimeter, but it was the firepower of the attached US artillery units that were supporting his South Korean Division that allowed them to counterattack successfully and reach Panmunjom.
   The personal family dangers in war is also brought out where he writes about his family, who had to be left behind in Seoul, unable to flee when the North Koreans captured the city. The additional suffering of the civilian populace is also described in this book, caught trying to flee the Communist Army.
   Highly recommended reading for the South Korean view of the war. Excellent insight into how important it is to have trained and properly equipped soldiers when fighting a war rather than relying on conscripted soldiers after war has started as the conscripted soldiers will suffer excessive casualties and deaths when fighting against a motivated, trained, and fully armed enemy.



5. This is a fairly important book to anyone interested in the Korean War. General Yup was South Korea's first four star general and was a field commander of various units during the war.
   
   What makes this book important is that it covers the same war as many other books, but that it is written not from an American viewpoint but from the view of a soldier whose country was being attacked. This has made the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) through its Institute for Land Warfare put this title on their list of books that should be kept in print for study by AUSA members and others concerned about important issues.
   
   This book was first published in 1992, the copies being sold by Amazon are reprints of the original book.

5 comments about Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet.

1. The recent scandal exposed by the WASHINGTON POST's coverage of conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center reminded me of the power of this book. One legacy of America's unfortunate invasion of Iraq will be untold numbers of young Americans--and Iraqi civilians--who will live the same sort of horrific nightmare that Lewis Puller describes so vividly in this harrowing autobiography.
   
   My retired Marine father once served under Lew Puller's legendary father, and the two of us stood in line to get our copies of "Fortunate Son" autographed by Mr. Puller, an experience I still remember vividly all these years later. Puller's prose is equally memorable, and this book should be required reading at any American high school in 2007--and for any American who plans to vote in the next election. Lewis Puller's words are more important than ever.



2. It is difficult to not be moved by the horrific series of incidents related by Puller here. As pointed out by other reviewers, the self-portrait he renders is of a person so unappealing that the reader must conclude that what he has written with an eye first to honest description, as well as he can render it.
   That said, this book is not really worth reading as a book. The writing is stultifying flat and, for whatever reasons, the only thing Puller does here is whine, in an equally grating voice and with an equal intensity about whatever happens: the mortifying loss of his legs and much of both hands is treated with exactly the same weight as minor slights that occur in his run for office. Furthermore, a very great deal of the book is devoted to pointing out the obvious: for example, Puller insists on notifying the reader that his son learns to talk while his father (owing to a stroke) is losing the capability for speech. Should an editor have cut out this and the many similar needless explanations, the writing would have far greater impact than it does.
   Should the story of Fuller have any lessons for us, those lessons will surely be better learned by reading a (much, much shorter) article about him rather than this tedious book.



3. The book, a true account of a dissalussioned idealist - a trouble soul. A
   lead in to my sad tale of woe. My fellow Americans/Vietnam veterans, do
   not be fooled by the administration's rehtoric; read McNamara's "The Fog
   of War" and please don't forget the book "A Bright Shining Lie"! If you
   truly believe the lies of the "CHICKEN HAWKS", then I've got a bridge in
   Utopia I'll sell you. You are listening to people who never served a day in their misrable lives in war and when most of them had their chance to fight for our country, during the Vietnam war,they chose to "Cut and Run"
   (Guard duty and college deferments). There is only one way to end this
   fisco in the middle east; reinstate the DRAFT with NO LOOP-HOLES! Every-
   body goes when the 6x6 (military truck) rolls up (ages from 18 to 50),
   city/state/federal legislators, the whole nine yards. I'm speaking truth
   to power here today, people. Because when death becomes a shared sacri-
   fice, people's whole prospective changes; it's different when everybody's butt is on the line. Believe me, I know because I served three tours in
   "Nam (all voluntary) not in surrounding countryside (Thailand, Philippines, etc), but in country. I too believed in the government's
   lies (Gulf of Tonkin incident) at the time, but after a lot of years since then, I've had time to reflect and my reflections are not pleasant.
   So, if the country really wants to stop this current mistake, follow my
   advice, THE DRAFT!



4. The name of General "Chesty" Puller brings a proud smile to the lips of every Marine. He is part of the pantheon of "the few and the proud." His son, Lewis Puller, Jr., has written a memoir that tells the story of growing up in the shadow of a legendary father, becoming a Marine officer in his own right, losing his legs in an explosion while serving in Vietnam, and struggling to build a life for himself in the aftermath. This thoughtful and thought-provoking book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
   
   Lewis Puller, Jr. demonstrates a great deal of transparency in recounting his pilgrimage from the son of a war hero to a wounded warrior looking for his rightful place in the world. The New York Times called this book: "A haunting tribute to the names on the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial . . . An important contribution to the personal literature of war."
   
   The fact that much of Puller's personal journey took place during the same time the nation was struggling with building the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial adds a special poignancy to this memoir. Several of my friends who have served recently in Iraq and Afghanistan commended this book to me as one that had helped them in their own process of reconciling their experiences in war with their return to the United States.
   
   This is a story of great loss and of commensurate courage and determination. I think you will find it inspiring and well worth reading.



5. An over-simplistic view to me is the only view anyone lacking the sensitivity to absorb this book correctly can have. Judging this person is irrelevant to the whole point of reading the book, it's not a textbook, of course there is more to the story, and of course anyone can be offended by anything. But, if your looking for a story of a young man who cheated death more then once during the Nam conflict, you will be hard press to find a better book.

5 comments about A Life In Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero: An Autobiography.

1. I would highly recommend this book to anybody interested in leadership, but especially young business people at the beginning of their careers. This memoir gives an incredible inside and frank perspective on leadership of an individual who has had a more ecclectic and successful career than most people could ever hope for. Furthermore, this book is also fascinating because it provides a historical insight into the business world that a history textbook could never provide.
   
   Lastly, I recommend this book because the leadership lessons it provides are universal. They aren't fly-by-night strategies, but basic and simple values that can be applied to almost any leadership position at any time.



2. I had trouble finishing this book because I could barely get through a couple of pages without getting so inspired that I had to stop so I could take action on my own dreams. As a recent graduate of NYU, I was reminded that my career path will take many unexpected turns and of the possible impact I can have by following my vision and sticking to my values.
   
   This autobiography is written with such authenticity that it is completely relatable. The author's struggle to pay his own way through college in 1939 reminded me of my own in 2000. I could relate to the feelings of triumph. And I could certainly relate to the mortifying mistakes (although perhaps I haven't yet experienced anything as bad as driving Henry Ford home in a Chevy!).
   
   At the same time, the book is incredibly educational. History, business, political, and leadership lessons are encapsulated in every story. As Whitehead describes his experiences, certain themes begin to emerge, giving the reader tools they can apply to their own life. I found myself using lessons I derived from Whitehead's diplomacy missions in my work with others!



3. I am about through with the book and I normally don't make comment until I'm done with a book, but this man is truly remarkable. The author has lived a remarkable business life and the book is an inspirational biography full of relatable business lessons or nuggets. I have had a lot of fun laughing and learning from his life lessons.
   
   On the other hand, I feel that the lesson I have learned most is that a balance of work and life is imperative to me. The author is twice divorced and I believe he dedicated more time to his work life than his family life. I think he is kinda reluctant to talk in more depth about it having only dedicated three pages to the topic. I think he would agree. Nonetheless, I have become a huge fan of John C. Whitehead.



4. 
   A brief summary of John Whitehead's accomplishments thus far indicates the nature and extent of his "life in leadership": most recently, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC); previously, co-chairman of Goldman Sachs and then deputy secretary of state, second-in-command to Secretary George Shultz, in the Reagan administration; also tenures as chairman of the governing boards (at one point or another) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the United Nations Association, the International Rescue Committee, the Harvard Board of Overseers, Haverford College from which he earned a B.A. degree, and the Asia Society. It should also be noted that, during World War Two, Ensign Whitehead commanded a Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or "Higgins boat" that successfully delivered troops to Omaha beach on the first day of the Normandy Invasion.
   
   With all due respect to Whitehead's numerous and considerable accomplishments, however, what most impressed throughout his memoirs is his passionate commitment to being an effective leader of others whose welfare has been entrusted to his care. He has always cared deeply, indeed passionately about sustaining that commitment, whatever the given circumstances may be.
   
   As a case in point, after retiring from Goldman Sachs, Whitehead was determined to disengage himself from his various responsibilities and therefore "was dead set against" accepting New York Governor George Pataki's invitation to serve as chairman of the LMDC, following the attack on the World Trade Center. After completing a rigorous analysis of the "pros" and "cons" of acceptance, "it was clear to me that I had to say no." Then, after he looked around his office at all the photographs and memorabilia, "I took a deep breath, and I knew what I had to do. I picked up the phone again and dialed the governor, and when he came on the line I told him I'd accept." There are dozens of other, comparable situations in which White also had to make an especially difficult decision, none of which he later regretted. "I don't allow myself that luxury. What's done is done."
   
   There are several important lessons that can be learned from Whitehead's personal as well as professional experiences that he so generously shares in this volume. Those of greatest interest and value to me include these three:
   
   1. Effective leadership is first and foremost both a privilege and an obligation; those who would lead others must embrace the obligations of trust, compassion, and dedication as well as of rigorous preparation, precise and enlightened decision-making, and courage. It is worth recalling that Dante reserved the last and worst ring in hell for those who, in a moral crisis, preserved their neutrality.
   
   2. Effective leadership also requires not only an understanding and appreciation of teamwork but also a determination to help develop effective leadership skills in one's associates. Hence the importance of recognizing and, yes, celebrating the achievements of others.
   
   3. Finally, effective leadership functions simultaneously within three dimensions: the intellectual, the emotional, and the spiritual. Throughout history, the greatest leaders are those who possess (a) highly refined analytical skills and sufficient knowledge that enable them to make appropriate decisions, (b) a temperament that enables them to sustain a proper balance of what is most important, and also (c) what is often referred to as a "moral compass." As Bill George has so eloquently explained in his book True North, authentic leaders must be authentic people.
   
   When concluding his memoirs, Whitehead observes that he can't help thinking how "lucky" he has been. "Mine has been a good life, filled with lots of fun, interesting experiences, drama, and an engagement with serious issues at the highest level...I have lived at a time when there has been a lot to be done, from fighting the Nazis to battling terrorists. I like to think I have risen to many of these challenges in my own quiet fashion, and I am confident that the next generation of leaders will meet them in their turn. I have been glad to do my part in all of these great endeavors. More than glad. From first to last, I have been thrilled to be in on the action."
   
   John Whitehead is an exemplary leader but also, in my opinion, an exemplary human being. My hope now is that many others, especially those preparing for a career or who have only recently embarked on one, will read and then re-read this compelling personal account of a life well-lived, committing themselves to honorable and productive service when they are also "in on the action," whenever and wherever that may be.
   
   A brief summary of John Whitehead accomplishments thus far indicates the nature and extent of his "life in leadership": most recently, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation LMDC); previously, co-chairman of Goldman Sachs and then deputy secretary of state, second-in-command to Secretary George Shultz, in the Reagan administration; also tenures as chairman of the governing boards (at one point or another) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the United Nations Association, the International Rescue Committee, the Harvard Board of Overseers, Haverford College from which he earned a B.A. degree, and the Asia Society. It should also be noted that, during World War Two, Ensign Whitehead commanded a The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or "Higgins boat" that successfully delivered troops to Omaha beach on the first day of the Normandy Invasion.
   
   With all due respect to Whitehead's numerous and considerable accomplishments, however, what most impressed throughout his memoirs is his passionate commitment to being an effective leader of others whose welfare has been entrusted to his care. He has always cared deeply, indeed passionately about sustaining that commitment, whatever the given circumstances may be.
   
   As a case in point, after retiring from Goldman Sachs, Whitehead was determined to disengage himself from his various responsibilities and therefore "was dead set against" accepting New York Governor George Pataki's invitation to serve as chairman of the LMDC, following the attack on the World Trade Center. After completing a rigorous analysis of the "pros" and "cons" of acceptance, "it was clear to me that I had to say no." Then, after he looked around his office at all the photographs and memorabilia, "I took a deep breath, and I knew what I had to do. I picked up the phone again and dialed the governor, and when he came on the line I told him I'd accept." There are dozens of other, comparable situations in which White also had to make an especially difficult decision, none of which he later regretted. "I don't allow myself that luxury. What's done is done."
   
   There are several important lessons that can be learned from Whitehead's personal as well as professional experiences that he so generously shares in this volume. Those of greatest interest and value to me include these three:
   
   1. Effective leadership is first and foremost both a privilege and an obligation; those who would lead others must embrace the obligations of trust, compassion, and dedication as well as of rigorous preparation, precise and enlightened decision-making, and courage. It is worth recalling that Dante reserved the last and worst ring in hell for those who, in a moral crisis, preserved their neutrality.
   
   2. Effective leadership also requires not only an understanding and appreciation of teamwork but also a determination to help develop effective leadership skills in one's associates. Hence the importance of recognizing and, yes, celebrating the achievements of others.
   
   3. Finally, effective leadership functions simultaneously within three dimensions: the intellectual, the emotional, and the spiritual. Throughout history, the greatest leaders are those who possess (a) highly refined analytical skills and sufficient knowledge that enable them to make appropriate decisions, (b) a temperament that enables them to sustain a proper balance of what is most important, and also (c) what is often referred to as a "moral compass." As Bill George has so eloquently explained in his book True North, authentic leaders must be authentic people.
   
   When concluding his memoirs, Whitehead observes that he can't help thinking how "lucky" he has been. "Mine has been a good life, filled with lots of fun, interesting experiences, drama, and an engagement with serious issues at the highest level...I have lived at a time when there has been a lot to be done, from fighting the Nazis to battling terrorists. I like to think I have risen to many of these challenges in my own quiet fashion, and I am confident that the next generation of leaders will meet them in their turn. I have been glad to do my part in all of these great endeavors. More than glad. From first to last, I have been thrilled to be in on the action."
   
   John Whitehead is an exemplary leader but also, in my opinion, an exemplary human being. My hope now is that many others, especially those preparing for a career or who have only recently embarked on one, will read and re-read this compelling personal account of a life well-lived, then commit themselves to honorable and productive service when they are also "in on the action," wherever that may be.



5. This fascinating book will be of interest to a wide array of readers. Previously, I knew a little about John Whitehead's illustrious career of leadership in three sectors: as an icon of Wall Street, Deputy Secretary of State, and a philanthropist. Whitehead describes how his professional and personal goals were achieved. With humor and low-key modesty, he shares his experiences throughout his life, and admits to the cases of serendipity that marked aspects of his career.
   
   Readers interested in business and finance will enjoy reading how John Whitehead realized his vision of turning Goldman Sachs & Co. into a global investment banking powerhouse by the application of straight-forward methods. With determination, clear-thinking, good planning, and honesty, he rose at Goldman Sachs from a young Harvard MBA to co-chairman in the span of 29 years.
   
   Whitehead promoted innovations at Goldman Sachs that were later adopted throughout the investment banking industry: the first initial public offering, preferred stocks and convertible bonds. His nine-point memo with advice to the New Business Department was revolutionary at the time. It included the famous aphorism, "You can never learn anything when you're talking." The co-chairmanship of Goldman Sachs that he established with John Weinberg was a novel leadership solution, as no Wall Street firm had ever had two chairmen before. John Whitehead displayed determination and thoroughness in his work. For example, no one outside of privately-held Ford Motor Company knew exactly how big the company was. In the mid-1950s, Whitehead took the train up to Boston and personally went through the public records in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts files, to find a copy of Ford's balance sheet. This information stimulated Goldman Sachs to initiate a relationship with Ford, which culminated in its managing the IPO of the largest family-owned company in the world.
   
   For readers interested in foreign policy, the book illustrates how to achieve results inside the government. Even before his confirmation as Deputy Secretary of State under President Reagan, in the face of Senator Jesse Helms' obstructionism, he learned the value of speaking directly to an adversary in a successful effort to work things out. Whitehead wanted to make a difference in the world, which he accomplished "with just a little insight and persistence." One of his key successes was to begin the process of weaning Eastern Europe away from the Soviet Union through astute diplomacy, while US foreign policy was still focused on Moscow. He gives a riveting account of his meetings with Lech Walesa and Poland's president Jaruzelsky, Rumania's president Ceaucescu, and Bulgaria's dictator Zhivkov.
   
   John Whitehead also made a strong imprint in the world of nonprofits. "They appealed to the idealistic side of my nature," he writes. Over the course of his life, he has given away more than $100 million. His involvement in nonprofits began with assistance to freedom fighters resisting the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. He describes his exciting experiences with US-supported mujahedin fighting Russian invaders in Afghanistan, including witnessing an attack on a Soviet fort led by a Harvard Law School graduate from Pakistan! More recently, Whitehead's chairmanship of numerous nonprofits - notably the International Rescue Committee, United Nations Association, Youth for Understanding, International House, and The Asia Society - coincided with their spectacular growth.
   
   What makes Whitehead's book especially appealing are the captivating details about his personal life. He relates how his dashing father would land his single-engine plane during World War I on an athletic field on the Bryn Mawr campus, to court his future wife. Upon graduating from high school, John Whitehead worked at the 1939 World's Fair running a concession guessing customers' weights. That summer, he earned enough to pay for his first year's tuition at Haverford College. When he joined the State Department, his daughter made up flash cards to help him memorize the capitals and the names of the political leaders of the 185 countries recognized by the United States.
   
   The book enters the new millennium with John Whitehead's tenure as chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, to which he was appointed by Governor Pataki. Its mission was to rebuild the World Trade Center following the tragedy of 9-11. Whitehead describes the vision and challenges of rebuilding Ground Zero. The book concludes with his ideas about leadership, and comments about foreign policy and the general state of the nation. In Whitehead's model of "quiet leadership," the most effective leaders are patient, thoughtful people who are guided by high ideals and do a lot of listening. The ethical dimension of John Whitehead's life and leadership style, and his credo of "doing well while doing good," are truly inspiring - as is this book.

5 comments about Into the Mouth of the Cat: The Story of Lance Sijan, Hero of Vietnam.

1. I read this story years ago and remember being inspired by the courage of this young man. One reviewer stated that his plane was shot down, I thought that the bombs he was dropping detonated prematurely and caused the crash. Regardless, it's a great story about a guy who never gave up.



2. While in the USAF, back in 1987, I had first read this book. This is the type of book, that, when you begin to read it, you cannot put it down until it is finished. The author writes in a very easy to read style, no "big" words, but, is very descriptive and detail orientated in his telling of Sijan's heroism. Although, this is a war "related" story, I feel that it is not a "War Story". Malcolm McConnell, through his attention to detail, chronicles the extremely brave and selfless actions of an otherwise ordinary man from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After I had originally read this, 1987, I was so overwhelmed by the author's accurate depiction of what had been "Folk Lore" in the Bay View area of Milwaukee. Because of this book, I have always thought of Sijan, and all that he had endured, whenever an obstacle or challenge is placed before me. This is a very inspirational book. As I was driving on Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View, I passed by a Flag that is displayed right next to the road, in a little ballpark that is named Lance Sijan Field. And, every time that I pass it, I instinctively Salute. But, this time, I also bought this book, actually, four, one for my Father, two for my Brothers, and, of course, one for myself. By the way, this time, again, I had also read it in one sitting!



3. The story moves along quickly. Its not a book you are going to struggle to finish. It will hold your attention and is a great motivational story as far as will and mental toughness are concerned.



4. I was a young Air Weapons Controller stationed in Southeast Asia during the time of Lt. Sijan's shootdown. However , it wasn't until much later, when I read "Into the mouth of the Cat", that I came to understand what a truly amazing person Lance P. Sijan was. I have since given each of my son's copies of the book, so that they, too, could read about what the definition of an american hero really is. Some of the comment's logged in this forum question his motivation for continuing to try to escape...they need to read the Code of Conduct that those of us in the military tried very hard to live by. Many of the POW's found it almost impossible to abide by every code, and understandably so. Some of the torture tactics that were administered by the enemy, no mortal could withstand. Lance P. Sijan came as close as any human being could, and ultimately died from it. If one longs to find someone that truly lives up to the definition of "Hero", they should look no further than Lance P. Sijan. He has been my hero for many years. Mike Carbonneau, Firebase Sharana, Afghanistan, Aug. 2008



5. I read this book many years ago and it really hit me hard. I was a Navy Aircrewman who had been through SERE school. The courage and determination of LT Lance Sijan was incredible. I believe you can only relate to his story if you have in the Military and the sacrifices we make every day or have family or a loved one who has been in. I recommend this book for any Military Aviator.

3 comments about Compañero: vida y muerte del Che Guevara.

1. Explodes the myth of Che Guevara as you thought you knew him, while opening a new level of charisma for those who loved him and his ideals. A must reading for students of the sixties that is a real eyeopener. A believeable biography written with a distinct Latin mindset that will not allow you to put it down. Che Vive!



2. Este libro presenta de forma organizada la vida del Che desde su nacimiento hasta su muerte y la situacion politica,economica familiar que le rodeaba.Va mas alla de la leyenda para ver el hombre y el revolucionario detras de ella.Analiza en una forma objetiva sus pensamientos y su trascendencia despues de su muerte.En fin creo que quien quiera conocer la figura del Che,este es un excelente libro para hacerlo.



3. El Che fue sin duda un personaje contradictorio, por un lado el revolucionario idealista, por el otro un frio burocrata manejado por la disciplina. Esta biografia lo describe como el ser humano que era, inclusive sus fallas, que al fin lo condenaron a un tragico fin. Aunque el autor cubre un campo imenso con sus multiples entrevistas y sinumero de referencias, la objetividad sin embargo, resulta en una biografia carente de emocion. Esta es una biografia cientifica, y hace falta un poco de brio para dar vida a un personaje tan lleno de suenos e idealismo.

3 comments about CIA SpyMaster.

1. It's only when the books come out that you can begin to understand what's been happening in our Government. And this is an excellent example. Here a knowledgeable insider writes a biography of the ultimate insider. The author Clarence Ashley was an analyst for the CIA working on Soviet strategic missile capabilities and preparing national intelligence estimates.
   
   George Kisevalter was a top case officer who ran two of the most important spy operations in the Soviet Union. He began working in intelligence activities during World War II and continued until his retirement in 1970, during this time he became as espionage genius. This book provides a behind-the-scenes look at spycraft in action, from dead drops and cutoffs to multilayered ciphers, the KGB's secret "spydust," and everything in between. It should become one of the classic books on the US-Soviet rivalry during the Cold War.



2. George Kisevalter, one of 50 men awarded the CIA's Trailblazer Award, was by all accounts including this one "one of the good guys", a loyal devoted case officer who managed to get along with everyone by steering clear of agency politics and some of the more wacky individuals and schemes this era brought forth. The author is also a former CIA agent and the book obviously has been vetted and sanctioned, but this second-person memoir, readable and rich with detail, helps fill in important gaps alluded to in such classics as David Martin's "Wilderness of Mirrors" and Tom Mangold's "Cold Warrior" about the rise and fall of famed DCI James Jesus Angleton. Kisevalter at least gives passing reference and acknowledgement to the damage done by Angleton in his relentness mole witchhunts and is modest about his own critical role in finally securing the release and redemption of KGB defector Yuri Nosenko, who was secretly incarcerated for about three years because previous defector Anatoly Golitsyn convinced Angleton that Nosenko was a Russian provocateur or plant. About all he has to say about William King Harvey was that he too like everyone else in their circle drank copiously, and there is also some material about King's famous Berlin tunnel the Russians all along knew was being built, due to their English mole George Blake. Most of the book centers on how Kisevalter, of Russian descent, earlier had "handled" two of the most significant Russian defectors, the KGB's Petr Popov and Oleg Penkovsky, who mainly through their own carelessness were caught and executed by the Russians (the author comments on rumors they both were cremated alive as a warning to their cohorts, although Kisevalter tends to discount this.) This is a most significant text in Cold War espionage history, not to be missed.



3. Former CIA analyst Ashley here offers an account,vetted and approved by the CIA, of his conversations with Agency legend George Kisevalter, an informal, rumpled operator of Russian heritage who was the case officer for three of the CIA's biggest catches during the Cold War: Pyotr Popov,Oleg Penkovsky, and Yuri Nosenko. While Kisevalter was in his last illness, he shared his thoughts and impressions on the three cases with Ashley.
   
   Of these, I found the Nosenko case to be the most interesting. Earlier this year, the CIA published the previously classified 'Family Jewels' documents -- an over 700-pp. study commissioned by DCI Schlesinger in 1973 of CIA violations of the CIA charter and both U.S. and international law. One of the Family Jewels documents (p. 522 in the study) blandly states that "the Soviet defector YURIY NOSENKO was confined at a CIA facility from April 1964 to September 1967 while efforts were being made to establish whether he was a bona fide defector. Although his present attitude toward the Agency is quite satisfactory, the possibility exists that the press could cause undesirable publicity if it were to uncover the story."
   
   Indeed. Here, the reader will find the inside story of how the CIA subjected defector Nosenko to solitary confinement and essentially torture for several years, on the Agency's "farm" in Virginia, because it suspected him of being a KGB agent planted to dispel U.S. suspicions that the Russian agency was behind President Kennedy's assassination. The result of the CIA's full-throttle investigation of Nosenko -- he was found to be a bona fide defector after 256 interrogations and eventually released -- is less interesting than the intimidating methods that were used to reach this conclusion. He was confined to a windowless cell for two years and subjected to sleep deprivation and, he suspected, involuntary ingestion of drugs and other techniques. There can be little doubt upon reading this account that what can only be called torture has been part of the Agency's toolkit for many years, which makes one wonder if the recently revealed human rights violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, and "extraordinary rendition" and other violations, have been aberrant or routine practices. (The KUBARK manual which outlines the scientific basis for coercive interrogation practices dates from around the time Nosenko defected). While Kisevalter was too much the Agency insider and loyalist to make waves over the Agency's treatment of Nosenko, the old operator's sadness and disgust about Nosenko's fate are evident in Ashley's account.
   
   The Popov and Penkovsky cases are well-known, and while offering some color and intriguing anecdotes that illustrate Cold War espionage tradecraft at work, Ashley adds little to our knowledge of the results of these cases, other than to note that Penkovsky's revelations led to 10,000 pages of important data and Popov's led to over 1,000 pages. We are led to the conclusion that Popov and Penkovsky revealed much of importance without really being told what it was.
   
   An intriguing but not overly informative inside look at the shadow war of spies, double agents, and defectors during the Cold War.

5 comments about This Man's Army.

1. "This Man's Army: A Soldier's Story from the Front Lines of the War on Terrorism," by Andrew Exum, is a memoir by a U.S. Army infantry officer who saw combat in Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Exum gets into detail about his military education and training. He discusses his time in ROTC, and also takes the reader through the phases of Army Ranger school. He also covers his stateside duty at Fort Drum, New York.
   
   The book shifts into a more intense mode when Exum recalls the infamous 9/11 attacks, after which his unit was mobilized for wartime duty. He discusses his unit's activities in Kuwait. After taking the reader in detail through his missions in Afghanistan, Exum describes his return to the U.S. after the war, and the changes that occurred in his life.
   
   I really enjoyed this book. Exum's straightforward, down-to-earth writing style is nicely complemented by some thoughtful literary and cultural references throughout the book. His accounts of military training and wartime service are interesting, especially his accounts of encounters with the press. The book strikes me as a well-rounded account; he deals with the excitement and soldierly bonding of wartime, as well as its tedium and annoyances. He creates warm and entertaining portraits of the soldiers he served with. He presents a compelling view of Afghanistan: a "Wild West"-type environment of rugged natural beauty. Exum also offers his musings about the relationship between war and spirituality.
   
   "This Man's Army" struck me as grimly ironic in light of ongoing operations in Iraq. Exum notes how at one point he felt the Afghan campaign was "the greatest war ever," "an adventure," a "big game [. . .] against an overmatched opponent." Of course, Iraq has proven to be a much more difficult and deadly theater. Overall, I found this book to be a thoughtful and informative look at contemporary training and warfighting in the U.S. Army. Recommended companion text: "Not a Good Day to Die," journalist Sean Naylor's nonfiction account of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan.



2. This is a memoir of a driven man--driven to perform, to excel, to understand, to lead others--doing the hardest task on the planet, which is that of defending democracy. Exum writes about his time from high school, through University of Pennsylvania ROTC, training and Ranger School, through his tour with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, and subsequent career-ending injury in a freak sports accident. He retired as a Captain.
   
   This is clearly a man's world, that of finding bravery and a place in the halls of warriors. Tough, gritty, occasionally humorous, appropriately introspective, devoid of any kind of coddling and women, Exum presents himself modestly, as most driven people might do.
   
   This is what my Army friends call a "quick read," no less worthy for its speed. Exum adds to the public knowledge of Ranger training and Afghanistan, and how a handful of American warriors took down a regime whose tribal and religious brutality marked it as pervasively totalitarian. The reading public will acknowledge Exum as the hero and warrior that he came to be. Thus, this is also a "grateful read," and sets into context the news flashes we get every night on CNN.



3. The global war against terrorism was the major issue of the 2004 presidential election, and while rhetoric was plentiful, reasoned discussion was scarce. What began as a police action to support the war on terror in Iraq became hopelessly politicized. As such, public discussion of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan became proxy political battles; partsans of John Kerry insisted that the sitting president had bungled the wrong war at the wrong time, while advocates of President Bush argued that only he could manfully prosecute the fight against terror. Anyone watching cable news during the 2004 election season was treated to dueling pundits repeated this two mantras, as if that might make them objectively true. This may have been carthartic for over-stressed pundits, but it hardly raised the level of knowledge of this crucial issue.
   
   People who seriously care about the war on terror and are interested in how it is perceived by the young people fighting it would do better to read Andrew Exum's This Man's Army.
   
   In this autobiography, Exum shares with the reader the experiences that led a young man from Tennessee to the Shah-e-Kot valley in Afghanistan. While at the Univeristy of Pennsylvania, Exum enrolled in the Army ROTC, and after his graduation with a double major in English and Classics, he served at Fort Lewis, Washington, and went through the Infantry Officer Basic Course before meeting the challenge of United States Army Ranger School.
   
   Ranger School, as one can see in this narrative, is a physically and mentally draining multiphase exercise that weeds out the weak and unfit. Exum spends a great deal of time discussing the challenges of Ranger School, which is entirely appropriate; 95% of the US population could probably not pass the initial physical fitness tests of "Zero Week," which are a prelude to the actual training itself. Exum, then, relates to the reader what was needed to pass Ranger School.
   
   After Ranger School, Exum was assigned to the Tenth Mountain Divison at Fort Drum, New York, and his story continues, as he relates the details of his first command, until it is shattered by the events of September 11, 2001. Exum's division is then sent to the Middle East--at first Kuwait, as the first conventional unit to deploy as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
   
   From there, Exum and his platoon eventually are sent to Afghanistan, where they fight in the front lines against the Taliban. It is here that This Man's Army truly shines, as it tells the story of the war against terror as seen by an intelligent, articulate young officer.



4. This book is very well written and entertaining.
   
   I also served in the Infantry in the 10th Mountain Division and his book pretty much tells it like it is. I like most his depictions of what infantry life is really like, especially the games and horseplay that they do.



5. I found the training part of the author who is an Army office very interesting but the book started to lag toward the end which is why I gave it four stars. Still, the author was a dedicated military professional who goes through hard training and lead by example.

5 comments about In Love and War.

1. I read this in '91 and still recall it on a frequent basis. A true hero, Stockdale portrays captivity objectively and with fine introspection. More than a view of being a POW during Vietnam, Stockdale's conveyed inner strength reinforced my beliefs and provides encouragement. As a gross understatement, the Stockdale's will remind many what's most important in life. The movie was shallow, as are most debates - and as such, Mr. Stockdale should reconsider his performance for '92 VP under Perot as another "badge of honor". To wit, unable to become superficial with PC pancake. This is a real book by real people



2. This book conveys the honor, courage and commitment one family had to their god, each other and their country during a very trying time.



3. I have read this book twice, the original edition and the revised and updated edition (which includes his life following his homecoming). A true American hero, whose only blunder was the Vice Presidential debate, wherein he came across poorly (in my opinion, because he was out of his element). Admiral Stockdale relates his experiences as a Naval Aviator who was shot down, captured and tortured in the Hoa Lo prison. His wife, Sybil, relates in every other chapter what was going on in her life, and her involvement with her husband as a POW. She, too, deserves tremendous credit for her activities. I contrast this book with Admiral Jeremiah Dentons's book, "When Hell was in Session", which I feel is remarkably self serving.



4. This book should be mandatory reading for history classes. Beautifully written from both perspectives of a POW and the family at home. A true American hero.



5. Without a doubt the Stockdale's should be considered a national treasure becuase of the lives they lived under arduous circumstances and horrific conditions. None of us will every fully know or much less comprehend the extent of the mutual sacrifice from both Admiral and Sybil Stockdale in service to one another, other POW/MIA families, and their country. If you want inspiration, then read their book. If you want to learn to rise above your circumstances, then read their book. If you want to move from self absorption, then read their book. If you want to understand and see commitment, sacrifice, loyalty, perseverance, tenacity of spirit, and an ability to rise above the chaos of life, then read their book. If you want a rich philosophy and ethic for life, then read their book. If after reading it you don't come away with a different outlook on life, then read it again . . . you must have been distracted. The book is a journey through their history, skewed governmental policies, personal endurance, and the value of having a personal philosophy of life.