5 comments about Spy Wore Red.

1. The most respected historian in the field of espionage, Nigel West, studied all of Aline's spy books marketed as nonfiction and concluded "...all four of Aline's books should be regarded as fiction, and nothing more..." Read "Counterfeit Spies, Chapter 3, by Nigel West, 1998.



2. I have purchased 4 books by Aline Romanos. I absolutely love them. The fact that there is truth behind the story and that she really was an upper-class lady as well as a spy excites me. I find myself wishing I lived an adventurous life. She has a talent when it comes to recreating her life and exploits. I could not put it down!



3. Aline, Countess of Romanos has written a spectacular book. I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading an autobiography and not a work of fiction. Aline is an agent for the OSS during World War II. She blends into Spanish high society and manages to complete her mission and introduce the reader to the thrills and chills of being an undercover agent. She also gives us a glimpse of Spanish Aristocracy, bull fighting and the inner workings of a nineteen year olds dilemma of befriending people who may be targets of her investigation. I have read all of her books but like this one the best. It is full of action, drama, and even a touch of romance. I have recommended it to all of my friends.



4. I don't buy any of it, not for a minute. But, this is a much more enjoyable read than several of the so-called "thrillers" I've read recently. Just suspend your disbelief, dive right in, and be swept away!



5. The Spy Wore Red is one of three books written by Aline Griffith Romanos who worked as an undercover spy during WW II. I discovered this book in a used book store in 25 years ago, read it several times, bought her other two books, The Spy Wore Silk and The Spy Went Dancing, gave them to my family to read; then went out and purchased them in again! I have read them more times than I can count over the years, and they are definitely in my top ten list of favorite books. This is not a book that will take you days to read, and, one you will recommend to your friends!

5 comments about Vipers in the Storm: Diary of a Gulf War Fighter Pilot.

1. Rosenkranz provides plenty of details about exactly what a combat pilot does in a very busy F-16 cockpit, and he also details some of the interesting personal history that led him into this career. Unfortunately, he can't resist frequently venturing off into naive political and historical analyses of the wider questions of the war and the threat Iraq posed to the world, reprinting many speech excerpts from President H.W. Bush as justification for what he and his fellow service men and women were doing, extending them, in the end, to justify the current war in Iraq without ever considering the problems incurred by pursuing policy with force in the Middle East. At times the book reads like an instrument of the Republican National Committee campaign to reelect George W. Bush, or at the very least an apologist for the mistakes of both Bush administrations in the Middle East.



2. Rosenkranz is no Hemingway, but he does a good job of telling the entire story of his experience in Desert Storm. One of the things this book has that others about similar experiences lack is the emphasis on the human aspects of war (the moral issues that come from killing people, the toll that being away from one's family takes.) I immensely enjoyed the fact that this book shows that you don't have to be gung-ho all the time to be a good military man, and it in fact has given me more respect for those that serve our country because of the way it relates that one's primary drive to go to war should stem from a strong sense of duty rather than a sense of thrill.



3. This is a brilliant book.
   For anyone interested in military aviation or modern warfare I can only recommend reading Keith Rosenkrantz's excellent account of his part in the first Gulf War.
   This book is well written, easy to read, detailed and personal in a way many of these books fail to be.
   As a pilot myself (commercial) and having always dreamed of flying such aviation exotica as the F-16, this book is the key for us mere mortals to step into the world of the modern fighter pilot. It gives you a taste of the discipline, courage and commitment required.
   For all this and much more you should definitely check out Vipers in the Storm.
   
   When you're finished reading it drop Rosey a line, like I did to thank him for sharing his experiences. His email address is at the back of the book and he was gracious enough to reply to my message too. An officer and a gentleman not to mention hero.



4. Boy, I loved this book. As someone who's NOT a pilot and NOT in the military, this book provided a TON of insight into the day-to-day life of a combat pilot.
   
   One way to see what it's like to be a fighter pilot is to buy a combat flight sim for your PC. Sometimes I wonder how real these are. However, when reading Rosey's account, I can say, they're pretty real!
   
   So many times I've forgone all tasks other than countering a missile threat. So many times I've almost flown into the ground at night. Rosey did these, too, and I can't imagine how it feels to really see a SAM guiding on you, coming out of the clouds.
   
   In addition to a lot of things flight sim fans have gone through, Rosey adds a lot of real life perspective. I laughed when he described how F-16 pilots bring 'piddle packs' on long flights and he described how he went about not making a mess with them. I laughed again when he described bringing a granola bar with him on flights, for the ride home after a bombing run. I've often gotten up while playing a flight sim and gone to the fridge for a snack.
   
   For flight sim fans, this book should be REQUIRED READING. It gives a great perspective on how missions are planned and carried out. I was surprised by a lot of the real-life aspects of combat flight and was equally surprised by some of the aspects that read the same way an 'after-action' report from a flight sim mission reads. I'm still blown away by a couple of the mission accounts when Rosey went 'downtown'.



5. i bought this book as a gift for my husband who is an f18 pilot himself, we r from kuwait so a gulf war book is a must have for us.. my husband owns a bigggg library with all sort of war and military books.. but this one was sooo special he couldnt put it down in fact i was a little jealous of the book! he loved it soo much u wont believe it.. in fact i gave it a quick scan myself and i enjoyed the story too. when i asked my husband what he thought of the book because im writing for amazon, he just said that its the best book he ever read and its a very good account of what happened during the war to liberate our country!

5 comments about A Call to the Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of the USS <I>Constitution</I>.

1. This book reads like an age of sail novel- but it's all true. It's a very informative and very exciting biography. You'll also learn alot about early U.S. Naval history. It amazes me that we have known so little about Charles Stewart!! The auhors have done a great job. I agree with the other Amazon reviewers- you won't be able to put this one down. Extraordinary!!



2. Delia Tudor Parnell, nee Stewart, did not die in 1892 or in Bordentown, New Jersey at Montpelier. She died at Avondale, Wicklow, Ireland (the Parnell home) in 1898 in a terrible accident; her dress caught fire and she died an extremely painful death.
   Charles Stewart, son of Admiral Charles Stewart, did not die in Paris in 1874. He died in Rome, Italy in 1872.
   These factual discrepencies do not give me much comfort that this biography is trustworthy.



3. I finally read this book that had been a Christmas present from my son. I was hesitant to read something marketed as a "real life Jack Aubrey" since I'm a fan of that series, but I was pleasantly surprised that it lived up to the book jacket.
   
   I found three minor faults with the work. First, as another reviewer mentioned, there were a few name/date inaccuracies; for example, in a discussion of the gunboat battle of the Barbary War, the book has 1803 instead of 1804. There were a few occasions in the book when the authors actually discuss various sources and their merits and they actually argue through why some sources and dates don't seem right. That leads me to believe it was either minor oversights or a failure in editing. Second, the authors overused the term "old schoolyard friends" when referring to Stewart, Decatur or Somers. Once or twice would have sufficed. Third, in the narratives about Stewart's facing off against two British fleets (Warren's and Collier's), it would have been helpful to have researched and explored the British perspectives more.
   
   That said, I thought this was a very strong biography in a traditional sense. As a retired Navy officer, I also found it refreshing for a naval biography to be written by two naval officers. They used extensive primary sources and they tell a great story. I had only barely heard of Stewart before reading this, but he led an incredible life. I was familiar with the Barbary Wars and War of 1812, but their telling of his time in the Pacific was entirely new to me - in fact I have not seen it told elsewhere except tangentially by Nathaniel Philbrick in "the Tale of the Whaleship Essex" - and the problems Stewart had with a State Department agent and his wife were almost hilarious had they not been so bad.
   
   If you want to read about the first six decades of the U.S. Navy told through the eyes of one officer's career, this book is it.



4. Fair, somewhat interesting but rather dull. Not well written, reads like it was patched together, same information restated numerous times.



5. Carefully researched and written by two Naval officers, this book is a biography of one man, Charles Stewart, but it tells you almost as much about the Navy as it existed in the early years of our country.
   
   Stewart served in the navy for sixty-three years, from age 19 to 83. He commanded eleven United States Navy ships, more than any other person.
   
   There have been three ships in the navy named for Capt. Stewart. The first USS Stewart (DD-13) was a Bainbridge-class destroyer which served from 1902 until 1919.
   
   The second USS Stewart (DD-224) was a Clemson-class destroyer which was commissioned in 1920. In early 1942 she was damaged by an Japanese air attack. She was further damaged while in dry dock for repairs. Demolition charges were then set off inside the ship and she was hit by another Japanese bomb. She and the drydock sank. The Japanese Navy raised her, repaired her and renamed her Patrol Boat No. 102. She served through the rest of the war, and re-entered the US Navy after the war, at which time there were two USS Stewarts in the Navy. DD-224 was later used as a target ship for aircraft and was sunk in 1946.
   
   The third Stewart (DE-238) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort that served from 1943 to 1947 - She later became a museum ship and was in Galveston, Texas, where she still may be.
   
   But back to the book. These authors have written this book so well that it almost reads like a novel. The thing to keep in mind, however, is that this story is true.

4 comments about The Adventures of Eddie Fung: Chinatown Kid, Texas Cowboy, Prisoner of War.

1. this is a very touching story- somewhat like angela's ashes re experiences of a poor background. school dropout, becoming a cowboy then a searing 4 years as a pow -finally graduating from stanford university and moving on



2. I met Eddie Fung in person last week and heard him discuss the book and his life. What a journey! He is a 10 an so is his book. There are many greatest generation stories that will never be told (my Dad's for example) so take advantage of reading this amazing story of survival from a good story teller.
   
   Also, it is a reminder that many American minorities were in WWII who were staunch patriots, sacrificed much, and should not be overlooked.



3. "Another Little Big Man" might have been the immodest title of this too modest gentleman's autobiography. That memorable movie from 1970 told the life story of a diminutive guy who lived many different lives within the span of one and that could also describe Eddie Fung. Short on stature, big on life, that's Eddie. Born in San Francisco's Chinatown, he dropped out of high school and went to Texas at age 16 to become a cowboy just because he wanted to. There he discovered a now nearly vanished breed of everyday honest men and a challenging way of life that for him epitomized the American dream of freedom of spirit paid for by hard work. By 1940 as war raged in China and simmered in Europe he too joined the Texas National Guard just as many of the other ranch hands were doing. That one simple act put Eddie onto a path that took him through three and a half very tough years as the only Chinese American prisoner of war after his unit's capture by the Japanese Army early in 1942. You won't want to put it down once you begin Eddie's book but the beauty of it is that you can pick it up and open it nearly at random and be rewarded with simple truths as experienced by a complex man. For this we have Eddie's wife Dr. Judith Yung to thank for an excellent job of editing a number of multi-hour interview sessions. Judy is one of this nation's most well known and respected scholar/authors of the modern Chinese American experience. Be sure to read the Preface to learn how they met and married when Judy needed a WW II vet interview for a project she had begun. This memorable book has one little shortcoming, so to speak, that must be mentioned .... it comes to an end. This reader wanted Eddie's adventures to continue indefinitely. We do learn of his post war life including family and career, his eventual involvement with the Lost Battalion Association and its annual reunions, etc. so it is a well rounded effort. My wish came true recently when I discovered that YouTube offers a six part look at one of this special couple's book talks. Thank you sharing your life Eddie.



4. Eddie Fung's curiosity, sense of adventure, and generous spirit in helping others is inspiring!
   
   He never let his small stature get in the way of anything he was determined to do, whether it was to enlist in the army, help the men on the ranches where he worked at during his teens, or (secretly) help get food and medicine for his fellow POW's during WWII.
   
   I admire his way of sharing his adventurous life, which was often humorous: he didn't hesitate to recount the times he got in trouble or made himself look not-so-smart when he could have asked for help. I like his forthright manner! As he put it to his second wife: "What you see is what you get."
   
   Fung's spirit shines throughout the book; it serves as reminder to me of the sacrifices made by servicemen such as himself, as well as my father, and members of their generation during WWII. Moreover, he describes how he helped his fellow POW's to survive in the most unimaginable circumstances by using his past experiences, however minor they may have seemed. Being frugal, helping his mom with household chores like making preparations for dinner, and working on the ranch provided useful skills he could share with the other prisoners.
   
   His many adventures are nicely complemented with loving family background/memories of parents and siblings, and life, post-POW. A really enjoyable read!
   
   Don't miss out!

5 comments about Fear Up Harsh: An Army Interrogator's Dark Journey Through Iraq.

1. shows the ugly truth of what we are being reduced to by the idiots running this country. Bush lovers beware - this aint for you.



2. "Fear Up Harsh" is a military term for interrogation techniques that emphasize overpower threat and fear, but not to violate the Geneva Conventions. "Fear Up Harsh" also refers to a book written by an Army interpreter about his experiences in Iraq - first complying with the military limitations, but soon also including sleep deprivation, prolonged cold exposure, threats from snarling guard dogs, and loud noise. Other units (Navy Seals, Army Special Forces, other government groups) also used water-boarding and physical assaults, per their own admissions and the residual physical evidence.
   
   Lagouranis (the author) arrived in Iraq nine months after "Mission Accomplished" and immediately was posted to Abu Ghraib. Living quarters there consisted of a noisy sea of cots with 6" free space on each side. Escapes were common - many Iraqi workers did not wear badges, and all a prisoner had to do was get out of a cell and change clothes.
   
   Lagouranis encountered non-stop incompetence throughout his Iraq tour - superiors sensitive to covering up evidence of abuse, while lacking experience in intelligence, an incarceration rate about 10X that warranted by realty, and failure to share intelligence from one unit/agency with another. (The most extreme instance of the latter involved aerial surveillance of a former Army outpost that led to a night-time raid on Oil of Ministry staff who had the outpost turned over to them. Worse yet, it took over a week to release those taken into custody, despite ID badges, documenting paperwork, and the ability to corroborate stories with oil ministry headquarters.)
   
   The military's on-going assumption was that any Iraqi thought be be related to someone bad (often misidentified via misunderstanding of Arab naming customs), near an incident (eg. even 200 yards), carrying something suspicious (a motorcycle battery or cell phone) had to know something worth revealing. Regardless of how guilty the person was, the interrogation technique used, or the proximity of interrogation to alleged act, I cannot recall a single instance of Lagouranis learning anything of value. (He also pointed out that he did not know what, if anything, the Seals and Special Forces learned.)
   
   Needless to say, even relatively subdued "Fear Up Harsh" techniques applied to countless innocent civilians, combined with middle of the night Iraqi home searches, has not endeared the U.S. to Muslims. We have become the "bad guys" in their minds.



3. It is unfortunate that Mr Lagouranis left Iraq feeling the way he did. Having served with him I do not recall SPC Lagouranis as a Soldier who "believed in" his mission. His time at Abu Ghraib was very short and did NOT expose him to any of the complaints or stresses in the book. His time in Fallujah, with the Marines, definitely had an impact on him. His claims of brutality and torture are grossly exagerrated. It is incredibly difficult for young men to face war and the horrors it brings and maintain their "normal" behavioral restraints. Leadership is the key to maintaining morality in the face of brutality; SPC Lagouranis witnessed the failure of leadership in Fallujah. The book reads well, but false, in many areas.



4. In addition to Tony's comments on torture and torture-lite in general, plus his personal involvement, I appreciate his take on the Army as it entered Iraq and then tried to tamp down the insurgency. (Note: My sister is a 20-year Reservist and former active-duty, so I've heard some stuff about Army politics, dysfunctionality at times, etc, elsewhere.) This is yet another fallout from an all-volunteer military, in my opinion, but that would be the subject for another book by itself.
   
   The third main thing to enjoy is Lagouranis' humanness and degree of self-observation and self-analysis. Add to that the fact he was familiar with things like the Milgram experiment before going to Iraq, and Tony himself almost becomes a live-fire lab experiment on how even good-intentioned people can cut ethical corners, etc., then justify why they're doing that.
   
   In short, Lagouranis' experience shows exactly why we have things such as Geneva Conventions, and why they're so carefully spelled out. Although he doesn't spell it out, the logical conclusion of discussion would be "A Man for All Seasons," where More says, in essence, when you jettison all laws in trying to attack the devil, what do you do when the devil attacks back without being hindered by law?
   
   Sidebar: People who have one-starred this book are the same people Tony pointed out in the Army -- people who won't open their minds, have narrow to very narrow world views, and refuse to be challenged or contradicted.



5. Anyone wanting to know more about the shadowy world of US interrogations in Iraq and the moral issues that go along with them need to read this book.
   
   The main thrust of this book walks through the gradual escalation of interrogation techniques that Tony Lagouranis and his collegues used in Iraq. As he explains, the changes were natural to the point of being imperceptible. For example, they would hear about how Navy Seals used such and such technique, and assumed it was both acceptible and effective (the Navy Seals know what they're doing right?). Lagouranis ultimately concludes that their heightened techniques do not provide the US any additional intelligence. If anything, their questionable pratices probably result in lower quality intelligence, because those with no knowledge are likely to fabricate answer to stop the pain, while putting himself, the Army, and the US in great moral peril. While Lagouranis wonders whether he himself should be tried for war crimes, we (Americans) should be taking a hard look at what we are asking our soldiers to do on our behalf and whether continuing this war is really the best path.
   
   Another important theme of this book is how the the US military casts its nets very widely in search of intelligence. Lagouranis tells countless stories of how he was assigned to interrogate those who simply had the misfortune of being near the scene of an attack (as he puts it, the wrong place at the wrong time). This practice of bringing in anyone with the slightest chance of having information and treating them like criminals has been completely counter-productive to the the war effort, by providing amunition to islamic extremists in the region and turning those who had not been against us.
   
   + + Other Interesting Topics + +
   
   Lagouranis explains his two reasons for joining the army:
   
   1. the thrill of being in a situation in which you have no control
   2. His deep and long held desire to learn arabic and the armies intensive language training school. As Lagouranis explains, this love began when he studied at a small esoteric school in New Mexico which taught only from primary texts in their original languages. There, he was exposed to Greek and Hebrew, which helped him connect with people from the past in a way that English translations cannot.
   
   This book also discusses Army culture from the inside, and how his left of center politics often made things awkward to say the least.

5 comments about Angel's Wing: A Year in the Skies of Vietnam.

1. I received a copy of Joes book from my daughter. My tour in Vietnam basicly overlaped Finch's. I was tthe Company Commander of a 25th Infantry Div Infanrty Company and was a frequent passanger and satisfied customers of the "Little Bears" services. Finch accuratly portrays the chopper pilot's role in Vietnam. From my prespective God bless the pilots they not only hauled us into trouble they always came back and got us out of it.



2. It was a pleasure reading Joe Finch's memoir. It was a great anthem by one who spent those years in the trenches. I was one who was fortunate to have avoided Southeast Asia in the 60's, but was a guy probably not much different than this boy who emerged an accomplished soldier and man.
   
   Angel's Wing... is a good read. You will zoom through it feeling as though you shared a substantive experience with Joe Finch.



3. I do not believe that anyone who buys this book will feel cheated. It's an interesting perspective of a helicopter pilot's life and duties in Vietnam. To Finch's credit he didn't write this as a query letter hoping to attract a Hollywood producer. Frankly, I do not know why this book was mached up with my book on my page, this is a really good book.



4. I bought this book because I served in 1967 with a 1st Aviation Brigade unit that flew in basically the same AO, but usually in support of the 1st Infantry Division. I wanted to see what he said about areas I knew.
   
   Unlike many accounts that are chronological in nature, this one covers different aspects of a helicopter pilot and A/Cs responsibilities and experiences, without an attempt to lay them out in strict chronological order. I think you'll find this book highly readable and informative by a writer who is quite self-effacing about a very action-packed tour accompanied by some significant decorations (DFC and Silver Star) mentioned only at the very close of the book. Along the way you'll learn a lot about how a helicopter is flown and why.
   
   This book will sneak up on you due to the author's quiet style.



5. American Huey 369 (americanhuey369.com) stimulated my interest in Vietnam era helicopters and the people who made it happen. I also recommend Chicken Hawk and Crew Chief.

4 comments about Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident.

1. Enjoyed it immensely. A hard to put down, revealing look at this historical, military, political event of the 1960's. Covering some of Power's CIA training, U2 overflights, downing & capture, Russian trial(farse), imprisonment, possible Oswald & other defectors connection to the U2 shoot down, repatriation through a trade of a pro Russian, US held spy and some of Power's life afterwards.



2. The Flt of the U-2 is a most inspiring book. I sat on the edge of my seat while reading it and finished it in one sitting wishing there was more to read, but happy that the Russians got their "just day in court" and finally Francis Gary Powers was exchanged for Rudolph Abel. Such a high flying plane, to be shot out of the skies, is unreal to me - what went wrong? No matter what Powers' wrote, we will never know the complete truth, will we? Thank God he came home safe, as he *almost* gave his life for his country. A well done book and may he rest in peace as his son recounts his father's service to his country. God Bless. Trish Schiesser, whose brother SSGT Phil Noland served in the USAFSecurity Service during the time Powers took off and went missing in Russia.
   A fine, well written book. I am glad it is out again.



3. This book is certainly a must have for the Cold War, Military Aviation and Spy afficionados out there! While the authors did their best to make the most of what little details Powers did/could provide them - especially about the actual missions he flew for the CIA - they failed to do justice to the historical significance of the event. Powers' actual flights and missions in the U-2 are not discussed in great detail (they never even mention the plane's actual altitude, there are no details about the U-2 except for some hearsay info on its imagined structural integrity (or lack thereof), and they assigned less than a page to discuss the other "special missions"), and there are very few details about the mission the book was actually written about. What you will nevertheless be able to read in detail about are his time spent in Russian prisons, the KGB interrogations, or his kind Latvian roomate Zigurd in Vladimir prison. The final section of the book is spent on the well-justified trashing of the CIA (afterall they gave him the shaft the same way NASA did to the Apollo 13 crew), and Powers provides some great insights into the personal dealings of the Agency. Reading it today, Powers' observations were way ahead of their time! You'll appreciate Powers Jr's epilogue that puts the entire book in perspective. Overall it is a great book, the only first-hand account of the U-2 incident you'll ever have, and as a matter of fact, I'll go and read it again!



4. When I ordered this paper back I thought it would a used copy of this book. When it arrived it was a brand new book. So now I have a very nice copy for my Library. Amazon was a pleasure to do business with.

2 comments about Stonewall Jackson (Great Generals).

1. I thought this book provided a succinct and accurate assessment of General Jackson's life and career. I do, however, offer three criticisms.
   
   First, a few maps would have been most helpful. The author presumes that the reader has a working knowledge of Jackson's major battles--the places they were fought, the strategy and tactics employed, and the surrounding topography. I realize that the Great General Series must make certain accommodations in order to accomplish its goal of providing a BRIEF overview of the life and service of its subjects, but a few maps would have greatly enhanced my understanding of what Jackson accomplished.
   
   Second, I thought the comparisons between Jackson's strategy and tactics and those employed in the Iraq War were both gratuitous and a bit of stretch, a not-so-veiled attempt to make the Civil War seem somehow relevant to the conflict in the Middle East.
   
   Third, the editors should have read the text one more time before it went to print. There were several typographical and formatting errors that were a bit of a distraction.
   
   These, however, are minor complaints. If you don't know much about Stonewall and want to get a feel for the contribution he made to the Confederacy and towards the evolution of military tactics, you would do well to read this book.



2. Stonewall Jackson by Donald A. Davis
   (Palgrave Macmillan (2007), Hardcover, 224 pages)
   
   A review
   by
   Colin J. Edwards
   
   Stonewall or Oddball?
   
   I have to come clean immediately and confess that I have difficulty with the description, `tough fighting generals'. What they are describing are heartless individuals who send men to death or mutilation with reckless abandon. Let us remind ourselves that wars are started by politicians, fought by generals and won by soldiers. The American Civil War was the exception: the generals prolonged that one.
   Before you cast me aside as a peace-nik lefty, let me assure you that I saw action as an infantry officer, and know a little of what I speak.
   
   Books about wars: and this is a book about a war more than a biography of an individual, are either from an officer's perspective, or the enlisted man. Donald Davis is the exception being quite at home writing about either. His best seller `Lightening Strike', records the active service of a gunnery sergeant. However, I could find little sympathy for the fighting man in this volume. Mr Davis wrote with touching tenderness of the separation of General Jackson from his wife and new baby girl. A separation that didn't last long as the general called them to his side. Tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers from North and South would have thought precious, just a moment with their loved ones. Rank has its privilege it seems.
   
   Davis' detailed descriptions of the various battles are excellent, if a little tedious. This is due perhaps to a lack of information about Jackson who was such a secretive individual, that it's a wonder Davis was able to write the book at all.
   
   Born at Clarksburg West Virginia on January 21 1824 into an attorney's family, he preceded by four months another general and West Point chum who saw the light of day at Liberty Indiana in May: a future adversary, Ambrose Burnside.
   
   After a very unsettled childhood, he entered West Point more by luck than judgement. He struggled to keep up but had an almost eccentric ability to focus unswervingly on the subject at hand. This paid off and he was able to move up the rankings graduating 17th out of a class of 59. This was not good enough to get him into the esteemed engineers, but it did get him into the artillery as a second lieutenant. This single minded eccentricity bordering on autism became more apparent when he was under fire during the Mexican Way. Observation of his reckless valour caused him to be bumped up the ranks to acting major. Another manifestation of his disturbed mental state was his inability to work in harmony with others. His unresolved dispute with a brother officer while stationed at Fort Mead in Florida, resulted in him leaving the army and taking up a teaching post at Lexington Virginia.
   
   The general consensus was that Thomas Jackson was a poor teacher, but the eight years there gave him the opportunity to meet and marry two wives.
   
   The Civil War found him back in the army and up to his neck in muck and bullets in the battles so precisely delineated by Mr Davis. His eccentricity (or mental disturbance), new no bounds and he and his soldiers went from victory to victory even if it killed them. He even had one of his generals (A.P.Hill), dragged along behind a cart on an interminable march for some undisclosed actus reus. This so damaged the general's tender feet that he was out of action for some time. Not the action of a sound mind you might think; particularly when it concerns one of your better generals.
   
   Jackson continued to carry the whole war on his shoulders, confiding in no one until he experienced a nervous collapse. From then until the end of his life he was conspicuous for his ability to fall asleep anywhere. On one occasion he was summoned to see his boss Robert E Lee, and promptly fell asleep before he saw him.
   
   Thomas Jackson was a religious zealot who spoke more to God than anyone else. However, he did not practice what he preached, nor anything anyone else preached as he didn't stay awake long enough. He had no compunction in raking artillery fire into Mexican civilians when Mexico City failed to surrender in 1848, or later when he gunned down a retreating Mexican army. During the Civil War he showed no reluctance to destroy fellow Americans be them from the North or the South, and insisted that his officers do likewise.
   
   To experience fear while in the presence of danger is normal. To some extent it is possible to hide that fear. Jackson did not hide it; he did not have any fear. He constantly took needless risks and in front of his troops defied the conflagration to kill him.
   That was until Chancellorsville on May 2 1863. Throwing caution to the wind as usual, he took his staff beyond his own front lines to reconnoitre the enemy positions. True to form he omitted to inform anyone of his intentions. Upon his return he was fired upon by his own soldiers and hit three times. Six of his staff were killed outright. He however was not killed but was stretchered to an aid station falling off the stretcher on the way. The chief surgeon of Jackson's army, Dr Hunter McGuire, amputated his left arm, but did not notice General Jackson complaining about chest pain. The pain developed into pneumonia from which he died on May 10th 1863.
   
   Google Books list over 4000 entries for General Jackson, and most of them suggest that had he lived the result at Gettysburg would have been different. The generals lost the battle for the Confederates by their bickering and lack of direction. Jackson would have only added to the confusion. The soldiers of the South fought their hearts out at Gettysburg only to be betrayed by their officers.
   
   Donald Davis's book is a myth breaker, and a `must read' for anyone who has an interest in the first modern war.
   
   
   

5 comments about Warrior: An Autobiography.

1. The short, turbulent history of modern Israel has called for extraordinary leadership. Ariel Sharon is clearly one of the most important of the leaders who have shaped the history of this vulnerable young country.
   
   I suppose any autobiography could be said to be self-serving. Still, I have always believed that any man has a right to have his own assessment of himself be taken into consideration in any evaluation of his life.
   
   But my purpose now is not to give an assessment of his life. Rather, it is to give an assessment of this book, as a means to understanding that life. As such, I would have to say that I think you will find it useful. This is due, in part, I think, to the fact that Sharon was a man of strong feelings who expressed them openly. But it is also due to the fact that Sharon always lived his life in a manner which gave him plenty to talk about. He had a zest for life, and a fearlessness toward death that inclined him to an extraordinary life.
   
   Sharon also had the good fortune to be associated in time and proximity with several extraordinary men, and he made decisions that put him on a level with those men that might otherwise have been quite different. His bold military initiatives brought him to the attention of David Ben-Gurion during the critical early days of Israel as a nation. Later, after he had retired from the military as a part of a national policy to retire generals before they got too old, he entered politics without getting the permission or trying to earn the favor of established personalities. He was lucky, of course, because at the moment he decided to found the Likud, Begin desperately needed something just like that to build the kind of coalition that could bring him a national position. But he was also decisive. That's the key. He didn't wait to hear what everyone would think, he just did it.
   
   Sharon's defense of his actions during the invasion of Lebanon are convincing, but in my mind, they do not completely remove the necessity for him to step down. I think he had to leave at that point. I do not believe he ordered the massacre of civilians. I didn't need his book to come to that conviction. I didn't believe it at the time, either. But it happened on his watch, and there just was no escaping the impression in the minds of so many people, that he could have done more to prevent it.
   
   As could be expected from any autobiography, there are several things that Sharon does not address. This is why the whole picture can seldom be obtained by reading only autobiography. At some point, you have to balance autobiography with objective studies by reputable scholars who can address questions the individual in question hesitates to mention, and address them fairly. Sharon's oldest son was killed by a neighbor kid who was playing with one of Sharon's guns. How did this happen? How in the world did a couple of young kids get access to a loaded weapon? The incident itself, is of course, a poinant part of the book, but some of these questions any reasonable person would ask are simply not addressed.
   
   But taking into account the limitations of autobiography, this book provides a very useful insight into both the man and the country. It will be on every reading list for future historians of Israel for a long, long time to come. Fascinating character. Fascinating book. Fascinating country. Read and enjoy.



2. A very good book. It goes into a bit more depth with strategy and such than I could really grasp in a few spots, but on the whole I found it very interesting. Good descriptions of and insight into politics, history, and his accomplishments and ideas. I hadn't known how much he had done outside of the military before reading this book: founding Likud, advancing agriculture in Israel and in Africa, and forging relationships throughout the world for a fledgling Israel. A good book from a most impressive man.



3. 
   
   There are many references to Pierre and Bashir Gemayel (leaders of the predominantly Christian-Phalanges Party).
   Most of Lebanon, and the Christian Leaders had been particularly confounded by the rash and dash with which the Israelis' conducted their war against the Palestinian Militias, and Beirut was awash with gossips that the Lebanese Forces - LF - (mainly Christians) would perform, alone, a sweeping military - mop up - operation in support of the Israelis.
   Such was a request Sharon had asked of Bashir during his first and short `look-see' visits to Jounieh - Lebanon (East) but did not evoke clear-cut answer (nor commitment) from Bashir because LF had not been able to give viable practical assistance, least of all to do any `street fighting' in a densely populated Beirut (West).
   If LF entered the important green line (Sea port area) rushing into Hamra Street, civilian losses would have been immense.
   Sharon wanted to infuse his sense of urgency into LF leaders in order to gain time and face the Israeli Cabinet with a fait a compli situation of which the Cabinet had never approved before.
   Sharon left Jounieh under the impression he and Bashir had concluded an agreement -in principle- of `a military operation' to be performed when the proper time called for it and now the next phase was for `joint planning'. Bashir was led to believe that Sharon was highly depending on LF supportive participation.
   Sharon thought Bashir had fully understood him to support a `do it alone' military operation, i.e. that LF would attack independently from the East when the Israelis had tightened the noose on Beirut (West).
   Mismatch in person-to-person communication took on new impetus.
   In the first place, it had never occurred to Bashir to attack West Beirut because he was heading for the Presidency and his `election' was imminent and inevitable.
   Bashir's priorities were 1) Never to put himself in disfavour with the Muslim communities and 2) Should not destroy political bridges with Syria (Hafiz al Asad) that would come after he's elected to the Presidency.
   
   Sharon, a military man to the bones, could see nothing relating to `Lebanese Politics' in the middle of his `war against the PLO - Arafat'; he had found that the Lebanese appreciation of his sweeping moves - having also neutralized the Syrian Army in Lebanon - were meant to ask him to revert to the idea of `independent action in West Beirut. Sharon should begin, and the LF would follow'.
   
   As there are no secrets in Lebanon, pulling the blankets of `no commitments' over their bodies resolutely did not refrain Philip Habib - not yet tired of repeating to Bashir - `at no time give a pretext that would obstruct your election to the Presidency'.
   
   And the `drama' has never ended..............



4. I enjoyed this autobiography of one of modern Israel's giants.
   The book was written in great detail on many of the historic battles and decisions that Israel faced. Sharon played a large part in the fledgling country's struggle to survive the onslaught of hatred and terror. Sharon also touched on the personal hardships he faced.
   The only problem with Warrior was that Sharon wrote it so early in his career (1980s) that I was left hungry for more information. I had to go and buy a more recent biography of Sharon to bring myself up to date on Arik's life and career.



5. Warrior An Autobiography This is one book I can review without having finished reading it. He is one of the great generals of our time even ranking with MacAuthor, Patton, Swartzkoff,Etc. My own personal opinion he is tops. He had to help try to save a country when there was little help from the rest of the world. As a political figure I,ll also stick with him. He may have made some mistakes according to others but no one else did any better. I stay away from politics as most have no idea of what they are talking about any way. I think he had his country at heart either way.

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