No comments about Sniper One: On Scope and Under Siege with a Sniper Team in Iraq.

2 comments about Unless Victory Comes: Combat With a Machine Gunner in Patton's Third Army.

1. Nice, easy to read account of some pretty intense action. I've read so much about the ETO that I'm starting to read accounts of the same events by different authors. That's pretty nice since I've found that some accounts support each other, and some accounts don't. That shows just how different units that fought the same battle a couple of miles apart could have had a completely different experience. This book adds a really great first person account to the history of WW2. Fans of the ETO will enjoy this perspective. Those less studied will find that Mr. Garrison helps put a face and name to the action that general interest WW2 volumes could never do.
   
   I think you'll enjoy this book enough to reccomend it to someone else.



2. "Unless Victory Comes", by Gene Garrison (with Patrick Gilbert). Subtitled: "Combat With A Machine Gunner In Patton's Third Army". Casemate, Havertown, PA, 2004.
   
   At the very end of his book, Gene Garrison states that "...this book is my memoir. It is not intended to be a definitive history of the fighting in Europe".
   
   The author has accomplished his stated purpose, as he has produced a matter-of-fact memoir that describes his experiences in the European Theatre of Operations. As a young man (one of his chapters is entitled, "Turning Nineteen In Battle", page 29), Gene Garrison describes the journey from stateside, (Fort Jackson), to England and then to France, where his outfit, the 87th Infantry Division, arrived after the D-Day invasion.
   
   Unlike so many other personal memoirs, this author rapidly sums up basic training and then his transfer to the "Golden Acorn" division, which he describes as a reserve division that had not seen action since World War I. Private Garrison was volunteered to be machine gunner, which he describes as good in that there were two men together, but was also bad since the firepower of the machine gun would draw down enemy attention. His description of standing on the back of a Sherman tank, as he fired the top mount fifty caliber machine gun is all presented with just the facts, even as he is pushed off the tank to avoid enemy fire. Garrison's memoir goes on in this matter-of-fact fashion until the end of hostilities in Europe. Then, at the very end of war in Europe, Garrison is diagnosed with yellow jaundice and required to go to the hospital. Very poignantly, as he leaves his comrades, he shouts a farewell to Tony D'Arpino, saying, "...you're the only one left from Fort Jackson".
   
   The chapter is closed with a quote from the front of his book, "When the last man was gone, would there be anyone to miss him?"

4 comments about Henry VIII.

1. Prof. Scarisbrick has written the definitive biography of Henry VIII and his times, even though this book is about 30 years old. Scarisbrick brought an interesting view to the subject: as a Roman Catholic he was the first British author granted access to Vatican archives for his research on the subject. The result is a still cogent, absolutely exhaustive book on the subject. Entailing a practically week by week account of Henry VIII's reign is overwhelming but of the upmost help for students of the subject. If you are looking for a light introduction to Henry VIII, this is probably not the place. But if you want *all* the (mind-numbing) details on Henry VIII, look no further than Scarisbrick's brilliant work.



2. I did not like this book at all! I have read most everything out there regarding Henry VIII. I found this a very hard go. It was extremely difficult to read. It focus's mostly on Henry's policies and the religous issue and a lot of assumptions as to why Henry acted a certain way. It is very date heavy. He barely mentions his wives except to say married on this date, died on this date. If you are beginner to Henry, this is not the book for you.



3. I read this book right after reading Carolly Erickson's biography of Henry VIII, and on balance this book is better and easier to read. I love that Scarisbrick has modernized the spelling and punctuation of the original documents he quotes. I think the picture of Henry presented is well-balanced, and does not minimize the faults of the subject of the biography. The careful examination of the question of the validity of the marriage of Henry and Catherine of Aragon is the best I have ever read, and partisans on either side of that question will see that there is indeed another side to the view they favor. The examination of the religious views of Henry is detailed and enlightening. I have always had a negative view of Henry VIII and I still have after reading this book, but the book was instructive and enlightening. The footnotes are where they belong (at the bottom of each page) and the bibliography is detailed though of course a bit dated in the 1968 edition I read. After you read this book you will know that you have read a really good biography of this important figure in world history.



4. Scarisbrick's book is a scholar's book and remains recognized after over three decades as the definitive work on the subject. It provides the background for other, equally valuable books, such as David Starkey's "Six Wives: The Wives of Henry VIII". This, though, is not to say that Scarisbrick can't be read for pleasure. It can, but you will not find it the brezzy read of a popular history; instead, you will find a wealth of information that will serve you well in future reading on the subject. And it is a very enjoyable read itself. If you are serious about your understanding of this period of English history then Scarisbrick is essential, and I can't imagine a personal library on Henry or Tudor England without a copy.
   
   As another reviewer remarked, this is not the book for an extensive treatment of Henry's wives. For that, I recommend turning to Starkey, and it too is essential for an understanding of this period of the history of Tudor England. What I've said about Scarisbrick's book can also be said about Starkey; although, I don't think it has quite the stature of Scarisbrick's.

2 comments about The Reader of Gentlemen's Mail: Herbert O. Yardley and the Birth of American Codebreaking.

1. Despite its current reputation, there were times when American intelligence (meaning spying) was an unalloyed success. For many, the most interesting part of the spy business is signals intelligence, tuning into or breaking into foreign messages and decoding them. There has been signals intelligence of some sort ever since there has been international conflict, but the field took off when messages could be transmitted wirelessly. Anyone could pick up the signal, so the trick was to encode it; the counter-trick was to crack the code. Cryptographers and other spies already know and respect the name of Herbert O. Yardley. He isn't well known by others, but almost fifty years after his death, he has gotten a full, instructive biography, _The Reader of Gentleman's Mail: Herbert O. Yardley and the Birth of American Codebreaking_ (Yale University Press) by David Kahn. Kahn is the perfect teller of this tale, having written both articles for scholarly journals as well as popular books about intelligence matters. There is not a great deal of detail about the procedures of decryption, which are described only generally, but there is a unique American life here. According to Kahn, Yardley better than anyone foresaw how important cracking signals could be to American intelligence. He created the first permanent agency to intercept messages and break them. He was "the most colorful and controversial figure in American intelligence," and his controversial actions are fully included here.

   Yardley came to Washington DC in 1914, working as a telegrapher in the State Department. He was fascinated by the messages that came in and out, and determined that he would give his life to cryptography. His efforts within the Army Signal Corp were effective, but more important even than the wartime accomplishments was that Yardley convinced the Army and State Department to continue signal intelligence after Armistice Day. He believed that the stream of international communications could indicate the attitudes and plans of nations who were our friends as well as our foes. He was right; his work ensured that America knew what the aims of the Japanese were at the arms limitation talks in 1921, saving the government millions of dollars and buying some years of peace. Those who thought that "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail" eventually closed his bureau down. Yardley was, at different times in his life, to make up cryptogram puzzles for magazines, to go into the invisible ink business, to write novels, to write screenplays for Hollywood, to run a restaurant, and to attempt commercial orange-juice distillation, as well as to become decoder-for-hire for Canada and China. He made a hit with his first book in 1931, The American Black Chamber, which caused immediate furor, about his government decryptions. He showed what his bureau had done, and the reading public was very much interested. He was accused of treason, but Kahn shows that Yardley was merely trying to make big money, at which he never was very successful. It was his main character flaw: "Yardley was a rotter, not a traitor."

   One year before his death, Yardley published _The Education of a Poker Player_, full of anecdotes about poker games in which he had played as well as practical advice about how to win. It is regarded as a classic, and is still in print and is admired by serious gamblers and penny ante basement players. It was a good way for Yardley to bow off the world's stage, but is not his lasting monument. When it came time to start busting codes again as World War II loomed, no one had to be convinced that cryptanalysts were good sources of power. Yardley, the first American governmental cryptographer, had done his part to make America stronger through signal intelligence. He was an important and flawed figure who deserves more recognition; he has, surprisingly, had no biography written before, and Kahn's detailed and readable book will always be the definitive one on the subject.




2. A biography of Herbert Yardley is welcome. David Kahn has done a remarkable job unearthing many aspects of the life of an obscure figure in American history. Kahn is a fine, readable writer, in this book no less than in prior ones. I very much enjoyed his Seizing the Enigma (1991).
   
   My lack of enthusiasm for this book centers on Yardley. During the 1920s, Yardley enjoyed a comfy salary heading a U.S. government cipher office in New York, where he might laze for an hour a day. In contrast, William F. Friedman, working for the Army, wrote about cryptanalysis, studied statistics, and evaluated the usefulness of tabulating machines, forerunners of computers. When the Hoover Administration reduced funding to his office, Yardley wrote a book, melodramatically called the American Black Chamber, which revealed the world of coded communications and U.S. efforts to read foreign communications. In so doing, he sold secrets to which he was privvy. Thereafter, he went Hollywood, contributing to screen plays. During 1938-39, he was employed by China to work on Japanese communications; his service was uninspired. Because Yardley had proven to be indiscreet, the U.S. did not make use of him during World War II, during which code-breaking was an important element in Anglo-American success. In 1957, Yardley published his second best-selling book, this one on playing poker. Not many authors write one popular book, let alone two.
   
   Kahn speculates that Friedman envied Yardley's success with women. No evidence that this would be the basis for Friedman's dislike of Yardley is provided and it seems unlikely. In any event, Friedman and many others within the British and U.S. intelligence agencies rendered extraordinary, educated, hardworking service in the years leading up to and beyond the Second World War. Friedman would be the much more important figure for history.
   
   Kahn refers to Yardley's "immortal legacy" of introducing codebreaking in the U.S. Codebreaking would have come to the U.S. regardless of the coincidental early participation by Yardley. By his writings, Yardley may be justly appreciated for contributing to popular culture. This book persuades me that Yardley's service to his nation was minor and thoroughly self-serving.
   
   Because of particular interests, I happen to be glad to have read this book. It is well-written, well-researched, and pleasantly concise.

5 comments about Grant Takes Command.

1. The second in a two part study of General Ulysses S. Grant's Civil War leadership, Bruce Catton has written a vivid narrative following the enigmatic Commander in Chief of Union forces through the final year and a half of the war.
   
   This work won the Pulitzer Prize. Read it and you will appreciate why. It is a remarkably good book, excellently crafted, clear and precise. This one is truly well worth your time.



2. Was Ulysses S. Grant a drunk? Did he win the Civil War simply by burying Robert E. Lee under a wave of superior manpower and resources? Bruce Catton addresses these questions, and many others, in GRANT MOVES SOUTH and its companion volume, GRANT TAKES COMMAND. Taken together, the two books chronicle Grant's Civil War experience.
   
   I've read a lot of history, but I confess to being relatively ignorant about the American Civil War except in a very general sense. I've always been interested, I just never got very far into it. These two books are my first real foray into the subject. Both are very well researched and documented, while at the same time being very readable. Catton demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the facts as well as a genuine insight into Grant's character. The result, for me, was an experience that was at once informative and enjoyable.
   
   What does Catton have to say about Grant's alleged drunkeness? Clearly, Catton is an admirer of Grant, but it's an admiration born of respect for the man as revealed in his personal records and actions, as well as in the record left by people who knew him. To get his take on this and other criticisms of Grant, read these books.
   
   Conventional wisdom has it that GRANT MOVES SOUTH and GRANT TAKES COMMAND are definitive works on the subject of U. S. Grant's Civil War career. I certainly won't argue with that perception. If you have a deep interest in Grant or in the Civil War in general, they are "must haves". Beyond that, though, if you have just a casual interest, this is still great reading material. I highly recommend both volumes.



3. "Grant Takes Command" is the second of two volumes by Bruce Catton on Grant's Civil War service and the third of a trilogy on Grant's military career (beginning with Lloyd Lewis's "Captain Sam Grant"). However, this volume can easily be read by itself. Catton picks up the story in the fall of 1863 with Grant's successful raising of the siege of Chattanooga, following which President Lincoln picks him for a third star and command of all the Union armies.
   
   Grant is the latest in a long line of Union commanders, most of whom have been badly beaten by General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, and none of whom have been able to bring superior Northern resources effectively to bear on a slowly weakening Confederacy. In fact, as Grant takes command, the war has not yet been won and could still be lost.
   
   Grant will be the commander that Lincoln has long sought. Lincoln's telling exchange with an aide, repeated by Catton, lays out why. Grant is the first general to take the supreme command who will work in harness with Lincoln and in full acceptance of Lincoln's constraints as President of a democracy in the midst of a civil war. Grant is prepared to take full responsibility for the conduct of the missions of the armies, and without setting up an alibi in advance for possible failure. And as it becomes apparent in the course of Catton's absolutely superb narrative, Grant understands the terrible math. Lee and his army are too proficient to be easily beaten; great persistance will be called for. Grant grasps the essential truth that Lee's army is the Confederate center of gravity and the corollary that Lee's requirement to protect Richmond ultimately limits his ability to manuever. Further, Grant is able to cause the Union armies to work at a common design, denying Lee the ability to reinforce Virginia from other theaters of war. The result will be a long, grinding, and exceedingly bloody campaign stretching from 1864 into 1865, as Lee's army is slowly bludgeoned to death.
   
   Catton's narrative does not spare Grant his errors; in the 1864 campaign, Grant underestimates both Lee's abilities as a general and the difficulties of conducting campaigns on such a massive scale. Grant has to learn the job of Army commander in chief on the move; the unnecessary casualties of Cold Harbor and the repeatedly failure to flank Lee out of position in Virginia are proof of the learning curve. But Grant's great gift is his refusal to be deterred from his objective. He pins Lee at Petersburg and uses the Union armies of Sherman and Sheridan, among others, to destroy the Confederacy's ability to make war.
   
   "Grant Takes Command" was first published in 1960, and the details of the history of the Civil War have evolved since then. However, Catton's prose has stood the test of time. This is a truly magnificently told story on an epic scale and a highly recommended treat for the Civil War enthusiast and the casual reader alike.



4. This is a very readable, engaging study of the last two years of the Civil War, in which General Grant is taken from his command in the west, to the "big show" as commander of the Army of the Potomac. He is shown to be a determined, relentless leader willing to fight the war of attrition that ultimately led to the destruction of the Army of Northern Virginia. He proved to be more than a match for General Lee, who was confounded by Grant's steadfast leadership and willingness to stand tough, despite the losses of thousands of men. Grant was a very different kind of leader than his predecessors.
   
   I also liked the way Catton developed the personal side of Grant.
   
   This is a terrific book for those who want a straightforward history of the latter part of the Civil War, without embellishment or political bias.



5. In the weeks before General David Petraeus - widely regarded as the most operationally and strategically brilliant of today's ground generals -- took command of Multi-National Forces - Iraq, a friend told me he was reading Bruce Catton's classic "Grant Takes Command: 1863-1865" about that earlier US general who took charge of a war at its most critical point. I and several others piled on and eagerly devoured this book. Two weeks later, we met to discuss our observations. Mine are below. I would bet you a paycheck that General Petraeus -- himself a formidable scholar as well as distinguished soldier -- has read this book more than once and probably even perused it before assuming his new post. "Grant Takes Command" offers timeless insights into the art of command and remains relevant for several reasons that should resonate today.
   
   I found that several myths about General Grant were just that: myths. The first that Catton debunks is that Grant was not a political general. In one of his first chapters titled "Political Innocent", Catton lays out clearly that Grant understood that the Civil War was an extension of politics, and that certain personnel decisions in his Army would inevitably be affected by this. Thus, Grant's handling of Generals McClernand, Sigel, Butler, and Banks - all of them troublesome, of dubious competence, but politically useful at different times throughout the war -- was at once skillful, politically deft, and necessary. When they had each imploded after their political usefulness had been expended, they were thus easily discarded. To fire them when they were politically useful would have strained civil-military relations.
   
   Grant also believed in the mission completely. This included the elimination of slavery and the re-election of President Lincoln in 1864. This was no small matter in 1863. The democrats had been making overtures to Grant in 1863, and several recent commanders of the Army of the Potomac -- most famously George McClellan -- had leapt into the political arena. Lincoln felt Grant out through mutual friends before appointing him to command the Union armies. For his part, Grant did his own maneuvering to ensure that Lincoln won re-election in 1864. Grant not only gave Lincoln battlefield victories, but also ensured that soldiers of the Army of the Potomac had the opportunity to vote. One of the most skillful uses of "controlling the message" occurred after Cold Harbor and the bloody siege of Petersburg, when Union soldiers might have become demoralized at their high number of casualties. On the eve of the election, Grant ordered 100-gun salutes to celebrate the victories of Generals Sherman and Sheridan down south and out west. Catton points out that these "salutes" brought home to the Union soldiers the aura of the juggernaut of their armies inexorably closing in on the doomed Confederacy. Grant clearly understood the nature of the war he was involved in and took the action he needed to to get the job done.
   
   Grant further understood that a great team of commanders was better than a team of great commanders. Great teamwork always beats great talent. Grant had worked very well with Generals Thomas and Sherman when he commanded out west, but with the exception of Hancock, he did not have as skilled commanders individually in the Army of the Potomac. But Grant did foster good teamwork in his army, and looked for this quality in his selection of key subordinates. In my opinion, this proved to be decisive. Grant kept and provided the required supervision for generals such as Meade and Burnside, but found little use for the self-seeking and overly critical generals such as Hooker and Smith, despite their comptetence. Most important was the relationship Grant fostered with his Commander-in-Chief, President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was much more involved in the military details of the Civil War than his own statements would indicate, and his oft-quoted remark that: "Grant doesn't tell me his plans, and I don't want to know" belies his own political skill at handling his best general and imposing his political will on the battlefield. It was the "marriage" between Lincoln and Grant, more than anything else, that saved the union. Catton's masterful work shows this quite clearly, and thus retains its great relevance for civil and military leaders.

4 comments about Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company.

1. Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company is not only an inspiring story about friendships and loyalty, but also an excellent retelling of some little known American history. Set in Northern China starting at the end of World War II and continuing to recent times, the reader will learn about the atrocities visited upon the Chinese peasantry by the Japanese, the communist take over of China and America's futile efforts to stop it, the severe poverty and starvation the Chinese people endured, and the political repression and corruption that continued for years. Into the shadows of these desolate and hopeless conditions, the warmth and charity that the American Marines and missionaries brought with them to China and to a young boy, nick-named Charlie, shine brightly. The reader is invited on a journey through Charlie's life of joys and travails, but is pulled aside by the authors from time to time for some excellent and concise description of the historical context. Thus this true tale of friendship and suffering also enables the reader to also learn the larger story of the historical events which ultimately were its cause.



2. Charlie Two Shoes is a fascinating story of one man's friendship with a group of US Marines and his incredible perseverence in getting re-united with them. Peterson and Perlmutt tell the story through Charlie's eyes and those of his Marine pals. They give us an intriguing look at life behind the Bamboo Curtain. More amazing than Charlie's budding friendship -- he was around the Marines for about four years as a teenager -- is his enduring perseverance in keeping his dream of a reunion alive. The dream survived decades, including years in a Chinese prison and more under house arrest in his small village. After all that, his eventual reunion in the U.S. had drama of its own. One Marine buddy turned out to be more interested in his own fortunes than Charlie's,and Charlie's efforts to stay got mired as much in domestic politics as international. A good read by gifted writers.



3. My boyfriend bought me this book for Christmas, and I was thrilled. Not only am I a social studies teacher and a history buff, but I am priviledged enough to know Charlie Two Shoes. He owns a business in the town where I live and is always there with a smile and a friendly word. He autographed my book with the inscription "May God bless you and yours with health and joy." When I went by today to thank him for the inscription, he told me that there is a lot of history in this book that is not often told. While I have not yet finished the book, I have enjoyed what I have read so far. No matter what crimes have been committed by one of the authors, you should take the time to buy this book and read the interesting true life story of a truly wonderful man.



4. A fascinating and inspirational account of Tsui Chi Hsii's (Charlie Two Shoe's) long-suffering odyssey to come to the United States with his family. It turns out to be a lot more complicated story than you might expect and has the potential for being a Hell of a movie, with lots of opportunities for scenery chewing, but that probably won't happen. In fact there probably won't even be any paperback updating of the still unfinished story at time of publication because one of the coauthors, Michael Peterson, is now a convicted murderer whose other books are long out of print.
   
   Life is truly stranger than fiction.

5 comments about Pathfinder: John Charles Fremont and the Course of American Empire.

1. A good book, rich in historical detail, but...wow, the copyediting is bad. It's enough that it's really hard to read the book. I hope they can fix the copyediting problems if they reprint the book or bring it out in paperback.



2. I loved this book--an inspiring story that conveys the excitment of the exploration of the west. Author includes historical background so Fremonts actions are placed in the context of the time. Very readable--almost like a novel. The one drawback are the maps of Fremonts explorations. They are merely sketch maps without any location detail--I would have liked to have seen more detailed cartography with, perhaps, landforms included. Many (most) place names in the book are not shown on the maps. I kept my atlas at hand while reading, but many place names have changed. I strongly recommend.



3. John Fremont was (in some aspects) the Alexander Hamilton of the mid-19th century. That may seem like a strange comparison, but they had one very strong similarity.... you either loved them or you hated them. Both were seen as larger than life and aroused strong emotions throughout the country.
   
   There are some pretty significant differences between the two - Fremont was world-renowed explorer of the American Wild West - while Hamilton was a bona fide finacial genius (which Fremont definitely was not!). Hamilton died too young and became somewhat of a martyr and his reputation has grown. Fremont may have lived a little too long and scandal soiled and diminished his reputation.
   
   Now to Chaffin's wonderful biography on Fremont: What a great/interesting read! The characters are much larger than life John Fremont, Thomas Hart Benton (His father-in-law), General Stockton (Who helped win California fo America) and of course Fremont's exploring buddy Kit Carson.
   
   Chaffin tells a tale that is so odd that it must be true. The tales of Fremont's four main explorations is straight out of a Hollywood movie. We follow Fremont up mountains, across rivers, through deserts - we see how they faced extreme starvation and how some members were forced to turn to canabalism (ouch!).
   
   Chaffin presents Fremont with warts and all - there is mention of his affairs, his conceit, his insubortination, his shameless self-promotion and his many financial blunders. While Chaffin does not apologize for Fremonts faults he also chooses not to dwell on these aspects.
   
   So why only four stars? There are some minor flow problems (for me) I found that the section on the war for California to be far too long, and the sections on Fremont's role in the Civil War and his ill fated Presidential campaign to be far too short. However, a significant amount of the book concentrates on Fremont's explorations.... which is exactly why I give a full recommendation.



4. This is a massively important book, one that invokes not only America, but also the frontier and the life of a man who, hitherto a minor player in history, has been brought to the forefront to show how he embodied an age. The author puts himself astride the arguments of American history, showing how John Charles Fremont was once the epitome of the American who helped brave the wilderness, and how recent revisionist historians cast him as an imperialist and a leader in the persecution of the Native Americans. For the author Fremont is neither and both, a man who forced America to "reimagine America itself". Born in 1813 in Savannah, Fremont was to embody America itself, the Colossus in the Cradle, that was just beginning to feel its way into the new frontier of the West.
   
   He was to be surveyor in the 1830s when the Cherokee nation was relocated. Fremont's most important expeditions would be between 1838 and 1854, charting various routes and mapping the American west. His campfires and wagon trails are today nothing but dust, few are preserved. The author sought in van to find them but found instead the legacy of Fremont, America astride the West gave birth to the American West and after that to commerce and the great movement of population, for which Fremont's old camping sites are now national parks or owned by the government or inside the property of corporations.
   
   This book evokes so many things it is hard not to give it praise for all of them. It tells the story of the American West and attempts by well meaning explorers to sympathize and help Native-Americans, Fremont himself judged the U.S government deficient in its promises to the American Indian.
   
   An amazing read that will be enjoyed by any student of American history or anyone interested in the frontier or the American West.
   
   Seth J. Frantzman



5. This is an excellent biography of an American that few people know about. Fremont was truly a vivid member of history from the days of the early republic through the age of manifest destiny. This book covers not only Fremont's triumphs but his downfalls. While a young and impetuous (sometimes dishonest) man, Fremont was successful in helping to expand this countries knowledge of its own topography and boundaries. Through a vivid use of journals and maps Fremont led expeditions that cataloged the trails for westward expansion.
   His service in the army corp. of engineers helped with the capture of California through bravado more so than force. After his brief governorship of California, Fremont was found guilty at a court marital for his actions against General Kearny and the Polk administration. Fremont's retirement would lead him to business ventures and a run for the presidency as the Republican Party's first candidate. These distinctions would continue as he was a commander of the western union forces during the Civil War. His greatest act here would be to promote a little known Grant to general and command the armies of Tennessee. Overall this is an excellent biography and does a great job of providing a balanced look at a little known person in American history. Highly recommended for those who want to understand how the groundwork for manifest destiny was laid.

No comments about The Life of J.E.B. Stuart.

5 comments about Reluctant Warrior.

1. Reading Reluctant Warrior was like stepping through a door into the jungle. For just a little while I was on patrol again with 1st Recon, 3rd Plt, "C" Company. I saw and smelled OP 425, ran through the jungle and listened to the 46s coming to extract our team when we got in the "S__t Sandwich". My friends lived again---Thanks Mike! Chuck Fenwick HM3 1st Mar Div, 1st Recon, 3rd Plt, "C" Company, RVN 69-70.



2. This book is an outstanding account of recon battalion actions in Vietnam. It is well worth reading. I served with Mike before the war. He was a straight shooter then, and a straight shooter in Vietnam



3. Michael Hodgins captures the real spirit of the place and time. As a former Marine who served with the 1st Recon Bn, I can testify Mr. Hodgins presents a true and vivid picture of life in the bush, on an OP, and in Camp Reasoner. With all the distortions about Vietnam presented in the movies and on TV, as well as the anti-war prejudice of public school history teachers, this book should be required reading in the high school cirriculum. I hope someday someone will write a book that will tell us more about Lt. Skibbe, Lt. Rathmell, and Captain McVey who gave lost their lives protecting their troops.



4. Excellent book about Recon operations in Vietnam. I served with Mike in OCS before Vietnam. I highly recommend the book.



5. Semper Fi is about all that can be said. This was the life of the grunt. No amplification or heroism that was not there. This is the best book I have ever read discribing the life. Also the excerpt on page 299 and 300 "These Good Men" by Micheal Norman is the first and only explanation of all of us that have ever served and our feelings forever to our comrades. I wish Micheal could write another book, I don't think he will. It was all in this one.

1 comments about Forrest: The Confederacy's Relentless Warrior (Military Profiles).

1. I was looking for a short but comprehensive biography of that legendary hero of the Civil War, Nathan Bedford Forrest and this book was a fine choice. It contains all the necessary details of Forrest's life with an emphasis on his military campaigns and achievements, accompanied by some nice b&w maps. The choronological list on the front pages was very useful and the account of Forrest deeds and beliefs was very balanced and fair. A very nice book for someone who does not want to spend a lot of time and energy delving into the bigger volumes published on the subject.