5 comments about West Dickens Avenue: A Marine at Khe Sanh.

1. In 1968 an isolated, Marine garrison held out under heavy shelling for 77 consecutive days while American's watched from the comfort of our own living rooms. Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, and sometimes, President Lyndon B. Johnson would then explain the necessity of holding this remote, landing strip on the Laotian border. None of this made any difference to the Marines. They were preoccupied with one thing: staying alive! The place was called, Khe Sanh. Author John Corbett was a Marine Private there. This short book tells his story. It's the story of 6000 other Marines as well.
   
   Corbett was a young man looking for adventure. He more than found it at Khe Sanh! During his time there, he was subjected to shellings of up to 1500 rounds per day fired by, "Mister Charlie," the North Vietnamese Regular (NVA) Army troops assigned to make Khe Sanh, Americas' Dien Bien Phu. Completely isolated and surrounded by the NVA who outnumbered them 7 to 1, their grim determination made the NVA pay a heavy price trying to take this extinct volcano overlooking the Ho Chi Minh Trail. To the Marines credit, they never did!
   
   Corbett describes the daily life of the troops on the ground: the daily rituals of eating C Rations, burning waste, the elation of "mail call," filling and carrying water containers, and `humping" ammunition to the guns, all done while walking in a low crouch called the "Khe Sanh shuffle." He tells how he learned to listen for telltale signs of enemy "incoming" rounds. Once detected, you had only seconds to find a hole, or die. He talks about his fellow Marines, where they were from, their hopes, dreams etc. and shows how a strong bond was forged between them. He vividly describes the relentless shelling they endured daily. His story has that authentic ring that only comes from someone who has, "been there."
   
   West Dickens Avenue gives the reader a foxholes eye view of one of the most significant battles in Vietnam. Short and easily understood, it should be read by everyone going into combat and by the men who contemplate sending them there. His story verifies General Robert E. Lee's famous statement, "War seldom avails anything to those unfortunate enough to have to fight it."



2. It was like reading a diary. Very to the point. It was as the old saying goes. Like watching a trainwreck. You don't want to watch but you can't take your eyes off it. Anyone that is interested in a human look at the Vietnam war. A view that is not sterilized by military jargon, dates, and places. This book is for you. It is the quickest 200 pages I have ever read. Amazing.



3. this is 1 of the worst books i've read-don't get me wrong-the story of the marines at khe sanh is 1 of tremendous courage, dedication and honor--absolutely no question...but this book does a lousy job of portraying to the reader--i struggled to even finish it--the writing was horrible and choppy. it's obvious that this is corbett's first writing effort--and 35 yrs after the "action" didn't help him deliver a sensible, realistic
   description of really happended there.this book is a fairly lame portrayal of what happened there. please understand that i truly believecorbett lived it-experienced it but i must say he does a poorjob of writing about it--6 word sentences just don't
   do it-especially when it repeats over and over again that is was dangerous there and the enemy wanted to kill him--we all know that, and we don't need to hear it every 3 pages-and if you spent 13 mos there, and decided to write about it, would you only take ~275 pages? i was very disappointed.



4. Mr.Corbett did a good job putting me there with him during his 77 days of hell. This was not meant to be a story about Khe Sanh but a personal account of a young man's terrifying ordeal at Khe Sanh. Yes,the book is full of 'short choppy sentences' but it is not a history lesson. Mr. Corbett's intimate details are a must read for all Americans who just don't have a clue what Vietnam Vets endured both during and after serving.



5. This book really took me on an emotional journey of an average young man through the hell of Khe Sanh. It makes my own tours to that sad forgotten war feel like a cake walk. Really Mel Gibson should take a look at this book as a screen play for a real power house of a movie about that war; no officers, no extreme river trips, no bad guy good guy of "Platoon", just an average Joe from New York, protecting his balls, his friends and his mortar.
   
   The ending was a killer, heh "Florida", in that one sentence he captured the return we all shared.
   
   Good job John, keep writing.

5 comments about Great Captains Unveiled.

1. This book is amazing. I really like this book. Because it explains not only strategical and tactical thoughts but also gives lessons about them. For example, Sabutay always leaded his armies in a security circle. He always believed the importance of the security. If you really investigate the maps in the books and listens to Sir Hart, you can understand that easily. Above all, you can apply these thoughts to your military, business or personal life. Without a doubt, Hart doesn't generalise that. Because he was a fascinating military theorist not a self-help or a business-self book writer. However, If you deeply thinks the book(when you are reading that), you can gain many skills and get in to the minds of genius'.



2. Liddell Hart ranks as a minor military prophet in his own right. Although he was considered one of Britain's leading tank experts during and after the Great War, the British military rejected his thought on the importance of mobility, but the German General Staff followed his work closely. The result was the Blitzkrieg, which destroyed the armies of Poland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Britain in less than a year.

   Here, however, in a collection of biographical essays written for popular journal readers, Liddell Hart shows himself as not being above gushing hack writing more typical of a teenager's fan magazine than a military history. As another reviewer has pointed out, "Great Captains Unveiled" jumps about in its biographies. It offers facts which might be interesting in the context of a major biographical work, but which are all but pointless in the brief biographies presented -- acceptable perhaps for a general readership, but unacceptable for those expecting information which explains WHY these particular individuals were chosen to be considered "Great Captains."

   The worst biography is probably that of Wolfe, victor at Quebec. What difference does it make if he was delayed on this date or that date because he or someone else was sick? The Battle of Quebec and his tactics were completely unaffected by his health (unlike, for example, General Rommel's psychosomatic illnesses, which seriously affected the course of the North African campaign and led to his disillusionment with Hitler and his own forced suicide, a series of events which unfolded after the publishing of this book, which Rommel might well have read, although he himself throve too late to be included). The gushing tone is most obvious in the actual description of the "Battle" of Quebec, which seems to have boiled down to a sneak attack, one effective volley at close range which caused the French to panic, and a foolish French salley which cost both Wolfe and defender Montcalme their lives. A perceptive reader might well get the impression that death was Wolfe's greatest ally: had he lived he might well have shown himself to be as mediocre as most of his contemporaries -- one lucky volley does not a "Great Captain" make.

   The acccount of the Mongol conquest of the Khwarezm Shah's empire, however, is very good indeed. Although the casus belli is often repeated in histories of the Mongol conquests, few histories relate the unfolding of the events which led to the Mongol victory, nor so succinctly explain EXACTLY why this victory was more significant than any other Mongol victory in Central Asia. The other Mongol victories get short shrift, but this book's account of the Central Asian campaign is outstanding.

   The life of Wallenstein is covered in far greater detail in Friedrich Shiller's history of the Thirty Years War (available free online through Project Gutenberg and other web sites) than it is in "Great Captains Unveiled," while the life of De Saxe is over-rated and inflated to highlight the importance of his "Reveries." I can't even remember who else was covered in this book, so trivialized are the biographies.

   This is one book by Liddell Hart which bears missing. The interested reader should merely note the names of those whose biographies he includes and look up their lives elsewhere, although, as stated, the account of the defeat of the Khwarezm Shah is outstanding.




3. Hart's "Great Captains Unveiled" is a great read: it is relatively short, not overly long on detail and interesting. The book does not fall into the trap of appeasing armchair generals, meaning that it skips fame in favor of true strategy and leadership. One might expect such a book to focus on Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Marlborough, Washington or Patton. However, Hart instead examines less appreciated leaders, including Genghis Kahn, Marshal de Saxe, Gustavus Adolphus, Wallenstein, and Wolfe. I personally most enjoyed the chapter on Genghis Khan. Hart ignores the crude characterizations of and misinformation on Khan. For example, there was no "Mongol horde" that simply outnumbered its enemies, nor did the Christian west valiantly repel Khan's armies. Rather, Khan was typically outnumbered and he won due to innovative tactics and excellent operational control. Moreover, his armies retreated from Europe due to internal political issues. Khan was an innovator and a winner, something Hart focuses on. The other biographies are also compelling. Overall, this is a quick enjoyable read for those truly interested in great military leaders.



4. Wafare philosophy enthusiasts will love Liddell Hart's works. This classic work containing the seeds of blitzkrieg and maneuver warfare theory will resonate especially with those who admire those schools of thought. The first chapter on Jenghiz Khan and Sabutai is alone worth the price of the book. A brilliant piece of military history and theory that still resonates with thinkers today.



5. An excellent and critically reflective discussion of several 'Great Captains' frequently ignored. Hart's depth of knowledge is combined with an appreciation of core issues. The material is clearly presented, easy to read and highly relevant.

5 comments about Someone Else's Yesterday: The Confederate General and Connecticut Yankee - A Past Life Remembered.

1. From the time I received this book I couldn't put it down. It is a must read for history buffs as well as for those who are interested in reencarnation.



2. What more can I say. I have read many books on this subject, and there are many of them out there, but this I must say is the best ever. It takes you from the very start of his search to present day. If you are looking for your own past lives, this book can help you. It gives you ideas of how and where you can start looking for yourself. It lets you know how a journey of this type can affect your present life, good and bad. It also lets you know how past lives influances the thoughts, actions and memories you have today, even your dreams. I could not put this book down from the moment I started reading it, till I was finished with it. It takes alot for someone to come forward like this and share what they went through, and I must say thank you to Jeffrey for doing so. Martin Huffman



3. Mr. Jeff Keene had provided his own past life in a way understandable and as historically accurate as possible to his earlier life as a CSA General John B. Gordon. There were some very touching places in his story which literally brought tears to my eyes like the following -
   (1) The place where he explains about the spontaneous feeling of sadness he felt when he stood next to his daughter's grave from his previous life and who had passed off when quite young even before ever being named.
   (2) The place where he very humbly stays behind thinking of himself as quite junior when compared to other army commanders on the lines before being called by General Hancock during Grant's funeral to lead the funeral procession alongside him in the front lines.
   (3) The place where he vividly reminisces his past life incident when he saved the life of the Federal Division Commander Francis Barlow.
   On the whole the author comes through as a very great gentleman and one worthy of emulation in both of his forms as Gen Gordon as well as the current Fire Chief Jeff Keene.
   May God provide him all prosperity in the present and the yonder!



4. My husband and I were fortunate enough to experience a slice of serendipity when visiting friends in Connecticut. We had ventured out to visit a quaint little cigar shop and that's where we met Mr. Keene. I had never heard of him or his work, and after learning that we were from Upson County, Georgia, he was more than happy to share with us his experiences and convictions regarding his connections to John B. Gordon. The author is quite an interesting fellow--very personable and entertaining. The opportunity to meet and talk to the author has made this book much more meaningful and authentic for me. I highly recommend it to both believers and skeptics alike. It is quite the read!



5. This book really opened my eyes to reincarnation. I would recommended it to anyone that is unsure and needs proof into the field!

2 comments about Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire (Discoveries).

1. ... that's about all that this little book has to recommend it. (I'd actually give it more like 1&1/2 stars.) The other thing is the excerpts of source material at the end. It's basically a coffee table book, complete with glossy paper, in a paperback size. The text itself can't really be recommended. "Barbaric and uncultivated race"?! (pg. 17). It obviously wasn't edited by someone who knows Mongolia -- non-standard terms and spellings for names are used throughought. Some dates are wrong (the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Chinggis Khaan's birth was in 1962, not 1955). A few passages just don't make sense. "What may have played the biggest role in favor of the Mongols despite internal or foreign wars, conclusively marginal, was the establishment of peace and order" (pg. 66). Many assertions are wrong, or at best very misleading. You get the idea. And what history is okay is really too abbreviated to be of much use to anyone who knows anything about Mongolia, and for those that don't, there are much better sources to start with, such as David Morgan's The Mongols, or Ratchnevsky's biography of Chinggis .



2. While I am not enamored of the writing style of the author--and I imagine the translation into English was uneven--the little book makes up for it with very nice, colorful illustrations from Mongol and central Asian art, and with a helpful set of primary source readings at the end of the book. No, it's not going to be authoritative as a history, and some phrases are awkward (though mostly just old-fashioned), if you can find it at a used bookstore, it's worth picking up, and using for the things it does well. It works best as a historical art book interspersed with history.

5 comments about Napoleon III: A Life.

1. The influence of Napoleon III on nineteenth-century French history and culture is inestimable: his unlikely rise to power after the 1848 Paris revolutions cemented twenty years' worth of extravagance and folly, resulting in the splendors of the Haussmann re-development of the capital city and the horrors of the Mexican debacle and the Franco-Prussian War. There was probably never a less-likely "man of destiny" than this emperor, who managed to come to power (and hold on to it) mostly through dumb luck, and if this biography by Fenton Bresler focuses too strongly on the private life of the Second Empire's court it may be suitable for a man who seemed much more interested in managing his mistresses than his empire.

   Bresler's account is immesely readable and clear, which should be the first requirement of all popular biographies, and you do emerge from it with a strong sense of the personalities of the major figures in Napoleon's life: his amazingly resourceful (and lucky) mother, Queen Hortense of Holland; his sybaritic grandmother Josephine; his fascinating and iron-willed wife the Empress Eugenie; and his manipulative and adoring ministers and cronies. It is true that the lack of political and historical synthesis sometimes seriously mars this work: what may be worse is that Bresler's desire to say at least something that the emperor's other biographers haven't uncovered leads him to point out his newer discoveries (such as that the imperial couple had likely already prepared an escape route to Chislehurst years before the Franco-Prussian War) at overextreme length. Also his reliance on Napoleon's and Eugenie's near-contemporary biographers--whom later historians have dismissed as too fawning and inaccurate--seems a real mistake.




2. Lifelessness is a defect of far too many biographies - and works of historical fiction. Fenton Bresler's "Napoleon III" succeeds admirably in avoiding it.

   Before Napoleon III there was Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, and he is a vivid, living presence on every page of this work. Less a political biography than a personal one, the book cuts through the gilded pomp of the Second Empire to give us Louis, the man. Hotblooded, stubborn, flirtatious, fickle... More than half the book is devoted to his life before he became Emperor. Yet the book is also good in analyzing Louis as an ideologue. It has been conveniently forgotten that prior to becoming emperor, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte wrote a number of books laying down the basis for the new ideology which Karl Marx, in attacking, baptized as Bonapartism. An accomplished schemer, Louis was blessed with talents better suited to the coming age of politics than to the warrior times of his uncle. In the end, though, his lack of military skill became the Achilles Heel responsible for his downfall. He would have been better suited for the age of the sound bite than that of the sword.

   De Morny and Persigny, Lizzie Howard and La Castiglione... the men and women of Bonapartist Paris are skillfully introduced to us on every page. Eugenie fans will not be pleased with the more critical assessment of her in this book: she is portrayed as a meddling political spouse to a degree that makes Hillary Clinton seem apolitical. A boring marriage to a wife who hated sex may havbe hastened Louis' ultimate detachment from the court he'd created.

   Many a competent professional is overshadowed by an ancestral predecessor; from young doctors to aspiring actors, many a young person finds that over time the example which inspired them ultimately becomes their bitterest rival. This has been the fate of Napoleon III, forever remembered as the "other" Napoleon. Bresler's biography introduces us to a talented and clever man who could have excelled in many different callings, yet chose for himself the Herculean task of equalling the most successful leader of the preceding five hundred years. Measured by any yardstick other than the Napoleonic one which he himself chose, the accomplishments of his career would be impressive. In an almost conversational style which shares the data without letting it dominate the narrative, Bresler reminds us why Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was popular enough to become Napoleon III in the first place.




3. It is interesting to read a biography of the Napoleon III after one on the First for the tales are really the same tale of prempted republics and celebrity families with their predations of revolutionary changes, as the ghost of hybrid reactionaries stalks the legacy of the new bourgeoisie. The result here is a sort of hors d'oeuvre for Marx's classic Eighteen Brumaire, "Hegel observes somewhere that all great incidents, and individuals of history occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce". Napoleon Louis' takeover of the republican hopes of 1848 was, however, a species of sly cleverness that shows no dunce even as the outcome, as the second Empire, is barren of result (although a kind of rancid liberalism and never fulfilled sympathy with the goals of revolution is characteristic of all the Napoleons, if only as a celebrity mystique). A strange sort of daydream, the disguised persistence of the ancient regime in Mayr's phrase of his book by that name, one that simples wakes up to reality in a matter of weeks, as the Franco-Prussian War sweeps the fantasy into the dustbin.



4. Napoleon III has always been an enigma, both during his own time and remaining so today. This book refreshingly spares us the ho-hum political, military, and economic details of Nap III's reign and concentrates instead on the man and how events and people influenced him and made him what he was -- a rather tragic, confused, and vain little man trying to fill the shoes and name of an illustrious predecessor. The author for the most part is sympathetic to his subject and uses a variety of published material and private research to support his observations of Nap III and why he reacted to circumstances and events as he did. The author writes with a very readable style and presents a complete yet not dull life of his subject. Of particular interest are the many affairs that Nap III carried on before and after marriage and his relationship with his wife and Empress Eugenie. I would highly recommend this book as a fine overview of Nap III's life and conduct.



5. Say what you will about this strange little man, but he had taste and he remade Paris into what it is today. His accention to the throne of France is nothing short of incredible, but this man had amazing chuzpa and he willed it so. He had nothing in common with his illustrious, some say infamous uncle Napoleon, except a name. I liked how he loved pomp and he could really get his cult of peronality out there. He was a despot yes, but fairly enlightened, I mean compare him to the dour idiot Victoria and he was not all bad, granted England did much better under her ministers..(not her, she was shut up at Balmoral or the Isle of Wight, mourning her German stud, Albert)..ask someone what a prince albert is and you get idea of his..uh devotion to a nice pant line), but France under Napoleon III had style and it was he who ushered it in..certainly not the fool Louis Phillip who preceded him. This is good book, with a nice history lesson, that's not too painful.

1 comments about Billy Mitchell: The Life, Times and Battles of America's Prophet of Air Power.

1. Billy Mitchell was a real war hero who did more for America than most people realize; and for those historians who are, in fact, aware of his pioneering achievements, they rarely pay him the full amount of credit he earned during his lifetime. After reading this book, one is awestruck by General Mitchell's ability to predict the future, and cannot but wonder why few took him seriously. Had the political leaders done so prior to WWII, thousands of lives subsequently lost in the Pacific would have been spared on both sides.

5 comments about Rommel: The Trail of the Fox (Wordsworth Military Library).

1. David Irvings works are nothing short of exemplary, and this work is no different. History is written by the victors, but there are still a few to whom truth is more compelling than politics. David Irving is a great revealer of truth--pulling back the curtain of time for all of us to peer back into another era. This book is excellent. He does not re-hash the writings and opinions that already flood the bookshelves from this time period, he finds out for himself--from the original sources. Sometimes his findings are different from the popular ideas.

   His chief critic (Barbara Lipscomb) is from the same university which recently had a historian villified in the press (Michael Bellesiles) for systematically fabricating an entire volume about the second amendment towards a particular political view. See Newsweek May 20 page 76 "Gunning for a bad book" article about M. Bellesiles' real deceptions. I really don't need to say any more. Irving reminds me of the philospher Bruno-who was burned at the stake by the inquisition for not espousing their views and promoting the idea of heliocentrism which was the truth. Irving is the best--a must read. The politically-correct are really going all-out to destroy his career. Don't let truth be thrown to the dogs, you will really be missing out if you pass up this one.




2. The author of this fascinating, illuminating and utterly engrossing biography of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel have created a real true to life page turner that would make Tom Clancy proud. Drawing from copious research and rare documents, Irving works wonders humanizing one of the truly mythic characters to rise out of the ashes of the Second World War. Rommel was always dubiously viewed by the allied press and his Allied foes as a "Good German". Irving works extremely hard (and therefore, courts controversy) at painting Rommel as a brilliant soldier, philosopher and engineer who, had he surived the war, could have very easily played a critical peacetime role in the restructuring of Europe. This book belongs on the shelf of every person possessing even a casual interest in the history of the second world war. Guaranteed not to disappoint.



3. Mr. Irving is certainly an unpopular character now, but I would agree with the distinguished historian Donald Keegan who once said, to the effect, that no matter what one thinks of Irving's politics he is without peer in his chosen field of study. Irving is a very good historian, and this is a very good book, written while Irving was still a young man, and perhaps not quite as clouded by his muddled feelings about Hitler. Irving's Rommel is a great commander, to a point. He has no grasp of logistics, but he is a "new" kind of commander, and therefore is more acceptable to Hitler than some of the more stuffy characters of the High Command. Rommel has an uncanny instinct for speed of movement, surprise, and terrain, as well as how to deal with the press. He is fully aware of his own legend, and the need Hitler has for an infallible German war-God. Unlike other German commanders (especially those on the Eastern front) Rommel is a scrupulously clean fighter. He does not massacre POWs or slaughter civilians. He ignores orders to execute all Jewish fighters and commandos. When white South African officers demand to be segregated from their black soldiers, Rommel denies them this request, the blacks fought and died wearing the uniform, and are soldiers like everyone else. Rommel comes to distrust Nazis like Himmler and others, who are involved in massacres, and, in the end, loses some faith in Hitler. Rommel wanted peace with the West and for the Western powers to turn with Germany against the Soviet Union. It was a naieve belief, certainly, but Rommel was no politician. Irving maintains Rommel was loyal to Hitler until the end, but the fact that a professional solider would offer an ultimatum to his Fuhrer, either you seek peace with the West or I will, shows that he had no illusions about Hitler's competence, or his methods of waging war. Irving makes a good case that Speidel, Rommel's chief of staff, himself a full-blooded anti-Hitler conspirator, threw Rommel to the dogs to save his own skin, and crafted Rommel's anti-Hitler pedigree after the war only to fully de-Nazify himself. Unlike what another review states, there is no mention of the "crime" of trying to assassinate Irving's "precious" Fuhrer, rather, Irving seems to feel dubiously about a man who was apparently so underhanded and sly (poor Rommel never stood a chance). At the very least, Rommel showed that in a brutal confilct without comparison in human history, a military commander could still fight honorably and with a humane concern for his men and nation.



4. I bought THE TRAIL OF THE FOX when it first hit book store shelves in 1977. Back in those days, as a novice World War Two enthusiast, I was temporarily hooked on the war in the desert. My interest in the war in North Africa was stirred by reading Desmond Young's THE DESERT FOX. I started reading additional books about the North African campaign. In buying TRAIL OF THE FOX I broke new ground in that it was the first time that I went out of my way to splurge for the hard cover edition.
   
   There is no denying that David Irving's volume is steeped in research. As reviewers of other Irving books have noted, David Irving delves deep into archives that are largely ignored. He also has the ability to charm his way into key participant homes and his hosts go so far as to offer him unpublished diaries and other documents. From this often untapped information pool the Rommel story evolves.
   
   The book captures the Erwin Rommel as ambitious officer pursuing the covetted Pour Le Merit with a reckless abandon similar to that of the fictional World War One character Staechel in THE BLUE MAX. We find the military Rommel with flashes of brilliance, moments of self doubt and depression, awkward in civilian clothes, and as a demanding and often disappointed father.
   
   Rommel was brilliant. He was also reckless. He was dynamic in leading from the front. However, his cavalier jaunts to the front lines frequently caused command crises in the rear. In one case Rommel's unpredictable dash to toward the sound of the guns coincidentally prevented his capture or death at the hands of British commandos. As Irving points out, dash and daring is fine when an army holds the initiative, but at the moment when the surge has reached its high tide the advantage goes to the army with superior logistics and planning. In this respect Panzer Armee Afrika faltered.
   
   Rommel was quick to heap responsibility on Rome and Berlin for lack of supplies and diversion of combat power to the eastern front. What supplies did set out for Libya were heavily attrited by the Royal Navy and RAF. Rommel never quite understood that his army's mission was one of tying down Allied forces and keeping them from setting foot on the continent. As such, he was expected to work with what he had available. When the Germans and Italians hurled themselves at El Alamein, they put themselves in a position where they quickly consumed the resources that were designed to last for a longer and less intense delaying action.
   
   Still the Italian navy and Luftwaffe were able to safeguard deliveries of troops and heavy equipment to Tunisia for the last stand of Panzer Armee Afrika. Here too there is some debate as to whether or not Rommel squandered his forces in counterattacks rather than settling down for a lengthy holding action.
   
   At this point in THE TRAIL OF THE FOX, we are then presented with an Erwin Rommel who is no longer the darling of Wolf's Lair. Rommel's health deteriorates and speculation begins as to what constitutes a real illnes and what boughts were convenient exits from the battlefield. Rommel is treated as more of a has-been. He is shuttled around from commands in Italy to Greece more for his name than anything else. It is in France that Rommel, who originally disdained fixed fortifications, finds himself overseeing the construction of the Atlantic Wall. Realizing he does not have the mobile forces under his direct command to throw back an invasion -- as well as an almost total lack of Luftwaffe support -- Rommel adopts the fortified beaches as the sole hope of repelling the Allies.
   
   The book also explores Rommel's involvement with the plot against Hitler. Unlike other books that paint Rommel as either an active or unwilling participant, Irving shows Rommel's association as one where he is torn between his loyalty to the regime and realities of the battlefield.
   
   THE TRAIL OF THE FOX is an important work on Erwin Rommel, however as with any subject, it should be read in conjunction with other books on the subject.



5. Having finished this very interesting book, I think that Irving did a first rate job. He seems to have interviewed many of the principals involved on the German side and that in itself is very valuable for future analysis of both the Normandy and Afrika campaigns. Hopefully many of the unpublished diaries and letters (unpublished at least at the time of publication of this book) will eventually be published or otherwise made available to the general public. I was quite disappointed in the role of General Seidel in the demise of Rommel but it seems to me that Rommel's ideas of generalship would have resulted in his own demise on the battlefield eventually. I was also amazed at the degree of disorganisation of the German high command in France at the time of the D-Day invasion (including Rommel's own absence from the front). I believe that David Irving did excellent research, even though it painted a much different picture of Rommel than I had been led to believe. Rommel was indeed a great general, but his lack (at times) of comprehension of the some of the strategic aspects of the German war effort show that he had some flaws as all generals do. Rommel's suicide had the beneficial effect of probably accelerating the collapse of the German Western front in WWII, but Hitler's strategy was fatally flawed in any event. Some of Irving's conclusions are arguable in any event, but he has done an excellent job of presenting his conclusions in a clear and effective manner. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Allied effort in Europe in WWII.

5 comments about Attila: King of the Huns: The Man and the Myth.

1. This book claims to be "...a thrilling piece of historical reconstruction." Needless to say it didn't live up to its claim. I enjoy reading about history, but up to this point I have not studied the fifth century. It wasn't a bad book for getting a feel for the time period, but provided little relevant information. I have two main complaints about this book.
   1. There is actually little said about Attila. The Romans are the central figure for much of the book. I understand that the Hun and Roman interactions are where we get most of our information about Attila, but if you do not have enough information to write a book about Attila, do not try. It would be similar to someone writing a 10 chapter book on Stalin during WWII, spending 7 of those of Hitler, one on FRD and Churchill, one on Russia, and taking one chapter to discuss Stalin.
   2. There are no maps included. The book mentions many little ancient villages and gives no way of determining where they are located. I eventually gave up trying to visualize where in Europe and Asia the Huns were pillaging. Every once in a while the book will mention a major location such as Paris or Rome. Their route from one place to another is still a mystery to me.



2. for everyone who wanted more on Attila after west. civ. 101,this is the one.answers almost all of the questions you wanted to ask but shyed off because the business majors were giving you "funny looks".(you could be a closet Hun bent on world conquest or an idler searching after esoteric trivia)!!!!The story i always believed was that these rabid horsebound sadists stormed mysteriously from the East,tore everything up for awhile in the 400's and then through the grace of god disappeared.(WHEW!!)this book shows how the Huns were politically astute,absorbing other tribes and nations over a period of hundreds of years and if at times seemed less than enlightened were no more inhumane than the Goths or the Romans.The book has alot of fresh interpretations like Mr. Howarth's statement that the eastern Roman Empire was less vulnerable than the west to invasions due to better leadership.There is alot of movement in this book with tribes moving everywhere,the names of which,some i have never heard of before.The last few chapters are a summary and a "where are they now"(the Huns that is)



3. The writing is engaging. The author explores the evidence and the various views of Attila over the centuries. The first chapters gave the reader the background setting of this turbulent period. I found chapters 13-21 to be the most crucial. The authors speculations on why Attila spared Italy from more devestation was good food for thought. This book should inspire the reader to do more research on the subject. But, the index is rather brief and the absense of maps was sorely missed. The problem may be that there simply are not enough original sources? When more archaeological artefacts come to light I look forward to this book being revised.



4. This is a fair biography of Attilla and perhaps a good introduction in that respect. But if you are looking for a history with some depth in the military aspects of his reign, you will likely want to look some more. One invaluable tool for the military man that is noticably absent are maps. The battle descriptions are also rather shallow for the tastes of the avid military historiphile. Still, the writing is good and the organization of the material is equally good. One nice feature was a table at the beginning that had contemporaries listed for rulers of the western and eastern Roman empires, rulers of the Huns, and rulers of the Visigoths. It helps a great deal to have that ready reference of names unfamiliar to modern western ears. Not a bad resource and a worthwhile biography.



5. Patrick Howarth introduces the life and myths of Attila in an easy to read and ascertainable format.
   In the 5th century Attila was known by many Christian writers as the scourge of God, and managed to nearly topple the Roman Empire. He was a fierce warrior king who ruled the Hunnish hordes for approximately eight years. And of course this book more than elaborates on this tumultuous time period of barbarian kings such as Alaric, king of the Goths who sack Roman in 400AD, and Geiseric, king of the Vandals.
   Also, what makes this book so unique is that even though it's a biography about Attila and his exploits it tends more to chronologically follow the early dilapidation of the Roman Empire.
   In my opinion, throughout this book, Attila seems more of a background entity then the character taking center stage, and most of this book seems to be mostly based upon the fall of Roman and how Attila attributed to it through many battles such as going to war with Valentinian III, and scaring the wits out of the early Roman Church.
   Also, keep in mind that a good portion of this biography was lifted out of Edward Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire," so, Howarth's book is pure cream for anyone who is a Roman Historian who just can't get enough, or anyone who just enjoys this kind of material.
   Howarth also delineates the many myth that cropped up about Attila's exploits over the years. He succeeds in differentiating between fact and erroneous belief, in other words this book is a myth-buster. So, if you don't like your mythology debunked then this isn't for you.
   Overall, this entire book was a respectable attempt at telling the tale of a legend... the legend of THE KING HUN!!!

4 comments about Sammy: The Autobiography of Sammy Davis, Jr..

1. This book tries to cram together Yes I Can and Why Me? and in the process the humor and emotions which made those books great, especially Yes I Can, is lost. There is VERY LITTLE new material here. This book is a waste of time to anyone who already knows about Sammy and if they don't this isn't the place to start.



2. I gladly give the life of Sammy Davis Jr. 5 stars, however, the Boyers have done this bright icon who came into their lives a disservice by simply expanding on Sammy's two previous autobiographies with more & longer details without any attempt to focus his memories or put order into the reading & that is why I give the book only 2 stars.

   Sammy Davis Jr. rose from childhood stardom in vaudeville to become one of the most famous African-Americans of the 1950s & 1960s. At the same time his career, friends & lifestyle were surrounded by controversy & his experiences as a black performer in segregated America.

   Of all the celebrities in the American star-studied panoply, Sammy Davis Jr., crossed over more lines. He converted to an unpopular religion; he had no fear of dating & marrying beautiful white women; he was close to the Kennedys & the Nixons; he was a member of Frank Sinatra's notorious Rat Pack & he played with alcohol & drugs.

   It's amusing to read his opinions of the two songs he liked the least as they became best-sellers - going platinum to his amazement.

   I think an Index of his best-selling songs, his legendary Las Vegas performances, his world-wide concerts & his movies & television shows should have been included. Sammy Davis Jr., was also a spokesperson for his people & an Index of the movers & shakers of the Civil Rights Movement & the politicians of his time with whom he consulted & for whom he worked, is vital.

   There isn't even a curriculum vitae! Do check out my full review of this & other biographies.




3. For beginners, this isn't bad. But those who are familiar with "Yes I can" and "Why Me?" (the Davis bios that this book was edited from) will not be happy. Too much of the good stuff from "Yes I Can" is missing, such as Sammy's guilt over his treatment of James Dean and his own mistreatment at the hands of other children and teenagers. Those were some of the most moving parts of that book and they should be included here. Oh well, you can always read the original.



4. I thought this book was very inspiring. This book was very good, and kept me very interested. I like how they put in pictures, and exact dates of when things happened to Sammy Davis Jr. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about an all around performer.
   
   Reviewer: Samantha, Cisneros

No comments about The Civil War Memoirs of a Virginia Cavalryman: Lt. Robert T. Hubard Jr..