2 comments about Alexander the Great: Historical Sources in Translation (Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History).

1. I was very much looking forward to this Heckel/Yardley effort, but the actual book turned out to be something other than I was expecting. Unfortunately, although I suspect it will be extremely popular with undergraduates eager to find a source of citations for their term papers (and too lazy to do their own research), I'd have to say that it fell considerably short of my expectations.
   
   The good news is that the HeckelYardley team includes quite a number of passages from hitherto difficult-to-find English versions of the Metz Epitome, the Itinerary of Alexander, the Heidelberg Epitome, and the Book of the Death of Alexander, all in new translations by the redoubtable Yardley. In addition they provide quotes from other sources, as well as from the five classic biographies, including those from Athanaeus, Cicero and so on. The bad news, from my perspective, begins with the fact that Heckel has chosen to include only representative quotes on each of his chosen topics and has omitted to add a list of the other source citations on those topics, which I think would have considerably increased the value of this book to scholars. Instead, he has clearly aimed this work at students.
   
   It is difficult to blame Heckel and Yardley for this decision, in view of the incredible amount of work they put into their 1997 Clarendon collaboration Justin: Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, Vol. I, Books 11-12: Alexander the Great, only to find that it sold very few copies other than to libraries, in large part because the first printing was priced beyond the reach of any but dedicated scholars. With Sources in Translation's attractive price and broader appeal, they should finally see some decent income from their efforts - and that's a good thing, because, as a team, they have made some major contributions to modern Alexander scholarship and can be expected to make more in the near future.
   
   But, for serious students of Alexander, part of the problem with this book is exactly that it is aimed at those who are less so. Heckel's explanatory snippets are brief, and thus highly-compressed, and therefor necessarily something short of comprehensive. His footnotes are sparing and early on I found a cross-reference in the introduction that pointed to a passage from the Metz that does not actually appear to have made it into the published book - which I take as evidence of poor proofreading on the part of Heckel's editors.
   
   In sum, this is not the book I wish Heckel and Yardley had produced - one which would have collected only passages from sources other than the five mainstay biographies - and I don't think the book they did do is as useful to serious students of Alexander as that one would have been. At the same time, I think this book will be warmly welcomed by the undergraduate community - and I would be surprised if university-level classical history instructors are not inundated by term papers about Alexander (all of which will both be based on this book and parrot Heckel's explanations), from now until the end of time.



2. I have read extensively on Alexander the Great,as I lived 25 years of my life in the City that he created Alexandria Egypt.This book is a collection of ,Arrian,Justin, Curtius Rufus,Plutarch,Dioduros Siculus,Aelian,Metz Epitome,Strabo the great Geopgrapher. and many more.What makes this book different is how different writers have written about the same subjects about Alexander's life.They differ in many ways,and interpreted in many ways his life.The book also has excerpts of Alexander's original speaches to his Macedonian and Persian army.
   In this book there are names of the cities that Alexander founded,excerpts of his will,his final days, his final plans, and what was done about his final decisions.
   Although the book is intense it is very readable.
   If you really read this book you will see that Alexander indeed wanted to globalize the world.In doing so he had to conquer to be able to do it.Although I think that he was too anxious in doing it, he did bring many races together.Had he lived longer who knows whether he would have been able to conquer the Romans.
   Many Roman Ceasars tried to copy him, from his hairstyle to his military genius.However we shall never know.Beeing an Italian and having read extensively and studied Roman History I am sure it would have been something to try and conquer Alexander, or he conquering the Romans.
   I enjoyed the book because it made me think more into depth in his strategies of war,and he as a person.

No comments about Poet of the Lost Cause: A Life of Father Ryan.

2 comments about Class of '47: Annapolis America's Best.

1. I suppose that there is no statistical proof, but there are ceratin classes at schools where everything seems to happen. The class of 1915 at West Point is known as the 'Class the Stars Fell On.' Of the 164 graduates, 59 earned at least one star (attained the rank of general), the most of any class in the history of the United States Military Academy. Two reached the second highest rank, Eisenhower and Bradley.
   
   The Class of 1947 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis was another and this book is on some of its most distinguished graduates: Stansfield Turner (Director CIA), William Crowe (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Jim Stockdale (Medal of Honor), Jimmy Carter (President of the United States, Nobel Peace Price Laureate). In addition there are brief summaries of other members of the class.
   
   The book is a reminder that there is still rom min this country for the old values of duty, honor, country.



2. A quote from Ambassador Vernon Weaver: "It's foolish to ponder whether our class was the best, but I can tell you that as a class, we did all right for ourselves."
   
   While this might not be the understatement of the century - it certainly ranks in the top 100. "Class of `47" by Jack Sheehan, details the lives of but a few of the notables of the members of the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis) of 1947. Former President Jimmy Carter, Admiral William Crowe, former CIA director Stansfield Turner, Medal of Honor Winner James Stockdale and billionaire investment banker Jackson Stephens were all members of this class that "did all right" - and their lives are detailed with great respect in this book by Sheehan.
   
   As I started this book, I was the most interested to read about Jimmy Carter. Though I was too young while he was president to know too much about him - I've since developed a great respect for his intelligence, warmth and desire to correct the disastrous path our country is on. I recently read "Our Endangered Values" by Carter and same like (and agree with) this great man even more. Reading about his life in this book was very interesting...and I was impressed yet again with his sense of humility. While Carter has achieved things in his life that most people don't even dream of, he accepts these honors only as incentives to do more, tools he can use to further the goal of peace.
   
   The chapter on Jimmy Carter ends with a very touching personal note from the author. "As the interview ends, the writer looks around the room for his son J.P., who had been exploring bookshelves and peering out the window at some baby ducks. Not seeing the boy right away, he is concerned that he might have drifted into another part of the building, but then he notices President Carter smiling and nodding towards the back of the room. The boy has taken off his shoes and is sleeping soundly on a long couch...'No matter how hard you campaign, you just can't win every vote,' says Jimmy Carter, with that unmistakable smile that lifted him all the way from Plains, Georgia, to the most powerful position on earth."
   
   As much as I enjoyed that chapter, I was absolutely engrossed in the chapter about Admiral James Stockdale. By the time he agreed to be Ross Perot's running mate in 1992 (and the details on this were fascinating), I was old enough to be paying attention. Seems like I only had a small portion of the story as I watched his debate performance at that time, and as I read about this man's life and all he endured, my face burned with shame for what I had thought (and said). Now that I know more of his story, I am in awe of James Stockdale.
   
   As Sheehan visits the Stockdale home, he writes, "From the outside, this charming abode is not unlike many others lining the street on this tony little island off the San Diego coast. From the inside, well, that's a different story entirely - a riveting story, in fact, of love and pain, of heroism and struggle, of separation and the wedge it creates, of life and near death. The uplifting parts of the story - the love and heroism and life at its loudest pitch - are on display throughout the house."
   
   So many things about Stockdale kept me riveted, but it was his story about surviving seven years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, and his incredible bravery and leadership there, that was the most compelling. Not only does the chapter include harrowing details of what he endured, it also looks at the struggles his wife and children went through at home as his wife and children waited for his return. (The facts that the government did not wish his wife to talk about her missing husband, and refused to give her the help she needed and didn't give the Stockdales the combat pay they deserved sounds eerily familiar.)
   
   One anecdote brought tears to my eyes. "One morning Sybil (Stockdale's wife) was approached by Stan as she was doing the laundry. The little boy took her arm and, staring at her with the clear blue eyes of his father, said, "Mom, I'm so sorry about Dad." With her arms full of sheets and towels, Sybil could only hug her boy and try to comfort him. It was moments like these that she had to call on every fiber of strength she had to keep from crumbling."
   
   The details of what Stockdale endured were, of course, far worse. (Which again, were all the more real as I read them, given current events.) Beatings, bondage, starvation, deprivation...for seven years. "Stockdale came to have nicknames for all the guards. There was Pigeye, Mickey Mouse, Rabbit and Cat, and each exhibited his own individual brand on inhumanity and cruelty."
   
   Torture would be followed by "hours of anguish and guilt that his resolve had weakened." Stockdale was a leader in the camp, using Morse code to communicate with other prisoners, helping them remain strong and not give up, not letting other men feel guilty for yielding under unbearable pain.
   
   Somehow - after an experience like this - this man was able to come home and resume a normal, no exceptional life. Such strength of will leaves me in awe. Part of his Medal of Honor citation reads: "Stockdale...deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture all the Prisoners of War."
   
   And yet - because of actions (or lack thereof) of others James Stockdale had only hoped to help, here is what most of the country is left with as a memory of this remarkable man. (A quote from his son), "Here was a guy who had dedicated his whole life to high-minded ethical endeavors and suffered brutally and come out with his dignity intact, only to have him caricatured on Saturday Night Live [after the VP debate] as a buffoon."
   
   Again? My face burns with shame.
   
   There are so many amazing stories from these amazing men. That one graduating class at one school (albeit a more than impressive one) produced men of this character and achievement is truly remarkable.
   
   And the quote from Weaver about "doing all right for themselves"? I will simply counter with a quote (though one used out of context) from another alumni of this class, Admiral Bill Crowe (who became the highest ranking military officer in the country).
   
   "That's what you call a classic understatement."

1 comments about Prince John Magruder: His Life and Campaigns.

1. You certainly don't need to read this--his role in the war being minor enough to be mentioned offhand in great works like Shelby Foote's The Civil War--but you should. Magruder was a truely unique individual, and has long deserved a spot on history's shelf all his own. From his days at West Point and his subsequent service in the Mexican war, to his time on the penninsula, where his masterful mind tricks kept the Union at bay, and his banishment to Texas, which would be spared the horrors of Total War thanks to him and Kirby Smith, Magruder would earn a unique place in the grand of history, not only of Texas, but of the United States.
   
   The book itself is a short read, written in a clear, concise style--with plenty of maps (useful when covering the attack on Galveston). Paul Casdorph doesn't judge the man for his flaws, nor does he build him into something he's not; no, his retelling of Magruder's life is unbiased and, refreshingly, non-political.

3 comments about Packs On!: Memoirs of the 10th Mountain Division in World War II (Stackpole Military History Series).

1. In the style of Ernie Pyle, the author relates the experiences of members of the 10th Mountain Division who fought the veteran fighters of the German Army in the mountains of northern Italy during World War II.



2. Author A. B. Feur skillfully puts a collection of personal combat stories together into his book "Packs On! Memoirs of the Mountain Division in WWII". The author is one of the more prolific chroniclers of WWII history and this book may be his best to date. The Foreword is written by Senator Bob Dole and adds a real touch of class to the telling of this unit.
   
   Feur takes us through the unit's campaigns after a well written introduction that gives us insights on the way the unit was put together and how they trained. He then takes us to Alaska and the Kiska Campaign. That campaign turned out to be a fight for an island that the Japanese had already abandoned and left. There were causalities and deaths due to "friendly fire" in the fog and the confusion of the battle that had no opposing forces.
   
   We follow the unit onward to Italy and Europe and into the mountains and snow. The author allows us to see each battle area through the eyes of the different veterans who wrote their memories of the events. This enhances the story telling format and enriches the final over-all story of the unit. The many different and diverse voices make the book entertaining as well as educational. It feels more personal then any straight telling of historic events would have. Feur expertly weaves all these individual stories together and connects them with facts, data, maps and old photos to make this whole book a first class reading experience.
   
   This is book captures the essence of what this unit was all about. The author realizes that strength of this story was to allow the men who were there to tell it--and he does that well! The Military Writer's Society of America gives this book its highest rating of
   FIVE STARS!



3. very good service I received the book within 5 days of ordering it very informative book. This book was about my fathers army war days in Italy and the training in colorado, so many of the stories in the book I had heard form my father. Good history!

No comments about Hitler: The Policies of Seduction.

No comments about Harlem at War: The Black Experience in Wwii.

2 comments about At Thy Call We Did Not Falter.

1. I read this book, as part of my own research project into the South African Border War. It follows the author from home to basic to war. Pretty simple. Well written, and captures the fear of someone so young thrust into circumstances beyond their control. If you want to know what combat is like, The feelings anyway, buy and read this great book. It captures the stark unreality of combat very well. I know. But thats a different story. Highly recommended.



2. A real book if you wanna know how is war from a conscript's view...and it covers both emotional and statistic matters of all the battles...some parts of it are from a soldier's diary and the other parts are written by that same soldier after 10,15 years...

3 comments about Major General Maurice Rose: World War II's Greatest Forgotten Commander.

1. Maurice Rose, a tall, handsome soldier was a stand-offish person with those around him. No one in the 3rd Armored Division really got to know much about his personal life. Married twice, he kept his life so secret that his two sons, by different wives, did not know the other existed until many years after some digging by one of the authors.
   Rose was a brave man, single-minded, whose only mission was to defeat the Nazis as quickly and as throughly as possible. Whether that was due to his Jewish background (which he seemed to shun) or not is problematical. He demanded absolute loyalty from his men. He would not accept any excuse from any of his subordinate commanders -- accomplish your mission or move on!
   This book sheds a lot of light on the man whom General J. Lawton Collins regarded "as the top notch division commander in the business at the time of his death." I heartily recommend it especially to those who are interested in the fighting in North-west Europe during WWII.



2. If you're a World War II history enthusiast this book is an outstanding selection. The authors, Steven L. Ossad, and Don R. Marsh, did a tremendous job researching Major General Rose's life. They have conducted thorough research that explains everything about him from his faith to his tragic death in March of 1945. I particularly like the footnotes. They provide an easy way for the reader to get background on an event or person the authors have written about. I'd highly recommend the book.



3. It is, by definition, impossible to determine the "Greatest Forgotten Commander" of any war, but if the authors have not managed the feat indisputably, the life of General Rose has set the barrier so high that one is hard put to think of a "remembered" commander who is so great. To this day, the division he commanded holds the record for the longest opposed advance in a single day.
   
   The life of Maurice Rose is truly inspirational, but what few personal effects remained of his life were almost completely destroyed in a flood. Messrs. Ossad and Marsh have performed a spectacular feat of bringing this important personage alive. There is much of the inner man we can never know, of course, and much of the book is pure military history as it should be, but you get enough of a glimpse of the man to get a sense of what he was like. The authors do not hesitate to criticize his flaws, but that honesty just makes the man that much more impressive.
   
   The authors "bookend" the story with a detailed description of the General's last day (although at least two U.S. generals more senior to Rose and two other division commanders were killed during World War II, to my knowledge, Rose is unique at that rank to have been killed by small arms fire rather than bombs or artillery, a tribute to the General's habit of "leading from the front"). I would have liked a little more information about the fate of the division after the General was killed, but that is available elsewhere.
   
   The general's conversion from Judaism to Christianity is speculated upon in some detail, but the willingness to redefine oneself is uniquely American and it is one of the things which make General Rose a uniquely American hero.

No comments about The Life of Abraham Lincoln; from His Birth to His Inauguration as President.