5 comments about Che: The Photobiography of Che Guevara.

1. Che Guevara was one of the greatest man to hit this earth. His influence has touched millons of people worldwide. This photobiography shows the respect due to a man that of his statute,"the Jesus Christ of his time" only in a guerrilla costume. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well this is book is worth a lifetime and a half worth of words. Without photography it would be impossible to know how idles such as CHE himself would have lived. Words only begin to describe a person and his personal lifestyle, but when you see it throu pictures is like you live that life. Till this day Che is the only man that makes me get goosebumps everytime i see the picture of him lying there, dead, with his eyes open.



2. Absolutely Fantastic! The quality of the photographs and their subject matter are first class. Not only was I able to find out more about Che's life as a revolutionary, but to read about his childhood aswell was fascinating. I was especially intrigued to discover that the Cuban Secret Service actually disguised Che as a middle aged man so as to ensure his passage to Bolivia. Pure Brilliance! A powerful piece of work which gives a detailled insight into the life of one of the world's greatest men. Well worth a look!



3. Tired of reactionary propaganda? Want to see the Che that we know? The Che that cared in a world dominated by corporate interests that didn't care whatsoever? Than this book is for you. This looks at Che the human, not just the legend we have come to know and love. Che working in the fields with the common man, (Can't picture good ol Dubya doing that, can you?) These pictures exemplifies what El Che cared about: US! The people ignored by governments and their corporate backers. The people in Latin America where a MAJORITY of which were poor. In many countries even today in Latin America, that is still the case. A great look at those that know and love Che Guevera and those that still need to be introduced to the legend that cared.



4. What about the dozens of people that Guevara put to death? Where is the mention of Guevara's wife and toddler who were left to fend for themselves whie "El Che" adventured in the mountains? Guevara is worthy of study but not of unctricized adoration. This is a book of exceptional photography but by no means is it a complete, accurate portrayal of Che Guevara.



5. This is a beautiful book of never seen before photos of Che Guevara. There are many of his childhood, and some historical gems inside here. There is an example of his first writing as a child, and also a copy of part of the infamous letter written to Fidel, and even the photo that appeared in the newspaper about the two "Leprosy Experts" during the Motorcycle Diaries period.
   This is all very tastefully presented, but is done as a memorial to Che so does omit darker aspects to his character. A beautiful item for Che fans...

No comments about World War II-Hometown and Home Front Heroes: Life-Experience Stories from the Carolinas' Piedmont.

No comments about George Gordon Meade: Union General (Famous Figures of the Civil War Era).

1 comments about The Complete Civil War Journal and Selected Letters of Thomas Wentworth Higginson.

1. Bravo to Christopher Looby for recognizing the importance of these diaries and bringing them to our attention. Higginson's thoughts and feelings about war and the men under his command unfold to portray a quiet hero. Against the dual backdrops of military horror and social conflict, Higginson's discussions of his men and his relationships with them are sensitive and surprising. Letters to his family offer an interesting glimpse of family roles while underscoring Higginson's essential humantity.

   Looby's notes provide thoughtful comment. Stunning job. This is an excellent book.

No comments about George Meade (Military Leaders of the Civil War).

1 comments about The Flag: My Story : Kidnapped by Red China.

1. Mr. Kiba spins his incredible story of being shot down in the dead of winter with a group of airmen over North Korea during the Korean War. He was captured along with the other surviving airmen and taken into communist China as a political prisioner. The Chinese believed Stardust 40 invaded their airspace so the prisoners were not afforded the rights of normal POWs. With incredible detail he recalls his 2 1/2 years of starvation, interrogations, cruelty and "re-eduacation" by his chinese captors. He in detail remembers dates, recalls sightings of his co-captives, the trial where he was found to be a war criminal and the groups eventual release long after the war was over. I find his will to survive amazing as he fights to control even the smallest aspects of his life. The story is a true inspiration and is a great reminder that "Freedom is not Free". Kiba continues to fight for the rights of POW's up to this day. It's just sad his story took 50 years before it was printed.

5 comments about Leaders of the Lost Cause: New Perspectives on the Confederate High Command.

1. President Jefferson Davis once wrote his brother that great generals only come around once in every generation. Unfortunately, Davis explained, the Confederacy needed a half a dozen."
   
   During the war the South had eight full generals. Of these only Lee proved to be fully up to the demands of the job. Albert Sidney Johnston died (Shiloh) before he could really prove himself. The others Joe Johnson, P. G. T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, Samuel Cooper, Edmund Kirby Smith, John Bell Hood did not live up to the expectations of Davis.
   
   Many of these men have not received the attention due them while other generals of lessor rank have received much more. Samuel Cooper, in particular is little known. As the adjutant and inspector general of the Confederacy, he spent the war behind a desk. But it was from this desk that the men, weapons, food and other supplies went to the front line armies.
   
   This is an excellent book, covering an aspect of the war not seen before.



2. Eight men became full generals in the army of the Confederate States of America. Four in the first months and four during the course of the war. All of us know some of the names, students of the war know more but few can name all eight men. They were diverse but in many ways similar, all West Point educated, all intelligent and well to do by the standards of the times. One never led an army in battle, one was killed in battle, two fought with President Davis almost constantly and one almost destroyed his army. Overall, most of them were not very good generals being unable to work within the system to produce victory on the battlefield.
   
   Each man is the subject of a 30 to 40-page essay covering his life, outlining his pre and post war activities but concentrating on the war. Each essay is written by a different person, which both adds and subtracts from the book. Taking a positive approach to J.E. Johnston or Braxton Bragg is a challenge but taking a very negative approach detracts from the book. Depending on your view, the essay on AS & JE Johnston, Bragg and Hood will be enjoyed or disliked. I found the JE Johnston essay to be very negative and overlooked many of his contributions. Bragg got a fair and even handed critique, while Hood is cast as a tragic figure. Beauregard's essay was excellent and I enjoyed Cooper's essay the most.
   
   The book is badly needed and while not a "must have" is a valuable introduction, I would have liked it much better if it had been less partisan.



3. Gary Gallagher and Joseph T. Glaathaar are two of our most eminent Civil War scholars! In this new volume they have asked several Civil War scholars to write brief essays on the eight men who were full generals of the Confederate States of America.
   All of the articles are of high quality:.
   1 P.G.T. Beauregard by Charles Roland. The doughty Creole was
   the hero of Ft. Sumter and served well during the siege of Petersburg. His service during First Bull Run was exemplary.
   He was not up to the top notch of battlefield leadership, coming up with some chimerical strategic ideas during the last months of the war. His service
   was good not great.
   2. Braxton Bragg by the eminent Jackson biographer Bud Robertson
   shows this grouchy and inept commander at his worst.
   3. Samuel Cooper is little known today but William C. Davis gives him a passing grade as the administrative leader of the
   Confederate government. Cooper was born in 1798, was northern born and never held a field command for the South.
   4. Albert Sidney Johnson is dubbed the Hamlet of the South by Stephen D. Engle. Johnston died at Shiloh. He was a close friend of Jefferson Davis. What might have been had he lived to fight further battles is pure conjecture.
   5. Snarl, Sneer and Quarrel is the opinion of Robert K. Krick the acerbic writer of the article on Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston's Fabian tactics of retreat in the Georgia campaign was a failed stategy. Krick is a great historian and his article is
   worth the price of the book!
   6. It was the dubious duty of Edmund Kirby Smith the Florida native to defend the Trans Missssippi region during the war.
   He was a good subordinate but was in way over his head at such
   a difficult assignmentaccording to Joseph T. Glatthaar whose
   article is well done.
   7. Keith S. Bohannon's picture of John Bell Hood is a man of all brawn and dash but little in the brain department! He was promoted beyond his abilities as he led grey legions in the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns of 1864.
   8. Robert Edward Lee was a great geneal who led the Confederate armies with bloody tenacity. Gary Gallagher is one of my favorite Civil War authors and his portrait of Lee is limned with excellent scholarship and judicious appraisal.
   This is a good book to whet the appetite of readers eager to
   learn more about Civil War leadership. As an old Civil War buff I learned some new angles to these commanders. The book is well
   recommended for someone just getting their feet wet in the vast
   ocean of Civil War scholarship. Excellent!



4. "Leaders of the Lost Cause" offers interesting biographical sketches of the eight men who became full general officers in the CSA. This book seems designed for the casual reader who may be suprised that the likes of Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet are not included. Nonetheless, both serious students of the war and casual ones will profit from the book.
   
   The essays are generally of the highest quality. Gary Gallagher offers an excellent concise biography on Robert E. Lee and attempts to explain why he could remain popular in the army and with civilians despite high casualites. Charles Roland provides a solid look at the enigmatic P.G.T Beauregard and finds that the Creole general's character often undermined his leadership. William Davis offers a readable essay on the obscure Samuel Cooper and one is left with the conclusion that Cooper was the Confederate Halleck, a somewhat disagreeable, though competent, paper pusher. Stephen Engle concludes that Albert Sidney Johnson, who entered the war with high hopes and simply could not live up to them (and didn't based on his handling of the West), by dying at Shiloh, saw his reputation restored as one of the great "what ifs" of the war. Robert Krick takes Joe Johnston to task in his essay and one is forced to agree that Johnston undermined his reputation by his own comments and the book he wrote. Joseph Glatthaar agrees with Robert Kerby, the magistarial historian of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi South, that Edmund Kirby Smith was a competent young officer who was handed a task that nobody could have done in leading that isolated region during the second half of the war. At the same time, Glatthaar crushes the idea that Tom Connelly expressed of Kirby Smith having a messianic complex. The essay would have been a bit stronger if it went into Kirby Smith's rivalry with Richard Taylor and how he was able to juggle friendships with Jeff Davis and his archrival Joe Johnston. Keith Bohannon adds to the conventional wisdom that John Bell Hood, while a solid divisional commander and an agressive leader, had no business leading an army.
   
   James Robertson contributes perhaps the best essay in the collection, a look at Braxton Bragg. Robertson maintains that no "better organizer and disciplinarian exsisted in the Confederate armies" than Bragg (p. 72) and reminds readers that, with the exception of Lee, he was also the most agressive army commander. At the same time, Robertson does not overlook Bragg's many flaws as a man and as a commander. This is an interesting essay; it does not descend into the hagiographic praise for the subject that seems to plague Civil War biographers. At the same time, Robertson is challenging a great deal of conventional wisdom by showing Bragg as a better leader than most historians believe. That does not mean that Robertson has a positive view of his subject but he does indicate that Bragg had more talent than is commonly believed. One is forced to ponder his point, even if not fully accepting it.
   
   There is little that is new here on the leading generals though a good deal of insight on the more obscure Cooper and Kirby Smith as well as Robertson's new take on Bragg. This combination of new insights and familiar biographical details make this a book that can appeal to both the casual and serious reader. In an age of dry books aimed for specialists, "Leaders of the Lost Cause" is a bit of a pleasant suprise and, unlike many books on the subject, does not fall for the old "moonlight and magnolias" worship of Confederate leaders. None of these leaders comes off unscathed and some come off rather badly.
   
   This is a readable and fair book that offers a great deal to scholars as well as readers with only a passing interest in the subject. I can not think of higher praise for a work of non-fiction.



5. Excellent analysis of not the best generals of the Civil War, outside of General Lee, but the early leaders of the armies in the field. Lee is oddly out of place in this collection as Braxton Bragg, Beareguard, Joeseph E. Johnson, Hood and Smith seem to have such negative images compared to Lee. Albert Sidney Johnson's early death at Shiloh allows him to stand apart as his intial success at Shiloh to a degree limits a longterm look. The most interesting essays, as one familar with the Civil War's generals would gather, are on Bragg, Beareguard and Johnson. Robertson writes a fascinating bio on Bragg who is the most puzzling general in the Confederacy. A gifted organizer but he lacked the ability to be a leader and inspire his men and generals. Bragg had an often nasty disposition and was often argumentive, allegedly even with himself when in dual roles. But Robertson points out that Bragg was, outside of R. E. Lee, the most offensive minded general of a major Army in the Confederacy. Beaureguard is pictured as having grand battle designs but also suffering from an inflated ego and like Joe Johnson, a total inability to get along with Davis. Johnson is looked upon rather severly by author Krick who notes Johnson's life long preoccupation with rank existed in the old army long before he festered over it as a Confederate General. Krick well details Johnson's passion for retreat and no plan that does extend the joke that his eastern line in the sand would have eventually been the Mississippi had he not been wounded at Seven Pines. These eassys on these three are rather negative (Krick gives a broad hint with his title on Johnson, "Snarl, Sneer and Quarrel" )though Beareguard gets high marks for saving Petersburg in 1864. Hood is also quite interesting as his career is meteor like in spite of his woundings and his intrigues in the western army help promote him to commanding general. He suffers from his weakened physical condition and the peter principal demonstrated by frequent attacks around Atlanta to destroying his army at Franklin. Smith and Cooper are less intersting but important. Smith because he becomes the Trans Mississippi commander after serving an odd satelite command in Kentucky co-existing with Bragg. Cooper is necessary as he was the senior ranking General in the Confederacy and William Davis tells the who and the why very well. William Davis is right when he called Cooper a great Civil War trivia question. The only negative, is that the majority of these characters have such major flaws described by the authors that you have to wonder how they reached such high command, but maybe the answer is simple, Davis picked them. Or perhaps, the authors are a little too critical. But these are all great essays by legendary Civil War historians James I. Robertson, Jr., Wlliam C. Davis, Robert Krick along with Gary Gallagher, Charles Roland, Stephen Engle, Joseph Glatthaar and Keith Bohannon. With historians like these, it's a full house.

4 comments about With The Possum And The Eagle: A Memoir Of A Navigator's War Over Germany And Japan (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series).

1. Reads like a good, fast paced novel. Exciting, building chronicle of the air war over Europe and the Pacific.
   
   Explains with starteling clarity the cockpit horrors that left no alternatives to the area bombing of Dresden and Tokyo. Makes it very clear that the A-Bombs were redundant and unnecessary.
   
   A terribly real sense of our "losing years" and the desperate process of a war of attrition. The author, being one of only two survivors of his navigator's class of 22, lets us glimpse the terror and the heroism of an air war where victory would finally go to the combatant who had more young men to "expend"...



2. Ralph Nutter writes with extraordinary candor and clarity about a period in our history when he and others of his generation faced terrible odds in the struggle to save the world from Fascism. His account is as compelling as it is straightforward and unvarnished. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the true meaning of courage under fire.



3. Although we had to wait until after General LeMay's death, we finally find within "With the Possum and the Eagle" the real story of the leadership of General Curtis LeMay. If you're interested in the history of World War II and the significant role aviation had in both the European and Pacific campaigns, Ralph Nutter's account is difficult to put down. Nutter's close proximity to senior aviation leadership during the war gives the reader a rare glimpse into what those wartime leaders faced and the decisions they had to make vis-a-vis both logistical and environmental constraints to operations. A superb account.



4. Possum was General Haywood Hansell; Eagle, General Curtis LeMay.
   
   Ralph Nutter was a student at Harvard Law when Pearl Harbour occurred. A few weeks later he was in the Army Air Corp headed to navigator school. (A few years later he was the only survivor of his 22 fellow graduates.) A few months later and he was in England as a navigator on a B-17. In an incident where he knew where they were and none of the others did, Eagle made him the lead navigator of the group.
   
   As the European was was winding down, he was transferred to the Pacific and B-29's. Again he was made lead navigator. Eventually LeMay was sent to the Pacific and Nutter returned to work with him.
   
   This book is both a story of the war, and a story of leadership in war time. His insights on LeMay are enlightening and impressed me. LeMay's general reputation is a lot lower than that held by Mr. Nutter.

3 comments about Once a Legend: Red Mike Edson of the Marine Raiders.

1. "Red Mike" Edson was one fearless warrior. His frontline exploits on Tarawa, Saipan, and Guadalcanal (where he won the Medal of Honor and probably saved the campaign) are the stuff of legends, but he was also, improbably, a first-class staff officer.
   This unusual talent for organization brought him two stars and a role in the highest echelons of the Corps, but it also took him into the fierce politics of the Pentagon and may have indirectly caused his death.
   The history of this fine Marine is well told in this outstanding biography; with photos, bibliography, and index. Highly readable; essential for Marine Corps readers and of great interest to general military history readers and WWII buffs.

   (The numerical rating above is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)




2. If you are really interested in the Marine Corps or WW2 History, this is something worth buying. Instead of just making 'Red Mike' Edson a saintly hero of great virtue and courage, the author describes Edson the man with warts and all.

   My only complaint about the book (it wasn't that big because the rest of the book is excellent) was that book didn't go into as much detail about Bloody Ridge (the pinnacle of Edson's combat leadership and which won him the CMH) which is surprising considering how much detail was spent describing the fight against the Sandinistas between WW1 and WW2.




3. As a Marine Corps veteran, it surprises me how unfamiliar many contemporary Marines are with the extremely noteworthy and noble Mr. Edson. The author, Mr.Hoffman, also a Marine veteran, tells us the story of Mr. Edson's truly eventful life.
   
   To think that in his early career, in the last days of World War I, Red Mike was seriously considering resigning! Yet, despite long periods of stagnation and limited opportunities for advancement, he stayed the course. During his life, Edson, a very humble and kindly man, never realized what a profoundly positive effect his contribution to the Marine Corps would have. This champion of the Marines was highly influential in planting the seeds of many of the U.S.M.C.s major institutions in the modern age. In fact, the thoroughly established status as a separate branch is significantly due to Red Mike's efforts.
   
   -He contributed to the establishment of M.C.I., the Marine Corps Institute. This was his first major post WWI assignment.
   -Being a highly proficient rifleman, he was a frequent member of the Marine Corps' competitive shooting teams. Although advanced marksmanship has always been a Marine Corps characteristic, Edson's influence in that field made it the institution it is today.
   -He served as Vice-President of the National Rifle Association (an organization EVERY Marine should be a member of!).
   -He was an aviator in the inter-war years, a rare qualification amongst his peers.
   -His experience hunting Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua during the "Banana wars" era of the 1920s and 1930s gave him the knowledge to thoroughly revise the U.S.M.C. Small Wars manual. This is a guide to guerilla war and counter-insurgency still highly valid today.
   -He was a founder of the Raiders during World War II. In fact, he was its greatest war-leader.
   -He recieved the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valorous defense of the allied airfield on Guadalcanal, an action that very likely saved the entire allied effort in its most direly critical moment.
   -He bravely and righteously stood up for the U.S.M.C., in the face of an aggressive and malicious campaign by Harry Truman and various army generals ...to disband, and abolish the Marines, ...or assimilate it into the army. Thankfully, common sense prevailed, and the Marines march on!

2 comments about The Old Army: Memories, 1872-1918 (Frontier Classics).

1. "Galloping Jim" Parker was one of the Old Army's (1865-1914) top soldiers. A graduate of West Point, he began his frontier service at the time when Custer and the 7th Cavalry were riding to their deaths at the Little Big Horn - and ended it only when denied service at the front in France in World War I.
   
   In the interval period, Parker fought alongside Ranald Mackenzie in the cavalry battles with the Kickapoo, the Kiowa and Cheyenne; he saw the last Buffalo herds, went with Mackenzie to put down the Ute uprising in Colorado, and then rode south to join Crook and Miles in their campaigns against Geronimo.
   
   Parker's life was a rich one - and he ended up a Major General in the Army. But it was one, if he is to be believed, of missed opportunities. For example in the campaign against Geronimo Parker writes that it was his troop that actually tracked Geronimo down - but allowed Lieutenant Gatewood the honor of cornering him and effecting his surrender. Gatewood of course received the credit, not Parker.
   
   Parker's second greatest missed opportunity was in choosing not to serve in the Rough Riders due to an antipathy towards Leonard Wood, the commander of the unit. Wood actually asked Parker to help him form the regiment - and he would have been the ranking Army officer next to Wood in the regiment - or as he put it, Theodore Roosevelt never forgot a friend or someone who served alongside him in Cuba. Because of this decision Parker ended up training troops at Chickamauga camp until the Spanish-American war was over - and then briefly went to Cuba, and from there to the Philippines.
   
   Indeed it is the chapters on Frontier service against the Indians and the savage fighting in the Philippines that covers most of Parker's book - along with vignettes of his personal life and those whom he served with - he is flattering towards Mackenzie and Lawton - less so towards Wood and Pershing. At the end, due to age and some unfortunate remarks about "chasing greasers" during the Villa Expedition, Parker was denied service in France when America went to war against Imperial Germany, although he briefly went over to the trenches to observe the fighting. Full of self-promotion, though honest, Parker bitterly concludes that although he was in excellent health, he was forcibly retired from the army at the beginning of 1918 after 45 years of service.
   
   Despite Parker's occasional self-indulgent tone, his work is a classic tale of old army life. "The Old Army" is a worthy choice for the Custeriana buffs - even though Custer is only mentioned in passing, and for those who enjoyed works like "40 Miles a Day on Beans and Hay".



2. Paeker was on of those highly compentent indiviuals who sometimes gets overlooked even though he was highly successful at whaever he did.
   He was noted as a brilliant trainer and organizer and was highly disappointed when the division he organized was sent to France without him.
   He began his career in the West and fought in the Phillipines, served in Cuba in 1906, and on the border in 1916. He was noted for innovation in the use of trucks for transporting infantry.
   Finally making general, he retired soon after the Great War.