No comments about Andrew Foote: Civil War Admiral on Western Waters (Library of Naval Biography).

No comments about Paratrooper Chaplain: The Memoirs of a Lifetime of Service to Military Personnel.

No comments about Bugeaud: a Pack with a Baton-The Early Campaigns of a Soldier of Napoleon's Army Who Would Become a Marshal of France.

1 comments about Against All Odds: (Non fiction).

1. I don't read many army books but this was a true story. All the army men written in the book were true to life. In fact many times while reading the book you could actually feel what the writer was experiencing. It was well written and at times there was humor along with sadness. I had a very special reason to read this book; my father was one of the sergeants written in the book "Ipjian". The author's comments and conversations with "Ipjian" were true to life because it does sound so much like my father today. I am fortunate that my father is still alive today to tell story's of the past and to have made it through the war after being seriously wounded.
   
   I thank the author for writing this book, and sharing the experience that many men went through in World War II and how we can relate this to the current world of today.

4 comments about Flying Blind: A Memoir of Biplane Flying over Waziristan in the Last Days of British Rule in India.

1. I could not put this book down. What I found remarkable about FLYING BLIND is that Geoffrey Morley-Mower has already written one of the most engaging and insightful memoirs of any veteran of the Second World War, MESSERSCHMITT ROULETTE. Yet FLYING BLIND is, in many ways, an even more satisfying book. Here, in the second volume of his memoirs, we meet the man and the pilot on the cusp of living his dream: flying for the RAF on the distant edge of the British Raj. Morley-Mower's self-deprecatory wit, his elegant and understated prose, and his gift for narrative sustain FLYING BLIND with a verve rarely found in fiction, much less in military biographies. The men who fought the good fight in the Second World War are fading from us, but this book reminds us of their honor, valor, and above all, their humanity, in ways that few other books have. Geoffrey Morley-Mower's second volume of his memoirs, like the first, is reminiscent of William Manchester's outstanding remembrance of serving in the U.S. Marine infantry in the Second World War, GOODBYE DARKNESS. Like Manchester, Morley-Mower has no room for bombast and plenty of room for reflective, highly-charged prose. FLYING BLIND is a must-read for anyone interested in great writing. For military scholars, it is a jewel, as so few of the iron-backboned RAF heroes are still alive. Thank God Geoffrey Morley-Mower wrote this book, bless him. And, as Hemingway once said, good books never suffer in the re-reading. FLYING BLIND is richer in the re-reading. Enjoy.



2. This account of army and air operations over the Afghan border in the last days of British rule in India will intrigue a wide audience, from those interested in books on early plane and biplane flight to readers of military accounts. The author joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot in 1937, two years before World War II: his experiences in an antique plane provides a fine account of his adventures and close encounters.



3. Great heroic story! Fascinating records of army and air operations over the treacherous terrain of the Afghan border. Shortly after the war, a pilot fights to keep his flying carrer with his appeals to King George VI! Does he win his? I'll save that for you!



4. As a pilot, I could identify/sympathize with Mr. Morley-Mower's flight training. A down to earth book that tells it like it was. This is a tale of an unasuming hero. A must follow on is his first book, Messerschmitt Roulette. Thank you Geoffrey.

No comments about Brothers' War: Civil War Letters to Their Loved Ones from the Blue and Gray.

2 comments about Soldier-Ar of the Great Reconnaissance: John C. Tidball and the 35th Parallel Pacific Railroad Survey.

1. Founded on the high tide of the Enlightenment during the last quarter of the 18th Century by armed revolution, the United States was, by the middle of the 19th Century, riding the great waveof the industrial revolution of which there is perhaps no better exemplification than steam locomotion.
   
   Although a transcontinental railroad was first proposed in 1844, the United States did not then have clear title to lands west of the Rockies nor any title at all to the lands it subsequently acquired by annexation of Texas, the Mexican cession, and the Gadsden Purchase. But by 1853
   the situation had changed dramatically and serious interest in building a transcontinental line had developed as had sharp disagreement in Congress and elsewhere about its location.
   
   In terms of climate and terrain there was much to recommend the southern or 32nd parallel route running from Shreveport to San Diego advocated by Southern interests, including Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War. Undertaking to finesse the fact that Congress would not agree to a particular route, it was decided to survey all feasible routes and let science make the decision.
   
   Four parties were sent into the field in 1853 to reconnoiter the routes that had dominated congressional debate: a northern route from St. Paul to Seattle, a central route from Kansas City
   through the central West to California, a route along the 35th parallel from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Los Angeles, and the southern route along the 32nd parallel from Shreveport, Louisiana across Texas to San Diego.
   
   "Soldier-Artist of the Great Reconnaissance" is the story of the survey along the 35th parallel as told by Eugene Tidball's distant relative, John C. Tidball, in his memoirs, diary, and marginal notes in his copy of the official report of the survey, augmented by the official and private journals
   of Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple, the leader of the expedition, the journals of certain other members, and the official report of the survey. John Tidball had then recently been promoted to First Lieutenant, married in the East, and stationed sans bride at Fort Defiance in New Mexico Territory.
   
   The 35th parallel expedition pushed off from Fort Smith in July 1853. It comprised 110 men,including four commissioned officers, a dozen civilian scientists, enlisted escorts, herders, teamsters, drivers, packers, cooks, and orderlies, but not including Tidball who was then with his company at Fort Defiance, the most isolated post of the United States Army.
   
   The progress of the expedition was relatively swift and uneventful over the flatlands from Fort Smith to Albuquerque, where it arrived on October 5. In Albuquerque Whipple heard unsettling stories about the territory ahead and requested an additional escort of 25 calvary. He was notified
   that he could not have dragoons but could have mule-mounted infantrymen instead. The expedition moved on to Zuni which proved to be in the grip of an epidemic of smallpox. When it
   left Zuni on November 29 several of its members were infected. The contagion afflicted members of the party for a time but appears to have run its course without serious consequences and is not mentioned in the official report of the expedition.
   
   Lt. Tidball left Fort Defiance on December 3 with 25 infantrymen mounted on mules and a packer and caught up with the expedition on December 12 on the Little Colorado River east of San Francisco Mountain. The remainder of the trek from the Little Colorado to Los Angeles was considerably more arduous than had been the earlier part from Fort Smith. The expedition was now in uncharted hard-scrabble mountains in winter. Nevertheless, often on short rations, without water, and concerned about Indians, the members continued to do what they were there to do. They continued to study and sketch the flora, fauna, and geology, to collect specimens and to scout, measure, and sketch the way for a railroad. Balduin Mollhausen, the official artist of the expedition, was joined in the production of sketches and illustrations by Albert Campbell, engineer and surveyor, and by Tidball. Although most of the illustrations appearing in the official report are Mollhausen's, some are Campbell's and some are Tidball's, neither of whom was charged to produce art but both of whom were arguably better artists than Mollhausen.
   
   Because its location was so poorly described, the expedition had difficulty finding the Bill William's Fork that it proposed to follow to the Colorado River. When the Colorado was finally
   reached the rank and file of the party were extremely disappointed as they had been led to believe that California was a land of milk and honey and now the California side of the river appeared just as bleak, barren, and inhospitable as the New Mexico Territory side. But the prospect improved
   remarkably the nearer they drew to Los Angeles.
   
   Tidball left the expedition on the eastern side of the coast range and proceeded to the Army post at San Diego where he turned in his equipment and mules and from which he returned via Panama to the East Coast and his wife of less than a year. After an extended furlough, he was six days out from Fort Leavenworth, this time with his wife, on his way back to Fort Defiance when he received orders seconding him to the Coastal Survey. He spent the next five years on the East Coast during which time his company was reassigned, relieving Tidball of the anxiety of having to return to Fort Defiance.
   
   The 35th parallel survey party, which had left Fort Smith with 110 men, 13 wagons, two carretellas, and 245 mules, having traversed 1,845 miles and lost but one man, arrived in Los
   Angeles on March 21, 1854, with no wagons and one carretella but still with many of the mules.
   
   Eugene Tidball poses the question whether the Pacific railroad surveys were a success. He points out that, while they found all the routes feasible (and robbed the southern route of its claim of peculiar suitability to the chagrin of Jeff Davis and company), they did not immediately result in the construction of a transcontinental railroad nor in allaying controversy about the appropriate route. The first transcontinental line was not finished until 1869, roughly on what was styled the
   central route in 1853. Much later, the 35th parallel route became the Rock Island line from Memphis to Tucumcari, New Mexico, and westward from there the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa
   Fe Railway to Los Angeles. But the success of the undertaking, Tidball asserts, is the reports of the surveys published in 12 volumes composing a lavishly illustrated encyclopedic compendium of western geography, geology, botany, zoology, archeology, and ethnology.
   
   "Soldier-Artist of the Great Reconnaissance" is a valuable addition to the history of an undertaking that rivals in importance the explorations earlier in the century of the Corps of Discovery to our understanding of the American West in the 19th century. A great story of adventure, duty, dedication, and endurance.



2. This is the story of an expedition that began in July 1853, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and ended seven months later in Los Angeles (population then 3,000) on the coast of California. The distance traveled (per the distance measuring device on a carretella) was 1,845.27 miles.
   
   The goal was to investigate the feasibility of a railroad to the Pacific coast along the 35th parallel. There was a similar expedition along the 32nd parallel, and two further north. Then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was predisposed to the southernmost route as would be duly reflected in the report submitted to Congress.
   
   The commander of the 35th parallel expedition was Lieutenant Amiel Weeks Whipple (my great, great grandfather). Another key participant (he joined en route with a contingent of support troops) was Lieutenant John Tidball (a distant relative of the author).
   
   The book skillfully places the expedition in its historical context, including many details of the experiences of key participants before and after the expedition. It also paints a vivid picture of events along the way - including illness, hunger, rough and largely unknown terrain (Tidball et al. made some stunning sketches), and at times friendly, at other times tense interactions with the Indian tribes encountered - based on personal journals and notes (of Tidball and Whipple, among others) as well as the official report.
   
   Most of the men made it through, but the mules had a higher attrition rate and one wagon after another had to be abandoned until only one carretella was left.
   
   This and the other expeditions did not establish where the first railroad to the Pacific should be built (in the event, it would be considerably north of the 35th parallel). However, they did contribute a great deal to knowledge of vast unexplored areas of the United States, much as the Lewis and Clark expedition had done 50 years earlier, including not only the terrain, but also the flora, the fauna, and the native inhabitants.
   
   Our family has a number of volumes of the official report to Congress on the 35th parallel expedition, musty and over-sized volumes that I truthfully never felt the inclination to peruse. This book served as an excellent substitute, and I would recommend it to others with an interest in the expedition and/or the history of the southwest.

No comments about Cumberland Blood: Champ Ferguson's Civil War.

5 comments about General Ike : A Personal Reminiscence.

1. This book is written by DDE's son, John. The book covers many people that Ike dealt with during his army career and as President. It is well written, well researched, and very enjoyable. I recommend this book to anyone interested in history, WW2, world politics. One of the best biographical books I have read.



2. All in all, this book does a really nice job laying out a biography of Eisenhower, and does so in an interesting fashion. Ike is explained in chapters that could largely standalone and are demarcated by the people he's working with. There's a chapter on Eisenhower and Pershing, then one on MacArthur, Patton, DeGaulle, Montgomery, and Churchill. Needless to say, the chapters on Patton, MacArthur, Montgomery, and Churchill were very interesting. I dozed off on the DeGaulle piece, while was riveted by the Patton chapter. Those who are familiar with the Patton story will appreciate Eisenhower's behavior toward his early (and ranking) comrade.
   Some of the other interesting takeaways from the book come from Ike's early days. Those of us familiar with the nature of the political army can appreciate how Ike nearly ended his career by advocating the tank in independent operations. An early mentor saved Ike's career by having him transfered to the Adjutant General's Corps.
   I haven't read the Ike autobiography but I would estimate that this book would complement that work. The author seeks to avoid restating the same data over and over, and instead offers the unique view I described above, plus adds his own fly-on-the-wall viewpoint that he enjoyed being Ike's son. His own anecdotes, while interesting, wouldn't stand on their own as a booke but are very well-used here.



3. First rate! Could not put the book down, lots of new and fresh insights into DeGaulle, Churchill, Patton, and Montgomery (what a piece of work...) I read a great deal of WWII history, and it is a joy to read new information for a change! In addition the reader will gain knowledge of the great and rather-more-complicated man than we might think, President Eisenhower. Written in a clear and understandable way for the non-military, John Eisenhower is a gifted historian. In summary, I am making it a priority to purchase his other books, as this is the first of his works I have had the pleasure to read.



4. This book is especially important to anyone interested in the history of World War II or just history in general. John Eisenhower doesn't just paraphrase the works of other historians who were born years after the war - he writes first hand descriptions of the great military and political laeders of the war - all of them he met personally during war. Of course, his sections on his own father (possibly the greatest of them all) is an essential read.



5. absolutely great reading. his point of observation is unique but balanced as well as wholly honest. while the author's observations are a great contribution to the historical record, it also serves as a great tribute to a truly great man, a great soldier, a great American.

5 comments about Man-Eaters of Tsavo.

1. The author gives the true account of the Tsavo Lions. He seems to downplay the story at times, but it makes for very interesting reading. The last 2/3 of the book are about his other hunting adventures while in Africa. Worth your time for sure.



2. "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo" (also available in this edition The Man-Eaters of Tsavo (Peter Capstick Library Series)) is a fascinating book that tells of a time on the continent of Africa that is now long past. When the author, John H. Patterson, an engineer for the British Empire at the peak of its power, arrived in the southeastern African region of Tsavo, wild game, including dangerous, predatory man-eaters abounded with such profusion that a man armed with a rifle could sling up and shoot from virtually anywhere, for animals of all kinds densely populated the land. As an engineer in charge of planning and building the railroad and the necessary bridges, Patterson also had the responsibility of managing the workers, primarily Indians imported into Africa from India, their country also being under British rule at that time. Patterson's workers began to become unmanageable when huge, man-eating lions in the Tsavo region began eating the workers on a regular basis, somewhat dampening the coolies' enthusiasm for the already backbreaking job at which they toiled in brutal heat amidst vicious biting insects--though the prospect of the bite of the lions understandably troubled them more. Patterson's book is an enthralling, well-rounded account of his experience there and not merely a hunting tale.
   None of this life of relatively unrestrained high adventure could take place in today's Africa, which is dominated by third world dictators who, with the evil assistance of IANSA, heavily restrict the right to bear arms in general and hunting in particular. Anyone interested in this time period should read With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign and Warrior: The Legend Of Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen.
   The world of that time is long gone, as are most of the individuals of that type. More's the pity on both counts.
   The edition referred to here is an inexpensive paperback reprint with poor photographs.
   Had I known about the Capstick edition (see above) prior to ordering, I would have chosen it instead.
   Nevertheless, this "low budget" edition of "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo" is well worth the read.
   But be warned: you'll want to read more stories like it when you finish . . . and you might even develop a yen to hunt large, dangerous, predatory, man-eating game in the long grass that grows in the vast silent places of what was once the "heart of darkness."



3. I read this book several years ago before purchasing it and thoroughly enjoyed the story of the lions of Tsavo. The historical account of the facts behind this story are fascinating. I purchased this book as a Christmas gift, and was very disappointed with the paper stock on which it was printed. Had I seen this book in a store I would not have purchased this edition because the paper and printing reproduction are of such poor quality. If I didn't need it for a Christmas gift, I would have returned the item.



4. A fascinating snapshot in a small hiccup in the giant that was the British Empire. "Progress" is stopped by two lions who have developed an appetite for tender meat. Patterson is an engineer and really not a hunter. Nevertheless, he struggles manfully and heroically to protect his workmen and advance the empire.
   
   He's ultimately successful but not without failures. Despite his impressive efforts, the lions devour Indian workers, native tribesmen and even Europeans. Clearly these cats aren't racist. Everything is turned into lion scat.
   
   Perhaps "Maneaters" isn't the best-written book in the world but it is documentation of a world long past and to the courage and endurance of a very brave man.
   
   Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Conquest of Mexico



5. Excellent book about actuall events in the late 1800's of a British Officer in Africa. The events with the two man-eating lions represents a small portion of the adventures of Patterson.