5 comments about Mary Chesnut's Civil War.

1. "Mary Chesnuts's Civil War" is a monumental reading task: lviii introductory pages, 836 pages of smallish text, and 49 index pages listing more than 1,000 people mentioned in the text. The Editor received a Pulitzer Prize for his work.
   
   The diary (actually much of it was written or elaborated nearly twenty years later) begins on February 16, 1861 at the time of the secession of the Southern states from the Union and ends abruptly on July 26, 1865 after the surrender of the Southern armies. Mrs. Chesnut, the friend of Southern leaders such as Jefferson Davis, spent most of the war years in Richmond and her plantation home in South Carolina.
   
   Mary Chesnut purveys gossip among the elite and offers sharply worded opinions about the South, its leaders, negroes, and slavery. On page 71, we see for example that Robert E. Lee is being called a traitor by some people after his early military failures. Of Gen. Joe Johnston she says, "Being such a good hater, it is a pity he had not elected to hate somebody else than the president of our country." An outspoken woman of about 40 with a goodly share of self esteem Mrs Chesnut does not spare her husband -- who she despises -- and acquaintances from her worldly opinions. With passages on virtually every aspect of day to day living as well as the rush of events leading the downfall of the South, the diary of Mary Chesnut may be the best single source about life in the South during the Civil War.
   
   The most vivid passages in the diary are about the end of the war when the fashionable Mrs. Chesnut feels the pinch of poverty and despair as the Yankee armies conquer South Carolina and burn down her plantation home. She captures the fear of Southerners, "as of a Bengal tiger in the home" of the Yankees and of the newly-freed negroes. "The weight that hangs upon our eyelids -- is of lead"
   
   I haven't read this book cover to cover. I pick it up occasionally and randomly read a few pages or look up the entry for a event of interest. There is sufficient material to spend weeks reading and puzzling out the meaning of elliptical statements or distant relationships or obscure references. The Editor has done a splendid job identifying in notes nearly all of the people Ms. Chesnut mentions and in clarifying the events to which she refers. This is a book you might choose to take to a desert island as it is nearly unconquerable as well as fascinating.
   
   Smallchief



2. Mary Chesnut was a name dropper, and thank goodness, because in passing along her gossip, opinions, news, and personal undertakings, she created the most comprehensive day-to-day record of life in the Confederacy that we have. Although this is both a diary and a later refurbishment of earlier writings (to the point it almost becomes a memoir in epistolary form) Mrs. Chesnut, an aristocratic lady in a position to know a great deal about the workings of her short-lived nation, makes everything seem like a first-hand conversation. Chesnut, like Mrs. Grant and Amanda Wilson, a Civil War-era diarist from Cincinnati, Ohio, has a true gift at making the distant seem immediate. Her reports on the initial euphoria of southern independence from the north and later the reality of hardship and war, are touching, even for one not in deep sympathy with her ideals. What I took away from this diary was something of the horror of loss, as Mary Chesnut's society reeled from death after death, not just of men from combat, but children and women in part from the deprivations war mandated they endure. By the mid-point of her diary, it is a rare entry, indeed, in which Chesnut does not tell of the passing of at least one more friend, or son of a friend. She lived through the destruction of a society and a war in which blood flowed in rivers. Chesnut personally knew a number of the primary figures of the American Civil War, including the wife of Jefferson Davis. She gives a point of view that is not hamstrung by being modern in sensibility, and charts a course of the war's prosecution that might vicariously suggest a later alteration of the record in northern-authored history books. For all these reasons, Chesnut's diary is worth reading.



3. This book is very interesting but it is hard to follow. The intro is very interesting but once you get into the diary part she skips from one topic to another and it assumes a lot. I think it will be worthwhile - it is just going to take me a while to get through it.



4. Reading this book is like opening a door through time and having a daily cup of coffee & gossip session with Mary Chesnut. She was from a fine family with her father being a senator and one of the largest slave owners in South Carolina. Her husband, John Chesnut Jr., was also a senator before the war. He remained politically connected in the Confederacy. He was a general and an aid to Jefferson Davis. Given her situation in life it is not surprising that Mrs. Chesnut had an elite circle of friends and knew everyone that was anyone.
   Mary loved to gossip and name drop and had very strong opinions on any given subject. She had no children so she had plenty of time to be self indulgent and a bit vain. She really must have been a fascinating person as people seem to be drawn to her. Varina Davis was one of her closest friends and she visited the Davis home frequently. She believed slavery to be wrong & hated the fact that there were so many racially mixed children that looked very much like the master of the plantations. She complained about the costs involved in keeping slaves and thought the time had come to abolish slavery. On the other hand, she spoke of slaves like children that needed to be cared for. She also had never had to take care of herself or run a house. She relied totally on her servants for everything.
   She wrote this diary with the intention of including rumors, facts,and anything she might be thinking at the time. John Bell Hood was a frequent visitor and is talked of in her diary quite frequently. She talked about Hood's love for a woman and of his wounds. She referred to him as their "wounded knight". She was a very opinionated, outspoken, and (I think) spoiled women. There are no great military strategies and battle description in her book. She describes the dinners they had or how people were dressed. She talks of all the gossip about all the differert generals and the politics of the day. Reading her diary is like sitting down for coffee with her and listening to the events,real or rumored, that she chats about. She loves all the gossip and thrives on attention She had a front row seat to all events about the war, civilian life, and the downfall of the Confederacy It's wonderful to have the chance to get to know Mary Chesnut with her candid way of writting. She also writes of the trials and tribulations when everything was crashing down aroound her. Her first experience of wearing old clothes, food shortages, no money, & wondering all the while what was going to happen to her and her husband. People were dying all around her and her. Her entire culture & lifestyle were disapearing, everything simply falling apart, yet she kept up her writting. What a fascinating woman Mrs. Mary Chesnut must have been.
   It may be a little difficult to read for some. I think maybe most difficult for men for much of it is "idle chatter" that women do when they get together. There is much information in here that you can only get from someone in the middle of it all.



5. Mary Chestnut was an insightful, well educated, frustrated woman in a society that did not openly encourage women to become interested, certainly not involved, in politics. James, Mary's husband, was what we would call a Washington/Richmond insider. Poor Mary had to convine herself to venting in her diary which requires a good background in the politicians of the day to be informative. For this reason I give it only 4 stars, The earlier edition,Diary from Dixie, was edited by the diarist to be more politically acceptable and better able to sell. There is a considerable amount of gossip in the book which will be interesting to those interested in the personal lives of prominent Confederates, e.g., the affair between General John B. Hood and Sally Preston. Anyone willing to wade through the book with the help of a good who's who in the Confederacy will indeed find this book valuable and interesting.

5 comments about Baa Baa Black Sheep.

1. I came to this book believing that "Pappy" Boyington was a pugnacious drunken spendthrift that the Marine Corps was anxious to be rid of, and that he may not have been the leading Marine Corps ace of World War II as he was thought to be. From what I had read, Boyington spent most of his time on the ground as a member of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as "The Flying Tigers," and was only credited with shooting down 3 ½ Japanese planes (although he claimed six). I also understood that Boyington left the AVG early and was the only man ever dishonorably discharged from that organization. In addition, I questioned his account of the final action in which he was shot down, another unseen action in which he claimed two more enemy planes.
   
   After reading this book, however, I'm not quite so sure. In it, Boyington readily admits that he was a "drunk" and a "bum," and he allows as how he liked to wrestle a bit. As to his claim of six enemy planes while with the AVG, his explanation is easily believable. As he explains it: In order to get credit for a kill with the AVG you almost had to bring your victim back to the landing field in your teeth and drop it where everyone could see it, whereas the majority of his kills had been 75 to 100 miles away, most times behind enemy lines. In addition, and most likely with some merit, he states that the records of his actions at Rangoon were lost when that city fell to the Japanese. With regard to his being "dishonorably discharged" from the AVG, Boyington acknowledges that he left shortly before the remaining volunteers were forced/coerced into the Army Air Corps as 2nd lieutenants. But once again his explanation rings true. Boyington correctly states that he wasn't the only member of the AVG to leave the group, that the reason he left was because he wanted to return to the Marine Corps rather than be conscripted into the Army, and that it was ridiculous to claim that you could "dishonorably discharge" someone from a civilian volunteer organization. As to his account of his final, once again unseen action, Boyington's account is so vivid as to be easily believable.
   
   Having read a number of books which touched upon the life and times of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington before reading this one, I had already formed a somewhat negative impression of the man. After reading this book, however, I have concluded that it is one thing to view a man from the outside, especially from a distance in time, recounting his every fault and failure, but it is quite another thing to view that same man from the inside looking out.
   
   So, although much about Boyington is and will always remain a mystery, he certainly was an American hero and he certainly could tell an interesting, believable, and highly entertaining tale. And this is one of them. But don't stop reading too early. You certainly won't want to miss the chapters in which he recounts his nineteen months as a "captive" of the Japanese. To me, that's the best part of the book. Six stars anyone?



2. PIPPY PAPPY SLIPPY SLAPPY DIS WAS A GOODY WOODY BOOKY WOOKY. PAPPY WAPYPY SLIPPY SLAPPY
   SQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH SQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHIM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH SQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHIM TAKEN A WASH



3. The autobiography of one of America's top five aerial combat aces of World War II, Greg Boyington, is not only a great read about a very gifted and very human pilot, but also provides some enlightening historical insight that applies even today.



4. I was deeply touched by Pappy Boyington's thoughtful and apparently honest insights about himself in this book. Especially interesting was his descriptive telling of the 20 months he spent as a secret prisoner of the Japanese. His appreciation of cultural difference seems ahead of his time. His very human flaws made the book even more interesting to me. From the difficult upbringing he had, I can appreciate what he was to accomplish in his life (flaws and all).



5. My family and I enjoyed this show so much that my wife actually started clapping at the end of one episode! She didn't even realize it! I watched this show as a young boy and loved it. We really hope that the second season is put out on DVD!!!

5 comments about Gone Native: An NCO's Story.

1. I have read hundreds of Vietnam nonfiction books and this is in the top 15 for sure. Great book and flows great, did not want it to end...



2. This was one of those books I didn't want to put down until I was done.



3. Once I started reading the book, I could not put it down. I kept coming across places and people I knew and it brought back a lot of memories. I eventually supported several of his units with intelligence and map overlays for "sensitive" operations, and was in-country myself for six years. I had several run-ins with jerk officers but thankfully they were rare. But I did pull my .45 on three Pentagon O-6s at a SOG briefing when they refused to assist us. Luckily, an SF 1SG Deluca grabbed me and said they were not worth killing as they ran from the room. A couple of weeks later I was jerked out of VN and sent to Germany. I recommend this book to everyone who wants to know how close many of us got to the Vietnamese and the war, and I would very much like to be in contact with the author.



4. This was a good book to read. It gave a new perspective from "pre-military to post. I considered giving it 4 stars, but for an overall score, I thought 3 stars was more justified.
   
   I can recommend Gone Native to anyone who is thinking about purchasing this book, but it is not a page burner and it seemed to ramble a little towards the end. But in no way would I want a perspective purchaser of this book to think it's not a good one. It is. He is frank and honest and what landed him in the stockade was quite refreshing. (You always hear about the other guy. Well, Cornett was the other guy. Thank you for your honesty.)



5. A well-written document by one of the troops on the ground. Crazy moments of a GI under stress, a good feel for the local hill people, and remembrances of buddies in the field. Some of the actions and soldiers described by Cornett have been written about by others and it is always good to see another version of events, not for differences but for shades and nuances to flavor the stories.
   
   A personal growth story: A boy does good, does bad, then good again and manages to live through the process in a war that featured so many wrong decisions from higher and so many incompetent lower and mid-level officers more concerned with careers than with their men.

5 comments about A Table in the Presence.

1. An inspiring journey through war and back with one of the U.S. Navy's Chaplains assigned to the Fleet Marine Force (1/5, 1st MARDIV). Cash takes us from his initial call to ordained ministry, through seminary to his reporting for duty aboard 1/5. Especially fascinating is Cash's discovery of the sacraments (he is Southern Baptist) as essential to the Christian's life. The tales of heart ache and of thankfulness for God's abundent grace make this a great read. It certianly made me more aware of the the wonderful work of US Navy chaplains, particulary those with the FMF.



2. Very good book with a look at what it is like in Iraq. If your loved one is being deployed this is a good book to read. It is a view through a chaplin's eyes.



3. A Table in the Presence: The Dramatic Account of How a U.S. Marine Battalion Experienced God's Presence in Iraq
   
   I was so blessed to have had red this book. We do not see God work in such dramatic ways in the US. I believe are so blessed we think we do not need God and rely on ourselves. My faith was increased and I have purchased 4 other copies to give to family and friends.
   
   Carol Savorn



4. A Table in the Presence is a very good book. It is about how God still has a presence even in the chaos of the war in Iraq. The Marine who is telling the story is LT. Carey H. Cash, a Chaplain in the United States Marine Corps. He gives accounts of the trials and hardships that Marines encounter physically and spiritually. One of the main points in the book is how God seeks out the souls of the Marines even in the darkest and loneliest places of the world. Almost every one of the Marines in LT. Cashes unit experienced the protection and love that God offers for those who seek Him. Some stories are so amazing that you will just have to read them for yourself. A Table in the Presence is a very good read and will truly show you the power and deity of God. Buy this book!



5. You don't need to fully understand the military to understand and feel the power of this book. Lt. Cash, a chaplain serving with the Marines in Iraq, writes in an easy to read style. His words aren't always easy to read, but they are full of the power of God and the enormity of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I never realized the military was such a spiritual place--yet another reason to continually support our military! I was overwhelmed reading Cash's retelling of the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment's initial push into Baghdad and all the miracles that surrounded the horror of that night. It was like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time: How could you not believe in God? After reading this book and the Marine's who experienced God's continual protection, He too is "always faithful," just like a Marine.

2 comments about Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power (Eminent Lives).

1. I was pleased to see that the redoubtable Ross King (of Brunelleschi's Dome fame) was recruited for this book. For readers unfamiliar with the "Eminent Lives" series, the idea is to pair distinguished authors with interesting subjects, the result being "short biographies perfect for an age short on time."
   
   How very 21st century.
   
   King does an excellent job of putting Niccolo Machiavelli's life and times into perspective. Machiavelli was much more of a man of action than I had realized; he interspersed his peripatetic diplomacy for Florence with an obsession with raising and training a citizen militia. And Machiavelli was hardly the black-hearted villain so often characterized. His greatest character fault may have been obsequiousness, as epitomized by his dedicating The Prince to Lorenzo Medici (a syphilitic lout who apparently never read the book at all.)
   
   If I had any cavil about Ross King's book, it is that The Prince is not analyzed in the kind of detail that I hoped it would be. (One supposes a short biography designed for an age short on time has its limitations.) I intend to now follow the example of rapper Tupac Shakur, who read The Prince while imprisoned in 1995, and subsequently gave himself the moniker "Makaveli." (How much cooler than "Puffy" is that?)
   
   Also recommended: Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives)



2. 
   This is one of several volumes in the HarperCollins Eminent Lives series. Each offers a concise rather than comprehensive, much less definitive biography. However, just as Al Hirschfeld's illustrations of various celebrities capture their defining physical characteristics, the authors of books in this series focus on the defining influences and developments during the lives and careers of their respective subjects. In this instance, Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469-1527).
   
   Obviously, this is not a definitive biography nor did Ross King intend it to be. However, for most readers, it provides about all of the information they need to understand the meaning and significance of this excerpt from the final chapter in King's biography: "The key to some of the ambiguities may lie in the nature of the man himself. Machiavelli's numerous undertakings - diplomat, playwright, poet, historian, political theorist, farmer, military engineer, militia captain - make him, like his friend Leonardo, a true Renaissance man. Yet, like Leonardo, who denounced the 'beastly madness' of war while devising ingenious and deadly weapons, Machiavelli is awash in paradoxes and inconsistencies...Probably his greatest contradiction was that he understood better than anyone else in the sixteenth century how to seize and maintain political power - and yet, deprived of power himself in 1512, he spent many long years in the political wilderness, making a series of bungling and fruitless attempts to regain his position."
   
   With remarkable precision, concision, and eloquence, King examines not only Machiavelli's life and career but also the cultural, political, and religious environment in which he was so actively involved more than 500 years ago. The Prince (or The Ruler) is Machiavelli's most famous work but was not published until four years after his death, in 1531, when Pope Clement VII granted that permission to Antonio Blado. It was published together with Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy and The History of Florence. The Art of War (1520) was the only one of Machiavelli's works to be published in his lifetime. King notes that The Prince circulated in manuscript and earned for Machiavelli a certain notoriety. "'Everyone hated him because of The Prince,' one commentator observed around the time of Machiavelli's death. 'The good thought him sinful, the wicked thought him even more wicked or more capable than themselves, so that all hated him.' This was no doubt an exaggeration: Machiavelli was far better known as a popular dramatist and controversial state functionary than as the author of a tract on statecraft. Still, in the decades that followed, the hatred did indeed begin to curdle."
   
   King points out that a well-worn edition accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte to the Battle of Waterloo and Adolph Hitler kept a copy on his bedside table. Today, many people who have never read The Prince and know little (if anything) about its author do not hesitate to invoke his name -- or at least apply it as an adjective -- to describe or repudiate any political maneuvering they perceive to be devious. However, King asserts, rather than having been uniformly demonized or unfairly misunderstood "as a preacher of the straightforward message of evil," Machiavelli has been "conscripted into service" by adherents of all manner of political causes because his thought is strangely malleable to any number of diametrically opposing ideologies and approaches."
   
   As I hope these brief remarks indicate, I learned a great deal about Machiavelli, a man of "numerous antimonies," that I did not know before. I am grateful to Ross King for that but also for all that I learned about the extraordinarily interesting age in which Machiavelli lived, more than 500 years ago. It would be an exaggeration to suggest that King "brings it to life." No one could. But he does present material with the skills and eloquence of a storyteller...and in seamless combination with the skills of a cultural anthropologist.
   
   Bravo!

5 comments about George Washington and Benedict Arnold: A Tale of Two Patriots.

1. This is a great book! It is extremely well researched and powerfully written.
   
   Composed by career soldier and historian David Palmer, "George Washington and Benedict Arnold" tells the story of two Revolutionary War patriots who left such diametrically opposed legacies, despite life trajectories that were at one time so parallel.
   
   George Washington and Benedict Arnold were both more than just patriots and American soldiers, they were the heart of the American military movement against the British.
   
   Washington was the brains, soul and conscience of the Continental Army, while Benedict Arnold was the sword of the Revolution. A soldier of tremendous courage, talent and energy, he managed, time after time, to turn defeat into victory on almost every major battlefield and changed the course of the war.
   
   Indeed, Arnold's victories eventually convinced the French to enter the war on the side of the Americans. Shortly afterward, Spain and the Netherlands followed, turning a rebellion into a world war and all but ensuring a British defeat.
   
   But as the war progressed and Arnold failed to recieve the recognition and rewards he desperately craved, the thoughts of America's premier soldier turned to treason. Had he succeeded in his betrayal, Washington would surely have lost the war and America her independence.
   
   How is it that two men with lives that paralleled and intertwined so closely have legacies so vastly different?
   
   George Washington is remembered as America's greatest soldier and the father of his country, while Benedict Arnold is still considered the greatest traitor in the history of the United States.
   
   To quote the author:
   
   "Your thoughts become your words.
   Your words become your actions.
   Your actions become your habits.
   Your habits become your character.
   Your character becomes your destiny."
   
   "George Washington and Benedict Arnold" is a tremendously good read, recommended for those interested in America's war for independence and the impact of character on destiny.



2. Gen. Palmer came and spoke to the Betty Martin Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution to review his book. We found out that every penny of profit that would be his is sent to fund Mt. Vernon, Washington's home. The book is an interesting contrast of two men with eerily similar backgrounds. Gen. Palmer contends that the difference in the outcome of the two lives is CHARACTER. Gen. Palmer is an excellent speaker. In his book, he presents a clear picture of the lives of these two very different men - each of whom played a major role in the foundation of our country. The character of the man determined the content of that role. I gave copies of the book as gifts at Christmas.



3. I enjoyed this book for the good narrative that it is. Most of my pleasure came from learning the rough details of Benedict Arnold's treason. I had only known him as a traitor prior to reading this book, but had no idea that he was "America's Hannibal" prior to becoming a turncoat, nor was I aware of the reasons for his treason or the way in which he tried to execute it.
   
   The book is a quick, enjoyable, and easy read, which I am also grateful for, because if it weren't, I probably would have put it down and tried to find something more comprehensive on the subject of Arnold to read instead. I have never read a book on a subject such as this that contains no bibliography. Palmer includes a few suggested readings at the end of the book, but it is only about 10 books altogether, and two of them are prior works of his own.
   
   Even within the text, Palmer several times says something like "as a prominent modern historian says 'George Washington was...'"
   
   Well, who is the historian?!
   
   This unwillingness to cite anyone else within the text or in a bibliography really bothered me the whole time I was reading the book. The whole thing reads like something a high school student would turn in to his history teacher. The only difference between this book and the student's essay is that the book is nearly 400 pages long.
   
   There may be some very good reason for not including a bibliography or giving a prominent modern historian credit for his words in the text. I am not accusing Palmer of anything, only saying that these things bothered me quite a bit.
   
   Now, I will find some more books on Benedict Arnold to get the full story.



4. Reading Palmer's great book made me think about today's events in Iraq. Those who don't read history believe that most events that occur are happening for the first time. They believe things have never been worse. As Palmer so eloquently writes, Washington had major problems in his execution of the war and had not only enemies on both sides, but cabals of fellow military men working for his defeat and wanting his job. Some of these narratives were revelations about our first president. He lost more battles than he won, the war was going terribly and the morale of his troops was so low they were loathe to re-up when the terms of their duty had expired. More than once he had to intervene to keep from losing troops to desertion. He acted firmly in handling all these obstacles and persevered to win the war and save the fledgling nation. There may not have been a CNN, MSNBC or NY Times working to bring him down. But, as Palmer tells us, there were many who published the most vicious things about Washington, and sometimes, directly to him, and wished him ill throughout the war. So, some things never change. Things go wrong in wars. People, including the Congress, carp and think they can do better. Washington had the character to see the plan through to its satisfactory ending. This in spite of having a "friend" like Benedict Arnold working eventually to defeat him and the rest of the new nation. Palmer's book serves as a defining account of the Revolutionary War and why George Washington deserves a day in his honor. It should never have been diluted into a "President's Day." Read the book and learn more than you've ever known about Washington, Arnold and the Revolutionary War.



5. Excellent piece of history -- incredible detail -- easy reading. Dave Palmer is a retired general and past supervisor at West Point. He is also a terrific speaker and a very ethical person. (Obviously, I have heard him speak, after which I bought the book).

5 comments about The Portable Abraham Lincoln (Viking Portable Library).

1. The Portable Abraham Lincoln is just that, a small book packed with nothing but Lincoln's words and ideas, from the famous debates with Stephen Douglas to his immortal 2nd Inaguaral Address.

   Mixed throughout the speeches are letters, both public and private, which reveal his inner thoughts and animating philosophy. Included is his short and moving letter to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, featured in the movie Saving Private Ryan, which is the most eloquent expression of patriotic grief I have ever read.

   The book is organized in themes, from his emergence of a polictian to his writings as Chief Executive and as Commander-in-Chief, and ending up with Fate.

   This book is for people who want to go beyond the soundbytes featured in documentaries; it places those famous phrases in the context of the entire speech and the commentary is kept to a minimum, showing respect for the reader.




2. This collection of documents in a sense tells the life- story of Lincoln. It consists primarily of letters but also contains communications of other kinds, including his great speeches. Lincoln's immense power with language, the depth of his feeling and insight, his quiet humor and his great imaginative sympathy are all on display here. Also of course his political wisdom, his detailed knowledge of local and national political affairs, his struggle in conducting the great Civil War.
   There are certain people it simply an honor and uplifting to be in the presence of . Lincoln is such a person, and so these words of his inform and most often, inspire.



3. This is a very good and readable collections of the major writings and speeches of Abraham Lincoln. Unlike many collections of writings and speeches of that era, this is no dull melange of dated issues, but wisdom of the ages.
   
   In one early piece, Lincoln waxes nostalgic by comparing the lethargy of his generation to the generation who fought in the Revolutionary war (talk about the "good old days" is nothing new). In an 1848 letter, he makes some stinging comments against the then-president's "lies" that got America into the Mexican War(sounds similar to modern complaints about you-know-who getting us involed in you-know-where).
   
   Modern revisionists love to take scattered comments by Lincoln about Black people to show that Lincoln was a racist. Aspects of the Douglas debates and his mesage of colonization of 1862 do not deny this, but such people conveniently forget (or omit) Lincoln's evolution of thought as evidenced by the Second Inaugural Address (which also appears in its entirety at the Lincoln Memorial) and his statements about Black soldiers having the right to vote (in the 1860s, mind you). Some racist!
   
   It is also important to remember that Lincoln wrote all of his own speeches and was largely self-educated! When you compare the quality of his speeches and writings to our soundbyte era, it is truly remarkable.
   
   Read this book and become acquainted with greatness.



4. This book os simply another attempt to perpetuate the Lincoln Myth. He almost certainly did not write the Bixby Letter, John Hay, his secretary almost certainly did. Lincoln in fact wrote very little himself, leaving most of the work to his two secretaries, Nicolay and Hay. As for his writing all his own speeches, this too is untrue, certainly not after he became President. There is not a shadow of a doubt that his Secretary of State, William H. Seward had a hand in most of his speeches and in fact was virtually the power behind the throne throughout Lincoln's presidency. Lincoln was a nice enough man, though a manic depressive, as for a genius and great emancipator, GIVE ME A BREAK!!



5. There are several anthologies of selections from Abraham Lincoln's writings available. But The Portable Lincoln is my favorite among them. My copy is dog-eared, underlined, and scribbled on to such an extent that it now looks quite shabby. But this is as much a tribute to the wisdom of Lincoln's words and the judicious editorship of Andrew Delbanco as it is a sad monument to my hard treatment of books.
   
   There are two main reasons why I find The Portable Lincoln so pleasing.
   
   First, editor Delbanco (who's best known for his insightful work on American Puritans) prefaces the collection with an elegant and informative intellectual biography of Lincoln that prepares the way for a more informed reading of the selections. He also provides a useful chronology of Lincoln's life, and he introduces each of the book's six sections with prefatory remarks that put the selections in context.
   
   Second, the selections themselves are carefully chosen and genuinely representative of Lincoln's thoughts in each of the six periods of his life from which they're drawn: his early years up to 1850; the pivotal "republican" years of 1854-1859; the presidential campaign, 1860; the early days of the war, 1860-1861; Lincoln the war president, late 1861-1864; and the reflective Lincoln, 1864-1865. Within each section are to be found exactly what one wants in a collection such as this: for example, Lincoln's early Address to the Springfield Young Man's Lyceum; his Handbill Replying to Charges of Infidelity; his House Divided speech; the first (and possibly best) Lincoln-Douglas Debate; the not-so-good Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions; the Cooper Institute speech; the too-neglected great First Inaugural and the justly-praised Second; the July 4 Message to Congress in Special Session; the Final Emancipation Proclamation; and assorted letters, private memoranda, and speeches. Taken together, these selections give the finest overall impression of Lincoln the private man, politician, thinker, and statesman that one's likely to glean from reading his own words.
   
   I might add that even long-time readers of Lincoln are likely to find one or two pleasant surprises in this collection. Let me mention but one. Everbody's familiar with Lincoln's barbed quip, when McClellan failed to pursue Lee after Antietam, that he'd like to borrow the army if McClellan wasn't going to use it. But Delbanco quotes an even more barbed (and delicious!) zinger from Lincoln to McClellan, written on 24 October 1862:
   "I have just read your despatch about sore tongued and fatiegued [sic] horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?" (p. 244) Ouch!!
   
   Highly recommended, not only for its historical interest but because of the fact, which becomes more obvious to me each time I reread Lincoln, that his words are just as timely today as they were 150 years ago.
   ________
   * From Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, p. 203.

5 comments about Heart of a Soldier.

1. From childhood in the 1940s to 2001 two men's military experiences in colonial battles in Africa, Vietnam, and events leading to 9/11 provide a chronical of military temperment and commitment. This chronology includes their training, fears, heroics, loves , and being drawn into the mechanisms of terrorism before a terroristic event sets the stage for a final act of heroism demonstrated by one of these men.



2. I just finished this book a few days ago and cannot believe he was a real person-he truly was a Kipling or Hemingway type of character. To be brave so many times in your life, and just trying to do the right thing is refresing to see, and we need to see more of it. His friendship with Dan is very close, and not always seen among men due to homophobia. What was most uncanny was how they knew 9/11 was coming and tried their best to prevent it. Unfortunatly it ends badly when Rick does one more heroic act, but he was a good example how to be a good, if somewhat flawed person. Needs to be made into a movie.



3. I had finished We Were Soldiers Once...and Young, and I was very interested in knowing more about Cyril 'Rick' Rescorla, one of the soldiers who had been in the Ia Drang valley. I googled his name and was thrilled that this book had been written about him. After everything he survived in Vietnam to die while making sure others got to safety on 9/11, I was stunned. I have read many books about Vietnam and this is by far the best. Wow what a story. I will keep this book forever, and when I need a refresher on humanity, I will reread this magnificent story. The book is a very riveting war story, so well written I couldn't put it down. Even my friends who aren't interested in wars of the past are reading it.



4. this book chronicle's one man journey through the 20th century. His journey spans two devastating periods in America's history and is narrated through the eyes of the everyday man.



5. This book is what our current life is really about in the Post 911 era. We visit two soldiers who live life together in Africa and then in Vietnam. It (at the end of the book) debunks our police frame work and the cover-ups of the Bush and Clinton Administrations. These two soldiers warn us of the impending Air Strikes against the Twin Towers years in advance. There can be no second guessing the correct warning they gave the NYPD,The FBI, and others. This book should be made into a film. Give this book a buy and pass it around to all you know and care for. And yes I was there on top of the towers in 1989 and felt the tremor of impending doom awaiting us in the future. Every American should be proud of these soldiers and applaud them.

5 comments about Home Before Morning: The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam.

1. I read this book for the first time many years ago now and it touched a cord in me simply at the time I was going thru something similar myself being discharged from the military and finding that you really have no place in the world. I never experienced anything like she did and how she overcame all her obstacles only attests to the strength of the person she became because of it. I believe she has passed on now due to exposure of agent organge while serving our country. I always try to make people see just what sacrifices that our fighting men and women go thru to keep us free that we never even hear about except very rarely in such books as this one. "They" don't want this kind of information coming out to let us know just what has really gone on. This continues to be one of my favorite books and I generally wind up reading it a few times a year. It's one book that will never be let go. It is well worth reading and I guarantee you it will make you think and be appreciative of the little things that we all take for granted.



2. Based on my personal observations, Lynda was the laughing stock of the 71st Evac Hospital. And, she was also almost universally disliked. You had to tolerate her. But, you didn't have to like her. I heard alot from her other "friends" there in 1971. And, I was unfortunate enough to have to spend an afternoon, sitting in a jeep in downtown Pleiku, while she and a friend were wined and dined, so I observed her interactions firsthand. She was laughed at constantly because she was always trying to get out of doing something. But, that was Vietnam's fault. Not hers.
   
   The book is not even good fiction. About 95% of the happenings she claimed never occurred. If they occurred they occurred to someone else, someplace else. The majority of the book is nothing but flights of fancy from a woman that wouldn't know the truth if it bit her. Every problem she ever had, since 1969, was blamed on Vietnam, the people she worked with, the war, the weather, whatever. Not one time in her book did she ever take responsibility for her actions and the repercussions she got from bad decisions.
   
   My review of this book is not as fluent as others. But, my statements are based on personal experience with the subject matter of her and this book firsthand. I was there, I know.



3. I had read this book years ago and lost it after many moves. I wanted to read it again, with everything happening in Iran.
   This book helps one to really understand what our soldiers and medical staff go through during a war and for the rest of their lives. I recommend it as a must read book.



4. This is such a beautiful story; and one that needs to be told more often. It will give so much understanding to the generation born to those who came "of age" in the 1960's of what the VietNam war was all about. And, not many people knew anything about the role of the Army Nurse until now. This book is a must read!



5. Had to read it for History class. Decent book if you are a nurse or had any experience with post traumatic stress, divorce, or Vietnam. Very interesting book, check it out

5 comments about Keeping Faith: A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps.

1. First, a disclaimer. I am a retired Naval officer who spent a good amount of his career working with Marine Corps enlisted men. I have an unashamed bias towards the Corps.
   
   This book works at several levels. It shows the growth of a unruly but very bright young man and how he reacts to and comes to understand the hard discipline of an elite combat organization.
   
   The father, a country club liberal, is consoled by his social circle when the son joins the Marines (as an enlisted man, yet) while their children go off to Ivy League schools. The father comes to accept his son's decision, then becomes proud of the choice and what it has led to.
   
   It draws a stark picture of how discipline is instilled in a group of young men and women being trained for the most bitter kind of combat. And it shows the loyalty they develop for the Corps and importantly, towards their fellow Marines. The latter part of the book has several poignant scenes -- aspiring Marines helping a physically weak but dedicated young Puerto Rican boy through the trials of the final week of testing. He had the right stuff, he was one of them and they made sure he succeeded. It shows the tenderness they exhibited to a young, pregnant, unmarried female Marine after she and her boyfriend are separated during training.
   
   Whatever one's feeling towards the military, this shows how pride and discipline are developed and how important they are for a military force.



2. I had heard Mr. Schaeffer speak about his book and was anxious to get it for my husband. I am trying to read it now but it just keeps dragging on. He is a much better conversationalist. I am only one-third of the way through and I find myself having a hard time picking it up to finish. Maybe you need to be a military man to enjoy it. Yet again, his interview about the book was terrific!!!



3. My son joine the USMC early this year and recently graduated. My father was in the USMC as was my brothers and myself! We use to live at Parris Island, SC and I grew up seeing recruit training not only experiencing it. I would recommend this book if you or someone you know is either considering joining or has a son or daughter thinking about it. It does not 'candy coat' the experience. The vendor I purchased it from was quick and very courteous. It arrived in excellent condition and I'll order through them again! [...]



4. I found the part of the book written by the son to be very interesting.
   I believe he gave a very good insight about the trials of Marine boot camp. I started skipping over the father's part of the book as I did not identify with him. I'm glad I read it.



5. I loved this book. If your child (son or daughter) has joined the Marines, it is a must read. This book follows a recruit through boot camp, and the journey that his father takes too. They volunteer, we are drafted.