5 comments about Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters.

1. True insight through the eyes of a great combat leader inspiring men to fight under difficult circumstances to protect each other on a none forgiving battlefield. Major Dick Winters is a man who understands the art of war and making the right decisions under pressure. A true warrior and a great American.



2. This is a great book .. if we had a country full of men like this it would be the greatest country in history.



3. I am hooked on the mini-series and can almost quote the dialogue. This book fills in a lot of the the missing parts and solidifies a lot of the truths of the film. A well written and very good reading book that is filled with facts and great memories. Probably should be read after seeing the series.



4. The moral character of Maj. Winters is impecable and unimpeachable. His book is one every kid in school chould read to learn what it is to stand fast in the face of fear and the enemy wether foreign or domestic. This is important now because we may be facing a time when we must once again face a enemy that is domestic. I would hope we would have leadership similar to that given by Maj. Winers.



5. A wonderful companion to the HBO "Band of Brothers" miniseries. The book fills in some gaps and details to give you a more complete picture of Easy Company's trek through the war in Europe. Highly recommended!

5 comments about The Slaves' War: The Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves.

1. This is a superb telling of the story of the Civil War with running commentary in the actual words of slaves who saw it, fought it, endured it and lived to tell about what it was like for them and their fellows before, during and after the war. For anyone interested in the war, it provides a unique and invaluable perspective never seen before. For anyone interested in African American history, which of course should be every American who wants to be politically awake, this is a wonderful opportunity to let the people speak for themselves, a most welcome change in historical writing about these terrible and awesome events. Must read.....



2. I had just finished reading Complicity (The North's involvment in the slave trade) when this book arrived. It is a wonderfully written "history" book & I love history



3. This was by far the best book of its kind written about this particular event in American history. The author used great care in weaving a histroical story by first person accounts of the events surrounding some of the major battle of the civil war. Few authors have possessed the courage to write such an unbiased account of the slaves and how the civil war affected them both individualy and as a people as a whole.
   
   I highly recommend this book to any and all students of history especially those students of African American history. Five stars plus.



4. Although this book is a hard one to read more than a few chapters at a time, it is worth the effort. I think you need time to let each section sink in and be mentally absorbed before takling the next one. I found it a bit difficult to follow exactly the narrations, as they tended to get mixed together a bit. However, of course, I waa reading late at night, so that may account for some of it. But, I did plod through and found this book an informative and unique one in recounting the harshness and suffering for both the northern and southern soldiers,plantation owners in the south, and. of course. the slaves. The damage done to the south by this war,and the lack of support to the slaves after the warby the Union was made vivid.Since the south was phycially and mentally devastated by the war,and the slaves had no real chance for decent jobs ,due to their inablity to read or write, or even do math, and the plantation owners almost total dependancy on their slaves to do manual tasks and their loss of them threatening their own survival, certainly brought home the starkness of the post war southern landscape.All in all, a definite read for people who wish to know more in depth about the American Civil War.



5. I have recently purchased The Slave's War after seeing the author on The Daily Show promoting it. I absolutely love reading about history and real events from real people, but I found this a kind of difficult read. It started out good, but it seemed like halfway through, the stories seemed to be repeating, like I kept reading the same stuff over and over again. And it sort of jumps from one account to the next, confusing me some. Maybe it's just me, but I thought is was a slow read.

5 comments about Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival.

1. The most striking thing about this book is how jaded the author appears about his "stories". Surely that colors all reporting and transforms all horrors covered into soundbites for the news-tainment culture that prevails today. So the book gives the strong impression of merely scraping the surface.
   
   While the sometimes inappropriate morbid humor developed in such extreme situations is realistic (as I can testify having grown up in a war zone), it does convince me that the author does get touched by what he has reported on. Shame that this does not come through in his personal memoirs.
   
   Closing the book, my parting thoughts are discomfort at the role today's news media plays, hope that the writing of the book has proven cathartic for the author in dealing with his own personal loss, disappointment at just skimming the surface of the author's experiences and feelings on being confronted with and reporting on some of humanity's ugliest moments in the past few years.



2. Anderson Cooper writes a great book and hearing him read it on audio makes it all the better. I think everyone should get a copy.Attacks on the Press in 2006: A Worldwide Survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists (Attacks on the Press)Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and SurvivalAnderson Cooper: Profile of a TV Journalist (Career Profiles)Planet in Peril (2 DVD set)



3. I don't remember when the name or the face of Anderson Cooper first entered my consciousness, but over the past few years he has grown to be one of the most recognized and respected journalists on TV--a guy whose demeanor and candor inspire trust and belief. In this autobiography, Cooper reveals the inner pain and doubt that both torment him and drive him to become better at his craft. His own painful experiences make him empathetic to the pain of others, perhaps best personified in his clearly emotional questioning of Senator Mary Landrieu over the mishandling of Katrina (transcribed in the book, watchable on YouTube). Did he cross a line in that interview? Probably. But for an audience tired of politicians' soundbites passing as real news and numb to talking heads who mistake emotional vacancy for stoicism, or conversely, show emotion in a thinly-veiled attempt to push their own agenda, Cooper's search for accountability when people are suffering in silence is quite refreshing. Finally, a journalist who seems to be on "our side": the side of the Objective Truth. Someone we can root for.
   
   At the same time, his inner demons, his search for answers in a world where very little is explainable by logic, and a nagging self-doubt that he has become what he loathes most--an apathetic, cynical vulture feeding off the pain of others--makes for an interesting portrait of a man searching for a reason for optimism while perched on the brink of despair and madness. His accounts are compelling, addictive, numbing, and inspiring ... this book is hard to put down, and by the end of it the reader gains a greater appreciation for a world full of both beauty and brutality, and the men and women who choose to make a living out of uncovering both the light and the shadows for the consumption and education of the general public.



4. I loved this book. He is a wonderful journalist. I recommend this book to anyone that loves world news and travel all in one.



5. This book is fantastic! I purchased it and read the entire book within 72 hours. His descriptions of the accounts are breathtaking. The section that touched me most was about Katrina and the Aftermath. I lived in New Orleans as a volunteer relief worker for 1 year, November '06 - October '07. It was a life changing experience for me. The experiences I had begin 14 months after the storm. To read Anderson's accounts, just hours and days following the storm, it was unbelieveable. To read his accounts from the view of someone who was choosing to be there, it's amazing. I recommend this book to everyone.

5 comments about The Forgotten Soldier.

1. This book is very involved and a joy for WW2 history buffs. Unfortunately, after conducting a little side research, I discovered a great deal of skepticism leveled at Guy Sajer and his account of his "experiences" on the Eastern Front during WW2. His critics provide specific instances of discontinuity, fabrications, or deliberate gray-areas detailed in The Forgotten Solder, and one must take this into account when wieghing it's authenticity. I found these accusations downright troubling and didn't rate the book quite as high as a result. If you can overcome the skepiticism associated with it and consider the book a "partial" fabrication, you'll probably enjoy the storyline none the less.



2. I've quite a few excellent WWII histories but this one is one of the most visceral and savage accounts I've ever seen. Your feelings about the universality of the foot soldier will never be the same.



3. This is a good read. Most people don't know this, but this book is required reading at the US War college at West Point.
   
   Yes, he may get some of his facts mixed up a little, but hey.... it's WAR! Many people have trouble remembering the small stuff through the haze of war.



4. What an amazing book. The author's luck in surviving nearly 3 years of combat as a conscripted 17 year old is eye opening. He describes in detail how his training and first missions went as a supply soldier attempting to rescue Stalingrad. The difficulties in logistics in providing food, shelter, and sanitation in the vast open Russian steppe is clearly made.
   
   The author also describes how he and others in his unit were recruited as "volunteers" for the Gross Deutschland Division as infantry soldiers and the training they received as replacements. The difficulties of survival, the mental and emotional toll that war has on people is also described.
   
   Also noteworthy is the personal impact war has on families where he meets the parents of his best friend, who was killed by a fighter plane strafing run. The impact of years of Allied bombing on the German civilians, their ability to provide food to themselves and their army, is also described from the ground level perspective.
   
   This book is a first person account and avoids "armchair analysis" of senior leader decisions. The author describes how those on the ground, in the mud, endured the extreme cold to fight against the Soviets reclaiming their country in executing senior leader decisions.
   
   For "armchair analysis", after reading this book, one wonders how the US Army would have fared fighting in Russia if Patton was allowed to battle the Communists in 1946? Would the American supply system been able to function in the road-less and open steppe?
   
   A humbling book, we are so very fortunate to live in peace, not having to endure the suffering of total war.



5. The wind sucks the breath out of my mouth, even though covered. Ice crystals form on the outer layer of my sock-mask. If I did not knock the crystal off I fear that I would no longer be able to fear. As I wander endless white do I dream or hallucinate of summer at the lake. I have never been so cold and oh so alone..............
   Though I read this book 20 odd years ago I still shiver when I encounter this book on some lost shelf in some back alley bookstore. Sajer glares at me from the cover with his scruffly sunken cheeks. The fear in his eyes tell me he is at an end and I should leave him as fast as I can. Alas I cannot. We had fought together and now we must survive. I am haunted.
   This book is touted as a work of fiction, which clearly bases it plot in the reality of the Eastern Front in WW II. Yet the writing style could almost best be described as an autobiogrphical account of one man's suffering. Few authors have the knack of drawing in their readers so intensly, i.e. Remarque,Manchester,Shiver,Rand even Silverman. If the story is true then I feel more sympathetic for Sajer. Be it fiction then I have been duped, but quite happily had I gone along toward my embarrassment.
   I had heard that this book had been produced as a movie, but as of yet have been unable to confirm that claim. The conseus being that a movie would not prove worthy of the book (unlike say "The Sand Pebbles")
   any student of WW II, owes it to him/herself to read this story and to seek out similar such books. For they reflect war on a deeply personal level of suffering other than the ultimate suffering of non-existence. We read the history, the oral historys, the "big picture" analysis books and we say oh, wasn't that terrible. Seldom do we think that those are people suffering and dying in those sentences. With "The Forgotten Soldier" we can see and if you concentrate, hear and feel what a true, tired warrior felt. You can walk away from this book and if you are lucky you may be able to forget this book. But the book is a ghost, eventually you won't be able to escape - and then Winter sets in.

5 comments about The Good War: An Oral History of World War II.

1. No wonder he won the pullitzer for this book. WOW! This is an eye opening account of WWII and those who were around back then. The interviews tell 1st hand accounts of soldiers, wives, daughters, husbands sons who experienced life during this tumultuous time in history. Parts are disturbing but get down to the numbness of war and how in a time of crisis the grossness of war can seem normal. Also, very touching and poignant.



2. If you have even the slightest interest in history in general, or just World War II specifically, you HAVE to read this book! The Good War is a national treasure containing a broad cross-cut of the generations of men and women who lived through a horrible and fascinating era. This is not a history as you've known history. This is history as a living, breathing entity. If you're skeptical of my enthusiasm, just try to get through the first chapter without wanting to read the rest of them.
   
   These interviews are guaranteed to affect you. This is the perspective that history so often overlooks: the views of the everyday man, woman, and child at ground zero--those who experience history first-hand.



3. I expected a history of the war through eyewitness accounts, but got a collection of cherry picked anecdotes selected to make an anti-war statement. Some of the stories are interesting and revealing of aspects of the time, but this is not a definitive history of WWII by any means.



4. Studs Terkel's The Good War is a very entertaining set of oral histories about World War II. By allowing people to tell their own stories in their own words, Terkel sweeps his readers along on a fascinating trip back in time. Even at roughly 600 pages, The Good War is difficult to put down.
   
   The Good War definitely will encourage you to think. Terkel wants his readers to ponder whether war can ever be justified. Another poignant aspect of The Good War is the fact that the vast majority of the interview subjects must be deceased by now; in fact, several died before the book's original 1984 publication. The Good War is the sort of book that will force you to reflect, even long after you have finished reading it.
   
   While I would recommend The Good War, it is possible to offer a few criticisms.
   
   As several reviewers have noted, Terkel is devoted to debunking the notion that WWII was, in any way, good. If there was a problem in those years, Terkel doesn't just cover it, he covers it at length. The fact that Terkel wants to take away our rose-colored glasses does not bother me. But I have been lucky enough to meet many World War II veterans; most of them are much less critical of WWII than are Terkel's interviewees. So, I wonder whether we hear from a disproportionate number of malcontents.
   
   Another criticism is that Terkel tries to take on too much - even for 600 pages. The book meanders onto a number of topics that (while interesting) stray a bit far from WWII. For instance, Terkel has strong interests in the Spanish Civil War and the Cold War. These sections may be too far from the "main" story for some readers' tastes.
   
   On the whole, however, The Good War is a fascinating look at a lost era. You will be entertained and you will also be left with much to think about after you finish.



5. "The Good War" - Studs Turkel's 5th oral history - was published in 1984. Like most of his other books, this too was a "best seller". Turkel has put together excerpts from some 124 interviews with people who lived during the war years - ex-military officers and enlisted men, defense industry workers, atomic bomb scientists, celebrities, politicians, Jews, Japanese, Germans, Russians, men, women, blacks, native Americans, rich, poor, younger, older. I've missed some, but you get the idea.
   The war, notes Turkel, was good for most Americans, ergo - the title. After a long, lean depression throughout the country, there were again plenty of jobs, plenty of money, and plenty of hell-raising. Also, Americans were happy to work hard and to lend their support to the war effort - in whatever way they could - because they thought they knew why the country was at war. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Most active participants in the war survived the experience: there were 129 million Americans at that time, 5 million served on active military duty, 1 million of those were killed, wounded, or injured in the war. Most Americans interviewed considered the war years generally happy ones. Many of those who served in the military considered their war-time experiences the most exciting times of their lives.
   When people spoke to the tape recorder about their lives during the war years, they automatically came up with the most exciting, most memorable, most tragic, most funny, most whatever - because these are stories that they've been thinking about, telling and retelling for over 30 years. That's what makes this book so readable. It's definitely not boring and it's definitely informative. Many people recalled a specific moment in their lives, when they were unbelievably lucky, and because they were lucky, they survived with their life.
   In my view, if you are going to read just one book about WWII, this should be the book!

5 comments about House to House: A Soldier's Memoir.

1. One of the most interesting and inspiring books I've read in years. It should be required reading for all Americans who have not had an opportunity to serve in the military. It makes you think about the difficult and sometimes fatal consequences our political decisions have on the men and women who wear the uniform of freedom.



2. Thank you SSG Bellavia for putting into words the story of the great sacrifices being made by our military in Iraq. Reading this made me appreciate those in uniform even more. This memoir was so real and so compelling, I could not put it down. For those wondering what it's like to be in combat in Iraq, this book nails it. It will make you feel like you are there. What a great book. God bless our troops and their families.



3. This book was truly a great way to see what sacrifices our armed forces make to keep Freedom Free. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the war we have been in for the last 8 years. After reading this you will truly appreciate our military and the sacrifices they make so that we don't have to make them. Thanks again to all of our men and women of the armed forces.



4. I already had a high view of infintry soldiers as I have a former Army warrior who is my partner and manages the business. My appreciaion of the training, commitment and sacrifice of the FEMF,to modify an acronym from the book, increased ten fold. Thanks David, thank you Deanna, Evan and Aiden. Exodus 15:3



5. Best read this year. I could not put the book down. It is a war memoir not a literary masterpiece.

5 comments about Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills.

1. This is a great book. I had wanted to read it ever since reading an article about Carlos Hathcock years ago. I have to say the book is as good as I possibly could of imagined. You get a good feel for the characters and the story is very moving because the characters are real people, not made up.



2. good read. good proof reading as darn few irritating mispells & punctuation mistakes make it a pleasure to keep reading.



3. Henderson tells the story behind the legend of Carlos Hathcock.
   
   I was already familiar with the many of the stories, but was pleasantly surprised to discover Hathcock was such a "normal" person. He definitely had unique skills and a level of self discipline that is rarely seen but he was also a humble and unassuming gentleman who knew what he needed to do and pursued it regardless of who was watching. His fame is the result of others who told his story based on their respect for his deeds, not because of his own self-promotion.
   
   A great book about an outstanding Marine and role model for many.



4. This book will make you sweat like you are in the jungle with Hathcock, his bravery, the tactics, the killing of he NVA officer, alone as he slowly crawls thru the jungle and grass, day after day far behind enemy lines! his surprise sniping attack on NVA regulars as they crossed a berm in the middle of a rice field, his ingenuity using the 50 cal machine gun as a sniper rifle with one round fired each time. This man beat the NVA at their own game, he kicked their butts, showed them that Americans produce fighting men who are fearless and aggresive, life takers. God bless the corp and God rest Hathcock, you have paid your dues here on earth. well written book, the author is a man who knows how to write, from another writer.



5. This is a superb biography of Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, Marine sniper, from his enlistment to the brutal end of his second tour in Vietnam. Readers shall be as impressed as me when they remind the chase of the North Vietnamese woman sniper and the killing of a vietcong general. Many stories are so astounding that they stand better than any fiction.
   The man was a great warrior. He knew well how to fight and protect the ideals of his country. Excellent.

5 comments about Call of Duty: My Life Before, During and After the Band of Brothers.

1. Since the success of the HBO series "Band of Brothers" (BoB), several other books have come out about some of the key members of that story.
   
   So far, these books have included autobiographies by Dick Winters in "Beyond Band of Brothers", Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron in "Brothers in Battle", Donald Malarkey in "Easy Company Soldier" , and Lynn "Buck " Compton in "Call of Duty". David Kenyon Webster had earlier written his war autobiography in the 1950's, and this was finally published in 1994 with help from Stephen Ambrose as "Parachute Infantry". In addition, a separate biography of Dick Winters - "Biggest Brother" - was written by Larry Alexander.
   
   Reading all of these books and re-watching the HBO movie series on DVD has a Rashomon-like quality. Details of how things happened in E Company's WWII campaign change from one storyteller to the next. Like Rashomon, from the differences in the stories, it is possible to glean insights into the characters of each of these men and how they wanted to remember themselves.
   
   As mentioned by other reviewers, of all of these books, this one by Buck Compton actually has the least amount of information about E Company's actions during WWII. It does turn out to be an excellent study in the life and times of the Los Angeles area from the Depression all the way through the 1980's. In particular, the section on Compton's career as an LAPD policemen and then district attorney read like something out of "LA Confidential".
   
   Buck Compton lived an incredibly full life - he was a child actor in Hollywood, a UCLA baseball player and a lineman for the UCLA football team that won the Pac-10 and went to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 1943, a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne during WWII who won a Silver Star for his role in destroying a German artillery battery in Normandy, a plainclothes policeman for the LAPD, and an LA district attorney who prosecuted Sirhan Sirhan for the assassination of Robert Kennedy. He was appointed by Ronald Reagan to be a judge on the California State Court of Appeals. Finally retiring to the San Juan Islands off the coast of Seattle, he would become a "poor man's Rush Limbaugh" (in the words of one of his daughters) as a conservative radio talk show host.
   
   Ultimately, though, it was Compton's brief time with E Company that made him famous enough to get his autobiography published.
   
   An analysis of Compton's time with E Company:
   
   The discrepancy between Compton's recollections of the battle at Carenton and the accounts of others in E Company is easily explained. It is clear from Compton's book that, after the Brecourt assault, he somehow became separated from the rest of E Company in the general confusion of Army maneuvers as the soldiers moved to attack Carenton. Thus, he arrived late to Carenton, after the battle was over, and his account describes only the post-combat scenes of destruction and carnage. Compton's account does jive with all of the other BoB accounts - Compton's name never appears in any of the other descriptions of the attack on Carenton, as it is now clear that he simply wasn't there.
   
   The attack at Brecourt would be the highlight of Compton's combat efforts. His only other contributions to E Company consisted of getting shot in the buttocks almost immediately when the shooting started in the Holland campaign, and then getting caught in the hell of Bastogne as E Company was sent out to hold the perimeter against a constant German artillery fire.
   
   Which brings us to the uncomfortable topic of Buck Compton's moment of "combat fatigue" at Bastogne.
   
   Although Compton firmly denies that he suffered a PTSD-type breakdown at Bastogne, there's a lot of evidence in his own account in this book that after the successful assault on the German guns at Brecourt, he rapidly lost his taste for fierce combat. Ambrose, in fact, states in his book that none of the original E Company men would ever charge as recklessly into battle as they did at Brecourt. Their initial enthusiasm for combat would rapidly be replaced by a general sense of self-preservation as they saw how many of their buddies were getting killed.
   
   Compton's own version of the event at Bastogne puts the blame on Lieutenant Dike, E Company's useless replacement lieutenant during Bastogne. He states that he ran off the line to find Dike, and later raged about Dike's absence. Despite his explanation, the weight of the evidence from the other BoB accounts is that, yes, he did suffer a PTSD breakdown, becoming unable to function in his role as a second lieutenant for his unit after witnessing the carnage inflicted by the German shelling. The whole purpose of the military command structure is so that there is always someone to step in to take over in another soldier's absence. Other survivors of the shelling such as Carwood Lipton and Donald Malarkey would step in to hold E Company together.
   
   Compton was not an original Toccoa man, having joined E Company in England. He had not suffered through Captain Sobel as the others did. And so his level of bonding with the rest of E Company was not as tight, something that becomes clear from a close reading of this book. After his best friends Guarnere and Toye were mangled in the German shelling, it appears that he lost his closest ties to E Company.
   
   Contrary to the "happy ending" depiction in the HBO series, Compton did not return to E Company at the end of WWII. Officially recovered from trench foot, he was given orders to go back to E Company, but, on his way, stopped in Paris, and there met an old friend who transferred him to another unit that was engaged mostly in playing Army baseball and football.
   
   He states that in hindsight, he should have gone back to E Company, just to set the record straight about his character, but I think the reality at the time was that he knew that his closest friends in E Company were gone by then - dead, wounded, or transferred - and that E Company was now filled with replacement soldiers.
   
   And, unlike Ambrose's description of E Company as a tight brotherhood of friends, Compton would later, at an E Company reunion, be accused by a drunken Lewis Nixon of being a coward. Malarkey would come to Compton's defense (an identical account of this event appears in Malarkey's book).
   
   And so, like all Hollywood movies, like most of history, like Rashomon, the truth is far, far more complex than it seems at first. This has been true for the story of E Company as well.
   
   It is not for us, noncombatants, to judge Compton's character - his service in WWII required far more bravery than most of us could ever muster. Compton is a fine American, who did more than his share in WWII, and then later accomplished even more as a public servant for the state of California. His many other accomplishments in life may in fact have encouraged him to forget about his brief moment in WWII with E Company (he was with them for only for about one year).
   
   The book ends, somewhat jarringly, with Compton's career as a "poor man's Rush Limbaugh", and his fierce diatribe against socialism. As this review is already far too long, I will just say this - he definitely got this part wrong. Socialism and free market capitalism are merely opposite ends of an eternal struggle between doing what is best for all people in society (including the poor and incompetent), versus the need to reward individual initiative and drive. Societies that run to the extremes of one or the other have always been terrible societies. Our goal as Americans should be to find the best balance between the two.



2. When i purchased this book, my impression was that it was going to be about the celebrated "Band of Brothers" ... I've read several a couple of books about Dick Winters, as well as Ambrose's "Band of Brothers". I was actually surprised how little time was spent on that period ... mainly because that part of Buck Compton's life only represented a few pixels of the much larger picture.
   
   What is enjoyable about the book is that Compton does not put himself on a pedestal for anything ... actually, most of the book is spent downplaying anything that could ever be interpreted as grand, heroic or egotistical ... he doesn't want accolades (as his daughters didn't even know he earned medals for valor in World War II until the "Band of Brothers" premier). This is a story of a humble and decent man with a strong sense of duty, self-pride, work-ethic, integrity and honesty.
   
   I think the point of him writing this book was less a tale of being one of the Band of Brothers than using that role to prove to people that being an American is a greatt blessing if one is willing to work hard and make sacrifices when necessary.
   
   There are several surprises in the book. He is quick to point out innacuracies in the Band of Brother book and movie, but does so in a manner that is not accusatory. He is also quick to marginalize, to some degree, the grand stature bestowed upon him as "Lt. Buck Compton" ... to him, his war service was nothing more than fulfilling a duty to his nation along with millions of other young men.
   
   He completes the book with a chapter about his politcal views and I am sure it will offend or annoy some ... too bad, he's earned the right to state them and his life experiences have obviously shaped them (not newspapers or newsanchors).
   
   Bottom line ... the man has led a very impressive life ... it was an enjoyable read and when i was finished i couldn't help but thinking how lucky we are to have people like him among us.



3. My uncle got me a copy of this book. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but then I started reading and was done in 3 days. Wow! I just didn't know about so much of this stuff.
   
   The cool thing about men like Buck Compton was that they didn't brag about they're accomplishements. They just did stuff, even if it was hard. Like volunteer to be a paratrooper. I was raised watching reruns of MASH, where it sounds like everybody always wants to get out of the Army all the time. But it was surprising to learn that not everyone throughout America's history has felt like that. Buck wanted to be in the Army--and so did most of his generation. If you were found on the street without a uninform on, people would look at you like you weren't doing your duty. I think we could all learen a lesson from that.
   
   Thank you Buck Compton, and all the veterans who have served us so well.



4. This is a good biography, but it had very little in regards to the "Band of Brothers". I was disappointed from that perspective.
   Dave



5. Really good book by a guy who has experienced a very full and interesting life. As a fan of Band of Brothers I have gone back and read all of the books by the E-company soldiers, Winters, Webster, Malarkey, Guarnere and Heffron. Compton had an amazing life and his book is a great read.

5 comments about Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography.

1. This book is a welcome addition ot the already crowded Lincolnia bookself. The author is the presumed successor to the retired David Herbert Donald at Harvard University. Gienapp has produced a highly readable and concise version of a Lincoln biography that can be completed on a moderately long airplane trip(and it's quite portable unlike most hardcover books). While relatively short,this book is a sufficiently thorough treatment of the Civil War Lincoln. I especially enjoyed the author's analysis of the politician Lincoln who mastered his rivals, both Republican and Democrat. This a good book for either a new Lincoln /Civil War "buff" or a good refresher for a scholar of the times.



2. William Gienapp's Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America answers a longstanding need for a biography of Lincoln manageable in size, accessible in style, and wise and balanced in content. Lincoln appers on every page of the book and is never lost sight of in the welter of events. He emerges from the text a real believable person, an individual and persuasive assessment of Lincoln's leadership abilities, the finest such appraisal avilable anywhere.



3. A good short, solid political biography. While Lincoln and the Civil War is its focus, by no means is this a battle history: Gettysburg is described in one paragraph.
   
   Professor Gienapp has written a book that will introduce one to, or remind one of, the long and trying path traveled by Abraham Lincoln toward ultimate greatness.



4. A short, but very well biography of Lincoln. It counts only 250 pages, but it gives an excellent overwiew and superb analyse of the life of AL. The bibliography is also very interesting. One of the best books about the 16th president. A must for a Lincolnhistorian.



5. Bill Gienapp was a brilliant historian, and his work "The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856" is a pillar of American political history. Unfortunately, his final work, "Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America," is a tremendous let-down. It is perhaps one of the worst examinations of Lincoln's life, and has almost nothing to do with "Civil War America." Essentially, it is an unqualified love poem to Lincoln, and strives only to prove his greatness -- there is no critical analysis at all. Lincoln is given credit for every political and military success 1861-1865 and is absolved from blame for all his mistakes. In reality, Lincoln was a complex personality and his public career was much more tumultuous than Gienapp proposes. It is disappointing that Gienapp, a man who dedicated his life to exhaustive, nearly flawless historical research would resort to such frivolous, uncritical "pop history" at the end of his tragically short life. Skip Gienapp's Lincoln and, instead, read Stephen Oates's "With Malice Toward None" or Don Fehrenbacher's "Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850s."

5 comments about If I Die in a Combat Zone : Box Me Up and Ship Me Home.

1. This memoir brought me closer than I had been before to the Vietnam War..it was interesting. Another perspective on the Vietnam War.



2. I've not read a ton of war books and picked up this one because it was on some list of best books of the century or somthing like that from Time. War must not change much, becuase the narrator in this book seems to be saying so much of what I have heard from soldiers coming back from the Iraq, etc. Lots of boredom with moments of great fear peppered in. I like this book a lot. The author's writing style is very matter of fact, but with as frugal as he is with his words, he says tons.



3. Being much more familiar with Tim O'Brien's fiction, one may not know what to expect in his memoir about his tour of duty in Vietnam. Written in the same style with a wry sense of humor, O'Brien challenges the war in a way few have.
   
   Courage and morality are continuing themes that O'Brien explores through his actions as well as literary quotes. It is very clear that O'Brien was uncomfortable with the war even before being drafted. He even contemplates going AWOL. In a paradox, he lacks the courage to go to war or escape going to war. Nothing is more powerful than the last chapter. Going beyond patroitism and rituals, O'Brien is numbed as he returns home. The war has left a mark that is difficult to fathom.
   
   Tim O'Brien does not flinch at the brutality of the war nor the American soldiers. Major Callicles seems straight out of Catch 22, yet he is all too real. The cruelty to a blind civilian has the ability to disgust. While making a statement, O'Brien's writing is both enlightening and entertaining. It is a remarkable perspective on a disastrous war.



4. Tim O'Brien fan and have not read this book? You will not be disappointed. Never read O'Brien? Get ready for a mind trip that will leave you addicted to what great literature is all about.
   Stunning and moving memoir of O'Brien's Vietnam years. It will move you. Period. If it does not, then you are not human.



5. More or less everything I know about the Vietnam War I have taken from American movies. This, I accept, is not the ideal grounding on the subject. If there is a decent Vietnamese account, on celluloid or in print, then I have never come across it. Not that I have been looking that hard.
   
   Tim O'Brien's book is the first piece of non-fiction I have read about the conflict. Written in 1968 as the grunt's eye view, I am sure it was hard-hitting and thought provoking at the time. Now, if I am being really honest, it seems a little tame. Perhaps the movies have numbed me when it comes to Vietnam. Maybe I have just grown up in a world where far worse things happen. I am sure the failing is all mine.
   
   It is a well-written book, I just couldn't connect to it in the way I have done with his fiction. I loved July, July and would happily recommend it to just about anyone. If I Die In A Combat Zone has perhaps become less shocking as the years have gone by. But it might just be me that thinks that.