5 comments about Bedford Forrest: and His Critter Company (Southern Classics Series).

1. Cunning as the Devil was Nathan Bedford Forrest and this book indicates just how quick and clever this military genius was. Little wonder then that Lee considered this dark knight to be his finest soldier, above even the legendary Stonewall Jackson.



2. I never fully appreciated the intellect of Forrest until I finished this book. It peels away the myths about the man, and tells about what he was really like. I loved it, and often flip around in it from time to time. A must for Civil War buffs!



3. In terms of his impact on modern warfare, no general of the Civil War had more than Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Not Grant, not Lee, not Longstreet or Sherman. This is the man. No less a general than Erwin Rommel studied Forrest's tactics and implemented them with modern weaponry when his Afrika Korps marched all over Libya and Egypt in World War II.

   The reason I say this book isn't for the "politically correct" is that it was written some 70 years ago, by a man of the old South who obviously idolized Forrest and everything he stood for. As you know already, not everything Forrest stood for was good. He was 100 years ahead of his time as a soldier, but stuck in 1860 in his personal beliefs.

   But...getting into the book. He was a brilliant commander who never had enough men under his command to turn the war in the South's favor. Still, he was a hero to the people of the Tennessee river valley where he won most of his victories, with good reason. When the Union troops overran these areas and placed them under military rule, Forrest made sure they treated the citizens decently. Once he even saved a group of innocent men from a flaming death at the hands of vengeful Union soldiers whom he was defeating in battle. Reading these and other stories makes you understand why he was such a hero to the author, who would have heard first-hand accounts of Forrest's exploits.

   Lytle believes that the South would have won the war if Forrest had been placed in command of the main Confederate army in the west, and he's probably right. Forrest was an extraordinary individual who had more impact on the 20th century than any other Civil War general.




4. Andrew Lytle was the dean of Southern writers, and in this work -- one of his earliest -- he not only brought to life America's greatest military figure, but an age and a people as well. It was Lytle's aim to make the times of Nathan Bedford Forrest come alive for the reader. He devoted himself to intensive research of the Tennessee where Forrest was born and the Mississippi where he lived.
   
   In reading this book we not only learn about the marvellous -- indeed, often incredible -- feats of a military genius, but we learn at the same time about the people, the places, the morals, the values, and the way of life of a people long gone now. (Lytle's subsequent book, A Wake for the Living, deals more pointedly with how much of the good of those days we have lost.)
   
   This book, although a worthy history, reads like a novel. It truly is one that is hard to put down once you get started.



5. History can suffer at the hands of its practitioners, but that is certainly not the case here. Lytle can write and Forrest is the beneficiary of his talent. Lytle seeks to communicate the essence of the man and his time and largely succeeds. Although a vivid portrait of Forrest the man emerges, my one word impression of Forrest after reading this book is Warrior! I found it hard to put down. But I wouldn't want to run in to him in a dark alley wearing a Yankee uniform!

5 comments about Memoirs of an Infantry Officer.

1. Siegfreid Sassoon's wonderful war memoir is thinly disguised as the story of George Sherston. Based solely on Sassoon's life in the trenches of WWI, it recounts the horror and scale of carnage that occurred. More importantly it shows the emotionally scars that the survivors carried with them as a result of exposure.

   Sherston (Sassoon) was a rather spoiled and pampered young upper class Englishman. The war changed all that. Confronted with death, destruction and idiotic leadership from the High Command you sense the inner turmoil of Sherston.

   Relieved when he is not involved with the fighting he is driven by guilt over the loss of the soldiers in his battalion. Consequently when his platoon is on the line he takes great risks in reconaissance of the German positions.

   The effects of non-stop total war, stupid leadership and the complete contrast between England and the trenches (only a few hundred miles apart) is staggering to Sassoon. Sassoon becomes anti-war and considers becoming an objector, but his obvious connection to his comrades and loyalty to them wins out in the end. He hates the war but won't abandon his comrades in the field.

   This is a great war memoir written by a poet who survived and was changed for life by his experiences in it.




2. Siegfried Sassons' "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" is a first-hand account of life at the front line during World War 1. This is not a just a historical document or diary however. Sassoon writes via an alter-ego called George. In real life, Sassoon was an infantry officer who fought at the front, but eventually grew suspicious of the reasons for the continuation of World War 1, and as such became a dissenter. This book may be fiction, but it is based on fact and it gives an impressive account of what life must have been like in those trenches, nearly a hundred years ago. Sassoon's incredible ability with words paints a much more vivid picture than any war movie will ever provide.

   George was a middle-class officer who had the luxury of a university education and was an avid reader of classic English literature. He juxtaposes the themes and ideas in this romantic poetry with the realities of life at the front to great effect. Although a tad repetitive in it's ideas (perhaps to get the point across clearly), this book is rewarding and still relevant this whole century later. As one character in the book says, "In war-time the word patriotism means suppression of truth" .




3. Terrific book that sounded a bit autobiographical. Sassoon, of course, was a war hero on the battle of the Somme, decorated twice for bravery.
   
   The book reads lyrically and is convey's nicely the daily life of soldiers moving back and forth from the front fighting trenches to the rear area of the battle field. He also does a great job portraying the strangeness and inner conflict of being back in British society (while recovering from illness) with people who know nothing of the war or its cost to the participants.
   
   A Brit's version of "All Quiet ..."



4. Continuing tale of the Cambridge-educated English Officer living the hell of warfare on the Western Front: replete with adoring batman, blustering colonel Blimps, out of control colonials (Australians and Canadians), journeys to England on home leave to meet misinformed civilians. Sasson has a style that waxes between light and lyrical, cynical and dark and starkly realistic. It is reminiscent of Graves but less dark than Blunden.
   
   This is a tale of the human mind (an upper crust mind) that makes the journey from old world to that of the lost generation -- but Sassoon never loses himself. It shows that the mind-set was already there capable of dissecting and throwing away the old world view tradition. With capable honesty Sassoon relates the contradictions in life, army and mind set of the pre-war generation. He still takes advantage of the liesure of the educated class; his batman pours his tea, he still sees the colonials as slightly quaint and backwards (especially the Australians), still finds refuge among his educated Cambridge intellectuals -- this is no tale of class struggle.
   
   This book can read as part of his trilogy lifestyle or on its own. It has many haunting vignettes and is perhaps one of the top 5 WWI memoirs. Highly recommended.



5. While perhaps best known for his poetry written during WWI, Siegfried Sassoon was a very talented wordsmith in general, a trait that is demonstrated in his second semi-fictionalized autobiography, "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer". Sassoon chose to fictionalize his accounts of his life, an odd technique that allows him to distance himself from these experiences as he intimately describes the raw emotion and response behind them. In his three memoirs he is George Sherston, a thinly veiled version of himself, who thinnly veils the real-life characters he encountered during these times.
   
   Readers are automatically flung into Sassoon's war experience, from the disjointed and fantastical training, to the brutal reality of life in the trenches. Sassoon describes these experiences in vivid detail, the sheer misery of trench warfare, the almost callous attitude toward the dead on both sides, and the surreal life led by those back home. Sassoon, nicknamed "Mad Jack" for his stubborness and seemingly sheer lunacy at times, was awfully lucky during his battle campaigns. He was wounded a few times, always sent back home to England to recuperate, and almost happy to return to the war.
   
   However, after one session as an invalid, Sassoon begins to recognize that the war may not be all it's cracked up to be, that those in power are not telling the truth about their war aims, and that he may just be a lowly pawn in a game he doesn't want to play. Towards the end of his narrative, Sassoon tells of his decision to speak out against the war, even if it meant being court martialed. This act, filtered with courage and fear, is achingly portrayed as an act both necessary and questionable: as Sassoon places himself in danger, he questions his true beliefs in the matter. This account ends just as Sassoon enters the hospital in Scotland, avoiding court martial with a diagnosis of shell shock, 'lucky' as usual.
   
   "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" is a vividly descriptive account of life in the trenches during WWI. Sassoon is a gifted storyteller, who can make even the direst settings come to life. He offers a unique insight into the soldier poets who first questioned whether or not war was such a noble and glorious pursuit and if the sacrifice of lives was worth the price in the end. While a little slow at times, the last quarter of the narrative which details Sassoon's questioning of the war, is a brilliantly written firsthand look at how a too little celebrated writer finally found his voice.

5 comments about Napoleon: A Life.

1. Johnson does a good job of channeling William Pitt, but a poor job of history in this tendentious, glib, shoddy, but, thankfully ,short volume. It is one thing to shy away from hagiography, quite another to omit facts or invent them to create a historical figure that did not exist.
   
   From the very first pages, Johnson proudly displays his biases. He views the French Revolution as an unnecessary "accident", and announces, without any supporting argument save England's example, that the inequalities it addressed would have been solved peacefully in time by history. The scholarship is extremely sloppy, and Johnson continually contradicts himself and gets his facts wrong. Her are but a few examples:
   
   He says Napoleon was not an ideologue, then proclaims him the progenitor of "a new brand of ideological dictator" like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.
   
   He says that Napoleon "never seems to have grasped the essence of the English constitution", yet during the young Napoleon's school years, the text on which he made the most notes was a history of the English constitution. He also tried to bring the English jury system into the Code Civil, but was blocked by the Directory.
   
   He cites a M. de Remurat as saying that Napoleon "is really ignorant, having read very little, and always hastily." A glance at the reading Napoleon did while in school, the notes he took, and the memoirs he dictated at St. Helena, with their detailed knowledge of history and past political affairs, easily give the lie to this.
   
   He writes that Napoleon "did not understand [the sea's] true strategic significance", ignoring Napoleon's continued respect--and envy--of the British Navy, a service he once tried to join. That strategic knowledge is also what prompted him to deny England's demand for the island of Lampedusa, which Bonaparte knew would give the British Navy control of the Mediterranean.
   
   Johnson says Napoleon "took no notice of air power, though it was then much discussed", yet Napoleon noticed it enough to take balloonists on his Egyptian expedition.
   
   Regarding leaving Corsica, Johnson imputes to Napoleon the following: "So he asked himself , where does the nearest source of real power lie? And the answer came immediately: France." Napoleon was a ten year-old boy when he left Corsica, being sent away to military school. He might have been thinking of glory, more likely he was missing his mother.
   
   Regarding returning to Corsica, Napoleon, Johnson writes, "took no interest in the place once he had left it." Not only did Napoleon order numerous books on Corsica while in school, but he returned to the island in 1791 on leave, then petitioned the War Office to stand for election in the Corsican National Guard. He fought his first engagements as an officer in Corsica.
   
   He states that Napoleon, "made no lifelong friends at the college or the academy"--except for Alexandre des Mazis, who wrote a memoir about Napoleon. Interestingly, Johnson doesn't cite des Mazis, but he does cite Bourrienne's memoirs--which have been totally discredited.
   
   He says Napoleon retired after Toulon and "following his principle of going direct to where power lay, he went to Paris. " Napoleon did not retire; he'd been removed from the artillery and posted to the infantry, when, severely depressed, he moved into a cheap hotel on The Left Bank.
   
   
   Johnson tries his best to link Napoleon with the twentieth century's dictators. Indeed, it's the centerpiece of his thematic argument. Of the Italian Campaign, which he calls a "looting expedition", he writes that Napoleon's "technique adumbrated the Stalinist methods used in Eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War." The Old Guard was "rather like Hitler's military SS division"--except for the fact that Napoleon's army liberated Jews, instead of murdering them. He cites all the Englishmen who hated Bonaparte and the few who didn't, like Keats and Shelley, who "fell for the propaganda", like "Shaw for Stalin, Mailer for Castro, and Sartre for Mao"! Bonaparte's "monumental schemes were like those of Mussolini and Speer." Yet Johnson offers not a shred of evidence to support his point that Napoleon was the progenitor of the 20th century's great dictators.
   
   (Johnson goes on at length about Napoleon's looting, never comparing it to other empires' spoils, say, for example, those inside the British Museum, which houses the Rosetta stone, discovered by Napoleon's Egyptian Expedition. )
   
   Johnson makes other broad generalizations, again without any support in the text: "The 19th century was in general a time of peace" or "The Revolution created the modern totalitarian state". His prose borders on purple: "He blew himself into the stratosphere of power from the brazen mouth of his own guns." But for the most part, the book consists largely of unsupported calumnies against Napoleon: "He was not a patriot either" ; "The Italians themselves he despised"; "He was not moved by sentiment ; "His sensibilities were blunt. His compassion was shallow." He had "an inability to delegate", which must have been news to those living in an Empire of 40 million!
   
   To Johnson, Napoleon's wives are portrayed as sexually dissatisfied, his marshals as writhing lackeys, his relations hapless rulers, and Napoleon himself a rapist.
   
   Johnson's enmity stems from his contempt for Bonaparte's militarism. He says that Napoleon "unleashed on Europe the most destructive wars the continent had ever experienced", and, "Bonaparte , having once unsheathed his sword, found it impossible to lay it down for long."
   
   But Johnson never once mentions the contribution to that outcome by England's War Party, which refused to make peace with France after 1800. Bonaparte "emerged from a political background where a man's word meant nothing, honor was dead, and murder was routine," and "William Pitt found ... that [Napoleon's ] word could never be trusted". But nowhere does Johnson mention that it was the British--and Pitt's War Party in particular-- who broke their word in the Treaty of Amiens when they refused to leave Malta after Napoleon had left Taranto. The best Johnson can muster here is "Both Britain and France, mutually suspicious, refused to carry out the terms of the treaty."
   
   These oversights are not for lack of space: Johnson spends three pages on Napoleon's wedding arrangement to Marie-Louise, scarcely a paragraph on the Code Civil. Maybe that's what led him to conclude that cultural displays were "the most successful aspect of Bonaparte's dictatorship." As for the Code itself, "Bonaparte did not create it" and "its apparent novelty was not new."
   
   There are a few bright spots: the last 50 pages give a decent rundown of the Spanish and Russian campaigns, but they can't save this Pocket Book of the Bad, Bad Bonaparte. There are no footnotes, no bibliography, but there is one saving grace--the book is less than 200 pages.



2. If you want a short and well researched overview this is it. Not long on battles, strategy, etc.



3. Rule of Thumb: Never! Ever! Trust a Brit to write a truthful account on Napoleon. The British have always written history to favor themselves or make themselves look good! All seven coalitions against France, organized to replace the Monarchy back on the throne against France's will, were all funded by the British. As Emperor Francis said after the battle of Austerlitz: "THIS BRITISH ARE TRADERS IN HUMAN FLESH!" This says it all! The millions who died in those wars can be squarely left at the doorstep of the British. Paul Johnson is in the business as a patriotic Brit, almost expected, to hate Napoleon, and tag him with the label of Tyrant and conqueror. Why? Because Napoleon didn't allow the Royal Familes of Europe to invade France and force a Governement upon then they didn't want? These were wars to Defend France from aggressive neighbors funded by a warmongering Parliament in London. This is bad history.
   I suggest reading:
   
   Napoleon : The Man Who Shaped Europe by Ben Weider and Emile-Rene Gueguen
   or
   The Wars against Napoleon by Ben Weider
   
   Better History, and much more accurate.



4. Paul Johnson has opinions. And he can write -- lucid, crisp, precise.
   
   Johnson sees Bonaparte as a selfish opportunist who took advantage of the Revolution to seize power. Once in office power was the only language he understood.
   
   Johnson blames the ambition of Bonaparte for a host of modern ills: the birth of total warfare, the rise of angry German nationalism, secret police, government propaganda machines, etc.
   
   He also blames Napoleon for ruining France permanently as a world power. It is hard to argue with his logic on this one -- before Napoleon France is Europe's most significant power for centuries. Since Napoleon France has always been second-rate behind Russia, Germany and Britain.
   
   I am amazed at how much Johnson can pack into one paragraph. And yet its an easy read.
   
   No pictured or maps, and only 187pp.



5. Short biography of Napoleon is a good introduction to the man who nearly united and nearly wrecked Europe in stage-setting fashion 100 years before German geopolitical descendants came even closer. Johnson treats Napoleon with respect and at the same time faint distaste for his most extreme actions and amorality.
   
   In the end, while drawing pictures that show Napoleon's smallness of character and stature, Johnson never belittles or pities his charge.

5 comments about To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander.

1. I had known of this book for many years, and had even thought about seeing if a publisher would be willing to entertain a translation. It was wonderful to see a member of the family lead the effort and have a copy back in print and in english after too many years out of print. It is a wonderful story of a patriotic naval officer, of a now absent navy tell of his adventures as the most successful captain of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. His work with his crew (from all over the empire) dealing with bureaucratic officers, sinking ships in an old sub, that his German peers recommended not taking to sea (they thought it unseaworthy and an antique), and then further adventures in a French sub, sunk then raised to strike again against them is intersting. Those who have read Lowell Thomas' account, or Edwyn Gray's books on the German WW1 submarine service will find this a very different tale and one worth comparing to other efforts.
   For those who wondered where the Captain in the von Trapp family singers came from this fills in a void covering elements of his older children and first wife. Through his first wife, he was related to the inventor of the modern torpedo, who had set up a factory in Austra-Hungary before WW1.
   The book is well written and reads quickly, and tells the tale of a dedicated and talented patriot in an prior phase of his life, which was later known to the world in song and story.



2. I've wished for this book to be translated into English for a very long time! It was worth the wait.
   
   I've always wanted to know more about Captain von Trapp, in his own words and this book is as close as I am going to get. It did not disappoint as it provided a window to see the Captain, the man.
   
   I could not help but believe this book was more a compilation from a journal he may have kept. I also could not help but believe, if not for his modesty, there was so much more he could have shared.
   
   Perhaps, without realizing it, he showed us many sides, least of which were his tender and compassionate side. How many military captains do you know would allow a rescued kitten to live on board his submarine?
   
   I gave this book five stars, not so much for literary greatess as for the enjoyment received from reading it and having a few more questions answered.
   
   It should be enjoyed by all Sound of Music fans and I believe those interested in history will enjoy it as well. Even though I knew the outcome, I could not help but hold my breath as he told of daring escapades while captaining his u-boats. I found myself, while reading about his experiences, thinking of the movie, K-9, The Widowmaker.
   
   My only complaint, it was only 188 pages log. :-(



3. Captain Georg von Trapp's Memoirs were published in Austria in German in the 1930's. One of his Grandaughters (an offspring of one of the real life von Trapp Family Singers)has translated her famous ancestor's work into English and now we can all see why the Evil Nazi's were so set on getting "The Captain" into their Navy when they took over Austria.
   
   The work is very short and von Trapp has a matter of fact writing style similar to that of U.S. counterpart Gene Fluckey in his memoir of the USS Barb. Unlike Fluckey however von Trapp had to go to war in an antequated obsolete gasoline powered Austrian U-boat which was barely a step above the Turtle or the Hunley. A german U boat Captain told him upon going inside the ship that he "was lucky to be Alive". In addition he had to deal with a multinational crew that grew more restless as the war went on and their countries began to break away from the Hapsburg yoke.
   
   The memoir is a good glimpse of a theatre of WWI which is barely mentioned, the Naval War in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. Very little has been written of the War at sea between the Austrian navy on one side and the Italians and the French on the other. Most I have seen have dealt with the Royal Navy in the Dardanelles.
   
   The book also begins with some von Trapp Family background and reveals many interesting facts such as the Captain's first wife was English and many of 'the children' were a lot older than 'sixteen going on seventeen' when they escaped Austria. Sadly when the Captain died of lung cancer in 1947 it may have been related to all of the gas fumes he inhaled on the poorly ventilated u boat during the war.



4. To the Last Salute is Georg Ritter von Trapp's memoir of commanding a U-boat in the Austrian Navy during World War I. While his style of writing does take some getting used to, von Trapp provides an engaging and suspenseful tale of life on a primitive submarine during an oft-neglected period of military history. The book also gives us an insight into von Trapp as a man, more insight than one finds in other books on the life of his famous family. His accounts of the horrors of war and the loss of his beloved navy at the end of the war are especially moving. For those interested in von Trapp, the Austrian Navy, World War I, and the history of submarine warfare, the book will be especially useful; anyone interested in the story of an intriguing, thoughtful, and courageous man will enjoy the chronicle of von Trapp's adventures as well.



5. This is reasonably light read broken into bite-size chapters covering a variety of experiences surrounding the author's service as a WWI Austrian U-boat captain, the boat technologies of the time and the everyday impact of the politics as Austria's empire unraveled. Austria's relationship with it's wealthy and larger German ally is seen from another perspective as well as the polyglot nature of the many ethnic groups belonging to and participating in the Austrian war effort. A fine military account from the man responsible for "The Sound of Music."

4 comments about A Woman Soldier's Own Story.

1. It is a great book! this book portrayed how women were mistreated in the early 20th century in China. In that old days, girls were not allowed to be educated. They only learned how to spin cotton and embroider,, how to be an obedient daughter, and later a dutiful daughter-in-law. The reading materials for them were highly restricted to certain books such as Teach Your Daughter Traditional Rules. The worst thing was that girls had bound feet! However, there were still a few "lucky one" be able to escape from these old customs. Of course, it wasn't easy. This autobiography described an extraordinary woman, Xie Bingying who struggled to free herself from the traaditional Chinese society--received education, freed from an arranged marriage, became a soldier in the National Revolutionary Army, etc. Her experience was extraordinary!! I like this book because it is not only a truth story, it also pertains very rich information about the old Chinese customs.



2. Few people in the West realize how extraordinary this book is and how much it has influenced generations of young Chinese. I used to own the original (Chinese) version of this book while growing up as a boy in South America in the 60s. I used to read it for guidance and strength in the darkest days of my youth. I must have read and reread it a dozen times before I had to reluctantly part ways with it. This is a true modern classic that is often ignored by contemporary historians of Chinese literature, who prefer the shallowness of the likes of Sanmo. The War Diaries, which were praised by none other than Lin Yutang, are also worth reading; the translators should make them the subject of their next project.
   Fine as the edition is, I wish the cover had been different. I have never seen a likeness of Xie xiansheng before and almost overlook the book because I was misled by the photograph of the woman in uniform to think it was a book about the Cultural Revolution. But I am glad the editors have included the photographs contained in the insert. I have always matched the feistiness of the woman soldier with a rather robust physique: I am surprised how fragile and delicate Xie xiansheng actually was.
   This book is correctly listed as an autobiography but it reads like a fine novel, with memorable scenes and episodes. Without opening this translation and reading a single line, I can name a half dozen right off the top of my head: the foot-binding, the escapes, the dying brother, the impoverished former army girlfriend, the love triangle, etc. This book is to the Chinese literature what the Ann Frank diaries are to the European; it definitely should not be missed.



3. I have just read this book for a Chinese Women's history class, and I have found that it is nothing more than a hagiography that oversimplifies many complicated facets of Chinese culture. These days, it seems to be the vogue in literature to publish books by Asian women portraying them as hobbling, footbound victims of patriarchy and oppression. While it is true that Asian culture is definitely patriarchal and something that needs to be reformed, this book is another hackneyed account of a young woman trying to escape "feudal" social structures.
   I have no love for this book or any book like it because its message has been written and rewritten in various books by authors such as Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston. The translators say in the introduction that Xie is the symbol of transition from "old" to "new" China. By not clearly defining what these interpretations are, they leave it to their audience to define what "old" and "new" are based on individual interpretaion. Moreover, Xie Bingying's black-and-white, old-and-new, feudal-and progressive viewpoint oversimplifies many complexities that face women in confronting modern gender ideals. If you have read Amy Tan or any other hackneyed works, I recommend skipping this book because it is another example of the oversimplification of cultural identity today.



4. Xie Bingying was many things. Unfortunately, her autobiography does not convey this well, reading like a nationalist propaganda piece. She also did not write much about the political context of the times in which she lived, although I suspect that was deliberate. Her story is still fascinating, however, because of how she navigated the shifting social intersections of China in the turmoil of the early twentieth century. To understand what women went through during this period, this is a valuable resource. I wouldn't recommend it for casual reading though.

4 comments about Command Of Honor: General Lucian Truscott's Path to Victory in World War II.

1. Although Lucian Truscott, as someone who rose to army command in World War II, is a person worthy of a good biography, this one is not it. It practically defines the word "lightweight." It is unsourced and, if the bibliography is any indication, poorly researched. Unpublished primary sources seem to have been used minimally. Large sections of the book seem to be based on nothing other than Truscott's own memoirs. The text also contains numerous "space filler" diversions irrelevant to the subject and typical of authors trying to pad the length of a book.
   
   Needless to say, there is little in the way of incisive analysis or critical examination.
   
   I don't really see an audience to whom I can recommend this book.



2. Little known today, Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. first joined the Army as a second lieutenant in 1917 through a war emergency program that supposedly turned raw civilians into officers for the expanding WW I AEF in just three months. Truscott was not sent into combat but performed so well as a "90 day wonder" that he was accepted as a professional soldier after hostilities ended. He went on to become one of the most effective and successful combat commanders in the US Army in World War II, ending the war as a lieutenant general and army commander
   
   In 1942 Truscott successfully commanded one of the three forces invading N. Africa. Later he took over the Third Infantry Division and led it to a brilliant combat record in Sicily, the invasion of Italy at Salerno and at Anzio. Truscott replaced Gen. Lucas as commander of VI Corps after the initial disasters at Anzio, and commanded the successful breakout and drive to Rome. He also commanded the Corps in the successful Allied invasion and clearance of southern France. Truscott then returned to Italy as head of Fifth Army and led that "forgotten army" successfully in the hard fighting from December 1944 to the end of the war. After the war he served for several years as a very senior officer of the newly fledged CIA. In 1954 he received a fourth star. He died in 1965.
   
   Despiite Truscott's brilliant combat record, arguably the best among US senior commanders in the European theater, he has apparently never been the subject of a good biography. This book is not it.
   
   The bulk of the book is about Truscott's WW II service. Yet it contains no maps of any kind. This alone is a fatal flaw in a military biography. In addition to the problems noted by the previous reviewer, The book fails to provide any useful discussion of Truscott's actual command methods and his tactical direction of the units that he led. The author does relate some basic facts about Truscott and his personal characteristics, mostly culled from a handful of secondary sources, but fails to provide real insight into the unusual success of this commander. In addition the writing style is lackluster and occasionally sloppy (e. g. he describes Mussolini as an officer who dabbled in politics when in fact Mussolini was a lifelong politician, never an officer and even fled to Switzerland to avoid military service, although he did serve briefly after Italy entered WW I and reached the rank of corporal). Truscott deserves much better than this.



3. I agree completely with the comments of the two previous reviewers, but would like to record some additional observations.
   
   Jeffers appears to have done little original research for his biography. Most of the book draws heavily from Truscott's two memoirs, "Command Missions" and "Twilight of the US Cavalry," and the author lists secondary sources almost exclusively in his short biography. The only primary sources other than the memoirs that he has utilized to any extent appear to be the diaries of his wartime aides and the wartime letters of Truscott to his wife, both located in the Truscott Papers at the George C. Marshall Research Library in Lexington, VA. Jeffers apparently never visited the National Archives or the US Army Military History Institute, where abundant primary source materials pertaining to Truscott's career may be found. He also apparently never interviewed Truscott' son, James, or his grandson, Lucian IV. Further, Jeffers did not attempt to obtain a copy of or review Truscott's Official Military Personnel File located in the National Personnel Records Center, nor did he attempt to obtain from the CIA under provisions of the FOIA records of Truscott's eight-year career with that agency or attempt to contact any CIA operatives with whom Truscott worked.
   
   There are many errors throughout the book. A few examples follow:
   
   1. Jeffers avers that Truscott, as Allen Dulles's deputy, was directly involved in the overthrow of Iranian Premier Mohammad Mossadegh and Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz. My review of the heavily redacted materials I received from the CIA reveals no evidence of Truscott's involvement in the Iranian operation and only very peripheral involvement in the Guatemalan operation. In fact, Truscott never served as Deputy Director of the CIA, as Jeffers's account seems to suggest, but as the Deputy Director for Coordination, a position with considerably less power and influence. Brig. Gen. Charles Cabell served as Dulles's deputy director.
   
   2. Jeffers implies that there was a close relationship beteen Dulles and Truscott. Thomas Polgar, a retired CIA operative who worked closely with Truscott in Germany, informed me that Dulles was reluctant to assign Truscott to any position of responsibility within CIA headquarters in Washington after the latter's return from Germany, and relented only after pressure from President Eisenhower to name Truscott as Deputy Director for Coordination.
   
   3. Jeffers alleges that Truscott spent his early retirement years playing golf at various courses in the vicinity of his home near Leesburg, VA. Truscott's son, James, told me that to the best of his knowledge, his father "never had a golf club in his hands" during his lifetime.
   
   4. Jeffers states that Truscott was brought out of retirement and served for a year, 1948-1949, as chairman of the Army Advisory Panel for Amphibious Operations at Fort Monroe (283). In fact, Truscott served in that capacity slightly less than three months, Nov. 3, 1948-Feb. 1, 1949.
   
   I agree that General Truscott's career deserves to be recounted, but Mr. Jeffers's effort abysmally fails in that attempt. I cannot recommend this book to any reader interested in a factual account of Truscott's life and career.



4. "COMMAND of HONOR" could not have been more appropriately nor accurately TITLED.
   This book SHOULD BE A MUST READ by anyone who holds themselves to be a serious, honest and truly informed student of MILITARY HISTORY, certainly, BUT ALSO by those who seek insights into the very soul of a TRUE WARRIOR-HUMAN BEING- ALWAYS- and LEADER of Armies. It is a true, indescribably so, and candid insight into the heart and mind of a RARE and GREAT LEADER of men who NEVER lost his focus on a NOBLE GOAL nor the VALUE or UNSHAKABLE understanding and belief in, the NOBILITY of MANKIND, be he soldier or simply private citizen.
   
   General Truscott stands 2nd to NO GENERAL, certainly of WWII, if not, indeed of any conflict. His genius NEVER clouded this great man's overwhelming and sincere humility, regardless the heights of responsibility to which such genius brought to him. He surly was at least the equal, if not the singular superior General of the Allies and even the Axis forces of that WAR. Others so passionately sought GLORY, HONOR and ACCOLADES as they exercised their Military prowess but Truscott sought NONE of that; he just focused on bringing the horror of WAR to an end as quickly as possible with the least loss of human life.
   
   I can't recall EVER, being able to recommend as 'MUST READING' of a book for every person who values honor, integrity, unshakable courage, humility, honesty and enviable character, along with superior gifts of GENIUS! This is so much more than a book of MILITARY HISTORY; it is a REMARKABLE study of a truly GREAT HUMAN BEING who can stand as a model for all to emulate.
   
   Jim Girzone

No comments about Abraham Lincoln Comes Home.

5 comments about I Can Still Hear Their Cries, Even In My Sleep: A Journey Into PTSD.

1. Mr. McFall uses a combination of stories and poems to pull the reader into the pain and turmoil of living with PTSD. This book is a MUST READ for veterans and their families and friends who struggle to understand the scars left from battle.



2. A combat medic lives war at its worst, and remembers every terrified scream of it.
   
   There are the memories of those who were treated and made it home; of those whose wounds were beyond treatment despite heroic efforts.
   
   Those memories are as fresh today as the emotions were at the time of treatment; memories of soldiers and civilians gushing blood; memories of soldiers and civilians having body parts torn and cascading into all the wrong places.
   
   For E. Everett McFall, there are the memories of jumbled body parts and attempts to put them together to form the remains of what were once men - individual men with loved ones, hopes, talents, and dreams that dripped into the red soil or into the floor of the jungle.
   
   There are no fancy words here. His words are direct, his pain drips off the pages and into the heart of the reader.
   
   McFall writes from the heart. He writes from a soul splintered and haunted by 365 days that have been lived over and over and over again for the last 40 years.
   
   We measure war in terms of dollar costs; in counts of the dead; in counts of the wounded.
   But we have yet to learn to measure war in terms of lives ruined by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We have yet to learn to measure the losses of those who love those who come home with PTSD.
   
   We have yet to learn the true face of war. E. Ernest McFall provides the reader with a vivid and heart tearing word portrait of the hideous face of war; of the plague of PTSD; of the rending of soul by survivor's guilt and questions of why am I still here when so very many others are not.
   
   Pfc Jay E. Keck contributes his poetry to I Can Still Hear Their Cries. May I ask you to direct your attention to the last lines of his Sand Soldiers and pay heed to his admonition, as there are all kinds, as he points out in another poem, all kinds of Bogeymen contributing to PTSD - even those who should have, and in truth did, know better.
   
   
   I Can Still Hear Their Cries is a story of the long, long road home. It is a tale that will speak to other Veterans who suffer PTSD. It is a tale needed by those who love those with PTSD to help them understand.
   
   McFall tells you, loud and clear, that drugs and alcohol only bury the pain deeper, rather than excavating it and getting help to go through it to healing.
   
   McFall notes that he is still in the process of finding his way home. It is a long road.
   
   But I Can Still Hear Their Cries may open your eyes to the possibility that there is, in fact, a road home for you too - should you choose to come up from the dark to the Light.
   
   Take the first step - there are many, many around to help you - just reach out - someone is there waiting to walk point for you.



3. I was to young to actually know the impact that this war had on our men and women. This book by Mr McFall gets right to his heart and his feelings. It is so powerful! I believe that this book should be used in many ways to help communicate the effects that war has on an individual. God bless our men and women who have served our great country!
   Thank you Mr McFall and may God continue to bless you and your family!



4. We have been told the Vietnam veterans' story many times before. We've seen it in the movies, in books, on TV, and on the corners of our streets. Yet, in an intimate way, in E. Everett McFall's book, `I Can Still Hear Their Cries, Even in My Sleep,' the inner struggle of the Vietnam Vet comes home yet again. This time the reflections come from within. Having read `Born on the Fourth of July,' and seen 'Platoon,' I feel that McFall properly takes us to a new dimension, focusing on the inner torment that won't shut off.
   
   Consisting of reflections, resources, and nearly thirty poems, he focuses on the pride, bitterness, and fragility of his service as a US Marine Hospital Corpsman in The Vietnam War from 1966-67. Whether in prose or in poetry, he won't ever let us forget their sacrifices. Noting that some have forgotten the Vets of the War, the Vets of the War have taken it home with them and can't ever forget. In detail, sometimes graphic at others subdued, he shares images of the grim reality in battle that haunt him--and probably will haunt him until death.
   
   The title is a bare-bones description of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD). In his introduction McFall concisely states that "It's an instant video play-back in my mind, with cranial surround sound." That playback is given a stark treatment in poems such as "Death Angel" and "Flashback". Whether drawing from elements of traditional poetry or relying on rap-like structure, the subject matter changes with the rhythm. In "Patrol on Ambush" and "The Ooorah Warrior" the repetition reflects the routine of a marine waiting for the next development in "combat hell." At other times the rhythm is more irregular to reflect the chaos and death that surround him. To round out his repertoire, "Heavenly Star" and "Brotherhood" add much needed hope to the experience.
   
   But the main focus is on the indelible memories of trauma and death. "Tic Tic Tic" and "Undying Memories" are each aptly titled for their flashback resonance in waking moments that rush into consciousness. Flanking McFall's work are sample poems by fellow veteran Pfc. Jay E. Keck and anonymous poems (which is entirely appropriate given the unknown soldier element of every war). The guide ends with a short, poignant reflection and a resource guide for the veteran suffering from PTSD, including a handy guideline for filling out forms for VA claims.
   
   Whether approached as a cathartic guide for fellow veterans or a route to vicarious appreciation from uninitiated civilians, 'I Can Still Hear Their Cries,...' is an essential portal to understanding the trauma of selfless veterans of a tragic War. Clearly by McFall's writings, the repercussions are still being fought today. If you were at the front lines of the War or at the front of the picket lines--or even too young to remember--Ernest McFall's little book will have a big impact on how you feel about those who served their country at such a fragile time in our history.



5. Being the wife of a combat Marine I really learned alot from Doc's book. I read the book all the way through and this is a book that is alive. Our heroes sacrifice so much for us and if it wasn't for them we would not have our freedom. Doc, thank you for helping me understand more about PTSD and what y'all went through. I don't give this book a 5 star rating , I give it a 10 star rating.

5 comments about First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong.

1. Somewhere in my reading, I remember someone who said that there is only one name from the 20th Century that is guaranteed to be remembered 1,000 years from now; the name of the first man to step foot on another planet, Neil Armstrong.
   
   I was alive when Apollo 11 landed and Armstrong made his historic step but, at 11 months old, far from old enough to remember the event. Despite that, though, the events of July 20, 1969 are so much a part of historical memory that it seems like we were all there. There's always been one mystery, though, and that's been the man who actually stepped off the Eagle and onto lunar soil for the first time. Now, the mystery is, at least somewhat, solved thanks to the publication of an fascinating biography of the First Man On The Moon, titled, appropriately enough, First Man.
   
   James Hansen, who was given extraordinary access to Armstrong himself as well as his family and personal records, tells a story that stretches from Armstrong's boyhood in Ohio, to Korea, to his years as a test pilot, all of which were mere training for his ultimate destiny. In addition to a mass (though not overwhelmingly so) of technical data about everything from the X-15 flights that Armstrong flew at Edwards AFB to the Gemini and Apollo programs, Hansen paints, as best he can, a portrait of an intensely private man who was thrust, willingly or otherwise, into an intense spotlight comparable to that of his boyhood hero Charles Lindbergh.
   
   Like Lindbergh, Armstrong was and is, it seems, the reluctant hero. Hansen consistently quotes him as giving equal credit for the achievements of Apollo 11 to his crew mates and the men on the ground and in the factories who built the Apollo program from the ground up.
   
   The most compelling parts of the book, of course, come when Hansen tells the story of the landing and first sojurn onto the lunar surface, including excerpts from recordings of conversations among the crew that were never broadcast publicly. After that, somewhat disappointingly, the book comes to a very quick close. The story rushes through the post-Apollo 11 euphoria and Armstrong's short involvement as a NASA administrator and offers vignettes showing the difficulties that he had coping with the public's fascination with him, some of which was obsessive to say the least.
   
   All in all, though, First Man is an excellent read, and, as the official biographer to the First Man on the Moon, Hansen has done a fabulous job with the task that Armstrong assigned to him.
   
   If you have any interest in the history of the American space program at all, this book is a must-read.



2. James Hansen's authorized biography of pilot/engineer/astronaut Neil Armstrong is a well written and long awaited in-depth look at a man who has led a truly extraordinary life. His detailed accounts of Armstrong's roots, interests, loves, successes and tragedies made a captive reading experience for me. It was Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 journey that inspired my lifelong interest in spaceflight.
   
   I feel for him in his pursuit to maintain as much of a personal life as possible over the years. NASA and the space program may be owned by the taxpayers, but it's human participants are not. Neil has recognized this more than many others have.
   
   An excellent biography. I highly recommend it.



3. Simply put, there is no finer book in print that helps us understand the modern-day Christopher Columbus of our times - Neil Armstrong. Not only will you come to better understand the man, the First Man, but you will also walk away with a tremendous appreciation for the Apollo program generally and the Apollo 11 mission specifically. Budget some serious time to get through this book but add it to your list of reads for 2008.



4. "First Man" is the long awaited authorized biography of Neil Armstrong. The book is a significant work in the body of aerospace history, as Armstrong has consciously lived out of the public eye for most of his life since the Apollo 11 mission. To say the book is detailed is an understatement (did you know that Neil's childhood dog was named "Tippy"?), but James Hansen paints a vivid portrait of the man and his life with exquisite precision. The book is stunning for its depth of information, but is also very readable on a visceral, human level. The net result is a work demonstrating both great academic rigor and the essential character of the first man on the moon.
   
   The book, while keeping Apollo 11 as the center of its arc, does not dwell exclusively on Armstrong's role in the space program. I was pleased to read about his family and personal relationships: understanding these helps the reader to understand who Armstrong is and how he got to be that way. I was found the account of his relationship with his mother, Viola, enlightening, and appreciated the recounting of his role in the Korean war as a very young aviator. Understanding his later successes (and failures) in the greater context of his personal and professional life is one of the true successes of this book. I was, of course, transfixed by the account of the interpersonal relationships between Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins, the three "amiable strangers" of Apollo 11.
   
   Certainly the accounting of Armstrong's test pilot and spaceflight endeavors is of primary interest to anyone likely to read the book, but I was even more impressed than I expected to be by Armstrong's post-Apollo choices. I am especially struck by the parallels between Armstrong and Charles Lindbergh as Armstrong has aged. While still a vital man, Armstrong has willfully chosen to live his life modestly without relying on his fame as the first moonwalker for either ego or income gratification.
   
   This book is by no means a light read, but anyone with an interest in aerospace history should make this book a priority: it is astonishingly well documented, well written, and compellingly told. My earliest childhood memory is watching Armstrong walk on the moon; only now do I really understand and appreciate the "First Man" fully.



5. For a man whose name rightfully resides in the rarified company of Columbus, Galileo, Copernicus, Cortes and de Gama, James Hansen's exhaustive biography of Neil Armstrong unspools a painstaking, sometimes wonkish narrative of how this extraordinarily talented, driven and devout man willingly exchanged his deeply cherished anonymity to become the most famous human of the last century.
   
   As an eight-year old watching Armstrong and Aldrin's first steps in 1969, I had every expectation that nearly four decades later I would be writing this review from some long-established and thriving U.S. lunar colony - a vision that was quickly extinguished through the convergence of national space fatique, severe under funding and the somewhat schizophrenic, sclerotic aspirations of NASA over the past quarter century - unfortunate developments that only serve to make Armstrong's unique story and experience all the more compelling.
   
   If you're looking for deep, metaphysical musings on how his lunar celebrity transformed both himself and the world at large - keep browsing. First Man is a walking tour through the guts of the Gemini and Apollo programs prefaced by deep immersion into his Ohio upbringing. Yes, the acronyms and jargon are a little thick but at the end of journey what emerges is a portrait of an intensely private man who remains just that. With just a nod to his place in history, Armstrong provides a much needed reminder of America's potential in microcosm - smart, fallible, unflinching, determined - and oh yeah, he also took a little trip.
   
   A fascinating read.

5 comments about Vipers in the Storm: Diary of a Gulf War Fighter Pilot.

1. Rosenkranz provides plenty of details about exactly what a combat pilot does in a very busy F-16 cockpit, and he also details some of the interesting personal history that led him into this career. Unfortunately, he can't resist frequently venturing off into naive political and historical analyses of the wider questions of the war and the threat Iraq posed to the world, reprinting many speech excerpts from President H.W. Bush as justification for what he and his fellow service men and women were doing, extending them, in the end, to justify the current war in Iraq without ever considering the problems incurred by pursuing policy with force in the Middle East. At times the book reads like an instrument of the Republican National Committee campaign to reelect George W. Bush, or at the very least an apologist for the mistakes of both Bush administrations in the Middle East.



2. Rosenkranz is no Hemingway, but he does a good job of telling the entire story of his experience in Desert Storm. One of the things this book has that others about similar experiences lack is the emphasis on the human aspects of war (the moral issues that come from killing people, the toll that being away from one's family takes.) I immensely enjoyed the fact that this book shows that you don't have to be gung-ho all the time to be a good military man, and it in fact has given me more respect for those that serve our country because of the way it relates that one's primary drive to go to war should stem from a strong sense of duty rather than a sense of thrill.



3. This is a brilliant book.
   For anyone interested in military aviation or modern warfare I can only recommend reading Keith Rosenkrantz's excellent account of his part in the first Gulf War.
   This book is well written, easy to read, detailed and personal in a way many of these books fail to be.
   As a pilot myself (commercial) and having always dreamed of flying such aviation exotica as the F-16, this book is the key for us mere mortals to step into the world of the modern fighter pilot. It gives you a taste of the discipline, courage and commitment required.
   For all this and much more you should definitely check out Vipers in the Storm.
   
   When you're finished reading it drop Rosey a line, like I did to thank him for sharing his experiences. His email address is at the back of the book and he was gracious enough to reply to my message too. An officer and a gentleman not to mention hero.



4. Boy, I loved this book. As someone who's NOT a pilot and NOT in the military, this book provided a TON of insight into the day-to-day life of a combat pilot.
   
   One way to see what it's like to be a fighter pilot is to buy a combat flight sim for your PC. Sometimes I wonder how real these are. However, when reading Rosey's account, I can say, they're pretty real!
   
   So many times I've forgone all tasks other than countering a missile threat. So many times I've almost flown into the ground at night. Rosey did these, too, and I can't imagine how it feels to really see a SAM guiding on you, coming out of the clouds.
   
   In addition to a lot of things flight sim fans have gone through, Rosey adds a lot of real life perspective. I laughed when he described how F-16 pilots bring 'piddle packs' on long flights and he described how he went about not making a mess with them. I laughed again when he described bringing a granola bar with him on flights, for the ride home after a bombing run. I've often gotten up while playing a flight sim and gone to the fridge for a snack.
   
   For flight sim fans, this book should be REQUIRED READING. It gives a great perspective on how missions are planned and carried out. I was surprised by a lot of the real-life aspects of combat flight and was equally surprised by some of the aspects that read the same way an 'after-action' report from a flight sim mission reads. I'm still blown away by a couple of the mission accounts when Rosey went 'downtown'.



5. i bought this book as a gift for my husband who is an f18 pilot himself, we r from kuwait so a gulf war book is a must have for us.. my husband owns a bigggg library with all sort of war and military books.. but this one was sooo special he couldnt put it down in fact i was a little jealous of the book! he loved it soo much u wont believe it.. in fact i gave it a quick scan myself and i enjoyed the story too. when i asked my husband what he thought of the book because im writing for amazon, he just said that its the best book he ever read and its a very good account of what happened during the war to liberate our country!