5 comments about A Corpsman's Legacy: He Continues to Heal Others Through the Daughter He Never Knew.

1. This is simply a great heroic story. I have known since 2000 that this was a story that needed to be told because it would affect many people. I should start with the admission that I have known the author personally since 1999. It was my pleasure to get to introduce her to my Vietnam combat brothers at the Pop-a-Smoke reunion in San Diego during 2000.
   
   From the earliest moment, it was plain to see that this was a compelling story that would somehow find a way to get published.
   
   It took many weeks to prepare myself for this read because I knew it would be emotionally heart wrenching and at the same time a delightful story of dedication and heart felt purpose. For a story that is now 37 years old, it is still a beautiful account of one good guy doing the dirty work of fighting in combat.
   
   As expected, the early part of this story made the tears flow and I thought that I already knew most of the details. What the book now tells me is that this was a gig-saw puzzle that had more pieces than I ever imagined. Only Stephanie could be dedicated enough to put this puzzle together. When the final piece was put in place, she knew that she was special because she was the daughter of a special corpsman.
   
   This story (page 265) really is about discovering a legacy of a father that she never knew. By the end of this story every reader can see that she got to know her father quite well and boy was she proud.
   
   This whole Vietnam experience is a lot about healing and Stephanie was my reminder that the healing would take more than one generation. Further the experience was about affirming that the sacrifices made were worthwhile. The author found the answer to these fundamental questions.
   
   This is a great read for all regardless of the fact that some had a Vietnam connection and many did not.
   
   Daryl Riersgard



2. When the premise of this book was described to me, a daughter of a Vietnam veteran who was given up for adoption when her father was killed in action before she was born, I was turned off. I expected a story of a bitter woman. Instead I found a story of a young lady who was curious about the identity of her birth father, made some tentative inquiries to veterans, and continued her search as she was energized and motivated by the warm reception from marines she contacted.
   
   The book describes in fine detail the incident that took her father's life, including the men who removed his body from the wreckage under heavy enemy fire. With that, the author created realism and and feel for the day to day life of a corpsman in Vietnam that I had not experienced before. She also introduces us to several veterans both as they were then and as they are now, over 30 years later. This also explains the bond that exists among Vietnam Veterans, especially those in the Marine Corps.



3. What an emotional roller coaster. I followed Ms Hanson's ups and downs throughtout the book as if they were my own. This story was well thought out, researched, and presented in such a way that it cut right through my inner soul with surgical precision. It was difficult, at times, for me to digest the vivid scenes she artfully reconstructed. I was overwhelmed by the support she recieved from so many folks. It really drives home the credo, that Marines really do look after their corpsman. Well done Ms Hanson. Semper Fi. Danny Deneff (Corpsman, Vietnam 1970-1971)



4. I was deeply moved by this incredible story. The author, who was adopted at birth, does a wonderful job in bringing herself and her biological father to life. By the end of the first chapter I felt as if I knew her and her father personally. After that I could hardly put the book down. Her story begins at age 26, when she needs to locate her biological parents to obtain her medical history. In her quest for that information she learns for the first time that her father was Gary Norman Young - a Navy Corpsman who was killed in action in Vietnam on February 7, 1969. He died before learning that he was going to be a father. The author tells her story from the heart with unwavering honesty, so be prepared to share viscerally in her excitements and disappointments as she embarks upon a remarkable journey to get to know her father. What transpires is often unexpected and at times truly amazing. What started out as her personal conquest evolves into something much more. And how she handled the life changing events that followed made it clear to me that she inherited more from her Corpsman father than his smile. I found the book to be well researched and accurate. It is well worth reading.



5. Ms. Hanson started her search for family information due to a medical problem which ultimately turned out to be incorrect. As she was adopted, this was information that would have been critical if it had been needed. Yet that mistaken diagnosis took her down the road to find out about her birth parents and I am sure that this was a story she had in no way anticipated.
   
   The story of how she met her birth mother and later the other members of her mothers family - including her mom's husband is all quite moving.
   
   But it is the story of her quest for her father that is the key to the book. Her father was a navy hospitalcorpsman serving in Vietnam. He served initally with ground Marines but his real goal was to fly as a corpsman with the Marines. He got his wish and died on his first flight to recover wounded Marines. Ms. Hanson's story of her search for anyone who had known him and thier memories of him is outstanding. I have done some research on my own families naval careers and have found this to be a frustrating at times, but very rewarding process. Ms. Hanson could have quite but still slogged on towards her goal. She was introduced to then Senator Cleland's office which was able to get her father's medals for her. I commend the senator's office for that effort. However it is the story of her quest for her father's air crew wings that is the capstone of the story. Through her efforts and those of her father's former squadron commander and others, HN Young was awarded his wings, not the wings of an aircrewman but the air crew combat wings which were highly regarded and prized by those who saw them and those who wore them.
   
   Ironically I recieved this book in the mail on the day that my navy medicine clinic was celebrating the birthday of the Navy Hospital Corps. I gave Ms. Hanson's tribute to her father to my shipmates for inclusion in the professional reading library of the clinic. Somehow that seems quite a fitting place for this story of an enthusiastic and dedicated corpsman and his equally dedicated and tenacious daughter.
   
   I commend Ms. Hanson for taking this difficult journey and then sharing her thoughts with us. I also commend the many men and women who helped her on this labor which later became a labor of love - well done shipmates.

3 comments about In My Brother's Shadow: A Life and Death in the SS.

1. I was born and raised in Germany. Even though my parents were born after the war and both my grandfathers were dead by the time I started asking questions I can still relate very well to the unease when it comes to talking about WWII.
   
   Where I grew up we had a neighbour whom I only knew as a mild mannered older guy, who loved us kids, would give us sweets and let us play in the big old trees in his garden. At one point I discovered that he was a member of the SS in WWII and had fought somewhere in Russia. He had no family. When he was in his eighties, he started opening up to a few people in the neighbourhood, among them my family. He would talk about the war, his comrades and generally the hard life they lived. He would always start crying. He would never mention fighting, killing civilians and all the other things he most likely saw and did. We all knew about those things, but we also felt sorry for the old guy and nobody pressed questions. He was a neighbour, not close family after all.
   
   Timm's book perfectly captures the conflict of the - very normal - desire to love and admire a brother (father, uncle, grandfather, neighbour) while at the same time knowing that that person must have consciously participated in something unspeakably atrocious.
   
   Obviously there is no easy solution and that conflict is one that generations of Germans had to deal with after the war. It is impossible to excuse what happened, but it is equally impossible to condemn all these people around you who all might have participated to various degrees, and be it just by keeping silent.



2. This is less an account of Uwe Timm's brother's life and death in the SS -- though it is that -- than it is a reflection on memory and history, specifically on what they mean in postwar Germany. Timm's brother's diary, kept against regulations ("it ought not to exist," Timm writes), is brief and ambiguous. And in those ambiguities lie the greatest turmoil and conflict, with no real answers. What did the brother mean when he referred to a "big louse hunt"? Clearly, he was involved in criminal activities ("plenty of loot!"), and clearly, he was coarsened by the war ("fodder for my MG"). But was he involved in atrocities? Did he murder civilians? Those are the questions that Timm can't answer with any certainty. They point to the doubt and guilt of an entire people, a people who still struggle to come to terms with the war. Sixty years: still no answers, still no resolution.



3. This book is by far not about, as the title suggests life in his brothers shadow,as much as it is about life in his fathers shadow, or the shadow of a defeated Germany!
   Herr Timm seems to be searching for his personal share of Germanys collective guilt. The writings of his brother might at most contribute 1 full page to this book! Herr Timm seems to be full of self-pity calling himself over and over again "the afterthought" where I would think his father instead planned him to be his brothers replacement. My father grew up in this same Germany and I have good insight into his thinking. I would suggest because of Herr Timms fathers position he knew a war would happen, and most likely consume his oldest son, that is what brought Uwe into being, not some accident or afterthought.Also his insistance that the 3rd. SS was an elite unit that the camp guards were drawn from is also a factual error. The 3rd SS began as the "Totenkopfverbande" they were the camp guards before the war! After the Polish and French campaigns they were re-organised into the Totenkopf division. The original members and leaders of the organisation Todt were all involved in the German camp system, not as Herr Timm suggests "elite soldiers from which guards were drawn" but rather camp guards that were formed into a front-line fighting unit!Herr Timm also wants to take small obscure entries in his brothers diaries and contort them into some evil or sinister act! A louse hunt is a louse hunt plain and simple, fodder for my MG is just an expression of the daily exposure to the horrors of front-line service. Herr Timm is searching so hard, it seems also hoping to find some act of brutality or inhumanity that he might link to his brother as to justify the feeling he has inside of himself! This book is a waste of time if you are seeking 1st hand accounts of the war, but if you want to read of the guilt placed on the German people and the effects of defeat on a family and country, it might be of some helpful insight.

2 comments about Alexander the Great: Historical Sources in Translation (Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History).

1. I was very much looking forward to this Heckel/Yardley effort, but the actual book turned out to be something other than I was expecting. Unfortunately, although I suspect it will be extremely popular with undergraduates eager to find a source of citations for their term papers (and too lazy to do their own research), I'd have to say that it fell considerably short of my expectations.
   
   The good news is that the HeckelYardley team includes quite a number of passages from hitherto difficult-to-find English versions of the Metz Epitome, the Itinerary of Alexander, the Heidelberg Epitome, and the Book of the Death of Alexander, all in new translations by the redoubtable Yardley. In addition they provide quotes from other sources, as well as from the five classic biographies, including those from Athanaeus, Cicero and so on. The bad news, from my perspective, begins with the fact that Heckel has chosen to include only representative quotes on each of his chosen topics and has omitted to add a list of the other source citations on those topics, which I think would have considerably increased the value of this book to scholars. Instead, he has clearly aimed this work at students.
   
   It is difficult to blame Heckel and Yardley for this decision, in view of the incredible amount of work they put into their 1997 Clarendon collaboration Justin: Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, Vol. I, Books 11-12: Alexander the Great, only to find that it sold very few copies other than to libraries, in large part because the first printing was priced beyond the reach of any but dedicated scholars. With Sources in Translation's attractive price and broader appeal, they should finally see some decent income from their efforts - and that's a good thing, because, as a team, they have made some major contributions to modern Alexander scholarship and can be expected to make more in the near future.
   
   But, for serious students of Alexander, part of the problem with this book is exactly that it is aimed at those who are less so. Heckel's explanatory snippets are brief, and thus highly-compressed, and therefor necessarily something short of comprehensive. His footnotes are sparing and early on I found a cross-reference in the introduction that pointed to a passage from the Metz that does not actually appear to have made it into the published book - which I take as evidence of poor proofreading on the part of Heckel's editors.
   
   In sum, this is not the book I wish Heckel and Yardley had produced - one which would have collected only passages from sources other than the five mainstay biographies - and I don't think the book they did do is as useful to serious students of Alexander as that one would have been. At the same time, I think this book will be warmly welcomed by the undergraduate community - and I would be surprised if university-level classical history instructors are not inundated by term papers about Alexander (all of which will both be based on this book and parrot Heckel's explanations), from now until the end of time.



2. I have read extensively on Alexander the Great,as I lived 25 years of my life in the City that he created Alexandria Egypt.This book is a collection of ,Arrian,Justin, Curtius Rufus,Plutarch,Dioduros Siculus,Aelian,Metz Epitome,Strabo the great Geopgrapher. and many more.What makes this book different is how different writers have written about the same subjects about Alexander's life.They differ in many ways,and interpreted in many ways his life.The book also has excerpts of Alexander's original speaches to his Macedonian and Persian army.
   In this book there are names of the cities that Alexander founded,excerpts of his will,his final days, his final plans, and what was done about his final decisions.
   Although the book is intense it is very readable.
   If you really read this book you will see that Alexander indeed wanted to globalize the world.In doing so he had to conquer to be able to do it.Although I think that he was too anxious in doing it, he did bring many races together.Had he lived longer who knows whether he would have been able to conquer the Romans.
   Many Roman Ceasars tried to copy him, from his hairstyle to his military genius.However we shall never know.Beeing an Italian and having read extensively and studied Roman History I am sure it would have been something to try and conquer Alexander, or he conquering the Romans.
   I enjoyed the book because it made me think more into depth in his strategies of war,and he as a person.

5 comments about Confessions of a Spy.

1. Ames was unduly lucky to have not been "netted" much sooner. Mr. Earley gives us a very well written piece of work.Ames was certainly not Kim Philby or 007;but He did get away with His betrayal for some years,and that alone makes it worthy for any 20th Century Historian. The little tidbit of a quite 'hot potato'betrayal story on Henry Kissenger is worth the cost of the book alone.Earley is also fair to Ames'American employers at CIA who finally pinch "the mole".



2. Step by step we are moving to the truth.
   The fiction is banal. Hence - one star for the book. The reality is amazing. Hence - 5 stars for the next book on the Ames-Colby case. The next book will be based on Dekov's memoirs.



3. I was reading "See No Evil" by Robert Baer and he briefly mentioned Aldrich Ames and decided to read a book on him. While looking for books, I was pleasantly surprised to find one written by Pete Earley. I had read "The Hot House" a couple of years ago and found Earley to be a very clear and detailed writer. I really could not wait to receive the book. My expectations were high and they were met and exceeded. The book details Ames' life from birth, it details his parents, his entry into the CIA, and ultimately his betrayal of the country. The thing I love about Earley is that he leaves no loose ends. You're never left saying, "but what ever happened to..." or "I wonder who that is...". He's a very clear writer who introduces every subject in the book. He explains the facts sharply and thoroughly, and the pacing is perfect. Earley not only gives you the details, but draws you in with a story line that adds suspense. Earley is similar to other great non-fiction writers such as Stephen Ambrose, Jon Krakauer, Simon Winchester, Mark Bowden, or Kurt Eichenwald in that he takes a real event and tells it gripping way.
   
   On the negatives, there was not an index in my book which made it difficult at times. Also, Earley was not able to get interviews with everyone involved, in particular Ames' first wife, but at the time I'm sure not everyone wanted to participate with the media.
   
   The most important aspect of the book is that Aldrich Ames cooperated with Earley with face to face interviews while awaiting trial and later through letters. But Earley did not take everything Ames told him at face value, he is not lazy or sloppy, he fact checked and questioned everything. He even fact checked with Russian KGB which demonstrates how dedicated he was to the subject. Is it definitive? Definitely not because it came out so quickly after Ames arrest (before revelations of Robert Hanssen) but it is an excellent book.



4. This is the only text I have read that provides a compelling and nuanced explanation of why Ames betrayed his country. The short answer is that he needed the money because he was living beyond his means. As a result of his work recruiting and handling spies he no longer believed it was wrong for a person to betray their country. Earley's well-written book explains how he arrived at that point. It also provides the reader with a credible look at what it is like to work for the CIA, and what it is like to work as a spy.



5. This gives the best account of Ames' CIA career, particularly prior to the time he began to work for the Soviet Union, and corrects errors in several earlier books such as Wise's.

5 comments about Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth.

1. 
   This is a great little history, and I hope the publishing industry gives us more of them.
   
   It's amazing how much of history was created by teens and twentysomethings. Alexander and his army were like a punk rock band gone wild. He drinks and debauches his way through half a continent. He must have had extraordinary health given the punishing environment and the many battle wounds. He is a master builder and does have a command of battle strategy (if not his army).
   
   I found the comparisons to Ceasar and the speculation of how Alexander would have done against the Roman army thought provoking. Not mentioned is that Ceasar earned the support of his army, Alexander just expected it and was unable to keep it.
   
   There is an interesting the analysis of his "greatness" at the end and a description of the other major biographical works.



2. This book is a gem, in large because the analysis of the "greatness" of Alexander in the fifth and closing chapter is designed to generate thought, debate and ideas for every student of history.
   
   "The impact of Alexander on the Mediterranean world has always been a subject for debate," Cantor notes, and proceeds to add provocatively to that debate. Alexander, like Achilles, Caesar, King Arthur, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, embodies the spirit of the times and the people of their eras. Alexander and Achilles were heroic; Caesar and Arthur were innovators; Lincoln and Churchill gave words to enhance the decency of great nations.
   
   Lincoln, to cite an example, did not invent democracy in America. However, when he defined democracy as government "of the people, by the people, for the people", he greatly sharpened and enhanced already existing attitudes. Alexander did the same in his time; he did not invent war, but he set an ideal seldom matched and thus established the warrior ideal for much of the Mediterannean. King Arthur does the same with his round table; Churchill gives credit to the British people for stopping Hitler.
   
   Now, consider George Bush with his Texas swagger and flight suit while strutting across the deck of an aircraft carrier to announce "Mission Accomplished" as if he were a warrior. Alexander, in contrast to the coddled and well-protected life of Bush, survived numerous serious wounds acquired while leading his troops from the front. Whether it's Bush or Clinton or Reagan, there's a vast difference between Alexander and the perspiration and spin of today's leaders. As Canton aptly shows, it's why "the Great" title is retired.
   
   Intended or not, there are numerous subtle parallels between ancient and modern events in the Near and Middle Easts. Alexander was successful because he responded immediately and brilliantly to local events rather than try to rule from afar; instead of being an ideologue, he worshipped every God he met along the route of his conquests.
   
   Because he was handicapped by "faulty intelligence," when he reached Afghanistan and India he realized it was time to listen to his troops, then "cut and run". Why? To quote Cantor, "One of the old soldiers, a man named Coenis . . . . gave the speech of his life, ending with these words: 'Sir, if there is one thing above all others a successful man should know, it is when to stop'. Instead of trying to stay the course, Cantor says "Alexander sulked for two days but then tried to find a way to make this defeat appear to be a victory."
   
   Cantor offers an intriguing psychological assessment of Alexander; not only was he "the supreme exemplar of that old pagan world" but he also knew how to sulk and then accept the will of his troops. Perhaps that is why there are no modern Alexanders; today we tend to look at his heroism, courage, strength and vision but overlook his ability to sulk.
   
   It's a masterful biography, not merely because of what it says about Alexander but also for what it teaches us about ourselves.



3. Is it possible to make the life one of the most compelling men who ever lived into an incredibly boring biography? Cantor does it somehow. I barely made it through half the book, it was so tediously written. Worse, much of the facts were oversimplified to the point of being wrong. It's not even smart enough to be a children's book, although it's written at that level of diction. Please don't make it your choice.



4. This is the worst book ever written on Alexander. There are historical inaccuracies on nearly every page. Heresay and universally discounted legend are presented uncritically alongside historically accepted fact.



5. I bought two copies of this book so that my grandson and I could read and discuss it. My two purposes were 1) teach him about Alexander the Great and 2) show him how scholarly history books, as opposed to history text books, are written.
   
   This book has served as a good example of a bad example.
   
   To be charitable, I see that the copyright belongs to the Estate of Norman Cantor and was published after his death. I will assume that his illness led to the low quality of this book. Otherwise, I must assume he was a piss-poor professor.
   
   For the sakes of New York University, Tel Aviv University, and the Rhodes and Fulbright organizations, besides Mr. Cantor's reputation, the Estate should never have published this book in its present form.
   
   I am very disinclined to read any other works of Mr. Cantor's.

5 comments about Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar.

1. This is a five CD book. The author does not actually begin discussing the battle until well into the FOURTH CD. Need I say more?



2. Mr. Nicolson has done a fine job of writing a book about the notions of Heroism and Duty, with even a dash of Honor thrown in. Societal woes and the blossoming of the bourgeois class are well navigated and occasionally set to a backdrop of one of, if not the greatest of Britain's (perhaps I should say England's) Naval victories. The first half of the book is a muddled read. The author alternately credits Nelson with brilliance of command with a complete denial that this particular engagement was anything more than a continuation of the changing norms of the various nations involved.
   
   Still, a good read, but not one for insight into either Nelson or Trafalgar.



3. This is a book about the Battle of Trafalgar, not so much about what happened there but why it happened.
   
   Much of the flavor of the book can be savored from these words in the preface: "There is a long tradition of English violence.... A higher percentage of the population died in the English Civil War than in the French Revolution.... All this was part of the nation from which Nelson came. He was able ... to summon a scale of aggression from his fleets that seems to have drawn on the deepest levels of common consciousness among his men. This is a difficult area to address, but essential: how does one read into the behaviour of a fighting fleet the deep half-conscious pre-occupations of the people who man its ship? how do the semi-understood but widely-inherited ideas about purpose, violence and victory, which are present in any evolved society, shape the way men behave in battle?"
   
   How does one read into the behavior? Well, Adam Nicolson uses the 317 pages that follow the preface to show us how he does it. (By the way, the English Civil War was just that, a war. The French Revolution was not. Wars, in whatever country and whatever period, tend to kill a lot of people. What percentage of the French population did Napoleon's Wars kill?)
   
   I am not sufficiently familiar with this subject to state that there is no new material in Nicolson's book. I am sufficiently familiar with this subject to state that there is no significant new material in Nicolson's book.
   
   Nicolson has fairly evidently come to this book carrying a considerable weight in baggage. For one thing, he is no warrior and he is both uncomfortable with and unable to appreciate those who are. (Yes, there are very definitely such things as warriors. I have no qualms about admitting that I was the mildest of military rabbits during my nine years in uniform, but I certainly knew and served with men who could only be described as tigers in human form, decorated veterans and, more significantly, survivors of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.)
   
   Nicolson is a determinist. Nelson and the English fleet won the Battle of Trafalgar because they had to. History, technology, economics, and sociology demanded that they win. Maybe. But Nicolson to the contrary, history repeatedly teaches that the battle plan is very likely to be the first casualty arising from any contact with an enemy. Nelson won a spectacular victory because he ignored the established tactical wisdom of his day by turning his fleet toward the enemy and cutting the Franco-Spanish battle line in two places. He did this because he was fighting not so much against the ships of that fleet as its commanders. He had reason to believe that if he did something tactically unsound, he could get away with it and achieve a great success. He was right.
   
   However, victory was not inevitable. The Franco-Spanish fleet outnumbered the English fleet. The individual French ships, at least, were better built, faster and better sailors than the individual English ships (as shown by the haste with which captured French ships were refitted and brought into service with English crews.) And more important than either of those considerations is the fact that the leading squadron of the Franco-Spanish fleet--roughly a third of its total strength--was left entirely unmolested while nearly the whole of Nelson's fleet was totally committed to near-immobilized close-in action during the main battle. If Nelson had been the commander of that squadron, he'd have turned back and gone straight down the attacking line, bringing overwhelming force against one ship after another in sequence and annihilating each one in turn.
   
   Forget about Nelson and that squadron, which failed in the event to do its duty because of the failure of its commander. Consider what would have happened at Trafalgar if Pierre-Andre de Suffren had been born in 1756 rather than 1726.
   
   Suffren was a pre-Revolutionary French admiral. He was a person of a type encountered by the Royal Navy on only two occasions during the 18th and 19th centuries: an aggressive enemy commander. (The other time, of course, was the War of 1812, when American commanders boldly took on English ships and when the surrender of a single American frigate to FIVE English frigates was written up in official despatches as a great victory!) Suffren had led a French squadron in the Indian Ocean, far from any hope of support or succor. He consistently beat the pants off massively superior British forces.
   
   If Suffren had been in charge at Trafalgar, he would cooly have bloodied and certainly blunted the effect of the English charge during the appallingly dangerous turn-in phase of their attack. Then he would have ordered that free squadron to bring about the destruction of the fleet from the nation of shopkeepers.
   
   And two centuries later, Adam Nicolson would have written a book to explain why Admiral Suffren's famous victory off Cape Trafalgar had been inevitable.
   
   In the event, Nicolson's book doesn't really tell us much about the Nelsonian navy, certainly no more than might be gleaned from the fictional adventures of Horatio Hornblower or Jack Aubrey or from the works of Captain Marryat (who had been at Trafalgar as a boy.) It tells us rather more about Adam Nicolson, who doesn't much care for the not particularly gentle men who sailed in King George's ships. He's a familiar character. Shakespeare, in fact, described him to a "T" in "King Henry IV, Part One":
   
   Came there a certain lord, neat, and trimly dress'd...
   And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by,
   He called them untaught knaves, unmannerly,
   To bring a slovenly unhandsome corpse
   Betwixt the wind and his nobility....
   And that it was a great pity, so it was,
   That villainous saltpetre should be digg'd
   Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
   Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd
   So cowardly; and but for these vile guns
   He would himself have been a soldier.



4. I have never put up a review here before but this book has really affected me and I want to share it with others.
   
   I was a little leery when I read the jacket, thinking this book would be mainly a "social" history, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Nicolson knows the strategy and tactics well and the book remains focused on what actually happened at the battle. But his narrative technique is to flash back and zoom out from particular battle events to place them in their broader social and historical context. Along the way he is very deft and imaginative with primary sources. For example, in one intensely moving passage he skillfully contrasts an enlisted man's tortured letter to the parent of a dead shipmate with a much shorter, colder directive from another dead man's captain to the Admiralty (but not the family) to stop forwarding the man's pay to his family. He then observes that the only official notification to most enlisted men's families of a death at sea was that the money simply stopped coming. I'm also impressed with the emotional and descriptive power of the writing, which in passage after passage seems to transcend history and become almost poetic. I probably have more than a hundred military history books laying around my house but this book stands in a sub-genre all by itself.



5. Good historical book should explain/elaborate WHY and HOW battles erupt, and "Seize the Fire" fulfills these two criteria. Author presents in depth psychological and economical study of French, Spanish and British societies, what factors were responsible for vast differences between France and England. Mental attitudes of citizens, rulers, aristocrats, seamen, officers and admirals create well constructed background. Eventually (Part II) we read gruesome details how the bloody and horrific battle evolved and ended. You will be surprised learning about Nelson's motivations and strategy (author calls it "mutually assured destruction"). Violence, humanity and nobility were happening almost at the same time. Shocking to me was to find out that NKVD was not the first in history to use "special methods" for stopping desertion. On the decks of ships, prospect of instantaneous execution by one's own officers might well have persuaded the reluctant to fight longer and harder than they otherwise would. In the end monstrous storm diluted the blood in the sea, sea gobbled ships taken as prizes. Revolution and republican idealism was dying in Europe. Road to Anglo-Saxon commercial Atlantic, materialist, go-getting entrepreneurial culture became well paved and secured. Some segments of this book are too philosophical, repetitive (IMO) and slightly boring. In general it is interesting, informative and worth of recommendation volume.

5 comments about To Benning and Back: The Making of a Citizen Soldier - My Journals of Daily Life in U.S. Army Basic Training and Officer Candidate School, from Private to Second Lieutenant, from First Call to Lights Out, and Yes, Everything in Between..

1. I have had the privilege of knowing Monroe Mann personally which prompted me to read his book. Monroe is the type of fellow who can drift into your life briefly and leave his mark.
   
   His book is a honest uncut un polished journal that speaks to EXACTLY what every young soldier remembers about basic Training. Reading Monroe's book was like taking a walk back in my life ten years ago.
   
   An excellent read for old soldiers and a fine book for those considering service. New troops need to take Monroe's total honesty with a grain of salt. When you live Basic training it seems impossible, until you walk on that parade field with almost 300 years of American history that you are not a part of. Monroe is a fine officer who is credit to the service. If he can overcome his fears, frustration, and challenges to rise from a sideline sitter to a professional of the finest caliber should encourage any reader to seek his or her opportunity to place service above self and find a way a way to bring peace to our troubled world.
   
   Thank you Monroe



2. Monroe - your book, To Benning and Back: The Making of a Citizen Soldier - tells it like it is. Your honesty is what makes it special. Most books on the military experience are so 'gung ho' and you never feel the person's true pain. I felt your pain 'my brotha.' Keep your head down over in Iraq. We want all of our heros back in one piece.



3. I cannot recommend "To Benning and Back" highly enough. I am currently applying to Army Officer Candidate School and it was the most helpful and informative thing I read. I learned more from Monroe Mann's account of his experiences at Basic Training and Officer Candidate School than I did from any other source and certainly from my recruiter. If you're considering enlisting in the Army, or any other branch of the military for that matter, I would definitely get my hands on this book. It's an invaluable resource.
   
   Even more though, read this book for the inspirational story of one very cool young American. From the gut-punching sincerity of the opening line: "I cried when I saw Saving Private Ryan." to the final appendix, "What the Army Has Taught Me", I know I'm going to go back to this book whenever my own doubts about what I'm doing start creeping up on me. Mann, who is now 1st Lieutenant Mann, and who has been serving in Iraq for more than a year now with the New York National Guard, obviously comes from a comfortable background. He has a broad, varied, international education. He has a large supportive circle of talented family and friends, who appear in his journals in intriguing little snippets of intimacy and affection. He's talented, skilled at several sports, speaks several languages. He has a deep, driving dream to be an actor. Someone for whom the possibilities in late 90's America were pretty much limitless. Instead he puts it all on the line to join the Army...way before there was a 9/11 bandwagon to jump onto.
   
   Used to be idealism and intelligence was a combination our country specialized in. If, like me, you think we're a little short on that combo these days -- from top to bottom -- read Mann's account of his experiences and it'll give you some hope for what's out there. Throughout his story, we get to see a sincere love of America that has nothing to do with the sticky, yellow-ribbon sentimentality that passes for patriotism in this country these days, and startling flashes of a deep Christian faith that has nothing to do with the lame moralism of so much of what passes for Christianity these days either. He's completely honest about the pain and difficulties of military life, never afraid to say he's bored, that he's suffering, or that it just plain old hurts. He's candid about his misgivings and fears about the commitment he's making. And he has no illusions about the frequent limitations and just sheer stupidity of much of the institutional culture he's dealing with. Yet all the way through, he holds on to a transcendent vision of a soldier's calling, a vision of courage and sacrifice that sustains him.
   
   This kid's one of the last of the Great American Idealists, the kind of homegrown Quixote we used to grow a lot of, with the beautiful, slightly nutty dream AND the guts and tenacity and competence to make it reality. If you subscribe to the patronizing notion that only Americans with no other options serve in our armed forces, or if you think that all young Americans with other options are spoiled brats coasting through cushy lives with no sense of service or the greater good, then read this book. If you have a kid who wants to enlist, give him this book to read; it'll inspire him and make him a better soldier, marine, airman or sailor. If you've got a kid who wants to enlist and you're discouraging him, then YOU read this book. Believe me, Lt. Mann is the kind of guy you want your son to be.



4. I was like the LT here. I took the same route of BCT to OCS in the Guard too. I was whiney to a point too. I came back from Iraq and now I am not that same person. I am sure LT. Mann has changed to. The book is good in telling you what the Guard OCS program is like from day to day.
   
   Capt. MSC former 11A



5. Monroe Mann's "To Benning and Back" is very inspiring and a great read as well. This is a fantastic book for anyone interested in better understanding the journey from citizen to Army Officer. I have read other books on this subject, but Monroe Mann's book provides the most personal insight into what one might expect to experience, and feel, while navigating through the entire process. I highly recommend this book.
   
   ENS Rick - US Navy Reserve

4 comments about Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century.

1. A very interesting and thorough biography of Vannevar Bush, who more than any other individual is responsible (for good or for ill) for the shape of today's scientific establishment. Well-written and engaging, with lots of interesting historical tidbits and good insight on the personalities involved. Excellent!



2. This is a very well written and entertaining book about a scientific administrator who played a major effort in organizing the technical responses required to anticipate and successfully meet the challenges of WWII. His skillful analysis, technical comprehension and political astuteness not only provided outstanding leadership at the time but shaped the intractions of goverment, industry and the academic community in such a fashion as to remain intact to this time. One comes awawy with an enormous respect for Dr. Bush. He must have been one tough character and difficult to deal with but he got the jobs done. It is a pity that his battles with Admiral Ernest King have, to my knowledge, never been documented. The issues they disagreed about were not trivial and their interactions must have been awesome. I read this book shortly after completing Tycho's Island and the similarity between the two men and the administrative issues they dealt with is both striking and illuminating.

   Good men are hard to find and good books about them deserve our attention.




3. More than one person has written on this page that Vannevar Bush is "little known", "forgotten", etc. I am only 54 years old, but I remember seeing Bush's name in print many, many times while growing up. He was always described as crucial to American military and technological supremacy since 1943 or so. A few of his accomplishments: He mobilized American science and engineering during WWII. His leadership was crucial to the Manhattan project. His differential analyzer led to MIT's Lincoln Labs playing an important role in the rise of information technology. He was Claude Shannon's teacher.



4. Zachary deserves great credit for writing a book that offers many virtues and lessons of lasting relevance. Because the author's commitment is worthy of his subject, this book should have timeless value. The roles for science and technology and how best to harness them for prosperity and for security to enable the preservation of peace are questions which transcend any particular time.
   
   The subtitle, Engineer of the American Century, is justified. Bush contributed to American society in many ways. He was a fecund, tireless inventor, helping launch Raytheon Corporation. He was dedicated to boosting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and thereby strengthening society through teaching and seeking practical knowledge. He was a pioneer and convenor of advances in computing.
   
   Clear-mindedly appreciating the gathering evil of Nazi Germany, Bush decided to do something, as typical. He left MIT and got to Washington as head of the Carnegie Institution. Though a Republican, he persuaded President Franklin Roosevelt that those who were technically educated needed to be harnessed within a National Defense Research Committee, in service to their nation's needs. By helping harness the extraordinary abilities of civilian and academic technologists to serve their nation in meeting the challenges of World War II, Bush helped unleash a cornucopia of inventions and advances in thinking, with extraordinary economic legacies (computing, electronics, medicine, radar).
   
   A few words from Zachary:
   --Bush's "was a life not of looking back, but of charging ahead."
   --He had a "commitment to excellence and integrity that reinforced his belief in the power of one person to make a difference."
   --"Bush shared Eisenhower's unease about the alliance between academia, the military, and industry"
   --"The proliferation of nuclear weapons, the rise of environmental hazards, and the evident political partisanship of many scientists - all combined to engender a cynicism in the public about the aims and evidence of science."
   
   Several other books of possible interest in relation to the contributions of technologists:
   Philip Taubman, Secret Empire (2003)
   James Phinney Baxter, Scientists Against Time (1946)
   Biographies of Edwin Land
   James Killian, Sputniks, Scientists, and Eisenhower (1977). Killian was a 1950s Bush, down to earth and his book is movingly endowed with wisdom.

2 comments about Report From #24.

1. REPORT FROM # 24 THIS IS A GREAT BOOK TO READ WHEN GOING TO BED .. YOU COULD BE DREAMING ABOUT BEING A MEMBER OF THE MILORG WITH GUNNAR. YOU THINK JAMES BOND IS EXCITING, WELL, YOU HAVEN'T READ GUNNAR'S BOOK. WHY WATCH TV? YOU HAVE THIS BOOK TO READ.



2. Sonsteby was obviously one of the unsung heroes of the war. His work with the resistance was essential in keeping the Germans looking over their shoulders for the next incident. But, the book seemed to ramble for much of the first half of the story. I found it hard to keep up with the details, and often had to look back in earlier chapters to get myself re-oriented. The later chapters were much easier to follow. It was a quick and interesting read, but there are better books available on this topic.

   I'd highly recommend Blood and Water (by Dan Kurzman) if you are interested in a related story of the resistance in Norway.

5 comments about The General and His Daughter: The War Time Letters of General James M. Gavin to his Daughter Barbara (World War II: The Global, Human, and Ethical Dimension).

1. There are a lot of books written about World War II and its commanding generals. There are usually written by historians, or participants writing long after the battles. This book is different. There are the wartime letters written by Jim Gavin to his daughter Barbara. They begin in 1943 when Gavin, then a colonel left the states commander of the 505th PIR or the 82nd. At that time Barbara was nine.
   
   There are approximately 200 letters included in the book. They were written on board ships, in foxholes and tents. They do not have the afterthoughts or 'point-proving' of books written later. They are the personal messages of a father to his daughter. They talk about the day to day realities of what Gavin was doing at the time, and about his personal reactions to combat and the war.
   
   The book provides an insight into the man and the times that is rare to find.



2. A unique footnote to World War II, and an unusual view of a famous general



3. This is an absolutely marvelous book. Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy has given us a very personal glimpse of a Soldier's Soldier who led his men from the front and was truly one of the great Generals of WW II. General Gavin's letters reveal the sensitivity and love that he maintained despite the strains of combat and command. One cannot read this book without feeling that you have shared so much of the personal experience as well as the love and devotion he showed to his daughter. It is a book that lifts the spirit and makes you respect the "Two Star Platoon Leader' even more.



4. THE GENERAL AND HIS DAUGHTER: THE WARTIME LETTERS OF GENERAL JAMES M. GAVIN TO HIS DAUGHTER BARBARA provides an excellent portrait of the American experience in World War II, telling of a commander who at the age of 37 became the 82nd Parachute Infantry's commanding general, and the youngest to become a major general since the Civil War. His letters were written from the field to his nine-year-old daughter Barbara and provide plenty of 'you are there' insights into the realities of combat. It's a 'must' for any serious, in-depth World War II collection, especially libraries specializing in memoirs and writings from participants.



5. This book is a great piece of WWII history. I purchased it because my son is named after this general. It is beautiful to see how people wrote letters before the times of computers and texting.