5 comments about Battling for Saipan.

1. Mr. O'Brien gives a vivid detail of the 105ths movements from the landing on the beaches of Saipan to the final evacuation from the Gyokusai attach in Tanapag. He follows his uncle Lt. Col. William J. O'Brien from battle to battle all the time merging stories of the hundreds of other men who fought along side him. Giving an almost play by play of scirmishes from survivors stories. I couldn't put it down. I will never Hash through the jungles here the same way again! Infact, I went to the memorial and looked for his name of the thousands that are there and I found it. As you look at it you face to about the appoximate location of Tagapag village.



2. This book was interesting but it had several flaws. It was a basically a defense of the army's 27th Infantry Division during the Saipan invasion during the Pacific war. It was at Saipan where the 27th did not measure up to marine units.

   The author claims to be objective but I find that difficult to believe. He is writing about his own Uncle, William O'Brien. He was also writing about the 27th Infantry Division, a national guard unit which consisted of men from his own home town and area. I detected a bias in defense of the 27th and a bias against Marine General "Howlin Mad" Smith who relieved 27th Division commander General Ralph Smith.

   The author claims that this was the one and only battle where army troops fought under the command of the a marine general. This was untrue. Army units fought successfully under marine General Vandergrift at Guadalcanal in 1942, under marine General Geiger at Peleliu in 1944, and briefly under Geiger again at Okinawa in 1945. The author blames marine command for many of the 27th's problems but has a shaky arguement.

   The author also defend the 27th divison as "one of the best trained units in the Pacific". I have read many other books and many other authors do NOT share this opinion of the 27th. Many other authors have a much lower opinion of the 27th. In fact, at Okinawa in 1945, an army general withdrew the 27th from the main battle and sent it to the rear for "garrison duty". Let's be realistic and honest. Not all members of the armed forces in WW II were "the elite". Units differed in quality. Some units were excellent and some were of lesser quality.

   Note: I am NOT a marine but just someone who has read many books on this subject.




3. I found Francis O'Brien's work on the 27th Division to be moving account of an army unit that served its country well at the expense of criticism. His account of the 1st battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, was especially touching, and, I feel, deserves mention along with other memorable units of WWII.

   However, I do agree that O'Brien's work does lack much objectiveness at the expense of defending the reputation of the 27th Division. This was essentially the purpose of his book, and there are certainly more objective accounts of the 27th to be found elsewhere, some of whom O'Brien refers to in his book.

   Nonetheless, I found this book to be an enjoyable read and quite a service to those who fought and died with the "New York Division" in WWII.

   As O'Brien states at the end of his preface: "I trust I have shown that [the families'] fathers, sons, uncles, and brothers served their country honrably and well in WWII."




4. I've often wondered over the years how justifiable Howlin' Mad Smith's relief of Ralph Smith was during the battle for Saipan. I've suspected that there was more to the issue than meets the eye and that Holland Smith may have had more of a point to prove than cause for action. O'Brien's book points solidly in that direction although his perspective has to be skewed toward the 27th and I believe that he wrote the book starting from that viewpoint. However the most moving and impressive part of this account for me was the details of the heroism of Sgt. Thomas A. Baker. I first encountered his story in an obscure internet tribute one Veteran's Day a few years back. Reading his citation I wondered what kind of man could be capable of such feats. O'Brien's history contains more details of this remarkable soldier than I've found elsewhere, but still left me yearning to find out more about him. Who knows, maybe someday I'll write his definitive history!



5. Like your Reader from Texas, I am not a marine but I have read many books about the war in the Pacific and the Smith vs. Smith incident.

   HM Smith was not one of the great captains of WWII. As Professor Harry Gailey points out in "Howlin' Mad Versus the Army", Saipan was the first and only time HM Smith ever had hands on responsibility for troops in battle. He did not conduct a very brilliant campaign. He constantly underestimated the strength of Japanese resistance on the island, made his plans based on his underestimates, and then blamed the Army Division and its Commander, MG Ralph Smith, when his plans did not work.

   The 27th Infantry Division was the most unfairly maligned unit of WWII, Its commander, MG Ralph Smith was the most unfairly vilified leader of WWII. This happened because the Marine Corps and its advocates needed to create and maintain the legend that HM Smith was a great captain, needed to explain away HM Smith's less than brilliant performance on Saipan.

   This book, while not a thoroughly researched as Edmund Smith's 27th ID's History or Professor Gailey's "Howlin' Mad Versus the Army", it is an honest attempt to tell the correct history, that the 27th ID fought hard and fought well on Saipan.

No comments about Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford.

2 comments about Rebel Girl: An Autobiography, My First Life.

1. Elizabeth Flynn is not a gifted writer, so this book makes for "choppy" reading. But, she is a powerful, passionate and dedicated woman; an example to young people of the 21st century. She spent time in jail and served for several years as head of the Communist Party in the United States. Yet, I would call her a great American.
   Reading her story makes one appreciate the progress of Labor in this country and how much we owe those of the early 20th century who put their lives on the line for human dignity.



2. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn is one of those little girls who grew up to be a Jane Addams, or a Harriet Beecher Stowe, or an Emma Goldman, or a Susan B. Anthony, or a Mother Jones, or a Florence Nightingale, or a Margaret B. Sanger or a Rosa Parks, or a Sojourner Truth or - I suppose one could even say - a Joan of Ark.
   All these little girls are either good or evil depending on your point of view.
   Elizabeth Gurley Flynn is not so well known as some of these others because she was an American Communist. American Communists do not get a lot of space in American history books, whether they are male or female. She was, first a Socialist, and then a Communist.
   Ms. Flynn was an American, born and bread, Communist and proud of it. In "The Rebel Girl", an autobiography, she puts it this way; "Many have written as ex-Communists. This second book will be the story of an active American Communist and one who is proud of it. No matter what are the consequences, `I will never move from where I stand.' ... I feel it is important for me to set down here my personal recollections of this earlier part of the century, a period full of heroic struggles on the part of the working class, especially the foreign born. As the reader will see, the years 1906 to 1926 were full of `force and violence' used by the ruling class in America against the workers, who gave their lives, shed their blood, were beaten, jailed, blacklisted and framed, as they fought for the right to organize, to strike and to picket. Struggles for a few cents more an hour, for a few minutes less a day - were long and bitterly fought. Nothing was handed on a silver platter to the American working class by employers. All of their hard-won gains came through their own efforts and solidarity."
   And that about says it!

4 comments about Black Hawk: An Autobiography (Prairie State Books).

1. As a college student from the blackhawk area, I found this book captivating. Really written for any age or education level, I think anyone and everyone should read it. A heroic story of a real man, the book is a beautiful journey through history. The story some details of Black Hawk's life before the war and describes the events behind the wars and his interpretation of them well. I would recomend this to anyone from junior high up and definatly anyone from Rock Island or the surrounding areas.



2. The last "Indian War" in Illinois occurred in 1832 when a small band of Sauk refused under the leadership of the warrior Black Hawk to abandon their village (located under a subdivision of the present Rock Island, Illinois). They wandered up the Rock River, fighting contingents of regular army and state militia (a young Abraham Lincoln served several stints as a volunteer but saw no fighting; a young Jefferson Davis played a role in the last phases of the conflict), slipped into Wisconsin, and were finally defeated in a brutal massacre of men, women, and children on the banks of the Mississippi. Black Hawk surrendered and was taken East to meet President Jackson. After a short term in confinement, he and his companions were taken on a tour of the East Coast, an effort by the United States government to impress him with the young nation's overwhelming superiority in numbers and technology. The plan worked, by Black Hawk's own testimony, and when he returned to the Midwest he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity in a village in Iowa. He never saw his home again.
   The origins of the autobiography published under Black Hawk's name has generated controversy. It was dictated to a half Native American interpreter, Antoine Le Claire, who rendered it into English, then edited by an Illinois newspaperman named John B. Patterson, who put it into publishable form. Both men swore that the result was faithful to Black Hawk's words, but the skeptical reader may be permitted some doubt; the language is clearly that of the period (surely Patterson's work), and Black Hawk himself complains on at least one occasion that his interpreter's grasp of the Sauk language did not suffice to translate a flowery speech. So what we have here, while no doubt in general faithful to Black Hawk's intentions and life story, cannot be his ipsissima verba. (It is a pity, given these doubts, that the editor of the volume, who has otherwise done an admirable job of annotation and commentary, did not compare the language of the preface, which records Black Hawk's own Sauk, with that of the text as a whole.)
   Despite these doubts, there can be no question that the Autobiography affords us an extraordinary opportunity to see the impact of midwestern expansion on the native population from their own point of view, and to obtain direct access -- even if it has been mediated somewhat for non-native consumption -- into the social world of a people soon to vanish. The war itself is somewhat of an anti-climax, and deeply sad, doomed as resistance clearly was from the beginning. It is rather the self-presentation of a proud, successful Sauk warrior, endowed with considerable facilities of self-reflection and honesty, that make this book a treasure that every American should read.



3. I live in the Black Hawk area also, and everytime I read of this man, I get more respect for his cause. His tribe was cheated out of vast lands for a pittance. When he protested this cheating, he was told to move his ancestral village and go across the river. When he protested this, the government moved troops against him. When he wanted to surrender, they shot his braves who waved a white flag. Who cheated who here. It seems that the Indians were cheated of their inheritance and could not even protest this to the government. He was brave in battle and surrendered when he had to due to the murder of his women and children. He was taken captive and shown to gawking Easterners. He put a brave face on everything and accepted his lot. No wonder the military named its impressive helicopter after him.
   
   This is a nice read on a brave and courageous man. Even though he was defeated, he never lost his pride in his ancestry. A true warrior and hero for everyone.



4. I teach college history. This is just an awful, cheap, typo-ridden edition. We will never use it again. Be sure you get the edition from the University of Illinois Press. Uch.

5 comments about Glory, Passion, and Principle: The Story of Eight Remarkable Women at the Core of the American Revolution.

1. The premise _Glory, Passion, and Principle_ seeks to address: that women in the American Revolution are historically underrepresented is wonderful. Women in history have for too long been forgotten, and it was with this intent that I read this book. I was very disappointed.
   
   Certainly the women disucssed in the book have earned recognition. But the poor writing really got in the way of my enjoying the book. As a previous reviewer pointed out, there are historical inaccuracies. What I had the greatest issue with was the switching from narrative dialogue to historical fact. Throughout the book conversations and even thoughts of these women were written about that the author could not have possibly known. For example, "The sudden click of the doornob interrupted her thoughts ..." (p. 33); "She heard the howls of a forlorn animal, a wolf she thought ..." (p 12) and so on. If the book is a history, then it ought to be written as a history. If it is fiction, then it should be written as fiction. The fact that it was written as both, (given the historical "postscript" at the end of each chapter) did not settle well with me, and detracted from the overall worthiness of the book.
   
   Women certainly deserve to be recognized for their historical contributions. It is unfortunate that the stories of the women presented here were not written in a manner more fitting their place in American history.



2. I bought this book expecting a scholarly treatment of the subject. Instead I found myself reading something that was partly historical fact, partly creative writing, and contained many inaccuracies. In addition to the zipper incident described by another reviewer, the author gave the name of the Adams's oldest daughter as "Nabby"; it was actually Abigail Amelia. Mercy Otis Warren's brother James is described as leaving for Harvard in 1769, but two paragraphs later there is a statement that her husband, James, "graduated from Harvard in 1745,one year after her brother." (p. 97) These three glaring errors made me suspicious of other information as I read through the book. If I pass this book along, it will be with my own handwritten notations of the correct information where I find inaccuracies.



3. I was so impressed by Bohrer's research. I can tell she dug deep into finding true facts to really capture the story. I also love the women she chose to write on. Honestly, I was expecting to read all about the wives of the founding fathers, but she pushed the envelope. She writes on a slave, a Native American woman, a soldier, a spy, an author etc. I loved the variety! My three favorite women she wrote on were Deborah Sampson, Phillis Wheatley, and Nancy Ward. Sampson was a female disguised as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The story on how hard she worked truly impressed me. She wanted to help her country, even though she had had a hard life; both her parents walked out on her. Phillis Wheatley was a slave who learned English at the age of nine, and was obviously a genius. She knew three languages and wrote highly acclaimed poetry. A slave had published work in newspapers throughout the colonies! I was so happy that Phillis proved that she was just as smart as the whiteman. I thought this was so unique for the time era for a slave. Nancy Ward, a famous Cherokee Native American, worked hard to bring peace between the Americans and the Cherokees. I felt true sorrow for her, when she offered to settle for peace, and instead the American troops killed and imprisoned most of her people. She was so powerful and a true leader for her tribe, even called the "Beloved Woman."
   I thought this was a great nonfiction piece, and Bohrer's writing kept each story alive. She definitely succeeded in bringing light to the American woman heroes of the 18th century.



4. I was highly disappointed in this book. It is difficult to tell what is historical fact and what is fiction in this book. No primary sources are consulted for this piece, leading me to believe that the author was more interested in writing fiction about her historical figures than doing research on them. The section on Mercy Otis Warren alone has obvious errors regarding dates of Mercy's birth, her brother's college career and her marriage. If you choose to read this book be warned that this should be read for fictional value and not for factual information.



5. While the premise of this book is a great idea, I picked it up hoping to read about the wives of the great men that founded our nation. Instead, some of the chapters are about women that had nothing to do nor had any effect with the founding of our country. The book is dedicated to her young daughters, and, alas, that is the age level this book was written. I love to read about history, but don't like made up conversations or incidents that the author must put into the character's mouths, as she tells the stories in first person. I wish she had stuck to her premise and written about the wives of the men who founded the nation. As a father of four daughters, I seek to see the women's point of view all the time, this just failed in that regard and as other's have said, is meant to inspire young female readers. In the teen section of the library is where it belongs.

3 comments about My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue.

1. Read 'My Confession' for a first hand account of the War with Mexico, as well as an eyewitness report on the notorious Glanton party. This is one of the most controverisal stories in American and Mexican history, and the discovery of these papers in the 1950s brought out an event that was otherwise best 'swept under the rug' of history. Cormac McCarthy pointed a spotlight on this whole affair when he wrote Blood Meridian, and fans of McCarthy may want to read this to confirm that he wasn't making everything up in Blood Meridian:The Evening Redness in the West. The basic storyline of The Kid, Glanton and the Judge's scalp hunt as set forth in 'Blood Meridian' is related here by the man who lived thru it all, General Samuel Chamberlin. I for one was disturbed to find the Judge among the cast of real characters, I couldn't imagine that such a horrible figure actually existed. Read the book to find out what really happened to Glanton, the kid, as well as 'the judge'. And keep your powder very dry.



2. For those interested the Mexican War, this is a "must read" book and has been used by historians as a primary source for years, but his crude paintings are also a treat for the scholar, because Camberlain captures many scenes which have escaped photographers and those who made lithographs, including the massacre of Mexican civilians by Arkansas troops in a cave in Northern Mexico.

   Sam Camberlain was a 16 year old private from Boston who served in the elite 1st US Dragoons in Mexico and gives vivid descriptions with crude but animated paintings of Saltillo, Monterrey, and Northern Mexico. Although he was not at the savage fighting during the capture of Monterrey, he claims to have been there so the reader is left to wonder about his other claims and the accuracy of his paintings of the combat in which he lied about being involved. Perhaps he had contact with those who were actually there?

   Sam Chamberlain was in the Mexican War and painted some interesting small glimpses of life & death. Reading his book is almost like listening to a veteran who seems to have been everywhere and done everything (especially with women). Sam Chamberlain relates deaths of soldiers to Mexican guerrillas and duty in the occupation but more often than not, Sam Chamberlain proclaims preposterous pick-ups with a host of women. The reader almost senses the author is bragging to fellow high schoolers in a locker room or to anyone who will listen in a bar, hence the title of the book is fitting "My Confessions: Recollections of a Rogue". This book would probably be disregarded as pure fantasy if it were not or the fact that sometimes he does detail military and daily life senarios which are proved by others.

   Truth or Tall Tale? Read this book and you be the judge.




3. Sam Chamberlain is a rogue, all right, but not necessarily for the reasons that this book indicates. Chamberlain's accounts of daring-do sometimes read like the pulp fiction of his era. Some of what he relates bears the accuracy of an eye-witness to history and with good reason. He had, in fact, ridden throughout much of Northern Mexico during the United States' war with the country from 1846 to 1848 and was on hand to see the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847. But he's guilty of something not uncommon among writers of his era -- making first-hand accounts of events where he clearly was not involved. The best example of this is his description of American deserters (San Patricios) hanged during the last battles for Mexico City. His description does not match others exactly, because at the time of the hangings, Chamberlain was still hundreds of miles away, likely near Saltillo, Mexico. For a reality check, read the editors' footnotes; they do a pretty good job of separating Chamberlain's facts from his flights of fancy.

4 comments about John F. Kennedy: The Presidential Portfolio: History as Told Through the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.

1. This book is the most complete and accurate book on President John F. Kennedy. With the contribution from the John F. Kennedy Library & Museum, the true and exact data regarding the man who changed the life of many Americans is shown here in a direct manner. Great pictures. In conclusion, this book deserves to be at each home in the USA and abroad. JFK is worth to be known and admired through this masterpiece. This book is a must.



2. As a twenty-something, I really don't know much about John or Robert Kennedy other than the vague "Camelot" fantasies tossed around. I acquired this book as part of my recent appetite for understanding JFK/RFK.

   I found it to be a light-weight overview of the major periods of JFK's life, along with some information on RFK and Jackie. While it revealed a few new things I hadn't heard before, this book is really of interest primarily as a coffee table book for ocassional perusal, and not for study. It's a great combination of stories you will have heard and pictures you have already seen.

   The accompanying CD, however, is particularly interesting in what it reveals about JFK the man and his way of being. Overall, I enjoyed it.




3. John F. Kennedy: The Presidential Portfolio features more than 250 photos and documents from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum that capture the essence, style, and excitement of the Kennedy presidency. Included in these pages are the artifacts from a lifetime young Jack's letter requsting to be made Godfather to his brother Teddy, a handwritten fragment of the inaugural adress, correspondence from Nikita Khrushchev, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and many others. Providing the backdrop for these images is a carefully rendered narrative highlighting the many remarkable events of Kennedy's life and his presidency: the tremendous physical ailments JFK had to overcome on a daily basis, his privileged chilhhood, transformation from reluctant student to Pulitzer Prize - winning author, dramatic political campaigns, struggle over the Cuban missile crisis, and his efforts to end segregation as well as counter nuclear proliferation, are all recounted here.

   To Enhance The Experience of reliving the Kennedy years, a riveting 60 - minute audio CD of JFK'S phone conversations and personal dictations is packaged with the book. The following is a list of the recordings.

   - An undated memoir entry concerning JFK'S entrance into politics.

   - A dicated letter (circa 1959) to Joseph P. Kennedy on election and poll results.

   - A dictated letter (circa 1959) to Jacqueline Kennedy on weekend in Rhode Island.

   - Phone Conversation with Sargent Shriver recorded on April 2, 1963 regarding keeping CIA out of the Peace Corps.

   - Three phone conversations with Ross Barnett recorded on September 30, 1962, regarding the University of Mississippi crisis.

   - Phone conversation with Richard J. Daley recorded on October 28, 1963 regarding the civil rights bill.

   - Phone conversation with Charles Halleck recorded on October 29, 1963 regarding the civil rights bill.

   - An undated phone conversation between JFK and RFK concerning articles in Newsweek and Time magazines.

   -Phone conversation with Dwight D. Eisenhower on October 22, 1962 regarding Cuban missile crisis.

   - Phone conversation with Dwight D. Eisenhower on October 28,1962 regarding Cuban missile crisis.

   -Phone conversation with Lincoln White on October 26,1962 regarding comments to the press concerning Cuban missile crisis.

   - A dictated memoir entry dated November 1963.




4. there are over 250 pictures ans documents, it's very complete. the texts are interessing, not boring.
   there is a cd also.
   we can hear a few dialogues,. there is one with rfk and on the 14 tracks we can hear young caroline.
   there is part to rfk and jbk too.
   so I enjoyed it.

4 comments about Letters of Long Ago.

1. Letters of long ago gives a sometimes harshly honest look at frontier life from a woman's perspective. It chronicles the tragedies and triumphs of Emma Thompson Just in the desolate and isolated west. First hand accounts of a woman's life in the frontier are uncommon and this is a book that gives an entertaining and very real look at the simple yet difficult life of a pioneer wife.



2. Letters of long ago gives a sometimes harshly honest look at frontier life from a woman's perspective. It chronicles the tragedies and triumphs of Emma Thompson Just in the desolate and isolated west. First hand accounts of a woman's life in the frontier are uncommon and this is a book that gives an entertaining and very real look at the simple yet difficult life of a pioneer wife.



3. A very sweet book. The heroine would be thought of as quite a modern women even today, but she lived in the late 1800s. Heartbreaking at times. You'll never forget the decision she made when the Nez Perce were coming-At least, she thought they were!



4. Written by the daughter of Emma Just, who is the central figure of this book first published in the early 20's. The book gives a factual account of the very interesting and often difficult life of a pioneer woman in the late 1800's. For anybody who is interested in history, especially from a woman's point of view, this is a fascinating look into what life was really like for those who chose to brave a new and untamed frontier. It chronicles the not so average existence of an incredibly courageous woman across the span of two decades. The "plot" is interesting and well written, giving the reader an honest look at pioneer life from Emma's correspondence to father... through her own letters of long ago.

No comments about Journey Toward Freedom: The Story of Sojourner Truth.

No comments about The Boys of '76: A History of the Battles of the Revolution.