5 comments about Father, Son & Co.: My Life at IBM and Beyond.

1. Although not exactly riveting, this book does provide an interesting and readable history of IBM from the view of Thomas Watson Jr. who took over control of IBM after his father, Thomas Watson Sr.. Although much has happened to IBM since then (the job cuts, the internet boom, etc.), this is a fascinating glimpse at the evolution of big blue and the culture it once had.

   The Watsons did not start IBM but they did oversee its growth into "Big Blue". Some of the anecdotes are quite memorable, the strict sales "uniform" (including sock suspenders), the refining and gentrifiying of the sales staff & executives, Thomas Sr. teaching his son to clean-up the bathroom on the train, the high-flyer told to forgo his tenant problems by Watson Sr.. It seems all tycoons and corporations have some skeletons in their cupboards and IBM is no exception. According to the book, Thomas Sr. and other senior executives at IBM started a business buying up old IBM equipment so prevent a second-hand market developing that would eat into IBM's market. It almost landed the Thomas Sr. and his colleagues in prison. Watson Sr. spent a great deal of time developing himself and his people to become refined, gentlemen with values and priorities. In these sad days of scum CEOs & executives, duplicitous companies, corrupt accountants & lawyers and valueless company "books" (Enron, WorldComm, Tyco, Merrill-Lynch, Arthur-Anderson, Martha Stewart,...) the incident may seem like grist to the mill but at that time it must have been a huge blow to the man and the company. A decent book if you have an interest in IBM or the history of the computer business.




2. It is always interesting to read what sons have to write about their fathers. Thomas J. Watson Jr.'s book is no exception to this rule. Although in many ways the book is a business biography, the relationship between the two men creeps in between the lines (almost more than you could imagine that the author had intended it to). Watson Jr. was clearly influenced by his iconic father, both for better and for worse. The book is a lot about how that influence (and the escape from that influence) shaped the company that is IBM today.
   
   Obviously the company has gone through many changes since this book has written-- Gerstner, downsizing, eBusiness, Business Consulting Services, etc. But still, it is remarkable how much of the culture is recognizable back to the very earliest days.
   
   I have a special interest in the subject matter, so it is hard for me to say how fascinating someone without an IBM attachment would find the book. If you do have that special interest in IBM history, however, it is an interesting book and well executed.



3. This is not a story that I had really expected to enjoy; I found this book in a hostel in Europe, and with nothing in English to read I gladly snapped it up. Father, Son & Co wound up being a very interesting and enjoyable book, and even though it is more than 15 years old now, it still gives tremendous insights into the rise of IBM and the evolution of the computer. Within two generations of the Watson family, business advanced from the Robber Barons of the 19th century to the big corporations of the 20th, and during this same period the computer advanced from punch-card machines into the electronic machines we use today. It is hard to look at a PC and see a direct connection to horse-and-buggy days, but that is the story Thomas Watson and Peter Petre tell.
   
   A huge swath of American history is encompassed within this book; major events are witnessed and lived out by Watson and his family. But Watson also shows how family relationships have changed over the last hundred years by comparing his relationship with his father and siblings to those of his own children. Those older among us empathize with Watson completely-we took for granted, even thrived, within familial relationships that probably would not be tolerated today. But Watson also shows how primogeniture aids the affluent whether the offspring are gifted or not. To his credit, Watson admits this and does not set himself up as any more special than anyone else. He (and curiously his father as well) is rare in American business: he is a liberal and believes he owes something to his country. Would that this sentiment was felt more widely in the higher levels of business, government, and society.



4. Indeed a truly heart-warming, rivetting story. One of the best - possibly the best - bios that I have ever read. This is a story about IBM, the big blue corporate monolith. Yet in its core, this is really the story of a Son, a father and the relationship between them. Once into the pages of the book, you will soon realise that IBM is just a necessary but incidental backdrop to a father-son relationship..It's a book that talks of a strict yet loving father, and a son working his way up to gain his father's approval and affection. A very humane tale, devoid of any overt management jargon or mantra that seems to be the norm in most bios by business leaders, it is a surprise that nobody has thought of making a movie out of this story.
   
   Touching. Warmly recommend to everyone.



5. This is a brilliant autobiography from one of the most talented business figures in last century. This book is unique for two reasons: (1) seldom had an author who had had experienced so much and accomplished so much; (2) his keen observation of human natures - expressed in a self-deprecating and humorous manner.
   
   In the end, you could tell Watson Jr. afterall was very self-assured of himself - at least toward the last phase of his life. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain how he would be willing to be vulnerable and reveal so much - about his own psyche, his family feud and IBM in general.
   
   This is a highly readable autobiography - highly recommended.

2 comments about The Private Mary Chesnut: The Unpublished Civil War Diaries (A Galaxy Book).

1. This is the one indispensible book for anyone interested in what went on in the South behind the battle lines. As Pepys gives us a living picture of the London and court of Charles II, so does M. Chesnut give us a bird's eye view of the Confederate government and the society she lived in.

   A wise and witty woman, Mary Chesnut spent most of the war years close to ground zero in Richmond, VA. She knew Jefferson and Varina Davis intimately. She rubbed elbows with congressmen and cabinet members. Mrs. Chesnut was a sharp tongued woman who pulled no punches and she tells us much that, but for her, would remain unknown about the leaders of the "Lost Cause".

   Anyone who enjoyed the Woodward/Muhlenfeld editon of Mary Chesnut's memoirs can't afford to miss this publication of the materials from which she created her masterpiece.




2. I've recently developed an interest in Civil War history, an era that had not heretofore intrigued me. In doing some reading on the subject, I kept coming across references to "the diaries of Mary Chesnut," and decided to read them. Most historians look upon these diaries as a major source of information on what took place in the South during the Civil War, because the lady was present at some of the important events and was certainly herself effected by them. As the editors write, she was often reduced to moving "eventually from one place of refuge to another as a fugitive from military invaders (p. x)" and "Living out of her trunk in hotels or rented rooms (p. x)." The quotations or information gleaned from this resource do indeed illuminate the narration in the historical works in which one comes across them. They are not, however, easy to read.

   I gather from the introduction to this book that the diaries had been edited for publication as a continuous narrative--minus the more embarrassing self-revelations--entitled by a hand other than the lady's a "Diary from Dixie." The author herself had died long before the book was ever printed, leaving the details of publication to a relative. The editors of the current text despair the latter work as "heavily cut and carelessly edited (p. ix)," because it prevents the reader from knowing well the lady as a character herself.

   The Private Mary Chesnut is just what the Diary from Dixie is not, a real diary. As such, it contains entries that are for the most part endless mentions of people with whom the reader probably will not be knowledgeable unless he or she is very "into" the South and Civil War history. One is frequently reduced to checking the footnotes for information on the individuals named. Unfortunately the editors of the diary give only the barest of facts about them, usually social or military rank or relationship to Mrs. Chesnut or another individual mentioned in the diary. The writer's comments often leave one trying to read between her lines for some inkling of "what's really going on!" because there is the merest glimpse of some probably very interesting underlying story. The editors of the text, however, either will not or cannot give these details. Because of this dearth of underlying social information, the book comes across as either confusing or a little boring, a simple catalogue of parties and people met at parties, of polite social visits paid back and forth. This is definitely not an Edith Warton!

   Spaced throughout the document are nuggets of truly golden information about the Civil War and antebellum period. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] Because the lady was well connected by virtue of her own social status and oft sought company, she is privileged to the opinions of and gossip about significant individuals. She knew people who had met or knew the Lincoln family and was herself intimately acquainted with the Jefferson Davis family. One of the more interesting quotes was gossip associated with Mary Todd Lincoln's notorious household economy in the White House (pp. 30 and 31-32). This gives a much truer picture of what the social elite thought of the Lincolns, particularly in the South, and makes clear, that Washington D. C. was--and probably still is--more part of the southern social milieu than that of northern or national.

   Certainly the lady herself comes across quite real in these diaries. In short she is often vain, opinionated, over-indulged, and wasteful by modern standards--at least by middle class standards--but she is also a well educated, astute and outspoken judge of political events and of the social ills of the institution of slavery. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] Her discourse on its ills, particularly of misogynation, are eminently quotabl--and often are. My favorite is that beginning with "I wonder if it be a sin to think slavery a curse on any land (p. 42-43)," etc.

   While the book is difficult to get through, for those with a desire to know more than just the bare facts about the Civil War period and its society, this book is probably a good source for that information. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] This would definitely be considered a primary rather than a secondary source for the topic.

3 comments about For the Hell of It: The Life and Times of Abbie Hoffman.

1. Without question, the best of the recent spate of Abbie Hoffman bios. Lucid, well-researched, with more than 200 oral histories. What prevents it from receiving a "10" rating is that Raskin devotes only one short chapter to Hoffman's life in the late seventies and eighties. Despite the lack of attention paid to Hoffman's later life, the material leading up to the last chapter flows nicely, and tells the story of a complex, energetic, and ultimately great American.



2. Abbie survived under fake ID, after a drug bust,but succumbed to personality disorder,for which he took medications, He was America's foremost radical->Activist- of 60's, he fought for the enviroment in 70's.....watch for movie of his life.."Steal this Movie"...



3. I wonder if Raskin would ever be so hypercritical of just about every statement she has ever made, the way she is of Abbie. The book was interesting at first, but I feel she went way overboard in disecting everything Abbie said and how "factual" it really was. After a while it seemed like one big critique of everything Abbie said. Like she set out to prove he lied about everything. "Well, he said this and I went back and interviewed five different people who said it actually happened like this." To me a biography should be about how someone lived, not a dissection of everything they said. She really turned a fascinating story about a very creative and excitng person into almost a police report - "just the facts, mam."

   This book really bugged me!

5 comments about Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic.

1. "Early on a March morning in 1805, as the first hints of dawn touched the Sea Islands and the marshlands south of Savannah, Old Jupiter rose, went out of his cabin, and with a blast from his conch-shell horn announced a new day." With this first sentence of Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic, I was captivated by the history of three generations of families- plantation owners and slaves- in Liberty County, Georgia.
   
   The author of this Pulitzer-nominated book has thoroughly researched and beautifully written this true story, which reads like a novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially when I had an hour or two to read it without interruption. The story moves the reader through the inter-weaving history of families on several plantations in the Georgia low country, and takes place from Darien and Midway, Georgia, to Savannah, Atlanta, Marietta and Roswell, Georgia. The book occurs from 1805 through the end of the Civil War, with the end of a way of life for the plantation owners and the dawn of a new freedom for the slaves.
   
   I particularly enjoyed the parts of the book that describe how people lived on Georgia low country plantations in the early to the mid-19th century. The book describes how plantation houses were built and farms and rice were cultivated, the role of Christianity and the conversion of plantation owners and slaves, how meals were prepared, the horrors of slave families being sold and split up in front of the courthouse in Riceboro, Georgia, how slaves lived and the secret paths they took from plantation to plantation, and the often symbiotic relationship among the plantation owners and the slaves.
   
   At times the various characters and families can be difficult to follow, and the author's inclusion of family trees and a brief description of the principal characters in the appendices make it easier to follow. A map at the beginning of the book of Midway and the surrounding plantations is also useful. The narrative part of the book is only 465 pages; the rest of the book is appendices and endnotes. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to any person who loves history.



2. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Gave me an insight into what my ancestors went thru. Also gave me a couple of clues to follow as my Ashmore family was mentioned several times in this book.



3. In Dwelling Place, Erskine Clarke expands the chronological range of a notable series of letters--published in 1972 by Yale as Children of Pride--to write a history of the extended Jones family of nineteenth-century coastal Georgia, as well as the families of their "people," their slaves.
   
   This is a good book but not a great one. Clarke writes well enough, though his attempt to be novelistic by foreshadowing the future often seems forced. Clarke does significant service by emphasizing how important life events for southern slaveholders--marriages, deaths, and removal to distant locations--could often have disastrous effects on slave families, many of whom were torn apart by separations so final that slave spouses were treated as if they were dead to one another.
   
   Nevertheless, Dwelling Place has significant weaknesses. First, Clarke's chronological sweep, which takes the reader from 1805 to 1869, scoops up too many characters, many of whom are tangential to the main story as told through the lives of Charles and Mary Colcock Jones. Clarke provides helpful biographical notes and elaborate genealogical charts, but it's doubtful that any but the most persistent reader can keep all the characters straight.
   
   Second, although Clarke tries to put as much weight on slave existence as on the life of the masters, he is faced with a conundrum that exercises every historian who tries to write antebellum history from "the bottom up," that is, that the poor are frequently illiterate and therefore virtually inarticulate. Furthermore, lower class existence is repetitive and usually has small effect on the course of history. Sea island cuisine cannot hold its weight against the coming of the Civil War, which (in passing) Clarke slights.
   
   A more serious weakness is Clarke's repeated attempts to read the minds of the slaves in ways that satisfy twenty-first century taste. For instance, Cato, a driver for Charles Colcock Jones, says in a letter (written for him by a plantation manager) that he felt "like crying with love and gratitude" for such "a kind master." Clarke can't leave this letter without suggesting that slaves understood that "successful revolution only `grows out of the barrel of a gun,' and that slaves lacked the necessary firepower and military organization to challenge white hegemony."
   
   Maybe, maybe not. I have never been a slave, but I was a draftee infantryman during the Vietnam era and one definitely unsuited to military life. A historian who tried to guess how I felt about being pulled away from school to prepare to kill people would probably go far astray. Frustration and fear were mingled with patriotism and pride in my new (but definitely limited) military prowess. My calculated desire to shirk as much work and responsibility as possible was combined with a determination to accomplish my mission to the best of my ability. We do not have to adopt the Gone-with-the-Wind mentality about plantation slavery to believe that slaves were sometimes sincerely devoted to their masters and to the religious faith that they shared. They were not always hypocritical when they spoke words later romanticized by purveyors of the Lost Cause.
   
   Although I recommend Dwelling Place, the more sophisticated reader (especially one who has a taste for big books) should read Children of Pride instead. In that massive volume the reader can approach the remarkably articulate Jones family on its own terms and calculate its conflicted feelings about slavery without twenty-first century intervention.



4. It was to my surprise that I discovered the existence of the remarkable Reverend Mister Charles Colcock Jones, 1804-1863, of whom, even through my years of historical studies, I had never heard. It was first via this book, Dwelling Place, and later through another, The Children of Pride, that I became aware of Jones, his extended family, and their place in both the religious life of antebellum America, and of their significant contribution in the form of letters and first-hand accounts, to some further measure of understanding low country life in the decades before the 1860's war destroyed that culture.
   
   Let me say that the author of Dwelling Place, Erskine Clarke, is a gifted researcher, writer, and interpreter of the American past. He has crafted a book certain, if there is fairness among scholars, to stand through time as the definitive reference on its subject matter. I also say while I understand religion was the Reverend Jones' vocation, that I found Dwelling Place to be far more compelling as an investigation into the lives of planters and their slaves than I did its primary theme of chronicling the career of an influential Christian cleric. As such, I was engrossed in the first hundred pages, but soon found myself slightly less captivated by the constant reflections on Jones' considerable evangelism: in large part among the non-Caucasian populace.
   
   As a sort of expose on the realities of life as a black and as a white in coastal Georgia in the early and mid nineteenth-century, I know of no finer work. As a study on the life of Jones, on religion in his time and place, again, this book is preeminent. It's simply true that speaking for myself, had it strayed a little less far from its initial subject matter, southern plantations and their inhabitants, I would have enjoyed it even more.



5. This is the most impacting, and disturbing, book I've read in the past year. I found myself identifying strongly with Charles Colcock Jones, an extremely sincere evangelical Christian who thought of himself as utterly consecrated in service to God, and who was held in high regard by the evangelical community of the South. Through Clarke's detailed and highly documented narrative, I was able to understand how his understanding of slavery was gradually warped through several factors: 1) compromise with the viewpoints of his peers, 2) cultural difficulties with the slaves, 3) losing sight of the ends by concentrating on the means, and 4) by being a beneficiary of the status quo.
   
   It's easy to think of slaveowners as sadistic monsters with no shred of humanity. It's more difficult for people of our time to imagine themselves as slaveowners. Dwelling Place accomplished that for me. Charles Colcock Jones was not the typical slaveowner, but he was one that evangelicals might identify with. More than that, he had a spirituality and a heart of service that many evangelicals might ASPIRE to.
   
   Contrary to another reviewer, I did appreciate Clarke's attempts to infer the viewpoint of the slaves, though because of their illiteracy there is infinitely less documentation of their thoughts. Perhaps some of his inferences are off-target, but to not make an attempt at representing the slaves' point of view would be to leave out an equally important part of the story. Many of the African-American characters were developed as multi-dimensional compelling actors in the drama.
   
   I also appreciated the number of characters described, both white and black, because they comprise the very intricate and dynamic context which produced Jones's mindset, so analagous to the context which Americans find themselves in our time.

3 comments about Pershing (Great Generals).

1. Pershing has always been an interest of mine, as I viewed him as the best forgotten general America has ever produced. The two best biographies prior to this were both huge multi-volume editions and I was a bit wary about anyone trying to capture Pershing and all of his many accomplishments in a single slim volume. However, Jim Lacey appears to have captured everything I would want covered and even presented a few priceless bits of information I had not seen elsewhere. For instance, he lays to rest a debate that has raged on the Internet and among historians as to whether Pershing ever condoned wrapping dead Islamic insurgents in pork skins to deter others. In summary, the book proceeds at a furious pace and truly brings Pershing to life. It is a must read for all historians, and for anyone else look for brilliant leadership study.



2. Author Jim Lacey clearly gives the GENERAL'S perspective of the events during Pershing's life. The reader gets no feeling of having been in the trenches although the general's perspective is presented quite well. The author, if he truly did set out to communicate only the view from above, was very successful and I do recommend this book for those who are interested in that angle.
   
   The clearest example of this bias is the campaign against the Moros in the Philippines. The slaughter was presented as always a necessary thing. It makes one wonder. Perhaps the reader who wishes a broader perspective of Pershing's professional activities should compare and contrast views by other historians as well.
   Paul Baum, Ph.D.
   Living Historyist
   Audrain County Historical Society



3. The author, Jim Lacey, does an outstanding job of capturing the history of one of the first great military leaders of the 20th Century, General Pershing. It is undeniable the mark that Pershing left on the military after WWI, giving the United States a huge advantage when it saw action again during World War II. Lacey does a fantastic job of telling the life story of Pershing in 193 easy-to-read pages. For any student of history, more specifically military history, this text is a must read.

4 comments about Forgotten Founding Father: The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield (Leaders in Action Series).

1. With movies like Patriot reviving an interest in our Colonial roots, our heritage of faith is also reviving. One of the stories that has not been told well enough is how our American Revolution grew out of a revival of Christian faith called the Great Awakening. The leader of this movement was an amazing man named George Whitefield. Few know that name today, but our Founding Fathers new it well and honored it as a force in the founding of our nation

   Stephen Mansfield has written an accessible, moving, skillfully told story of the man who is indeed our "Forgotten Founding Father." If you love this book as I do, then don't miss Mansfield's other biographies, like Never Give In on Winston Churchill and Then Darkness Fled on Booker T. Washington. Each of these marvelous books restores a heritage largely lost to our generation.




2. Forgotten Founding Father: The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield is a outstanding biography of a man who had a great influence on young Benjamin Franklin. This epic follows Whitefield from childhood to his ministry in the colony of Georgia. A must read for any one who wish to study early American history. Steven Mansfield doses a splendid job at writing Whitefield's life story.



3. This is a nice introduction to George Whitefield, and its short chapters, strong narrative and straightforward vocabulary makes it a good choice, perhaps, for middle- and high-school students.
   
   It is most refreshing to read a book about a famous Christian written by a Christian, in which the Christian life is understoond, and a given.
   
   However, this book has some sloppy history. The author makes statements that he does not back up, and some of his assertions are incorrect. For instance, he says that bear-baiting and public executions were products of the eighteenth century, and holds them up as departures from England's Christian past, when in fact they had been around for a lot longer than that. There are, unfortunately, a number of examples like this, throughout the book.
   
   Also, his analysis of Whitefield's character is wanting. His goal is clear in the title of the book -- to highlight Whitefield's "heroic legacy." And that's a great goal -- historians often do emphasize the failings of the famous, and neglect their successes. But Mansfield but does not draw very deep or satisfying conclusions from the failings of this complex, inspirational man.
   
   That being said, I did enjoy this book -- though it annoyed me at times -- and I found it inspirational.



4. Mansfield does a good job at researching and narrating the life of George Whitefield. Although the book succeeds as a autobiographic-inspirational, I somehow found the book somewhat short on facts and Whitefield's exact impact on people or the culture. Surely there must be more known of this great Puritan-like man, perhaps the greatest trans-Atlantic preacher of all time?

3 comments about Barefoot Pirate: The Tall Ships and Tales of Windjammer.

1. I have been doing windjammer cruises for over 20 years. The book shows what happens behind the scenes and how windjammers got there start. But it's more a book about a very interesting man.



2. Barefoot Pirate will have a huge appeal to anybody (including me) that has ever sailed on one of the Windjammer fleet's vessels. It details Mike Burke's (the founders) career and gives the history of each of the sailing vessels in the fleet. As a prior windjammer reading the book, it took me far away from my normal office job- even though I have not sailed Flying Cloud for over 30 years! I still have vivid memories to this day.
   On the down side, the book is understandably biased and does not give a full
   accounts of the safety and financial issues that have dogged the business, and the quality of the photographs in the book are not nearly what we expect in modern printing. Many are grainy and many others lack detail.
   As I write this (March 2008) the future of the entire fleet is uncertain, and books like this may ultimately be the final historical repository for the Windjammer fleet of sailing vessels.



3. Great book !!
   I used to be a " barefoot" sailor, on the Flying Cloud,-
   Mandalay,- -Yankee Clipper,-Yankee Trader, -
   so this evokes some wonderfull memories, wish Windjammer was still operational.
   This book captures the essence of "Windjammer", and explains some of the dedication that was part of its creation.
   
   Reccomend this to any FREE !!! spirits left out there---

2 comments about Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

1. For the first time, I came to know Lincoln not as an iconified hero, but as a funny, direct, engaging and committed human being as I read this book. The author has thorough notes of very detailed research and tells a story that others omitted or overlooked. It made me want to read much more about Lincoln, especially more of the piercing wit and emotional perseverance shared in this book.



2. A Marrin is a wonderful author. He makes history come alive. He writes in an interesting manner and doesn't have a lot of excess verbage. I have several of his books and have enjoyed each one of them.

4 comments about A Fire You Can't Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth (Religion & American Culture).

1. This is a real page turner of a biography--a book you can't put down. The contest between Fred Shuttlesworth and "Bull" Connor is classic, full of violence and poignancy. Manis has done the nation a service by putting his magnifying glass on Fred Shuttlesworth's heroics, and rightly explained them from the context of black religion. This book should be made into a movie!



2. A compelling portrait of a real unsung hero. Emerge Magazine says it well: "The greatest battles of the civil rights movement come alive in this biography of the man Martin Luther King Jr. called "one of the nation's most courage freedom fighters." Manis is to be congratulated for bringing us this powerful story.



3. The story of Fred Shuttlesworth is a powerful, dramatic story that everyone interested in the black freedom movement should read. Manis' compelling portrayal captures the spirit and spirituality of a great unsung hero. The book has been honored by the Lillian Smith Book Award, the South's oldest literary prize, and deserves a wide reading.



4. As a student of the civil rights movement, this is a must read. The book explores the life and times of a great man who made it possible for Rev. King and others to make the changes that were made in Birmingham. Andrew Manis has written a great history book that covers not only Rev. Shuttlesworth's life but you get a sense of what people felt during this horrible time in U.S. history. You will see how Rev. Shuttlesworth had "set the table" so that Rev. King was able "serve the dinner" in Birmingham. Without Rev. Shuttleworth's persistence, President Kennedy would never be able to have said, Eugene Connor was the best thing that happened to the civil rights movement.

5 comments about The Bravest Man.

1. "It's a big ocean," Dick O'Kane once told me. "You don't have to find the enemy if you don't want to."

   O'Kane was 60 when we met. He was a compact man, straight as a ramrod, with a small smile and bushy eyebrows. He loved to talk, especially on technical matters, but he seldom spoke about what it was like to be a submariner in the Pacific, in a war that claimed the lives of 22% of the Americans who went to sea in the pig boats, as submarines were called. It was a pleasure to meet him again in "The Bravest Man" and to learn more about his remarkable accomplishments in World War II.

   That a submariner need not find the enemy was brought home to O'Kane in 1942 on his first patrol in Wahoo, under an older captain who had learned caution in the peacetime Navy. The cautious skipper was replaced by Dudley "Mush" Morton, who with O'Kane's support made Wahoo the deadliest American boat in the Pacific, sinking nine ships on one ferocious patrol through the Yellow Sea, between China and Korea. "You can't afford to flinch," Morton said; "you can't afford to give up. You must constantly keep 'rassling, and keep shooting till you destroy him."

   Wahoo was later lost with all hands, not including O'Kane, who by then -- the fall of 1943 -- had command of Tang. He soon proved that he too had a great desire to keep 'rassling and to sink Japanese ships, despite the second-rate torpedoes supplied to American submarines. On its first patrol, Tang sank five ships; on its second, it rescued 22 American airmen, shot down in the battle for Truk at the center of the Pacific's Caroline Islands. On its fourth patrol, it set a U.S. record by sending 10 enemy ships to the bottom, despite new torpedoes that were sometimes as balky as the old.

   As a skipper, Richard O'Kane was audacious, persistent and inventive. He was willing to go up against the shore, if that's where the enemy was to be found. Yet he always had an escape route in mind -- and he took care of his people. Sailors clamored to join Tang, despite its record of going in harm's way.

   Alas, having a good captain is never enough. On Tang's fifth patrol, the odds caught up with O'Kane, and he had the unhappy experience of watching his 24th and last torpedo circle back to explode on the boat's stern. The men on the bridge were thrown into the water, but their troubles were scarcely over. It was the middle of the night, and they had no flotation gear.

   When morning came, 9 of the 87 crewmen were still alive, including some who had made the first-ever escape from a submarine sunk in combat. They were picked up by a Japanese destroyer, whose captain treated them decently but delivered them to starvation, torture and slave labor at Yokohama. Like aviators, submariners were classified as "special prisoners of Japan," imprisoned in the foulest camps with their existence unreported to the International Red Cross. Again O'Kane survived the impossible, to be reunited with his family and to receive the Medal of Honor from the hand of President Harry Truman.

   The author of "The Bravest Man" is himself a U.S. Navy veteran, who in 1968 won the Pulitzer as a reporter in Vietnam. Mr. Tuohy takes a curious approach to his story, first writing about Wahoo, then O'Kane's earlier life, and finally Tang and later events, interrupted by chapters on what the rest of the American sub pack was doing. This can sometimes be confusing. And the line-editing in the book is sometimes careless. But "The Bravest Man" is well worth reading, especially in a year when the USS O'Kane is on watch in the Arabian Sea, carrying the bravest man's name and legacy into the 21st century.




2. At first look I was hoping this would be the book that would answer some questions...It did do that but being my appetite was whetted I wanted more. I found myself asking questions about Cmdr Morton, O'Kane and others. What was their life like before WW2. Some questions were answered but there are holes. As for Mr Tuohy's book it did give the reader a real look at this duo. These two men were feared and respected for their toughness. I would like to see more books like this that cover the different schools of thought in WW2 submarine warfare. It is a great book and it does shed light...I just want more, with the pasing of Forest Sterling, may he rest with his Wahoo comrades in peace, we are losing valuable pieces to a great puzzle of World War 2 and in Mush's memory and Rear Admiral O Kane
   Enjoy this book but be warned youll want to read more!



3. I have read the books on the Wahoo, and the Tang. I saw this book on Amazon.com, & knew I had to have it. This book is Great! There are things in this book that are not covered in the others. Not only was the exploits of O'Kane in submarines great, his leadership when he was a prisoner of the Japanese shows what kind of man he really was. I could not put this book down. The only reason it took 3 days to read was because I had to go to work during those days! The author does give you some timelines along with what O'Kane wss doing with his boats. You can follow along during the war for the whole book. This is a must read book if you read about submarines PERIOD!



4. This book is at least aptly titled. Richard O'Kane was one of our country's greatest and most audacious naval heros. O'Kane also authored his own, brilliantly written and unsurpassed account of the wartime patrols of the USS Tang in "Clear The Bridge!" "The Bravest Man" unfortunately pales in comparison in terms of style, readability, and suspense. Most annoying to me were the author's frequent and interruptive digressions and flashbacks from O'Kane's incredible carreer aboard Wahoo and Tang, back and forth to the more general history of the U.S. pacific submarine force, the politics of the admirals and their inept tactical mandates, other famous and not-so-famous boats and crews, O'Kane's years as a midshipman at Annapolis, etc. Most of this just distracted me from the book's central portrayal of O'Kane as "the bravest man." I also noticed that some sentences were copied and sprinkled throughout the book, making the same point, as if the author didn't remember having made them before. This is definitely not Pulitzer Prize material, in my opinion. My recomendation is to put this submarine book at the bottom of your list, and instead buy O'Kane's own "Clear The Bridge!", in my opinion the best written, most authentic, most audacious, most suspenseful, can't-put-it-down submarine book I have ever read.



5. An excellent presentation by Mr. Tuohy on all aspects of the submarine war in the Pacific, focusing on Dick O'Kane. All the people involved were brought to life, their courage, fears and worries all on display. Many of the combat scenes were well written, showing how hunting Japanese ships could turn into an all-day affair, and the frusrtation at times when torpedoes miss or malfuction. You felt the fear and the jolts of depth charge attacks, always wondering if the next one would have your name on it. I also liked how Tuohy highlighted all the problems that plagued the sub service, from malfunctioning torpedoes to inept and vain commanders, to sub skippers having to be relieved because they crack under pressure.

   Dick O'Kane was not superman. He was just a dedicated guy who took his job seriously and did whatever it took to hurt the Japanese. It was also something to see how innovative O'Kane and his ilk were. When you're all alone in the middle of hostile territory, you gotta do what you can in order to survive.

   All in all, a great testament to the men who sacrificed so much so we can enjoy our freedom today.