No comments about Michael Schumacher (Grand Prix Heroes).

5 comments about One Ranger: A Memoir: Library Edition.

1. Great book! I love hearing first hand stories from an old Ranger. I have read both of his books and they are a must read for anyone who likes stories about the Texas Rangers.



2. Great book covering the modern Texas Rangers. But, the author would be fired these days due to the liberal press and the hands-off approach to the scum of the earth.



3. After listening to the CD's, I wanted to become a Ranger or at least a Texan! A riveting story of One Man, One Ranger, you will be totally engrossed in one man's story of his law enforcement career with the Texas Rangers as they were during the latter half of the Twentieth Century. The narration by Rex Linn is first rate and, at times, spellbinding. Don't miss this great epic! If Hollywood doesn't make this into a movie, they will miss the chance of a lifetime to chronicle this Ranger's journey as the last of the old west's Ranger's.



4. This Texas Ranger's life story is a review of how one man made a difference, and a journey through Texas history. Told in forthright, vivid prose, the book is an easy, interesting read.
   
   Mr. Jackson's experiences are things many of us have gone through. He describes what a man thinks about when life is upon him. Parents, siblings, children, bosses. His honest acknowledgement and acceptance of the turns of his life are a lesson for all in this age of feeling sorry for yourself because of hardship.
   
   Mr. Jackson ties together the history of Texas, and the hisotry of crime and criminals in Texas, with his love of the land and resulting adventures trying to explain why things happened while describing his law enforcement actions as consequences that cannot take the why's as excuses.
   
   His talent, hard work, and rugged upbringing provide Mr. Jackson with special opportunities we all would enjoy. He clearly revels in them as he spins the yarns.
   
   It was a joy to read this Texan's story. It is an American story, for all to experience.



5. Our dad had been wanting this book for some time and we were able to get it through Amazon as no other local book store had it and he just loves it, in fact he went home right after getting it and didn't go to bed until late due to wanting to read it. It came just in time and was in great shape.

5 comments about A Season on the Reservation.

1. This book is a record of Abdul-Jabbar's first season as a basketball coach. When Abdul-Jabbar's mother died, he became quite distraught and didn't know what to do with himself. One of his friends at the White Mountain Apache reservation in Arizona invited him to come to the reservation to try out coaching by working with the high school basketball team on the reservation for a season. Abdul-Jabbar found the invitation attractive for a number of reasons, and decided to give it a go. Once on the reservation, he had to learn not only how to coach rather than play basketball, but he also found himself trying to lead teenagers who weren't always looking for his directions, all while operating in an unfamiliar culture.
   
   After reading the first chapter of the book, I stopped to re-examine the title and cover page to find out who the ghost writer was. After all, most books by sports figures are "told to" rather than written, especially books whose prose flows as well as this one. I was surprised to find that this volume had no ghost writer listed at all. As I read further along in the book, the reason became clear-unlike many other sports figures, Abdul-Jabbar has a number of academic interests and writes quite well. In reading this book, one finds that Abdul-Jabbar is a thinker, a person who brings his analytical skills to problems and new situations. He tries hard to get kids to appreciate the mental aspects of playing basketball. He is quick to pick up on the cultural characteristics that make the Apache kids react differently than other kids in mainstream America. He is occasionally carried away with emotion at games, but afterwards analyzes his inappropriate actions and chalks them up to lessons learned about coaching. Abdul-Jabbar explains how he happened to make a connection with the reservation, describes the kids on the team and the other coaches, and recounts hoop-by-hoop stories of several key games. In a few places, the tale bogs down a little in detail, but overall, it's well written and very enjoyable to read.



2. The honesty with which Kareem Abdul-Jabar's "A Season On The Reservation" is written is quite refreshing. In this age of spin control, especially when it comes to athletes and other public figures, it's nice to see a high-profile individual such as Mr. Abdul-Jabar share his insights and interactions with no noticeable smoke or mirrors. He begins his journey to an Apache reservation with hopes of uncovering some history (Mr. Abdul-Jabar has a fascination with Native-American history) and of sharing his wealth of basketball knowledge with the resident high school basketball squad. There are many bumps in the road, though, and "A Season On The Reservation" speaks eloquently about the cultural differences Mr. Abdul-Jabar encounters when dealing with the Native-American basketball players. They are not comfortable being singled out for criticism and they are not necesarily open to learning techniques that may make them better players. Over the course of the book, however, they learn from Mr. Abdul-Jabar and he, in turn, learns from them. One scene in particular, a confrontation with a player named Tony, is amazingly honest. "A Season On The Reservation" paints Mr. Abul-Jabar as a fellow human being, not a sculpture standing on a pedestal. The history lessons in the book, often drawing a parallel between Native Americans and African Americans, get a bit cumbersome occassionally, but "A Season On The Reservation" is well worth the cover price thank to its honest approach.



3. This book was very interesting and was filled with a lot of information in many ways. Abdul-Jabbar told us the history of the surroundings, the Apache tribe, and also told of his daily challenges and joys.



4. After being frustrated in his attempts at beginning a coaching career at either the collegiate or professional level, circumstances led the NBA's all-time leading scorer to an Apache reservation in Arizona where he became the assistant coach of the boys high school basketball team. In addition to relating the chronology of that season, Kareem also provides a fair amount of history while he's at it, and offers more of himself than he typically did during interviews throughout his playing career. As might be expected, Kareem gained as much from his year on the reservation as his players did.



5. Kareem tries to impart the difficulties of introducing a western cultural ideal to a group of young men that are trying to keep their own cultural ideals intact while at the same time competing within the majority culture. This book reflects Kareem's own difficulties in aculturation, and his conflicts in trying to impart his basketball culture on another group. This is a thoughtful though imperfect work, less about basketball than about the difficulties of blending different people in the world today.

5 comments about Grant: A Biography.

1. I am currently reading a biography of every President in order. I must say that none of the preceding Presidents (even Lincoln) seem to be as difficult to pin down as Grant as to their "definitive" biography. In addition to McFeely's Pulitzer prize winning effort is Geoffrey Perret's offering, which seems to be universally derided as a scholarly farce, Jean Edward Smith's biography of Grant is clearly meant for a more popular readership (indeed Smith's commitment to scholarly research is somewhat dubious himself given he was able to produce a 1,000 page biography of FDR in less than 5 years after writing his Grant bio), and finally Brooks Simpson's projected two volume biography which when complete will certainly be the most comprehensive modern effort. McFeely's biography was the Pulitzer prize winner and that ultimately swayed me in favor of it, although I was a bit concerned about some of the poor reviews it received.
   
   I will state from the outset that I think most of the criticism of McFeely's biography I have read in other reviews is either unwarranted or overstressed. This is a straightforward "old school" biography that is directed by the research and not by some new spin that the author believes will help sell the book. McFeely won the Pulitzer Prize for this work and rightfully so. This is a comprehensive and balanced biography of Grant that is a highly enjoyable read on top of that.
   
   I'm not sure what the negative reviewers expectations were before reading this book. Obviously most feel that Grant is somehow misrepresented by McFeely, however I definitely did not reach that conclusion. I believe this is the best comprehensive one volume biography of Grant available based on extensive research and solid writing.



2. Any good biographer has to have, if not sympathy, at least some understanding of his or her subject. Unfortunately, although this book is well researched, you get the uneasy feeling that Mr. McFeely is examining Ulysses Grant like a bug under a microscope. This is the classic example of an academic who lacks understanding of real life and as a result cannot grasp the dynamics of a man of action, as Ulysses Grant certainly was.
   
   Mr. McFeely also unquestioningly adopts the prejudices of prior historians without thinking for himself. As a result, an historian who DID think for himself, Frank Scaturro in President Grant Reconsidered, has rendered Mr. McFeely's book obsolete. Every biography since Mr. Scaturro has reviewed the Grant Administration with a fresh and generally favorable eye. As the last civil rights President before Harry Truman, Grant certainly deserves that revised opinion.
   
   Mr. McFeely's book is no longer worth reading, if it ever was.



3. The book covers the important parts of Grant's life. The book has good research on Grant's youth.



4. McFeely won the Pulitzer Prize for this book in 1982, but the conclusions he reaches about his subject have drawn fire ever since. Those sympathetic to Grant correctly point to errant assumptions and mistakes in character analysis. Most glaring is McFeely's insistence that Grant gloried in carnage, was insensitive to death and suffering, and was an incompetent chief executive.

   Actually Grant was one of the most exquisitiely sensitive men ever born and was nothing like the 'butcher' that McFeely describes. However, the research in the book is quite good and there are very few factual errors to be found, though his chapters on the civil war are relatuvely weak. This contrasts markedly to Geoffrey Perret's 1997 Grant biography, which contained inaccuracies on nearly every page. McFeely is most solid in the period of Reconstruction, though he is usually overly prone to criticize the hapless Grant. Throughout many chapters, it seems the General can't buy a break.

   McFeely's greatest admiration for Grant is contained in two areas of his life: his family relationships, specifically his loving marriage to wife Julia, and his abilities as a writer. McFeely leaves no doubt that he regards Grant's 1885 Memoirs as one of the great books ever written and the best part of this biography is in explaining the processes Grant used to produce such a masterpiece, while dying of throat cancer.

   With its flaws and uneven treatment of Grant, McFeely's book cannot be considered definitive, but it is still the only complete biography of Grant written in the past 30 years. Perret's limping entry isn't even in the same league as this book, in accuracy, writing or research. To sum up: overly critical, but a must read for Civil War buffs.




5. This is one seriously irritating book. There may be relatively few factual errors (at least, compared to Geoffrey Perret's work on Grant, a masterpiece of unintentional humor,) but McFeely's work is riddled with what I can only believe are deliberately insulting mischaracterizations and misrepresentations, tiresomely pretentious writing, and amateur psychoanalyzing of the most obnoxious sort. McFeely is particularly fond of quoting the words of Grant or his wife on some matter or another, and then proclaiming that--no matter how clear their meaning may have been to us poor dumb non-historians--what they were REALLY saying and thinking was something else altogether. If there is anything I can't abide, it's a biographer who persists in reading a subject's mind and putting words into his or her mouth and thoughts into his or her head that were never said and never thought. McFeely not only obviously believes he is much smarter than Grant (hah!) but more percipient than his readership, as well.

   If this book is worthy of a Pulitzer, then I trust my next grocery shopping list will earn me a Nobel Prize for Literature.

3 comments about Run to the Mountain: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume One 1939-1941 (Journals of Thomas Merton).

1. A good friend of mine sent me all seven volumes of Merton's journals. It was a gift of immeasurable worth and value. I will no doubt still be reading through these wonderful books for years to come.

   Having just finished the first volume, "Run to the Mountain," I stand in awe of the sheer depth and scope of the life we've each been given. The life presented here, that of Thomas Merton, is remarkable in many ways. "Run to the Mountain" is the chronicle of the years when he started instructing English in college up to his entry at the Trappist monastery in Gethsemani Kentucky.

   Beyond the external events of his times (the late thirties and forties) lies the bigger story of Merton's eternal destiny. Not since my own salvation have I encountered a story which so clearly illustrates God's pursuing love and grace. The reader can palpably feel Merton being called by God in these pages.

   It is quite tempting to imagine what might have become of Merton had he not heeded his call. These pages (and most of his later works) make clear his incredible power as a writer. It is not hard to imagine that he would have become at least as, if not more famous than Jack Kerouac, his fellow student at Columbia. It is one of the great "what ifs" (and there are several) of Merton's life.

   It is a great thing to be able to read about Thomas Merton's journey--to see him be changed and opened. It is an even greater privilege to take his thoughts and words with me on my own journey. This is one gift I am trully grateful for. Get this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.




2. This is Thomas Merton's journal covering his years teaching literature at St. Bonaventure's college in New York. It concludes as Merton is on the cusp of making a decision to enter the Trappist Order.

   As for the contents of the journal, you will need to be a bit patient. Because this is a journal, even though abridged, you will have to slog through a lot of Merton's thoughts on certain poets, writers etc.

   The interesting thing is that it gives some insight on Merton as an intellectual. But at this stage in his life, he doesn't seem comfortable in that skin. In fact, he often laments his arrogance and wonders whether any of these things (i.e., book reviews, articles in the Times) are really all that worth discussing in the first place.

   A great deal of the material, particularly towards the end, is material that you will find repeated in Seven Storey Mountain. It would appear to me that Merton took a good read through his journal when he sat down to write Seven Storey Mountain. Of course, the journal is not polished, but it is every bit as fascinating as Seven Storey Mountain.

   I also found Merton's thoughts on WWII, as it ravaged Europe, quite fascinating. A significant portion of this journal involves thoughts on war and what it means to be in a war; whether we should fight wars.

   In sum, this journal is largely a reflection on literature, coversion, and war. If you are a fan of Merton, read this immediately. If you haven't really been exposed to Merton, read Seven Storey Mountain first and then return to the journal.

   As for me, I give it four stars!




3. An outstanding account of the beginning of a vocation. From the first stirrings of spirituality to the full fleged desire to enter a monastery, Fr. Merton records his faith and doubts, his triumphs and disasters, his hopes and fears. His writing is eloquent yet simple. And his style becomes more free and prayerful as he comes closer to entering the Trappist monastery at Gethsemani. A wonderful book to feed and encourage the soul of anyone on a spiritual journey.

5 comments about Sinatra: The Life.

1. If you were looking to read quite a bit about the Mob from the 1800's in Sicily up through the 1970's you are in for a treat.
   If you wanted to read a biography about Frank Sinatra go elsewhere.
   It is so clear that the authors of this book flatout dislike Sinatra and anyone involved with him. Everything is written with a side comment clearly expressing the authors' dislike of Sinatra, for example, about the Rat Pack "Being Drunk and making cracks about being drunk, was supposed to be hilarious" Clearly meaning the authors did not find it hilarious.
   This is what you should expect throughout the book, side comments clearly expressing the authors dislike of anything Sinatra.
   I'm not the type of person who needs to read gushing about someone I'm interested in but I expect nuetrality at the very least and not flatout hatred.



2. During the opening parts of this book, I was amazed at how much private information the author (Summers) seemed to have accumulated on the Sinatra Family. As I got further into the book, I began to feel a little "suspect" of the growing amount of intelligence he had gathered. By the time I was halfway through, I had begun to suspect just about anything Summers was saying.
   
   Although the publicity statement on the book labels it as "unfailingly fair-minded," after finishing the book, I think it's safe to say that such accolades are seriously off-target. This biography is anything but "fair-minded."
   
   Summers' bias trickles through in the first third of the book (he obviously didn't like Sinatra, the man), then runs more steadily in the book's middle before it grows to a torrent by the last third.
   
   For instance, Summers obviously approves of Sinatra's political dalliances with the Roosevelts and the Kennedys, but repels at his alignment with Nixon later in his life. He makes light of Sinatra's failure to condemn the burglary of Nixon's doctor's office by Kennedy henchmen during the 1960 presidential campaign (Frank's mob connections may have even helped), but is offended by Frank's cavalier opinion about the Watergate burglary by Nixon henchmen during the 1972 campaign.
   
   And some of Summers' assertions are just too improbable, such as the allegation that Sinatra turned to forcible rape when he was a mega-star in his 50s.
   
   The book is entertaining, and well written, but I would take about 80 percent of it with a grain of salt--maybe even a whole saltshaker. In fact, if just 20 percent of the contents can be called factual, then Sinatra has to be discussed in the same vein as Ted Bundy, Son of Sam, and Jack the Ripper. If I thought the information was more accurate, I would have graded it a star higher.



3. All my life I had heard of the name Frank Sinatra, but never knew who he was. I decided to purchase this book to find put who the true Sinatra was. This book gives you all sides of him (good and bad) and addresses all of the "mafia" talk that surrounds him. This is a good read not only because it was so detailed, but it tells the truth. It doesnt water down his mob ties or that he was an immense flirt with women problems. This is a good read for anybody, in any age.



4. Francis Albert Sinatra (1915-1998) grew up in a lower middle class home in Hoboken, New Jersey. Frank's parents were from immigrant Italian families; mother Dolley was a strong community figure working with politicians and mobsters as she performed abortions. His father Marty held a succession of jobs; was a boxer and was uxorioius in his relationships with the strong Mrs Sinatra.
   Frank dropped out of school and was a mama's only child petted and pampered. He began singing at local clubs eventually landing a stint with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey bands as lead singer. Girls went wild for him at the Paramount Theatre; he went to Hollywood where he made movies (winning an Oscar for best supporting actor for his "Maggio" charcter in "From Here To Eternity." Ole Blue Eyes performed in nightclubs and theatres throughout the USA and the world. He loved Los Vegas performing for many years at the mob owned Sands Hotel. He and his rat pack playmates Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr. and Shirley McClaine stood at the top of the entertainment ladder of accomplishments.
   Summers and his spouse Robbyn Summers have done their research in this well chronicled career. Over 100 pages of footnotes and 300 reference books as well as over 500 interviews lend credence to their assertions regarding the singer's Cosa Nostra ties. The mob forced Tommy Dorsey to release Frank from his contract or face personal retaliation. Later film studio head Harry Cohn was forced to cast Sinatra in "From Here to Eternity' or face mob violence.
   Frank was a friend of such notorious organized crime figures as Lucky Luciano; Frank Costello, Sam Giacanna and others. He served as a go-between between the Kennedy family and the mob during JFK's presidential campaign of 1960. Sinatra would later become a Republican who was friendly with the Reagan family.
   Frank was an alcoholic and a lifetime womanizer. He wed his teenage sweetheart Nancy by whom he had three children: Nancy, Frank Jr. and Tina. Sinatra may also have fathered illegitimate children. The great love of his life was Ava Gardner whom he wed on November 7, 1951. The tempestuous duo fought, drank and were unfaithful during their short marriage. Sinatra later wed Mia Farrow who was over 20 years his junior.
   His last wife was Barbara Marx the divorced wife of Zeppo Marx. Barbara was a Vegas showgirl who was not liked by the Sinatra family.
   Sinatra was a great singer with such hits as "I Did It My Way:; "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning; "New York, New York", "Nancy With the Smiling Face", "Night and Day" and "Strangers in the Night."
   He was not a very nice man. He could be cruel often being up columnists and erstwhile friends in public places. He often lied about his mob friends. Sinatra could become violent in a second with a hair-trigger temper and a Dr. Jekyll/Mr Hyde personality. The kid from Hoboken was intelligent enjoying serious reading, classical music and art.
   The material garnered by Summers and Swan makes for a good celebrity biography of a complex figure of American popular culture. I recommend it to anyone interested in Sinatra or the Mob in America.



5. To be short, if you're interested in Sinatra's sex life and Mafia connections, that's your book. But if you want to know more about his music or his career as an actor, skip it.
   Nevertheless all the authors' effort to be "objective", the fact is they simply don't like Sinatra, and try, all the time, to desconstruct the mith. But as someone has said: "a world without heroes is like a world without sun".

No comments about Maybe I'll Pitch Forever.

5 comments about An Unsung Cat.

1. I have been reading about and listening to the Tristano guys for almost a year now, but was always partial to Lee Konitz. I've done some study of his playing and listened to a lot, from Tristano to present day. I am a great fan of his playing, through all the evolutions of his style.
   
   Unfortunately, it caused me to overlook Warne Marsh on those recordings. I've read Konitz's bio and Tristano's, and picked this up to complete the set. The biography is compelling, and so very well written. I've read some horrible biographies recently, but this one just grabbed me, both with Marsh's story and the way Safford Chamberlain writes about it. Plenty of detail, without going overboard (I'm looking at YOU, Tad Szulc. Chopin admirers, don't waste your time on "Chopin in Paris"...).
   
   Perhaps my favorite aspect of the book are the transcriptions. Chamberlain has included transcriptions of Warne Marsh solos, generally chronological through his career, and they are spaced out in the book several chapters at a time. If you can find the recordings, it's really great to watch his solos unfold. Even after reading along with the first one, my ears were opened in a new way to Warne Marsh's playing, and he has quickly become a favorite. The analysises (anylysi? Analyses? Whatever, plural, there is one with each transcription) included are also good, they point out some important things that might be overlooked.
   
   
   All the information about Warne Marsh and his music is so wonderful, and compiled MASTERFULLY. The perfect amount of info, spaced and presented perfectly, and the inserted transcriptions really seal the deal.
   
   
   I have since gone back to listen to the older solos, and also check out the evolution of his playing (the Red Mitchell records...my god!), and "An Unsung Cat" is so very true. Him and Konitz, from Tristano through their individual growth away from that style (while never abandoning what they gained through it), are, generally, the only two horn players I can get excited about any more (aside from the undeniable legends). They've effectively ruined most jazz for me...a mixed blessing, but my appreciation for a well constructed solo is so much deeper than a year ago, in no small part thanks to this book.
   
   
   HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ALL JAZZ FANS.



2. This book is a decent read for Warne Marsh fans and has some interesting insights into Lennie Tristano and his school; awfully dry at times though.
   
   While I really like Warne Marsh's playing, the book seems to idolize him and hold him in a much, much higher realm than I think he belongs.
   
   Again, a good read with some very interesting information.



3. Mr. Chamberlain has done a great service for jazz musicians and fans with the creation of this book. One of the most refreshing points of the book (which actually sets it apart from most other jazz biographies) is that Safford is not scared to be critical of Warne and his associates, especially Lennie Tristano. The book only paints a vague picture of Warne as a person, but I interpret that as a way of showing how hard it was to really get to know the man. This is definitely a book that should be picked up to help spread the word about one of jazz' most important and creative improvisers.



4. My biggest complaint about Ken Burns' "Jazz" was how many great musicians were ignored. People like Herbie Nichols, Serge Chaloff, Jimmy Raney, the list is almost endless. Safford Chamberlain's book about one of the most sorely underappreciated improvisers ever is superb. It puts in human terms the struggles that almost all jazz musicians faced from the late 1940's on in trying to document a music that was falling further and further from the public view. Lee Konitz has stated "I don't know of any other musician that realy surprised me as much as Warne did with his inventiveness." Mr. Chamberlain is an excellent writer, and I hope this book helps to turn more jazz fans onto to Warne.



5. Safford Chamberlin's love for his subject matter, the jazz solos of the late tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, comes out on every page of this unusually well researched and well written biography.

   Marsh was a child prodigy who fell under the spell of the eccentric jazz recluse Lennie Tristano, the founder and guru of a school of highly disciplined post-bebop jazz in New York City during the late 1940's. Marsh ping-ponged between Tristano and the West Coast, mostly in relative obscurity, until he died on stage at Donte's in North Hollywood in December 1987.

   Chamberlin skillfully weaves the facts of Marsh's life with details about his milieu and descriptions of his recordings. The chapters describing Marsh's early recordings with fellow Tristanoite Lee Konitz are particularly interesting. Chamberlin delicately deals with the difficult subjects of drugs, commercialism and racism in jazz music.

   I have read many jazz biographies, some lurid, some sloppy and inaccurate. This one, however, treats the subject matter with the seriousness and attention to detail this wonderful music we call "jazz" deserves.

5 comments about The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848.

1. Dugard surveys Mexican War history from the biographical angle - following the trajectory of the new class of professional soldiers graduated from West Point Military Academy through their early careers on frontier outposts and their first battle action as comrades in the disputed Tex-Mexican regions.
   
   Dugard shows a deft touch in tracing the parabola forward 15 years to the Civil War when many of these great leaders, once great friends and brothers in blood, would face each other on opposite sides of the battle lines. By drawing the connections between these best-known leaders (primarily Grant and Sherman and Lee and Davis, as indicated in the subtitle) in the Mexican War, Dugard shows that he has learned the difficult principle of historical writing that sometimes the unsaid word conveys more than unneeded ones. Readers, better-educated on the leaders and battles of the Civil War, will draw the pictures of irony and poignancy in their own minds, and Dugard's book is better (and shorter) for it.
   
   While Dugard traces some of the background and history of the Mexican War to set the stage and move the interactions between the principles forward, this is not an intended or exhaustive history of the Mexican War and its battles. It is an eminently readable account of how these men's careers were shaped and deflected by the Mexican War, and how those experiences prepared them for the epic conflict yet to come.
   
   One thing that really jumps out is how personal the bonds of loyalty and national patriotism were at this early stage of American history. The now-familiar Stars and Stripes of the American flag was newly adopted, and the Mexican Conflict was the first fought under its red, white, and blue colors. In addition, the difference in standing, objectives, and accoutrement between the very small cadre of professional soldiers and the much larger corps of short-term, poorly-trained, and independently-led volunteers is a key component of the fighting and outcome of the Mexican War. In one of the more powerful passages of the book worthy of quoting at length, Dugard tells of the triumphant return home of Jefferson Davis after leading the volunteer Mississippi Rifles through the war:
   
   "But Davis and the First did not step off those steamships in the garish red and white uniforms that once made them so easily visible. The State of Mississippi had sent a new outfit to the unit that was more in keeping with the national spirit. The new uniforms had reached them at the mouth of the Rio Grande. When the First Mississippi walked down the gangplank and back onto Mississippi soil, they now wore blue uniforms, just like their regular army brethren. And so, on that day, after a lively barbecue that included thirteen rounds of toasting, the military career of Jefferson Davis came to an end--in blue."
   
   The mantle of united national power and patriotism, Lincoln's great accomplished objective of the Civil War (still undiminished in light of 145 years of history), blinds our backward-looking eye to the regional loyalty and feeling that pervaded those still-early years of the Republic. The personal bonds of loyalty, blood and friendship forged in the Mexican War overcame the regional disputes, political battles, logistical problems, and numerical disparity on those distant Mexican battlefields.
   
   Dugard does a very good job of telling those stories of blood and loyalty.



2. Well written, easily understood exposition on a relatively unknown chapter of American History. I particularly enjoyed this glimpse into some of the formative experiences of so many of the men who would play major roles in the Civil War.



3. I was very disappointed with The Training Ground. It is a good read but you can't trust it. There are numerious factual errors. On page 160, Mr. Dugard states "He (Abraham Lincoln)was born in Kentucky and lived there until moving to Illinois at the age of 22." Maybe Mr. Dugard considers the 14 years that the Lincoln family spent in Indiana as just passing through? The Lincolns moved to Illinois when Abe was 21 and they had lived in Spencer County Indiana since he was 7.
   When I started the book, I hoped to learn more about men that I knew mostly from the Civil War. The farther I got into it, the more I felt a need to double check Dugard's statements



4. A history book that you cannot put down. Dugard impeccably details the landscape of war and the tremendous strength, loyalty, leadership and courage of young men faced with insurmountable circumstances. The writing is fluid, informative, and rich. One of the many strengths of The Training Ground is the manner in which the chaos and brutality of war is contrasted with individuals and how their lives are forever affected. I've heard the term "page anxiety" used with history books. There is none to be found here. I found this book bold, informative and told from a perspective lacking in its genre. An exellent, excellent read.



5. Did you know that George Pickett would become "something of a cult figure for graduating fifty-ninth in a class of fifty-nine and then later led one of the most famous cavalry charges in the history of modern warfare"? On page six, this book imparts the astounding historical fact that Pickett's Charge was mounted. 145 years, millions of words, hundreds of book, thousands of prints and paintings but Martin Dugard found the truth. However, there is no footnote proving that Pickett's Division road to battle on July 3, 1863. Without that little detail, I will continue to think they were an infantry division and the men walked both ways.
   The dust jacket says Dugard is a "bestselling author of non-fiction", while that may be true, he is not a historian. The book has multiple direct quotes and no footnotes to support them. At the end of the book is a section entitled "Selected Notes and Biographies" that is designed to make the book appear to be a serious history.
   The book is readable but neither a history of the War with Mexico nor a history of the men involved. This is a series of stories, strung together about men who would be generals in another war. At best, it is a readable introduction. At worst, it is full of errors, misquotes and misstatements.

5 comments about Mussolini.

1. It should not be surprising that how people think today is shaped largely by the media and influenced by a need to conform to the majority. Americans, in particular, get most of their information of their world from TV and do not read books or feel the need to examine issues of concern in depth. Americans, although characterized as individualists, have a strong need to be a part of the majority and not of the kooky far-out fringe. It is the popular media and the need to be within the mainstream that has shaped the American's perception of history. Have a typical American describe "Benito Mussolini" and the result is a caricature. Jasper Ridley's "Mussolini" describes an "Il Duce" who is definitely more than a cartoon. Ridley describes Mussolini's path from committed socialist revolutionary to leader of Fascist Italy. Mussolini's work ethic and firm sense of nationalism is detailed. One interesting fact is that Mussolini never really admired the Germans or National Socialism and Hitler in particular. However, he eventually co-operates with Hitler to further Italy's security. After reading this book, one gets the impression that the oft parroted Allied fantasy that the Axis powers were committed in taking over the entire world is exactly that. Rather than a unanimous vanguard, the Tripartate Alliance was merely a marriage of convenience. Indeed, one can see the same kind of propaganda being generated by American neo-cons, with such nonsense as the "axis of evil."
   
   The book also details events throughout the world during Mussolini's time which impacted his decisions relating to the state. In particular, the entire world was not interested in another European war. Rather than follow obey the will of the people, the governments then, and now, followed the agenda of the elites and plunged the world into senseless slaughter. As with Italy of the past, true American patriots are those that place the interests of America, and not those of other tribes, first.



2. It should not be surprising that how people think today is shaped largely by the media and influenced by a need to conform to the majority. Americans, in particular, get most of their information of their world from TV and do not read books or feel the need to examine issues of concern in depth. Americans, although characterized as individualists, have a strong need to be a part of the majority and not of the kooky far-out fringe. It is the popular media and the need to be within the mainstream that has shaped the American's perception of history. Have a typical American describe "Benito Mussolini" and the result is a caricature. Jasper Ridley's "Mussolini" describes an "Il Duce" who is definitely more than a cartoon. Ridley describes Mussolini's path from committed socialist revolutionary to leader of Fascist Italy. Mussolini's work ethic and firm sense of nationalism is detailed. One interesting fact is that Mussolini never really admired the Germans or National Socialism and Hitler in particular. However, he eventually co-operates with Hitler to further Italy's security. After reading this book, one gets the impression that the oft parroted Allied fantasy that the Axis powers were committed in taking over the entire world is exactly that. Rather than a unanimous vanguard, the Tripartate Alliance was merely a marriage of convenience. Indeed, one can see the same kind of propaganda being generated by American neo-cons, with such nonsense as the "axis of evil."
   
   The book also details events throughout the world during Mussolini's time which impacted his decisions relating to the state. In particular, the entire world was not interested in another European war. Rather than follow obey the will of the people, the governments then, and now, followed the agenda of the elites and plunged the world into senseless slaughter. As with Italy of the past, true American patriots are those that place the interests of America, and not those of other tribes, first.



3. This is not a comprehensive biography of Mussolini the man and politician. More a fragmentary story of the life of M. The process of ascension to power, the conversion of the socialist into the fascist, and the politics of the first ten years of consolidation are not really explored in their depth, as is now expected from a Duce's biography.
   Moreover there are considerable gaps in the treatment of the pre-war years and the foundation of the Empire. Also, there are many subjective statements and personal appraisals of the author that do not correspond with the objective view of the modern historians about Mussolini. For instance, his position regarding the jewish question and the racial laws, is not objectively assessed, in its historical context. Also, Salo's period and Mussolini's uncomfortable relationship with the germans are not satisfactorily analyzed. For a more balanced and comprehensive one volume approach I would recommend professor Richard Bosworth's Biography of Mussolini. For truly in depth study, Renzo De Felice's books remain unsurpassed.



4. Jasper Ridley offers the reader a facile biography of the Italian dictator. Though Benito Mussolini's youth and early adulthood as a radical intellectual are adequately explained, the analysis of Mussolini's rise is shallow. An internationalist socialist until just before World War One, he becomes an Italian nationalist with almost little explanation of why he changed other than his serving briefly as a draftee in the pre-1914 Italian Army. Surely, there is more to explain Mussolini's turnabout. The analysis of post-war Italy and it's ungovernability and social breakdown is weak. Was Italian democractic tradition inch-deep, ready to be exploited by an authoritarian? The Fascist economic system is barely mentioned. Mussolini's thoughts on Hitler's big gamble of sending troops to the demilitarized Rhineland in 1935 are not explained. How did Mussolini come to be the weaker of the two European right-wing authoritarians and did he acknowledge that Hitler dominated the political alliance between the two men? Why did the Italian army have problems defeating the primitive Ethiopian army in 1935-36? Or why did the small, woefully armed Greek army defeat the Italian army and chase it across the Albanian frontier? Why was Italy not ready for World War Two? This biography lacks analysis. More muscle is needed to fill out the man who was Benito Mussolini.



5. Jasper Ridley's biography of Mussolini does a good job of retelling the life of this ambitious but fatally flawed leader. Mussolini was no Hitler. Even had he desired it, he could never have established totalitarianism in Italy as the temperment of the Italian people simply would not have allowed it. Instead he was sort of like the neighborhood bully elevated to power. Threatening yes, but not truly evil. Had World War Two not happened, his fate probably would have been more similar to Spain's Franco, whose regime died of natural causes with him. The most interesting aspect of Mussolini's life was his transistion from socialism to fascism, but even this can be viewed as opportunism from a man with no real political convictions other than obtaining and maintaining power. Overall, this is a good introdution to the man who in the end got what he deserved from his own people.