No comments about Hesitant Martyr of the Texas Revolution: James Walker Fannin.

No comments about Dear Family.

No comments about Victory In Destruction: The Story Of William Tecumseh Sherman (Civil War Generals).

3 comments about Damned Yankee: The Life of General Nathaniel Lyon.

1. This paperback* is useful as a cheap (book can be purchased at a deep discount) means to get an idea of what occurred in Missouri during the first part of the Civil War. Phillip's attempt to psychologically profile General Lyon with today's sensitivities provides the reader with comic relief in this account of some of the darkest days in our history.
   
   *note: one needs to be able to read between the lines of Phillip's politically correct revisionist slant on history.



2. Damned Yankee provides a surprisingly detailed study of the life of U.S. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon. Author Chistopher Phillips probes deeply into Lyon's background, family, and military career. The product is a fascinating portrait of a determined and disturbing figure.
   
   Nathaniel Lyon seized the initiative in Missouri, never allowing the determined secessionist governor an opportunity to guide the state out of the Union. While Missourians overall desired neutrality and elected secession convention delegates who soundly rejected secession, the elected state government leaned far more Southern than strictly neutral. From the moment of his entry onto the scene in St. Louis, Lyon worked tirelessly to frustrate Southern ambitions on the Federal arsenal. He butted heads with his more passive superiors in St. Louis; and he successfully conspired with various political figures to usurp and replace these impediments to his perceived mission.
   
   Lyon is a unique personage with an intensely individual interpretation of right and wrong. The author's central theme is that Lyon sought to punish those who strayed from what Lyon perceived to be the right path; and the author is effective in presenting his case. Lyon's disagreements with superiors and fellow officers were frequently intense, often to the point of insufferable insubordination. His punishment of subordinates for infractions was also extreme to the point he was successfully court-martialed for excessive punishment.
   
   The events in Lyon's career I found most disturbing related to his sanctioned and authorized reprisal massacres of Native Americans in California. This certainly makes his declaration of war in Missouri far more threatening: "Better, sir, far better, that the blood of every man, woman and child within the limits of the State should flow, than that she should defy the federal government."
   
   As a military commander and organizer, Lyon proved incredibly capable. Here was a commander with the bold aggressiveness of Grant, the self-assured intensity of Forrest, and the discipline of Stonewall Jackson. However, he also possessed huge flaws such as an inability to get along, political inflexibility, and subversive intrigue that likely would have undone him had he not perished at Wilson's Creek. His eccentric and caustic beliefs were likely to produce outrages.
   
   The author does a fine job of presenting the various viewpoints and back and forth of central characters. When he does present his own conclusions though they are not always convincing. The argument that Lyon was the irritant that leading to much of the eventual conflict in Missouri falls particularly flat, as does the pronouncement that without strong Federal action Missouri's pro-Southern governor and government would still have been unsuccessful in their aims.
   
   I'm also highly skeptical of the author's characterization of Lyon's reasoning for fighting at Wilson's Creek as being a punitive crusade. Lyon was right that he must use his force or lose it. He was also correct that if he retreated without a fight he would give the secessionists control of southwest Missouri. I can't fault the logic of forcing an engagement before determining whether or not to retire in such a circumstance.
   
   There are a few errors in the descriptions of events in Lyon's Civil War campaign, but overall they are well presented. I will note that I was disappointed the author did not point out Lyon's quartermaster Justus McKinstry was later successfully court-martialed for his activities in disrupting Union supply. No doubt that would have detracted from the author's case against Lyon's circumventing of a clearly broken supply system in St. Louis.
   
   Despite the above observations about the author overselling points of his case I agree with his central theme. This is a well-researched book and provides a complete profile of Nathaniel Lyon as a soldier and a man.



3. Christopher Phillips provides the reader with a fascinting insight into the character of Nathaniel Lyon. Rarely in reading a biography has the reader come away with such a clear and precise understanding as to what the central character's personality was really like.
   By providing this insight into Lyon's character the reader can clearly understand what motivated Lyon to take the actions he took in the troubled 1860's in Missouri. Lyon was a not very likable individual, He brought a zealot's zeal to virtually everything he believed in or did regardless of the conseqences. In the end this zeal brought about his own death. A great read...two thumbs up.

3 comments about War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America.

1. Excellent book. This book shows why white people should be hated. They are liars. They are thiefs. They are destructive and shalt be burned by God come judgment day.



2. Irakurtzeko erreza, ez oso luzea, oso liburu ona azkenean. Mugimendu beltzaren aurkako Amerikkkak buruturiko errepresioaz zerbait gehiago jakiteko oso liburu erabilgarria. Ez badakizu gauza askorik Black Panther Partyren aurkako errepresioaz, hau da behar duzun liburua. Oso aukera ona./ Easy to read book, not very complex, a very good book at least. If you want to know more about black liberation movement and the repression it suffered, it's a very good option. If you don't know about this matter, this is the book you need. A very good option (excuse my bad english). JO TA KE!!!



3. This book is a straight forward account of why Huey P. Newton helped found the Black Panthers. This has many historical references to when and how oppression was used by the government in the past and how he would prevent it in the future. This is one of my favorite books by my favorite author. It's a great read.

3 comments about Flashbacks: Prisoner of War in the Philippines.

1. T. Walter Middleton gives you a great taste of folksy, oral history used to describe one of the most horrific sequence of events in US military history: the Defense of the Bataan Peninsula, the Bataan Death March, imprisonment in Camp O'Donnell, the Hell Ship experience, and slave labor for a Japanese corporation in Mukden, Manchuria.
   
   Mr. Middleton reveals many details of the horrors of those accumalated experiences. He does so, not with bitterness, but rather with a refreshing and surprising sense of humor. In one chapter he describes how his fellow prisoners discovered a large cache of marijuana which they smoked, and how in the midst of all deaths and diseases, they behaved strangely in an effort to have fun at the expense of the Japanese guards, who were completely confused by their unusual behavior. In one of the final chapters, he expresses the doubts he and his fellow prisoners had that they would ever again be able to fit into a normal, civilized society.
   
   Aside from being a "Great Read", this book will give it's reader a very personal look into the lives of the men who made the Bataan Death March.
   
   Fred Baldassarre
   Researcher/Archivist
   Battling Bastards of Bataan



2. The author, Walter Middleton, was a good friend of my dad's when I was a kid. At about age 10, full of the idea that war is really grand (common among red-blooded males of that age and beyond, it seems), I started bugging Mr. Middleton with questions like, "What did you do in the War?" About the third time I asked, he set me down for about an hour and told me. What I heard changed me forever.

   Many of the things Mr. Middleton told me that day are stories included in this book. I warn you, it is un-PC by standards of the current decade, but the author is to be forgiven if four years of treatment as an animal, by animals, has colored his view of the Japanese as a people. Also, the text is rife with colloquialisms, and there are more than a few grammatical and spelling errors. But the intent was not to write a thesis here. It was to record for succeeding generations the unique perspective of the War, the Japanese captors, and our own officers (including the great MacArthur) from the eyes of our enlisted men, who bore the brunt of the War. In this aim, Mr. Middleton succeeds with five stars. For anyone who has never read an alternative history textbook, I rank "Flashbacks" equal to Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the U.S." and James Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me" in importance.

   I have ordered a copy of this book for a friend of mine with whom I have had conversations about how most Americans of my generation have no idea what hard times are really like. (I know I don't, not from first-hand experience such as recorded in this book.) I would have sent my own copy to my friend, except that it is a signed copy, and even more importantly because I will want to pass it down to the next generations in my family. This reading is not pleasant, but it is vitally important. The history embodied in this book must be kept alive. Read it and pass it on.




3. I just so happen to be the great niece of Mr. Walter T. Middleton. This book was a very heart moving book to read. For a person to go through the treatment that he endured is a miracle. This book is great. He is an outstanding storyteller and this book is a page turner. I would recamend this book to anyone looking for stories during this time perod.

2 comments about Autobiography of a Yankee Mariner: Christopher Prince and the American Revolution.

1. This is a masterfully written book by Christopher Prince. 1n 1803 Captain Prince sat down to write his autobiography for the future generations of the Princes' family. He never intended to have it published. Prince was a sea captain that helped the British during the American Revolution. He truly had no choice in the matter after the ship that sailed on was captured by the King's Royal Navy. He was in the service of the King until he was released. After his freedom was obtained, he began to assist the Patriot cause. Do not let this give the wrong impression of Captain Prince, he knew where he stood on the issues, as I brought up before, he was held a prisoner and had no choice but to obey his captives. The book is very well written and highly interesting. What truly made this an interesting book is Prince frequent reliance on Christ. He relates his conversion to Christ at the end of the book. It took two hundred years to finally be published in book form. One other book on the subject of the American Revolution is Joseph Plumb Martin's book Private Yankee Doodle. This book may be even more enjoyable than Prince's book.



2. In 1803 Christopher Prince sat down to write his autobiography for the second generation of his family. Little did he realize tat four hundred years later this book would bee reprinted and sold to hundreds, if not thousands of people! The Autobiography of a Yankee Mariner edited by Michael Crawford is the first had account of a man that witnessed the famous events that marked the American Revolution. Prince served as a captain of a British prison ship that during the invasion of Canada, the years 1774-1776, he also changed sides and helped the patriots in the years 1776-1777.
   The Prince documents were donated to the Naval Historical Center in 1943.
   Prince's history is very interesting, perhaps it is because this really is the first time anyone has ever seen it.

5 comments about Belly of the Beast: A POW's Inspiring True Story of Faith, Courage, and Survival Aboard the Infamous WWII Japanese Hellship, the Oryoku Maru.

1. While Mrs. Pearson crafts an engaging tale and a gut-wrenching tribute to POWs during World War Two, the way this book is packaged tarnishes the story. On the cover is written, "A POW's inspiring true story of faith, courage, and survival aboard the infamous WWII Japanese hell ship Oryoku Maru." A picture of the Oryoku Maru adorns the top of the front cover. In fact, the protagonist spends 10 pages of the narrative onboard the Oryoku Maru, out of a 265-page story.
   
   Furthermore, on the back cover: "On December 13, 1944, POW Estel Myers was herded aboard the Japanese prison ship Oryoku Maru with more than 1,600 other American captives. Almost 1,300 of them would be dead by journey's end...." Again, this sounds as if 1,300 prisoners perished aboard the Oryoku Maru, but this is not what Mrs. Pearson details inside the book! Included in this figure of 1,300 are deaths in the Philippines, on another Japanese vessel, and in Japan. Horribly misleading.
   
   One final note. Skip pages 200 and 201 of this book which state that during World War Two Emperor Hirohito chose "not to be involved in his government's actions or decisions." For the truth behind Hirohito's role during and leading up to World War Two, read Herbert P. Bix's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan."
   
   This false advertising from Penguin Putnam prevents Mrs. Pearson's book from receiving the 4 stars it deserves. Shame on you, publisher!



2. To start with the title might lead you to believe this is a 'POW's true story" except the POW passed away in 1973 and never wrote this story. It is nothing more than using a mans name to lend some authenticity to the "based upon a true story" concept. The dialogue is completely made up by the author and it reads like a 1950's television show... "Gee fellas... those japs sure are nasty". In my opinion this should be listed as fiction. The author claims in her opening that she did not want to distract the reader with footnotes. I can see why because there wouldn't be any. Overall this 'novel' could have been put together with a dozen or so Wikipedia searches and some overly cheesy dialogue. If you are looking for a true accounts similiar to Night by Elie Weisel this isn't it! Ghost Soldiers and Baa Baa Black Sheep are two that come to mind that give a much better treatment of the subject. If you are only interested in the glossed over Ladies Home Journal version this might do, but barely.



3. the best book i have read so far on this subject.i felt i was living every moment, but so glad i was not. a true testimony to the spirit of human courage and endurance. and a valuable insight to the inhumanities of mankind.



4. I speak from the perspective of someone who has known several Philippine POWs and have read extensively on this subject. This book is so full of inaccuracies it is not worth anyone's time to read it. There are hundreds of better books out there on the subject. Save your money!



5. Author Judith Pearson has written a riveting tale about the improsonment and ultimate mistreatment of American POWs by the Japanese. The story centers around Estel Myers, a young man who joins the Army as a corpsman. After serving a tour in China, Myers was assigned to the Philippines shortly before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese invaded in mid-December, 1941, and Myers was taken prisoner by the Japanese.

   Myers suffered for two years in a Japanese prison camp with very little food or water, but his ultimate punishment was soon to follow. The Americans had turned the tide against the Japanese,and were fighting their way back to re-capture the Philippines. Realizing this, the Japanese began loading their POWs on "Hell Ships"; grossly overloaded freighters; for the long voyage to prison camps in Japan. Myers was loaded aboard the ship Oryuku Maru with approximately 1,600 other POWs. Only about 400 arrived in Japan alive. Myers survived the sinking of the Oryuku Maru as well as transfers from two other Hell Ships before reaching Japan.

   The conditions on the ships were much worse than in the camps. Each man was allotted approximately 1/4 cup of rotten rice per day, along with a tiny amount of water. Men were unable to sit or lay down in the holds of the ships due to the massive overcrowding. Sanitary facilities amounted to a bucket lowered by the Japanese. The death rate was astounding. In the later stages of the voyage, as many as fifty men were dying per day.

   Upon reaching Japan, many of the men were put to work on docks, in coal mines, or building defense shelters. Many died, but some, including Myers, managed to survive to be liberated by the Americans. Myers eventually succumbed years later due to the toll taken on his body by the Japanese.

   This is an eye-opening book. The atrocities committed by the Japanese are unbelievable, and it is a miracle that Myers managed to survive for so long. Read this fine book and live the life of a POW.

5 comments about Iraq And Back: Inside the War to Win the Peace.

1. I enjoyed the subject matter of this book. A story about Iraq, and our military was especially interesting since it was the perspective from a woman. I think it gave accurant account of the events as seen & experienced by Mrs Olsen, but also dealt into the emotions of those there - both foreign and those born there. I also liked that it showed the strengths of a woman and how difficult that can be, sometimes. My only complaint is you could tell this was Olsen's 1st attempt at writting. Not a bad attempt mind you. It just didn't flow as well as it could have. BUT then again, she is a military person, not a writter. I would much rather have the events told by one there - even if not expertly written, than to have a top writter try to convey what was going on. Bravo Kim Olsen!



2. I had the great good fortune to attend a Veterans Day lecture by Colonel Kim Olson at the University of Texas at Dallas. Afterwards, I was invited to meet her. As if hearing Colonel Olson speak was not exciting enough, talking to her in person was electrifying. What a presence!
   
   From the moment I began reading Iraq and Back, I was captivated. I learned in depth about some of the topics she touched on in her speech--and more. Colonel Olson doesn't mince words, she just tells the story. And when you read her words it's like having a conversation with a friend: for example, when she talks about being prepared to go without many luxuries and necessities, but not chocolate. Also, because the book is written from a woman's perspective, we get a sense of the real people of Iraq--the mothers, the children, the shopkeepers, everyday folks.
   
   Colonel Olson's background was in teaching, but her stepfather suggested that she might make a fine military officer. After she joined the Air Force, she found that she desperately wanted to be a jet pilot. She had to compartmentalize her life and emotions. She loves her children, but she also loved to fly--the same kind of conflict between family and work that many women face. Somehow, Kim Olson manages to bridge the apparent contradiction between being an Air Force colonel and mother of 12 and 15 year olds. Her call sign is Jetmom.
   
   When Olson was asked to be part of a team to "rebuild Iraq" as the executive officer to retired General Jay M. Garner (director of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance), she was conflicted. She had been an Air Force pilot, above the battle and not involved in the ground war. In the book's foreword, General Garner had this to say about Olson: "She is a strong, articulate, intellectual pioneer with boundless energy--an exemplary officer and marvelous human being who has served and still serves as a role model and mentor to younger women. She was instrumental in forming a staff, developing plans, securing funds, producing a budget, arranging travel, coordinating meetings with diplomats, clerics, politicians, military commanders, and Iraqi leaders--Sunni, Shia, and Kurd. She would be the first person I would pick for my team."
   
   Before she left on this assignment, she was advised by a historian to take composition books with her to record the daily events, a living document that would become the basis for this memoir. I smiled when she told of bossing men around and treating them like children. I creied when she wrote about leaving her husband and children and finding her kids stuffed animals hidden in her bag when she arrived in Iraq with a note to "Hug them when you miss us." I felt good when she stood over an Iraqi who told her she must cover her head and she replied: "I am not in a mosque and I am not a Muslim and military women do not cover." I felt sad when Olson came across an Iraqi woman who was holding the body bag of her child and she just put her arms around her and said "I'm so sorry." She knew that grief was a universal language.
   
   Colonel Olson realized that rebuilding a society requires its entire people, both men and women. Everyone needs to feel they have a voice and can make a difference. On a personal level, she knew this concept all to well. The slow integration of women into the military mirrors that of other predominantly male professions. She feels that women in nontraditional careers should start by unlocking the doors of opportunity and ally themselves with enlightened men who have a strong sense of self and are not threatened by powerful women. She was fortunate to find some good men that helped to further her career.
   
   When Olson won an Exceptional Leadership Award she gave a short but impassioned speech at the Women's Memorial in Washington, DC. "As I look out at this audience tonight, I am once again reminded that it is because of women like you that I get to fly jets, I get to command troops, and I get to wear this military uniform and defend my country. So tonight, it is I who thank you." She had finally balanced work, family, and community and knew that a nurturing style of leadership worked.
   
   I highly recommend this book, not only because it's written by a zealous woman, but because it offers a compelling insight into what the United States faced and is still facing in Iraq.
   
   by Doris Anne Roop-Benner
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   www.storycirclebookreviewsorg
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



3. I had the pleasure of being in a writing class with Kim Olson as she worked on this book. The raw writing was very entertaining and interesting, including the humorous incident of a wave at a passing local as she got caught in mid-stream during a pit-stop in an open field. Then there was the disaster of her civilian boss suggesting to the Air Force Chief of Staff that she should be promoted and where she should be assigned--derailing her career at its apex.
   
   Some reviewers fault her criticism of the Bush administration officials and others; I wish there was more of it. At the same time, knowing what she intended to write and what I see in the book, I think some miss the point in thinking this book is primarily about her experience in Iraq or the relative merits of ORHA versus CPA. I don't believe it is. If it were, she could have said much more about the lack of adequate resources for reconstructing Iraq. She could have assessed whether the way we went about fighting the war made sense. But she had only a brief relationship with Iraq and had to do the best job given the resources and knowledge available at the time. That being said, I see the book using Iraq as an anchor around which the bigger boat floats.
   
   I see this book as being about the issue of Iraq reconstruction but about much more. About the harsh challenges, the rampant sexism, that women have faced in advancing in the military--in this case the Air Force, especially those who chose to fly and to command men. About the conflicts between roles as a mother and an officer that she encountered. About the interesting ways that a woman may be better at resolving some issues than men. It is about how she overcame all the impediments that were put in her way and became an outstanding officr in the Air Force. It also reveals the good old boy club is far from dead--shooting her down in the end despite her record. It is worthwhile reading to get a different perspective on all these issues and more.



4. Kim Olson is a one of a kind woman. She shares her experience in the military with strength and with conviction about her service...and still shows her humility and intelligence in the face of adverse situations.
   
   If you want to get a real view of the dedication and hard work of our military through an articulate and incredible voice, this is the book for you. She doesn't sugar coat the situation of war, nor does she make excuses for her decisions. She gives every single American a reason to stand up and be proud.
   
   We couldn't put the book down. It is beautifully written...but that's not the essence. It is an honest account by an honest woman.
   
   Jane and Robert Handly



5. This book is an amazing first hand account of what it was like for Olson, her team and probably many soldiers as well in the war in Iraq. It is touching on a human level as you encounter Olson's struggles as a veteran female pilot in the Air Force, and how she balances her career as well as being a mother and wife in a assignment that tests her will on all accounts. Each chapter is gripping with suspense as you never know what her and her team will encounter as you turn each page. Honesty, humility and humor are threaded throughout the pages that left me with a better understanding of the risks of our freedom, proud to be an American, and the feeling I just witnessed first hand an incredible journey that left me entertained and at the same time, with a lump in my throat. Rebecca D. Turner, author of Tattoo

1 comments about Fighter Pilot.

1. Fighter Pilot lays claim to being the first published account of aerial combat during the Second World War. Originally published anonymously during the war, the author literally flew missions during the day while meeting with the editor in pubs at night to finish the book.
   
   Richey's book reads like a daily journal of his adventures after deploying to France in 1939 to wait out the "Phony War." Once Germany blitzed France and the Low Countries though, things became very busy very quickly. Richey, like his compatriots, fought bravely, but they were greatly outnumbered. As France's defenses collapsed, there was very little they could do.
   
   One of the most interesting aspects is how his view of the war changes from before the shooting war through just a few weeks of real fighting. Their original notion of their work is very chivalrous and idealistic, with lots of references to "our turn" to repeat the noble efforts of the aces from World War I. After downing their first German, they gather war trophies from the plane, take pictures, and invited a captured German pilot over for beer and celebration.
   
   A few weeks later, as the British Expeditionary Force continues to retreat, France collapses, and many of their squadron mates in the earlier photos have been killed, there is little chivalry and idealism left. They settle into the grim business of fighting for their life, realizing that the Battle of France is lost and growing fear for what will happen to Britain.
   
   Even in comparing it to World War One accounts (McCudden, Lewis, or Biddle), initially there is a lot of similarity in the events and encounters. Then, it quickly spirals into a brutal onslaught.
   
   The book is easy to read and flows very well. Most readers are probably surprised to learn the book finishes before the Battle of Britain begins. Fortunately, there is a sequel, Fighter Pilot's Summer, that Richey started during the war, but which wasn't completed until after his death in the 1990's.
   
   Any aviation and World War II history buff will be extremely happy with the book and primary source material. This is particularly true given the wealth of information on the Battle of Britain, but the dearth of writing on the air war over France that was the prelude. This book fills an important gap in first hand accounts of aerial combat during the Battle for France.