5 comments about Black Sheep One: The Life of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington.

1. I'm not sure why Bruce Gamble chose to write a biography about Major Boyington as his disdain for the man is apparent throughout the book. When he actually writes something positive about Boyington, it comes as a complete surprise and out of nowhere. The book is well-written and fairly well researched. However, it is boring and too long. He also gives too many details at times. The author's irritating habit of taking the word of the enemy as Gospel while continuously discounting nearly everything our own pilots said and did is incredible. Personally, since he wasn't there, I feel that he has no right to publicly discredit those who were.
   
   He cannot accept anything at all at face value. And, I'm not sure why he gave people names of his own that they didn't go by themselves. For instance, he kept referring to Boyington's son as "Greg Junior" when that wasn't his name. Although his first name was Gregory, he wasn't a junior, and he went by Bobby.
   
   I had to force myself to finish the book. I do not recommend it.



2. First off let me say that I really enjoyed reading this book. Pappy has always been a child hood hero of mine. Having grown up watching "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and reading the autobiography of the same title. It was a very well researched and well-written biography. That opened this reader's eyes to the real story behind LtCol Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



3. Bruce Gamble deserves great credit for dealing with a mythic and controversial hero who laid claim to be the leading USMC ace in World War II and won the highest award in the country. His introduction to combat and first claims came from his stint as a member of the famed American Volunteer Group (AVG) known to most as the "Flying Tigers". He was summarily dismissed from the AVG for his abuse of alcohol and disrepect for authority (both of had which led him to abandon his USMC flying career to join the AVG along with chronic financial woes). World War II offered him an opportunity for another chance to fly and serve his country that he might not have gotten in peacetime. Arriving in the Solomon Islands, he continued to abuse alcohol and raise a ruckus, but he eventually got his own squadron, the "Black Sheep" which he led to great success against the Japanese. There is no doubt that he was a gifted aviator despite flying under the influence or at least hung over. Some of the aerial victory claims may be disputed (certainly his AVG claims are), but these type claims have been controversial by antagonists in all conflicts since aerial combat began. Gamble deals with all of this in great detail particularly the virtual clinical examination of Boyington's alcoholism so many years after the event. Gamble's research could have yielded a good book, among the best written, on the Black Sheep and Boyington, but he superbly wrote the Black Sheep story as its own subject and then dealt with Boyington as a biography andproduced a truly unique study of a tragic hero, flawed on several levels, but just as laudable on others. The author deserves great credit for deep research, sensitive and accurate writing and weaving a very readable treatment of Boyington, truly the best on any shelf.



4. Being a military history buff and a Boyington fan, this book was a "must read" for me. This book shows the human side of Boyington. While Boyington may have seemed a larger-than-life war hero (which in many ways he was) he was an ordinary man with his own demons. His worst enemy was himself.. and his addiction to alcohol...an addiction he never totally defeated. One wonders what Boyington may have accomplished had he not have been an alcoholic. His alcohalism cost him a lot.. several divorces, alienation from his family, and quite possibly a polital career.

   Boyington was way ahead of his time in the area of air combat tactics. Sometimes his propensity to deviate from regulation got him into trouble with superiors, but no one can deny the combat victories the Blacksheep attained under his leadership. No Marine Squadron has ever attained the success VMF 214 had in those two combat tours then or since. His military combat record speaks for itself. Boyington's tactics were unconventional, in the sense he never employed the same tactics for long. He was constantly evolving, a theory that never allowed the Japanese to catch on to his tactics.

   This is an excellent book to learn about Boyington the man, how he thought, and what made him tick. In spite of his faults, he will forever be remembered as the greatest Marine Ace of all time. This book does him justice. I highly recommend it.




5. I hate biographies with their authoritarian tones, time lines, dates and obscure facts, and get bored before finishing them. I do, however, prefer to be historically accurate rather than politically correct, so when my children started watching Black Sheep Squadron on the History Channel, I figured I had better learn more about Greg Boyington.

   Having seen Mr. Gamble's commentaries during breaks from the show, I expected the typical pompous biography with a military cadence to match the author and subject. When I began to read it, I was floored: I couldn't put it down and I finished it. Mr. Gamble's prose was lyrical, and his treatment of Boyington was fair and meticulously researched.

   Heroes aren't necessarily bums, and biographies aren't necessarily dull, boring and omnipresent.

5 comments about American Soldier.

1. 15 June 2008 - Even though I was "in the military" during Operation Iraqi Freedom and watched CNN every day this book did an amazing job detailing OIF from start to the end of phase three. Gen Franks offers his insightful account of History at one of the major "creases" in American History. Gen Franks stands tall above the Washington blame game and instead focuses on successes and failures, why those failures may have occurred, and HIS solutions to some of those failures. This is a must read for anyone who criticizes our presents in Iraq.



2. Any American general or president who leads an army against jihadist Islam deserves our almost unqualified respect in a West that comes across as comfort-driven, welfare-pandering, entertainment-drugged, and seemingly too cowardly to defend itself. Both Tommy Franks and George Bush will stand tall in the annals of future history, as always defined by military prowess, long after the topical dust of our shallow, politically correct culture settles and fades into television-commercial oblivion.
   
   However, it's important NOT to take a book by Tommy Franks at face value. The brutal realities of fighting "our worst enemy since the civil war" will never be articulated in a world whose impression of any hard reality must first pass muster with Sunday School simplicity prompted by history- and context-free self-congratulation. "Guns aren't nice," some superficial wives sloganeer, and "Make love not war," effortlessly proclaiming a self-righteousness that is both unearned and dangerous to any hope of a durable peace.
   
   Accordingly, "American Soldier" is an unfortunate chronicle of media-palatible commentary about military and personal events that might be drawn quite otherwise if free-speech were truly to prevail in Tommy Franks' life as an honest spokesman of military wisdom. After all, he freely acknowledges his 4-starness to having been selected by Bill Clinton; he's a "Clinton general" in his own words. Must we ask what kind of commanding general would have been chosen by former presidential candidate Al Sharpton? Generals-in-waiting surely come in all chevrons, from Marxist liberals to Axis militarists. The commander-in-chief "of the moment" chooses. Today we want our military leaders to feign ideological innocence while being supported by a statistics-savvy management mechanism. Good luck, but it's ruthlessness and a whatever-it-takes aggressiveness that win wars, not media accountability or other facile diplomacy.
   
   Those who've attended the general's public lectures will recognize right away that he's not the Erwin Rommel, George Patton, or Tadimichi Kuribayashi they might have hoped for. Even so, let us acknowledge his predictable standing applause from largely World War II veterans everywhere: a salute to a universal code of military fighting spirit that has existed in all times and that will stand independent of the political surface.
   
   Too bad that Gen. Franks often chooses to portray a "Gomer Pyle" persona to audiences that expect to hear even more saber-rattling than is now fashionable. He shrinks from being more germane than political reality allows. Yes, we would much rather fight on foreign shores than at home. But shouldn't we also prefer to fight NOW rather than selfishly defer our battles to future generations? Too often, our orientation to politics is greedy, too apt to defer deprivations that might interfere with our own comforts. The example of our Spartan forebears will only vaguely influence us, though a strong Christian military in the West would surely benefit from a plunge into our Greco-Roman-Viking past!



3. If you enjoy military biographies, this is one of the very best I've ever read.



4. I read this book when it first came out, and out of the thousands of books I have read over some 60 years, it is one of the most unforgettable. This man came out of the dust and dirt of Oklahoma and Midland, Texas to enter the Army as a grunt boot, and when he was getting on the bus to report to the Army, his Dad simply said "Make em a hand, son" which in West Texanese means, "Whatever they teach you to do, Son, do a good job for them!" And did he ever----Commander of the greatest Military Force in the History of this planet! An unforgettable true story that should make all Americans proud.



5. I will admit my bias - I am a huge "fan" of General Franks. This book is about his life, his perspectives and experiences. There is a ton of stuff we'd never get to know about if it weren't for this book. One thing I admired most was his professionalism in writing it. If you're looking for some "tell all" expose, this ain't it. General Franks speaks respectfully about his bosses throughout the book. I know some readers won't like that, but to me it was refreshing.

4 comments about Wellington: The Iron Duke.

1. Richard Holmes is an eminent historian and a splendid TV presenter but, though I found his study of the great Duke of Wellington an enjoyable biography that I couldn't put down until it was finished, I also found myself being irritated on too many of the 303 pages (hardback edition) by mis-spellings and stylistic and punctuation inconsistencies. An example of the latter was the mixed and varying use of inverted commas (quote marks). My own preference is for the end of a phrase or a sentence to appear thus: '................... end,' or '..................... end.' Too often the style was thus '........................ end', or '........................... end'. Mr Holmes ought to have made up his mind which way his work was to appear or his editor ought to have been sacked!
   
   Another niggle was that the Duke's Hampshire home was named only once as 'Strathfieldsaye,' with '[sic]' to follow. Mr Holmes should have been aware that that was the original spelling and that 'Stratfield Saye' is the more modern name of the house and estate.
   
   I mustn't criticise too much, however, because I learned a lot from a very good book and I recommend it to other lovers of our British history and other admirers of one of the greatest and most courageous Britons ever to have been born.



2. Richard Holmes's "Wellington - The Iron Duke" is a well-written survey of the active life of the First Duke of Wellington. In just 300 pages, Holmes presents a balanced, even nuanced view of a man who was both the quintessential military professional and a complex human being. Through Holmes' efficient prose, we see Wellington as an extradinarily dedicated soldier who mastered his profession in ways few of his contemporaries did, yet who sometimes paid a price on campaign for his insistence on micromanaging his armies. Wellington comes across as a remarkably honest and duty-bound public servant; as a young man, he was also relentlessly ambitious, and as an older man, sensitive about his military reputation.
   
   Holmes provides some useful insights. He suggests that exhaustion and strain were responsible for Wellington's uncharacteristically poor performance at the Siege of Burgos in 1812. Holmes examines the academic dispute over Wellington's relationship with the Prussians during the Waterloo Campaign; he tellingly notes Wellington's responsibilities to his alliance partners and to the British Government and finds that he served both. Holmes acknowledges Wellington's extramaritial activities but resists the urge to obsess over them or to indulge in psycological speculation.
   
   Serious students of the Duke and of the Napoleonic Wars will find no new scholarship here; indeed, Holmes readily acknowledges his debt to earlier works such as Elizabeth Longford's exceptional biography and Jac Weller's battlefield narrative trilogy. Holmes has provided an accessible biography for the general reader, supported by well-chosen quotes from the Duke' contemporaries and by a nice selection of illustrations.
   
   This book is highly recommended to the general reader with an interest in the man and the era.



3. This is one of those books that once you take it up, you can't put it down!

   Its balanced treatment of Wellington the man, the military man and the politican, has meant that this is not just a book about Waterloo.

   One is left with the impression that Wellington was a great man, with equal weight given to his 'greatness' and his 'humanness'.

   Very readable and highly recommended.




4. The book aims to be realistic - the fog of
   war is foggy indeed, and Wellington sometimes makes mistakes. The
   casualties at Waterloo are appalling, and the battle almost lost.
   Lt.-Col. Trant of "Sharpe's Rangers" fame actually appears, an excellent soldier but "the most drunken dog there ever was" in Wellington's words.

   Unusual is the emphasis on Wellington's Indian campaign and on the
   Peninsular War - the period of Sharpe's Rangers is the most important in
   the book. The Battle of Waterloo is treated as somewhat of an
   afterthought, as I suppose it was (if Nap had won it would have been a
   very different matter, of course). There are a number of good plates,
   including a daguerrotype of the Iron Duke himself in his mid-70s, looking
   buth shrewd and oddly sympathetic.

5 comments about Dr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun.

1. I found this to be a very interesting book to read. Wernher von Braun is one amazing man and and lived a very different and amazing life. This books gives you a bit of a look inside the man, what made him tick. There are a lot of interviews with people who worked with him or new him. The book is well written and is a must read if you are into the history of the NASA space program.



2. I really enjoyed this book. I worked at ABMA and later NASA during the late 1950's and early 1960's as a student trainee and it was pretty heady stuff for a young guy from South Georgia to be involved with members of Dr. Von Braun's team. Ward provides excellent insights into Dr. von Braun as an individual and his role in the nation's "space race". While at times it comes across as a little " promotional" it's an excellent story and makes one wonder what our space efforts would be like today if had he been chosen as head of NASA



3. Many rocket history buffs will review this book very closely, and be very critical if it doesn't treat every aspect of their personal interests completely. This book will fall short for many, depending on an individual's particular interest niche'. Criticizing this book in such a way is crazy.....it's a fine historical read. If you want in-depth technical descriptions of his works, then research those specifically. Similarly, if you want to dwell on the moral aspects of being a Nazi rocket researcher, then research that on its own. But, on balance, if you want to read about a man who rose to prominance "on the wrong side of the tracks," where his brilliance thrived, and how that transformed the modern era into the space age, then read this book. It's a great book about a great mind.



4. The novel Dr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun is written as a biography to show the main events in the life of Dr. von Braun. Although the book does not strictly follow a timeline of his life, it does basically follow the course of his life from his early childhood until his death in 1977. The book highlights his early promise as a musician but then shows how he became fascinated by rockets and the stars through small experiments and a telescope. The book then goes on to show his rise from firing rockets with a group of young enthusiasts to heading the German army's rocket development throughout World War II. After the war, von Braun heads to the United States where he and his team work on all kinds of missiles. All the while, von Braun attempts to convince the American government to allow him to develop a space program. The novel then follows his incredible career as a designer for the rockets that launched the first U.S. satellite into space and also carried the first man to the moon. This story is given added credibility by the fact that the author was a newspaper writer in von Braun's adopted hometown of Huntsville and knew the scientist personally. He writes the novel to share his opinions on the life and work of Wernher von Braun. The book is a good read for anyone with an interest in history and especially for anyone who is fascinated by rocketry. Since von Braun is the father of the American space program and a pioneer in the field of rocketry, this work is a great read for anyone with an interest in science.



5. The old admonish about never judging a book by its cover is very apropos to Dr. Space. The book's jacket touts this biography as a "...rare, balanced study..." of Von Braun's life. Sadly, that isn't the case. Ward clearly states that he had met Von Braun more than once. Those interactions obviously left Ward with favorable impressions of the man, which end up shaping the portrayal of his subject. Von Braun is depicted as an almost super-human being that was loved by most, but despised by a jealous, inferior few who made the end of his life miserable. Even Von Braun's faults, toward which a chapter is dedicated, are depicted not as flaws in character but as mild eccentricities and naughtiness. Yet, Von Braun's career strongly hints that he was a firm believer that (at least professionally) the ends justified the means. A more balanced biography would have the explored this aspect of Von Braun's personality further.
   
   The reader is especially shortchanged in the depiction of Von Braun's technical skills. Von Braun is primarily shown in the workplace as a cheerleader type manager who got the best from his staff. Virtually none of his technical accomplishments are mentioned, leaving the reader to wonder why a good manager would be awarded the National Medal of Science and ranked second on the list of the 100 "Stars of Aerospace". While detailed technical descriptions might be over the head of some readers (after all, most of us aren't rocket scientists), some illustration would have been helpful to appreciate Von Braun's creativity.
   
   With the atrophying of the U.S. space program and the time that's passed since his death, the general public's knowledge and appreciation of Von Braun is sadly fading from memory. A good biography of this rocketry giant would restore the widespread respect that he deserves. Unfortunately, Dr. Space is just a warm up to that more definitive biography which has yet to be written.

5 comments about From Private to General: An African American Soldier Rises Through the Ranks.

1. The story of Gen. Curry is inspirational. He describes some of the obstacles he faced in the military because of his ethnic background from the viewpoint of an overcomer, rather than a victim. His integrity and courage stand out. His faith in God is part of the story, but his wife's book, "The General's Lady," gives much more detail on the spiritual side of their family.



2. Some men are born to greatness and from his childhood, Jerry Curry was destined for great things. With a lot of hard work and determination everything that Jerry set his hand to do was successful. I found "From Private to General: An African American Soldier Rises Through the Ranks" an interesting read from a enlisted point of view. Many times we enlisted men are blind to the difficulties that officers have to deal with. Often when talking with my twin brother who is a "West Point" graduate we discussed how politics often are a part of advancing in rank. What is the old adage; "It isn't what you know, but who you know." And this is so very true of those who compete for higher rank.
   
   On the down side, I felt that many times instead of reading an autobiography, I was reading a dissertation on the evils of racism. There are many powerful lessons that the American culture had to learn since the abolition of slavery. We must learn from our mistakes or be doomed to repeat them. But even with the cards stacked against him, Jerry Curry, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ was able to overcome and advance. Is not this after all is the primary mission of the military; to overcome and advance.



3. The extraordinary journey of an extraordinary man! What a great read!



4. This book is an enjoyable read with an inside look at military life from the General's professional and personl life. Teacher's should take note! This would be excellent material for a character education segment of curriculum. It's riveting and heartfelt with a lot of perserverance against all odds thrown in. Your students will be inspired to be excellent and hard working.



5. A great read from start to finish. If you enjoy history, the military or stories of personal success, this book is for you. General Curry personifies what it is to be an American, and his book elucidates this perfectly. As an American you can accomplish anything by dreaming big, working hard and following after God.
   
   Todd Morrisson

5 comments about Robert E. Lee: A Biography.

1. This is a fine biography of Lee, though not necessarily the best. In an attempt to provide new insights the author seems to stretch the evidence in areas that just don't add up. The insinuation that Lee's flirtations with women were less than innocent is just speculation that takes away from the book. The author does a good job of explaining the little things that Lee had to deal with in his life. He comes off human. Lee has to deal with parenting and marital issues. In one incident his wife embarrasses him by causing him to overdraft his bank account. I thought the book's strength was the period of the last year of the war until Lee's death. Here we see Lee struggling with his helplessness in the face of Grant's ever tightening noose. Realizing the inevitable, Lee becomes testy with his staff and subordintes. Finding defeat certain Lee ponders the advantages of death over the agony of surrender. I thought the post-war years were covered very well. Lee doesn't just retire to academic life, he has to deal with the headaches of reconstruction. Whether it involved his students attacking freedmen or having to personally testify to federal agents, his post-war years were challenging. In the end Lee faces these challenges with the courage and character for which he is so rightly famous. This book is worth a read.



2. This is the best book on the market of its kind. It is a fascinating and intimate look into the personal and public life of one of the most revered figures of the Civil War. Robert E. Lee was not a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, and only a handful of very close friends, most of them women, really knew what made him tick. This work exposes his private flaws while celebrating his public strengths. Best of all, it transforms him from the symbolic marble statue which time has created, into the human being that he really was.



3. Thomas' book offers a fascinating insight into United States history during the early and mid parts of the nineteenth century. Lee's early career and his family life are treated in great and revealing detail. Robert E. Lee emerges as a man of exceptionally high principles and as a concerned, (but at a distance) father), of seven children. However, to one's great disappointment, Lee emerges from the book as an enigmatic man whom it is difficult to like. A very good read.



4. Emory Thomas gives a southerners perspective on the life of Robert E. Lee. The preface of this book gives the reader a sense that they will be given a pro-southern view of the war and while that is true at times the biography is generally balanced well. Lee is portrayed as a hero which he was to the south and shown as a military genius which was mostly true. Lee accomplished amazing things by bold actions and the principles of movement and concentration. This book tracks his childhood where he lived in the shadow of a father who was a failure. It then moves to his years at West Point where he excelled and graduated at the top of his class. He was given several assignments across the country from building a fort in Savannah to defending the Mississippi near St. Louis. He even spent time in New York City rebuilding forts there before heading off to war in the 1848 Mexican American War. Lee served with distinction in the war and learned a great deal from Winfield Scott about fighting an offensive war with smaller numbers than the enemy. He would take these lessons to heart against the north.
   Lee would refuse both the United States Army and the Confederacy when they offered him posts in their armies. It was only when his home state of Virginia left the union that he accepted command of all Virginia militias. As the militias were absorbed into the army Lee found himself without a command. Jefferson Davis would use Lee as a roving advisor helping to make overall strategic decisions, a sort of Halleck of the South initially. Lee would eventually take command of the army once Johnston was sent out to command the Army of Tennessee. This would be a post that Lee kept throughout the entire war. Lee was able to achieve stunning victories by daring action but in the end resources were against him. Lee correctly believed that his army had to achieve victory very quickly because a war of attrition favored the north. Unfortunately for Lee he was at times too bold and all of the battles are categorized well here. For a book written in 1995 there is a good deal of attention paid to the west which is now considered a vital battlefield. Lee was forced to surrender after a vicious battle near Appomattox courthouse where PA miners actually blew up a whole underneath his army. Lee won daring defensive victories but each time his army was smaller and his position more tenuous. After the war Lee accepted a post to become President of Washington College in Lexington. It was a post he would excel at. Lee would not become a citizen of the union until historians discovered his petition in 1975 when Congress made him a citizen again. This biography provides an excellent and balanced look at Robert E. Lee's life. I would highly recommend for Civil War scholars who want an updated biography and one that is not too biased in one direction.



5. Emory Thomas promises to deploy the cool eye and analytical prowess of the historian to present a Lee much more vulnerable and flawed than that portrayed in Douglas Southall Freeman's titanic classic, R.E. Lee. And I certainly learned a lot about Robert E. Lee from Thomas's book. He does a good job of summarizing Lee's eventful life and his character, and shows why this defeated Confederate retains a more potent place in American history than most of those who won the Civil War.
   
   I was most struck by his insight that Lee was a man whose deeds were more important that his words. Lee never wrote his memoirs. He gave no important speeches and left no pithy quotes. His letters were pedestrian and full of thoughts on household economy, family vacations, and the fates of various pets. To understand Lee, you have to look at how his actions revealed traits like honesty, courage, and grace. Lee embodied what every Southerner aspired to be. For many, he still does.
   
   On a personal level, I also liked reading about Lee's careers as engineer, soldier, and educator. It's reassuring to realize that famous historical figures were actually fellow human beings who suffered the same frustrations as anybody else.
   
   When Thomas strayed from his historian role, I found the book less satisfying. He puts Lee on the couch, psychoanalyzing his thoughts about God and his relationships with his ne'er-do-well father, self-sacrificing mother, crabby wife, and underachieving kids. I saw precious little evidence for some of Thomas's conclusions.
   
   Similarly, I was shocked at the harsh and unsympathetic portrait that Thomas paints of Mary Lee. I was disturbed to realize that Thomas cherry-picked quotes from both Robert and Mary's letters to make Mary look bad, and I wonder why it was so important to him to do so.

4 comments about Fading Victory: The Diary of Admiral Matome Ugaki, 1941-1945.

1. The central issue in an autobiography is the character of its author. Ugaki's is replete with what he calls "Navy fighting spirit." He's sentimental, about family, lost friends and Nature. He's positive, in the worst circumstances. He's the quintissential naval officer; but, like Halsey, his strengths are also weaknesses. He understands his enemy, but underestimates him. He attacks when he should consolidate or retreat. He divides forces in the face of an enemy of unknown strength. He always "takes the bait." He never questions the logic of serving a government that has no more steering than a barge. Because his book reveals what he knew and when he knew it, it corrects misappreciations on both sides. It also exculpates Truman for dropping the Bomb, as it describes Japan's reserves hoarded against invasion and records fanatical desire to use them to the last man. Why did Ugaki commit suicide?--to take responsibility, obliged to atone for failing. He says his death will help keep alive naval spirit until Japan can rise again. Like other fascists, he blames men, not their ideology, for defeat, while looking forward to the next war. Despite his penchant for poetry, Ugaki is not a complicated man. He deserves the respect due to all those who live by a code not of their own making. His book is a study of one such man. I found it difficult to read, because of the form imposed on it as a diary and the ubiquitous feeling that Ugaki is writing for History. Read this book after you've read others about the Pacific War; it pulls missing pieces together--for example, that the Japanese were reading Allied codes, too. For a first-hand look at the consequences of decisions Ugaki made in abstraction, read Tamaichi Hara's "Japanese Destroyer Captain."



2. Though I am a Japanese American born after WWII, I wanted to know what was going through the minds of the Japanese in Japan who decided to bomb Pearl Harbor and get involved in the conflict. This book got me about as close as I could get to talking to someone high up and powerful in the Japanese naval command. The highs, the lows, the delusions, the misconceptions, the hopes, aspirations - they are all clearly laid out. The account of Yamamoto's death and Ugaki's survival is better than an Indiana Jones-tale. The main thing you come away with is this man's patriotism and devotion to a misguided cause. Ugaki and Japan seriously misjudged their strength versus the power and resources of the United States and their allies.



3. Anyone who calls themselves a true historian of the Pacific War should read this book. There are a variety of things that make this "Fading Victory" unique and important. First and foremost, Ugaki was one of Japan's leading military men and he was privy to the Japanese planning of much of the Pacific War. His mistakes, conceptions of the wartime situation, and commentary on the Allied victories and defeats create a new dimension to the Pacific War that standard histories do not provide. Furthermore, the account, unlike other wartime accounts, was not doctored or recalled years after the event. This means that what Ugaki wrote in, say June 4, 1942, is how Ugaki perceived the situation as it happened. Finally, "Fading Victories" also details the gradual defeat of Japan and how a Japanese patriot perceived it. It is almost sad to hear Ugaki in 1945 speak of countering raids by hundreds of American planes with a mere handful of Jpanese aircraft. If this were not enough, Ugaki also writes extremely well and the editors did a fantastic job of correcting him and presenting what really happened. The net result is that Ugaki's own biases become readily apparent. Do not pass this one up!



4. I wondered whether this was going to be a boring self-serving narrative, but once I started reading it, it was so interesting that I couldn't stop. Ugaki details his day to day activities and lets you know his opinions and insights as he goes along. You get to like the guy, even though you know, in some cases, he's trying to fool himself about who's going to win the war. He is involved in just about everything in the Pacific War, and he narrates nicely. One of the best parts that you look forward to is where he and Yamamoto are shot down by U.S. planes. (Yamamoto is killed, but Chief of Staff Ugagki survives miraculously.) - The editor of this book every now and then corrects Ugaki (in italics) when Ugaki makes claims, such as ships sunk and planes shot down. This is extremely helpful, else you might think like Ugaki. This way you can sort of analyze Ugaki and where he's coming from. - Ugaki, the consumate samurai ends the book by demanding a kamakazi plane so he can die gloriously by sinking an enemy ship. He is unsuccessful. In the end, you sort of like and admire the guy. Very good reading if you are into the Japanese version of the Pacific War.

5 comments about A Secret Life: The Polish Officer, His Covert Mission, and the Price He Paid to Save His Country.

1. Move over, James Bond! Instead of repeating other reviewers, let's focus mostly on the intelligence-gathering aspects of this thriller.
   
   Imagine that you're Ryszard Kuklinski. The best way to avoid excessive surveillance by Communist counterintelligence is to make your daily routine as predictable as possible. You get a dog so that you can stroll around the neighborhood naturally. You give and receive signals to and from your contacts with chalk marks on the pavement. (These sometimes get washed away). You use your wife's iron to reveal messages in invisible ink, and take up hobby photography as a cover for photography of another kind.
   
   You dislike dead-drops because, for one thing, someone else might stumble upon them. You use the brush pass. As you walk per your usual routines, you turn into one of those impossible-to-predict labyrinthic streets so that you are out of prying eyes for a few precious seconds. During this time, you exchange packages with another agent.
   
   The brush passes go uneventfully--until one night. No sooner is it completed than you are hit by the headlights of a car. You try to duck into a side street but your move is anticipated. Finally, you shake off the pursuer. Were you seen well enough by the driver to be positively identified? You think/hope not. But just in case, you get a haircut. Luckily this time, you are safe.
   
   Even little slip-ups can be killers. At one point, your son finds a secret note that you had carelessly taped too lightly on the underside of a piece of furniture. You cannot account for a roll of film, and your colleagues speak of the discovery of a "spy film". (It later turns up in the pocket of your seldom-used shirt). At another time, you are in another world, and you crash face-first into a pillar while carrying sensitive information. Nice way to be unobtrusive!
   
   Picture yourself (pardon the pun) getting caught red-handed, by an officer entering the room, taking surreptitious photos of classified documents. You act normal, but cannot get over the fear that the officer has seen exactly what you were doing and will report you. Then, when nothing seems to happen, you still fear that you are being carefully monitored so that the Communist counterintelligence can trace your contacts and then trap everyone.
   
   You had better not carry a gun because, if you use it and then seek refuge in the US Embassy, the Communist authorities may have legal grounds to have you turned over to them. You fully realize that, if caught, you will be tortured into divulging information, and then be executed. Besides, the Communists will make a spectacle of you for propaganda purposes. For this reason, you request a suicide pill from the CIA. They at first refuse, fearing that an agent may take it in a moment of panic, or that the discovery of the poison could itself be used for propaganda purposes. But in the end the CIA provides the pill--inside a pen.
   
   In any Soviet-NATO war, Poland would be the route for 95% of the Soviet military advance. Poland would then get hit with 400-600 nuclear bombs in an attempt to stop the Soviet advance without escalating the conflict into a full-blown Soviet-US nuclear holocaust (p. 16). No wonder Kuklinski realized that Poland was doomed! (Some conspiracy-minded Poles suggested that the Polack joke syndrome had been a concerted effort to demean Poland so that the American public wouldn't protest too much the future destruction of Poland).
   
   Kuklinski's achievements were staggering: Tens of thousands of highly-classified Soviet documents passed on to the US (p. 300). And that was just the beginning. After his flight to the US, Kuklinski provided much information during his debriefing. May he be forever honored, and rest in peace!



2. "A Secret Life" is a gripping read for two key reasons. First and foremost, it is a suspenseful espionage tale with unpredictable twists and turns. To me, it even stands among the best fictional works of that genre by Le Carre and Ludlum.
   
   The second reason is more holistic. The author, New York Times journalist Benjamin Weiser, has gotten at Kuklinski's heart and managed to successfully explore his motives and ethical dilemma for providing intelligence to the CIA. Kuklinski did not make this decision lightly. He felt morally obligated to do so, and his reasons for doing so are clearly spelled out in the book. When you read about these reasons, it's very difficult to disagree with him. (I do not understand the reviewers who call him a traitor.)
   
   I would recommend this book regardless of whether you are pro- or anti-CIA. Some reviewers here claim that Weiser's purpose was to naively lavish the agency with biased praise. In his introduction, however, Weiser references the "justified criticism" that the organization has endured due to its activities over the years, and goes on to say that Kuklinski's story demonstrates that human intelligence operations can succeed brilliantly, and should serve as an example for such future operations.



3. Gen. Kuklinski's efforts against a communist system controlled by an outside power seems commendable on the outside, but what everyone here seems to forget is that the same CIA that worked with Kuklinski, supposedly to 'fight communist tyrrany' was the same one involved in overthrowing legitimate governments, repressing independence movements, funding terrorism, assasinating foreign leaders who did not see eye to eye with US government policies and interests as well as many other unpleasant acts that sadly too many people either do not know about or do not care to remember.
   
   What Gen. Kuklinski did or did not do is known only to him and his CIA handlers. But things in this book must be taken with a grain of salt. In the cold war, the CIA was notorious for anti-Soviet false flag operations and disinformation propaganda. I only read half of the book and did not bother finishing it. Some of the events might have been outright fabrications.
   As far as whether Gen. Kuklinski was a traitor or patriot in the end really depends on which side one is on. To Gen. Jaruzelski, Kuklinski is a traitor while to some CIA official Kuklinski is a hero. But let's take it from another angle: Suppose Gen. Kuklinski's espionage efforts resulted in a covert CIA Op which ended up killing a bunch of Polish civilians? How would that be seen?
   What is Gen. Kuklinski's legacy? It is one of selling out one miserable SOB to another miserable SOB, for a price.



4. Weiser's detailed and measured tale of Kuklinski's historical contribution to Cold War espionage is to be read and enjoyed. His story is taut and thrilling and reminds one of a good John Le Carre novel. Beyond the issue of whether Kuklinski is a hero or traitor to the Polish nation [which is fairly raised and detailed by the author], Weiser never loses control of the subject matter, and, of the abundant documentation he uncovered in his unique access to CIA records. He instills Kuklinski with humanity and sense of Polish nationalism. A fine work to be read and enjoyed.



5. "Sometimes it's not enough to do what is right, sometimes one must do what is necessary." Ryszard Kuklinski knew what was right, did what was necessary...and paid a terrible price.
   
   Benjamin Weiser's riveting work A SECRET LIFE, on Polish hero Ryszard Kuklinski, is an enlightening look back into the dark intrigue, personal danger, and moral dilemmas surrounding one military officer's private battles to liberate his country from totalitarianism. Most importantly, this work shatters the left-wing's liberal illusion of "peaceful coexistence" with a communist system whose very raison d' etre is the destruction of freedom, democracy and enslavement of the West.
   
   Kuklinski saw internal conflict to evict the alien system imposed upon his country by the USSR--as opposed to connivance or the wishful thinking of ideological transformation through "gradualism," favored by some of his Polish General Staff contemporaries, who, for lack of courage or personal gain, fully cooperated with their harsh Soviet task masters--as the only realistic option for peace in the face of Poland's likely nuclear annihilation, had war ensued with the United States. He dared to act accordingly, becoming an agent of change feeding top-secret Warsaw Pact military information to the CIA; thereby, tipping the balance of power in favor of liberty, while loosening the demoralizing death-grip of communist rule over Eastern Europe, as a de facto one-man Polish Underground.
   
   When considering the totality of personal sacrifice and enormity of danger faced by Kuklinski, in his nearly solitary and single-handed struggle against radical, state-sponsored evil--who carried a suicide pill to end his life if caught and was sentenced to death, in absentia, by the Polish Military Court--moral giants like Kurt Gerstein and Aleksander Solzhenitsyn come to mind. It saddens me that former communist collaborators or sympathizers, like Aleksander Kwasniewski, were celebrated or elevated to significant post-Soviet leadership positions and societal prominence, while the country remains bitterly divided over Kuklinski, who has yet to be nationally vindicated, though history has already done so.
   
   Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzesinski said it best when he honored him with the words traditionally reserved for decorating Polish soldiers: "Pan sie dobrze Polsce zasluzyl: You have served Poland well." Rest in peace Colonel Kuklinski.

5 comments about Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War, 1941-1945.

1. Agents are being air dropped into Nazi occupied France to aid the underground, and they are being captured
   as soon as they land. The British have to find out why all of their activities are known to the Nazis. Leo Marks,
   a 21 year old puzzle genius is put in charge of coding and decoding information going in and out of Britain. This sounds like a formula movie, but is what really happened during WWII, and it is fascinating, exciting and often touching. There is no doubt in this conflict who the good guys are, and this look at what was really happening during this era is hard to put down. It is well written and a real adventure.



2. I was about to direct the play "Breaking the Code" and plucked this book from somewhere because I thought it would provide background. The project fell through so I put the book aside thinking that it would be extremely dry and technical - not exactly what you want on your nightstand. Two years go by. I had finished my current read and was desperate for something else to tide me over until the next right book came along - Between Silk and Cyanide came off the shelf and I could NOT put it down.
   
   The code war has always been a fascination of mine. I'm convinced that the arm of British Intelligence which created codes for agents working under the most horrific circumstances strong-armed and thwarted the German war machine as handily and Churchill, Montgomery and Eisenhower (better late than never, I always say). These agents of Britain, the Free French and the DeGaulle French (there were two French sections for reasons which are stated in the book but will come as no surprise to anyone who has encountered the French on any level. Talk about Resistance), the Dutch, the Scandinavians were so gallant and selfless.
   Leo Marks, young, smart code-maker extraordinaire, does justice to their incredible bravery while providing insight into the machinations of the code war the success of which was paramount to the war effort.
   
   And he's funny. It's rather like Black Adder going forth to fight the war in the quintessentially British fashion with many bewildering dicta handed down from on high without the obvious plausibility of sound judgment. Or so it appears to Marks, at 23, who can recognize a good black market cigar and a pretty FANY when he sees one and also a true hero.
   
   It's technical but like Shakespeare if you read it quickly enough, you get the gist. The miracle is that understatement, self-deprecation and imagination can win a war. Those who have no sense of humour will never conquer.



3. I found this via a web search for 84 Charing Cross Road; I started reading the eval pages online, and loved it so much that I ordered it immediately.
   
   I fun and interesting read...I simply didn't want it to end.
   
   I'm getting it for my granddaddy, who was in WWII.



4. I'm surprised to find this wonderful book had no Amazon reviews yet. I offer mine as a stopgap since it's based on memory. The physical book was mailed to a friend several years ago.
   
   I found it remarkable for several reasons: 1) that it concerned an obscure branch of British intelligence of which I'd been ignorant; 2) it was wonderfully readable, straight to the point without being terse (often being laugh-out-loud funny), and 3) it deftly profiled the inner functioning of an often dysfunctional agency charged with life & death security decisions for its field agents in occupied France. The immense consequences of wartime intelligence decisions, and the curiously whimsical internal judgements and happenstance events on which they turn are highlighted with a light-hearted irony that I found irresistible.
   
   If you want a dry catalogue of official events clothed in academic prose and interminable footnotes, skip this. If you read history for insight into human nature or the pure pleasure of a good read this is your book.



5. Between Silk and Cyanide is a humorous and engaging account of code making in England during World War II. Leo Marks was not good enough to be sent to Bletchley Park for code breaking, instead he was sent to work on code making and teaching people who were to be sent to Europe how to encode their messages. He was immediately appalled at how insecure the British codes were. The book is about his fight to make better, more secure codes and make sure that no messages that were received where indecipherable.

3 comments about Yank: Memoir of a World War II Soldier (1941-1945) - From the Desert War of North Africa to the Allied Invasion of E.

1. I found this book nearly as compelling as Charles McDonald's "Company Commander," for about the same reasons--fresh, unemotional, unadorned details, etc. I don't know why it took until 2006 to publish a manuscript written in 1946 or so, but that's beside the point. The effect was to take me back in time, as if I were standing at Elsworth's side, fight off German attacks and counter-attacks with meager resources and almost no intelligence (information). It seems taking prisoners was a commander's option, and this worked for both sides. Times change, of course, but somehow the most gruesome elements of war remain the same. The details of his captivity and liberation are worth reading, if nothing else.



2. Ted Ellsworth's World War II memoir YANK is simply amazing. Ted is able to write in a balanced manner about the actual events of the war and his own actions and feelings. The memoir is truly incredible. Ted takes the reader with him through his journey as a solider, from fighting for the British in Africa, to Italy, to France and Poland. Ted having been captured with his fellow American soldiers, is brought to a POW camp in Poland, where he vividly illustrates his life in the POW camp. Ted faces death many times but he always escapes it, and eventually returns home to his wife Barbara in his small hometown of Dubuque, Iowa. Ted's experience is remarkable and YANK captures the thoughts, questions, beliefs, and raw emotions of a young American World War II solider.



3. "Yank", the late Ted Ellsworth's memoir of his World War II service, is a compelling, first-hand account of a soldier's life in those dangerous times. Newly married, Ellsworth and his friend Tom Braden joined the British Army in the autumn of 1941, before America had officially entered the hostilities. He served under General Montgomery in Africa, then transferred to the American Army and saw action in Italy and France and spent time in a German POW camp in Poland, before being liberated by the Russians. His travails after liberation are as tense and grueling as what he had faced fighting against the Germans.
   The book covers nearly four years of Ellsworth's life, in which he experienced more danger and excitement than most of us will encounter in our entire lifetimes. The prose is not flowery or literary, but it is literate and honest and gives the reader a chance to see those difficult years through the eyes of someone who was there, and who lived them. At times, particularly in the first half of the book, there are passages that seem like stream of consciousness collages of things that happened or things he observed that he recalled but apparently felt did not merit detailed examination. This helps to quicken the pace of the book; Ellsworth glides through the less important events to get to the ones that matter, the accounts of making friends - and losing them - in the maelstrom of war. Once begun, this is an impossible book to put down, and an important reminder of the sacrifices of previous generations.