5 comments about In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War.

1. 
   In the Hands of Providence is a very well researched look of the life of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Alice Turlock presents a definitive biography of this modest professor from Bowden College, who met challenge after challenge to become one of the greatest leaders in Civil War history. Chamberlain had extraordinary observational and superb writing skills. His persistence at recording the historic events, which included his emotional reactions, gave Trulock's wonderful historic accounts for her book.
   The book starts by giving us an in depth look at his obscure Christian upbringing in rural Maine, and follows his processes of becoming a great young man. He was an exceptional college student, receiving the praise of his instructors. He was also highly regarded by his neighbors and towns' folk alike. Many considered him to have the highest moral and ethical standard. He was so trusted and respected as a young man in his home town that an older business man of Maine, who was an acquaintance of Chamberlain's, entrusted him with the dealings of his estate.
   
   While finishing his studies at Bowden, Chamberlain married his sweetheart Frances Caroline Adams. They had a very close and loving relationship. But during the war, the constant distance between them put a great deal of strain on their relationship. After graduation, he accepted a position as a professor at Bowden, and held that position for several years. Chamberlain maintained a very close relationship with his family, and he was especially close to his father in law George Adams.
   
   When the war broke out in 1861, Chamberlain ask for a leave of absence from Bowden to enlist, but was turned down. Not to be left out of the war, he again applied for a sabbatical to study in Europe, and this time it was granted. He had no intentions on going to Europe, and instead immediately enlisted in the army as a lieutenant colonel, and never looked back. He played a huge role in the recruitment of the men for a regiment, which would later come to be known as the 20th Maine.
   
   With no military experience, Chamberlain showed great promise in his leadership shills and military expertise. He became friends with his unit's commander, Colonial Ames, who became his tutor. According to Trulock, Chamberlain held a great deal of respect and admiration for Ames, and he gave Ames credit for his military success.
   
   Trulock's description of Chamberlain's military life is extraordinary, and she supplies us with great details about the battles in which he was involved. At the battle of Antietam, Chamberlain was not directly involved in the fighting but was brought up in reserve the next day. Trulock gives a very vivid description of horror that Chamberlain witnessed upon arriving at the battlefield that day where 22,000 lay dead or wounded on the field. It was the bloodiest, one day battle in the Civil War.
   
   Next, she transports us to the Fredericksburg, and the final assault by the North on Marye's Heights - the charge that involved the 20th of Maine. All the other divisions that day were either driven back, laid dead or wounded on the field. She describes tremendous courage that Chamberlain and his men showed as they made their charge on the now famous wall at Marye's Heights, the wall that was heavily guarded by Confederates. The division suffered great loses that late afternoon. They remained among the dead or wounded for 2 days and nights before the order was given to retreat.
   
   The episode in history that Chamberlain is most remember for is the courage and heroism he displayed at the battle of Gettysburg. He was ordered to the top of a hill known as The Little Round Top where he was placed at the far left flank. There, Chamberlain was instructed to hold that position at all cost. The 20th Maine repelled assault after assault by the Confederates that day. When ammunition ran out, Chamberlain ordered a bayonet charge, an event that many historians say was the turning point of the Civil War.
   
   Trulock also gives a very detailed account of the battle of Petersburg, where Chamberlain was horribly wounded. After hearing of his heroic actions during the battle, General Grant immediately promoted Chamberlain on the battlefield to Brigadier General. This was the only battlefield promotion ever issued by Grant. Somehow, Chamberlain survived his wound, due to the skilled surgery that was preformed on him that night and next day. Chamberlain's two close friends, Dr. Shaw and Dr. Townsend worked for hours repairing the damage inflicted by the mini ball. The wound he received that day would trouble him all of his life and required numerous surgery's to repair the damage.
   
   His persistent heroism and outstanding leadership were the deciding factor when Grant chose Chamberlain to receive the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. He showed great respect for his fellow countrymen that day when he gave the order to his men to give a solders salute to the surrendering confederate men. His honorary actions that day were later critized by many people.
   
   This book contains a lot of historic photos of Chamberlain's family, friends, fellow soldiers and numerous battle maps. The book also gives a great account of Chamberlain's life as Governor of Maine and President of Bowden College, but these accounts do not compare to the bravery and patriotic devotion that Chamberlain displayed during the Civil War. His actions made him a hero to his men, and the country he served.
   
   Trulock has given us a great biography, not only one of the Civil War's greatest commanders, but one of the United States most distinguished citizens. The book flows very smoothly while covering details of battles that would interest even the most die hard Civil War enthusiast.
   
   Finally, a book that does justice to an astonishing person. I highly recommend this book.



2. Chamerlain's heroism is similar to Teddy Roosevelt, Alvin York, and Audie Murphy who came behind him, but have been better publicized.
   
   The difference is that his act of confidence, courage and decisiveness may have been the one that changed the outcome of the Civil War, the 1864 election and the future of America.
   
   In The Hands of Providence is the story of Chamberlain's exemplary character before, during and after that momentum changing moment. All Americans should read and learn this story.
   
   - Richard V. Battle - Author of The Four Letter Word That Builds Character



3. I found Alice Trulock's biography on Joshua L. Chamberlain to be quite readable, well researched and well grounded. Considering the length of the book, Trulock's book read quite well for most readers of any level. Well, it may not be good as the one written by John Pullen but it definitely is superior to the one written by Edward Longacre. I put that in just for comparison purpose.
   
   I think this biography may served as a good introduction to Chamberlain who's name have definitely reached near mythological level nowadays among Civil War readers thanks to Jeff Daniels and his role in that movie "Gettysburg". Of course, most readers would probably be disappointed that Jeff Daniel's portaryal of Chamberlain will not jive with Joshua Chamberlain of Trulock's book.
   
   The biography covers all aspects of Chamberlain's life. The book does a good job covering Chamberlain's military career which proves to be the most important period of his life from which Chamberlain's life will be centered around until his death. I do wish to make a point here. He died at the age of 86, a very ripe old age and I doubt if his wounds he got from Petersburg really hasten his death, it may have cause him a lot of pain but even in modern days, most people don't live that long!
   
   Overall, an very good biography on one of Union's more natural soldiers. A non-professional who performed better then most professional soldiers.



4. The Duke of Wellington supposedly stated that it is impossible for a Christian to serve in the military. Too bad he wasn't around during the American Civil War! Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from the South and Joshua Chamberlain and Otis Howard from the North are notable exceptions to Wellington's thesis.
   
   Trulock has written what is the best account of the hero of Little Round Top and who personally oversaw the surrender of Confederate troops at Appamattox.
   
   Among the important events in Chamberlain's life covered include:
   
   1. Birth and Christian upbringing in rural Maine.
   2. His days as a student and adminstrator at Bowdoin College.
   3. His early Civil War service including the formation of the famous 20th Maine Regiment.
   4. Fascinating accounts of his involvement in major Civil War battles: Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg, and other engagements.
   5. The horrible wound suffered at Petersburg that eventually killed him some 50 years later.
   6. His loving yet strained marriage to Frances Caroline Adams.
   7. Postwar public service as President of Bowdoin College and Governor of Maine.
   
   Reading the book was a joy - the narrative flowed smoothly while covering several details of a fascinating character. The author managed to keep the story from becoming too bogged down in dry detail without insulting the reader's intelligence. Oh, how I wish more biographies were written like this!
   
   The book also contains excellent battle maps and numerous photographs of the main characters: Chamberlain, his wife, parents, sister and brothers, many Civil War officers, and other important people in Joshua Chamberlain's life.
   
   All in all, an excellent and highly recommended read. Read and enjoy!



5. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was the epitome of the American citizen-soldier. Since the birth of the republic, American soldiers have left home and hearth to serve the nation and many of them have come home physically shattered and haunted by what they have seen while still others have not come home at all. Thrown into the breech, some of the citizen solders found they did not have the fortitude for what was asked of them while many others have excelled, performing better than graduates of West Point or Annapolis, America's most prestigious military academies. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a citizen soldier who became a great hero of the Civil War, a man who met challenge after challenge and became a great leader of men and afterward, the course of his life was forever altered. An academically inclined young man, Chamberlain left Bowdin College and his studies and teaching in theology to accept a lieutenant colonel's commission in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The modest young professor took part in most of the important battles of the North's Army of the Potomac. He was a participant in the Battle of Antietam, still the bloodiest single day in American history. Today, we can walk the battlefield off Sharpsburg Pike, in rural Maryland and see "Burnside's Bridge and the cornfields where so many men fell and get some small measure of what men like Chamberlain went through. We can also visit the battlefield at Fredericksburg and see the heights that he and his 20th Maine and the Union Army tried to take in bloody frontal assaults into the teeth of Confederate guns and under the pounding of their artillery on the hills. Today Chamberlain's comrades - as well as the fallen Confederate troops - are buried on the commanding heights they failed to take, one of the Civil War's bitter ironies. Colonel Chamberlain then immortalized himself at Gettysburg's Little Round Top where he anchored the Union left, repelling assault after assault and winning the day by leading a charge down the slope that broke the Rebel troops. He was given a general's star by General Grant at Petersburg and was honored to receive the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. His heroism and leadership qualities helped him win the Governorship of Maine no less than four times, after which he retired to the Presidency of Bowdin College, his alma mater. Alice Trulock who wrote this book, was not a professional writer and after her retirement from civic affairs, this book took her ten years of careful research, writing and rewriting to complete. She based her work on a great deal of new research and handles the account of infantry combat beautifully. Unfortunately, Trulock died before the book was released and so she wasn't able to accept the accolades that were due to her for such a well-written and moving biography of an emblematic Civil War figure.

3 comments about The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Vol. 2.

1. This book is a good subject for the Civil War buff that delves into the personal accounts of a general from birth to retirement. This a must companion for "Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Volume One."



2. General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher or bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.

   Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."

   Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.

   Though Grant's Memoirs were written 119 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them many times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.




3. General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher, bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.

   Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."

   Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.

   Though Grant's Memoirs were written 113 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them in! their entirity 30 times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.

5 comments about Gods of Tin: The Flying Years.

1. Gods of Tin is a book divided into three parts roughly equating to the authors various service assignments within the Air Force. The first section covers his time from enlistment to his flight training and onto the time where he was ready to ship out to Korea. The second part is a partial journal of his time (100 missions) spent flying F-86 fighters over North Korea and China during the Korean War and the third part details life as a pilot in the European theater during the cold war.
   
   The author has a distinctive style of writing that gives you the feeling of being on his shoulder while the events are unfolding. There are short, brutal sentences while he is writing in the journal, which capture the time there wonderfully, as the time was spent living in short brutal bursts. His imagery is impossible to describe for us mere mortals and must be read to be appreciated. A sort of poetry in sentence form would be the closest I could come to a description that would do the author's writing any justice.
   
   My only complaint, if it can be called one, is that the book is small, containing a mere 170 pages. I could have gone on reading this for days, and yet it was over so quickly.



2. If you want real literature without fiction, this is it.
   
   Prentiss Davis
   Truckee, CA



3. Having read some for the works from which this book takes much of its content I was prepared to be disappointed; however, Salter has woven the material into a much tighter and stronger work. It's clear that he looked back at the old material with improved writing skills and a more mature handling of the nature of warfare in the early days of the jets.
   
   He captures the isolation of these modern day knights of the air, the randomness of early aerial engagements in the first jet on jet conflict and one which was further complicated by the political restrictions which put the bases on the north side of the Yalu off limits. With the possible exception of the middle-east the Korean war probably marked the last engagement of large numbers of American aircraft in air to air combat over a small area.
   
   Highly recommended, especially for those who who have enjoyed his other works. Deserves a place on the bookshelf between Stranger to The Ground, Night Flight, Tom Wolfe's writings on flight and other literate classics on the challenge and characters in flying.
   
   For those wanting to know more about the why of the Korean air engagements Robert Cornan's "Boyd The Story of a Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Course of War" is most enlightening.
   
   Like Wind, Sand and Stars the book has a very broad appeal that is not limited to pilots. Great gift for someone who appreciates good writing.



4. This was my introduction to James Salter and it was the book that made me interested in his writing. One of the wonderful aspects about Gods is not simply that it contains Salters wonderful writing, but also that the editors have managed to collect the best pasages from a number of his books. After reading Cassada, Burning the Days and the Hunters, I returned to this volume and found that nearly every one of my favorite passages on flying (achieving competence or learning "equitation" as he puts it at one point) from these books appears in Gods. And a bonus are the excerpts from Salter's jounals as a fighter jock driving F-86s in combat in Korea: these sometimes read like poetry leaving an image that has the feel of a Turner watercolor -- a couple of colorful strokes that still give a strong sense of the energy and paradoxically tranquility of moments flying. Originally in Burning: "I will never see it again or, just this way all that is below. Some joys exist in retrospect, but not this, the serenity, the cities shining in detailed splendor."



5. Salter is a fine writer and an elegant stylist, with the ability to blend exquisite imagery and brute, violent action effortlessly, so that the reader feels transported into the situation he sets up.
   
   This edition of excerpts from three previous books, however, leaves me with a "Rip Off" feeling. Why not just read the books the two editors have ripped this material out of?
   
   The bonus I guess is the frank Korean War journal which has not been published.
   
   In his declining years Faulkner published a similar book BIG WOODS, composed largely of excerpts from books still in print, given his imprimatur as a volume of hunting stories, and his publishers encouraged Faulkner's audience to think of it as a new book by virtue of its new juxtapositions. Now Salter is getting the Faulkner treatment. So be it, but don't expect all the readers to be happy about paying money once again to a speciality publisher for a lot of stories we heard just a few years back when Salter published BURNING THE DAYS (1997). He's great and all but he's no William Faulkner.

5 comments about Out of the Depths.

1. I first heard of the story of the USS Indianapolis in the movie Jaws and then found out it was true. I originally wanted to read about it because of my interest in sharks but soon understood that it was a story that everyone should know about and appreciate what these men experienced. This is a first hand account and is a book I will read again.



2. This is really a tremendous read and the only first person account I'm aware of concerning the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. For those who might not know, she was sent on one of the most secret missions of World War Two, to deliver the bomb to the Island of Tinian.
   
   After dropping the bomb off she was sunk by a Japanese submarine. Hundreds of men went in the water only a few survived. This is their story as told by one of their own.
   
   The writer does a couple of things that are very interesting. First he draws upon his faith in God as his savior and passages of the bible to show how he survived and why. This was a refreshing view considering he was saved long before he entered the service. This was not a "fox hole confession" but the real thing.
   
   The other aspect of the book I liked was each chapter started with an account of the events by other survivors. This makes the book an outstanding resource for those interested in the events of the ship prior to its sinking, the event, and the scandal that followed her sinking.
   
   For the other side of the story you might want to check out Sunk! As written by the Japanese submarine commander who sank the Indianapolis.
   
   It is a nice, simple, quick read...but not for the weak of heart. A real memorial to the victims of this war.



3. I had read the book and wanted to meet the man behind the story. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Harrel a couple of years ago as he agreed to speak at our church. We need to hear these stories from our military veterans because their lives and experiences command our respect and admiration. Maybe if people could hear these stories it would inspire an increase in patriotism, something our country has forgotten. This book should be required reading for every child in America. It is truly an amazing account of God's providence.



4. It is unthinkable that the Navy could have covered up such a bad mistake. A lot of lives were lost because of someone's horrible mistake and misjudgement.



5. WE BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR OUR SON TO DO HIS RESEARCH EXPO ON. IT WAS SO INTERESTING THAT I READ IT ALSO. IT EXPLAINS THE SITUATION SO CLEAR. THIS IS A STORY I HAD NEVER KNOWN ABOUT UNTIL NOW. IT IS WRITTEN FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE BUT NEVER THROWS THAT IN YOUR FACE. IT IS WRITTEN VERY WELL. I ENCOURAGE ALL HISTORY BUFFS TO BUY AND READ THIS BOOK.

2 comments about A LEADER BORN: The Life of Admiral John Sidney McCain, Pacific Carrier Commander.

1. An excellent story of one of the senior commanders of the Navy in the Pacific during World War II. It also covers a lot of the interplay between the admirals as Admiral King selected men for high command positions.
   
   This book is a lot more forgiving of King than a lot of recent history that talks instead about his refusal to institute convoys along the American coast and left it open for U-boats. Cain was a King man. He knew, worked with, supported, and in turn was supported by King.
   
   Cain also appears to have been a supurb commander, and to have instituted a great set of attributes in his children and even grandchildren. This is particularily interesting as Cain III appears to be making a decision about running for Congress.



2. A LEADER BORN: The Life of Admiral John Sidney McCain, Pacific Carrier Commander
   by Alton Gilbert.
   
   Captain Gilbert has shown a keen insight into the leadership qualities of Admiral McCain. He also captures the complex interrelationship between Admiral McCain and his contemporary Naval commanders during World War II.
   Clyde T. Turner Jr.

4 comments about In the Shadow of the Mountain: The Spirit of the CCC.

1. This book should be required reading for every high school student. In the Shadow of the Mountain gives our generation an appreciation for the price that was paid by a great generation before us.
   JER



2. I became interested in learning more about the CCC when so many of the National and State parks that I visit had displays lauding the accomplishments of the CCC. Over 65 years later we're still enjoying the fruits of their labor! This book was my first attempt at reading more about them and I wasn't disappointed.
   
   Mr. Hill does a very good job describing his own personal experiences, those of his personal CCC buddies, and adds several other brief first-person accounts at the end. All together, the reader gets a good overall taste for what camp life was like and the tremendous accomplishments of this civilian army (some examples: 38,087 vehicle bridges, 83,548 miles of telephone lines, 5.9 million erosion check dams, 2.2 billion trees planted, 6.3 million mandays fighting forest fires). Woven throughout is a sense of just how brillant this government program was during the desperate times of the Depression--the CCC was simply a spectacular win-win for everyone.
   
   Overall, there seems to be a lack of good detailed histories and first-person accounts about the CCC. I cannot figure out why--so many lives were benefically influenced by the CCC and their successes are almost innumerable. "In the Shadow" was a great place to start learning more about the "We can take it" boys and has only whetted my appetite for more.



3. Mr. Hill does an excellent job of weaving the personal narratives of the "We Can Take It" boys with the potentially dry historical subject of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Not only do I now understand how the boys lived, what they did, how they felt, etc., but also how, why, and when the program began. It's a rich part of our history and one that each generation should know about. This is a book each family needs to include in their family library!



4. Although expecting a technical manual on the role of the Civilian Conservations Corps in the "New Deal" era, I was pleasently surprised at the direction this book takes. "In the Shadow of the Mountain" is a first person narative of life in two separate CCC camps, one on the east coast and one on the west. This book provides plenty of insight into the accomplishments of the CCC and of the daily life of its members. I highly recommend this book to those interested in the political and economic history of the Great Depression and beyond.

5 comments about My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope.

1. Absolutely necessary memoir, necessary as in memorable and self-serving for the diplomat-turned-colonial-governor Paul Bremer.
   
   Pulled from the private sector for the unique job of...governing a country we just invaded and that he knew nothing about, Bremer spent a year or so carefully writing mails, putting together presentations, and travelling around with big flak jackets as he carefully managed to wreck a country through a number of 'administrative' actions that probably made a lot of sense in his office. Included is the disbandment of the Iraqi army, which drove Al Qaeda recruiting to record highs and made the multi-gazillion dollar US investment in...an Iraqi army a future milestone to mark in PowerPoint. He tried to do the right thing, but darn it, Iraq was a tough company. Eventually, his software licenses expired and he had to pack it in and head home.
   
   I always knew PowerPoint was dangerous, but to read of it handled with such awesome power that it managed to literally tear apart a country in around a year, I can only imagine what he is doing in whatever job he now has in the private sector.



2. Hey L. Paul, you cost your country like 2 trillion dollars and a loasd of blood, can we have our Freedom Medal back?



3. Bremer's year in Iraq was the turning point in the Iraq war...a war that was not considered in is consequences by Bush or his cronyies, bomb first, think later if at all! It was a year when both security and economic issues were in desperate need of the best minds possible...instead we got Bremer. It is not that the endless problems that came up were entirely Bremer's fault, except in part..the war architects had not even minimally anticipated what would happen, thus they destroyed central leadership [....], then through bombing destroy resource basis, then through disbanding security forces (Bremer) unleashed competitive violence and underlyng ethnic conflict.amazing thatthey did not see it coming...incompetent and America and the Iraqis pay and pay and pay.........



4. I took great care to read this book slowly. See my list on Iraq Evaluations.
   
   Bremer is clearly a decent man, hard-working, totally clueless about Middle Eastern and military affairs, and put in a no-win situation by George Bush and Dick Cheney. Bremer bugged out after a year, and now, two years later, the Administration we have a quagmire and a possible attack on Iran building up.
   
   Quite incredulously, for me at least, Bremer actually sees Iraq as the crux of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and yet is totally oblivious to the fact that we created this battlefield opportunity for Iran and Al-Qaeda. See At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA
   
   Early on the book makes it clear that Iraqis were delighted to be liberated, dismayed at the occupation, and completely unable to agree among themselves about how to achieve a legitimate government capable of stabilizing and reconstructing the country.
   
   This is a very self-serving book, extraordinarily selective in its recollections. A few things that really struck me:
   
   1) This book starts without reference to the path to war paved by lies from the Vice President and other members of the Bush "team." It begins by saying that it was "widely accepted" that Weapons of Mass Destruction were the proper cause of the invasion. BALONEY. See instead Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq and Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
   
   2) There is ZERO discussion in this book of the massive role played by Halliburton, Bechtel, and others. There is ZERO discussion of the 18 billion dollars he had to work with and managed to lose, completely apart from the contracting. There is ample discussion about the pretense of progress, but ZERO discussion about the thousands of contracting failures, the abysmal failure of the entire reconstruction effort. See Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, Squandered Victory: The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq and a host of other books on our failures there, such as Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
   
   3) There is a lot of blame to direct elsewhere, clearly justified but not at all making up for the fact that Bush-Cheney lied to America and the world and created this mess:
   
   a) Chalabi was a constant irritant, obstruction, and general twit. This is the man who was fired by CIA for being a thief and a liar, convicted in Jordan of bank fraud, and still allowed by the US to be very active in Iraq.
   
   b) Wolfowitz's rosy predictions are labeled as "fantasy," and the author on more than one occasion talks about Doug Feith in a manner that is the diplomatic equivalent of General Frank's blunt statement in his own book: "the dumbest bastard on the planet." See Tommy Franks "American Soldier."
   
   c) The Governing Council created early on was lazy, working quarter days four days a week. They simply did not compute the demand for hard serious work.
   
   d) He takes General Jay Garner to task for allowing looting (ultimately 17 of 20 Ministry headquarters buildings were completely looted, as well as electrical and water plants and petroleum pumping stations), and also calls General Garner's 15 May turn-over plan a reckless fantasy. I posit instead that the neo-cons were sucked in by Iranian agent Chalabi and never realized how deep they were into fantasy land. I think Garner was close to getting it right early on.
   
   e) He very properly points out that he inherited a deep structural crisis, a country coming off fifty years of neglected infrastructure, with virtually every sector of society dysfunctional. For context see The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World and The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
   
   f) The CIA and the Marines shut down his attempt to arrest Muqtada Al-Sadt, the Shi'ite cleric that has since then completely disrupted the country.
   
   g) On more than one occasion the Spanish Army elements refused to fight and refused to follow direction. The Ukrainians also come in for direct criticism from Bremer.
   
   There are a number of absolutely fascinating tid-bits, a few of which are listed here:
   
   1) The Iraqi military had 16,000 generals while the US military (all of it, worldwide) has only 300.
   
   2) The military consisted largely of Sunni officers who abused enlisted Shi'ite soldiers.
   
   3) Saddam Hussein had implemented virtual starvation genocide against the Shi'ites, with severe malnutrition being the norm within that majority.
   
   4) Because of the complete breakdown of all sanitation measures, he estimates that 500,000 tons of human waste each day were dumped into the two rivers.
   
   5) Hussein printed money with inflation up to 100,000 per year--at the same time, 50% of all Iraqis said by the author to be unemployed when he arrived. [On this later point, he does not address the fact that the contractors received billions and instead of employing Iraqis, imported many other nationalities as slave wages.]
   
   6) In his view, there were three sources of instability: looters, die-hard Bathists, and the Mukhabarat paramilitary.
   
   7) Saudi Arabia was known to be egging the Sunnis on and in my view; this makes the Iranian interest in Shi'ite self-preservation completely appropriate. The author also notes that Syria and Lebanon were training and sending in foreign fighters (in the low thousands). Saudi Arabian royalty is EVIL. See See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism and also Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
   
   8) The author blames the French (and to a lesser degree the Russians) for keeping Saddam Hussein in power, while making no mention at all of the strong support provided by the USA to Saddam Hussein in his genocide against the Kurds and his genocidal chemical war with Iran.
   
   9) On an extremely important point, I found it beyond belief that the author, the "Viceroy" was put into Baghdad without a command & control communications and computing set of vans, tents, generators, and so on. The military incapacitated him with quiet scorn.
   
   The author claims in this book that the insurgency was "largely unpredicted" (page 223) and this is of course not true. However, I do believe him when he says he tried over and over again to get Washington and the military to take the insurgency seriously. His problems with Washington are very similar to those described by General Wesley Clark in Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat
   
   The author has 164 references to Bush and only 26 to Cheney. He really did deal with the President on many matters after the fact, but I credit Dick Cheney will totally trashing our entire global program. See Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
   
   The author has good things to say about the World Bank (this is prior to Wolfowitz taking it over). They completed 15 assessments in six weeks instead of six months, and were very helpful.
   
   There are only 12 mentions of Iran in this book. That is the epitaph for our failed invasion and occupation of Iraq. Iran wins, we lose.



5. I think that this is one of the important books of the Iraq war. Bremer is perhaps the most important figure of the most important part of it, namely, the attempted reconstruction of the country. This book describes his efforts toward that end, and attempts to justify his decisions.
   
   Unfortunately, the effort is a disaster. Bremer really didn't have much experience with this kind of work, and it appears clear from the beginning that right-wing ideology was the driving factor in his decision making -- and most of these decisions suffered for that. For instance, Bremer refused to re-open the state-run businesses, because he thought the private sector should run all business -- this immediately threw tens of thousands of people out of work. Similarly, the draconian de-Baathification forced almost all qualified managers from their jobs. Bremer also, and I think unforgivably, doesn't spend any time comparing this attempted rebuilding to the very successful post WW II efforts. In particular, the de-Baathification seems to have been based on the de-Nazification in Germany, without really looking too closely at what might be different between Iraq and Germany.
   
   Still, it's an interesting book, and a point of view that should be a part of any study of the war. The book could well have been 10 times as long, and it would be interesting to see what parts were edited out. I share others recommendations of "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" as a great companion book.

4 comments about Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1905-1944.

1. Aside from being the single man in history to make several (and one very famous) attempts on the life of Adolf Hitler, Claus Von Stauffenberg was a unique guy.
   
   Born in 1907 to Prussian aristocracy, Stauffenberg was playing the cello, reciting Shakespeare, and taking an interest in Catholic theology
   by the age of exactly 12. Had he made a career out of any of these three, his fate would have been less cruel. Claus Von Stauffenberg, though, was a born soldier.
   
   Ultimately becoming a General Staff officer in the German Abwehr, Stauffenberg and his brothers Berthold and Alexander still made considerable time for poet Stefan George, and were part of his "Secret Germany", a quasi-mystical poetic cult of sorts which worshipped George as "Master, and the three brothers were were prophesied by the poet manque as the future leaders of the Fatherland. Goethe, Holderlin, Rilke and Nietzsche were heralded as the predecessors of the movement. The problem with the entire affair was that George was not very talented and his literary salon was composed mostly of teenage boys.
   
   Despite George, the slow but sure rise of the Third Reich (which, like most Germans, Stauffenberg initially welcomed and his inevitable participation in nearly all of Germany's military campaigns, Claus Von Stauffenberg always retained an odd detachment from his surroundings and a sense of self which was very strong.
   
   The sheer wealth and richness of not only Stauffenberg's life, but the life of his wealthy and somewhat sheltered family--his career as a decorated soldier in the Wehrmacht, his prestige as a model, and as head of the General Staff office--makes his brutal death in front of the Bendleerstrasse in Germany a surreal and bizarre turn of events.
   
   Stauffenberg was aware of Germany's imminent defeat, yet as early as 1942 he was making some quit imprudent remarks about the Fuhrer: "In August 1942 Stauffenberg told Major Joachim Kuhn, a close friend, that the treatment of the Jews and other civilians was monstrous, *that Hitler had lied about the cause of the war*, and that he had to be removed. He then shouted: "They are shooting Jews in the masses. These crimes must not be allowed to continue!"
   
   Then in in another outbrust which later got him arrested, news of more atrocities sparked Stauffenberg to scream in front of SS and general staff alike:"Does not one German soldier have the courage to shoot that pig?"
   
   Attempt after attempt failed; Stauffenberg was regularly seen carrying a "remarkably plump briefcase" (as Albert Speer put it) to three different meetings in Hitler's "Wolf's Lair" in Prussia. Once Hitler did not show up: the second time Stauffenberg's incompetent superiors instructed him to not to set the fuse, and the third time the bomb exploded and by sheer chance did not kill Hitler.
   
   Even in the face of the Gestapo's considerable wrath, Stauffenberg did his best to get the coup de'etat to to succeed. In a most fortunate turn of events for Stauffenberg, probably, a General Staff officer involved in the plot turned on the other plotters and had a handful of them, Claus included, shot on the night of July 20, 1944.
   
   Why? Why was such a priviliged and wealthy figure in the German army who would certainly never have been charged with war crimes choose to sacrifice his life, the life of his family and friends, in an attempt so tenuous and fraught with uncertainty?
   
   The answer, I think, lies in Stauffenberg's unbelievable bravery, sense of common decency, and Christian background. Without these things he may indeed have been a terrifying force for the Third Reich. He could no longer stomach what was going on around him. Peter Hoffmann here gives the definitive biography of this heroic man who embodies perhaps the most inspiring example of "what might have been" in history. A must read.



2. "Long live our holy Germany" were the last words of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg on the night of July 20, 1944. Peter Hoffmann's magnificient book is a salute to the Stauffenberg brothers and most importantly Claus von Stauffenberg. Stauffenberg was the real thing, a man of deep Christian principles and extradionary courage who knew that the future of Germany was more important than his life and the life of his fellow conspirators. He made the ultimate sacrifice so that others could live in freedom. Stauffenberg is not only a hero of Germany, but of anyone on earth who loves freedom and respects the laws of God and humanity. Stauffenberg was Germany's guardian angel, who attempted to save his nation and slay the man he deemed "the antichrist." Doctor Hoffmann paints a wonderful picture of Stauffenberg's early life and military career. He then moves into minute detail of the plot to kill Hitler and the man whom fate had chosen to lead it. Simply a great scholastic achievement.



3. Of the ten or so serious biographies on Stauffenberg, this will stand as the text to refer to for comprehensiveness and objectivity. The prose is clear, the questions of enduring interest are all answered, and the reader meets the man. Unreservedly recommended.



4. Peter Hoffmann's biography of Stauffenberg is the best anyone is likely to write on the subject. The book comprehensively assesses all primary sources hitherto used by Stauffenberg's previous biographers, plus many additional sources which the author himself found. Hoffmann's previous books, among them 'THE HISTORY OF THE GERMAN RESISTANCE, 1933-1945', and 'HITLER'S PERSONAL SECURITY' serve as a foundation to this work which, all told, spans 30 years of scholarly research. As the depth and breadth of this study eclipses any other attempt to date, its conclusions are unassailably judicious. Thus, Hoffmann's 'STAUFFENBERG' has made perhaps the most definitive contribution to the historical field of resistance to the Third Reich.

5 comments about Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend.

1. The information is great, but it just did not grab my attention. I love the photos of the family and era.



2. Much has been written about this icon of American outlaw mythology. If you are into the facts in detail, and an even-handed view of this subject, then I would highly recommend this book. If you are looking for an exciting tale, full of action and mayhem, you might wish to look elsewhere. All in all, it's a fine read with a lot of facts, and would make an excellent text source for a univerity class. There is a lot of interesting material within, such as Frank James' life after his brother's death. It's well worth the price of admission into this world.



3. This is high-quality 19th century history that captures the tension with which the James brothers lived. It places the reader in Frank and Jesse's historical and geographical context. Above all, it is fair. Yeatman lets the reader decide. Frank emerged as particularly complex, because he was able to straddle the life of a respectable taxpayer and a dangerous outlaw.
   
   This work is particularly poignant, because of current U.S. debates about government spying, habeas corpus, posse comitatus and many other issues that matter as much today, as they did in the days leading up to the Civil War and Reconstruction.
   
   Yeatman's handling of the James brothers Civil War material is particularly deft.
   
   Yeatman's work is filled with numerous historical gems, such as Bess Truman's family's connection to the James brothers; Phil Sheridan's connection to the bombing of the James Sammeul home.



4. I have to agree with some of the reviews of Mr. Yeatman's book.
   This is extremely poorly written. If I had wanted to read a Civil War recantation, I'd go back and re-read the many in my library.
   While some of the historical references during that period may be necessary background for the James family, more often times than not, in this book, the author flies off on a tangent leaving the reader wondering "what happened?"
   Trying to muddle through this book is like wandering through a blizzard. There are moments when the snow clears, only to be shrouded again moments later.
   Where were the editors? A fascinating subject that has been sadly botched by this effort in my humble opinion.



5. That any reviewer can grant this book five stars, as some here have, boggles the mind. I have to seriously ask them what books they read that they consider this one worthy of such a high rating. Yes, the subject of the James boys is inherently fascinating and, yes, Ted Yeatman's research was extensive, which is worth one extra star, but as a writer he failed to present his material in an interesting fashion. First, he is too much in love with facts and uses them whether they are necessary or not. (I do not need to know, as just one example, the name of every insignificant Missouri militia outfit that ever marched in the same county as the James boys unless that name is relevant to them. Footnotes would have been a better location if Yeatman felt compelled to include this arcane data.) Another reason the narrative bogs down is that Yeatman failed to heed his word processor's grammar checker when it pointed out the thousands of passive sentences he wrote. Or perhaps he had that feature turned off. If so, he should flick it back on immediately. Lastly, a good writer spins out a narrative that flows like water. Yeatman's jumbled writing contains too many icebergs the reader must dodge or sink in the process.
   
   I am not yet finished reading it and am not certain that I can continue to the end much as I want to learn about the James boys. What a shame. Bad writing made this book a great waste of the author's extensive knowledge. I fail to understand why Cumberland House published this book without extensive editing or not publish it at all. Obviously, they thought the subject material would carry it.

5 comments about The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest (Modern War Studies).

1. This is the definative biography of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Although it is clear that the author admires his subject, he provides a fair and balanced account of Forrest's life. The book is well written and thoroughly researched. If you are going to read one book on Forrest, this should be it.



2. What I like about Wills book, besides the bio, is that it addresses why Forrest was often not in the main theater of operations during the crucial times of 1864. Forrest is well defined as a frontier planter whose strong belief in honor combined with an explosive action oriented temperament made him a ferocious opponent yet he was difficult as a subordinate except under the right conditions. In the case of the latter, Forrest literally offers to slap Braxton Bragg for his lack of action after Chickamauga and only fails to do so because in his estimation, Bragg was not a man thus not worthy of the challenge. Wills does an excellent compact bio of Forrest capturing the early life and his rise to success as a slave trader and planter to a private in the Confederate service to the immediate promotion of Colonel and on. All the daring raids are captured, aided by maps but aside from Shiloh and Chickamauga, the only truly large operation Forrest was involved with was Hood's march to Nashville where the inexplicable Spring Hill disaster is laid at Forrest's feet unfairly when Hood had responsibility of creating a sufficient force to stop Schofield's escape. The tremendous work ethic combined with his fearlessness and temper is described throughout the book including Forrest's post war life and business. Forrest does amazingly well defending his Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama sector with a relative small force culminating in his great victory at Brices Crossroads. Wills includes Forrest's post war career with an example of Forrest's feared temper by describing a railroad meeting where one of Forrest's engineers starts the discussion with a loaded pistol on the table in case the company President, Forrest, intended a violent interruption. Although not captured in gross detail, Forrest's role at the infamous Fort Pillow is described in sufficient detail along with Forrest's post war role in the Ku Klux Klan. The role of the Klan is described as an attempt to maintain a retaliatory police force against over stepping radicals and to force former slaves into roles as cheap labor and as a channeled political force obviously through violence if deemed necessary. The association with Forrest seems quite clear but murky before congress. One thing is very clear in this bio, if Forrest was involved, he had to lead the action, or he otherwise was not interested. A most feared adversary, inventive, unpredictable and incredibly daring leading his men wherever he wanted them to go. As Wills points out, how unfortunate he rarely had a suitable commander to follow in larger campaigns and he was not used effectively during Sherman's initial march to Atlanta. If he was, Sherman would not have got there until at last 1865. The book is approximately 381 pages, maps and pictures and another 100 pages of notes and index. The book is endorsed by the late Emory M. Thomas (The Last cavalier), Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. (Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend) and William C. Davis (The Lost Cause).



3. Any time a writer fails to use all available sources the end result is always worthless.
   
   The 1871 Congressional hearings of Forrest chaired by William Tecumseh Sherman regarding both Ft. Pillow and the KKK failed to support the author's tired repetition of the 1864 "investigation." Why stick with the wartime 1864 propaganda hearing when the later hearing disputed virtually everything previously assumed?
   
   At Ft. Pillow Forrest took 39 USCT prisoner and turned them over to his commanders. He turned over 14 of the most grievously wounded surviving USCT to the Acting Master of the U.S. Steamer Silver Cloud (Federal Official Records).
   
   Hardly the acts of a "massacre."
   
   Same old tiring retelling of second-hand propaganda when first-hand contemporaneous sources are actually available.
   
   Your Obedient Servant,
   
   Colonel Michael Kelley, (...)
   "I came here as a friend...let us stand together. Although we differ in color, we should not differ in sentiment." - LT Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA, Memphis, Tennessee - July, 1875



4. The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman : Nathan Bedford Forrest (Modern War Studies) by Brian Steel Wills is a fine biography of perhaps the most complicated and interesting leader of the Civil War. In describing Forrest it is difficult, if not impossible, to remain neutral. For those that love or hate him there is plenty of ammunition. However, Wills does a better than anticipated job taking the neutral course.

   For those that view Forrest as the reincarnation of the Devil, there is plenty of evidence, and Wills covers most of it. Forrest was a crude, ruffian slave trader who would not think twice of killing a man who he believed showed him disrespect. As Willis writes, he was responsible for the massacre of Union troops at Fort Pillow. As a General he was brilliant when in independent command, but did not do well when working under someone elses command or part of a larger team. This failure limited his ability to have a greater impact on the course of the War. His failure to work with other Generals who he believed were inferior was part of the reason that the Union Army was able to escape destruction at Spring Hill.

   On the other hand, Forrest was a brilliant tactician and a real leader of men. From leading his troops out of the encirclement at Fort Donaldson to his brilliant victory at Bryce Creek, Forrest was a fighter and a leader. Furthermore, if Hood had listened to Forrest after Spring Hill, and allowed Forrest to out flank the Union troops at Franklin, the battle of Franklin may have been a Confederate victory rather than a disaster.

   Willis deftly moves between the several General Forrests. He seems not to have an agenda, giving the good with the bad. At least until the Civil War ends. While Wills does describe Forrest's contribution to the founding and growth of the Ku Klux Klan, he seems to hold his punches. However, that is a slight criticism. Al in all, this is a good book about one of the most interesting personalities in the Civil War.




5. I have read several biographies on Lee, Jackson, and Grant, but this is the first that I have read on N.B. Forrest. I thought the battle details were about right so as to instruct on what went on and to give insight to Forrest's great ability, but not so much as to bog down a reader who has not read much about warfare. I thought Wills was fair concerning the incident at Ft Pillow--he did not place the blame at Forrest's feet, but was sure that Forrest was not in total control of his men. I, personally, would liked to have had more detail about Forrest's deeds after the War Between the States. Some of Wills' comments seem to be a little vague, and at times he seemed to be jumping sides as to Forrest's involvement with the KKK. Overall, I did learn about this interesting man and am glad that I read this book. It was a good starting place for continued reading on General N.B. Forrest.