5 comments about Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain.

1. "Le Loup de Mer", that is how Napoleon dubbed Lord Cochrane. I am from Chile, one of the countries Cochrane served and helped assure our Independence, so this book was a great reading for me, very informative on aspects I didn't know about this man and my country history. As a country, we are very grateful of Cochrane and, as you may know, there is one beautiful city named after him in the South of Chile and several streets as well, particularly remembered by the Chilean Navy.
   
   It was compelling to know Cochrane's character and part of his personal life, even to know the real Cochrane since the book include one real picture of him. So Part III was the most interesting in my case, when Cochrane arrive to Valparaiso and was greeted by our Liberator, Bernardo O'Higgins --- Cochrane almost went to the Island of St Helena to pick up Napoleon, on his way to Chile. A remarkable seaman and person, buried in Westminster Abbey, a place I had the fortune to know, so I think this book or any biography of Cochrane is a recommended reading. A great British Captain!
   
   Note: this book has an spanish version and sadly in my country the cost of the book is three times more expensive, due to a nonsense TAX on books. It is time to change that, books for everybody!



2. I have read half of the Aubrey series and though it might be worthwhile to read about the real man...yes, that of Lord Thomas Cochrane, before finishing the rest of the series. Was it worth it, yes!!! Could it have been better written...probably, as a lot of questions went unanswered.
   
   So what did I do...I ordered one of the books Robert Harvey recommended..."Cochrane" by Donald Thomas and continued reading the series by Patrick O'Bryan. I was not disappointed in Harvey's book, in fact, I found a lot of information which I felt was left out of the series. What might that be...try reading about the real life hero of Scotland and how the Admiralty tried/attempted to shut him down. This guy was for real. Damn if we don't have the same thing happening today.
   
   Any history is worthwhile...it is what we do with it that makes it important. And give me a break...you can afford the $14 to be better informed....



3. As noted, fact is stranger than fiction, and it couldn't be truer than with the life of Thomas Cochrane. If you enjoy the likes of Horatio Hornblower or Jack Aubrey, you won't be able to put this one down. You'll immediately recognize their "fictional" exploits as you read the real stories upon which they're based. A great summer read!



4. If you love adventure, history, and a dashing and a daring true-life hero; then this is your cup of tea. However, if your closer to my taste then it would be a martini, dry, shaken not stirred. Anyone with military background will sadly identify with the upper echelon's stupidity/hypocrisy. Dare I say our hero undergoes a transformation, who at the climax of the book is on his way to rescue Napolean himself! Truth is stranger than fiction. And I might add: edge of your seat true suspence. Because in the end you can't escape the truth. The FIGHTING CAPTAIN welcomes you aboard mate!



5. Basically a recital of accomplishments and events, with next to no detail about most of them. The only thing he really goes into depth about was his trial before the King's Bench. Also, it appears to be writtin almost on a 6th grade level. Not impressed at all.

5 comments about America's First Frogman: The Draper Kauffman Story.

1. 
   A wonderful story of a man's life in the United States Navy during World
   War II. When men of courage and strength were needed, they stepped forward. Draper Kauffman knew the task before them and trained them to meet every possible hardship the seas and the enemy could throw at them. I doubt he would wanted to be called a hero, but I do think he would want those who served with him and died during those war years to be called hero's! Exceptionally well written by a loving sister, and a story Hollywood should tell, as written. Many thanks go to Elizabeth Kauffman Bush



2. I was on Admiral Kauffman's staff at the 9th Naval District and present at his retirement, so I have long been aware of his amazing biography. Such a book is long overdue and tells the story of his heroic WWII service -- a life with details that you thought ony happened "in the movies".



3. We have three sons, all of whom have decided to serve their country, and Draper Kauffman is one of their heroes. What an exciting story! And it's more engaging because it's told by his sister, who has the unique insight to blend his military experiences with his family life. It's a well-rounded account of a man who served our country with honor and distinction.
   
   The title is unfortunate, because younger people have no idea what a "frogman" is. It would have been better to refer to the Navy Seals.



4. BOOK REVIEW OF: America's First Frogman, a biography of Admiral Draper Laurence Kauffman by his sister Elizabeth Kauffman Bush. Released by Naval Institute Press 2004
   
   America's First Frogman is an exciting war story of one of America's great heroes, Rear Admiral Draper Laurence Kauffman, the flamboyant young "father" of America's famous Underwater Demolition Units, now called the Navy Seals or frogmen.
   
   As told by his sister, the aunt of Jeb and George Bush and God Daughter of the former Duchess of Windsor, the biography spans the "heroic age...of individual prowess and fantastic risks" through several World War II battlefields and back home in the US. It is the colorful Homeric odyssey of a young Annapolis graduate who persists, despite bad eyesight, to prove his courage and ability to serve his country and follow his father, Vice Admiral James Laurence Kauffman, into the US Navy.
   
   Vividly the author reports how her brother, after initially failing the Navy's eye test, continues to successfully "test his nerve... from one nasty job to another" (from ambulance driving in northern France and bomb disposing in London's blitz) to return to the US and slowly prove his genius at pioneering and implementing new ideas and strategies. Quoting from his own letters, as well as those of other contemporaries, the author reports how Kauffman gains the respect from all for his contagious courage and leadership, especially in attracting and training volunteer "frogmen" to join him in their exceedingly demanding work preparing battlefields, often by swimming miles at night under enemy fire, supporting enormous backpacks full of ammunition.
   
   Although the book focuses on Kaufman's founding of the first US Naval Bomb Disposal and Combat Demolition schools, it also follows him through his very significant post war period acting as captain of several ships and chief of many pivotal naval offices including the Defense and Protection Section of the Atomic Warfare Division and Aide to Secretary of the Navy Thomas S. Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington DC. Ironically, in 1965 he also became Superintendent of the place where he first began his naval career, Annapolis.
   
   The well researched and colorfully depicted battle scenes are taken from his own letters to his father whom he sensitively cautions to hide from his worried mother and sister back home. This stateside backdrop of glamour and courage in the lives of both the Kauffman and Bush families adds to the dramatic scope of the book. Photographs portray both Admiral Kauffmans, as well as many other famous military, political and family personalities. The forward is written by the author's brother in law, former President George H.W.Bush.
   
   The reader will grow to admire the mischievous and bold, but sensitive, hero even as his sister does. Watch for this newly released biography to become a very exciting movie all of us can enjoy. Young and old can learn self disciplined focus, wisdom, wit and service from reading America's First Frogman.
   
   TerryAnn Reed, former history teacher, Sarasota, Florida, January 30, 2005



5. Written by Draper Kauffman's sister Elizabeth Kauffman Bush, and featuring a foreword by President George H. W. Bush, America's First Frogman: The Draper Kauffman Story is the biography of the father of the American Navy SEALs. From surviving his time as a prisoner of the Germans, to his acclaimed wartime service disarming enemy bombs and establishing bomb disposal schools, to the underwater demolition teams he led at Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, America's First Frogman is an amazing true story of skill, courage, dedication, high standards, and excellence under extreme pressure. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this fascinating story of a great man's life and resolute determination.

3 comments about I Fought With Custer: The Story of Sergeant Windolph, Last Survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

1. It is difficult to really rate a work like this. This is the story of Charles Windolph, the last survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, in his own, simple words. Windolph told his story to a father and son historian team in the 1930s and 40s. Windolph's distinction as last survivor is a bit misleading--he was the last man who was present at the battle to die, but his title as last survivor does not mean he was with Custer's column of troops. He wasn't. In fact, he was under Benteen, and was one of many who survived the battle because they weren't as heavily engaged in it as Custer.
   Windolph presents an interesting perspective on the battle, and seems relatively objective. He does tend to romanticize a little, but for the most part he refrains from throwing blame on Custer, Reno, Benteen, or anyone else (though he does state up front that he is partial to Benteen). His story is not all that unique when compared to other primary accounts of the battle, but it is nevertheless valuable as the testimony of a survivor of that horrible tragedy.
   Included with Windolph's narrative are a number of primary documents, cobbled together in chapters and laced throughout with author's commentary. This is all right, but it would have been better to present these documents in their entirety, with only enough commentary (perhaps in the form of footnotes) to give the reader an idea of the background surrounding the documents. Still, the Hunts have done a relatively good job of remaining objective as well, something that is rare in a Custer historian. This is perhaps not the best account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but it is nevertheless an important one.



2. As a Custer buff, this book has been on my shelf for a long time. A great book to read, one that fleshes out a lot of the daily life in the Seventh as well as the battle along Greasy Grass. Right up there with "Son of Morning Star" and Walter Camp's book on the subject. Check 'em out, you won't be disappointed.



3. This book is compiled from the found writings of a sergeant of the Seventh Cavalry who survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The first hand accounts of men like Sergeant Windolph and Theodore Goldin are very valuable and interesting reading. They were not men defending their performance as were the officers like Benteen, Reno, and Godfrey. They had their biases but didn't have to grind axes. This account is worthwhile reading for students of the Seventh Cavalry and the Little Big Horn campaign.

3 comments about Combat Medic: World War II.

1. I am not a WWII buff and I normally do not read medical memoirs, perhaps because I was an ER nurse for many years. I read this book more or less for background information for a novel I am writing. But it immediately became more than research material for me. Dr. John Kerner's story is both poignant and unpretentious. As I read the book I found myself wanting to know this man and now, at the end I feel perhaps I do. As a writer I was impressed by his honesty and his natural voice. As a retired RN I was impressed by the doctor's humility. And as a woman I have to say I loved all the references to the women who were a part of his life (especially his brief affair with the Red Cross volunteer!)I recommend this book to any one of any age who enjoys candid accounts of real people who have done remarkable things.



2. An interesting look at WW2 from the inside by a man who unexpectedly was there. From the invasion on thru the battles, Kerner keeps your interest by relating his experiences as well as his observations. The section where he delivers the baby of a young French woman near the battle field will keep your interest right to the end. Should be on everyone's gift list.



3. Combat Medic: World War II is a fascinating memoir by John A. Kerner, M.D. His medical school training as an OB/GYN only in one instance stood him in good stead as a doctor whose ultimate assignment took him from D-Day plus 1 at Omaha Beach, through the Battle of the Bulge, finally ending with the Army of Occupation in Germany. When he signed up for the Army, he thought he'd be assigned to a stateside hospital delivering babies for Army dependents. He never even got as far back from the front as a field hospital. He was up with the troops for the whole time, and he has two Bronze Stars to show for it.
   
   I met John and his wife, Gwen, on a tour through Northern Spain in 2000. He's a fascinating man, although older than I. At the time he was thinking of writing his memoir. For posterity's sake I'm glad he did. While he's not a Stephan Ambrose, he tells it like it was, down and dirty, being there, a true hero of the greatest generation. I really enjoyed reading his book, having known the man. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in first person accounts of what it was really like trying to save lives while cold, wet, and in the mud with a lot of unfriendly German infantrymen trying keep you from doing your job by making you keep your head (and other parts) down.

5 comments about Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself (Penguin Classics).

1. Though I am skeptical about most 'history,' this book was written by a man who felt oppression and fought it. This book as well Douglass' other writing should be the primary source on slavery and the civil war.
   
   This book, as well as its excellent forward, serves to warn that slavery could happen here again disguised as something else. It reminds us that slavery is not an institution but a crime.
   
   This edition is the best as far as size and print quality. It has also best foreward and the best afterward. I hope Signet continues to keep this edition available.



2. I wrote this review to mention the Kindle Edition. Many lower-priced Kindle editions of books have bad formatting problems that make the book difficult or even impossible to read. Not this one! I found the formatting was excellent throughout. In two places the footnotes were slightly misplaced, but it was easy to figure out from context what the text was. In general, the Kindle formatting was better than many more recent (and expensive!) books.
   
   The content was also excellent (as other reviewers have noted), hence the 5 stars. I've read of Frederick Douglass' life from other sources, but this was the first time I'd read his account.
   
   The introduction by other authors was written in a style that now feels very anachronistic. It was hard to get through those.
   
   Frederick Douglass' account, however, was fresh, engaging, and direct. I found it hard to put down. Descriptions of the atrocities of the time were very personal and not couched in the melodrama of the introduction. I think that made his account even more powerful. His description of his self-education in Baltimore was absolutely stunning and inspirational.
   
   This autobiography, from such a pivotal figure in American history, would already be required reading at any price. But the accessibility and readability of this edition make it a must-have for a Kindle.



3. One of the fifth grade teachers at Braeburn Elementary in Houston once told us that "Slaveowners had to treat their slaves well in order to get them to work. Just like a horse. If you are cruel to a horse it won't do what you want."
   
   This type of happy apologia for slavery was still alive and openly espoused in the Houston Independent School District in the 1970's, and done in front of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian children. Perhaps Mrs. Allen would have benefited from reading Frederick Douglass's autobiography. Perhaps not.
   
   Frederick Douglass's story proves the axiom that for every life ennobled by adversity and poverty, ten thousand others are ground up in misery and waste. Douglass achieved fame, literary recognition, and assumed the role as public conscience of America during its slaveholding epoch. Douglass famously reproached the president when he believed Lincoln had backed away from his commitment to end slavery, and boldly praised the 16th President when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
   
   Douglass's uncompromising hatred of slavery and his tireless efforts to lay bare its horrors make this book a bitter testimonial to the evils of human bondage as it was practiced in the South and condoned by the U.S. Constitution. Anyone alive today who doubts that he is an heir to the sins of slavery need only read this book.
   
   Douglass's autobiography takes particular care to describe the physical maiming that sadistic southerners inflicted on African Americans. The beatings, the hideous torture, the murder, and the rapine practiced by slaveholders are all held up in this book for readers to quail at and digest, if they can.
   
   If there is any lesson beyond the Lincolnesque conclusion "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong," Douglass's monumental work testifies to the boundless capacity for torture practiced by whites of European descent towards Africans. Immediately after reading this book I read King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild, and was amazed at the continuity between Douglass's description of slavery and Hochschild's description of slaughter, oppression, and murder in the Belgian Congo.
   
   These two books should definitely be read in tandem; each acts as a historic bookend of sorts to the gruesome racial predations of their respective generations, footnoted with the few and feeble efforts of those who opposed acts that can only be described as the most depraved and unforgivable crimes against humanity.



4. It had some writing in it, but overall a good deal for the price. Thanks



5. 87 years after the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted and after the the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution Enslaved Americans gained thier freedom.
   
   Before the civil war Abolitionist were the Advocates of change in America the struggle to gain ones freedom from the experiences of slavery in the south is told from the true experiences of Fredrick Douglass. From Slavery to the Struggle for freedom to escape is the story told here, but also the story of survival to activism in the Abolitionist movement to change America.
   
   During the nearly 100 years after the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of 1787 Black America finally found Freedom, But between Slavery and Freedom was the struggle of the freedom fighters of the Revolutionary Abolitinist Movement to bring slavery in America to an end. This is the story of the virtues of a victim of Slavery turned into a revolutionary success story, This is the story of Fredrick Douglass.

5 comments about The Last Algonquin.

1. I first read this book many years ago and bring it out every so often to refresh Two Trees' persona in my mind. This book is full of the author's love for his subject and he passes this on to the reader with great art. The story is in some ways so terribly sad that it is almost unbearable, but Two Trees and his love for nature and his dog can really only ultimately express joy and wonder. I just love this book and hope everyone who reads it follows Two Trees' wish to pass this extraordinary story along.



2. Joe Two Trees is the last of his tribe. New York in the early twentieth century is not for him. Or is it? As a native New Yorker with a passion for the past, I loved this beautiful story. Whenever I return home, I can no longer visit the Bronx (especially Pelham Bay) without thinking of Joe and his relationship with Theodore Kazimoroff's father. The writing is lovely, and the story evokes all sorts of feelings at so many levels. It was my Aunt, a former teacher, who told me that I should read this book. It has become one of those novels that I recommend to others regularly.



3. Some people talk about spirit like it is taught in "Indian 101", but you can experience something very soulful and ancient in the words and earth here.



4. The Last Algonquin is a sad but heartwarming story about a man and his attempts to come to grips with his place in the world. The fact that this man, Joe Two Trees, is the last of his tribe of the Algonquin's makes his journey that much harder and more interesting. If you are looking for an official history of the American Indians, this isn't the book for you. However, if you are looking for a deep and touching story of one American Indian, and what we as a nation have lost by ignoring the heritage of American Indians, then you will enjoy this book. Mr. Kazimiroff has done an excellent job of preserving the story given to him by his father and keeping the memory of Joe Two Trees and the Algonquin Indians alive.



5. This is a must read, especially for those of us raised in the Pelham Bay section of Bronx. The tale of The Last Algonquin is inspiring and heartwarming. And, I hope that Mr. Kazimiroff realizes that he has given The Bronx, the Algonquin Indians and his father the immortality they truly deserve.
   Remember as long as someone tells( hears or reads) this tale, the story of Joe Two Trees will continue to live on among the rocks and trees of Pelham Bay Park.

5 comments about John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography (Bluejacket Books).

1. The book is very interesting, well written by an author clearly concerned with facts not myths as he differentiates between tales surrounding the subject and actual events.
   Too bad the book is missing pages 77 thru 92. (At least my copy is, anyone else come upon a similar print? If I keep it will it turn into a collectable?)



2. John Paul Jones is one of those figures on the fringes of the American pantheon. Most educated people have heard the name, but few know anything about the man beyond, perhaps, that he proclaimed, "I have not yet begun to fight!" Much to my surprise, after reading this classic biography (winner of the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Biography) by Samuel Eliot Morison, the godfather of US Naval history, Jones' exploits are both relatively unknown and relatively modest. There is, however, nothing relative or modest about Morison's biography, which is an excellently structured and wonderfully written piece of history that is a pleasure to read.
   
   How did Jones attain immortality for his role in the American Revolution while other leading military figures of the period (most notably, in this reviewer's opinion, General Nathaniel Greene) have nearly vanished from history? Jones' attachment to the United States, both as a nation and a cause, were slight, even dubious. He was born and raised in Scotland and didn't arrive in America until roughly 1775 (on the run from a murder trial, no less, which also prompted him to add the alias "Jones" to his birth name of John Paul). He never owned a home or even maintained a permanent resistance in his adopted land, and instead lived with friends or at hotels at government expense. During his forty-five years of life, Jones only spent about three of them on American soil -- and that time was divided among four brief visits. His commitment to the principles of the American Revolution are a bit suspect, although he did frequently claim to be a citizen of the world engaged in the fight for liberty. Nevertheless, when Catherine II of Imperial Russia, the ruler of the most despotic of European monarchies, dangled a much coveted flag officer position before him in 1788 Jones quickly jettisoned his liberal pretensions and jumped at the offer.
   
   If Jones lacked the deep American roots of a John Adams or the strong ideological convictions of more recent immigrants like Thomas Paine, he was at least a military hero, right? Well, sort of. Jones' major military exploits during the war can be summarized as follows: a partially successful raid on his hometown port of Whitehaven, Scotland followed by a botched kidnapping attempt and then the capture of a modest-sized British warship while cruising the Irish Sea aboard "Ranger" in 1778, and then the famous defeat of the "Serapis" off Flamborough Head in September 1779 aboard the "Bonhomme Richard." Like Doolittle's Raid on Tokyo in 1942, the military value of these actions were minimal, but the psychological impact -- both at home and with the enemy -- was enormous. The British home islands had, afterall, been inviolable since a Dutch raid in 1667. Thus, Jones stands alone as the man who brought the American Revolution home to the British Isles, albeit in a way that caused little material damage.
   
   So, through a combination of moxie, luck and the general absence of anything else to cheer about, John Paul Jones -- one-time slave trader, murderer, Imperial Russian admiral, and alleged rapist of a 12-year-old (in his defense he swore, foreshadowing a future American scandal, that he "did not have sexual relations with that [girl]," although conceded that other amorous relations did occur) -- emerged as a bona fide hero of the American Revolution. Jones died alone, indigent and forgotten in Paris in 1792. But today his remains rest in an ornate tomb (modeled on Napoleon's) at the US Naval Academy and he is widely regarded as the father of the US Navy, which has become the global juggernaut he dreamed it would be.
   
   In closing, Morison does a remarkable job in capturing not only the essence of his subject-- Jones' native intelligence, egotism, insecurity and opportunism -- but also the pulse of life on the open ocean in an eighteenth century sailing vessel. The skill, experience, fortitude, and endurance it must have taken to guide these ships in battle and in treacherous seas with a motley collection of mutiny-inclined men as a crew is difficult to fathom. That Jones did so with such obvious success is, indeed, impressive. For readers with an interest in naval affairs or simply a love of sailing, this book would be a welcome addition to your library.



3. A hero of my youth, this book appears to tell the full story. This is a scolarly work which reads easily. I only wish I would have read this book in my twenties. There are some wonderful life lessons in this biography. If you read it you will learn his flaws, his good and fine attributes, and some mysteries. This is first-rate biography and detective work by the author. I recommend it.



4. It has been said that most great men are bad men. Samuel Eliot Morison's superb biography of John Paul Jones supports, if not proves, that proposition. Jones's greatness is undeniable: Although he was the son of an obscure Scottish gardener, he virtually founded the United States Navy, he won one of the most important sea battles of the Revolutionary War when he was only 32, and he later commanded ships in the service of France and Russia. But Jones also was extremely temperamental, excessively vain (after receiving an honor from France, he liked to be addressed as "Chevalier Paul Jones"), and he had mistresses in practically every port. Morison, a longtime professor at Harvard and the author of the authoritative, Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Christopher Columbus, as well as a massive, multi-volume history of the U.S. Navy during World War II, reports all of this in a matter-of-fact fashion. Morison's Jones is a great sailor and a man of the world in every respect.

   According to Morison, Young Jones was highly ambitious and went to sea at age 13 "as a road to distinction." During the next 15 years, he learned well his trade and he also became an American patriot. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Morison writes that the American navy was "only a haphazard collection of converted merchant ships," and the Royal Navy was probably the most powerful in history. But General George Washington, according to Morison, "had a keen appreciation of the value and capabilities of sea power," and, in October 1775, Congress appointed a Naval Committee of Seven to manage the colonies' maritime affairs. In December 1775, seven months before the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, Jones accepted a commission as a lieutenant in the continental navy.

   Although Morison is primarily interested in Jones's activities during the Revolutionary War, he makes a number of more generally cogent observations. For instance, the United States government was in a state of nearly constant impecuniousness and was able to afford to build only one of the largest class of naval vessels, a ship of the line, during the conflict. In Morison's view, this was the status of the war at the time of the battle off Flamborough Head in September 1779, which secured Jones's fame: "The War of Independence had reached a strategic deadlock, a situation that recurred in both World Wars of the twentieth century. Each party, unable to reach a decision by fleet action or pitched land battles, resorts to raids and haphazard, desultory operations which have no military effect." That deadlock continued, according to Morison, until 1781. Morison also writes that Britain took the position "since the United States were not a recognized government but a group of rebellious provinces,...American armed ships were no better than pirates."

   Morison appears to be deeply impressed by Jones's technical competence: "One of Paul Jones's praiseworthy traits was his constant desire to improve his professional knowledge." That passion for self-improvement reached fruition September 1779 off the Yorkshire coast of east-central England when a squadron which Jones commanded from the Bonhomme Richard defeated the H.M.S. Serapis in a three and one-half hour battle during which those ships were locked in what Morison describes as a "deadly embrace." (Bonhomme Richard sank during the aftermath of the fierce fighting.) It was during this battle that Jones defiantly refused to surrender with the immortal phrase: "I have not yet begun to fight." According to Morison, "[c]asualties were heavy for an eighteenth-century naval battle. Jones estimated his loss at 150 killed and wounded out of a total of 322." Morison writes that Jones was at his "pinnacle of fame" in late 1779, and, when he visited France, which was allied with the U.S. during the Revolutionary War, in April 1780: He became the lion of Paris, honored by everyone from the King down." When Jones returned to the United States in 1781, however, he was unable to obtain what Morison describes as a "suitable command," and he never fought again under the American flag. In 1788 and 1789, as "Kontradmiral Pavel Ivanovich Jones" he swerved in the navy of Catherine II, "the Great," Empress of Russia. When he died in 1792, he was buried in France, but, in 1905, his body was returned to the United States and now rests in the chapel of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

   Jones's nasty temper is frequently on display. Morison remarks on various occasions that his crews were "disobedient," "sullen," and "surly." Which was cause and which was effect is difficult to ascertain. Jones clearly was an overbearing commander, which may explain, though does not excuse, his crews' bad attitudes. On one occasion Jones had one of his officers "placed under arrest for insubordination [giving the officer] a chance to clear it up, and Jones was unwilling to admit his error." It is not prudent to compare events during war in the late 18th century to the peace and prosperity of our own time, but no reader of this book will be impressed by Jones's interpersonal skills.

   Morison makes numerous references to "prize money," the curious, but apparently then-universal, practice of rewarding captains and their crews in cash for capturing enemy ships. The fact that Jones pursued prize money with vigor may raise additional doubts about his character, but I would guess Morison believed that Jones simply followed a custom which probably motivated many successful naval captains of his time.

   Morison held the rank of admiral in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Although the degree of detail in his narrative is fascinating, I found some passages too technical, and I suspect some other lay readers may be baffled as well. (The book's charts and diagrams were, however, very helpful.) But that is a small price to pay for a wonderful biography of one of the most intriguing figures of the American Revolution.




5. As someone who had recently seen the "John Paul Jones" movie that was made in 1959 with Robert Stack, I was curious to learn more about the man who put the U.S. Navy on the map. Of course, most know him as the one who coined the immortal, defiant phrase "I have not yet begun to fight!" This book delves beyond that, as Morison shows Jones as he really was, a human being born in obscurity in Scotland who developed a love for the sea at an early age. He was simultaneously a shrewd combatant with a quick temper (in many ways the American equivalent of the great English admiral Nelson,) and a gentleman who enjoyed the company of numerous lovely ladies ashore. Morison leaves no stone unturned as he takes the reader on a detailed, captivating journey (from page one, the reader is hooked.) He sailed the waters that bore witness to Jones's battles and drew extensively upon the naval archives of the four primary countries that figured in Jones's life. To give you some idea, the engagement with H.M.S. Serapis is fleshed out in such marvelous detail that one can almost smell the gunpowder, but Morison goes beyond that, explaining what happened before, during, and after, most of which one would not learn in history class. In fact, I would make book that at least ninety percent of what one will read in this book would not be learned in history class. Morison has included pictures, charts, diagrams, excerpts from letters (some of which are in French with English translations), and has deftly blended them and the text into a perfect biography. For anyone who wants to learn more about Jones, this is required reading.

3 comments about Journey to Honor.

1. Journey to Honor
   
   By James G. Buck
   
   While I confess I know Mr. Buck, I will also confess I am not a Civil War buff nor a Military Historian fan for books. Yes, I spent many years in the Military, I paid my dues.
   
   This book captivated me from the start, I bought it and Buck didn't send it to me. I heard he wrote it and I aggressively sought the book out It depicts the day to day of the New Jersey 23rd and General McClellan up to the point Lincoln was convinced to relieve him of command.
   
   Buck had a wealth of knowledge to assemble and write this book. He had the diary of one Josiah Crispin, a Quaker private who served in H Company of the New Jersey Volunteers, assigned to the Army of the Potomac. Buck also had access to the partially recounted record of the 23rd. The Military hardships that abounded then are ever so commonplace in embattled Military Units of today. The "Copperheads" of that day and age are ever present when America is at war, preaching their morale breaking vile spew aimed at destroying civillian popular support for military efforts, the enemies Fifth Element.
   
   Buck, a West Point Graduate, Class of '71, understands full well the bloodiest War in American history was not fought over the issue of Slavery, a thoroughly scurrilous plague of early America, but simply a matter of State's Rights, those Rights not enumerated to the central federal government were those of the People and the States.
   
   Lincoln, while revered highly, broadened the scope of the central Government immensely while usurping powers the Founding Fathers intended for the People. It was the broadest expanse in history, unmatched in even today's politics.
   
   The book, Journey to Honor, was well written, researched and thought out. I felt I was there with Crispin and his H Company of the 23rd New Jersey Volunteers. Duty, Country, but above all, honor. I highly recommend James G. Buck's first flight into Historical Fiction to any and all.
   
   Steven A. Knutson
   Retired Alaska State Trooper
   Author



2. This is Jim Buck's first book and the fact that is it so well written is remarkable in and of itself. Even more intriguing is that Mr. Buck has unearthed a missing piece of our history. No doubt, the Civil War is a well researched and definitely well portrayed part of our heritage in both book and film. However, the history of this part of the Union Army and the war has been lost from both the official Army records and the written history of the period. Mr. Buck not only found it, but has presented it from several view points that draw the reader's interest at a very personal level. We are introduced to the 23d New Jersey Infantry Regiment as it it mustered by the New Jersey Governor. We follow a young Quaker volunteer from family to battle to death. We see the war from his enemy's point of view. We get to experience the inhumanity of war and the deep humanity of soldiers on both sides. Finally, we get to experience the confusion, fear, organization, and movement of battles that until now have been lost to us all. From a technical point of view, the reader's first impression is of a book that might be historically based, but takes liberty with the details in order to make us interested in reading what might be a dry piece of history. In fact, Mr. Buck ends the book in such a manner as to leave the reader astounded at the book's historical accuracy, especially in light of the fact that this part of history has been lost for 150 years. One need not be a Civil War buff to enjoy this book, nor need one be interested in military history. In the end, the book leaves the perceptive reader introspective and moved by a story that was very nearly lost to us all.



3. For a first effort at an historical novel, James Buck's Journey to Honor is a good read.
   
   The book, based on the diary of Josiah Crispin, a member of the 23rd New Jersey Volunteers, mostly follows the life of Crispin and his buddies from when he signs up in September, 1862 to its climax at the battle of Salem Church in May of 1863.
   
   Plagued by unqualified officers elected to their rank, the book examines the 23rds journey from a mostly ignorant mob into a disciplined and effective fighting force.
   
   It's a painful journey. Initially believing their nine-month enlistment would be spent in garrison duty, they quickly find themselves attached to the Army of the Potomac and are caught up - untrained and poorly led -- in the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862.
   
   Through Crispin's diary and Buck's research and imagination, we get a rare insight into the life of a private soldier in the early days of the Civil War. At Fredericksburg you learn what it is like to be part of a small squad of men involved in a huge conflict. Often not knowing exactly where they are, what is going on around them and not understanding what they are supposed to be doing, the "fog of war" becomes very personal.
   
   Unlike so many accounts of the Civil War, Journey to Honor is very much a soldier's story. You get a good feel for what it was like to be a Union ground ponder at a time when disease was more deadly than combat, and the Army of the Potomac was being humiliated by the Army of Northern Virginia. The reader gets a glimpse of the close friendships that are built, the rough teasing, the heartbreaking sorrow when comrades are either killed or succumb to typhoid, dysentery, cold or primitive medical treatment.
   
   Buck, a West Point graduate himself, gives a vivid account of the horrible winter of 1862, '63, one of the worst known, when the men were living in barely habitable huts that often were awash in water and infested with vermin. And the amazing ability of the common soldier to find something to joke about in even the worst conditions.
   
   But he also shows how, slowly, the Union commanders learned how to deal with its army: discipline tempered by caring; officers who worked to build their soldiers' pride and earn their trust. You see the transformation of a rabble into fighting force.
   
   There, too, is the story of how the army's medical corps began to deal with the problems of terrible hygiene, poor food and, sometimes, indifferent officers.
   
   And you also get to see the maturing of a new author. In the beginning, when dealing almost exclusively with information from Crispin's diary, you get the feeling that something is missing, that you are not quite connecting with the characters. But as the book progresses, and Buck begins to expand his sources and research, the book becomes much more satisfying.
   
   This book is well worth a look by anyone interested in Civil War history.

2 comments about The Recollections of Rifleman Harris (Cassell Military Paperbacks).

1. I agree almost entirely with the fine review written by Roger Kennedy. Just a few more points to add: (1) I think what sticks in my mind more than anything else are the horrific marches and the lack of medical care - the authors descriptions are all the more memorable for their off-handed understatement. (2) It's also an interesting recording of the social mores of the time - the author feels that the Lash is a necessity, and deplores the idea of having promotions done by merit rather than by noble birth. Not what you might expect to hear from a commoner serving in the ranks!



2. This book is one of the classic Peninsular War recollections of the period. Harris was a devil-me-care lad of the English shires, who was first chosen by lot to join the English militia in 1806. Once in Ireland he becomes enamored of the green-jacketed 95th Rifles, Britian's new experimental Rifle corps, and decides to join them as a volunteer. The memoirs of Harris and many others like him were no doubt the inspiration for Bernard Cornwall's now famous "Sharpe" series. But Harris's work is certainly worth reading for its own merit, as it provides a vivid impression of what it was like to be a British soldier in the Napoleanic period. Unlike many of the memoirs of his compatriots, Harris only served for a brief time. He experinced Britian's initial efforts to support Spain in her rebellion against napolanic France's domination. As part of that early expedition, harris sees action at Rolica and Vimero (1808), and partakes in the grim retreat to Coruna (1809). He is thus privy only to the initial stages of what would become the Peninsular War in Spain (1808-1814) Harris's recolllections are vivid, but at times confused and lack chronology. This is reflective of the fact that he was a common ranker, and his level of education was somewhat less than many officiers. This does not detract from the value of his work; for Harris is in fact an amusing writer with an adroit sense of humor. He recollects his experinces as they come to mind, and the reader often feels as though he is seated right next to him relaying his stories as they come to mind. At times this can be confusing, and some knowledge of the period certainly helps in understanding the merits of this work. Christopher Hibbert has provided some valuable notes both in the introduction and within the body of the work, which adds greatly to it. Modern readers will certainly find Harris worthwhile, and with the recent interest sparked by the "Sharpe series", will see how the real thing compares to the fictionalized character. Sharpe is most certainly part Harris, and the reader also gets an understaning of the 95th regiment as well. Worth having.

2 comments about General Walter Krueger: Unsung Hero of the Pacific War (Modern War Studies).

1. I marked this book down from four stars to three because the maps which were provided were poor since they were not detailed and requires the reader the unnecessary burden or locating important place names and filling them in. Good maps are essential to the understanding of army, fleet and air movements.



2. Douglas MacArthur, e.g., in his autobiography "Reminiscences", had a tendency to downplay the merits of others so that the spotlight could shine solely on him. An example of this is MacArthur's characterization of one of his most trusted lieutenants, General Walter Krueger (commander of the U.S. 6th Army in the Pacific in World War II), as at times too cautious, slow, and methodical. But the evidence suggests just the opposite, that Gen. Krueger was in fact a quick-thinking and fast-acting strategist who could outmaneuver and outfight any opponent. (To his credit, on several occasions MacArthur did lavish praise on Krueger.)
   
   Kevin Holzimmer's biography of General Krueger rehabilitates this fine soldier's reputation by showing, for example, that it was apparently Krueger, not, as it is generally believed, Eisenhower (then Krueger's chief of staff), who came up with the successful operational plan of the 3rd Army in the well-known pre-war strategic testing operations by the U.S. Army in Louisiana and Texas in 1941.
   
   In addition, the book demonstrates that Krueger was heavily responsible for the success of the campaign in New Guinea and the retaking of the Philippines.
   
   Overall, the book makes a strong argument that Krueger (despite some positive wartime publicity and his selection to head Operation OLYMPIC, the invasion of Japan) never received his proper due as a wartime commmander and strategist. (He led, or was otherwise involved in, over 20 different military operations over the course of the war in the Pacific.) Part of the problem may have been due to Krueger's own abrasive personality and stubborness, which did not make him many friends in the military despite his brilliance.
   
   In any event, this book is a long overdue examination of Krueger's contribution to the success of the Allied forces in the Pacific in World War II. (Although Krueger did pen in the 1950s his own account of his war time activities, the book was not well received. Although it has been reprinted on occasion, it is currently out of print.) In so doing, it does a very credible job of examining the tensions that often existed among MacArthur, Krueger, and Lt. Gen. Robert Eichelberger (commander U.S. 6th Army) during the battles in the Pacific.