1 comments about Civil War Women: Their Roles and Legacies.

1. This book is interesting but is not very scholarly. The author sites a lot of references, mostly online sources. It is just a general overview of the roles of women before, during and after the American Civil War. It was informative but was more like walking along listening to a tour guide speak. There was a lot of repetitive phrases and she made the same point over and over again. Very poor editing. A lot of typos and some of the dates did not add up. A good overview for students but don't go looking for much more.

No comments about Un largo camino/ A Long Way Gone: Memorias De Un Nino Soldado/ Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.

5 comments about A Rage for Glory: The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN.

1. I tend to shy away from "biographies" of military "heroes." When one looks deeper into their history, you'll find they weren't quite as macho as they made themselves out to be. Or they were so idiosyncratic as to be of dubious merit in civilian life. I think of both Patton and MacArthur to whom both of those value judgements apply.
   
   When you pass by the Decatur House in Washington, adjacent to the White House, you think of a guy who died there, pretty young, after a spat with another navy commodore, James Barron. One is always to reflect of Stephen's heroism; that comes with the territory.
   
   It turns out that such behavior was true!
   
   Decatur wasn't an academic success. So, Decatur became midshipman.
   
   One must keep in context that, at the time of Decatur's birth, the new nation didn't want a navy. It was an expensive commodity, and many of the "founding fathers" were afraid that the military may run the country if given a blank check. But we were threatened in North Africa by the Barbary pirates, which, in essence, put Decatur on the map. He was assigned to the ship the United States, and one of his officers--and friends--was James Barron.
   
   Barron, incidentally, was later shamed over his loss of a ship, and unsubstantiated allegations by another officer of Barron's lack of loyalty. That's what led to his distance from Commodore Decatur.
   Later, when the USS Philadelphia had been taken by some of those pirates, Decatur and his crew sank the ship, despite the overwhelming odds against them. He did so with hand-to-hand combat on board the vessel, and that led to the "glory" in pursuit of which Decatur notorious, and for which the book is entitled.
   
   That was the first of many heroic--note the lack of quotes around the word--activities of Decatur. Now, let me stress that I think luck plays into such heroics, too. But that doesn't detract that it took guts and strategy--and the ability to evoke loyalty from a crew--for Decatur to do what he did, most of which were quite successful, and earned him his laurels.
   
   True, the book is relatively short. But unless you'd like to cover minute details of Decatur's life, many of them of dubious historical merit, it covered enough to give you a good view of the man.
   
   Early in the text, the author covered how dueling was one of those badges of honor used particularly by navy men. Indeed, later in his career--ironically--Decatur established what I think they referred to as "Decatur' law," by which such duels were, in effect, mediated; lots of good officers would otherwise be lost over some pretty frivolous issues.
   
   The author slides into the narrative the items that led to the eventual dual between Barron and Decatur, in which Barron was the victor. Several things happened which lead one to believe that Barron may have been wooed into the duel in the first place by another officer, Jesse Duncan Elliot. In any case, Decatur was courted adequately to the duel in which, by the terms issued by Barron, one was almost surely to die. (Keep in mind that in many a duel of the era, one or both of the dueling parties, shot their gun into the ground, thereby hurting no one, but preserving the "honor" of both.)
   
   I was inclined to describe the duel in some detail, but that would give away too much of the book. I've already stated who was the "victor." But I'll let the reader do that.
   
   After the duel, the author clearly summarizes what happened to the surviving parties. I was a little surprised that Decatur's wife, Susan, was so extravagant that she lost all the Decaturs had acquired including prize money, a healthy pension, etc. Barron ended his years in the navy...well, etc.
   
   Overall, I think it's a pretty good book. Again, I don't get into 800 page details of such a guy's life, with footnotes galore, including what so-and-so claimed, and items that really don't mean much to me. The text did include just a little too much glorifying of the "founding fathers," and many lesser known figures. They were value judgements I might have been left on my own to make or not. But if you want something to put the platitudes and story of Decatur in context, and learn a few details of US and naval history, this is a pretty good book.



2. The Marine Hymn says, "From the halls of Moctezuma to the Shores of Tripoli." I always wondered about "the shores of Tripoli" part of that Hymn. I didn't learn anything in US History classes about it nor about "the hero" of Tripoli, Steven Decatur---at least until I read this book. Exciting reading about a true American Hero who lived at the beginning of our Country. Recommended! boland7214@aol



3. This biography of one of our great naval heroes should inspire anyone. It is all the more relevant today because it deals with his conquest of the Barbary Pirates, whose philosophy is very similar to that which is held by many of the denizens of the same geographic area today.
   
   We could learn some important lessons from his valiant actions and love of Country, and the bold response of Thomas Jefferson.



4. If you're a fan of historical novels, and sometimes suspect that the heroes in those stories strain credulity, then this book will disabuse you of that fear. True, it isn't a long book--it may not weigh enough to make a sufficiently loud thud when landing on the desk of an academic (I agree with a previous review's implication that it would not be a good reference book). But it makes for a compelling read, a fascinating story that is well-grounded in its historical context.



5. I ordered this book without too much thought as I had read James DeKay's previous book on the British, then American, frigate Macedonian. Decatur was responsible for the Macedonian's capture so I assumed that the biography was a natural fit. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to receive such a thin, light (in many senses of the word) tome. Perhaps, I'm attracted to more scholarly endeavors but I found the book slight where I longed for depth and detail. There was little new material in the book and sometimes I thought it was just a quick rehash of notes set down for the book on the Macedonian. That it came out about the time of the ill-fated Master and Commander movie makes me think it was also rushed. One of the founders of the American Navy living in such a colorful period of history and, in many ways, being the epitome of his time, deserves better.

5 comments about Walking Away from the Third Reich (Memories Series) (Memories Series).

1. A story of a German youth from boarding school to the Army until the capitulation on May 8, 1945. The discussion among individuals in Germany, as described, is a great resource for anyone seeking how the 3rd Reich was seen from the inside.
   
   Way too much time on his training, though. The books biggest flaw is that he leaves the reader high and dry at the end. OK, Claus, what happened to your parents, your home, your siblings, Sepp, Fritz, your Captain, Ernst, etc? Nothing.
   
   He ends with his first day on the job as a cook in a Munich hotel. Too bad because it shaped up to be a good book.



2. A view of WWII from the "other" side made this an eye-opening and fascinating read. It humanizes the enemy and one can't help but cheer on the author through his harrowing experiences in the European theater.



3. Mr. Sellier tells a very moving personal story of his experiences in the German Army during World War II. The book covers three parts of his war experience: initial officer's training after secondary school, service in an artillery unit in the Balkans, and, in the last third, a nightmare journey from Rokycany in Czechoslovakia back to army headquarters in Berchetsgaden and on to army provision headquarters in Traunstein and the end of the war. Throughout his experiences, Sellier retains his sense of humanity and concern for his fellow soldiers and for the civilians they encounter, and this comes through strongly in the book. He is a great, personable, story teller and has meticulously reconstructed his army career.

   As a young man, Claus attended Castle Bieberstein, an exclusive private school, where his schoolmates included Kaiser Wilhelm's grandson and the nephew of Baron von Richthofen.Their lives in private school were far removed from the reality of the war in 1942, where their biggest worry was whether the war would last long enough for them to graduate and earn a medal. One early wake-up call occurred when the school team went to a Hitler Youth Athletic competition wearing their school uniforms, instead of their Hitler Youth uniforms. Although they won some of the events, they were disqualified, and their behavior led to an investigation of the school by the SS that nearly closed it.

   Soon after, Claus and his friends were drafted, and he joined the First Mountain Division, where his three brothers and father were already serving.

   His youthful arrogance and independent thinking got him into repeated trouble in officers training school and he was eventually demoted and sent to a combat artillery unit, where he served in Yugoslavia, fighting the Russians. He was 19. Claus grew up fast in combat, as he learned survival skills and became close to the men in his unit. He became a first rate artilleryman and survived many engagements, including a Russian attack in which many of his mates were killed, and he and a few other survivors walked through swamps for days to get back behind German lines.

   In April 1945, Klaus and some others from his unit were sent to Artillery Officers School in Rokycany in Czechoslovakia. After only a few days, they were promoted to lieutenants, and Klaus and his friend Fritz were chosen, because they were Bavarians, for the dangerous mission of taking vital documents to Army Headquarters.They remained faithful to this mission while the structure of the German army was collapsing around them into chaos in response to the American advance. They spent a few days in American custody but managed to escape and walked home to Munich, to begin to rebuild their lives.




4. An amazing book of the thoughts and actions of the youth in Nazi Germany. The author gives one a perspective not seen by the Allies. He attempts to simply the daily life of a youth growing up in Germany during World War II. It gives the student of Nazi Germany a different view of the war through the eyes of its youth. One can see what it was like to be a youth in Germany and be caught in the furor of war. Sellier gives one a vivid view of war with all its futile consequence. He brings to life the strengths and weaknesses of man in war, and the incredible courage endured by men of both sides of war.He denounces war as one not of glory and fame but of evil and terror. This book would be an excellent read to one with a sense of World War II, especially those who fought against the Axis powers. I would suggest this book to any student of World War II. It gives one an excellent view from the other side and shows one a picture of the horror and stupidity of war. A must read for all World War II historians.



5. Walking away from the Third Reich by Claus W Sellier, is a compelling story of a young German Soldier caught up in the sobering throws of a real war!! At 17, the "glory and honor of fighting for a unified Europe seemed very exciting but reality soon set in with the horrors of true life battles. Young Sellier was forced brutally into maturity and tells his story in a honest and gripping way!! Hearing this story from someone who fought on the "other side" and is now an "American" gives the reader a whole new view on what all sides went through in this time of our history. I would HIGHLY RECOMEND this book to everyone,not only history buffs. It is a story of human interest to all!!!

   I hope that Mr Sellier would consider writing about his life experiences after the "War". It would be very interesting to see how his experiences affected his later life.

2 comments about Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader.

1. Wow, I never knew the human side of Hitler. He was a wiz with names and always took the time to pick out special presents for people's birthday. I think he is probably one of the most evil men who ever walked the planet. But he had some great leadership qualites, how else could this man rise from nothing to a man who lead a nation to unspeakable evil. Worth the read.



2. Adolf Hilter, a fascinating yet despised man of his times would be a hero to many, but a murderer to some. He has had the courage to lead thousands upon thousands of women, men, and children. He has changed my way of thinking and probably others who thing of Hitler as their hero.

5 comments about Coming to Colorado: A Young Immigrant’s Journey to Become an American Flyer (Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography).

1. This is an excellent book and it was written so people that did not read German Boy can understand. German Boy was written in a different style and I enjoyed it slightly more than this one. It basically leaves off in January 1963 and leaves you wanting more and wondering if he will write the third book.
   
   I was amazed at how open he was in writing about his life. I highly recommend this book because it is a rare opportunity to hear the next part of the story of his life. Too many times you read a book about someone only to have questions, this answers most of the question you have.
   
   His son becomes a 2nd Lt. and wears the same bars he purchased when he began to form his goal to become a pilot. This book is an example of the US became great, through people who worked hard to better themselves and become Americans.
   
   I purchased this new and am happy I did.



2. This is a must-read for anyone who enjoyed "German Boy". Those put off by Samuel's seemingly photographic memory may find his relentlessly detailed account of life in the United States to be a bit unbelievable. I, however, find his writing style very compelling, and although I am not a native speaker of German, the word "deutlich" kept coming to my mind as I read this book, meaning "articulate, clear, lucid, and precise" and presumably also fundamentally very "German" ("Deutsch").
   
   Samuel's own life-story is so carefully chronicled that on one rare occasion when he says he doesn't remember exactly where his mother was at that moment it is actually a little disconcerting.
   
   There is enough flashback to events in "German Boy" that this book can stand on its own: there would certainly be nothing wrong with reading this book first. His focus here is of course on the immigrant experience, and anyone specifically interested in that topic need not read "German Boy" to appreciate "Coming to Colorado".
   
   I particularly enjoyed reading about life in the early days of the U.S. Air Force, and I find myself now motivated to read his other two books "American Raiders" and "I Always Wanted to Fly". Samuel's book is also a reminder that for those who experienced it first-hand, Communism was, and is, a very bad thing, and not just some kind of alternative political lifestyle.



3. I feel glad that I read this one last from the five books by Wolfgang Samuel. But I suspect that I might have felt the same way if there had been a different order. I have traveled a long way with the author, first as a German Boy and finished with a tower of strength well-rounded American boy Captain Wolfgang W. E. Samuel, later to retire as a Colonel in the USAF. The Colonel certainly gained my trust, my loyalty, and my admiration as a boy and then a man, Air Force Officer and author. His use of simile is very clever. And he can paint a detail and beautiful picture of anything perceived by the eye, be man, beast, or scenery. I found Coming to Colorado as worthy as the other four titles. I must confess that I felt a pervasive melancholy because I was about to lose contact: the end of a fine movie, an enjoyable trip of the human spirit overcoming obstacles, its wisdom. Holy, holy, what a tremendous experience! THANK YOU.



4. Wolfgang Samuel has been one of my very favorite authors since I picked up his exceptional book, German Boy, in a London airport several years ago. This book was a page-turner, poignant and beautiful, the story of a young boy filled with a dream. I have bought every book he has written, and Coming to Colorado brought his story forward to show how much he loves America and flying. His is a continuing story of hope, innocence, familial love, courage, and overcoming whatever obstacles stood in his path. It is a testimony to good overcoming evil. I highly recommend both these books by Wolf Samuel.



5. Coming to Colorado, a sequel to German Boy, is another outstanding work by this talented author. A breath taking account of a young man who suddenly finds himself in America. Poor and Illiterate in English, his lifelong dream of becoming an American Pilot drives him to earn his college degree which was a prerequisite for flight training. His story is living proof that courage, determination and strength of character can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. This book, like his other five, is beautifully written, and takes the reader beyond where "German Boy" ended. A story that touches the heart and emotions, because it brings to mind some of the fears and experiences that we may have felt when growing into adulthood. For the young reader, this story is an inspiration and a beacon of hope, and at the same time it is a tribute to the remarkable ability of the human spirit to prevail - a poignant reminder that "No dream is impossible"

3 comments about In My Brother's Shadow: A Life and Death in the SS.

1. This book is by far not about, as the title suggests life in his brothers shadow,as much as it is about life in his fathers shadow, or the shadow of a defeated Germany!
   Herr Timm seems to be searching for his personal share of Germanys collective guilt. The writings of his brother might at most contribute 1 full page to this book! Herr Timm seems to be full of self-pity calling himself over and over again "the afterthought" where I would think his father instead planned him to be his brothers replacement. My father grew up in this same Germany and I have good insight into his thinking. I would suggest because of Herr Timms fathers position he knew a war would happen, and most likely consume his oldest son, that is what brought Uwe into being, not some accident or afterthought.Also his insistance that the 3rd. SS was an elite unit that the camp guards were drawn from is also a factual error. The 3rd SS began as the "Totenkopfverbande" they were the camp guards before the war! After the Polish and French campaigns they were re-organised into the Totenkopf division. The original members and leaders of the organisation Todt were all involved in the German camp system, not as Herr Timm suggests "elite soldiers from which guards were drawn" but rather camp guards that were formed into a front-line fighting unit!Herr Timm also wants to take small obscure entries in his brothers diaries and contort them into some evil or sinister act! A louse hunt is a louse hunt plain and simple, fodder for my MG is just an expression of the daily exposure to the horrors of front-line service. Herr Timm is searching so hard, it seems also hoping to find some act of brutality or inhumanity that he might link to his brother as to justify the feeling he has inside of himself! This book is a waste of time if you are seeking 1st hand accounts of the war, but if you want to read of the guilt placed on the German people and the effects of defeat on a family and country, it might be of some helpful insight.



2. This is less an account of Uwe Timm's brother's life and death in the SS -- though it is that -- than it is a reflection on memory and history, specifically on what they mean in postwar Germany. Timm's brother's diary, kept against regulations ("it ought not to exist," Timm writes), is brief and ambiguous. And in those ambiguities lie the greatest turmoil and conflict, with no real answers. What did the brother mean when he referred to a "big louse hunt"? Clearly, he was involved in criminal activities ("plenty of loot!"), and clearly, he was coarsened by the war ("fodder for my MG"). But was he involved in atrocities? Did he murder civilians? Those are the questions that Timm can't answer with any certainty. They point to the doubt and guilt of an entire people, a people who still struggle to come to terms with the war. Sixty years: still no answers, still no resolution.



3. I was born and raised in Germany. Even though my parents were born after the war and both my grandfathers were dead by the time I started asking questions I can still relate very well to the unease when it comes to talking about WWII.
   
   Where I grew up we had a neighbour whom I only knew as a mild mannered older guy, who loved us kids, would give us sweets and let us play in the big old trees in his garden. At one point I discovered that he was a member of the SS in WWII and had fought somewhere in Russia. He had no family. When he was in his eighties, he started opening up to a few people in the neighbourhood, among them my family. He would talk about the war, his comrades and generally the hard life they lived. He would always start crying. He would never mention fighting, killing civilians and all the other things he most likely saw and did. We all knew about those things, but we also felt sorry for the old guy and nobody pressed questions. He was a neighbour, not close family after all.
   
   Timm's book perfectly captures the conflict of the - very normal - desire to love and admire a brother (father, uncle, grandfather, neighbour) while at the same time knowing that that person must have consciously participated in something unspeakably atrocious.
   
   Obviously there is no easy solution and that conflict is one that generations of Germans had to deal with after the war. It is impossible to excuse what happened, but it is equally impossible to condemn all these people around you who all might have participated to various degrees, and be it just by keeping silent.

5 comments about Caesar: A Biography.

1. If you are troubled by insomnia, by all means buy this book. Put it on your night stand and you may find that it will solve your problem. However, in the end you may prefer pills. The author may well be one of the leading experts on ancient history as the book jacket claims. He is a professor at the University of Munich. But one thing is for sure - he is never at a loss for words. A specialist may enjoy reading all of his long winded questions, his endless pros and cons, and his speculations, but I did not. I labored through the roughly 500 pages and, at the end, felt nothing so much as relief and deliverance. Unless you really relish an expert's pontificating and moralizing, I would suggest that you can easily skip the first fifty pages and maybe the first one hundred. However be forewarned, that is only the beginning. There is more of the same - lots more.
   
   I slogged through it all, but I did not feel that I had learned very much, beyond the fact that the author is anything but a fan of Julius Caesar. He beats the reader to death with his "inside-outside" theory, his moralizing and philosophizing, but there is very little in the way of hard facts or substantive biography. To be sure, there may be very little information on Caesar's life still extant; however, one still has to contend with some five hundred pages! And I was struck by the fact that there are no foot notes and it is necessary to wait to the first afterward before the author condescends to let the reader know about some of his sources. And in the second afterward, the author admits that he has discovered a salient piece of evidence which tends to put his view of Caesar into question, but immediately denies the importance of same.
   
   I am not an expert on the subject at hand or the period, but for my money the author asks too much. He seems to expect that the reader will simply accept his view of Caesar. Rather than admit that he simply doesn't know something, he continually speculates, guesstimates, and assumes that the reader will be convinced of his conclusions, vague though the latter are. I suspect that the author has lived too much in the shadow of Hitler to render an impartial estimate of Caesar. Even if Meier is 100% correct, there is the little matter of Caesar's legacy. Little things like the fact that the French and the Spanish speak a romance language today (and the Germans do not). Or the fact that all of his successors used the title of Caesar and that it continued on into the German and Russian Empires of the Kaisers and Tsars. Or even the fact that our calendar today is his revision and known as the Julian calendar. The author does, at one point, grudgingly concede that Caesar was brilliant and may have been the greatest military commander in history, but he committed the supreme sin in Meier's eyes of failing to embrace the values of the Republic. (This while conceding that the Roman Republic was past saving.) While condemning Caesar for his brutality, and in spite of his many acts of clemency, he passes over Sulla's slaughter of thousands lightly, explaining that after all Sulla did it to help the Republic! According to Meier, Caesar, had no idea of how to solve the problem of a failing government other than autocracy - ironically, precisely the solution reached after his death and some fifteen years of civil war, by Octavius (Augustus). At least no known idea. In brief, I was not persuaded by the author's thesis. I would infinitely prefer a biography of Caesar if it could be written by Anthony Everitt whose "Cicero" and "Augustus" biographies are at least readable. Everitt is reader friendly. Meier is not.



2. So what more can be said about Caesar? That was the first question I asked myself when I looked at this book. The cover stated that not only Caesar was the main character in this book, but also his age. And that's exactly what makes this book special.
   
   It's easy to pass a judgement. But what about the circumstances, beliefs and culture one is in? Caesar's age is described in great detail, starting over a hundred years before he was born. You will almost think you're reading about Rome in the beginning, but this all sets a great stage for the main character to enter.
   
   When Caesar himself comes into play you will get to know several 'Caesars' throughout his life. The man is being changed by his environment, beliefs and experience and acts on these changes accordingly. There is no question of good or bad, Meier only addresses the why, and that is a good thing to do.
   
   All 500 pages are worthy every dime and I would recommend this book to anyone. Compelling, adventurous, morally complex and great to read.



3. Negatives first: Trying to reach conclusions about the psychology of a person who dies over 2,000 years ago is a dubious enterprise. Use of descriptors such as alienation or "outsider" is a 20th century psycho-jargon. (Maybe in the original German it's more palatable.)
   
   Positives: Explaining the differences between present day political conception and those of the Roman Republic is most useful. The absence of political parties and "-isms" in the modern sense is one. Pointing out and the unity (in the Roman mind)of the state and society versus our contemporary conception as separate is another. The Roman senate was a legislature without a corresponding judicial and executive institutions. The senate attempted to be all three and largely succeeded until the the size of the Republic became to great. A power vacuum was created which resulted in a series of "big men", Pompey, Caesar, Antony, Octavian, etc. Caesar was the most interesting and possibly the most pivotal. A major historical thread of the next 1,800 years was seeking the resolution of this problem.



4. Christian Meier's biography presents the facts of Caesars life and does quite a bit of analyzation as he asks why Caesar did some of the things he did. For instance, Meier answers the age old question of why Caesar crossed the Rubicon, by suggesting Caesar was orced by the Senatus Consultum Ultimum making him an enemy of the republic, but he does note it still took some vanity to ignite a civil war on his own behalf. Meier provides good insight into the life of Caesar, but the book overall is a bit of a dry, scholarly read. If you want to get into Caesar's head and dont mind the dry prose this book is for you.



5. It's very historically accurate and has a wealth of information that will keep you longing for more on the great dictator and his infamous civil war against the SPQR. However, as tends to be the case with many historical non-fictions, the book is slightly wordy, which disrupts the flow of reading. I would definitely recommend it, but only to those who already have a background understanding of the socio-political environment that was Rome c. 1st Century B.C.

No comments about Godfather of the Revolution: The Life of Philippe Egalite, Duc d'Orleans.

2 comments about The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America.

1. The Title of Professor Neely's biography of Lincoln is taken from Lincoln's second Message to Congress dated December 1, 1862. It is an inspiring phrase and an apt title for a Lincoln biography. Professor Neely's biography is good and solid in its analysis of Lincoln's life. It lacks, however, something of the eloquence and vision of the title and of Lincoln's words. We never learn why Lincoln considered the United States "the Last Best Hope of Earth" or what that can mean for our country today.

   That said, this book is a good introduction to Lincoln and his Presidency. The book skims briefly over Lincoln's life before he became the 16th President. There are advantages to this, but the treatment of the Lincoln-Douglas debates and of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which led to them is too brief to help understand sucession and the Civil War which followed.

   The book's treatment of Lincoln's relationship with his Generals and of the strategy of the War is probably the best single chapter. It has something to teach even those who are familiar with the military history of the war. The chapter on Lincoln as a pragmatic politician and on the 1864 campaign is also well done. The book treats the Emancipation Proclamation at length but to me anyway left something to be desired. (The text and some explicit treatment of it would help) and discusses the fate of Civil Liberties during the War and domestic development during the war in good but not dispositive detail.

   If you are looking for an understanding of Lincoln and of the Civil War this is a good place to start but not to end. I suggest reading the book together with the complilation of Lincoln's own speeches and writings in the Library of America series.




2. I really enjoyed this work. I felt it could have been more in-depth, but only so much can be expected from its relatively short length. It is a good resource and point of departure for the Lincoln historian or enthusiast, but I would recommend additional reading to fill in the gaps.