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

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



2. 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.........



3. 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.



4. 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.



5. This is a very comprehensive account of Paul Bremer's time in Iraq, and for almost the first time gives a real insight into the political in fighting both in Iraq and in Washington as the US attempts to bring democracy to this nation. He has been unfairly treated in other books on Iraq and this tends to set the record straight. I very good read for those who are seriously interested in the Iraq situation.

5 comments about Miracle on 34th Street: [Facsimile Edition].

1. I bought this book because someone here reviewed it as "Better then the movie" Well it is exactly the same except for an extra line once every 20 pages or so.But is is a great book.



2. Wow! I love this book... and even now as 18 I still read this book to get me into that "Christmas spirit" I so desperately want to be in... I read this book every year it's one of my regulars on my holiday reading list.
   
   Valentine Davies weaves such an impressive story that it will make the most skeptical child believe and it will make us that no longer can- wish we could. This is simply the perfect holiday story- one a parent could read to a child before they go to sleep or a story that a moderate second grade reader could read on their own without any difficulty...
   
   I love reading this more than I do watching the classic version of the movie for Valentine Davies makes this book more magical than the movie could ever hope to be. All in all if you want to buy a book for the holidays- for someone on your shopping list this is definately one to buy! Or even own for yourself!



3. I read the book Miracle on 34th Street by, Valentine Daviesý. It was a fabulous Christmas fiction book. The main message or theme that I got from the book was anythingýs possible-you just have to believe.
   Doris Walker is in charge of running the Macyýs Day Parade, which takes place on Thanksgiving Day. When her Santa Clause slacks off last minute she finds Kris Kringle and hires him to do the job. Kris does an amazing job. The only bothersome thing is he really and truly believes that he is Kris Kringle-Santa Clause. Doris doesnýt believe him, and thinks he might be insane. Along with Doris not believing in Santa Clause, nor does her 6 year old daughter Susan. Kris however wants to change that, he wants to make them believe..he believes Christmas is all about believing. Doris and her boss think Mr. Kringle is insane so they send him to a mental institution. Mr. Kringle then worries-what is going to happen with Christmas? How could he disappoint millions of kids all over the world? He some how has to find a way to save Christmas!
   I loved the book. I read it around Christmas which seemed to make the book even better. It was a memorable book that I will remember constantly throughout the holiday season. It was so good I might read it every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It would be nice to have a tradition like that.
   This book didnýt really relate to my Christmas Holiday Season. As a child I always believed in Santa unlike Susan did. My parents encouraged the belief of Christmas and Santa Clause until my brother and I started questioning and figuring things out. Still till this day I believe Christmas was always better when I was young and believed. It made the Holiday Season seem so magical.
   Read Miracle on 34th Street to see if Susanýs Christmas was magical!



4. I read the book Miracle on 34th Street by, Valentine Davies'. It was a fabulous Christmas fiction book. The main message or theme that I got from the book was anything's possible-you just have to believe.
   Doris Walker is in charge of running the Macy's Day Parade, which takes place on Thanksgiving Day. When her Santa Clause slacks off last minute she finds Kris Kringle and hires him to do the job. Kris does an amazing job. The only bothersome thing is he really and truly believes that he is Kris Kringle-Santa Clause. Doris doesn't believe him, and thinks he might be insane. Along with Doris not believing in Santa Clause, nor does her 6 year old daughter Susan. Kris however wants to change that, he wants to make them believe..he believes Christmas is all about believing. Doris and her boss think Mr. Kringle is insane so they send him to a mental institution. Mr. Kringle then worries-what is going to happen with Christmas? How could he disappoint millions of kids all over the world? He some how has to find a way to save Christmas!
   I loved the book. I read it around Christmas which seemed to make the book even better. It was a memorable book that I will remember constantly throughout the holiday season. It was so good I might read it every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It would be nice to have a tradition like that.
   This book didn't really relate to my Christmas Holiday Season. As a child I always believed in Santa unlike Susan did. My parents encouraged the belief of Christmas and Santa Clause until my brother and I started questioning and figuring things out. Still till this day I believe Christmas was always better when I was young and believed. It made the Holiday Season seem so magical.
   Read Miracle on 34th Street to see if Susan's Christmas was magical!



5. Doris Walker works at Macy's. She's in charge of choosing people to be in the parade, but when her Santa Claus shows up drunk she fires him and hires Kris Kringle on the spot. Kris believes he's Santa Claus, and Doris not believing in anything ignores his insistent opinion.

   Of course, Doris has her 6 year old daughter Susan thinking there's no Santa Claus either, and Kris makes sure he changes the little girls mind. But trouble begins when he is admitted to Bellevue, a mental institution, and now with the help of his friend Fred, he must try to get out or Christmas will be ruined for everyone. Especially little Susan.

   This book is truly wonderful, and it shows that if you just believe anything is possible.

3 comments about Hazardous Duty.

1. A great story about a model Major General in todays world. If you want a great war story about the story of a Stand and Deliver Man. Then go no further! I actually felt sorry when the Clueless James Earl Carter went up against this bandsaw of a man!



2. I have read about two-thirds of this book and must stop to send copies to my friend and to my daughter. General Singlaub's experiences and insights show the pattern in all the seemingly unrelated events between WWII and Viet Nam (that's as far as I've gotten), events that affected us all. I have been angry, amazed, amused, impressed and proud as I've read this book. I agree with the other reviewer: this should be the text for a history class. General Singlaub's integrity and intelligence illuminate many issues that were hidden in the shadows.



3. I have just read this book and sent General Singlaub the following letter.

   Dear Jack, Under"Acknowledgements", you mention the "ill-fated John Saar background briefs", I believe Churchill would have referred to them as the beginning of your "finest hour". Without that encounter with John Saar, Washington Post reporter, our appreciation of you as the ultimate super military soldier would have never been revealed to the American people. You were magnificent and fearless. No one was able to intimidate you nor could they compel you to change your stance on the issues, not even the most powerful people in the land including, Jimmy Carter, the president of the United States. Your courage met all challenges with integrity and honor and truth even though you understood that your whole brilliant career was in the balance. You did not waver or waffle as other great warriors have done when faced with loss of pensions, future advancement, even death. Many came to their "moment of truth" and stumbled miserbly. Your action of heroic patriotismand dedication to duty can not be surpassed in the recorded annals of U.S.History. Holding firm to your beliefs and convictions, your dedication and patriotism took on heroic proportions and should, at the very least, lead to The Congressional Medal of Honor. "Hazardous Duty" should be required reading in every school and college in the land as well as in the world. Your reference in Part III to "No Parade" perfectly presents to the world why democracy really works and why totalitarian governments fail, i.e. Hilter, Mussolini, Stalin whose systems are motivated by fear with no fair representation.

5 comments about Memoirs of an Infantry Officer.

1. While perhaps best known for his poetry written during WWI, Siegfried Sassoon was a very talented wordsmith in general, a trait that is demonstrated in his second semi-fictionalized autobiography, "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer". Sassoon chose to fictionalize his accounts of his life, an odd technique that allows him to distance himself from these experiences as he intimately describes the raw emotion and response behind them. In his three memoirs he is George Sherston, a thinly veiled version of himself, who thinnly veils the real-life characters he encountered during these times.
   
   Readers are automatically flung into Sassoon's war experience, from the disjointed and fantastical training, to the brutal reality of life in the trenches. Sassoon describes these experiences in vivid detail, the sheer misery of trench warfare, the almost callous attitude toward the dead on both sides, and the surreal life led by those back home. Sassoon, nicknamed "Mad Jack" for his stubborness and seemingly sheer lunacy at times, was awfully lucky during his battle campaigns. He was wounded a few times, always sent back home to England to recuperate, and almost happy to return to the war.
   
   However, after one session as an invalid, Sassoon begins to recognize that the war may not be all it's cracked up to be, that those in power are not telling the truth about their war aims, and that he may just be a lowly pawn in a game he doesn't want to play. Towards the end of his narrative, Sassoon tells of his decision to speak out against the war, even if it meant being court martialed. This act, filtered with courage and fear, is achingly portrayed as an act both necessary and questionable: as Sassoon places himself in danger, he questions his true beliefs in the matter. This account ends just as Sassoon enters the hospital in Scotland, avoiding court martial with a diagnosis of shell shock, 'lucky' as usual.
   
   "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" is a vividly descriptive account of life in the trenches during WWI. Sassoon is a gifted storyteller, who can make even the direst settings come to life. He offers a unique insight into the soldier poets who first questioned whether or not war was such a noble and glorious pursuit and if the sacrifice of lives was worth the price in the end. While a little slow at times, the last quarter of the narrative which details Sassoon's questioning of the war, is a brilliantly written firsthand look at how a too little celebrated writer finally found his voice.



2. Continuing tale of the Cambridge-educated English Officer living the hell of warfare on the Western Front: replete with adoring batman, blustering colonel Blimps, out of control colonials (Australians and Canadians), journeys to England on home leave to meet misinformed civilians. Sasson has a style that waxes between light and lyrical, cynical and dark and starkly realistic. It is reminiscent of Graves but less dark than Blunden.
   
   This is a tale of the human mind (an upper crust mind) that makes the journey from old world to that of the lost generation -- but Sassoon never loses himself. It shows that the mind-set was already there capable of dissecting and throwing away the old world view tradition. With capable honesty Sassoon relates the contradictions in life, army and mind set of the pre-war generation. He still takes advantage of the liesure of the educated class; his batman pours his tea, he still sees the colonials as slightly quaint and backwards (especially the Australians), still finds refuge among his educated Cambridge intellectuals -- this is no tale of class struggle.
   
   This book can read as part of his trilogy lifestyle or on its own. It has many haunting vignettes and is perhaps one of the top 5 WWI memoirs. Highly recommended.



3. Terrific book that sounded a bit autobiographical. Sassoon, of course, was a war hero on the battle of the Somme, decorated twice for bravery.
   
   The book reads lyrically and is convey's nicely the daily life of soldiers moving back and forth from the front fighting trenches to the rear area of the battle field. He also does a great job portraying the strangeness and inner conflict of being back in British society (while recovering from illness) with people who know nothing of the war or its cost to the participants.
   
   A Brit's version of "All Quiet ..."



4. Siegfried Sassons' "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" is a first-hand account of life at the front line during World War 1. This is not a just a historical document or diary however. Sassoon writes via an alter-ego called George. In real life, Sassoon was an infantry officer who fought at the front, but eventually grew suspicious of the reasons for the continuation of World War 1, and as such became a dissenter. This book may be fiction, but it is based on fact and it gives an impressive account of what life must have been like in those trenches, nearly a hundred years ago. Sassoon's incredible ability with words paints a much more vivid picture than any war movie will ever provide.

   George was a middle-class officer who had the luxury of a university education and was an avid reader of classic English literature. He juxtaposes the themes and ideas in this romantic poetry with the realities of life at the front to great effect. Although a tad repetitive in it's ideas (perhaps to get the point across clearly), this book is rewarding and still relevant this whole century later. As one character in the book says, "In war-time the word patriotism means suppression of truth" .




5. Siegfreid Sassoon's wonderful war memoir is thinly disguised as the story of George Sherston. Based solely on Sassoon's life in the trenches of WWI, it recounts the horror and scale of carnage that occurred. More importantly it shows the emotionally scars that the survivors carried with them as a result of exposure.

   Sherston (Sassoon) was a rather spoiled and pampered young upper class Englishman. The war changed all that. Confronted with death, destruction and idiotic leadership from the High Command you sense the inner turmoil of Sherston.

   Relieved when he is not involved with the fighting he is driven by guilt over the loss of the soldiers in his battalion. Consequently when his platoon is on the line he takes great risks in reconaissance of the German positions.

   The effects of non-stop total war, stupid leadership and the complete contrast between England and the trenches (only a few hundred miles apart) is staggering to Sassoon. Sassoon becomes anti-war and considers becoming an objector, but his obvious connection to his comrades and loyalty to them wins out in the end. He hates the war but won't abandon his comrades in the field.

   This is a great war memoir written by a poet who survived and was changed for life by his experiences in it.

5 comments about At the Going Down of the Sun.....

1. Great book. I don't know what the earlier reviewer's problem was, but I found this book excellent. I admit there were a few typos, but nothing too serious or frequent. I think this book is about as good as Chris Cocks' Fire Force. There are good pictures to aid the reader, and the writer gives alot of detail in his words. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Rhodesian War.



2. Lately, I've gotten on a kick about the Rhodesian Bush War and have now read 5 books on the subject. This one is the best by far. Cock's Fireforce, was good, but this one takes it to a new level. The Author delves deep into his feelings about what happened once the war ended and who he felt was responsible for the war going the way it did. He tends to rant and get off subject, which at first was annoying, but it gives a good insight for someone who really doesn't know much about the Rhodesian situation. Great detail, good action. This is a book that I didn't want to put down and in the end made me angry. Some may say this book is biased, but in actuality, what book isn't. The fact is, this author is honest about his feelings and you get frustrated with him. All in all, this book was great. I highly reccomend it.



3. At the Going Down of the Sun is a military mans must read because Charlie Warren fills the pages with his emotions as well as details. As a former US Marine I was able to relate with his passion and bitterness from training to the sad, bitter end of Rhodesia. I have always been more than interested in Rhodesia's struggle for freedom and it's loss. This book really opened my eyes to what the actual fighting man had to live through.
   
   If some one wants a view down an FAL's sights of the Bush War, this book is a great place to start.



4. This is a very interesting review by Mr Williams and totally inaccurate.
   Charlie Warren tried for five years to get this book published, and when you read the original you can see why he failed.
   I volunteered to produce it for him for free, at my expense.
   I left some of the book in its original language, because it is the language of a troopie, not a sanitised version edited long after the event, and designed to glorify and excuse the author for his actions.
   There is absolutely no way that I will ever gain financially from royalties on this book because of the expenses involved.
   I did not produce it to gain anything for myself, only to give Charlie Warren, and his fellow men of the RLI a chance to have their part of the story recorded in print.
   This version has all the original admissions concerning events both on and off duty, and includes some heartfelt accusations from the men who suffered at the "front".
   So thank you Mr Williams for giving me the opportunity to explain, and in future it would be wise to acquaint yourself with the facts before you launch into print.
   Chris Higginson.



5. This is a great book and is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Rhodesian and the RLI. If you have Chris Cocks' Fireforce you have to have Charlie's book - BUT NOT THIS VERSION. it is full of typos and poor editing - obviously it hasn't been proofed. HOWEVER, I am led to believe that this is a manuscript version which was ripped off from Charlie Warren (the author)and published behind his back - I understand that Charlie Warren will not see one cent of royalties from this edition.
   
   The proper edition will be published shortly and will be re-titled STICK LEADER RLI. Buy it. Don't support the publisher of this version

5 comments about A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman.

1. I had the opportunity to read this book. From the moment of the first word to the very last word, the book draws you in to read more. The graphic descriptions can take you to the other side of the world and stand next to the author on his travels. You know what it was like be black during the "Jim Crow" days on the trains in the south. Granted that my 25 years never saw the ugly side of America, his visual imagery is just so vivid that I seriously think they should dump "Scarlett Letter" and place this book on the reading lists of High School Students.



2. Charles Dryden's book forces people to see the trials and tribulations encountered by black servicemen and women during WWII. I was shocked to read about the different encounters with 'Jim Crow' that Dryden and his peers waded through during their service years. A must for anybody curious about WWII, the Tuskegee Airmen or about the fight for civil rights in America.



3. I meet Col. Dryden when he gave a talk about his experiences and his book. I then read the book a felt a tremendous respect for the author and all the Tuskeegee Airmen. Col. Dryden tells his personal story in a way that made me feel as though I was there with him the whole time. The challanges of blacks in America in his story left a powerful impact on me, the courage the author displayed is an insperation. A-Train is very well written and reads easily. It is an powerful story that left me feeling inadequate and ashamed to be white. I had the oportunity to meet Col. Dryden again and sought him out just to shake his hand again, knowing him from his book, it was hard to hide my emotions.



4. Every young African American boy should read this book. It is an inspiration.



5. I initially bought this book expecting it to be similar to the other slew of WWII books out there ( The ME-109 dove at me out of the sun with guns blazing...). Instead I got an honest account of a man who wanted to fly for his country and be treated with the same respect as any other pilot. Dryden's memories and descriptions of his voyage through training to be a pilot as well as the segregated and de-segregated Air Force are interesting and honest. Dryden't narrative is not the heart-pounding, can't-put-the-book down type but rather the story of a man who, faced with tremendous adversity from his own society and country, persevered. There is no bitterness in Dryden's story, and I put the book down tremendously impressed by his belief in himself, in his religion and his friend. It's a good book

No comments about Genghis Khan: History's Greatest Empire Builder (Military Profiles).

No comments about Garibaldi: Hero of Italian Unification.

5 comments about Lost in Tibet: The Untold Story of Five American Airmen, a Doomed Plane, and the Will to Survive.

1. 
   For those hauling cargo over the Hump, the enemy was not the Japanese but rather what is probably the harshest weather and terrain on the earth.
   
   On their ill fated flight the crew is lost and hundreds of miles off course when they finally are down to their last drops of fuel and bail out over an unknown land. Much to their surprise they ended up in a remote part of Tibet.
   
   Most of the book is their story of their long journey to safety. The book also offers an early insight into the China-Tibet political struggles that continue today.
   
   Very well written and an easy read for a rainy day.



2. I enjoyed this book because I was a pilot flying the "Hump" at the same time these men were. Their story is exciting, well written and spell binding and will interest those who enjoy adventure. Almost a thousand aircraft were lost on the "aluminum trail" between India and China. A lot was learned in that operation at the expense of the lives of the young inexperienced airmen who took part. Lost In Tibet gives one an insight of the flying conditions we experienced and also the complicated wartime politics in the Tibetan area of that time. It's a good "read".



3. I stopped reading a few pages into the first chapter. I couldn't quit thinking about the ridiculous false statements in the 2nd paragraph of the 1st chapter. First it says "the pilot decided to crash," after the engines catch fire, but he doesn't actually crash. Then it says the cause of the fire was because the spark plug gap was too wide which "let raw fuel run straight through the engines and out the turbines and there it had ignited."
   
   The part about crashing is sensationalism. The part about the sparkplugs is completely wrong since they have nothing to do with the flow of fuel. I'm sure the topic of this story is true but with that many errors on the first page of the first chapter I'm going to find another book on this topic I can trust.



4. I bought this as a gift so just going on the quality of the appearance it was excellent. I was really impressed with how quickly it was shipped to my home during the last week before christmas. Great job!



5. Not a typical story about World War II. Five airmen parachute from their crippled supply airplane and end up lost in Tibet. At that time, Tibet was somewhat independent from China. The airmen's landing in Tibet causes a huge political firestorm between Great Britain, Tibet, and China. The airmen are in the middle of this. The result is a diplomatic balancing act as the airmen leave Tibet.
   
   This is a nice little story about World War II. The authors write a readable entertaining book about the story of the men and the magic land of Tibet. This is a very enjoyable read.

5 comments about Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of World War II's OSS.

1. It is a very valuable piece of historic mosaic.
   
   E.g. one of many fascinating parts is how blatant were Soviet spies in the State Department when they torpedoed any effort by OSS to obtain intelligence on the Soviet Union.
   
   However, the presentation is too dry and too fragmented in my view.



2. This book was not only entertaining it was also informative. The book discusses an area of WWII that has not been fully covered. The descriptive stories and tales almost make you feel you were there.



3. Where are they now?
   
   Where are people like 'Wild Bill' Donovan, Corporal Drake, Elizabeth Pack, Moe Berg today? We need them in the 'War on Terror.' Instead we have the 'Keystone Cops.' Today we spy on Americans, perhaps because don't have enough intelligence agents who speak Arabic.
   
   In early August, 2001 - a month before Sept. 11, the Keystone Cops of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. were offered intelligence that Osama bin Laden and Al Queda were planning `something.' They turned a blind eye and deaf ear. After Sept 11 they said "Figure out how Saddam did this."
   
   This book is criticized by other reviewers for offering the facts but little context and less analysis. However, you could also say that it provides the facts, as remembered by the men and women of the OSS, and invites us to draw our own conclusions.
   
   There are between the lines criticisms.
   
   "OSS's first African American operator, a Corporal Drake.... Drake's membership in the OSS was purely happenstance since OSS, like the rest of America's armed forces, had not been integrated."
   
   "Only 143 Americans died in the line of duty.... However, hundreds of foreigners were killed while working for the OSS."
   
   And a singularly subtle reminder of who we fought.
   
   "German intelligence dismissed the group as `a perfect picture of the mixture of races and characters in that savage conglomeration called the United States.'"
   
   O'Donnell's book is a good read for a plane, beach, or weekend. The anecdotal style makes it easy to put down. The pace and content make you pick it up again and again to read thru and review.



4. This book has a wealth of information. With so much, the author managed to organize everything in a sensible manner. The information builds on previous chapters. It can be hard to remember, but the author does manage to add some reminders.



5. This book is not "War and Peace", nor is it a comprehensive book on spies, but rather it is a collection of stories using first hand testimony of the participants in the OSS in WWII. In that context the book is different from most of what must now be a 1000 books on WWII. The strength of this book is the excellent writing and the series of interesting characters and their stories, all involving ordinary men that do heroic things. Thankfully their stories have been recorded by the author since many of these men are now many in the 80's and their first hand recollections will soon be lost. In any case the book is better that one might expect.
   
   I first heard about this book on WABC where John Bachelor has interviewed a series of the living subjects or "spies" on air on his late daily show at 10:00 PM. The guys are ordinary but the stories are often riveting. They put themselves in tremendous danger with their patriotic actions. In many ways this book is like the recent Tim Russert book - a sleeper. The book seems okay from what you have heard from others and from interviews on the radio, but the book is actually a much better read. In many ways the both books (Russert and this book) are on subjects that when properly presented become compelling page turning reads. This is a great value and a good book.