5 comments about Operation Solo: The FBI's Man in the Kremlin.

1. This is a compelling story of high stakes espionage in the Cold War. The amazing thing is that it is not fiction--it is history. The understanding that the author has about espionage and the intelligence community is right on. If you love history and are interested in the spy game--this is the book for you.



2. Barron's prose is articulate and well-phrased without wandering into pedantic posturing. We rarely know his opinion of all the goings-on, and what events he describes! We are quickly lost in this real world of espionage and deception, thoughtfully recreated by an author who knows his business and tells it well. An exciting read.



3. The only thing more incredible than the story of Morris and Jack Childs, brothers who, from the early 1950s through the late 1970s, were FBI assets within the American Communist Party, and who were personal friends of Soviet leaders, is that Hollywood has yet to commit this to celluloid. Here were four brave Americans--to include their intrepid wives, Eva and Roz--who for decades risked their lives to report to the FBI (and from the Bureau to the President) on the thoughts and intentions of Soviet leaders. So trusted by their friends in the Soviet leadership, they served as secret Soviet emissaries to China and Cuba, reporting back to the Soviets the attitudes and positions of Mao and Castro. Thus successive U.S. presidents enjoyed unique intelligence on the thinking of not only the Soviets, but of the Chinese and the Cubans as well. The story told in OPERATION SOLO is spellbinding, frought with tension, occasionally leavened by the earthy humor of its principal players. This is, in short, a terrific story about great Americans--hardworking FBI agents who shied away from the spotlight, and their courageous assets--that demands to be read or, someday, seen on screen.
   
   A couple of points about John Barron's book. It is well written overall and reads quickly. It is not without faults, however. (1) The story is sometimes interrupted to introduce fairly extensive citations of reports written or passed along by the Childs. Without greater historical context, though, these passages are somewhat sterile and dry. Someday, one hopes, a more detailed study will add historical material external to SOLO that would, along with insightful analysis, demonstrate the true value of the SOLO reporting (as another reviewer here has suggested). (2) The section that deals with Martin Luther King is disappointing. For one thing, Barron is historically inaccurate or incomplete when the author states that "No one could have been more sympathetic to King than the Kennedy brothers." See Robert Dallek's excellent book on JFK for a better treatment of the Kennedys' complex relationship with King. Barron also downplays King's true significance as a great civil rights leader in order to discuss Communist ties to his inner circle of advisors. Furthermore, in an egregious departure from journalistic objectivity, Barron appears to excuse FBI's excessive campaign against King, including the infamous hotel wiretaps, on the pretext that King's private behavior was "inconsistent with [that] of a Christian minister and moral exemplar."
   
   These misgivings aside, this is a truly amazing tale. Read the book and then amaze your friends in recounting the story. Are you listening, Hollywood?



4. This is an incredible story of a courageous couple of brothers and their wives who, while initially being drawn into Communism, were able to see the ugly truth behind it, and use their backgrounds to become the greatest spies in history. The book is written very well and as such it is hard to put down. Aside from a great story of intrigue, the book also offers a unique perspective on what really went on in the Kremlin as well as (parts of) the FBI.



5. I am the son of the FBI agent Richard Hansen. I can attest to the secrecy of this operation by explaining how I learned about it. In 1997 I was looking through the new arrivals at my local library. I started leafing through this book and did a double take when I saw my dad's name. I checked out the book, rushed home, called my dad. Sure enough, he admitted that he was the agent in the book. It is an amazing testament to his fidelity that he did not speak of this operation(even after he retired), until this book came out.

No comments about Pearl Harbor Countdown: Admiral James O. Richardson.

1 comments about My Miracle Marine.

1. This is an absolutely wonderful book. It is very inspiring and demonstrates the power of prayer.

5 comments about Reluctant Warrior.

1. Semper Fi is about all that can be said. This was the life of the grunt. No amplification or heroism that was not there. This is the best book I have ever read discribing the life. Also the excerpt on page 299 and 300 "These Good Men" by Micheal Norman is the first and only explanation of all of us that have ever served and our feelings forever to our comrades. I wish Micheal could write another book, I don't think he will. It was all in this one.



2. Excellent book about Recon operations in Vietnam. I served with Mike in OCS before Vietnam. I highly recommend the book.



3. Michael Hodgins captures the real spirit of the place and time. As a former Marine who served with the 1st Recon Bn, I can testify Mr. Hodgins presents a true and vivid picture of life in the bush, on an OP, and in Camp Reasoner. With all the distortions about Vietnam presented in the movies and on TV, as well as the anti-war prejudice of public school history teachers, this book should be required reading in the high school cirriculum. I hope someday someone will write a book that will tell us more about Lt. Skibbe, Lt. Rathmell, and Captain McVey who gave lost their lives protecting their troops.



4. This book is an outstanding account of recon battalion actions in Vietnam. It is well worth reading. I served with Mike before the war. He was a straight shooter then, and a straight shooter in Vietnam



5. Reading Reluctant Warrior was like stepping through a door into the jungle. For just a little while I was on patrol again with 1st Recon, 3rd Plt, "C" Company. I saw and smelled OP 425, ran through the jungle and listened to the 46s coming to extract our team when we got in the "S__t Sandwich". My friends lived again---Thanks Mike! Chuck Fenwick HM3 1st Mar Div, 1st Recon, 3rd Plt, "C" Company, RVN 69-70.

1 comments about Grant's Lieutenants: From Chattanooga to Appomattox (Modern War Studies).

1. Good collection of essays on Grant's subordinates. Interesting interpretation of O.C. Ord's career, of which I knew nothing. Nature of the writing precluded much in depth analysis or tactical detail of the various officers' battles/operations. Combined with Grant's Lieutenants, Vol 1, the book provides a good introduction to the war under Grant.

5 comments about An Officer and a Junkie: From West Point to the Point of No Return.

1. I was at USMA with the author. The number of "liberties" he takes to describe his time there leads me to highly doubt the entire story -- either that, or *I* was on drugs the entire time and am not remembering it accurately.
   
   I'm sure there's some truth sprinkled in with what he writes, but I don't believe the whole package -- not for one second.



2. Once I started reading this book, I found it very difficult to put down. Throughout the book, Michael Winder consistently hits you with brutal honesty. He pulls no punches in revealing his daily experiences as an addict. Just when you think he's hit the bottom, he finds a new rung to descend. The documentation provided has convinced me that he's for real. To further add to his life's saga, he weaves his life as an addict with the rigorous training of being a West Point cadet. Amazingly, he was able to turn his life around, climb out of the bowels of hell and write his memoirs. I enjoyed this book immensely and look forward to his next one.



3. I completed reading this book in 2 sittings, and felt uncomfortable with the author's voice the entire time. He is entirely too proud of his prodiguous consumption of drugs and his cleverness at concealing it from others. I fear that this young man is destined to resume some form of self-destructive and self-delusional activities unless he develops some humility. The entire tale came across as the self-aggrandizing bragging of an insecure adolescent. It would behoove him to read some Greek tragedy -- perhaps Oedipus -- and reflect on the consequences of over-confidence and pride.
   
   I would not recommend using this book in a drug education program aimed at teen-agers. It reads like a challenge to try to outdo the author -- which could be fatal since I doubt very much that anyone, even the author, could consume anywhere near the quantity of drugs and alcohol he claims for as long as he claims to have done so and survive, let alone be coherent.



4. My problem with Winder's memoir is not necessarily that he managed to obtain a degree from West Point despite his rampant drug abuse and flagrant disregard for the rules of his school. I agree that, for the most part, everyone deserves a second chance.
   
   However, being a drug addict with an ability to form sentences doesn't qualify Mr. Winder as a memoirist. His story is not particularly interesting. While the West Point angle certainly drew me into the book, at its core Mr. Winder doesn't have anything new or insightful to say about addiction. Yes, West Point is a uniquely challenging place, but most of the time Winder comes across as a typical college-age frat boy with a sense of entitlement drowning his problems in booze and drugs. He's clearly an intelligent man whose writing skills need some serious polishing. (For example, he seems compelled to describe each character by their height and/or weight, hair color, and skin tone.) I wish Mr. Winder the best of luck, but ultimately I cannot recommend this book.



5. This memoir is a well-written book that manages to portray the grim reality of the author's experiences in the oft-glamorized world of drug and alcohol abuse. His narration style is very easy to read and the story flows effortlessly. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an insightful, entertaining, and thought-provoking true story. I sincerely hope that the author stays sober and is able to keep his life on track, if only for the sake of the many friends and family from the book who cared so much about him. Well done.

4 comments about An American Heroine in the French Resistance: The Diary and Memoir of Virginia D'Albert-Lake (World War II--the Global, Human, and Ethical Dimension).

1. There were only a few Americans in the French Resistance: Mme d'Albert-Lake was one and in this intelligent book shows that she has a good memory and a clear expository style --- and a sense of humor as well. Carefully annotated. Informative both on the Resistance and on the French scene before and during World War II.



2. I really liked the original documents which made up this book (filed reports, letters, diary entries, etc.). The memoir was good also, but a little awkwardly written. I also wished she had devoted as much time to her resistance work as she had to her imprisonment. Overall, though, very interesting.



3. I've met and photographed scores of memorable and important people in my time, but few hold a candle to Virginia d'Albert-Lake. Her work as an American woman in the French Resistance saving American airmen's lives led to her winning France's highest decoration, the L?gion d'Honneur. But the greatest honor for her was having the love of her husband Phillippe d'Albert-Lake, who was the reason she stayed in
   France when she could have retreated to the safety of the United States as World War II loomed on the horizon. This is an extraordinary story to be shared with friends, family, and particularly your children, as an example of how a life can be lived with grace, humor, and heroism.
   
   David Hume Kennerly
   Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for photography in Vietnam



4. Expertly edited by Judy Barret Litoff who also provides an informative introduction, An American Heroine In The French Resistance: The Diary And Memoir Of Virginia d'Albert-Lake is the remarkable story of Virginia d'Albert-Lake's devoted and hazardous service as active member of the French Resistance to the Allied forces during World War II, and the risks she took which nearly cost her life. Introducing readers to her efforts to aid an Allied airman in getting him to safety, An American Heroine In The French Resistance vividly depicts the horrors d'Albert-Lake faced in her eventual imprisonment in the German prison camp of Ravensbruek. An heroic tale of total commitment to the French Resistance, An American Heroine In The French Resistance is very highly recommended reading as the articulate memoir of a strong woman who laid her life on the line in the defence of her country under German occupation, and an invaluable contribution to the growing library of World War II memoirs and autobiographies by a generation now passing from among us into history and legend.

No comments about The Last Conquistador: Mansio Serra De Leguizamon and the Conquest of the Incas.

5 comments about The Green Dragoon.

1. This is the only bio of BT, so there are not many options besides this book if you want to learn more @ the dragoon. More than half the book is his career and love life AFTER the American Rev. Dated prose.



2. This book is an excellent read on Banistre Tarleton. One of the best commanders of horse-mounted troops in history of the world.
   
   This shows the human side of Tarleton and shows how his reputation as a wild eyed killer is underserved propaganda, like most anti-loyalist and anti-british statements are.
   
   We need more books like this detailing the forgotten heroes of the struggle ad less books based on propoganda and subjective rhetoric.



3. Banastre Tarleton was, in many ways, something of an ideal young man, measured by the standards of English eighteenth century culture. Highly literate, well-educated, and brilliant as a cavalryman. As a cavalry colonel for the British side in the American Revolution, he participated in several key victories, particularly in the Carolinas, before being defeated at Cowpens and, again, at Yorktown. Tarleton was (and remains) reviled by American partisans as the cruellest of the English warriors, and though Bass relates several unsavory episodes in unsparing detail, he was not quite the unregenerate scumbag that is so often featured in popular histories. Having said that, his later career in English politics was an unmitigated disaster: constantly up to his eyeballs in gambling schemes, he flitted from party to party and had an unerring knack of finding the wrong issue on which to campaign.

   Mary Robinson, his long-suffering mistress, was an entirely different kettle of fish. Something of an underrated star of English literature, she was also one of the great actresses of her day. Her story in many respects resembles that of her contemporary, Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire (who makes several appearances in these pages), especially given her dalliances with Whig politics. In other respects she reminds one of other great female intellectuals of this era such as Gertrude de Stael or (a little earlier) Madame du Chatelet.

   An engaging joint biography of two strong, if star-crossed individuals.




4. Clearly one of the best books written on Banastre Tarleton. Clear, clean prose on a most complex man. A highly intellectual biography, perhaps over some heads in many ways--but well worth the effort. The book makes clear that it is important to remember that there was another side to our revolution.



5. This is an exceedingly poor rendition of the most horrific British officer to serve in the field during America's rebellion.

   Tarleton was evil incarnate from the American point of view. He managed to amass a record of war crimes that put even the British to shame. However, to spend almost 500 pages on this sop's truly useless life is such a complete waste of the reader's time that one has to feel sorry for the author. There is nothing to be gained from reading this book, unless, of course, you identify with people who are failures in every facet of their lives.

4 comments about Vietnam's Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN.

1. This 303-page book is not a comprehensive history of our involvement in Vietnam. Also, it is not about the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ("ARVN"). It is about two Vietnamese army officers, Pham Van Dinh ("Dinh") and Tran Ngoc Hue ("Harry"), whose military careers closely paralleled each other up until the time that each was ordered to fight to the death in the face of insuperable enemy forces.
   
   Dinh is the elder of the two by nearly five years. Both men were from the Hue City area of central Vietnam. Dinh immediately built a reputation for aggressive leadership and was given command of the elite Black Panther Company ("Hac Bao"). Harry graduated from Vietnam's military school and before long, he was given command of the Hac Bao. Following impressive leadership exploits, both rose in the ranks of the ARVN, Dinh to the command of a regiment and Harry to the command of a battalion. Both men proved to be outstanding leaders in combat.
   
   In March 1971, the North Vietnamese army overran Harry's battalion in Laos and, badly wounded, Harry was taken to a prison in Hanoi. In April 1972, Dinh was in command of a regiment that was about to be overrun by a superior enemy force. Dinh surrendered his command to the enemy. About one month later, Dinh accepted an offer from his captors and switched sides, becoming an officer of the North Vietnamese army. In contrast, Harry refused all such offers and remained a prisoner for thirteen years before being released. Thereafter, he worked his way to the U.S. and became a U.S. citizen.
   
   The book provides interesting accounts of the Battles for Hue City, Hamburger Hill, Lam Son 719, and the final breakthrough of the North Vietnamese army at the demilitarized zone. The book mentions the "forgotten" ARVN only in the introduction and in its conclusion.
   
   While this book is interesting and informative, there are several aspects that detract from it value.
   
   > The time-frame of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship is unclear because the text shifts in such references, often focusing on a beginning date of 1965 when the U.S. committed substantial ground troops to the effort. However, the fact is that the U.S. began providing military assistance in the late 1950s. Vietnam had about 20 years to develop an effective government and an effective military.
   
   > The reasonable expectations of the two nations are not discussed. How long could the U.S. be expected to fight another country's war; what reciprocal action is reasonably expected from Vietnam?
   
   > The tone of the book is often professorial in that many conclusions are stated in ex cathedra fashion without any facts being presented to support those conclusions. For example, one wonders at the many assertions that it was the U.S. fault that Vietnam's army was organized and controlled by self-interested politicians and incompetent military leaders. Similarly, references to a "U.S./ARVN symbiosis" leave this reader cold.
   
   > There is no clear analysis of the state of mind of Dinh, nor any distinction made between the surrendering of his command and his defection to the enemy. These were two different actions and should be analyzed separately. Surely, a commander can opt for surrender; defection is another story entirely.
   
   All told, it is an interesting book. It is unlikely that one will find these facts in the run-of-the-mill histories that we usually encounter.



2. This a great story too long left untold. In addition to telling a wonderful but tragic tale of two men sharing similar histories whose lives take radically different courses, it is also a story about the betrayal of South Vietnam by this country. Mind you,I opposed the Vietnam War at the time, but it has become abundantly clear to me that it was a war that could have been won.
   This is no whitewash. Wiest makes it clear that the Army of S. Vietnam had a lot of problems, but he also makes it clear that many of these were caused by US training a lack of understanding on our part of the Vietnamese culture and society.
   It is a thoughtful and thought provoking book. A must read for anyone interested in the Vienam War.



3. `Vietnam's Forgotten Army" is about two ARVN soldiers and how they have lead their lives based on the concepts of Freedom - Country - Family - Duty - Honor. Their stories of loyalty, betrayal, life, death, love and hate are told so brilliantly compelling that makes it impossible to put the book down.
   
   The South Vietnamese Army is probably the military force that is most analyzed and most harshly judged by the US. In the teachings of history in current Vietnam, ARVN doesn't even exist. The war, according to the Communist Vietnam, is the fight for Freedom by the North Vietnamese Communist to liberate the South from the colonial US.
   
   This book is one of the very few books that introduces the readers to a fairly balanced view of the Vietnam War and its complexity.
   
   The one problem I have with the book, right from the beginning, is the explanation of Hue and Dinh's support of the war: "In a nation where Confucian values of family and honor are of the utmost importance, Dinh and Hue were drawn to the support of South Vietnam for the most Vietnamese of reasons, following paths blazed by their fathers" (p. 11) Mr. Weist then goes on to dedicate several more subsequent pages about `Family Matters' to support this reason.
   
   While this is undoubtedly a big reason, it is not the only one.
   
   Before 1954, the year Vietnam was divided, most Vietnamese people had already had a good idea of what communism was.
   
   Between 1945-1954, the North Communist initiated a systematic execution of anyone who was thought to be dangerous to the Vietnamese Communist Party. Ten of thousands of nationalists, Catholics and others were massacred in a campaign called `The Great Purge'. They also emulated China's Land Reform Campaign that lasted from 1945 to 1956 during which an estimated 15,000 landlords were killed.
   
   During this time, my father, who had lost most of his family including his mother and sisters due to starvation and sickness, seeing the French as the lesser of the two evils, joined the French Army and later, owing to his father's advice, moved South.
   
   My mother's grandfather, a land owner, sentenced by the Communist People Court, was staked to death in his own rice paddy. Her father was captured and then was fortunate enough to be set freed by his loyal former farm worker, ran home, gathered up his family and fled South via Hai Phong Harbor along with other millions of refugees to seek Freedom in the South.
   
   By the early 60's, when both Dinh and Hue joined the military, South Vietnamese fear of communism was proven valid by Mao's cruelty of `The Great Leap Forward' and `The Cultural Revolution' during which, 20 million of Chinese had perished.
   
   
   I believe that both North and South Vietnamese fought for the Freedom of Vietnam. For North Vietnam, Freedom meant a self ruled nation with Vietnamese leadership, regardless of how totalitarian this leadership was. For South Vietnam, the value of Freedom was not universal. For some people, it was National Freedom in a Democratic Vietnam, advanced and prospered like France or US or at least as the imperial past. For my father, it was political freedom, the idea that it could be under a common wealth, as long as this common wealth brought peace, law and order, security and prosperity to the populace. For my mother and probably the majority of Vietnamese people, the value of Freedom was an individual one. It meant having enough rice to eat, freedom to raise families, freedom to worship their gods or ancestors and own property. Sadly, these values became the great sources of conflicts within the South Vietnamese hearts.
   
   In this book. Andrew Weist did point out this complexity:
   "Certainly the South Vietnamese state and the ARVN were imperfect. Even so, South Vietnam fought for twenty-five years and the ARVN lost more than 200,000 dead. After the war, millions chose to flee South Vietnam rather than live under the suzerainty of their brothers from the North."
   
   The book did an excellent job in highlighting the reasons for the destruction of South Vietnam: Cultural hubris of American Leadership, moral blindness of the media, corruption and incompetence of the Vietnamese Leadership and the lack of enforcement of the democracy ideology for the South, thus in the critical hours, Democracy for South Vietnam could not stand against ideology trained soldiers of the North.



4. "Vietnam's Forgotten Army" is the most complete personal account of ARVN soldiers at war and in the aftermath as experienced by two middle-ranking officers through the personal choices they made. It is written with balance and flair by a scholar who is devoted to a thorough accounting of Vietnam. With firsthand research, Wiest provides the crucial missing voices, those of the South Vietnamese often misportrayed, overshadowed, and underappreciated by their powerful American allies. He gives readers glimpses of what American advisers and their Iraqi counterparts may be facing in Iraq today.