history

Despite an aching back, I stood for over an hour this afternoon thumbing through the pages of this book at a local bookstore. It was outstanding. I was a Marine combat correspondent in Vietnam ('67) and saw a number of photos taken by my colleagues, including David Douglas Duncan in Con Thien where I also was. What struck me about "Marines" is the extensive and well balance coverage of the history of the Corps. I found it very amusing the "political correct" comments about several of our controversal commandants. How true. How true. Great work. I came home and immediately ordered this book from Amazon.

Semper Fi!

I am so glad I chose to give this marvelous book as a Father's Day gift. One could simply not go wrong presenting this to any loved one with Corps ties. Whether to purchase as a gift, or for yourself, I can't imagine being disappointed on any level. Historically accurate, and loaded with impressive photgraphs, it's too absorbing to just rest on the coffee table, but it's such a quality book, you'll fret about soiling it. I highly recommend.

I purchased this book for my husband, for our anniversary. He had, many times, picked up this book at our local bookstore and thumbed through it. The book drew numerous smiles and comments from him. "Hey hun, look at this.." became the regular statement made, while browsing through the pages. Not only did the book offer a throrough history of the Corps, but it brought back endless memories for him. I've enjoyed this just as much as he has! The book is a beautiful presentation of history, wonderful photos, artwork and facts. We've had the book quite some time, and he's still admiring it, learning new things from it..... still smiling as he "looks" through it! In effect, what I have is a Dashing Grunt, who's so happy you'd think it was November 10th. :-) A great book for all.

[THE BLACK DEVIL BRIGADE] IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS THAT I HAVE HAD MY HANDS ON IN TEN YEARS!! It covers the story of the First Special Service Force, a joint Canadian and US commando unit. One of my friends suggested this book. I had never even heard of the First Speical Service Force or have ever heard of this book. I couldn't not put it down! I read it in one day! This is a AWESOME story told by the guys who pulled the triggers. The men of this unit speak in ways that I have never heard vets speak. It's funny in places, but there is the blood and gore of war on every page. They were mountian climbers, amphibious assault troops, paratroopers, explosive specialist, commandos, night fighters, and weapons specialsit. The book provides the guys with an outlet for them to describe their own horrors of war in their own words. The photos are not photos but ink prints on paper. Their are also numerous errors in typing. But these negatives are deceiving. The Canadians, Americans, and the author tell their moving story in simple terms to make the text stands on its own. I recommend this book to EVERYONE who is intersted in infantry, commando, or airbourne WWII combat. These guys are true to life warriors.

The Black Devil Brigade is the compelling account of the 1st Special Service Force as seen through the eyes of the men who were the pioneers of our modern day Special Force units. Simmering first-hand accounts bring the humorous day to day activities of the unit coupled with their terrible and tragic episodes of the war at a very personal level. The book is written is such a style that I found myself emotional attached to the men as most of the stories are powerful and moving. I felt as if I were there and personally knew these men. It's quite simply a passionate masterpiece of Second World War oral history and should be required reading for all infantry ranks.

Mr. Springer may have been initially motivated by the desire to honor his uncle (killed serving with the First Special Service Force) but his work honors all who served in that unit. One seldom sees an oral history which tells the story of a unit so well. All the contributions by unit members tell the story without the distractions often found in other compilations. Always engaging, you just don't want to put the book down. Not only does one learn about the unit and individuals who made up that unit but one also learns about the equipment used, how it was acquired, and the soldiers' opinions of its performance. An amazing amount of information presented in a way that also entertains and honors the men who served.

This book has become one of my favorites. I have turned to it again and again for encouragement on what sometimes seems to be a long journey of sanctification. I laughed to myself often as I found Kate, the main character saying and doing things exactly as I say and do them, and cried to see what a beautiful thing into which God can transform our lives. I have enjoyed reading it to my mother, and look forward to one day sharing it with my daughter. I've also given copies to nearly all my friends. As Elisabeth Elliot says, everyone will benefit from reading this wonderful book.

Really nothing I write will do justice to this classic biographical/novel of a young woman's journey through life and love. It is highly recommended by Elisabeth Elliot one of my spiritual mentors and those who have read her books will know what that means. I was immensely influenced by "In His Steps" in my teens, but needed a heart to heart view of another young girls's struggles to grow into a godly women as I moved into my twenties as an unmarried young woman. Elisabeth Prentiss' book addressed a real need I had as a young woman yearning to become a godly woman in a modern and sin ridden culture.

This book displays the struggles and joys of the female Christian walk. Yet, it is also a very interesting story, not a self-help book. I loved the old english writing, as it is a 100 years old. It is a must have. I have already bought 5 copies to give away and am now on my 6th! If you are a Christian girl or woman and want to learn more about your walk, but this book!

Bruce Catton grew up in Benzonia, MI in the early 1900s. There were still Civil War Vets living at that time and a few lived in that same town. It was listening to their stories as a child that inspired Catton to write the Army of the Potomac Trilogy, of which A Stillness at Appomattox is the third and final installment.

Stillness, along with the other two books, Glory Road and the other's name escapes me, paints a picture of the Civil War few have been able to duplicate. He tells the story of the Civil War from the perspective of the common foot soldier.

Drawing heavily from personal correspondence and regimental histories, Catton puts us smack in the middle of the Wilderness, at the breastworks of Spotsylvania Courthouse and in the trenches around Petersburg as well at the surrender of Lee to Grant.

If you're a Civil War buff, and you haven't read Catton, you're not a Civil War buff.

The Civil War will never lack for authors, both fiction and historical. Only a handful will leave a reader with an indellible impression. Among these few: Douglas Southall Freeman, Shelby Foote and James M. McPherson. Each has written outstanding works on the war: Freeman; R.E. Lee and Lee's Lieutenants, Foote; Shiloh and his magisterial three volume narrative and McPherson, his brilliant Battle Cry of Freedom.
Magnificent works all, but in a class by himself is Bruce Catton.
I recall my father raving about Catton; "When you read him, it's like you're there," he said. Unfortunately, I wasn't so quick to take his advice. Then, in 2000, I saw David McCullough on C-Span 2 and he raved about "A Stillness at Appomattox." Then, I decided to give it a try.
Lucky for me. I've read many accounts regarding the last agonizing year of the war, but none has matched Catton for sheer storytelling power. One marches with the Army of the Potomac as it seeks out Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. You witness and somehow, almost take part as these, the war's two military giants, Grant and Lee collide. You see the mistakes and agonize with the men yet, you always stand in awe of the everyday valor these heroes of the Blue and the Gray make. But despite battlefield blunders and poor leadership, draftees who are more likely to desert than face the enemy, the men of the Army of the Potomac never lose their faith in themselves and it is this spirit that drives the Army to ultimate victory.
Words fail me to describe how awesome this book is. I thought it would have aged badly, but it hasn't. It's truly a timeless work. This book, along with Mr. Lincoln's Army and Glory Road constitute the greatest tribute to the men of the Army of the Potomac and in a way, the Army of Northern Virginia as well.

Enjoy.

Bruce Catton is arguably the most readable and accessible author who wrote about the civil war. Whether you are a military historian or a beginner, you will take something meaningful from his work. He writes in a beautiful, yet simple, manner and you really feel as if you are there. When he narrates Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox, it's as if you are sitting in the room during this pivotal moment in American history.

Catton is certainly not without his biases. He is primarily a biographer of Grant and his focus is squarely on him during this book. Catton is arguably the greatest Grant biographer and is largely responsible for changing the negative views about Grant in the 1950's and 60's. He wrote several books about USG and this one weaves in and out of Grants life.

Catton thoroughly understood Ulysses Grant and became his vocal proponent. He correctly grasped that Grant was the preeminent strategist of the civil war and was also the war's greatest, most innovative and most determined general. Those who errantly believe Grant won with brute force or superior numbers need to read this book. Others who espouse the line that Robert E. Lee was the real genius of the war also need to consult this volume. At its conclusion, you will change your mind and realize that Grant was not only a magnificent soldier, he was also a highly intelligent, humorous and marvelously humane man. He has been unfairly maligned and Catton sets the record straight.

This is a "must have" book for anyone interested in U.S. Grant or the American civil war. The narrative flows smoothly from beginning to end. Highly recommended!

I know the lanscape where Mark grew up and live in the state of Montana where folks are much the same. Unlike some books I have read lately about life in the western culture, this book was so true, uplifting, about wonderful people and so beautifully written, that I could not wait to read a new chapter. I know these people, but with different names. Mark was very courageous to write about his rather stark yet rich childhood existence and his father's expectations of a boy who was more a man. I have given this book to many friends and will keep on recommending it as one of the best books I have read in a long time. Even if you don't know horses, you will after this read. I hope Mr. Spragg's life has a happy ending.

In the farthest reaches of the Mountain West, where there are still unnamed streams, water is not just necessary to life, it *is* life, full of melody and mystery, the only stuff from which the Earth can conceal nothing.

Water is so vital to these vast spaces once called The Big Empty that it flows through our dreams, our industry and our very literature as both the real and symbolic essence of life. So it is with Mark Spragg's "Where Rivers Change Direction," a collection of essays about Spragg's adolescence as the son of a dude rancher in a half-tamed part of Wyoming where men have christened streams with names such as Sunlight, Mist and Cloudburst.

Spragg's collection isn't about water, but about growing up, not only as the son of a wilderness dude-ranch operator, but also as a working-hand in the family business. From the one-room school in Wapiti, Wyo., to the Crossed Sabers Ranch bunkhouse where he sleeps with the other hired hands, Spragg paints a vivid portrait of life in the American Outback.

A new, lyric literature of the West is beginning to trickle out of the high places toward the flatland, and Spragg's finely wrought essays are easily equal to much of the beautiful fiction that is beginning to define the region's connections between the living land and the ever-changing self. In this book, a river runs through a heart. For men and water, one stream becomes another and a little more about our Earth is revealed.

Where Rivers Change Direction is the engaging story of Mark's journey to manhood on a working Wyoming dude ranch in the 1960's. This is a place outside the world of televisions and flashy cars. Life is his regular classroom, and a boy has to grow up quickly in order to endure and survive in the harsh realities of the wilderness. The responsibility that Mark both endures and earns for himself, gives him his character. It is easy to trust his voice and experiences, including the silent moments as he imagines himself as a horse alongside the other horses, testing his breath in the cold air. Mark's words match his imagination, giving us a taste of what it is like to be a horse in Wyoming. Rivers can change direction when dammed up by man, or they can follow the contour of the earth they cut through every day, changing themselves. The river of the title is about Mark's life, and this memoir leads just through the point where he changes direction. I wouldn't have missed a turn.

What a visceral impact Tom Childers' Wings of Morning had on me. Unable to put the book down, I read it in two days. Not only does the author vividly describe the training and every day life of a WWII bomber crew, he also makes you feel like Goodner's family, anxiously awaiting the next letter. Not wanting to give away the results of a frantic search to find out what happened to this crew after being shot down over Germany, let me suggest that you buy the book, curl up in your chair, and read as one hell of a story unfolds. Next to Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier", you'll have a hard time finding a better account of the war and the men who fought it. As an aside, Professor Childers has a superb course on WWII available through the Teaching Company. And I encourage all of you to seek it out as well.

Having heard all of Dr. Childer's excellent audio courses available from the Teaching Company, I had very high expectations for this book. I was not disappointed; Wings of Morning is an exceptional book that details the war time experiences of a B-24 bomber crew from their initial induction and training, to their deployment to England as part of the 8th Air Force, through their fateful final mission in the closing days of Word War II. A final mission, incidentally, that the reader can not help but conclude should have never been flown.

Based on hundreds of crewmember letters home, Wings of Morning provides insights that go far beyond the usual combat narrative. The combat experience is here to be sure, but so is the training, off-duty hours, weekend leaves, camaraderie, devotion to duty, exhilaration, boredom, bravery, fear, hope for the future, and the families back home. This book, more than any I've ever read, gave me an appreciation for the near constant tension that these men must have felt. I repeatedly found myself asking what I would have done in similar situations and realizing anew why those who fought World War II are rightly called the "Greatest Generation".

Wings of Morning does not end with the loss of a B-24 crew over Regensburg, Germany, in April of 1945 nor with the War Department notifications to the families waiting at home. Professor Childer's uncle was a crew member on that tragic flight and the final chapters of this extraordinary book detail his quest to reconstruct the final mission of a B-24 known as the Black Cat.

I've read and own many good books about World War II but none has had the impact of Wings of Morning. Thank you, Dr. Childers, for this insightful and thought provoking work...

This book is evidence of an America that will possibility never be again. An America where new immigrants and immigrants with a hundred years to their credit stood together in a life and death struggle. Where men from all sides of the track faced down the wickedness of a world gone mad in a time where men of power would not hide their sons in the national guard as G W Bush was thirty years later at the time of the Vet Nam war.

This great book is a view of heroes who never expected to be and even today will not accept that designation -the only true character of a real hero.

Wings of Morning: The Story of the Last American Bomber Shot Down over Germany in World War II is one of the best-researched WWII stories to ever see print. But, what other than this could we expect from a historian of Dr. Childer's caliber? Well we did get more; much more, we were provided the opportunity to perceive a boy's love for an uncle he had never met and that is what puts heart into these pages. A warning here: on your reading your eyes may tear... but fear not the tears for there is no better eyewash.

There is not much more I can say without giving away the book, and I would never do that. What I will say is read Wings of Morning and you will soon be plunked down on the hardstand in the English countryside watching as Howard and his bothers-in-arms enter the Black Cat, looking back one last time as if to say "duty calls... see you later"...
Rick Goodner, Author of "Co-dependent... What a Bore and Other Clinical Observations"

Let me start this review by confessing that I am biased. One of my letters from Vietnam is included in the book. I therefore view the book differently from the average reader.

I also got an advance copy of the book a week before the official release date, and have been able to read it.

Andrew Carroll produced this book by reading through almost 50,000 letters and selected roughly 200 that best show what everyday life in the military - and in war - are like from the viewpoint of the average soldier, sailor, marine, and airman.

Andy was able to get these letters by persuading Dear Abby to publish an appeal in her column on Veteran's Day in 1998. The column urged readers to contribute these letters so that the sacrifices of the writers would not be forgotten. The result was a flood of 50,000 letters - some faded, some muddy, some blood-stained, and one pierced by a bullet. One letter was written on Hitler's personal stationary by an American sergeant who worked in Hitler's personal quarters in Germany just after WW II. What could be a better symbol of justice?

The letter writers' views are very different than the views you will get by reading the memoirs of a general or an admiral. When I was in the Army, there was a wonderful comment that explained life in the Infantry:

"The general gets the glory, The family gets the body, and We get another mission."

Your view of the military - and of war - changes depending on your position in this food chain.

Overcoming an enemy machine gun is an interesting technical problem when you are circling a firefight in a helicopter at 1,000 feet. You take a very different view of the problem when you are so close to the machine gun that your body pulses from the shock wave of the muzzle blast.

These letters were written by soldiers while they were in the military. They are describing events that happened that day, the pervious day, or the previous week. Their memories are very fresh. Their views also are very different from the views that someone might have when writing his memoirs thirty years later. In thirty years the everyday pains, problems, and terrors could very well be forgotten or become humorous.

The book groups these letters by war or police action. There are sections for letters from the Civil War, WW I (the war to end wars), WW II, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and Somolia/Bosnia/Kosovo.

Some things never change. The Civil War letter writers grumble about poor food, tiresome marches, mindless sergeants and incompetent officers. The Vietnam letter writers (myself included) grumbled about the same things.

One anguished letter was from an officer in Vietnam who was torn by his need to hide his opposition to the war for fear of demoralizing his men. At the end of the letter is a brief comment explaining that the officer stepped on a mine and died shortly after writing this letter.

Welcome to life in the military. Welcome to war.

You should read this book if you want to see what life was like and is like in the military and in war.

This book, War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars, by Andrew Carroll (Editor) is a touching book. With the recent release of the movie Pearl Harbor, the questions that my generation wants to ask the veterans of war are rising out of the ashes once again. Carroll did an excellent job of putting together a collage of soldier's letters which portrays the true emotions of our freedom fighters. Recently having studied many of the wars included in this book, War Letters pulled everything into one book; from the Civil War all the way through Bosnia/Kosovo. The letters in WWI and WWII seemed more hopeful, and 'the great generation' seemed more patriotic. While the soldiers fighting Vietnam had more of a sense of urgency, kind of 'get this over with already' attitude. A common theme with all the letters was they were writing to loved ones, and would claim they would see them soon. Unfortunately, many of these letters were the 'last letters' to the families, some even written on backs of photographs, on scratch paper, or on Hitler's personal stationary. Also, these letters are written a few hours, days, or weeks after the events happened. The soldier has no opportunity to hear what the media said, or how the nation reacted to such a horrific event. They write with their souls, spilling their guts to their families, and shedding their blood for their nation. Granted, having just completed one year of US History helps me understand these events just that much more, but all in all, this book was everything from terrifying to heart warming.

I can't say enough good things about the book, video and articles produced by Andrew Carroll. In addition, he's a kind, caring and compasionate gentleman. If you want a true taste of what the soldiers and their families are feeling during war time, get this book. This is "reality reading".

This is one of those rare books that will stand larger with time. Waterman's journey through the Arctic Circle becomes a circling through both a culture and through the soloist's heart, a sort of Odyssey by kayak and with shotgun. There is everything to admire about this thoughtful book, the writing, the almost transparent self protrait, the ineffable scholarship, the raw adventure, and - refreshingly in this day of chest-thumping adrenaline junkies - an ethic of self preservation vs. summit-fever risk taking. Ironically, as the author set out upon this solitary epic, his stated intention was to avoid an epic. He judges the sea currents the way he judges bear tracks, with an eye to not only surviving, but thriving. His storytelling is pitch perfect. In presenting the Inuit, he gives us an ancient hunter culture stripped of the noble savage. He sketches the overlay of post-modern Western civilization in the "wastelands" without a preachment, only a fenceline in the middle of nowhere and surly guards on alert against no one. As icebergs metamorphose into animals, and animals shape-shift into driftwood, we grow into an alternate reality, one where trees are like magical trespassers. He shows this immortal land as entirely mortal and vulnerable, nothing new there. But where he finds a long dead Western explorer, it is cautionary, for it is himself - and us - that lie in the barrens without a witness. All in all, Arctic Crossing is a haunting book, beautifully written, utterly authentic, wise, poignant, and warmed throughout by one man's quest for the human condition.

Author Waterman does it again!

Arctic Crossing is a very readable and powerful solo tale of high drama in one of the most unforgiving corners of our planet. Jon's richly written tale captures the many moods of both a hauntingly beautiful landscape and the Inuit Culture that inhabit it. The myriad challenges faced by the author in his epic trek should be reason enough to lure virtually any adventure travel reader. Offering far more than yet another tale of polar endurance, Waterman's keen observations of Inuit Culture becomes the unexpected hook.

Having spent three years living in a remote Siberian Yupik Eskimo village, I found this book to be compelling in its honest appraisal of Indigenous Northern Culture. Rapid cultural change and its associated dysfunction which challenges many Arctic cultures is typically not well documented in print. That which exists often times is either candy coated or worse yet, over sensationalized. Reported with a sense of respect, Jon's accounting of cultural interactions are at times brutal, yet refreshingly accurate.

This book captures the unique rhythms of remote Arctic ecosystems through rich imagery. The author was very obviously moved by his time spent in the spare pastel light of the Barrens. His writing is focused on capturing that elusive essence of the Arctic experience that defies the average writer's efforts. Fortunately, Waterman is no ordinary writer.

Jon Waterman is a writer who belongs between the hardcovers. His explorations and introspection make for compelling reading.

In LOW LEVEL HELL, Hugh Mills has written one of the most exciting accounts of aerial combat to come out of the Vietnam War. Mills flew OH-6A Light Observation Helicopters, nicknamed "Loaches," with the famed Darkhorse unit, the air cavalry troop assigned to the "Big Red One," or 1st Division, in 1969. He was a scout pilot, an "Outcast," whose mission required him to fly just a few above the ground looking for the enemy, and in eye-to-eye combat, engage him. In the long history of warfare, military scouts stand out as a special breed. Always out in front of friendly troops, at the point of the spear, the first to make contact, usually outgunned, the scout needed an extraordinary blend of skills and courage. With the advent of the helicopter, aeroscouts became modern day Kit Carsons and Jim Bowies operating in three dimensions above the battlefield. As a Naval Aviator flying fixed-wing close air support in the Mekong Delta, I had the privilege of working with Darkhorse pilots when they later became an independent troop of the 164th Aviation Group. I knew of no more courageous and dedicated men than the pilots and crew chiefs who flew scouts. LOW LEVEL HELL tells their story with a flair and excitement and detail that I guarantee will get your adrenaline pumping.

Excellent book about some of the dedicated aviators that supported us infantrymen in the Big Red One in Vietnam. As a LRRP in Co.F/52nd Inf. (LRP), 1st Inf. Division in 1968, I always felt that we had tremendous helicopter support. Our LRP company originated as a part of 1st Sq./4th Cavalry, and they regarded us and watched over us from above like brothers. We often called upon the Cobra gunships of D Troop (Air), 1st Sq./4th Cav, call sign: Darkhorse, and they never let us down. Mills book provides us with a cockpit view of their hunter-killer team missions, as opposed to the direct gun-ship support role in which we generally saw Darkhorse. But the 'guns blazing' tactics were obviously the same for the scout ship pilots as they always were for the gunship pilots/co-pilots. Very interesting reading, and the place names brought back many exciting memories of those days over 30 years ago, when we ourselves operated around Phu Loi, Lai Khe , An Loc, the Iron Triangle, Catchers Mitt, and other locations he mentions. Knowing that Darkhorse pilots like Mills always 'had our back', was a reassuring feeling. Could not possibly express enough gratitude to such pilots and crews for the way they supported us. An excellent addition to any Vietnam library.

If you visit the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama, one of the first things you will see is Mr. Mills's Loach displayed outside the museum. A good choice, because Low Level Hell is a superb account of the bravery and skill of U.S. Army helicopter pilots in Vietnam. I read the book as a Second Lieutenant undergoing flight training at Fort Rucker, and it helped me make up my mind to become an Aeroscout. You will simply not believe some of the things these pilots did to accomplish their missions. Entertaining and informative.

I'm part of a book club and this is the best book we've read in a long time. It's a witty, moving book that is at times outright hilarious and at other times downright sad. The characters are unforgettable and so eclectic and keep you guessing on what's going to happen next. It's refreshing to see so many male characters who understand, or rather come to realize, what's most important in life...the love of your friends and family. I highly recommend this book to others!

This is the best book I've read so far this year and that's really saying a lot! It has great characters and wonderful character development. It has quiet humor, good people and some not so good and a wonderful story line (which has already been discussed in other reviews so I won't go into it).

This is a very satisying read and I hated to see it end. I bet you will feel the same way.

I loved this book! Everyone in my book club loved this book. Why aren't more people reading it?