history

John McPhee, it's often noted, can write about anythying and make it interesting, so when he tackles a subject as broad and fascinating as Alaska you know you're in for a treat.

The book is divided into three parts; it begins in modern Urban Alaska, with the story of its history and contemporary society. From McPhee takes you to the remote villages and towns, a place still populated by Native peoples and rugged outdoorsmen (and women). The last chapter concerns Alaska's last frontier- the remote North Slope, and the men who drill for oil there.

Like all McPhee books, the author seems to fade into the background and let the people and the land tell the story for him. Sometimes the reader feels as if or she, and not McPhee, is standing there on an oil rig.

Alaska is a rich topic, and McPhee is a wonderful writer. A great combination.

In the summer of '81, Jane told me, "You have to read this book!" and meant to give it to me for a birthday gift. However, before she had a chance, I had bought the book and was 80 pages into it. Two summers later, I found myself walking along a desolate stretch of the Alcan Highway in Canada's Yukon Territory. I was hitchhiking to Alaska, a place I felt destined to visit having read "Coming into the Country". I never did make it to Eagle (the village described at length by McPhee) but nonetheless remained "in country" until my money ran out five months later. Few books I have read yield such a feel for a place as this one does.

John McPhee is simply a great writer. His skill is the leading character of this novel which is full of intriguing individuals.

From characters like the author himself -- who changes and is challenged himself by the environment -- to fellow canoe riders, to grisslies, to yuppie suburbanites, to the self-made, this book delves into what makes people move to Alaska, to adapt, to stay, to survive, to be frustrated, and to not want to be anywhere else.

The French Admiral in paper has been awaited by Alan Lewrie fans since 1990. It is the crucial #2 "missing link" from early in the series of Alan's swashbuckling adventures in the age of fighting sail. Although we know the general events of this long-missing novel about the Royal Navy from references in succeeding books, it comes as a throwback to the exciting rakehell that Lewrie was early in his career. The alleged orphan [] of a scheming English knight, Lewrie has a most modest opinion of himself, although he comes of age as a mariner in the course of this pivotal novel. American readers will be most interested that this novel takes place on the Eastern Seaboard, especially during the crucial siege of Cornwallis' troops at York Town. (From the detailed sailing descriptions in the Chesapeake Bay it's a good bet that Lambdin sails there often.) This story offers a chance for an extended look, from the British point of view, at the vicious enmities and fighting that characterized the American Revolution in the genteel South. It does not, however, offer the least personal glimpse of the French Admiral. That august and triumphant sailor, the shipbound Admiral de Grasse, is instrumental in the series of British blunders and defeats that lose the rebel American colonies to England.

The language is a bit rougher than is the salty talk customary in sea stories by genuine British authors. I wonder if Lambdin chose "Lewrie" as his hero's name because it resembles lurid and lewd, which Alan is, although he's not a scoundrel as well. This is a physically bigger book than the other Lambdin pb's I've read, thanks to the customarily expansive McBooks Press edition (i.e., larger type and better paper than the stubby Fawcett Crest/Ballantine editions).

I am an old salt and a devoted reader of O'brian, Nelson, Marryat, Forester, etc. I have read Lambdin's first Alan Lewrie novel, The King's Coat and thoroughly enjoyed it. I bought the rest of the series - all but the second, The French Admiral, in which a major adversary is introduced. For some unexplained reason, the publisher has failed to republish this single book in the series. I am now attempting to locate a copy because I wish to read the series in order.It is a major absence in the highly engaging narrative and in the development of the fascinating characters!

As a strong fan of Dewey Lamdins' books, I've now read them all, The French Admiral was the best. I felt a much greater sense of history and a deeper understanding of the conflict as it impacted the lives of Loyalists, Revolutionaries, and their families. The bloody fighting seemed more in context than the conflicts described in the other books of this series.

I recommend this book very highly.

I always have to psych myself up to read a book like this that combines philosophy, economics, political theory and economics but once I read it I was sorry I waited so long. More than once I found myself going back to the copyright page to assure myself that the book was written in 1960, not 2000.

Within the first few pages he disassociates himself from a pure libertarian position, saying he believes that the govenment has an important place in extending freedom. In an afterword he explains "Why I am not a conservative." For people that like to go beyond categorizing everything into left/right left/right like drill sargents Hayek throws a curve. He strongly believes that the feedback from free markets is the only way that society can adapt to change, which would be something labeled "conservative," but he goes into detail about the ways that governments can help make that happen.

I am not surprised that people like Noam Chomsky never seem to mention Hayek. Chomsky carefully selects the facts that help make his case and ignore the ones that are counter to it. Hayek's argments against socialism, or command economies are so good that they pretty much lay the matter to rest. I recently read a speech by Chomsky where he says that because of the unequal distribution of wealth that our "free" markets are just socialism for the rich. Hayek addresses that directly by pointing out that luxuries are luxuries because few of them are produces and only the rich can afford them, but if they are useful or liked people figure out ways to make them less expensively and they become available to everyone. That's just the way it is. How could it be possible that someone could anticipate the breakthroughs humans continue to make?

That is one little nugget from this book. I read once that Maggie Thatcher used to give away copies of this book saying "this is what we believe." For that reason alone it would be worth reading because of the influence her reforms had on not only England, but the thinging of the whole developed world.

Hayek's "The Constitution of Liberty" is a comprehensive work of political philosophy. It sets forth, defends, and applies an important view of the nature of human liberty, government, and economics that is worth considering, at the least, and that has much to commend it. The book is carefully written and argued with extensive and substantive footnotes and with an "analytical table of contents" that is useful in following the details of the argument. The book is highly erudite. It is also passionately argued. Hayek believed he had an important message to convey.

Hayek's states his theory in part I of this book, titled "The Value of Freedom". He seeks to explore the nature of the ideal of freedom (liberty) and to explain why this ideal is valuable and worth pursuing. He finds the nature of freedom in the absence of coercion on a person by another person or group. He argues that in giving the broadest scope of action to each individual, society will benefit in ways that cannot be forseen in advance or planned and each person will be allowed to develop his or her capacities. Hayek summarizes his views near the end of his book (p. 394):

" [T]he ultimate aim of freedom is the enlargement of those capacities in which man surpasses his ancestors and to which each generation must endeavor to add its share -- its share in the growth of knowledge and the gradual advance of moral and aesthetic beliefs, where no superior must be allowed to enforce one set of views of what is right or good and where only further experience can decide what should prevail."

The book focuses on issues of economic freedom and on the value of the competitive market. Hayek has been influenced by writers such as David Hume, Edmund Burke, and John Stuart Mill in "On Liberty."

Part II of the book discusses the role of the State in preserving liberty. It develops a view of law which sees its value in promoting the exercise of individual liberty. The approach is historic. Hayek discusses with great sympathy the development of the common law and of American constitutionalism -- particularly as exemplified by James Madison.

In Part III of the book, Hayek applies his ideas about the proper role of government in allowing the exercise of individual liberty to various components of the modern welfare state. Each of the chapters is short and suggestive, rather than comprehensive. Hayek relies on technical economic analysis, and on his understanding of economic theory, as well as on his philosophical commitments, in his discussion. What is striking about Hayek's approach is his openness (sometimes to the point of possible inconsistency with his philosophical arguments). He tries in several of his chapters to show how various aspects of the modern welfare state present threats to liberty in the manner in which he has defined liberty. But he is much more favorably inclined to some aspects of these programs than are some people, and on occasion he waffles. This is the sign of a thoughtful mind, principled but undoctrinaire.

I think there is much to be learned from Hayek. He probably deserves more of a hearing than he gets. For a nonspecialist returning to a book such as this after a long time off, it is good to think of other positions which differ from Hayek's in order to consider what he has to say and to place it in context. For example, in an essay called "Liberty and Liberalism" in his "Taking Rights Seriously" (1977) the American legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin discusses Mill's "On Liberty" with a reference to Hayek. Dworkin argues that for Mill, liberty meant not the absence of coercion but rather personal independence. Mill was distinguishing between personal rights and economic rights, according to Dworkin. Thus Dworkin would claim that Hayek overemphasizes the value of competitiveness and lack of state economic regulation in the development of Hayek's concept of liberty.

The British political thinker Isaiah Berlin seems to suggest to me, as I read Hayek's argument, that there are other human goods in addition to liberty, as Hayek defines liberty. Further, Hayek does not establish that liberty, as he understands it, is always the ultimate human good to which others must give place. It may often be that good, but there may also be circumstances in which other goods should be given a more preeminent role when human well-being is at issue. In thinking about Hayek, it would also be useful to understand and to assess his concept of liberty by comparing and contrasting his approach to that of John Rawls in his "A Theory of Justice."

Hayek's book is important, thought-provoking and valuable. Probably no writer of a book of political philosophy can be asked for more. It deserves to be read and pondered. It has much to teach, both where it may persuade the reader and where it encourages the reader to explore competing ideas.

This is a book that can be right in ways that confound all expertise, a basic text of political economy, brilliant enough to summarize all the mistakes of the twentieth century while they were still happening. With an author born in Europe, aware of a society with classes based on great wealth, where culture was largely the activity of a few thousand incredibly intelligent people, but, due to a bestseller of his own, exposed to the dynamic economic growth of postwar America, teaching in an offbeat center like the University of Chicago, concerned about liberty, law, "The Decline of Socialism and the Rise of the Welfare State," Social Security, and utterly convinced of his main point: the necessity for taxation to pay for whatever benefits a government can contrive.

Most people are still far from appreciating the economic basis for THE CONSTITUTION OF LIBERTY by Hayek, which stands as a political argument so solidly made, it has a quality that might be considered crazy. Published in 1960, the amounts of money being discussed in this book are ludicrously small for people who do not live in China. In an economic system which was striving to become global in character, Hayek was concerned about majority thinking on incomes reaching some maximum limit, which might be imposed by progressive taxation (which was worse then in America and Great Briton than it is now), as an end to economic growth.

"Where this may lead is illustrated by a recent proposal, only narrowly defeated, of the National Planning Commission of India, according to which a ceiling of $6,300 per annum was to be fixed for all incomes (and a ceiling of $4,300 for salary incomes). . . . Can there be much doubt that poor countries, by preventing people from getting rich, will also slow down the general growth of wealth? And does not what applies to the poor countries apply equally to the rich?" (p. 322, Chapter Twenty, Taxation and Redistribution).

These amounts still might be in the ballpark for what people in some parts of the world could be willing to work for, if they had the opportunity, but the nature of economics has changed so much, the idea that people anywhere could be spending any of their time for such small change, while the American military is getting a billion dollars a week to look for whoever could be inflicting some real damage on the American economy, like September 11 did, is more than enough to make people wonder what Iraqis would do with freedom if they had it. Some rewards have been offered to Iraqis for the kind of information that what make the Americans there happy. The American way seems to be designed for managers who can figure out how to get to the top so they can retire with a deferred compensation package in the neighborhood of $139 million, like the recently resigned president of the New York Stock Exchange, who was in danger of handing out favors to people in that ballpark.

If millions of dollars can provide a reasonable opportunity to give a person the freedom to enjoy himself, it is surprising that spending a billion dollars a week to support the American military in Iraq is not as much fun as complaining about it. My favorite complaint can be found in the Index of Subjects under Experts (democracy and, social security).

"3. The extreme complexity and consequent incomprehensibility of the social security systems create for democracy a serious problem. . . . As a result, the expert has come to dominate in this field as in others. . . . But, almost invariably, this new kind of expert has one distinguishing characteristic: he is unhesitatingly in favor of the institutions on which he is expert. This is so not merely because only one who approves of the institution will have the interest and the patience to master the details, but even more because such an effort would hardly be worth the while of anyone else: the views of anybody who is not prepared to accept the principles of the existing institutions are not likely to be taken seriously and will carry no weight in the discussions determining current policy." (pp. 290-291).

Hayek implies that his own position has no place in the councils of the high and mighty, but there is plenty of support for his view that the future is easily diminished by the system of financing which is being relied on to provide the benefits of such institutions.

"Does anyone really believe that the average semiskilled worker in Italy is better off because 44 per cent of his employer's total outlay is handed over to the state or, in concrete figures, because of the 49 cents which his employer pays for an hour of his work, he receives only 27 cents, while 22 cents are spent for him by the state?" (p. 294).

Obviously, Italy has been operating its scheme long enough to produce benefits that rival the amount which workers get. Similarly, it seems the American government has an acute interest in having work done overseas, to avoid American workers earning the right to retirement under a social security system which might soon be as costly for American workers. Hayek was writing before a large portion of American social security contributions were dumped into U.S. bonds to produce the trillion dollar surpluses that were never real. It was truly amazing that America was able to balance the books for so long with such shaky maneuvers, but the plan was to produce a system like "that in Germany, where about 20 percent of the total national income is placed in the hands of the social security administration." (p. 294). With what America is spending on the military, it is never going to be able to turn that much money over to a privatized administrator.

I found that Danny does have the right words to some of the often misquoted lyrics. I guess its alright that Sugarman writes the book since he was such a devoted fan to Jim. I would have liked it more if it contained some rarer color pictures but remains an indispensable document since lyrics were never printed in the CDS or albums.

I absolutely love this book. The introduction and the photographs are worth the price alone. This book has the lyrics to all your favorite Doors songs plus poetry (lyrics) from Jim Morrisons' spoken word album "An American Prayer." It has also got interviews and a behind the scenes look at what went on during some of the recording sessions as well as definitions as to just what Jim meant in some of their songs. The discussion about the meaning of The End is great. This book is a must for Doors fans from the most ardent to the just curious. The book is not one that will be looked at once or twice and put on a shelf. It is a facinating read no matter how many times you read it. The Doors: The Complete Lyrics increased my respect and admiration for the band, and Jim in particular, 1000 fold.

I'm somewhat of a new Doors fan, particularly of Jim Morrison. The hair and the pout drew me in first, then the music followed. When I found this book, I knew I had to own it. I was not at all disappointed. Sugerman has done a fantastic job of compiling the hundereds of pictures and newspaper/magazine articles from over the years into this informative collection. The progression over the years of Morrison's rise to fame and eventual downfall into drugs and self-desctruction is adeptly demonstrated. A must-have for any Doors fan.

I bought this book to read about Barrow's role in John Franklin's career and several Arctic expeditions, but was pleasantly surprised to find information on aspects of Barrow's enthusiasm for exploration that I don't believe I'd ever really heard about before.

The same (really remarkably influential) gentleman who sent the Royal Navy into the Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage also sponsored several expeditions into Africa to discover, among other things, the course of the Niger river.

This book forms a very nice summary of the history of the Royal Navy's attempts to discover that all-important Northwest Passage, giving form and coherence to series of expeditions that otherwise rather boggle my brain. The most pleasant surprise for me, however, was reading about the African expeditions; new information for me, and engagingly presented as well.

You will find it well written and striking a nice balance between presenting sufficient information to communicate the gravity of the issues faced by "Barrow's boys," and overwhelming the casual reader with too much information.

The history of the interactions between Barrow and those Rosses is particularly engaging, and tempts me to revisit M.J. Ross' very thorough joint biography of Captain John Ross and Sir James Clark Ross (Polar Pioneers : John Ross and James Clark Ross).

An interesting book, beautifully written, and full of unexpected wry humor, light but not light-weight; I enthusiastically recommend this book to persons interested in British polar exploration, the Franklin expeditions, and the decades-long animosity between Barrow and Captain John Ross.

This was a well written book on the many Polar and African interior explorations that were sponsored by the British in the first half of the 19th centry. From trying to find the North-West Passage above North America to searching for the legendary "city of gold" called Timbucto in Africa this book kept me interested throughout. Never before or for that matter since has such a group of explorers been assembled. The man responsible for these quests was John Barrow, a man who had a dream of mapping uncharted areas of the world. He set into motion the largest and most expensive series of explorations in the history of mankind. This is a story of courage and determination like no other that I have read before. This book recounts the stories of men who spent years stuck in the freezing cold in their dreams of being the first to find a passage across North America. The book also details the adventures that other men had in their quest to map the interior of Africa. Other stories of different areas in the world that were explored are also included. John Barrow might not have been as successful as he would have liked but his dream inspired later explorers and set a benchmark that carried on into the 20th century.

For 41 years John Barrow manipulated the Royal Navy and the British Government to pursue his own fixed ideas on geography.
His mistaken belief that there was an open, ice-free sea at the North Pole, a permanently clear North-West Passage and that the Niger emptied into either the Nile or the Congo, caused the deaths of unknown numbers of men, the loss of ships, the expenditure of a king's ransom and the physical and mental breakdown of many of Britain's elite officers.

This is the story of that prolonged tragedy; the irony of it is that it fathered the most amazing feats of endurance and privation, that they are regarded today as the pinnacle of human endeavour - only the similarly ill-equipped expeditions of Scott come close.

Barrow's 'Boys' are his hand-picked officers (strangely, they were usually totally ill-suited to the tasks he set them) who are either ambitious, incompetent, zealots or plain insane (or any combination!) and Barrow goes out of his way to ignore all the best advice from those with the real experience, to either under- or over-equip the expeditions, seemingly never hitting the right balance.
The internecine rivalry of the officers, the badly-picked crews, the obstructions of companies and kings, all combine to produce farce after explorational farce. On top of this, each failed expedition only fires his zeal, perversely convincing him that he is right, so off goes another doomed expedition.

If anything tells us that inhabitants of ivory towers have no idea of the real world, it is this book ... Get it and enjoy!

The oral history form is perfect for "Edie" little-girl-lost, who streaked across the '60's horizon like a falling star. Despite her grace, fragile beauty and charisma; Edie Sedgewick was almost born to be doomed even before the drugs did her in.

She was born into a wealthy old family that had a history of instability. Her father, also breathtakingly beautiful, had crushing psychological problems. Two of her brothers committed suicide. Her mother was ineffectual with her large brood. She was raised on an isolated ranch with her seven siblings with almost no contact with the outside world. When she hit Cambridge at 18, she was pathetically ill equipped to be in the larger world.

I couldn't agree more that she found herself in the midst of horribly decadent people. Andy Warhol gets a particularly bad rap in this book, but to me, he was no better nor worse than his hangers-on, just a shade more self-absorbed. What really saddened me was that I don't think it really mattered who Edie took up with. She was destined to spin out of control. She had no focus, no inner strength, and was dangerously self-centered and delusionary.

"Edie" is compelling reading whether or not you have experienced the '60's. It is good to keep in mind that Edie herself and the contributors to the book all were a part of a very small stratum that whistled through this confusing decade. They were no more representative of the rank and file than Emmerin is representative of this decade.

Such a lovely child, such a terrible waste.

I am not the 'artsy' type but I found myself watching Basquiat one night. That -and listening to the Velvet Underground a few times got me interested in Andy Warhol a bit. So I looked him up on yahoo and lo and behold, the most beautiful faces kept appearing on screen. It was none other than Edie Sedgwick. I figured she must have frequented the "Factory" of Andy's but still earned a lot of money as a top fashion model, a-la Twiggy.

I read the reviews here, though and heard a much different life story. When I finally got and read the book, i realized how lost this girl was. The drugs, the sex, the shopaholism,even pyromania!

Still-at the same time-she was such a strong character that right until the end, she was still influencing people and going through a lifestyle that she never could've gotten away with today.

Despite her tragedy, her legacy is still there, and still ripe for the picking, so to speak. She still remains my fashion muse...Edie has inspired me to get into the fashion scene in some kind of way. Also, her sense of style-the chandelier earings, falsies, and that amazing hair- is UNMATCHED.

I thank her for all that she influenced upon me and other girls that simply cannot be put into words.

Although this book is over twenty years old, it is still a good source of info about this "Girl of 1965", Edie Sedgwick. Not only does the book document the rise of Edie at Andy Warhol's Factory, it chronicles her wacky childhood of privledge and turbulent teen years. Her sisters and only surviving brother give detailed accounts of Edie and her struggle with eating disorders and frequent hospitalizations. The family also talks about the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father, Francis Sedgwick, and the effect it had on the entire family. "Edie" is a great read on a life of a woman whose life ended long ago in a time that seems unreal to most young people of today. "Edie" not only documents a time in pop history ,but a life which was lived tragically wrong and gave out all too soon.

I'm toting this dream of a book around my colleagues at the US Army War College in the hope that they will, like me, use this as a class text.

If books, like bourbon whiskey, were rated according to strength, "For God and Glory: Lord Nelson and his Way of War" would weigh in above 100 proof. It is not a huge book, like the competent new bio. by Edgar Vincent, but it's concentrated and potent. I do not mean that it is arcane or overly meticulous. On the contrary, Joel Hayward writes with striking clarity.

"For God and Glory" is better written and more ambitious than other recent works inspired by Nelson's great victories. It is an originally conceived and richly rewarding work, filled with profundity and felicitous expression, with many flourishes of prose that flow like poetry.

The chapter on leadership, command and management will be scanned or photocopied by students at every military, air and naval academy and used in essays and dissertations for years to come.

And no self-respecting enthusiast of Lord Nelson will be able to escape having to engage the theses put forward in Hayward's compelling and authoritative book. Agree or disagree with his evidence and arguments, but don't ignore them. They blaze a trail.

I'm like the book reviewer below; delighted that we have a John Keegan-quality scholar of warfare living in New Zealand (Hayward has just co-written a great book on New Zealand military commanders to add to his many titles). This book, FOR GOD AND GLORY, is about the admiral after whom my own city, Nelson, was named. I've read several books on him, notably Colin White's, Dudley Pope's and Tom Pocock's. But only now, after reading Hayward's finely put-together and superbly written book, do I feel especially proud of my city's namesake. That's because Hayward describes Nelson's Christian faith and shows its huge impact on his life - and naval career - in more detail than I've read anywhere else. Actually, a recent issue of the NELSON DISPATCH (July 2001, pages 446 to 450) even claimed that while Nelson believed in the God of the Old Testament, he didn't show any interest in the Christian gospel and its central tenets of sacrifice (Christ's death for our sins), repentence and forgiveness. Hayward gently but strongly disproves these wishy-washy ideas, and demonstrates that while Nelson may not have often discussed Christ and the crucifixion, they were the dominating factor in his ambitions, hopes and behaviour (even as a heroic and fierce warrior).
I think the rest of the book is also full of rich insights and new ideas, all of which scholars will doubtless debate among themselves in their ever-competitive way. But for them and especially non-professional enthusiasts I think Hayward more than makes his case on most points. They seem water-tight to me.
Hayward shows deep respect for Nelson and does not seek to make a name by harping on about his failures, weaknesses and poor decisions. Terry Coleman did that, and while his sharp criticisms probably helped his book to sell, it made Coleman appear attention-seeking, partisan and unfair. Hayward is more like White and Pocock. His portrayal is even-handed and his explanations of Nelson's bad moments are balanced and non-judgemental. Hayward is most critical when it comes to Nelson's unwillingness to work harmoniously with the British Army on Corsica, but even then Hayward reveals the complex context and the pervasive anti-army influence of Admiral Lord Hood. He also explains the vastly different tactics used on land and at sea, tactical differences which would have made Nelson, who had limited knowledge of the precepts and practices of land warfare, convinced that the army was acting half-heartedly (which it wasn't!). No wonder Nelson became impatient and a little hostile towards his own army.
This is a captivating, courageous and readable book. It will please!

If you want to know what makes a commander effective then you'll be blown away by this fine book, which analyses Nelson with more insight and expertise than any other book written on him in decades. I found two typos, but aside from those, which will be fixed in future editions I'm sure, this work is without equal in Nelson, indeed, Napoleonic studies. Take note, friends: this book doesn't just tell the events in the standard way. It explains them thoroughly and is thus a deep and scholarly book. You have to read it carefully, and maybe twice, to get to grips with Nelson's complex character and startling career. But if you do, you'll get far more from this book than any other I can think of. For Nelson fans this is a must read. For Napoleonic readers this is a must read. For general military history readers this is a must read. Okay, for ANYONE wanting to read an excellent book this is a must read!

I enjoy Lori Wick's books because they are very enchanting- set in interesting time periods and places. They are easy and interesting to read, and have happy endings. This book is no exception. The story is good, the characters are endearing, and Wick shows how important it is to have a forgiving heart. I highly recommend this book- it is one I will want to read again.

As Time Goes By is my all time favorite by Lori Wick! A master piece, As Time Goes By takes you back to the old fashioned days of the 1800's. Jeff and Bobby are by far the cutest couple. The special realationship they share, and the gentle romance that is weaved thoughout the book is spell binding. The great quality of this book, along with the good plot and best characters, will be a page turner you won't be able to put down!

which is exactly what happens in "As Time Goes By".
You start the book five years in the past where Bobbie Bradford is cruelly treated and horribly humiliated. The next day she goes for a visit with her aunt, a visit that lasts five years.
Jeff Taylor is worried that history will repeat itself when he finds himself working alongside Bobbie, but Bobbie has come back to town with a new faith in Christ.
While Bobbie has never been considered beautiful, Jeff is finding himself more and more drawn to her every day. He learns that she is considering marrying a man for fear it will be her only offer and he starts to worry, for more than one reason.
Their friendship slowly turns into love, but neither Jeff nor Bobbie seem to realize it until it's too late.
This is an excellent book that I have read many times over, I highly recommend it.

"Arc Light" is a better read about the Vietnam War.

Larry Gwin doesn't pull his punches with this very good book. I must admit that when I picked it up I could't put it down. I appreciated his refreshing honesty, his humbleness and his humanity.

As a former infantry/paratroop officer myself I can relate very directly to his experiences - though thankfully I was spared the horrors of the Vietnam conflict that Larry Gwin had to endure.

I hope that he chooses to write more.

After reading the first chapter of Larry Gwin's book, I was hooked. This memoir, a story of a naive 1st lieutenant who is sent to Vietnam, survives a nearly disastrous battle, then is horrified by the reality of war and death and suffering, is well-written and spellbinding. He writes openly and honestly about himself, warts and all, as well as his fellow officers (the good, the bad, and the cowardly) and the "grunts" in his platoon. Many of the NCOs and enlisted men who go into battle with lieutenant Gwin prove to be brave in the face of death and loyal to their buddies who are either wounded or dying..."No one is left behind." I felt as though I was there with lieutenant Gwin as he and his men are airlifted into a hot LZ, praying to come out alive and in one piece. While this is a story about the horror of war, there are quite a few light moments which are humorous. All in all, this book is a real page-turner. Perfect for a rainy afternoon's read in a comfortable chair.

Ernie Lageson, is the son of one of the prison guards injured in the failed escape attempt about which this book is written. There are many versions of stories told about Alcatraz the details of which vary by accounting. Being a stickler for correct facts I appreciate the attention to accurate detail paid by the author when writing this book. He not only tells the story with precise accuracy he does so as a skilled story teller weaving a web and drawing you in. If you only read one book about this particular uprising, make sure you chose this one. You won't find an accounting more thoroughly researched nor more intelligently written.

If you like history and drama, BATTLE AT ALCATRAZ will keep you up late turning pages. Ernie Lageson retells the story of the prison's bloodiest escape attempt over three days in May 1946, and he has a real insider perspective: he wrote the book from notes made by his father, one of the prison guards wounded and held hostage during the siege. It is a look at a simpler world, when San Francisco stopped for three days while its citizens climbed on rooftops and walked to the waterfront to watch the drama unfold in the Bay - a drama that could not be played out on television (1946 was a radio and newspaper world), but instead flashed on movie screens around the world. It's a drama worth remembering.

Visited The Rock this July, bought this book at the bookstore, This book was a great book made me feel like i was actully there. The auther Tells a great story. Suggest to everyone