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| 1. Decision Points by George W. Bush | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $18.89 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0307590615 Publisher: Crown Sales Rank: 2 Average Customer Review: 
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| 2. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $27.00 -- our price: $13.99 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1400064163 Publisher: Random House Sales Rank: 3 Average Customer Review: 
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) I read this book in two days flat and I know that, had I had the time, I would have read it in one sitting. This is a book that grips you, draws you in and leaves you feeling a slightly better person for having read it.
The story is that of Louie Zamperini - a track and field star of the 1930's, who participated in the Berlin olympics, was part of the US air force in WWII, was shot down over the ocean, was adrift in the Pacific for over a month, was held as a POW by the Japanese forces and finally made it back to his life and has had the courage to live it to its fullest. Hillenbrand is a marvellous author. I was never tempted to read Seabiscuit and this was my first introduction to her work. She is one of a few authors who can write a non fiction story in the most gripping and vivid way imaginable. Instead of being flowery or overly embellished her prose relies squarely on research and on witness accounts and yet manages to never be dull. The swiftly moving story takes the reader from Zamperini's early beginnings, his swift rise to track star, the Berlin olympics and then to the World War. This is where the story really blooms. Hillenbrand settles in for the long haul here and we get to see the air force and the B24 bombers through the words of the men who actually flew them. The sequences where Zamperini and his friend Phil are adrift at sea are vivid and strangely beautifully described. The horrors that await them at the Japanese prison camps are not glossed over but neither does Hillenbrand wallow in the gore and violence as some authors may be tempted to do. There is always a strong sense of the respect the author holds for the men whose story she is being allowed to tell. History has perhaps focused its eye too exclusively on the war in Europe to the extent where the situation in the Pacific and the plight of POW's there has not recieved the attention and the respect it deserves. Hillenbrand's book and detailed research certainly makes a strong attempt to change that. Solidly based on statistics and army reports from both sides of the war, Hillenbrands book paints a clear picture of the hellish conditions that the POW's endured and the utter madness of the war that was being waged in the Pacific. This is a hard story to read but one that is well worth it. The falling apart of Louie's life and his slow path to regaining his life and sense of purpose is a story that is truly inspiring. This book will find a permanent place of honor on my bookshelf.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Louis Zamperini? Who is he? Laura Hillenbrand's near 500-page reply will answer the question not only once, but for all. He is the California boy who was a kleptomaniac. He is the running prodigy who competed at Hitler's Berlin Olympics, shook hands with the Fuhrer, and was almost shot by Nazi guards for stealing a Nazi souvenir. He is the American serviceman who entered the Pacific theater, crashed into the sea, and spent a harrowing forty-odd days floating on a disintegrating raft circled by aggressive sharks, scorched by a relentless sun, and gnawed to the bone by an inescapable hunger.
Who is Louis Zamperini? He is a man who overcame all THAT only to be "rescued" by the wrong side -- the Japanese. He is the man who went from being a prisoner of starvation and sharks that actually leaped up and tried to snatch him out of the foundering raft to being a prisoner of Japanese guards who were every bit as predatory as the great white of the seas. He is the man who was beaten every day by a particular Japanese corporal named Mutsuhiro Watanabe, a.k.a. "the Bird." He is, in short, the Unbroken One -- the man who kept getting up, coming back, rebounding, and holding on to the tenuous thread that connected him with life and hope, past any duration that any of us could possibly imagine. And, as YOU can imagine, his story is compelling. In fact, in the capable hands of Laura Hillenbrand, author of SEABISCUIT, it reads like a thriller, a page-turner, a fictional product of a keenly talented mind -- proving once again that truth can trump fiction when it comes to stories and mankind's love of hearing them. When you reach the end of this man's incredible journey, you will be awed by the scope of Hillenbrand's writing. It is clear that she did a vast amount of research -- reading letters, telegrams, newspaper clippings, radio transcripts, etc., AND interviewing not only Zamperini himself, but his family members, friends, surviving fellow servicemen, and even Japanese captors. Woven in her biography are many statistics and facts from the history of World War II as well. You will learn about the science of survival -- why certain men live and certain men die -- and about the strengths and weaknesses of America's planes that carried servicemen over the vast distances of the Pacific Ocean. You will learn about the war strategy, the Japanese culture and its effects on treatment of POWs as well as on conducting (and refusing to surrender in) a war to the bitter end. And, sadly, you will learn about the aftermath of war in Japan. It's all here, bigger than life, packed into the small frame of one man from Torrance, California -- a man that could, and did, live to tell about a page in history we hope never to repeat. Both a personal tale of redemption and resilience, UNBROKEN is destined to become a classic in the category of narrative nonfiction. Ordinarily I'm a fiction guy, but I was spellbound from the start. Honest. Give it a try. It's big, but reads small. I think, when you reach the end, you, too, will sing its (and Louie's) praises (at 93, Zamperini is still alive and still "Unbroken"!).
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This is the long (500 pages) extremely detailed, meticulously researched and extremely moving story of a Hero. And yes, the caps on "hero" was intentional.
In the first half of the book we get a detailed biography of Louis Zamperini- bad boy, then track and field star and Olympic contender. Possibly too detailed here, I admit. We then segue into WWI and Lt Zamperini's Air Corps career as a B-24 bombardier. Great stuff here, goes into fascinating detail about the B24 Liberator and the men who flew them in the Pacific. The last portion here is a harrowing tale of survival in the open seas, one of the best I have read. Then, Louie Zamperini gets captured by the Japanese. Folks, watching Bridge on the River Kwai will not prepare you for the brutality and inhumanity of the horrors Laura Hillenbrand brings to life here. Now, this is a gripping adventure story, well told, one that is hard to put down. But I had to put this book down in a couple places here, the story was that brutally true. A tale of unbelievable endurance, hardship and heroism. A real page turner, extremely well written and readable.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) No one can accuse Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend, of ever doing a half-effort job of research when she writes narrative nonfiction. Spending seven years on this effort, the Author has produced one of the most detailed stories of an American POW being held by the Japanese during World War II that I have ever read. With the many interviews with the subject during her research, along with interviews of family members, other POW's and their families, reading over unpublished memoirs, personal letters, and military documents, it would have been easy for this book to have become a long drawn-out and sterile narrative that would read like a text book. Instead we're treated to a captivating and at times heart-wrenching story that takes a group of unknowns and present them in a way that you truly come to know them.
The subject of the book is Louis Zamperini, whose life would have been an interesting read even before the events during WWII. A relatively trouble child who stole everything in sight, he grows up to become one of the greatest track stars of his time, shattering the national high school record in the mile and becoming one of the youngest members of the U.S. Olympic team in 1936. Many felt that Zamperini would become the first person to break the four minute mile. With the onset of the war, he was drafted into the Army Air Force and became a bombardier assigned to the semi-unreliable B-24. After surviving a number of bombing missions against Japanese targets his plane goes down in the middle of the ocean while searching for another downed plane. What follows is a story of survival by sheer will, first being adrift at sea for 46 days and then spending over two brutal years as a POW in Japan. Hillenbrand takes us step-by-step through the events, introducing us to other Allied prisoners as well as a number of the Japanese guards and personnel. Her descriptions of the brutality Louie, as well as other prisoners, went through are very detailed and heart-wrenching. His daily beatings from a guard known as "The Bird" would have been enough to break anyone but Zamperini endured each one. One thing I found interesting is not only did she name names of the guards that tortured the prisoners mercilessly she also did not shy away from pointing out the Japanese personnel who did their best to shield the prisoners even at the risk of their own safety. Then after the war the Author takes us through the post-traumatic years as Zamperini's life spirals downward, and his eventual rebirth as he learns forgiveness and peace. I would highly recommend this to those looking for an inspiring story of, as the sub-title of the book says, "Survival, Resilience, and Redemption." Just be aware, a large portion of the story will focus on the brutality and suffering inflicted on the POW's by the Japanese war machine. It can be at times a very disturbing and difficult narrative to read, one that can bring tears to your eyes. It is both one of the best books of the WWII POW experience I've read, and one of the most troubling.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) In "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption," author Laura Hillenbrand (of Seabiscuit: An American Legend tells the story of Louis Zamperini, a bad boy turned track and field star, who participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympic and even met Hitler. Narrowly escaping arrest for attempting to piler a Nazi flag, Zamperini returned home, washed out as a pilot and eventually ended up in the Army Air Corps as a B-24 bombardier.
Then, in May 1943, his plane goes down. He and one of his crewmates endure over 47 days before they find land, but, unfortunately, they land in enemy terrain, and are sent to a POW camp, where the story gets even more harrowing and brutal. The story of Zamperini's ordeal, survival and eventual return home, with its own attendant struggles, is one of the most gripping tales of heroism and sheer toughness, mental and physical, that I have ever read. I must admit, I was a bit worried that Ms. Hillenbrand, after having written the excellent Seabiscuit, would suffer a "sophomore slump." My worries were completely unfounded. Ms. Hillenbrand has the rare gift for setting atmosphere, including vast amounts of tightly-integrated background information, yet her narrative never drags or slows. Every detail was meticulously researched - I can only imagine how much work that took - and she did an incredible effort of setting the stage. I also appreciated the even-handedness of her approach, particularly when singling out the kind and humane guards in the Japanese POW camp, who took tremendous risks. Another standout section of the book, although brief, was the difficulty soldiers had in returning back to "normal life" after the war. This is one of the best books, historical or not, that I have ever read, and would make an outstanding movie as well. Five-plus stars.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Laura Hillenbrand's new book, "Unbroken", is one of the most incredible books I've read in recent years. It is the true story of Louie Zamperini. Zamperini, an Olympic 5000 meter runner for the US(Berlin; 1936) survives the plane crash of his bomber in the Pacific in May of 1943. The book recounts in vivid detail all that occurs over the next 2 and 1/2 years. Mr. Zamperini's story is absolutely incredible. This ranks with the best personal accounts of WWII ever written. This book is riveting!! Ms Hillenbrand's narrative style compels you to continue turning pages long after her accounts of the horrors Zamperini has endured have left you exhausted. This book is a MUST READ!! It is destined to be perched at the top of the bestseller lists for months to come.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) There are thousands of books written about World War Two. Some tell the story of battles; some follow the history of the whole war, or this or that theater. Some focus on the plight of the Prisoners of War. Some are memoirs, or biographies.
Unbroken must join the bibliography of the Pacific War as one of the best personal narratives written. Laura Hillenbrand, famous for her story of Seabiscuit, picks up the story of one young man, Louie Zamperini, troublemaker, runner, bombardier, and runs with it. He was lost in the crash at sea of his B24 Green Hornet. Lost at sea, he drifted for weeks in a life raft with two of his crewmates. They broke all records for survival in such a craft. Two of them made it, through shark infested waters, hunger and thirst to land. That's where their ordeal began. Now, a survival against nature story turns into something more terrible and ominous. Zamperini must contend and deal with the blackest shadows of human nature while a POW in wartime Japan. Against all odds he survives, after being officially declared dead and returns to a grateful nation. He and his fellow POWs suffer the after effects of their ordeals for years after the war and again, Zamperini sinks into his own private hell. Then, when in deepest despair, he meets a young Billy Graham and his life turns around once more. He finds finally redemption and returns to Japan not as a messenger of hate but as a herald of hope and forgiveness. I loved this book.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) I remember quite clearly when reading Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit" about the famous racehorse that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime book for the author, that she would probably never find so compelling a story to focus upon. Hillenbrand herself says much the same thing in the afterword to her new "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" (due to be released to the public in the next couple weeks) -- but then she learned about Louie Zamperini. Zamperini, as the son of immigrant Italians in California in the 1930s, seemed a sure candidate for everybody's "Most Likely to Go to Reform School" list. Then, his older brother convinced him to try out for the high school track team, and a great natural gift for running was discovered. In short order, his academic and disciplinary record reversed itself, and soon Zamperini was a student at USC and one of the brightest stars of the American track scene, often touted as being the man most likely to break the fabled four minute barrier in running the mile. He was on the US team at the 1936 (Berlin) Olympics where he did respectably, although it was believed that with a little more maturity his real opportunity to win gold would come at the 1940 (Tokyo) Olympics. Then, World War II started.
Louis Zamperini found himself a B24 bombadier in the Pacific, where long distance over-water flying in aircraft of dubious mechanical reliability probably killed more air crew than combat. In 1943 Zamperini's plane disappeared while on a search-and-rescue mission, and Zamperini and the rest of the crew were presumed killed. Instead, he and the pilot survived 47 days in a life raft before being found and "rescued" by the Japanese, landing Zamperini in a succession of POW camps for the next two years. It was a horrid, brutal experience, and it makes for intensely distressing reading. Zamperini was singled out by one particular chief guard, perhaps because of his sports fame, perhaps because of his unbowed attitude, for unrelenting, sadistic attention. Yet, despite the beatings and torture and almost nonexistent food and terrible living conditions Zamperini survived. Restored to the States after the end of the War, Zamperini married but quickly descended into a desperate spiral of alcohol and anger that threatened his marriage and his life. But, improbably enough, when he was dragged reluctantly to a Billy Graham camp meeting by his estranged wife, Zamperini found it within himself to let go of his wholly understandable anger and thirst for revenge, and literally reformed himself overnight, becoming an inspirational speaker and advocate for troubled youths. As of this writing, he is still hale and hearty, an indomitable optimist. Hillenbrand has once again found herself a perfect subject (Zamperini told her that it would be easier to write about him than Seabiscuit because he, at least, could talk), and again has demonstrated her skill in constructing a highly compelling story, vividly drawing upon the memories of a large cast of friends and family and former enemies. "Unbroken" is a marvelous book. The account of Zamperini's POW years is tough stuff, to be sure, but Hillenbrand's focus on an extraordinary character is unwavering.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This is a splendid book. It describes the terrible hardships endured by Louis Zamperini, former Olympian athlete, during World War Two bombing missions in the Pacific. In World War Two, I flew bombing missions over Germany, so the author's description of the tension, fear (even terror), and shock at the death of one friend after another rings painfully true. But for Zamperini, the worst was yet to come. On a flight to find a missing bomber in the vast expanse of the Central Pacific, his B-24 bomber developed mechanical trouble and plunged into the ocean. Zamperini and several of the crew managed to escape the sinking bomber and get onto a small life raft. There was precious little food and water on the raft, so they had nothing but occasional rainwater. For food, they ate raw fish, if they could catch one before the sharks did. Under a blazing sun, they drifted for an amazing 47 days before they landed on an island. But they were captured immediately by Japanese soldiers. Shipped to a prison camp in Japan, they suffered month after month of beatings, torture, and the threat of instant execution. When the war ended, the prisoners were liberated and sent home. But the war was not over for them. Although it was not discussed much back then, many suffered from post-traumatic disorder, a horror that can go on for years. Laura Hillenbrand has done a magnificent piece of writing here. It may leave you breathless, but it is well worth reading.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This is likely to be the book of the year for several reasons. It is beautifully written and beautifully structured. It has a compelling and inspirational subject. It is filled to the brim with fascinating facts (Which parts of a shark are edible? What was the mortality rate in Japanese prison camps versus that in Italian/German ones? What is it like to fly a B-24?). It is the product of exhaustive research. It combines the advantages and attractiveness of biography with the strengths and strategies of suspense fiction.
By now, most will be familiar with the subject. In Seabiscuit Laura Hillenbrand studied a California racer. She does the same in Unbroken, with the distinct advantage that (as her subject pointed out to her) he can actually talk and tell her what happened. Her subject, Louie Zamperini, was a difficult child who matured into an Olympic runner, racing in Berlin in 1936. He joined the Army Air Force in WWII, serving as a bombardier. His hideously-unreliable B-24 plummeted into the Pacific and he and two fellow fliers floated in an open raft toward the Marshall Islands, fighting heat, thirst, starvation, sharks and strafings from a Japanese plane along the way. Interned in several Japanese prison camps he was treated mercilessly and criminally. Saved by the American forces in the Pacific, the relentless bombing of Japan by B-29's and, quintessentially, by the flight of the Enola Gay, he was freed and returned home. Enslaved by persistent memories and alcohol, his marriage on the edge, he was saved by none other than Billy Graham. He remains alive today at 93, still feisty and active. This is the perfect Christmas gift for anyone, but particularly for those who remember the war, those who experienced it directly and those who need to be educated concerning it. Be warned, however. Once they start reading the book they will be absent from the rest of the family's holiday activities until they complete it. I highly recommend it and tip my hat to the author for her personal courage and tenacity in writing a great book. ... Read more | |
| 3. Life by Keith Richards | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $29.99 -- our price: $16.18 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 031603438X Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Sales Rank: 4 Average Customer Review:
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| 4. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $29.99 -- our price: $15.59 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0316001929 Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Sales Rank: 7 Average Customer Review: 
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Cleopatra: A Life
Stacy Schiff Author Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer Prize winner and in another case was a Pulitzer finalist. She also won the George Washington Book Prize, the Ambassador Award in American studies, the Gilbert Chiard Prize of the Institute Francais d' Am�rique and three NYT Notable Books, The LA Times Book Review, The Chicago Tribune, and Economist books of the year. She received Fellowships from: the Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities, a Director's Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers and much, much more. The copy I received from Amazon for review was a typical advanced, uncorrected, proof, Review copy, which is usually a paperback format. Except that in this case the care given to the paperback cover, complete with a florid display of color in a four folded front and back cover, may be a clue to the coming of a hard cover of opulence. This sort of Review copy is more rare than most and it hints at the possibility of a forthcoming major film on Cleopatra. As for the content; ah the content... magnifique! One hundred, ten thousand words of unbridled perfection. Stacy Schiff's language is as effusive in was the Queen, which she adorns with deep research - research that blows the cover off more than two thousand years of intentional slanderous inaccuracies. Some by men who hated her, who were, I believe, because of their fear of women of Power, beauty, sexual excellence, confidence and intellect. In line after line, paragraph after paragraph, the writing, vocabulary, color and tone of the book is perfection. Words flow into sentences four to ten lines long, and in a few cases paragraphs often cover most of a page, ala Henry James, (Turn of The Screw, etc.) and if you are used to reading the classics in any language, you don't mind it a bit, and some may welcome it. Schiff expands her sentences sometimes into nearly page long paragraphs, with serial descriptions of sumptuously, voluptuous parades, banquets and artifacts. She seduces you into falling head over heels in love, and or lust with the girl queen, whose intellect, competence, strategic and tactical planning are equal to if not superior to that of entire enemy nations. Cleopatra, a Greek woman, who spoke at least eight languages, played most games as well as or better than her male companions, who were often in awe of her. She who could and did easily charm men with even half an effort, even those who resented, hated and were envious of her (and there were many) made Alexandria the art, cultural and commercial center of the world. Her net worth before her death was valued at roughly $95.7 Billion American dollars, the richest woman in the world, or ever, and among the richest humans (men or women) of all time. Her nation became a storied and mythical land in which women excelled in many fields and in comparison to Rome, it was a paradise of perfection. In that and the production of art, decorative items, jewels and ship building was unique, her output of grain was stupendous, as were the creation of exotic clothing, jewelry, and brightly colored clothing were unmatched in all of antiquity. It was a storied land of Amazon females which were also exquisitely feminine. In her case more so. And yet by most evidence and descriptions, though she was not not drop-dead gorgeous, she, by velvety soft, articulate and eloquent voice, and quick wit, quick response, with a satiric sense of humor and the ability to tease, roast, attracted men with her vibrantly vivacious force of personality and her amazingly classical education, which was often superior to that of her enemies. The fabled Library of Alexandria's, mythical contents, grew to 500,000 volumes in fantasy, though most present day estimates say it was closer to 100,000 to 250,000 scrolls. Few males could withstand or compete her charm wit and repartee'. These are good reasons why two of the most powerful men on earth fell deeply in comradeship and love/lust with her. Two men who threw away a kingdom and three quarters of the world, just to be with her, whenever possible. Yet, through all of this, she was not, "the whore queen." Caesar and Mark Antony were the Charley Sheen of their era, bedding down more women than Hefner, many of which were married to senators and other political and business types. The truth is that despite the slanders of Cicero, Octavian, her rival brothers and sister, Dolabella, Delius, half the women of Rome, and historians of her day later and long after her death, including Lucan, and for centuries afterwords many others using the errors and intentionally reading of motives onto the circumstances surrounding a woman, whose very existence caused them to shrivel in fear of castigation, or swell in lust, despite their fear, even when not in her presence. With sumptuous language, the author lays out the truth, beneath the rumors and libels. Schiff uncovers, with exhaustive research, the details as far as they can be deduced without eye-witnesses. She tabulates the incredible odds against Cleopatra even surviving her early teens when she was constantly avoiding assassination at the hands of siblings, adults, traitors, greedy and murderous others all around her. She became, of necessity, a skilled and fearless killer in an atmosphere in which at any turn, or step she could be herself murdered. It was an era where one either learns to kill or is killed. Yet she became a teen aged queen of incredible skills and outlived most of her enemies, and if Mark Antony had acted promptly, she and he would have outlived Octavian and reigned until old age, as co-queen of three-quarters of the world, perhaps including Rome as well. The truth concerning her denigrating title (The Whore Queen), by men whose masculinity was threatened by such female of great competence, is easy to unravel. In their case it was the ebony pot calling the kettle black. Most of her male enemies slept with every senator's wife of beauty or wealth, in Rome. Fear and envy was the motivation of the vast majority of those who slandered her. More importantly, was that there is not a shred of evidence of her sleeping with anyone other than Caesar and Mark Antony. Was she a master of poisons? Was she a killer? Was she seductive? Was she manipulative? Yes to the first three, possibly to the fourth, but she lived in a world far different from ours. A world of murder, especially of females in line for Queenship. Was she guilty of incest? No, there was no such crime in her world, nor did she consummate her marriage to her brothers. The Mark Antony of the movies and semi-fictional books, was not the Mark Antony of Cleopatra's world. He appeared erratically shifting between competent and ineffective after the death of his mentor Caesar. He failed to eliminate his physically weak chief rival, who was obviously out to destroy him. He seemed to want Rome, Egypt and his position to go away. It appears that the stress of a life of violence, war, intrigue, pressure rendered him inept. He seemed to just want to move away to secret island where love and peace would follow him all the days of his life. He became a fish out of water, and allowed a physical weakling to destroy him. Karma? Tired of warring? Wasted by love and trapped in a world of violence, a soldier who appeared at one time fearless, crumbling and losing his sanity and perspective? Reading between the Schiff lines, I say yes, to all of that. Of all of the historical biographies, I have read in my life this ranks it the top five-ten. If you read only one such book this year, I urge you to make Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff, the one.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) As an published author having written (fiction) about ancient Egypt myself, I have to admit I am in awe of this book and its author!
Ms. Schiff went back to the classic sources and considered each as propaganda, exaggerated legend, and/or fact (the latter being an incredibly rare commodity in ancient texts). For the most part, all the ancient sources of information concerning Cleopatra are a mix of all three of the three aforementioned categories. We have very little by way of artifacts and almost nothing of Cleopatra's actual writings (maybe a fragment containing her preferred sign-off, "Let it be done." and possibly a bit of the end of a letter (that may be a copy of the original). Alexandria, the wonder of the world due to the Ptolemies, is now 20 feet underwater and was looted by Octavion immediately after the deaths of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. A few statues, pylons, and broken bits of structures have recently been pulled from the Alexandrian harbor, but not enough underwater research has been done to date to provide us with much new information. Considering all this, it takes great courage for a Pulitzer Prize winning (among MANY other awards) author to tackle such complicated, albeit compelling, subject matter in hope of extracting a logical, accurate-as-possible of not only Cleopatra herself but the torturous times in which she lived. Ms. Schiff refuses to simply reiterate either the oft-repeated Roman propaganda concerning the Egyptian monarch (the Romans despised Cleopatra, in great part due to the manipulations and falsifications of the scheming, obsessive, murderous and ultra-devious Octavion, aka Augustus ) or the glamorously romantic vision conjured and elaborated on by Shaw, Shakespeare, at least 3 spectacular Hollywood films (one silent), and numerous imitators. This volume not only makes an exhaustive effort to provide us with a clear understanding of the mind and life of one of the world's greatest leaders, male or female, but manages to successfully weave Cleopatra the person into the hellishly confusing context of the treacherous world in which she lived. This is, admittedly, no light read. If that is what is desired, readers might as well pick up the novel based on the Taylor/Burton cinematic extravaganza of a few decades ago. Ms. Schiff's style is scholarly and intense but not beyond the ken of most educated readers willing to pay attention to what they are reading (turn off the TV and rid yourself of background noise). There's a lot to keep track of, yes, but the story takes place in very complex and confusing times. Murder, even within one's own family was rampant, betrayal was a daily event, and a flash of gold or promise of power could turn a monarch's head so quickly that he barely caught a fleeting glimpse of his most loyal comrade as he wields a deadly weapon furiously over his head. It would be pointless to try and encapsulate the contents of the book in a short review, so I won't try. I will say I found it to be an admirably fascinating and enlightening read that was amazingly well-researched and stylishly written. Myths are considered and often dismissed as the creations of extremely opinionated authors of and after Cleopatra's time. Above all, however, this is the first book that struggles (successfully, in my opinion) to reveal to readers Cleopatra the person rather than the myth; she was not only a brilliant ruler but (to the shock of the ancient world) also a woman. Not only was she other than the dazzlingly irresistible vamp and witch of legend, but she possessed a mind, charm, education and wit so incredible that the two greatest leaders of the Roman world were so captivated by her that they were willing, even eager, to risk their lives and their countries just to be her close companion and sometimes lover (neither of them could legally marry her under Roman law). Cleopatra bore these men children, potential heirs to the vast riches of the most powerful empire in the world at that time. As the author points out, she also ushered in a new era that changed and more often than not improved endless aspects of the rest of the world over the subsequent centuries. We cannot truly understand Cleopatra's motives or actual feelings in many instances, but Ms. Schiff has shifted through all of the most reliable if any of them are truly reliable) authoritative works on the life and times of this most illustrious and fascinating ruler in order to present us with a far more realistic, logical and understandable (not to mention enjoyable) picture than has previously seen print. I wildly applaud her for this wonderful, highly successful and important effort. ... Read more | |
| 5. Decoded by Jay-Z | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $18.88 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1400068924 Publisher: Spiegel & Grau Sales Rank: 12 Average Customer Review:
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| 6. Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-11-23)
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $19.25 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0375504877 Publisher: Random House Sales Rank: 44 Average Customer Review:
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) If you've read the first two volumes in Edmund Morris' landmark biography of Theodore Roosevelt (The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex) you've been waiting for this one. The scholarship is every bit as detailed, the narrative every bit as well-drawn, but I nevertheless found myself enjoying this volume slightly less than the two preceding ones, if only because it describes sadder events, and Morris did such a masterful job of taking us through Roosevelt's Rise and Rule that his necessary decline seems even more poignant in comparison.
This book does contain detailed, authoritative accounts of some of the most dramatic events in Theodore Roosevelt's life -- the assassination attempt he followed with the announcement "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose[,]" and a ninety-minute speech, given with blood spreading slowly across his waistcoat; his hunting safari in Africa; his near-death experiences mapping the then-unexplored River of Doubt in Brazil (now named the "Rio Roosevelt" in his honor). If, like me, you followed reading Morris' prior volumes with Roosevelt's own autobiographical works -- the Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt,Through the Brazilian Wilderness, and/or African Game Trails -- reading this will give you the details Roosevelt himself chose to leave out, and show you the viewpoints of Rooselvelt's friends, enemies, and family as well. So, all in all, if you've read the first two volumes, and especially if you've gone beyond them, this one's a necessary read. The problem with it is that, of necessity, this volume is tragedy, not comedy; this last section of Roosevelt's life was a comet in decline, overextended, his powers past their peak or locked into futile struggles that his native pride and will found impossible to decline. The same genius is still there -- both in Roosevelt himself and in Morris' biography -- but it's hard to read of Teddy's doomed-from-inception 1912 presidential campaign, of his near-quixotic determination to map the Brazilian wilderness as an aging man in his fifties, or of his relentless push for a war that we know will kill his youngest son, without feeling an inevitable sadness that caused me to put this book down on more than one occasion. The comet is still afire here, both in Morris's writing and in Theodore's life; but we know that at the end of this volume, it will go out, and Morris has done such a good job of creating sympathy, affection, and admiration for his subject that there's an inevitable melancholy suffusing this concluding volume.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This book covers the last decade of Theodore Roosevelt's life, completing the trilogy begun with The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (birth to winning the Presidency) and Theodore Rex (White House years). Roosevelt wrote so many books, articles and speeches, and was written about so often by contemporaries, that Morris is almost an editor rather than a researcher or analyst--about 20% of the pages are devoted to notes. Yet the books never turn into recitations of facts, all three are exciting and readable, with the feel of novels rather than historical accounts. They are peppered with vivid descriptions and aphoristic phrasing.
Compared to the first two books in the series, Morris seems to have gained in confidence, or perhaps the sources from this period allow more definitive conclusions. There are fewer qualifications and stronger color in the writing. The other major difference is Roosevelt's position during this time allowed him to participate in world affairs and anything else that interested him, without any restrictions of public office. The first book is the most adventurous, but Roosevelt was not a major global or even national player. The second book is a little less fun to read due to the necessity of describing details of politics and administration. Only in Colonel Roosevelt does his mature personality shine through without cloud. There isn't much more to say. This is among the greatest popular biographies ever written, about one of history's most exciting characters. I definitely recommend reading the three books in order, but if you will only read one, I think this is the best choice.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) What else can one say after completing the third and final volume in Edmund Morris's magisterial trilogy on Theodore Roosevelt. As Morris notes in his epilogue he started this series back in 1979 when Roosevelt was still suffering from the often scathing biographies by liberal academes who tended to view Roosevelt as a bully, a tyrant, a misanthrope and worse. This despite the praise heaped upon him by his "fifth cousin" Franklin Roosevelt, who essentially modeled his political career after TR.
This book covers the Bull Moose's final ten years. Far from being a "comet in decline," Roosevelt kept up a pace that would leave much younger men exhausted and gasping for airs. He didn't seem to lose a moment of his life, pushing himself hard and fast through 60 years of his strenuous life, until finally his grizzled body could take it no longer, quietly passing away in "The House on the Hill" on a cold January evening in 1919, which Morris poignantly recalls in the closing chapter. Through the course of the narrative we are treated to Roosevelt's Africa Expedition, funded by Andrew Carnegie, his grand tour of Europe that followed, his break from the Republican Party and the formation of the short-lived Progressive Party that seemed would tarnish his reputation among Republicans forever, his journey Through the Brazilian Wilderness and finally his infamous battles with Woodrow Wilson over American neutrality in the great war that would cost the life of perhaps his dearest son, Quentin. Morris captures the fervor of Roosevelt's commitment but also his many inconsistencies, not least of all in his unbridled frustration with Taft and Wilson, who he felt were turning back his prized progressive reforms and dragging their feet when it came to hot button foreign issues. Morris notes that Roosevelt was never a true Progressive, but rather one with a small "p" who dearly hoped to keep progressive reform a part of the Republican plank. Failing to do so he launched his own campaign in 1912, but after that sought reconciliation between the "regular" and "progressive" Republicans. His biggest concern were effete Democrats like Wilson, who he felt were co-opting progressive reform without offering any substance to them. His ultimate disillusion was the way Wilson dragged out American neutrality long after the Lusitania and other passenger ships and freighters were sunk by German U-boats. Roosevelt's constant attacks on Wilson, through his editorials in The Outlook and Metropolitan journals, no doubt had a grueling impact on the Democratic administration, but as Morris noted the public mood was with Wilson, which Roosevelt eventually came to realize, having grown increasingly disappointed with "hyphenated Americans." This book completes Morris's compelling trilogy which I see will soon be available in a box set. If you haven't read the first two books, I would suggest the trilogy bundle as it offers perhaps the most complete portrait of Theodore Roosevelt other than Roosevelt's own accounts.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) And now, at last, the third and final act of one of the greatest accounts of one of the most remarkable lives in American history.
"Colonel Roosevelt" brings to a close Edmund Morris' trilogy on the life of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, prolific author, naturalist, cowboy, husband and father. It picks up where the story left off at the end of volume two--Roosevelt's departure from the presidency in March 1909 and closes with his death in January 1919. The last decade of Roosevelt's life was often marked by loss, both personal and professional, but it was a dramatic and momentous one nevertheless, and receives full justice in Morris' masterful hands. It's all here: the triumphant African safari of 1909-10; the rift with his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft; the unsuccessful attempt to wrest the 1912 Republican nomination from Taft; the stand at Armageddon and the birth of the Progressive Party; the assassination attempt in Milwaukee, when TR insisted on delivering a speech despite the bullet in his chest; the shadows that darkened Europe and Roosevelt's increasingly militant stance for preparedness; the wounding of his sons and death of one of them in battle; and finally, death in his 60th year. What emerges more strongly in these pages than in the second volume, "Theodore Rex," is a vivid portrait of Roosevelt's inner life--the ongoing struggle between the man of repose and the man of action, between the philosopher and the warrior, between the party regular and the reformer. It's been more than 30 years since the appearance of volume one, and almost a decade since volume two hit the shelves. In this case, it was truly worth the wait. Morris has given us the definitive portrait of TR, one likely to stand for a generation or more.--William C. Hall
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) One of the most amazing things about Theodore Roosevelt is that no matter how many biographies I read of "the most interesting man in America," I still learn something new about him. Colonel Roosevelt is Edmund Morris' final installment in his Roosevelt trilogy (his first two books were The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex - both also highly recommended). Like its predecessors, Colonel Roosevelt is very sympathetic towards its subject, but not hesitant about confronting the truth when necessary. These three books represent the best written, most in-depth biography of TR and will probably be regarded as the definitive addition for quite some time. Unlike other recent accounts of TR's post-presidential life, such as Patricia O'Toole's When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House, Colonel Roosevelt covers every part of this time period comprehensively, from big events like the African safari to TR's race for chairmanship of the New York Republican Party in 1910 (something often skipped by other biographies). I do wish Morris had added more of his voice and analysis into the book. I think it would have been helpful to hear more of the debate about TR's decisions, particularly why he lost the 1912 race (Lewis Gould provides several interesting explanations in Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics (American Presidential Elections)). As it stands, Colonel Roosevelt stands as a recitation of the facts, with relatively little controversy. Still, this is a fitting tribute to a great man.
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| 7. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-04-20)
list price: $29.99 -- our price: $17.99 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1595551387 Publisher: Thomas Nelson Sales Rank: 68 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review From the New York Times bestselling author of Amazing Grace, a groundbreaking biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the greatest heroes of the twentieth century, the man who stood up to Hitler. A definitive, deeply moving narrative, Bonhoeffer is a story of moral courage in the face of the monstrous evil that was Nazism. After discovering the fire of true faith in a Harlem church, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany and became one of the first to speak out against Hitler. As a double-agent, he joined the plot to assassinate the Fuhrer, and was hanged in Flossenberg concentration camp at age 39. Since his death, Bonhoeffer has grown to be one of the most fascinating, complex figures of the 20th century. Bonhoeffer presents a profoundly orthodox Christian theologian whose faith led him to boldly confront the greatest evil of the 20th century, and uncovers never-before-revealed facts, including the story of his passionate romance. Reviews
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote those words in The Cost of Discipleship, which was first published in 1937. Eight years later, on April 9, 1945, he answered Christ's bidding and was executed by the Nazis at the Flossenburg concentration camp for conspiring to assassinate Adolf Hitler the previous year. Bonhoeffer's last words, appropriate to a Christian facing death, were hopeful. "This is the end...For me the beginning of life." In Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas sets out to narrate Bonhoeffer's life for a new generation of Christians, who are unacquainted with the 1967 biography written by Eberhard Bethge, Bonhoeffer's closest friend. Metaxas is the author of Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery (2007), which was subsequently turned into a movie. His biography of Bonhoeffer is well written, well paced, and very insightful, especially regarding the theological, spiritual, and ethical evolution Bonhoeffer experienced in his conflict with the Nazis, which consumed the latter third of his short life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of eight children born to Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer, and the youngest of five boys. He was the scion of illustrious families on both his paternal and maternal sides. His father Karl's ancestors included prominent politicians and scientists. Karl himself was chair of the department of psychology at the University of Berlin--in effect, the leading psychologist of Germany. His mother Paula's family included military leaders and theologians, including her grandfather, the prominent liberal church historian Karl August von Hase, and her father Karl Alfred, the erstwhile chaplain to Kaiser Wilhelm II. Bonhoeffer followed in the footsteps of his von Hase ancestors, studying at Tubingen before achieving a double doctorate in theology at Berlin. Following his studies in Berlin, Bonhoeffer did a year of postgraduate work at Union Theological Seminary of New York, where he attended and taught Sunday school at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, then under the able leadership of Dr. Adam Clayton Powell Sr. Bonhoeffer was unimpressed by Union's scholarship, but his involvement with Abyssinian gave him a deep love for "Negro spirituals" and important insights into how segregation damages both minorities and the majorities who oppress them. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power in 1933, when Bonhoeffer was just 27 years old. From the get-go, the Nazis attempted to subvert and control every traditional institution in Germany, including the German Evangelical (or Lutheran) Church. This attempted subversion drew Bonhoeffer into the opposition to Hitler that would eventually cost him his life. The struggle would also radicalize him in numerous ways. He increasingly realized that being a good German and being a good Christian were not coterminous. He increasingly began to practice a free-church ecclesiology in the midst of a state-church nation. And he increasingly realized that passivity in the face of evil was complicity with evil. Most of Bonhoeffer's work in the 1930s and 40s was professorial and pastoral. He helped found the Confessing Church, which was formed to oppose the Nazification of the state church. He helped found and lead the Confessing Church's underground seminary at Finkenwalde. And throughout this time, he wrote what have become classics in theology and spiritual formation: Life Together, The Cost of Discipleship, and Ethics (which he completed toward the end of his life). But all along, he was drawn increasingly into the conspiracy against Hitler. Bonhoeffer's social class and family were deeply involved in this struggle. His older brother and two brothers-in-law were also executed for their involvement in the conspiracy against Hitler. Interestingly, they undertook this conspiracy from within the government and military, not outside of it. At one point, when Bonhoeffer was about to be drafted into the Army, his family friends arranged for him to work for the Abwehr, or Military Intelligence. To many of his Confessing Church comrades, it appeared that Bonhoeffer had sold out. In reality, this position saved Bonhoeffer from military service and allowed him to continue pastoral work under the guise of doing assignments for the Abwehr. On July 20, 1944, General Claus von Stauffenberg placed an explosive device under a table at a meeting with Hitler. The explosion killed several people, although Hitler lived, scathed but otherwise unharmed. Bonhoeffer was already in prison, although his role in this conspiracy wouldn't become known for some time. Indeed, at one point, his uncle, General Paul von Hase, was able to get him special accommodations in the military prison just outside of Berlin. With the failure of Stauffenberg's bomb, however, the plot unraveled. Several thousand people were arrested, often because they were family members of conspirators, and several hundred were executed. The conspirators were aristocrats, military leaders, and civil servants--the traditional leaders of pre-war Germany. Why had they tolerated Hitler for so long? They had been working against him from the beginning, Metaxas makes clear, but Hitler's foreign policy and military successes made him very popular, and thus very difficult to work against. Bonhoeffer had seen this difficulty nearly from the beginning. In a sense, he was a prophet who foresaw where Hitler's regime would lead Germany, and counseled more radical action than conservative German's traditional leaders--religious, military, or civil--could tolerate, until of course it was still late. He, and they, paid for their dereliction with their lives. If I have made much of Bonhoeffer's involvement with the plot against Hitler, it is only because this is the most well-known thing about him. But Metaxas reveals the layers of theology, spirituality, politics, and commitment that characterized Bonhoeffer's life. His biography is well written and highly recommended.
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| 8. Kardashian Konfidential by Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-11-23)
list price: $25.99 -- our price: $13.77 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0312628072 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Sales Rank: 142 Average Customer Review: 
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Editorial Review
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| 9. Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-10-05)
list price: $40.00 -- our price: $21.55 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1594202664 Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The Sales Rank: 102 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review
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| 10. Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-05-04)
list price: $30.00 -- our price: $16.90 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1439155208 Publisher: Scribner Sales Rank: 96 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review Born in the boom-and-bust oil town of Midland, Texas, Laura Welch grew up as an only child in a family that lost three babies to miscarriage or infant death. She vividly evokes Midland's brash, rugged culture, her close relationship with her father, and the bonds of early friendships that sustain her to this day. For the first time, in heart-wrenching detail, she writes about the devastating high school car accident that left her friend Mike Douglas dead and about her decades of unspoken grief. When Laura Welch first left West Texas in 1964, she never imagined that her journey would lead her to the world stage and the White House. After graduating from Southern Methodist University in 1968, in the thick of student rebellions across the country and at the dawn of the women's movement, she became an elementary school teacher, working in inner-city schools, then trained to be a librarian. At age thirty, she met George W. Bush, whom she had last passed in the hallway in seventh grade. Three months later, "the old maid of Midland married Midland's most eligible bachelor." With rare intimacy and candor, Laura Bush writes about her early married life as she was thrust into one of America's most prominent political families, as well as her deep longing for children and her husband's decision to give up drinking. By 1993, she found herself in the full glare of the political spotlight. But just as her husband won the Texas governorship in a stunning upset victory, her father, Harold Welch, was dying in Midland. In 2001, after one of the closest elections in American history, Laura Bush moved into the White House. Here she captures presidential life in the harrowing days and weeks after 9/11, when fighter-jet cover echoed through the walls and security scares sent the family to an underground shelter. She writes openly about the White House during wartime, the withering and relentless media spotlight, and the transformation of her role as she began to understand the power of the first lady. One of the first U.S. officials to visit war-torn Afghanistan, she also reached out to disease-stricken African nations and tirelessly advocated for women in the Middle East and dissidents in Burma. She championed programs to get kids out of gangs and to stop urban violence. And she was a major force in rebuilding Gulf Coast schools and libraries post-Katrina. Movingly, she writes of her visits with U.S. troops and their loved ones, and of her empathy for and immense gratitude to military families. With deft humor and a sharp eye, Laura Bush lifts the curtain on what really happens inside the White House, from presidential finances to the 175-year-old tradition of separate bedrooms for presidents and their wives to the antics of some White House guests and even a few members of Congress. She writes with honesty and eloquence about her family, her public triumphs, and her personal tribulations. Laura Bush's compassion, her sense of humor, her grace, and her uncommon willingness to bare her heart make this story revelatory, beautifully rendered, and unlike any other first lady's memoir ever written. Reviews
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| 11. The Real George Washington (American Classic Series) by Jay A. Parry, Andrew M. Allison | |
 | Paperback
(1991-12-01)
list price: $24.95 -- our price: $14.97 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0880800143 Publisher: National Center for Constitutional Studies Sales Rank: 94 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review This is the best-selling classic regularly featured by Glenn Beck to Fox TV viewers! The Real George Washington: The True Story of America s Most Indispensable Man. There is properly no history; only biography, wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. If that is true of the general run of mankind, it is particularly true of George Washington. The story of his life is the story of the founding of America. His was the dominant personality in three of the most critical events in that founding: the Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Convention, and the first national administration. Had he not served as America's leader in those three events, all would likely have failed -- and America, as we know it today, would not exist. Why, after two centuries, does George Washington remain one of the most beloved figures in our history? The Real George Washington answers that question by giving us a close look at this man who became the father of our country and the first American President. But rather than focus on the interpretations of historians, much of his exciting story is told in his own words. The second part of this 928-page book brings together the most important and insightful passages from Washington's writings, conveniently arranged by subject. Published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to restoring Constitutional principles in the tradition of America's Founding Fathers. The National Center for Constitutional Studies...is doing a fine public service in educating Americans about the principles of the Constitution. -- Ronald Reagan, President of the United States Reviews
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| 12. Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-12-01)
list price: $36.00 -- our price: $19.63 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0061712612 Publisher: Harper Sales Rank: 146 Average Customer Review: 
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Editorial Review Michael Korda's Hero is the story of an epic life on a grand scale: a revealing, in-depth, and gripping biography of the extraordinary, mysterious, and dynamic Englishman whose daring exploits and romantic profile—including his blond, sun-burnished good looks and flowing white robes—made him an object of intense fascination, still famous the world over as "Lawrence of Arabia." An Oxford scholar and archaeologist, one of five illegitimate sons of a British aristocrat who ran away with his daughters' governess, Lawrence was sent to Cairo as a young intelligence officer in 1916. He vanished into the desert in 1917 only to emerge later as one of the greatest—and certainly most colorful—figures of World War One. Though a foreigner, he played a leading and courageous part in uniting the Arab tribes to defeat the Turks, and eventually capture Damascus, transforming himself into a world-famous hero, hailed as "the Uncrowned King of Arabia." In illuminating Lawrence's achievements, Korda digs further than anyone before him to expose the flesh-and-blood man and his contradictory nature. Here was a born leader who was utterly fearless and seemingly impervious to pain, thirst, fatigue, and danger, yet who remained shy, sensitive, mod-est, and retiring; a hero who turned down every honor and decoration offered to him, and was racked by moral guilt and doubt; a scholar and an aesthete who was also a bold and ruthless warrior; a writer of genius—the author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom, one of the greatest books ever written about war—who was the virtual inventor of modern insurgency and guerrilla warfare; a man who at the same time sought and fled the limelight, and who found in friendships, with everyone from Winston Churchill to George Bernard and Charlotte Shaw, from Nancy Astor to NoËl Coward, a substitute for sexual feelings that he rigorously—even brutally and systematically—repressed in himself. As Korda shows in his brilliantly readable and formidably authoritative biography, Lawrence was not only a man of his times; he was a visionary whose accomplishments—farsighted diplomat and kingmaker, military strategist of genius, perhaps the first modern "media celebrity" (and one of the first victims of it), and an acclaimed writer—transcended his era. Korda examines Lawrence's vision for the modern Middle East—plans that, had they been carried through, might have prevented the hatred and bloodshed that have become ubiquitous in the region. Ultimately, as this magisterial work demonstrates, Lawrence remains one of the most unique and fascinating figures of modern times, the arch-hero whose life is at once a triumph and a sacrifice and whose capacity to astonish still remains undimmed. Reviews
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| 13. The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence by Gerald Blaine, Lisa McCubbin | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-11-02)
list price: $28.00 -- our price: $15.51 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1439192960 Publisher: Gallery Sales Rank: 217 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review Drawing on the memories of his fellow agents, Jerry Blaine captures the energetic, crowd-loving young president, who banned agents from his car and often plunged into raucous crowds with little warning. He describes the careful planning that went into JFK’s Texas swing, the worries and concerns that agents, working long hours with little food or rest, had during the trip. And he describes the intensely private first lady making her first-ever political appearance with her husband, just months after losing a newborn baby. Here are vivid scenes that could come only from inside the Kennedy detail: JFK’s last words to his tearful son when he left Washington for the last time; how a sudden change of weather led to the choice of the open-air convertible limousine that day; Mrs. Kennedy standing blood-soaked outside a Dallas hospital room; the sudden interruption of six-year-old Caroline’s long-anticipated sleepover with a friend at home; the exhausted team of agents immediately reacting to the president’s death with a shift to LBJ and other key governmental figures; the agents’ dismay at Jackie’s decision to walk openly from the White House to St. Matthew’s Cathedral at the state funeral. Most of all, this is a look into the lives of men who devoted their entire beings to protecting the presidential family: the stress of the secrecy they kept, the emotional bonds that developed, the terrible impact on agents’ psyches and families, and their astonishment at the country’s obsession with far-fetched conspiracy theories and finger-pointing. A book fifty years in coming, The Kennedy Detail is a portrait of incredible camaraderie and incredible heartbreak—a true, must-read story of heroism in its most complex and human form. A medic burst out of the trauma room, and instinctively Clint Hill took a step toward Mrs. Kennedy. “He’s still breathing,” the man said as he rushed past. Mrs. Kennedy stood up. “Do you mean he may live?” she asked. No one answered. Kellerman handed the phone back to Hill and rushed back into the trauma room. “Clint, what happened?” Jerry Behn asked earnestly. “Shots fired during the motorcade,” Clint said as he kept an eye on Mrs. Kennedy across the hall. “It all happened so fast. We were five minutes away from the Trade Mart. . . . The situation is critical. Jerry, prepare for the worst. . . .” The operator cut into the line, “Attorney General Robert Kennedy wants to talk to Agent Hill.” “What’s going on down there?!” Bobby Kennedy demanded. “Shots fired during the motorcade,” Clint repeated. “The president is very seriously injured. They’re working on him now. Governor Connally was hit too.” “Well, what do you mean, seriously injured? How serious?” Clint swallowed hard. It was all he could do to keep it together. “It’s as bad as it can get.” —From The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence Reviews
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| 14. Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity by Drew Brees | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-06-24)
list price: $26.99 -- our price: $15.99 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1414339437 Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers Sales Rank: 218 Average Customer Review:
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| 15. WAR by Sebastian Junger | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-05-11)
list price: $26.99 -- our price: $15.49 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0446556246 Publisher: Twelve Sales Rank: 207 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review Reviews
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Sebastian Junger is the well-known author of The Perfect Storm and A Death in Belmont. He is also a world-class war correspondent with over a decade of experience. This book is the product of five months spent embedded with a platoon in U.S. 2nd Battalion in the Korengal valley, Afghanistan. For five months, Junger existed like a regular soldier in the U.S. army: He ate MREs, went on patrol, took cover when the bullets started to fly. As Junger likes to explain in the book, he was the target of the same bullets as the other men in the platoon, and he had the same responsibility to Army rules. Even one broken minor rule risked lives. Junger remained vigilant, won the companionship of these soldiers, and garnered enough of their trust to record their thoughts and beliefs about what it's like to be in combat. That's what this book is about. The war in Afghanistan happened to be just a convenient location to do field research. At one particular scary moment, Junger was in a Hummer that got hit by a roadside bomb. The bomb exploded under the engine block, ten feet away. The blast shook Junger's emotions for days. Needless to say, this book was almost never written.
Good thing it was. Junger provides excellent war correspondence, describing combat as a first-hand observer. Junger's prose remains apolitical, his goal to show the reader what it's like to be in battle, not make a political statement. The book is broken into three sections: "Fear," "Killing," and "Love." All three sections describe combat, but each section is loosely structured around its theme. In "Fear," Junger loosely analyzes why or why not soldiers might be afraid to fight; in "Killing" we learn why soldiers kill, how they feel about ending the life of an enemy combatant, and how they feel when one of their own receives that fate; in "Love," Junger makes an attempt to learn why soldiers would die in combat for their comrades. In fact, this section talks about bravery probably more than the first section. In one particularly long chapter, through interviews with soldiers and references to Army studies, Junger tries to figure out why one young man barely out of his teens (yes, let's not forget that these men are practically still boys) would jump on a live hand grenade. Junger's prose reads like amazing stuff. I suspect that this book will receive mostly positive reviews, mainly for its reporting. Certainly it deserves it. But the book is not without its faults, and I'd like to point out a few. The faults are mostly literary and organizational, however, and none hampered my reading pleasure. If you're a normal guy who just wants to read about fighting, or if you loved A Perfect Storm and just want another good read, then you'll probably not notice or care about these little problems. Without reservation, buy this book. If you're more literary minded, then maybe you'll prefer to read more this review. Embedded with Junger was a photojournalist named Tim Hetherington. Between them they shot over 150 hours of video, which was made into a recently released documentary called "Restrepo." (This name comes from the name of a fallen American soldier and the name of an important military outpost in the Korengal valley where Second Platoon spent a lot of their time.) Some (not all) of the combat scenes in the book read like he was watching video, and describing what he saw. This is not bad, but the strength of prose over video is that a writer can slow down time and stretch emotionally charged moments into pages. The writer can dig deep into the thoughts of his characters or himself, set up suspense, tackle fear, do whatever it takes. The best parts of the book are when Junger writes about his emotions and other fighters' emotions, when he writes philosophical about combat, and how he and the soldiers cope with the combat (conveniently recounted a few pages earlier). Much of the philosophy and memoir-style introspection jumps back and forth with combat scenes. Rarely do I recommend that a book be 50 to 100 pages longer, but I wish this book was. I wish that Junger combined his introspective musings and thought provoking observations, while he was describing the action. This type of writing style would have slowed down some of his action scenes and made his writing perfect. As it is, it's pretty good already. The one other minor complaint I had about the book was organizational. Chapter One describes a very specific start date for Junger's embedment (Spring 2007), but then in subsequent chapters I got a little confused about the chronology. Besides a few references to the heat or snow, it was difficult to get a feel for the exact chronology. Not that it matters too much -- this book is about fighting, and to the men stuck at outpost Restrepo, in the mountains of Afghanistan, far away from home, both physically and emotionally, it doesn't really matter what part of the year it is. Maybe Junger was trying to convey this. The book has an extensive bibliography that includes up-to-date literature on killing and combat. Junger spends some time philosophizing about fighting, killing, and cognitive processes during battle, and he backs up his writing with multiple studies. PTSD and other "mental casualties" are acknowledged, as well. Not only does WAR try to describe what it's like to be in combat, but it makes a serious attempt to try and figure out why men actually enjoy it. (Yes, believe it or not, my feeling by the end of the book was that these men do.) Towards the end of the book, Junger provides a neurological explanation: "The dopamine reward system exists in both sexes but is stronger in men, and as a result, men are far more likely to become obsessively involved in such things as hunting, gambling, computer games, and war. When the men of Second Platoon were moping around the outpost hoping for a firefight it was because, among other things, they weren't getting their accustomed dose of endorphins and dopamine." Then there is the sociological perspective. The men profiled in this book did not necessariily join the Army to die for thie country (although some do). Above all, it's the strong personal bonds, almost love, between young men who have been through challenging training and hardship, drive much of what takes place in war -- courage, bravery, willingness to die -- it all comes down to personal bonds. Men will die for their friends.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) There aren't many books that really tell the reader what it means to be in battle. Those that have been there don't feel comfortable trying to explain it to those that haven't. As more than one combat veteran has told me, "you just wouldn't understand." Most reporters, even those embedded in a war, haven't really experienced what it means to bean active participant in battle- trying to kill someone before he kills you. There are some very good books about what it's like to be in the middle of a war, like Bernard Fall's Hell in a Very Small Place; Fall was a French reporter who was there at the siege of Dien Bien Phu. But even though Fall could describe what it felt like to survive the incessant shelling and attack on the base, he wasn't a combatant. He was still a reporter, an observer.
Sebastian Junger is a writer of rare skill who can paint a frighteningly real picture of places few of us would ever think of going. His first book, The Perfect Storm, gave readers a taste of what it would be like to be on a doomed fishing boat in the North Atlantic, at from home, at the mercy of the sea. In War, he takes the reader to an Army outpost in Afghanistan, where Junger and filmmaker Tim Hetherington spent five months over the course of a year and a half with a platoon of young soldiers, fighting a war that we've all read about, but that few of us can imagine. This isn't the tourist war reporting we're used to, where the embedded reporter rides along at the rear of an armored column; Junger puts himself in a situation where he runs all the risks of the soldiers he's reporting on, including getting blown up by an IED that is detonated under the Humvee he's riding in. He manages to survive only because the Taliban soldier triggering the bomb pushed the button a fraction of a second too soon, and the blast is absorbed by the engine rather than the men riding in the Humvee. We're with Junger- and the soldiers of the platoon- as they go on a night time patrol, walk into an ambush, and fight off an assault that nearly overruns their little camp. Junger does not moralize on the war itself; as he explains, to do so would distance him from the men he's writing about, who aren't terribly concerned with politics or the geopolitics of the war. They're concerned with only one thing- survival- which means killing the man out there before he kills you. Isolated in mountainous terrain, with air support a good hour away, the men of Second Platoon, Battle Company, have to rely entirely on one another. Each man knows that every other man in his platoon will (and often do) die for him- otherwise there's no way they could survive where they are. War is full of stories of what seem like astounding heroism in the face of deadly fire- but what are to then men of the platoon, simply what they do. As one solider puts it, going out there to this lonely outpost is what takes bravery; everything after that is just doing your job. Junger goes into some detail asking the question of why men willingly go into battle and sacrifice their lives for each other, quoting studies from WWII through the Gulf War. There's a good deal of interesting data and hypothesis, such as the curious fact that the largest sustainable hunter-gatherer community is about the size of a platoon- anything larger, and things like self-sacrifice and acting for the good of the community appear to break down. Or that chimpanzees, with whom we share 99% of our DNA, don't exhibit the same kind of self-sacrifice we see in humans. When neighboring groups attack a smaller, weaker group, they don't band together for aid- instead, those who can run away, leaving the slower and weaker chimps at the mercy of the invaders. Self-sacrifice in battle is a uniquely human behavior. What it comes down to in the end is that soldiers do it out of love for their fellow soldier. As one remarks to Junger, who asked why he says he'd throw himself on a grenade to protect his squad, "Because I actually love my brothers... Being able to save their lives so that they can live is rewarding. Any of them would do it for me."
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) With "The Perfect Storm," Sebastain Junger crafted a harrowing and heartbreaking story of men in danger--cut off and reliant on one another for survival. It is the ultimate non-fiction story of man versus nature, and as we know, that's not always a fair fight. It is, quite literally, one of my favorite books. So it is with much excitement that I picked up Junger's "War," a document relating his personal experiences as a reporter while being embedded with American soldiers in Afghanistan. Junger has already enjoyed success on this topic in a series of articles as well as a documentary film "Restrepo" (an award winner at this year's Sundance). I thought if anyone could understand the hearts of men in conflict it would be Junger. And "War" does prove to be a fascinating and intimate look at how individuals come together to form a collective unit.
One of the pleasures of "War" is its surprisingly apolitical agenda. Anyone hoping that this book is a comprehensive examination of the American presence in Afghanistan will need to look elsewhere. Junger wants to keep things at a more personal level and "War" is really his homage to those on the front lines. Much like "The Perfect Storm," it is a study of camaraderie and brotherhood under extreme circumstances. Junger does an amazing job capturing the specifics of what it was like to be stationed in the Afghani conflict. From the battles to the boredom, this is an unflinching look at the realities of modern warfare. Along the way, Junger also studies the sociological and psychological influences present. It is the unusual and extraordinary bonding within the group that leads to altruism and, ultimately, heroism (although the men themselves never consider their acts heroic). As much as I admired "War," however, there was an element that kept me distanced as well. Junger's intent to honor the soldiers he knew and lived with is evident--but, unfortunately, the men aren't really distinguished as individuals. In "The Perfect Storm," the power and majesty of the action is enhanced by the full-bodied and thoroughly three dimensional portraits of the men involved. That's how I wanted to get to know these soldiers as well. But aside from one or two instances, we might admire or be intrigued by what someone has said or done--but we never fully get to know them. It's what keeps "War" from being a truly great book, in my opinion. Still, Junger's "War" is a compelling look at male bonding. Told from an unusual and refreshing angle, "War" is a noteworthy look into a situation that many of us have only seen from afar.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) ...with no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.
America is entering its 10th year of war in Afghanistan, and Sebastian Junger has written the most essential book on the actual fighting in this forever war. He is the author of The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea an expression that has now entered the American language; I've read it, and think it is truly excellent. Thus, when I saw this offering via the Vine Newsletter I had no hesitation in hitting the "send me a copy" button. And I was not disappointed, since Junger, "walked the walk," a rarity for journalists who prefer to "talk the talk." Junger, at the age of 45, though not required to carry the same loads, kept pace with the soldiers half his age in the rugged terrain of the Korengal valley; on a global scale, a postage stamp size place 10 km by 10 km, east of Kabul, near the border with Pakistan. As he said about one of the bases he was on: "The base is a dusty scrap of steep ground surrounded by timber walls and sandbags, one of the smallest, most fragile capillaries in a vascular system that pumps American influence around the world. Two Americans have already lost their lives defending it." The author ate the same food, slept in the same vermin-infested bunkers, and walked the patrols with the "grunts," and definitely took the "in-coming" with them. He did this over a 4-5 month period, between June, 2007 and June, 2008. It was the ultimate determinate--dump blind luck--and in his case, of the 10 foot variety, that permitted him to live long enough to write this book. Junger's book is NOT a description of the typical experience for troops in Afghanistan (or Iraq, now, for that matter.) He placed himself literally and metaphorically "on the cutting edge" of the combat experience. "Nearly a fifth of the combat experienced by the 70,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan is being fought by the 150 men of Battle Company. Seventy percent of the bombs dropped in Afghanistan are dropped in and around the Korengal Valley" (p 55). (Battle Company is part of a 600-man battalion called "The Rock," in the 173rd Airborne Brigade.) Junger forms friendships with the men who routinely protect his life, and as he says: "Pure objectivity--difficult enough while covering a city council meeting--isn't remotely possible in a war; bonding with the men around you is the least of your problems." He has also done a fair degree of academic research, which is referenced, as to why soldiers fight - no surprises here; they fight for their "buddies." The author has some excellent descriptive passages on the clinical aspects of that tremendous "rush" that one can receive while in combat, and why it can literally be addictive. For the last four months of 1968 my unit was "op conned" (military lingo for "under the operational control of") the 173rd Airborne, when it was based out of LZ English, in northern Binh Dinh province. Thus, I experienced some affinity in the read. Is Afghanistan Vietnam redux, as so many right-wing think tanks proclaimed when it was the Russians who were fighting the Afghans? Junger does not mention Vietnam much, and I would have appreciated a "differential diagnosis." Clearly airborne troops who have volunteered for military service are more `gung-ho' than reluctant conscripts, and perhaps less interested in the "bigger issues" of the war; which suits the "brass" just fine. When the men in a unit all train together, and deploy together, there is a far higher degree of cohesion; of being willing to die for your buddy; but the downside, which Junger briefly describes, is when a year's worth of combat experience transfers out at the same time, to be replaced entirely by a unit of "cherries." One of the central issues in all wars is censorship, truth famously being the first casualty. Junger perhaps describes his own book inadvertently, when he says: "The public affairs guys on those bases offered the press a certain vision of the war, and that vision wasn't "wrong," it just seemed amazingly incomplete... I thought of those as `Vietnam moments.' A Vietnam moment was one in which you weren't so much getting lied to as getting asked to participate in a kind of collective wishful thinking (p 132). On the next page he says: "Once at a dinner party back home I was asked, with a kind of knowing wink, how much the military had `censored' my reporting. I answered that I'd never been censored at all..." I wasn't at a dinner party, and I didn't wink, but I was in a van rolling down Highway 1, on my first return to Vietnam, in 1994, when I had the opportunity to ask one of the "big name" journalists of that war the same question. He huffily replied that he had never been censored. I gently probed, OK, maybe not "censored," but how about not reporting a story that "was too hot to handle." Again I received a `negative', and so, perhaps uncharitably, since his wife and daughter were also in the van, I reminded him of some of things we didn't talk about. He grudgingly "surrendered." After "The Perfect Storm" there were a couple of people who would not speak to Junger, because of his portrayal of some individuals, none of whom he had known prior to the event. You don't have the sense the same will be true of this book; as he states in the introduction, he did share sections with the men involved to "make sure they are comfortable with what I wrote." Much of the book is the combat, the "exciting" part of war; but what of the non-combat; the boredom of not being attacked for weeks? It is discussed somewhat, but the solace of alcohol is only briefly mentioned, and of hash, never. Can this be true? Also missing were some of the other "universal themes" of war, at least for front line troops, which were depicted in classic accounts of combat, such as Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations) Specifically, the dangerous, mind-numbing incompetence of some of the officers, and the enormous disconnect with the civilians on the home front who are "criminally" indifferent to the experience and fate of the grunts. Also, Junger says there were no "comfort women" (to use that term we seem to reserve for Japanese WW II use of Korean women) in the Korengal, and that may actually be true, though Bernard Fall reports of them at Dien Bien Phu, and they were generally at even remote fire bases in Vietnam during the American deployment. Are they anywhere in Afghanistan? Like the "secret" bombing of Cambodia, THEY know, it is only the home town folks who are kept in the dark. But the ultimate in "you don't want to go there" was covered by one sentence: "The men know Pakistan is the root of the entire war, and that is just about the only topic they get political about." In Vietnam we knew the origins the weapons that the NVA and the VC were using: Red China and the Soviet Union. But where is all the weaponry and ammunition coming from for the "Anti-Coalition forces"? Who makes it, and how does it get there? After all, Pakistan is an ally of the United States, and a beneficiary of billions in financial aid. e.e. cummings visited this issue, concerning the "Good War," WW II, with his poem about American soldiers being killed by pieces of the 6th Street El, a reference to the scrape iron the US sold the Japanese just before the commencement of the war. Time for a re-visit? My nephew is in the Marines; and departs for deployment in Afghanistan's Helmund Province today. He will be in a vastly different area that the one depicted in the book, though the foe will be similarly ill-defined. He is under no illusions about the war, and hopes to make it the 8 months to the end of his enlistment. But will his children, and my grandchildren be given the opportunity to fight in this graveyard of empires? Will we be able to afford this opportunity? I disagree with Colonel Ostlund's assessment (p 171): on economic arguments, we lose - we simply cannot afford endless war. One of the best books on war written by a journalist; a solid 5-stars for what is included, all of which was meticulously fact-checked. It is the "blue pencil" omissions, the topics "too hot to handle" that cost it a star. Update: On April 14, the New York Times (as well as others) ran an article stating that all US Forces would be abandoning the Korengal valley. Another impossibly remote outpost, like LZ English, in northern Binh Dinh province, that was not really necessary for the security of the United States, and whose ownership was returned to the people who lived there. Plus ca change... plus la meme chose. A Thanksgiving update... truly in more ways than one, and an assessment from another person who "has paid his dues." My nephew survived his tour of Helmund province, and is whole of body, but carries concerns for what he has witnessed. He will be receiving his honorable discharge from the Marines on Dec. 13. In regards to his concerns, he said the following: "But I really do need to find myself again. I no longer support any type of war, and only support the people in the military, not the suits that send the young men and women over there. Too many young lives have been lost for a meaningless cause, and some of the people that do make it are changed forever. So, I have got some soul searching to do." Plus ca change, redux. Junger covered the case of the soldier who felt compelled to go back... but what of all the others? - JPJ
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Sebastian Junger is one of those writers it seems everyone talks about these days. And with good reason. His nonfiction books are written with an engaging narrative that is reader friendly and causes pages to turn in rapid succession. Moreover, Junger takes his readers into the unlikeliest of places, fishing in freezing waters, to the top of the world's most dangerous mountains, and now to Afghanistan with a group of soldiers that know each day might be their last.
Junger's strength in this story comes from the men he met. They're all people most of his readers already know: brothers, fathers, and sons who have been pulled into combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. The stories comes from front page news and television stories, only Junger weds them all to the heart of the men in ways neither of those other media can. I expected some of the emotional drain that I got from the book, but Junger simply shines in this story. He brings his readers close to the men, puts them firmly in their world, and makes us mourn the loss of those that fall in battle -- and afterward. If you want to know what it's like to be in one of these Army fire teams, Junger will take you there. But the book isn't for the faint of heart or those afraid of the dark side of humanity.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) I enjoyed "The Perfect Storm" by Sebastian Junger, so when I saw that he wrote a book about his experiences as an embedded journalist with an Army unit in the most dangerous part of Afghanistan, I had to check it out. I was not disappointed, as his insights into how war affects those who fight in it were quite fascinating.
In the interests of full disclosure I must admit that I never saw combat. Sure, I served for six years in the Marines and am a Gulf War One-era veteran. But I had to settle for watching its festivities on CNN. With that in mind, when I review books like this I feel like a virgin writing about the Kama Sutra. So I can't say for sure that Mr. Junger isn't full of crap when he discusses his experiences as a journalist in modern warfare. However, the book rings true as far as my pogish military experience can validate, and also jels with other memoirs of actual combat veterans both of this war and previous conflicts. As a virgin may read the Kama Sutra to gain second-hand insight, a non-combatant can read books like "War" for the same reason. And as one who has read many books on warfare, this one stands in the company of those dealing with the subtle and internal facets of the warrior experience. Although the setting is within the Afghan conflict, "War" is not a detailed historical regurgitation. Instead, Mr. Junger focuses on how the experience of war affects those who engage in it. The book's three parts each deal with an elemental aspect of warfare: Fear, Killing, and Love. We see how the boredom and terror of combat welds men together, brings out their best and worst qualities, and alters them forever after. "War" reminded me of the movie "The Hurt Locker [Blu-ray]," with its demonstration of the old saying, "When you dance with the Devil, you don't change him - he changes you." Of course, Mr. Junger didn't actually fight, so the book isn't quite a first-hand memoir of combat like "Helmet for My Pillow." But his journalistic (and risk-taker's) perspective provides compelling insights into how America's young men are faring in our latest and longest-running war. Recommended.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Having read a number of books about Iraq and Afghanistan, I was prepared to enjoy War by Junger. After all, I really enjoyed The Perfect Storm, which was well researched and compelling. I have to say War felt more like a set of small vignettes and stream of conscious writing than it did a book. Rather than one unifying theme (other than Afghanistan) the book is broken into three sections: Love, War, Killing, but even those sections aren't necessarily coherent.
Instead of following a chronological timeline or drilling deeply into one battle or timeframe, Junger recounts his interactions with solider who serve in Afghanistan over a long period of time, in heavy firefights and in absolute boredom. I'll tip my hat to him - unlike a lot of people who have written about the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he's been with the troops, under fire and in some fairly serious action. Yet a lot of this book falls flat. The reason is that there's no one person or concept that unifies the story and holds it together. While Junger writes about individual soldiers, it's hard for the reader to identify with the soldiers. Often the most compelling figure, and the one that seems to draw the most empathy is Airborne, the adopted puppy. Junger jumps from scene to scene, with different soldiers in different locations, so no one person or group forms a nucleus of the story. Perhaps he is trying to suggest that its the uniform that counts, but we can't get too interested or excited about the uniform, especially when we read about the command issues and lack of supply for the troops. Others have given this book high marks, and I can't say I didn't like it. But unlike other books written recently, like Joker One or House to House, I won't be coming back to this one. It feels too abstract, too distant from its subjects and too disconnected from the reports we've received in other books and movies. Maybe Junger is intentionally trying to distance himself from that kind of writing and reporting. If so, he may have discovered a new way of writing about war, but it's one that I found disconnected and ultimately uninteresting. ... Read more | |
| 16. Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities by Elizabeth Edwards | |
 | Hardcover
(2009-05-08)
list price: $22.95 -- our price: $15.61 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 076793136X Publisher: Crown Archetype Sales Rank: 363 Average Customer Review:
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| 17. Light of the World: The Pope, The Church and The Signs Of The Times by Peter Seewald, Pope Benedict XVI | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-11-24)
list price: $21.95 -- our price: $14.49 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1586176064 Publisher: Ignatius Press Sales Rank: 306 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review Foreword by George Weigel Never has a Pope, in a book-length interview, dealt so directly with such wide-ranging and controversial issues as Pope Benedict XVI does in Light of the World. Taken from a recent week-long series of interviews with veteran journalist Peter Seewald, this book tackles head-on some of the greatest issues facing the world of our time. Seewald poses such forthright questions to Pope Benedict as: Reviews
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| 18. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge | |
 | Paperback
(2007-05-01)
list price: $16.00 -- our price: $8.49 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0891419063 Publisher: Presidio Press Sales Rank: 292 Average Customer Review:
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His tales are moving and brutal. In one account, his vivid description of digging a fighting hole only to find the rotting corpse of a Japanese soldier 2 feet down literally made my skin crawl. Elsewhere he recounts the bitter personal brutality that was all too common between US Marines and Japanese soldiers. After reading this book, you will understand what Sledge meant when, in the introduction he writes, "it has been a burden to retain this story." We should be thankful that Sledge decided to share his burden with posterity, lest we forget the awful price paid by all who were involved.
Leckey's book ("Strong Men Armed") doesn't dwell on personal experiences, but gives the vast panorama of the Navy/Marine Corps island hopping campaign, and helps to put Sledge's personal memoir into the context of the whole war in the Pacific. Manchester's book ("Goodbye Darkness") reads something like the out-loud ruminations of a mental patient working through unresolved issues on the psychiatrist's couch. Leckey is a noted military historian who has written a number of very good books on the subject. Manchester is a noted author, and of the three has the most recognizable name. Sledge, however, although not a professional writer, is the First Division alumnus who has written the best book on the Pacific War. (Leckey runs a close second and Manchester a distant third).
Accounts of organized slaughter abound, from Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian Wars" to the Civil War's "Andersonville," from Leon Uris's factual writings shaped as novels to Canada's Farley Mowat in his 40-years-after-the-war eloquent memoir "And No Birds Sang," and to Larry Heinemann's wrenching exposures of Viet Nam. All these writings are unspeakably moving, and when we close the covers, we think we understand ... until we come across a book like that of E.B. Sledge. The accounts of Dr. Sledge touched me immeasurably of their own accord but also because I once loved a casualty of that South Pacific island's horrors, who, unfortunately, never quite found a way back to normalcy. I was too young and self-involved to comprehend. As he continued his fateful journey into alcoholism, my own soul stiffened and I left that tortured man. Twenty-six years later I sought out Dr. Sledge, and after some time found a way to reach him. His words, in a letter to me, ought to be shared. Dr. Sledge wrote that his physician father offered advice that put Sledge "on the road to a postwar life of happiness and success." Some of the advice was this: "Don't ever feel bitter or sorry for yourself. You served your time in Hell, but you survived." Survive he did, and well. Dr. Sledge went on to earn degrees in science and to become "Uncle Eugene" to his friends on the Alabama campus where he taught biochemistry and zoology. "Science was my salvation," he told me. "When combat memories bore down on me I lost myself in a difficult problem [in science]." Read his noble book. In honoring him, we honor all who have served, and are now serving, the ideals of our country.
As I have been a close personal friend of Dr. Sledge for over 30 years, I have heard many times in his own words the accounts of the battles fought on Peleliu and Okinawa. However, Dr. Sledge, in the words he writes is able to bring the battles to life, and involve the reader as if they were there. His story is so much like the man he is, strong, well prepared, confident, a believer in God, and willing to go to war for his country and "kill japs". Anyone who wishes to gain insight into the nature of the war with the Japanese, and of war in general, needs to read this book.
Sledge takes the reader with him as he joins the Marine Corp, goes through boot camp, and ends up with the grizzled combat veterans of the 1st Marine Division. He takes us through his initiation of combat on Peleliu, a coral island which had some of the worst fighting, up to that point, in the Pacific. Today, there is a general belief that the battle for Peleliu was unnecessary, owing to the advancement of the schedule for the invasion of the Philippines. If this was an unneeded battle, Sledge shows in full detail the horrible sacrifice young Americans suffered. His account of the battle of Okinawa is even more devasting. Where Peleliu was a dry, parched hell, Okinawa is a hell of rain, mud, muck and decay. Sledge is unstinting in exposing the horror and ever-present danger facing those in the frontlines. He shows the casual brutality of combat, and does not turn away from showing the hatred most Marines had for the Japanese. He shows the close bonds that develop between the members of a combat unit, the terror of shell-shocked soldiers, dodging bullets & shells on stretcher bearer duty, the stench of fighting in the middle of human decay, and the loss that is felt when friends die. "With the Old Breed" is mandatory reading for anyone interested in WWII. ... Read more | |
| 19. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer | |
 | Paperback
(2010-07-27)
list price: $15.95 -- our price: $7.55 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 030738604X Publisher: Anchor Sales Rank: 287 Average Customer Review:
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| 20. Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family by Condoleezza Rice | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-10-12)
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Editorial Review Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, political scientist, and concert pianist. Her achievements run the gamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europe and the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect the country in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman - and the first black woman ever -- to serve as Secretary of State. Reviews
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