Military Books

Great book, wonderful photos, real replicas with original engines etc., the photography took 4to 5 years to accomplish. Good photos of the airplanes flying. It helps to go with the book Sagitarius Rising to identify the airplanes he talks about in his book. Well worth the money and a great addition to my library on World war one aircraft.

Very good book showing color pictures of WWI aircraft replica. Pictures are of very good quality. The aircraft come from the aeroplane collection.

I bought this book for my son on his 10th birthday. He loves military history and anything about planes. When I got this book I was taken away by it. The photos are very well done. I can't wait to see his reaction when he opens this gift. I will buy Ghosts of the Skies for his Christmas present. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves airplanes and history young or old. I just can't get over how nice this book is.

I have been an avaition fanatic all my life,(I'am now 60) and I recomend this book with it's outstanding photograph's.
The text give an excellent overview of the beginning of airpower and a good intrduction to WWI avation.
I've always had more than a keen interest in WWI flying ,being a member of a WWi historical group.
My only problem with the book was I was hopeing for more photos of cockpits and a more detailed discription of how to fly these wonderful old planes.
But it makes a wonderful addition to my quite extensive library.(I had just gotton two (what I consider two classics) that I had from my childhood,
Falcons Of France and They Fought For The Sky, and this book makes a fine addition.

[[ASIN:0916997294 Ghosts of the Great War: Aviation in WWI . This is a very well produced book with excellent state of the art air to air photos, combined with original photos from WW 1. The text is just right; [ not too much] and this book is a 'must have ' for WW 1 aviation enthusiasts and is significantly better than "Ghosts of the Skies" for WW 2

I've worked in high schools for the past several years, and now am trying to get a job as a teacher. This book will be on my shelf to assist me with dealing with my class. Her methods are great! Too many teachers are so uptight that they are the cause of their own classroom problems. This author shows that great results can be had with compassion, a sprinkle of humor and a true love of her students.

What a wonderful book, for teachers, students, parents, anyone who might need to be reminded of how much we have to give, if we just "will". The author shows her love for her students in every passage, and it was well written, witty, and a wonderful read.

Highly recommended as an entertaining, and insightful, book on teaching children who need love desperately.

I had the wonderful chance of reading this book. This book made me laugh and cry and jump in suspense. Ms. Johnson is a wonderful teacher who deserves awards beyong awards. The book taught me to see other parts of education. I really enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to anyone who is going into the education field

This should be required reading for every education major. I teach in an urban school; Ms. Johnson had something some of my young colleagues who quit teaching after a year do not have--resolve, persistance, and determination. There are no "bad" kids, there are kids who do "bad" things or come from "bad" environments, but as Ms. Johnson writes, it is possible to save the kids by giving a lot of ourselves.

I'm also an English teacher who have been teaching teen-agers for 10 years. Teaching teenagers is hard work, very stressful, depressed by themselves and the surrounding of them. I don't have such energy of love to my students as Louanne Johnson. But I can feel her pain in heart because I myself love my students. They are devils and angels at the same time. If they were devils, I could ignore them. If they were angels, I could just smile, do nothing, and just ignore them. But they are irresistable.

I agree with Hal, her master teacher. He said to her, "Teenagers are supposed to be ungrateful little brutes. They're supposed to trample your tender feelings, break your heart. It's their job." He is always right. I wish he would be with me!!!

I believe this book to be unique in the fact that it puts faces to the heros in a story that when told in other books seems to gloss over who these guys really were. The photos of these young heros is simply haunting. Many of them seem to have that look that says, "I know I'm going to die, but I must do my duty." And they did. And I think this book is also unique in the fact that it covers in depth the contribution of the pilots who flew and suffered and died from the actual atoll of Midway itself, not just the pilots from our carriers. Many of these pilots who flew off of Midway were flying antiquated death traps that had no chance in hell against the Japanese Zero and their veteran, battle tested pilots. My God 13 of the 16 pilots in VMSB-241 flying SBD-2/3 Dauntless divebombers off Midway had never even flown a Dauntless until a few days before they flew off of Eastern Island. Many of them were right out of flight school and many of the rear seat gunners had minimal and in some cases NO training at all. And the pilots and crews of the hapless and totally antiquated and obsolete TBD-1 Devastators were doomed as well before they ever took off from Midway. The Devasator had to slow to 100 mph in order to drop a torpedo. They Zeros ate them alive. This book has given me an even greater respect and awe for these gallant heros who knew they were going to die, yet got into those cockpits and did their duty for their country. We owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid but this book is a giant step in the direction of making sure their sacrifices are never forgotten. Highly recommended even if you have to pay the big bucks to get it off the used book market. Don't miss this one if you are a WWII Pacific Theatre buff.

This is one of the most complete accounts of the battle that I have read. It was an excelent book

There's not much doubt about the exhaustive detail of this book. It's about as close as you are going to get to a blow by blow account of the most important battle in US Navy history. The authors recount virtually every movement that any ship, squadron, or commander made in those 3 crucial days. Although the detail is minute, I couldn't put it down. The battle was apparently, a continuous stream of action.

This book is really for the dedicated historian and hardcore history buff. It isn't really intended to be a good read, but it sure was for me. The writing style is easy and flowing, not as dry and dusty as you would expect from a history book.

The story really focuses on the men. It is full of pictures of the flyers, commanders and squadrons. There are only a couple small weak points. One is the poor quality of the printed pictures. This is not an expensive book, so it is printed on medium quality paper. Photos don't turn out very clear on this kind of paper. Several captions describe details in the photo that I can't for the life of me see. Still the picture collection here is huge. It was especially touchng to look at the faces of these great heroes. They look like ordinary guys. I guess they were. It impresses me that ordinary guys are capable of rising to such high levels of dedication and valor.

The other problem is the lack of good maps. There are only 6, and they aren't very high quality. The 3 battle maps are given on only 2 pages, and contain too much information to make much sense. I would have prefered more larger maps showing more specific phases of the battle. I tracked down some better maps on the internet, but the data in this text could be used to produce many more detailed maps.

The book starts witb an interesting brief history of Midway atol, itself. Such an important place, and yet it is just a couple of tiny piles of sand literally in the middle of nowhere.


Altogether, I can highly recommend this book if you want a lot of detail in an easy-reading style.

. This is THE definitive work on the Battle of Midway. It accurately provides the detail that most of the others omit or get wrong, and it corrects all of the popular myths about the battle that some of the others perpetuate, i.e. the controversial flight of the USS Hornet's air group on the morning of 4 June 1942, and the "Midway is short of water" ruse pulled off by the signal intelligence wizards at Pearl Harbor.
. You have to be very familiar with the events and personnel involved in the battle to find even a minor flaw in this book. This reviewer knows of only two (in the 4th printing, March '98); one photo caption cites the wrong PBY squadron and another has the wrong names for an SBD aircrew. Beyond that sort of miniscule nitpicking that very few would notice, "A Glorious Page" can be relied upon as meticulously thorough and accurate to a level that no other volume on the Battle of Midway approaches.
. If you are researching the battle, start here. And if you can only afford one book on the Battle of Midway, this is the one you want. (Reviewed by R. W. Russell, Battle of Midway Roundtable, www.midway42.org)

Simply fantastic. I've read many books about this topic but this is the best. No theatrics, just the facts presented in a very readable format. Great work.

The Second World War completely changed its major participants and exacted some huge sacrifices from all involved. This and other books about the people who did the fighting shows how similar the attitudes were on all sides. The main character changes some of his thinking after the war, but his thoughts and actions during the war are really interesting, especially when compared to the thoughts and actions of the people on other sides.

If ever a book (other than the Bible) showed the divine hand and providence of God, this is it. I wish I could have met the man.

Excellent detailed story of Pearl Harbor's lead Navy pilot who through special circumstances wrought only by God found himself after the war travelling in the USA with Billy Graham and preaching the Gospel in Christian Crusades.

A friend of mine introduced me to this book in April of this year. He told me it was unlike any book about the Pacific war that he had ever read. Although skeptical at first, I sill went ahead and purchased the book. I left it on my book-shelve for several months and forgot all about it. As I began packing up in July to move I noticed this book again, so I picked it up and began reading it. I found the style of writing extremely fluid, and the chapters were concise. This well balanced account of Mitsuo Fuchida life traces it from his days as an Imperial naval aviator to Christian evangelist. 'God's Samurai' is a truly inspirational book filled with numerous accounts of honor, bravery, loyalty, and sacrifice - all the codes of a Samurai warrior. I have enjoyed this book tremendously, and I have just begun reading, 'Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story' by Mitsuo Fuchida, Roger Pineau (Editor),Masatake Okumiya(Contributor). Both 'God's Samurai' and 'Midway' are 'must-have' books for anyone who is truly interested in the Pacific war and naval battles!

An awesome true story. Definitely one of the three best books I've read in the past decade. In a time like this of Osama bin Labens and shocking inter-civilizational conflict, Fuchida's life story shows how true reconciliation and inter-cultural brotherhood can be experienced. It gives hope in spite of the huge obstacles to inter-cultural understanding. A powerful human interest story. Don't miss it!

Although Bruce Catton was an accomplished historian in his own right, one cannot help but notice the influence of the great Sherman biographer Lloyd Lewis. Anyone who has read Lewis' _Sherman: Fighting Profit_ will recognize similarities; the heavy reliance on primary sources and the uncanny ability to allow the reader to draw his or her own conclusions without explicitly stating the writer's intentions. Catton imitates Lewis' sinuous narrative style that captivates and draws the reader deeper into the manuscript. Unfortunately, however, Lewis only lived to publish the first of a multi-volume biography Ulysses S. Grant titled Captain Sam Grant . Lewis' widow commissioned Catton to finish the project utilizing much of the notes Lewis had gathered in the course of his research. The results are the two subsequent biographies authored by Catton: Grant Moves South and Grant Takes Command Catton begins his duel biography in June 1861 when Grant, appointed Colonel, takes command of the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Catton portrays Grant as a man of few words, yet possessing an ability to quickly earn the respect of his men. Grant stresses discipline and training particularly of his company grade officers. About half of the book is devoted to Grants participation at the battles of Belmont, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and the near disaster at Shiloh. The remainder of the text focuses on the Vicksburg Campaign. Catton prefers a loosely structured chronological approach and provides his readers with a commanding view from headquarters. Catton relies upon letters, cables, and other communiques between officers, which tends to keep the focus on Grant and other high level players. Besides handwritten orders and other official documentation, Catton allows Grant to speak for himself through the only vestige we have: his memoirs. In contrast, Catton listens to what other observers have to say about Grant in their memoirs, particularly William T. Sherman and the unpublished memoir of Grant's wife, Julia Dent Grant. Juxtaposing this top-down approach is Catton's ability to portray the human frailties of Grant's personality. Grant's drinking is a recurring theme in which Catton bestows an admirable defense. Catton devotes considerable space to the Grant's uneasy relationship with General Henry Wager Halleck. To Halleck's charge that Grant disobeyed orders and failed to communicate his intentions at Fort Donelson, Catton counters by stating the Union communication system, as a whole was substandard. He suggests Confederate sympathizers manned telegraph offices squelching vital communiques.   Catton credits Halleck for saving Grant's command during the controversial political maneuvering of General John A. McClernand. Overall, Catton concludes that Grant certainly had his hands full during his early campaigns. On the one hand, Grant had the Vicksburg Campaign to plan and orchestrate; On the other hand, Grant was the target of dubious machinations from jealous staff officers and politicians in Washington bent of relinquishing his command. What is more, Grant was faced with economic issues and the problem of what to do with displaced contraband slaves that were pouring into his army camps on a daily basis. Referring to the former slaves as "Darkeys." Grant immediately put the Negro refugees to work maintaining roads, bridges and other military necessities that required manual labor.Catton again comes to the defense of Grant in his handling of these sensitive civil-military relations. In a controversial order, Grant categorized northern businessmen attempting to exploit profits from the sale of cotton as "Jews." Though these complex themes surrounding Ulysses S. Grant, are significant, they tend to diminish the genius for war Grant displayed during the Vicksburg Campaign. Taking into account that this is a biography of Grant and not a comprehensive treatment of the campaign that sealed his place in history, Catton could have evened out the balance rather than treating the campaign as a mere backdrop. Catton's eloquent literary style and his excellent syntheses of primary sources, make this a must have for any Grant afficionado.

I have always looked upon Grant as a symbol of the real America. Heres a Man who has seen and done it all. What with going from the rock bottom of poverty to commander of the entire Yankee Army then the House House to poverty again. Who never the less maintains his dignity and sense of honor thru out. Then follows up with heroically battling cancer to finish his memoirs to provide for his family. In this 1st book Mr. Catton who writes so well covers Grants rise to the top. Or as he said a major cog just dropped into the machine that would destroy the Confederacy. If you like to read some well chosen words on the War between the States, then get this series of books.

In "Grant Moves South" Bruce Catton picks up the story of Ulysses S. Grant as he returns to the U.S. Army at the start of the Civil War. This is the second volume of a trilogy on Grant begun by Lloyd Lewis and completed by Catton. Catton, one of the two best narrative historians of the Civil War (with Shelby Foote), is in excellent form in this extremely well-written biography of Grant's progression from Colonel of Illinois volunteers to victor at Vicksburg.

As General William Sherman acknowledged, Grant was something of a mystery to everyone, perhaps even himself. This man, a failure at virtually everything but his marriage and working as a clerk in his father's tannery in 1861, leverages his West Point education and some political connections into a commission as a regimental commander and never looks back. The Grant portrayed in these pages by Catton is like many officers at the beginning of the Civil War in that he is learning his trade as he went along. But Grant is different from most of his contemporaries, many of whom had far better reputations in the peacetime army. First, Grant had a remarkable ability to make sound common sense judgements under stress. Second, Grant married his ability to make decisions to an utter determination to see a project through. Third, Grant was a man seemingly without illusions; his ability to correctly characterize the task in front of him in order to attack it is rare among his contemporaries. These characteristics carried Grant through his apprenticeship as a regimental commander of volunteers, his successful campaign to secure middle Tennesee through victories at Forts Henry and Donelson, and finally his tenacious campaign to reduce the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg. Grant's ability to understand and lead volunteers was a key underpinning of his success throughout the war.

Catton does not sugarcoat Grant's record. Grant was not above politicking for jobs or assignments. He was badly surprised by the Confederates at Shiloh and avoided being beaten to some degree by refusing to admit defeat and retreat. His pre-war problems with alcohol pursued him into the service, including an apparently memorable bender during the Siege of Vicksburg that Catton unflinchingly documents. The Vicksburg campaign was marked by costly trial and error, as Grant tried and discarded several unsuccessful approaches to the city. Grant, to his credit, persisted, finally rolling the dice by crossing the Mississippi and boldly placing his army between two Confederate forces while temporarily cut loose from his lines of communication.

This book was first published in 1960. Details and interpretations of events have evolved, but Catton's superb prose stands the test of time as a wonderful reading experience. This book is highly recommended to the general reader with some knowledge of the Civil War and to the student of the Civil War looking for the broad sweep of history not found in highly specialized studies.

Grant Moves South is part one of a two part Civil War study of Ulysses S. Grant. It covers the period 1861-1863, the period in which Grant emerges as the key commander in the Federal western army. Grant was something of an enigma. In a period of armchair Federal generals, when ego, as opposed to performance, ran rampant in the Federal High Command, quiet Sam Grant unassumingly went about capturing not one but two Confederate armies in the field. During the entire length of the Civil War no other commander on either side captured even one.

The study of Grant in these years is really the study of Federal victory in the Western Theater of operations. Belmont, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg are all key Union victories. With the exception of Corinth, they were all battles in which Grant was in command. It was Grant who was primarily responsible for opening the Mississippi and cutting the Confederacy in two. Emerging from the Civil War as the finest general produced by either side, during this phase of the war, while not the best, he certainly is the equal of Stone wall Jackson or Robert E. Lee.

His audacious Vicksburg campaign was a signal event. Cutting free from reinforcements and resupply he moves rapidly, deep into enemy territory fighting not one but four major battles to invest Vicksburg from its land side. He then conducts siege operations while keeping Joe Johnston continually at bay. Vicksburg is generally acknowledged as one of the finest campaigns conducted by either side during the war.

Bruce Catton's book is extremely well done and like all of Catton's works, very ably written.

"Grant Moves South" shows why Bruce Catton is revered among Civil War readers. This book is a case study of the 1861-63 Grant, using his battles, first person accounts, records and Grant's own words to form a picture of the warrior. In this, Catton does an excellent job.

His thesis is that Grant was a different cut of General than the north possessed. One who early on grasped both the objectives of the war - to crush Southern armies and not occupy places - as well possessed of the will to learn how to win the new kind of war the country was waging.

Grant's own iron-cored (Catton's description) sense of himself, as well as his willingness to both learn and take good risks set him apart from almost every other warrior in the North. He was a fierce warrior who from his first encounter with the Confederates understood that the battle had to be taken to the enemy - and that delay for planning, training and logistics benefited the enemy as much as his forces. This appreciation Grant brought with him to the conflict. It is evident from his earliest forays at Fts. Henry and Donelson as well as the inconclusive field of Belmont. Other facets of this warrior had to be learned. In this Grant displayed an openness to the revelations of his own short comings and a willingness to show the world that he was prepared to be a student of warfare. Thus, even difficulties like Shiloh taught Grant that southern demoralization was not a constant factor and that defense in the face of the enemy were necessary and did not sap the fighting spirit of his troops. His early failed approaches to Vicksburg led him to throw away military maxims about supply lines, the necessity of holding fixed points and both the opportunity and advantages of an army living off the land.

Grant was a learner, an opportunist and a serious warrior who understood what the main thing was. In an era when political infighting and external political considerations mattered more than they seemed to in 20th Century American warfare, Grant let his actions advance his career (with some timely and great help from Congressman Washburn - his first political patron).

Catton gives the reader the whole story. This is a study of the man and his development as a warrior. Civil War readers who have feasted on the likes of Sears and others who write so well of battles and campaigns at the regimental level may be somewhat surprised that Catton's study relies much less on military detail and more on campaign strategy and command function. In this, Catton's work is more of an epic and serves to give the reader a picture of why things happened rather than an exhaustive account of what happened.

An oldie but a goodie - Catton should be required reading for every Civil War enthusiast and his Grant military biographies are wonderful examples of a master at his craft.

This is a beautiful book that takes us back to the time before the internet DVDs and laptops, and answer the question how do you educate the "user" of the increasing complicated machines of war that were being developed during WWII. This book is of Interest to the graphic artist and the WWII buff. You forget that no matter how awfully bad some of the machines were, and what death traps. They still needed a user manual. It is sobering to see the instructions for the Hampden bomber crews on how to bail out, (a feat that not many achieved) and you wonder how many owed their like to this graphic. The collection is exclusively Aviation, which raises the question of the other two Forces and their contribution (may be there will be a couple of sequels). I would have liked more translation of the foreign language graphics - but overall I have no complaints this was a great book.

Any one interested in the WW II planes will find this useful as well as gaining some history of the process by which this was developed. Less info and illustrations by American illustrators than I would have liked. But worth the investment.

World War Two was a highly mechanised and technical war, perhaps no more so than in the air. Development of increasingly more sophisticated aircraft meant a greater demand for technical and general arrangement drawings, as well as a wide range of training material. This lavishly-illustrated book celebrates the unsung and in many cases unknown artists and technical illustrators who created the many thousands of drawings and posters produced by the combatants during the war. It draws together samples of obscure, arcane artwork that in was either intended for a limited readership, or would be regarded as ephemera. This provides us with a glimpse into a special and little-known world of over six decades ago.

The first three chapters cover the life and contribution of artists who applied the skills learned in peace-time to the wartime production of aircraft, training and advisory material for aircrew and maintenance staff. The bulk of the 270-odd pages are devoted to examples of technical drawings and training posters from Great Britain, Germany, the United States and the Soviet Union.

Where else could you find the inner workings of the FN Type 64 under gun turret (complete with Type B, Mk II periscopic sight), how to dive-bomb with a Junkers 88, what the best-dressed aircrews were wearing, how the superchargers work on a Wright-Cyclone R-3350 aero engine, and why you should regularly burn off oil deposits from your spark plugs? These things might be only of historical interest now, but then they were matters of life and death.

The artwork is often very detailed and beautifully rendered, and is a tribute to the skills of the artists. This is assisted by the large format and high quality of printing. There is some explanatory text with each image, but they are mostly left to speak for themselves. The book will appeal to aviation history buffs, or to those with an interest in the development of technical drawing. It offers many fascinating hours of delving into the inner workings and operation of some classic aircraft. Highly recommended.

This fine book is cover-to-cover artwork, and descriptive text, of aviation documents produced during World War II. The documents include public information, manufacturer publicity, military training manuals, and conceptual views. There are quite a few aircraft cut-away drawings, but most of the pictures are solid view renderings intended to show what things looked like and how they worked/were used. Any student of historic aviation will find this book an exciting read. All other aviation enthusiasts will love it for the pictures alone.

The concept behind "Graphic War" is simple and intriguing. In 272 crisp, glossy 9-by-11-inch pages, author Donald Nijboer presents hundreds of superb examples of aviation-related World War II technical artwork from Great Britain, Germany, the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Most of the artwork comes from wartime training manuals, operations handbooks, aircraft production and assembly documents, posters, etc. Without exception, the artistic quality is stunning. Sixty-some years ago, when anonymous artists created these amazing works, computer-generated imagery (and, indeed, even the computer itself) was not even a gleam in the eye of the most visionary dreamer. Dedicated and talented artistic craftsmen turned out these exquisite pieces of technical art using "low-tech" items such as India ink pens, colored chalks, airbrushes, rubber cement, vellum and Bristol board. "Graphic War" shows that these artists not only succeeded in conveying complex technical information to the airmen who needed to know it--they also often created beautiful works of art in the process. Check out, for example, the intricate "Halifax III Main Structure" (pp. 78-79), the superbly detailed "Centaurus Aero-Engine" cutaway (pp. 156-157) and the colorful "B-17F Armament--Forward Compartments" diagram (pp. 210-211).

About half of the artwork in "Graphic War" is from Great Britain. The other half is about evenly split between Germany and the U.S. The Soviet Union gets only 14 pages, because wartime Soviet artwork is very rare and hard to find. While I marveled at the superlative illustrations, I also really appreciated the captions. Rather than describing the artwork itself (which is largely self-explanatory), each caption discusses the actual subject that the artwork depicts. For example, the captions for illustrations of aircraft torpedoes describe their use, reliability, warhead types, etc. The captions for aircraft cutaways cover performance characteristics, production numbers, variants, theatres of operation, etc. Thus one not only sees the illustration, impressive in its own right, but also learns something about the subject depicted. I found this to be an exceptionally interesting and effective way to combine visual and textual information.

"Graphic War," an homage to World War II's unsung "heroes" who helped "keep `em flying," deserves a prominent place on every aviation enthusiast's bookshelf. Graphic artists are also sure to find it fascinating and inspirational. I recommend it most highly.

I used this book with my middle school social studies classes. It was the state testing week,and I wanted to continue the curriculum but not ruffle any feathers with more concepts. We were in the middle of our World War II unit. I selected some of the projects that we did in small groups, individually or with the whole class as an extension of our regular curriculum. We made silly putty, folded origami cranes, made WWII airplanes, and THE BEST was the individual recreations of the Rosie the Riveter propaganda poster. Each student posed as Rosie,and now I have a great set of things to display for our spring open house. The information in the book is entertaining to read, and the projects are simple, doable, and beneficial. I would highly suggest any social studies teacher of any level (elementary-high school) take a look at this book.

The author has synthesized the history of WWII into an informative and fun easy-to-read activity book. I highly recommend this resource for children and adults.

What a great way to spend an afternoon teaching and learning with your child. We enjoyed the historical lessons and thought provoking perspectives. I would highly recommend it. T. Kearney - parent

Loaded with interesting and fun activities. Perfect for budding historian.

What a great book to teach children about WWII while having fun at the same time! I highly recommend this book to parents (and teachers!)who want to involve their children in entertaining, stimulating activities that engage the mind as well as the hands. Extremely well written, with easy to perform projects. Excellent job!
K.S. Barone, teacher and parent

The role of the American army in the Pacific between the Spanish-American war and the Second World War is often forgotten. Most don't even know the American army ahd a role so far away from home. Indeed the army was small but the stakes were high. In the wake of the war with Spain in 1898 the U.S gained a number of small protectorates and colonies in the Phillipines and Samoa and elsewhere. Eventually this became part of a defense system, but it was not merely to defend against outsiders. The Army also had a role with the local people and creating institutions. Moreover it also had to fight insurgencies that took place in the Moro area of the Southern Phillipines where Muslim insurgents fought Americans. The insurgency goes on to this day. However at the time the likes of General Pershing were used to put down this uprising with the least possible loss in lives.

This fascinating and detailed book opens up a new history of the American army and its role in the Pacific.

Seth J. Frantzman

Linn notes that the big question of WWII is, "why, with almost four decades to prepare, these (US Army) military forces proved unable to defend the nation's Pacific possessions against Japan." The author notes that the traditional approach has been to focus on events in the short-term prior to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, however his effort is to, "offer a somewhat longer perspective through a narrative history of the U.S. Army in Hawaii and the Philippines from 1902 to 1940....its task is not to delineate the road to Pearl Harbor, but to illuminate the numerous paths the army trod in its long search for a viable Pacific defense....For years it had foreseen both the threat and its own inability to ward it off." From a strategic perspective, this book does a good job of putting America's failure into context. It points out that although the surprise attack of 7 December 1941 was not detected, from a military capabilities standpoint there was little the Army could have done. Although I believe one needs to be careful with historical parallels, a student of strategy can see how political and economic considerations drive strategy. Indeed, a similar issue between today (2004) and then was the tension between what is required to hold ground when forces are deployed vs. the ability to deploy and sustain those same forces over a great deal of distance.

During the first forty years of the 20th Century the U.S. Army had the mission of protecting the Philippine and Hawaiian Islands from attack by the nation of Japan. Although Japan was not originally thought to be a threat, from the 1922 Naval Conference onward the army high command considered Japan as the only real threat in the Pacific. This book provides a unique and very good history of what came to be known and the U.S. Army of the Pacific.

The book provides a good deal of fascinating information on all aspects of the Pacific Army from the life of enlisted men to the strategic thinking that informed its planning. But perhaps the most interesting theme running through it is how the U.S. Army identified the Japanese threat to the U.S. Pacific Islands and sought to mitigate it.

Because of budget and manpower constraints imposed by congress, the U.S. Army in the period between the WWI and WWII was incapable of fighting any kind of war. Yet as this book shows that did not prevent the Army General Staff and the Department Staffs of the Philippines and Hawaii from developing often very well thought out strategies for the defense of the islands. In the case of the Philippines the Archipelago was first considered vital to U.S. interests in the Western Pacific and a keystone in U.S. strategy. Gradually this view changed and by the thirties, the Philippines were considered indefensible against Japan and a strategic liability. Army planners sought to minimize the U.S. military presence there. This same thinking made Hawaii and especially the Pearl Harbor naval base on Oahu the keystone of a defensive arc running from Alaska to Panama which was designed to protect the U.S. Pacific Frontier.

One thing that is clear from this book and that is that the Army General Staff and the Islands' Departmental Commands were quite accurate in their defining the potential threats posed by Japan and fairly realistic in planning defensive strategies against those threats. For example the army was only too aware that the elaborate harbor defense systems that defended Pearl Harbor and Manila Bay were obsolete almost from the day they were completed. Still army planners at both the General Staff and department level tried to develop effective defensive plans. The problem was, as this book states, that there was a tradition that developed early on that allowed department commands to override general staff planning and design their own defensive plans. Thus in 1941General Short of the Hawaiian Department defined the threat from Japan primarily in terms of sabotage while the General Staff correctly saw it as a threat from air attack.

Brian Linn believes that the American annexation of the Philippines damaged rather than helped the U.S. position in East Asia. Even before the outbreak of the Second World War, American military planners knew that the Philippines were extremely vulnerable to Japanese invasion but were relunctant to raise a native force that could also be a threat to the American Army. The security problems only became worse when before the attack on Pearl Harbor, MacArthur authorized the defence of the entire Philippines and not just the Bataan peninsular. As a result of America's fear of a native force to protect the Philippines and MacArthur's overly ambitious plans, the United State suffered a humiliating defeat to the Japanese in 1942. I would reccomend this book foy anyone who believes that a new American empire would enhance national security but has ignored the disasterous example of the American experience with the Philippines.

This is a splendid and pioneering study of the Army in the Pacific, a subject badly in need of more light that it has hitherto received. It brings the Pacific Army to life in a way that no one else had even attempted.

Like any book, however, it has its limitations, and as is usually true it is the ones that author was not aware of (at least at the time) and did not flag for our attention that we must take most care of. In this case the principal limitation lies in strategic view.

The Philippines, as the author makes clear, never had any intrinsic significance for the United States (or for the earlier colonial power, Spain, for that matter) -- no riches or resources to be reaped. The sole significance of the islands lay in their position. Initially, Americans had calculated (like the Spaniards before them) that possession of Manila would provide an important advantage in gaining the rewards of the rich China trade. Luzon and the rest of the islands simply came with the deal. Almost as soon as they had been seized, however, other events eroded Manila's importance in this role greatly. (Perhaps we should say "seeming importance," as there never were the prospects which had been envisioned in 1898.) Finding themselves in possession of a colony of little value, Americans not unnaturally felt reservations about spending large sums to garrison and defend it. Thus a purely nominal force was assigned to its defense, adequate only for internal security and the assertion of sovereignty. The oft-proclaimed "bastion" of the Philippines was in reality no more than a sentry post, bound to be overrun quickly in any serious assault. To invest in a real Philippine fortress or in mobile forces strong enough to quickly relieve it would involve an expense that few Americans could see as justified.

Distant events changed all that. By the late 1930s, of course, the propensity of Japan for aggressive military expansion was manifest, but that did not seem particularly threatening in itself, given that the economic resources of the country were so small relative to those of the U.S. But the outbreak of the European War in 1939, followed by the Nazi defeat of France and threat to Britain in 1940, heightened American security concerns vastly. Then in September, 1940, Japan joined the Axis Pact, making itself an ally of Germany. Japan had intended this to change American perceptions and it did that, but not in the way that had been hoped. Japan ceased to be a disagreeable nuisance in a distant place and instead clearly became a potential part of a serious threat, to be blocked if possible and crushed if necessary. Very suddenly, the importance of the Philippines' geographic position changed dramatically.

It is this transition that Prof. Linn misses in focusing on the local realities rather than the global strategic picture that dominated the awareness of Washington decision-makers in 1940-41. This broader reality is well presented in Waldo Heinrichs, "Pearl Harbor in a Global Context," in _Pearl Harbor Revisited_, edited by Robert W. Love, Jr. (London: Macmillan, 1995) (ISBN 0312095937), and in more extended fashion in the same author's _Threshold of War: Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Entry into World War II_, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988) (ISBN 0195061683). For the same issue from a different perspective see Gerhard L. Weinberg, "Global Conflict: The Interaction Between the European and Pacific Theaters of War in World War II," in _Germany, Hitler, and World War II: Essays in Modern German and World History_, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) (ISBN 0521474078), or his book, _A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II_, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994) (ISBN 0521558794).

Beginning with the Japanese occupation of Vietnam in July of 1941, thereby making manifest their determination to continue down the road of active alliance with Hitler, the U.S. began to rush all available military power to the Philippines, reserving only that which was essential to the security of America itself. But years of penuriousness and neglect had left the cupboard largely bare, and re-armament was yet to produce major material results. So the Philippine defenders, like the exposed sentry, became casualties of the brutally inexorable logic of war. Brian Linn's book provides a major and largely-overlooked piece of this picture, but is somewhat weak on the overall context.

There are also other sources which the interested reader may wish to consult in order to get a fuller picture. These include John J. Stephan, _Hawaii Under the Rising Sun: Japan's Plans for Conquest After Pearl Harbor_, (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1984) (0824825500) and the article by Richard B. Meixsel, "Major General George Grunert, WPO-3, and the Philippine Army, 1940-1941," _Journal of Military History_, 59, No. 2 (Apr 1995): 303-24. Both offer insights not fully captured by Linn. In a more recent article, "Manuel L. Quezon, Douglas MacArthur, and the Significance of the Military Mission to the Philippine Commonwealth," _Pacific Historical Review_, 70, No. 2: 255-92, Meixsel introduces some new evidence regarding the events in the Philippines in the 1930s and uses it to call into question some of Linn's claims.

While I have focused on its limitations, I want to emphasize again that this is a very valuable and unique book, even taking them fully into account.

An excellent book on WW I. Oddly, not carried in our fabulous library system.
Title based on a quote from Hamlet and is greatly misleading.

Of course, I say this work is elegant, true, vivid and memorable as a work, not the events it depicts. In parts of the world that used to make up the Commonwealth and serviced by Penguin books, the title may be THE MIDDLE PARTS OF FORTUNE. Having had 25 years in the military I can only say I read this book from cover to cover, and relished every word in it. Artistically, as an artifact, it has a satisfying structure and conventional narrative. Like the characters in it, especially Private Bourne, it manages a superb tone, neither hiding the horror, the detail, but never sentimentalizing the common bravery of the ordinary man whilst despising the shirker. I could go on but I just draw to your attention on P58 the brilliant detail of having to carry an awkward box three miles by hand: - ....he was glad to dump the box he and Lance-Corporal Johnson had carried the three miles from Philosophe on the floor of the Quartermaster's office. It had those handles which hang down when not in use, but turn over and force one's knuckles against the ends of the box when it is lifted. By reversing the grip, one may save one's knuckles, but only at the expense of twisting one's elbow, and the muscles of the forearm. Having tried both ways, they passed their handkerchiefs through the handles, and knotted the corners, so that it was slung between them, but the handkerchief being of different sizes, the weight was not equally distributed. The quartermaster's store was a large shed of galvanized iron, which may have been a garage originally. He was not there, but the carpenter, who was making wooden crosses, of which a pile stood in one corner, thought he might be back at the transport lines; on the other hand he might be back at any moment, so they waited for as long as it took to smoke a cigarette, watching the carpenter, who, having finished putting a cross together, was painting it with a cheap-looking white paint. -That's the motto of the regiment,- said the carpenter, taking up one on which their badge and motto had been painted carefully. - It's in Latin, but it means WHERE GLORY LEADS.
Bourne looked at it with a sardonic grin. - That is just one paragraph of 247 pages of fine prose, and itself could be a study as a sample of quite brilliant writing.
A classic of the 20th century.

I feels like i am reading both "The Stranger" and "All Quiet on the Western Front." I was hoping to get something from it but i was disappointed from what i considered the best combination of both novels.

This semi-fictional story is set in a brief 6 month (or so)period in 1916 in which the British Army began to assume the major contribution to the Allied effort. By this time of WW1 the French had been somewhat degraded and pretty exhausted by the combined efforts of Verdun and the Somme. The story is set on the Somme front after the opening phases of the battle and includes the description of a long recovery period behind the lines to refit-a luxury denied many German units. The story reflects to some degree the British class system , and many of the soldiers themselves seem somewhat bewildered about the nature of war confronting them. The Germans themselves are shown as remote and treated somewhat indifferently. Despite the possibility of death each soldier seems distracted with obtaining alcohol, women and decent food in that order.

The 1 difficult aspect of the book is the phonetic nature of the spoken words. The characters are, after all, British, and Americans may have a tough time understanding what's being said. When compared with All Quiet on the Western Front, which focuses more on the futility and abstract nature of the war, Her Privates, We is more insular and personal.

In his novel, "Her Privates We," Frederic Manning does something almost unique in Great War literature. He gives voice to the English common soldier. This was the man the British public personified as Tommy Atkins and whom Americans in a later conflict would call GI Joe. This was the man who did the work of war with bayonet, rifle and hand grenade.

Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, Wilfred Owen and Vera Brittain--among others--have given us a look inside the English middle-class perspective of the Great War. Through their poetry and prose, we can gain some understanding of what they and their educated counterparts suffered and endured.

The clerk, the taxi driver and farm laborer who went to war had no such heavy-weight advocates. Until Manning's novel first appeared in a limited edition during 1929, English private soldiers spoke primarily through letters home, not through literature. We know them best through the mute, exhausted faces that stare out at us across time from black-and-white Great-War-era photographs.

Manning, an educated Australian, worked as a minor literary figure in pre-war England. He enlisted in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry during 1915 and served as a private soldier in France through much of the 1916 Somme Campaign. Not coincidently, most of the novel's action is set within British lines during the time of that huge offensive.

Because Manning was a man who combined a writer's skills with a soldier's experience, his work gives us a rare and vivid glimpse of what trench life and fighting felt like from the viewpoint of the English private and non-commissioned officer. The book reflects the emotional and physical costs of battle. It also gives us some knowledge of the ways men related to each other and to their superiors. Any American who soldiered during the 20th Century will almost certainly find echoes of his own service experience within Manning's story.

In its 1929 printing "Her Privates We" was called "The Middle Parts of Fortune." The first mass publication the next year was ruthlessly edited to reflect 1930s sensibilities. The current paper-bound version of "Her Privates We," offered through Amazon, is completely uncut.

The Book's title derives from some obscene banter in Shakespeare's Hamlet, during which two characters describe themselves as the private parts of Fortune. Private parts, private soldiers, you get the picture. After listening to them, Hamlet concludes that Fortune is a strumpet. This would seem an equally valid conclusion for those of any rank or station caught within the titanic social and military struggle that played out during the 1914-1918 war.

Ironically, I picked this book up at the bargin bin in a St. Petersburg, Russia. Starting out in Oklahoma, it shows the progression from state college football, to OCS, through Ranger and Airborne training to the jungles of Vietnam. Two brothers, taking different paths through the Army.

The horrors of the Vietnam War come to life in this novel. You identify with the characters, and almost feel like you are with them. Being in the Army, this book scares me. What if it was me there? Could I be so courageous? Would I survive? It scares me to think about it.

I have read them all from Clancy to Brown and LtCol.(Ret) Scott is by far one of the best military writers to date. My father served in Vietnam and after he came back my mom said he was never the same and I always wondered what it was like, why men like my father and Col Scott, why they went when they were called knowing they might not return and those that did would be forever altered. I joined the infantry at 17 to see for myself and after serving in Panama and Somalia I understand. Col. Scott says it best in the books with way he connects you to the characters you come to realize they did it for the men to their left and their right, not so much for America, but the men who represent America. Sad to know that he won't be writing anymore books but the four vietnam books he wrote are some of the greatest military fiction ever written and in my opinion should be required reading for all young soldiers and leaders.

Leonard B. Scott writes another excellent book probably relating much of his own personal experience in Viet Nam. Again he sets up his main characters detailing what they left behind only to have everything they knew and understood here in the U.S. tested and in many instances left in some far off jungle in Viet Nam. Mr. Scott, though he was an officer, describes Army life among the enlisted troops with great clarity and understanding. He may be a Mustang (enlisted later becoming an

officer) whatever, I have enjoyed reading all of his Viet Nam Era Army books and would rate this one just as good as The Expendables. The vocabulary he uses is of that era and adds in his effort to recreate life back in the late 1960's. A Must Read if you like Scott's writings.

The way that Scott writes the story to the hill is extravagant. Not only do you see the one side perspective from the Brothers you also get to see it from the Vietnamese side. As one knows you need to know the two sides of the coin in order to get the real truth. This book like SCott's others is truly something else.