U Books

With John Wayne's 100th birth date coming up I started looking for books on him that I have not read. This book is very enjoyable reading. You learn alot about the man from his fellow co-workers and friends. I would recommend this one to any one.

"Duke We're Glad We Knew You" is an exellent book. People such as Harry Carey Jr., Ben Johnson, Lee Aaker, John Wayne's stepsister, and many more write of when they knew Duke.The foreward is written by Ronald Regan who knew Wayne personally. Author, Herb Fagen. interviewed many of them personally. The book has stories about how Wayne first got started in acting, his childhood,his marriages, his movies, and his death. I have really enjoyed this book.

Critics complain that he was a Johnny-One Note who played the same person over & over, & wasn't very good at it. I say this is Baloney.

The annecdotes & observations of the people who lived & worked with him that are found in this book show that he was able to do so much, physically, & emotionally with the characters he played.

You come away with a better sense of why you cheered, laughed, & cried under the spell of his performances. Whether you agreed or disagreed with the actions of his character, you still cared for him & cared about what happened to him

His friends, family, & co-workers loved & admired him & it shows very clearly in this wonderful book.

Sure, he drank, & smoked, & was a staunch anti-commie, but he was also a loyal, funny, kind & gentle family man who worked hard to perfect his craft & cared about his co-workers.

Read this book & understand.

I am a huge fan and relative of Herb's writings. He has a true gift for the written word and I have enjoyed all of his books. Herb, my prayers and thoughts are with you during these very trying times. I am thinking of you incessantly and the entire family prays for you daily. Godspeed.

One of the reasons Wayne was so popular was that he symbolized everything America wanted to be; strong ,brave,loyal,savvy and honest.His character was a fighter who never backed down when he knew he was right. He was a role model to millions, his screen actions were a roadmap to manhood. That was John Wayne,Icon.
But there was another side to Wayne. He was a real man,flesh and blood, and he had real thoughts and feelings,strengths and weaknesses. He was as brave as his larger-than-life screen persona in his real life,such as in the way he faced up to cancer, and very very human.This is John Wayne,the Man.
This book does an excellent job of showing both sides of the John Wayne coin,Man and Icon. It does it with stories told by people who really knew him. After reading this book you actually feel like you've had a bull session with Duke's friends and co-workers. It's got a very amiable feel to it.
The book also reminds me of Studs Terkel's books. Studs would just turn on a tape recorder and let his subjects pour their hearts out. The author here uses a similar approach. Each story is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle and at the end of the book you can put all the pieces together to get a clear picture of the Duke.
After I finished reading, I wished I had known him too.

This is worth reading if the problems in Iran, Iraq and the Middle East concern you. It is a tragic tale that shows American foreign policy as the immature outgrowth of US intervention in world affairs during the 1940's. No administration is spared. The author we involved in these events while in the US State Department.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the modern middle east, political Islam, the Iranian revolution, or the Iran hostage crisis.

After reading this book, I am amazed that James Bill is not the most sought-after Middle East commentator in America. His analysis of 20th century Iran leading up to the revolution of 1979 is a clear and concise explanation of part of the puzzle that led to the tragedies of 9/11. This is a MUST-READ for anyone who wants to become truly familiar with Iran's tumultuous history and its rocky relationship with the West. As the Bush administration continues to evolve its policy towards this area of the world, it would be wise for officials at the State Department and at the Pentagon to read and absorb the lessons contained in this crucial analysis of US-Iran relations. Again, this is a must-read.

Far and away the most balanced, well-researched, accurate and thoughtful book on US-Iran relations. Excellent psychographical backgrounds of the key players.

"The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American-Iran Relations", is an excellent book by James Bill, who explores the files of history in an effort to assess the series of events that culminated in the worsening and then breaking of U.S. -Iranian links. The author looks at the manner in which the American policy makers handled relations between the two countries. He highlights the uneasy diplomatic contacts between the two countries that date back to 1883 while searching for the causes of the artificiality of the "healthy" relationship between the two countries.

The main emphasis of Professor Bill is on the fact that American policy makers misunderstood those societal dimensions of Iran which play an important part in its foreign policy behavior. For example, the perceptions of the Iranians towards the Europeans or Americans; the sensitivity of the people of Iran towards their religion and culture and the respect that was given to the religious leadership. The writer emphasizes the modes adopted by the American foreign policy makers, especially in the context of delicate situations when ever they arose.

In order to reach a logical conclusion for the "mismanagement," the author is concerned with the deteriorating relations between the two countries, - and for that the book traces out the initial heavy contacts between the Iranians and the Americans.

One must give credit to the Professor for his understanding of Iranian society and his compassionate analysis. This study is a must for the students of U.S.-Iran relations. It is a welcome contribution, not only to the literature on the subject but also to the study of Iranian as well as American decision makers. This is the best book of its genre written by an American author.

Prof.Dr. S. Farooq Hasnat
Former Chairman,
Department of Political Science
Punjab University, Lahore
Pakistan

I wanted something thorough and informative about Native American Tribes. I also wanted something clear and concise, but not so bogged down with detail that it was a chore to weed through.
This encyclopedia gave me what I wanted and more. I'm writing a fictional novel with a Native American character and needed help in knowing him and his background. I was impressed with how easy it was to look up information by tribe and get interesting tidbits, that if I so desired, I could research further.
This is definitely a writer's dream. I feel confident writing about a character from any tribe with this book in my collection.

Excellent. As a Englishman, in my middle 60s, interested in native American history since I was a child, this book is very informative.

I had read about most of these tribes in the past in web searches and other references.
That is why I fault the illustrations ( the stone tools look noting like their actual pictures) and that there isn't a better coverage of tool, housing and food sources. The language groups are well covered and their relationship are made pretty clear.
I was looking for my local California Indians that are in San Diego County.
They are noticeably absent in this coverage or disguised pretty well.
Since most of this information is in my old 1950's World Book
encyclopedia under different sections, I was hoping for a little more information here. I have to admit that it is a good reference source.

Now in a newly updated and expanded third edition, "Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes" is a compilation of facts for more than two hundred Native American tribes in North America, including prehistoric peoples on the North American continent as well as all of the identifiable Native American civilizations on the continent. Organized alphabetically by tribe or group, there is at least one representative Native American tribe from each language family or language isolate for each culture area covered. From locations, migrations, contact with non-Indians, wars, customs, housing, tools, clothing, art, rituals, diet, and cultural contributions, "Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes" has special relevance for contemporary tribal issues and concerns. "Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes" is a critically important, superbly presented, essential and core addition to professional, academic, and community library Native American Studies reference collections.

I am a fifty seven year old retired elementary teacher...but
my lifelong interest has been the Plains Indian Culture.
I just asked my hubby to get me this book for Christmas after
spending about ten minutes looking at it in Barnes and Noble
yesterday.
Good sized print, the info is arranged as user friendly.
I saw tribes mentioned in there that have been omitted from other
books about North American Tribes. A comprehensive guide.
Many drawings....colored illustrations.
My only negative -----I wanted to see a few more maps ...regional
maps of the tribes.
ALso...at the store ...I was looking at a SOFTCOVER edition....not
a hardcover one. (I would not pay 75 dollars for hardcover when
it is available in softcover. )

A great text to get people more interest in this topic of occult research. Lots of aspects explained.

A great text to get people more interest in this topic of occult research. Lots of aspects explained.

Rossell Hope Robbins massive 1959 work "Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology" has been reprinted many times but is currently out-of-print. It is indeed a fascinatingly horrible compenidum of information regarding witches, demons, devils, demonologists, inquisitors, judges, hysterias, torture, and murder. It has served for the past 40 odd years as one of the most read and referenced work on the history of witchcraft and demonology, especially by many popular witchcraft authors and historians who continue to use and cite the work today.

The trouble is that much of the scholarship contatined in this work is sadly outdated and lacks information on much of the recent work done in the field of witchcraft studies in the past 20 years. Also, Robbins' work suffers from the same problem that afflicted many other similar early witchcraft histories: bad translations and historical forgeries. It has been shown that many of the early translations of a number of Latin works on witchcraft (particularly those translated by the Rev. Montague Summers) are suspect. Also, several 19th century histories of the witchcraze and the Inquisition that have been used as source material by countless authors, including Robbins, have been proven to be forgeries, particularly the works relating the early 14th century Inquisitorial witch executions in France. Robbins' work has also been criticized by scholars for its lack of objectivity in its history. But this work still remains popular today and understandably so, as it contains many lurid and engaging articles on just about every aspect of the witch hunts from the 15th to the 18th century in Europe and North America. Despite many of its flaws, it is still a useful reference and for that reason it still gets 3 stars, plus I must admit, it maintains some of the mysterious aura surrounding the history of witches and demons that much recent scholarship has tried to dispel, and that makes it fascinating reading, if for the wrong reasons.

I actually found this book at a garage sale when I was in high school in the early 80's. I read the book until it fell apart. It was a tremendous introduction to the true horrors of the witchcraft trials and tortures and taught me things I would not learn in school. Sparked my interest in learning more about all aspects of history and keeps me engaged even 25 years later.

I first stumbled onto this book when I needed reference material for a paper on witchcraft. I've gone back to re-reference this book too many times to count! It has information on almost every aspect of witchcraft and demonology; terrific for the beginner interested in this subject. You can feel the hopelessness of the accused; I felt very thankful to be living in this day and age. Highly recommended!

This book was published in 1984, and it's no longer in print, although there are plenty of used copies available. It deserves at least one new review every year. It appears as though I will be the first for 2008.

I agree with the first Amazon reviewer of this book (Marion Delgado in 2002) that reading it will increase your IQ significantly in any discussion of world events. That is even truer today than it was when the book was first published. It's that good. If there were only one book I would make required reading for every United States citizen, this would be the book. It has the advantage of being written and published before the occurrence of the absurdly extreme political polarization of our two party system. That's not to say that republicans and democrats weren't quarreling in 1984, they were. But they're not quarrelling today, they're demonizing their opponents and expressing desires to execute them for treason. That's a big change in just 25 years.

Unfortunately, this book demonstrates clearly and succinctly why today the United States is in extreme decline, and why it is probably too late to effect much reversal of fortune. Mr. Kwitny's concept of the United States is essentially the same one I learned growing up - that our country is fundamentally sound and noble, that it is fundamentally free and open, that it is fundamentally a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. Our strength and nobility derive from the fact that our government and culture are based on basic principles of freedom and democracy as stated in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. And from that basic concept, Mr. Kwitny demonstrates, with astonishing insight, understanding and documentation, how the US has almost systematically deviated from those principles since the Second World War with regard to foreign policy, substituting instead an extreme fear and hatred of communism. This displacement of our basic principles in favor of a shortsighted (indeed blind) conflict-by-conflict struggle against a largely mythologized enemy (the USSR), has slowly converted the world neighborhood into a very distrusting and sometimes even hostile planet. Our values, principles and way of life, rather than being well served by this deviation, have been severely damaged, with direct consequences (both political and economic) to the American people. Our foreign policy has been a total failure not only in terms of the harm it has done to the rest of the world, but also equally in terms of the harm we have done to ourselves. And world events since the time of first publication have shown dramatically how true that was then, and still is today.

What is frightening however, is that Mr. Kwitny showed us all this in 1984, when it still appeared possible to mend our ways and find our way back to our founding principles. Since then, US foreign policy has evolved from awful to terrifying. The evils perpetrated then as a result of a culturally ignorant, misguided and narrow-minded government, are being perpetrated today by willful greed, lust for power, and a completely conscious disrespect (bordering on contempt) for the very principles that Mr. Kwitny (and millions of Americans) hold out as our only hope.

The world today was eminently foreseeable in 1984. "Endless Enemies" saw it all too clearly, even predicting (unknowingly) very specific world events that actually unfolded (Afghanistan > the mujahadeen > 9/11). I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone with one caveat - reading it may induce a profound sense of loss, sadness and nostalgia for an American zeitgeist that was still present in 1984. The world that "Endless Enemies" warned us was coming if we did not rectify our foreign policy is upon us. But I don't think Mr. Kwitny is shaking his finger at us from the far side of the grave and mumbling "I told you so". I think he is weeping, as many Americans are, for the great light and hope in the world that has been extinguished.

As indicated in the other reviews, this book is superb. Do try to get the original Congdon & Weed print.

I met Kwitny at a book signing for the Penguin version. He explained why the book had a rather large number of blank pages. In 1953, Kennett Love was the New York Times's man in Tehran during the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of Mossadegh. Preparing for the book, Kwitny had obtained Love's notes on the event, which were archived at Princeton under the control of a former CIA officer. In his notes, Love had somewhat gleefully described his friendly advice to an anti-Mossadegh tank crew that was sitting on its collective thumbs at the height of the attack on Mossadegh's compound. Love also recounted his cooperation in distributing anti-Mossadegh "firmans" on the street.

Love sued Kwitny and the publisher for infringement of copyright. The Penguin edition came out during the lawsuit, and one condition was that any references to Love would be whited out. Kwitny had some remainders of the original edition, and for $10, I was able to get one from him. Kwitny made no mention of involvement by the Rockefellers, but this of course does not mean that they might not have been operating behind the scenes. The lawsuit was finally settled in Kwitny's favor, but I think by then Congdon & Weed had gone belly-up.
Somebody needs to reprint the original version.

One of the best books written about the true nature of US foreign policy. BUT if you are going to buy it get the first printing of the hardcover edition. The Rockefeller family got a judge to act as post publication editor and force the removal of a number of sections related to their activities in Iran in later editions.

Precursor to Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins- but more info and from the point of view of a terrific reporter and Peace Corps person...how the IMF & them really work (fer only about 3 rich people)- depressing & eye opening

I hate not being able to finish a book.

Jonathan Kwitny, a former NYT reporter, describes in excruciating detail U.S. foreign policy disasters in Zaire, Angola, Iran, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Cuba, The Philippines, China, Lebanon, El Salvador, Vietnam, Korea, Ethiopia and elsewhere -- and frankly after a couple hundred pages of this I was simply too dispirited to continue reading.

I'm probably naive or idealistic or both, but I want to believe my country stands for the principles expounded in our Declaration of Independence. Reading this exhaustive, carefully-researched, emotionally-detached and factual account to the contrary turned out to be painful and destructive to my civic pride.

Kwitny's book, written at the end of Reagan's first term, makes it clear that economic meddling has been going on at least since WWII, and so I guess it should come as no surprise that it's in full swing again, as detailed by John Perkins' "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." Stephen Kinzer's "All The Shah's Men" tells more of the story of Iran (which is heavily censored here due to lawsuits at the time of publishing).

One lesson taken from this book is that it's not just the conservative Republican administrations which have sent troops to further the economic interests of financial contributors. Apparently ALL politics is infected with the virus of economic imperialism -- a sad truth I'd rather not have learned.

I am planning to buy a new car soon and I hate being pressured by sales people. Bobby Covic's book was extremely helpful in formulating a strategy. It had an unexpected bonus in that it helped me get a better price on some furniture I was buying by using some of the techniques I read about. Buy this book. You will make the purchase price back the first time you apply the knowledge you will gain by reading it!

This isn't pie-in-the sky stuff. These ideas are easy and they work. I even used Covic's "negotiation coach" service (You pay him a portion of savings) to cut a hospital bill from $2,400 to less than $500.

Covic uses stories of actual negociations from hotel room shopping to automobile purchases. The most powerful tools are his polite, little phrases anyone can use to get a better price. For example, I used "How negociatable are you on the garage rent?" to move a landloard from $500 a month to $450. Once you get in the habit of negociating on small purchases, it's an easy jump to the big stuff like cars, mortgages, and home buying.

This book may seem too simple in places, but it works almost every time.
You'll start saving on every transaction, without any heavy handed, eye-to-eyeball stuff.

By the way, Covic is a tax professional who deals with the IRS representing customers who owe money to Uncle Sam.

Negotiations are not intuitive to everybody. And the salesmen know this. Everything's Negotiable gives you the tools to meet and beat the fast talker at his own game. So often we are rushed by sales people who tend to pass on a sense of urgency for which we are not prepared. Mr. Covic helps one turn the schedule in our favor. Bobby's writing style combines learning great buying techniques with a sense of humor. The stories are told simply and the results are financially profound.

I always thought that the salesmen knew something I did not. Now, I buy professionally from salesmen that I've forced to treat me as an equal. Saving money is a lifestyle. Everything's Negotiable shows us how to keep this notion in mind. I started making winning deals the first week after I set the book down. My Boss and My Wife are very pleased.

I cannot praise this book enough! Bobby's tactics and tips for keeping a clear head through all kinds of everyday negotiation are invaluable, especially for someone who is naturally reserved or shy. Bobby really coaches the reader to gain the confidence and chutzpah to assert yourself and make a good deal. Not to mention, Bobby's easy-going language and personal anecdotes make this a well-rounded and thoroughly enjoyable read. If you want to succeed, buy this book to learn how!

I cannot praise this book enough! Bobby's tactics and tips for keeping a clear head through all kinds of everyday negotiation are invaluable, especially for someone who is naturally reserved or shy. Bobby really coaches the reader to gain the confidence and chutzpah to assert yourself and make a good deal. Not to mention, Bobby's easy-going language and personal anecdotes make this a well-rounded and thoroughly enjoyable read. If you want to succeed, buy this book to learn how!

Es un libro interesantísimo que nos da un recorrido por las diferentes rutas que han llevado a latinoamerica a la decadencia de hoy en dia.
Le recomiendo este libro a todo aquel interesado en saber mas allá de lo obvio sobre el origen del subdesarrollo y la miseria en nuestros paises.

I know a lot of intelligent people whose ideas never change and think that determinate regimen is the solution to sweep away poverty. But they never attend the facts in their effort to maintain their beliefs. If you think you are a smart person you must agreed William Blake's quotation "The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind". No matter what kind of ideas you profess about underdevelopment, this book surely is going to confront a lot of them and will provide you with a wider view. Give it a change to understand why Latin America is so poor.

This book shows everything that has gone wrong n latinamerica and it not only shows one side. It talks about the bad things that corporations, unions, dictators, politicians etc. have done and why thanks to all of them and also the peole latin america is as bad as it is today.

Brilliant! An excellent book for those really concerned about the social and economical future of Latin America...For those who want to make a change.

excelent book, I really enjoy it because tell the true history of Latin America

I love all the Hank books, and this is a great one for the Christmas season. These books are hilarious and more important to the young reader, fun to read. I'd also check the rest of the series.

Author of "Hobo Finds A Home" editor "Of A Predatory Heart"

As usual Hank continues to impress with his down to earth humor & "wisdom".
Great for the whole family.

this is a great book and is my second favorite book, and number one is another hank book. i own it and it is very very good.

Hank the Cowdog is a good book that my classmates and I read. It is about faded love. Hank and Drover are in love with Beulah, the collie. Hank was telling Drover that Beulah is his girlfriend and not Drover's, but Beulah likes Hank only as a friend. She said, "Because the way I feel, Hank, is that we should just be special friends. I like Plato."

But Plato was looking out for birds because he a bird watcher. Later, Hank saw Miss Scamper and said, "How do you do you, lovely lady?" Hank was going from one girl to another. Then Hank wrote a song to Beulah and it went something like this, "I have the strangest dream, Beulah, my dear, I'm standing close to you and holding you near. I feel electric shock, just being close by, touching your flaxen hair and seeing you're my love. I can't stop thinking about you, Beulah." Hank rolled around on a dead skunk and went to test it out on Beulah to see if the perfume worked. The "love" perfume smelled bad because he smelled like a dead skunk and Beulah did not like the perfume. But Miss Scamper liked the perfume that Hank was wearing.

(...)

I think that Faded Love is a good book. It is funny and also it has lots of adventures like the other books of Hank. I read this book with my classmates. Each of my classmates had a part in the book, like a kid was Drover and the other was Hank. Hank and Drover make this oath that they would never return to the ranch, and they would quit their jobs as cowdogs.

Drover told Hank that there was a snake on the ranch. It really wasn't a snake; it was just a cat's tale, which was Pete. Pete became mad at Hank because he thought he was a snake, so Hank left with Drover. On his way he met all kinds of old friends. He also meets new friends like Miss Scamper. She is this dog that Hank meets by a lake. Miss Scamper's owner stops by the lake and puts water in his radiator. Drover and Hank fall in love with Ms. Scamper. He also meets his old friends Rip and Snort; they are coyotes.

We found out that Drover is not that dumb. Hank sings this song to Beulah (she is hank's old girl friends, which was kind of funny. Hank and Drover decided to go back to the ranch. Drover reminds Hank about the oath, but he said that there are different kinds of oaths; one is forever and others are temporary. So they went back to the ranch and they saw the real snake. It was going toward little Alfred. Hank attacked the snake and the snake beat him. Everybody now thinks Hank is a hero.

Must rate this volume as the standard reference on the topic. This current edition supplants Ripley's "Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War." I actually own copies of the original and revised editions. There are a few notable updates, making the second purchase worth the expenditure. While I have found some minor omissions in the listings (particularly discussing some of the poorly documented Confederate gun makers), the authors seem to leave few stones unturned.

Book was not what I expected it to be. I anticipated a thorough study of specific artillery types with color plates and detailed drawings, and with specific histories, usage, success, etc. This is not what I received. It was a hugh disappointment, considering the high price I paid for this book.

A very concise and thorough (almost an encyclopedia) book of the weapons of the civil war.

"Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War" is the definitive reference work for civil war cannon used in the field. Nothing else approaches its structured grouping and organization of the diverse and confused world of American Civil War field guns. However, this is not a book for everyone since it is quite focused on the specifications, manufacturing origins and methods of the tubes themselves, not on the tactical employment, range charts, the batteries, or the projectiles they fired. (Understandably, many readers will be shocked if they don't realize this before purchase--including me!)

It is hard to over emphasize what a fine job the authors have done in bringing order out of chaos. Their encyclopedic inclusion and explanation of all known types solves many riddles. The complexity and nuances will still require considerable study by the reader to reach a full understanding, but at last it is logically and rigorously catalogued.

The chapter list is as follows: 1. Fundamentals. 2. Federal 6-pounder Guns and 3.67" Rifles. 3. Confederate 6-pounder Guns and 3-inch Rifles. 4. Federal 12-pounder Field Howitzers. 5. Confederate 12-pounder Field Howitzers. 6. Federal Napoleon Guns. 7. Confederate Napoleon Guns. 8. Parrott Rifles. 9. 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. 10. False Napoleons and Gettysburg Replicas. 11. The Small Ones. 12. Boat Howitzers. 13. James Smoothbores and Rifles. 14. The Rare Ones. 15. Too Big for the Field. 16. British Rifled Cannon. 17. Carriages. 18. Conclusions.

The chapters are well illustrated with photographs and schematics of the gun tubes. There are also detailed dimensional specification tables, and some estimated production counts of various types. Following the main text is an extensive set of appendices that serve as a catalog of known foundries, inspectors, designations, foundry numbers, weights, and locations of known survivors,

I highly recommend this work to anyone who wants to be able to identify nearly any Civil War field gun he/she comes across. However, I don't recommend it as a detailed work on the employment of Civil War field artillery--that is not the objective or nature of the book.

Note: The companion work for the heavy artillery is "The Big Guns. Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon" by Edwin Olmstead, Wayne E. Stark, and Spencer C. Tucker. It follows the same format and style, but its availability is limited.

A comprehensive source of information on the field guns used by both sides of the american civil war. Provides each weapon's history and statistics. Extremely informative.

No civil war library should be without it.

An excellent companion to other book The Big Guns by Omstead and Wayne E. Stark and Spencer C. Tucker which covers the big guns of the conflict.

Ed Ruggero has written an absolutely fantastic history of some of the most significant airborne operations surrounding the Normandy invasion. To nit-pick the selection of the book title or a minute detail of 82nd Medal of Honor history from World War I doesn't do justice to the otherwise meticulous research and master story-telling of this inspiring author. This well-written prose is fast-paced and as readable as any historical fiction. Ruggero is superb in his description of small unit airborne operations in World War II. In my opinion, much better than the previous standard set by MacDonald's World War II memoir COMPANY COMMANDER. And just as good as Vietnam small unit memoirs - McDonough's PLATOON LEADER and Moore and Galloway's WE WERE SOLDIERS.

I have a friend who was in the 82nd Airborne's A Company and was a Pathfinder. He was 19 years old. I bought it for him and read it first. I have seen all the movies and heard all stories about Normandy but to read this book made me realize just how really terrible the battle for the bridge was. I had no idea just what they faced. I had visited the site and still had no real understanding of the battle until I read this book. I have even more respect for Max than I did before. What a tale. Bob Morriss

This is an excellent and easy reading book; however, I would recommend that the reader be apprised of D-Day history before reading it. It gives a wonderful insight to one more important advance into Normandy!

I read this hoping to learn about the history of the paratroopers on D-Day and got more than I expected. It gives the history of D-Day, but it tells it in such an exciting, storytelling fashion that it gives you a first person feeling for how terrible those days were. The sacrifices our troops made in WWII were incredible. Let's never forget them.

"I don't know a better place than this to die." When Lt. John "Red dog" Dolan scratched out this single line to a hard pressed squad leader at the La Fiere bridge, he simultaneously scribed his name into the short roll call of those Americans who have placed the love of their country and the freedom of its people ahead of their very own next breath.

I have read the account of Lt. Dolan at the little bridge over the Merderet in three other books of paratrooper history and none of them carry the weight and measure of Ed Ruggero's version in The First Men In. It is nearly impossible to read through chapter 12 and not find yourself gazing off into the ether, overcome by the willingness of these young men of the Greatest Generation to sacrifice themselves for less-great generations yet unborn.

While The First Men In is not a small unit combat history such as Band of Brothers, it follows several men - G.I. and officers - from their enlistment through their training, their midnight jump into the Cotentin and through the first days of the Battle of Normandy, delivering the intimate kinship with the characters that the reader so desires as well as the great sweep and desperate fear of near hopeless combat.

The First Men In is a book you will read more than once. In the way you might take a second look at a sunset, the heroism of the men in the pages compels you to turn and look over your shoulder again and again until the very last light fades, leaving you asking yourself at the last glint of purple if such a marvelous thing was really possible in the first place.

If you want to know why General Bradley would not land troops on Utah beach without these men, if you want to know why these men are correctly titled America's Guard of Honor, if you want to know why the local French have re-named the bridge at Chef du Pont the Pont du Capitaine Roy Creek, if you want to once again be warmed and comforted by the greatness of your country, read The First Men In.