Oklahoma Books

Remnants of Glory is so beautifully written. I read the book several months ago and the characters are still active in my thoughts. It is a compelling novel, written by a gifted story teller.

As a rule, I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction because too often the history is the star of the story. This book is an exception, however. While Oklahoma at statehood and during the depression is a fascinating backdrop, Teresa Miller has kept the history in the background (where it belongs) and allows her characters to shine. Kate Dexter and her family are richly and fully drawn, with quirks, flaws, and strengths you will immediately identify with. Though their day-to-day battles are different from ours, their larger struggles remain with us: racism, betrayal, sexism, our treatment of the mentally handicapped and the aged. The details are just right, too -- you can feel the sun beating on your back as you watch Kate's mother tugging the wild asters around the veranda, and your heart aches when a careless roommate breaks Kate's watch, a last gift from her long-deceased husband. By the time you finish the 90-year journey with Kate, she will feel as familiar to you as family: someone you know, warts and all, but love anyway.

This book is the life story, from 18 to her 90's, of Kate Dexter, a feisty, stubborn and determined woman from Oklahoma who survives personal tragedy, povery and marital infidelity, to live to old age. Kate's mother, Cora, ran a successful boarding house, despite the handicap of a totally impractical dreamer of a husband who always had grandiose, get-rich-quick schemes for making money which inevitably failed. Kate married a small town lawyer and was happy enough until their second child was born mentally retarded. The marriage rapidly deteriorated as Kate devoted herself to caring for the child at home, neglecting her husband and other child. It's a story of just how tough a woman can be when needed, just to survive life with all of its tragedies and heartbreak. The indomitable spirit of this woman made me feel rather guilty as I'm sure that I'd never have the strength to forge ahead as she did without breaking.

Remnants of Glory is one book you shouldn't pass up. This novel spans a huge portion of Kate Dexter's life, from age 18 to age 90. Many roadblocks are thrown in her path, but she triumphs with grace and glory. As a mother to a mentally challenged daughter, she does what most of us would do, much to the chagrin of others around her. As a wife, she deals with her marriage and it's traumas with dignity. And as a human being, she admits her weaknesses and flaws in spite of her perfect reputation. Kate lives her life throughout this novel with a mad determination. It is truly a beautiful and powerful piece of work. Teresa Miller deserves a big round of applause for this one. Those who love reading about a character from life until death, fully-formed and 3-dimensional will most likely appreciate this masterpiece.

Teresa Miller has brought us an ageless story in this wonderful book. Kate Dexter's story is the story of early twentieth century womanhood in the southwest. Tough, gritty, yet full of compassion and love - a chronicle of early Oklahoma. Simply beautiful. A truly satisfying book.

This easy-to-read book provides a unique perspective on guerilla battle tactics and how the outlaw rebels of Missouri saw the Civil War conflict. As a former Kansan, it gave me an insight into the slaughter at Lawrence that I was unaware of. Other than John Brown, this subject was rarely discussed in the Kansas history classes I took! And, the viewpoint certainly would have been taboo. The story filled a void in my educational background. Should be required reading for high school students in the Plains States. No wonder the sports rivalry between KU and MU is so bitter! Ironically, published by the University of Oklahoma Press (1992), 232 pp.

I Highly recommend McCorkles first-hand account. It is not often that we can resolve much of the differing views of history with first-hand accounts by those that were there during most of the events. I would have given this book a five had it not been for the very "out-of-place" commentary at the front of the book by someone named Hattaway (of West Point New York). I taped the aprox 25 pages together with an adivosry to skip this section as it only appeared to be added to censor McCorkles account and done in very poor taste. Why would someone want to take the time to distort someone's personal account of history. The Introduction by Barton is done very well however. Why would the publisher think that a commentary should be added when the work already had an introduction? I think the Commentary might have been added after the book was submitted just to try to promulgate a pre-conceived notion of history. Skip the commentary and its a great short work.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Any interested individual or serious student of this era must read this book. I am fortunate enough to live in the present day setting where the author's story took place. This is the real thing. I only wish there had been more works of this quality produced and saved. We would have a much better insight to those times.

Although I don't like giving a 5 star rating to any book this book deserves 6! This is the real stuff, pre WWII, pre WWI, PRE-TV! It was written at a time before historic brainwashing by movies and television existed. Before people were self conscious about telling the truth. We can see the actual format of the "Civil" War sentiments. He reveals the concepts of dying, of The North, Slavery, and other aspects of the era that we are usually forced to accept from modern day writings, reflecting only current, politically correct viewpoints. The down to earth flow of this book is very enjoyable and is great reading for anyone with interest in this subject matter.

Quantrill is often maligned as a psychopathic killer and a despotic guerilla. John McCorkle not only refutes this common claim by the writers of the winner's history, but shows that Quantrill was a compassionate and honorable man. He shows a side to the War of Northern Aggression that is rarely told.

The introductions decry the author's side of the story, but they provide no evidence that is substantiated. The factual errors that McCorkle relates can easily be relegated to the fact that he was in his 80's when he told his story to O.S. Barton and the ravages of time on the memory are well noted throughout history.

This book is a rare glimpse into what made the Missouri Bushwhacker, or Partisan Ranger as they were properly known, what they were. What they did, how they fought, for what and whom they fought: it's all in here and with a lively color that brings to life the way life was in those most trying of times.

After gold was discovered in the Bitter Root Mountains of present-day Montana in 1860, lawlessness followed the rush of miners into the region. Bannock and Virginia City became important centers within the mining districts, and by 1862 were typical western "shoot-em-up" towns teaming with unsavory characters, racked by violence, and basically "removed from the restraints of civilized society" and its laws. It's in that context that the Montana Vigilantes were created, a group that, according to the author, brought order out of chaos by offering "a shield of protection" to the citizens while wielding "a sword of retribution" against lawless marauders. An interesting development occurred in Bannock, however, in that the elected sheriff (Henry Plummer) apparently at the same time was the leader of the most notorious road gang (thieves and murderers) in the territory. Thomas Dimsdale, an Englishman who had gone to Viginia City in 1863 for his health and who shortly after operated the first newspaper published in Montana, wrote a series of articles for his paper about Plummer, his operations and agents, and the work of the vigilantes to bring to justice (often by hanging) these criminals, and these articles were later collected to make this book.

In 1987, a new biography of Plummer by R.E. Mather and F.E. Boswell threw Dimsdale's book into the realm of controversy by declaring a belief that Plummer was innocent of the crimes Dimsdale accused him of and that Dimsdale praised the work of the vigilantes too highly and uncritically. There is no doubt that Plummer had a criminal past before coming to Bannock (he was hanged there by the vigilantes in 1864), having served time in San Quentin for murder. Who is closer to presenting the truer picture is hard to say, but Dimsdale's work is a thrilling and dramatic account, a fascinating narrative that is as lively as a Max Brand western story.

The writing style / language is like that spoken in the HBO series Deadwood. A bit hard to get used to but then an interesting read and a very clear glimpse of what it was like in Montana during the 1800's.

This fascinating document is an account of the notorious "road agents" operating in Montana in the early 1860s during and after the Alder Gulch gold strike. These men took over the towns of Alder Creek, Virginia City and Bannock and ran them as criminal enterprises. Eventually groups of ordinary citizens formed secret vigilante organizations to combat the road agents. Taking the law into their own hands they pursued, shot or hanged as many of the road agents as possible. On Virginia City's Boot Hill there are presently gravemarkers with the names of a number of the men mentioned in the book who were captured and hanged by the vigilantes. Dimsdale, the author, was born in England and took over editorship of the Virginia City paper. Some of the events he witnessed, but more he relates from the testimony of those who participated in them. The accounts are a bit confusing -- they read as newspaper reports and lack a historian's distance and clarity. But they make up for all faults in the immediacy of their telling. This is a very valuable document of life in the old west, and gives an extraordinary sense of what life was like in a raw mining town, too new to have any legitimate law enforcement. Mark Twain cites Dimsdale and quotes him copiously in "Roughing It," his account of his adventures in Carson City, Nevada, and other places in the West.

Dimsdale writes of Montana history in a clarity not often appreciated by some history authors. "The Vigilantes of Montana" brings, page after page, the gold-rush era of Montana Territory to the memory and eyes of the reader. This fascinating text tells the story as my ancestors told of living in Montana during this period. It is an excellent choice for any reader interested in a true account of the romantic and hostile West.

This was first given to me 1976. What I would do with this one, I don't care about vigilantes, I have no interest in Montana, and time is too precious to take it away from the 19th century, my favorite. It suddenly dawned upon me, this is the 19th century, and if someone is going to understand the mindset of the century, you will have to examine the mindset of the whole population. Reluctantly I picked the book up and began reading. Some hours later I set the book down sorry that the author had run out of words.

Thomas J. Dimsdale was an Englishman who settled in 1863 and Virginia City, Montana and in 1864 took over as editor of the Montana Post. The newspapers served as the first publisher in serial all of The Vigilantes of Montana and perhaps some of the writing in this book, some of the romantic element, some of the color of the book is explainable artifact it was first written for the newspaper. In this century that has arisen some question about the true facts surrounding the "villain" of the story. Henry Plummer arrived in the gold camp in Nevada City in 1852 and very soon participated in the wholesome disreputable houses when he saw fit to murder two men. By 1862 former was notorious as a boss of the gang of criminals. In 1863 moved to Montana and news was elected sheriff. This is the story of the vigilantes who tracked down, tried, and executed plumber and his gang of desperados. Some modern researchers who tried to prove Plummer innocent of the crimes for which he was executed.

The author describes this event in colorful detail and very readable narrative as you see in this excerpt:
"seeing that the circumstances were such as embedded of neither vacillation nor delay, the citizenry here, summoning his friends, when up to the party and gave the military command, "company! Forward march!" This was at once obeyed a rope taken from a noted functionary's bed and had been mislaid [more was immediately sent for and soon they were hundreds of feet of good hemp] ....
"The order to `Bring up Plummer' was then passed and repeated; but no one stirred. The leader went over to this `perfect gentleman', as his friends called him, and was met by a request to `Give a man time to pray.' Well knowing that Plummer relied on a rescue on other than Divine aid, he said briefly and decidedly, ' Certainly, but let him say his prayers up here.'"

And, "Soon after, the party formed and returned to the town leaving the corpses stiffening in the icy blast. The bodies were eventually cut down by the friends of the road agents and varied. The `Reign of Terror' in Bismarck was over." The book continues for another hundred and eighteen pages of the same where only the names and places are changed to condemn to posterity the guilty. At the end, the author provides a section of short biographies of the leading players.

This is an easy reading book, well worth what you might pay for it, and whether all of the factual information is an is factual is somewhat immaterial here because it does give a picture of these decades in the West India and Hollywood would be afraid to imagine.

This book tells the story of my wife's cousin, William Swain. Swain witnessed over a hundred cholera victims, alive a day earlier, now buried in the sand banks of the Mississippi River. Bodies strewn along the Nevada trail, he viewed the tragedy. Ships, valued in the millions, he viewed abandoned in San Francisco bay.

As family members, we have John Holliday to thank. Moreover, I was thrilled with each page of Holliday's book. The 1849 Gold Rush extracted more from its participants, due to gold fever, than they got in return from the California mines. That's exactly what happened to William, who, in May of 1848, left his lovely wife, Sabrina, a newborn daughter, his brother George, and his farm residence in Youngstown, NY. William, in his heart, knew he would make it big in California country. At least he must try. And, Sabrina, not knowing the hardships and penniless outcome, gave her loving agreement. Along the way William witnessed death and deprivation, loneliness and hunger. He arrived hopeful in gold country, plied his efforts, and came away luckily with the skin on his back. He differed from most in one important way: William kept a journal. And, Sabrina and William wrote and saved their letters, from which Holliday made one of America's finest narratives. William, weighted with introspective highlight, wrote to George, "If you're thinking of coming out here, for [Gosh] sakes, do not!" William pleaded. Prospectors and miners everywhere, food scarce, prices high, California gold fields deluded nearly all. "And no one I know has gotten rich," William offered. William, beaten in his quest, longed to be with Sabrina and brother George. Ready to return, he had saved $400. He longed to bring it all home, to hand to Sabrina. But, think of it, did you ever try to get from Sacramento to Niagara Falls in 1850, while tired and broke? Yikes. No train. William would have to walk the same way home he came, over that horrible trail. He couldn't face that prospect. So, William scraped his pockets clean, and purchased passage on a ship, via Panama. Just one catch: There was no Panama Canal. That happened 60 years later. William made his way to San Francisco bay. He boarded ship. He endured sea sickness. He ate crummy food. He arrived at Panama, shaken. Next, he and all passengers traversed the 50 mile overland eastward trek with a guide. Threatened with abandonment in the jungle, he paid double. Weak, he arrived at the east side of the Isthmus, broke. William struggled on board ship. It traveled north, taking forever, to arrive at New York City. There, George, who knew to meet him from William's earlier letter, stood waiting at the gangplank. William, broke and sick, 25 pounds skinnier, staggered into his brother's arms. George helped William toward home, finally past beloved Niagara Falls, north to Youngstown. There, adoring, relieved, Sabrina faithfully nursed William back to health. Asked late in life if it was worth it, William avoided answering. He merely declared he loved his Youngstown. Can you read between the lines on that one? 'Nuff said.

Thank heavens for people like William Swain who took the time to record their personal stories and let it become, in a sense, a first-person history tale to people in the 21st century. Swain goes into great detail about his trials and tribulations and you begin to care so much about him, it almost becomes a novel. It accidentally sets the reader up for disappointment in the end by Swain reaching home and the story suddenly stopping. You'll find yourself asking, how did Eliza greet her papa? What did Swain do with the meager amount of money he made? What was Sabrina and her husband's first words to each other after an almost two-year absence? Of course, it's not Swain's fault for ending his diary at home. He merely kept the journal to update his family on his journey; not give readers 150 years later an autobiography. Holliday can not answer these final questions either and rightfully so, he does not try. You are left to ponder how it ended and hopefully, after reading so many emotional passages from William and Sabrina, you can use your imagination to answer the homecoming questions.

Holliday blends the information together wonderfully by arranging each chapter into three sections:

1. an overall historical account

2. Swain's diary

3. A Back Home section in which letters written to Swain from wife Sabrina and brother George are included.

The format works splendidly for the reader and keeps everything in a proper time frame. Holliday also includes scaled-down regional maps for every chapter which lets the reader follow along on a microcosm/macrocosm scope of the total journey. Holliday has also laboriously researched hundreds of other personal diaries and includes passages from them when Swain leaves gaps or when a quirky story can be added to intrigue the reader further. The World Rushed In is a fast read and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Western US history or is just looking for a great story.

"The World Rushed In" is a gold rush history must read. Holliday's approach to telling the 49ers tale was a seamless stitching together of William Swain's journal and letters home with other facts and general information surrounding the rush. It is a personal approach. It is an accurate approach to what being a 49er meant to those who chased the elephant.

Holliday's interpretations and prose keep the story flowing, but do not add extraneous information. Nor does Holliday attempt to explain feelings or jump to conclusions. The ease with which this book flows and the personal feelings expressed by William and Sabrina Swain make this book hard to put down. The reader feels the fear of cholera and the aches at the end of the day.
This book describes the rush mentality of the 49ers extremely well. These young, eager, adventurers truly believed they would easily find their fortunes and soon be back home. Swain himself, who was apparently better read and prepared for the trip than many, believed he would be home much sooner than he was. Unlike many others, his decision to return home from California was easier. He had a farm, a family and a life to return to that did not require any wealth. Many of the rushers had nothing to return east to.

As a native upstate New York farmer who has traveled along most of the major westward trails, albeit via car or railroad, I completely understood Swain's descriptions of praise or denigration of the land he passed through. I empathized with his homesickness. There was irony in the travails Swain survived and many of my own one hundred and fifty years later. We both went west to find our fortunes. We both adapted. He was able to return home in twenty- two months. Seven years later, I am still hoping.

My favorite paragraph in the book is a journal entry describing the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada. The paragraph ends with "where the hell is California?" I have crisscrossed Nevada in every direction. It is desolate, harsh and will lead even the most proper person to exclaim, "Where the hell is anything!" I can't imagine crossing this state walking beside an ox team.

Holliday artfully tells the big story of the emigration in conjunction with Swain's individual view. Swain had no idea how many people were ahead of or behind him. Swain mentions problems in other companies, but had no idea the extent of discontent among some of the trains. Holliday draws from other sources to compare Swain's adventures with the experiences of others. This approach gives a broader spectrum of the emigration. Swain's crossing was relatively uneventful and trouble free. He was taken ill a few times, but did not die from cholera as so many did. He was fortunate in selecting trustworthy traveling companions. He found decent passage home. Swain made it home.

"The World Rushed In" is a must read for anyone interested in the human side of the gold rush. Other works contain all the facts, figures and dates one could want. This book reveals the personal and social side of 'going to see the elephant.'

This is a superb, gripping and very personal account of one man's experience travelling to and from the California gold rush. The fact that Holliday had access to virtually all the letters sent from him and to him on the trail makes this book even more enticing. It made me feel that I was taking every step with William Swain on his journey, sharing in his joys and sorrows and those of his brother and wife back home. I thoroughly recommend this book, I couldn't put it down.

My wife and I recently visited California for the first time. In a U.S. Forest Service bookstore, I saw this book. Since we planned to return to California and tour the Gold Rush areas, I bought the book. I made a good choice! The use of William Swain's actual diary and letters made me feel almost like I was there, the descriptions were so detailed and vivid. It was an incredible journey that tens of thousands of men, women, and children made across the west. Many of these people thought that they could simply pick up gold nuggets for a few days and be rich. In fact, gold mining was brutally hard work, and few of the 49ers ever got rich. The author does a fantastic job of describing the California Gold Rush in human terms.

If you only read one book about the California Gold Rush, "The World Rushed In" would be a great choice.

This is a touching book about the loss of a child and the process it took to recover spiritually and emotionally. Highly recommended.

I confess I bought this book with a lot of worry that I would waste both my time and money and was really surprised that I got interested so quickly. I highly recomend this book. It is a wellwritten account of what happened {I live in Oklahoma} It is really a moving book. I actually cried and it takes alot for a book to make me cry. It also made me stop and think about my relationship with god.I'ved read alot of the bombing books and this is one of the best.

This book is very wonderful and inspirational. It tells in full detail about one family's loss on that fateful day in Oklahoma City. It's great for people dealing with a loss or even for people who aren't going through a loss.

I started this book thinking it would take me a while to read it, but I read it over two days because I just could not stop reading. Kathleen Treanor's story is very personal; it's not just what you know from the news. And much of the book focuses on her healing process.

She offers hope to anyone who has suffered a tragedy, not just those affected in Oklahoma or New York.

I never realized how much the letters from school children meant to victims of a tragedy.

Kathleen talks about how one day everyone else seems to go back to a normal life, and you can't understand how they possibly could after what has happened. Yet she eventually heals, and her journey is truly inspirational.

This is a wonderful book.

On April 19, 1995, the lives of the Treanor family were forever changed by the tragic loss of their daughter and parents. The author describes through heart-breaking detail their struggle to survive and eventually triumph over this horrible chapter in their lives. As an Oklahoman, I started the book believing it would speak to all of us who experienced this terrorist act in our own neighborhood. By the time I finished, I realized this book speaks not just to Oklahoma, but to the world.

A finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award, Children of the Dust: An Okie Family Story is the personal memoir of author Betty Grant Henshaw, who was born into a large family of tenant farmers in Oklahoma during the terrible time of the Dust Bowl. Her father, Bill, worked himself to exhaustion striving to provide for his wife and nine children; eventually his family had to migrate to California, where he worked in the fields in hundred-degree heat. Yet he instilled respect for hard work in his children, and kept family solidarity through trying times. Highly recommended as a powerful and profound story of salt-of-the-earth people proudly doing their best to survive.

VERY WELL WRITTEEN. BRING THAT TIME BACK TO LIFE.

This book is a joy to read. It is a story so intimately told that one feels a kindred spirit with the author and her family. Many of us who lived through the great depression and life in the west can share some of her memories, and we can relive many of the experiences in our own childhoods.
I highly recommend this book.
Audrey DeMott

This book really brings to life what it meant to be a young girl growing up in Oklahoma during the dust bowl. The struggles the family goes through and survives as the father tries to make a living as a sharecropper are fascinating. This was a world of real poverty but also great family love. Reading a history of this time through one family's experiences is a great story.

Credit should be given to the author for her ten years of work. Betty Grant Henshaw is the Author and should get the credit for writing this wonderful book. Sandra Jean Scofield helped her edit the book and was a great help, but is in no way the author. Betty Henshaw lived this book and wrote it.
This is a wonderful story of a large loving family who was poor but was rich with love and devotion. It is a touching story.

Jean Brody's characterers are wonderful and certainly capture the reader's heart. This book made me cry a bit and chuckle alot. Cleo is a star - and everyone should be lucky enough to have a grandmother like Mam. Make yourself a cup of tea and read this book in front of the fireplace

In "Cleo," Jean Brody creates wonderfully specific characters and writes with both depth and a wise, hard-headed humor. In a way, it's a book about loving books, as the title character's life is forever changed by a rural Oklahoma librarian who feeds her love of literature and opens her up to the wider world. But Brody doesn't stint on story, and I found myself eagerly returning to the book for three nights running to discover just where the next turn in Cleo's life would take her.

If John Wayne had True Grit, then Jean Brody's Cleo has True Spunk! This little gal takes us on an adventure through her growth as a runaway adolescent to a mature woman, scarred, but not beaten, by life's journey. When we meet Cleo she is on her way to Lhasa. Thank goodness for the reader she never gets there or we would have been deprived of some wonderful literary moments. If you are tired of reading cookie cutter novels, give Cleo a chance - she'll steal your heart and leave you asking for more! Me? I'd love to read more about the grandmother. How about it Ms. Brody?

Cleo is born in 1912 in Oklahoma. At age fifteen she craves to go not just beyond the garden gate, but all the way to Lhasa. She leaves home with the egg money, her trumpet and a heart full of lust. "The way to contain the itch in the privates," Cleo says, "is to cultivate the itch in the brain."

It's a circuitous trip to Lhasa, that looks as though it may last a lifetime. Cleo's sense of humor keeps her moving on. She falls once in love, once in lust, bears two children, and survives tragedy. Back in Oklahoma she begins to recover, then moves on to Los Angeles to find even more trouble, which for Cleo has become synonomous with passion.

In the end, she finds that life never loses its power to astonish. Once you make the journey with Cleo, things look different when you get back home.

One of the best books I have ever read. Picked it at random from my local library and loved it so much I wrote the author to tell her just how much I enjoyed it. This is the story of a girl from a remote town in Okalahoma (is there any other kind?) who runs away and comes back full circle to find herself. Born in a typically dsyfuntional family, drunken, womanizing father, religious spouting bitter Mother (who puts scripture quotes in the kids' school lunch muffins!) a younger brother and two sisters. Best of all, a Grandmother with Creek blood who lives, loves, smokes and will keep you in chuckles and honest reflection througout the book. This would be a marvelous movie. The story is told in a way just like life happens, if you could stop to write it down during the day. A truly enchanting, heartwarming and funny book. I could not put it down.

T. Lindsay Baker has written the definitive guide to windmills. This book is thoroughly researched and is more than just your typical coffee table coverage passing as a field manual. With extensive footnotes, manufacturers appendix, history and individual model coverage, Baker provides the scholarly coverage windmills deserve in the development of the US, in particular the American West. The settlement of this country, both real and myth, would be significantly different without the development of the windmill as it was.
James Grooms

Among windmillers, this book is known as "the bible". For more information than most people need, this is the one to own.

The book is very well done with lots of pictures and information. A true tribute to our unsung Giants of the Past. Most stand in fields or yards, unnoticed, broken down and/or grown over...showing both signs of age and of neglect. Yet, with a little TLC they could once again be productive... capable of producing a mesmerizing effect on the soul or energy if needed. They actually serve a multitude of purposes if only people would take the time to care for them, they would give plenty back in return. They are our only remaining Giants of the Past and they deserve our respect and acknowledgement. This book does just that and, hopefully, it will make its readers take notice of these great Giants and their needs and many uses. They were meant to serve us and would once again if only we'd let them.

I purchased this book for my Dad and he loves it.

A Field Guide to American Windmills is the most thorough book available on the subject of American windmills. Baker has painstakingly researched the histories of dozens of American windmill manufacturers, photographed surviving examples of each, and finally provided a silhouette drawing of each model to aid the 'windmill spotter' in identifying them. This book is a must for anyone interested in American history, rural heritage, or who just likes windmills.

A well written and well illustrated look into the common soldiers of North and South of this conflict.

Nicely written and well illustrated. A good book to have for those interested in this subject.

This book is a fantastic source of information about the lives of the men fighting the Civil War. It is not focused on causes of the war or the governmental issues that fueled it except where these related the personal lives of the men who fought. It was about common men: Yankee and Rebel. It gives us a snapshot of their passion, the conditions they endured, their joys and sorrows.

The book shows us how common men of all walks of life, and nationalities became soldiers (or not). There are many excerpts and quotes from the people who were there. It gives insight into how they fought, the equipment they used, the pride they felt and what it was like when it was over.

The pictoral history in this book is wonderful. There are pictures from the actual conflict as well as pictures of artifacts photographed later.

Davis' writing style creates such a vivid picture of the world these men lived in. This book is a long way from the dry accounts many history books provide.

I highly recommend this book!

This book is a fantastic source of information about the lives of the men fighting the Civil War. It is not focused on causes of the war or the governmental issues that fueled it except where these related the personal lives of the men who fought. It was about common men: Yankee and Rebel. It gives us a snapshot of their passion, the conditions they endured, their joys and sorrows.

The book shows us how common men of all walks of life, and nationalities became soldiers (or not). There are many excerpts and quotes from the people who were there. It gives insight into how they fought, the equipment they used, the pride they felt and what it was like when it was over.

The pictoral history in this book is wonderful. There are pictures from the actual conflict as well as pictures of artifacts photographed later.

Davis' writing style creates such a vivid picture of the world these men lived in. This book is a long way from the dry accounts many history books provide.

I highly recommend this book!

An unrivalled source of information on the uniforms, insignia and appearance of the civil war fighting men. the Fighting Men of the Civil War covers subjects as diverse as the drill movements, the life at sea,Zouaves,Black troops,weaponry and many more. Each page is fully illustrated,includes more that 100 photographs and diagrams, as well as alot of pages of full colour artwork that provide the precise level of detail demanded by the enthusiast or any historians. Hundreds of photos of real items use in the civil war make this book one of the most enduring and popular military publications ever produced. Willian C Davis, has produce accessible reference resource for military history enthusiasts of all

This book should be One of the handiest one-volume sources of information ever assembled: serious, and surprisingly hard to find, information on the nation and its people is interspersed with the many colorful characters and incidents so often associated with this dramatic conflict.

Key interests and user groups;Artists and illustrators, Collectors, Costumiers, Historians, Historical societies and interest groups, Modellers, Re-enactors, Restorers, Special interest groups, Wargamers, Schools, Educational Establishments.

An oversized, handsomely illustrated look at the Civil War, with emphasis on the soldiers themselves - camp life, uniforms, weapons, etc. Perhaps the most interesting and rewarding chapter, because it is so rarely dealt with in most other books about the war, is the one entitled "Willing Spirits & Weak Flesh," all about the sordidness of army life: drunkenness, prostitution, theft, and insubordination, among many other miseries. An excellent book that focuses on the human side of war, not the politics, the generalship, the maneuvering. An excellent addition to anyone's Civil War library.

Dusty Rhodes was a gifted and dignified man who lived an extraordinary life of adventure and sacrifice. As one of those intrepid few who sailed outnumbered to fight the Japanese in the remote South Pacific in the tough first year of America's entry into World War II, he was shot down during the Battle of Santa Cruz and endured three years of torture, starvation and loneliness as a POW. His father died while he was in captivity and he basically lost his first marriage because of the separation. But he returned to become an early leader of the navy's Blue Angels and to fly and fight in the Korean War. Dusty's life is a testament to courage, will and innovation, both on the ground and in the air. He was not only a war survivor who made good, but a naval aviation pioneer. Jim Armstrong tells Dusty's story with distinction and subtly. Anyone interested in aviation, the Blue Angels, World War II and the kinds of men who made up the Greatest Generation will find this book thoughtful and enlightening.

From POW to Blue Angel is the story of Commander (CDR) Dusty Rhodes, one of the first commanders of the Blue Angels. Mr. Armstrong tells us of CDR Rhodes exploits in the US Navy. Critical to the story is his time in WWII and the time between WWII and the Korean War. Unfortunately for CDR Rhodes most of his WWII time was spent as a POW of the Japanese (Dusty was shot down on his first combat mission and captured during the Battle of Santa Cruz). Most of the book focus's on his time as a POW. His treatment seemed to depend on the guards and camp he was in. This is the true high point of the book as Mr. Armstrong, while being distant in his telling does justice to Dusty's situation. His time as a POW is followed by his return the US forces and to the US (a good story on how he got back to the US). Once back in the US, Dusty decides to stay in the Navy and relearns how to be a pilot. This is followed up by him being accepted into the Blue Angels and eventually becoming the leader. I will spoil one little bit, while leading the Blue Angels he took them from F8F Bearcats (propeller driven) to F9F Panthers (jets).

This book is a solid 4 star book. I preferred the front half of the book when Dusty was a POW. The story was sharper and more interesting. His observations of the Japanese and of his situation were insightful on something most people don't being to understand. In the later half, things seemed to drag a little. While it was interesting what he did as a Blue Angel, I felt that there was more struggle with writing it than the earlier section. My other reason for only 4 stars (really, the front part was a strong 4.5 stars) was the writers style. There were to many times when his style just killed the chapter for me. While no Chuck Yeager, From POW to Blue Angel is a good story to read!

Raleigh E. 'Dusty' Rhodes helped develop the Blue Angels, the world's most famous military aerobatic team - and was only the third fighter pilot to become its leader. Interviews, Dusty's scrapbooks and flight logs form the foundations of a survey which is part biography, part aviation history, and always interesting: fans of military history and aviation will find it a top pick. Mark Matthews' SMOKE JUMPING ON THE WESTERN FIRE LINE: CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS DURING WORLD WAR II offers a fascinating and rare probe into a little-researched aspect of World War II history: the story of deeply religious young men whose beliefs led them to reject military service. Instead, some of them were paid a minimum wage to volunteer for the Civilian Public Service as U.S. Forest Service smoke jumpers based in Montana: this is their story, and uses extensive interviews with World War II conscientious objectors and original documents to recreate their stories.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The statistics for the first combat patrol of a fighter pilot are not good. No matter how much training they have, no matter how mentally ready they are, getting into combat for the first time is simply different than anything training can teach.

Then again, at the beginning of the War the Americans were flying the F4F Wildcat. Up against the Japanese zero it was slower in both climbing and level flight. It didn't turn as sharply so was outmatched when it came to dog fighting.

Finally at the beginning of the war the Japanese pilots were the best trained with the most hours, the most experience in the world.

October 26, 1942 was the date of Dusty Rhodes first combat patrol. They ran into zeros and Dusty Rhodes was shot down. From the book it appears that he never saw the plane that got him. It fits right in with the statistics.

From there it was a series of Japanese prisoner of war camps until the end of the war. Surprisingly his stories of life in the camps are not nearly as bad as many of the stories that have been published. His life was by no means good, but by no means as horrible as say the Bataan Death March.

After the war, it also seems that he had less troubles than many. Divorce, yes, but he handled this easily - to short a marriage, to much had happened. He was soon back on flight status. Soon after that he commanded the Blue Angels. He went on to flying a fighter in Korea, and a reasonable career after that.

This book covers from basically getting shot down to his return from Korea. It is largely based on his memories, but exhaustively researched to back up what he said. It is well written and an joy to read. You have to respect these members of what Tom Brokaw correctly called 'The Greatest Generation.'

I am distantly related to Dusty Rhodes, which is why I bought the book. However, it's not the reason I couldn't put it down - it's just an amazing story, and very well-told. I expected a dry explanation of war battles and air flights. This book is anything but dry. It is touching, funny, heart-warming and truly inspiring. It's very readable, even for someone who would normally never pick up a "war book". Dusty's story is one of courage, hope, determination, a love for his country, and a love of life.