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University of Nebraska Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Grant's Secret Service: The Intelligence War from Belmont to Appomattox

Published in Hardcover by University of Nebraska Press (2002-04-01)

Author: William B. Feis

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Well-Intentioned, Terrible Maps and No Timelines

Helpful Votes: 12 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-28

I do not regret taking the time to read this book, and it is a well-intentioned worthy effort--however, given a new choice, I would probably go with the alternative, by an intelligence professional, "The Secret War for the Union: The Untold Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War."

I give the author, not an intelligence professional, high marks for the research, the story-telling, and the consistent themes. I give the editor and publisher low marks for the terrible maps (many seem to have lost their unit location markings and other key annotations) and the lack of tables showing "who knew what when..."

Three themes stayed with me as I put the book down:

1) A great deal can be accomplished in terms of intelligence with even a very small number of people--as few as 1-2 on staff, 3-5 behind the lines. We in America have substituted billions for technology and a cast of close to 100,000, for rather poor intelligence and counterintelligence.

2) Maps, especially "information maps," are worth their weight in gold. I was reminded by this book that intelligence has in the past been an off-shoot of topographical engineering and map making, and do believe that we must restore the "hard-wired" connection between geospatial information and the "data" that our human, imagery, and signals professionals seek out.

3) Deserters, prisoners, and legal travelers are a gold mine of information and must, must, must be systematically exploited. No matter the degree to which they may offer up untruths and deceptions, the bottom line is that any commander who fails to plan for the systematic exploitation of these human resources, and to do so in a timely fashion, is derelict in their duty. As I recall, we do not yet have a proper table of organization or equipment in the U.S. force inventory for handling such individuals--the worst battalion, or the over-burdened military police, or some kludge collection of reservists, seems to end up being the solution each time. This dereliction is even more costly in "low intensity" environments.

I will not make too much of it, but I was especially pleased to see how much of Grant's intelligence came from enemy newspapers.

The author seeks to make much--perhaps too much--of how Grant did not allow himself to be immobilized by a lack of intelligence, substituting initiative when intelligence was lacking, but I for one don't buy it. What I see in the book is a substantive appreciation by the General Commanding of the role of intelligence, however poorly manned or funded, and that makes all the difference.

Relevant for Today!

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-17

This is a fascinating look at how intelligence was gathered during the Civil War. I found it a fast read. It was interesting to see how Grant progressed in his thinking/actions by way of his collecting of knowledge.

Author Knows His Stuff, But Text is Compilation of Articles

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-01

William Feis knows what he is talking about--his doctoral dissertation was on this topic, and it is the most thorough monograph on Grant's use of military intelligence--known at the time as "secret service." The author shows an evolution in Grant's thinking and practice from early in the war through its final days. Grant was by nature aggressive--he was only supposed to demonstrate against the Confederate camp at Belmont, for example, and ended up attacking it. He felt that taking the initiative in battle made up for a lack of intelligence information--make the enemy wonder what you are doing rather than being too concerned about the enemy's situation. But later in the war, after Jubal Early's troops got away from the defenses of Richmond in 1864 without Grant's knowing, and went all the way up the Shenandoah to threaten Washington, Grant realized the importance of intelligence and beefed up his capability. While this book is a contribution to our understanding of Grant's views and practice of intelligence, the text is somewhat choppy, as are many books that are a collection of previously published articles. Other books on military intelligence, such as "The Secret War for the Union," would best be read prior to this one. However, despite it's limitations in scope and style, this book is well researched and is certainly worth reading.

I Fought With Custer: The Story of Sergeant Windolph, Last Survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn

Published in Hardcover by University of Nebraska Press (1987-09-01)

Author: Charles Windolph

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A valuable account of the Custer tragedy

Helpful Votes: 11 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2003-11-29

It is difficult to really rate a work like this. This is the story of Charles Windolph, the last survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, in his own, simple words. Windolph told his story to a father and son historian team in the 1930s and 40s. Windolph's distinction as last survivor is a bit misleading--he was the last man who was present at the battle to die, but his title as last survivor does not mean he was with Custer's column of troops. He wasn't. In fact, he was under Benteen, and was one of many who survived the battle because they weren't as heavily engaged in it as Custer.
Windolph presents an interesting perspective on the battle, and seems relatively objective. He does tend to romanticize a little, but for the most part he refrains from throwing blame on Custer, Reno, Benteen, or anyone else (though he does state up front that he is partial to Benteen). His story is not all that unique when compared to other primary accounts of the battle, but it is nevertheless valuable as the testimony of a survivor of that horrible tragedy.
Included with Windolph's narrative are a number of primary documents, cobbled together in chapters and laced throughout with author's commentary. This is all right, but it would have been better to present these documents in their entirety, with only enough commentary (perhaps in the form of footnotes) to give the reader an idea of the background surrounding the documents. Still, the Hunts have done a relatively good job of remaining objective as well, something that is rare in a Custer historian. This is perhaps not the best account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but it is nevertheless an important one.

A memorable account of the Custer fight

Helpful Votes: 14 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2000-03-23

As a Custer buff, this book has been on my shelf for a long time. A great book to read, one that fleshes out a lot of the daily life in the Seventh as well as the battle along Greasy Grass. Right up there with "Son of Morning Star" and Walter Camp's book on the subject. Check 'em out, you won't be disappointed.

Interesting Read

Helpful Votes: 18 out of 19 total.
Review Date: 1997-12-13

This book is compiled from the found writings of a sergeant of the Seventh Cavalry who survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The first hand accounts of men like Sergeant Windolph and Theodore Goldin are very valuable and interesting reading. They were not men defending their performance as were the officers like Benteen, Reno, and Godfrey. They had their biases but didn't have to grind axes. This account is worthwhile reading for students of the Seventh Cavalry and the Little Big Horn campaign.

I Fought with Geronimo

Published in Hardcover by University of Nebraska Press (1987-09-01)

Authors: Jason Betzinez and Wilbur Sturtevant Nye

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WORTH READING

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-25

Very interesting read. Betzinez' descriptions are vivid and colorful; especially when describing the areas he roamed with Geronimo. Definitely biased, but interesting just the same. He went from a nomad Apache to a settled blacksmith and farmer. Although Betzinez is Native American, he gives a different view of the Carlisle School, relationships with his white neighbors, and the Army of the late 1800's than the popular Native American view. Filled with many historical highlights of the late 1800's to the early part of the 20th century, and Oklahoma history. Great pictures and maps if you're learning about the west.I strongly recommend this book.

As I Recall - My Book Report (over 40 years ago)

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-24

I once owned an original publication and autographed hardcopy by Betzinez. I even did a book report on it in grade school back in the mid 60s. As I recall, the book was vividly descriptive about the life and times of an Apache Indian in the American Southwest in the late 1800s up to the time he wrote the book in the late 1950s. Betzinez tells a story that was not so much about fighting the US Cavalry and settlers or kidnapping women and children but more about a young boy growing up in a native culture long since forgotten. As a warrior, he survived the harsh elements fighting with the great warrior chief Geronimo. As a fully matured adult, he became well educated and Christian American Indian who loved his fellow man reguardless of skin color. His story covers how he lived off the barren land, the exciting war party and raids, conflicts against rival Indian tribes, riding bareback on horses and hunting wildgame to survive. It is hard to believe Jason was born in 1860, since he was in incredibly good health when I met him in early 60s. He would have been over 100 years old. He certainly was not a wild savage more importantly he was a good Christian family friend and part-time employee of my Dad, the late Dr. Ernest Winter, a Dentist in Lawton Oklahoma.

He lived from the Stone Age to the Atomic Age!

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-10

A fascinating story of a "wild" Indian who made his way successfully through the various stages of his life: from the unfettered freedom of the mountains, to the tenuous search for refuge in a hostile environment, through the confinement of the reservation, to the peaceful contentment of Christian love. Jason tells the remarkable story of his life from 1860 to 1959 with self-effacing honesty. He will certainly blur, if not erase, the stereotypical image of the "Hollywood" Apache.

I'll Die before I'll Run: The Story of the Great Feuds of Texas

Published in Paperback by University of Nebraska Press (1988-12-01)

Author: C. L. Sonnichsen

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I'll Die Before I'll Run: The Story of the Great Feuds of Texas

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-11

I have bought several copies of this book since I first read it - a
recommendation in itself.

A SINISTER HISTORY REVEALED!

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2001-02-21

C.L. Sonnichsen has bravely compiled a history of Texas feuds stained deep with blood and treachery. Killings, revenge killings, lynchings, bushwackings, corruption, deceit, bravery and cowardice, are all fascinatingly embroiled into these terrible wars. Included in this volume are: the Sutton-Taylor feud; the Horrell-Higgins War; the tale of the Marlow brothers; the San Saba Mob; the Broocks-Wall feud - all of which tell shocking, but remarkable, tales.

It is as well to remember that these feuds were highly sensitive affairs, and in some cases, have remained so ever since. For this reason their stories should be treated with the utmost respect. As the author himself declares that the discussion of such topics does not always meet with 'enthusiasm' or with 'open arms' among some people.

However, the topic does provide much insight to historians and psychologists alike, about human behaviour under such circumstances, and how they compare to feuds of today. The book also clearly demonstrates the frailties of local communities, and the impact the development of law had on such societies.

This book though filled with many atrocities, is thoroughly enjoyable. The author has produced a great book in his uncompromising endeavour to lay bear many controversial facts. As has been proved in the past, this book is a great source for research.

Best book on Texas feuds

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-06

I dont know how many times I have reread this volume...It is absolutely a marvel how well Sonnichsen retells these tangled tales of feuds. The Taylor Sutton feud went on 30 years...it was multi generational, but Sonnichsen makes everything plain. Great annecdotes abound in this book, like the rustler who wouldnt talk as they beat his back bloody till the vigilante leader growled" turn him over"......Bob Lee's one man feud against a pack of worthless carpetbagger types is told in heart wrenching detail....the nasty business in Shackleford County...the Woodpecker-Jaybird feud in East Texas...really I cant reccomend this book enough

The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival

Published in Paperback by University of Nebraska Press (1996-01-01)

Author: Susan Zuccotti

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THEY HAD THE COURAGE OF THEIR CONVICTIONS

Helpful Votes: 11 out of 22 total.
Review Date: 1997-06-03

THIS SUPERB ACCOUNT OF ONE OF CIVILIZATION'S DARKEST HOURS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN, IF THIS QUOTE FROM PAGE 217 WERE FOLLOWED BY OTHER PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND HISTORY. "WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT THEY VIEWED THE HOLOCAUST AS ABOVE AND BEYOND POLITICS, THEY UNDERSTOOD THEIR DUTY AS CHILDREN OF GOD, AS ITALIANS, AND AS HUMAN BEINGS, AND THEY HAD THE COURAGE OF THEIR CONVICTIONS." GREAT READING.

WELL DOCUMANTED

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-24

If you want to know a brief and condensed history of the situation of Jews in Italy during the nighmarish years of the WWII,this is the book to read.
I do not share the view of the writer who gives the reason (among others)for the survival of the majority of the Jews of Italy survived because they were "nonsubmissive" and " a tiny minority (who were massacreted) were terrified,unimaginative,passive..."
Millions of Jews perished under the nazis. Hardly I can say it was because they were unimaginative and passive,included those Jews and non Jews who died in the Ardeatine Caves (in Rome) who were dragged out from their homes or prision with to their deaths.

A compassionate human being

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2001-12-17

I recently saw Susan Zuccotti lecture at Seton Hall University and was very impressed by her scholarship, objectivity and above all, compassion. Being the daughter of an Italian Jew who suffered the humiliation of the racial laws during the late l930's, I was fascinated by the fact that only 15% of Italian Jews perished during the war. Professor Zuccotti presents this fact along with others still contending that while this was a relatively small percent compared with other countries in Europe, the pain and loss suffered must not be minimized. Similarly, she presents a very objective view of Pius XII involvement(or lack therof) in saving the Jews. While she states that there was no evidence of a clear directive from the Pope,she does acknowledge the behind-the-scenes efforts by so many in local churches, convents, monasteries and schools who sheltered Jews under very dangerous circumstances. Again, I have several friends and relatives of my father's generation in Italy and NYC who survived the war under these conditions. I am looking forward to reading her work.

Jesse James Was My Neighbor

Published in Paperback by University of Nebraska Press (1997-05-01)

Author: Homer Croy

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A fun book on Jesse James

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 1999-01-23

A well written book by a fellow NW Missourian, Mr. Croy interviewed many eyewitness's to the actual James gang robberies. It is easy and fun to read. A must have book.

Highly entertaining

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-29

I first read this book in grade school, UMPTEEN years ago, when , mostly to annoy my Mom, I set about reading every book I could find on western outlaws. After my "Billy the Kid" era, I moved on to Jesse James. First I read the "scholarly" books with the ooky pictures of dead outlaws and Jesse's scary one-armed mother (her hand was blown off by a bomb lobbed through the family door by the Pinkertons.) Then I found Homer Croy, who tells roughly the same stories, but with a wonderfully humorous and personal writing style. Stylistic, yes, and probably more legend than truth. But of all the books, this is my very favorite. I was so happy to learn it was back in print. I assume that Mr. Croy has passed on, but he hasn't, I'd travel to wherever he is to buy him lunch. Perhaps not a "great" book in the sense of, say, WAR & PEACE, but a great book nonetheless.

Down home history.

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2001-11-06

Homer Croy wrote this informal biography of the James boys of Missouri, first published in 1949. The author uses homespun sources for many of the stories and anecdotes of Jesse and Frank, the Younger brothers, and their nefarious associates. Mr. Croy lived near Jesse's base in northwestern Missouri, hence the title. Croy was born the year after Jesse died, and considered himself almost a contemporary. He traveled to various towns and farms interviewing folks who remembered the Widow James and her famous sons. The result is a casual history, and reminds one of sitting on a front porch in small town Missouri while the old people spin tales. Lest one doubt the credibility of the sources, Mr. Croy takes care through newspaper archives and other, more objective sources to verify the facts. He also briefly examines the influence of Frank and Jesse on dime novels, art, and movies. Croy is forthright in his biases, but also keeps his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. Out in Missouri, folks truly admired Jesse and Frank, especially their low opinion of banks and railroads. It's doubtful that Jesse James was really an Old West Robin Hood, but the book never seriously suggests that as a fact. We can believe that Jesse's killer, Bob Ford, was a coward, and that Pinkerton men were considered polecats. Decent folks just didn't stand for that type of behavior. The book won't give the reader any particular insight, beyond the obvious, of the James boys and their motivations. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining blend of fact and folklore. Good light reading for students of Western history. ;-)

Kate Chase and William Sprague: Politics and Gender in a Civil War Marriage

Published in Hardcover by University of Nebraska Press (2003-12-01)

Author: Peg A. Lamphier

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Kate Chase and William Sprague: Politics and Gender

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-03

An excellent book! The author really knows her subject and makes this history book as readable as a romance novel. An amazing amount of history that a lot of us might have skipped over in another book. Once I started this book I couldn't put it down.

Well Researched and Illuminating

Helpful Votes: 23 out of 26 total.
Review Date: 2003-11-03

This is at least the 5th biography of the Civil War Northern Belle, Kate Chase (daughter of Lincoln's Treasury Secretary), and it takes good advantage of material not available to prior researchers. It continues the revisionist trend from the last bio ("Kate Chase for the Defense", by Sokoloff) of trying to humanize this ambitious woman and portrary her in a more sympathetic light than the first several books. The author makes as good a case as one can for her point of view, and candidly admits to favoritism (she announces in the prologue that she will ever be a Kate supporter, and discloses an unmitigated hatred of Kate's husband William Sprague). But the gender politics angle grows tiresome after a while and detracts from the story. One wishes the book were told in a more dramatic manner; there is certainly more than enough raw material for that.

The best new stuff here concerns the hitherto unknown extent to which the Roscoe Conkling-Kate Chase relationship continued well after the famous "shotgun" incident in which the cuckolded Sprague threatened to blow Conkling's head off, setting off a national scandal. I was particularly intrigued by materials indicating that Kate continued to press the case for Conkling to President Chester Alan Arthur, urging Arthur to give her lover a high-level position in his administration at a time when it should have been obvious that this was not in the cards. Indeed, much of the new research material merely bolsters the picture of Kate Chase as a ceaselessly calculating individual, almost oblivious to what others thought of her. The author is not averse to calling her subject on a number of things, particularly her public prevarication following the shotgun incident, but the sense is that Kate is let off a bit too lightly on this and other matters. And the effort to explain much of Kate's behavior as stemming from a serious, substantive concern for liberal Republican values is not terribly convincing; there is little hard evidence that Kate's political activity was based on anything other than a desire to see her and her loved ones (her father, Conkling, even Sprague) attain positions of personal and political power. That is how virtually all of her contemporaries who knew her saw her (even friends such as John Hay), and the modern biographer bears a heavy burden in trying to impeach that conventional view. (the one vignette I wish the author had included is Hay's diary account of how Kate virtually pleaded with him to dine with her and Conkling a few years after the scandal; Hay made up an excuse for declining).

While early biographers went too far in painting Kate Chase as a cold, ambitious, cutthroat personality, this book tilts a bit too far in the other direction. We could now use a full-bodied, objective bio of this fascinating woman which makes use of the wealth of new material that seems to keep turning up and does not lose sight of the powerful drama that attended her life and times.

Outstanding

Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-12

I've read every biography on Kate Chase Sprague that's around today, and this one, by far, is the best. Peg Lamphier combines the historical background with the characters of Kate and William, and masterfully brings both of them to life in a way I have yet to see in other books. I was so impressed that I've read this book more than once, and each time I find something that makes me remember, Kate was a real person, and a "glorious girl", and what happened to her could happen to anyone.

Kate's life is one that makes me want to go back in time and shake her, but then, we all have to live our lives and do the best that we can with our choices and paths we take.

This biography is well-written, well-researched, and extremely interesting. The author comes across as being much more sympathetic towards Kate than some I've read do, but that's okay. It fits in this book. This is definitely not a novel and not easy reading at times, but I highly recommend it for any serious student of Kate Chase, her marriage to William Sprague, and for those curious about gender and gender differences during the Victorian Era.

Cindy Obermier

Kit Carson and the Indians

Published in Hardcover by University of Nebraska Press (2000-09-01)

Author: Thomas W. Dunlay

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tour de force

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-07

This is a thoroughly researched and balanced treatise on Kit Carson and his complex relationship with Native Americans. Recommended!!!

In-depth Analysis of a Complex Personality

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-07

This is an excellent book and is highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn about Kit Carson, especially his relationship with Native Americans in general and the Navajo in particular. I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico where Carson is often denegrated, particularly in regards to his treatment of the Navajo. While Dunlay's book is not an easy read, it does a good job of presenting and discussing the activities and achievements of Kit Carson within the context of his times, analyzing all facets of his life. He was a complex man who lived in changing times.

Compelling, charismatic study

Helpful Votes: 8 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2006-09-29

An authoritative and spellbinding examination into the life of our great frontiersman Christopher Carson.
Dunlay delves into every crevice, explores behind and under every rock and examines every shred of research to justify Carson's character toward the American Indian. The premise here is to thwart the image of Kit Carson as an "Indian-hater", racist and genocide advocator. The author has done just that.
Yes, in his youth Kit had killed numerous Indians, but only when warranted. Oftentimes it was kill or be killed from the 1820's to early 1840's. There were good Indians and bad. There were good whites and bad. When the mountain man came west, he was another 'tribe' who had battles to fight.
Later in life when Carson became Indian agent, scout, soldier and superintendent of Indian affairs, his entire demeanor towards the Native American changed dramatically. He did support violence but only to the few hostiles. All told he was there to protect and save the Indians from extermination by white encroachment.
His continued and tireless efforts of feeding and clothing hundreds upon hundreds of Indians, promoting the reservation system to separate whites from Indians in order to suppress troubles between the two cultures, etc. are conclusive evidence of his caring.
I read his autobiography several years ago and thought I was well informed, but these memoirs conclude in 1856. Much more happened to Kit (and the nation) up until his death in 1868. This book by Dunlay covers his entire life.
An absorbing and significant read.

Krypton Nights: Poems (Paris Review Prize in Poetry)

Published in Paperback by University of Nebraska Press (2002-12)

Author: Bryan D. Dietrich

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Work of art

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-02

I had the pleasure of being Bryan's student at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, and I bought his book there. He is a fantasic poet, a great teacher, and is an inspiration. He shared that it took years for him to win the Paris Review prize and get this book published -- he is an example for all struggling writers to keep trying.

I love this book, adore Bryan, and hope he has continued success. Watch for Amazon Days!

A Brilliant Myth-Making Debut

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-26

"We are all like Scheherazade's husband," wrote E.M. Forster, striking upon some fundamental wish in the human psyche to be abducted by the myth. Taking up where the DC comics leave off, Krypton Nights, Dietrich's brilliant suite of persona poems in the voices of Superman, Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, and Lois Lane plumb the depths of our human desire to make myth and to posit the existence of a God-made-man (be it Superman or the Messiah) who could save us. Whether writing a persona poem in the voice of a comicbook character or the lyric record of Branch Dividians in Waco, Texas as he does in another collection, Bryan Dietrich makes meaning out of our fascination with the psychological cariactures that loom large, in cartoon fashion, in our imagination. Against the backdrop of the heroic writ large, Dietrich counterpoints the all too common stuff of our human frailty and failure to successfully negotiate the personal and fashion a reasonable compromise with reality. Dietrich reminds us that great poems are ultimately great arguments with ourselves. Dietrich's voice, thinly clad in the bravado of Superman, reminds us that little stands between us and the disasters we witness on the news. Belief, fantasy, the will to be abducted by the fantastic: our distractions. The result is a compellingly compassionate voice that invites us to consider our guises, our masks, in the face of the possibility that no one is coming to save us and to ponder this pattern of days, our modernity, without myth.

Battling Perspectives

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-21

How serious a subject matter is Superman? Serious enough for poetry to be based on him. Added to the media-crossing character's resume is now the noblest of the arts: verse - some blank and some not-so-blank. Mind you, this collection is no comic book - not that comic books don't offer fine entertainment and fine subtext in their own right - 'Kryton Nights' was the winner of the 2001 Paris Review Prize for Poetry; an organization not resigned to handing out awards to just anyone. Unfortunately, there are not so many deserving recipients in the poetry field these days; and those that do deserve are often buried amongst the countless worthless others. Only by sheer luck and my love for Superman did I stumble across this one. But alas, I have given away my first bias.

Superman is the subject of this book, which is broken up into four parts: an autobiographical set of sonnets by Clark Kent, an series of tapes recorded by Jor-El for his son Kal-El, the poetic diary of Lois Lane, and a seething rant of Lex Luthor as penciled from Arkham Asylum. For any lover of Superman, this slim volume is irresistibly fun, just for the intelligent treatment given so many fabulously fantastical characters. For any lover of poetry (or just good writing) it offers its own set of treats. From hilarious 'what if' scenarios as told by Lois in "His Maculate Erection" to the sobering final lines of "The Fourth Man in the Fire": "Being the neighborhood / god, all guts and gusto, well, it's numbing. / / But here, just another byline for a vast news magnate, / I can stumble, fumble, fail. I can always quit the 'Planet'"

As a sort of modern mythic god figure, Superman, in this text serves as a gateway to our older gods and religions; their cacophonies and inconsistencies go head to head in many of these poems. Dietrich weaves many subjects in and out of this comic world, as to blend them almost completely. The confusion of a spouse, the love of a father, the hatred and misdirected rage of a competitor, and the so-human exhaustion of a hero intermingled with countless references and sprinkled with often hilarious, often terrifying puns... it all makes for a fabulous read. Frequently blasphemous and always thought provoking, 'Krypton Nights' is the kind of book Superman deserved to have written about him, it definitively elevates his fictional status to one of a much greater (and as of yet unexplored) importance.

Life in Custer's Cavalry: Diaries and Letters of Albert and Jennie Barnitz, 1867-1868

Published in Paperback by University of Nebraska Press (1987-06-01)

Authors: Albert Barnitz and Jennie Barnitz

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Wonderfully vivid description of life in the frontier army

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 1999-11-29

The edited letters and journals of Capt. Barnitz and his wife provide a gripping picture of the experiences of an officer in the early years of the Indian Wars. The book also provides wonderful insight into how Custer ran the 7th cavalry and what his officers thought of his leadership. A truly enjoyable book!

An excellent narrative by one of Custer's company commanders

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-08-29

This book is composed of Barnitz' personal diary and letters written to his wife, which she conviently kept over the years. Additional information is detailed and follows the letters and diary entries in chronological order. Barnitz enjoyed writing, wrote his wife often and made regular entries in his diary. The book is full of interesting phographs, many which I have never seen before, even though I have been a Little BIg Horn buff for quite a while. An excellent biographical glosssary is included that includes the histories and significant events of many important Indian War personalities. A must for any serious Custer library.

First person description of life in the Seventh Cavalry

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 1997-12-13

Albert Barnitz was a Captain in the Seventh Cavalry. He was wounded and not a member of the unit by the time of its' famous defeat at the Little Big Horn. Barnitz through his letters to his wife describes life on the Plains with the Seventh Cavalry and it's Lieutenant Colonel Custer. His first hand description of events he experienced and personalities he knew gives life to persons and events from Western history. This book will interest those desiring a first person report of life in the Seventh Cavalry on the Great Plains.