United States Books

As an 0331 (machinegunner) in the exact same unit several years later, this book was an inspiration to all the men in the platoon as well as Johnnie Clark being our unit hero. The book was excellently written and serves as a mirror to the bonds of friendship that develop in the small units of the U.S. Armed Forces

This remarkable book describes the commitment of a young American (17 years) in the Marines in 1968, as a server of the famous M60 rifle gunner. "Guns up" - the order of battle and odf immediate fire - became a classic Overseas Atlantic story of the war in Vietnam. It has all the ingredients for success: good writing, humility, joint commitment ( "team spirit") and even religious faith (not that of George Bush, however, and fortunately).

I found this story in the spirit of the commitment of the elite troops at the French war in Indochina. 7 months of fighting without having set foot in a barrack, living in the jungle: what warrior feat indeed! Embuscades, fraternity, weaknesses of man.

A great book for a superb story.

Vietnam another generation, another war,life in the bush;death nearby everyday,war buddies killed.Life as a teenage Marine, either you grow up or die. A great read if you want to know what life as a Marine is.

if you want to know what the south end of Quang Nam province was like in 1968-69, this is it. i was there, just like johnny clark; but i was in 1/7. he's done a great job of capturing the feel of the time.

This is one of the best books I've read. The writer says in the end that some of this is fiction, or that certain characters are made of multiple people he knew, but the bulk of this story is true, regardless of who it happened to. I have yet to know someone who read this book and did not have to fight back tears at least once. I have read this book 4 times now. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Erica Asahan wrote:

This book was one of very most informative reference book. It's a must to all that is looking to buy or even refinance their home. It's a little dated, but, it great!

Anyone thinking of buying a house should read this book. It is thousands of dollars worth of advice from an experienced broker for only $13! Randy Johnson gives you all the essential tools and knowledge to make an educated decision about your home and your investment. I'm an MBA grad and a finance professional and found this book offered much info that I had never learned about. Invaluable for anyone - finance professionals or otherwise.

Randy Johnson is the best! He's a friend to you hoping to level the playing field so one gets the best mortgage for oneself - not for the banks or mortgage companies. A truly honest and sincere business man - however that might usually sound like an oxymoron.

I found this book (the first edition) to be informative when I bought my first house.

book good as far as it went. For my purposes the amortization tablez did not go far enough, The tables stopped at $200,.000.00

Quick read. Definitely worth it if you have been or are going to be in the region. Some of his scientific stuff is a little off but it's not the right book if you are looking for exacting detail on these subjects. Modzelewski's perspectives were very idealistic and I found it a little difficult to believe that the experiences he relates were quite a spiritual or mind altering as he sometimes makes them seem. The author does pull series of stories or facts together well. The chapters addressed themes - like the tribes, animals, the island's owner, etc. Modzelewski doesn't try to tell you everything there is to know about any of these subjects but selects what he thinks is interesting and relates it briefly. Often the points he makes or the stories he chooses to tell are not ones that you might have expected.

I live in Alaska and a friend recommended Mr. Modzelewski's book. And now I recommend it to the world. Sure, there's the usual descriptions of animals, ocean, weather and solitude but what makes this book special is the author goes so much deeper into the Spirit behind things. Haven't stopped thinking about his experiences and it's been a month now since I finished the book.

I'm an actress and read scripts, rarely books -- but after a producer friend recommended Inside Passage to me, I couldn't put it down! In fact, I read it three times. It was like watching a movie -- that's how vividly Michael Modzelewski writes. Alaska is a far different world than Los Angeles and I escaped completely to a pure and inspiring reality. Thank you, Michael! You are gifted and blessed. And who knows? Maybe we can turn this captivating story into a film, with the author and animals the main characters and could there be a more beautiful setting than the Inside Passage to Alaska -- as evoked so wonderfully in this poetic prose.

A wonderful voyage in mother nature's womb, evoking feelings of awe, and revere at the colossal universe, inhaling the powerful imagery of wilderness through Michael.

Michael Modzelewski writes like a wild animal. If the beasts could speak it wouldn't come out much different than how Michael describes them. The author knows no limits -- extending into and giving shape to all animate matter in super insightful poetic prose.

This is a book that I couldn't read slowly enough for fear that it would end.

Wendell Berry--novelist, poet, essayist--has written an unrequited love story and a love letter to the natural world. Jayber Crow revisits Berry's fictional Kentucky town of Port William and peers into the life of the town's barber, the book's namesake, Jayber.

Berry, a well-known environmentalist, has enough skill to render a page-turning story while advocating for the earth. He's one of our greatest living American writers. I highly recommend this book.

This is an amazing story! Vividly written and really makes you think about what is good in the world. The characters stay alive in your mind for months after finishing the story!

This audio version is well narrated and easy to listen to. It's un-abridged, so all the wonderful descriptions of the book are in there.

Wendell Berry is a fantastic author - I can't wait to start the next book.

The book jacket calls this a "beautiful, lyrical love story," and it is. But it is not the romance of a man for a woman but rather the deep, fond emotion that Jayber Crow holds for his community, his friends, and all that has gone into his non-eventful but ultimately pleasant life. Here is a book that can be an antidote for the disillusion and despair we feel when we seem to be lost in the cosmos. As Jayber reminisces,

"I still do belong to Port William. Being here satisfies me. I have no thought of going away. If I knew for sure that I would die here, I would be glad. And yet definite as all this is, it seems surrounded by the indefinite, like a boat in a fog. I can't look back from where I am now and feel that I have been very much in control of my life. Certainly I have lived on the edge of the Port William community, and I am farther than ever out on the edge of it now. But I feel that I have lived on the edge even of my own life. I have made plans enough, but I see now that I have never lived by plan. Any more than if I had been a bystander watching me live my life. I don't feel that I ever have been quite sure what was going on. Nearly everything that has happened to me has happened by surprise. All the important things have happened by surprise. And whatever has been happening usually has already happened before I have had time to expect it. The world doesn't stop because you are in love or in mourning or in need of time to think. And so when I have thought I was in my story or in charge of it, I really have been only on the edge of it, carried along. Is this because we are in an eternal story that is happening partly in time?" (322)

Berry's lyrical prose helps us to enjoy the opportunity to be "on the edge" of Jayber's life, and we are the better for being carried along by it.

Reading Jayber Crow is like spending the weekend listening to your favorite uncle tell family stories. The conversational tone used by Berry could get sappy in the hands of a less skilled writer, but that doesn't happen on the pages of Jayber Crow. Wendall Berry's prose is exquisite. As the story moves slowly through another time and place, Jayber's voice draws you into his private mind. It is a tender place to be. The story is thought-provoking and deeply moving. I hated for this book to end.

I used to read a lot of books and I never felt the need to quantify or compare one book to another. But when I finished Jayber Crow I knew that this was the best book I had ever read.

As other reviews here will testify, it is astounding how Wendell Berry communicates with mere words the beauty of life, the human heart and the love that holds both together.

I've sold most of the books I owned but I doubt that I will ever part with my copy of Jayber Crow.

A must read for any one who is interested in what went on behind the scenes during the Delaration of Independence, the
Constitution the early founding of our country (United States). Every politician should read it, because history does repeat itself!
Vincent

After reading both David McCullough's biography of Adams and now this one, I have concluded that Ferling's is the better of the two. The main reason is that although McCullough's is slightly more extensive, Ferling's book has a much more realistic view of the man. As his book Almost a Miracle shows the many tactical mistakes that Washington made, this book does the same with Adams. It makes sure to reckognize Adam's flaws as well as his virtues. For example, his frequent hypocracy, his recurrent neglect of family, his indecision, his self doubt, and his many political misjudgements are all fully acknowledged. Yet even with these faults, its overall view of Adams is still that of a great man.

In addition, Ferling's writing is practically as good as McCullough's, so read this book.

I will echo what others have written. This book gives almost every detail of John Adams life. It is an outstanding biography that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys historical books.

By the last page of this book you'll feel like you personally know John Adams. You'll know what drove him to succeed, his stregths, his weaknesses, his personality and most everything that can be known about a person.

As a detailed and thorough look at the life of a man, this biography is superb.

This is an excellent biography, following Adams from birth to death in one volume, and detailing both the positive and the negative aspects of the man clearly and fairly. I've been fascinated by Adams ever since seeing the movie "1776", which gives a marvellous "based on fact" dramatization of the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence, and this book gave me a more thorough, more strictly factual look at the man. I wasn't disappointed on that score; he's just as interesting without the dramatic liberties taken by the movie.

My only quibble with this book is that the editing, at least in the edition that I have, is rather poor. There are numerous errors in grammatical structure and word choice, the kind of errors that I have become accustomed to in mass market paperbacks but refuse to accept in a scholarly historical work. Things like "he requested that the Congress name his successor be named in his place" and "...the British ... was ready" and "the New England sates" (rather than "States") and "the House of Representative" (even back then, there was more than one representative in the House) and "the dreary weather proved not be a herald of the months ahead" and many others. I understand that mistakes happen, and don't demand perfection. But there are just too many of this kind of error in this book for me to say that it is well-written; probably two dozen, if I had to guess.

Overall, this is a worthwhile biography of a fascinating president. Hopefully, future editions will clean up the writing a bit more.

This was my favorite childhood book about horses that I had kept up until recently. My copy had been inadvertly thrown away and I just had to have another copy. I am still horse crazy and now have a collection of some of my favorite horse books from my younger days. The illustrations in this book inspired me as a kid to learn to draw horses. The copy I recieved was just as the seller said would be, in very good condition. I will keep this and share with my grandkids in the future.
Donna mcKnight

This was my favorite book as a child. It is a really sweet, heart-warming story about true friendship and would be a great addition to any child's library

Little Black, a pony - this was the only book I ever wanted my mother to read to me at bedtime. Now, some thirty five years later, I have just bought a copy of the book and it has bought back some wonderful childhood memories. I used to recite the book to my mother word for word and even today, as I flicked through the pages, I remembered the story ! It bought a tear to my eye reading it and it is a truly lovely book about the love a little boy has for his pony ! Jackie, Cambridge, England

I read this series of books when I was young, and now I am excited to be able to share them with my 3 year old daughter. I gave her Little Black, A Pony and Little Black Goes To The Circus for Christmas. It's only December 26th now and she has already wanted to hear the books read multiple times! I'm now scrambling to find others in the series. It's a sweet, simple story of friendship with beautiful, expressive artwork.

I am angry that the reviews that are shown for this book are the ones for the original version, which appears to be out of print. This is *not* the original story with the wonderful pictures that I loved as a child, the ones that are mentioned in several of the reviews; this seems to be one "translated into Navajo" and with different illustrations. Judging from the cover, I don't like them. Be warned: This is *not* the book you remember.

It is understandable why this book earned a Pulitzer for the author. Written in the early 1950's, it was the first time Civil War events were treated from a human versus fact-after-fact view. However, Shelby Foote later wrote a superior account that not only provides the human side, but also presents all the historical data.

Part 3 of Bruce Catton's fantastic trilogy of the civil war is an interesting look at how the Army of the Potomac ended the war. From a discussion of a daring plan to plant dynamite underneath confederate lines to the chasing down of Lee's Army by Grant a true sense of what happened during the civil war can be gathered form this trilogy. An essential collection to any civil war historical library.

A Stillness at Appomattox is the last in the trilogy of the Army of the Potomac and covers from the period from late 1863/early 1864 (before the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Campaign) to April 1865 (Appomattox).

While the book is certainly heavily weighted in its coverage of the Union side, Catton is fair in his assessment of the various Union leaders. Of course, there is also the unique writing style that Catton possessed - a free flowing and smooth narrative rich with details.

My only complaint is the lack of maps. However, one must also bear in mind that the first edition was written in 1953, a time when books did not have the number of detailed maps that you would find in more recent titles.

Complaint aside, I highly recommend the book and series as the best coverage of the Union Army of the Potomac during the Civil War.

Read and enjoy!

It would be an almost impossible task for anyone to figure out just how many books have been written dealing with the American Civil War. It would also be difficult to determine which Civil War historians are most often cited by their peers but there is no doubt that Bruce Catton would be near or more likely at the top of any such list. The reason for this is quite simply that Catton was one of the great historical writers of all time. Very few people can take their readers into the heart of an army, both those of it's soldiers and leaders like Catton and even fewer convey their story in the very clear and easy to read style that this author has mastered. To read this book of pure history is in many ways like reading a historical novel and even the reader who already has a firm grasp on the historical facts of this story will sometimes find themselves wondering what happens next.

This is the story of the last campaign of the Army of the Potomac, that Ill-fated army that had so often been humiliated by Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. This campaign was to be different however because there was a new man calling the shots and having a man like U. S. Grant at the helm made all of the difference in the world. It took Grant a while though to convince this often badly led army that he was any different than his predecessors. Different he was however and once he locked horns with Lee he wasn't going to let up until one army or the other was destroyed. In other words Grant understood what had to be done and he was determined to do it.

Catton's main field of study was this man Grant but one of the author's most endearing qualities is that he makes no effort to whitewash or hide his subject's faults. Catton also does not attempt to build Grant up by tearing away at Lee like many of the more recent Grant biographers have done. He simply makes Grant's greatness apparent by telling the story the way it happened and it doesn't take long for the reader to figure out what an outstanding general Grant was.

The author has done a lot of searching through soldier's letters and memoirs as well as regimental histories and this leads to a very personal perspective of the last year of the war. The stories he has gleaned from these sources are poignant, somber, gleeful and funny. For example, one entire brigade falls out of the final advance upon Lee's army to chase down and cook some chickens that have been scattered by artillery fire. I think it was Napoleon who said something about an army traveling on it's stomach.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Civil War. The hard core Civil War reader will find new information here and the casual reader will find that this book is fun to read and no one should have a problem following the story. If Amazon allowed six stars this is one of the few books that would qualify.

This superb narrative about the Union's Army of the Potomac in the war's final year captured the 1954 Pulitzer Prize. The book is one of several superbly readable volumes on the Civil War by author/historian Bruce Catton (1899-1978).

This narrative covers the Army of the Potomac from the start of the brutal 1864 wilderness campaign through the war's end a year later at Appomattox. The author shows that General Ulysses S. Grant was more capable than brilliant, and fiercely determined to keep the pressure on General Lee's rebel army until the Confederates had no choice but to quit. Given the Union's advantage in men and material, the strategy made sense. What was less sensible were costly errors by Union officers, frightful casualties, and a sickening Union failure to clinch victory on the first day at Petersburg (thus reducing carnage on both sides).

The author perused many soldier diaries and letters to show us the life of the average Union enlisted man. That soldier was well-paid ($16 a month), but forced to endure boredom, rough weather, marching, stress, and dangers from disease and a tough, determined enemy.

This moving look at the last year of conflict is probably the best of Catton's narratives on the Civil War.

This is a rare gem, enriching and very funny. I loved it and it is now doing the rounds of friends and family.

After contemplating single parent adoption (I'm a 39 yo guy) this book has cemented the awesome choice that I'm about to make. The author details the long and hard road he took to be united with his little boy. It details his experiences with the massive bureaucracy BOTH in Russia and the United States along with the subtle and unfair suspicious stigma single males encounter by some adoption agencies and social workers. I recommed this book highly for all single men thinking about adoption.

I've never stayed up until three in the morning to read an entire book... I was bleary-eyed this morning, but Klose's story has kept me motivated all day... I, too, am a single man and have been considering adoption as a way to grow my own family... There is so very little written about single men who want to adopt children specifically, and I'm so glad I found this book, and I did so completely by accident... Klause is an swesome storyteller - his descriptions of his environments (both external and internal) were so vivid I felt like I was righit there with him - in his backyard in Maine, on the airplane going to Russia, and in the little ram-shakle house that Aloysha lived in... It was a very visual story - it unfolded like a movie...This is an emotional roller-coaster ride of a story, plowing thru pracitally every emotion on the human scale... In the scene when little Aloysha first looks to Klose and asks, "Papa?", my heart just about popped... Great as a travelogue, an instruction manual, and an inspirational story on how a single man can create a family... Click on "Add to cart" and BUY THIS BOOK!!!!

I knew the book would be good, but had no idea it would effect me so profoundly--it brought tears to eyes--such passion and compassion in this man and his quest for a son. You'll be the edge of your seat throughout the book. What determination this man has, what insight and strength of character to follow through despite the many obstacles he managed to tackle. I want more!!!!When is the next book coming out? This is must read for anyone who loves children, who is intersted in adoption or anyone who has challenges and needs inspiration!!!

I received this book with low expectations considering previous tactical books I had read on the subject. It stopped me in my tracks.
I was so impressed by Robert's literary style and story-telling ability. He allows us to go through the entire process and share very personal emotions --discovering with him important lessons for anyone involved in international adoption. The frustrations and bureaucracy encountered are almost overwhelming, but well worth it. I loved this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering international adoption--single or married. However, I would also recommend it to anyone who would enjoy an inspirational true story about a man and a boy half-way accross the world who seemed destined to be family. I promise it will change your perspective on adoption and what it means to love. All we need now is the sequel. Thanks Robert for living and telling your story.
(One more thought, if I were a TV producer, it would make a great Sunday Night Movie)

I truly enjoyed this book. It is somewhat parochial regarding the air force, but not awful about it. Some of the personal anecdotes were quite interesting, especially the description of the Saudi officers. I laughed out loud at the anecdote of "you are now leaving Saudi Arabia, please set your watches ahead 600 years".

This book assumes the reader has something of a military background, which isn't an issue to me but I can imagine some people struggling w/the story. If your interested in military history in the mideast, you can easily afford the day or two it will take to read this.

Boy, I certainly enjoyed this book. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat as you relive his experiences in Iraq and with GEN Schwarzkopf during the Gulf War.

With his unique first-hand experiences in Iraq and the Middle East and being fluent in Arabic, Col. Francona has certainly had a most exciting career. I'm sure he must still be an extremely valuable consultant to the Bush administration in Washington.

This is the best book I've read in quite some time!

He was right in the middle of the Iraq war with eyeball accounts of things that were happening. Great if you like behind the scenes info. Well written.

If you were an intelligence officer fluent in speaking Arabic and served in Iraq during its war with Iran and later as General Schwarzkopf's interpreter during Desert Shield and Desert Storm you would have a lot to tell that could not be found in American news reports--and Rick Francona does just that in Ally To Adversary.

This book takes you into Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, where you will come away with a better understanding of the political, military, and cultural mishmash of the region.

The book is full of revealing tidbits, such as:
--Government Control - In order to mail a letter outside of the country of Iraq, one must get government permission to buy postage stamps. A woman "sobbing quietly" told the author that she had a sister in the United States but could not correspond with her.
--Bunker Opulence - The Saudi king's bunker deep below the palace is itself an underground palace with kitchen, living areas and medical clinic, "opulent beyond description."
--Allies? - When the first Iraqi missiles hit Israeli soil, inside the coalition operations center every Saudi officer was on his feet applauding and cheering the attack.
--Monster Marines - The fighting ferocity of a small group of U.S. Marines surrounded and greatly outnumbered by Iraqi soldiers spread through the Iraqi army spawning wild perceptions about American marines. Among them: each marine had to have killed a member of his own family as a condition of entering the corps; and that marines practiced cannibalism on the bodies of their foes.

Find out why Iraq did not use chemical and biological weapons against the coalition forces.

At a time when many Americans want to understand Arab and Islamic influences and their effect on current events, Rick Francona's book is an excellent and enduring source.
As an Air Force intelligence officer, a Middle East veteran, and a fluent Arabic speaker, Rick had seen the Iraqis, first as an ally, and later as an adversary, as the title suggests. Early in the book he tells us about visiting Iraq during its long war with Iran. He visited areas of grinding combat around Al-Basrah and observed, as an ally, the army we would later face in the Persian Gulf War. His unique, first-hand observations would be invaluable later. He also entertains us with stories of life in Baghdad, once even escaping his Iraqi escort and conversing in Arabic with surprised ordinary Iraqis in the marketplace.
Later in the book, he gives us an insider's view as General Schwarzkopf's interpreter at the meeting at Safwan where Iraq was to receive surrender terms. Asked to translate instructions to the senior Iraqi representative, Rick tells us, "I translated the words into Arabic; the Iraqi interpreter, a brigadier who had spent several years living in Michigan, nodded to Sultan Hashim that my translation was correct." He ties many of his experiences together at a meeting later in the book when he finds himself facing an Iraqi major with whom he had worked during the Iran-Iraq war. "I was stunned to be now face-to-face with Majid Al-Hilawi, whom I had not seen since my last night in Baghdad at the end of the US-Iraq military relationship in 1988. I simply walked over to where Majid was sitting and offered my hand which he took warmly."
Rick Francona makes us feel like a personal witness to all these events. This is a great story from an observant eyewitness. It is all the more compelling because we saw the highlights on CNN and many of the observations will probably be relevant far into the future.

This book became an instant favorite--Arlene Blum's story is amazing. I don't usually like autobiographies, and I'm not a mountain climber, but this book had me hooked from the first few pages.

Somehow, the author has managed to weave elements of her childhood, her career in science, rememberances of her family, and her love of mountainclimbing into a coherent and engaging story. I was fascinated by the author's tales of mountain expedetions, of lost loves and friendships, of tragedies, and prejudices, and of small triumphs.

A great book about a fascinating life.

Arlene is a trail blazer. She is courageous on the trail, bold in her life choices, and works tenaciously to right the injustices of the world. And (here is the icing on the cake) she is also a beautiful writer.

I like to keep a couple copies of this book in my office. It is the perect gift for women who come to me wanting to understand more about the convergence of Judaism and outdoor adventures. Arlene is the best role model I know!

- Rabbi Jamie Korngold, the Adventure Rabbi, author God in the Wilderness: Rediscovering the Spirituality of the Great Outdoors with the Adventure Rabbi

From the moment Arlene Blum begins to tell her story, I was hooked. She does an exceptional job of structuring the memoir so you understand who she is as a person... and how she became an adventurer. Nothing stops her as a young child or an adult for breaking new ground for women and for her spirit. I was enthralled. Marcia

One of the classic books of women's mountaineering & adventure. I was greatly inspired & enriched by Arlene's Blum memoirs of her life. As a product of a strict, conservative, Jewish upbringing, one can only admire her strength & courage in breaking free & following her dreams.
Her feats in the early days of women's climbing challenged the male dominated field to finally open their doors & admit that women can equal & sometimes exceed men in the physical challenges of high altitude mountain climbing.
This book would come close to to being one of the best I have read. Arlene writes with great skill & honesty about her family & the men she loved, showing how we can all rise to greatness & live our dreams.

Breaking Trail is an excellent read and a very popular book at the local library!