Customer Reviews (4)

fantastic detail
General Adan's book is the best-written work on war that I have ever read.It is clear and concise, and General Adan tries to organize the swirling complexities of modern warfare--in which he was a major participant--into an understandable chronology of events.He also gives his honest appraisal of his superiors, colleagues and subordinates.Like all soldiers who have experienced battle, he is saddened by the loss of lives, especially those of people he knew and respected.War is not a game; it is a grim business, in which military people either kill the enemy or are killed by them.General Adan discusses these tragic details and occasionally adds personal notes and insights.
Another aspect of this book that I admire is that General Adan does not present a jingoistic portrait of his countrymen as all being altruistic heroes, while the enemy is presented as being stupid, inhuman trolls.Instead, General Adan presents the motivations and apparent strategies of both sides very objectively.He offers insightful opinions about why various strategies and tactics worked, while others did not succeed as well as might have been expected.And, he discusses the political involvements of each side's allies, which many of us tend to overlook.A surprise to me was that he wound up being part of Israel's delegation to the peace conference after the war!General Adan certainly is one of Israel's greatest generals and statesmen!
His book is a must-read for anyone interested in the types of warfare fought in the Suez-Canal area of the Near East.It is replete with detailed information about initial strategies and the daily implementations of these strategies, how units maneuvered and fought, and what the results were.
Until we can beat our swords into plowshares, this book should grace every historian's shelf.

Too Personal
In my opinion, General Adan devoted too much space in his book to commenting on his fellow officers.His statements about General Gonen (Gorodisch) give the appearance of an attempt to settle a personal score rather than give a clear, factual historical account.Adan's animus towards Gonen comes through his writing.He even states that Gonen tried to blame him for some of the failures on the Israeli side, which gives reason to suspect whatever Adan has to say about Gonen.

Dry reading but informative
There exist very few books on the Yom Kippur War.'No Victory No vanquished' is a useless account written just after the war.'The war of Atonement' by Herzog is informative.'Yom Kippur War' by the london insight team is slightly biased against Israel but very informative.'Two O'clock war' by Boyne is totally americanized and does not have a good grasp on Israel.This read by General 'Bren' Adan is the most professorial of the books and one of the most dry but also most informative in regards to the SOuthern front.

Adan found himself and his unit facing the brunt of the arab attack along the canal in the first days of the fighting.he lost 1/3 or more of his tanks in a wasted counterattack during the second day of the conflict.But although wounded his unit went on to cross the canal and take vengeance upon the Egyptians.This authoritative account is critical of the role of Sharon and commends 'Dado' for his original counterattack plan that was subsequently changed by Gonen.

An interesting account of Israeli arms in a time of crises.the new book by Blum 'Eve of Destruction' is a much easier read but does not contain the detail of this dry account of the war by one of its cheif participants.

Professional Military Account of Fighting at 1973 Suez
I have read many books about the 1973 Yom Kippur War (Sometimes called the October War, the War for atonement, the Tishreen War, the Ramadan war, and even a few other names), but Avraham (Bren) Adan's "On the Banks of the Suez" is without a doubt the most professionally written and open-minded account of the fighting on the Egyptian front of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Several outstanding books exist for the fighting on the Golan at the Syrian front and I highly recommend the books by Avigdor Kahalani and Raful Eitan. For a general overview of the war including both fronts, I recommend Chaim Herzog's "The War for Atonement." However, "On the Banks of the Suez" has no equal for explaining the action on the Egyptian front.

Some of the many reasons that make this a great book are:

1. PROFESSIONAL MILITARY WRITING: A military professional wrote this book for other military professionals. Many authors have a tendency to remove military language and viewpoints to simplify the text for popular review. Bren Adan resisted doing that although he did write the book in as lucid and clear a method as is possible without "dumbing down" the work.

2. IMPARTIAL CRITICISM: The book, while written by an Israeli general, is impartial. He doesn't hesitate to critique the fighting by either the Egyptians or the Israelis. In fact, he criticizes the Israeli actions much more so than those of the Egyptians combatants. There, of course, are some of his personal opinions and some discussions of the political factors, but Adan avoids overly moralizing history and instead presents it for the reader's review.

3. LITTLE TO NO INTELLIGENCE "BLUR": One of the shortcomings of many books written about the 1973 Yom Kippur war in the first five to ten years after the war is the editing that IDF spokespeople did to the information released about the war. For security's sake, they often change unit names and other critical date making it difficult to track whom was where and when. Adan, being intimately aware of such restrictions, was able to write this book without having his writing made confusing.

4. EXCITING ACCOUNTS OF THE ACTION: Adan holds no punches describing the action and successes of the fighters on both sides. I particularly enjoyed his accounts of the tough fighting by Egyptians commandos in the beginning of the war. The Israeli tankers, on the other hand, were tenacious dedicated fighters as well.

5. INSIGHTFUL ANALYSIS OF NONCOMBAT FACTORS: Adan describes very well what's is going on in the background of the war: the superpower struggle, ineffective UN mediation, political factors in both the Egyptian and Israeli government, as well as the effect of the civilians behind the lines.

I highly recommend this incredibly well written book to anyone interested in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. I particularly recommend it to military professionals.

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan ... Read more

Product Description
Subtitle: Including a Brief Personal Sketch and a Narrative of His Services in the War With Mexico, 1846-8Volume: 1General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1884Original Publisher: Harper ... Read more

Product Description
A. J. P. Taylor was one of the most acclaimed and uncompromising historians of the twentieth century. In this clear, lively and now-classic account of the First World War, he tells the story of the conflict from the German advance in the West, through the Marne, Gallipoli, the Balkans and the War at Sea to the offensives of 1918 and the state of Europe after the war. Containing photographs and maps, this an essential history of the war that 'cut deep into the consciousness of modern man'. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Missing pictures and maps
This "illustrated history" is missing two thirds of the illustrations on Kindle, including all the maps.

Good But Treat With Caution
AJP Taylor was always one of my favourite historians - far more readable than most - and this book is no exception. As the title implies, it is heavier on illustrations than text, but none the worse for that.

Contrary to what some have said, it is not primarily a diatribe against the generals. Taylor may not especially like them (how many do, aside from the late John Terraine?), but his verdict on Haig, in particular, is fair and even generous, especially for the time of writing

"He was a master of railway timetables, deploying divisions as skilfully as any general of his time. His strategical judgements were sound within the framework of the Western front, though he lacked the technical means for carrying them to success until almost the end of the war. - - - Haig had to do what he did, and, though he did not succeed, no one better was found to take his place."

Not a bad epitaph, especially compared to some others Haig has received.

Taylor is tougher on the politicians, who were, after all, in ultimate charge. He records how Joffre had sensibly decided to evacuate Verdun, only to be overruled by Briand. There are many verbal gems, notably his description of the Zimmermann note as "a bright idea such as only a Foreign Office could conceive".

On some points, his prejudices have been toned down, so that emaciated "victims of Allied intervention in Russia" in the first edition became "Victims of civil war in Russia" in the next and finally just "War and famine in Russia" in the paperback. But some still shine through. In particular, Lloyd George is an exception to his low opinion of the political leadership. He hardly has a bad word to say about the man, even swallowing whole his claim (almost certainly false) to have singlehandedly forced the Admiralty to introduce convoys. Taylor also states that American lenders to the Allies would have lost their money had Germany won the war. In fact this was only true of loans made after US entry into the war. The earlier ones were all secured on property in North America, beyond the reach even of a victorious Germany.

All in all, it's a good read but don't rely on it entirely. There are quite a few other histories of WW1 available, so get another to go with this one. But not instead of it. This book would be a great shame to miss.

The First World War: An Illustrated History
A very easy read.However, it does raise a number of interesting questions onsome popular misconceptions about the war, butfails to questions a couple of common myths.A.J.P. Taylor was an interesting historian and controversial in his time.He makes you think and question the usual history of the war.Having read this small volume, it prompted me to reread John Keegan's History of the First World War and I discovered how much I had missed the first time.Now I will have to move on and reread several other accounts that I have read before.What moved me to read this book was Norman Davies' "No Simple Victory".Davies acknowledges Taylor as his mentor.I had enjoyed Davies book so much, I felt that I had to read some of Taylor's work.I was not disappointed.I remember hearing Taylor's name when I was in college in the 1960's, but I was a political science major with an interest in history.As I have gotten older, I have learned to appreciate history more and more.I would suggest this small volume as an excellent starting point for someone interested in World War I.

ww I a.j.p. taylor
I am very happy with this purchase but, have not recieved thw western experience v II.Where is it Amazon.
?

A Well Written and Honest Account
The eminent British historian A.J.P. Taylor was asked if history repeated itself. Taylor answered he did not know, but the problem was apprehensively conventional historians repeated each other. Taylor's THE FIRST WORLD WAR: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY is an original, well wrttien account that attempts to be honest. Taylor knew that historians wrote
"within a frame of reference" and that biases make appear even when trying to honest. This book is an attempt to give an honest account of W.W. I.

Given the popular and badly distorted view of W.W. I, readers get the impression that this war was fought exclusively between the Americans and Germans. Badly written textbooks give a similiar distorted image. Taylor easily undermines such childish and false accounts. World War I began in August, 1914, and the fighting stopped on November 11, 1918. Out of the four plus years of W.W. I, U.S. participation last just 19 months. Almost all of the Europeans were in this war prior to the U.S. declaration of war on April 6, 1917.

Taylor gives a brief background to W.W. I which includes Eastern Europe where the spark that started the war occured when Serbian irregulars assassinate the Hapsberg Archduke Ferdiand who was heir apparent to the Hapsburg throan in Austria Hungary(June 28, 1914). Taylor also presented a clear explanation of the tensions simmering in Eastern Europe which were fanned and exploited by the Russian Czar Nicholus II (1894-1917)and his supporters.

While the course of W.W. I was complex, Taylor presented a lucid account of the ebb and flow of the war. Taylor gave concise account of war time diplomacy and the military encounters in both Eastern and Western Europe. For example, Taylor gave a good account of the Battle of Tannenberg by which a much smaller German army routed a huge Russian army. Aside from a few minor victories, this battle put the Russians on the defensive until they had to quit the war due to exhaustion.

Taylor wrote a good account of rebellions and revolutions during W.W.I. For example Taylor wrote about renewed Irish resistence to their British overlords. Another example, which will be discussed later, was the Russian Revolution which brought the Bolsheviks to power in Russia. Here Taylor presented good cause and effect relationships between and seemingly unrelated events.

The false impression of W.W.I being somehow glorious and wonderful are undermined by Taylor's descriptions of battles. For example in 1916, the British lost over 60,000 men the first day of the Battle of the Somme. These casuality figures are more than U.S. losses in either the Korean or Vietnam war. The battle claimed approximately 1 million lives most of whom were British and French. Taylor's statistics of the Battle of Ypres in 1917 are astounding. The British and French lost over 400,000 men while the Germans lost almost 200,000 men. Taylor explained these losses very well when he described new military tactics and weapons. The British and French launched these attakcs with infantry. These men had to run, walk, or crawl accross "no man's land" which was slow. The Germans could quickly fill the ranks using railroads when got men into defensive positions faster than the enemy's advances. Also the machine gun enabled relatively few men to defend areas attacked by numeriacal superior infantry. Note the Germans, French, and British lost more men in single battles than all of the U.S. losses for the 19 months the U.S. was in that war. Another staggering figure is that the Russian losses for the war may have approached 5 million casualities.

Taylor's treatment of diplomacy and attempts to stop the carnage are informative and thought provoking Taylor was clear that attempts to stop the war in 1916 and early 1917 could have avoided the catastrophies which occured later in the 20th century. If the Socialist Stockholm Conference had been held and been successfully, the unintended consequences of W.W.I, which will be discussed later, would never have occured. There was a clear reason for this. The statesmen who started W.W.I could not stop if only because of the hatred they incited. As Taylor mentions of page 204, "It is easy for statesment for courageous at the expense of others;difficult for them to be sensible."

Taylor gives a terse account of W.W. I-The Boshevik or Communist Revolution in Russia. Readers should be aware that without W.W. I, the Communists could not have come to power which Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik/Communist Revolution reedily admitted. The one thing the Russians wanted was peace, and Lenin's promise to make peace placed the Bolsheviks in power. When Leon Trotsky wanted to continue some romantic guerrilla war, Lenin said no. Lenin told Trotsky that the Russian army voted for peace. When Trotsky asked how and when, Lenin said the Russian troops voted for peace with their feet by running away.

Taylor made brief reference to other unintended consequences of W.W. I. Taylor's brief account of economic dislocations and his reference to John Maynard Keynes implied economic turmoil once "peace" was achieved. Some of the 220 photos in this book give a tragic of the terrible economic conditions during and after W.W. I which were made worse by the Great Depression.

Taylor showed little respect for British and French commanders who literally wasted them men in futile attacks that an enlisted man could have known. Taylor cites a German commander who said the British army was an army of lions led by a bunch of jackasses (the commanders). The same could easily be said of the French and Russian commanders.

Taylor alluded to four unintended consequences of W.W. I which were:

1. The Great Depression
2. The Rise of Big Communism
3. The Rise of Fascism
4. World War II

This is a solid account even for a short book. Readers can appreciate the complexity of W.W. I in an unequalled writing style. Taylor's reputation as an honest historian makes this a good book because he avoids propagandist distortions false rhapsody. This book should be an incitement to read Taylor's other well written books. ... Read more

Product Description
The first book to give equal weight to the Vietnamese and American sides of the Vietnam war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

An Eye Opener
If you look at many of the reviews of this book, you will find that the negative criticism concerning this work complain that it is biased and anti-American. The irony here is that these critics are biased themselves because they still, after all these years, do not understand or refuse to face the fact that might does not make right, that forcing others to do the right thing (turn to democracy) is not democratic at all but fascism. If you know your basic history about this war, The second Gulf of Tonkin "incident" illustrated that the U.S. was looking for an excuse to assert their authority (no evidence was ever produced to suggest there were NVN Torpedo boat attacks). In addition, the "domino theory" has been disproven. This book is not steeped in revisionist history as some would like to assert; rather, it's aim is to show the truth (which some people see, unfortunately as "biased" or "un-American." The author clearly documents more of the atrocities or lack of morals of the U.S. involvement because that is the point of the book, to show the wrongdoing our country committed not to document the war crimes of the North Vietnamese(The wrongdoing of the NVN is a given). The idea here is to show that while the NVN during this time is a large scale problem because people's civil rights are being violated, the United States is guilty of the same thing. What is documented here can be verified by research, specifically, the true corrupt and unethical motives behind the United States government involvement. To see these facts as a liberal or leftist agenda is an example of one's inability to see reality. To regard this great nation of ours as infallible is an exercise in blindness.

A New Look at an Old Archive
This book focuses on the American experience in Vietnam. Young's period delimits the period directly before and directly after American involvement in Vietnam. Her archive is vast. She gives the reader useful information to frames American presence in Vietnam. In this book, we read about discussion on the highest levels among American and Vietnamese leaders. As readers, we are more in her bias. Young argues that the American and South Vietnamese military and governments were responsible for the destruction of Vietnam. Young's focus, and this has been argued by several Cambodia scholars (such as Ben Kiernan, Kenneth Quinn, David Chandler, and Michael Vickery) that the U.S. bombing of Cambodia contributed to the anger of the Khmer Rouge resulting in the tragedy of the Killing Fields (Young 283, 305, 306, 312, and 329).

Young argues that the Vietnam War (from 1945-1975/1990) is not one homogenous war. Throughout the period, there are numerous "wars". The major markers are the French War, the period of advisors, the military build-up and the commitment of ground troops under Lyndon Johnson, the North Vietnamese victory. She argues that the war in Vietnam is a crucial part of the post-World War II reorganization of the world according to capitalist principles (Young, Vietnam Wars ix). Young contends that we need to re-examine the "Vietnam Syndrome" (Young, Vietnam Wars 314-315, and 328-329). According to Young, the term Syndrome should not be about the disinclination of the public to be involved in war. Young offers a counter we should stop insisting that resolution or making up for the loss in Vietnam is to engage in more war.

Young adds to a growing body of work on the US War in Vietnam. She examines the motives, justifications, and reasons that the US entered the war from a clearly anti-war perspective. She injects the moral dilemma into the discussion (i.e. sailors sending letters of protest to Truman about certain orders, etc.).

It is the first of its kind to engage in the Vietnam War giving equal importance to the Vietnamese and American perspective. Moreover, she attempts to dispel the myth that stakeholders have resolved the issue of the "Vietnam Syndrome" and, as previously stated, we continue to get militarily mixed up with other countries. Also, and it could be argued this is not new, that we suffered from a crucial misunderstanding in U.S. vis-à-vis our involvement in Vietnam - that for the Vietnamese this was a war of independence and sovereignty and not an internal conflict of a communist north versus a "free" and democratic south. Finally, she argues against the simplistic notion that U.S. foreign policy is well intentioned and that Communism is necessarily destructive.

Entering into a conversation with Stanley Karnow (Vietnam, A History) and Michael Maclear (The Ten Thousand Day War), Young argues that the scale of the massacres -- particularly the one at Hue -- as argued by `anti-war' critics like Noam Chomsky, were exaggerated and some continue to argue that the details of the event was propaganda intended to support the U.S. war effort (Young, Vietnam Wars 217-219). She relies too much I argue, primarily on previously published works. She uses published sources and does not provide new information.

Severely Biased, Deeply Flawed
This is a garden variety history of the Vietnam War from the hard left perspective. Aside from one's preferences, the book suffers from a couple of serious flaws. First of all, Young systematically highlights accounts of the waging of the war which make the US look like an awful country guilty of war crimes and atrocities--crimes that were a natural outgrowth of the kind of army the US sent there. But Young does not hold the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong to the same standard, and even downplays communist atrocities like the massacre at Hue. She refuses to deal honestly with the most substantive arguments of her ideological opponents. One of her premises is that the war in South Vietnam was a private internal affair between an illegitimate government in Saigon and the legitimate government of the people--that of the communist National Liberation Front. If that was the case, why did North Vietnam invade South Vietnam in 1972 and 1975? Why does she not condemn those acts of aggression and conquest? The implications of those invasions embarrass the American left, so Young does not fully deal with their meanings. Furthermore, if the South Vietnamese were so pro-communist, why did they fight the communists so during the Tet Offensive and the 1972 northern invasion? If they were so pro-communist, why did they run from the invading troops instead of embracing them as welcomed liberators? Young bypasses, dismisses, or ignores elements of the Vietnam War that do not support her thesis.

Part of the Problem
When I decided to write a serious historiography on the Vietnam War, in particulair the years 1969-1971,I chose a plethora of secondary sources to begin my study. While carefully noting that the Indochina conflict has garnered numerous polar opposits, amongst its ranks of historians, some still, despite being backed up by numerous sources( some questionable) seem to be 'over the top'. This book, "The Vietnam Wars" takes the crown for all time biased writing. I thought Michael Herr was bad, wow, what was I thinking.
The book is full, to the point of choking out any narrative genius, of biased information. I was especially disturbed by her inaccurate findings in regards to certain military actions, the " Tet offensive" being the most infamous.I also noted atendency of Mrs. Young to rely way too heavily on journalist interpetaqtions of the war. Anyone should know by know how warped the medias opinion was during that conflict. I am going to put this on my Vietnam War hall of shame bookshelf, right next to Stanley Karnow and Michael Herr.
I really feel that the war is still to young to have a clear & concise general history written. My suggestion would be to obtain some books by the likes of true scholars: Bernard B. Fall, Kenneth W. Noland and Dr. Mark Moyar. I would also reccomend " The Cat from Hue," although written by a journalist.

Propaganda Posing as History
Other reviewers have made it clear that this book is not really an attempt at history but is so biased that it is far more a polemicthan a history book . I would however expect that someone with Ms. Young's credentials get some basic facts straight . For example on page 3 Ms. Young states that the meeting that resulted in the unification ofthe Indochinese Communist Party was held in Hong Kong on 18 February 1930 . In fact , the meeting was held 3-7 February . This is not a difficult fact to get correctly as Vietnam commemorates 3 February 1930 as the birthday of the Vietnamese Communist Party . It is true that the Vietnamese themselves had this date muddled for quite awhile as they had trouble reconciling their lunar calendar with the Gregorian calendar. They had it as 6 January, but nowhere can I find 18 February having relevance to the founding of the ICP. Ms. Young also fails to tell us that Ho Chi Minh convoked this meeting in his role as Comintern Head for Indochina on behalf of Moscow. The author does give us all fair warning as to her mind set when in the preface she says" that the United States invaded Vietnam against our stated values and ideals and that it did so secretly and deceptively, fighting a war of immense violence in order to impose its will on another sovereign nation." In my opinion the fact that this book is used as a history text book in some schools is shameful.
... Read more

Product Description
When a brigade of General Sherman's victorious army marched into Chapel Hill the day after Easter 1865, the Civil War had just ended and President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. Citizens of the picturesque North Carolina college town had endured years of hardship and sacrifice, and now the Union army was patrolling its streets. One of Sherman's young generals paid a visit to the stately home of David Swain, president of the University of North Carolina and a former governor of the state, to inform him that the town was now under Union occupation.

Against this unlikely backdrop began a passionate and controversial love story still vivid in town lore. When President Swain's daughter Ella met the Union general, life for these two young people who had spent the war on opposite sides was forever altered.

General Smith Atkins of Illinois abhorred slavery and greatly admired Abraham Lincoln. Spirited young Ella Swain had been raised in a slave-owning family and had spent the war years gathering supplies to send to Confederate soldiers.

But, as a close friend of the Swain's wrote, when Atkins met Ella, the two "changed eyes at first sight and a wooing followed."

The reaction of the Swains and fellow North Carolinians to this North-South love affair was swift and often unforgiving.

In Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle and a Yankee General, author Suzy Barile, a great-great-granddaughter of Ella Swain and Smith Atkins, tells their story, separating facts from the elaborate embellishments the famous courtship and marriage have taken on over the generations. Interwoven throughout Undaunted Heart are excerpts from Ella's never-before-published letters to her parents that reveal a loving marriage that transcended differences and scandal.

Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle & a Yankee General has received a Silver IPPY Award for Best Regional Non-Fiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Good read
I enjoyed this book since I live in NC and close to Raleigh and Durham.Made for an interesting read.Fast shipping.

Interesting and easy to read
"Undaunted Heart" gave an interesting look at post-American-Civil-War conditions and how citizens of both the North and the South felt about the changes occurring around them. The book was an easy read and covered details of Ella and Smith's life before they met (including how Ella and Smith felt about the War and the issue of slavery), how they met, and their life after they married. Their life together contained many sorrows, but the marriage was a happy one. Letters, neighbor's journals, and newspaper reports were frequently quoted, giving an inside, personal look at events.

The book briefly touched on the greater issues of the time period--the hardships faced due to shortages and prejudice, the problems with unifying the nation after the War, and how various people dealt with the freed slaves. But these issues were only revealed where they impacted the lives of Ella and Smith and their families.

The level of vivid detail was excellent in some parts (especially after Ella and Smith moved North and she wrote vivid accounts of her life in her letters to her parents) and much less in others (like the few known details about how Ella and Smith met and courted, which mainly seemed to come from a neighbor's journal and a few surviving love poems).

There were black and white pictures of Ella's family, Ella, Smith, and the surviving children from Ella and Smith's marriage. There was no bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the post-Civil-War era as seen through the eyes of a well-to-do family in both the North (Ella and Smith) and the South (Ella's parents).

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.


Reviewed by Debbie from Different Time, Different Place
(differenttimedifferentplace. blogspot. com)

True Civil War love story. What could be better?
I like this book because it's written by the great-great-granddaughter of Ella Swain and Smith Atkins. Ella was the daughter of the president of the University of North Carolina - and Smith Atkins was a Union general who came to Ella's father's house to inform him that the town was under Union occupation.

Against this unlikely backdrop began a passionate and controversial love story still vivid in town lore. When President Swain's daughter Ella met the Union general, life for these two young people who had spent the war on opposite sides was forever altered.

This famous courtship and marriage, needless to say, caused quite a stir. Interwoven throughout Undaunted Heart are excerpts from Ella's never-before-published letters to her parents that reveal a loving marriage that transcended differences and scandal.

Proves that truth can be stranger than fiction, as this unlikely couple forms a bond that withstands the test of time.

Report from a great grand nephew
That is to say, Richard Caswell "Bunky" Swain, brother of the Southern Belle of the title, Ella, was my great grandfather.But I am also a professional editor and critic, and must say this book is not only a fascinating human interst story, but a real insight into 19th Century life, with strong religious belief ever struggling against the ominpresence of Death.The ray of light piercing this gloom is high romance, as scrupulously researched and detailed in this account of an amazing true love affair.

A love story that gets to the heart
SUZY BARILE's "Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle & a Yankee General" is a wonderfully crafted addition to the host of books surrounding the Civil War. The book tells a love story that involves prejudice, politics, family and values--topics in the news on a daily basis.
The Yankee general is Smith Dykins Atkins from Freeport, Illinois, and a volunteer for the Union cause. The southern belle is Eleanor "Ella" Hope Swain, daughter of David Lowry Swain, governor of North Carolina from 1832-1835 and president of University of North Carolina from 1835-1868.
BARILE writes, "Ella did the unthinkable: She married a Yankee general at the close of the Civil War." A North-South marriage was as offensive to the general public in 1865 as a black-white marriage was in the 1960s. The angle is unique to books concerning the Civil War, and BARILE does a fine job of recreating the attitudes of the times and capturing the spirit of Ella and the general. BARILE has an extraordinary perspective. While searching in her mother's attic, she found a box of Ella's letters. BARILE is the great, great granddaughter of Ella and the general. The book was even more meaningful to me because I grew up in Joliet, Illinois. I didn't know Freeport had such a distinguished native son.
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Product Description
11 b/w photos3 drawings4 maps6 x 9"Edward Longacre marshals his facts, both for and against General Wilson, in a well-researched and well-written book." -Jay Monaghan, American Historical ReviewAt the start of the Civil War, the cavalry of the Union army seemed habitually to lag behind its Confederate opponents. It was not for want of brave men or good animals. The fault, rather, laid in the least glorious aspect of all military branches-organization and administration. Once Union authorities applied some system to their cavalry service, telling results rewarded their efforts. More than anyone else, the man responsible for that success was Grant's cavalryman, Gen. James H. Wilson.Drawing from a host of sources unused by previous historians and marked by a dramatic narrative, Edward G. Longacre's Grant's Cavalryman is the only modern biography of the man who revolutionized the Union cavalry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

GENERAL JAMES H. WILSON , CIVIL WAR GENERAL
EDWARD G. LONGACRE IN HIS "THE CALVALRY AT GETTYSBURG" PRAISED JAMES HARRISON WILSON, AS A "...DYNAMIC NEW CALVALRY LEADER... ." LONGACRE TOOK WILSON AND BREATHED LIFE INTO THE LESSER KNOWN BUT BRILLANT UNION HORSEMAN, WHO GAVE CONFEDERATE NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST HIS ONLY 'LICKIN' IN THE CIVIL WAR. AFTER A SHAKY LEARNING EXPERIENCE AS DIVISION COMMANDER IN THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN IN 1864, WILSON CHARGED HIS WESTERN CALVALRY CORPS CONTINUALLY AFTER JOHN BELL HOOD'S BELEAGURED ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE UNTIL IT BECAME LITTLE MORE THEN A SHADOW OF ITS FORMER STRENGTH.NEVERTHELESS, LONGACRE DELIVERED HIS PROMISE OF A BALANCED BIOGRAPHY IN HIS BOOK GRANT'S CALVALRYMAN: THE LIFE AND WARS OF GENERAL JAMES H. WILSON.WILSON WAS BORN IN 1837 AND GRADUATED SIXTH IN HIS CLASS AT WEST POINT JUST IN TIME FOR THE START OF THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. LONGACRE MOVED THROUGH THIS PERIOD OF MATURATION AND QUICKLY PLUNGED INTO HIS CIVIL WAR YEARS. THE GENERAL'S ACHIEVEMENTS AS WELL AS HIS EGOTISTICAL AND AMBITIOUS PERSONALITY ARE MINGLED IN AN INFORMATIVE TALE. WILSON WAS SO BOLD OR WAS IT ARROGANCE THAT ALLOWED HIM TO CRITICIZE THE GREAT U. S. GRANT, ONCE HIS IDOL.ALL OF WILSON'S MILITARY AND CIVIL LIFE IS PRESENTED FROM THE CIVIL WAR THROUGH THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR. WILSON WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE INTERNATIONAL EVENT CALLED THE BOXER REBELLION IN CHINA, WHILE AT THE AGE OF EIGHTY, HE PUSHED FOR COMMAND OF AMERICAN TROOPS IN WORLD WAR I.SCORES OF BOOKS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT FLAMBOYANT CALVALRY LEADERS LIKE CUSTER, STUART, AND SHERIDAN, WHO POSSESS A MOSIAC OF ABILITIES AND SHORTFALLS. BUT WILSON ACHIEVED MILITARY SUCCESS IN BOTH THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY FAR SURPASSING ANY OTHER FORMER CIVIL WAR CALVALRY LEADER. MR LONGACRE HAS GIVEN THE GENERAL HIS JUST DUE. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Never knew
I never knew there were so many civil war sites/battlefields.Several are close by that I didn't know about till I recieved the book.If the American Civil War fascinates you as much as it does me, you'll find this book a MUST HAVE!! Awesome investment..

Civil War Sites
Civil War Sites, 2nd: The Official Guide to the Civil War Discovery Trail (Civil War Sites)

This is an excellent guide for people visiting the battlefields. You get a detailed overview of each battlesite, list of events and location maps by state.The driving directions are invaluable, since many of the sites are now lost within the urban sprawl.Anything sponsored by the CWPT is a must read for anyone interested in the American Civil War. ... Read more

Product Description
World War I stands as a watershed in the evolution of modern warfare, with the development of sophisticated trench systems forming a battlefield over 400 miles long, notable improvements in weaponry and equipment and the first example of tanks being used in battle. This book examines the day-to-day lives of the British Tommy, the German Stormtrooper, the French Poilu and the American Doughboy as they fought and died in the trenches, with details of their recruitment and training and vivid descriptions of combat on the Western Front. It also provides an extensive reassessment of trench warfare, following the development of controversial tactics and new weapons, the first use of poison gas in warfare and the introduction of the tank - initially an accident-prone novelty but later a front-breaking weapon.


Contents: Foreword - Part 1: Warriors on the Western Front - Stormtrooper - Poilu - Tommy - Doughboy Part 2: Trench Warfare- Bibliography - Index ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

World War I Reference
Previously published as Osprey Publishing's Elite 78: World War I Trench Warfare (1) 1914-16 by Dr Stephen Bull; Elite 84: World War I Trench Warfare (2) 1916-18 by Dr Stephen Bull; Warrior 12: German Stormtrooper 1914-18 by Ian Drury; Warrior 16: British Tommy 1914-18 by Martin Pegler; and Warrior 79: US Doughboy 1916-19 by Thomas A. Hoff.

Good reference book for that era.

Solid one-volume reference
The authors of this volume succeed in cramming about 12 pounds of information into a 10-pound bag.The large format with 272 pages including index contains knowledgable commentary on the British, French, German, and American armies on the Western Front from 1914-1918.Each nation is examined in terms of recruiting, training, equipment, doctrine, and combat operations.The scope is necessarily large but augmented by details of clothing, equipment, weapons, transport, etc.The last two chapters examine the war's progress (and lack thereof) with gradual shifting from static defense to fluid offense.

Illustrations abound, a variety of period photos (generally good quality; some are familiar) and color plates evidently lifted from other Osprey titles.There are also chronologies for each nation in the Great War.

The book's major fault is not content or treatment, but style.Each author relies excessively on definite articles, as many as 5, 6, and 7 times in a paragraph."This" and "these" generally refer to subjects that are apparent, but not always.And the sheer magnitude of such usage eventually detracts from readability.Where authors insist on overdoing such style, editors need to exert their authority.

Overall, an excellent reference with a useful bibliography containing 50 titles from each combatant nation. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Indians of North America; Indian territory; United States; Indian Territory; Literary Criticism / General; Fiction / Men's Adventure; Fiction / War ... Read more

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On the eve of World War II, the British army was more an international police force than a true combat-ready fighting machine. Raymond Callahan chronicles its trial-by-fire transformation in a new and unflinching look at Great Britain's top commanders in the field.

Callahan reexamines the much-maligned performance of the British army in that war by reevaluating its commanders' victories and defeats, their leadership abilities and flaws, and their often rocky relationships with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, whose powerful presence looms over every page. Revisiting wartime theaters stretching from Southeast Asia across India through the Middle East, into North Africa, and across Europe, Callahan revises and expands our understanding of how British commanders-both the best and worst-led their troops and executed their strategies.

Callahan explores the way Churchill, with his own ideas about the army's goals and concerned about the precariousness of his political fortunes, dealt with his generals, who often held views different from his own. He probes the relationship between Churchill's political goals and war aims, the army's capabilities, and its generals' battlefield performance, while assessing the roles of such leaders as Alan Brooke, Bernard Montgomery, Archibald Wavell, Claude Auchinleck, and Harold Alexander. He also reveals why William Slim should be regarded as the outstanding British commander of the war and Britain's best field commander since Wellington-and how other generals such as Neil Richie, Henry Wilson, and Oliver Leese exemplify the role of chance in history.

Past criticism has tended to ignore both the obstacles confronting the army and its dramatic improvement by war's end. Callahan sets that record straight while offering insight into the evolution of the British wartime army within the contexts of coalition warfare, the constraints of a far-flung Empire, and Churchill's political concerns and desire to retain a British presence on the world stage. He considers problems posed by manpower, training, doctrine, equipment, and new military technologies and strategies as the army faced a multifront global war that pushed an already overextended fighting force nearly to the breaking point.

Churchill and His Generals is the most comprehensive analysis of this wartime relationship, an account of institutional transformation under extreme stress that balances Churchill's own self-serving memoirs. It clearly demonstrates that what political leaders demand from their armies is less important than what those armies are designed to do-and that this oft-recurring disconnect lies at the root of much wartime civil-military tension.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

good but lacking vital maps
This book has very good coverage of the major generals who had the dubious honor of working for Churchill but it has one major failing...NO maps! As vast as the territory that this book covers it is unbelievable to me that the author/publisher did not provide maps to allow the reader to follow along. There's not even a general Mediterrenean map despite the fact that a good portion of the book centers on the Desert War with all the battles and skirmishes tallied. If you are not an expert in WWII history or don't have a military atlas while you read this book you can get lost pretty quickly. A military history/battle book without maps shouldn't be printed.

Churchill and His Generals
This is an excellent book that describes many aspects of the alliance in World WarII that are unfamiliar to most Americans.Fascinating read.

The Challenge of Command....
Raymond Callahan's 2007 "Churchill and His Generals" is a rare combination of superb historical analysis and readability.His subject is the often difficult relationship between Churchill, British Prime Minister 1940-1945, and his senior military leaders, as they struggled to transform the British Army while waging a global conflict with Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The British Army at the beginning of the Second World War was a relatively small Imperial Policing Force belatedly transforming itself into the mass army that would be needed to fight the war. Transformation was the more difficult for being done under fire and with inferior weapons and equipment.Callahan makes the excellent point, repeatedly, that British Army leadership was haunted by the horrific casualties of the First World War and by the awareness that Britian lacked the manpower to field the numbers of divisions of its opponents or its principal ally, the United States.Ironically, by 1943-1944, the British Army had completed its transformation but become a wasting asset due to Britain's inability to replace combat losses.

Much of the focus of the book is on Britain's efforts early in the war, as it strove to hold off the Germans and Italians in the Mediterranean, and the Japanese in the Far East and South Asia.The problem of inexperienced forces and leaders was acute and the result was an almost unbroken strings of defeats.The British were kicked out of Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, and Greece, and only barely held their own in the Middle East and North Africa.Callahan notes the division between Regular Army officers and British officers serving in the Indian Army as a source of professional jeolousy and misunderstandings.

Callahan does an excellent job illuminating the political context of Churchill's relationship with his senior officers.As leader of Britain and of a coalition that would include the United States and Russia, Churchill needed victories to stay in power and to retain leverage in alliance negotiations.The result was immense pressure for results, often well ahead of capability.

In surveying the field of generals who played important roles, Callahan's concise analysis is often critical but seemingly even-handed.Bernard Montgomery comes in for his fair share of accolades and criticism, but Callahan gives due credit to overlooked officers such as Harold Alexander in Italy, Claude Auchinleck in North Africa and India, and Bill Slim in Burma.Callahan expends no little effort to identify Slim as the most capable British general of the war.

Callahan's faults are few.This book is perhaps a little too concise, at just over two hundred pages, for a very rich subject still being explored half a century on.Callahan's advocacy for Slim, while justified, threatens to exceed the impartial approach taken to other generals.Readers are urged to skim the footnotes and read the bibliographic essay for additional fascinating information on Callahan's topic.

This book is very highly recommended to students of the British Army and of the Second World War, for whom it will provide fascinating insights into the challenge of command.American readers will recognize the recurring problems of rebuilding and/or transforming an army under fire.

A Solid Effort
This is a well written, and concise, perhaps too concise review of the course of the leadership of the British Army in the second world war. The author does a good job of describing the evolution of British generalship in the war, and the difficulties of both finding capable leaders, as well as those who could pass muster with Winston Churchill; not an easy task. Particular emphasis is placed upon the war in North Africa, which perhaps most illustrated how lackluster leaders resulted in defeat; despite having many advantages in men and material over the enemy, the redoubtable Afrika Korps.
I agree with an earlier reviewer, and the author, that Gen. William Slim was perhaps the finest British general since Wellington. Most have heard of Montgomery, and opinions on him are sharply divided, but unfortunately, many have little or no knowledge of Slim and his accomplishments in Burma.
One general that I believe should have been covered in a bit more detail in this book was the CIGS, Gen. Sir Alan Brooke. To my mind, his leadership was indispensable in the professional direction of the army, selection of commanders, and above all, dealing with Churchill, and deflecting some of his more outrageous schemes. They proved to be a great team, but I believe Brooke, despite great respect and admiration for Churchill, harbored a resentment towards him until his death.
When I earlier said that this book was perhaps too concise, I was referring to it's somewhat short length. I believe another 100-200 pages could easily have been writtten. My main complaint is the utter lack of maps; they are essential for a book of this nature.

Great Britain's World War II Army and Its Commanders
The British Army of World War II began the war deficient in leadership, doctrine, equipment, and training, leading to a series of military debacles in Europe and the Pacific between 1940 and 1942 that overshadowed the army and its commanders for the remainder of the war. By 1945, however, it had evolved into an effective fighting force, despite manpower shortages that forced British generals to adopt caution in their operations and eventually led to the disbanding of some seven divisions.

In "Churchill and His Generals" author Raymond Callahan focuses on Great Britains key military leaders and formations: the Eighth Army, which fought in North Africa and Italy; the Second Army, which fought in Northwestern Europe from D-Day to the end of the war; and the Fourteenth Army, which fought in Burma.

It was the Fourteenth Army which emerged as the greatest fighting force of the war. It's commander, General William Slim, is described by Callahan as "the finest British general since Wellington" for it was he that built and transformed that army it into the best of Great Britiain's World War II formations. Unfortunately, for Slim and his veterans, the Fourteenth received little recognition from Winston Churchill for their tremendous contributions to the defeat of the Japanese in Burma.

Despite his reputation as one of the greatest British leaders of World War II, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery emerges as a commander who had not advanced beyond 1918 tactically and the legitimate descendant of the generals of World War I. After the years of defeats, retreats and evacuations, the ascendency of the Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke - Field Marshal Mongomery team, meant a return to tactical and operational caution (reinforced by manpower concerns). Victory through firepower at an acceptable cost in lives became the aim - and the British Army delivered those victories.

Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, consistently denigrated and undervalued by both Montgomery and Brooke, emerges as a capable soldier as well as the closest thing the British Army had to an Eisenhower-style coalition commander.

The major shortcoming of this work is that it is a synthesis of secondary sources and relies heavily on the postwar memoirs of most of the British commanders of the Second World War. Unfortunately, in those memoirs, Great Britiain's World War II military leaders spend a great deal of energy disparaging each other. The attentive reader is left wondering if Callahan has not presented Great Britian's World War II Army and its commanders too negatively. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Until the Director's Cut Comes Out on DVD
A movie not well received by critics and historical revisionists, it did poorly at the box office but fared much better in DVD sales.
"It was slow and boring," some said.
"It was too religious," others commented.
"It didn't show enough from the northern perspective," said still others.
So, was it slow? Well, it was dramatic but hardly slow if you are a fan of history.
Was it boring? Not in the least.
Was it religious? Absolutely! It depicted the times fairly accurately - folks in the 21st century have a difficult time realizing just how religious our 19th century ancestors were.
Was it mainly from the southern point of view? Yes. This would also be a complaint of mine. More of the northern perspective and northern generals needed to be shown.
That being said, this movie is perhaps my favorite movie of all time. It has everything I love most: drama, action, history, accuracy.
What more could I want?
Well, there is something else...originally, this movie had a couple extra hours of footage that were cut out - the Battle of Antietam, scenes with Booth and with Lincoln (separately, of course), and others. I would love to see these scenes restored with a special Director's Cut edition.
Seeing that may never take place, this book is the next best thing. It has the complete "director's cut" script so one can at least read what was filmed and see a few of the pictures from those scenes.
Also in this (mostly) full color book are behind the scene shots, tin types taken of the actors by wet-plate specialist Rob Gibson, articles about the re-enactors that participated in the filming of the movie, and pretty much anything else associated with the film.
If you enjoyed the movie, I would highly recommend this book.

A wonderful book !
This book is amazing ! Plenty of pictures about special effects, battle scenes, actors, makeup, soundtrack, landscape, a must have to all lovers of history, civil war or movies. I had never seen before such a work for a book about a movie ! You even could read the entire screenplay at the end !
Really, a wonderful job, Mr Maxwell !

Showcases an epic movie
The collaboration of Ronald F. Maxwell (who wrote, produced and directed the film version) and Jeff Shaara (who wrote the book upon which the film was based), Gods And Generals: The Illustrated Story Of The Epic Civil War Film showcases an epic movie. Presenting the full-length screenplay as well as extensive revelations and insights about the making of a classic film, full-color photographs, a selected Civil War filmography, and so much more, Gods And Generals is the perfect companion volume for anyone who truly cherished viewing this great and enduringly popular film.

A FASCINATING COMPANION TO THE EPIC MOTION PICTURE!
For those of you who saw "Gods and Generals" and did not understand what was happening, then this book is for you. Filled with outstanding photographs from the set and scenes from the film, this companion book to the film not only takes a look at the making of the $ Million epic, but a look at the real-life characters and events that inspired the cinematic masterpiece that is "Gods and Generals." For history buffs and cine-buffs alike! Grade: A+ ... Read more

Product Description

" The War to End All Wars is considered by many to be the best single account of America's participation in World War I. Covering famous battles, the birth of the air force, naval engagements, the War Department, and experiences of the troops, this indispensable volume is again available in paperback for students and general readers.

Customer Reviews (7)

Good overview of a lesser studied war
Several sources recommended this book as the definitive overview of the American military in World War I. Overall I was impressed at its wide overview of many aspects of the war. It has chapters that examine the navy, air wing, Pershing's relationship with the French and English as well as the chapters you would expect about the major military campaigns. While the book focuses on the strategic side of things, it does give anecdotal stories of small unit actions. Overall, a good book that I will keep in my library as a great reference.

A War To End All Wars
Excellant....very readable....best WWI I've read....author thorough....like to see him do one on Korean War...

Ray Hufnagel

More about politics than about the war itself
World War I is a difficult war to understand, and it's almost as if it gets even more and more difficult the more one reads about it. It's without a doubt my favorite war (because yes, of course one can have such a thing as a favorite war), but it's also the one war that I just cannot seem to come to terms with, really. Perhaps especially because of the way the war was fought; the freakishly large number of men who were sacrificed when they advanced over open terrain against vicious machinegun nests, got exposed to menacing gas attacks in their trenches, or were blown to bloody pieces during enormous artillery attacks often lasting several days in a row.

It was the first modern war, but it was often fought using old tactics, and thus the human losses became greater than in any other war fought up until then. And the bizarre slaughter of an entire generation lasted for four years! Small wonder it's so difficult to comprehend what was really going on. These days, the death of a mere twenty or so American soldiers in a single day in Baghdad make headlines all over the world, but during World War I it wasn't a rare occasion with tens of thousands of casualties in a single day. What does this mean? Were human lives simply not as valuable than as they are today? Because, and not to in any way promote the Iraqi cause or scorn U.S. casualties (since all fatalities caused by the madness of war are equally stupid), what is a mere twenty deaths compared to what war used to be like?

Anyhow, The War To End All Wars was originally published back in 1968, and in this edition some corrections have been made here and there. But, one thing that hasn't been changed or corrected is the language in which it was written, and in the today's politically correct society it's thus strange to see how Edward M. Coffman writes "Negroes" and "Indians" instead of "African Americans" and "Native Americans". As a white European I'm not particularly upset (not upset at all, actually), but I'm sure many others are.

And not only because of the way the book was written. As with any other well-researched book about war, The War To End All Wars contains a great deal of outrageous facts. For instance, the following about the recruiting of all the new soldiers needed for the enormous army that were hastily put together, when the government:

"... declared that 47,3 per cent of the whites and 89 per cent of the Negroes were below the mental age of thirteen and, according to the standards of the day, morons. Either this pioneering testing venture was invalid or most American men in their twenties were very stupid." (pg.61)

Or how about the following order that was issued after a great deal of men had either deserted or simply refused to continue on with the senseless butchering:

"When men run away in front of the enemy, officers should take summary action to stop it, even to the point of shooting men down who are caught in such disgraceful conduct. No orders need be published on the subject, but it should be made known to many young officers that they must do whatever is required to prevent it." (pg.333)

The book deals exclusively, as the title says, with the American involvement in World War I, but beware, if you're looking for eye-witness accounts or descriptions of what actually happened at the front, then you must first be prepared to read about 200 pages filled with politics and endless descriptions of all the preparatory work taking place before the first U.S. soldiers were shipped across the Atlantic. And the accounts that do feature in the text after 200 pages are not very graphic or thorough. Obviously the politics behind it all is worth knowing, but if you're looking for gory battle scenes you're in for a disappointment.

Just like the war in itself was a disappointment. In the end, it never was the war to end all wars, just another display of human madness and our inability to live peacefully side by side with our fellow man.

In the last few days of the war a letter from a woman to an unknown German soldier was found on his body. Her words are bound to be repeated again and again, until this world of ours is destroyed by our very own hands and human civilization as we know it ceases to exist:

"It seems apparent that the dawn of peace is drawing nearer, and we dare entertain more hopes that this the most hideous of all wars, this vile murdering, which scorns and derides all humanity; which places us, no matter how highly cultured we pretended to be, lower than the savages, will end sometime and we can feel that we are human beings again." (pg.336)

Great History of US Role in WW 1
I learned a great deal of the US involvement in World War 1 from this book. I have been trying to research my grandfather's service in WW 1 and found this book very useful. While it is somewhat drawn out in certain sections, it is very informative in other sections. From the information I had, I was able to piece together where my grandfather served and the battles he was involved in while there. I would reccomend this book only to those seriously looking at the US role in WW 1.

A book only a historian of organization could love
On the back of this book, Stephen Ambrose praises this work as a definitive work on the US involvement in World War I, I should have been suspicious of its content from that point on.
Coffman's book beyond the first couple chapters is immensely not readable, and at times absolutely confusing. The early part of the book rushes through how the US ultimately came to be involved in the war, and only mentions the Lusitania, the resumption of German unrestricted submarine warfare, the Zimmerman telegram and social factors inside the US among groups that thought war wouldn't be such a bad idea in order to gain premacy for their viewpoint, fleetingly. It also doesn't really discuss Wilson's rejected attempts at mediation of the conflict and his realization that in order to reshape Europe in the way he advocated, the US needed to be involved in the conflict and have "troops on the ground." Coffman also doesn't discuss how demonizing portrayals of Germany and German soldiers influenced American perception as well as the fact that due to the blockade of Germany and the cutting of the trans-atlantic cable by the British, Germany could not dispell any of these demonizing tales spread in the US of the German army killing civilians and bombarding religious and other historical places with reckless disreguard.
What Coffman does give us in this work is a monotonous tome about the organization of the AEF and American air corps. The majority of this book is focused on nothing more than logistics and how the Allied powers needed American force very badly and therefore wanted to hasten our entrance into the war and allow troops to be commanded by French or English commanders, and not seperately. He also drones on about the internal conflict between Pershing and the British and French generals over this and other aspects.
To compound this boring tome on logistics, Coffman jumps around in his story. He finally gets to combat done by American pilots, and then in his next chapter begins with an extensive biographical sketch of American armed forces leaders, completely confusing the reader. By the time Coffman gets to actual combat participated in to any large extent by American forces, he stuffs all of this information into one chapter, completely losing the reader.
Coffman's maps included in the text are also few and far between as well as horribly designed. The maps don't clearly show the advance of US forces on each day of the battle being discussed, and do not include where the German trenches are relative to the Americans.
In short, this may have been a good book thirty years ago, but now it's hopelessly outdated and confusing. There needs to be another scholar in the mode of Martin Gilbert write the story of the AEF and American air corps. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (96)

A Must Read on WWII's Most Talked About General !
Most everyone has seen the movie, "Patton", starring George C. Scott, portraying the infamous US General.But, if one wants to get the full story of this great man and what was going on in his head, Carlos D'Este's, Patton-A Genius for War is a must read.This 900 plus page book, covers the early Patton family history in the 1700's, their part in the Civil War and a full history of George Patton from birth to his death in 1945-with everything in between. This American icon was predestined to greatness from his early childhood, and he more than anyone, knew it.A true believer in God, Patton not only was at the right place at the right time, but worked hard to achieve greatness, and escaped death many times during two world wars.
D' Estes takes us from his early days where the dyslexic Patton had troubles in school and thus, had to settle for the (VMI) Virginia Military Institute instead of the coveted West Point. He later would get his appointment and start to shine at an early age as the Cadet Adjutant.With the help of his his wife Beatrice, Patton would make early strides as a junior officer in many of his first assignments.His involvement in the Punitive Expedition, make an early name for himself serving under General Pershing, as he vigorously fought against the Mexican revolutionist in an early triumph. Later Patton would become a student of the sword and horsemanship and quickly became an expert in both.Little is know about his greatness in sports, where he competed in the Olympic games in Sweden in 1912. Patton was also a student of military history and studied it quite thoroughly, something that would help him in the later years during the heat of battle.
A pioneer of the tank corps, Patton showed his early greatness in World War One, again under General Pershing, and rose quickly in rank and notoriety.We learn about his life between the wars and how he was preparing for the next war, that he knew would come soon. When it did, Patton showed the world how to fight like nobody else.From his early arrival in Morocco during Operation Torch, across North Africa and Sicily, his impact during the Normandy Invasion, France, the Battle of the Bulge and finally into Germany, we learn how Patton thought and acted during times of trouble and turmoil. We are given a very detailed account of the politics and bickering's between the generals, his hidden and most deep thoughts on them and other war issues, and how he molded his armies to fight against all odds.Also important is the Patton "slap" incident and how it almost destroyed his career.But, unlike most others, Patton knew that he had a larger role to play in the war, and it was his destiny to fulfill it. A strong believer in reincarnation, Patton believed he was a warrior in past lives and was on a mission in this one, to complete his destiny of being a great soldier.How true it was. This may seem far fetched to some, but it is documented that he would know about places and things, mainly at battlefields, that he had never visited before.
Many World War Two books give much mention to him, but this is the book to read if one wants to learn more.I believe that he is one of the more important key players and interesting personalities of the Second World War, thus I decided to buy the book.At first I was a little apprehensive about reading such a thick book, but once I began reading it, I could not put it down.Much credit goes to Mr. D' Este and his excellent writing ability and this well researched masterpiece.Very few who knew Patton, were indifferent.They either loved or hated the man.Patton-A Genius for War, gives the reader the full story about the man, his highs and lows and the opinions and viewpoints from those who knew him.I found this a fascinating read. I not only learned a great deal about this controversial man, whom I personally admired, but many lessons in my current life and how to deal with them.Thanks Mr. D'este for a great book and salutes to you, General George Smith Patton.

Robert Glasker

The real inside story of what made this man tick

Fabulous book & full of details. The best Patton book I read & I read 'em all.
Includes alot of excerps from letters he wrote to his wife & although sometimes boring (for me)
they really shed the light on what type of man he was.

Patton: A Genius for War
This historical account is very thorough.It seems that the list of primary source documents on George Smith Patton from well before his birth and throughout his life is long and complete.My impression is that somehow it was known that he would require documenting and so anything and everything that he ever wrote is available through the George S. Patton Museum.I recommend this book for those who want to understand Patton from his origins.It is well written and a pleasurable read.

Best book about an historical figure
Patton: A Genius for War by Carlo D'Este is the best biography about an historical figure I have ever read.D'Este's research is deep and extensive, and the book is interesting and as readable as an excellent novel.I literally was fascinated, and couldn't put it down.I highly recommend it.

GREAT READ OF A FIGHTING GENERAL/ HARDCOVER
ENJOYED BOOK VERY MUCH, AUTHOR MAKES A POTENTIAL BORING TALE, INTERSTING. THOSE NOT INTERESTED IN A MANS LIFE UNFOLDS, DONT BOTHER. OTHERWISE AUTHOR TELLS PATTONS LIFE AS IT UNFOLDS, WARTS AND ALL. TODAY HEROS ARE HARD TO COME BY, ALL WANT TO BE POLITICIANS, NOT WARRIORS. PATTON FAR FROM A POLITICIAN,WITH A TOUCH OF EGOMANIA, PERHAPS MORE THAN A TOUCH. NONE THE LESS, A GREAT READ, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WW11. ... Read more

Product Description
American PT Boats in World War II is an illustrated study of the development, construction, tactics, and combat actions, of U.S. PT Boats. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Truly a Picture Book...
A decent photo survey, primarily black and white images.Minimal text, mostly captions for photos.Very little meat here in terms of detailed information on the subject beyond the photos and diagrams.Reprinted construction plans and drawings (from microfilms according to the author) are really too small to be very useful, although generally interesting.Really a scrapbook of photos and drawings rather than a history of American PT Boats.A decent work, but I was looking for more actual information about design, construction, and combat use of the boats.

The current photo source on PTs
Chun's book is THE photographical reference available today.If you want printed information on PT boats you buy two books: this for photographs, diagrams and all things visual and Bulkeley's AT CLOSE QUARTERS for extremely detailed accounts of PT actions.Good job Chun!

Really Unique
This book is great, primarily because of the pictorial treatment of the subject.As retired Navy, I have read extensively the history of World War II and specifically of the U.S. Navy role in winning the war.The exploits of the PT boats in the Pacific theater were of special interest. The detailed pictures of the interior and exteriors of the PT boat in the book are particularly good.I found the book to be very helpful in seeing pictorially what fighting the war in PT boats was like.The many original drawings of the profile and deck plans alone are worth a purchase.

Excellent Pictoral History
Vic Chun has done an outstanding job of bringing together brief histories of PT Boats from each theater. The book is well researched. He covers all makes and manufacturers. Some information has been included on the elusive subject of PT Boat camouflage. Highly recommended for the PT Boat enthusiast.

PT Boat Enthusiast! Two Thumbs Up!
I've bought several of these books for my uncles who served in the Navy during WWII. They loved it!They told me this was one of the best books on PT Boats out there.I liked it because I don't know a lot about these boats and I found it informative and my uncles know a lot about these boats and found it informative too.One of my uncles especially liked the cut out designs - because he has been making models of several boats and he used this book to help him make a PT. ... Read more

Product Description
From the humorous to the poignant, this incredible collection of wartime images reveals ordinary GIs on the frontline. From the deserts of North Africa to Normandy and from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima, every theater of war is covered and each image details the small arms that the average GI carried with him to wage war and win an historic victory. All the key small arms, from the commonplace ³Grease Gun² to the rare Johnson rifle, and including pistols, rifles, carbines, combat shotguns, automatic rifles and machine guns are included. Tom Laemlein has created a unique photo study that draws together a rare collection of classic images (many never before seen). These images together with a short introduction to each weapon tells the combat story of the US Army at war. ... Read more