wildbill's adventures through time

The title of my thread comes from the fact that my primary interest is history. One of the first history books I read was The Story of Mankind, a book which I began reading when I was about ten years old. I have always found history fascinating and usually read on a specific topic for several years. This year I am continuing my reading of American history from the American revolution to the Civil War. Last year I finally finished up five years of reading about the Civil War.
This year I also want to start reading European history from before WWI to after WWII.
I have been a subscriber to Library of America for several years and their books have raised my interest in poetry. One of my favorite books from last year was William Carlos Williams: Selected Poems which is a volume from the American Poets Project published by Library of America. Some friends I have met on LT have introduced me to some good fiction authors.
Last year I moved from the 50 book challenge to Club Read. I prefer reading at my own pace. Comments on my posts are welcome and I will be checking out what is going on with other members.

Gem of the Ocean This is the first play in August Wilson's Century Cycle set in 1904 in the Hill district in Pittsburgh, PA. All of the action in the play takes place in in the parlor of the home of Eli, Aunt Ester and Black Mary at 1839 Wylie Avenue.
The Gem of the Ocean is a paper boat made by Aunt Ester out of a bill of sale that was made out for her when she was a slave. Aunt Ester made the Gem of the Ocean to take Citizen Barlow to the Island of Bones to get his soul washed. Citizen Barlow needed to wash his soul to get clean from a sin he had committed.
Caesar Wilks, the ward constable, is the brother of Black Mary. She moved away from Caesar when he shot someone who was running away after stealing a loaf of bread. Caesar is a hard man who found success keeping law and order for the white men who run the community.
Solly Two Kings and Eli are friends from the days of the Underground Railroad. Rutherford Selig is a traveling peddler who often visits at the house on 1839 Wylie Avenue.
I found two themes in the play, violence and spirituality. The violence that runs through different incidents in the play is the violence of the oppression of African-Americans. The violence that has kept these people in poverty and powerless to control their fate. Caesar is for me a black man who becomes an instrument of oppression motivated by his greed and desire for power.
The spirituality of the characters provides their strength. This strength they brought from across the ocean and carry within themselves. I cannot help but feel that there is a connection between the Island of Bones and those who died on the Middle Passage. Citizen Barlow's trip to the Island of Bones has a great deal of symbolism in the singing and actions of the other characters involved.
This is a play that must be seen to be fully appreciated. There is a performance of Jitney, another Wilson play, coming to my area in April and I will be sure to see it.
I dare not give away the details of the play. What I can say is that it provides a connection with the lives of African-Americans of this time that is an important experience.

Reading August Wilson is a good way to start the year. Welcome, Bill!

Farewell My Lovely
This is the second Philip Marlowe mystery written by Raymond Chandler. I first became acquainted with the story when I saw the movie of the same title with Robert Mitchum playing Philip Marlowe.
The book opens with Marlowe meeting Moose Malloy. Malloy is 6' 5 1/2" and weighs about 265. When Marlowe saw him he was dressed up in a flashy outfit and as Marlowe described him "he looked as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food".
Malloy had just finished an eight year stretch and is looking for his old girl friend Velma.
They both go to a black club named Florian's, where Velma used to work when it was a white club. There Moose killed the manager who pulled a gun on him.
Marlowe is questioned by the police about the killing and then goes looking for Malloy and Velma. Anything more about the story would give it away.
Chandler tells a good story with a lot of twists and turns. He has a gift for phrases such as " she was a blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window". The characters are well written and the dialog keeps the story moving. The end has some surprises and overall it is very entertaining.
I felt the book got better as it went along. In the notes the editor says that Chandler put a lot of work into his writing and it shows. It is somewhat dated but that is part of the charm of the story.
I am about three books behind in getting my reviews done. I am also slogging my way through the first volume of The Origins of the War of 1914. I had to start taking notes to keep track of who was whom.

Sunset Limited This is number ten in the Dave Robicheaux series. LT says that it is number ten, Amazon says it is number eleven, I'll go with LT. The book has a lot of elements that appear in other Robicheaux novels. There is the twenty year old murder of Jack Flynn, a labor activist who was nailed up to the side of a barn in the pattern of a crucifixion. One of the main characters is Archer Terrebonne, the rich man that Dave loves to hate. In the end, which I will not discuss, he has good reason.
Another prime character is "Cool Breeze" Broussard and his father Mout' (short for Mouth). "Cool Breeze" is a black man who is jammed up in all directions. His father Mout' is a shoe shine man and the interaction with the two of them gives Dave the opportunity to comment on race relations in Louisiana. Harpo Scruggs and Swede Boxleiter are cold blooded killers who bring evil and violence into the story. Helen Soileau is Dave's partner. She is one of my favorite regular characters in the series.
Clete Purcel, Bootsie, Alafair and Batist fill out the list of regulars.
For whatever reason Burke did not seem to do his usual excellent background descriptions in writing this book. I enjoyed the story but it did not grab me the way most of the Robicheaux books do.
I have been taking some time off from LT. Work and other obligations have been filling up my time. I have a number of books to post including three more Robicheaux novels. Heaven's Prisoners is the only one I have left to read. I do think it might do well to reread the series in order at some point. I also have been doing some reading for the Off the Shelf Challenge that I need to get posted.

Heaven's Prisoners is one of the best, Bill. Find the time, soon.

Munich, 1938: Appeasement and World War II
I'm writing up books in two places and sometimes I'm not sure which book goes where.
I listened to an audio edition. The narrator was not very good.
This is a well detailed thorough narrative history of the period between Anschluss, the German takeover of Austria, and German takeover of Czechoslovokia. The primary focus is on the Munich Conference which was the first partition of Czechoslovokia. The Munich conference was where Britain, France, Italy and Germany got together and agreed on new borders for Czechoslovokia. The next morning Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler and got him to sign a piece of paper that said England and Germany were going to be friends. Chamberlain then flies home to England.
There is a mob scene at the airport and this is where Neville, Old Boy! utters those famous words"There will be peace in our time" I looked up Chamberlain in the Wiki and he remained the Prime Minister after WWII started and died nine months later, still the P.M.
Meanwhile the Nazis are the people you love to hate, especially Hitler. The nationwide riot against the Jews in Germany, known as Kristallnacht because of all the broken glass, occurs during this time.
The takeover of Austria was nostalgic. Hitler got to visit his parent's graves. He was Austrian, not German. He went back to Vienna where he had lived as a bum before WWI.
Whenever the Germans had a state dinner or luncheon they would have waiters in uniforms and the plates had Hitler's crest on them. Very programmed and severe.
One last tidbit. At Berchtesgaden (write that without looking it up) Hitler had one large room that looked out over the mountain scenery. It had a large picture window with a device that allowed the window to be lowered into the floor. When the window was lowered the room was like a covered porch.
You really have to hate all of those people for what they did to Czechoslovokia. Hitler got them all scared about going to war. Hitler's generals were scared about going to war too, they thought they would lose. So the English and the French tell the Czechs that it's time to take one for the world. And no you don't get to come to the conference where we decide your fate. An extreme example of cowardice, corruption and hypocrisy which is seen again and again throughout history with variations.

Vietnam: A History
I was looking forward to reading this book and was a little disappointed. The coverage of the background to the American War and the politics of the war were very well done. I was looking for the military history of the war and did not feel that subject was covered well.
I grew up in The Vietnam era and have a fair knowledge of the subject. I also enjoyed The Best and the Brightest which provided a good coverage of the American political situation.
This book had some excellent interviews and other information from the North Vietnamese side. The author did a good job of being objective as possible. It is a good one-volume narrative of the major issues presented by the war. The military history is not very detailed and I was looking for more explanation of what happened in that area. I would recommend this book as an introduction to the war but I am going to have to look elsewhere for a good military history.

I've been reading a number of books recently but I have been very lazy about writing reviews.
Claudius the God This is the second volume in a two volume biography written by Robert Graves in 1934 and 1935. It was the basis for the I Claudius series that was produced in 1976 with Derek Jacobi playing the part of Claudius. A lot of the material was taken from the biography of Claudius in the book Twelve Caesars by Suetonius.
Claudius was Emperor of Rome from 41 to 54 c.e. the the 5th of the Julio-Claudian emperors. Growing up he had some physical afflictions and was shoved in background by his family. He became Emperor after the assassination of Caligula when he was pulled out from his hiding place behind a curtain by a member of the Praetorian Guard who then proclaimed him Emperor.
The book is very well written with a lot of details about Roman life at this time. Since Claudius was the Emperor a lot of the book is about the business of running the Roman government and the politics of Claudius' era.
Some of the superstitious practices set out in the book are humorous. In the section on the Roman invasion of Britain the night before the big battle they brought out some sacred chickens and watched how they ate the sacred cakes. The chickens gobbled up the cakes which was a portent of victory in the battle. The Romans often consulted different auguries and had an extensive calendar of religious rites and sacrifices.
The campaign in Britain was one of the highlights of the book. It portrayed the Roman Army in action against the chariot army of the natives of Britain. Clauduis' marriages were a highlight of his personal life. He had no luck with women. His third wife, Messalina cheated on him constantly and the consensus is that his fourth wife Agrippina had him poisoned.
Claudius' best friend was Herod Agrippa. They met in Rome as boys and continued their friendship until Agrippa's death. They called each other brigand (Herod) and marmoset (Claudius) In their correspondence after Herod became ruler of Judea is an interesting commentary on the life of Jesus Christ.
Claudius supposedly had ambitions to bring back the Roman Republic but toward the end of the book his outlook changes. He became more fatalistic and supposedly knew he was taking poison when he was handed the fatal mushroom.
This book is an entertaining way to learn something about Ancient Rome. The details of Claudius' life are questionable but they make a good story. After reading this book I don't think I would have wanted the life of a Roman Emperor.

Just popping by to say that I am enjoying your reviews. I am reading John Adams by David McCullough, so I was excited to see that LOA is publishing his writings in the next year.
--BJ

>10 billiejean:
LOA has some really good titles on Early American History. I recently read Empire of Liberty a volume in the Oxford History of the United States series and the author used numerous citations from the LOA Writings series with Washington, Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson and Paine. I have been reading The Debate on the Constitution, Part One for a long time. I am on page 523 out of approximately 923 pages of text. They have a good chronology, notes, notes on the text and biographies which add a number of pages.
I

I think that I have a number of those books, but I haven't read any of them yet. I need to pick one up and check it out. Do you read the notes as you go along or do you read them at the end? I don't think that I have ever read the notes in any of my LOA books and now I am wondering what I have been missing.

Those Oxford books are pretty good, too, aren't they? I ordered a set on maritime history by them. I can't wait to see it.
--BJ

>12 billiejean: I have been trying to use the notes more often. I have found there is some good material in the notes for the fiction works. They do not have a good interface.
Drink to Yesterday by Manning Coles. Manning Coles is Adelaide Manning and Cyril Coles. This is an espionage suspense novel set in England and Germany in World War I. This book was first published in 1940 and is the first in a lengthy series. I bought it used in a set of six mysteries published in 1941.
My first reaction after I finished this book was that it was very entertaining. The lead character, Mike Kingston, first appears as a fifteen year old boy in an English boarding school. When the war starts he lies his way into the army and ends up in the Intelligence Service. He is then assigned to work in Germany impersonating a Boer from South Africa working for his Dutch uncle. From there the action starts and Mike develops real depth as a character from his wartime experiences. I got pulled into the story and finished the book in two sittings. The ending does a back flip like a mobius strip and that is all I can say about it.
Some of the phrases in the dialog are definitely from another time and place which adds charm to the book. The war time setting adds poignancy to the romantic relationships in a way that is very true to life.

The book gets better as it moves along. The authors writing style is very realistic in a matter of fact low key fashion that refrains from the gritty edge that you might find in James Lee Burke. These are English people not Americans. It is simply a good story well told and written for adults. Reading this book really refreshed my interest in reading. I am sure that I will try some of their other books.

The A. B. C. Murders This is the first Hercule Poirot book I have read and I enjoyed it very much. The book is in the same set as Drink to Yesterday. The book begins with Poirot receiving a letter signed A.B.C. The letter challenges Mr. Poirot's ability to solve a mystery from an event that will take place at Andover on the 21st of the month. Then on the 21st Mrs. Ascher is found murdered in her shop at Andover. Found on the counter of her shop is a railway guide known as the A.B.C.
Mr. Poirot's companion in this book, his Doctor Watson, is Captain Arthur Hastings O.B.E. Poirot and Hastings go to Andover and begin investigating Mrs. Ascher's murder. The witnesses are a cross section of the English middle class. Poirot questions them thoroughly creating interesting dialogs reminiscent to me of Jack Webb in Dragnet.
Poirot then receives a second letter predicting trouble in Bexhill on the 25th. The case has turned into a serial murder and Scotland Yard becomes involved. Inspector Crome takes charge of the case accompanied by a psychiatrist, Dr. Thompson.
The victim in Bexhill is Elizabeth Bernard, strangled by her own belt. The A.B.C. guide is found beneath her body. Poirot now becomes focused on discovering the motive which will lead to the killer. The murder in Bexhill is followed by the murder of Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston, preceded by the letter from A.B.C. Then George Earlfield is murdered in Doncaster on Septmember 11th in a movie theater. He is stabbed and the A.B.C. guide is left on the floor between his feet. Mr. Roger Downes is also found in the theater and it appears A.B.C. has made a mistake.
After the murder in Doncaster a series of clues lead to Alexander Bonaparte Cust as the murderer. His room is searched and a quantity of A.B.C. guides are found. Mr. Cust is found and arrested. The only problem is that Mr. Cust has an alibi for the Bexhill murder.
Hercule Poirot is still looking for the motive for the murders and has a meeting with Mr. Cust. Mr. Cust is a rather pitiful man. He failed to meet the expectations of his ambitious mother who saddled him with the names of glorious men. He was discharged from the Army when it was discovered he had epilepsy. Now he is plagued by headaches and memory loss from his epilepsy. Recently he had received a position selling stockings and maintained that the instructions of his employer had sent him to the cities where the murders were committed. He admits to Poirot that he committed the murders but cannot say why.
The book ends with Poirot in a room with a group of the interested parties from the murders, the classic climax to a whodunit. Poirot proceeds to explain the crimes and names the murderer. The last scene is well done and contains interesting surprises.
I understand why Agatha Christie had such a reputation as a mystery writer. The plot moves well and the book is full of interesting characters. The mystery and the ending are well done, surprising and believable.
I have already read two of the four books remaining in the set so now I have two to go.

Black Cherry Blues This is number three in the Dave Robicheaux series and it won the Edgar Award in 1990.
The book opens with Dave having a flashback about the viscous murder of his wife Annie in the previous book. She and his father appear to him throughout the book. This book is more of a straight detective novel than some of Burke's later books in the series.
Dave runs into an old friend of his from college, Dixie Lee Pugh. Dixie was a rock and roller until he went to prison for a DWI homicide and then he became just a drunk. Dave gets tied in with a couple acquaintances of Dixie's, Dalton Vidrine and Harry Mapes. Dixie tells Dave about two murders committed by Vidrine and Mapes. Dave thinks they have threatened Alafair so he wreaks some serious violence on both of them. The only problem is that after he leaves Dalton Vidrine gets murdered, probably by Mapes. Dave gets arrested and with Mapes testimony it looks like he is headed to Angola. So Dave gets out and decides to go after Mapes and get him for the murders Dixie told him about. Solve a crime so you don't go to jail.
To find Mapes, Dave and Alafair go to Montana. There he runs into Cletus who is working for Sally Dio a small time greaseball. Cletus is living with Darlene Desmarteau whose brother Clayton was one of the people Vidrine and Mapes murdered. The actions of the characters create a convoluted plot accompanied by Burke's quota of violence and murder.
The story is excellent with a frantic pace. The details are left for the reader to discover. Robicheaux's inner dialog is not as persistent as his later books. Burke's gift for description of the landscape and everything else has not yet blossomed. This book is a hard boiled gritty mystery where the plot and the Cajun flavor provide the entertainment.
I enjoyed the book very much. It is the kind of book you sit down to read and forget to get up until you are done. The Black Cherry blues is a song by Dixie Lee Pugh written in an isolation cell.
" You can toke, you can drop,
Drink or use.
It doesn't matter, daddy,
"Cause you're never gonna lose
Them mean old jailhouse
Black Cherry Blues."

Jolie Blon's Bounce This is number twelve in the Dave Robicheaux series and leaves me with one to go.
Dave is working at the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office with Helen Soileau as his partner. The story begins with the rape and murder of Amanda Boudreau a beautiful 16 year old girl. This crime starts Dave on a journey through the past of Iberia Parish. We learn the story of Julian LaSalle. He was rich and respected then his wife was killed when their house burned down and she was locked in her room. Julian later went into town had a nice dinner at the hotel and then did a swan dive from the eighth floor balcony.
Legion had run the plantation for Julian LaSalle. His full name is Legion Guidry but everyone just calls him Legion. He is an ignorant violent man who carries his own brand of evil and speaks in tongues. Ladice Hulin was Julian's black mistress and later Legion's property. Her grandson is Tee Bobby Hulin a prime suspect in the murder. Jolie Blon's Bounce is a song written by Tee Bobby who is trying to use his talent to get away from his life in Iberia Parish before it destroys him.
The present generation of the LaSalle family is represented by Perry LaSalle. He is a hot shot criminal defense lawyer who drives a fancy car and has an office full of Civil War heirlooms. Perry has a history of relationships with women that flare up and end quickly. The past follows him in the form of unexplained visits to his office from Legion.
The second murder victim is Linda Zeroski a street corner prostitute with three years of college. Her father Joe Zeroski, is an ex button man for the Giancana family who comes to New Iberia to hunt her murderer. He doesn't find the murderer but his companion in crime Frankie Dogs is murdered sitting on a toilet.
Clete Purcel is present bigger than life. He is a man who is as complex and violent as Dave. He gets his heart broken twice and pulls Dave off of a man he is trying to kill with his bare hands. Another character of note is Marvin Oates. He goes around town pulling his sample case of Bibles and magazines on a roller skate with his own brand of religion that makes up his conversation. When he takes his shirt off his back is covered with pock marked scars from cigarette burns.
Dave and Legion cross paths and the emotional fallout cranks up Dave's inner voice and his urge to drink. Violence and hurt come into the story early and often creating a fast paced tale that entertains as it takes you to places you might not choose to go. The only light moment is Sal Angelo a Vietnam vet who claims to have saved Dave's life. We first see him as a burnout covered with five years of dirt and grime. When we last see him he is cleaned up and doing a good deed before he disappears into the dark.
James Lee Burke is a very good writer. This novel is dominated by the characters and their stories. The tone is hard boiled and gritty. There is not much of the pretty scenery Burke often weaves through his writing. A lot of the story takes place inside various jails and the book is permeated with the darkness you find in there. The epilogue wraps up the loose ends and everybody you care about is all right, for now.

Nice review!
--BJ

The play Jitney is in town and since I don't have tickets I read the play. While reading the play I gave the characters different voices and appearances in my mind to try to imitate the live play experience. Wilson's plays give me a unique opportunity to assimilate the African-American culture that permeates the play.
The play is set in 1977 in a gypsy cab station otherwise known as a jitney. Youngblood and Rena are a young couple struggling to get along. Fielding, Turnbo and Doub are other jitney drivers who take calls in turn as the phone is answered, "Car Service". Shealy is a numbers taker who uses the phone in the station to run his business. The major drama takes place between Becker, the jitney owner, and his son Booster. I can't give it away but it is an emotionally powerful story drawn from the unique world of the African-American experience of that time.
All of the drivers are affected by news that the city is going to board up the building in two weeks for urban development. Their station is surrounded by boarded up buildings condemned for urban development that never happened. Becker decides to stay in the station and fight the action by the city. His decision is changed by events beyond his control. The only constant in the story is the jitney as the last line of the play is the station phone being answered with the words "Car Service".

Thanks for that, wildbill. I live very close to the Alliance Theatre, where Jitney is being performed. I haven't seen this play, so I'll try to make it over there later this week.

Pegasus Descending This is the fifteenth novel in the Dave Robicheaux series and James Lee Burke is at the top of his game. He has everything working: great characters, a great mystery plot with three murders intertwined, beautiful descriptive writing that makes the background come alive, all coming together in an ending that picks up speed like a fast train and then explodes with surprises like 4th of July fireworks. I listened to this on an audiobook which I will not do again with a James Lee Burke novel. I have to look all over to get the spelling of the names and I can't go back and savor a particularly good scene.
The story opens with the death of a lovely young woman Yvonne Darbonne. She starts out the day dancing to John Lee Hooker's "Boom, Boom" and ends up raped, full of drugs and with a hole in her head, probably self-inflicted. Then the corpse of Crustacean Man is found about 12 months dead from what looks like a hit and run. Then as the story moves on the body of Tony Lujan is found. A sensitive young man who had his face blown off with a shotgun. The last murder is that of Bella Lujan, Tony's father, his body eviscerated with vicious blows from a pickax whose tip was ground to a fine point to make a killing weapon.
Throughout the book Dave is haunted by the death of Dallas Klein, a friend who got caught up with guys who don't play, murdered in front of Dave who is too drunk to stop it. His daughter Trish Klein comes into the story out to get Whitey Bruxal an old time Miami hood who was responsible for her father's death.
Dave, as always, is trying to solve the secrets of life as he investigates the three murders. His inner monologue on the morality of life provides a moral compass that helps Dave navigate the stormy waters.
Clete Purcel enters the scene and hooks up with Trish Klein putting himself in harm's way chasing the dreams of his lost youth.
Only James Lee Burke can make you feel the mist coming in off of the water or notice the the hairline wrinkles around the mouth of Mrs. Lujan. Besides the criminals Lonnie Marceau, the Parish District Attorney, joins the list of bad guys with an ego fueled by the ambition to go to Washington.
Monarch Little a local gang banger and drug dealer is cast in the role of Tony Lujan's murderer by everyone except Dave.
Dave's support group of Molly, Clete and Sheriff Helen Soileau shake their heads when Dave's violence overflows and he lashes out and breaks one of Lonnie Marceau's teeth.
In the end it is the repeated sifting through the evidence that brings a solution to the crimes. Trish does pull an unwelcome surprise on Whitey Bruxal hitting him in his money bags. The bad guys go to jail and the good guys go on to another day.
James Lee Burke is an excellent writer. He makes you think as he entertains you. He presents the world as it is more greys than black and white. He adds moral content to a world of violence and evil. Do yourself a favor and try one of his books, betcha you can't read just one.

He adds moral content to a world of violence and evil. Well said, Bill. And it's time for me to pick up another Burke for my next re-read.

I saw John Lee Hooker in a small club in Austin. Wow.
--BJ

Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke. This is the most recent book in the Dave Robicheaux series and it has quickly jumped high on my list favorites. The book has fast paced action from cover to cover and the suspense is heightened by the fact that it is Dave and his family who are in danger.
The book begins with the investigation of the murders of seven young girls and quickly focuses on two of the murders that occurred around New Iberia Parish. The murders around New Iberia center around a parcel of land that is the key to a billion dollar fortune.
Dave has a new issue to deal with as Alafair becomes involved with Kermit Abelard whom Dave dislikes and suspects is involved in the murders. Kermit with his friend Robert Weingart are helping Alafair publish her first book. Weingarten is a recidivist convict who has become a famous writer but retained his psychopathic attitude. Kermit's grandfather Timothy Abelard is a local Southern grandee with a charming voice and connections with the New Orleans mob. Dave and Clete also have to deal with a group of super efficient paramilitary mercenaries referred to as "cleaners" who have tattoos of cartoon figures on their wrists.
Clete Purcel has a bigger than usual part to play in the story. Breaking her own rule the Sheriff, Helen Soileau, allows Clete to become part of the investigation and the Bobbsey Twins from homicide are back in action. Clete calls for the black flag early and often. Burke uses great skill in maintaining a high level of violence in his story without shocking the reader or going over the top.
Throughout the story Dave sees an antebellum paddle wheeler come to take someone to the other side cruising down the river. Several times he first hears the grinding gears of the drawbridge. The ending is nonstop action and suspense. Dave and Clete become knights on a quest, bloody but unbowed, fighting unrelenting evil.
James Lee Burke tells a tale worthy of an MWA Grandmaster. Like a true artist he is able to use words to transport the reader to another world that is bright and vivid. I listened to an audiobook edition and when it was done I went through it again. The narration was well done and the different accents used for the characters help make the story easy to follow.

#24 You're the second person to give it high marks in my circle today, Charlie Callahan (old Brainflakes himself) being the first I'm about to start reading it tonight.

Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas This is a very well written narrative history of one of the significant battles in Virginia in the second year of the Civil War. I read the book because I was not very familiar with the details of this campaign.
This is the first book I have read written by this author. His writing style makes for an enjoyable read. The narration moves at a good pace in straight forward non-academic language. He has no discernible bias for either side as he describes the military struggle between the parties.

The author previously served as a historian at the Manassas National Battlefield. His knowledge of the battlefield and how the topography of the site influenced the course of the battle gives an added dimension to his narration of the events.
He makes excellent use of primary sources. There are many short segments of moment to moment descriptions of various events as they happen throughout the battle that allow the participants to relate the events in their own words. The author also provides personal details of the main participants.
The book had 15 maps that closely followed the battle narration and were a real help to me in following the action.

The campaign begins with Lee outnumbered and the Union general John Pope receiving additional troops. Lee takes the initiative and attacks Pope's army by splitting up his forces and having Stonewall Jackson's army attack the Union supply base at Manassas, Virginia. This also cuts the railroad that is the supply line to Pope's army. The base has acres and acres of everything a soldier could ever need or want. When it is captured the soldiers of Jackson's army go on a binge, looting through the supplies. The image of the Confederate soldiers, half of whom have no shoes, looting through millions of dollars of army supplies is one I will remember.
Pope turns his army and moves to attack Jackson. Even though the Union army is much larger Pope is a poor general and Jackson's army holds their position inflicting heavy casualties. On the dust jacket of the book is a painting that shows Confederate soldiers throwing rocks at the Federals. As it happened Jackson's soldiers did at one time run low on ammunition and in desperation actually throw rocks at the Union soldiers.
While Pope is attacking Jackson the other portion of Lee's army marches to join Jackson. Pope doesn't believe the reports of other Confederate troops in the area and continues his attacks on Jackson. Longstreet at the head of the other Confederate troops attacks Pope from the flank and comes close to destroying the Army of Virginia. The Union soldiers manage to retreat but suffer many unnecessary casualties because of poor leadership. There are quotations from Union soldiers in the book that show they understood that their generals were getting them killed.

The improvements in military technology and the low level of medical care contributed to a high level of deaths and serious casualties in the Civil War. The standard rifle bullet was .53 caliber, bigger than a .45 or 9mm. Amputation was the only known treatment for many of the wounds inflicted by this bullet. The courage of the soldiers as they charge into volleys of rifle fire is awe inspiring. There were 25,000 casualties out of a total of approximately 125,000 soldiers involved in the fighting. The Union casualties were much higher but they had more troops. Each side suffered about 20% casualties. Some units in the thick of the fighting suffered 50% casualties. This was one of the last wars where the generals led the charge and officers suffered a high rate of casualties.

After the battle ends with a victory for the Confederates the Union side engages in the blame game. Pope was fired and McClellan put back in charge. Pope had one of his generals court-martialed which became a story that went on for many years.
The last chapter has some very good analysis about the campaign and the final battle. The author points out some critical mistakes and examples of good performance on both sides. It is clear that John Pope was not competent and became overwhelmed by events as the battle went on. This campaign climaxed a three month period where Lee turned the military situation in favor of the Confederates.
Now I know a lot more about what happened during the 21 days covered by the book and the long term effects of those events. I really enjoyed this book and for those interested in this topic I can highly recommend it.

Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years I really enjoy reading well written history and I consider this book an excellent piece of historical writing. The final product reflects hours of careful editing that created a smooth flowing literary style of writing. The many details of the events and the people involved kept the book interesting throughout. These factors made reading the book a very pleasant experience for me.
The author covers a topic of great scope both chronologically and geographically in the 1000 pages of text. As I read the book I watched a small religion grow into a church and then many churches that now comprise one of the greatest cultural movements on the planet. Unless you find the topic offensive it is one of the amazing stories of humankind.
The book is written in a very objective tone that shows a great respect for the topic. While the author narrates many of the specific events that gave rise to Christianity I did not detect any bias on the subject of belief. There are hints of Anglo-centrism, I have never heard Tennessee referred to as part of the American Midwest, but the author gives equal coverage to all of the areas of the world where the topic takes him.
I learned a great deal about all of the places and people involved in the history of Christianity. While some sections of the book read like a history of Medieval Europe there are extensive sections on Christianity in the Middle East and the effect of Islam. There is also a substantial section on the growth of Christianity in South Korea. The author describes all of the various types of churches, church organizations and monastic associations that comprise the great mosaic of the different types of institutions that have been created for Christian worship and practice.
The author does an excellent job of telling the different stories of the different people involved in the history of Christianity. The book is full of biographical details that make the people come alive and remind the reader that history is primarily the story of people through time. Any book about religion has to delve into theology and that area was the most difficult for me. I had to do a little research at times to stay up to speed. I do know the difference between Dyophysites, Monophysites and Miaphysites.
I think the author's great talent was taking all of this information and making it into a narrative that was both concise and complete. He obviously came to the project with a great deal of knowledge and did a vast amount of research. He had a story to tell and when he was finished he had told the complete story without any repetition. If I were a theologian I might be able to point out a flaw but I am not and I can only give my impressions of the book.
I could obviously say a great deal more about what was in the book but then I could never stop. I learned a lot about an interesting topic and I had a good time doing it. I have an audio edition of the book and I am sure that I will listen to it often. The narrator is very good and I have much more to learn from this book.

In The Reformation MacCulloch's conciseness sometimes makes for difficult reading for those of us of modest attentiveness. That is he spells out, for example, the contributions of one leading, but not well known, figure. Then he does it for multiple other figures. Then he returns to the first mentioned figure. And someone like me has by then few of the specifics that may prove important on the follow up.

Did you have any problem like that with Christianity? I intend to read it regardless, but I would like to be forewarned.

Robert

The book has a lot of material and I have not done much reading on the history of Christianity. I think that caused me to go back and forth to stay caught up more than MacCulloch's writing style.
Regardless, I am sure you will enjoy the book very much.
MacCulloch is an excellent author. I will probably start looking for The Reformation soon.

Lonely Hearts by John Harvey. This is the first volume in an English mystery series whose lead character is a Detective Inspector named Charlie Reznick. He is always a bit disheveled with something from breakfast on his tie and lives alone with four cats. He listens to Billie Holliday and Duke Ellington and likes to cook a little less than he likes to eat. In the book he gets several comments on his need to exercise.
The plot centers around two murders who met their killer through answering lonely hearts ads in the newspaper. The first murder was a simple strangulation but the second was a violent beating. This type of case goes to the front page in England and Charlie gets constant calls from his superiors.
Early in the story when Charlie testifies in a child molestation case he meets a social worker named Rachel Chaplin. She is attractive and very independent and their relationship grows when she leaves her live-in boyfriend.
I really enjoyed reading English as opposed to American. When someone says they will call you they say "I'll give you a bell". At times the language barrier made the story a little hard to follow.
The story moves along well and I grew to like Charlie for his character and decency.
The action picks up quickly in an abrupt ending which is rather obvious. I have another in the series and will give it a try. The writing is well done and it was an enjoyable break after reading The Third Reich at War.

Hamburger Hill. This book is about a battle that took place in the A Shau valley in South Vietnam between May 10 and 20, 1969. I had seen a movie about this battle and retained an interest that led me to buy the book.
The battle was fought for control of a mountain 3000 feet high in the tropical jungle on the border with Laos. The mountain was known locally as Dong Ap Bai, Dong meaning mountain, and by the United States Army as Hill 937, it's height in meters, or eventually as "Hamburger Hill" for what it did to American soldiers.
The mountain was honeycombed with tunnels and supply dumps as the center of a supply and headquarters center on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The road ran through the valley, a single lane of tamped earth, and the jungle canopy above was woven together to make it invisible from the air. The North Vietnamese did not fight and run as they usually did but stayed on the mountain and fought to the last man. The U. S. soldiers fought and climbed their way up the mountain for ten days before they could claim victory.
The book tells the basics of how America waged war in Vietnam. Engineering units carved out LZ's and firebases in the jungle and units moved in and began spreading out in the assigned area. The ground troops were aided by massive firepower from air support and artillery. Observation planes directed the support fire and allowed the officers to run the battle from the air. The soldiers spent a lot of time watching the firepower blow up the mountain. At the beginning of the battle the mountain was covered with jungle. The pictures of the mountain after the battle was over look like northwestern France at the end of WW I.
After a couple of hours of artillery, bombs and strafing the soldiers started climbing the mountain. There was a 30 degree slope in places and men would have to grab a tree root or vine and pull their way up. The NVA were in bunkers and spiderholes, foxholes with a cover. They used the trees for sniper rests. Four or five guys would shoot up a spot and a body would fall out of the trees hanging by a rope tied around his waist. The U.S. infantry carried a variety of weapons including several anti-tank weapons that in this battle were used on bunkers and personnel. The Americans used flechette rounds, something I had never read about. They were multiple quantities of small pointed metal spears, in shells from shotgun size up to artillery rounds.
The NVA made frequent use of satchel charges carried by sappers. During the battle one morning at 1:00 about 20 sappers with satchel charges attacked a base area inflicting many casualties until they were all dead.
I was very impressed with the bravery and courage of the American soldiers. Perhaps the author, who served with these men, decided to portray the soldiers with these qualities but I felt that there was a ring of truth in what I read.
Based upon the casualties this battle would have been a skirmish in the Civil War. Casualties were treated differently in this war. After the battle Sen. Edward Kennedy criticized command decisions for causing high casualties and the military changed the rules of engagement to reduce casualties.
The author fought in Vietnam in 1969 and heard stories of the battle from wounded survivors. He traveled extensively to do numerous interviews of veterans of the battle. The material from the interviews brings the action in the battle to life in real time vignettes told in the words of the participants. These episodes were very extensive and the soldiers particularly Lt. Boccia and the commander of the 3/187 Lt. Col. Honeycutt became recognizable people. It was only after looking at the photos in the book that I realized how young the men were.
I lived through this era and strongly disagreed with the political decisions that put our military into this war. This book provides a realistic example of the death and destruction that resulted from those decisions. For a variety of reasons I enjoyed reading the book.
On the last day a big push was planned to take the mountain. The American soldiers knew they were going to be fighting here until they took the mountain. During the fighting a several soldiers lost it and ran out in the open shooting the enemy until they were killed.
Shortly after the end of the battle the American troops were ordered off of the mountain. The North Vietnamese moved back in and resumed their activities.

Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 This volume of the Oxford History of the United States won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 helping to build the reputation of the series. I have read a number of the volumes in print and I would agree that they are generally high quality history writing. Strangely enough one volume, The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815-1846 was published by Oxford but replaced in the series by What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848.

This book is a good in-depth survey history of an era that saw great changes in the United States. The author varies narrative history with a cogent analysis of events. 1929 was the end of the roaring twenties. The author gives a short introduction and then begins the book with the crash. America, at the time of the crash, was a country of small towns which had retreated from a brief fling as a major power in World War I. On October 29, the market crashed for good and the American economy went into reverse. By 1930 American unemployment was over 10% and was at that figure when the industrial boom of World War II began. At the end of 1945 America had exploded the atomic bomb and had the biggest industrial economy on the planet amidst a bombed out Europe and Asia. After World War II America displaced the European powers on the world stage, eventually fighting and losing an anti-colonial war in Vietnam. It should be noted that the country quit the military never lost.
The author's portrayal of Herbert Hoover is refreshingly balanced. Herbert Hoover was an intelligent man who made a reputation running the programs that fed Europe after WWI. FDR expanded many of the programs that Hoover started and got the credit for being innovative. Unfortunately both of Hoover's parents were dead by the time he was ten and he was raised in a rural Quaker environment. Hoover didn't have one-tenth the charm and warmth that were some of Roosevelt's greatest attributes. Plus he was poorly served at times. General MacArthur ran the Bonus Army families out of their tent camp with tear gas and Hoover got the blame.
In 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president and the New Deal began. Something was wrong in America and the government was going to fix it. There were several agencies and programs that were a flash in the pan and there were long term programs such as Social Security and the TVA that changed the American way of life. The WPA was made the government the employer of last resort for a period of time and the NRA gave rise to the slogan" The little chicken that killed the blue eagle". That was an often used expression describing the Schecter case where the NRA, a huge economic bureaucracy that set prices, wages and standards was declared unconstitutional. This and other cases like it led to FDR's court-packing plan. He wanted to appoint one Justice to the Supreme Court for every one who was over 70. The failure of that plan in 1937 showed that FDR did have limits to his political power.
World War II in Europe began September 1, 1939 and after the British were driven off the shores of Dunkirk losing all of their equipment Roosevelt began to push the country to the aid of England. The battle between Roosevelt and the isolationists ended on December 7, 1941 and when Germany and Italy declared war on the U. S. on December 11. America fought a tough war in the Pacific while the Russians inflicted 70% of the German casualties. The diplomatic side largely consisted of the relationship between Roosevelt and Churchill. The portrayal of Churchill has little depth. He is primarily portrayed as someone who was a zealous advocate for his country's interest. In describing the Big Three conferences Stalin comes across as a formidable adversary. He was intelligent, knew what he wanted and expected to get it. At the last conference in Teheran FDR was very ill. Stalin agreed to go to war against Japan but insisted on a sphere of interest in Eastern Europe as his price. The Russian military occupation of the area created a fait accompli. In April of 1945 FDR died at Warm Springs, Georgia. He was with his mistress. 24 years before he had promised Eleanor he would leave her. At the end of the book there is some emphasis put on the lack of discussion about the decision to use the atomic bomb. The incendiary bombing of Tokyo killed 90,000 people in 12 to 18 hours. The U.S. had spent billions and worked incredibly hard to produce the atomic bomb as a super weapon to end the war without any further American casualties. In retrospect the horror of the atomic bomb is it's lasting legacy. Sherman said "War is Hell" and this was another action that proved him right.
There is much that I liked about this book. It had a great deal of information and was well written. The index is very useful and the author going against the tide put his notes at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately I did not enjoy the book as much as I would have liked. I felt the author had an elitist approach in deciding who and what was important. The book was more about Roosevelt than the American people. I have grown to like history that makes use of diaries and letters to present the moments of the past in the words of the people who lived them. This author chose to use a different approach. Obviously the Pulitzer Committee agreed with his approach. I do recommend the book. The author gave me some new insights into this era and I will keep it on the shelf for reference.

Thanks for your review. I'll have to look for this book.

I have grown to like history that makes use of diaries and letters to present the moments of the past in the words of the people who lived them. I like that style, too, with judicious authorial explanation and expansion.

WWII is not my area of interest, wb, but I liked your review just the same. Nice job.