Cival War avoided for 10 years
342869
Good read, never really knew just how close we were to disunion after the Mexican/American War.  Did not know of the role my home state of Texas played to the overall problem
1252618
I found this first-hand account of a punitive campaign against Islamic tribesmen on a far edge of British India fascinating in two ways.

1) Churchill takes for granted near the dawn of the 20th century that technologically and militarily advanced European nations have an evident right to rule people in distant lands who lack effective means to resist the Empire. In one passage, he laments the fact that British conscripts are young men in their early 20s, not yet at their peak in his estimation, who serve next to Indian troops who are considerably older and therefore at their peak of physical power and courage. He worries about what would happen should the Indians ever arrive at the idea that they are the equals of Europeans.

He defends the practice of burning villages and destroying their crops in their fields, reasoning that the threat of starvation during the subsequent winter is a useful tool in securing the peace.

2) This must have been one of the last non-mechanized wars fought by a world power on our planet. The troops relied on mule and camel trains for transit. The only wheeled traffic, made possible only with great exertion, were artillery batteries. Cavalry in this account still appear to rely on lances and sabers more often than their carbines. Efficient communications were made with heliographs from one mountaintop to the next, and the nearest telegraph station was days away back in India proper.

It is astonishing to imagine the same military organization making the leap into World War I less than 20 years after this account, and learning under pressure to employ motorized transport, aircraft, wireless sets, chemical warfare, and even primitive tanks. The image of horse cavalry trotting across Belgium and France in 1914 makes a little more sense to me considering it had been a decisive arm in open ground in living memory.

I appreciate Churchill's writing style for the most part. He is generally clear-headed and unsentimental, and unafraid of writing what is on his mind. He presents a vivid account of the campaign from the campaigners' point of view, and even as a young officer turned correspondent he analyzes the effort and the wider implications for the Empire.

I read the Kindle version, which did not include a single map. For this reason, and because the book does not consider the opposing point of view, I give it 4 stars. If one had an atlas in hand, and was only interested in the military campaign divorced from its political roots and long-term outcomes, it would be a 5-star book in my opinion.
2653440
This book amazed me.  I read it 10 years ago and looked up the title today because I was looking up reviews on BLACK MAY: THE EPIC STORY OF THE ALLIES' DEFEAT OF THE GERMAN U-BOATS IN MAY, 1943.  I am pleased that IRON  COFFINS is back in print! What struck me 10 years ago and still strikes me  about IRON COFFINS is that this story was almost "lost" several  times -- at sea as the tide of battle turned against the U-boats in 1943,  and on land after the Germans surrendered; in the days immediately  following the war, the author used his wits to escape death by the Russians  and end up in the hands of what history has shown to be the more merciful  victors.
1834507
(Note: From memory. Book read in 2002) The story opens with the battle of Oudekirk, where the teenaged narrator, Inigo Balboa is serving as a 'mochilero' for his father's old comrade, 'Capitan' Diego Alatriste, who despite his honorary title, is a infantry squad leader in the veteran Regiment (Tercio viejo in old Spanish) of Cartagena in Flanders. As usual, Alatriste's mastery of the sword has led to an incident whereby passing some time out of Spain is in his best interest. The story flashes back and forth between Madrid and Flanders, as Inigo describes various stages of the battle to Alatriste's friend and drinking companion, artist Diego Velasquez. Mochileros, literally pack-carriers, were soldiers personal assistants, often orphans and street children, who kept their equipment clean and serviceable, their quarters clean, and scrounged for food, all for a nominal fee paid out of the soldiers pocket, when and if they got paid. Which is one element of the story, as Spinola's failure to pay his troops leads to desertions and mutiny, until the Dutch and English intervene, at which time the mutineers prove capable of returning to the ranks to fight a common enemy. If that sounds like something that would only happen in a novel, Spain's eighty year long war in Flanders produced several verifiable cases. Perez-Reverte's plot, personalities, and description of Spanish military life sound real enough to pass for actual history. The story closes in Velasquez's studio as he and Inigo, now a lieutenant in the Army, discuss Spain's victory at Breda, their last such victory in the Netherlands, amid rumors of war with Richelieu's France, which will lead to Spain's defeat at Rocroi. Strongly recommended for those interested in military history. Any of the Alatriste novels make good reading assignments for advanced Spanish students. The military, naval, and fencing terminology used forces even native-speakers to the dictionary. The historical character portraits are realistic, and may open new topics of interest to students of history or Spain.
3222988
By the early spring of 1945, the United States forces had pushed the Japanese back across the Pacific and were now in position to directly threaten the Japanese home islands.  This final volume of Samuel Eliot Morison's fine series covers the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa along with the formal Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945.
The main purpose for securing the island of Iwo Jima was to provide a rescue station for crippled B-29 bombers returning from Japan as well as an advanced fighter escort base for P-51 Mustang escort fighters.  The invasion took place in February 1945, and it was originally thought that securing the island would only take about four days.  How wrong we were.  This battle lasted four weeks and cost many thousands of American casualties.  The enduring act of the war for the Americans occurred during this battle when the flag was raised on Mt. Suribachi and was forever captured on film.  I was disappointed with this section of the book.  Only 70 pages of the book deal with the Iwo Jima campaign, so I felt that many important aspects of the battle were left out completely.
In April, 1945, the Americans turned their attention to Okinawa.  Located only 350 miles from the Japanese mainland, Okinawa was to serve as a prime staging area for the invasion of Japan, which was scheduled for November 1945.  This battle covers the great majority of this book.  Every aspect of the battle is covered, from the landings to the kamikaze attacks against the American ships.  Perhaps the best part of the book deals with the description of the kamikaze attacks against the radar picket destroyers which were stationed around Okinawa.  These ships faced the wrath of the kamikaze forces and many were sunk, but these heroic sailors and ships put up a tremendous fight against the Japanese and provided an invaluable service by vectoring out C.A.P. aircraft as well as warning the fleet to incoming kamikaze attacks.  They were the true heroes of Okinawa.
Other important events, such as the suicide mission of the Japanese superbattleship Yamato and the tragic and unnecessary sinking of the USS Indianapolis are also described in this volume.  As with other books in this set, this one contains excellent photographs and maps to assist the reader.
With the surrender of Japan in September 1945, one war ended and another war dawned; the cold war, which lasted for forty three years.
1238375
Some things never change.  In reading a large number of books written in the 1800's I noticed that many of the people who moved west were completely unprepared to deal with the circumstances that would be encountered.  This author gives a lot of details about how their crew prepared for dealing with the Indians; from learning sign language to, supplying items that the Indians wanted; to buying and becoming proficient with new technology like 6 shot revolvers and Sharps paper cartridge guns.

Combat is combat whether it happened 2000 years ago or yesterday.  If you have been there and done that you will know that Hamilton has too.
1852451
10 years really paid off this is a master peace!!!!
4214426
Benevolent Assimilation is McKinley's phrase for the civilizing mission of America in the Philippines.  Miller makes a good case that the Filipinos neither needed civilizing or Christianizing since they had both.  What America really wanted was a colonial empire to establish itself as a great power.  McKinley did not know what he wanted, but people made him believe in the civilizing mission of the U.S. government.
What Miller demonstrates in this book is that the Philippines wanted independence and not American government.  The revolt which followed the Spanish American War was long and devastated the islands.  Thousands lost their lives, and American troops showed no mercy in putting down the revolt.  The revolt lasted for over three years, and cost the U.S. much in men and treasure.
America won, but lost seventy years later in Vietnam.
4890422
At a time when mainstream media was unfairly reporting on the situation from expensive hotel rooms, Scott Taylor was out in the field reporting for what he saw and what was really happening. He stayed in youth hostels and talked to locals both in Skopje and Tetovo (Macedonia) both Albanian and Macedonian, and was able to get a much clearer and more accurate feel for the situation than any other western journalist.

Taylor clearly shows the difficult Macedonian position: After receiving almost 400,000 Kosovo Refugees, sanctions against its major trading partner - Serbia/Montenegro (FR Yugoslavia at that time), and massive international pressure to not act against the terrorists, the nation's politicians were struggling to make the right move. The situation was further complicated when American forces were airlifting weapons and survival supplies to Albanian positions in the mountains above Macedonian cities and towns, while at the same time urging the Macedonian side to remain peaceful.

The first-hand account of the events in Western Macedonia come as a great lesson for the future, because at the end of the war there was an Ohrid Agreement signed, where the Macedonian politicians agreed to adopt certain laws that give the Albanian minority privileged rights over other minorities. Today, 10 years after the conflict, the Albanian minority is still unsatisfied even though their demands had been met.

The future is unknown, but the maps of a Greater Albania or "Illirida" are still hung all over Albanian homes.
2389069
This is the account of a young man who joined the army and was posted in 1931 to the Aden levies- an irregular army in south Yementhat came underf British Control after the first world war and theand the peace treaty with Turkey in 1919.
As leader of the troops the main objective was to resolve disputes between warrig tribal chiefs.
his main area of activity were the towns of Shukra,Lodar,Nisab,Yeshbum and Beihan -the latter 3 being in the Wadi Rabezi.
Thr reason this book interested me so much is that Iin the 1950s I retraced the authours foot steps as surgeon to the Aden Protectorate Levies
4168566
The "Low Dutch" people from the lowlands of the Netherlands first settled Nieuw Amsterdam in the early 1600s, some even before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620. After the English takeover around 1664, our group of Low Dutch began migrating to New Jersey. Dutch colonists found this lush country across the Raritan River closer to their farmer hearts than stony Manhattan Island. A century later the prosperity of the country was a byword in British America. Dutch New Jersey was the garden spot and they were willing to fight for their lives to keep it. The story of the NJ Dutchman in the Revolutionary war has never been told before.

However, virtually everyone in the Hackensack valley had already taken sides in a factional war in the Dutch Reformed church, a war so bitter that few of the people on one side would have anything to do with those on the other side. When war came, most of one faction became Tories loyal to the King, the others fought just as hard for the Colonists (Whigs).
{NOTE: Early activists in the colonies called themselves "Whigs," seeing themselves as in alliance with the political opposition in Britain, until they turned to independence and started emphasizing the label "Patriots". Later, the United States Whig Party was founded in 1833, focused on opposition to a strong presidency, just as the British Whigs had opposed a strong monarchy.}

There is a problem with the Dutch names;  there must have been a half dozen each of Peter and John Demarest, at least four adult David Demarests, several Wiert Bantas and even more Johannes Blauvelts, Bantas, Vanarsdales (several spellings), Westervelts and other familiar Low Dutch names.

With the British fleet at hand and British soldiers twenty miles away, the Hackensack valley began to take on the character it was to hold throughout the long years of war, a meeting place for spies, deserters and all the shadowy characters that hoped to profit in such a place; hardly the countryside whose smiling fields had charmed visitors a few years before; hardly, in fact, a countryside to charm anyone.

Before reading this book I never realized how the Revolutionary War, like the Civil War, became a battle between neighbors, brother against brother and sometimes father against son. Amazing that my Low Dutch ancestors were able to survive it. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to better understand American history.
892297
I bought this book because my husband served at Peleliu and I wanted my children to read about what he went through.  My step-father - a cook - also served there.  Some of the reading was hard for me, but I was glad someone finally gave full credit to the 81st - everything I had read before gave all credit to the Marines.  The maps were a good help in keeping track of where the action was taking place.  If you have a relative, living or dead, who served on Angaur and/or Peleliu you should read this.  I wish it had come out before my husband died - I have questions I would have asked.  Both my husband and my step-father agreed with the author - this battle and the losses were unnecessary!
4081712
Ten Years and Twenty Days is a direct reference to the 10 years Karl Doenitz spent as a U Boat commander and the 20 days he spent as Hitler's successor as Fuhrer of Germany. I had stated previously in this review that the period related to his time in Spandau jail which was 10 years and I am grateful for being corrected on that point.

As an English boy born in 1950 and growing up in a post-war Britain, we would play games where the Germans always lost - just like Cowboys and Indians. Much later in life, I began to research various ships and shipwrecks through my scuba diving and the name of Karl Doenitz came up time and again. Over many years I came to respect this man for the way in which he conducted both himself and his branch of the war with Britain. I consider him to have been an honourable enemy of my country. Yes, he was convicted of War Crimes, but it says much for the respect that this man engendered that over 100 senior Allied Officers expressed their disappointment at his sentence. But then, to the victor go the spoils and the one man to succeed Hitler was never going to remain a free man when others were being executed!

Having read so many accounts of this once great Admiral before reading his own memoirs, it is clear to me he was convicted of no more a crime than "being one of the enemy" and it was for that he served his ten years at Spandau. Others, of course, were directly responsible for the great human atrocities of WW2 and it was they who were either sentenced to death of life imprisonment.

I am sure there are those who will disagree with my assessment of this man - and, indeed, their own assessment may be more accurate. Nevertheless, this book reveals a great deal about an honourable man and is one which should be read by all those with an interest in Karl Doenitz the German Naval Officer and Karl Doenitz the last Fuhrer - who's first task on succeeding Hitler was to seek peace.

NM
3605281
This is a British story about an area in the Eastern Med that was obsessed over by Churchill but he was unable to allocate the necessary assets to control it. The Dodecanese Islands were highly desired by Britain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Germany and toward the end of the war by the Russians. The US was the only major player who had absolutely no interest in the area. The authors give a brief but adequate summary of the Med going back before WWI and shows how the Italians had manuvered their way into controling the islands, how the British with interests in Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle East also had interest in these islands as a defense to keep the Italians away from their territory.  The authors extend the summary to include the war in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. They also clearly and repeatedly show the friction between Britain and the US over strategy and how the US resolutely refused to even consider taking action east of Italy which the British considered a gross mistake.

Hitler considered the Dodecanese Islands the gateway to the Balkans and his Rumanian oil fields as well as a protective flank to his AGS in Russia and decided to take over for the Italians. Hitler started with Rhodes, commandeering it from Mussolini and then captured several other key islands to the North, expelling the British. Leros was especially costly for the British and Italians. Cos was less difficult. The battle action including the air war was good. The Germans did use paratroopers again as well as landing troops on the islands. I wish the authors had included more German perspective than they did but the action was still good.

The story ends in 1943 when the British gave up the effort to retake the islands and for the rest of the war the area and the German garrisons there went dormant.

The book, despite the US bashing, was quite a learning experience for me for little of the area's history was known to me. For me, the book clarifies why Churchill obsessed over the eastern Med and to the extreme measures undertaken to convince the US to assist Britain in maintaining and increasing its influence in the area. Besides all the political maneuvering, it also shows all the half measures the British took in their failing attempt to control the islands. It also shows the propensity of Churchill in trying to do too much, in spreading their forces too thin in Africa while trying to defend Greece and Crete and it almost cost them Egypt. If Hitler had adequately supported Rommel, the British probably would have lost Africa.

The British have always said FDR and Eisenhower were naive and shortsighted when it came to their insistence on Overlord at the expense of Italy and the Balkans but with the extent the Pacific war was prosecuted I disagree. With the Germans tied down in Italy, there was a good chance for a successful landing in Greece or Albania but there would have been a good chance of provoking Stalin into breaking the alliance and driving us back into the Aegean. He would not have liked any interference with his aim of taking over eastern Europe. If that happened, the initial results would have been terrible. This may sound extreme but it was a possibility that Eisenhower must have thought about. If the US had handled the war in the Pacific differently, delayed retribution, there were several options open to Eisenhower and the Balkan invasion was one of them. Imagining what the war would have evolved into with a Balkan chapter is fascinating.
3967970
McNamara and Blight have crafted a clear and persuasive argument for avoiding the carnage of 20th century wars that took some 160 million lives, left many more injured, and caused hundreds of billions of dollars of destruction.  They ask:  How can we avoid a similar fate in the 21st century?
An analysis of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson vision for the 20th century in the aftermath of the First World War serves as a starting point.  The authors endorse Wilson's realization of the unimaginable disaster that awaits humanity if we do not create the climate and institutions for peace.  They also admire his moral approach, his notion of peace without defeat, and his multilateral approach envisioned in the League of Nations.
However, there is also Wilson's ghost - his promotion of fragmenting national self-determination, his sometimes patronizing moralism, and his failure to persuade the Senate and the American people to abandon a unilateral approach to foreign affairs.
McNamara and Blight adopt two imperatives.  The moral imperative for U.S. foreign policy is to avoid in the 21st century the carnage caused by conflict in the 20th century.  The multilateral imperative is to refrain from using our economic, political, or military power unilaterally, other than in defense of the United States itself.
The authors suggest three steps as essential to securing peace in the 21st century.  First, we must prevent great power conflict.  This can only come if we truly seek to understand and appreciate the perspectives of other nations, especially Russia and China - what the authors call empathy.
Second, we must reduce communal killing by intervening in "dangerous, troubled, failed, murderous states."  This would involve a standing United Nations pacification military force of at least 10,000 trained troops on stand-by for immediate mobilization.  It would also involve planning and cooperation with other nations that understand the roots of the conflict or have interests in the region.  It would involve taking sides in conflicts on the side of human rights and the realization that it might take years, even decades, to stabilize a war-torn area rather than go for a quick fix.  Finally, the policy would involve realization of the limits of military force in resolving some conflicts, that is, a realization that sometimes, external force only makes matters worse.
Third, the policy should be to avoid nuclear catastrophe by "moving steadily and safely to a nuclear-weapons-free world.  The authors are realistic.  In a world with no nuclear weapons there would always be the danger of cheating or breakout from nuclear restraints.  However, the dangers of the present situation with thousands of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert far surpass the dangers in a weapons-free world.  The authors argue, that no matter how long it takes, our policy objective must be total elimination of nuclear weapons.
The book is somewhat repetitious.  If you want the gist of the argument, go to the ten-page chapter 5 "Reducing Human Carnage, An Agenda for the 21st Century."  On the other hand, McNamara's extended comments on the decision making involved in the Cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam War greatly enhance the value of this volume.
A sobering and challenging book that we would all do well to ponder.
4395153
The plot assumes that ships could land passengers at St. Helena in 1820 to interview Napoleon.  Such was not the case.  The British fired on any unauthorized ship attempting to approach the island including, in one case, a ship in distress.  Other than that, it is an interesting tale.
This is the last novel, chronologically, in the Richard Sharpe series.  Sharpe is separated from his wife and living in France with his latest mistress and their two children.  His shortage of money indicates his wife in England has everything he stole in Spain.  When the Countess of Mouromorto shows up to hire Sharpe to find her missing husband in Chile, his mistress is very receptive to the sight of the money (needed to improve her farm). Sharpe finds himself on his way to Chile with his old friend Patrick Harper, and makes the aforementioned stop at St. Helena to see Napoleon.
Sharpe and Harper become involved, unwillingly, in the civil war raging in Chile between the Spanish royalists and the rebels under O'Higgins (supported by Lord Cochrane).  Sharpe's fortunes take some twists and turns, as does the plot.  The involvement of Lord Cochrane in Chile is described fairly accurately, including the action at Valdivia.  Sharpe, of course, gets his share of the spoils.  One can hope that Sharpe will fare better with his latest mistress than he has with earlier women in his life.  Having Sharpe acquire bags full of loot always creates the possibility of further action (after all, Lord Cochrane did invite him to go along, and we know from history that Lord Cochrane later served in Brazil and Greece).
1784412
The Civil War was neither won nor lost in Bluffton, South Carolina.  As a new resident of the area, however, I was thrilled to read the well written account of the Union Army's occupation of Hilton Head Island and the Confederates' use of nearby Bluffton as a staging point for raids against the Union occupation and blockade forces.  I also chuckled at the irony that Bluffton was actually founded as a summer refuge where rich planters could escape the malarial swamps of places like Hilton Head.  That worm has certainly turned a bit over the years.  All in all, a well written small book about an interesting small slice of Civil War history.