A Readable Account of a Larger than Life Unit...
598872
Although I have Walter Prescott Webb's classic work on the Texas Rangers, which was written decades ago, I was happy to see that there is a new history of the fabled frontier law enforcement unit had come out.  The Texas Rangers were founded even before Texas independence in order to protect settlers from attacks from Comanche, Kiowa and Apache Indians, outlaws of more familiar origin, miscellaneous miscreants and eventually, after Texas joined the United States, cross-border Mexican bandits. While many of the early Ranger units were little more than sanctioned vigilantes who often conflated their law enforcement role with what can be described as extra-judicial enforcement of the law, they were tasked with an extremely difficult task - keeping Texans safe in a violent time.  The Indians, who lived a hardscrabble existence on the windswept Texas plains, were resentful of intrusion of the white settlers and ranchers on their land and so more than five decades of raids ensued.  Other works like the seminal "Trail Drivers of Texas" are full of stories of Texans who were killed by small war parties as the settlers pushed their way farther north and west.  While Robinson does not attempt to whitewash the racism, brutality and ruthlessness of the early Texas Rangers, he puts their behavior into the proper context of the era in which they lived.  His book is a narrative of short stories that illustrates live among the poorly paid Rangers and vividly portrays the heroism and endurance that was necessary to pursue outlaws and Indians across a barren and treacherous landscape.  Robinson has augmented early accounts with further research that sheds light on the Rangers during the Civil War and the Reconstruction Period that followed.  The history of the Texas Rangers is important for anyone who seeks to learn more about Texas as their story is intertwined with many other areas of Texas history including the rebellion against Mexico, the battle for the Alamo, post-war relations with Mexico and Texas law enforcement from the 1820's to the present day.  Charles M. Robinson III, a native Texan, fills his book with truly larger-than-life characters like the immortal Captain McNelly who engendered great loyalty among his men and animosity from those he pursued. The Men Who Wore the Star provides those of us who love the American West with an excellent single volume history of the Texas Rangers.  Jeffrey Morseburg
3436493
A good, if somewhat disjoint, account of Operation Dynamo. It consists of a collection of first person stories woven together in a fairly linear timeline.

The beginning lays out a reasonable description of the lead up to the evacuation. But as it progresses, the story gets more chaotic and disjoint, rather like the evacuation itself.

If you have a decent grasp of the story, this is a wonderful blimps into the lives and thoughts of the participants.
4389893
A really good first hand account from the other side
2524249
Very readable. The author pieces together a plausible story of his life based on available evidence & scholarship, parsing through the merits and limitations of previous sources.
2793330
This is third edition of a book on surviving B-17 bombers. The author reports on the status of 48 basically complete and 11 partial airframes; this out of a total of 8,680 units.

The book is a bit like a family album brought up to date at reunions. But, unlike a family where members die while others are born, the B-17 family, while static in count, is improving with age. While the number of airworthy B-17s slipped from 14 in 1990 to 12 in 2008, the next few years could see the count rise by as many as five. Concurrently, a number of aircraft have been restored to near-new though static condition with two others - the equally legendary Memphis Belle and Ole Betsy/The Swooze - in the loving hands of the National Museum of the US Air Force.

Author Thompson begins the book by describing the drawdown and scrapping of the B-17 after World War Two. He covers post-war military uses Before moving to civilian uses. This broad overview is then followed by the meat of the book. Thompson works his way through the surviving, complete aircraft in numerical order by serial number, providing a history of the individual aircraft and a current status report. The sections vary from two to five pages and include photos from across the plane's lifetime. This is followed by brief reports on partial aircraft and unrecovered airframes. The book closes out with seven appendices that are a bit bureaucratic in nature addressing issues such as cross-referencing military serial numbers and civil registration. It is here that the book's only shortcoming can be found. One appendix lists B-17 appearances in movies; it has not been update past 1995.

As another reviewer said, this is a book for B-17 lovers...saying that is the highest complement that can be given.
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.
331894
Lt Col Richard C. Mallonee was a regular army officer in command of a field artillery battalion in the 2d Infantry Division when he recieved orders to report to the Philippines in late 1941.  When he reported to US Army Forces Far East, Mallonee discovered that he was being assigned to the Philippine Army's 21st Infantry Division as a senior "instructor - advisor" for that unit's artillery regiment.  His Filipino counterpart, who was in command of the regiment, had retired from the U.S Army as a captain in the Philippine Scouts for medical reasons, but had joined the Philippine Commonwealth Army when it was first formed in 1935.  Mallonee had served as a field artillery battery and battalion commander, while the regimental commander he was advising had never commanded anything prior to being assigned as a regimental commander.  One can imagine the frustration that must have followed............except that you do not have to imagine it as Mallonee paints those events in vivid color and compelling prose.  The vast majority of his account - up to page 141 - deals with the fighting that took place before the surrender on Bataan.  This is a welcome contrast to other accounts that deal with the combat leading up to the surrender in perfunctory fashion and then go on to provide a detailed account of Japanese captivity.  Colonel Mallonee obviously does not feel that four years as a prisoner of war has defined his life.  Yet there is a detailed description of the Bataan death march and some material dealing with his initial captivity in the Philippines before he was transferred to Manchuria.  Of interest, at the latter location Mallonee writes (p. 179) "Incidentally, the Japanese considered that the British at Singapore made a gentlemen's fight and then surrendered without either side losing face....For this they were allowed to bring their record collections, cases of books, and much other paraphenalia.  Naturally, we benefited greatly from having stories to read and music to hear."  All in all, an excellent and readable account worthy of renewed interest 32 years after it was first published by Presidio Press.
1679066
This is a great big fat sprawling unruly kind of history - one wonders whether the sub-title "an objective look at WWII" was intended tongue-in-cheek - idiosyncratic, occasionally undisciplined, often contentious, but never boring. In fact only the early stages of the war are covered, as well as the various elements leading up to it; one would have hoped for a sequel treating the rest of the conflict, alas, no.

One could certainly understand a reader's initial frustration if he expected a straightforward, conventional narrative of events, presented matter-of-factly in suitable scholarly prose, but if one indulges the author his quirks and permits him to give vent to his considerable spleen, one will find much that is useful here, and a memorable journey through some familiar and not-so-familiar (usually U-boat infested) waters. In some respects the book resembles a tapestry: intricate, colourful, and definitely hand-woven.

A few corrections and cautions:

p44: "On July 24, 1939, with war only a week away..." At first glance one would suppose this should have read August 24, a week before the German invasion of Poland, but the meeting of Polish, British, and French cryptographers being related here did in fact occur on July 24.

p137: A map of the Maginot Line fortifications labels the Alsace region as "Alsace-Loraine." It is perhaps insufficiently understood outside France, that Lorraine is a distinct geographic region and political district to the west-northwest of Alsace, despite the conflation of the two in the Anglo-American mind, merely because they have often shared the same historical fate of conquest and reconquest.

German paratroop commander Kurt Student is frequently, though not invariably, referred to as Karl Student. Thankfully, we are not introduced to Ernst Rommel or Herbert von Goring.

p506: "Japanese warships inflicted a naval victory upon the Chinese." Ah, the agony of victory...

On p529, the author attempts to isolate Dean Acheson as the singular cause of the futility of US-Japanese negotiations in the months leading up to Pearl Harbor, as if the Japanese military faction, long since bent on attack, could have been dissuaded with economic concessions.

Worse, the author takes the unconscionably simplistic view that "despite all the Nazi talk of living space in the east, the German armies invaded the Soviet Union because Hitler and his SS men wanted to murder the Jews and the Bolsheviks." This sweeping disregard for economic, geo-political, and military-strategic factors can scarcely be excused, and it likewise ignores the incremental and often inconsistent manner in which Nazi policy evolved from expulsion to ghettoisation to genocide.

There are other points of controversy, to be sure, some of which do rather more successfully challenge the received canon of historical wisdom. And there is a great deal of information besides. Withal, to be recommended.
2228784
Paul Kennedy presents a readable series of essays focusing largely on the strategic choices made by certain great powers in the years 1870-1945. His account of Anglo-German relations prior to the First World War are particularly well-enunciated (with an emphasis on the naval dimensions of their relationship) and he manages to challenge some commonly-held notions surrounding the competition between powers during this historical period. All in all a well-written account.
2048758
A concise summary with a military focus. Coverage of leading people involved is relegated to a final chapter rather than integrated into the account. That is, the work reads more like an encyclopedia than am historical narrative. Still very readable and useful.
3826755
I came across this book by accident while looking through reviews of other Amazon reviewers.  It is an interesting account of U.S. submarine S-39 covering a period from roughly early 1939 to mid-1942 when the S-39 was lost due to running aground on a reef.  This is a narrative account moving between crew members, and sometimes the women they left behind, as the story moves forward.

Many of the crew members were children of the depression who joined the Navy because it furnished room, board, and clothing along with steady pay.  It also furnished a chance to see the world, and service on submarines meant extra pay and a certain elite attitude.  Men who qualified, usually after 6 months aboard, could wear the submariner's dolphins.  The officers and men on S boats lived together elbow-to-elbow in cramped quarters and developed a certain esprit de corps.  The early part of the book covers service in the Asiatic Fleet prior to the outbreak of war, and the expectations that war was on the horizon.

The S class of submarines were obsolete, and due to be replaced by the new fleet submarines, but as a previous reviewer pointed out, you have to go with what you've got.  When the war started, the S-39 made its first combat patrol and sank an enemy cargo ship that was part of the force invading the Philippines.  The book gives a good picture of conditions.  With the Philippines being lost, the S-39 made a second patrol ending in Java, and from there a third patrol (during which it sank an enemy tanker) ending in Australia.

Operations of the submarine force moved to Brisbane, Australia, from where the S-39 made its fourth, and then its fifth patrol during which it ran aground and was destroyed.  It would be nice to think that everyone survived, but the men went on to serve on other submarines, and many did not survive the war.  The book was prepared by the wife of one of the survivors using extensive reference material including interviews/correspondence with other survivors.  It is an interesting account of day to day events including shared hardships aboard and comradery ashore.  Some men went to great lengths not to miss the boat when it sailed, or to catch up if separated.

There is a short afterward that covers the fate of a few of the individuals.  Most of the individuals were in the same age group as one of my uncles who served in the Army during the war.  Their ranks dwindle as the years pass.

As an additional feature, the book provides accounts of real observations of the poverty in China during that time period, the hatred that some Filipinos had for Americans, and the slavery/servitude of natives in Indonesia under Dutch rule.  In one case a woman was riding in a rickshaw in China when the man pulling the rickshaw collapsed and died.  Other people just ignored his body, going around him on the road, and other coolies immediately solicited the woman's business because they wanted the fare she would pay at her destination.  Life was cheap.
4646224
Fine account that ties up many of the stories of the K/3/5 and other First Division Marines.  Heroes for the ages.
4482582
This is a first hand account of CIC operations in the cockpit of the Cold War-Austria. It is now little remembered that Austria was the only European country occupied by the Soviets to be evacuated during the Cold War.  (Although in Asia, they did leave Iran and North Korea.)Both sides' focus  was on the North German plain, the traditional invasion route between East  and West, and vice versa. Not the southern route from the Adriatic through  the Ukraine. Thus the major Allied intelligence effort was was in Germany.  Most of the activities described herein are the usual tradecraft--doubling  agents, honey traps, sneak and peek, etc. This would be just another tale  and not of great importance, except for the Rat Line. This was a  clandestine evacuation operation run for persons escaping from the  Soviet-controlled areas. Because the occupation of Austria ended in 1955,  and Austria was then neutralized, it was easier to run penetration and  escape operations from there than through the hard border further north.  Actually, there were more than one Rat Line. It is said that Martin  Bormann, Adolf Eichman, and other top Nazis escaped via Italy. Be that at  it may, Klaus Barbee did get out in a U.S. sponsored operation. But the  U.S. Rat Line was more important for getting out persons of intelligence  value, who once debriefed, had to be put under deep cover in a safe place.  (Imagine a witness protection program, but with the whole USSR intellops  looking for you, instead of a few mobsters.)This is probably the last  first-hand account of CI field ops we will get of those days. After all,  all of the vets are well over 70 and most were middle aged then. I also  recommend Ib Melchior's book on his service as a CI agent. (cf)
1090068
This is an interesting story told from the perspective of one of the "support" units in Iraq. For people or areas who had national guard groups deployed, this is an interesting insight into what they went through. The book is well written. Hikiji does a good job of relating her experiences in a simple, readable way. Nobody every knows in these kinds of books if are accurate, but this one feels accurate. It comes off as a soldier's experience, more than a feminist rant.
3797521
This book reads rapidly, and overall, it is an interesting account of the challenges of living close to an active volcano that moves into an eruptive cycle.  It is both a scientific study of the reaction of a local population confronted with multiple eruptions and the successive evacuations that take place, and a tale of how life goes on.

Benzin and Tanjung ultimately evacuated from their home for a time, shuttling goods down to a temporary location as possible, but later decided to return to their more comfortable residence, even though it was in an evacuation zone.

Merapi spews clouds of ash and gas that both bury and burn their surroundings.  Many of the locals lost livestock to the eruptions, unable to evacuate them in the early days.  Some cattle survived with burns, others only got blisters.  It was all subject to the location of the animals at the time of the eruptions.  The economic impact of the volcano was probably more severe in the long run than the environmental impact, but there were human deaths associated with the eruptions.

There are many black and white pictures included with the text, adding to the depth of the story, but they don't look very impressive on a small kindle.  They will probably register better on a Fire or on a PC.

I have read similar books on first-hand experiences with volcanic eruptions that were more interesting overall.  This one has its place as a chronicle of a series of eruptive events as it affected one couple and their friends, plus the locals in the area.
3188577
This work consists primarily of first person memories cobbled rather skillfully together to tell the story of this fabled division. It is an interesting read that understandably is a tad limited in scope.........divisional histories often do that. It is nevertheless a pretty fair work. My chief complaint is the painfully small print. Reading this sucker if like pulling teeth!
1059095
Let's be clear about what this book is and what it isn't. It IS an enjoyable, atmospheric popular survey of the topic -- an expansion of the script of a well-done BBC documentary film written by its producer. It is NOT an in-depth history by a professional historian specializing in the subject. Its original contribution to the literature lies in some nicely selected oral history vignettes by eyewitnesses, which do not contribute important facts to the record but which definitely add a flavor of "being there".

As we would expect from the BBC, the account is basically balanced in terms of describing Allied vs. Axis hardships and sacrifices. Not surprisingly, British contributions are highlighted and there is a hint of gentlemanly joy in jabbing at US mistakes (e.g., Admiral King's obstinacy regarding use of convoys when the grey wolves came to American waters). Is there a tendency to use the term "Allied" (instead of American) in describing the triumphs of air power over the u-boats in the latter stages of the war?  Perhaps just my imagination; you decide.

The most interesting individual character in this account is the German submarine navy commander, Admiral Doenitz, who tried to counter with a small staff and sheer Nazi zeal the much better staffed, financed, and more scientific British anti-submarine warfare effort.

Overall, a book well worth trying by general readers and period specialists alike.