Books The Last Book You Read
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The Rainbow Trail by Zane Grey
The Rainbow Trail, also known as The Desert Crucible, is Zane Grey's sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage:
"The spell of the desert comes back to me, as it always will come," wrote Grey. "I see the veils, like purple smoke, in the canyons, and I feel the silence. And it seems that again I must try to pierce both and to get at the strange wild life of the last American wilderness -- wild still, almost, as it ever was.
"While this romance is an independent story, yet readers of Riders of the Purple Sage will find in it an answer to a question often asked."
John Shefford had been a preacher in Illinois, but he fell out with his congregation. He goes west to find a new destiny; before he leaves, though, he meets Bern Venters, a rider from the purple sage, who tells him about a young girl named Fay Larkin and a place called Surprise Valley. Shefford forges a dream to find Fay and free her from the valley.
First, though, Shefford finds a village where sealed wives have been hidden away by their Mormon husbands. Here he meets and falls for Mary, nicknamed the Sago Lilly by the villagers. A loner, Mary holds a few secrets about her past and present.
After Shefford learns Mary's true identity, she is accused of murder. Freeing her from custody was the easy part, because now they must make their escape through treacherous canyons and down a raging river.
With the back drop being the desert and plateau and canyon country of Utah and Arizona, which Zane Grey could so vividly and memorable describe in words no other author has managed to emulate, he tells a story that is unique and compelling.
Excellent.
The Rainbow Trail, also known as The Desert Crucible, is Zane Grey's sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage:
"The spell of the desert comes back to me, as it always will come," wrote Grey. "I see the veils, like purple smoke, in the canyons, and I feel the silence. And it seems that again I must try to pierce both and to get at the strange wild life of the last American wilderness -- wild still, almost, as it ever was.
"While this romance is an independent story, yet readers of Riders of the Purple Sage will find in it an answer to a question often asked."
John Shefford had been a preacher in Illinois, but he fell out with his congregation. He goes west to find a new destiny; before he leaves, though, he meets Bern Venters, a rider from the purple sage, who tells him about a young girl named Fay Larkin and a place called Surprise Valley. Shefford forges a dream to find Fay and free her from the valley.
First, though, Shefford finds a village where sealed wives have been hidden away by their Mormon husbands. Here he meets and falls for Mary, nicknamed the Sago Lilly by the villagers. A loner, Mary holds a few secrets about her past and present.
After Shefford learns Mary's true identity, she is accused of murder. Freeing her from custody was the easy part, because now they must make their escape through treacherous canyons and down a raging river.
With the back drop being the desert and plateau and canyon country of Utah and Arizona, which Zane Grey could so vividly and memorable describe in words no other author has managed to emulate, he tells a story that is unique and compelling.
Excellent.
1984
...the present reality...
Right?
A friend of mine recommended me that book, so I read it.
Oh boy...
Books are, for me, a way to escape from reality or for study.
1984 was WAY too real for me. x.x
Really been enjoying the Assassin series by Robin Hobb. Pretty generic fantasy but her prose and characterisation are impeccable.
Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice by Chris Wallace, with Mitch Weiss
On August 27, 2010, three CIA officers ask for a private meeting with CIA Director Leon Panetta. During that secret session, they tell Panetta that agents have tracked a courier with deep Al Qaeda ties to a three-story house at the end of a dead end street in Abbottabad, Pakistan. But they say it’s more than a house—it’s a heavily protected fortress. No one in the meeting says the name bin Laden. They don’t have to. Everyone understands that finally, after nearly a decade, maybe, just maybe, they’ve found the world’s most wanted man.
In Countdown bin Laden, celebrated journalist and anchor of Fox News Sunday Chris Wallace delivers a thrilling new account of the final eight months of intelligence gathering, national security strategizing, and meticulous military planning that leads to the climactic mission when SEAL Team Six closes in on its target.
The book delivers new information collected from Wallace’s in-depth interviews with more than a dozen central figures, including Admiral William McRaven—leader of the operation in Pakistan—as well as CIA Director Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, and two members of SEAL Team Six who participate in the raid, including the Special Operator who kills Osama bin Laden.
Wallace also brings to life the human elements of this story, talking to families who lost loved ones on 9/11; sharing what relatives of SEAL Team Six went through; and bringing us inside the tense Situation Room during the raid.
Published on the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, Countdown bin Laden is a historical thriller filled with intrigue, cinematic action, and fresh reporting about the race to apprehend and bring to justice the architect of the most consequential terrorist attack in American history.
The tension builds as the clock counts down, and by the time the helicopters carrying Seal Team 6 are in the air and on the way to Abbottabad, the reader's blood is pumping.
Fantastic.
On August 27, 2010, three CIA officers ask for a private meeting with CIA Director Leon Panetta. During that secret session, they tell Panetta that agents have tracked a courier with deep Al Qaeda ties to a three-story house at the end of a dead end street in Abbottabad, Pakistan. But they say it’s more than a house—it’s a heavily protected fortress. No one in the meeting says the name bin Laden. They don’t have to. Everyone understands that finally, after nearly a decade, maybe, just maybe, they’ve found the world’s most wanted man.
In Countdown bin Laden, celebrated journalist and anchor of Fox News Sunday Chris Wallace delivers a thrilling new account of the final eight months of intelligence gathering, national security strategizing, and meticulous military planning that leads to the climactic mission when SEAL Team Six closes in on its target.
The book delivers new information collected from Wallace’s in-depth interviews with more than a dozen central figures, including Admiral William McRaven—leader of the operation in Pakistan—as well as CIA Director Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, and two members of SEAL Team Six who participate in the raid, including the Special Operator who kills Osama bin Laden.
Wallace also brings to life the human elements of this story, talking to families who lost loved ones on 9/11; sharing what relatives of SEAL Team Six went through; and bringing us inside the tense Situation Room during the raid.
Published on the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, Countdown bin Laden is a historical thriller filled with intrigue, cinematic action, and fresh reporting about the race to apprehend and bring to justice the architect of the most consequential terrorist attack in American history.
The tension builds as the clock counts down, and by the time the helicopters carrying Seal Team 6 are in the air and on the way to Abbottabad, the reader's blood is pumping.
Fantastic.
A Most Wanted Man by John le Carré
A young Chechen ex-prisoner arrives illegally in Germany, practically uneducated and destitute, but with a claim to a fortune held in a private bank. He is a devout Muslim. Or is he? He says his name is Issa.
Annabel Richter, an idealistic young German civil rights lawyer, determines to save Issa from deportation, even if the price is her career -- and her safety. Searching for clues to his mysterious past, she confronts the incongruous sixty-year-old scion of a failing British bank -- and a triangle of impossible loves is born.
Tommy Brue, is the head of the bank that holds a mysterious Lippizaner account (named after the horse breed which has black skin, dark eyes, and -- as adult horses -- a white hair coat) established by his father. When Brue meets Issa, he claims he is the son of a Russian Army Colonel Grigori Karpov, who put his money in the fund, but after Brue's grilling, he refuses to claim his inheritance.
Brue receives a visit from British intelligence officer who tell him that they had set up the bank accounts, which received payoffs and money from Russian mafia sources. They ask him to alert them when Issa shows up.
A German intelligence agent who visits Annabel, is homing in on a suspicious Islamist terrorist with Chechen connections, arrested entering Sweden from Turkey on a container ship, who has escaped custody and found his way to Germany.
Meanwhile, scenting a sure kill in the “War on Terror,” the rival spies of three nations converge upon the innocents. It could be, however, that Issa is but a pawn in an effort to coopt -- or capture -- a financer of terrorism posing as a moderate cleric.
New spies with new loyalties, old spies with old ones; terror as a new mantra, decent people wanting to do good but caught in the moral maze, all the sound, rational reasons for doing the inhuman thing; the recognition that we cannot safely love or pity and remain good "patriots" -- this is the fabric of this story which plays out in the city of Hamburg, Germany.
Thrilling, compassionate, peopled with characters the reader never wants to let go, A Most Wanted Man is a work of deep humanity with uncommon relevance to our times.
Fantastic.
A young Chechen ex-prisoner arrives illegally in Germany, practically uneducated and destitute, but with a claim to a fortune held in a private bank. He is a devout Muslim. Or is he? He says his name is Issa.
Annabel Richter, an idealistic young German civil rights lawyer, determines to save Issa from deportation, even if the price is her career -- and her safety. Searching for clues to his mysterious past, she confronts the incongruous sixty-year-old scion of a failing British bank -- and a triangle of impossible loves is born.
Tommy Brue, is the head of the bank that holds a mysterious Lippizaner account (named after the horse breed which has black skin, dark eyes, and -- as adult horses -- a white hair coat) established by his father. When Brue meets Issa, he claims he is the son of a Russian Army Colonel Grigori Karpov, who put his money in the fund, but after Brue's grilling, he refuses to claim his inheritance.
Brue receives a visit from British intelligence officer who tell him that they had set up the bank accounts, which received payoffs and money from Russian mafia sources. They ask him to alert them when Issa shows up.
A German intelligence agent who visits Annabel, is homing in on a suspicious Islamist terrorist with Chechen connections, arrested entering Sweden from Turkey on a container ship, who has escaped custody and found his way to Germany.
Meanwhile, scenting a sure kill in the “War on Terror,” the rival spies of three nations converge upon the innocents. It could be, however, that Issa is but a pawn in an effort to coopt -- or capture -- a financer of terrorism posing as a moderate cleric.
New spies with new loyalties, old spies with old ones; terror as a new mantra, decent people wanting to do good but caught in the moral maze, all the sound, rational reasons for doing the inhuman thing; the recognition that we cannot safely love or pity and remain good "patriots" -- this is the fabric of this story which plays out in the city of Hamburg, Germany.
Thrilling, compassionate, peopled with characters the reader never wants to let go, A Most Wanted Man is a work of deep humanity with uncommon relevance to our times.
Fantastic.
The Centennial History of the American Civil War: Vol. I, The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton
The drift of events carry their own hard logic, and such was the case during the months between April 1860, when the Democratic party split over the nomination of Stephen Douglas, to July 1961 when armies of the North and South met in battle at Bull Run/Manassas. People in both the North and the South, in various factions and groups within those sections made many choices during those months, not really understanding or appreciating the possible consequences, or how others might react. Only the first major battle of the Civil War would finally reveal what the choices and decisions of the previous months had wrought.
Catton clearly believes the primary issue behind the many choices and decisions which led to war was the issue of slavery and its extension into the new territories, but his narration of the events on 1860-61 makes it plain that there really is no other explanation. Yes, there were cultural difference between the sections; there were tensions going back as far as the English Civil War; there were old wounds like the tariff issue, but the southern economy, certainly that of the cotton states, was so dependent on the peculiar institution that even maintaining it in the slave states was not enough, it had to be extended, or the cotton kingdom would face ruin. The extension of slavery was so vital that many in the South convinced themselves that their rights were being trampled on by those who sought to oppose that extension, and even by those who sought a compromise solution.
The catalyst of the coming fury was not the nomination and election of Lincoln as one might suppose. Rather, it was the split of the Democratic Party and the nominations of Douglas and John Breckinridge. Douglas was unacceptable to Southern Democrats because of his statement on "Popular Sovereignty" give during the Lincoln-Douglas debates and because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Douglas "had given foreknowledge of an unendurable truth -- that slavery would die unless the outside world dropped all other concerns to prop it up, which was obviously impossible."
Lincoln might have been "the black-visaged enemy who threatened to upset everything the South lived by" but Douglas was "the apostate, the turncoat, the former friend who appeared on the other side when the pinch came. Douglas was more menacing because he bore no ill-will. In his position, in this summer of 1860, the slavery system could read its own sentence of ultimate death. To get away from him, the men who had Southern sentiment in their control had determined that the choice would be between the Black Republicans and disunion." And at least some in the south appeared almost to wish for a Republican victory so that secession would follow.
But even these events might not have led to war if not for additional events in seceded South Carolina surrounding Fort Sumter. South Carolina could have occupied the fort within days of its secession without a fight, for it was unfinished and unoccupied. But as the federal government in Washington was spending money to construct, the newly declared nation that was South Carolina, and then including the states that followed her, elected to wait until the fort was finished before taking it. A mighty large wrench was thrown into the situation, however, when a Union major decided to abandon a fort which he could not defend and occupy Fort Sumter, which at least was more defensible. The drift of events had launched North and South on an unexpected course, one which could only lead to Bull Run/Manassas.
Fantastic book!
--
Terrible Swift Sword: The Centennial History of the Civil War Series, Volume 2 by Bruce Catton
The second book in this award-winning trilogy impressively shows how the Union and Confederacy, slowly and inexorably, reconciled themselves to an all-out war.
Catton tells the story of the Civil War as never before -- of two turning points which changed the scope and meaning of the war. First, he describes how the war slowly but steadily got out of control. This would not be the neat, short, “limited” war both sides had envisioned. And then the author reveals how the sweeping force of all-out conflict changed the war’s purpose, in turning it into a war for human freedom.
At first, it was not even much of a fight. Cautious generals; inexperienced, incompetent, or jealous administrators; shortages of good people and supplies; excess of both gloom and optimism, kept each side from swinging into decisive action. As the buildup began, there were maddening delays. The earliest engagements were halting and inconclusive. As the war meanders after Bull Run, so does the story, but both the war and the story begin to change when General Ulysses S. Grant begins his approach to Forts Henry and Donelson.
With more victories in the west, and the capture of Atlantic ports to enable a naval blockade, the danger for the South grows critical. It took more time in the east, with the Army of the Potomac residing too long near Washington, but eventually General George B. McClellan (who is impaled in these pages on the arrogant words of his letters) begins his peninsula campaign. As the army closes in on Richmond, it appears that victory is near. But the tide turns as General Robert E. Lee is elevated to command of what he would call the Army of Northern Virginia.
By August 1862, both sides had heard the trumpet that would never call retreat. The peace-makers could not be heard until the terrible swift sword had been sheathed; but the scabbard had been thrown away, and now the Confederacy was carrying the war north of the Potomac River.
Excellent.
--
Never Call Retreat by Bruce Catton
The final volume of Bruce Catton's monumental Centennial History of the Civil War traces the war from Fredericksburg through the succeeding grim and relentless campaigns to the Courthouse at Appomattox and the death of Lincoln.
This is an eloquent study of the bitterest years of the war when death slashed the country with a brutality unparalleled in the history of the United States. Through the kaleidoscope tone and temper of the struggle, two men, different in stature, but similar in dedication to their awesome tasks, grappled with the burden of being leaders both in politics and war.
In the north Lincoln remained resolute in the belief that a house divided against itself could not stand. His determination and uncanny vision of the destiny of the country and its people far transcended the plaguing tensions, fears, and frustrations of his cabinet and Congress. Mr. Lincoln’s use of vast resources is brilliantly contrasted to Davis’s valiant struggle for political and economic stability in a hopelessly fragmented and underdeveloped south.
Though Davis never lacked for spirit and dedication, his handicaps were severe. This was not a war to be won by static ideals and romanticism. As Mr. Lincoln managed to expand and intensify the ideals that sustained the Northern war effort, Mr. Davis was never able to enlarge the South’s. This was a war to be won by flexibility in thought, strength in supplies, and battles. And so they were fought -- Fredericksburg, The Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, Gettysburg.
Excellent.
The drift of events carry their own hard logic, and such was the case during the months between April 1860, when the Democratic party split over the nomination of Stephen Douglas, to July 1961 when armies of the North and South met in battle at Bull Run/Manassas. People in both the North and the South, in various factions and groups within those sections made many choices during those months, not really understanding or appreciating the possible consequences, or how others might react. Only the first major battle of the Civil War would finally reveal what the choices and decisions of the previous months had wrought.
Catton clearly believes the primary issue behind the many choices and decisions which led to war was the issue of slavery and its extension into the new territories, but his narration of the events on 1860-61 makes it plain that there really is no other explanation. Yes, there were cultural difference between the sections; there were tensions going back as far as the English Civil War; there were old wounds like the tariff issue, but the southern economy, certainly that of the cotton states, was so dependent on the peculiar institution that even maintaining it in the slave states was not enough, it had to be extended, or the cotton kingdom would face ruin. The extension of slavery was so vital that many in the South convinced themselves that their rights were being trampled on by those who sought to oppose that extension, and even by those who sought a compromise solution.
The catalyst of the coming fury was not the nomination and election of Lincoln as one might suppose. Rather, it was the split of the Democratic Party and the nominations of Douglas and John Breckinridge. Douglas was unacceptable to Southern Democrats because of his statement on "Popular Sovereignty" give during the Lincoln-Douglas debates and because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Douglas "had given foreknowledge of an unendurable truth -- that slavery would die unless the outside world dropped all other concerns to prop it up, which was obviously impossible."
Lincoln might have been "the black-visaged enemy who threatened to upset everything the South lived by" but Douglas was "the apostate, the turncoat, the former friend who appeared on the other side when the pinch came. Douglas was more menacing because he bore no ill-will. In his position, in this summer of 1860, the slavery system could read its own sentence of ultimate death. To get away from him, the men who had Southern sentiment in their control had determined that the choice would be between the Black Republicans and disunion." And at least some in the south appeared almost to wish for a Republican victory so that secession would follow.
But even these events might not have led to war if not for additional events in seceded South Carolina surrounding Fort Sumter. South Carolina could have occupied the fort within days of its secession without a fight, for it was unfinished and unoccupied. But as the federal government in Washington was spending money to construct, the newly declared nation that was South Carolina, and then including the states that followed her, elected to wait until the fort was finished before taking it. A mighty large wrench was thrown into the situation, however, when a Union major decided to abandon a fort which he could not defend and occupy Fort Sumter, which at least was more defensible. The drift of events had launched North and South on an unexpected course, one which could only lead to Bull Run/Manassas.
Fantastic book!
--
Terrible Swift Sword: The Centennial History of the Civil War Series, Volume 2 by Bruce Catton
The second book in this award-winning trilogy impressively shows how the Union and Confederacy, slowly and inexorably, reconciled themselves to an all-out war.
Catton tells the story of the Civil War as never before -- of two turning points which changed the scope and meaning of the war. First, he describes how the war slowly but steadily got out of control. This would not be the neat, short, “limited” war both sides had envisioned. And then the author reveals how the sweeping force of all-out conflict changed the war’s purpose, in turning it into a war for human freedom.
At first, it was not even much of a fight. Cautious generals; inexperienced, incompetent, or jealous administrators; shortages of good people and supplies; excess of both gloom and optimism, kept each side from swinging into decisive action. As the buildup began, there were maddening delays. The earliest engagements were halting and inconclusive. As the war meanders after Bull Run, so does the story, but both the war and the story begin to change when General Ulysses S. Grant begins his approach to Forts Henry and Donelson.
With more victories in the west, and the capture of Atlantic ports to enable a naval blockade, the danger for the South grows critical. It took more time in the east, with the Army of the Potomac residing too long near Washington, but eventually General George B. McClellan (who is impaled in these pages on the arrogant words of his letters) begins his peninsula campaign. As the army closes in on Richmond, it appears that victory is near. But the tide turns as General Robert E. Lee is elevated to command of what he would call the Army of Northern Virginia.
By August 1862, both sides had heard the trumpet that would never call retreat. The peace-makers could not be heard until the terrible swift sword had been sheathed; but the scabbard had been thrown away, and now the Confederacy was carrying the war north of the Potomac River.
Excellent.
--
Never Call Retreat by Bruce Catton
The final volume of Bruce Catton's monumental Centennial History of the Civil War traces the war from Fredericksburg through the succeeding grim and relentless campaigns to the Courthouse at Appomattox and the death of Lincoln.
This is an eloquent study of the bitterest years of the war when death slashed the country with a brutality unparalleled in the history of the United States. Through the kaleidoscope tone and temper of the struggle, two men, different in stature, but similar in dedication to their awesome tasks, grappled with the burden of being leaders both in politics and war.
In the north Lincoln remained resolute in the belief that a house divided against itself could not stand. His determination and uncanny vision of the destiny of the country and its people far transcended the plaguing tensions, fears, and frustrations of his cabinet and Congress. Mr. Lincoln’s use of vast resources is brilliantly contrasted to Davis’s valiant struggle for political and economic stability in a hopelessly fragmented and underdeveloped south.
Though Davis never lacked for spirit and dedication, his handicaps were severe. This was not a war to be won by static ideals and romanticism. As Mr. Lincoln managed to expand and intensify the ideals that sustained the Northern war effort, Mr. Davis was never able to enlarge the South’s. This was a war to be won by flexibility in thought, strength in supplies, and battles. And so they were fought -- Fredericksburg, The Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, Gettysburg.
Excellent.
Half Moon Bay by Jonathan Kellerman & Jesse Kellerman
Deputy Coroner Clay Edison has his hands full. He's got a new baby who won't sleep. He's working the graveyard shift. And he's trying, for once, to mind his own business. Then comes the call. Workers demolishing a local park have made a haunting discovery: the decades-old skeleton of a child. But whose? And how did it get there?
No sooner has Clay begun to investigate than he receives a second call--this one from a local businessman, wondering if the body could belong to his sister. She went missing fifty years ago, the man says. Or at least I think she did. Clay doesn't understand. What's that mean, you "think" she disappeared? It's a little complicated. That it is.
And things only get stranger from there. Clay's relentless search for answers will unearth a history of violence and secrets, revolution and betrayal. Because in this town, the past isn't dead. It isn't even past. It's very much alive. And it can kill.
I picked the book up because of the title, but the story takes places mostly up in Berkley where everything is about politics . . . except politics, which is personal. It started a little slow but really took off about a hundred pages in.
Excellent.
Deputy Coroner Clay Edison has his hands full. He's got a new baby who won't sleep. He's working the graveyard shift. And he's trying, for once, to mind his own business. Then comes the call. Workers demolishing a local park have made a haunting discovery: the decades-old skeleton of a child. But whose? And how did it get there?
No sooner has Clay begun to investigate than he receives a second call--this one from a local businessman, wondering if the body could belong to his sister. She went missing fifty years ago, the man says. Or at least I think she did. Clay doesn't understand. What's that mean, you "think" she disappeared? It's a little complicated. That it is.
And things only get stranger from there. Clay's relentless search for answers will unearth a history of violence and secrets, revolution and betrayal. Because in this town, the past isn't dead. It isn't even past. It's very much alive. And it can kill.
I picked the book up because of the title, but the story takes places mostly up in Berkley where everything is about politics . . . except politics, which is personal. It started a little slow but really took off about a hundred pages in.
Excellent.
Truman by David McCullough
The Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harry S. Truman, whose presidency included momentous events from the atomic bombing of Japan to the outbreak of the Cold War and the Korean War, told by America’s beloved and distinguished historian. A masterpiece!
The story of Truman also happens to be one the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters -- Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson -- and dramatic events.
In this riveting biography, McCullough not only captures the man -- a more complex, informed, and determined man than ever before imagined -- but also the turbulent times in which he rose, boldly, to meet unprecedented challenges.
The last El Comandante to serve as a living link between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, Truman’s story spans the raw world of the Missouri frontier, World War I, the powerful Pendergast machine of Kansas City, the legendary Whistle-Stop Campaign of 1948, and the decisions to drop the atomic bomb, confront Stalin at Potsdam, send troops to Korea, and fire General MacArthur.
Drawing on newly discovered archival material and extensive interviews with Truman’s own family, friends, and Washington colleagues, McCullough tells the deeply moving story of the seemingly ordinary “man from Missouri” who was perhaps the most courageous El Comandante in our history.
This is not a quick read at 992 pages, yet the story moves along easily from the early days of Independence, Missouri to the passing of citizen Truman. There were, admittedly, moments when I wondered why the author gave so much space to a particular story and other moments when I wished he had given me more of another.
I did not agree with El Comandante Truman on everything, but I never questioned his love for his country and his desire to bring the American people peace and prosperity. While far from perfect, Truman nonetheless serves as a benchmark to measure other politicians.
A fantastic book about an extraordinary man.
The Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harry S. Truman, whose presidency included momentous events from the atomic bombing of Japan to the outbreak of the Cold War and the Korean War, told by America’s beloved and distinguished historian. A masterpiece!
The story of Truman also happens to be one the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters -- Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson -- and dramatic events.
In this riveting biography, McCullough not only captures the man -- a more complex, informed, and determined man than ever before imagined -- but also the turbulent times in which he rose, boldly, to meet unprecedented challenges.
The last El Comandante to serve as a living link between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, Truman’s story spans the raw world of the Missouri frontier, World War I, the powerful Pendergast machine of Kansas City, the legendary Whistle-Stop Campaign of 1948, and the decisions to drop the atomic bomb, confront Stalin at Potsdam, send troops to Korea, and fire General MacArthur.
Drawing on newly discovered archival material and extensive interviews with Truman’s own family, friends, and Washington colleagues, McCullough tells the deeply moving story of the seemingly ordinary “man from Missouri” who was perhaps the most courageous El Comandante in our history.
This is not a quick read at 992 pages, yet the story moves along easily from the early days of Independence, Missouri to the passing of citizen Truman. There were, admittedly, moments when I wondered why the author gave so much space to a particular story and other moments when I wished he had given me more of another.
I did not agree with El Comandante Truman on everything, but I never questioned his love for his country and his desire to bring the American people peace and prosperity. While far from perfect, Truman nonetheless serves as a benchmark to measure other politicians.
A fantastic book about an extraordinary man.
Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack by Steve Twomey
A fascinating look at the twelve days leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor—the warnings, clues and missteps—by a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter.
The author covers more than just the last twelve days before the attack, using the each of those days as a spring board to events and personalities key to understanding the Day of Infamy. This excellent introduction to the subject will inspire some readers, at least, to read more about the road to Pearl Harbor and America's participation in World War II. Twomey is a great story teller.
In Washington, DC, in late November 1941, admirals compose the most ominous message in Navy history to warn Hawaii of possible danger, but they write it too vaguely. They think precautions are being taken, but never check to see if they are. A key intelligence officer wants more warnings sent, but he is on the losing end of a bureaucratic battle and can’t get the message out. American sleuths have pierced Japan’s most vital diplomatic code, and Washington believes it has a window on the enemy’s soul—but it does not.
In a small office at Pearl Harbor, overlooking the battleships at the heart of America’s seafaring power, the Commander of the Pacific Fleet tries to figure out how much danger he really faces. His intelligence unit has lost track of Japan’s biggest aircraft carriers, but assumes they are resting in a port far away. The admiral thinks Pearl is too shallow for torpedoes, so he never puts up a barrier. As he frets, a Japanese spy is counting the warships in the harbor and reporting to Tokyo.
There were false assumptions, and racist ones: The Japanese aren’t very good aviators and they don’t have the nerve or the skill to attempt a strike so far from their home. There were misunderstandings, conflicting desires, painful choices. And there was a naval officer who, on his very first mission as captain of his very first ship, did exactly the right thing. His warning could have averted disaster, but his superiors reacted too leisurely. Japanese planes arrived moments later.
Twomey’s telescoping of the twelve days leading to the attack unravels the crucial characters and moments, and produces an edge-of-your seat drama with fascinating details about America at this moment in its history. By the end, the reader understands how assumption is the root of disaster, and how sometimes a gamble pays off.
Fantastic.
A fascinating look at the twelve days leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor—the warnings, clues and missteps—by a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter.
The author covers more than just the last twelve days before the attack, using the each of those days as a spring board to events and personalities key to understanding the Day of Infamy. This excellent introduction to the subject will inspire some readers, at least, to read more about the road to Pearl Harbor and America's participation in World War II. Twomey is a great story teller.
In Washington, DC, in late November 1941, admirals compose the most ominous message in Navy history to warn Hawaii of possible danger, but they write it too vaguely. They think precautions are being taken, but never check to see if they are. A key intelligence officer wants more warnings sent, but he is on the losing end of a bureaucratic battle and can’t get the message out. American sleuths have pierced Japan’s most vital diplomatic code, and Washington believes it has a window on the enemy’s soul—but it does not.
In a small office at Pearl Harbor, overlooking the battleships at the heart of America’s seafaring power, the Commander of the Pacific Fleet tries to figure out how much danger he really faces. His intelligence unit has lost track of Japan’s biggest aircraft carriers, but assumes they are resting in a port far away. The admiral thinks Pearl is too shallow for torpedoes, so he never puts up a barrier. As he frets, a Japanese spy is counting the warships in the harbor and reporting to Tokyo.
There were false assumptions, and racist ones: The Japanese aren’t very good aviators and they don’t have the nerve or the skill to attempt a strike so far from their home. There were misunderstandings, conflicting desires, painful choices. And there was a naval officer who, on his very first mission as captain of his very first ship, did exactly the right thing. His warning could have averted disaster, but his superiors reacted too leisurely. Japanese planes arrived moments later.
Twomey’s telescoping of the twelve days leading to the attack unravels the crucial characters and moments, and produces an edge-of-your seat drama with fascinating details about America at this moment in its history. By the end, the reader understands how assumption is the root of disaster, and how sometimes a gamble pays off.
Fantastic.
Shinano!: The Sinking of Japan's Secret Supership by Joseph F. Enright
Built during World War II, the Shinano was, and remains to this day, one of the most remarkable war vessels ever constructed. At a displacement weight of over 75,000 tons, she was the biggest ship ever built to that time, with 18" guns that could hurl 4,000 pound projectiles over 25 miles. A battleship-converted-to-carrier, the Shinano was a military marvel that the Japanese hoped would reverse the war fortunes of an entire nation. Who could have ever foretold that she would sink within days of leaving drydock?
Shinano was the largest warship in history to be sunk by a submarine, and Enright was the skipper of the sub that sank it.
On November 29, 1944, the aircraft carrier, escorted by three destroyers, was only 17 hours into its maiden voyage when four perfectly placed torpedoes, launched by Joseph Enright's submarine USS Archerfish, sent it to the bottom near the entrance to Tokyo Bay.
This firsthand account, based on Enright's recollections and statements by American and Japanese veterans of the action, can be recommended without hesitation as a WW II naval classic. While the basic story is simple, its unfolding is as complexly gripping as a chess match between grandmasters. The opponents: Commander Enright and his counterpart, Capt. Toshio Abe, commander of Shinano.
The meticulously unfolding narrative, told alternately from the points of view of the plotting-room and periscope of Archer-Fish and the captain's bridge aboard Shinano, is mainly concerned with Enright's struggle to gain position ahead of the zigzagging carrier and maneuver into an elusive firing-window that would be open only for a few seconds.
Built during World War II, the Shinano was, and remains to this day, one of the most remarkable war vessels ever constructed. At a displacement weight of over 75,000 tons, she was the biggest ship ever built to that time, with 18" guns that could hurl 4,000 pound projectiles over 25 miles. A battleship-converted-to-carrier, the Shinano was a military marvel that the Japanese hoped would reverse the war fortunes of an entire nation. Who could have ever foretold that she would sink within days of leaving drydock?
Shinano was the largest warship in history to be sunk by a submarine, and Enright was the skipper of the sub that sank it.
On November 29, 1944, the aircraft carrier, escorted by three destroyers, was only 17 hours into its maiden voyage when four perfectly placed torpedoes, launched by Joseph Enright's submarine USS Archerfish, sent it to the bottom near the entrance to Tokyo Bay.
This firsthand account, based on Enright's recollections and statements by American and Japanese veterans of the action, can be recommended without hesitation as a WW II naval classic. While the basic story is simple, its unfolding is as complexly gripping as a chess match between grandmasters. The opponents: Commander Enright and his counterpart, Capt. Toshio Abe, commander of Shinano.
The meticulously unfolding narrative, told alternately from the points of view of the plotting-room and periscope of Archer-Fish and the captain's bridge aboard Shinano, is mainly concerned with Enright's struggle to gain position ahead of the zigzagging carrier and maneuver into an elusive firing-window that would be open only for a few seconds.
To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara
The author details the lead-up to the attack, the events of that terrible Sunday in December 1941, and the aftermath with his signature sense of urgency and intensity. Based on voluminous research and unprecedented access to the archives at the Pearl Harbor memorial and museum in Honolulu, among many other sources.
Told through the eyes of widely diverse characters, this story looks at all sides of the drama and puts the reader squarely in the middle. In Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull must balance his own concerns between El Comandante Roosevelt and the Japanese ambassador, Kichisaburo Nomura, who is little more than a puppet of his own government. In Japan, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto wins skeptical approval for his outrageous plans in the Pacific, yet he understands more than anyone that an attack on Pearl Harbor will start a war that Japan cannot win. In Hawaii, Commander Joseph Rochefort’s job as an accomplished intelligence officer is to decode radio signals and detect the location of the Japanese fleet, but when the airwaves suddenly go silent, no one has any idea why. And from a small Depression-ravaged town, nineteen-year-old Tommy Biggs sees the Navy as his chance to escape and happily accepts his assignment, every sailor’s dream: the battleship USS Arizona.
With you-are-there immediacy, Shaara opens up the mysteries of just how Japan -- a small, deeply militarist nation -- could launch one of history’s most devastating surprise attacks. In this story of innocence, heroism, sacrifice, and unfathomable blindness, Shaara’s gift for storytelling uses these familiar wartime themes to shine a light on the personal, the painful, the tragic, and the thrilling -- and on a crucial part of history we must never forget. Biggs's story is particularly poignant and heartbreaking as an Arizona survivor.
Fantastic!
The author details the lead-up to the attack, the events of that terrible Sunday in December 1941, and the aftermath with his signature sense of urgency and intensity. Based on voluminous research and unprecedented access to the archives at the Pearl Harbor memorial and museum in Honolulu, among many other sources.
Told through the eyes of widely diverse characters, this story looks at all sides of the drama and puts the reader squarely in the middle. In Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull must balance his own concerns between El Comandante Roosevelt and the Japanese ambassador, Kichisaburo Nomura, who is little more than a puppet of his own government. In Japan, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto wins skeptical approval for his outrageous plans in the Pacific, yet he understands more than anyone that an attack on Pearl Harbor will start a war that Japan cannot win. In Hawaii, Commander Joseph Rochefort’s job as an accomplished intelligence officer is to decode radio signals and detect the location of the Japanese fleet, but when the airwaves suddenly go silent, no one has any idea why. And from a small Depression-ravaged town, nineteen-year-old Tommy Biggs sees the Navy as his chance to escape and happily accepts his assignment, every sailor’s dream: the battleship USS Arizona.
With you-are-there immediacy, Shaara opens up the mysteries of just how Japan -- a small, deeply militarist nation -- could launch one of history’s most devastating surprise attacks. In this story of innocence, heroism, sacrifice, and unfathomable blindness, Shaara’s gift for storytelling uses these familiar wartime themes to shine a light on the personal, the painful, the tragic, and the thrilling -- and on a crucial part of history we must never forget. Biggs's story is particularly poignant and heartbreaking as an Arizona survivor.
Fantastic!
Hush-Hush by Stuart Woods
Stone Barrington is a former NYPD detective turned lawyer who is of counsel to a prestigious law firm and handles sensitive cases for the firm's prominent clients, but cases with which the firm nonetheless does not wish to be publicly associated. As such, Barrington commands exorbitant fees. The Stone Barrington novels typically feature a strong cast of recurring characters such as his ex-partner Dino Bacchetti, frequent use of the New York restaurant Elaine's as a setting and Stone's frequent exploits with women, travel and fine dining.
Almost none of that, however, seems to matter in Hush-Hush. Here, Barrington is an extremely wealthy gentleman who is seriously connected -- to POTUS, a woman he is having an affair with, and the Director of the CIA, a man he only loosely gets a long with.
As the story opens Barrington is settling in for some downtime in New York City when an anonymous enemy makes himself known. This nameless foe's threats hit close to home, and before Stone can retaliate, the fearsome messages turn into very real consequences.
With the help of old friends -- and a lovely new tech-savvy acquaintance -- Stone sets out to unravel the fatal agenda. But as the web of adversaries expands, Stone realizes that no place is safe, and he'll have to flush out the mastermind before he and those closest to him are silenced for good.
Well, what happens is that Barrington gets hacked by an anonymous person who attempts to extort him by holding his computer files hostage. When that fails, some mysterious Russian mob types show up in New York with, it is believed, the intent to kill him. A friend is employed to handle the threat, which leads to more violence as Stone and his friends fly back and forth across the Atlantic until some sort of resolution that doesn't really tie things up or explain what was really going on.
This probably wasn't the right Barrington novel to read first. I am told that earlier Barrington novels are much better than this one that it appears Stuart Woods kind of mailed in. There seems to be a good outline for a thrilling novel here, unfortunately it never gets fleshed out with an actual plot.
Stone Barrington is a former NYPD detective turned lawyer who is of counsel to a prestigious law firm and handles sensitive cases for the firm's prominent clients, but cases with which the firm nonetheless does not wish to be publicly associated. As such, Barrington commands exorbitant fees. The Stone Barrington novels typically feature a strong cast of recurring characters such as his ex-partner Dino Bacchetti, frequent use of the New York restaurant Elaine's as a setting and Stone's frequent exploits with women, travel and fine dining.
Almost none of that, however, seems to matter in Hush-Hush. Here, Barrington is an extremely wealthy gentleman who is seriously connected -- to POTUS, a woman he is having an affair with, and the Director of the CIA, a man he only loosely gets a long with.
As the story opens Barrington is settling in for some downtime in New York City when an anonymous enemy makes himself known. This nameless foe's threats hit close to home, and before Stone can retaliate, the fearsome messages turn into very real consequences.
With the help of old friends -- and a lovely new tech-savvy acquaintance -- Stone sets out to unravel the fatal agenda. But as the web of adversaries expands, Stone realizes that no place is safe, and he'll have to flush out the mastermind before he and those closest to him are silenced for good.
Well, what happens is that Barrington gets hacked by an anonymous person who attempts to extort him by holding his computer files hostage. When that fails, some mysterious Russian mob types show up in New York with, it is believed, the intent to kill him. A friend is employed to handle the threat, which leads to more violence as Stone and his friends fly back and forth across the Atlantic until some sort of resolution that doesn't really tie things up or explain what was really going on.
This probably wasn't the right Barrington novel to read first. I am told that earlier Barrington novels are much better than this one that it appears Stuart Woods kind of mailed in. There seems to be a good outline for a thrilling novel here, unfortunately it never gets fleshed out with an actual plot.
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Peony8317
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I'm just starting a Freddie Mercury book written by a man that toured with them
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