Showing posts with label american history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label american history. Show all posts

U.S. Army: A Complete History Review

U.S. Army: A Complete History
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Boots on the Ground" has been the foundation of U.S. Army thinking for more than two centuries. I first got an understanding of what it meant at the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. In walking down from the top of the mountain was a display of a shallow pit in the ground where a picket would have lay down looking for an attack. I don't know which side occupied this particular pit, in retrospect of course, it was an American soldier. Hunkering down in this pit, probably scared to death, this man was effectively saying, "This is my piece of ground, and you gotta go through me to get it."
You need ships, and airplanes, and tanks, and the big guns, but when it comes down to it, it's the single man with his boots on the ground that makes the difference. And it continues today in places all around the world.
This is a huge book, 3 and a half inches thick, about ten by 13 inches in size. It is profusely illustrated and discusses almost every battle in which the U.S. Army has been involved. It starts in the 1600's, with the formation of militia formed by the colonies for protection from Indian raids. It continues through every war, almost every battle until the finding of Saddam in Iraq. It's authors are all either Army officers or professional historians with a heavy Army history. It's a supurb book.

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In 1775, determined and angry colonists took up arms against a common foe, and their battle cries signaled the birth of the United States Army. The Army has been forged in the fires of revolution, tested on continental battlefields, battered at the shores of Normandy, and hardened on the sands of the Persian Gulf and Iraq. Published in conjunction with the Army Historical Foundation, this beautifully illustrated large-format book is both a major reference tool and a handsome addition to any military history collection. Building on official Army chronologies, U.S. Army: A Complete History presents a year-by-year summary of significant Army activities, from before the American Revolution to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Key historical entries, as well as significant operations, technological advances, and the people instrumental in shaping the Army, appear as expanded sidebar articles written by leading experts in each subject.

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Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age (Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series) Review

Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age (Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series)
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What a fascinating woman. What a fascinating era. Kurt Beyer brings her story to life and explains much about the early days of computers and programming that most of us don't know and simply take for granted. Beyer blends history, technological information and human interest into this worthwhile read. Thank you.

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The career of computer visionary Grace Murray Hopper, whose innovativework in programming laid the foundations for the user-friendliness of today'spersonal computers that sparked the information age.

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Duel of the Ironclads: USS Monitor and CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads 1862 (General Military) Review

Duel of the Ironclads: USS Monitor and CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads 1862 (General Military)
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I thought this was a great read. Splendid illustrations, well written text. Qucik, easy, and enjoyable. I wanted to know more about the famous battle between the Monitor and Viginia, but didn't want to be bogged down with the text, and I wanted a well illustrated volume. I'm sure that this subject has been written on to no end, but I was more than pleased with this work.

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Previously published in three separate volumes as Campaign 103: Hampton Roads 1862, New Vanguard 41: Confederate Ironclad 1861-65 and New Vanguard 45: Union Monitor 1861-65.When the ironclad USS Monitor steamed out to meet the CSS Virginia on 9 March 1862, the face of naval warfare was changed forever. A four-hour duel left neither ship victorious, but in the wake of the battle wooden warships were rendered obsolete. This book details the clash at Hampton Roads, as well as tracing the development of ironclads within the Union and Confederate fleets. Union ironclads evolved quickly from the time of the production of the Monitor, so that by the end of the war the US Navy possessed the most powerful artillery afloat. The Confederate fleet, meanwhile, was born out of the hulks of existing vessels in naval yards and backwaters within sight of the enemy - its very existence was a tribute to the ingenuity of Southern shipbuilders.

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Pacific Gibraltar: U.S.-Japanese Rivalry over the Annexation of Hawai'i, 1885-1898 (ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy) Review

Pacific Gibraltar: U.S.-Japanese Rivalry over the Annexation of Hawai'i, 1885-1898 (ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy)
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This is a superb account of the complexities involved in America's annexation of Hawai'i in 1898. The author details the growing public debate, which included far more than the intrinsic value of this splendid North Pacific archipelago. Instead, the issue was at the core of the late nineteenth-century debate over empire-building in the world's largest ocean. U.S. relations with Japan were at stake as the two emergent imperial powers both saw the contested Pacific Basin as falling within their respective spheres of influence.
Professor Morgan stresses the importance of strategic factors--Alfred Thayer Mahan's advocacy of naval supremacy, the deployment of an all-steel navy, the need for coaling stations and bases on insular dependencies, and, especially, the great power rivalry between Japan and the United States--in securing Hawaiian annexation. The author's research was thorough and grounded in primary sources, while revealing of the latest scholarship. His conclusions were fresh, measured, nuanced, and logical. The writing was clear and crisp.
A fuller understanding of this complex, controversial topic makes Morgan's book required reading.
Thomas J. Osborne
Author of "Empire Can Wait:" American Opposition to Hawaiian Annexation, 1893-1898 (1981).


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The first detailed examination of Hawaiian annexation in a generation, Pacific Gibraltar offers a fresh analysis and provocative conclusions about major episodes in this complex story. Based on a sweeping reevaluation of new and existing sources in three countries, it addresses such key questions as the extent of U.S. support for the overthrow of the monarchy, including the USS Boston's mysterious return to Honolulu to land troops as the revolution began, and President Cleveland's attempt to restore the queen using naval forces to intimidate the white provisional government. Morgan also examines the U.S.-Japan annexation confrontation in 1897 and the final acquisition of the islands in 1898 as the culmination of growing appreciation for Hawaii s value to U.S. defense.An ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Book published in partnership with the Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training.

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James Madison (The American Presidents Series) Review

James Madison (The American Presidents Series)
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Although it is nominally a biography of James Madison, this brief book is actually an examination of Madison's presidency. Wills explores the seeming contradictions between the brilliant Madison responsible for the Constitution and Bill of Rights and the less-than-impressive president.
Wills shows that there is less of a contradiction than there seems to be. The flaws that hurt Madison as a president were actually around much earlier, especially his inability to function well as an executive. Madison was much more a behind-the-scenes person, quite adept in committees or legislative situations, but not as able outside them.
As a biography, this book is rather short and sparse, but by focusing on one portion of Madison's life - the portion which he does not receive great acclaim for - Wills is still able to provide a lot of detail as he analyzes and explains the fourth presidency.

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From Cape Charles to Cape Fear: The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War (Alabama Fire Ant Alabama Fire Ant Alabama Fire Ant) Review

From Cape Charles to Cape Fear: The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War (Alabama Fire Ant Alabama Fire Ant Alabama Fire Ant)
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A complete and thorough 453 page history of the events along the coast and inland water ways of North Carolina and Virginia during the American Civil War. Browning provides an in-depth discussion of the logistics, tactics and strategy of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which played a very important and often overlooked role during the Civil War. Its successes benefitted the efforts of the Union's Army of the Potomac and adversely affected the operations of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. There is also a succinct explanation of the campaign to capture Wilmington, North Carolina and the broader effects that campaign had on Lee's army. Eight maps, fourteen illustrations and over a hundred pages of notes and bibliography augment the text.

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The Good Fight : How World War II Was Won Review

The Good Fight : How World War II Was Won
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Chances are that most teenagers today have or had grandfathers who served in World War II and grandmothers who helped with the war effort at home. Yet those experiences seem like ancient history to many young people. This superb volume should help bring home the message of why the American war effort was so important, and the magnitude of the sacrifices that were made on their behalf. Hopefully, these materials will then encourage these young people to ask their grandparents about their World War II experiences, and help create more connections to and understanding of those worthy elders.
This book is a brief pictoral history of the war from the American perspective. The book's format is to take about 30 themes and develop them briefly. The tools used are brief essays, moving quotes from participants, photographs, and battle maps. Most subjects are handled in two pages (including photographs), but some go on to become four pages (such as the Holocaust). My only complaint about the book is that some photographs are reproduced in one color that makes the detail hard to see. Black would have been less appealing, but the photographs would have been easier to examine.
Those who know Professor Ambrose's work will recognize the quotes. Sergeant Mike Ranney of Easy Company in the 101st tells this story about speaking with his grandson.
"'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?'
'No,' I answered, 'but I served in a company of heroes.'"
Quotes like that are worth the price of the book for conveying the World War II experience to this generation of Americans.
The book is good for pointing out problems and injustice. You see black Americans training with World War I guns. You see Japanese-Americans being interned in concentration camps. The concentration camp at Belsen is displayed. The devastation at Nagasaki as well as the radiation burn scars on a boy are portrayed.
Many of the famous World War II photographs are here, such as the flag-raising on Iwo Jima, V-J Day in Times Square (the sailor and the nurse), soldiers wading ashore on D-Day into the surf on Omaha Beach, and the Navy battleships aflame at Pearl Harbor.
Professor Ambrose certainly knows this history better than I do, but I wondered about his description of the Japanese emperor's involvement in the decision to launch the attack on Pearl Harbor. The version here seemed closer to the original story favored by General MacArthur that the emperor was manipulated by the military leaders than what I have been reading other historians say, which is that the emperor was right in the middle of wanting to go to war.
Some of my other favorite photographs in the book include Hitler at a Nuremberg party rally (showing the propaganda machine in all of its might), Guadalcanal after a tropical storm (with tents underwater), an Army corpsman tending a wounded soldier, St. Lo after the liberation, an American soldier rescuing a shell-shocked girl in Manila, and Stalin, Truman and Churchill at Potsdam.
Lesser known parts of the war are covered here, such as Rosie the Riveter (including a photograph of women learning to weld).
After you read this book, I suggest that you also take time to tell your teenagers how you feel about America's involvement in World War II. Many of the participants are naturally reluctant to say very much. Your own sense of this incredible struggle can help fill the gap in understanding as well.
If you feel comfortable, you may also want to talk about the cold war.
Be glad that D-Day was a success!


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Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty Review

Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty
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I always feel reverence for the service given by the veterans of our armed forces. For me, it matters little what they did because they spent a portion of their life supporting the defense of our freedom. Everyone in the military matters.
Even so, those who have faced the rigor of combat have earned an even deeper gratitude. What they face in battle changes their life forever. It can never be the same. An evidence of this is how difficult it is for combat veterans to describe their experience of the war to those of us who have never shared in that experience. The closest most of us get is watching documentaries on The History Channel or reading serious books on the history of the various conflicts that have required so much of our soldiers.
This is a wonderful and serious book. Our country has awarded the Medal of Honor, our highest military award, to only about 3,400 recipients since the award was created. Of that number, fewer than 140 are alive today. This book provides portraits of those still living. One page provides a current photograph of each man and another page briefly tells about what was done to merit the award. Each story causes me to shake my head in disbelief. These stories describe acts of selflessness, of duty, of courage that inspire a deep gratitude and admiration for these men and the thousands like them who have passed on.
As I turned the pages of this book, I felt I was in a sacred place. I looked at the picture of the young man who became a hero, read the words of his heroism, and then look in the face and eyes of the older man who has lived so long after those acts, and yet I suppose that day is ever with them. I do not know, but from my own life I know that there are certain pivotal events that are never far from the surface.
Millions of soldiers have faced combat and each has my gratitude. In know that there are countless acts of service and heroism that are never recognized. Those included in this book are only representative of the heroism so many have shown in combat. To all of them, I say thank you. To each of the men included in this book I also offer my deepest gratitude. Your stories inspire us and provide examples of the highest qualities for future generations.
We can all aspire to such selflessness, duty, and courage if and when we are called to face an extreme challenge. It is good to document and remember these acts of heroism even if they are only representative of the truly large number heroes who have served our nation. Those honored here are indeed special men with special stories. As we hold these to our hearts with thanks we also need to think about the millions of stories we do not know and remember them as well.
It was wonderful to read about the heroes from World War II and Korea that are still with us. However, I was especially gratified to read about those whose heroic acts were given in Vietnam. It is past time for us to take seriously our neglect of these veterans and realize all that was given in service on our behalf. We owe then a debt and we need to pay it. A first step is to get to know what was done for us and learn the truth instead of simplistic anti-war propaganda.
You owe it to yourself to take a tour through this book and think about what these men, and so many like them, were asked to do and what they did to answer that call.

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My Hundred Years, 1894-1994 + Review

My Hundred Years, 1894-1994 +
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Dr. William Edel's life leading up to his 100th birthday on March 16, 1994 has been colorful and varied. He spent thirty years as a Navy chaplain and thirteen years as the president of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He is the inventor of the "three-way" altar, providing for Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish worship.
His duties have brought him personal friendships with people great and small - from members of the British Royal Family and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commision to a Catholic teaching brother on a Pacific Island. His opportunities have been broad and varied, from participation in the first Boy Scout summer camp ever, to the first Flag Day Celebration of the first officially-elected government of American Samoa. During his 99th year, he wrote his memories of these wonderful duties and opportunities that have filled his hundred years.
This book covers William Edel's memories from his earliest years into his 100th year. It details his school days; his unusual college activities; his duties on U.S. cruisers, battleships, and other craft; his service with the U.S. Marine Corps and his life on the South Pacific Islands. His life and memories include his service through two world wars, with a Chinese revolution between them, and his experience as senior chaplain of one of the largest training stations and the largest Naval hospital. He has published in various magazines since 1915 and, as the historian of the Navy Chaplain's Corps for twenty years, he has published in such places as the Naval Institute Proceedings.
He has recently sold as article about his early scouting experiences to Scouting Magazine. He lives quietly in El Cajon, Ca, where he is active in his church.
--- from book's dustjacket

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Command of the Seas Review

Command of the Seas
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The Honorable John Lehman describes why he, as a naval reserve officer and conservative Washington insider, wanted the job as Secretary of the Navy.Once he achieved this position, Lehman gives a hard look at the state of the nation's defense during the late 1970s and 1980s. He also details info on who helped keep the Navy together and who worked to tear it apart. Lehman also includes details about his controversial interaction with Admiral Rickover. This book is an essential editorial on the state of naval affairs during the cold war. All arguments are backed up with documentation and facts. An excellent read.

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Those Who Dare: Book One in the Raiding Forces Series (Second World War Fiction) Review

Those Who Dare: Book One in the Raiding Forces Series (Second World War Fiction)
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Those Who Dare is a good war story. Something blows up on the first page and the action is more or less constant throughout. The characters are the kind of people you would like to go to war with. You get a rare look at the evolution of pin-prick raiding and how No.1 British Parachute School and the Commando Special Warfare Training Center in Achnacarry, Scotland trained Combined Operations troops, which is something I've never seen in fiction before. I'm ex-SF, Ranger, Jumpmaster and have been there and done that, got the scars to prove it. I recommend this book.

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The first in a series of meticulously researched World War II novels about hit-and-run raids against Hitler's war machine by British forces - under the command of a U.S. soldier - "Those Who Dare" is sure to appeal to avid military fiction fans. By May 1940, panzer divisions had decimated Belgium and reached Calais. Lieutenant John Randal of the U.S. 26th Cavalry Regiment volunteers his expertise to help slow their advance. What unfolds is a blend of military guerrilla tactics, suspense, humour, cultural and social commentary, and war buddy camaraderie - plus a little romance between the American GI and the widowed Lady Jane Seaborn. Along the way readers meet such colourful characters as Captain David Niven in MO-9 and Captain 'Geronimo Joe' McKoy with his Travelling Wild West Show and Shooting Emporium. The author - a decorated combat veteran - covers the details of war extensively, from the five points of contact of a parachute landing fall to descriptions of a British raider's A-5 flinging ferries before the first 12-gauge shell casing hits the floor. As the novel ends, Major Randal's men, fresh from Operation Tomcat in France, learn they will deploy via sea transport within 48 hours on their next mission. The second book, which is already written, tells that tale.

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Assumed the Watch. Moored as Before. Review

Assumed the Watch. Moored as Before.
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Just finished what I consider is the definitive statement as to what is wrong with the current leadership of the U.S. Navy. Well written and to the point as why outstanding men and women are departing the officer ranks in droves leaving the Navy with a very shallow talent pool in which to select from its ranks officers that will command ships and squadrons. The USS Cowpens was a train wreak that because of cowardly senior naval officers that refused to acknowledge that naval higher authority by giving to Captain Graf command of the USS Cowpens it had given a ship to a female Captain Bligh. I recommend that all commanding and flag officers in the U.S. Navy be required to read this book.
GMC USN (retired)

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The USS Pelican, or the Pelican t as it was affectionately known, was the craziest, most nerve-racking ship in the navy. How was that possible, though, if it remained tied to the pier essentially for two years? This account contains the musings and observations of one junior officer attempting to stay sane aboard mighty Pelican. Likewise, it includes his attempts to do the same on a different ship this one doing circles in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

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Success Is All That Was Expected: The South Atlantic Blockading Squadron During the Civil War Review

Success Is All That Was Expected: The South Atlantic Blockading Squadron During the Civil War
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One of the first measures imposed by the North on the South during the War was to establish a blockade. The United States Navy was ill prepared to enforce such a blockade. Officially the U.S. Navy consisted of ninety vessels. Only forty-two of these were in commission, the rest were in moth balls, or as it was called then 'in ordinary,' or they were on foreign station, or patrolling the Gulf coast. Nor were the ships that were available suited for blockade use. The Navy primarily had ships designed for deep water operations, not the shallow coastal areas typical of the southern coast.
As the title says, success was expected. The blockade of course lasted throughout the war. By the end the Navy was not only prepared, but was indeed able to effectively blockade these ports.
The particular area covered by the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron covered from Cape Fear to Cape Canaveral. This book joins the authors previous bookon the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and presumably there is at least one more book to come in the series.

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Success Is All That Was Expected is a comprehensive operational history of the Union naval blockade that monitored the southern Atlantic coast from South Carolina to Florida during the American Civil War. Created in 1861 by the order of President Abraham Lincoln and charged with halting Confederate maritime commerce and closing Southern ports, the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron was the largest of the four Union coastal blockading squadrons for much of the conflict. This story covers the harrowing engagements between ships and forts, daring amphibious assaults, the battles between ironclad vessels, the harassment of Confederate blockade runners, and the incredible evolution of underwater warfare in the form of the CSS Hunley.The world's leading scholar of Union naval blockades during the Civil War, historian Robert Browning, reveals the squadron's numerous tactical accomplishments. He also illustrates how its success was constantly hampered by indecisive leaders in Washington who failed to express their strategic vision as well as by reputation-conscious naval commanders who were reluctant to press the fight when the specter of failure loomed. Despite lost opportunities, unfulfilled expectations, and failures along the way, the bravery, sacrifice, and vigilance of these fighting men played a crucial role in the Union's ultimate victory.

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Stephen Decatur: American Naval Hero, 1779-1820 Review

Stephen Decatur: American Naval Hero, 1779-1820
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All too many Americans seem to think that early American history ended at the Atlantic's shoreline, but this is hardly the case. Robert Allison has been a strong voice in favor of the Atlantic perspective in American history. His works are a must read. Before reading this book I'd highly suggest reading his earlier work The Crescent Obscured. The Crescent Obscured will give the average reader a better idea where Allison is coming from.
Allison offers a strong narrative supported by exhaustive research. I HIGHLY suggest this book to anyone (at any level) interested in early American history.

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Born to a prominent Philadelphia family in 1779, Stephen Decatur at age twenty-five became the youngest man ever to serve as a captain in the U.S. Navy. His intrepid heroism, leadership, and devotion to duty made him a perfect symbol of the aspirations of the growing nation. Leading men to victory in Tripoli, the War of 1812, and the Algerian war of 1815, and coining the phrase "Our country, right or wrong," Decatur created an enduring legend of bravery, celebrated in poetry, song, paintings, and the naming of dozens of towns—from Georgia to Alabama to Illinois.After the War of 1812, Decatur moved to Washington to help direct naval policy. His close friendships with James Madison, John Quincy Adams, and other political leaders soon made him a rising star in national politics. He and his wife Susan made their elegant home on Lafayette Square near the White House a center of Washington society. The capital and the entire nation were shocked in 1820 when Decatur died at the age of forty-one in a duel with a rival navy captain.In this carefully researched and well-written biography, historian Robert Allison tells the story of Decatur's eventful life at a time when the young republic was developing its own identity—when the American people were deciding what kind of nation they would become. Although he died prematurely, Decatur played a significant role in the shaping of that national identity.

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A Country Such As This Review

A Country Such As This
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"A Country Such As This" is a timeless classic that chronicles the enormous social, economic and political upheavals that roiled America throughout the 1960s and 1970s. James Webb, a foremost author, Vietnam combat veteran and future Secretary of the Navy, presents a moving and incisive allegory in the life experiences of three 1951 U.S. Naval Academy graduates. Red Lescynski, Judd Smith and Joe Dingenfelder are "blood brothers" who swear an oath of allegiance to their country and each other. But their lives are destined to be sundered by the epochal changes sweeping the country: economic dislocation, an epidemic of divorce and fractured families and, most of all, societal and political divisions wrought by U.S. policy in Vietnam. Particularly insightful is the ongoing dialogue between Smith, a conservative Republican, and the ultra-liberal Dorothy Dingenfelder (Joe's estranged wife), who clash repeatedly and vociferously. Red Lesczynski's brutal plight in North Vietnam POW camps are heart rending, as are his difficulties assimilating into a fundamentally changed American society after a seven-year absence. Webb's descriptions of the opprobrious conduct of the anti-war movement are priceless.
We are fortunate that 18 years after its initial publication, the U.S. Navy's publishing arm has re-published "A Country Such As This," enabling a new generation of Americans to benefit from Webb's sage wisdom.

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The innocence the 1950s and turbulence of the 1960s and 70s--years when America reached out and touched the heavens, only to be torn apart by internal conflict and a war in Southeast Asia--provide a dramatic setting for this unforgettable story of three men and the women they love carving a place for themselves in a society where the rules keep changing. Written by bestselling novelist James Webb, it has been hailed as a major work of our time and a stunning commentary of political and social life in America over nearly three decades. From the wars in Korea and Vietnam to antiwar protests in Washington and POW camps in Hanoi, from young love and parenthood to divorce and reconciliation, Webb's eye for detail, provocative insights, and subtle revelations have earned him the highest literary accolades. His convincing characters and gripping scenes fully engage the reader as the three Naval Academy graduates reevaluate their lives, their country, and the cost of success.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Wings of Gold: The U.S. Naval Air Campaign in World War II Review

Wings of Gold: The U.S. Naval Air Campaign in World War II
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I am a serious student of World War Two and a Gerald Astor fan, however repeated errors in aircraft designations...(SPD instead of SBD) caused me to hesitate to finish this work. There is nothing more annoying than having to mentally correct poor editing.
The books content is very good and worth reading. I just would like to stress that whomever edits the final draft need to be sure that it is properly done.

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Dark Waters: An Insider's Account of the NR-1, the Cold War's Undercover Nuclear Sub Review

Dark Waters: An Insider's Account of the NR-1, the Cold War's Undercover Nuclear Sub
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Dark Waters tells the story of the design, construction and early (late 1960s to late 1970s) operations of the U.S. Navy's smallest and most classified nuclear submarine, NR-1. Co-written by "plankowner" crewmember, Lee Vyborny, and a professional journalist, Dark Waters tells the inside story of the delayed, far-over-budget initial construction, the crew's selection and torment by the infamous Admiral Rickover and the difficulties of putting a totally unique vessel into operational service. NR-1, which is still in service, has a tiny 130 horsepower nuclear power plant, displaces a mere 409 tons (compared to 6,900 tons for the Navy's Los Angeles Class SSNs), and operates with a crew of 12 or fewer. Its most unique aspect is an ability to operate and maneuver indefinitely at depths up to 3,000' and search out and recover lost objects (e.g., a top secret missile from a sunken aircraft) or pry open our adversaries' military secrets (e.g., a Soviet underwater detection system in the Mediterranean).
During the ten year operational period Vyborny writes about, NR-1 suffered many "near-death" experiences due to equipment failures and the inherent hazards of operating a tiny submarine "on the edge" for extended periods. Several tales of the crew's ability to get themselves out of tight jams (there was no way anyone on the surface could help them) are riveting, inspiring examples of men living up to the highest traditions of Naval service. These sailors' little known "inner space" explorations are as intriguing and inspiring as many of NASA's outer space exploits of the same era.
Unfortunately NR-1's post-1970s operations are barely mentioned in Dark Waters. Likewise, reference is made to increased Navy-civilian NR-1 science operations, but few concrete examples are provided. Unfortunately the book contains some factual errors. For example, Vyborny asserts NR-1 "has become the oldest operational boat in the Navy." Even assuming, which is not clear from the context, that by "boat" Vyborny means submarine, that is not a correct statement. USS Dolphin (AGSS 555) went into commission in 1968, several months before NR-1 was launched; despite a fire and near-sinking last year, the Navy so far has kept Dolphin in commission (DBF!).
As a former Navy Spook I sometimes cringe when books like Dark Waters, Blind Man's Bluff, etc. disclosure formerly classified Cold War capabilities and operations. At the same time I'm proud of the heroic and inspired efforts, as well as willingness to endure danger and discomfort, that lead to our Cold War victory, and believe these stories need to be told. I recommend Dark Waters to anyone interested in submarine technology, deepwater exploration, nautical adventure and Cold War history.

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