Soldat Reflections of a German Soldier 1936 1949
This engaging, introspective memoir, coauthored with Bruslaw ( The Business Writer’s Handbook ) offers insight into the thinking and attitudes of a Wehrmacht officer. Knappe served in the artillery during the invasions of Czechoslovakia, France and the Soviet Union and as a staff officer during the Italian campaign and the defense of Berlin. Though he had moral reservations about the Czech campaign and was troubled by his government’s betrayal of its non-aggression pact with Russia, Knappe believed that his participation in combat was honorable and that the overriding purpose of the war was to correct the injustice perpetrated against Germany by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Only after he was captured by Soviet troops in 1945 did he begin to understand that he had been an “unthinking cog,” accepting without question Hitler’s might-makes-right philosophy. The memoir closes with an account of his release from a Soviet prison camp in 1949 and his reunion with his family in Leipzig. Knappe came to America in 1955 and is now a retired corporate executive in Ohio. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Not Factual?
I ordered and read Knappe’s book, Soldat!. It isn’t a bad book, but I had to question some of Knappe’s accounts.
I’ll describe just one obvious factual error. Knappe writes about how his men had to dress in civilian clothing to fool the Soviet sentries as men and material were moved up to the line in preparation for Operation Barbarossa… the June 22, 1941 invasion of the USSR. No advantage of prior warning was to be given to the Russians.
Then, in referring to the night of the attack, Knappe goes into a description of his preparations on the night of the attack, which includes a lengthy and detailed account of the bright moonlight illuminating the forests and villages in his unit’s staging area. Knappe continues referring to the moonlight, calling it the “same moon” that has illuminated European armies throughout the ages.
As a former regular army officer myself, I know that for matters of secrecy and deception, major military operations are always initiated in the absence of moonlight whenever the tactical situation allows. As the initial attacker, the timing of the attack was certainly up to the Germans, who were not planning under pressure. Knappe, claiming to be a graduate of General Staff College, would have known that as well even if he had no memory of the invasion night.
But Knappe then describes how flares were used at the outset of the invasion to illuminate the enemy. Flares would of course been unnecessary if Knappe could have seen by moonlight all that he claimed to be able to see. The Germans were secretive and tactical to the point that they disguised the appearance of their soldiers during the pre-invasion buildup, only to attack in broad moonlight, but also needed flares to see? It doesn’t work like that.
I checked the moon calendar for Central Europe on the night of June 21-22, 1941, not that it was even necessary, and sure enough there was a new moon on the night of the invasion… not a scrap of moonlight. It isn’t fair to fault one for an imperfect memory about such a long ago event, and I’m not trying to do that. But, after considering the great detail of Knappe’s description, I don’t think the error is due to Knappe’s bad memory. I don’t even think it was an error… I believe it was by design. The emotional account of the invasion night was “filler” to make the book more interesting.
I’ve never read the operations order for Operation Barbarossa, but I’ll bet a steak dinner to a popsicle that the order mentions that the initial attack would be conducted under a dark, moonless sky. I know that from personal experience, and because I know that the German high command was the epitome of military excellence. In fact, our own weapons and tactics since WWII have been based on the teachings and practices of the German military.
I wondered at the time how much more filler is in the book? There’s no way to know; only Knappe knows that (or knew, since he recently passed on). But, it puts a burr in my enjoyment of any book once I begin to catch obvious untruths. Perhaps I’m expecting too much. Maybe these personal account books of the War are nothing more than personal war stories; maybe even novels.
5 Stars Superb!
This is one of the best ostfront-novels, right up there with Guy Sajers book, only Knappes comes of as more realistic and fells more truthfull. Sajers is a bit more first-person combat oriented, which I feel this book lacks a bit of. On the other hand, Knappe was mostly behind the frontline giving orders so there might not have been as much to tell. In fact, the book only descbribes a single really dangerous combat situation when Knappe is behind a weapon shooting at the enemy with a field-cannon. It’s perfectly written and easy to read. It’s never boring although never overly exciting either. Knappe was extremely lucky on quite a few occasions which no doubt saved his life. Among them where being halted from entering the incirclement at Stalingrad in the last hour and being called back to Germany before major russian attacks. Also, as an officer he was always amongst the first to retreat and obviously stod a much better chance at surviving than a front line fighting soldier running for his life with russian bayonettes tickling his back. I wonder if any front line grunt actuallt lived through the whole five year war? I suspect most of the survivors were officers like Knappe. The gruesome experiences after capture also struck hardest on the lowest ranking men, wheras Knappe recieved better treatment.
4 Stars Confessions of an Indestructable Everyman
When a fellow has as much story to tell as Siegfried Knappe, it’s easy to produce a book that’s nothing more than a tidal-wave of names, dates, and places, blurring together and hence failing to produce a clear picture of what the author actually experienced. This memior largely avoids that trap and thus SOLDAT is a helluva book, really a must-read for anyone who wants a better understanding of life in the German Army under – and after – Adolf Hitler.
As a soldier, Knappe was fairly typical of the generation who came of age between wars and thus served as a kind of bridge between the era of Weimar and the following Nazi period. A casual admirer of Hitler as a young man, he nevertheless had a Jewish best friend, and went through the mill of Labor Service and drafted soldier just the same as countless other German youths. Serving in the horse-drawn artillery, he was recognized as having leadership potential given a rare opportunity for officer training, an experience which for him was so enjoyable that he decided to make the Army a career. Unfortunately the war intruded on what had been an idyll of ballroom dances, riding competitions and opportunities to lure women with his fancy uniform, and before too long he was in Russia for the opening day of the Russian campaign. There his romanticism died a painful death, and although he was grimly determined to carry out his duty to the bitter end, Knappe had an oddly lucky propensity to get wounded just badly enough to be removed from the fighting, but not badly enough to be crippled or killed. Eventually selected for service on the General Staff, he rose to the rank of major and finished the war helping to coordinate the defense of Berlin – an event that put him in close proximity to Hitler. Of course, “finishing the war” is a misleading expression, as Knappe spent many years slowly rotting in a Soviet POW camp, a subject covered in harrowing detail in the book.
As a read, SOLDAT has only one real flaw – the periods where, as narrator, Knappe gets bogged down in providing a strategic overview of the military situation in, say, 1945. Obviously as a General Staff officer this was part of his frame of reference, but it is somewhat jarringly academic compared to his personal experiences – this is a personal work, not a military history, and I wish the editor had seen fit to trim these interludes back. Other than that, however, it is an absolutely fascinating tell-all, not merely because of its intricate depictions of peacetime and wartime Army life, but because of its harrowing depictions of the aftermath millions of German soldiers had to live through as members of a defeated nation. The privations of the gulag were hard enough on Knappe, but the cruel psychological tricks the Soviets played on their German prisoners over their long years of captivity – denying their mail, lying about release dates, tricking them into committing crimes and then extending their sentences – are so exhausting and draining to read about that I can’t even imagine what it was like to endure them for ten years. By the time Knappe finally “escapes” to West Germany near the end of the book I think I was almost as glad as he was.
Overall, SOLDAT is a very strong entry in the field of German war literature and I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a fresh perspective – that of a staff officer during the climactic days of WW2.
5 Stars Fantastic book!
This book “Soldat” was a splendid read – It makes me feel like I’m going through the war with Herr Knappe…. I enjoyed it immensely and would have liked to have had the chance to say hello to the man. I highly recommend it!
5 Stars Soldat review
A very interesting account of the Second World War, coming from a lesser publicized perspective – that of a German career officer (albeit a very young one). Mr. Knappe did a masterful job of setting the scene of the years leading into the war and allowing us a rare glimpse into the German psyche. A moving account also of his years in the Soviet prisons – not that disimilar to the Nazi camps.
The Story the Soldiers Wouldnt Tell Sex in the Civil War
Using primary documents as well as standard historical works (e.g., Douglas Southall Freeman’s biographies of Civil War leaders), Lowry, a physician and medical historian, weaves a fascinating history of a little-discussed aspect (sex) of a much-discussed subject (the Civil War). Beginning with the icons of the war, Lowry notes that the reputation of such saintlike figures as Lincoln, Lee, and Stonewall Jackson is well deserved. However, the rank and file present quite another story, and Lowry tells it in an easy, armchair-style prose that is well documented with letters, diaries, court records, and other primary evidence. From camp followers to gay lovers to vulgar language, Lowry examines Civil War-era sex from every conceivable angle. Recommended for public libraries and as ancillary reading in academic libraries where Civil War materials are collected.
William Emory Buchanan, Clarion Univ., Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Civil War Soldiers Discover Illicit Sex
I bought this book at the Book Store at the Wilson Creek Battlefield in Springfield, Missouri. Finding it came as kind of a surprise to me. It didn’t seem like the kind of book that would be available in a National Park Book Store especially in the heart of the so-called “Bible Belt.”
Since I wasted more than 36 hours stuck in various airports because of weather on that trip, I was delighted to have purchased some interesting reading material. My laptop also decided not to work during that trip, so this book got a very careful reading.
As the title says so well, this is information that soldiers wouldn’t tell their girl friends, wives or family. Because of that, most of the book’s source material comes from long-hidden and secret diaries, medical reports, rape trial transcripts, and official army reports. It overwhelming deals with illicit sex and prostitution. Love letters were also a major resource but many of those weren’t very explicit about sex, only romantic longings. When the soldier from both the Union and Confederate sides were home on leave making babies with their wives there was naturally relatively little written source material being created.
Over all, this book was fascinating reading. The problems of rampant venereal diseases so devastated the Union Army that it forced the military to start licensing prostitutes who were judged disease-free by the army’s doctors. It also forced prostitutes who were infected to take treatment in hospitals. Major General Joseph Hooker’s camp followers were so numerous and infamous that they were given the good general’s name and the term “hooker” was coined to the ever-lasting memory of that Civil War General.
Rapes were relatively rare on either side of the war. Americans were fighting fellow Americans, often their own relatives and women and children were protected by both sides. Lowry does report the details of some rape trails based on extensive military court transcripts. Soldiers often away from home for the first time, and knowing that they were going to face death in their next battle, were naturally curious to experience the forbidden pleasures offered by the huge numbers of prostitutes. Nude portraits, both of the “French Post Card” variety and even daguerreotypes were carried into battle inside soldier’s uniforms along with the pictures of wives and girlfriends.
In order to combat the epidemic of venereal disease, the military actually figured out how to clean up the problem and the book details of how uncooperative prostitutes were shipped out of town by special guarded riverboats. Needless to say, these boatloads of sex workers weren’t welcomed at many of the destinations.
Oddly enough, most of the successful methods learned for controlling venereal diseases during the Civil War were completely ignored when World War I began and the Americans had to relearn the same tragic lessons.
For any reader interested in the history of American Civil War this is a must read. It fills in the many of the gaps (no naughty pun intended) ignored in most history texts of that terrible American war. It talks about women spies, brothels, illicit sex and prostitutes that were such a major part of the war that simply hasn’t been written about very often. It definitely isn’t “Gone With The Wind” other than documenting that Rhett Butler’s favorite pass time was readily available on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. The author does a good job of turning boring medical reports and court transcripts into interesting reading. That’s a real talent. The volume has a good index, notes and bibliography for those interested in additional source material.
3 Stars Great research source
This book would make an excellent source for an author who writes about the Civil War era. It is very well documented and even includes some interesting photos. It would interest anyone who enjoys reading about the things that people didn’t used to talk openly about.
5 Stars Sex Ed 1861
Written by a medical doctor and historian, “Sex In The Civil War” shows that our prudish Victorian ancestors really weren’t so uptight after all…in fact, some things haven’t changed that much. Sometimes hilarious and always informative, Dr. Lowry covers everything from bathroom invective to antebellum birth control using research gleaned from period medical texts, diaries, military records and of course the soldiers’ letters home. An entertaining and educational look at the birds and the bees in the nineteenth century.
5 Stars 99% of the time
It has said that ninety-nine percent of a soldiers’ life is taken up with camp duties, training, mass movements, red tape, make-work and, if he is clever, leave.
As the the majority of books on military history deal with battles and the personal lives of commanders, readers seldom get an accurate picture about the experience of the troopers who must bear the burden of war on (often) anonymous shoulders. War does seem to bring out the best and worst in human behavior, and perhaps in historians as well as fighters. How can an author spend years discovering what a general did on a single occasion and not explore the daily hopes and fears of the common men and women in the field?
In each chapter, Lowry details a different aspect of life for the men in uniform and the women who loved them. Some parts are noteworthy as they detail problems which had no titles at the time (the Rev. James C. Richmond,in 1863, was pestering a goverment clerk named Rosa Bielaski in an unremitting manner we now call “stalking”). Each section cover human folly briskly, with a dry wit and even some sympathy.
For a good time, read this book.
5 Stars A Must for Civil War Researchers
I’ve read many books on the Civil War, but this is one of the best. Lowry does an incredible job digging up the seamy side of the war and presenting it in unflinching fashion. Yet at the same time, he views this stuff with a detached and nonjudgmental eye, and with gentle humor as well. Lowry often picks up where Bell Irvin Wiley left off in his wonderful “Life of Johnny Reb” and “Life of Billy Yank.” Where Wiley tiptoed away from certain subjects (he was writing in the ’40s, after all), giving the reader only a titillating tidbit followed by a footnote telling us we could find the information at some faraway library, Lowry seems to have gone and looked up that information for us, and presented it in all its glory. A notable example of this is the poem about collecting urine in the South for making gunpowder. Wiley only told us the poem existed; but Lowry prints it, and it’s a howler! If you want to go on believing that all the Civil War soldiers were pure as the driven snow, this is probably not the book for you. But if you like your history fascinating warts and all, buy this book!
Encyclopedia Of Western Lawmen and Outlaws
The title pretty much says it all here. The 1989 volume covers the greater- and lesser-known white hats and black hats of the Wild West. Though the text is illustrated with photographs and drawings throughout, there is also a separate section of photos of the most famous people and places.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Not up to the hype
I bought this book because the reviews were very good. Unfortunately, if you have other books to cross-reference it with, it comes up short. When it comes to the amount of information in this book, there is no comparison. However, every single thing you read must be taken with a grain of salt, because there are so many errors. It’s hard to know what to believe and what to accept as simply incorrect, if you have no further source of information. There were MANY obvious errors, involving a number of the more famous people in the book, that could be discovered by simply reading another book on the same subject. Even a picture of a famous Wild Bunch member’s lover is labeled as the wrong person. Another aspect of the book I found very disturbing, is Nash’s consistent habit of stating pure speculation, as adamant fact. Nash has the ability to make you believe that what you are reading is the only possiblity, unless you know that the facts are otherwise. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is interested in FACTS only. Too many “facts” were either wrong or fabricated. If you are interested in learning the basics about A LOT of people, and are willing to accept that things may not be as stated, then this book is fine. If you are a serious researcher of western history, I would recommend looking elsewhere.
5 Stars this has to be UNDISPUTABLY the best resource on famous Wild West Characters
anytime you here a famous character’s name in a western movie, you can bet that you can go and look it up in this book, and learn everything that has been documented about them in real life. This book is incredible, and if you’re a western history buff, this is the only book you need! You won’t believe the things that REALLY happened in the wild west… you hear all the rumors on TV, but this book sets it all straight.
5 Stars A fantastic book….must read!
This book has so many stories about outlaws and lawmen I have and haven’t heard of before. It’s presented so fantastic. Each individual is a story in their own right. I couldn’t put down this mammoth book and you would be crazy not to order this! The portraits are nice, too.
3 Stars Quantity Beats Quality
With more than 1,000 entries and 400 pictures it would be hard to complain about what is left out of this encyclopedia. That’s why I couldn’t pass it up when I saw it in a bookstore. Also it has an extensive bibliography I have found very useful. Those are the strong points. As I read through the entries, though, I began finding things that didn’t jibe with other books I’ve read. For example, Nash has Belle Starr living with Cole Younger and later robbing a California prospector while Glenn Shirley’s book, Belle Starr and Her Times, shows there is no evidence she did either. Nash has Jesse James riding with William Clarke Quantrill when they sacked Lawrence, Kansas while others, such as Edward Leslie in The Devil Knows How to Ride, shows that Jesse wasn’t part of that raid. These are only a couple of examples but I’ve run across a number of others. It has forced me to use this book with historical reservations. That’s why I would only recommend this encyclopedia after making the reader aware of its shortcomings.
5 Stars The old west comes to life!
When I first received this book I thought it would be another book briefly talking famous “bad guys” and those who brought them to justice, I was wrong, very wrong. Jay Robert Nash is one of, if not the best, at bringing to life the Old West and those who made it come alive.
With over a 1000 entries and well over 300 photos, this book goes beyond Jesse and Frank James, The Cole-Younger gang, Billy the Kidd, Pat Garrett, Bat Masterson and The Earps. You’ll read about judges, Sheriffs, outlaws and so much more.
I spent over four hours reading this book form cover to cover and every page has something new and fascinating. Facts and myths, legends and tales, it’s all here and waiting for you to explore. You’ll ride along with the Texas Rangers and help out the Pinkertons, and never have get dirty.
I have seen books on lawmen of the old west, and also books on outlaws of the west, for the first time you have a reference book that gives you both and at a price that makes it a great gift for anyone.
]]>Seven Roads to Hell A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne
Burgett is a veteran of the 101st Airborne and the author of Currahee!, a memoir of the Normandy invasion written shortly after World War II. This is a memoir of Burgetts experiences during the momentous Battle of the Bulge. His narrative flows from one experience to the next with compelling momentum, and his harrowing accounts of battle will leave readers in awe of the courage of soldiers. Burgett provides enough background and description to set the stage for each part of the battle that swirled around him, and numerous maps and photographs detail the action. Burgetts story is not one that he lived through some distance from the lineshis division was right in the thick of battle. He provides a complete picture of the brutality of war and an excellent account of one of the wars most pivotal battles. Recommended for both public and academic libraries.Mark E. Ellis, Albany State Univ., GA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Seven roads to a great read
This is a “pick it up, and cant put it down” book. Bold and honest in it’s writing and also pays respect to the other units involved in the bastonge battle. This rates as one of the better books I have read with regard to the Bastonge battles. The freshness and clarity of the accounts shine through, having been written shortly after the battle and make this book a good read. The hand drawn maps showing company movement supports the written work well. A must read. 5 stars. I will be reading more of Don’s work
5 Stars Best of Burgett’s 4 books
This is the best of the 4 books that Burgett wrote (and all are excellent). This book does a fantastic job of summarizing just how outnumbered, outgunned, under-supplied, and exhausted the 101st was at Bastogne. After reading this book, I’ve got a new interest in the Bulge and will be buying more books on the subject.
This is an excellent book, the kind you can devour in an night or a few days. I agree with the other reviewer that this book would be worth of 6 stars.
5 Stars seven roads to hell
all four of his books are great first person accounts of his military service as a WW2 paratrooper.a very easy read.
5 Stars A Very Personal Account of Hell
This third of Burgett’s four books about his experiences in the 101st Airborne during World War II reveals a young man (19 at the time) at what could be easily seen as his finest (or worst) hours. The author gives this book an intense personal touch that is missing in many accounts of this unit during its defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Burgett takes the reader into the hell he lived through, vividly describing the shortages of basic military necessities such as weapons and ammunition, the incredible struggle for Noville in the early days of the battle and the withdrawal back to the main lines, and the difficulties of being ready to fight after coping with the harsh winter of the Ardennes and the lack of sleep, food, and water.
But what really comes through most clearly in this account is death. Burgett sees much of it in just a few weeks. He sees close friends (the “old men” of his company) and replacements die in what seems to be a random pattern. He takes the lives of German troops without a shred of remorse, yet almost shoots a fellow paratrooper who shot a prisoner of war.
Burgett does not portray himself as a hero–only as a man doing his job. He was very good (and I would also say lucky) at what he did. His story is not the nice neat narrative found in many accounts of the Bulge. It is dark, chilling, and brutal. It makes one wonder what men like him endured–both during the war and the many years since. I highly recommend it and the others volumes about his time in the 101st.
5 Stars Great book, buy the series of 4
Donald Burgett gives a great view of WWII through the eyes of a 101st airborne paratrooper.
The Yokota Officers Club A Novel Ballantine Readers Circle
Stories nestle inside stories like a set of Russian dolls in Bird’s (Virgin of the Rodeo) wonderful fifth novel. Set in the late 1960s, it is narrated by 18-year-old Bernie, the eldest of six children in the peripatetic Root family. After her freshman year in college, Bernie joins her nomadic kin at their current home, an Okinawan air force base. They have changed: her younger sister, Kit, is out of control and “now being played by Lolita”; her once glamorous mother, Moe, is overweight and depressed; her father, who was a heroic and swaggering fighter pilot, has become a distant, self-loathing “ground pounder.” And Bernie can’t stop thinking of Fumiko, the family’s former maidservant, whom no one is allowed to mention. Before being sucked into the family’s torpor, Bernie escapes by winning a dance contest that lands her in Tokyo as the stage partner of Bobby Moses, a third-rate borscht belt comedian. There she delves into the past to solve the mystery surrounding Fumiko’s disappearance and her family’s deterioration. Bernie sharp and snarky, yet severely introverted is a delightful heroine, and the large cast that swirls around her is equally endearing. Particularly fine are the wisecracking yet nurturing Moe and the oddly touching Bobby Moses, who’s vulgar and mediocre, but insistent on professionalism. The dialogue is first-rate, and all the ’60s brand-name dropping is amusing; the decade becomes fresh again when seen from the unusual perspective of a military family (especially this one) removed from mainland society. (June) Forecast: Bird has David Sedaris’s gift for mining scathing wit from family dysfunction. Only one of her earlier novels is still in print, but hopefully her move to Knopf (and a slew of enthusiastic blurbs from the likes of Rick Bass) will help her to win the large readership she deserves.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars childhood memories
Growing up in an Air Force family stationed at Yokota Air Force Base, this book caught my attention. It is interesting to see Kadena and Yokoto compared, and the memories this brings back are too fun. Interesting story style – just wish Sarah Bird did not see the need to use the “F” word…so unnecessary. The story is great without it!!
4 Stars Good book – Entertaining – Good ending & I was there
I was stationed at Yokota AFB from 1964 to 1966. Though I was just a lowly airman and not an officer, I can tell you that the descriptions of everything were quite accurate, at least from what I knew.
It was interesting to note that Sarah Bird’s father flew reconnaissance missions and the squadron that I worked for, the 67th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron (67th RTS), no doubt processed the film his crew shot – though unknown to me at the time. Also, after my tour of duty at Yokota, I was transfered to Kadena AFB in Okinawa as was the character in the book (and presumably Sarah’s father). However Okinawa was considered an important military base and not a dead end as depicted in the novel. It was after all the Far East home of the SR-71 Black Bird “spy” plane.
If you are interested in more on that subject, there is an interesting book on Amazon about the 67th RTS called “Asia From Above” ISBN 1420834894 which told me more about what happened during that time than I knew when I was working there.
In summary, Sarah’s book is very interesting and nostalgic for those where there, and has an interesting multiple twist ending. I recommend the book.
For those who were in the 67th who would like to correspond, I can be reached at: Temp at AltairSeven dot Com
Just replace the “at” with “@” and the “dot” with “.” and make it all one word.
3 Stars I lived this life at Yokota AFB in the early 60’s!
What a title! It grabbed me by the heart! I watched the mail for the book everyday, wondering if it would be as exciting a read as I hoped it could be and it was! ! I was so excited to stumble onto Sarah Bird and this book about an era and real place in which I lived. As an Air Force Officer’s dependent, my Dad was #3 on Yokota Air Force Base. We were there during the worst Cold War era, late 50’s thru early 60’s. My Dad’s tour was extended several times, for “important” reasons. One of our early maids was fired because she was asking me too many questions about my dad. That was a very big deal, as she was our favorite maid, much like the story. It was all probably innocent, but it was the times, but I too felt responsible. We’d see her from time to time at the O club where she worked as a waitress, and it was always sad and she was sad, too. I identified with so much of Sarah’s story. I remember my dad’s frustrations about things, too. The riots were very real, frequent, scary and steps away from our North Area quarters. All that separated us from thousands of protestors were two high barbed wire perimeter fences. Their behavior was such a departure from the wonderful Japanese people that were in our daily lives, it was really scary for us, as children. But 99% of the Japanese people were just so wonderful and kind and hospitable, as well reflected in Sarah’s story. I lived a few houses away from the Yokota Officer’s Club. So I give kudos to Sarah’s mom, as I think this is as much her story as Sarah’s and her protagonist’s story. Sarah’s mom needs great thanks for the texture and accurary and tone of this book. It is obvious she helped Sarah with those important minute details from 40-45 years ago. For example, details like; YAFB’s O club’s “pink” women’s lavatory and other minute details like the garden behind the club which I don’t remember are a few of the details, if real, I credit to Sarah’s mom. I remember the big dinig room and we had strawberry waffles there every Sunday. You could buy freshly made glazed do-nuts in the morning of swimming lessons and every summer morning. I swam in that pool every summer day for nearly four years and went to the theater down the road every Saturday, hoping for the “21″ lucky ticket stub and ate one of only three candies offered at the concession stand; a Three Musketeers bar, or else the other choices were Necco wafers, or black licorice, yuck! Unless, of course some deep details are pure poetic license, but with so many details right, I’m not sure. So it did awaken memories I’d long forgotten and added things I didn’t know, that only Sarah’s mom could know in detail. Alas my parents are gone or else I’d ask them to verify the accuracy of some things I’d forgotten, but it’s amazing how much I remember, too. I just loved reliving it all thru this book. We didn’t live under such threat of being sent home, but I’m sure it might have existed, maybe because we weren’t teens, yet. My little first grade brother broke the windshield of the school bus with a rock filled snowball and we never feared being sent home and never knew of anyone sent home for dependent’s bad behavior reasons. He had to write 1000 times “I will not throw snowballs at the bus.” Being in first grade, I don’t know how much he got done or if he could even print that sentence, but I know he did some of it. Then, he broke another car windshield throwing a baseball and had to go see the Base Commnader, my dad’s friend, but that’s as far as it went. They scared him good, telling him he was going to be sent home! I can just see my dad snickering, now. He had a great sense of humor. One New Year’s he and his buddies tied huge strings of fire crackers to the same Base Commander’s tree outside his front door, across the grounds from our quarters and lit the tree on fire. I watched them have fun putting out the little tree fire with pots of water from our house, all seen secretively from my second story bedroom, so I’m not so sure the atmosphere was that stiff. We all had grounds gardeners, so the grass was never an issue, maybe in Okinawa, but not at Yokota. But we all dressed up, but that was the era. We had our own personal seamstresses. I enjoyed my unique, one of a kind, designer Barbie clothes made from scraps from my mom’s evening gowns. Sarah and I and our mothers could have gone to school together at the same base school, same time and our moms could have been in the same clubs as my mom was frequently an officer or a chairwoman in every known club for the wives, like the antagnoist of this story. But my mom wasn’t ruthless, cliquey or cruel to fellow wives. They sure did have a gazillion teas though, as I was in training to be a proper hostess when I became an adult. I was one to help with the silver and brass polishing, food prep, table setting, punch serving, pouring, clearing, etc. and all that teas and formal entertaining entailed with our housemaid and houseboy helping. I still have all of her nice tea services and linens. My mother received an accomodation for her volunteerism and programs she created for Japanese wives of the servicemen from President Eisenhower. They wore blues most of our tour. Watching all salute my dad was a thrill. But Sarah got so much of it right, that it was truly a fun, nostalgic flashback for me. I attended school on base too, in West Area and lived both in West Area and North Area, doors away from the club. I’m pretty sure our West Area school was not called Bob Hope School during my time and the time of this book. We had annual Halloween parades from school thru the streets of West Area. I wore my kimono our maid helped us purchase. I also rode the bus to Johnson AS for 6th and 7th grade. Living off base was temporary for Officers, full time off base housing was relegated to NCOs and new arrivals, usually. We never lived off base, perhaps because of my dad’s position. But the town is real. It was very quaint and sweet then. Went there many many many times for festivals and buying things. Sarah’s story of their beloved housemaid, and we loved our maids and one houseboy also a gate guard, was something I never as a child or adult thought about and now wonder about — who they were before they came into our lives. Very beautifully done. I too am a writer, working on my break-through projects, in part, due to those stolen late nights under the covers, with my little Japanese radio won at Bingo. Our Armed Forces radio station on the weekends played “THE SHADOW KNOWS”, “SALVATION ARMY THEATER” and “THE WHISTLER” radio dramas. I’d never miss them. We toured Japan extensively. It was so beautiful. I discovered Nancy Drew and still have my books and I was the winner of the supposed last Yokota Officer’s Club Bingo coverall jackpot of $150 dollars. I remember how the adults groaned and my dad was sure I made a mistake. My winning number was G-48! I never forgot this and my dad took me space-available on our father-daughter trip to Okinawa, visitng friends on the base in this book, Taiwan, Hong Kong, I bought a pretty Princess ring, and went on a three day cruise for dependents from Hong Kong to S. Korea, then a 9 hr. train ride to the AFB where we flew home again to Yokota AFB. And irony of ironies, my husband and I went to school in Japan at the same time, same school and 21 years later, I stumbled upon this very familiar guy while working out in a health club in N. Calif. His parents had two tours of Japan; one right after the occupation, and era written so dramatically in Sarah’s book, and one with us. Both of our sisters were born at Johnson AS. This year will be our 24th together. All the best to Sarah Bird for helping me re-live a great childhood and fondly remember those wonderful Japanese people who touched our lives so sweetly. It would be lovely to correspond with you, Sarah. And to all of you service dependents, it was the best childhood, ever, wasn’t it! I can’t wait to read more of Sarah’s work! carlyn@ojai.net. Carlyn Hansen-Kennedy, Friday Harbor WA
5 Stars Excellent example of military life
I was an Air Force brat in the late 1970s, living in Germany during the height of RAF violence. My stepdad was a Major, too. The descriptions of Air Force life, the threats of getting kicked out of base housing (for things as mundane as playing my 45 records louder than a whisper), the gossipy nature of military spouses, mostly women, and the constant reminder that you are an officer’s child came back to me. The vocabulary: RIF, TDY, PCS all still hold true, too.
The story is not exclusively military related, as anyone can read this story and know what is going on: an otherwise very “strat” Air Force officer committed an unmentionable act with which the entire family has to learn how to cope. Some of the family members cope better than others, because some are more willing to talk about what happened while those still suffering from the consequences refuse to even mention the event. These family secrets are all classic coming-of-age stories. Add in a Japanese background, 1968 Vietnam War, military life and you have one wonderful story.
4 Stars A fun read!
I enjoyed this book. I do agree with another reader that there was times when it seemed to drag on but I wanted to know how the author tied up ends. Being in the AF and stationed on Kadena, I enjoyed reading about it. However, I think it would be enjoyed my anyone that enjoys a good coming of age story. I highly recommend it!
The Confidante Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy
At the end of President George W. Bush’s first term, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was prepared to leave politics and return to an academic post at Stanford University before she was drafted by Bush to be secretary of state. Two years later, polls showed American voters regarded her as the most powerful woman in the country. In this gripping and intelligent account, Washington Post correspondent Kessler chronicles those two years, drawing on his firsthand experiences traveling with Rice as well as an impressive array of documents and interviews. Kessler organizes the book by region, vividly dramatizing Rice’s travels and negotiations overseas—the chapter including her visits to Khartoum and Darfur is a standout—while providing thoughtful analysis and historical background to put these vignettes in context. Kessler praises Rice for a number of successes, including her role in weakening a secret CIA prison system in Europe, but he also criticizes her failure to provide a coherent foreign policy vision and her weakness at implementation and follow-up. This balanced, detailed text offers invaluable insight into Rice’s rise to power, though its exclusive focus on foreign policy may limit its appeal. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Five Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I’d say it’s essential reading for anyone who follows current events on any level. The writing is both direct and engaging and the author provides background and context in each chapter without overcomplicating. I really felt like a Washington insider with access to fascinating accounts of behind-the-scenes negotiations. Kessler’s treatment of Rice is even-handed; he highlights her dedication, drive, poise and intelligence but also holds her accountable for failed outcomes and missteps. Reading the New York Times is a whole new experience now – I have a much deeper understanding of the issues and people in the news. Highly recommended!
4 Stars The Diplomatic Fashion Runway
No one denies that Condi Rice is a talented and hard-working diplomat, but Kessler’s excellent book chronicles a series of missed diplomatic opportunities during her tenure, inviting one to consider how effective Rice has been as Secretary of State during Bush’s second term. Rice initially built a strong and brilliant team under deputy secretary Robert Zoellick, and some of the success stories Kessler describes took place while Zoellick was at the helm.
Rice had a public profile and was popular with the public during her time on the NSC, but once she ascended to role of Secretary of State, she sought systematically to raise her public profile, and to do so largely through a series of media splashes accompanied by high fashion statements. Rice focused heavily on image. Perhaps the most salient example of a woman in power who used fashion to great effect is Margaret Thatcher, who was a relentless implementer; Kessler demonstrates that once Rice launched initiatives, her execution and implementation were weak, and apparently style trumped substance. Rice does dress the part, carries it off well, and clearly enjoys being a leading fashionista. Dean Acheson also dressed extremely well, but this was probably secondary to his diplomatic skill, and in any case his sartorial statements were not on prominent media display during his trips abroad, although I imagine had he appeared for dinner in Saudi Arabia, as Rice did, wearing flowing white silk with gold pinstripes threaded through the fabric, that would have changed quickly. But if the most innovative fashion statement conservatives can muster is the adoption the solid-color necktie look pioneered by James Baker, then we should welcome Rice’s attempts to raise the bar.
While Rice is known to be extremely bright, she appears to compensate for a lack of strategic intellectual firepower with a highly developed sense of performance. Splendid performances can go a long way in diplomacy, it seems, but Rice’s tenure has been marked by unlucky breaks and wrong-footed initiatives which Kessler does an outstanding job of covering, while simultaneously guiding us through some of the major foreign policy challenges of the last few years with skill and brevity. The book’s title, however, suggests that a more detailed examination of the Rice-Bush relationship would be on offer, with insight into how she became so influential with Bush. Here the book falls short, but is nonetheless an essential read for anyone seeking to understand Rice’s leadership, or lack of it, during a few turbulent years. Interestingly, as she was provost of a highly complex university and managed a stable of world-class talent, she seems to have brought no managerial skill at all to the running of the Department of State, neglecting to tap the vast resources available there and demonstrating her tacit acceptance of the Bush style of a closed inner circle that doesn’t look beyond its own resources or mental models.
Rice brings to the table an outstanding set of personal and intellectual qualities, but if Kessler’s book is accurate, she may not have the chops to take on a future leadership role in electoral politics. One can only wish her well in the remaining months of her term, but Kessler provides little comfort that major breakthroughs are to be expected, particularly in the mid-east, where Rice has declared her intent to bring peace and stability, and realize the President’s stated goal of fostering a Palestinian state. Even now, her role in managing other issues, such as those presented by Iran, seems less than significant.
3 Stars Correct Title
“In the spirit of Yom Kippur, the United States will not hold Israel to any agreements obligating them to accept Dollars as payment for their foreign aid. We will translate our obligations into Euros or whatever currency that best fits Israel’s needs. We need to place our Israeli obligations at the top of our national priority list. Israel should not suffer any inconvenience due to currency fluctuations” -Condoleezza Rice 09/21/2007
Soon OPEC and others will demand equal consideration and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth all across this once great country.
5 Stars A fascinating read!
Never much one for politics, I began reading this book only because my father was reading it and had vehemently recommended it to me. However, upon picking it up and reading just a few short pages, I was hooked. The book provides a riveting portrait of one of the most important women, no, one of the most important people in our country. Rice was once believed to have had a substantial chance of becoming the first female president, but lost that chance through foolish political choices. This book shows Rice’s weaknesses and her strengths, and portrays her admirable if not greatly successful attempts to fix her mistakes. The insider point of view Kessler offers as a journalist who followed Rice closely provides a wonderful personal touch to the examination of her character, and, in some ways, despite her controversial choices, one cannot help but admire her core of steel and her keen intelligence and sarcastic wit.
5 Stars A Seat at the Diplomatic Table
Kessler’s thesis is two-fold: (1) Rice has spent her years as Secretary of State saddled with the impossible task of trying to undo the damage that she did in Bush’s first term as a National Security Advisor who fell under the sway of the administration’s neoconservative ideologues. (2) Despite keeping up the most frenetic travel schedule of any Secretary of State since Kissinger, Rice’s performance has been a series of missed opportunities attributable to a lack of any coherent strategic vision. As a reporter “on the plane” with Rice, Kessler is able to give you a detailed and psychologically nuanced look at Rice and the other players, foreign and domestic. It is a finely observed rendition of a disaster in the making, made all the more poignant by the fact that Rice herself is portrayed as a brilliant, talented, strong, energetic, attractive, and even charismatic person who might have played a constructive role in the world had she attached herself to a more competent mentor. As a reporter, Kessler stops short of articulating what he thinks an appropriate foreign-policy agenda might have looked like and tends to judge Rice’s performance in relation to the goals that the she and the Administration set for themselves. But the book’s agnosticism is part of its attraction, as it gets you thinking about your own foreign-policy values and commitments. What would a good response to the Hezbollah-Israeli war have looked like? What role should democracy and human rights play in foreign policy–and does an excessive focus on those values make a country end up looking hypocritical as idealism comes into contact with reality and inevitably becomes compromised? When is refusing to negotiate directly with a dangerous outlaw state like North Korea a useful tool, and when does it become an impediment to achieving important goals, like nuclear nonproliferation? Kessler’s book doesn’t answer these questions, but raises them in such an intriguing way as to ensure that it will still be attracting readers long after Rice has left the public stage–whenever that may be.
Freelance journalist Kitfield relies heavily on personal accounts in this story of the officers who reshaped the U.S. Army and Air Force after the experience of Vietnam and then led our troops in Operation Desert Storm. In the 1970s the U.S. began to adjust to a professional military after depending on the Selective Service system. In the 1980s, increased defense budgets enabled the modernization of arsenals and the stockpiling of supplies and equipment, while cumbersome higher command systems were simplified. By the time of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, America’s military leaders were eager to demonstrate what 20 years of reform had wrought. This is a highly favorable account of that effort.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars FANTASTIC and IMPORTANT!
Excellent modern history of the US military from the Vietnam War up until 1995 or so. The history is told through semi-biographies of officers who began their careers around the time of the Vietnam War and chose to stay in the military, despite all of the problems that were evident in Vietnam. The draft, which brought in sub-standard service members, was a disastrous way to build a military. Thankfully, a number of dedicated people stuck around to see the military made stronger. From the all-volunteer military, to the GI Bill, to the Reagan defense build=up, to the Goldwater-Nichols Act, to the Gulf War, highly motivated and intelligent men helped improve the military so that it could overwhelm the Iraqi forces in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
One of the officers who was featured quite prominently was Barry McCaffrey. I have come to appreciate his interesting analysis on television, but I never knew his life story. Though it didn’t surprise me as I knew he retired as a general, but what an impressively courageous man he has been throughout his military career! What he went through in Vietnam is enough to amaze even the gutsiest American.
Another interesting aspect of the book was the coverage of contentious social issues that the military has had to deal with: race, women, and gays and lesbians. Kitfield pointed out the increasingly important role that blacks and women have played in the US Armed Forces.
Regrettably we are left to wonder what happened since then when our powerful military get sucked into a war in Iraq, starting in 2003 with no end in sight, without a plan to finish it. It’s easy enough to point to Tommy Franks, Richard Myers, and others, but maybe there’s a larger institutional story to tell about the debacle that is now Iraq. Hopefully Kitfield will tell that story too. He has a book out about Iraq, but since it was written a year or two ago, it can’t possibly accommodate for all that has occurred since publication.
5 Stars Required Reading for Every Officer
James Kitfield has studied one of the most turbulent times in American military history and distilled its lessons into one tightly written narrative that is both engaging and full of tremendous insight. The passage through the ranks of the Vietnam generation officer corps molded our 1980’s military into a truly revolutionary force. Their experiences in the muddle of Vietnam and the lessons they extracted colored every decision and every reform they sought in their service. In the end, while not perfect, these able officers forged a doctrine based around rapid, audacious movement, technology and local authority–all things lacking in Vietnam. The payoff came with the tremendous victory in the 1991 Gulf War.
This book needs to be read by every officer in every service. Study this, extract the lessons. Many of the mistakes made during the Vietnam-Era have now repeated themsleves in the War on Terror. Many of the lessons Colin Powell and others taught us during Desert Storm have already been forgotten.
If you are an officer, buy this book. Let it guide you through the many critical decisions you will have to face during the years ahead as you work your way through your own career. And never forget the most important lesson of all: never chose your career and its future over doing the right thing. Prodigal Soldiers pointedly demonstrates that when senior officers do that, men die needlessly.
John Bruning
Author of “The Devil’s Sandbox: At War with the 2-162 Infantry in Iraq”
John_Bruning_jr[...]
5 Stars Things can get better!
When you read a book like this and have seen the Army at its best and worst. That and have seen the gradual improvement to where the Army is today, i.e. one of the most trusted institutions and one of the greatest killing machines since the Roman Legions under the early Caesars. I just feel better and safer. That and I want to thank all those who did not turn tail and run away from the wreck of the post Vietnam War Military but stayed and fixed it. God Bless you all!
5 Stars Written in 1995 – Relevant in 2002
I first read James Kitfield’s book in 2000 and have just finished rereading it. I am recommending it to my sons, an Air Force pilot working on his master’s in military science and an Army combat engineer, as one of the four most influential books on the development of the United States military since WW II. The author traces in a very readable style the coming of age of the officers of all branches of service during the Viet Nam and post-Viet Nam eras and how those experiences shaped our ability to win a decisive victory in the 1990 Gulf War. The book also reveals the back room political wheeling and dealing that goes into watershed legislation such as the sweeping reforms of the Goldwater-Nichols Act. It’s a “must read” for every professional military leader and student of the art of war.
5 Stars a book that has “a message” – for everyone who reads it
From the prologue to the epilogue, and everything in between, this book is fantastic reading. Anyone who has ever been associated with the U.S. military will have a much clearer picture of the totality of resurection within all the services after Vietnam. “Duty, Honor, and Country” does not always mean the same thing to different people, to some it means a career that spans over thirty years, to others the words are just something on a recruiting poster. To anyone who reads the book these three words will take on a much clearer meaning. Some chapters will cause tears in even the toughest of old veterans, and even the young generation of future service members will begin to understand some of the major events which have transpired in the military in the decades since Vietnam. James Kitfield tells a story that is not just a chronicle, or a documentary, but a story worthy of telling, and he does it with style.
Rangers At War Combat Recon in Vietnam
Stanton ( Green Berets at War ) makes a significant contribution to the operational history of the Vietnam War with this volume on long-range reconnaissance and patrol units. Depending on helicopters for insertion and extraction, usually employed in teams only a half-dozen strong, the Vietnam-era rangers specialized in intelligence collecting and small-scale raids. Their improvised role was the product of a war without stable fronts and terrain that defied conventional means of information gathering. Stanton describes the rangers’ history company by company and discusses their use and misuse by generals often as bewildered by the war as were the men they led. The book is particularly useful as a background for the large number of memoirs by veterans of long-range reconnaissance units. Not every fire fight was a victory, not every ranger a hero, but in Stanton the men in black berets have a worthy chronicler.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Highland Rangers
Company K team 3-C I was there and in the same Company K. Sgt. Kenneth Hess was a good friend of mine, as well as the other team mates. The Montagnard(Ju Hmok)that was killed by friendly fire was right. Pfc. Nathaniel Irving was killed in a way that only a NVA would kill like a(Butcher) yes he was butchered.The reason we didn’t get any radio contact,was because a gernade had landed between Sgt. Hess’s neck and the radio. Thats why we had lost radio contact. If you knew the NVA and thier ways. You would know that they never put anyone in a grave. The part about Pfc. Don A.MacPhail was right. He was a POW and then returned in 1973. The Montagnard (Ju Hmok) was also my scout.I had let him stay behind because he had just gotten married. but they needed a scout so they took Ju Hmok. Sgt. Hess only had two weeks too go before he was too go home. Of all the things that happened over there, that I won’t forget and also what had happened too team 3-C. Submitted by Sgt. John Serrano
5 Stars Well worth the price!
The previous reviewer who believes that this book was written by “some college professor” displays his own ignorance. The author, Shelby L. Stanton, was a decorated Special Forces officer who served in Vietnam. Trust me, the author knows what he’s talking about, and though this may not be an exciting book, it is worth the price.
1 Star BORING
Don’t waste your money! This book is nothing but a college professer’s bravado about how he has researched ‘all the fact’s’. While I do not doubt the fact as recorded, I found this book extremely tiedious and boring with regards to “x company x battailion, x platoon…” I much prefer the story of someone who was actually there. If you are looking for exact dates and technical details then this book is for you. If…you want to see what life was really like as a LRRP then I recommend a book such as “Charlie Rangers”.
5 Stars Excellent overview of LRRP/Ranger actions and unit histories
Stanton’s book is the first one that I have seen that covers all of the LRRP/Ranger units, gives some insights into their respective AOs and tactics, and describes some of the missions conducted by each. Makes me proud to have served in the “Wildcat Rangers”, Co.F/52nd Inf(LRP), and to be in one of the actions described in the book. A good complimentary work to such fine narratives as “Eyes Behind the Line”.
A Soldiers Story Modern Library War
This 1951 volume by the so-called “GI General” is quite an appropriate title to help launch Modern Library’s new “War” line of paperback reprints. Bradley here offers a firsthand account of World War II. This is the only paperback available of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Gives A Good Overall Picture of World War II in Europe.
General Bradley gives us the reasons and the inside look at interactions between a commanding general and his subordinate commanders. There are plenty of issues such as logistics, strategy, and management of the battlefield that are detailed in this book. We get a bird’s eye view of the strategy. Reasons are given for moving Terry Allen and Theodore Roosevelt Jr. from the command of the 1st Infantry Division to the halting of Patton from closing the Falaise Gap. In addition to this, there is plenty of anecdotes and thoughts on the leadership and characteristcs of his subordinate generals like General Hodges and General Patton. General Bradley does not spend too much time reflecting on the losses and tragedies of the war. He moves fairly quickly on the actions of the U.S. Army.
For the most part, General Bradley tends to be as objective as he can until he deals with Field Marshal Montgomery. Bradley does not hide his irritation towards Field Marshal Montgomery, who is pictured as a commander who is somewhat coddled by General Eisenhower. Field Marshal Montgomery does not seem to be a team player in the Allied command structure. Bradley gives us hints at Montgomery’s selfish nature in his descriptions of the Field Marshal.
The impressive aspect of this book is General Bradley’s sharp attention to details. He seems to have his handle from everything from logistics to personnel to the frontline situation.
There is plenty of discussion of the different levels of command and the units. This is balanced with numerous maps and diagrams. There are also charts on the content of a U.S. Field Army, Infantry Division, and Armored Division. These maps and diagrams help out those who are not so familiar with basic military unit sizes.
The book would be fine for both the experienced military historian or someone who is a beginner reader of World War II in the European Theater.
5 Stars A Must read for any history student
This is one of the finest historical accounts ever written. There is
little room for boredom here. I have seen the movie “Patton” many
times, and while it is one of the best war films of all time, it is
always interesting to learn more about one of the key components behind
it. General Bradley takes the reader through each phase of the war,
explaining the fundamentals of each stage, as if we were right there
at that moment in time. I highly recommend this book to any serious
student of American History.
3 Stars GI General is good, but as a memoir not history
A well written account of high command in the Med and Eurpoe during the Second World War, but biased towards the writer. This book serves better as memoir because of the way Bradley puts his his version of events.
The battle of the Falaise gap and the Ardennes offensive are points to consider. Bradley lauds the pedestrian Courtney Hodges but derides Patton who admittedly had his faults and for his actions was treated accordingly.
5 Stars Great Military History makes you proud to be an American
I have rarely enjoyed a book so much. It is thoroughly engrossing, illuminating us to so many aspects of the European Theater, many of the great men of the war, and general command principles.
Bradley recounts, in some detail, battle by battle the move through Africa, Sicily, France and Germany. His account seems straightforward and humble, tackling failures of Monty (including Market Garden) Patton, and even himself in his failure to anticipate the Ardennes Offensive that led to the Battle of the Bulge.
His accounts of interactions with great men of the era such as Eisenhower, Monty, and Patton are worthwhile, but what I found fascinating were the figures new to me such as Hodges, Middleton, Ridgeway, Heubner, Gerow, Devers, and even Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. The hard-charging, do your duty feeling that was evident in this book makes me proud to be an American. It is simply amazing to see that men such as Eisenhower and Bradley moved from relative obscurity as colonels to leaders of enormous armies in some of the most important battles of history in a period of only 5 or 6 years.
An added plus are the motivational and management lessons learned from Bradley.
One suggestion: While the book is filled with helpful maps, search for WW2 Battlefield maps online and print them for reference. Keep them with you when you read Bradley’s accounts. They will make following the detail of movement much easier.
5 Stars Great Work from a Great General
“A Soldier’s Story” by Gen. of the Army Omar Bradley is a impressively engaging book dealing with his experiences in Europe and Africa during World War II. Being in every major engagement from Algeria to the Elbe, Bradley retraces the steps of the American and British armies from TORCH and the thrust in North Afica through Sicily and finally into mainland Europe in OVERLORD and subsequent battles.
General Bradley offers excellent advice on command and his views and Allied views on the war. Throughout the book, frequent maps illustrate the battle plans and make for a better situational awareness.
As a valuable war book, “A Soldier’s Story” is an excellent choice to learn about WWII in detail. It offers excellent command advice and allows the reader to form his personal viewpoints on our role in the fight. An excellent read.
]]>One Bullet Away The Making of a Marine Officer
The global war on terrorism has spawned some excellent combat narratives—mostly by journalists. Warriors, like Marine Corps officer Fick, bring a different and essential perspective to the story. A classics major at Dartmouth, Fick joined the Marines in 1998 because he “wanted to go on a great adventure… to do something so hard that no one could ever talk shit to me.” Thus begins his odyssey through the grueling regimen of Marine training and wartime deployments—an odyssey that he recounts in vivid detail in this candid and fast-paced memoir. Fick was first deployed to Afghanistan, where he saw little combat, but his Operation [Iraqi] Freedom unit, the elite 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, helped spearhead the invasion of Iraq and “battled through every town on Highway 7″ from Nasiriyah to al Kut. (Rolling Stone writer Evan Wright’s provocative Generation Kill is based on his travels with Fick’s unit.) Like the best combat memoirs, Fick’s focuses on the men doing the fighting and avoids hyperbole and sensationalism. He does not shrink from the truth—however personal or unpleasant. “I was aware enough,” he admits after a firefight, “to be concerned that I was starting to enjoy it.”
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars One Bullet Away
I am enjoying reading this book. It is very informative as to the making of a Marine officer.
5 Stars What was I missing all these years?
OMG…. Where was this book before? Why did I not notice this? I had no clue about this book until I came across it accidentally in my neighborhood’s bookstore a few days ago and started reading. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. My respect for the US Marines is now doubled. No tripled. no no, it is beyond words and numbers. The book is the story of a college graduate who knows in his heart he wants to be somebody, a warrior, a character larger than life. So he joins the Marines. And what a fine choice. The book is written so eloquently and intelligently that it is hard not to read it. It’s a fine fine book. I am hopeful that Mr. Fick writes more books and I will be his reader. I liked this book and the style of it. If you want an exciting book about the US Military and the US Marines in particular, get this one. Do not miss it. You may not agree with Mr. Fick’s politics or beliefs but this is a story that should be told/read. Loved it and highly recommend it. 5/5
5 Stars “No BS, sir. Marines appreciate that.”
There’s little more I can add to what other reviewers have already said of Nate Fick’s One Bullet Away. All I can say is that, of the scores of military novels, memoirs, and histories that I’ve read over the years, One Bullet Away is one of the best, if not the best. Fick combines obviously well-read literacy, a sharp mind, and the thrills and action of the best fictional novels into a compelling meditation on leadership in the modern military. I came away from this book not only more informed about the boots-on-the-ground experience of the Iraq War, but wanting to be a better person and a stronger leader.
Highly recommended.
5 Stars Great book on leadership
Fick describes his training and experiences in combat with One Bullet Away. He, as the reluctant warrior, provides insight into his transformation from college student to Marine Officer. This book is a great read for anyone interested in military history and modern leadership.
5 Stars Excellent Reading!
I’m thankful that this was an assigned book for a college class. Very enjoyable, even for the causal reader! Met Nathaniel Fick, great guy, powerful speaker, extremely knowledgeable in the content of foreign affair matters.