Reviews

Books
First, let me explain that I am an avid reader. I can't go to bed without a book. My preference for reading is 99% non-fiction as I am of the opinion that there is so much fascinating information and so many fascinating people, living and dead, to read about without resort to fiction or fantasy.

My favorite book subjects are as follows:
     1, Civil War: I have no preference for North or South but approach each battle and each soldier or General objectively.
     2. Naval History: For obvious reasons. I think that the Battle of Midway is the most fascinating battle of any in history. The next two most fascinating battles are the battles of Chattanooga and San Jacinto.
     3. Military History: I have lately been reading the works of Stephen Ambrose who I think has made a great contribution toward giving those of us who weren't in World War II, the perspective of those who were, from their perspective.
My favorite Biographers and Historians appear below.

David McCullough
"More and more we need understanding and appreciation of those principles upon which the republic was founded. What were those 'self-evident' truths that so many risked all for, fought for, suffered and died for? What was the source of their courage? Who were those people? I don't think we can ever know enough about them."
--David McCullough, Winner of Pulitzer Prizes for Truman and John Adams!
Read the Story of The Panama Canal. Winner of the National Book Award in 1978.
McCullough won't share his views of contemporary politics. "It's not relevant," he says.
"History shouldn't be written as a polemic, although there are plenty of historians who would disagree." After 9/11, he says, "we're up against an enemy who believes in an enforced ignorance. But we don't. Those people (who fought the American Revolution) discovered the power of thinking for yourself. They had a love of learning."

This book is a must-read! It portrays very vividly and graphically the many ordeals experienced George Washington and his Continental Army in 1775-1776.

In His Excellency, we discover the reasons that drove George Washington to endure what he did in 1776 and see the American Revolution through.

Geoffrey Perret is becoming one of my favorite biographers. In Old Soldiers Never Die, the reader could conclude that had General MacArthur conceded to President Truman's wishes for him to return to the U.S. for meetings on Far Eastern and Japanese Security, a deliberative process would have been initiated resulting in sound decision not to withdraw U.S. Forces from the Korean Peninsula in 1949. The President should have ordered MacArthur to join DOD and the State Department in global strategy meetings in how to ensure the security of the Far East. In study of the map at lower right, it is obvious why the Japanese regarded Korea as vital to the security of Japan. That's why Japan had conquered Korea which had become a Japanese colony for so many years. As Mr. Perret states: "The decision to pull American ground troops out of South Korea in 1949 was one of the most

reckless and baffling moves of the Cold War." Secretary of State Dean Acheson made a speech in early 1950 to the extent that the U.S. would not defend South Korea, inviting the communists to invade South Korea! My own conviction is that the Soviets should never have been given occupation of the peninsula north of the 38th parallel. This was an arbitrary decision that never would have happened had General MacArthur been given occupational responsibility for Korea as well as Japan. Read Old Soldiers Never Die to see how the General kept Soviet troops out of Japan! Keeping an armed force on the entire Korean Peninsula under U.S. control would have obviated the Korean War and saved 54,000 American lives. I take a rather personal interest in this issue as the War cost me an opportunity to finish high school and go on to college. In August of 1950, instead of beginning my senior year, I was on a troop train heading to Camp Pendleton with my USMCR Unit. Dean Acheson and his Big Mouth!!!!

The Korean War: Read the Overview of the Korean War. Orders of battle for all services.

"Outside the limits of a formal debate, all arguments of a political nature, are a waste of time

and a source, not of enlightenment, but of ill feelings!"

Grant and Sherman: History�s Odd Couple "...excellent character study and a compelling, well-paced story." �There it was: the apotheosis of the friendship and military partnership that had brought the Union and its armies to this day. They were the men, the two generals, who more than any other soldiers had made this moment happen, and everyone there knew it.�

Great Book!: Points that were emphasized:
Sherman was having a difficult time breaking out and taking Atlanta until Jefferson Davis replaced Gen. Joseph E. Johnston with Gen. John H. Bell. The fall of Atlanta helped Lincoln become reelected. Sherman outmaneuvered Hood who was subsequently defeated at Franklin, Tenn. by George H. Thomas.

Miracle at Midway I have read this book every year for the past 15 years and am still fascinated.

The National Review "Shawcross has written an outstanding justification of the Anglo-American effort to drive Saddam Hussein from power. It is an exemplary piece of moral clarity and fine writing � and it is downright refreshing to read the words of a European who says things like this: "As in the twentieth century, so in the twenty-first, only America has both the power and the optimism to defend the international community against what really are the forces of darkness."
Online Opinion: "Shawcross's Allies is a must-read on the war in Iraq".

Deirdre Bair (Delores (Dee) Bartolotta)
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Literary Scholar and Journalist Deirdre Bair (PHD, Columbia U.) has
written three major biographies that have won national acclaim:
Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, and The Secret Life of Anais Nin.
Becket and Anais Nin each gained her a National Book award.
Dee has been a Professor of Comparative Literature at Yale, Penn, and Columbia.
She has just completed her fourth biography: Jung: A Biography Following are some related links:   (Photo by Jerry Bauer)

          Jung: A Biography by Deirdre Bair   In JUNG: A BIOGRAPHY (Little, Brown and Company; November 13, 2003) Deirdre Bair - the eminent scholar who won the National Book Award for her biography of Samuel Beckett - brings readers the full groundbreaking story of one of the most influential, controversial thinkers of the twentieth century.
    "This will be the definite biography for years to come."

     "The biography is unforgettable!" Review by Nancy Eaton.
     SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR Biography: By Deirdre Bair. New York Times Review.
     While Waiting for Godot: A Review of Mercier and Camier By Samuel Beckett, Nobel Prize Winner!
     1981 National Book Awards: Samuel Beckett by Deirdre Bair.
                   Abstracts of Articles and Book Reviews in the New York Times:
     The above links were obtained by going to www.nytimes.com and doing a search on Deirdre Bair
          for the past five (5) years. There are a plethora of Deirdre Bair articles and reviews in the Times Archives.
          The abstracts are free. The entire article may be procured from the Times Archives for $2.50.
Sam's Review of Jung by Deirdre Bair:

My undertaking the reading of Bair's biography of Jung was a departure from my normal fare. As stated at the top of this page, I read mostly biography and history of a military or naval nature. Someone who would read Jung would be professionally interested in the origins of the many methodologies of a credited to him. Typical readers would be psychiatrists or clinical psychologists or perhaps just individuals interested in his philosphy. I had to force myself to get the book and begin reading it because it is so highly acclaimed and also because I wanted to get my feet wet in the field. As I started to read it, I was pleasantly surprised that it reads so easily. In fact, as I have never known much about Switzerland, I found it interesting just from a geographic point of view. As I continued to read, I was reminded of how much I learned about the Ruhr and its people by reading 's The Arms of Krupp, the work of another biographer/historian William Manchester. With the passing of Manchester this past year, I would nominate Dr. Bair to complete the Third volume of Manchester's biography of Sir Winston Churchill based on my experience with Jung which I have recently read for the second time.