Book Description

Reviews (2)

Important Book About an Important American
Although he is almost forgotten today, Kingman Brewster who was the president of Yale from 1963-1977 was in fact an important figure in recent American history. One reason for this was the fact that he ran Yale in such a way that the university almost completely escaped the tumult that wracked other campuses during the Vietnam War. Another reason is that he revamped the admissons policy at yale so that poorly achieving students at prep academies such as Andover could not get in Yale over high achieving public school graduates.

It was in this area of expanding the elite educational experience at Yale to all Americans, not just members of the WASP elite that Brewster did his most signal public service. Brewster was truly an agent of change. This was most interesting in light of the fact that Brewster was born to a comfortable upper class family, which is precisely the sort of background one would think would spawn conservative thinking. Brewster's activism began back when he was a big man on campus as a Yale undergraduate.

Interestingly enough, Brewster was also one of the founders of the America First Committee that many Americans today regard as being a right wing outfit. Actually, as the author of this book points out, America First was originally a left-wing group and many of its most prominent members were left wing activists. After America's entry into World War II, America First dissolved and Brewster wholeheartedly took up America's cause against the Axis Powers.

It may surprise many Americans today that the Republican party used to have a strong left wing and Brewster was both a stalwart liberal and Republican. It was for this reason that Brewster was never offered a position in the Kennedy Administration.

As university president, Brewster initiated a wide body of reform on campus. Unlike most campus administrators of his time, Brewster did not resort to repression of dissent during the Vietnam War. In fact, Brewster publically sympathized with the radicals on many issues. After resigning from the presidency of Yale in 1977, he became the U.S. ambassador to Britain. After leaving the diplomatic service, he retired from public life and passed away as the 1980's were drawing to a close.

Kingman Brewster was an important American who held an important position as Yale University president. Geoffrey Kabaservice has done a public service in writing this book about a forgotten man in American history.

This is an amazing book
Many of us who came of age in the 1980s and '90s forget that America used to be a much more liberal place, and that there was a time in recent history when Republicans aligned themselves with issues like civil rights, meritocracy, affirmative action, and the problems of the inner city. We forget -- or never realized -- that in the '60s and '70s there existed a significant faction within the Republican party known as "the liberal establishment." These were men who, on the one hand, undeniably represented the Establishment: "old wealth" Yalies and Harvardites who had attended the best prep schools and summered on Martha's Vineyard; advisors to presidents, board members of the biggest corporations, leaders at the helm of the nation's academic, philanthropic, and religious institutions. On the other hand, they were extremely progressive, regarded as "traitors to their class" for pushing forward policies that were considered radical at the time. THE GUARDIANS recalls an era when Republicans were not all in thrall to populism and the agenda of the religious right, when they were just as likely to be seekers of peace in foreign affairs as rabid hawks. There's a quote from Elliot Richardson in this book that's an eye-opener: "Most people don't really get the fact that the Nixon administration was to the left of the Clinton administration. Even the Eisenhower administration was to the left of the Clinton administration."
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in modern American history. ... Read more

Book Description

Captain Kidd has gone down in history as America's most ruthless buccaneer, fabulously rich, burying dozens of treasure chests up and down the eastern seaboard. Over the centuries, novelists, relentless treasure hunters, and even historians have stoked his pirate legend. Robert Louis Stevenson, for one, placed "Kidd's Anchorage" on Treasure Island. But it turns out that most everyone, even many respected scholars, have the story all wrong. Captain William Kidd was no career cut-throat; he was a tough, successful New York sea captain who was hired to chase pirates. In 1696, he set out on a near-impossible mission to travel in a lone ship with a mutinous crew, heading 4,000 miles round the tip of Africa to track down a handful of die-before-surrender pirates and then bring back their treasure to the governor of New York and other secret backers.

His three-year odyssey aboard the aptly named Adventure galley pitted him against arrogant Royal Navy commanders, jealous East India Company captains, storms, starvation, angry natives, and, above all, flesh-and-blood pirates.

Through it all, Captain Kidd found himself facing a long-forgotten rouge by the name of Robert Culliford, who lured Kidd's crew to mutiny not once, but twice.

Through painstaking research, author Richard Zacks has pieced together the never-before-told story of Kidd versus Culliford, of pirate hunter versus pirate. Culliford climbed form Caribbean cabin boy to pirate captain, once capturing a ship in the Indian Ocean loaded with gold and several dozen wives and daughters of the local Moslem nobility. He divvied up both the gold and the women. This was an era of tall-masted sailing ships and lords in full wigs; the drama on land played out in the smuggler's haven of New York City and in Cotton Mather -- dominated Boston and in edge-of-empire London.

Across the oceans of the world, the pirate hunter, Kidd, pursued the pirate, Culliford. One man would hang in the harbor; the other would walk away with the treasure. The Pirate Hunter is both a masterpiece of historical detective work and page-turner, and it delivers something rare: an authentic pirate story for grownups. ... Read more

Reviews (43)

A Compelling Ride Through Captain Kidd's True Adventures
For centuries, pirates like Captain Kidd have been portrayed in 'fairytale' fashion on the big screen and in literature. Finally now someone has done enough extensive research to compile a more accurate portrayal of pirate history, life onboard ship, and the life of the great Captain William Kidd, who was not the man we knew from fiction. Disney movies and candy-coated stories are fine for kids, but "The Pirate Hunter" actually skips back in time to the gritty life that pirates lived in the late 1600s. Zacks doesn't hold back. America, and the rest of the world was a different place 300 years ago. Packed with enough facts and documented accounts to please any historian, blended seamlessly with segues, and flavored with dramatical asides, "The Pirate Hunter" is a truely entertaining read!

Gripping
Zack's well-researched account of the famous fall of William Kidd, and the parallel course of actual pirate Robert Culliford, makes for excellent reading and will change the way you think about Kidd. For most readers, William Kidd was a notorious, blood-thirsty pirate who allegedly buried large stashes of treasure. In fact, after examining many original sources, Zacks reveals that Kidd was actually a gentleman and well-financed mercenary, a man outfitted by leading merchants of the late 17th century to seek out and steal from pirates themselves. It is touching to read about Kidd's confidence that his backers would support him, and his belief that the truth would come out if he was ever tried as a pirate.

By contrast, Culliford is a despicable rogue, leading Kidd's crew to mutiny on more than one occassion, and whose luck never seemed to run out even as he was captured and jailed as a pirate in London. Zacks sometimes alternates chapters between Kidd and Culliford, detailing the public hysteria over Captain Kidd, despite his honorable deeds and charter to hunt down pirates, while the rogue Culliford gets away with much more.

Ultimately the biggest villain of the book has to be the legal authorities in London, who railroad Kidd and conveniently lose the most important documents for his defense, consisting of French passes which made Kidd's capture of two Moorish vessels legal spoils of war. Kidd wastes away in solitary confinement with no formal charges against him for months, in despicable conditions at Newgate prison.

Overall, I thought this book did a very admirable job of portraying pirate life in great detail. We learn what they wore, how they traded for goods with shady merchants in places like Madagascar, and how discipline was meted out. I for one was also suprised by the "democratic" way in which decisions were made on pirate ships - captains did not hold as much authority as commonly believed. I was likewise surprised to learn how supposedly greedy buccaneers would seek out the widows of slain comrades to deliver their "shares" of the plunder. All in all, I was very impressed with The Pirate Hunter, and after skimming Zacks' sources (including the original commissions and letters reprinted in the pages of this book), it is tough to challenge any of his conclusions. A first-rate read.

Too Much
This is a tremendously researched book. Mr. Zachs obviously pored over thousands of pages of material - unfortunately, he had a difficcult time culling what was not relevant enough to add to the book. He simply included too much material.

This is the story of Captain Kidd - pirate or not? Mr. Zachs is persuasive that Kidd was not a pirate but a privateer with a commission from the King's highest confidantes. Mr. Zachs tracks Kidd on his privateering journey along with that of a pirate living a parallel career named Culliver. The juxtaposition of the two is well done. Kidd - honorable to a fault, and to a noose - fights becoming a pirate. Culliver, on the other hand, lives the pirate's life throughout, avoids the noose and walks off with a fortune in ill-gained booty.

Th problem I had with this book is that Mr. Zachs included sooo many details that the forest was often lost for the trees. There were constant recitations of cargo statistics and individual's shares of booty. These were detailed to the last bale of cloth and last piece of eight. He carried these detailed recitations to journeys of other ships only very tangentially related to the theme.

I wish Mr. Zach's had left out a few hundred statistics relating to cargo and focused more on the broad picture. He gave short shrift to how the backers of the mission avoided the scandal of being associated to Kidd and how England had been turned against the man.

If you want a well-detailed and well-researched tome about piracy and Kidd this is the book for you. If you want a clear picture of the forces driving Kidd and his eventual demise, you have to work too hard with this book to get it. I would only recommend this book to those who are deeply into piracy and its history.

Puts you right in the thick of it! ARRR
This book is phenomenal. Zacks does an extraordinary job of sending the reading back in time and recreating a New York City harbor swarming with pirates, trade routes thick with theives, and London full of entrepreneurs and waring social classes. I've never read a book that is so effective in recreating details and evoking feelings of an era long past. tremendous.

Shades of Tom Clancy and Oliver North
Picture if you will a small but powerful consortium of men in the uppermost rungs of government. This consortium devises a cunning plan to not only rid the world of some very dangerous terrorists but to secretly enrich themselves at the same time. This scheme is at best shady and mostly likely illegal under international law.But the rewards could be immense and a part of the world could be safer.So a skilled man of arms, with experience in these matters, who can handle a team of anti-terrorists(who may in fact be terrorists) is called upon. The consortium calls William Kidd. Melodramatic? Maybe,but the full description of Kidd's tale is even more melodramatic. Example; Kidd was an immensely successful and wealthy ship captain who lived on Wall St. in NYC. He undertook this mission because he wanted to be rewarded as a ship captain in the English Royal Navy.Kidd was so desireous of this prize and so sure of the mission success that he signed a ruineous performance bond that would have left him a pauper if he failed. The tale thickens and thickens again. For anyone fimilar with the author Richard Zacks, you know him to be a wizard of research and a delight to read. If you have read his book 'An Underground Education' you will not be disappointed here. 'The Pirate Hunter' is not only the story of William Kidd,but what the world was like that Kidd lived in....the 'feel' of it. You will know what I mean by reading just the first several pages of the Prologue.....the identifaction of pirate Gilliam. Everyone know something about Capt. Kidd and his pirate treasure but Zacks will tell you about a pirate world meshed to smoke filled government back rooms that reads like today's headlines. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (8)

a deep,personal insight,and a lesson in style...
Haffner spares nobody,least himself.The story encompasses the years 1907-1933,and in all fairness,I have to state,that I read the complete story,in a German edition,so I know what happened afterwards.
the author explains,taking himself and the people about him as living examples,how Hitler and his gang could seize power,and,subsequently,sink the German ship as deeply,as it sunk,morally,ethically,politically.
Most explanatory is the phase of 1933,when haffner describes how he,his decent friends,his father,tried to retire to small niches,to live some sort of biedermeier,and were uprooted by the nazi machinery,washed out of their holes of seeming innocence,
deprived of all means and space for inner emigration.
I don't want to spoil the exquisite joy,that reading Haffner's account provides,so in conclusion,let me say that Haffner is a journalist of a kind not found anymore,short,concise,to the point,in the original at least,of a unique style,that does not require a thousand words to draw a pandemonium of unheard of proportions.
Be sure to read the book,all books,by Haffner,if they do not enlighten you to their subjects,they will do your style a world of good.

Haffner's Rosetta Stone
Sebastian Haffner's "Defying Hitler" is a rare gem that explains what is was about those in Germany between 1918 and 1933 that found a hearth in Hitler's promise of a glorious Fascist future.

1933 is the story's kernel when, as Haffner says, the dual begins. Hitler comes to power. It's the state versus the individual; the struggle for one's soul. It's the ordinary person (Haffner) up against Big Brother, Nazi style, with fangs exposed, talons sharpened, ready to strike.

Haffner probes the riddle of motivation and explains how for some Hitler was the hero for the hour to restore German's stature among the leading rank of nations. For others, it was join the cause or to yield to the alternative temptation of rejection or resistance. For Haffner himself the Nazis are a deadly pestilence that overturns the individual's capacity to live, to love, and enjoy life as one wants. For Haffner, this foot soldier for nondescript humanity, what does he do?

This is the real tease. Haffner later becomes a celebrated German writer and commentator. Written in 1939, he never actually completes this early work which his son Oliver only discovers after his father's death in 1999. Thankfully Oliver fills in the blanks and we are not going to spoil the story by revealing the outcome here.

Despite the abrupt end, it's not hard to see why this book became a best seller in Germany. Haffner writes with a beautiful cynical wit and has a grasp for history and the human condition. Champollion's Rosetta Stone provided a key to unlocking the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphs. In its own way Haffner's "Defying Hitler" is the Rosetta Stone for Nazi Germany. It's a carriage for meaning and insight into not just a dark chapter of German history, but perhaps our own.

Honest account by an angry young man
Especially relevant with today's political world climate, this interesting autobiographical account of a young man's exposure to the rise of the Nazi party. A small book with a heavy message, altho' I feel it could have benefiited from some editing by or because of the translation into English.

a life in Germany from 1914 to the 1930s
This is an elegant book, written in 1939 but not published till after its author's death in 1999. It throws light on the endlessly absorbing question: How could Hitler take over the country so completely as he did. I found absorbing the account of the child growing up during the first World War, living thru the inflation of 1923, attaining manhood in the 1920s, and then all at once the ridiculous Nazis are in power and the nightmare begins. This is a well-told account, and of great insight.

Moving Personal Story
I found this to be an absorbing and moving account of one fairly ordinary person's experience in Germany of the 1920's and 30's. From a historical vantage point, it provides one valuable perspective of the rise of Hitler and why it was allowed to happen --- I'm reminding of the quote from Edmund Burke about evil triumphing because good people do nothing. Several times, Haffner apologizes for providing so much of his personal opinions and stories, but for me, the story of him and his friends was the most rewarding part of the book.

This memoir ends fairly abruptly, in late 1933, so we are left hanging, though the author's son, who translated the book into English, includes an afterward with details of the Haffner's life after 1933. Unfortunately, the abrupt ending leaves us in the dark about the fate of my favorite of Haffner's friends, his Carnival girlfriend Charlie, who was Jewish. I was very moved by the brief glimpses of their short romance and her devotion to her family. ... Read more

Book Description

It has been said that two sagas of the Southwest stand out above all others: the Apache Wars and the turbulent years of Tombstone, Arizona, in the early 1880s. No one was more intimately involved in these events than John Clum. As an Indian agent, Clum was decades ahead of his time. He respected the Apache and, years before Buffalo Bill Cody, took a number of them to the Eastern states as part of a Wild West road show. He was also an Indian fighter who out-foxed Geronimo and took him prisoner at the Warm Springs Reservation in New Mexico. Later he would serve as mayor of Tombstone, and he would found the most famous newspaper in the West, the "Tombstone Epitaph". During his Tombstone years, Clum would befriend the Earp brothers and would support them in their feud with the Clanton gang. The autobiography and related memoirs collected here have not previously been published in book form. Carefully annotated by Neil Carmony, "Apache Days and Tombstone Nights" offers John Clum's singular view of notable events in Southwest history. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Last of the Frontiersmen.
Maybe the best book that I have read so far about the Old West.
Superbly edited by Neil Carmony. I particularly liked the way his corrections and historical notes to Clums autobiography were within the chapters, which made reading so much easier and informative.

The Old West
An enjoyable narrative about the old west from someone who was there. This isn't Hollywood, folks. This is the real thing. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

What a suprising little book!
I went into this book with the intention of ripping it to pieces. I came away disagreeing with the message and impressed at how well Mr. Boyles writes.

Any professional writer should read this book, if for no otherreason than to explore some of the better subtleties of the trade. Thisbook is well written, clear, it moves admirably well considering thesubject matter which I previously would have thought to be prose-proof. Itshowshow enjoyable even subjects that one would previously have had nointerest in can come alivefor a reader with the right author.

Buy thisbook. ... Read more

Amazon.com

When World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle left for the Pacific Theater in1945, he told friends and colleagues that he felt sure he would die there. Pyle was right;on April 18th, a Japanese machine gunner killed one of America's most belovedpersonalities, sending the entire nation into shock and mourning. In the years since Pyle'sdeath, his particular brand of journalism has been criticized: he's been accused ofignoring the stupidity of generals, of downplaying the horror of battle, and of presentingthe war in a better light than it actually deserved to be portrayed. James Tobin, author ofthe impressive biography Ernie Pyle's War, does not deny that his subjectoften smoothed the jagged facts of war, but he provides both the context--an era and awar in which correspondents were expected to be "team players" who helpedtheir side to win hearts and minds at home--and the personal conflict raised for Pyle bythe often irreconcilable demands of telling the truth and building morale.

In addition to detailing Pyle's mostly unhappy personal life, Tobin also includes samplesof his columns, proving once and for all that Pyle was more than just a hick who fell intoreporting; the man had real, substantial talent, evidencedby his ability to put wordstogether and his sensitivity to the subjects he wrote about. More than just a biography,Ernie Pyle's War is also a study of war, and the peculiar, twilight world ofsuffering and half-told truths to which men like Ernie Pyle were drawn. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Ernie Pyle's War: Thorough and Entertaining Read
"Ernie Pyle's War" by James Tobin was a thorough read. Tobin described Pyle down to the very last detail, uncovering almost every aspect of his life. After reading this book, the reader had a clear view into Pyle's mind and was able to recognize the feelings he possessed about his professional and private life. The way Tobin intertwined Pyle's messages home with biographical details along with interviews of acquaintances, made this story an easy read. "Ernie Pyle's War" earned five "stars."
Tobin's style of writing was one reason this book was so effective. He used partial quotes from Pyle to title his chapters, which brought an immediate sense of intimacy to the story. Tobin began the book with a chronological introduction to Pyle. This style of writing, although typical for biographies, was well suited for this story and not at all cliché. Readers were able to become acquainted with Pyle as a young man and then mature along with him as he grew into an established adult. By describing Pyle as a young man, readers were able to understand more clearly why he was the way he was as an adult.
Tobin used vivid descriptions to paint a picture of Pyle in the minds of the readers. This was an important aspect because Pyle's physical demeanor was one of the main problems and/or benefits in his life. As a child and young adult, his size hindered his relationships. But, as a war correspondent, the people saw Pyle as more of a hometown boy rather than a studious journalist. This added to his success as a war correspondent.
After transitioning into Pyle's career as a war correspondent, the story line became more tedious. Pyle was in and out of combat and the surface facts of his life were boring. Tobin, understanding the paleness of biographical data, used Pyle's messages home to spice up the story. Like most people, Pyle's life was not what it seemed to be. Besides leading a "glorified" life as a war correspondent, he had major problems at home. Tobin showed the audience this by weaving together Pyle's biographical information with the messages he sent home. This gave the reader a sense of what Pyle was actually feeling. Using these messages instead of his columns allowed reader's to see the "real" Pyle.
Tobin uncovered personal feelings about his professional and personal life, which gave the reader a feeling of empathy toward Pyle. Showing that he did not feel like an outstanding reporter, let readers see Pyle was human. Tobin successfully showed the man behind the pen by opening up Pyle's mind to the audience. He did this by using Pyle's own letters and messages home that contained intimate details of his life. Without the added touch of Pyle's actual writing, the story would have failed to be as successful.

America's Link to the Front Lines of World War II
James Tobin has written a stunning book in "Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II". Toban has succeeded in giving readers the rare opportunity to see the human frailties concealed within one of America's greatest and most valuable World War II correspondents.

James Tobin present a picture of the complex Ernie Pyle; a man that entered the World War II carrying only a broken Remington typewriter and a deep desire to describe the life and hardships of the horrific world of the infantrymen to the American public. The reader will learn of the contradictory Ernie Pyle. The Ernie Pyle who despised war, but who could not stay away from the physical and emotional anguish of battle. The Ernie Pyle who loved his wife, but who continually left her behind to travel to the front lines. Ernie Pyle, the seemingly frail and terrified journalist who demonstrated his bravery by traveling to the front lines to be with and write about "his boys". Ernie Pyle, a genius for writing about the common soldier, but who needed constant reminding that he was the best at what he did. His articles became legendary and the hope and news link for Americans with loved ones in the front lines.

James Tobin's "Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II " is a must read for World War II readers and all readers who wish to know about the human spirit and about a plain old fashion brave American.

Ernie Pyle's War: A Thorough Read
"Ernie Pyle's War" by James Tobin was a thorough read. Tobin described Pyle down to the very last detail, uncovering almost every aspect of his life. After reading this book, the reader had a clear view into Pyle's mind and was able to recognize the feelings he possessed about his professional and private life. The way Tobin intertwined Pyle's messages home with biographical details along with interviews of acquaintances, made this story an easy read. "Ernie Pyle's War" earned five "stars."
Tobin's style of writing was one reason this book was so effective. He used partial quotes from Pyle to title his chapters, which brought an immediate sense of intimacy to the story. Tobin began the book with a chronological introduction to Pyle. This style of writing, although typical for biographies, was well suited for this story and not at all cliché. Readers were able to become acquainted with Pyle as a young man and then mature along with him as he grew into an established adult. By describing Pyle as a young man, readers were able to understand more clearly why he was the way he was as an adult.
Tobin used vivid descriptions to paint a picture of Pyle in the minds of the readers. This was an important aspect because Pyle's physical demeanor was one of the main problems and/or benefits in his life. As a child and young adult, his size hindered his relationships. But, as a war correspondent, the people saw Pyle as more of a hometown boy rather than a studious journalist. This added to his success as a war correspondent.
After transitioning into Pyle's career as a war correspondent, the story line became more tedious. Pyle was in and out of combat and the surface facts of his life were boring. Tobin, understanding the paleness of biographical data, used Pyle's messages home to spice up the story. Like most people, Pyle's life was not what it seemed to be. Besides leading a "glorified" life as a war correspondent, he had major problems at home. Tobin showed the audience this by weaving together Pyle's biographical information with the messages he sent home. This gave the reader a sense of what Pyle was actually feeling. Using these messages instead of his columns allowed reader's to see the "real" Pyle.
Tobin uncovered personal feelings about his professional and personal life, which gave the reader a feeling of empathy toward Pyle. Showing that he did not feel like an outstanding reporter, let readers see Pyle was human. Tobin successfully showed the man behind the pen by opening up Pyle's mind to the audience. He did this by using Pyle's own letters and messages home that contained intimate details of his life. Without the added touch of Pyle's actual writing, the story would have failed to be as successful.

Ernie Pyle Lives Again In This Wonderful Biography
About the only complaint I can offer about this outstanding biography is that the title is slightly misleading. Ernie Pyle's years as a war correspondent are the subject of about three-quarters of the narrative, which is appropriate. It was the period in which he did his greatest work and achieved international fame. But this is more than just the story of those pivotal years; the first 25 percent of the text is an excellent overview of Pyle's childhood on an Indiana farm and his pre-war adventures in journalism, including a six-year stint in the thirties and forties as a kind of Charles Kuralt in print. Pyle and his wife roamed across the nation in their car, and he wrote about the people he encountered along the way--ordinary people, the sort who don't usually find themselves the subject of newspaper articles.

When the war came, Pyle knew he had to answer the call to go overseas. But thankfully, he realized that he didn't need to provide the same sort of coverage every other journalist was doing. He would let them handle the stories of the grand strategy, interviewing the generals and prime ministers. He would tell the story of his average Joe, now transformed into G.I. Joe.

James Tobin has a wonderful gift for storytelling and description. He introduces us to Pyle and the key players in his life so vividly we feel that we know them as flesh-and-blood individuals. He quotes from Pyle's works liberally enough that we get a true sense of the man's unique gifts, but not so much that the flow of the story bogs down.

This is an almost perfect biography of one of the true greats of 20th century journalism.--William C. Hall

The Consummate War Correspondent
The author, James Tobin, recounts Ernie Pyle's life from his childhood in Indiana to his 1945 death in the Pacific Theatre. The text notes "Sadness verging on bitterness always colored Ernie Pyle's memories of his early years," and relates that his adult personal life also was basically unhappy. In 1928 while working for the Washington Daily News, Pyle began writing an aviation column that ultimately was carried by all Scripps-Howard newspapers. Foreshadowing his WWII reporting style, Pyle' favorite subjects were the anonymous airmail pilots telling "tales of the pilot's feats of bravery and improvisation."

From 1935 to 1942 he roamed the western hemisphere where he wrote a column on his wanderings for the News and developed into a consummate craftsman of short prose and as Tobin noted "...in the process created "Ernie Pyle." Reflecting what would be his wartime style the author notes, "...he studied unknown people doing extraordinary things." The text relates Pyle's activities as a war correspondence in Tunsia where he shared the dangers and discomforts of the infantrymen at the front, and developed a bond with the American infantryman where his "writing transcended propaganda; it was richer, more heartfelt." At home Pyle's editors were delighted with the rapid growth of his popular column. After Tunisia, he followed the troops in the invasion of Sicily and later into Italy.

In Italy, he completed construction of his mythical hero, the long-suffering G.I. The text notes that the "inescapable force of Pyle's war writings is to establish an unwritten covenant between the soldier at the front and the civilian back home." Tobin also notes "Soldiers could see an image of themselves that they liked in his heroic depiction of the war...The G.I. myth worked for them too." However, as Pyle was becoming the "Number-One Correspondent" he became troubled because he had been "credited with having written the truth...He had told as much of what he saw as people could read without vomiting. It was the part that would make them vomit that bothered him..."

Pyle covered the Normandy landing in June 1944. In contrast to today's instant TV battlefront coverage, Pyle admitted to readers "Indeed it will be some time before we have a really clear picture of what has happened or what is happening at the moment." Pyle followed the infantry into France. The book notes, "The hedgerow country of Normandy was a killing field such as Ernie had never seen, and as the weeks passed, the constant presence of 'too much death' whittled down his will to persist." Once again the G.I.'s affection for him had risen after they saw Pyle force himself to share their dangers, which sometime made him, scream in his sleep. Those with today's anti-French attitude would agree with Pyle when he wrote that in Paris he felt as "though I were living in a whorehouse-not physically but spiritually."

Ernie Pyle returned to the United States in mid-September 1944. After a much needed rest, in January 1945 Pyle left for the Pacific Theatre. Here Pyle was in a different environment. He couldn't relate to the hot food and warm beds aboard Navy ships, the comfortable living conditions of airmen stationed on Pacific islands and the generally pleasant environment on Pacific islands. He wrote, "It was such a contrast to what I'd known for so long in Europe that I felt almost ashamed.... They're...safe and living like kings and don't know it." Even when relaxing with an aunt's grandson, a B-29 pilot who tried to relate the real combat conditions in the Pacific, Ernie just didn't understand the Pacific Theatre.

With the Army's 77th Division, "He went ashore" on a small island north of Okinawa "on the 17th of April 1945, talked with infantrymen during the afternoon and spent the night near the beach in a Japanese ammunition-storage bunker." The next morning he hitched a ride when at ten o'clock the jeep he was riding in came under Japanese machine gun fire. After jumping into a ditch with the jeep's other riders, Pyle raised his head and was killed instantly. Far from home, Ernie Pyle died among his beloved infantrymen.

In closing James Tobin writes "Ernie and his G.I.'s made America look good. The Common Man Triumphant, the warrior-with-a-heart-of-gold-this was the self-image America carried into the post-war era."

While the technology of war reporting has changed greatly since WWII, the author is correct when he observes, "As a practitioner of the craft of journalism, Pyle was perhaps without peer. After him, no war correspondent could pretend to have gotten the real story without having moved extensively among the front-line soldiers who actually fought."

The book ends with a nice touch, an Appendix that contains a potpourri of Pyle's articles. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Excellent
I work at a Cherokee historic site and I highly recommend this book. It reads like a novel and is gripping! By far the most in-depth, unbiased work written on the "Trail of Tears". If you buy no other Cherokee history book, buy this one! ... Read more

Book Description

Against a richly woven historical background oftwo centuries and two vivid societies, Christina Vella unfolds the compelling story of the marital alliance between the Almonester and Pontalba families of Louisiana. Born into wealth in New Orleans in 1795, Micaela Almonester was married into misery in France sixteen years later. Intimate Enemies gives the amazing true account of this resilient woman’s life—and the three men who most affected its course: her father, Andrés, an illustrious New Orleans builder in whose footsteps she eventually followed with great distinction; her father-in-law, Xavier, who for more than twenty years tried to destroy her marriage and seize control of her fortune, eventually shooting Micaela in violent despair; and her husband, Célestin, whom, despite all, she compassionately supported until her death. Adapted as an opera in 2003 by the New Orleans Opera, Intimate Enemies has captured the imagination and admiration of readers everywhere. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

an exhaustively researched work that remains easily readable
Vella brings to life with splendid detail the life in New Orleans and Paris in the 1800's. Vella is unquestionably a tireless scholar who has dedicated much time and passion into assimilating an astounding amount of archival materials to bring to life the realities and sensibilities of the different ranks of the aristocracies. Sophisticated, realpolitic, Machiavellian. A wonderful work and a great read. This is how history should be written (for non-academia). Well footnoted & bibliographed.

A Detailed Account of a Dynamic Woman
Intimate Enemies: The Two Worlds of the Baroness de Pontalba, by Christina Vella, is one of the best books that I have ever read. I took Professor Vella's class at Tulane University in the Spring of 2000. This book was the basis of the class. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in thorough documentation of facts about a dynamic woman and her family, as well as two great cities, New Orleans and Paris.

A fantastic read
This book has been recommended to me by a tour guide while I was paying New Orleans a short visit. I bought it together with Gwendolyn Midlo Hall's excellent "Africans in Louisiana", and, read one after another, starting with Hall, the books give a pretty cool picture of what New Orleans (and Louisiana, for the matter) were about during the 18th century. Although Gwendolyn Hall is by no means a bad writer (on the contrary), Christina Vella definitely is the more compelling read.

Her first few chapters rock, especially the ones about the old Almonester and his fights with the Cabildo, followed by the biography of the old Pontalba. Those are the best chapters of the entire book. Vella did a fantastic job with placing those characters in a broader historical setting. Beautifully written, she doesn't hesitate to give psychological explanations to those men's actions, and does so convincingly. Vella even allows herself to comment ironically on certain developments, or (dis)approve of the actions of her characters, which is pretty rare in modern historical scolarship. (Why?)

The scene then shifts from New Orleans to France, and the story becomes one of a superweird triangle relationship between Micael, Celestin, and Celestin's father, with a pretty dramatic ending. The broader historical perspective shifts accordingly, from the organization of a colonial society to a gender study of early 18th century France. What were the (im)possibilities of a unhappily married woman in this society? Micael, by her extraordinary personality, pushes the boundaries of the possible to the extreme.

The last few chapters of "Intimate enemies", where Christina Vella retraces the building activities of Micael in Paris and New Orleans, are the weakest. The organization of those chapters is sometimes sloppy and unfocused, and although much space is devoted to details regarding the architecture and construction of the Hotel Pontalba and the New Orleans buildings, one senses that Vella doesn't master these themes enough to present them to the reader in a comprehensive fashion. Also, the emphasis on the architecture unfortunately took away some of the focus from the biographical stuff, that in the later years doesn't get less interesting. After having given Micael's father a chapter, her sons would have deserved one as well, especially Celestin Jr. since he became quite an important public figure, but also the other two (How exactly did Micael's sons get in touch with their spouses? How did they relate to Micael after marriage? Why did Gaston remain single his whole life? Was he gay? etc.).

Notwithstanding, this book was a pleasant and thoughtprovoking journey. I'm recommending it to all my friends.

A book in which 19th century New Orleans comes alive!
Growing up in New Orleans, I was always familiar with the name Pontalba and the row apartments flanking Jackson Square that bore the name. Pontalba, Almanester, de la Ronde, Miro, Pere Antoine: these were names that every student in New Orleans schools learn. Yet, now I feel as if I know each of them on a personal basis, as if I have actually met them. In the process, I have come to know the city of New Orleans in th 19th century, the same city which I have always known and loved in the 20th. Christina Vella brings to life people who have been dead and gone for over a hundred years. Only through the meticulous research that she has done can these ghosts be brought back to life. Vella has done a superb job in this endeavor. With her vivid descriptions of the city in mind, you can walk through the French Quarter today and literally see the muddy, murky streets of the previous century. You can see the ships on the river carrying the young bride and bridegroom to France. You can see the beloved cathedral as it looked back then. Read Intimate Enemies to learn about the people Vella is describing, but read it also to learn about the city which was their home, about the country that became their nation. Vella has done exactly what every historian strives to do: to bring the past to life in such a way that it is understood and therefore clearly explains why things are the way they are today.

An intimate portrayal of an era and a remarkable woman
Too often history book are dry and historical fiction is not accurate. How refreshing it is, then, to find a book by a professional historian that reads like a novel and yet is meticulously researched and beautifully written. Intimate Enemies is a true story but the kind of story of which novels are made. It details the life, travails and (eventually) triumph of a remarkable woman, Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba. In tracing Micaela's troubled life from her birth in New Orleans, in 1795, to her death in Paris, in 1874, Christina Vella provides a rich historical mosaic of the times. One learns in detail about antebellum New Orleans in all its glory and squalor and about France in the first three quarters of the 19th century. We learn of inheritance laws, the treatment of dowries, and the rights of wives vis-a-vis husbands, in both France and Louisiana. And we see Micaela changing from a pliant, obediant wife to an astute woman, aware that her assets are being exploited by a money-grubbing husband and father-in-law. Much in the manner of Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, and Sheehan's A Bright, Shining Lie, Vella uses a single person to reflect the times, drawing the reader into a living, three-dimensional world. Indeed, one of the great virtues of this book is its corpus of notes, which provide the interested reader with additional subjects to explore. The author has even provided a list of New Orleans streets named for acquaintances of the Baroness! Micaela Almonester was an incredible woman, who survived poverty, illness, and attempted assassination by a father-in0law unable to bend her to his will. Vella has brought her to life in a way that makes the reader sorry to see the old woman die and the book end. It is almost too much to expect Vella to provide us with an encore but we may hope! ... Read more

Book Description

Advance Praise for Behind the Burqa

"Whenever and wherever adults make war, children die and women are subjected to fear and humiliation. This is true of Afghanistan too. Read this harrowing book. The tragic yet heroic tale of two women is told with great simplicity. They will haunt you."
–Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

"The stories of Sulima and Hala achingly articulate the twin and enduring legacies of misogyny and violence. A critical historical document, Behind the Burqa ultimately reveals the unbreakable strength of Afghan women."
–Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues
Founder and Artistic Director, V-Day

"Behind the Burqa provides important information about conditions in Afghanistan, as well as the plight of asylum-seekers in the United States.I highly recommend this book to all people who are concerned about human rights, both at home and abroad."
–Senator Sam Brownback, (R. Kansas)
ranking member, Immigration Subcommittee, Committee on the Judiciary

"This book is a gripping reading experience, and it also offers important suggestions for those who would like to participate in making our asylum politics more humane."
–Eleanor Acer, Director, Asylum Program, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights

"This book shows the injustices suffered by innocent women seeking asylum in the U. S. and the power of religious faith to provide hope and courage even in prison."
–Fauziya Kassindja, author of Do They Hear You When You Cry

"Sulima and Hala epitomize the worldwide struggle of women for equality and justice. Their story is gripping and illuminating."
–Jessica Neuwirth, President of Equality Now ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A Timely Topic, A Powerful and Exciting Book
I saw the Court-TV production of CHASING FREEDOM this past Monday (Jan 19). Appropriately, it aired on Martin Luther King Day. It was the story of an Afghan women who fled to the US after escaping horrible treatment by the Taliban. When she came to the US, she was put into detention. It was a great movie and it really brought to life events in Afghanistan and also in US detention centers. The story told in BEHIND THE BURQA is very similar. I can't believe our country is still imprisoning people fleeing persecution. This book (BEHIND THE BURQA) was an amazing experience to read. The suspense was incredible, and I learned about detention in a very vivid way. I recommend the book to anyone who wants to find out more about this very important issue, and to everyone who wants to read a great book!!

Suspenseful, Informative and very Current
This book is a powerful account of two brave sisters and their fight for human rights in a fundamentalist society, both for themselves and for other Afghan women. The two sisters hold divergent views of Islam and between them, create a balanced perspective that helped me sort out the true religion from the corruption of the religion by fanatics. As a feminist with a strong interest in world religions, I felt I got a fair insight into the many ways one can regard Islam. It's rare for a book to combine chair-gripping suspense and important new insights and I highly recommend BEHIND THE BURQA to people of both genders and all religious backgrounds and affiliations.

Surprise!!!
I picked up this book because I have great respect for Batya Swift Yasgur not because I was interested in the subject. I planned to skim it. I started reading at 9 pm and finished it in the wee hours of the next day. To my surprise it was a page turner. It was also well written which is often not the case with "as told to books" and the subject became fascinating to me.
I learned a great deal and only wish that she had another book on the shelves!

Reading this book was both a pleasure and a responsibility.
On behalf of these sisters from Afghanistan, Batya Swift Yasgur writes with a brilliant pen, a compassionate heart, and the desire to facilitate desperately needed social change. Each in turn, the sisters speak of what life was like in Afghanistan, both before and after the institution of the Taliban regime: before, their worries were few and their joys plentiful; after, they were subjugated, oppressed, bullied, beaten. They speak of their friends and family members killed at the hands of a cruel government, of women who took their lives to escape, of not being able to walk outdoors for fear of punishment or even death, of being attacked in their own home. I cried as I read, and my heart broke for them. Reading this book was both a pleasure and a responsibility. After what these women have survived, after what Afghan women are still experiencing, we owe it to them to listen.

Sensitive, Shocking and Should be Required Reading
These two sisters lend their voice as a voice of a people, a voice of a nation of women who still struggle to be heard. Not only is this a book of truths, it is a book of horrors at last unveiled. For women living in oppression in any nation, from the United States to Afghanistan to Nigeria, one can only hope that Ms. Yasgur's ability to listen will open the eyes and ears of all humanity. If we did, the reperession and brutality endured by the women in this work--and of women everywhere-- could possibly become a thing of the past. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Complete Rambling
One of the worst books I've ever attempted to read.The author rambles from Burr to Hamilton to Jefferson with no thread between the characters or background.The author assumes you know all the background and gives you his opinions on it.Don't waste you time on this as I did!

Excellent
This book has been given quite a good number of reviews on this site, so I would like to merely add some pertinent points.In my opinion, the format that Kennedy used in this book, zooming backward and forward in time, and in and out from one scenario or character to the next, was wholly appropriate given the task he set for himself.Kennedy did not intend, nor claim to intend, to review the full chronological history here.His intention was to zoom in on what he saw as the salient elements of the characters of these men.This style should not be confusing to one who has read previous biographies and histories of these men.I found the book immensely gratifying.I have been a "student" of Burr history for over twenty years.The truth is, there are a tremendous number of discrepancies in prior accounts of Burr, which no previous scholar has resolved.Kennedy has pulled together a massive amount of material to bring together the facts which lead to his insights, and I believe that those insights are dead-on right.

Burr beats Hamilton again, and Jefferson for the first time
Roger Kennedy freely acknowledges at the beginning of this study that he has a point of view:Aaron Burr had a greater character and value to our nation than his reputation provides, while Hamilton and Jefferson had lesser character and value to our nation than their reputations. This book is a clear and concise defense of Aaron Burr, amply annotated, easily read, and quite entertaining. On a larger scale, the study gives reason to contemplate the formulation of reputation, especially historically.Had not Burr's daughter perished at sea with all his notes and letters, we might have a much greater opinion of Burr.Any fair reader of this book will come to a much deeper appreciation for Burr, the man, and the failures and shortcomings of Hamilton and Jefferson.I highly commend this book to your attention.

A mixed bag at best
Although this book presents a good deal of interesting historic information, it is presented in such a haphazard way that it results in a very unreadable ordeal.Rather than following a timeline, the author has organized the subject matter into topics that he believes illustrate his point.But the book continually jumps back and forth between years and decades, so it is also impossible to obtain any cohesive understanding of the historic events.In addition, the author writes in a very academic way with a good deal of esoteric words that make the reader want to reach for the dictionary periodically.Overall, this book was a real struggle to finish.

Fascinating, but difficult
This is an immensely fascinating, but difficult book to read. Kennedy provides some thought-provoking insights on character. Most of the difficulty with the book is its style. Kennedy will introduce a topic, then rewind the narrative and then come forward. Also the pieces to some of the intersting topics are spread piece-meal thoughout the book. Rewarding if you can stick with it. ... Read more

Book Description

This collection of moving black-and-white photographs of recipients of the Medal of Honor shows not the glory of war, but the underlying spirit and humanity of true heroism. Forty-eight portraits are combined with comments, observations, and statements from the recipients of America's highest military honor. This compilation of words and pictures of men who served in the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps is both humbling and poignant. Their actions and lives vary as much as the conflicts (World War II, Korea, and Vietnam) and include a conscientious objector who never wielded a weapon and a man known as the "Last Eagle," as he was the last World War II pilot to retire. Each recipient's full official citation is included in the appendix. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A GREAT READ
There are a couple of good books about CMH winners. The thing I liked about this one was the photo's. All the winners in this book survived, and we get to see the man, as well read about his actions.
I really enjoyed this one. A very fast read

Touching on a different level
Mr. Casalini's book is incredible -- I found myself tearing up at some of the descriptions and pictures. These men are incredibly brave, but at the same time, none seemed to be anything but the guy next door. The wonderfulness of ordinary was truly captured and championed in this amazing book.

A remarkable and memorable compilation of portrait studies
Ordinary Heroes is a remarkable and memorable compilation of portrait studies showcasing winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Each photo is accompanied by an insightful caption or quotation arising from photographer Tom Casalini's personal interview with the recipient. Ordinary Heroes is a virtually unique contribution to military studies and a very highly recommended addition to community library collections -- especially as a Veteran's Day memorial acquisition or as a memorial donation by a Veteran's group or association.

Discover the Wonderfulness of Ordinary
While attempting with words to enter into the souls of the Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, Tim Wallis' commentary ebbs on the ordinary heroes, who are protectors of the Medal of Honor. The tremendous impact of the words that are spoken is second only to the full page photographs of the father/husband/patriot's in all their splendor. The photographs are not of men in full dress with the Medal around their neck, as you would think, but of them on the back porch, in the orchard or merely on the couch in prayer. The book shows us all what can be found if only we look a little harder. We too might discover the wonderfulness of ordinary. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Interior decorating of the heart
"This is not a lie. I was starting to tell lies and struck a truth! Very often I tell lies that are deeply true."
-Anais Nin, January 17, 1937

Diary opening with a visit to New York accompanying Dr Otto Rank. Searches for release from Rank. Back to Paris, Henry, Hugh, and to find Gonzalo More. Desriptions of interior worlds built for Hugh, Gonzalo, and Henry. Beautiful. Houseboat on the Seine, "Nanankepichu", Villa Seurat, Louveciennes.

Exploring the Inner Bad Girl
Anais Nin was raised a devout Catholic and to earn her family's love she was expected to be demure, self-sacrificing, hard-working, and chaste. When her father abandoned the family she assumed, as children sometimes do, that he had left because she wasn't "good" enough. She played the role of "good girl" for twenty years in response. Then all hell broke loose.

What I believe is different about FIRE is that it reveals Anais's explorations and experiementation with her inner "bad girl" in a way that she had only just begun in HENRY AND JUNE and INCEST. In it she is still married to Hugh and involved with Henry Miller, but in FIRE she has a relationship with the famous analyst Otto Rank that takes some treacherous twists and turns. Her writing is as wonderful as ever. For the Nin fan, this diary is yet another must-read.

ANAIS NIN BRAVERY SHE FREELY WROTE ABOUT EROTICISM
As follower of Anais' Diaries (expurgated or not) and her novels I would like to express my admiration and my curiosity for her amazing literature and her rare personality, motivated again by "Fire". I believe that Anais was able to enjoy sex simultaneously with several men, each one of them however, playing an appropriate , no transferable, role: Hugh (husband),Joaquin Nin (father-lover),Eduardo Sanchez (cousin-brother), Henry Miller (friend-lover), Gonzalo More (lover-friend) and others. Occidental society usually attribute this promiscuous behavior only to men.As Anais shows, this may happen also among ladies, perhaps more often than accepted . Indeed, these "faults" may be heavily damned and punished by society when perpetrated by ladies. Probably Anais was the first woman , brave and courageous enough , to describe her own experiences and feelings about eroticism and sensuality written from a female point of view. Actually, looking at her inner mirror she describes herself with delicacy , ever avoiding disgusting pornography. I believe that Anais spent her life searching a Big One Love . As a result she found many "Love" and many Lovers . The sum of them never reached totality. Her Love was her fantasy and her invention, hence endless and inaccessible. On the other hand, in this and other books Anais masterly present unknown, almost domestic features and characteristic of the personality of several men and ladies who were outstanding representatives in art, literature, theatre, politics as Neruda, Alberti, Dali, Allendy, Rank, Gore and others. ... Read more

Book Description

From the author of the acclaimed The Man Who Loved Only Numberscomes a book that is at once the biography of an eccentric Brazilian aviator and thestory of the thrilling early days of flight.

On the eve of the centennial of the Wright brothers' historic flights at Kitty Hawk, anew generation will learn about the other man who was once hailed worldwide as theconqueror of the air -- Alberto Santos Dumont. Because the Wright brothers worked insecrecy, word of their first flights had not reached Europe when Santos Dumont took tothe skies in 1906. The dashing, impeccably dressed inventor entertained Paris with hisairborne antics -- barhopping in a little dirigible that he tied to lampposts, circlingabove crowds around the Eiffel Tower, and crashing into rooftops. A man celebrated,even pursued by the press in Paris, London, and New York, Santos Dumont dined regularlywith the Cartiers, the Rothschilds, and the Roosevelts.

But beneath his lively public exterior, Santos Dumont was a frenzied genius tortured bythe weight of his own creation.

Wings of Madness chronicles the science and history of early aviation and offersa fascinating glimpse into the mind of an extraordinary and tormented man, vividlydepicting the sights and sounds of turn-of-the-century Paris. It is a book that will dofor aviation what The Man Who Loved Only Numbers did for mathematics. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Marvelous!
Largely unknown outside of his native Brazil where he is nothing short of a national icon, Alberto Santos-Dumont was a pioneer in both lighter and heavier than air flight. Paul Hoffman tells Santos-Dumont's story from his earliest days as a child experimenting with paper balloons to his final sad days, broken by the fact that the world credited the Wright Brothers with the first flight of a plane and the use of that invention in war. A lot of research clearly went into Wings of Madness and Hoffman has done a marvelous job of reporting on a nearly forgotten chapter and pioneer of aviation history.

Fascinating invocation of a lost world
Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian who emigrated to Paris at the age of 19, was perhaps the most celebrated man in France in the early 20th century. An effete eccentric with a genius for mechanical invention, Santos designed and regularly flew about Paris a series of airships. Most of these were powered, lighter-than-air vessels--hydrogen balloons to which he had attached a motor. But later in his career Santos also experimented with heavier-than-air flying machines--though not, to his great disappointment, before the Wright brothers had themselves achieved sustained flight. Among the aviator's airships was the world's first, and only, personal flying machine. Santos hopped around Paris in his "Baladeuse," or "Wanderer," alighting to order an aperitif at some sidewalk café, or dropping anchor at a club where, upon disembarking, he would hand the reins of his machine to a valet.

Paul Hoffman's seamless account of Santos-Dumont's life and career follows the aviator from his childhood on his father's coffee plantation to his sad death in 1932. Always somewhat tormented--Santos craved the adoration his pioneering exploits won for him--he ended his days apparently guilt-ridden over the lethal use to which airplanes--which were to his mind his own invention--were being put.

Hoffman's well-written book is fascinating for its invocation of a lost world. The author is to be applauded, too, for bringing the flamboyant, troubled Santos-Dumont once again to the attention of the public.

Santos Dumont a Brazilian Indiana Jones
The beauty of this book is that reading it, you will feel going back in time, participating in the life and adventures of Mr. Santos Dumont.

The author did a very good work in presenting not only history, but recreating the personality of Alberto Santos Dumont, a man that is totally focused on his inventions.

As I read the book I found many reasons to think that Mr. Steven Spielberg would have material for a very good film....Santos Dumont was quite a man, great imagination, and a truly courageous person.

Hoffman descriptions of the way inventors in the end of the XIX century risked their lives, to develop and use the new technologies of their time, provides a good framework to understand Santos Dumont behavior, risking his life on many experiments for the good of mankind.

My perspective as to where Santos Dumont should be placed in aviation history differs from most Brazilians. The airplane was the product of several inventions done by different people, each one contributing with a piece of the puzzle. There is room for the accomplishments of many inovators, like Otto Lillienthal, the Wright Brothers, Alberto Santos Dumont, Glenn Curtiss... and many others.

I think Hoffman gives a balanced view of aviation history and Santos Dumont accomplishments.

The book is worth reading and you will enjoy it.

"Wings of Madness" good review
Alberto Santos-Dumont was a great man with good ideas. He met with the President of the USA in the white house when he was making Zeppelin. He was the creator of an Airplane that is heavier than air and a Wrist Watch which we still using it today. Like in the book it is saying that he flew a longer distance than the Wrights.
England asked Dumont and the Wrights for a long distance test flight, and the Wrights turned it down, because they were concerned about the airplane not being strong enough. It is sad that a great creator like Dumont doesn't receive the credit he deserves, but he receive critics from others. This is a great book in commemorating Santos Dumont for his ideas and his life.

rkrb is crazy!!!!!!
This is an excellent book. First of all, I would probably recommend that "rkrb" read the book again. Santos Dumont is truly the "Father of Aviation", the main purpose of his discoveries was to provide a different way of transportation. Santos Dumont was focused on the advance of transportation to humans, and not to make money, he did not care about patente or anything like that. And Second, he did not kill himself after seen a airplane throwing bombs, there was never a bombing in Brazil. Santos Dumonts died due to health problems, and not because of mental problems.

Santos Dumonts was a great man, and not only to Brazilians, but to most of europeans,