Book Description

Alfred Novotny was born in Vienna on 1 April 1924, and was perfectly placed to suffer the ancient Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." His times were interesting and deadly, but that he survived them is not the greatest surprise. Rather, what stands out is that Fred never lost his compassion, nor his humanity, nor his mind.

Growing up in 1930s Vienna, the former home of a young, frustrated, and fuming artist named Adolf Hitler, Fred was the stepson of an ardent Social Democrat. As such, he grew up with a visceral and deep dislike and distrust of their rival parties, including the National Socialists, or "Nazis." Although the political situation in Austria throughout the 1930s was stormy, the German annexation of Austria absolutely ended effective opposition to the "New Order."

Attracted by the superficial benefits of unity with Germany and the evident achievements of the Nazis, young Alfred gradually parted ways with his stepfather. He performed his duty to the Reich when called up for service in the Labor Corps, and later proudly served in the most elite division of the German Army in World War II, Panzer-Grenadier Division "Grossdeutschland" ("Greater Germany").

From 1942 forward, Fred saw more than his share of combat. Starting with action as a member of a hurriedly-armed labor detachment in the famous British naval and commando raid at St. Nazaire, France, in March 1942, Fred later joined the Grossdeutschland Division in time to participate in some of the most well-known—and most bloody—battles of the war on the Eastern Front. During the Germans’ last great offensive in the Soviet Union in 1943, Fred fought at Poltava and in the titanic clash of thousands of tanks at Kursk. Wounded there, he later returned to his unit and fought in the long series of fiercely-contested defensive battles that ended only when the Soviets occupied much of eastern and central Germany and Austria. . . and when Hitler and the Thousand Year Reich were finally destroyed.

Like so many members of German units, Fred was happy to surrender to the US Army at the end of the war, but under the terms of inter-Allied agreements reached months before, units which had fought only against the Soviets were turned over to the Red Army, en masse. Thus began the ordeal after the ordeal—2½ years in Soviet prison camps.

After being freed from Soviet captivity, Fred eventually escaped the old world and the old conflicts . . . and started a new life in the United States, free of the competing "isms" of Europe that had wreaked misery on millions.

Supported by detailed commentary by author/historian Marc Rikmenspoel, The Good Soldier contains 62 illustrations, including original diagrams and sketches drawn before the war and during the author's captivity; comprehensive documentary authentication of the author's military service; and extensive wartime photography. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

A Thoughtful Reminiscence
In 'The Good Soldier', Alfred Novotny reminisces about his life. In a concise and highly readable way the author thinks back six decades to see what he remembers after a long and dynamic life most of which has been spent in a very successful career in the hospitality industry. The central feature of this book however is his service in the elite Grossdeutschland Division in WW II. For two and one-half years he fought on the Eastern Front and although he provides an understanding of the basic savagery of this environment, he sees no healthy need for the endless repetition of the lurid details of exposed entrails. In fact, Novotny provides us with a broad picture of his military service including his training and various non-combat events. Once the war ended Novotny's unit was handed to the Soviets for imprisonment. Here he faced another challenge to his survival as he was delivered into forced labor in a coal mine in the Caucasus.
By the end of the book Alfred Novotny has taught us not only what some German soldiers experienced but also how war affects all soldiers a lifetime later. He writes that the worst memories of the war, "leap to the forefront" of his mind "on occasions that are sometimes too many for my comfort, and too few for my conscience." In his succinctness, Novotny has said a great deal about a big topic.

The Good Soldier
I am fortunate to know Fred...or so I thought. His soft Austrian accent adds so much to his saga. His ever present awkward gait that has been with him like so many memories I now understand. Always sincere, pensive and with an instrospective intensity he writes as he speaks.
It's not history retold from the 'other side's' perspective that redefines ones attitude. It's that one is reading what amounts to the diary of an Austrian German boy soldier in Hitler's army whose purpose was the exact opposite of every Allied soldier who told their story. Thousands of 'good soldiers' spent horrible periods of time in battle, in hospitals, as prisoners in war camps, or sadly prisoners of their own minds and memories. Novotny's only bitterness is aimed not at his military foes and blended with purposeful stealth into the late stage of his book.
The unabashed honesty of Fred's story is compelling and civilian as well as military. As a young waiter before being drafted he describes how he and several coworkers essentially steal some famous salami. They get found out, each slapped in the face and Novotny gets three weeks in the potato cellar. Like the rest of his story there is no faux remorse. He relates the salami saga because it says something about him; what that means he leaves to the reader.
In a 'dacha' in Russia they find an American Gramophone and one 78rpm record. Schockingly it happens to be one of his favorites, "Stormy Weather". This eventual American Austrian loved Harry James and Louis Armstrong.
Describing how that left leg was wounded he mentions that there were 8 other bullets hitting his equipment including his helmet he didn't get far enough into the hole he was digging. Many a 'hero'have conjured up details of great bravery. Fred says, "Someone was looking out after me." Honesty and heroism make strange bedfellows.
Speaking of strange bedfellows perhaps the most revealing tale in the book is Novotny's remembrance of his encounter with a young woman which he pleads as "another incident of love in war". It cannot be retold with any more seriousness or hilariousness than what you read in the book. This example of sheer determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles may be the best description of Fred's will and he did it almost all by himself.
Toward post war Germany he levels this paraphraed pointed observation: to those who fought your war you gave two free street car tickets to take us to officials, two 15 cent cigarette packages, find your own job, help yourself, and your mental problems are your own. A troubling and revealing view.

What Fred says is crystal clear and what he means is craftily expressed. It would be difficult for any reader to close this book with the same mindset with which it was opened.

Not Enough Detail
Novotny's book is good, but too short. He only touches briefly on topics and he left me wanting more.

Reader's Digest Version
Unfortunately, I "listened" to what most of the other evaluators wrote about this book and purchased it. Believing I was buying a book that was going to be as insightful as some of the other classics on the Eastern Front, I was somewhat disappointed. If you are looking for an account of someone fighting against the Russian's during World War II, read Voss, Sajer, or Knappe. If you want to read about the Russian concentration camp system, read Solzhenitsyn. If you just want something to read to pass the time, then, and only then, read this book.

What it was really like.
If you really want to know what life was like for the German soldier on the Eastern Front then you have to read The Good Soldier. Alfred Novotny, a member of the famed Grossdeutschland Division, writes of his experiences before and during the War, his life in a Russian prison camp, his eventual release, and life in the post war years. This book is definately a must read. ... Read more

Book Description

Originally written while the author was a prisoner of the US Army in 1945–46, Black Edelweiss is a boon to serious historians and WWII buffs alike. In a day in which most memoirs are written at half a century’s distance, the former will be gratified by the author’s precise recall facilitated by the chronologically short-range (a matter of one to seven years) at which the events were captured in writing. Both will appreciate and enjoy the abundantly detailed, exceptionally accurate combat episodes.

Even more than the strictly military narrative, however, the author has crafted a searingly candid view into his own mind and soul. As such, Black Edelweiss is much more than a "ripping yarn" or a low-level military history. Black Edelweiss joins not only the growing body of German military memoirs, but the more select, more narrowly-focused group of personal memoirs by other Waffen-SS enlisted men. Beyond the microcosmic view of combat these books relate—to the extent that they are honest and candid—such books are important for what they can reveal about their authors’ motivations and reflections on those impulses and their consequences. To date, these works differ significantly.

As it joins the ranks of the books in this genre, Black Edelweiss makes a unique and very important contribution. It is a true, personal account of the author’s war years, first at school and then with the Waffen-SS, which he joined early in 1943 at the age of seventeen. For a year and a half, the author fought as a machine gunner in SS-Mountain Infantry Regiment 11 "Reinhard Heydrich," mainly in the arctic and sub-arctic reaches of Soviet Karelia and Finland, and later at the Western frontier of the Third Reich. The characters in the story are real, and the conversations and actions are recounted to the best of his ability from the short distance at which he wrote the manuscript in 1945–46.

Apart from the piercing insights into the question of why the German soldier fought as he did, what makes this book truly unique is the author’s anguished, yet resolute examination of the dialectic between the honorable and valorous comportment of his comrades and the fundamentally reprehensible conduct of about 35,000 men behind the front lines who nevertheless wore the same uniform.

During his captivity, the author was assigned for a time as a clerk to a US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps officer, and in the performance of his administrative duties, the author had access to the mounting reams of documentation of the Holocaust. His growing recognition of the involvement of Waffen-SS personnel in the monstrous crimes of that process caused him to dig deeply into his soul, to examine his most intimate and private motivations and thoughts, and to reevaluate the most basic assumptions of his life to that point. The author captured this process and the result in the notes which became this book.

Honestly, forthrightly, and courageously told, Black Edelweiss is a precious gift to historians and other students of World War II. It not only provides a glimpse into the attributes that made the German armed forces a formidable and tenacious foe, but squarely confronts the most painful issue facing German World War II veterans in general, and Waffen-SS veterans in particular.

Supported by 22 photos, 8 maps, and notes. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Highly Recommended - Very Personal & Different Perspective
All of the other reviews are spot on. I have read several books on World War II and this one is at the top of my list. I found it fascinating the details the author encounters vs. the overall big picture of battles and outcomes of large campaigns. I also gained more respect for the planning and professionalism that went into the smaller operations that author witnessed and took part in.

As others have mentioned it makes you realize that not all SS were fanaticals and racists. And in this author's case it was matter of joining to do something about the war and attempt to help his country.

I particularly enjoyed the author's experiences before the war, how he described his middle to upper middle class life and how nice it was. I also found the relationships, expierences, and his vivid memories he recalls about other soldiers (including his father) very interesting. I can easily imagine what it must have been like.

Its a quick read, possibly too fast. I really wish it was longer and that it was not edited down to its size (as mentioned in preface). This is definitely a highly recommended book.

Near the top in terms of German Memoirs
I have read several German memoirs - Soldat, The Forgotten Soldier, In Deadly Combat - plus several other studies of the Waffen SS, and I'd say this book ranks as good or better than any of those in terms of readability, insight, and thoughtfulness. Combat memoirs, whether American or German ("If You Survive" and "Company Commander" come to mind on the American side) can often become a series of descriptions of small unit battles that, while representing the thrust of the book, can be difficult to follow, or can have the perverse affect of stripping the humanity from the narrative. In the case of German memoirs, I have found as an English reader that the formal language in the translations can often compound that affect.

Regardless, the story in Black Edelweis, of a patriotic German who joins the Waffen SS late in the war, is outstanding at painting a picture of pre-war Germany through the eyes of the authors' family, the comradeship that held the German army, the horror as he discovers after the war the deeds of his countrymen in regard to The Holocaust, and the patriotism and pride that the author stills feels for his unit and the way he served. I would highly recommend it to students of the German side of World War II, and would recommend it as an outstanding introduction for history readers who have never read a German memoir to the genre. It is easy to read, enjoyable, and thought provoking.

Great Read
The best personal account from a German veteran of World War II that I have read.

Yeah It's Good
Good book, parts of the book are enthralling and vivid. Overall not up to 5 stars, however.

A memoir of rare value!
Black Edelweiss is a rare example of a personal WWII memoir written soon after the events (most of the draft was written while the author was a POW during 1945-46) with the emotional and historical breadth of a book written from a much greater distance of time and utilizing a variety of non-personal references. Johann Voss (a pseudonym) has put his life in the SS-Mountain Infantry Regiment 11 (given the name 'Reinhard Heydrich' in 1942) to paper in a way that the reader can truly assess the actions of a single soldier, his immediate platoon members and larger Regimental force rationally without the baggage of bias. This is not to say that the author has created a typical post-war apologetic piece that draws empathy/sympathy from the reader. Rather, Voss draws the reader along in an honest forthright story of his experiences as a loyal soldier within a larger group of comrades who, although fighting for the Hitler regime, did so with heart and passion for comrades, unit and country, but with clear chivalry (or at least as much as can fairly be expected in war) and battle fairness. It is the very nature of when this book was drafted (and little changed by the author later although published 60 odd years after being drafted) ' while the author was still feeling connection to and pride of unit ' that makes this NOT a typical Nazi apologia book. The book was however written at a time when the author was learning (second hand) about the atrocities of the Nazi regime and the SS structure more particularly, and as such the author is able to place his military experiences in perspective of the regime he served. This creates both an honest look at combat and the emotions invoked upon finding for what and whom he and friends served and died for. Emotion is raw and real in this book.

Voss starts and ends the book in third person from the POW pen, but in between weaves an engrossing story of how a young impressionable German is compelled to join an elite SS-Mountain Regiment; how this decision positively affects his life; how he survives the cold and combat of service above the Artic circle, in the Vosges Mountains, and the last days of the western Reich frontier; and how his earlier decision to join this elite group of men affected his life upon realization that his combat unit has been wholesale lumped with the SS of the Endlösung. The stories of regiment combat are visceral in content and quite rewarding. One can feel the cold, stress, fear and adrenalin of the situations.

I highly recommend this book if you want a clear and apparently unembellished, time-unbiased picture of a German combat unit in action. If you want to double your pleasure read Black Edelweiss back-to-back with another Aberjona Press production, Seven Days in January by Wolf Zoepf. This latter book deals exclusively with the SS Nord Division and it's combat both above the Artic Circle and the Lower Vosges and is pitched more from the pure combat history perspective. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1945, an American G.I. mailed home a Japanese flag. Fifty years later, his daughter unfolded the past.Growing up, Louise Steinman knew little about her father's experiences in World War II.All she knew was that the whistling teakettle was banned from the kitchen and that she was never to cry in front of him. Years later, after her parents' death, she found an old ammunition box, filled with nearly five hundred letters her father had written to her mother during the War. She also found a silk Japanese flag inscribed to Yoshio Shimizu. Who was Yoshio Shimizu and why did her father have his flag?So began Steinman's quest to return this "souvenir" to its owner, and in the process, to learn more about the war that transformed the expressive young man in those letters into the reserved father she had known.

Weaving together her father's raw, poignant letters with her own journey, Steinman presents a powerful view of how war changed one generation and shaped another. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

This Souvenir Is A Treasure
The Souvenir, written by Louise Steinman, is a must read for any serious student of World War II.Using the many letters written by her father, Private Norman Steinman, who was a member of the Twenty-fifth Division, Ms. Steinman takes us on her journey to "discover her father's war."Along the way, the author, her father, and the family of a Japanese soldier who may have crossed paths with Private Steinman teach us what the not so obvious and longer lasting costs of the war really were for the men who fought in it, and for their families, and show how for some, the war never really ended.The book is part Flags of Our Fathers and part Goodbye, Darkness and I guarantee that the reader will not be disappointed.

Impact of War Reaches Over Generations
Traditionally history book wars begin with a declaration and end with a treaty.In families the effects of war extend through generations. Steinman's treatment of the discovery of her father's "souvenir" from World War Two is a story of how an entire family was shaped by the silence of an experience her father couldn't talk about.It is a fresh and original treatment of the impact of war, one that we as a nation are only recently coming to grips with.It is also extremely relevant to understanding today's climate of global public opinion against America's declaration of preemptive war in Iraq, particularly in Europe where many people believe that war is no longer a viable instrument of "politics by other means."

The tragedy of war.
A very good emotional book about World War II.Steinman's father served in the Tropic Lightning Division of the U.S. Army fighting in northern Luzon (P.I.).Even though her father is not a casualty, he suffers the rest of his life from the effects of the war.He is hard and somewhat bitter.After his passing, Louise finds the souvenir of the war---a personal flag from a Japanese soldier.She examines the brutality of the war from both the American and Japanese perspective (Hiroshima, Nanking, P. I, Bataan).She finds the family of the soldier and returns the flag.She finds that the Japanese soldier has a human face after all.
This is a good emotional read of the effects of war, even if the war was the good war.

Required reading
I couldn't put this book down. As a veteran of the Viet Nam era, I don't like stories of war that glorify nationalism. This book artfully humanizes the overly simplistic categorization of"good" and "evil." This book should be required reading for everyhigh school student, especially of history or political science. If you have a son or daughter, you owe it to them to buy this book for their education that isn't taught in school. It is a graduation present that could help them change the world.

A Beautiful Weaving
What a great gift Louise has given us.The stories and questions that arise from the souvenirs she encounters are woven as delicately and powerfully as the silk and stationary on which the stories first appear. Permission is granted to take artifacts from one's life and examine them with tenderness, obsessiveness, and curiosity.I feel so much more compassion toward soldiers.Tim O'Brien and Michael Herr surely opened me up to their powerful confusion and passion from their Vietnam War experiences in The Things They Carry and Dispatches.But this was different.This story exposes the longing a soldier has to be with his loved ones, and the harshness of how this loving man is affected for the rest of his life. The Souvenir cuts to the core of what we lose in war from one generation to the next, and what is gained from a close examination of that loss. A beautiful tear jerker and a deep analysis. ... Read more

Book Description

A singular life often circles around a singular moment, an occasion when one's life in the world is defined forever and the emotional vocabulary set. For the extraordinary writer James Salter-recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award-this moment was contained in the fighter planes over Korea where, during his young manhood, he flew more than one hundred missions. The editors have gathered selections and photographs from a journal Salter kept during the Korean War, published here for the first time, and assembled selections from two novels, The Hunters and Cassada, and from the author's celebrated memoir, Burning the Days. As commented in a brief introduction, "It is, as a record of the day-to-day, mission-to-mission life of a young fighter pilot, a remarkable document by any standard. But it provides as well a view into the 'crucible of a writer's beginnings, like pencil studies that precede a painting, in which the essential qualities of the artist's hand are unmistakable.'" ... Read more

Book Description

When Green Beret Lieutenant James N. Rowe was captured in 1963 in Vietnam, his life became more than a matter of staying alive.

In a Vietcong POW camp, Rowe endured beri-beri, dysentery, and tropical fungus diseases. He suffered grueling psychological and physical torment. He experienced the loneliness and frustration of watching his friends die. And he struggled every day to maintain faith in himself as a soldier and in his country as it appeared to be turning against him.

His survival is testimony to the disciplined human spirit.
His story is gripping. ... Read more

Reviews (33)

This is the best book on human survival I have ever read.
When I went to work for Nick Rowe in the spring of 1987 I could not Imagine the impact he would have on my life. He was the most caring , understanding man I have ever known. Nick Rowe's courage , integrity, and will to live are beyound question. This man was truly an American HERO without question.Read the book and if you don't think the same way millions of AMERICANS think, then you are not an american. The day Col.Nick Rowe was killed by a terrorist in the Phillipines I cried like a baby, as did every man, wife and child of every Special Forces Soldier I knew. Read this book and tell me there is no pride left in the Armed Forces and I'll KISS your A??

Nick Rowe - An American Hero
Nick Rowe relates in gruesome detail his five years in captivity by the Viet Cong. His feelings of betrayal by the anti-war movement and members of our government are poignantly detailed. His faith served him well. I first read this book when I had returned from Viet Nam where I served as an advisor in the area where Nick Rowe was held captive. He was a true hero who ultimately gave his life in the service of his country in the Phillipines.

Must reading for all
I first read this book in the 1980s. It relates the experiences of Lt. Nick Rowe during the 62 month period of his captivity by the Viet Cong. These men experienced unspeakable hardship and deprivation while in captivity yet maintained their honor and resisted the Viet Cong. Readers will be especially impressed by Capt. Humberto Versace who was brutally murdered by the VC while in captivity. Versace, who was planning on becoming a Maryknoll priest, provided outstanding leadership to his fellow POWs and remained true to the principles of Duty, Honor, and Country. His fellow prisoner, Sgt. Dan Pitzer, described him best: "Rocky walked his own path. All of us did but for that guy, duty, honor, country was a way of life. He was the finest example of an officer I have known. To him it was a matter of liberty or death, the big four and nothing more. There was no other way for him. Once, Rocky told our captors that as long as he was true to God and true to himself,what was waiting for him after this life was far better than anything that could happen now. So he told them that they might as well kill him then and the re if the price of his life was getting more from him thanname, rank, and serial number.
Until his death in 1989 Nick Rowe kept up a campaign to see Versace awarded the Medal of Honor. Versace was finally awarded the MOH in 2002.

Tragic Yet Triumphant
Col. Nick Rowe's resovle to resist Marxist-Leninist indoctrination from the brutish revolutionaries that held him captive wavered many times. Yet, he never gave in. Taken captive in 1963 by VC guerillas, Rowe was held for five years in the dark emerald confines of the U Minh forest. The chief ploy that helped Rowe survive, his cover story that he was an engineer and knew nothing of military value, was blown away when leftist college students in the States betrayed US POWs by collecting information on them and informing Hanoi about their military backgrounds. (It is sobering to note that the types of individuals that delivered up their own countrymen into the hands of evil now occupy chairs in elite universities, where Marxism is the order of the day). Angered by this deception, the VC planned to hand Rowe over to the Enemy and Civilian Proselyting Section at Zone, where the decision of his living or dying could be made. The order was tantamount to a death sentence if Rowe didn't write and sign a confession. Thanks to good fortune and incredible force of will, Rowe managed to escape in his fifth year of captivity. Tragically, this American hero was gunned down in the Philippines in 1989 by communist insurgents there, betrayed this time by his own government, which knew of the danger Rowe was in but did nothing to get him out of harm's way. Five Years to Freedom is a long and detailed description of Rowe's environment, his captives, and his psychological and physical condition throughout five torturous years of captivity. Written only three years after his release, Rowe's story conjures image after image of hot, humid jungle, relentless monsoon, disease, brutality, filth, and deprivation. The triumph of Rowe's spirit is its saving grace. You won't regret buying it.

An Inspiration To Any And All
I read "Five Years to Freedom" out of sheer curiousity; I'd come across the title while browsing, and it appeared to be one of the more highly-acclaimed works of the Vietnam era.

I was totally blown away.

Nick Rowe is a once-in-a-lifetime pillar of courage. I tried to imagine myself going through everything he did and still retaining the will to survive. That's when this book really and truly, and very suddenly, became indispensibly valuable to me. Here's how (and why):

We've all been faced with challenges in our lives, both large and small. Sometimes we take on those challenges, and sometimes (for whatever reason) we choose not to. If I compare the day-to-day challenges that I face in life, along with the occasional out-of-the-ordinary bump in the road, nothing at all seems insurmountable. How can one possibly NOT have the strength and courage to fight on in ANY sitation having learned of the five-year stretch of anguish, frustration, pain and abuse that Rowe was subjected to and survived?

No comparison. We too often take for granted what we have in our daily lives, believing that that's the way it always is, always has been, and always should be for everybody. Clean water, ample food, living conditions, etc. True, this was war, but Nick Rowe had a choice: he could have quit, or he could have chosen to survive. Through his strong will and demeanor (much stronger than that of his captors), he won - and won big. There's a much bigger lesson to be learned here - think about it.........

I thought of passing this book on to someone else to read - and then decided that it must remain a permanent part of my collection, surely to be read over and over again. What an absolute, total, consummate hero this man was.

'Nuff said............. ... Read more

Book Description

Of the 350,000 American women in uniform during World War II, none instilled more hope in American GIs than Frances Slanger. In Army fatigues and helmet she splashed ashore with the first nurses to hit the Normandy beach in June 1944. Later, from a storm-whipped tent amid the thud of artillery shells, she wrote a letter to Stars and Stripes newspaper that would stir the souls of thousands of weary soldiers. Hundreds wrote heartfelt responses, praising Slanger and her fellow nurses and honoring her humility and patriotism. But Frances Slanger never got to read such praise. She was dead, killed the very next day when German troops shelled her field hospital, the first American nurse to die in Europe after the landing at Normandy.

Frances Slanger was a Jewish fruit-peddler's daughter who survived a chilling childhood in World War I-torn Poland and immigrated to America at age seven. Inspired by memories of her bitter past and a Nazi-threatened future, she defied her parents' wishes by becoming a nurse and joining the military. A woman of great integrity and courage, she was also a passionate writer and keeper of chapbooks. This is the story of her too brief life. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A Heart-Wrenching, Unforgettable Story
AMERICAN NIGHTINGALE is the breathtaking tale of an obscure Army nurse named Frances Slanger, the first woman soldier to die in World War II. Were it not for its author Bob Welch, and discerning editor Brenda Copeland at Atria, this poginant story may have succumbed to obscurity. It is the tale of a young woman who was a nobody, the daughter of a Jewish fruit peddler. Yet, in her simple duties she exemplified the American spirit. Here is a book that truly does live in one's memory long after being read. The work will hold the reader in its grip from rain-drenched beginnings in a field hospital tent on Normandy Beach, to the last page, as a ship named for the book's heroine moves out to sea--leaving in its gentle wake a reminder that no matter what small lives we may live, each of us can make a difference. Bravo Bob Welch from an avid reader and the editor-in-chief of Authorlink.com.

A treasure
In American Nightingale, Bob Welch demonstrates a capacity rare in
writers: a perceptive talent who respects history as he chronicles the
quietly profound legacy of one heroic individual who made a difference -
Frances Slanger, Army nurse. The book is a treasure because of the writer's
persistent research, his weaving of Slanger's words with his own to tell her
compelling story, and the ultimate truth that he confirms for all of us -
that war cannot and will not ever crush the unconquerable human spirit.
For me, this is one of those "Couldn't Put It Down" reads!

American Nightingale
Just as World War II army nurse Frances Slanger compared human life to a fire-that is, if there is a spark of flame left in the embers, the fire can be nursed back to health-Bob Welch has blown on the embers of her touching and inspirational story to bring it back to life sixty years after her death.

What a story of sacrifice, honor, and courage in the midst of horrific battlefield conditions! Frances Slanger, who, in some ways, felt she was destined to help her adopted country throw off the yoke of Nazi domination in the European war theatre, was an uncommon woman of valor who deserves our highest accolades. Her heroic sacrifice-she was the first woman killed in the line of duty following the D-Day invasion-was largely forgotten following the fall of Berlin. But thanks to Bob Welch, who poured thousands of dollars of his own money and three years into researching this thoughtful, well-written book, we have Frances Langer's legacy available at our fingertips.

I highly recommend American Nightingale, the story of a Jewish heroine that time nearly forgot.

Mike Yorkey
co-author of the Every Man's Battle series

New World War II Classic
Award-winning journalist and author Welch has rediscovered World War II heroine, Frances Slanger, a Jewish Polish immigrant whose story has never been fully told. Slanger overcame poverty and discrimination to become a nurse, then courageously and selflessly served her adopted country in an Army medical unit. Welch takes us with Slanger's unit from its landing with D-Day invasion forces on the Normandy beaches Normandy, across France just behind the front lines to the borders of Germany as the team provides medical care to thousands of wounded soldiers. On the night before her unit was attacked, Slanger wrote a letter to the military newspaper "Stars and Stripe", affirming her dedication to helping the wounded, expressing her admiration for the American soldier and downplaying her own contribution. The letter inspired a country hungry for signs of human goodness and triggered an outpouring of emotion at the news of her death. will bring tears to your eyes. It reminds us the true meaning of courage at a time when, again, inspiration is sorely needed.

This is American courage
Like British Army Nurse Florence Nightingale before her, and American Army Nurse Sharon Ann Lane (KIA, 312th Evac., Chu Lai, 1969, Vietnam) after her, Frances Slanger was a true heroine.

Bob Welch struck gold when a former Nursing comrade of Slanger's read one of his articles and got in touch. Previously, details about Frances Slanger had been slightly scant and it had been reported that she had been killed by an Enemy sniper. Welch gets it right in indicating that she had actually been killed during an artillery barrage.

Even by Day 3, the slowly expanding Normandy beach heads were a dangerous place to be. Despite overwhelming Allied airpower, involving thousands of combat sorties per day, the Germans were still putting up determined resistance on the ground.

Even the act of wading ashore was not without its dangers, especially given that Frances Slanger was barely five feet tall. She was one of only four nurses to land at Normandy while it was still an intensely active combat zone. Yet in spite of the mines, the snipers, the artillery exchanges and the odd air attack, Slanger and her courageous sisters pitched in immediately to help care for the endless influx of wounded.

A few months later, she became the first Army Nurse KIA of the post-Overlord campaign.

While ever America can still produce women like Frances Slanger and Sharon Ann Lane, and men like the brave young warriors that they gave their own young lives to support, the enemies of Freedom will never win.

Never.

An outstanding book. ... Read more

Book Description

In December of 1862, having read his brother's name in a casualty list, Walt Whitman rushed from Brooklyn to the war front, where he found his brother wounded but recovering. But Whitman also found there a "new world," a world dense with horror and revelation.Memoranda During the War is Whitman's testament to the anguish, heroism, and terror of the Civil War. The book consists of journal entries extending from Whitman's arrival on the front in 1862 through to the war's conclusion in 1865. Whitman details his encounters with soldiers and doctors, meditates on particular battles and on the meanings of the war for the nation, and recounts his wordless though peculiarly intimate public exchanges with President Lincoln, a man Whitman saw often on the streets of Washington and by whom he was deeply fascinated. The book offers an astounding amalgam of death portraits, anecdotes of battle, last words, messages to distant loved ones, and remarkably restrained and muted descriptions of pain, dismemberment, and dying--all of it, however grim, suffused with Whitman's undiminished enthusiasm and affection for these young soldiers. And throughout, we find Whitman laboring with heroic determination to sustain and nourish his once-ardent faith in America and American life, even as the nation unleashed unprecedented violence upon itself. The book also includes Whitman's famous speech "The Death of Abraham Lincoln," selected poems, and a letter to the parents of a deceased soldier.Edited and introduced by Peter Coviello, Memoranda During the War is a powerful portrait of a nation at war written by one of our greatest poets. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Superb additional material for Civil War Introduction
I read this book while also reading "Don't Know Much About the Civil War" and Lincoln's letters and speeches. What a wonderful view into the century that gave rise to this great one. If you are planning to cover the civil war, or even the nineteenth century in America, this would be a central piece to help modern readers understand that time. Whitman's prose style is very modern.

Like a camera into civil war hospitals and camps.
This collection of notes by Walt Whitman written during a period of time when Whitman was visiting war hospitals and camps is superb.

Whitman gives one a glimpse of the war that is photographic and poetic. Its attention to detail, and sympathetic approach must raise a lump in the throat of even the most hardend reader.

He shows you the places, the times and the players. He lets them speak their stories through his lines. Through sadness he exalts them.

This book should be a required reading for all highschool or college American History classes. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

We Will Never See Its Like Again
For years, I have studied the life and works of T. E. Lawrence. My research has lead me across the pages of hundreds of books including his own Seven Pillars of Wisdom, but the best biography and analysis of Lawrence I have yet encountered is A Prince of Our Disorder.

Dr. Mack's thorough examination and explanation of the effect of Lawrence's childhood on his adult life and mentality is brilliant. Instead of merely stating his opinions, he touches on those of other biographers as well and then proceeds to state how and why he feels they are accurate or inaccurate, providing quotes from military reports, other Lawrence books, interviews with Lawrence's relatives and friends, and Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

If you read A Prince of Our Disorder, I can almost 100% gaurantee that you will have a better understanding of Lawrence's personal role in the Hejaz Campaign and the lasting effects of his experiences in Arabia on him physically and psychologically. Thankfully, it is beautifully written, and not at all confusing.

From the moment Mack "introduces" you to Lawrence you will have a desire to learn more about him, and as Mack walks you through his troubled life, you will feel pity and awe for this untouchable man.

I think that A Prince of Our Disorder clarifies the line between the legend of the indestructable, hero-Lawrence and the lost, soul-searching man Lawrence really was.

The Best on Lawrence
In my opinion, this is the very best biography on Thomas Edward Lawrence. Brillantly written. Beautifully researched. A truly in-depth study of a very great man. Another biogragraphy, a very good one in fact, simply leaves out Lawrence's sado-masochistic proclivities when he joined the ranks after his departure with Churchill. This is the very best. And the author put such hard work into it that it is amazing. It's a masterpiece. My only criticism of this book is that the author definitely dislikes the film version of Lawrence's escapades in Arabia beacause it supposedly portrayed him as a bloodthirsty maniac. Yet in Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", he did state that we killed and killed and killed as was displayed in the movie. So, whether true or not, that's history. Nevertheless, this is and will probably be the definitive book on Lawrence. Mack put so much effort into this work that I believe this will outrank all future attempts. Very well-written. And despite Mack's pschiatric inquirie's into Lawrence's nature, they don't diminish the book in any way. So may biographies have been ruined by psychiatric interpretations. This book is not one of them. And the author writes compassionately and truthfully so that you know you would like the biographer if you met him on the street. A rare biography that is both user-friendly and very deep. A difficult task indeed. And their is ample evidence that Lawrence had sexual sado-masichistic tendencies after his torture by the Turks. The author does not dispare us of Lawrence's faults in anyway. Yet we are still left with the portrayal of a kind, compassionate, man who was indeed, selfless. A great biography about a great man.

Fresh, engaging view
I've been studying the life of Lawrence nearly all of my own 50 years, since I was thirteen. I've read and reread all I could find about him, especially his own Seven Pillars of Wisdom. How refreshing it was to read Professor Mack's excellent book which covers so much more than I'd ever found before and with surprisingly brilliant insight. A fresh look at this enigmatic figure with modern eyes and a richer understanding. A great read.

Lawrence's Interior Life
It is a commonplace to refer to T.E. Lawrence as one of the most enigmatic figures of twentieth century history. One sometimes wonders if it is his enigmatic character that continues to make him interesting, rather than what he achieved in his lifetime.

This is, as far as I know, the first attempt by a psychiatric professional to write a life of Lawrence. So much about Lawrence's personality - his illegitimacy, his craving for anonymity after the war even as he contrarily managed to worm his way into the spotlight so many times, his name change ostensibly in honor of G.B. Shaw, and probably most of all his experience at Deraa, made him an object of general interest, not to say lurid speculation. Lawrence, with his usual flair, manages to give us enough about his interior life in "Seven Pillars" to pique our interest without actually telling us anything.

While I must admit that I enjoyed the book, I must also say that I walked away from it feeling that I did not know any more about Lawrence after finishing it than I did before. The author covers a great deal of terrain, but I think that we're all not any closer to understanding Lawrence. Maybe the definitive biography is still waiting to be written. Maybe it never will be.

Revised Edition!
Includes new Afterward explaining how Lawrence was abducted by desert-savvy aliens! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

16's son
Randy sent a copy with a very personal message and signature to my mom back in the states, upon finally recieving it here in Iraq I read it cover to cover closing it only to go on mission. It brought back a lot of memories of stories my father, Charles Frazier, used to tell me about the days in Tay Nihn, Phouc Vihn and all the insanity of losing friends. Being at war myself, I really connected with a lot of the stories. It was a great book deeply personal, full of the heartache of Vietnam.

PFC Frazier, Jason J
21 M.P. (ABN)

A Must Read
Evidently, the publisher's printing press has a maximum number of pages that it can print in a book of this size. Regrettably, Randy was forced to cut major portions from the original manuscript that detailed more than the actions of a cobra pilot.

In spite of this, Randy has completed the impossible task: He has documented the details correctly, and has also caught the tone, captured the frustration, and has put into writing what it was like to be a very young cobra pilot in Charlie Troop, 1/9 Cav.

This is personal. This is a personal account; with all of the personal feelings and interactions that one is expected to have in combat. He has not blown his personal, the troop's, nor the 9th Cav's exploits out-of-proportion (like another author has), and has tried his best to describe the unit as it was.... a great Troop in the highly recognized 9th Cavalry, "doing it all like it was supposed to be done" in Nam. As such, the good and the not so good are both reported as fairly as any human being in combat can. When you are done reading his excellent book, you will no doubt have assimilated his personal feelings for what it was like to be a "Snake Pilot."

Grover Wright
Charlie Troop, 1/9 Cav
1969-1970
Snake Pilot

Remarkable Book, Remarkable Man
I have gotten to know Randy and his family because they are neighbors of our son, a U. S. Air Force pilot in Anchorage.
Randy is the real deal, as a storyteller, a helicopter pilot, a husband and father, and a loyal friend to our son and his family.
If you know Randy at all, you know he puts his heart into everything he does. This book is no exception.
It tells a story that is so gripping and so human, it could not be fiction. That said, I must add that this book is not for everyone. Do not read it unless you want to know what really happened.
It is a tough read that pulls no punches. It names names, recounts vicious combat in great detail, re-creates helicopter missions with heart-pounding veracity, and makes the reader share the confusion, grief, terror, bravery, deep and abiding friendships, vulgarity and, yes, even the humor, of Randy's year as a "snake" pilot. In short, it is unforgettable, just like its author.

Tells it like it was.
Randy arrived in RVN almost the day I left. We have friends in common. Randy captured the emotions, and day-to-day life of those of us in C/1/9. His story very much parallels a lot of us. As I was reading the book, I occasionally had to take a break to come back to the current year. His telling of his story has told the story of all of us!

Welcome Home!

Puts You in the Front Seat.
I have to admit, I don't know much about how things were during the Vietnam War...mainly because I wasn't here yet. I know things weren't good at home and worse yet overseas.

However I have the great opportunity to work with Randy and was thrilled to learn he was writing a book. When he told me about the letters and tapes his parents saved and what the book was about, I knew I had to read it.

"Snake Pilot" is a brilliant telling of what went on day-in and day-out in Randy's world while he was in Vietnam. The book is written in Randy's own words and many times I felt as though he was sitting next to me telling the story. The language easily lets you imagine what it must have been like and while the pictures in my mind can't compare to anything Randy and his comrades endured, I could see the cities, hooches, aircraft maneuvers and what it must have been like to fly over the jungle....I could also imagine what his buddies must have been like and the bonds they formed.

I can honestly say that I laughed, cried, shook my head in disbelief and cursed my way through the book. Of course, there is a waiting line in my family to read the book...so I couldn't give anything away even when I wanted to say, "listen to this!" I plan on buying this book for several people in my family who are history buffs. This gave me an amazing insight to the war in Vietnam and the adversity our soldiers faced.

Don't worry if you aren't a military buff, there is a wonderful glossary that I had to refer to time and time again. That was a genius idea!

Thank you Randy, for this glimpse into history. And although I wasn't here at the time...thank you. ... Read more

Book Description

Born to affluence and opportunity in the South's Golden Age, Mary Motte Alston Pringle (1803-1884) represented the epitome of Southern white womanhood. Her husband, William, was a wealthy rice planter who owned four plantations and 337 slaves. Her thirteen children included two Harvard scholars, seven world travelers, three socialite daughters, a U.S. Navy war hero, six Confederate soldiers, one possible Union collaborator, a Confederate firebrand trapped in the North, an expatriate bon vivant in France, and two adventuresome California pioneers.

Mary’s World illuminates in lavish detail the world and psyche of this wealthy, well-educated, highly-principled nineteenth-century Southern planter's wife.This biography was drawn directly from over 2,500 pages of Mary’s unpublished letters, journals and diaries, none of which, she could have imagined, would ever be read by strangers.Therein lies their power.

In her own words, Mary tells us about the joys, sorrows, frustrations, and terrors she and her family faced before, during, and after the Civil War.We also learn about the vastly different lifestyles, food, clothing, and experiences of their 337 slaves.Mary’s World also pays special attention to Lucretia “Cretia” Stewart, Mary’s favorite servant, Cretia’s husband, Scipio, and their free descendants, some of whom worked for Mary’s grandchildren well into the twentieth century.

Between 1861 and the Union occupation of Charleston in 1865, Mary and her husband, William, stood helpless as two sons were killed, another was driven insane, their slaves were freed, their entire social class was destroyed.Mary felt that God had forsaken her and the the Confederacy. Unable to adapt to the realities of post-war life, she and William died forlorn relics of The Lost Cause.How they, their children, and slaves lived before the Civil War, clung desperately to life in the eye of the maelstrom, and coped – or failed to cope -- with its bewildering aftermath is the story of this book. The letters and images they left behind offer priceless insights into the roots of Southern social history. ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Step back in time and make some new friends!
Mary's World is a well-written, wonderfully researched narrative of a wealthy and prominent family in nineteenth century South Carolina. The backdrop is the family's generational home, Charleston's Miles Brewton House, built in 1765, where family members wrote many of the letters used by Mr. Côté to reconstruct their lives. A chapter devoted to this historic site, now restored, plus frequent references, literally bring the reader into the Pringle home to observe the many lives that began and ended there. Mary Motte Alston Pringle (1803-1884) is the focal point of the story and the vehicle the author uses to familiarize the reader with the extended family and their various adventures. Mr. Côté draws on a rich mixture of personal letters, journals, and business and family records, plus a variety of secondary sources to piece together the lives of multiple generations and branches of this aristocratic planter family. His informed insight and objective analysis of Mary's fascinating world allows family members to speak for themselves and the reader to become virtually acquainted with them across the years. Their personal accounts reveal their lives in the antebellum South and how the Civil War affected them during and after the conflict. Interspersed throughout the book is information about their relationships with and attitudes toward their slaves before the war and the Freedmen after the war. Through this woven tapestry of emotions, beliefs, activities, customs, and culture people long dead speak again, explaining what it was like to live in their world, now long past.

The Best and Most Personal Account of Life in the Old South
I just finished reading Mary's World last night at 2:00 A.M. I couldn't put it down. I had long searched for a book that told about the actual lives of an Antebellum family. I had bought it while in Charleston, and it was my best book buy of the year!

Many other books I have read about the same topic have been good, yet they are explained as mere facts. Mary's World was indeed portrayed as if it were fiction, yet it was a true and researched account of Mary's World, an amazing glimpse into a bygone era. It was well written and very enjoyable. If I could get my hands on more books of this type, I would certainly do so. There are many books about the Old South, but none that I know of that allow such a close and personal look and feel into the real lives of those persons having lived in the years leading to, during, and after the Civil War.

There is an amazing national interest in Antebellum life told through the "voices" of those having lived during these actual times - and Cote has done a great job of sharing the true stories and lives of the Alston, Pringle, Frost, Middleton, and many other families/persons in this wonderful book.

I have studied old southern families for years, and I know a great deal about several families from Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans. The real life stories about which Cote writes in Mary's World are so fascinating that anyone reading the book will fall in love with Mary Pringle and Old Charleston.

Mr. Cote, thanks again for a most wonderful book, and please keep similar books coming.

By the way, for those of you whom read and loved Mary's World, Cote's next book about Mary Pringle's sister-in-law, Theodosia Burr Alston will be out soon.

Mary's World
What an unbelievable picture Mr. Cote' paints for readers in "Mary's World". It was one of those books that grabbed my attention and never let go. I was sorry to reach the end, as I was so enthralled with this account of Mrs. Pringles life. Details derived from personal letters, give you an account of her life from a naive & idealistic bride to an older woman, who has endured many changes and hardships. This spring I'll be visiting Charleston South Carolina and I will be anxious to see the home, and visit Gibbes Art gallery to see some of the portraits mentioned in the book. Agreeing with a previous reviewer, I believe this is the best book I've read this year and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Delightful starter on civil war history for foreigners
Apart from the reading plaesure "Mary's World" provides, I immensly enjoyed this book for the following reasons: foreign history, in this case the American Civil War history, can be daunting for outsiders. Mary's World eases the foreigner not only into the life of the Pringle family but also into history of southern plantation life years prior to the war. This circumstance greatly facilitates the amateur's understanding of the time leading up to the war and the war itself. What I particularly appreciated was the southern view of that history. Even in Switzerland we are familiar with the northern issues of industrialism vs. agriculture (prominent geographically in Europe at that time also), the slavery issue etc. Rarely do we hear about the life and thoughts of Southerners other than the great military men. The history of Mary Pringle written by Richard Cote transports you into a Charleston household in two seconds flat. It is all so lively and easy to imagine that it is hard to put down the book. I felt I knew Mary Pringle and her children! And I felt I had never learned more about the South.

Mary's World
I live on the grounds of two of the former rice plantations mentioned throughout Richard Conte's wonderful book and am in the process of writing my own book about the history of these plantations. Needless to say, I was already very familiar with the subject matter and the great Allston/Alston family when I purchased "Mary's World." But Conte's easy to read, moving style made the individuals within that family come alive for me. Even though I often visit a number of the graves of those mentioned in the book, Conte's insight has enabled me to feel even more connected to the family than I did before. I couldn't recommend "Mary's World''more highly. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A biography of Meriwether Lewis that relies heavily on the journals of both Lewis and Clark, this book is also backed up by the author's personal travels along Lewis and Clark's route to the Pacific. Ambrose is not content to simply chronicle the events of the "Corps of Discovery" as the explorers called their ventures. He often pauses to assess the military leadership of Lewis and Clark, how they negotiated with various native peoples and what they reported to Jefferson. Though the expedition failed to find Jefferson's hoped for water route to the Pacific, it fired interest among fur traders and other Americans, changing the face of the West forever. ... Read more

Reviews (281)

The Journey into History!
Ambrose's books are all excellent. Well written and expertly documented. This one is no exception. He traces the steps of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their famous journey across the wild America continent in the early 1800's. Much of his narrative is based on Lewis & Clark's own journals, but the story is told in Ambrose's indomitable style that will keep you turning the pages to the finish. You will get some special insight into the relationship between President Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and how that effected the outcome of history. The book is highly entertaining and interesting to read. Ambrose is by far on the best historical writers alive today and his work should be required reading in every classroom. As for his supposed pro-America bias, some readers claim to detect, I don't understand how that detracts from his work. That he admires the men and women, who fought for and founded our country and shows them in a fair & proper perspective, makes his accounts more creditable, not less. Read the book! It's Great.

Undaunted Reading
Ambrose does a splendid job of making the Lewis and Clark voyage come alive again for the 21st Century reader. This work provides a helpful glimpse into Jefferson and Lewis that is not often heard. Becoming familiar with this story makes one appreciate the bravery and adventurous spirit of those that went before us in America's history. The start is a little slow due to voluminous details, but once the voyage reaches St. Louis, the book keeps the reader on the edge of his seat. Ambrose's passion for Lewis and Jefferson makes the reader feel like he or she is a companion with Lewis and Clark on their expedition across the country and an advisor for Jefferson in the White House. Instead of analyzing history, Ambrose succeeds fairly well in helping us relive it. There are points where Ambrose is a bit overconfident in his explanations, but this doesn't tarnish his marvelously informative and entertaining work. Too bad Ambrose couldn't change the tragic outcome of Lewis' life at the end.

Deep / Insightful
Ambrose wrote a very complete book here. Obviously extensive, well researched, and with a good flow - this book is worth reading. My pick with this book would be it moves along a little on the slow side, but so did Lewis & Clark on this voyage.

High Points:

Descriptions & Interpretations from the original journals - superb.

Multiple points of view, Lewis, Clark, the members of the corps of discovery, native americans, etc. Ambrose brings these to life.

Intricate step by step accounts of the trip.

Improvement Points:

At times it just moves along too slowly - Ambrose could have made it a bit more concise.

Confusing ending, did Lewis commit suicide? Was he muredered, Ambroses' guesses leave something to be desired.

All in all this is a good book which should be read by any aspiring student of history.

Joseph Dworak

Underestimates the reader's imagination and memory
I was disappointed in this book, which I listened to on tape. It was terribly wordy, and took every opportunity to drum in the obvious or reiterate the dangers, deprivations, triumphs, etc. It seems to be a characteristic of popular histories to assume that the reader has no imagination and lots of time, and that fattened-up-by-repetion-or-too-much-detail is better. I did think that the information delivered was interesting and balanced. Still, the L & C expedition, as well as the lives of its participants and leaders, are interesting and inspiring enough not to need alot of commentary.

Parents Beware!
Parents, If you're looking for a good history book for your children to read, please beware.

While Ambrose credibly presents the exploits of the Corps of Discovery, he also fails to resist the modern urge to talk about their sex lives. Descriptions of the men's sexual practices with the Mandan indian women and their varied venereal diseases are offered for our enlightenment. The author also regales us with the curious sexual rituals of the Mandans, themselves. In addition, for no particularly beneficial reason, Ambrose relates to us how cold the winter was by offering us the natural consequences to one who would chooose to relieve himself out-of-doors.

Parental caution is advised. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Forgotten Intelligence Innovator
Despite its current reputation, there were times when American intelligence (meaning spying) was an unalloyed success. For many, the most interesting part of the spy business is signals intelligence, tuning into or breaking into foreign messages and decoding them. There has been signals intelligence of some sort ever since there has been international conflict, but the field took off when messages could be transmitted wirelessly. Anyone could pick up the signal, so the trick was to encode it; the counter-trick was to crack the code. Cryptographers and other spies already know and respect the name of Herbert O. Yardley. He isn't well known by others, but almost fifty years after his death, he has gotten a full, instructive biography, _The Reader of Gentleman's Mail: Herbert O. Yardley and the Birth of American Codebreaking_ (Yale University Press) by David Kahn. Kahn is the perfect teller of this tale, having written both articles for scholarly journals as well as popular books about intelligence matters. There is not a great deal of detail about the procedures of decryption, which are described only generally, but there is a unique American life here. According to Kahn, Yardley better than anyone foresaw how important cracking signals could be to American intelligence. He created the first permanent agency to intercept messages and break them. He was "the most colorful and controversial figure in American intelligence," and his controversial actions are fully included here.

Yardley came to Washington DC in 1914, working as a telegrapher in the State Department. He was fascinated by the messages that came in and out, and determined that he would give his life to cryptography. His efforts within the Army Signal Corp were effective, but more important even than the wartime accomplishments was that Yardley convinced the Army and State Department to continue signal intelligence after Armistice Day. He believed that the stream of international communications could indicate the attitudes and plans of nations who were our friends as well as our foes. He was right; his work ensured that America knew what the aims of the Japanese were at the arms limitation talks in 1921, saving the government millions of dollars and buying some years of peace. Those who thought that "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail" eventually closed his bureau down. Yardley was, at different times in his life, to make up cryptogram puzzles for magazines, to go into the invisible ink business, to write novels, to write screenplays for Hollywood, to run a restaurant, and to attempt commercial orange-juice distillation, as well as to become decoder-for-hire for Canada and China. He made a hit with his first book in 1931, The American Black Chamber, which caused immediate furor, about his government decryptions. He showed what his bureau had done, and the reading public was very much interested. He was accused of treason, but Kahn shows that Yardley was merely trying to make big money, at which he never was very successful. It was his main character flaw: "Yardley was a rotter, not a traitor."

One year before his death, Yardley published _The Education of a Poker Player_, full of anecdotes about poker games in which he had played as well as practical advice about how to win. It is regarded as a classic, and is still in print and is admired by serious gamblers and penny ante basement players. It was a good way for Yardley to bow off the world's stage, but is not his lasting monument. When it came time to start busting codes again as World War II loomed, no one had to be convinced that cryptanalysts were good sources of power. Yardley, the first American governmental cryptographer, had done his part to make America stronger through signal intelligence. He was an important and flawed figure who deserves more recognition; he has, surprisingly, had no biography written before, and Kahn's detailed and readable book will always be the definitive one on the subject. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

The Human Side of the Undersea War
The title of The Bravest Man refers to Richard O'Kane, the most successful American submarine commander in the Second World War. While this book focuses on O'Kane's wartime career on the submarines USS Wahoo and USS Tang, it also examines the careers and exploits of other successful American submarine commanders in the Pacific War. A reader might wonder why another book on O'Kane's career is necessary, given the availability of O'Kane's own book, Clear the Bridge in 1977, as well as Clay Blair's Silent Victory and Theodore Roscoe's US Submarine Operations in World War II. The justification for a new book on O'Kane is provided both by the style and the manner in which the author chooses to deliver this story. Unlike other accounts, which tend to be rather meticulous but dry, the author succeeds in painting a wartime sea saga on a vivid canvas, with the protagonist contending not only against the enemy, but the sea itself, an interfering shore-based naval bureaucracy and even defective torpedoes. In these pages, O'Kane and his peers appear as human beings, not just ciphers in a tonnage-sunk chart.

O'Kane started his rise to prominence in the submarine community while serving as executive officer under the legendary "Mush" Morton in the USS Wahoo in 1943. Morton was one of the first sub skippers to break with the over-cautious, unimaginative pre-war US submarine doctrine and embrace a more freewheeling and aggressive combat style. Tenacity was Morton's trademark, and O'Kane later adopted this mindset when he was given his own command on USS Tang. The author effectively demonstrates the deadly efficiency of the Morton - O'Kane combat team on Wahoo; the real weapon system was the well-trained and aggressive crew, not the submarine itself. After O'Kane left Wahoo for his own command on Tang, Morton's efficiency declined and he began to take more chances. In October 1943, Wahoo was lost off Japan and O'Kane's mentor was gone. However, in five patrols on USS Tang in 1944, O'Kane more than avenged the loss of Morton by sinking 27 Japanese vessels. The author details how O'Kane was innovative as well as brave, introducing efficient tactics for recovering downed US pilots at sea and daring shallow-water attack tactics. At the conclusion of his fifth patrol in October 1944, Tang was sunk off Formosa by one of its own torpedoes. O'Kane and eight of his crewmen were the only survivors and spent ten months in Japanese captivity. The final patrol of Tang is probably the best part of this book and the author details the sinking and incredible underwater escape of several crewmen in riveting detail. The brutal details of O'Kane's interrogation and captivity, which are usually not provided in other accounts, are revealed here. Interestingly, the Marine fighter pilot "Pappy" Boyington was in the same POW camp as O'Kane.

This account also addresses the torpedo malfunctions, command problems and doctrinal deficiencies that plagued the US submarine force in the first eighteen months of the Pacific War. It still seems incredible that the US Ordnance Bureau ignored repeated evidence of torpedo malfunctions for so long, and the bureaucratic obtuseness that blocked technical improvements now appears almost criminal. A divided command structure, based partly in Australia and partly in Hawaii, also degraded US combat performance. US pre-war submarine doctrine, which focused on reconnaissance for the fleet rather than independent anti-commerce warfare, was another impediment to a successful submarine campaign. However, all the technical and bureaucratic hurdles had been overcome by 1944, which is when the US submarine force achieved its greatest results.

While focusing on O'Kane, the author also examines the exploits of other top US submarine commanders in this period. These men, mostly US Naval Academy graduates, are followed at sea and ashore to give a complete picture of the special type of independent leaders that were required for this most demanding form of warfare. Unlike their surface counterparts, the US submarine skippers usually fought alone and deep inside the Japanese Empire. The author notes that fully 30% of submarine commanders were relieved in 1942 and 15% in 1943. Even good skippers suffered "burn-out" from continuous combat patrols. Furthermore, more than 20% of US submariners were lost in action, which was the highest loss rate for any combat arm. However the leaders and crews that emerged from this crucible of war, like O'Kane, Morton and Ned Beach, were top-notch. While this book offers little new in terms of operational details about submarine operations in the Pacific, it adds a vital human dimension that is often ignored in more standard accounts.

Submarine Warfare In-Depth
This is an engrossing, often riveting, account of the life of an American naval hero of World War II, but much more than that. It gives fascinating insights into the history of U.S. submarine warfare in the Pacific, including the failures of nerve suffered by some commanders and the scandals of dud torpedoes, torpedoes that turned and sank the submarines that fired them, divided commands and bureaucratic inertia in dealing with problems that cost men's lives. Much of this may be known to naval specialists but much will come as an eye-opener to the general reader. William Tuohy's graphic descriptions of submarine warfare are enhanced by his authoritative grasp of how these boats were designed and operated, making the reader feel he is viewing the action through the eyes of the crew. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in warfare and in how people react under the stresses of military conflict.

"This Shows What Really Makes A Hero"
An excellent presentation by Mr. Tuohy on all aspects of the submarine war in the Pacific, focusing on Dick O'Kane. All the people involved were brought to life, their courage, fears and worries all on display. Many of the combat scenes were well written, showing how hunting Japanese ships could turn into an all-day affair, and the frusrtation at times when torpedoes miss or malfuction. You felt the fear and the jolts of depth charge attacks, always wondering if the next one would have your name on it. I also liked how Tuohy highlighted all the problems that plagued the sub service, from malfunctioning torpedoes to inept and vain commanders, to sub skippers having to be relieved because they crack under pressure.

Dick O'Kane was not superman. He was just a dedicated guy who took his job seriously and did whatever it took to hurt the Japanese. It was also something to see how innovative O'Kane and his ilk were. When you're all alone in the middle of hostile territory, you gotta do what you can in order to survive.

All in all, a great testament to the men who sacrificed so much so we can enjoy our freedom today.

A somewhat boring testament to the greatest submariner.
This book is at least aptly titled. Richard O'Kane was one of our country's greatest and most audacious naval heros. O'Kane also authored his own, brilliantly written and unsurpassed account of the wartime patrols of the USS Tang in "Clear The Bridge!" "The Bravest Man" unfortunately pales in comparison in terms of style, readability, and suspense. Most annoying to me were the author's frequent and interruptive digressions and flashbacks from O'Kane's incredible carreer aboard Wahoo and Tang, back and forth to the more general history of the U.S. pacific submarine force, the politics of the admirals and their inept tactical mandates, other famous and not-so-famous boats and crews, O'Kane's years as a midshipman at Annapolis, etc. Most of this just distracted me from the book's central portrayal of O'Kane as "the bravest man." I also noticed that some sentences were copied and sprinkled throughout the book, making the same point, as if the author didn't remember having made them before. This is definitely not Pulitzer Prize material, in my opinion. My recomendation is to put this submarine book at the bottom of your list, and instead buy O'Kane's own "Clear The Bridge!", in my opinion the best written, most authentic, most audacious, most suspenseful, can't-put-it-down submarine book I have ever read.

The Bravest Man!
I have read the books on the Wahoo, and the Tang. I saw this book