Kevin Bishop

Informative and Halarious!

Revisado: 06-07-24

How do you teach political dynamics and social mores of an ancient culture? With lots of sex and somebody getting stabbed in the end! That's good history!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Deep historical currents

Revisado: 06-02-24

Applebaum weaves together the psychological and sociological truths that a segment of the population will never be comfortable with social evolution, and, there will always be politicians who will fan fears and use mass media to gain power they could never achieve through merit.

Representative government and institutions of checks & balances are not naturally occurring, they were created by thoughtful people and need to be guarded from people who know those institutions stand between them and power. On a statue plinth in front of the National Archives is written "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Freedom."

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Navy memoir that reads like an infantryman's

Revisado: 04-16-24

Thankfully missing the bluster of some memoirs, Keresey gives the clear recollection of small boat combat and service in the South Pacific. As a PT commander he combines the visceral experience of the time and place, the weight of responsibility for others, and decision making with limited information. Keresey does not go off chasing a narrative of the wider war, he keeps us on the decks of a few boats in the forward area where the war was fought by very human beings.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Sweeping historiography

Revisado: 03-03-24

Only a master of the subject could craft such a comprehensive review. Evens' review of the leading works on the Third Reich is a review of the major themes of the subject, a review of the historical interpretations of those themes, and literary criticism. Evens succeeds on all counts. Although Evens can be a pointed critic, it is also made clear that the works reviewed are the best in the field. 'The Third Reich in History and Memory' is a reminder that the most valuable aspect of studying history is not creating an impressive pile of data or cultivating nostalgia, it is investgating the dynamics of an evolving humanity.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Required Historical Perspective

Revisado: 08-31-23

Tuchman keeps to an American perspective as the title implies. Building on a biography of Stillwell as a framework, the Sino-Japanese War is seen as a front in the worldwide American allocation of World War 2 resources. Keeping to the American perspective, it is not a full history of the Chinese efforts in the war. That said, Tuchman paints a vivid picture of Chaing Kai-Shek thought Stillwell's eyes, brash, direct American eyes. This work shows Stillwell did not have Eisenhower's diplomatic skills, but neither was Chaing Kai-Shek like Churchill. Tuchman's narrative lays out an incredible culture clash and clash of strategic goals that prefigure American confusion and disappointment in the ensuing Chinese Civil War.

Pam Ward's narration is excellent, very clear with inflection, not theatrical.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Struggle for maturity and humanity

Revisado: 06-21-23

Wok's book is about character, hgh character, low character, character rising to the occasion, character failing to rise to the occasion, and that character is both built over time and through experience, more insight than epiphany. Covering much more ground that the movie, which was great, the book is more tightly focused on Willie Keith, the little Ivy League rich boy, who's immaturity and snobbery are broken by hard reality.

Don't let the dated language throw you off. Beyond the stereotyped regional accents, there is the voice of rarefied East Coast high society intellectuals that that hasn't been heard in American society since William F Buckley jr. or Guy Vidal. But it did exist, re-watch Philadelphia Story.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Lacks the personal touch of a memoir

Revisado: 08-05-22

Like other memoirs of the Battle of the Atlantic, shows that the U-boat war was a campaign, not a quick one-and-done affair. Gives more attention to the arrival of aircraft over the mid-ocean than other works. Lacks the personal touch of a memoir, no names. The human experience and cost is not deeply felt. Ending comments show the impact of a retired senior officer writing with policymakers in mind, and begs the question of how much that influenced the entire narrative.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Modern study in stoicism

Revisado: 06-06-22

Montserrat's fictionalized war memoir evokes a viseral experience of being in a small ship, on a large ocean, in war, over time.
Montserrat's use of the word cruel in the title is very appropriate. The sea is cruel, the enemy is cruel, the impersonal machinery of war is cruel, witnessing physical brutality is cruel, remaining stoic to preserve people's comfortable ignorance is a cruelty.
Montserrat show how more than glory, patriotism, or high ideals, some basic ideas hold society together in hard times, like: 'it needs to be done and we are the ones here.'

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Too many mispronunciations.

Revisado: 05-08-22

locations, Navy terms, just too many pronunciations. OOD, Officer of the Dock? Names of Pacific Islands.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent

Revisado: 02-03-21

Excellent history and analysis, and very enjoyable story telling. Narration is clear and modulates well to emphasize the flow of the narrative.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona