An outstanding book. Exceptionally well written—no nonsense, no extraneous jabberwocky, no political twists—just the facts presented in a sterile, compelling narrative. O’Reilly strips the Holy Grail sheen off Ronald Reagan and renders him an ordinary human being—much as the rest of us with all our frailties. At times, Reagan was petty, angry, vindictive, chapfallen, humdrum, and […]
Category Archives: 20th Century Topics
BOOK REVIEW: The Mexican Revolution: A Short History 1910-1920 by Stuart Easterling
Easterling makes a reasonable clarification of the chaos of the Mexican Revolution—as he says “…ten years of social conflict, deprivation, and bloody warfare.” He skims through the ten-year revolution with seminal characters in this petite book as: Profirio Diaz (1839-1915). Dictator of Mexico from 1884 to 1911. Overthrown by Gustavo Madero (1875-19130. President 1911 to […]
BOOK REVIEW: Steve Canyon, Volume 1955 to 1956 by Milton Caniff
I opened the cover of this tome with eager anticipation—to read and view another of Caniff’s boffo comic-strip stories about the rousing adventures of the heroic Lieutenant Colonel Steven B. Canyon, USAF. Alas! I was disappointed. I found that Caniff’s stories in this volume had plots that are incongruous to the Steve Canyon mystic, and […]
BOOK REVIEW: Prelude to the First World War, the Balkan Wars 1912-1913 by E. R. Hooton
Hooton explores the complexities of the two Balkan Wars with a surgical analysis–two important, little known, wars that were the prelude to the Great War in 1914. He earns a sincere congratulation for his in depth research. His statistics are overwhelming–so overwhelming that the reader is inundated with details that after a time becloud the […]
BOOK REVIEW: A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902 by David J. Silbey
Silbey tells an intriguing and detailed tale of one of America’s little known and critically important conflicts that led to our acquisition of Guam, The Philippines, and Puerto Rico and other islands in the Caribbean. His writing style is engaging and engenders empathy for the aficionado. We easily follow the campaign through the mountains and […]
BOOK REVIEW: I Could Never Be So Lucky Again by Lieutenant General James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, US Army Air Corps, (ret.)
I Could Never Be So Lucky Again is the autobiography of one of the United States’ great heroes: Lieutenant General James (Jimmy) H. Doolittle—aviation pioneer, and Doctor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the Massachusetts of Technology. After the First World War, he became one of America’s top racing aviators. He won the Schneider Marine Cup, […]
The Doolittle Raid
Today is the 73rd anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and five other Japanese cities—one of the most audacious, brilliant, and important actions of World War II. Background. In a surprise maneuver, aircraft from the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked Pearl Harbor on Sunday, 7 December 1941 that destroyed the our Navy’s battle fleet. Fortunately, […]
Film Review: The Woman in Gold
Details. Released April 2015. Orion Pictures. Actors: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Donald Bruke, Kate Holmes, Mana Altman. Director, Simon Curtis. Writers: Alexi Kaye Campbell. Background. During the Anschluss of 1938, Nazi Germany overthrew the government of Austria. Following, the Austrian and German Nazis looted Jewish possessions: art, jewelry, furs, and silver, anything of value. Synopsis. […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Spanish Civil War by Gabriele Ranzato
Ranzato presents us with a pocketsize, summary of the political machinations of the various fighting-factions during the 1936 to 1939 Spanish Civil War. In large measure, he skips the military campaign. Permeating the conflict was the chaos of vacillating loyalties, conflicting interests of the various factions, and the telling influence of the military involvement of […]
BOOK REVIEW: A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912 by Charles Stephenson
I’m conflicted reviewing this book. Stephenson reports the chronologic events of this war in exceptional detail. Unfortunately, it’s dull, and tedious—lacks an empathetic milieu. It’s hard reading for the ordinary citizen. Perhaps it is best as a reference book for the military historian. This war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire early […]