A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Book Description

My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?”
“Because there is a war.”
“You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?”
“Yes, all the time.”
“Cool.”
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.”
“Yes, sometime.”

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.

In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.

This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.

Customer Reviews:

Enlightening........2007-10-03

I think this is a wonderful book, so moving and beautifully written that you wonder how a person can manage to lead a "normal" life after experiencing what he has been through. The author tells the story matter-of-factly without whining or complaining about the hand he's been dealt. Because of this, it makes the story even more impressive.

Not just a good read, a book that enlightens is a must-read.

Fantastic book. Recommend for all ages!.......2007-10-02

This book is truly amazing. It is almost unbelievable to read about the lives of people like Ishmael, but it's true, and it's happening today. Yes, in some parts it is certainly hard to read, but it's worth it. It is better to be shocked and scarred by this book than ignorant to it. Ishmael is a wonderfully optimistic person, and I think we can all learn a lot from his courage. In his own words, Ishmael is not an expert on the history of Sierra Lione, but by putting a face and name to this story, you will still learn a lot from him! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

Easy to read, hard to digest.......2007-10-02

I read this book on my flight to D.C. a couple of months ago. It was probably the fastest I have ever read a book. It was very easy to understand and painted an incredibly vivid picture in my mind. The content is important and the way Beah wrote his story makes it accessible to all.

Painful but Poignant.......2007-09-27

This book is not for the fainthearted who wants a feel good story; this is tough book to read, however, it is an important book to read as well. So often us here in the west are isolated from the fact that there are tough places to live on this planet, places where people are forced to do unspeakable acts and are exposed to unimaginable acts of violence.
This book takes on the voyage of a young man named Ishmael, who lived in the war torn country of Sierra Leone. His life is completely turned upside down by the civil war in that country. Ishmaels story is first a story of losing his family, than of losing his innocence as he is forced to fight for the Countries Army that's fighting the "rebels". After that the story focuses on his rehabilitation in a place called Freetown and eventually his new life in the United States (although I would like to know more about how he is today).
The most amazing part of this story as an American who simply didn't understand the truth, is that this Ishmael was 12 years old and was killing people, not because he was an animal, but because he was drugged and forced to become one merely to survive. This is a concept that as westerners we look on and go oh that's too bad, but do we really take the time to understand that this happens all the time in the same world we live in? Do we take the time to understand that there is big world out there and for the most part it isn't that safe little havens we take for granted? I challenge anyone who reads this book to be able to look at the world the same again.

A must read.......2007-09-26

This book is very graphic in its detail of events. It will put you right there on the front line and in the eyes of danger. I felt as though I was there experiencing all that he had. Then again I could never imagine experiencing all that he did. Its a touching story that will bring back to reality on the issues that have been going on for ages.

Average customer rating:

France and the French during the German Occupation-a portrait, not a snapshot
Not Up to the Hype
Enjoyable and Interesting
A magnificent, tragic fragment.
A taste of things to come

Suite Française
Irene Nemirovsky
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

French | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1400044731
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Book Description

By the early l940s, when Ukrainian-born Irène Némirovsky began working on what would become Suite Française—the first two parts of a planned five-part novel—she was already a highly successful writer living in Paris. But she was also a Jew, and in 1942 she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz: a month later she was dead at the age of thirty-nine. Two years earlier, living in a small village in central France—where she, her husband, and their two small daughters had fled in a vain attempt to elude the Nazis —she’d begun her novel, a luminous portrayal of a human drama in which she herself would become a victim. When she was arrested, she had completed two parts of the epic, the handwritten manuscripts of which were hidden in a suitcase that her daughters would take with them into hiding and eventually into freedom. Sixty-four years later, at long last, we can read Némirovsky’s literary masterpiece

The first part, “A Storm in June,” opens in the chaos of the massive 1940 exodus from Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion during which several families and individuals are thrown together under circumstances beyond their control. They share nothing but the harsh demands of survival—some trying to maintain lives of privilege, others struggling simply to preserve their lives—but soon, all together, they will be forced to face the awful exigencies of physical and emotional displacement, and the annihilation of the world they know. In the second part, “Dolce,” we enter the increasingly complex life of a German-occupied provincial village. Coexisting uneasily with the soldiers billeted among them, the villagers—from aristocrats to shopkeepers to peasants—cope as best they can. Some choose resistance, others collaboration, and as their community is transformed by these acts, the lives of these these men and women reveal nothing less than the very essence of humanity.

Suite Française is a singularly piercing evocation—at once subtle and severe, deeply compassionate and fiercely ironic—of life and death in occupied France, and a brilliant, profoundly moving work of art.

Download Description

Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903 into a wealthy banking family and emigrated to France during the Russian Revolution. After attending the Sorbonne, she began to write and swiftly achieved success with her first novel, David Golder, which was followed by The Ball, The Flies of Autumn, Dogs and Wolves and The Courilof Affair. She died in 1942.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

France and the French during the German Occupation-a portrait, not a snapshot.......2007-10-10

Irene Nemirovsky-a superb author. Her historical novel is well written, well conceived, and ceretainly presents a true and real picture of France and the French people during the German Occupation. The world lost a wonderful woman of letters when she was murdered at Auschwitz.

Not Up to the Hype.......2007-10-06

I really wanted to like this book. I read it after reading Vasily Grossman's LIFE AND FATE, a masterpiece of WW2 literature if there ever was one. And maybe it was the juxtaposition of that book with this that caused my disappointment. Where Grossman's book at 800 pages is taut and serious throughout, Nemirovsky's seems trivial by comparision. Had it been published soon after it was written, it would have been considered an interesting popular novel containing interesting observations of occupied France but ultimately lightweight in its' often pedestrian storyline and execution. It often reads like a mass paperback romance set within the larger context of the war, and too often devolves into hackneyed popular novel tropes - the cowardess and duplicities of the moneyed classes set against the native nobility of the poor, love amidst the ruins of war etc.

Interesting light reading, but a "classic?" Sorry.

Enjoyable and Interesting.......2007-10-05

A really enjoyable read and extremely interesting. It was such a good book! Highly recommend. The ending leaves you trailing though...

A magnificent, tragic fragment........2007-09-29

Irene Nemirovsky's "Suite Francaise" will stand with "The Diary of Anne Frank" as one of the most poignant literary monuments of World War II and the insanity of the Holocaust. But whereas Anne Frank was a young girl whose hopes and dreams ended forever at Belsen, Irene Nemirovsky was a novelist of enormous talent who would have been recognized as one of the greatest European writers of the 20th century had her life not been extinguished at Auschwitz. Considering all she suffered during the war, and how she was murdered in the very middle of it, it is amazing that Nemrovsky completed as much of it as she did, and that what she completed is of such a high order. "Suite Francaise" consists of the first two parts of a projected five-part novel depicting the fall of France to the Nazis, the panicked flight of Parisians and the return to something vaguely resembling normalcy under German military rule. The first section, "Storm in June," gives readers a panoramic view of several groups of fleeing Parisians, representing every class of society and every conceivable moral and mental attitude; the second, "Dolce," depicts life in a French village under the Germans, bringing back some of the characters from the first book and making it plain that Nemirovsky planned to reintroduce more of them in the following three books. Superbly translated by Sandra Smith, "Suite Francaise" is a swift and graceful read, depicting the characters and action with breathtaking clarity and excitement. Many of the characters are presented only in a few sentences, yet all live and breathe with total realism. What is really astonishing about "Suite Francaise," however, is Nemirovsky's authorial impartiality and clear-eyed sympathy for all her characters. There are no saints and no monsters in Nemirovsky's universe, just people--some more likable than others, but even the most despicable among them are given sharp moments of deep and moving humanity. Even the Germans are human--they have their faults, but also their virtues. To be able to write such panoramic fiction in the midst of war, with such a detached and pragmatic yet sympathetic eye, is truly amazing, even more so from an author who rightly feared she would be arrested and deported to the death camps at any moment. A Russian-Jewish emigree to France who moved in the highest literary and societal circles, Nemirovsky was an exceptionally keen observer of the French class system and how it warps individuals, in that sense (and in others) the equal of Balzac, Flaubert and Proust. The argument in Chapter 16 of "Dolce" between the snobbish, sickly-sentimental Vicomtesse de Montmort and the brutish peasant Benoit Sabarie stands out: both are sympathetic, as people and as representatives of their social classes, and both are utterly despicable. Nemirovsky sums up their fight neatly: "What separates or unites people is not their language, their laws, their customs, their principles, but the way they hold a salad fork." This argument has repercussions that promise to ripple across the rest of the story, except that Nemirovsky, alas, never had a chance to show us how. Appendices to the book include Nemirovsky's copious notes on how she planned to continue the story; correspondence to, from, and about her; and the preface to the French addition, included as an afterword here, which tells the poignant story of Nemirovsky's life and death, and of how Nemirovsky's daughter discovered the manuscript of "Suite Francaise" more than sixty years after her mother's death. "Suite Francaise" is a magnificent fragment and an eternal testimonial to the genius of its author. We can only mourn that the book, like her life, will remain unfinished.

A taste of things to come.......2007-09-26

It's a known fact that this work has gotten much attention due to the circumstances that surrounded Irene Nemirovsky's life. Left in a suitcase as she attempted flight, the author found her demise at the hands of the Nazis before this manuscript could be published.

Who knows what she might have added or excluded or expanded? And I could not help but think this as I read along.

There are two novellas under one umbrella here--depicting day in the life scenes of how things were in these troublesome times. I certainly found this to be gratifying reading, but it did not take me out of myself in that complete way I enjoy when I read truly remarkable fiction.

Will recommend, but for a story that brought me to that special place of compelling fiction, I recommend the lesser-known, SIM0N LAZARUS, a book more should know about.

The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family

Average customer rating:

Thanks
Long Road Home is a quick read.
PHENOMENAL
'Long Road Home' - remarkable view of War on Terror
Simply excellent

The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family
Martha Raddatz
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

ASIN: 0399153829
Release Date: 2007-03-01

Book Description

From ABC White House correspondent Martha Raddatz, the story of a brutal forty-eight-hour firefight that conveys in harrowing detail the effects of war not just on the soldiers but also on the families waiting back at home.

In April 2004, soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division were on a routine patrol in Sadr City, Iraq, when they came under surprise attack. Over the course of the next forty-eight hours, 8 Americans would be killed and more than 70 wounded. Back home, as news of the attack began filtering in, the families of these same men, neighbors in Fort Hood, Texas, feared the worst. In time, some of the women in their circle would receive "the call"-the notification that a husband or brother had been killed in action. So the families banded together in anticipation of the heartbreak that was certain to come.

The firefight in Sadr City marked the beginning of the Iraqi insurgency, and Martha Raddatz has written perhaps the most riveting account of hand-to-hand combat to emerge from the war in Iraq. This intimate portrait of the close-knit community of families Stateside-the unsung heroes of the military -distinguishes The Long Road Home from other stories of modern warfare, showing the horror, terror, bravery, and fortitude not just of the soldiers who were wounded and killed but also of the wives and children whose lives now are forever changed.

Customer Reviews:

Thanks .......2007-09-29

Thank you i got the book today and have read a little bit of it .. it got here before i thought it would so thank you

Long Road Home is a quick read........2007-09-24

Martha Raddatz does a good job of making you experience an episode in Iraq from the viewpoint of the soldiers. She lets them tell the story. Perhaps it would have been good to include more of her viewpoint or some corollary material but it is fine book as it is written and portrays an important story in this horrible war.

PHENOMENAL.......2007-09-20

I don't ever write reviews on here but this is one of the best books I've ever read. Written from many different points of views between Iraq and the United States, it pulls you in and makes you want to keep reading. I have told all of my family and friends (and a few random people in the bookstore) they must read this book. it truely is phenomenal and makes me cry and support the soldiers and their families so much.

'Long Road Home' - remarkable view of War on Terror .......2007-09-03

The 'Long Road Home' captures a side to the War on Terror that Americans, or anyone for that matter, rarely glimpse.

Author and journalist Martha Raddatz takes us into the hearts and minds of some of America's sons (and their families) on one of the toughest days in modern military history. We witness a 'from top to bottom' look at how Soldiers, from the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, respond in a series of deadly desperate circumstances - outmanned, outgunned and surrounded. The day - 4 April 2004, aptly became known as Black Sunday - in Iraq.

This is one of those rare insights, through the eyes of those who fought and died ...those who fought and lived ...and those who still fight each day with their demons. Martha Raddatz honored the Soldiers and families of the 1st Cavalry in this deeply moving record of what happened one day in April 2004.

Clearly, she takes the story telling to a higher plain. She's not one to embrace low-hanging fruit of political ax-grinding and blame-game antics. She keeps faith, in writing this book, with the valor of the Soldiers and families she introduces to us.

A harrowing war story, it is also filled with indelible marks of hope, conviction, compassion, determination and courage. Our family was deeply and forever affected by the events of this day of days. 'The Long Road Homes' signature is the telling of many Soldier's experiences - among them, my own son, Corporal Loren Haller.

Simply excellent.......2007-08-24

This is a wonderfully written and compelling book about a fierce battle in Sadr City, Iraq. One of the best war-time books I've ever read.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Average customer rating:

Great guy gift.
the way the world was eaten
Incredible Alternate History Story!
Great Book - Serious Topic
"World War Z"

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Max Brooks
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0307346609
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Book Description

“The end was near.” —Voices from the Zombie War

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.

Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war

“I found ‘Patient Zero’ behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he’d rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was ‘cursed.’ I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy’s skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse.” —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China

“‘Shock and Awe’? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can’t be shocked and awed? Not just won’t, but biologically can’t! That’s what happened that day outside New York City, that’s the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn’t shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They’re not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!” —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers

“Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth.” —General Travis D’Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

Customer Reviews:

Great guy gift........2007-10-09

I bought this book for my boyfriend, (a zombie lover) and he says it's a great book for guys like him. It's written very well a very interesting read, unlike any other book you'll buy.

the way the world was eaten.......2007-10-02

Brad Pitt's production company has bought the rights to this book but how he plans on doing the individual stories justice I don't know. This book impressed the hell outta me. It was so well done in the mock-u-mentary style that it had me planning on boarding up the windows if I ever saw someone even slightly limping thru my yard! It had great ideas if you have your zombie survival kit ready and at hand just waiting for the zed's to rise.

Incredible Alternate History Story! .......2007-10-01

I must begin this review by saying, I had no idea what to expect when I picked this book up!! It was recommeded to me by a friend, that knew I'm a sucker for a good zombie story! The subtitle of this book is "An Oral History of the Zombie War". And that's exactly the way it's written. A few years after the Zombie World War, a UN postwar Commission Report was written. The author (unnamed) was upset because the report he submitted was not the report that was presented. All the "human" element was removed. This book is a compilation of that human factor. Divided into sections detailing different aspects of the war, the author gives us a look at what happened through interviews with survivors. We learn a little about the initial outbreak of the Zombie epidemic that started in China and spread rapidly worldwide. We hear horror stories from survivors of the "great panic", and what each had to do in order to be telling the tale today. We learn about different countries and how they chose to turn the tide of the war. And we learn about heroes worldwide and how they stepped up to help their fellow man survive an attack like the world has never seen.

It's hard to review this book, because there are no central characters, no plot lines, no big finishes. It is written as if it is a documentary, detailing events and people all the way down to little footnotes of "historical" fact. And it is indeed chilling. Early on, I had expected this to be a funny book, taking a stab at the paranormal genre. What else would you expect from the son of Mel Brooks, but something of a parody?? World War Z isn't like that at all. It is a well-thought-out and carefully plotted book, that goes into such detail, it's hard to believe World War Z is just fiction!! Each little "interview" tells it's own little story, and Brooks ties them up nicely in his presentation. Not too much drama, but just the facts. Brooks also throws in a lot of political references in how he perceives the world would change if such a catastrophe occurred. Can you imagine a world in which Cuba is the new commerce capital? And yet, he does it so smoothly and believably, it's really hard to see it as fiction! Kudos to Brooks for such a unique and down-right fascinating book!! If there ever IS a Zombie epidemic, I know who's doorstep I'm going to show up on!! Max Brooks can lead us to Victory!!

Great Book - Serious Topic.......2007-09-27

For those of you thinking this will be a tongue in cheek ironic laugh of a book, let me tell you that this is not the case. It is writen in a serious, insightful and journalistic style, perfect for the topic. He has great ideas about how all this might take place, and there are some truly moving parts of this book, as well as the horrible and violent. Do you like end of the world scenarios? Grab this book!

"World War Z".......2007-09-27

The road to zombies is, evidently, a more slippery slope than I'd realized. Recently, I was in a Hamilton-Gibson ten-minute piece in which I played a dead person. The character opposite me was a bloody dead guy. At the opening night party, several of us got to laughing about how there just aren't enough plays where an actor gets to be a bloody dead guy. How we need some quality theater written about zombies. Imagine the witty dialogue-- Zombie #1: Mmmnnnggghhh! Zombie #2: Gnnrrrrrrr! There's some quality literature! Ha ha ha ha ha ....

Who knew how soon I would have to eat those sarcastic words (better than eating flesh, giggle-snort). On September 6, Max Brooks published his novel World War Z. "Z" in this case, is short for "Zombie". I started reading it soon after, thinking it'd be funny. I mean, zombie movies are mostly pretty cheesy, right?

I've never seen Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", or any of the films that followed. Certainly, I've read my share of Stephen King, and watched my share of slasher flicks. As a teen, I have to being somewhat scared by Freddie Kruger. But I was never a Goth girl, never into Anne Rice, and only watched "Resident Evil" because my boyfriend at the time had played the video game and wanted to see the film.

I picked up this novel because I thought it ironic to have just been joking about "zombie literature", and because I like survival stories. There are two post-apocalyptic, society-is-utterly-changed-by-sudden-catastrophe books that moved me and stayed with me over time. One is Stephen King's novel, The Stand (and for goodness' sake, read the book; don't see the mediocre movie!). The other was Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka's War Day. Both amazing stories came from sources I'd not expected. Third time's a charm, I guess.

World War Z surprised me. The writing grabbed me, and not the cheesy way a ghoulish hand from under the bed grabs the stupid heroine in a horror movie. I found the structure of the novel intriguing: Brooks shares the story of World War Z by "interviewing" the survivors ten years after "the Crisis" has passed. The interviewees are people who were, at the time, doctors, children, government officials, military grunts, cyberpunks, pilots, gardeners at fancy international resorts. They are Americans, Chinese, Russian, Mexican, Korean, British, French, Australian. While this style of storytelling is not completely original, it is compelling. I stopped chortling about reading about zombies (of all things! not serious literature, of course!), and started hearing what Max Brooks understands about humanity - as a whole, and as individuals.

I thought he had some profound insights about resilience and depravity, about the bald cruelty of survival tactics and the ridiculous amount of luxury we think of as necessity. Most of all, as someone who has fought my own version of life-or-death demons, I really agreed with what Brooks says about hope. Pick the book up yourself, and see if you don't find it hard to put down. Max Brooks may be a bit odd - he is the son of Mel Brooks, the director of many tongue-in-cheek films - but the writing here hits many issues right on the head. That's the only way to kill the undead, or the critics, if you can tell them apart.

Author of "Hobo Finds A Home" and Editor of "Of A Predatory Heart"

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Average customer rating:

Educational book
Not what I expected, but
Clear & Interesting narrative of a difficult and complex period
Myth History and Real History
Teaches you something not learned in elementary school.

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
Nathaniel Philbrick
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Team of Rivals
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ASIN: 0670037605

Book Description

From the bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea—winner of the National Book Award—the startling story of the Plymouth Colony

From the perilous ocean crossing to the shared bounty of the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrim settlement of New England has become enshrined as our most sacred national myth. Yet, as bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick reveals in his spellbinding new book, the true story of the Pilgrims is much more than the well-known tale of piety and sacrifice; it is a fifty-five-year epic that is at once tragic, heroic, exhilarating, and profound.

The Mayflower's religious refugees arrived in Plymouth Harbor during a period of crisis for Native Americans as disease spread by European fishermen devastated their populations. Initially the two groups—the Wampanoags, under the charismatic and calculating chief Massasoit, and the Pilgrims, whose pugnacious military officer Miles Standish was barely five feet tall—maintained a fragile working relationship. But within decades, New England would erupt into King Philip's War, a savagely bloody conflict that nearly wiped out English colonists and natives alike and forever altered the face of the fledgling colonies and the country that would grow from them.

With towering figures like William Bradford and the distinctly American hero Benjamin Church at the center of his narrative, Philbrick has fashioned a fresh and compelling portrait of the dawn of American history—a history dominated right from the start by issues of race, violence, and religion.

Customer Reviews:

Educational book.......2007-09-26

This is a very informative, accurate writing of our history. More people should read and know the real history of our country.

Not what I expected, but.......2007-09-16

the book was still a captivating piece of literature. I read this directly after reading In the Heart of the Sea by Philbrick, and was expecting the same type of story. That was not the case however. The title is a bit misleading in that one thinks they are going to be reading (or at least I did) a story of the journey. The subtitle should have cued me in. The book is about the struggle between the settlers and the natives more so than it is about the voyage to the new world. All that being said, I still loved the book. I gave the book four stars because I wish there was more about the actual voyage, and I think the title is a little misleading. All in all though, it is a superb piece of literature.

Clear & Interesting narrative of a difficult and complex period.......2007-09-13

There really aren't very many good, recent books about the early years in Massachusetts. This is an exceptional treatment...very engaging and clear. The number of Indian tribes, the various Pilgrims, Puritans, etc. can be a real mess to understand. And of course, there is usually a biased or pointed perspective you have to deal with. Philbrick has genuine regard for the good on both the English side and the various Indian sides and heartfelt disdain for the vicious and stupid acts on both sides that caused this war and ultimately turned it into a 14 month blood bath throughout New England. Makes me want to do some real research here in my New Hampshire home town.

Myth History and Real History.......2007-09-13

Every American teen should read this book. Myth-busting, rich in suggestion and detail, comprehensively researched. The defining text for this country's first sixty years.

Teaches you something not learned in elementary school........2007-09-12

Would have preferred more maps, a Summary timeline of key events and Summary of all key individuals, especially relationships of all the Indian tribes and geographical locations. Occasionally the skipping around between times is a little confusing. But, the index is helpful.

Map of Southern New England and New York during King Philip's War should be brought forward to "Kindling the Flame Chapter," so that the battles could be followed with the map.

Mayflower: September 6, 1620 to November 9, 620 (65 day voyage)
102 members is cut to 50 by spring of 1620)

William Bradford (- 1657) - Leader, Wife falls off the Mayflower upon the arrival.
Christopher Jones - Mayflower Captain returns to England April 5 - May 6 1621
Pastor John Robinson ( - 1625) - Left in England influences Mayflower Compact
Miles Standish ( - 1656) - Strict/Brutal Military Captain for pilgrims, which laid the base of strength for the pilgrims position amongst the Indians
Thomas Weston & the Merchant Adventurers - Investment backers of the mayflower - Finally paid off in 1648. First payment lost to the French

King Philip's War
Josiah Winslow, Plymouth Leader
Mary Rowlandson, he Sovereignty & Goodness of God (Feb 10, 1676)
Captain Samuel Moseley, Massachusetts Bay most ferocious Indian fighter. The only good Indian is a dead Indian
Benjamin Church, Key military leader during the King Philip War, style opposite of Moseley
Treat the enemy like a human being
Learn as much as possible from the enemy
Bring the enemy to your way of thinking
Loyal Indians: Mohegans, Pequots, Niantic (subset of the Narragansetts)
Tri-axis: Nipmuck-Narragansett-Pokanoket
King Philip, Son of Massasoit (Pokanokets) King Philip's War 1675 - 1676
Killed in battle, quartered, head is placed as a fixture at Plymouth for over 2 decades; hand is a showcase through New England

July 1675: Pease Field Fight
Sept 3, 1675: Richard Beers Ambush 21 of 35 killed
Sept 1675: Bloody Brook, Captain Thomas Lathrop 57 of 65 killed, Moseley joins battle and saved by arrival of Major Robert Treat and friendly Mohegans
Dec 1675: Jireh Bull's Garrison 15 killed
Dec 19, 1675: Great Swamp fight Winslow, Church (injured) and Moseley and Pequots and Mohegans against the Narragansetts: Critical battle injuring the Narranansetts. Fort built by the Narrangansetts destroyed. Defensive stance questions the involvement o the Narranansetts in the war.
March 1676: Clark's Garrison Massacre
March 1676: Pierce's Massacre
April 9, 1676: Canonchet killed, beheaded, quartered and burned, Charismatic leader of the Narragansett with Philip
July 1676: King Philip's death: Church and his men. Caleb Cook and Pocasset named Alderman

Times called for brutal discipline. Fighting against odds of weather, food, Indians and other Europeans.
Similarities to "Praying Indians" & Japanese internment camp
1863 Abraham Lincoln officially established Thanksgiving

Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America's Most Secret Special Operations Team

Average customer rating:

infsoldier0441
Not worth the effort
Good stuff about S.F
Inside story
Fairly Interesting

Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America's Most Secret Special Operations Team
Michael Smith
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror
Roughneck Nine-One: The Extraordinary Story of a Special Forces A-team at War

ASIN: 0312362722
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

A top-secret U.S. Army Special Operations unit has been running covert missions all over the world, from leading death squads to the hideout of drug baron Pablo Escobar to assassinating key al Qaeda members, including Iraqi leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and, in one of their greatest missions, capturing Saddam Hussein. 'The Activity," as it became known to insiders, has achieved near-mythical status, even among the world's Special Operations elite. Now journalist Michael Smith gets inside this clandestine military team to expose their explosive history and secrets.

The Activity’s story begins with the abortive attempt to rescue the American hostages from Iran in 1980. One of the main reasons Operation Eagle Claw failed was a chronic lack of intel on the ground, so in January 1981, U.S. military chiefs set up the “Intelligence Support Activity,” a cover name for a secret army surveillance team that could operate undercover anywhere in the world. Hidden from the politicians and the government bean counters, it would carry out deniable operations preparing the way for Delta and SEAL Team Six.

Michael Smith has spoken to many former members of the Activity, and we follow them on operations from the war on the drug barons that led Colombian "death squads" to the hideouts of Pablo Escobar and his men. We learn of more recent missions, including snatching war criminals from their safe houses in the Balkans (at one time disguising themselves as French soldiers to lull a Serb warlord into a false sense of security), and operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. Killer Elite reveals the incredible truth behind the world's most secret Special Operations organization, a unit that is at the forefront of the War on Terror.

Customer Reviews:

infsoldier0441.......2007-08-29

I found this book to be a great read. To me this book went into great detail about the "behind the scenes" aspects. From reading many other books related to the Global War Terrorism, mainly dealing with the special forces aspect, I was able to "tie all of their stories together". This book fills in many blanks in military operations in the Tier 1 arena, as well as exposing you to a small group of absolute professionals. This book also holds nothing back in revealing how unglamorous and non-Hollywood Special Forces and the military in general are. I highly recomend this book to anyone interested in this little known area of the Department of Defense.

Not worth the effort.......2007-08-21

I tend to be someone who likes to utilize my time effectively. Even when reading for entertainment, as was the case when I bought this book. Unfortunately, it was more a lesson in the inner political battle that ensued about Special Operation Forces and their leaders. I more than once got a taste of Smith's views on the Iraq war, especially when he talks about why we went into Iraq, which had absolutely noting to do with the topic of the book. You can probably guess he painted a picture of, "there was no good reason to go into Iraq." Same liberal nonsense the media pushes on us everyday.

The only reason he is getting two stars and not one is for the few interesting pages that actually talk about operations. Otherwise a complete waste of time.

Good stuff about S.F.......2007-08-19

This is a book well worth reading if the subject of today's Special Forces and selectively targeting badguy's interests you. Much of what the highly secretive 'Army of Northern Virginia' has been doing for the past 3 decades is revealed here. If you are someone interested in the above subject. I would also recommend: The Phoenix and the Birds of Prey, The Hunt for The Engineer and the book: Striking back.

Inside story.......2007-07-24

I was enlightened and enjoyed the book. Easy reading but somewhat disturbing to find that our countries political and military leadership cannot mak timely decisions that are able to insure national security.

Fairly Interesting.......2007-07-16

This book on the ISA had some new info, but mostly material I have read in other places. A pretty good book overall. I found some chronological mistakes, but I find more and more that this is commonplace in these kinds of books that must expound on historical events; so much for the editor doing his job. I liked it and would recommend it to others who want to know how the U S Govt is handling the more touchy military ops. These (ISA) are the guys you never read or hear about unless someone writes about them. This is the book for that.

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

Average customer rating:

A good historic fiction read
Powerful
One of the best books I've ever read
A different view.
Spartan Ethos Alive Again

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
Steven Pressfield
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

War | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

300
Tides of War
The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
The Spartans: The World of the Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece
Thermopylae: The Battle for the West

ASIN: 0553580531
Release Date: 1999-08-31

Amazon.com

Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.

Thus reads an ancient stone at Thermopylae in northern Greece, the site of one of the world's greatest battles for freedom. Here, in 480 B.C., on a narrow mountain pass above the crystalline Aegean, 300 Spartan knights and their allies faced the massive forces of Xerxes, King of Persia. From the start, there was no question but that the Spartans would perish. In Gates of Fire, however, Steven Pressfield makes their courageous defense--and eventual extinction--unbearably suspenseful.

In the tradition of Mary Renault, this historical novel unfolds in flashback. Xeo, the sole Spartan survivor of Thermopylae, has been captured by the Persians, and Xerxes himself presses his young captive to reveal how his tiny cohort kept more than 100,000 Persians at bay for a week. Xeo, however, begins at the beginning, when his childhood home in northern Greece was overrun and he escaped to Sparta. There he is drafted into the elite Spartan guard and rigorously schooled in the art of war--an education brutal enough to destroy half the students, but (oddly enough) not without humor: "The more miserable the conditions, the more convulsing the jokes became, or at least that's how it seems," Xeo recalls. His companions in arms are Alexandros, a gentle boy who turns out to be the most courageous of all, and Rooster, an angry, half-Messenian youth.

Pressfield's descriptions of war are breathtaking in their immediacy. They are also meticulously assembled out of physical detail and crisp, uncluttered metaphor:

The forerank of the enemy collapsed immediately as the first shock hit it; the body-length shields seemed to implode rearward, their anchoring spikes rooted slinging from the earth like tent pins in a gale. The forerank archers were literally bowled off their feet, their wall-like shields caving in upon them like fortress redoubts under the assault of the ram.... The valor of the individual Medes was beyond question, but their light hacking blades were harmless as toys; against the massed wall of Spartan armor, they might as well have been defending themselves with reeds or fennel stalks.

Alas, even this human barrier was bound to collapse, as we knew all along it would. "War is work, not mystery," Xeo laments. But Pressfield's epic seems to make the opposite argument: courage on this scale is not merely inspiring but ultimately mysterious. --Marianne Painter

Book Description

The national bestseller!

At Thermopylae, a rocky mountain pass in northern Greece, the feared and admired Spartan soldiers stood three hundred strong. Theirs was a suicide mission, to hold the pass against the invading millions of the mighty Persian army.

Day after bloody day they withstood the terrible onslaught, buying time for the Greeks to rally their forces. Born into a cult of spiritual courage, physical endurance, and unmatched battle skill, the Spartans would be remembered for the greatest military stand in history--one that would not end until the rocks were awash with blood, leaving only one gravely injured Spartan squire to tell the tale....

Customer Reviews:

A good historic fiction read.......2007-10-09

If you enjoy this time era and especially The Spartans, you will not go wrong with this book.

Powerful.......2007-10-01

I don't read much fiction, but a friend of mine bought this book for me. I read it and was impressed by how well written this historical fiction is. Anyone interested in warfare, modern or ancient, should look into this book. Pressfield gives such an authentic account of how Spartans would have acted on a day-to-day basis.

One of the best books I've ever read.......2007-09-25

This book is absolutely amazing. One of the best reads ever. Not only does it describe the battle but it also details the life of a Spartan. I wish 300 was based on the story presented here

A different view........2007-09-21

The story of the 300 is generally limited in scope. "The Spartans had 300 guys who fought to the death to keep the Persians out."
Pressfield gives us the background. He tells us about the politics, the geopolitics, the war, the characters such as Leonidas and his wife. He has vignettes in the words of Spartan warriors.
With Pressfield, we can see the stand of the 300 in its place. I was reminded of something the aviator/writer Wolfgang Langweische said half a century ago. Boulder Dam, he said, is enormous. But when you fly over it, it's in its proper place, like a child jamming a pebble in the narrowest part of a trickle of water. Which, when you think about it, is what is supposed to happen.
Circumstances conspired to put 300 Spartans and several hundred of their tough allies in a tiny mountain pass. They were the pebble, but instead of blocking a trickle, they were trying to hold back a torrent.
Pressfield has Leonidas say that the performance of the Spartans in killing Persians should be such that, although victorious, the Persians will quail at seeing a battle line containing not 300 Spartan shields, but six thousand.
Pressfield gives us glimpses of training new soldiers and the field work of the experienced soldiers. His characters refer to the more or less normal fights between the city states, with enough detail and immediacy to put the reader into the fight.
We learn a lot about classical Greek combat.

It's a fabulous story. The stand of the 300 was very likely one of the few battles which could be said to have preserved the West, matched with Tours and Lepanto.

And yet. And yet. Pressfield has the Spartans nearly as philosopher kings. See, instead, Hanson's "Soul of Battle". The Spartan society was a vicious, fascist slave empire. It was as if a couple of Waffen SS divisions had found themselves a big, fertile valley in the Ukraine someplace and missed the end of WW II, being left untouched and unknown by the outside world.

The demands of war and the bonding of the combat units, in addition to the classical Greek view of man-love, required the distortion of the family and the degradation of women. The necessity of keeping the helots in thrall required routine terror and, indeed, the young Spartan was used to execute those serfs whose deaths might be a salutary lesson, just in case, as a way of blooding the youth for combat.

Vlad the Impaler fought the Turks in Southeast Europe and to him, unfortunately, we owe a bit of our existence. The same is true for the Spartans. It's too bad we couldn't get this lesson of courage and honor from, say, the democracy of Athens. It appears that some of the doomed allies of the Spartans who stood with them, and died alike, came from somewhat more acceptable polities. But they didn't get the ink.

Nevertheless, it's a fascinating book which actually is one of those examples of the cliche about not being able to put it down.

Spartan Ethos Alive Again.......2007-09-17

This is one of the best historical fictions I have ever encountered--certainly one of the best evocations of ancient warfare. Without the benefit of personal experience of either subject, ancient warfare or warfare of any kind, I would also guess that this novel is one of the most insightful anaylses of the psychology of combat. This book is an impressive achievement of the imagination. Steven Pressfield has re-discovered or re-created the Spartan ethos in terms of what it surely was in its time--a spiritual force. And he does it without disguising it origins in a slave revolt and a deliberate policy to crush the resistance of its Helot population. From those ugly and life-denying origins, a way of life--an ethic of sorts and a vision of essentials--emerged and took on a life of its own. Appropriately, this novel is about personal transformations under the aegis of that way of life.

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying the Barriers That Turn Colleagues Into Competitors

Average customer rating:

Silos,Poltics and Truf wars
The value of having a common definition of Performance
Another Lencioni classic
Silos, Politics and Turf Wars
Quick Read, Great Message

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying the Barriers That Turn Colleagues Into Competitors
Patrick M. Lencioni
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Organizational Behavior | Business Management | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable
The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable

ASIN: 0787976385

Book Description

As with his other books, Lencioni writes Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars as a fictional—but eerily realistic—story. The story is about Jude Cousins, an eager young management consultant struggling to launch his practice by solving one of the more universal and frustrating problems faced by his clients. Through trial and error, he develops a simple yet ground-breaking approach for helping them transform confusion and infighting into clarity and alignment.

Download Description

In yet another page-turner, New York Times best-selling author and acclaimed management expert Patrick Lencioni addresses the costly and maddening issue of silos, the barriers that create organizational politics. Silos devastate organizations, kill productivity, push good people out the door, and jeopardize the achievement of corporate goals. As with his other books, Lencioni writes Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars as a fictional but eerily realistic story. The story is about Jude Cousins, an eager young management consultant struggling to launch his practice by solving one of the more universal and frustrating problems faced by his clients. Through trial and error, he develops a simple yet ground-breaking approach for helping them transform confusion and infighting into clarity and alignment.

Customer Reviews:

Silos,Poltics and Truf wars.......2007-10-05

Not your average Business book... Put in a story form so the reader is not bored with dry material... You need to look close to get the learning facts... A very good book would recomment to anyone with deparment disagrements...

The value of having a common definition of Performance.......2007-08-22

A short, well written, story about a most common business problem - lack of or differing definitions of performance by the senior leadership team. Using a common complaint heard within most businesses - the performance damage done by "silos" between departments, divisions, units, or whatever you call any internal enterprise - Author and consultant Patrick Lencioni again uses the popular business narrative format to show how the lack of a common definition of performance within the leadership team (even when they like each other and want to be a strong leadership team) will cause the organization to be pulled apart and under perform. He then goes on to solve the problem by getting the team to agree a singular, near-term problem they need to solve (thematic goal) and are willing to unit behind.

Although one can question if this condition can be solved in a two-hour meeting, as the hero of the story does; Lencioni's solution components - the thematic goal, a set of defining objectives, a set of ongoing standard operating objectives, and subsequent metrics - is a concept with practical merit. As with most business narratives, the single theme skips over the many other real-life business issues, making the solution seem more powerful and easier to implement than business reality often allows. The story does, however, identify a very real problem of leadership team members each defining performance from their individual perspectives and provides the beginning of the solution. The book is recommended for leadership teams.

Another Lencioni classic.......2007-08-14

Lencioni has written a very good fable that depicts the typical "silos" or turf wars that take place in any organization. Using several different case scenarios, Lencioni does a great job in describing the subtleties of turf wars and places the blame square at the top of the organization. (The ground troops are simply doing their jobs as described for them by their bosses.)

The answer to the turf war, according to Lencioni, is a thematic goal. This is not to be confuse with a vision statement or a BHAG (big fat hairy goal), as Porras and Collins describe. But it is more than strategic goals and objectives. I must admit, this was a new concept for me and I'm not quite sure of the concept even after reading Lencioni's concept.

Lencioni clearly states that a thematic goal does not exclude the need to develop a good, functioning executive team (cf. Dysfunctions of Teams). Indeed, good executive teams are a priority for Lencioni. But contends that even well functioning teams with good personal relationships will sometimes have organizational/structural weaknesses that allow "silos" or turf wars to develop.

Overall, Lencioni has written a very readable book that clearly describes the problem of politics among divisions in an organization. But the concept of a "thematic goal" (as opposed to organizational vision) is still a bit vague to me -- but it is clearly not to be dismissed.

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars.......2007-07-23

This book was reader friendly, very easy to navigate, and it was interesting and informative.I have used it as an educational tool.

Quick Read, Great Message.......2007-07-22

Told as a "story", this book has tremendous lessons for any company dealing with Silos in their organization

On Call In Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story

Average customer rating:

But Enough About Me...
Mediocre at best
You are there in the Minds and Hearts.
A Jewel of a Novel
On Call In Hell by Cdr. Richard Jadick

On Call In Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story
Cdr. Richard Jadick , and Thomas Hayden
Manufacturer: NAL Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Iraq | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family
A Doctor Looks at War: My Year in Iraq
We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder With the Marines Who Took Fallujah
My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

ASIN: 0451220536

Book Description

A riveting memoir from the Navy doctor praised as "Hero, M.D." on the cover of Newsweek.

Cdr. Richard Jadick's story is one of the most extraordinary to come out of the war in Iraq. At thirty-eight, the last place the Navy doctor was expected to be was on the front lines. He was too old to be called up, but not too old to volunteer. In November 2004, with the military reeling from an acute doctor shortage, Jadick chose to accompany the First Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment (the "1/8") to Iraq. During the Battle of Fallujah, Jadick and his team worked tirelessly and courageously around the clock to save their troops in the worst street fighting Americans had faced since Vietnam. It is estimated that without Jadick at the front, the Marines would have lost an additional thirty men. Of the hundreds of men he treated, only one died after reaching a hospital. This is the inspiring story of his decision to enter into the fray, a fascinating glimpse into wartime triage, and a compelling account of courage under fire.

Customer Reviews:

But Enough About Me..........2007-09-20

Having read the compelling Newsweek article that became the catalyst for the book, I was expecting much more than what was finally produced. As another reviewer mentioned, too much of the book was spent on CDR Jadick's personal history and trite stories about everyday life downrange. (Though the latrine story was pretty doggone funny...)
Perhaps it's difficult to produce a tome about one aspect of one battle - but others have managed. Those who have, however, are usually historians and not docs.
A bad book review should be understood for what it is. A book review. This is not a criticism of the author's valor or medical skill, which is worthy of every accolade that's been bestowed.

Mediocre at best.......2007-08-16

Does not deserve to share a shelf with medical accomplishments such as Atul Gawande's Better or Complications. The book is filled with trite sentences and tainted with the robotic marine mentality. Slow and reads like you yourself are in hell.

You are there in the Minds and Hearts........2007-07-16

Feel the heat, taste the dust, squint in the sun while horror is delivered to you on the hour.

A Jewel of a Novel.......2007-07-01

having been in the Navy I found this book a fine read. His explanation of the Marine/Navy world was perfect. Corpmen are always highly respected by all. Beyond that it shows the great men and women and their beliefs toward our wonderful country. Soemtimes when we see the faults by politicians and others and we wonder how we will make it as a country all we have to do is look toward the fine men and women that serve us and our country. Let our hearts go out and let us in the future be ready to help them in all they will need.

On Call In Hell by Cdr. Richard Jadick.......2007-06-25

The book was riveting...hard to put down. I read it in two days, mainly because I wanted to experience what Marines and Navy Corpsmen experience in combat, and I certainly did and then some. My son's heroic rescue on Thanksgiving Day, 2004 was clearly documented, as was his death in combat the next day. Kudos to the corpsmen who literally go through the gates of hell to rescue a wounded Marine!

From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava

Average customer rating:

The War Told from a Soldiers Eyes
Great Story
Heartwarming & Outstanding
Much better than expected
Semper Fi

From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava
Jay Kopelman , and Melinda Roth
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Essays | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump: And Other Life Lessons I Learned from Dogs
A Good Dog: The Story of Orson, Who Changed My Life
The Dogs Who Found Me: What I've Learned from Pets Who Were Left Behind
A Three Dog Life
Dog Heroes of September 11th: A Tribute to America's Search and Rescue Dogs

ASIN: 1592289800

Amazon.com

In From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava, Jay Kopelman tells a story that is both tender and thought-provoking--candidly portraying the ugly conditions in wartime Iraq, while also describing his (and his fellow Marines') growing attachment to a scruffy stray puppy.

Here Jay Kopelman answers a few questions about his aspirations as a writer, and the effect his book has had on readers.

Questions for Jay Kopelman

Amazon.com: Before you met Lava and had this experience smuggling him out of Iraq, did you ever have ambitions to write a book?

Jay Kopelman: Yes, I'd considered writing a book previously and have started--but not finished--a novel. Not surprisingly, it's a military murder mystery. And I'm still hoping to get it published. I've also been offered a deal by my publisher to write another book. So I guess I'm now officially an author.

Amazon.com: How has the military responded to it given that you broke a number of rules during your adventure with Lava?

Jay Kopelman: I've actually not had any real feedback from the military establishment. In fact, mostly I only get the good-natured ribbing from my contemporaries about how much money I'll make or about who will play me in the movie. When the story first broke a year and a half ago, one of the generals jokingly asked me for an autograph, and I've given the previous commanding general for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force a signed galley. So, thus far, there's been nothing "official" to which I've had to respond. We'll see what happens now that the book is released and there's going to be a media blitz surrounding the book. What you have to remember, though, is that I really didn't use military assets to get Lava home. Nor did I ever endanger anyone in the military while doing so.

Amazon.com: In the book, you say that you would like it if it can bring hope to people who've lost loved ones in Iraq by showing them how something positive can come out of a brutal situation. Have you heard from people that your book has made them feel better?

Jay Kopelman: I've not yet heard from anyone who's lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan, but I have heard from a counselor who works with the returning Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, who said she finds the story so very positive and helpful. She's planning to come to the book signing there. I also got an e-mail from a Marine who said that while her unit was in Iraq, they adopted a puppy and tried to bring it home, but he was ultimately put down. She says that the Marines "remember how Charlie the dog helped us. Charlie will always be loved. During a time when we were far from home that dog made us smile." So, I suppose Lava's story does help people remember and gives them hope. I've also heard from people who appreciate my candor describing the conditions in Iraq.

td>

Customer Reviews:

The War Told from a Soldiers Eyes.......2007-09-26

From Baghdad with love is the story of an American soldier in Iraq who finds a puppy. It is the story of he stayed sane, and what the right thing is to do. I bought this book so that I could get a human perspective on the war. I wanted to know what a man viewed as a killing machine thought of a puppy. This is what in essence what I got. The book gives a great story about the war that is not totally depressing. There are some points where you might get a little sad, but the general mood is much more upbeat. One complaint I have about the author style is that is goes from depressing chapters to happy chapters (and vise versa) with very poor transitions. The book does a decent amount of humor, but it is definitely not used in excess. The author does a great job of using just of humor to keep the mood light, but also not using so much that you feel like their making the war into a comedy. One observation I have to make is that although Jay Kopelman is seems a little sad talking about his experiences, but he does not have an extremely negative outlook. Also at some points he may get angry, he does not seem like an angry person. The book does a great job at keeping the story seem personal, but not making it feel to close to home. With many situations in the war the authors do not pussyfoot around the tough subjects. From Baghdad with Love is close to the perfect length. It has a little too short of an epilogue, and there are some things that I wish they would have elaborated on. In many of these situations they can not do this because it would put the people from Iraq that helped them in danger. I really loved in the book when the photographs, but they were in the wrong spot of the book. It belonged in the back with the epilogue. I wonder how much of the story is actually written by Jay Kopelman and how much is written by Melinda Roth. This is a truly interesting story of a war that is important for Americans to understand.

Great Story.......2007-09-11

I thought this book was great. The way this marine and other fellow marines were able to bond with this puppy during the war was heart felt. Not only did the book describe the struggles to bring this dog back to the US despite military regulations, the book also described some struggles of marines being in the war itself. What an amazing book. I highly recommend it.

Heartwarming & Outstanding.......2007-09-06

The love shown to Lava is uplifting. Jay Kopelman and the Marines are to be commended for their kind hearts. I am so happy that Lava did not become a fatality of the war. If you are a dog lover. You must read this book.

Much better than expected.......2007-08-27

I expected this book to be just a nice story, but it is full of hard facts and details of the circumstances in Iraq. It was much more informative than I expected, and gives the reader a feeling for what our guys and gals are going through, and how they must turn their emotions off and on at the drop of a hat. The author also does a good job of not getting up on any soapboxes, for either side politically. Highly recommend it!

Semper Fi.......2007-08-26

It is an awesome book about a US Marine who finds a puppy in Baghdad and gets it back to the states. Lots of military jargen and details of firefights... almost makes me miss the Marine Corps---almost

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