Beetle: The Life of General Walter Bedell Smith (American Warriors Series)

Beetle: The Life of General Walter Bedell Smith (American Warriors Series) Review

Beetle: The Life of General Walter Bedell Smith (American Warriors Series) Overview

A valued adviser and trusted insider in the highest echelon of U.S. military and political leaders, General Walter Bedell Smith began his public service career of more than forty years at age sixteen, when he joined the Indiana National Guard. His bulldog tenacity earned him an opportunity to work with General George C. Marshall in 1941, playing an essential role in forming the offices of the Combined and Joint Chiefs of Staff; and after his appointment as chief of staff to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1942, Smith took a central part in planning and orchestrating the major Allied operations of World War II in Europe. Among his many duties, Smith negotiated and signed the surrenders of the Italian and German armed forces on May 7, 1945.

Smith's postwar career included service as the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and undersecretary of state. Despite his contributions to twentieth-century American military and diplomatic history, the life and work of Smith have largely gone unappreciated. In Beetle: The Life of General Walter Bedell Smith, D. K. R. Crosswell offers the first full-length biography of the general, including insights into his close relationships with Marshall and Eisenhower.

Meticulously researched and long overdue, Beetle sheds new light on Eisenhower as supreme commander and the campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and Europe. Beetle is the fascinating history of a soldier, diplomat, and intelligence chief who played a central role in many decisions that altered mid-twentieth-century American history.

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Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work (The Toni Morrison Lecture Series)

Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work (The Toni Morrison Lecture Series) Review

"In this deeply personal book, the celebrated Haitian American writer Edwidge Danticat reflects on art and exile, examining what it means to be an immigrant artist from a country in crisis. Inspired by Albert Camus lecture Create Dangerously, and combining memoir and essay, Danticat tells the stories of artists, including herself who create despite or because of, the horrors that drove them from their homelands and that continue to haunt them."

The above is from the inside flap and truly captures what this book is about. Danticat opens with the 1964 public execution in Haiti, under dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier of two artist, Marcel Numa, Louis Drouin. The author quickly establishes that some artist risk their lives to create and speak in a hostile environment. This work addresses the role immigrant artist must play for their birth countries that suffer from censorship and unjust rule. We learn about many Haitian artist. Some who gave hope and inspiration, others who were exiled or murdered. Danticat tells us about Jean Dominque, a journalist who spent his life speaking out against the government and was assassinated. Sharing stories and memories, Danticat makes Dominque real.

"During the dictatorship in the early 1960's, a young Jean had created a cinema club, hosting weekly screenings at the Alliance Francaise in Port-au-Prince. There he showed films such as Federico Fellini's La Strada, which is, among other things, about a girl's near enslavement as a circus performer. "If you see a good film correctly" Jean said, "the grammar of that film is a political act. Everytime you see Fellini's La Strada, even if there is no question of fascism, of politcal persecution, you feel something against the black part of life." Another favorite of his was the Alian Resnais documentary Night and Fog, which describes the horrors of concentration camps. "To us, Auschwitz was Fort Dimanche," he said, referring to the Duvalier-era dungeonlike prison where thousands of Haitians were tortured and killed."

Danticat's writing is inviting, beautiful and honest. At times I felt the author shared more then she probably thought she would. Create Dangerously is a very powerful read

Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work (The Toni Morrison Lecture Series) Feature

• ISBN13: 9780691140186
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work (The Toni Morrison Lecture Series) Overview

"Create dangerously, for people who read dangerously. This is what I've always thought it meant to be a writer. Writing, knowing in part that no matter how trivial your words may seem, someday, somewhere, someone may risk his or her life to read them."--Create Dangerously

In this deeply personal book, the celebrated Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat reflects on art and exile, examining what it means to be an immigrant artist from a country in crisis. Inspired by Albert Camus' lecture, "Create Dangerously," and combining memoir and essay, Danticat tells the stories of artists, including herself, who create despite, or because of, the horrors that drove them from their homelands and that continue to haunt them. Danticat eulogizes an aunt who guarded her family's homestead in the Haitian countryside, a cousin who died of AIDS while living in Miami as an undocumented alien, and a renowned Haitian radio journalist whose political assassination shocked the world. Danticat writes about the Haitian novelists she first read as a girl at the Brooklyn Public Library, a woman mutilated in a machete attack who became a public witness against torture, and the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and other artists of Haitian descent. Danticat also suggests that the aftermaths of natural disasters in Haiti and the United States reveal that the countries are not as different as many Americans might like to believe.

Create Dangerously is an eloquent and moving expression of Danticat's belief that immigrant artists are obliged to bear witness when their countries of origin are suffering from violence, oppression, poverty, and tragedy.

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Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J. T. Stepanek and Heartsongs (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series)

Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J. T. Stepanek and Heartsongs (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) Review

I recently had the pleasure of discussing this book, and Jeni's son Mattie's first book, Journey Through Heartsongs on a TV segment I do on books that matter. I felt both needed to be featured to get the full impact of the story Jeni tells of her remarkable son's life. At first I found it difficult to read Messenger because I kept getting caught up in the 'seeing' the hospital scenes. Then I realized that was because the book was so well written. I relaxed into it, and was able to take away so much. Most of all this book sets the stage for why Jeni -- a mother who did not lose one child but all four of her children -- is devoting her life to carrying on the work Mattie started. Jeni is trying to teach teens to be global peacemakers just like Mattie. She is taking up where his work left off. Focusing the legacy of his work on the eternal age group of his peers seems to be pure inspiration. In 14 years, Mattie succeed in living with a termainal disease and found a way to touch the world with a message of meaning and hope. He succeed in setting and achieving goals even as his body fought to take him out of the game. He succeed in creating so much love that this message is being kept alive not just in a book but as a program of compassion in action. Messenger allows you to understand just how impossible all Mattie did really was -- and yet allows you to understand just how heJourney Through Heartsongs did it. Thank you, Jeni for a great book. Peace, Andrea T. Goeglein, [...]

Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J. T. Stepanek and Heartsongs (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) Feature

• ISBN13: 9781410421814
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J. T. Stepanek and Heartsongs (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) Overview

The moving tribute to the young man Oprah Winfrey called "an inspiration"-told by the woman who raised him.

Mattie Stepanek's Heartsongs books were a phenomenon. Not only did they hit the bestseller lists, but the books-and Mattie himself- were a source of inspiration to many, and brought him major recognition. Jimmy Carter described young Mattie Stepanek as "the most remarkable person I have ever known."

In Messenger, Jeni Stepanek shares the inspiring story of her son's life. Mattie was born with a rare disorder called Dysautonomic Mitochondrial Myopathy, and Jeni was advised to institutionalize him. Instead, she nurtured a child who transformed his hardships into a worldwide message of peace and hope. Though Mattie suffered through his disease, his mother's disabilities, and the loss of his three older siblings, he never abandoned his positive spirit. His Heartsong- the word he used to describe a person's inner self-spread a philosophy that peace begins with an attitude and can spread to the entire world.

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From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series)

From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) Review

A heartwarming look at wartime humanity

"From Baghdad, With Love" is the story of U.S. Marine Jay Kopelman and his struggle to rescue a five-week-old stray puppy named "Lava" from the wartorn streets of Fallujah, Iraq. The story is nothing short of heartwarming, especially if you're a dog person like myself. Kopelman is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Hawaiin First Battalion, Third Marines who call themselves the "Lava Dogs.". In addition to the rescue of the young pup Kopelman does an excellent job of providing brief descriptions of the war and how it affects those in and around it. Even though he's still on active active duty, Kopelman provides an eeriely realistic and accurate view of the turmoils of war faced on a daily basis. Lava, who was most likely left behind when people fled the city upon the invasion/liberation is found in a compound used to house U.S. Marines. Even though General Order 1-A very strongly prohibits pets or mascots, Kopelman decides Lava's life is worth saving.

"General Order 1-A is taken pretty seriously by the military. No pets allowed. That's because they've invested a lot of time and money into trashing your moral clarity, and they don't want anything like compassion messing things up. Your job is to shoot the enemy, period, and if anything close to compassion rears its ugly head, you better shoot that down, too, or you're in some deep, scary s**t."

Here are my thoughts on this simple yet brilliantly touching story;


Pros

+ Deeply moving story. The author, a marine, presents his true feelings of love for the puppy Lava. It was very refreshing to see this human side of emotion during a war from a soldier trained to kill.

+ Depictions of war, while brief, pulled no punches in their presentation.

+ Book taught me several things regarding military protocol and the war in Iraq.

+ Beautiful cover art and photos within.


Cons

- Too short! I wanted to know more about Lava and his happy life today!

- Some choppy writing and editing. The author often used the word "like" which made him sound a bit more "valley girl" and less marine.


Having rescued a dog from an abusive home myself, I found this book impossible to put down. The story was engaging, Kopelman's love for Lava was beautifully portrayed and his drive to rescue him from the war was extremely touching. Some people have criticized the author for spending effort rescuing a dog when he should have been rescuing people. I completely disagree. His love for Lava and his securing his safety knew no bounds. I never felt at any point in the book that the author was neglecting his duties as a Marine and focusing too much on an animal. And in Kopelman's own words;

"Why wasn't my time spent helping people instead of a puppy?" asks Kopelman. "I don't know and I don't care, but at least I saved something."

I couldn't agree more. I would be proud to shake Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman's hand for what he did for his country and for lovable Lava.

From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) Overview

A war memoir that will capture the hearts of its readers, just as one scruffy puppy sneaked his way into the hearts of hardened Marines just when they needed it most.

From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) Specifications

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.

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Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series

Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series Review

Chekhov's Plays by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Chekhov's "The Three Sisters", "The Sea-Gull", "Uncle Vanya" are my favorite plays. The translations are brilliant. Great ebook overall.

Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series Overview

The last few years have seen a large and generally unsystematic
mass of translations from the Russian flung at the heads and hearts
of English readers. The ready acceptance of Chekhov has been one of
the few successful features of this irresponsible output. He has
been welcomed by British critics with something like affection.
Bernard Shaw has several times remarked: "Every time I see a play
by Chekhov, I want to chuck all my own stuff into the fire."
Others, having no such valuable property to sacrifice on the altar
of Chekhov, have not hesitated to place him side by side with
Ibsen, and the other established institutions of the new theatre.
For these reasons it is pleasant to be able to chronicle the fact
that, by way of contrast with the casual treatment normally handed
out to Russian authors, the publishers are issuing the complete
dramatic works of this author. In 1912 they brought out a volume
containing four Chekhov plays, translated by Marian Fell. All the
dramatic works not included in her volume are to be found in the
present one. With the exception of Chekhov's masterpiece

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The Real Benjamin Franklin (American Classic Series)

The Real Benjamin Franklin (American Classic Series) Review

Excellent - Couldn't Put It Down. I was afraid it would be boring but it wasn't. My 14 yr. old son also read and enjoyed it. I finished this several months ago and have gone back and re-read various sections. The reference section and Writings section are a huge bonus as well. I would recommend this book for the casual reader as well as for advanced study. check out The Real Thomas Jefferson (American Classic Series) and The Real George Washington (American Classic Series) as well.

The Real Benjamin Franklin (American Classic Series) Feature

• ISBN13: 9780880800013
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

The Real Benjamin Franklin (American Classic Series) Overview

The Real Benjamin Franklin: The True Story of America's Greatest Diplomat. There are many Benjamin Franklins -- or at least he has taken on many different forms in the history books of the last two centuries. Some historians have shown us an aged statesman whose wise and steadying influence kept the Constitutional Convention together in 1787, while others have conjured up sensational tales of a lecherous old diplomat. Unfounded myths are now being repeated and embellished in school textbooks and educational television programs.

Which of all these Benjamin Franklins, if any, is real? This book is an attempt to answer that question. The Real Benjamin Franklin seats us across the table from the one person who really knew Benjamin Franklin -- that is, Franklin himself -- and gives him an opportunity to explain his life and ideas in his own words. Part I of this book details his exciting biography, and Part II includes his most important and insightful writings, all carefully documented from original sources.

Highly acclaimed by many, including Glenn Beck of the Fox News Channel. Published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to restoring Constitutional principles in the tradition of America's Founding Fathers. The National Center for Constitutional Studies...is doing a fine public service in educating Americans about the principles of the Constitution. -- Ronald Reagan, President of the United States

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself (The Bedford Series in History and Culture) Review

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is one of the few books that every American should read and is also essential for anyone even remotely interested in American history, African Americans, or slavery's sad story. It is a fine piece of writing in itself and also of immense historical value - a true American classic.

The most obvious aspect is of course autobiographical. American literature has a long, prestigious autobiographical tradition, and this is one of the best entries. Douglass' account of his life is profoundly moving and immensely thought-provoking. He begins with his first memories and carries his story all the way to what was then the present. Needless to say, the inside look at slavery from a slave's perspective is the most valuable part; there are numerous such narratives, but this is surely preeminent. The story is heart-wrenching, vividly and unforgettably detailing humanity's inhumanity; we see what it was like to be a slave in regard to everything from food, clothing, and shelter to labor. Many of the incidents are almost painful to even read; actually living through them - or even being alive when such things happened - is now thankfully unimaginable. Douglass gives several examples of physical cruelty, but the most harrowing stories may well be those of psychological torture and simple denial of basic human feelings, as in the heartless breaking up of families. Such things are inherently moving, and this would be one of the most emotional works ever if it were fiction, but the stunning fact that it is not makes it all the more meaningful. The dread weight of its truth is particularly shocking when we realize that Douglass came from one of the areas where slavery was least harsh. The horrors here related are thankfully long past, but such books will always be immensely valuable as reminders of just how cruel people can be - and have been quite recently. We must never forget, lest they happen again.

Douglass in this way is more representative than individual, and he indeed took it on himself to speak for all slaves. The book was in this sense propagandistic and did its job better than anyone could have expected, laying slavery's evils bare to many who were previously unaware or unable - possibly unwilling - to believe. It was an abolitionist milestone and had a real effect in moving slavery toward its end. Yet Douglass' story is extremely interesting in itself; indeed, in many ways he was the spiritual successor of Benjamin Franklin, founder of the American autobiographical tradition. Franklin practically invented the American dream by showing how hard work and perseverance could raise one from humble beginnings to wealth, fame, and acclaim. Douglass had infinitely worse circumstances yet managed to rise far above them - not only teaching himself to read but becoming a genuine autodidact, not only escaping slavery but becoming a noted abolitionist, orator, writer, black leader, and racial authority with world fame and reverence. Few stories are more inspirational, and the work is thus on top of everything else the best kind of self-help book. Douglass unforgettably shows that it is possible to overcome even the most adverse circumstances and gives a good idea of how to do so.

One must not neglect to mention that, incredible as it is, Douglass is a premier prose stylist. Considering his circumstances, the fact that he was able to write at all is amazing; anyone would make great allowance for poor or even semi-literature writing. In fact, though, Douglass is a top-level writer; this is not only one of the very few autobiographies that is true literature but simply great writing per se. The writing is simple in the best sense; Douglass truly embodied Jonathan Swift's good style definition: "Proper words in proper places." He is admirably clear and concise. That said, he works himself up to a rhapsody when appropriate, reaching near-lyrical heights; the passage where he compares himself to the free is one of the most affecting and best-written I have seen in the hundreds or thousands of books I have read. That Douglass' Narrative has this totally unlooked for virtue in addition to all others is thoroughly impressive.

Simply put, anyone who has not read this should do so as soon as possible; few books are more important or memorable. Douglass is an American giant, and this is his enduring fame's base. No one who reads it can forget it, and that may be the highest praise of all.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself (The Bedford Series in History and Culture) Feature

• ISBN13: 9780312257378
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself (The Bedford Series in History and Culture) Overview

This second edition of Douglass's Narrative reprints this classic document together with speeches and letters, all in a volume designed for undergraduate students. An extensive introduction places the Narrative in its historical and literary contexts with annotations on needed background.

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