Indian Wars in New England

Warren, James A.  God, War, and Providence: The Epic Struggle of Roger Williams and the
         Narragansett Indians against the Puritans of New England.  New York: Scribner, 2018  ISBN:
         978-1-5011-8041-5

 What do you know about early New England history - say 1635 to 1675?  Were the Puritans the same as the Pilgrims?  Why did folks brave the rough Atlantic to come to a rocky coast and settle?  What did the early settlers do to survive and then thrive? In God. War. and Providence. James A Warren works on shedding light on this little studied history of the relations of English settlers and and their Native American neighbors in the 1600's.

James A. Warren opens the book with a key attack on the Narragansett Indians during King Philip's War.  He then goes back to set the stage by building from 1635 when relations between Indian and Puritan were peaceful to the 1670's when war was waged to crush the local Indians once or all.  Along this journey of exploration comes Roger Williams who plays a crucial role in the evolving relationship of settlers and natives.  The colony of Rhode Island was settled after he was cast out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Plymouth Colony for preaching his conscience.  By establishing a colony based on freedom of religion that also cultivated good relations with local Indian tribes, Rhode Island proved an obstacle to the United Colonies plans for dominating New England.  Roger Williams had to make two trips to England to totally secure the rights and boundaries of Rhode Island against the depredations of the Puritans. Roger Williams also did what he could to defuse the brewing conflict between the Puritans and Narragansetts, but ultimately failed.

James A Warren wrote a very readable, yet scholarly examination of early New England history that is skimmed over in most histories.  He skillfully uses the sources available while discussing the shortcomings of each.  So if you are interested in secret or hidden American stories, read God, War, and Providence.

And It was Caught on Film!

Makos, Adam.  Spearhead: The World War II Odyssey of an American Tank Gunner.  New York:
           Ballantine, 2019.  ISBN: 9780804176729

Tank versus tank!  Pershing versus Panther!  And caught on film?  No, this is not a war movie, rather this is a World War II tale worth making into a movie.  Adam Makos met with Clarence Smoyer in 2012 and that launched a journey that led to this book.

Clarence Smoyer was a tank gunner in the 3rd Armored Division lead by General Rose.  He came ashore in France 3 weeks after D-Day as a loader and was promoted to gunner in a Sherman tank in August.  As the book opens, the 3rd Armored Division was laying an ambush for the German army trying to escape France at Mons, Belgium.  A German tank pulled in next to Clarence's tank during the night and the fight was on.  The fight continued through the Battle of the Bulge, receiving a Pershing, the conquest of Cologne which included a one on one between a Panther and a Pershing, and the attack at Paderborn against the German Panzer Training Cadre.

But this is not just the tale of Clarence and his exploits.  It is also the tale of Gustav Schaefer (German tank crewman), Buck Marsh (infantry scout in 3rd Armored Division), and Chuck Miller (officer from 3rd Armored Division).  Their stories are entwined with Clarence during the war and afterwards when in 2013 all four met in Cologne, Germany, to discuss what happened there and the influence that had on their lives since.

In Spearhead, Adam Markos delivers a well written World War II account of action from the 3rd Armored Division illustrated with pictures of the participants and maps of the battles.  the author also researched the details given by the individuals to verify details.  A very interesting read!

Act in Haste, Disaster Awaits!

Beevor, Antony.  The Battle of Arnhem: The Deadliest Airborne Operation of World War II.
           New York: Viking, 2018.  ISBN: 978-0-525-42982-1

How many books on Operation Market-Garden have you read?  Have you read Cornelius Ryan's A Bridge Too Far or seen the movie based on the book?  How many books do you need to read on about the heroic struggle by the British 1st Airborne and the American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions?  Well add another book to the pile.  Antony Beevor has turned his pen to this subject in The Battle of Arnhem.

 Antony Beevor opens the book with British and American forces in hot pursuit of the disorderly German army retreating east. Allied commanders were convinced that the Germans were on the ropes and one good jab would take them out for good.  Montgomery was ticked off at Eisenhower's decision to continue a broad front attack rather then let Montgomery attack in the north.   So Montgomery kept concocting schemes to use the Allied airborne forces to land behind German lines and dash forward to meet with them.  But the speed of Allied armies negated the need for airborne attacks until Montgomery came up with Operation Market-Garden which involved three airborne divisions seizing multiple bridges from German forces before they could be destroyed.  The XXX Corp of the British Army would then dash up a single highway over those bridges to relieve the British 1st Airborne at the Arnhem bridge over the Rhine River.  The whole operation was planned in haste.  The Netherlands's military academy would have given a failing grade to any student who had presented this plan to the the academy.  And Operation Market-Garden turned out to be a disaster dues to optimism, enemy quick reaction, and lack of resources.

While Antony Beevor adequately covers the whole of Operation Market-Garden, he focuses the book on the battle for Arnhem conducted by the British 1st Airborne Division.  He examines in detail the plan to take the Rhine Bridge, laying bare the flaws.  He follows the different units as they seek to execute the plan and improvise new plans as contact with the enemy keeps altering circumstances.  He also presents some of the events from the German point of view.  He ends the book not with the end of fighting, but with the final liberation of Arnhem in April 1945.

Overall, Antony Beevor has written an account of the British and Polish struggle for Arnhem that rewards the discerning readers. 

Why a Naval base in the California desert?

Piper, Karen,  A Girl's Guide to Missiles: Growing Up in America's Secret Desert.  New York:
         Viking, 2018.  ISBN: 9780399564543

 Karen Piper won awards for writing on water and climate issues, but in A Girl's Guide to Missiles, she delves into her past to try and make sense of her present.  She had hit a point in her life where a trip down memory lane would help her make sense of why she is where she is, why she thinks as she does, and make sense of several mysteries that have bugged her for years. 

Piper frames her biography with a trip back to China Lake Research Base to visit the petroglyphs found in the desert with her mother.  She provides a brief history of China Lake which opened as a rocket design base during World War II.  In 1973, the Pipers moved to China Lake from Seattle (WA) which was quite an adjustment especially since they moved into base housing.  Life got better later when they moved off-base to a local town.  But the base was the focus of their lives, especially since both parents worked there (One worked on the Sidewinder while the other worked on the Tomahawk missile).  Later Karen works at the base during summer vacations as a teenager and college student.  She provides a sense of what life was like in China Lake during the Carter. Reagan, and Bush years with details that will remind baby boomers of those times.

But what about the mystery she wrote the book to solve?  In the end she does come to a conclusion when she finally gets the courage to visit her father's grave site.  She spent her life hunting for her father's back story, especially what he had done during World War II.  During the course of solving that mystery, she also found out the backstory of China Lake, the part it played in missile development, the Cold War, and every war since WWII.   And she thinks she got a grasp on her life, so she can move forward.

In a meandering, but ultimately mesmerizing story, Karen Piper uses her family as a way to use the reader's sense of place and time to discuss issues of history, geography, religion, and education.  Baby boomers will wax nostalgic at reminders of their past while others will shake their heads over secrets hidden in plain sight.  

Misexplaining Business

O'Rourke, P. J.  None of My Business: P.J. Explains Money, Banking, Debt, Equity, Assets, 
         Liabilities, and Why He's Not Rich and Neither Are You.  New York: Atlantic Monthly Press,
        2018.  ISBN: 978-0-8021-2848-5

P. J. O'Rourke is known for "humorous" writings on a wide variety of topics.  In None of My Business, P. J.tries to provide a off-kilter look at money, economy, mutant capitalism, the digital economy, and consumption.

 P. J. O'Rourke opens the book with the admission that he does not know how get wealth.  But he tries to have fun with discussing economics as a blood sport that he enjoys as a spectator.  He then proceeds to have three chapters under the heading "How I Learned Economics by Watching People Try to Kill Each Other"; four chapters under "Money and Banking"; three chapters under "Mutant Capitalism"; twelve chapters under "The Transition"; six chapters under the heading "Consumption"; and finishing with seven chapters under "Random Walk".

Basically P. J. O'Rourke has taken everything including the kitchen sink that he thinks he knows about money, economics, consumers and the like, stirs it together, and hung it out to dry.  So the reader's enjoyment will depend upon their interest.  But the chapter comparing the cost of a middle class lifestyle from the 1950's with today is worth the price of the book.  So, if you like P. J. O'Rourke or humorous examination of economics, you may like this book.

Ian Fleming, Why a Gold Typewriter?

Fleming, Fergus.  The Man With The Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters.
          London: Bloomsbury, 2015.  ISBN: 978-1-4088-6547-7

"My name is Bond, James Bond." That iconic phrase has been heard in every James Bond movie and spoken in most of the books when James Bond introduces himself..  And in a way, The Man With The Golden Typewriter is an introduction to Ian Fleming's voice as he was writing James Bond.

Fergus Fleming has done the James Bond aficionado a huge favor by collecting the letters written by Ian Fleming or to Ian Fleming that relate to the James Bond books and the other books he wrote from 1952 to 1964.  The book is arranged with 17 chapters (one for each book Fleming wrote plus chapters regarding guns, correspondence with Raymond Chandler, and notes on Americanism in Bond tales) that discusses the book, major events that happened during the time of correspondence, and them the letters themselves.  At the end of the book is a listing of titles Fleming wrote and a list of James Bond movies current as of the time the book was published.

The book title comes from the fact that Ian Fleming acquired a gold-plated typewriter after he sold Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel (pp. 14, 16).  It is the little nuggets of knowledge found in the letters that make the book fun to read!  So reader does not need to be a James Bond or Ian Fleming scholar to appreciate the information found in this book.  If you enjoy James Bond, you are likely to enjoy The Man With The Golden Typewriter.

  

The Battle of Poitiers, 1356 A.D.

Witzel, Morgen, and Marilyn Livingstone.  The Black Prince and the Capture of a King, Poitiers
           1356.  Oxford: Casemate Publishers, 2018.  ISBN: 978-1-61200-451-8

During the One Hundred Years War between England and France, three battles stand out - Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt - as great English victories over larger French forces.  When Edward, the Prince of Wales was 16, he stood in the front lines at Crecy.   Ten years later, now known as the Black Prince, Edward led English and Gascony forces on a series of extended raids in southern and central France.   The battle of Poitiers resulted in the capture of the French king and temporary ascendance for England.

Witzel and Livingstone provide an excellent sense of context and importance to the campaigns that lead to the battle of Poitiers.  They carefully set the stage for the battle with a look at opposing forces, the terrain, the fighting the preceded the battle, and then a look at the result of the English victory. 

Witzel and Livingstone provide as much detail as is available in regard to the battle itself..  They look at the layout of the terrain, the position of forces, the way that French attacks developed and the counterattacks of the English. They discuss and speculate where details are sparse, but are careful to cite what sources are available while examining the validity of those sources. 

If the reader is looking for a readable yet scholarly examination of the Battle of Poitiers in context, The Black Prince and the Capture of a King is the book to read.

Cheesy Combustabules

Tunick, Michael H.  The Science of Cheese.  New York: OUP, 2014.

Do you eat cheese?  Depending upon where you live, you are likely to eat some sort of cheese.  And the variety of cheese is staggering!  France alone has 400 varieties.  Take a look at the following link of the Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPN3KTtrnZM

  - for some of the variety of cheese eaten in England.

Michael Tunick (a research chemist at USDA) provides a brief history of cheese alongside an examination of the cheese-making process with the chemistry that creates the cheese you crave.  The chapters consider various cheese types such as cheddar, surface mold ( Camembert and Brie), or cheeses with eyes (Swiss) along with discussions of texture, amino acids, aroma, and ketones.  In other words, the author slips in the unique chemistry of the types of cheese while letting the reader enjoy the process.  

But chemistry and cheese descriptions are not all that The Science of Cheese has to offer.  Michael Tunick provides statistics (did you know that the Greeks manage to eat more cheese than anyone else? -  68.4 lbs. per person - p. 225), nutritional information, odd facts ( Edam cheese was used as a cannon ball in a naval battle in 1841 - p. 129), and even the worth of processed cheese. Plus each chapter opens with a cheese related quote and the author includes a Periodic Table of Cheeses!

So if the reader is interested in cheese, food chemistry, or just something different, give The Science of Cheese a nibble.

Greeks, Greeks, and More Greeks.

Waterfield, Robin.  Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens: A History of Ancient Greece.  New York:
          Oxford University Press, 2018.  ISBN: 978-0-19-023430-0

Ancient Greece is a perennial topic that crops up in history, literature, and science.  Ancient Greece was the lynch pin of interactions from the East and the West. toward each other.  However, most readers do not grasp the role ancient Greece played in the formation of modern society.  In Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens, Robin Waterfield seeks to remedy that lack of context.

Robin Waterfield opens with a discussion of Archaic Greece - in other words, the Greece before Homer where the megalithic tombs that earlier archeologists thought belonged to Agamemnon and Odysseus and their ilk.  He covers the founding of Athens and Sparta and the growth of the aristocracy. Then there are chapters on the Persian Wars.  The next major period of Greek history  is the Classical Time with the Peloponnesian War, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle along with the Western Greek colonies in Italy and Sicily.  The Classical Period ends with the conquest of Greece by Phillip and Alexander of Macedon which ushers in the Hellenistic Period.  This is the time of Greek expansion across the former Persian empire all the way to India and south into Egypt.  The time of the Successors is a specialty of Waterfield who really shines in highlighting how this period really set the stage for Greek thought and culture flooding the world. 

In Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens, Waterfield presents a very readable political history of ancient Greece while also providing chapters on Greek religion, art, literature and social constructs in context.  It is appreciated that the Hellenistic period got equal treatment to the Archaic and Classical periods.

Why Are We Not Falling?

Svec, Carol.  Balance: A Dizzying Journey Through the Science of Our Most Delicate Sense. 
          Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2017.

Have you every wondered why you suddenly tripped over nothing as you are walking down the sidewalk?  How about finding you no longer enjoy roller-coasters like you did as a teenager?  And then there is the question of why you get nausea riding in a car or at the movies.  Well, Carol Svec has answers to these questions and even more you have not thought of yet.

In a style similar to Mary Roach (including funny footnotes), Carol Svec provides a through overview of what balance is and the central role it plays in our lives.  She starts with a look at the inner ear's part in keeping us upright and spends time looking at the causes of motion sickness.  She then points out that each of us have rocks in our heads that help us know which way is up and which way is down. And she continues with the part played by our eyes in balance.  Then proprioception problems are discussed with the case of Ian Waterman.  After these discussions of the major components of balance, the books wanders through a number of balance related issues: sound related dizziness, shaky camera movies, flight simulators, virtual reality, and outer space.  Carol Svec finishes the book with a look at how kinesiology, virtual reality and exoskeletons can aid in keeping us upright in old age.

Balance provides a quick read through the science of how we stay upright and what the future may hold for us. 

Special Effects Man

Kimberlin, Bill.  Inside the Star Wars Empire: A Memoir.  Guilford, CN: Lyons Press, 2018.

If you Google Bill Kimberlin, you will find out that he has credits for special effects for a number of well known movies including Return of the Jedi, Mars Attacks, Back to the Future II & III, among others.  You would also find out that he directed/produced/edited/filmed American Nitro, a documentary on drag racing.  But that is not all to his life.

Inside the Star Wars Empire: A Memoir is a story of Bill Kimberlin's life told in short, wandering, non-sequential chapters.  In a major way, the subtitle is the important term in defining the book's purpose since he is telling his story, not a history of Star Wars, or Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).

Bill Kimberlin opens with chapters on his first job at ILM, doing the special effects for the space battles on Return of the Jedi,  so we learn what life was like working at ILM.  But he also intersperses chapters on his life before and outside ILM to the mix.  We learn about the movies he made (American Nitro and Jeffries-Johnson 1910), his family background (bootlegging and Pretty Boy Floyd included), and his life ambitions/goals.  He is not afraid to name-drop along the way as he tells about various movies he worked on and the effects he helped create.

If the reader is wanting the inside scoop on Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic, he may be disappointed, but if he or she is looking for a life story spent in the trenches of film magic, Inside the Star Wars Empire: A Memoir may just be the ticket!