An Epic Trip into the Past and Back to the Present

 Wood, Michael.  The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom

            to Mao and the China Dream.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2020.  ISBN: 978-1-4711-7601-2

China - a powerhouse now and in the past.  But how did it get to where it is today?  Who started this juggernaut rolling, who grew it to this size, and at what cost?  Join Michael Wood as he takes the reader on a epic exploration into The Story of China. 

Michael Wood opens The Story of China with the December 1899 winter solstice ceremony when the Emperor performed a ritual dating back to the Bronze Age at the Temple of Heaven for the last time.  Then, in nineteen chapters, Wood takes the reader back to the beginning of civilization in what became China and works his way forward to the present time.  Along the way the reader visits the major events that shaped China including stops at the Shang, the First Emperor, the Han, the Tang, the time of the Five Kingdoms, The Song (North and South), the Yuan/Mongols, the Ming, and returning to the time of the Qing, then into the age of the Republic, the time of Mao, and the current regime.  Along that journey are many side trips to understand the Mandate of Heaven, and discover what ordinary folks were doing, writing, and enjoying, and why societies fall apart and reform.

While the reader could rush through this title, The Story of China rewards the careful reader who takes the time read and ponder what he/she has read.  The story of China is cyclical - a kingdom/empire is founded, grows and then falls, only for a new kingdom/empire to rise from the ashes and build upon the earlier foundation.  The culture of China was formed early and is a thread that Michael Wood weaves through the whole book.  The thoughtful reader will see that certain attitudes regarding the role of the state and the importance of cultural stability underlies most of the empires despite what reformers tried to change.  Micheal Wood has written a very insightful history that so easily could have been a hagiography for the present oppressive regime. 

Thanks, St. Martin's Press, for inviting me to review this title.

Southern Myth or Southern Fact?

 Siedule, Ty.  Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause.  

         New York: St. Martin's Press, 2021.

 

Do you remember learning history, especially American history, in the late sixties/early seventies?  It was bland, black and white, with very little nuances in regard to details and very little context.  The history classes also missed most of actual history.  This is the world that formed Ty Seidule.  Robert E. Lee and Me is Ty Seidule's response to his changing awareness of what American history actually is.

Ty Seidule grew up in the South (Alexandria, VA and Monroe, GA), attended Washington and Lee University and joined the U. S. Army via ROTC.  Only later in life did he live above the Mason-Dixon line.  Later in his career, he was posted to West Point as a history professor.  He had become what he wanted to be early in life - a Southern gentleman like his idol, Robert E. Lee.  But life has a way of changing one's views on people, circumstances, and facts.  Life brings to the forefront concepts and facts that challenge long held beliefs.  Over time and distance, Siedule's views of his hometowns, alma maters, and cherished beliefs clashed with the facts he uncovered.  As a trained historian, Siedule sifted facts from fictions and was forced to change his views on the so-called Lost Cause and its pinnacle of worship, Robert E. Lee.  This change of outlook is the meat of the book.

Robert E. Lee and Me will not resonate with every reader. But, if the reader is willing to listen to Ty Seidule's story, they will learn how to nuance history and its facts for themselves so they are more equipped to make up their own mind. 

Comedy - Native American Style!

 Nesteroff, Kliph.  We Had A Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native 

          Americans & Comedy.  New York: Simon & Schuster, 2021.

 

Charlie Hill's stand-up act includes the following lines: " My people are from Wisconsin.  We used to be from New York.  We had a little real estate problem."  Kliph Nesteroff riffs off Charlie Hill's comedic life into a broad overview of Native American comedy in this book.

Kliph Nesteroff shotguns his way through Native American comedy with each short chapter providing a glimpse of a different comedian or historical period.  He introduces unknown comedians, such as Jonny Roberts, lesser known groups such as Williams and Ree or the 1491s, and brings in big guns such as Will Rogers and keeps up the examination of Charlie Hill.  He also looks into Wild West shows in the 1800's, vaudeville in the early 20th  century, Jim Thorpe on American Indians in movies, the role of whites playing American Indians on F Troop and the influence of Davy Crockett.  

As the reader travels through the book, wandering off on all the detours but coming back to finish the tale, they should accumulate enough facts to come to this conclusion - Native Americans are human and like to laugh just as much as any one else.  Humor and comedy can be culture specific, but it can also reach across cultures and draw disparate people together, if only for a laugh!

 

3rd Armored Division and General Rose

 Bolger, Daniel P.  The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story of a Fighting General and His Spearhead 

          Tank Division's Charge into the Third Reich.  New York: Dutton Caliber, 2020.

If you are seeking a story about one of the least well-known American generals of World War II, The Panzer Killers will give it to you.  You will find tales of daring, tales of bravery, desperate charges, exultation, and tragedy in this tale of one general and his well-led division.  

Maurice Rose took command of  the 3rd Armored Division in Lighting Joe Collins' VII corp during the Normandy Campaign right after Operation Cobra got rolling.  Rose had worked under Patton in North Africa and Sicily before coming to England to take part in Overlord.  So he brought experience and  insight into German tactics when he was transferred from 2nd Armored Combat Command A to head the 3rd Armored Division.  Rose worked his officers to ensure that they would do what he wanted when he wanted it done.  And he did not sit behind the lines in a command post drawing lines on the map.  Instead, he and a small group would be moving from unit to unit, assessing how the attack was going, who needed more prodding, or when to halt and switch tactics.  It was dangerous to be in Rose's command group as the 3rd Armored fought their way through France, into Netherlands and Belgium.  The 3rd Armored took part in the Hurtgen Forest attack and helped stem the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge.  Then came the plunge into Germany proper.  The 3rd Armored followed the 104th Infantry across the Roer River and finally had a chance to cut loose again.  The Pershing tanks (the few that made it to Europe) proved their worth in the taking of Cologne.  The 3rd Armored crossed the Rhine at Remagen and moved out in March 1945 into the German hinterland.  In the Wild West of the last days of the war, Rose overplayed his hand.  He and his small command group was ambushed by a group of Germans and he was killed.  He was one of the few American generals killed in action during World War II.  The 3rd Armored finished the war under General Doyle Hickey.  

Daniel P. Bolger, an experienced armor commander, examines how Maurice Rose shaped the 3rd Armored Division to be a model of a well drilled fighting division.  Bolger nicely uses documentation personal stories to provide a rounded look at both the 3rd Armored Division and General Maurice Rose in action.  So, if you are looking to fill a gap in your knowledge of American fighting generals and their units, do pick up The Panzer Killers.  You will not be disappointed!

Libertarians vs Bears

Hongoltz-Hetling, Matthew.  A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an

       American Town (and Some Bears).  New York: Hachette, 2020.  ISBN: 978-1-5417-8851-0

Take a reporter, a small town in western New Hampshire (Grafton),  a libertarian utopian project (Free Town Project circa 2004-2019), mix in brooding forests, plenty of bears, and a whole mess of folks, and you have this book.  It is a tale of free wheeling, radical idealism run amuck in rural New Hampshire where oddly enough, similar concepts seemed to be part of its history.  So set back, grab a doughnut or two, plenty of beverages and dive into this world of bears, bears, and strange folk.

Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling breaks the story into three books (Verge of the Wild; Rugged Growth; and Boundless Ruins) with multiple chapters in each book.  He has an interesting cast of characters telling bits of the story what with a logical libertarian, a very strange pastor, a bear fighting firefighter, a former Moonie, plus assorted other libertarians and townsfolk.  Not to mention the bureaucracy of bears out in the woods eating doughnuts, stray cats and dogs, plus the occasional chicken.  The story winds between the present and the past in the same manner that the roads of Grafton manage between clearing and forest.  

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the tale of a utopia gone awry as they so often do in the Northeast and the rest of America.  Grand plans are all too often crushed when reality refuses to bend to wishful thinking.  And even true believers will succumb to guilty pleasures such as paved roads, decent schools funded by local taxes, and bear patrols.  But if you are interested in reading about libertarianism in the wild and the muck-up that ensues, be sure to pick up this title and enjoy yourself! 

Radar Raid!

 Lewis, Damien.  Churchill's Shadow Raiders: The Race to Develop Radar, WWII's Invisible Secret 

          Weapon.  New York: Kensington Publishing, 2020.  ISBN: 978-0-8065-4063-4

Everyone knows that radar was a British invention that enabled them to survive the Blitz.  But radar was not just a British monopoly.  The Germans had their own radar sets that were used with success against British bombers.  And the British were keen to get their hands on a set which is the gist of Damien Lewis' Churchill's Shadow Raiders.  

Lewis focuses on two Special Airborne Services (SAS) operations.  The first, Operation Colossus was launched in February 1941 to take out an aqueduct that supplied the Italian naval base of Taranto.  Thirty-five SAS troopers parachuted into Italy, managed to severely damage the aqueduct, and escaped into the countryside.  But, due to an unfortunate bomber crash, their escape route was compromised and they were eventually all caught.  The follow-up aerial recon failed to show the damage that had happened, so the high command considered Colossus a failure.

Operation Biting was launched  a year later in February 1942 for the purpose of grabbing a German radio direction finding device.  Biting was much more ambitious with SAS troopers descending from the skies, seizing the device, fighting their way to the coast, and being snatched off the beach by motor gun boats.

However, Lewis offers more than the details of the operations.  He provides context, background, and the exciting story of scientists, SOE operatives, and French Resistance fighters that made the operations possible.  Also, Lewis provides an understanding of what was accomplished and the part these operations played in the larger conflict along with a briefing on what happened to the participants afterwards.  So if you want a thrilling WWII read, do pick up Churchill's Shadow Raiders!

Comedy Can Be Free Speech Too!

Gold, Judy.  Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble. 
         New York: Dey Street Books, 2020.  ISBN: 9780062953759  

Laughter may be a medicine induced by comedians.  But medicine is not always sweet, often it may be bitter.  At least that is one of the conclusions Judy Gold came to while growing to be taller than everyone in her family.  And that is part of why she became a stand-up comic.  At least as a comedian, she could be in charge while on stage.

Judy Gold in Yes, I Can Say That explores why she became a stand-up comic providing the reader insight into her thought process and family history.  She also spends time discussing what to expect when going to a comedy club.  As one chapter heading mentions, you are likely to be insulted or offended while there, but is that not the reason you went?  And context is everything!  If you have to explain a joke, it is no longer funny.  And the comedian is not necessarily the same as her/his stage act.  So be warned when reading this book, you are likely to be offended once or twice.

And then you get to politics.  All sorts of politics - academic, national/state, and other hot-button issues.  And the poor comics.  Everyone picks on them.  So why do so many people have issues with jokes?  Are they so insecure that words disturb them enough that they try to silence the speaker?  This goes for right, left, center, and #MeToo as well.  And then the politicians get into the act of trying to regulate what can be a joke.  Well, if a politician can't stand being laughed at, maybe they should get off the stage.  

So while I may not agree with everything Judy Gold says (although you could do worse than looking her up on YouTube), I do agree with her that she has the right to say that!