Chapter 12 - To the Last Man (review by Scott Wilson)

This excellent review was written by my good friend Scott Wilson.  We continue to share interesting books even though he now lives with his family in Okinawa, Japan.   Thanks, Scott, for the great review!

My Shaara exposure began in the same may as most readers, with The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.  A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Michael Shaara was working on his second book in the Civil War trilogy when he passed away.  His son, Jeff, neither a historian nor a writer at the time of his father’s passing, vowed to complete the trilogy that his father had started.  And this he did, penning Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure -- thus completing a work his father had begun years earlier. 

Eventually, Jeff Shaara began to separate himself from his father’s legacy, and has proven himself to be every bit the writer that his father was.  He was written books on the American Revolution, the Mexican War, WWII, and WWI.  His book on WWI, To the Last Man, is the fourth book I have read by a member of the Shaara family and probably one of the more exciting.  His signature format, combined with some of the private portraits presented in the book, helped make it a memorable read. 

The Shaara format is unique and, for me, it serves to make the story more intimate and compelling.  In To the Last Man, Shaara tells the story of WWI through the eyes of several of the war’s key protagonists.  One such character is John “Blackjack” Pershing, West Point graduate and commander of the American Expeditionary Force.  From

General Pershing, we get a strategic perspective on the war, and gain insight into the logistical, political, and diplomatic nightmare that was America’s initial entry to the war effort.  Pershing struggles throughout the book to deal with a never-ending stream of demands and suggestions from the French and English, who, having endured three years of pounding from the German military, were desperate for relief and reinforcements.

Then there is Raoul Lufbery, French/American fighter pilot and eventual commander of the Lafayette Escadrille, a group of American volunteer pilots.  These men formed the unit to aid the French in their war effort against the Germans because the United States (led by the isolationist, League of Nations supporting, and 14 Points suggesting Woodrow Wilson) remained neutral until 1917. 

Opposing Lufbery and his squadron is Baron Manfred Von Richthofen, the famed “Red Baron” and most distinguished flying ace of WWI. Richthofen is probably on of the most dynamic characters in the book, at least from a literary standpoint.  His unbridled devotion to duty and country is constantly at odds with his struggle to understand the conflict, his aerial prowess, and his country’s labeling him as a hero.  He seems indifferent, almost unfeeling, about his success and the dozens of men he has sent to their death.  Yet at the same time is full of passion as he preaches virtues like duty, honor, and courage to those who fly with him.

Finally, in stark contrast to the other more distinguished characters in the book, we meet Roscoe Temple, an ordinary 19-year-old Marine Private from Monticello, Florida.  Temple provides us with insight about life deep in the trenches of those fighting along the front lines of The Great War.  We follow him through some of his initial training where he develops unspeakable bonds with fellow Marines who will serve with him in some of the most storied battles of the war.

While the characters are the vehicles Shaara uses to make history a little more vibrant and colorful, the awfulness of war was most evident because of references and conversations involving people not participating directly in the actual fighting.  These interactions presented in the book provide vivid imagery that really brought home the realities of the conflict and the impact that it had on the populations of each country involved.  Allow me to share a couple examples:

(1) After months of brutal combat, Temple is lying one night on his back in a shell hole, enjoying the first clear night in some time.  He was going over in his head what he would say to the mother of a fallen comrade, when his thoughts wandered to his own mother.  Shaara writes:

“He imagined his mother, the strong woman who wasa so prone to emotion, sitting in her single chair on the wide porch of the farmhouse, in unstoppable tears.  It sickened him, knowing her pride in her son could be replaced by stunning grief.  She had written him of her hopes for his safe return, apologizing for mother’s concerns.  Now, he imagined her receiving the cold impersonal regrets of her government, a woman whose life would be changed in such a horrible way, losing her only son to a war she knew so little about.  How many mothers had been through this already, women who watched their sons board the trains or great ships, pride tempered by tears, scolded by the men in their lives not to embarrass their sons with a mother’s fawning."

(2) Richthofen, having just sustained an injury during a dogfight, was basically ordered to take leave by the German High Command.  When he arrives home, he engages in a telling conversation with his mother.  Mother is upset about some of the bad news coming out of the German war effort and about the death of another of Richthofen’s pilots.  Shaara sees the conversation as follows:

            “What of your Mr. Voss? You will have to prepare another obituary.”

He did not want to talk about Voss, (the pilot recently killed) but her words took away the energy for his smile. “Yes, I will go later.  There is little I can do about it now.”

“You are wrong Manfred.” (says mother).  He saw anger in her eyes, the tears again, and she said, “You can stop flying, you have done your part.  No one would ever find fault.”

“Father would not agree with you.”

“I do not speak for your father. If it is selfishness to want my sone slive, then I am selfish.  I want you to have a wife.  I want you to know what it is to see the face of you own babies, to watch your own children grow up.  You have done enough for your country!”

He had not seen her angry in a very long time, felt suddenly helpless.  “Mother, you cannot possibly understand.  If everyone felt this way, no one would fight!”  His words lay hanging in the air, and she stared at him for a long moment. 

“Then, my son, no one would die.”

There are so many more examples of this.  Another one involves Raymond Poincare (then Prime Minister of France) and his wife, who meet with General Pershing on the banks of the Meuse River after the Allies successfully secured territory previously held by the Germans.  As Madame Poincare reminisces over the land and its beauty, Pershing is impressed at her ability to “look beyond what a soldier sees,” as he is only able to see the blasted fields, clusters of blackened trees, and the wreckage of trucks and wagons. 

I think these examples highlight what Shaara does really well.  He is widely recognized for his research and ability to present a compelling view of history as seen through some of its key figures.  However, I find his writing intriguing for its ability to make history personal and intimate.  He is able to snatch history from the moors of a literal, intangible, non-fictional realm and instead provide us with an experience that one can internalize and feel.   This helped make To the Last Man both a historical journey and a wonderful story. Don’t believe me…Buy the Bookand see for yourself. 

Chapter 11 - A Sense of the World

Do you like to travel? Do you consider yourself "well" traveled? And when I say “travel” I mean for pleasure, not because you have to for work. If so, how many countries and cultures would you say you have visited? And what would be the total number of miles you have traveled in your lifetime, assuming you summed up the total amount of mileage you have covered on each trip? For example, let’s say you went on a trip from Philadelphia to London (a trip I would love to make). That puts you at about 3550 miles each way, for a total of 7100 round trip. Add in a few side day trips and you might add 7500 miles for that trip. Not bad. So, what would your lifetime total be?

Would you be impressed if I told you about a man that traveled a quarter of a million miles in his lifetime? Yes, 250,000 miles. And that he visited over 200 separate cultures? I doubt any of us come close to that. And what if I told you this man traveled without the help of airplanes, steam ships or railroads, instead traveling on foot, horseback, in carriages or on boats powered by the wind? Impressed yet? And what if I told you that this incredible world traveler was totally and utterly blind? Astonished? Amazed? Then read on!

The man I have described is James Holman, a British naval officer who lived in the early 1800s, who lost his sight early in his adulthood. His story is told in A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler by Jason Roberts. This is a quick, enjoyable book about this remarkable, if nearly forgotten, man. Talk about challenging yourself and not letting life’s obstacles slow you down! Besides losing his sight to an unknown illness, Holman also suffered great pains in his joints. Soon after becoming blind, he decided to travel south through Europe to get some fresh Mediterranean air. His doctors thought it would do his joints well and that he might be able to find some treatment for his eyes. While he never was to regain his sight, Holman discovered that traveling was a great thrill to him and invigorated his body and spirit incredibly. After returning to England, he couldn’t wait to be on the road again. He made a lengthy trip to Russia and eastward out into Siberia, attempted to complete a circumnavigation of the globe. When the Tsar’s personal messenger retrieved him in Siberia, brought him westward and exiled him in Poland, Holman’s circumnavigation plans had to be put on hold. But not for long. He soon left on what would become a wild, five-year journey westward that eventually took him around the entire globe, with memorable stops off the coast of Africa, in Brazil, Madagascar and China. His last major excursion was through Scandinavia. Although his books describing his journeys were often met with criticism ("How can a blind man possibly write a travel narrative? He didn’t see anything!"), Holman insisted that his sightlessness allowed him to experience and absorb his surroundings through the other senses in a more complete manner than if he was relying on sight alone. A very interesting concept. The author sums up Holman this way: "Alone, sightless, with no prior command of native languages and with only a wisp of funds, he had forged a path equivalent to wandering to the moon." Pretty remarkable!

I’ll stop here so I don’t give away the whole story. This is a really wonderful book and if you want to hear more about Holman’s unlikely travels, the interesting and often famous people he met, his deaf friend and traveling companion (could there be a more unlikely duo?), his knighthood or his unique method of tapping a stick to "see" his surroundings (echolocation), I recommend you Buy the Book! I don’t think you’ll regret it. And who knows, Holman may just inspire you to get out and add a few miles to your lifetime total!

Chapter 10 - Endurance

Wow!! How time flies! I apologize that it’s been a full two months since my last review. I do want to thank everyone for the great comments on The Screwtape Letters That was my biggest response yet, and it’s no surprise why; it’s really a great book. Hopefully today’s review will also find a responsive audience!

The subject of today’s review is Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. When I first started reading non-fiction books a few years ago, I read this little gem and have been hooked on non-fiction ever since. This is an amazing story of adventure, of overcoming hardships and beating incredible odds in order to survive. This story is all the more amazing because it actually happened.

In 1914, a British expedition led by a man named Ernest Shackleton set sail with the goal of being the first people to journey across Antarctica on foot. Shackleton had been on a few previous exploratory trips to the “White Continent” and had even gotten within about 100 miles of the South Pole. This trip, however, was not to be nearly as successful as previous trips. Before they could reach the point where they would dock their ship and begin their trans-continental trek, the ship became trapped in the drifting pack ice. And there it stayed, stuck, for 9 months until finally the surging ice crushed the ship. Suddenly, the crew was stuck thousands of miles from civilization in a frozen wilderness, without a way to get home. Taking three small boats and whatever supplies they could carry with them, the crew abandoned the wrecked ship and headed out on a trek of a different sort…a trek of survival. What follows is an incredible story of endurance and superb leadership from Shackleton. But if you want to know the rest of this fantastic story, you’ll have to read the book. I will tell you that almost a year after losing their ship, the crew was saved without losing a single life. Truly amazing.

Unlike some other books I’ve reviewed, this one is a quick read (288 pages) and I assure you that it will be well worth your time. So, if you’re looking for adventure, have always wondered how you’d survive the Antarctic wilderness, or want to read a story of incredible determination, effort and leadership, I recommend you Buy the Book!

Chapter 9 - The Screwtape Letters

"My dear Wormwood..." Thus begins every chapter in this delightful little book. It’s more a collection of letters, really. The letters are sent to Wormwood, a young devil, from his "affectionate" uncle Screwtape, a more experienced devil who is training his nephew in all the intricate ways of being a tempter. Like other devils, Wormwood has been assigned a "patient", a human being that he is to spend his time tempting and leading astray. Screwtape has written these letters to Wormwood giving advice on what will or won’t work in this endeavor. The book is called The Screwtape Letters and it’s written by one of the most well known Christian writers, C.S. Lewis. If you haven’t yet read any C.S. Lewis, this is a great place to start. For today’s review, I decided to simply share a few of my favorite quotes from this book. This is only a sampling as this book provides some brilliant insight and analysis on why we do what we do, and how Satan tries to get us to do what he wants. It’s really a fantastic book. I think there is an incredible amount to learn by evaluating these ideas and C.S. Lewis does a marvelous job with this task and makes some wonderful points about human behavior, the gospel, sin and temptation, and the devil's ultimate strategies to keep us from what is good. So, on to some examples (and remember, these are two devils corresponding, so when they say "Enemy" they mean God):

1. Screwtape is telling Wormwood about the ups and downs that all of us humans experience. He calls them "troughs" and "peaks" and explains how theses ups and downs teach us. After explaining to Wormwood how God sends humans His spirit to bless and guide them he says, "But He never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later He withdraws…He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs." He continues, "It is during such trough periods, much more than peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles." And then, Screwtape delivers a caution to Wormwood, and for us, on the other side of this story, a beautiful image: "Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s [God’s] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys." Isn’t that really the ultimate sign of faith and obedience? When all apparent evidence of God is missing, yet we still obey? Nothing must please God (or frustrate the devil) more than when our commitment to God and obedience to his laws is complete and unwavering, even in extremely difficult or trying times. It is easy to understand why Screwtape would issue such a warning to Wormwood.

2. In a lecture on the impact of "large" or "small" sins, Screwtape has this counsel to give: "You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy [God]. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the light and out into the nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slop, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." This paragraph reminded me of the scripture that describes how Satan "leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever." We must be careful and cautious to be ever diligent in the "little" things. We often hear people explain that people don’t often trip over boulders. It’s the small stones and pebbles that cause us to trip up. I love that last line from Screwtape..."without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." Wonderful imagery.

3. Later on, Screwtape discusses the nature of ownership, namely who is the owner of our souls. In other words, do we humans own our souls, or do we belong to someone or something else? Screwtape explains, "...the joke is that the word "Mine" in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything. In the long run either Our Father [Satan] or the Enemy [God] will say "Mine" of each thing that exists, and specially of each man. They will find out in the end...to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong – certainly not to them, whatever happens." In other words, we are not our own. We are either God’s or Satan’s. They would each like to claim us. Screwtape goes on to explain that while God has proper reason to call us His since He made us, Satan, on the other hand "hopes in the end to say "Mine" of all things on the more realistic and dynamic ground of conquest." Satan and his devils will try to conquer us and gain ownership of us during this battle we call life. They have no rightful claim to us, so they will take what they can by cunning, deceitfulness, and vigilant effort. I am reminded of a talk by D. Todd Christofferson where he says, "Our choice in this life is not whether we will or will not be subject to any power. We will be. Our choice is to which authority will we yield obedience: God's or Satan's?"

These are a few tidbits just to whet your appetite. This is a short book that you can read quickly, but will think about for much longer. There are some great quotes, thoughts and insights in this wonderful book. So, if you haven't read it already, I encourage you to Buy the Book!...you’re certain to enjoy it! (There is also a great boxed set of C.S. Lewis' religious books that you can check out here).

Chapter 8 - Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Remember that Shel Silverstein poem about the little girl who ate the whale? Everyone told Melinda Mae she was too small to eat a whale, but “she took little bites and she chewed very slow, just like a little girl should.” The poem ends by saying, “...and in eighty-nine years she ate that whale, because she said she would!!!”

Well, the book I want to review today is a whale of a book. But, if you take it in small bites and chew slowly, you’ll find that not only will you be able to finish this book, but you’ll be licking your chops for more when you finish. The book is “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Shirer and was recommended to me by one of you (thanks, Tom!). My paperback copy came in at 1486 pages, not including the notes, bibliography, acknowledgments and index. So, it’s fair to say that it’s a very long book. But, boy, what a fantastic read! William Shirer was an American journalist living in Germany during the early years of the Third Reich. He was an eyewitness to Hitler’s rise to power and the complete spell he and his fellow Nazis cast over the German people. He gives some unique insights into the ideas and emotions that were swirling around Germany during the 1920’s and 1930’s which I think help us to understand how a country could be taken by Hitler and his ideas. The book starts with Hitler’s youth and follows him up through his remarkable rise to power. As the “Fuehrer”, he eventually takes control of virtually every aspect of the government, one piece at a time. For as egotistical and wacky as he was, Hitler was also an incredible orator and would captivate crowds and persuade nearly everyone who heard him speak to believe in him and his dreams for Germany. He had a remarkable vision of what he wanted to accomplish, and for many years, he was successful in all he set out to do. In 1938, the Germans took over Austria and Czechoslovakia without firing a shot. Later, the war began as they attacked Poland, then Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, France, etc. One by one the countries fell in combat. Before reading this book, all the books I had read about WWII related stories of battles in the Pacific arena of the war and discussed battles that happened post-Pearl Harbor, once the U.S. was officially engaged in the war. I didn’t fully appreciate or realize how much the war had completely engulfed Europe before December 1941 and how close Germany came to controlling all of Europe. It really is remarkable how much, how far, and how fast Germany was able to conquer Europe. They employed a brand new form of warfare with their tank divisions and their blitzkrieg bombing raids. They were certainly a force to be reckoned with. Thankfully, England chose to hang in and fight, even against great odds. They were eventually greatly helped in the east by the Russians, after the Germans turned on their one-time-allies. Of course, we know about D-Day and the U.S. troops that came later to drive the Germans back and defeat them with a whole coalition of troops.

Okay, okay, but enough about the war. There are plenty of WWII books out there that tell the story of the war. The fascinating aspect of this book is that it is told from the German perspective. Shirer grants us a front row seat to see the workings of the Nazi government before and during the war. We become very familiar with Hitler’s right hand men including Goering (Reichstag president and head of air force), Himmler (chief of S.S. and chief of police), Goebbels (propaganda minister) and Ribbentrop (foreign minister), just to name a few of the closest co-conspirators. While Himmler may have been the cruelest and most cold-blooded of the bunch, Goebbels seemed the most deceitful and outright creepy to me (see picture at right). We meet hundreds of other participants in the marvel and terror that was the Third Reich. Overall the story is fascinating and gripping. I had worried at the outset that I was likely to become bored or lost somewhere among the almost 1500 pages. But, the way that Shirer brings the reader into the story kept me interested and curious throughout the entire book. There’s a lot more to this book including: descriptions of the political and military agreements between Germany and Italy, Russia and Japan, the extermination camps and mass murder crews (Einsatzgruppe) that were part of the “final solution” for the Jews, concentration camps and labor prisoner programs that led millions of Russians and Slavs to their graves, the heroic efforts of the Norwegians, English, Americans and underground resistance groups to slow and stop the Third Reich, and several interesting stories about Hitler including incredible fits of rage, several attempts at assassination and the women in his life. This book is a riveting tale of one driven, determined, fanatical man, his near success in conquering an entire continent, and his collapse and destruction, along with which his political party also ceased to exist. So, for anyone interested in Hitler, the Nazi party, WWII, European history, or any other aspect I have mentioned, I highly recommend that you Buy The Book !!! And remember, the only way to eat a whale is a bite at a time…just go from one bite to the next and before you know it this fantastic book will be over. Oh, and I promise this book won’t take 89 years to read.

Chapter 7 - Cheap Books!!!

So, today is a bit of a departure from my normal posting where I review a particular book or discuss an author. Today, I want to discuss some great AFFORDABLE ways to buy good books. I have been thinking about this topic for sometime (I guess for about as long as I’ve been a poor student…meaning, a long time), but it is especially relevant due to what my family and I attended last Saturday: the Radnor Library Book Sale. I first heard of library book sales from Scott and Joy Wilson last year (Thanks Wilsons!). They bought some books from our local library here in Upper Darby, including a paperback copy of Elie Wiesel’s “Night” for me. I assumed that the books the library was selling were old books that were not getting checked out much. Therefore, I also assumed that there wouldn’t be a very good selection of books to buy. Nevertheless, I decided to try to catch the next book sale at my library. Over the past year I ended up going to two library book sales at different libraries. One was really weak and I only found one Stephen Sears book. The other was better and I found 3-4 good books, a couple of which I had already read. Then, last week I happened to check my county library website where I saw an announcement for the Radnor Library Book Sale in Wayne, PA. For those of you not familiar with PA, Wayne is an affluent city on the Main Line. The website also mentioned that the books the library sells are books that are donated by local residents throughout the year. So, I realized that a library in a more affluent area would probably have a better book sale. Kathy agreed to go, so we went Saturday afternoon. There were four rooms filled with books, including a wall full of history and biography. I went through most of the non-fiction section and came away with a fantastic stack of books. For those who might care, they are (if you don’t care, skip the following list):

1. Stilwell and the American Experience in China 1911-45 - Barbara Tuchman. Probably best known for her book about the start of WWI “The Guns of August”, this book also won the Pulitzer Prize. Interesting side note…Tuchman also happens to be one of David McCullough’s favorite authors.
2. Nothing Like It In The World - Stephen Ambrose. Many of you have probably read Ambrose (Undaunted Courage, Band of Brothers, D-Day, etc). This one is about the building of the transcontinental railroad that met up, of course, at Promontory Point, Utah.
3. The Army of the Potomac - Bruce Catton. Probably my best find of the day. I’ve been looking for this for a while. This is a three-volume set about the eastern arm of the Union Army during the Civil War. The last volume in the set, “A Stillness at Appomattox” won the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1954. The set I got is in great condition.
4. The Lexus and the Olive Tree - Thomas Friedman. Most of you probably know Friedman, but he is a foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times. His latest book is “The World is Flat”, but he is well known for his first book “From Beirut to Jerusalem” which was a fantastic book. This one is supposed to be great too.
5. Miracle at Philadelphia - Catherine Bowen. The story of the creation of the constitution. I don’t know much about the author, but have heard great things about the book.
6. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund Morris. One of a few books to win both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, this book is the first in a (planned) trilogy about the former president. The second book in the series, “Theodore Rex”, came out 20 years after this one. Morris plans on a third volume, but hopefully it takes less than 20 years to finish!
7. Our Vietnam - A.J. Langguth. I haven’t yet read anything by Langguth, but I have one other book of his called “Patriots: The Men Who Started the American Revolution” that is supposed to be fantastic. I also haven’t yet read anything about Vietnam, so I look forward to this one.
8. The Bounty: True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty - Caroline Alexander. This book has been on my “to read” list for a long time. I’m drawn to these sea adventure books like “In the Heart of the Sea” and “Mutiny on the Globe.” These early sailors where a tough bunch and there are some great mutiny/survival stories out there.
9. Lindbergh - A. Scott Berg. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book looks very good and it seems that Lindbergh is a complex, interesting guy. Should be a great read.
10. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: Home Front in WWII - Doris Goodwin. You may have seen or read her new multi-biography of Lincoln and others called “Team of Rivals.” This earlier book won the Pulitzer in History in 1995.
11. Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years - Carl Sandburg. The poet Carl Sandburg wrote a 2-volume biography of early Lincoln called “The Prairie Years” and followed that with a massive four-volume biography of Lincoln’s presidency called “The War Years.” This is a one-volume abridged version of the entire six volumes. Not only did Sandburg win a Pulitzer for “The War Years”, but he also won a Pulitzer in Poetry for his book of collected poems. Pretty talented guy! I recently finished reading an abridged version of “The War Years” and loved it. I will likely review it in the future for the blog.

So, you may ask…how much did all these books cost you? I got these 13 books (counting the 3 volume set by Catton) for a grand total of $13.50. Yes, that’s right. Each book was $1 with the Sandburg book costing $1.50. What a steal! Months of reading pleasure for the cost of one regularly-priced book! Throughout the sale, most hardcover books were $1 and paperbacks were fifty cents to $1. So, I would highly recommend that you check your local library to see if they do book sales. And if they do, be sure to go the next time they do. For those of you in the Philadelphia region, here is the website for the Delaware County Library calendar of events. And also, I’ll let you know that the next sale at the Radnor Library is November 3^rd, and you better get there early if you want to beat me. Another great thing about these book sales, is that not only do you get cheap books, but your money goes to support your local library. Two birds with one stone!

There are a couple of other ways to find cheap books. One is to use the World Wide Web. (Do you know what that is?) There are some great websites that do searches for you to find the best price for a particular book. Check out BestBookBuys and School Soup (which was programmed by my brother Brandon…way to go, Morace!). For some older USED books, you can sometimes find them for as cheap as one cent on websites like Amazon.com and Half.com, where you then just have to pay the $3 or so for shipping. So, that’s a pretty cheap option. Finally, I have had mixed success at the Borders Outlet store. It’s definitely hit and miss, but I have found a few great books for $3-$5 (most recently “Undaunted Courage” by Ambrose). Used bookstores are one other option, and a lot of them have a great selection of books, but I’ve found that you can almost always beat their prices online.

Well, this has gone on long enough. If you still can’t find the book you want cheap (and you’re poor like me), checking out books from the library is still a great option. If you are more established financially and can afford to buy books full price from your local bookstore, more power to you. But then again, you’re not likely to find “Army of the Potomac” at Barnes and Noble or Borders.

If you know of other ways to get cheap books, or have had success with the ideas I’ve mentioned, please share with the rest of us! We’re all interested in building our libraries, one book at a time!

Chapter 6 – The Mayflower

First off, I want to thank those of you who posted comments on my blog! It warms my little heart every time I check for comments and find a new one. Keep it up! And, thanks for those who always email me back with comments and feedback. That’s what makes this fun. I also want to let you know that I will be inviting special “guest reviewers” to post a review of one of their favorite books or latest reads here on the blog. Look for the first guest review to appear shortly. And don’t be surprised if I ask you to write a review as well. Also, if I haven’t yet asked you to be a guest reviewer, but you have a book you are really wanting to share with others, let me know and we’ll get it posted on the blog!

I wanted to point out to those of you who caught the PBS special "The Mormons" last week, that you saw our friend Richard Bushman, the author of the Joseph Smith biography Rough Stone Rolling, which was featured in my last book review. Also interviewed (among many other people) was Terry Givens who wrote an interesting book about the Book of Mormon that I enjoyed and hope to review for the blog in the future. Alright, enough intro stuff...on to the review...

Since my last posting, the 2007 Pulitzer Prizes were announced. I’m happy to report that the subject of my Chapter 2 review, The Looming Tower, was awarded the prize for General Nonfiction. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed that fantastic book! Be sure to check out it out if you haven’t yet. In addition, one of the finalists in the History category was “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War" by Nathaniel Philbrick. This was another new book that I read last year when it came out, and it was a wonderful book. I decided to review it today.

(As a quick side note, Nathaniel Philbrick, who lives near Plymouth in Nantucket, has two other well known books: In the Heart of the Sea which tells the tragic story of the whaleship Essex and which won the National Book Award, and Sea of Glory about the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842. I really loved the first of these and will hopefully review it in the future. The second of these books is currently sitting on my bookshelf begging to be read. If any of you have read it, I would love to hear from you about what you thought.)

If you are anything like me, you grew up with romantic visions of the pilgrims and Native Americans sitting together at the first thanksgiving. You may have imagined a group of people seated at a large rectangular table out in the warm afternoon autumn sun, with buckle-shoed Pilgrim John asking his Indian neighbor to “Pass the yams, please.” Maybe you pictured the Pilgrims dressing up a large turkey or the Indians bringing in a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables. Perhaps you can imagine the children running off to play in the woods after dinner while the adults gather around to watch the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions play. Okay, maybe you pictured everything except the football game. Football started shortly after the pilgrims…right? Anyway, it turns out, not too surprisingly, that our image of life in Plymouth Colony is a little bit off. In fact, for many of us it is way off. In this great book Nathanial Philbrick describes how the members of Plymouth colony came to the New World, what life was like there, and what happened in the subsequent half century or so. It is a fascinating look at the early life of Europeans on North American soil.

The pilgrims were a group of devout English Christians who were seeking religious freedom. They fled from England to Holland, but then decided to get even further away from persecution and oppression. In 1620, they took a ten week journey across the Atlantic, arriving on the coast of present day Massachusetts. En route, they drafted the Mayflower Compact, a remarkable document which set up a system of government for their new settlement. Times were tough in Plymouth Colony…very tough. They arrived in November with little food and were quite unprepared for the winter ahead. Over half of the settlers died in the first six months and the others likely would have too, if not for some help from local Indian tribes. While some sort of thanksgiving celebration did occur the following year, it was much different from what we have all imagined throughout our childhood. Philbrick gives a more accurate description of this celebration and other events that transpired early on in Plymouth Colony. What followed was a relatively peaceful, although often difficult and many times stressful, coexistence for the next half century.

In 1675, war erupted. The war was called King Philips War (King Philip was an Indian chief at the center of the conflict) and was the culmination of building tension between the colonists and some of the Indian tribes, as well as the eruption of centuries-old disputes and disagreements between some of the many different Indian tribes. The war was gruesome, lasted over one year, and took several thousand lives, including a large percentage of Plymouth Colony. Philbrick recounts how this war started, brings to life the principal participants and depicts its ultimate conclusion.

This book provides an excellent description of the rough, trying circumstances that the pilgrims endured upon settling in the New World, the courage they demonstrated as well as some the short-sighted decisions they made in their interactions with the local Indian tribes and leaders. While the title of this book is deceiving since it covers much more than the voyage of the Mayflower, the story of life in Plymouth Colony is as interesting, and probably more so, than the story of how the pilgrims got there in the first place. This book has been described as “a fifty-five-year epic that is at once tragic, heroic, exhilarating, and profound.”

So, if you’re interested in early American history, want to find out who King Philip really was (I always assumed he was an English king who mistreated American colonists!), or want to hear an amazing story of enduring in the face of difficult circumstances, I recommend that you Buy the Book!!! However, if you’d like to hold onto your childhood images of the Indians and pilgrims feasting on turkey together and living in continual peace and harmony, you may want to skip this one.