Book Description
The true story behind the famous novel The Last of the Mohicans-"a vivid account of the raid that gained Rogers fame" (Boston Globe)
In North America's first major conflict, known today as the French and Indian War, France and England-both in alliance with Native American tribes-fought each other in a series of bloody battles and terrifying raids. No confrontation was more brutal and notorious than the massacre of the British garrison of Fort William Henry-an incident memorably depicted in James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans. That atrocity stoked calls for revenge, and the tough young Major Robert Rogers and his "Rangers" were ordered north into enemy territory to take it. On the morning of October 4, 1759, they surprised the Abenaki Indian village of St. Francis, slaughtering its sleeping inhabitants without mercy. When the raiders returned to safety, they were hailed as heroes by the colonists, and their leader was immortalized as "the brave Major Rogers." But the Abenakis remembered Rogers differently: To them he was Wobomagonda-"White Devil."
Customer Reviews:
White Devil--More than just a good overview........2007-04-12
I have been interested for along time in the factual details of Major Robert Rogers' activities during the French and Indian War (Seven Years War). I have lived in New England all my life and many of my ancestors arrived in New England from Old England during the earliest of colonial times. Some of them took part in the events of the French and Indian War. I first saw the 1940 Spencer Tracy movie on TV when I was just a youngster. Later when I was a bit older but still a boy I remember the TV series. I think it starred George Montgomery. So quite a bit of fiction has crept into the story of Rogers over the years. Yet, I always wanted to have the facts seperated from the myths. This book has all the facts on Rogers between two covers. Yet, it is much more than just a summary. The accounts of Rogers and his Rangers and their military missions during the French and Indian War seem to be fully covered and explained in an easy to follow and often vivid narrative. Also outlined are the major events of the Seven Years War in the North American Theather. It was after all a war that had several theaters around the globe and has been called the first world war. The bibliogrphay and notes are also valuable because anyone wanting to read further has now a referecne list.
Must read about Major Rogers.......2007-01-12
Very well reasearched, interesting, sweeping narrative. Highly recommended for everyone who is interested in the French and Indian War.Nothing to add.
Exciting Story of George Rogers and His Rangers .......2006-12-30
The author provides a terrific history of George Rogers and his Rangers along with a finite history of the French and Indian War. The author writes a very readable account of the French and Indian War primarily about Rogers and his Rangers who go well into the wilds behind enemy lines on raids and reconnaissance missions against the French and their Indian allies. These Ranger companies were virtually alone and totally unsupported in their forays risking not just capture but also violent deaths by the French's Indian allies, primarily the St. Francis Abenakis who at one time were the terror among the English settlements. While covering the overall campaign in America, the author covers in detail Roger's amazing exploits. Of particular note is Rogers and over 200 Rangers making a strike against the Abenakis' town over 100 miles from their landing point and then after being discovered having to change direction traveling over 200 miles over rough wilderness terrain while being pursued by the vengeful Abenakis and the French. Incredible hardships and an amazing story of survival and after this harrowing exploit, Rogers goes back into the wilderness to fight again. The War against the French and their Indian allies is violent particularly if their prisoners are not of value or if vengeance is preferred. Capture did not necessarily end up being better than a quick death in combat. The author includes a fascinating discussion of the alliances between the various tribes and the French and English. The first chapter of the book starts off with a thrilling description of the capture and imprisonment of the Johnson family of settlers and their experience traveling through the wilderness with their captors and their experience in captivity. The author describes Rogers as a man highly capable, a leader and motivator in war but literally without a business rudder in peace suffering financially and choosing the wrong side during the revolution due to pension and perhaps mistreatment by his countrymen after the French and Indian War. This is an engrossing book, fraught with adventure with some shocking detail on how the Rangers survive their most brutal campaign. This book is an immensely entertaining history where the truth goes beyond the legend. Spencer Tracey's 1940 classic movie, Northwest Passage, is the subject of Rogers' attack on the Abenakis and the harrowing journey of his Rangers to escape, a movie well worth seeing.
A Mind Gripping True Story of Robert Rogers and The French & Indian War.......2006-11-03
In the book "White Devil", author Stephen Brumwell takes you to the French & Indian War. Where we read about the Abenaki Indians and their brutal ways, and another side the Abenaki's not always heard of. Brumwell gives you the history of the infamous Rogers Rangers, and their historic raid on St. Francis which will keep you on the edge of your seat as you read this book about Robert Rogers and his band of Rangers. I would absolutely recommend this book to anybody looking for a wonderfully detailed and historical novel of the French and Indian War, and Robert Rogers, the Father of America's Special Forces, and the United States Army Rangers.
-George
Stellar research, tricky writing...........2006-05-09
Mr Brumwell, who's jacketnotes describe him as an "independent historian", has done an excellent job researching what for me was a little-known period of America's history...easily 5 stars. I can only begin to imagine and appreciate the depth of research that the author went through in order to synthesize this information.
WHITE DEVIL struck a wonderful balance (for me) between academic research and spinning a lively yarn.
The reason that I gave it three stars was that I found the editing to be somewhat convoluted. While admittedly the cast of characters and behaviors that the author describes is complex and interwoven, I found that the book would jump around from person to person - and from time period to time period - too often for my taste. Individual's stories could have been more tightly woven together.
Overall, though, a fascinating read.
Hoorah for independent scholars!
Amazon.com
William Clarke Quantrill was quite possibly the most dangerous man to fight in the Civil War. The leader of an almost psychopathic band of guerrilla warriors, Quantrill participated as a Confederate in a deadly border war between Southern sympathizers in Missouri and the Unionist Jayhawks of Kansas. He was largely responsible for the 1863 massacre of nearly 200 unresisting men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as dozens of other brutal acts that today would be called terrorism. Among the notorious men who rode with him were Frank and Jesse James, whose postwar crime careers are briefly reviewed. Edward E. Leslie provides an objective treatment of his controversial subject, and readers will appreciate his ability to tell a good story--including the one about why Quantrill's bones currently rest in three different states and why a forensically correct wax reconstruction of his head can be found in the refrigerator of an Ohio historical society. --John J. Miller
Book Description
This is the first modern biography of the most famous--and infamous--soldier, rogue, raider, and terrorist to emerge from the Civil War. The Devil Knows How to Ride is based on memoirs, letters, diaries, and newspapers--all of which the author has skillfully converted in a biography that is almost sure to provoke controversy among Civil War historians and buffs alike. of photos.
Customer Reviews:
Charley Hart was mistreated in Lawrence...............2007-09-09
....and Colonel William Clarke Quantrill called in the debt. He sure as hell did. Hart was an assumed name that Quantrill used as a young man when he went west from Ohio seeking fame and fortune, or at least a living. Problem was, he landed right in the middle of the "Bleeding Kansas" mess that was especially hot along the Missouri-Kansas border. Quantrill worked as a teacher, and is said to have been a good one, but trouble was brewing...Charles Jennison and his Jayhawkers, John Brown and his murders of innocent whites....more than enough motivation for a young man to follow the South when war came.
Missouri was even more deeply divided than the rest of the country; it really was brother against brother. The Confederate commander in Missouri was Major General Sterling Price, a fine and decent man, but not our best General. Initially, Quantrill served in the regular Confederate Army, but gradually broke away, with a band of followers, to form The Missouri Partisan Rangers, forerunner of the modern Special Forces, complete with proper Confederate commissions. At first, they played by regular rules...taking prisoners, giving paroles, etc. But when Jim Lane wantonly burned Osceola, and murdered civilians, the black flag came out...
Quantrill's followers are the stuff of Legend...Captain Bloody Bill Anderson...Captain George Todd, who eventually supplanted Quantrill [I am married to a direct descendent of Captain Todd; our son will gladly tell you about it]...Archie Clement...Bill Gregg...Cole Younger...Frank James...Jesse James. Some died in the cause; others went on to fame after the war.
Quantrill's Raiders lived off the countryside, and made things hot for the Yankees wherever they went. They even fought, and won, regular battles, like Baxter Springs. Finally, the Yankees imprisoned female relatives of the Raiders in a structurally unsafe jail in Kansas City...when it collapsed, five innocent girls, including Bill Anderson's sister and Cole Younger's cousin died...enough was enough, the bill was due, and Lawrence paid. When Ewing issued his infamous Order #11, clearing northwest Missouri of Southern civilians, resolve hardened.
Eventually, Todd and Anderson were killed, and the war ended. Quantrill was mortally wounded in Kentucky in 1865. Or was he? He was seen alive as late as 1915...the ultimate legendary status...seen alive after death, joining such company as Jesse James [seen as late as 1951], Houdini, Elvis, and JFK. His skull was used as a prop in a college fraternity initiation for years; he finally received a military funeral, and Christian burial, in 1992. Surviving Raiders held reunions from 1898 till 1929; interestingly, there were two black Raiders at the reunions, though no one knows much about them.
This is a well researched account of a little known aspect of our Civil War. "Quantrill's War" by Duane Schultz is more academic, but this is more readable...both get five stars.
The Civil War wasn't just in the East.......2005-04-04
I went to KU in Lawrence so I was well aware of Quantrill's raid but that was about all that I was aware of. (Pioneer Cemetery with headstone inscriptions bearing witness to that raid is just across I70 from KU on Mount Oread.) When studying the American Civil War in school one learns about Gettysburg, Antietam, Petersburg and the fighting in the Shenandoah of Virginia. Some passing mention might be made of the war in the west, usually a reference to Grant and Vicksburg. There is hardly if ever any mention of the 'border war' in eastern Kansas and western Missouri. The border war is still alive in that part of the nation; the massacre at Baxter Springs and General Order Number 11 that emptied a number of counties of citizens in western Missouri to combat bands of guerillas is still in the memory of many. Not all of the fighting was in the east and Edward Leslie does a fine job of bringing to life a bit of the war in the west. It was as nasty if not nastier than anything in the east.
The Bloody Conflict in Kansas-Missouri.......2004-11-06
With nealy 620,000 combat deaths, the American Civil War has proven the single bloodiest conflict ever engaged in by U.S. forces. Names like Antietam, Gettysburg, and Appomattox still make many Americans cringe with thoughts of bullets, sabres, and grape shot tearing through ranks of steadily marching countrymen.
However, there was another smaller, beastly war occuring along the contested boarder region between Missouri and Kansas. Rarely was there a conflict between the massive armies of the C.S.A. and U.S.A. Rather it was a war of attrition waged by roving bands of maruaders who were less interested in ideology and more concerned with loot and plunder. Indeed, along the border raged a savage guerrilla war.
With the State of Kansas predomintly in support of the Federal Union, and the Missourians leaning towards Jeff Davis' Confederate States, the border was a tinderbox, and sparks were everywhere. Incidents of violence were common, and reprisal raids were bloody.
Leslie provides an excellent and informative book regarding not only the Missouri-Kansas border war, but one of the principal guerrila chieftains, William Clarke Quantrill. Q's band of raiders, which included such infamous names as Jesse and Frank James, Cole Younger, and the notorious "Bloody" Bill Anderson waged a war with few if any rules. Prisoners were executed with out remorse, cities and towns were burned to the ground, and civilians attempting the least resistance were gunned down, usually with one pistol ball to the head. Rather than being a rarity, Q's band was one of many roaming the countyside. The Unionists also maintained their guerrila fighters under the name of Jayhawkers who were equally ruthless as Quantrill; the difference being they were partial to the execution of Southern sympathizers.
Leslie follows the story of Q and the Kansas-Missouri war from its inception to its conclusion. He keeps his observations objective and provides a clear picture of both the C.S.A. and the U.S.A. His work is well researched and readable, and certainly leads readers to discover more about this unique, although bloody Americans.
Classic Study on Guerrilla War In the US.......2004-10-27
This is a classic study in depth study into the mind of the 19th century guerrilla in the War Between the States. To understand counterinsugency of today or to understand the reasons insurgents fight, you must delve into their world.
Great Insight on why Kansas and Missouri were enemies.......2003-03-25
Great Book
This is an excellently researched book about the pre-Civil War era along the Missouri and Kansas border and why their conflicts escalated into a all out war between them during the Civil War.
This book is well balanced and not a bunch of hyped up exaggerated stories about a notorious outlaw. Excellent read for any student or history buff desiring to better understand the turmoil and terror the local communities and people endured and suffered on both sides of the civil war.
Customer Reviews:
Hard to care about characters.......2007-06-19
Took me a long time to finish this book, as it just did not hold my attention. Convincing that the lead female can trick most of the males into thinking she is herself a man who loves to gamble did not fly with me.
Yes, well written intimate sections, although they seemed to be a nice reprieve through reading the story instead of flowing with it.
I appreciated the historical information of the period or era, and liked the locale of being on a river boat.
Still, I can't hate it or love it.
Hated it!.......2006-05-18
This was awful. Yes, like everyone mentioned there are a lot of "hot" sex scenes, but that's it and even that seemed pointless. These characters had absolutely no personality. It was almost comical to me when the author wrote in a dog for the hero--hmmm...perhaps to make him seem like a real person? But even that didn't fix it. How `bout giving the characters some real emotions?
tedious and dull.......2006-04-20
Dull, dull, dull. If I'd wanted a course in how to pilot a steamboat, I'd have signed up for one. I don't expect it in a romance novel. Or excuse me, erotica novel though even that part of it got boring as well and when the sex scenes make my eyes glaze over, it's time to jump ship
Boring!!!.......2005-11-01
This book was as interesting as...well...traveling down the river and watching the scenery roll by for six weeks. Which is what the characters did, and what the author felt the need to portray in excrutiating detail. I'm sorry, but there's nothing about working on a riverboat, even as a "cub" to the captain, that is the slightest bit interesting, especially in what's supposed to be a romance novel! I have no idea why the author felt this aspect of the story would be compelling.
I agree with other reviewers that, although this is erotica and therefore expected to be fantasy based, the heroine's lax sexual mores were completely unbelievable for the times. The sex scenes were repetitive and uninventive. The hero was emotionally uncompelling.
In short, this book was a definite letdown after Irish Devil.
Hot and beautifully written!.......2005-10-18
This is a deliciously erotic book! Diane Whiteside has created an intelligent, sensual heroine in Rosalind Schuyler and a luscious alpha male hero in Hal Lindsay. Their adventures in and out of the bedroom will have your heart beating faster. Nobody does historical research better than Diane Whiteside, or weaves it into a book as skillfully, and I found it added a great deal to my enjoyment of the book.
Book Description
It began with the discovery of three women's bodies found near suburban Seattle's Green River in August, 1982. Soon more corpses and human remains would be found, some as far as Oregon. They were teenage runaways or other women whose anonymous lifestyles had made them easy, vulnerable targets-and they were all the victims of a faceless murderer whose rampage would span two decades and take as many as forty-nine lives. No other serial killer in the nation's history had killed so many people.For twenty long years, Sheriff David Reichert played a cat and mouse game with the Green River killer who managed to stay one step ahead of Reichert, the local authorities, and even the FBI. But Reichert had no doubt in his mind that he was going to find the Green River killer- no matter how long it took...That day came in 2001 when DNA evidence linked fifty-two-year-old truck painter Gary Ridgway to three of the murder victims. The long nightmare was finally over for Reichert and the families of the murder victims. With startling insider disclosures and the fascinating forensic details of the relentless manhunt itselfChasing the Devil exposes the heart of true evil and reveals the dauntless efforts behind one man's quest to chase it....
Download Description
For eight years, Sheriff David Reichert devoted days and nights to capturing the Green River Killer-the most notorious serial killer in American history. He was the first detective on the case in 1982, and doggedly pursued it as the body count climbed to 49 and it became the most infamous unsolved case in the nation. Frantically following all leads, even as more bodies surfaced near the river outside Seattle, Sheriff Reichert befriended the victims' families, publicly challenged the killer, and risked his own safety-and the endurance and love of his family-before he found his madman. But Reichert's hunt didn't end when he finally cornered a truck painter named Gary Ridgway. It would be yet another 11 haunting years before forensic science could prove Ridgway's guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt. CHASING THE DEVIL is the gripping firsthand account of Reichert's relentless pursuit-a 21-year odyssey full of near-misses and startling revelations. Told in vivid detail by the man who knows the whole story-the man who has stared into the eyes of absolute evil-this is a page-turning real-life suspense story of unparalleled heroism.
Customer Reviews:
Well-written, factual book.......2006-02-25
I was in junior high school when the Green River Killer was making his rounds. I remember watching about it on the TV news. While books have been written about the case, I was waiting until it had been solved to read about it. When I saw this book, I knew this was the one I would finally purchase because it was written by someone who actually had worked the case, not an outsider.
This book is excellent--it is very well written, concise, and full of factual evidence. It also shows that we in law enforcement are humans and have feelings, too. We just often have to set them aside while we deal with horrible incidents.
I am a dispatcher at a sheriff's office in a western state. I was almost finished with the book when I brought it to work with me. Within minutes of its discovery, co-workers were calling out dibs on who got to read it next. One deputy even called me on the radio to ask if I was finished reading it yet!
So, this book is making the rounds at our office. And, everyone agrees with me that it is a VERY GOOD book.
Average customer rating:
- Very Worthwhile Reading
- History with a perceptive twist
- Wyoming History
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Devil's Gate: Owning the Land, Owning the Story
Tom Rea
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0806137924 |
Book Description
Devil's Gate--the very name conjures difficult passage and portends a doubtful outcome. In this eloquent and captivating narrative, Tom Rea traces the history of the Sweetwater River valley in central Wyoming--a remote place that includes Devil's Gate, Independence Rock, and other sites along a storied stretch of the Oregon Trail--to show how legal ownership of a place can translate into owning its story.
Customer Reviews:
Very Worthwhile Reading.......2007-05-12
This well written book provides historical depth on the Oregon Trail as well as interesting reading that gets an important message across about historical truth. Highly recommend it.
History with a perceptive twist.......2007-03-22
At times history can be a Gatling gun of fact and speculation and cause the reader to separate truth from fiction. The underlying theme of Tom Rea's fine work is that given a certain geographical area (in this case Devil's Gate along Wyoming's Sweetwater River), it is the land itself that owns the true stories of space and time. People simply tell them, sometimes to fit their own needs.
Recruiting and interweaving stories from days gone by of this region, whether it be John Fremont mapping the territory, experiences of Oregon Trail emigrants, the Mormon handcarters, mid-nineteenth century Indian wars, Billy Owen's surveying or Hiram Chittenden's engineering for dam sites, to feuds with neighboring ranchers ("Cattle Kate" lynching), water rites, grazing laws, up to the present-day, this is a gifted undertaking of connecting historical meaning.
Enjoyed the stories. Benefited from the insightful viewpoint as well.
Wyoming History.......2007-03-16
This books does a good job of summerizing many historic events in Wyoming's past to a very unique and sometimes forgotten place. It was interesting to read accounts of some of these historic events and some not so historic and obscure events and how this country tied into them. It was an enjoyable read of history but also posed an underlying troubling trend today. It is a very interesting "history" book in that aspect.
Amazon.com
Among candidates for world's worst job, disease detective ranks pretty high. In Beating Back the Devil, Maryn McKenna examines the everyday fascinations and horrors faced by the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service. On a few hours' notice, these physicians are ready to travel anywhere in the world to track down new medical threats. McKenna writes about the group's response to such frightening incidents as the first outbreaks of Ebola and SARS. In matter-of-fact, first-person narratives, EIS doctors tell how they deal with crises brought on not only by biological threats, but by public health mismanagement, terrorism, and war. One doctor describes trying to save children while working in conflict-torn Zaire:
"We would go into a center and find kids lying on the floor, severely dehydrated, with a clogged IV," he said. "Then we would go outside and find the relief workers building a stone fireplace.... And we'd have to say, Hot meals would be great, but in a few days you're not going to have any living kids to cook meals for.... Take this oral rehydration solution and sit by this child and spoon it into his mouth.... Don't do anything else, or this child is going to be dead."
McKenna's research is painstakingly meticulous, and the doctors she profiles come across as brave firefighters of microbiological conflagrations. Not since Sherwin Nuland has an author so effectively revealed the dramatic side of medicine. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
IN THE WAR AGAINST DISEASES, THEY ARE THE SPECIAL FORCES.
They always keep a bag packed. They seldom have more than twenty-four hours' notice before they are dispatched. The phone calls that tell them to head to the airport, sometimes in the middle of the night, may give them no more information than the country they are traveling to and the epidemic they will tackle when they get there.
The universal human instinct is to run from an outbreak of disease. These doctors run toward it.
They are the disease detective corps of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the federal agency that tracks and tries to prevent disease outbreaks and bioterrorist attacks around the world. They are formally called the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) -- a group founded more than fifty years ago out of fear that the Korean War might bring the use of biological weapons -- and, like intelligence operatives in the traditional sense, they perform their work largely in anonymity. They are not household names, but over the years they were first to confront the outbreaks that became known as hantavirus, Ebola virus, and AIDS. Now they hunt down the deadly threats that dominate our headlines: West Nile virus, anthrax, and SARS.
In this riveting narrative, Maryn McKenna -- the only journalist ever given full access to the EIS in its fifty-three-year history -- follows the first class of disease detectives to come to the CDC after September 11, the first to confront not just naturally occurring outbreaks but the man-made threat of bioterrorism. They are talented researchers -- many with young families -- who trade two years of low pay and extremely long hours forthe chance to be part of the group that has helped eradicate smallpox, push back polio, and solve the first major outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease, toxic shock syndrome, and E. coli O157.
Urgent, exhilarating, and compelling, Beating Back the Devil goes with the EIS as they try to stop epidemics -- before the epidemics stop us.
Customer Reviews:
Epidemiologists in Action.......2005-10-15
This fascinating book explores the work of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a division of the Center for Disease Control. This group of elite health care workers trained in early disease detection and containment travel throughout the United States and the world to hot spots, with the goal of preventing deaths and widespread infection. Author Maryn McKenna, after introducing the history and structure of the EIS, launches into specific cases of disease detection, with chapters dedicated to malaria, cholera, AIDS, small pox, SARS, anthrax, TB, and others. Some chapters are devoted to outbreaks of well-known diseases, but the most intriguing are those focusing on the series of coincidences, connections, and insight that led to the discovery of new public health crises such as AIDS and SARS.
McKenna begins her book with the first day of training for the EIS class of 2002 and follows many of them through their two years of service, but she does not limit her narrative to the stories of these health care workers. She reaches back in time to various outbreaks and interviews former EIS agents instrumental in detecting and controlling the spread of infection. While this book does not have the narrative drive and heart palpitating scenes of The Hot Zone, it is nonetheless a compelling portrait of disease. The chapter on SARS in particular illustrates the danger that these health care professionals face. Written for the lay person, this book never gets technical and so might disappoint those who want in-depth analysis instead of detective work.
For those with a general interest in epidemiology, Beating Back the Devil offers insight into disease detection. Its content is not nearly as hyperbolic as its title, and it provides a solid, though somewhat superficial, look into public health. Its strength lies in the anecdotal nature of each chapter -- the personalities of the EIS agents, the conditions they face, and, sometimes, the politics and fear that threaten to allow an infectious agent to take hold in the population.
A must-read if you're into disease detection and control..........2005-05-30
After reading The Coming Plague, I found myself fascinated by the people who do disease research. Beating Back The Devil by Maryn McKenna continues in that vein, and is a good read...
McKenna covers the history and activities of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), which is a branch of the CDC. These people, who are considered a branch of the military, sign up for a stint which involves intensive training, personal risk, and the knowledge that they may be sent anywhere in the world with a single phone call and no notice. It's the people in this group that were on the front lines of discovering and fighting Ebola, AIDS, and hantavirus. The author generally follows a specific group of EIS personnel through their adventures (but not exclusively), so you get to know and understand the personal costs of this type of work. It's truly amazing that we have people in this country that are willing to risk everything to keep us safe from things we can not see and may not be able to protect ourselves from. Since many of the disease episodes are relatively recent, it's easy to relate to what's going on in the story, and McKenna does a good job in bringing it all to life. This is probably one of the advantages of this book over The Coming Plague. Beating helps cover that ten year gap since Plague was published.
If the subject of disease detection and control is of interest to you, Beating Back The Devil is a must-read...
Rather staid look at group who deals with infectious disease.......2005-02-14
One of the editorial reviews said this book was riveting. There is no doubt that the book is great reading into the EIS, a part of the Center for Disease Control in the United States. This book is especially mandatory reading for those in medicine who are even contemplating working for the CDC. It's good background into the possible postings that these young people are going to see, especially in the post-9/11 world. This will impact not just them, but their families also...these people are exposed as first responders to possible bioterrorism, and will need to get vaccines that the rest of us don't absolutely need. But the possible exposure to anthrax, small pox, and other infectious disease such as the hantavirus means that these vaccines are necessary.
This book just was not the riveting reading that I found in Laurie Garret's books, or the book on the 1918 influenza, or "The Hot Zone" by Preston. The book is well-written, and less melodramatic as some of these books are, and I would not be adverse to recommending this as reading for public health students. It is just not as interesting as these other books mentioned, probably because I read those books first...
Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh
Fascinating...and scary.......2004-12-23
This book was an interesting and thought provoking quick read. Readers who previously enjoyed books such as The Hot Zone should find this particularly appealing. The book alternates between descriptions of battling real epidemics and describing the people who do this battle. The book leaves the reader feeling grateful to those who do this challenging, tedious, and dangerous work...and also frightened to learn the "real deal" on how epidemics spread. I found the chapter on vaccines to be particularly interesting, and I appreciated the global view of disease, which allows the reader a glimpse into the vast differences in healthcare between the developed and less-developed parts of the world.
Interesting Subject Written Poorly.......2004-11-24
Where in the world did the author pick this title!!! The subject matter is so interesting but is hidden by the title. The CDC's EIS officers come alive in some wonderful chapters, but the author uses or misuses English often with dangling participles and obscure uses of "it" with the reader confused about what "it" refers to! Intriguing looks at diseases and how and where they are fought...in more capable hands and with a better title, the book would be a best seller!
Book Description
The riveting personal account of one sheriffs epic hunt for Americas most heinous serial killer.For eight years, Sheriff David Reichert devoted days and nights to capturing the Green River Killer--the most notorious serial killer in American history. He was the first detective on the case in 1982 and doggedly pursued it as the body count climbed to 49 and it became the most infamous unsolved case in the nation. Frantically following all leads, even as more bodies surfaced near the river outside Seattle, Sheriff Reichert befriended the victims families, publicly challenged the killer, and risked his own safety--and the endurance and love of his family--before he found his madman. But Reicherts hunt didnt end when he finally cornered a truck painter named Gary Ridgway. It would be yet another 11 haunting years before forensic science could prove Ridgways guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt.CHASING THE DEVIL is the gripping firsthand account of Reicherts relentless pursuit--a 21-year odyssey full of near-misses and startling revelations. Told in vivid detail by the man who knows the whole story--the man who has stared into the eyes of absolute evil--this is a page-turning real-life suspense story of unparalleled heroism.
Customer Reviews:
A wannabe hero cashes in.......2007-06-15
I've read a lot about the Green River case, and almost every recounting, aside from this one, paints Reichert as as much a part of the problem as the solution in this protracted case. His early mistakes, and his myopic fascination with suspect Melvyn Foster are often credited with confounding the search for the real killer. Reichert, while obviously passionate about the case, seems to get caught up in his own political aspirations at the expense of his objectivity about the case. And for him to take so much credit for apprehending Ridgway -- 14 years after he'd gone off the case -- seems like a calculated attempt to curry favor with potential voters. I guess it worked -- he got elected -- but to me he comes off as overly ambitious and more than a little closed minded.
Great Book.......2006-03-21
I really enjoyed this book. I found the writing easy to read and it flowed well. There were parts that did not needed to be included in the book. At times I think the author felt he had to explain his situation in times it was convenient for him. I felt it was an unnecessary addition to the true story.
In the end, I would read this book again!
Wonderful Campaign Propaganda.......2005-12-31
I am absolutely fascinated by the fact that so many people have been captivated by this book. This book was simply a campaign ploy for Reichert to elevate himself into congress. The timing of the book came as he was running for congress and allowed him to make tons of TV appearances that aided his campaign. The book is as much fiction as it is a true account. The purpose of the book was to portray an image of a man who was running for congress. Reichert was never the head of the task force, and he was only on the task force for nine years, not twenty! The man whom his peers call selfish and unable to give credit to others, exemplifies this in this incredible book. He did have a ghost writer and even fails to mention that as he once again takes all the credit himself. I wish he was at least honest and admit that he never believed Ridgeway was the killer because he passed a polygraph test and instead always pinned his hopes on an innocent man Melvyn Foster.... nice work Congressman Reichert
Chasing the Devil--an excellent title.......2005-08-05
I read CHASING THE DEVIL with great interest, after reading the book by Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen, the two reporters from the Seattle Times who spent many years covering the case for the newspaper. I wanted to read Reichert's book to get a law enforcement official's perspective on the search for this elusive madman who was killing young girls in Seattle, WA. Many of these girls were runaways with drug and alcohol problems, and many had probably suffered sexual abuse and had left home to escape a traumatic situation, only to encounter brutality on the streets.
Reichert is the antithesis of the killer. He is a straightforward, law-abiding citizen with deep religious beliefs and roots. His grandfather was a minister and he himself had considered going into the ministry while he was a student at a Lutheran college. However, he chose law enforcement instead, and clearly it was a good choice. His belief that the killer had to be hunted down and found, regardless of cost or anything else, shows that Reichert is a man of strong conviction. Reichert's personality comes out clearly in the book. He has great respect for humanity and believed that the murders of these girls had to be avenged. His facial expression in the photo where Ridgway appears in court in 2001 shows that the murders greatly affected him.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about how law enforcement officials have to operate, in real-world scenarios, unlike on TV, where murder investigations cannot be wrapped up in just one hour. I felt CHASING THE DEVIL was an apt title for the book, as Ridgway clearly is one.
not perfect but darn good.......2005-05-12
Give Reichart a break, he's a detective, not a writer. I found this to be quite the page-turner even though the reader already knows who the Green River killer was and that he has been caught and imprisoned. I too was surprised at the number of people he named, but I thought it was a good account of how a crime affects an ever-widening circle of people, and how a detective himself as well as his family is affected by a case that continues for years. I salute Reichart for his dedication to duty and for this book. Authoring this book has likely helped him deal with issues regarding this case.
Product Description
John Pellam, scouting locations for a new film in a small town in Missouri, inadvertently witnesses a double homicide and some serious gunplay that left a cop paralyzed. He didn't see the guy who ordered the killings, but the police don't believe him. The U.S. attorney who thinks he knows who was behind the murders has bet his career on Pellam's identification of a criminal the feds have been trying to nail for years. They'll do anything to get Pellam's cooperation, including threatening his new girlfriend, shutting down the movie, and keeping Pellam from inking a deal to get his own film made. That project is Pellam's ticket back to the top of the heap in Hollywood, a perch he fell off of when he supplied the drugs that killed his best friend. The cops want Pellam's testimony, the mob boss wants him permanently silenced, and the film's director wants him to finish the job he's been paid to do. But first Pellam has to find his way out of the traps they've all set for him, and he does it with style, wit, and a self-deprecating charm that makes him a hero to everyone--well, almost everyone.William Jefferies, who usually writes under the better-known nom de plume of Jeffery Deaver, has a couple of other Location Scout mysteries to his name (Shallow Graves, Hell's Kitchen). Pocket Books has reissued them as Deaver titles ("writing as William Jefferies"), but regardless of their provenance, they feature topnotch writing, snappy dialogue, solid pacing, and excellent characterization. Bloody River Blues was overlooked by Deaver's fans when it first came out eight years ago. Now that the publisher has cleared up the mystery of who actually wrote it, it ought to get the attention it deserves. --Jane Adams
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River Gods and Spotted Devils
Manufacturer: LiveOak Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0929822005 |
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