Book Description
The bestselling Blood Debt and all the Vicki and Henry short stories-plus A brand-new one!
Customer Reviews:
If you like Vampires . . ........2007-07-23
You gotta get the Blood Books by Tanya Huff. I got all three volumes and couldn't put them down. Not only is Henry one of best written vamps I've seen in a long time but Vicky "Victory" Nelson is one h*** of a heroine. With Mike Celluci to set off the main characters these are page turners of the highest order. Mystery/detective/romance/supernatural/just plain smart writing, there is something here for everyone. Only wish there were more in the series, (I know, I know, but a girl can dream). Get your hands on these, you won't be sorry.
Awesome.......2007-07-04
These are wonderful books. I cannot put them down! I liked buying them this way so that after I finish one story, I can just turn the page to read the next one. For any fans of vampire and/or detective books, these are the ones for you.
GOOD.......2007-05-22
BLOOD BOOKS VOLUME III READ MUCH THE SAME AS THE OTHER BOOKS I & II.
FAST PACED, INTERESTING CHARACTERS, GOOD PLOT. GOOD FUN TIME READING.
Fun book.......2007-05-15
The Blood books series is way cool Henry Fitzroy, Vicki and Mike the love triangle is funny and throw in Tony and its very fun.
The Blood books vol III.......2007-05-13
With each of Tanya Huff's books her style and story become more intense. I love the interaction of the main characters and the mystery involved in each story. It is fresh to see a strong female character and a not so bloody vampire.
I highly recommend her books for a good read.
Customer Reviews:
Very very bland..........2006-04-22
(Spoiler warnings)
Although I enjoyed the past 4 books in this series, this book really grated on me. In the past, Victory's fights with Henry and the others were amusing and bordered at times on annoying. This time, however, they were exremely annoying.
Secondly, Henry sounded more like an annoying [...] than the charming, delightful prince I'd come to love and admire.
Thirdly, that a seasoned homicide policeman like Celluci would know less about forensics than an ex-policewoman was just dumb.
Last, why do I have the feeling that the twist in the previous book(that is, the ending) was written so there'd be a second spin-off series? If so, clever marketing but what a horrible thing. It'd have been much better to leave Victory and Henry together, than drive them apart!
At this point, I'm reading halfway through the book. I'm not even sure if I can finish it. And, I don't even know if I can finish the book without ripping the pages apart.
Okay end to the Series.......2004-04-03
Excellent Series - This is the fifth novel in Tanya Huff's vampire series. Although this book is my least favorite, it is still an excellent series overall. This is the final chapter involving Vicki, an ex-cop, Mike, a detective who is Vicki's lover, and Henry, a vampire, romance writer who is Vicki's ex-love. (If you have not read the entire series, you must read it, you will not be disappointed. The series order: Blood Price, Blood Trail, Blood Lines, Blood Pact and Blood Debt).
This fifth book begins with Vicki and Mike as a couple. if you have read the series, you know that Vicki and Henry were in love but Vicki was badly hurt and Henry made her into a vampire. There are rules that vampires must follow, and one is that they can't hunt in the same territory. Vicki had one year with Henry while he taught her everything she needed to know to survive as a vampire. She left Henry, and returned to Mike, her first boyfriend.
What makes this fifth book so irritating at times, is Henry and Vicki's new personalities which come out in the fifth book. Before Vicki became a vampire, she was already a little irritating. She was an overbearing loud mouth woman cop, who had temper tamtrums, banged things when she got angry and had yelling matches with her boyfriend Mike to the point they woke the neighbors. This behavior is already a little over the top, now throw in the fact that Vicki is a vampire, and even more aggressive, and she at times can be a downright irritating character. Also my favorite character of all was Henry, a vampire, and romance writer, who with his wealth of years, always seemed calm and in control. Not in this fifth book.
Henry keeps seeing ghosts. The ghosts will ask him a question, and then an innocent person dies. When Henry cannot figure this out on his own, he has to call Vicki to help him. As soon as Vicki arrives, none of the old romance is there, instead, they spend the entire novel snarling at each other like animals (which is so unlike Henry's character in any of the other novels). It's very disappointing. Throw in Mike with his yelling and Italian cop testostrone and the most likeable character in book number 5 is Tony, Henry's roommate.
Basically Henry and Vicki will have to stop fighting long enough to solve the crime. I'm glad there was a fifth book, but I am also glad the series ended here. Otherwise, I could see myself becoming disappointed. Vicki as a vampire is annoying.
Still good series - definitely worth reading.
ho hum.......2003-09-15
Okay, the first few books were interesting. I've disliked Vicki, the main character through all of them, but have kept reading the series for the simple reason that the plot and vampire were entertaining. This one has been horrible. Now Vicki is a vampire herself. If you thought she was an egotistical pain before, she is ten times that now. I am going to have to think hard before reading another from this series.
A Satisfying End to a Fantastic Series!.......2002-12-16
"Blood Debt" by Tanya Huff is the fifth and final instalment in her fabulous "Blood" series. Though "Blood Debt" is my least favourite of the five books, due largely to the drastic change in the relationship between Henry and Vicki, I still loved it, and will greatly miss Vicki, Henry, and Mike now that the series has come to an end. Filled with vivid and fascinating characters, a top-notch mystery, romance, and tons of danger and suspense, "Blood Debt" will appeal to a wide range of readers.
The book revolves around three main characters, Vicki Nelson, a Private Investigator and ex-cop, her lover, homicide detective Mike Celluci, and her ex-lover Henry Fitzroy, 450-year-old vampire, romance writer, and bastard son of Henry VIII. Henry has been living in Vancouver for a year now, while Vicki and Mike have remained in Toronto. Vicki and Henry have not seen each other at all during that year, but when a handless ghost begins haunting Henry, demanding vengeance against those who murdered him, Henry knows he needs Vicki's help to solve the mystery. Especially when the ghost begins playing a deadly game. Each night when Henry awakes he may ask the ghost one question. If the answers is yes, the ghost will leave, but if the answer is no, an innocent victim will die. At his wits' end, Henry breaks the rule he has lived by for nearly five centuries and asks Vicki to come to Vancouver.
When Vicki arrives with Mike, she and Henry have a hard time just being in the same room together, but as time passes, a strange thing happens. The more time they spend together, the easier it becomes for Henry and Vicki to get along, though their relationship is rather violent. So Vicki, Henry, and Mike work together to discover who killed Henry's ghost and why, and end up right in the middle of a perilous and volatile situation. Huff provides her readers with an intriguing and exciting mystery to solve, set amidst the ever-changing and always interesting love triangle of Vicki, Henry, and Mike.
I can't reveal too much of this book because it would ruin the ending of the fourth in this series, "Blood Pact", for those who have not yet read it. "Blood Debt" is a wonderful read that mixes horror, mystery, and fantasy seamlessly, while exploring the fascinating new dynamics of the relationship between Vicki and the two men in her life. I wished for a happier ending for Henry and Vicki (the couple I was rooting for through all five books), but Huff at least leaves her readers with the impression that things will work themselves out in the years to come. Tanya Huff is a very talented writer with a vibrant imagination and I cannot recommend this series enough. "Blood Debt" is a satisfying finale for this series and is a guaranteed page-turner. So buy it today and enjoy!
Ghosts!.......2002-03-09
This is the fifth and final book in a series by Tanya Huff.In this one, Henry, is being harassed by some ghosts, and he enlists, Vicki--who he's been separated from for a year for a very good reason, and Mike to help him find the answers of why these ghosts are harassing him.This is the end of a great,and wonderful series. ::sniff::
Book Description
In a remote city on the edge of two worlds, where blood has power and water is more precious than freedom, three far-flung friends unite on a quest to save their families. Sal Hrvati's estranged father has brought more into the world than the woman he loved. Instead of saving her from the Void Beneath, he has summoned an unknown creature—a creature with a mission of its own and a past that stretches back to the beginning of the world. The quest to find both of them entangles Sal and his companions in a hunt for magical treasure on the floor of the Divide, a mighty crack in the earth inhabited by creatures that are not remotely human. Desert landscapes and dirigibles feature in a fast-paced fantasy that combines romance, adventure, and humor with an original take on magic.
The Books of the Cataclysm take inspiration from many arcane and mythological sources. In positing that this world is just one of many "realms," three of which are inhabited by humans during various stages of their lives, it begins in the present world but soon propels the reader to a landscape that is simultaneously familiar and fantastic.
Customer Reviews:
Australian SF Reader.......2007-08-01
Having read The Crooked Letter a while ago, somewhat of a surprise to find this jumping into a story with older verions of the characters from The Books of the Change. A pleasant surprise nonetheless. As the characters have aged this series is again more adult in tone and content, not deliberately designed to be young reader friendly like The
Stone Mage and the Sea, et. al.
It is still very good, and revolves around Skender's lost mother, and Sal's father, creating a homunculus, that it turns out, unsurprisingly, is carrying the minds of both Seth and Hadrian from the first book.
The setting is a desert city called Laure, where people used
charmed hang-gliders to retrieve articles from the divide for sale, and there are Change practitioners who use blood as a source. No need to blood bank ads, here!
fabulous fantasy.......2006-10-29
In the distant future Earth is a vastly strange different place in which magic is the energy source of choice in isolated enclaves. With this energy source comes unwelcome byproducts; living humans uneasily share the area with ghosts, golems, and other paranormal creatures that run the gamut of myths including living statues.
Separately friends Sal and Skender become concerned over their respective missing parents who apparently vanished due to some unexplained esoteric disorder. Each without consulting with the other decides on a quest to find and if need be rescue their parents from whatever void that traps them. However, neither is quite ready to learn about a dangerous homunculus pseudo human that apparently Sal's dad brought back from the Void Beneath which may lead to death and destruction of more than just their parents: a world is at risk.
This tale somewhat suffers from the middle book syndrome even though plenty of action occurs, but for practical purposes nothing is resolved. As testimony to the spellbinding writing skills of Sean Williams, fantasy readers will still enjoy the latest Book of the Cataclysm as the lead duo Sal and Skender return (see THE CROOKED LETTER) to embark on a new quest. Readers will root for the pair whose adventures are exciting, dangerous, and fun to follow as they anchor the exhilarating story line of THE BLOOD DEBT.
Harriet Klausner
Awesome.......2006-09-24
The Blood Debt is awesome! Williams' books just keep getting better. Although this could be read easily as a stand alone, do yourself a favour and go and read The Crooked Letter and then read this! Then just try and stop yourself reading the third book! Fantastic characterisation and pageturning prose set in a mystical and unpredictable world. Five stars!!!
Average customer rating:
- it's good
- A Wolverine solo action story
- Best Wolverine Saga Since The Claremont/Miller Series
- i liked it
- An Impressive Writing Debut By Artist Steve Skroce
|
Wolverine: Blood Debt
Steve Skroce
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Superheroes | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Marvel | Publishers | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books | Alternate History | Anthologies | Arthurian | Contemporary | Epic | General | Historical | History & Criticism | Magic & Wizards | Series
Similar Items:
-
Wolverine Vol. 1: The Brotherhood
-
Wolverine: Soultaker (X-Men)
-
Wolverine Legends Volume 3: Law Of The Jungle TPB
-
Wolverine: Meltdown (X-Men)
-
Wolverine Vol. 3: Return of the Native
ASIN: 0785107851 |
Book Description
Wolverine has always had a strong tie to the country of Japan, for it was there that the once uncontrollable feral fighting machine learned to control his berserker rage and temper his fierce fighting sprit with the honor code of the samurai.
But Logan, the man known as Wolverine, has not returned to the land of the rising son to retrace his history. Amiko, a young girl Logan has sworn to protect, and her guardian Yukio, are being held prisoner in blood feud between Lord Haan and Gom of the Clan Yashida. Wolverine becomes a reluctant participant in this bloody war that will likely have no victor.
A story of honor and betrayal, Blood Feud is told in stunning visuals, with cinematic artwork that evokes the work of John Woo and the Wachowski Brothers, who tapped artist Steve Skroce to do story boards for the multi-million dollar blockbuster The Matrix. The same jaw-dropping fight scenes that made The Matrix such a popular success are on full display here, showcased in a moving story that is richly detailed in Asian-influenced costume and tradition.
Customer Reviews:
it's good.......2007-03-22
Wolverine's adventures in Japan are always among my favorites and this one features Yukio and Logan's foster daughter, Amiko, quite prominently. It does help to be familiar w/Wolverine's history involving the two, as well as with his deceased love Mariko and her half brother, the Silver Samurai.
Steve Skroce's pencils are pretty much awesome, but looking at the sketch book included at the end of this, some detail seems to be lost in the coloring process. Skroce draws really attractive women, regardless. :)
I liked the story quite a bit; Wolverine does seem a bit too indestructible as he plows through dozens of machine gun wielding men at a time, but the action panels are great.
Recommended for Wolverine fans and highly recommended if you enjoy Logan's adventures in Japan.
A Wolverine solo action story.......2007-01-11
This a compilation of Wolverine's comicbook, I recomend because has an Interesting plot, but above all Has an Excellent Artwork by Steve Skroke, the artist of MATRIX'S movies, if you are a Wolverine fan BUY THIS BOOK
Best Wolverine Saga Since The Claremont/Miller Series .......2004-12-26
The Wolverine: Blood Debt edition collects issues #150 to #153 of the ongoing series that was published in 2000. A four part story arc that is written and pencilled by Steve Skroce. Silver screen connoisseurs will undoubtedly recognize the name. Skroce formed part of the storyboard designer staff of 1999's blockbuster hit, The Matrix. Skroce not only delivers awesome cinematic visual but offers a Wolverine story that incorporates the intensity of Hong Kong action films into comic book form.
What pleased me about the characterization in this book is that it went back to the roots of the Claremont/Miller miniseries (1982). None of that one dimensional berserker rage or angst that some of the previous writers constantly focused on. That aspect of the character has been flogged to death and I am glad that Skroce did not head in that direction. If Skroce's intention was to make Wolverine: Blood Debt a dynamic and easy to read book, he has succeeded on all accounts.
On a surface level, the plot appears simplistic but Skroce manages to grip you with in-depth personas. The story entices you through its mood and excellent story telling. Skroce has really done his homework about Wolverine and it reflects in this comic. The old supporting cast and the new characters that are introduced to the story arc are solid. Even the Silver Samurai is revitalized after ex-Wolverine writer Larry Hama had reduced him to a faceless strawman villain during his tenure. Then again, this is only one of the least damaging aspects that this hacker's legacy bestowed upon this series.
The art work and design is some of the most imaginative that I have ever come across in my years of comic book reading. Skroce's visual inventiveness makes Blood Debt a must have in anybody's collection. His panels and layouts are flawless. The pencilling work is crisp and beautifully rendered while the characters are realistically depicted. Their poses and body structure teem with life while the action scenes will take your breathe away. Without a doubt, Skroce is one the Top 5 story tellers currently working in the industry. His cinematic angles are just too innovative and astounding to ignore. Colorist Steve Buccellato not only complements the artwork expertly but enhances the visual experience as well. It would have been criminal negligence to have put the final pencil and inked pages in the hands of somebody else.
Not only do I highly recommend this book to Wolverine fans but to anybody who can appreciate solid sequential art. Wolverine: Blood Debt will definitely please fans of Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's groundbreaking miniseries but it will also entertain the socks off any comic book reader.
i liked it.......2004-03-16
This storyline I wasn't aware of until I came across this TPB in a bookstore. And I'm glad I did because it is a great story with one of my favorite characters starring in it. And I loved the artwork. I'd love to see more books done like this.
An Impressive Writing Debut By Artist Steve Skroce.......2003-06-03
Wolverine: Blood Debt is the brainchild of Artist Steve Skroce, who is perhaps best known as the storyboard artist for The Matrix. The story, while following a twisty path of double-and-triple-crosses, is fairly straightforward: Wolverine is drawn into a war for control of The Yakuza (The Japanese Mafia) while in Japan visiting his Foster Daughter. The art is spectacular; It's easy to see Skroce's influence on the visuals of The Matrix. His epic battle scenes in Blood Debt are staggeringly detailed, reminiscent of George Perez in his heyday. Skroce also gets high marks for addressing Logan's Foster Daughter, a character that has gone largely ignored by most Wolverine/X-Men Writers since her introduction. If this IS Skroce's first writing job (I think it is, but I could be wrong..), he does one hell of a job with the characters and their personalities. Skroce has since gone back to Hollywood for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix: Revolution, but if he does ever come back to the wacky world of Comics, I'll be first in line to buy his new product.
Book Description
"Centeno's book balances shrewdly between identifying distinctive properties of Latin American national patterns, on one side, and integrating Latin American histories into international comparisons, on the other. Ingeniously piecing together fugitive evidence on wars, military organization, commemorations, taxation, and state structure, he thereby challenges two extreme tendencies: to treat Latin America as a failed Europe, and to stress the utter particularism of Latin America."—Charles Tilly, Columbia University
"Miguel Angel Centeno's trailblazing book sheds much new light on Latin America by paying proper attention to its distinctive ways of making war and the connections of warfare to state development, to national identities, and to the nature of citizenship."—John Markoff, University of Pittsburgh
What role does war play in political development? Our understanding of the rise of the nation-state is based heavily on the Western European experience of war. Challenging the dominance of this model, Blood and Debt looks at Latin America's much different experience as more relevant to politics today in regions as varied as the Balkans and sub-Saharan Africa.
The book's illuminating review of the relatively peaceful history of Latin America from the late eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries reveals the lack of two critical prerequisites needed for war: a political and military culture oriented toward international violence and the state institutional capacity to carry it out. Using innovative new data such as tax receipts, naming of streets and public monuments, and conscription records, the author carefully examines how war affected the fiscal development of the state, the creation of national identity, and claims to citizenship. Rather than building nation-states and fostering democratic citizenship, he shows, war in Latin America destroyed institutions, confirmed internal divisions, and killed many without purpose or glory.
Customer Reviews:
A Solid Book.......2007-06-17
This book focuses on the themes of war and the nation-state in nineteenth Mexico and the republics of South America; and the approach is highly inspired by Charles Tilly's work on Europe, although Centeno derives entirely different conclusions regarding nation-state formation in Latin America. The work is original, full of data, and the writer is clever, which enables the reader to follow the abstract (academic) concepts of the book with ease. Centeno's work is an intelligible and thought provoking read. He is a sociologist, and his approach to nineteenth century Latin American history is a significant contribution to the literature on this period. Any student of Latin America or any student interested in nation-state building should read this book.
Book Description
Jeff Danziger’s cartoons of George W. Bush’s second term in office are an entertaining excursion through the national and international political and popular-culture landscape. Danziger is an independent political cartoonist whose work appears in hundreds of newspapers around the world through the New York Times Syndicate.
Danziger is a decorated Vietnam veteran, and his experience gives him a unique viewpoint on the current conflict.
He possesses a singular wit and drawing style, and his funniest creations often lampoon the most deadly serious subjects. Danziger’s take on current events is sure to impress, and might even change the way you view the world in which we live.
Book Description
The First Battle is a graphic account of the first major clash of the Viet Nam War. On August 18, 1965, regiment fought regiment on the Van Tuong Peninsula near the new Marine base at Chu Lai. On the American side were three battalions of Marines under the command of Colonel Oscar Peatross, a hero of two previous wars. His opponent was the 1st Viet Cong Regiment commanded by Nguyen Dinh Trong, a veteran of many fights against the French and the South Vietnamese. Codenamed Operation Starlite, this action was a resounding success for the Marines and its result was cause for great optimism about America's future in Viet Nam.
Those expecting a book about Americans in battle will not be disappointed by the detailed descriptions of how the fight unfolded. Marine participants from private to colonel were interviewed during the book's research phase. The battle is seen from the mud level, by those who were at the point of the spear. But this is not just another war story told exclusively from the American side. In researching the book, the author talked with and walked the battlefield with men who fought with the 1st Viet Cong Regiment. All were accomplished combat veterans years before the U.S. entry into the war.
The reader is planted squarely in America in1965, the year that truly began the long American involvement. Operation Starlite sent the Viet Nam War into the headlines across the nation and into the minds of Americans, where it took up residence for more than a decade. Starlite was the first step in Viet Nam's becoming America's tar baby.
The subtitle of the book is: Operation Starlite and the Beginning of the Blood Debt in Viet Nam. Blood debt, han tu in Vietnamese, can mean revenge, debt of honor, or blood owed for blood spilled. The Blood Debt came into Vietnamese usage early in the war with the United States. With this battle, the Johnson Administration began compiling its own Blood Debt, this one to the American people.
The book also looks at the ongoing conflict between the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marines about the methodology of the Viet Nam War. With decades of experience with insurrection and rebellion, the Marines were institutionally oriented to base the struggle on pacification of the population. The Army, on the other hand, having largely trained to meet the Soviet Army on the plains of Germany, opted for search-and-destroy missions against Communist main force units. The history of the Viet Nam War is littered with many "what ifs." This may be the biggest of them.
Customer Reviews:
Marines in the first ground battle in Vietnam........2006-02-21
I am not sure what the other reviewers were reading, but this book was not that interesting. I could even have rated it lower.
The material for the book was the first Marine campaign in the war called Operation Satellite. A clerk made a typo and renamed it Operation Starlite. Regardless of the name, the setting was close to the DaNang military airport. The Marines thought that the VC were resting a large troop of soldiers to launch at the airport. In fact, the VC regiment was resting and regrouping and was not going to attack the American airport. Through a series of air strikes, helo and naval landings--the Americans fought a regiment of Viet Cong and killed 600 at a cost of 54 of their own soldiers.
The book goes through the story of the battle and what happened. I don't particularly care what segment (squad, etc) went what way, what they used for weapons, etc. A large part of the book describes this and the book has no flow and doesn't excite the reader to pursue further. I did, and found much the same throughout the book. Also, the book is generally pro-VC and makes no mention what some of the VC did to their fellow countrymen. This was a tough read at only 200 pages.
For those interested in battles and plotting them on the map, this book may interest you. For those who lost family, this may also be of interest. For the great majortiy of lay readers, there are better Vietnam stories elsewhere.
The First Battle.......2005-10-02
I actually would rate this book a 4.75, but I'll have to settle for a 5. My wife and I have just returned from a return trip to I Corps with fellow Marine veterans and Captain Ed Garr, mentioned in the book, as one of the guides. I really enjoyed the book overall and I thought "setting the stage" was well done. I visited the Operation Starlite battlesite for the first time and saw one of the rapidly deteriorating Amtrac's that the Vietnamese have recently covered and hold up as a symbol of America's defeat in Vietnam. The book did a great job of filling in the holes and fleshing out my memories. The book was clinical in a positive sense but could, I think, have benefited from more indepth, first hand accounts. All in all, an enjoyable book that even my wife could read without getting annoyed because of the tendency of accounts of Marines to be rather raw. Good job Otto Lehrack.
The First Battle: An Outstanding Work of Military History.......2004-09-05
Otto Lehrack has described, analyzed and ultimately explained in fewer than 200 tightly yet lucidly written pages the reality and significance of Operation Starlite--a battle that took place in August 1965 and was, as the title notes, the "First Battle" of the Vietnam War between U.S. troops and Viet Cong Regulars . The description of the battle itself is set in a carefully and clearly established historical framework and geographical setting while throughout the text the reader is given insightful "color commentary", including relevant and invariably interesting facts about the personal history of the key unit commanders on both sides as well as the operational doctrine, training and tradition, unit history and behavior in combat of both the Marines and Viet Cong who fought this critical engagement.
A significant part of the appeal of this excellent book lies its methodical "zoom in" approach, commencing with the reader's high-level historical and geographical orientation in Chapters 1 and 2 entitled, respectively, "Inching Toward the Abyss" and "America Touches the Tar Baby." These chapters together total only 18 pages yet set out the best capsule account of America's long slide into the Vietnam War I have read anywhere. The opening sentence of Chapter 1 is chilling both in retrospect and, whether or not so intended, in its implicit parallels with current events: "The United States came to this pass in baby steps, characterized more by Cold War fears, hubris and inattention than by level-headed policy examination."
Having given us a high level zoom view, First Battle narrows the focus somewhat and moves to an informative and substantive discussion of the Marine's entry into the geographical area in Southern I Corps where the battle was fought, including an excellent discussion of the establishment of and operations at the Marine's Chu Lai base, and, tightening the focus again, moves to the engagement itself, addressing in logical sequence the intelligence that led the Marines to conclude the 1st VC Regiment was on the Van Tuong peninsula south of Chu Lai base, the command process leading to the Marine's decision to undertake the operation, including a helicopter reconnaissance flight over the peninusula whose "brevity and apparent casualness" did not fool the VC, the Marines'decision to undertake and the planning for a surprise assault combining amphibious and helicopter elements and the conduct of the assault itself. These chapters also provide specific description of and insight into the planning of the VC who, though warned by the reconnaissance and able able to determine the Marines' objective, nevertheless "seriously underestimated the speed with which the American Marines could mount the attack." Lehrack develops this point nicely and it reappears as a theme throughout the book both in connection with the fast-moving operations of the Marines in Starlite and the later flexibility and ingenuity shown by the VC and North Vienamese forces in adapting to American tactics and capabilities as the war continued.
Lehrack has documented the text in a highly professional manner and the text itself artfully interweaves facts from a variety of primary and secondary sources to tell the story of Starlite. In this regard, Lehrack conducted extensive interviews not only with Marines participating in the engagement at all levels of command but, very significantly, with numerous members of the VC 1st Regiment. (It was apparently during these interviews that he came to understand the Vietnamese concept of "blood debt" that appears in the title of the book and, as he explains it, sheds light on the conduct of the VC and North Vietnamese both during and after the war.) The descriptions of the key small unit engagements that took place in the context of the battle now called Operation Starlite are vivid and filled with detail that illuminate both the nature of the action and the character of the combatants themselves, which one can only conclude was remarkable on both sides. There is insufficient space to do justice to the excellent discussions of these engagements in First Battle. Suffice it to say they make for a "good read" and are clearly informed by the author's research, including review and assessment of command logs, after-action and interrogation reports, his walks of the battlefield and interviews and conversations with the participants on both sides and, finally, his own combat experience as a Marine infantry company commander in the Vietnam War.
This is an excellent book and I recommend it highly. One cautionary note...if you're not familiar with the lexicon of Marine and VC operations in Vietnam, make sure you identify the glossary set out in Appendix 2 (page 188) of the book before you start reading so that, as you read, you can refer quickly to its brief but clear definitions of terms.
An Incredible, fast moving operation.......2004-08-01
Otto Lehrack's, The First Battle, Operation Starlite and the Beginning of the Blood Debt in Vietnam, is a well-written account of the U.S. Marines' first major operation of the Vietnam war. Lehrack brings the story to life through the eyes of Marines in the mud, compellingly describing action during the operation without pulling punches, and keeping historical context accurate.
A very readable, fast moving, incredible story, the author went to extraordinary efforts to interview US Marines, the South Vietnamese ARVN, and the 1st Viet Cong Regiment, to make sure the operation's details accurately depict command and grunt level decisions. The reader can almost taste the fear, hear the shooting, and feel the pain of war. Lehrack brings human realism to the forefront, making accounts of the battle a struggle of real people.
Highly recommended.
Morton M. Rumberg
Captain, USAF, Retired
Product Description
Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Books:
- The Citadel
- The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, Book 2)
- The Eagle (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 9)
- The Elric Saga: Part I (Elric of Melnibone, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, The Weird of the White Wolf)
- The Eternal Flame (The Great Tree of Avalon, Book 3)
- The Fall: The Evidence for a Golden Age, 6,000 years of Insanity and the Dawning of a New Era
- The Guide to Owning Water Dragons, Sailfin Lizards & Basilisks
- The Many Faces of Van Helsing
- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
- The Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 QuickSteps
- Hinds' Feet on High Places
- Walther Nernst and the Transition to Modern Physical Science
- A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul
- Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools
- Fisher-Price: Historical, Rarity, and Value Guide, 1931-Present
- Every Other Thursday: Stories and Strategies from Successful Women Scientists
- Antique Trader Metalwares Price Guide
- Baby Proofing Basics 2 Ed: How To Keep Your Child Safe
- All My Love, Forever: Letters Home from a World War II Citizen Soldier, Written in 1943-1945
The Blood Books, Vol. 2 (Blood Lines / Blood Pact)
The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail)
Smoke and Mirrors (The Smoke Trilogy, Book 2)
Smoke and Ashes (The Smoke Trilogy, Book 3)
Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 2)
