Book Description
Unlike any other book, Pearl Harbor brings together in one magnificent edition the rich history, real-life stories, harrowing drama, and appalling tragedy of the Japanese attack on the United States' premier Pacific naval base. With a foreword by Senator Daniel K. Inouye and an introduction by preeminent military historian Sir John Keegan, Pearl Harbor imparts the rich historical background of the initial days of the Second World War, the dramatic events of the attack, and the enduring legacy of this wartime disaster. Pearl Harbor features over 200 archival photographs from American and Japanese sources, previously unpublished artifacts, military art rendered from eye-witness accounts of the attack, and full-color battle maps and diagrams.
Book Description
During the late summer of 1862, Confederate forces attempted a three-pronged strategic advance into the North. The outcome of this offensive—the only coordinated Confederate attempt to carry the conflict to the enemy—was disastrous. The results at Antietam and in Kentucky are well known; the third offensive, the northern Mississippi campaign, led to the devastating and little-studied defeats at Iuka and Corinth, defeats that would open the way for Grant's attack on Vicksburg.
Peter Cozzens here presents the first book-length study of these two complex and vicious battles. Drawing on extensive primary research, he details the tactical stories of Iuka—where nearly one-third of those engaged fell—and Corinth—fought under brutally oppressive conditions—analyzing troop movements down to the regimental level. He also provides compelling portraits of Generals Grant, Rosecrans, Van Dorn, and Price, exposing the ways in which their clashing ambitions and antipathies affected the outcome of the campaign. Finally, he draws out the larger, strategic implications of the battles of Iuka and Corinth, exploring their impact on the fate of the northern Mississippi campaign, and by extension, the fate of the Confederacy.
Customer Reviews:
Very Good Book, But Caveat Emptor.......2007-05-30
This is a very good battle study of three key battles in one of the war's most overlooked theatres of operations. Cozzens has produced an excellent study of Corinth, Iuka, and Davis' Bridge, and by the end of the book has made a good case for this being a minor turning point of the war in the west.
However, there's a major caveat emptor: Cozzen's is looking to take potshots at Ulysses S. Grant, and often times covers over the mistakes or even outright malfeasance of others to make his points in that regard. Two examples come to mind. First, Cozzens ignores good evidence that Rosecrans attempted to smear Grant by having a staff member claim that Grant was drunk at Iuka. Secondly, Cozzens gives credence to Rosecrans' claim that he could have marched to Vicksburg in 6 days and easily destroyed Van Dorn's army in the process, when in reality Vicksburg was a months' march away and reinforcements were already on the way to Van Dorn.
Without the egregious Grant bashing, this book gets five stars.
excellent.......2007-03-26
I was very pleased with the purchase and the time it took to reach me. The condition of the book was excellent.
The BEST on the Iuka-Corinth campaign!.......2005-06-21
In 1862, Jefferson Davis proclaimed that there were two crucial places that the Confederacy must hold if it was to survive - Richmond, VA and Corinth, MS. While Richmond is a major focal point of the American Civil War, Corinth and Iuka, Mississippi have had little if any attention, except by those who study the western and Trans-Mississippi armies of the war.
Peter Cozzens has written THE definitive work on the battles at Iuka and Corinth in the fall of 1862. The writing is full of the facts and research that are a hallmark of Mr. Cozzen's previous efforts, and the descriptions are so vibrant that one can almost smell the gunpowder and feel the earth shake to the rumble of cannons.
Not only does Mr. Cozzens provide great detail on the battles themselves along with the Battle of Davis Bridge (Hatchie River) that followed the fight at Corinth; he provides an understanding of the importance of these battles, how they fit into the scheme of things (Van Dorn / Price were defeated at Corinth during the same week that Bragg was defeated at Perryville). We see one of the few attempts at a Confederate "Grand Strategy," but like many of the Confederate operations, this one is beset by political intrigue between Van Dorn and Price with Richmond; nebulous orders, rank insubordination and a failure to follow through on opportunities earned on the battlefield. In downtown Corinth and at Batteries Robinette and Powell, some of the bloodiest fighting of the war occurred.
Winning at Corinth allowed the Federals to control the extremely valuable north-south and east-west rail roads that crossed in downtown Corinth and set the stage for Grant's victory at Vicksburg the next summer. It deprived the Confederacy of the means to ship food, men and supplies from the Mississippi to the East by rail.
Mr. Cozzen's book served as the "bible" for the planning and execution of the huge re-enactment of the Battle of Corinth staged Oct. 1-2, 2005 near Corinth, MS.
Another Winner from Cozzens.......2004-06-17
Cozzens has written many fine books about the less well known Western Theater campaigns. The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka and Corinth is perhaps the finest yet. It goes into great detail about 2 obscure, but ultimately important battles in the western theater. It manages to describe the battles in clear terms, set out convincing portraits of the key players and place these campaigns in context. At the same time, Cozzens avoids the pitfalls common to many Civil War books. (No, not everyone who dreams that they are going to die, dies. Its just that those dreams, when related to others, are the ones that are remembered. Cozzens doesn't treat us to the umpteenth take on this old saw).
Highly recommended.
This Guy Should Write More Books....!.......2004-04-28
Peter Cozzens is, arguably, the greatest writer today of the Western Theatre of the Civil War. I live 90 miles from Corinth and have been to many of the sites related to the Battle of Corinth of fall-1862 (and some sites from the April-May 1862 siege of the city), but never knew even the basic series of events of this battle. Not so after reading Mr. Cozzens' great book.
Of course, Cozzens brings back his great writing style and research, then adds the maps by one George Skoch, one of the best mapmakers of military history today. Along with all this, many good illustrations are spread across the book.
But this book does not only cover the Battle of Corinth; it covers the Battle of Iuka, the engagement precipitating the much larger battle at Corinth, and the Battle of Davis Bridge, which followed the Battle of Corinth.
On my most recent trip to Shiloh and Corinth in early-April, on the way home I decided to stop by the Davis Bridge Battlefield, and happily found it to be in pristine condition, and interpreted. I never would have visited the battlefield had it not been for this book.
If you are a fan of the Western Theatre, your book collection is definitely incomplete without this fine volume; if you are a fan of the Eastern Theatre, Trans-Mississippi Theatre, or the Civil War in general, I would also urge you to purchase this book!
Book Description
Having a baby is surely one of the pinnacle events of a woman's life, full of joy, serenity, and contentment--or so society tells a new mother, who thus finds herself ill-prepared for the exhaustion, boredom, and isolation that can follow childbirth. The resulting depression--how it is experienced, and how it might be relieved--is the subject of Natasha Mauthner's insightful and compassionate book, which recounts the stories of new mothers caught between a cultural ideal and a far more complex reality.
In Mauthner's interviews with thirty-five new mothers in Britain and America, we see how women contend with images of motherhood as a state of bliss for everyone but themselves. The British women tend to view their depression as a personal failure of strength; American women, as a result of hormonal fluctuation. But all vividly describe a similar state of paralysis and loneliness, with alternating love, resentment, and guilt toward their babies.
Most usefully, these women reveal the positive impact that other new mothers had on their depression. Far more important than their own family's support or understanding, the sense of not being alone in their trials emerges as a key source of strength and healing for women struggling with postpartum depression.
Customer Reviews:
A conclusive ending.......2006-09-07
It comes down to it at last. The Warrows brave the citadel of the Dark Lord and with a red arrow from a bygone age, the fate of the world will be decided. The arrow in question was found after in a tomb after the fall of the city in the first book.
Excellent read. Loved the conclusion, unfortunately like Tolkien, he dragged it on far longer than it needed. Other than that, was a great book.
A well written tale with lots of action and adventure.......2005-05-10
The conclusion of the Iron Tower Trilogy is just as enjoyable as the first two volumes. McKiernan again supplies a brief recap of the previous two books, just to bring everyone up to date. Cryptic prophecies begin to unfold, making frightening sense. The fighting stretches from the Boskydells to the Red Hills, and it seems that no one has been spared from Modru's destruction. As understanding begins to dawn, the various groups of the High King's Host prepare for a final apocalyptic battle against Modru's Horde. Drawn to Modru's stronghold, the Iron Tower, Tuck, Danner, Patrel and the others are eventually reunited. Engaged in a race against time to avert the evil foretold for the Darkest Day, each of these brave souls are faced with decisions they never thought they would need to make. Will they be up to the challenge?
McKiernan serves up a fitting finale to this entertaining trilogy. Written in the same vein as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the author handles the little group's quests and battles well. Although McKiernan is not another Tolkien, and doesn't pretend to be, I think that fantasy fans will be pleased with this tale. His characters are truly likeable and for that reason alone, I was glad to see that McKiernan's story didn't stop with the final battle sequence. Instead, he takes the time to briefly show how their lives continued afterwards and the changes they all underwent as a result of the events described in this series. The final bits of the book include several appendices providing the interested reader with glossaries, calendars, and other assorted trivia. Overall, a well written tale with lots of action and adventure.
A train wreck.......2003-06-13
Reading anything derivative can be an exercise in pain, but the Iron Tower trilogy is like watching a train plummet off a cliffside. The most flagrantly derivative fantasy trilogy out there limps to a silly climax in "Darkest Day," a sad ending to an unworthy trilogy. (And, alas, the beginning of an equally unworthy series)
The Boskydells have been freed from Modru's Horde by the High King's armies. Tuck and Merrilee are reunited just as the armies start off to the land of Gron, where the evil Modru is planning to yank back the even more evil Gyphon from the void to which he's been banished. And wimpy Princess Laurelin is somehow a part of his evil malevolent plot. So Warrow Tuck Underbank must somehow save the world, armed only with a prophecy and a little red arrow.
The main positive thing that can be said about "Darkest Day" is that the all-too-similar elements are toned down a little. What's there is essentially the same as before, with the dull Elf seers, tough-wannabe hobbit clones, gruff Dwarves, and a thousand other little elements. There's not much that's new. Unfortunately, what McKiernan puts in instead is even worse.
Lacking a ring or a Mount Doom, he creates a climactic human sacrifice scene that wouldn't be out of place in a third-rate horror sequel. Modru's motives for kidnapping Laurelin are revealed, and boy are they stupid. The epic final clash is nothing more than background noise, and the characters become thinner and whinier as their numbers increase. As the final insult, McKiernan includes some shortish appendices and timelines, in the manner of Tolkien's "Return of the King." Including these fails completely to give the trilogy any depth.
The writing, while not quite as atrocious as it was in the first book, is still bland and obsessed with details that nobody could care less about. Dialogue is mind-blowingly trite, with the heroes speaking as if in the throes of manic, wild emotion; McKiernan is even subtle enough to have the villain Modru hiss when he talks. And while I love a well-written love story in any kind of book, the relationship between Merrilee and Tuck is so hideously sweet that it will make your teeth ache.
The weepily ineffective Tuck remains ineffectual and inexplicably liked by everyone; McKiernan injures him badly, apparently thinking that readers will sympathize. Psycho-Warrow Danner's storyline is concluded in a very theatrical manner. Galen, Gildor the Elf and Brega the Dwarf are still bland and uninteresting, as they have the same personality. And the insultingly weak Laurelin cries, whimpers and whines her way until somebody gets around to rescuing her. The stupidity of Modru's motives takes away any shreds of interest I had in him.
Written in a style to make Tolkien fans whimper and English majors grow dizzy, "Darkest Day" is a fittingly limp finale to a dull, derivative trilogy.
EXCELLENT!.......2000-06-03
This book is literally the best one I have ever read. I have read many other authors and books, one of then being Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. None even come close to this book in it's entirety. I felt like I had known the characters, from soup to nuts, my entire life. Also this book does not lack any action. I read Lord of the Rings(like I said before) and it was not even close to having even a little bit of the action in The Darkest Day. I stayed up all night reading this book. And like all other books The Darkest Day gives you something to think of while you regret that you read it too fast. It gives people, in my opinion, Moral lessons. In my everyday life I think about excerts from The Darkest Day, I might start a conversation or I might change my actions for the better. I can't stress enough how good this book is, for a first read, second read, and for so many more reads. Totally Truthfully, Brandon
A great ending.......2000-05-26
This is the last entry in the Iron Tower trilogy and it does not let you down. The forces of good combine for one final fisht to defeat Modru and stop Gyphon from rentering the world. The scene of Danners sacrifice is quite touching and Tuck's fate leaves you with sadness and apprciation a great ending to a great series.
Customer Reviews:
A nice brief description of Delaware's coastal defense.......2006-04-17
I've had a long-standing interest in the coastal artillery, which began when I was an artilleryman myself, exploring the wreckage of former coastal artillery installations in Hawaii. Given this interest, I purchased this title shortly after I found it.
This title delivers what it promises, serving as a tribute to the soldiers of the 261st Coast Artillery regiment and explaining their sacrifices, fears, organization, purpose, equipment, and methods. The text is well-written (not too heavy on the technicalities) and balances all of these purposes, and I enjoyed it.
I was a bit disappointed by the brevity of the book and was left wanting more on the topic...more pages, more bases, more units, and more history.
The author deserves our admiration and applause for self-publishing (as I understand it, Authorhouse is a self-publishing house) a book on a topic he clearly loves. While the text is compelling, some of the graphics, maps, and photographs within the text could benefit from higher production quality.
As someone who has at least once in his own life pondered writing a book of some sort on this very topic, I owe a debt of gratitude to the author for sharing the Coastal Defense Studies Group (www.cdsg.org) website with me. It is an extremely informative site and appears to be a great organization for those very interested in this topic.
I enjoyed this title and would recommend it to those interested in a brief look at Delaware's WWII coastal defense.
Defending America's Coast.......2005-11-17
This is a wonderful history of the 261st Coast Artillery Regiment and it main installation, Fort Miles. Author Grayson has done his usual superb scholarship in researching this largely unknown and almost totally unreported chapter of the defense of America's shores during WWII. Ft. Miles, located on the western shore of Delaware Bay, along with batteries at Cape May, had responsibility for the approaches to one of the most important commercial shipping routes in the entire nation. The very real threat of German submarines and to a lesser, but still significant, degree threat of surface raiders made the Coast Artillery mission potentially vital to protecting the ships necessary to keep America's economy and war effort viable. This text explains how the very complex system of 11 observation towers, battery casemates, ammunition bunkers and command and control bunkers are combined to create a very formidable system of defense against seaborne threats. Quite detailed explanations of how the various guns, from 16 inch pieces hurling a shell weighing over a ton over 25 miles, down to 3 inch cannons, are crewed and operated make for very interesting reading-giving the reader a clear idea of how difficult effective gunfire is to accomplish when firing at moving vessels in varying sea and atmospheric conditions. While Ft. Miles and its associated installations were never called upon to fire at the enemy, the author makes it clear how important the officers and men took their responsibilities and how efficient they would have been in the event they were called upon to engage the enemy. A number of both historical and contemporary photographs and drawings and illustrations compliment the text and help the reader understand the intricacies of battery operations. The author's description of life as a Coast Artillerist during the war gives a significant glimpse into how soldiers and civilians interacted and makes clear the many hardships they shared as their nation fought a global war. While the subject of this book is necessarily very limited in its scope, what is related here makes for compelling reading and is strongly recommended for anyone interested in WWII history, particularly on the home front.
Customer Reviews:
Our darkest Day!.......2007-08-27
We have forgotten the legacy of Pan Am 103 Lockerbie crash where 259 passengers and crew members aboard the Pan Am 747 and 11 residents of Sherwood Crescent in Lockerbie, Scotland, a small Scottish village near Dumfries where lost. Almost 20 years later, the legacy of Pan Am 103 has been overshadowed by the events of September 11, 2001 where three thousand died senselessly. Still, the legacy of Pan Am 103 which included 35 students from Syracuse University who just spent a semester abroad in London as well as the United States military who were stationed in Germany. I find the information in this book to be invaluable not about the bombing, the explosion, and planning but about the people who never made it home to Christmas and New Year's Eve. About those who never got to give their relatives and friends their presents that they bought from London, England. I still think about Pan Am 103 and the lives that touched. No, I didn't know anybody that perished but I only know that if we had learned the legacy of Pan Am 103 maybe the events of September 11, 2001 would have had a different ending. Sadly, we forget or put in the back of our minds. This book brings us the humanity of those we lost and what might have been for most of the victims aboard the flight and on the ground. Christmas has never been the same for those families in Lockerbie and around the world.
Excellent.......2001-08-02
Very well written. Excellent book. By far the best and most factual that I've read on the subject.
This is not the truth.......2000-06-13
The truth of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 does not lie in this book, whilst personal details of the dead and the survivors are factual so to speak, the whole basis of the lockerbie story can not be identified in this book. I strongly suggest readers to buy a copy of Lester Coleman and Donald Goddard's Trail Of The Octopus book which does in fact state the truth about exactly what went wrong and how Pan Am were used as a scape goat in what happened, whilst their security efforts weren't 100%, the main blame for allowing the disaster to happen lies with government agencies who were heavily involved in many aspects of this story. It is amazing that even today people do not know the real story.
This is a great book!.......1997-06-16
This book had me almost in tears as I read about the people who had died on Pan Am 103. I think that it is very intresting, but the authors lost me when they began talking about the terrorists who caused the crash. The authors write very tenderly and sensitively about the people who died. I recommend this book to anyone with an intrest in aviation
Average customer rating:
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The Darkest Day (Crime Club)
Dennis L. McKiernan
Manufacturer: Doubleday Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
McKiernan, Dennis
| ( M )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
| Adventure
| Alternate History
| Anthologies
| General
| Graphic Novels
| High Tech
| History & Criticism
| Series
| Short Stories
| Space Opera
ASIN: 0385189206 |
Customer Reviews:
Good.......1999-11-18
The third and last book of the iron tower trilogy is probably the best of the three. It deals with the end of the war and is very good
Average customer rating:
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The Darkest Day (Iron Tower Trilogy)
Dennis L. McKiernan
Manufacturer: Roc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
McKiernan, Dennis
| ( M )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0451138651 |
Customer Reviews:
Great adventure.......2004-06-26
I loved the whole Iron Tower story. I have to admit the first two parts are a bit better than the third one. But you definitely do not want to miss the final.
If you love fantasy, Elfes, Dwarves, the fight against the Evil One - you will love the Iron Tower Trilogy!
Books:
- Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present
- Pretender (Foreigner Universe)
- Rising Stars of Manga, Book 1
- Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
- Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
- Sorceress (Witch Child)
- Stargate SG-1: Trial by Fire: SG1-1 (Stargate Sg-1)
- Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Based on Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research
- Stunning Crystal & Glass: The Watercolorist's Guide to Capturing the Splendor of Light
- Temple of the Winds (Sword of Truth, Book 4)
Books Index
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