Amazon.com
The Greatest Manhunt in American History
For 12 days after his brazen assassination of Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth was at large, and in Manhunt, historian James L. Swanson tells the vivid, fully documented tale of his escape and the wild, massive pursuit. Get a taste of the daily drama from this timeline of the desperate search.
| April 14, 1865 |
Around noon, Booth learns that Lincoln is coming to Ford's Theatre that night. He has eight hours to prepare his plan.
10:15 pm: Booth shoots the president, leaps to the stage, and escapes on a waiting horse.
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders the manhunt to begin. |
| April 15 |
About 4:00 am: Booth seeks treatment for a broken leg at Dr. Samuel Mudd's farm near Beantown, Maryland. Cavalry patrol heads south toward Mudd farm.
Confederate operative Thomas Jones hides Booth in a remote pine thicket for five days, frustrating the manhunters. |
| April 19 |
Tens of thousands watch the procession to the U.S. Capitol, where President Lincoln lies in state. Wild rumors and stories of false sightings of Booth spread. | |
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| April 20 |
Stanton offers a $100,000 reward for the assassins, and threatens death to any citizen who helps them.
After hiding Booth in Maryland, Jones puts him in a rowboat on the Potomac River, bound for Virginia. More than a thousand manhunters are still searching in Maryland. In the dark, Booth rows the wrong way and first ends up back in Maryland. |
| April 20-24 |
Booth lands in the northern neck of Virginia, and Confederate agents and sympathizers guide him to Port Conway, Virginia. |
| April 24 |
Booth befriends three Confederate soldiers who help him cross the Rappahannock River to Port Royal and then guide him further southwest to the Garrett farm.
Union troops in Washington receive a report of a Booth sighting. They board a U.S. Navy tug and steam south, right past Booth's hideout at the Garrett farm. |
| April 25 |
The 16th New York Calvary, realizing their error, turns around and surrounds the Garrett farm after midnight that night. | |
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| April 26 |
When Booth refuses to surrender, troops set the barn on fire, and Boston Corbett shoots the assassin. Booth dies a few hours later, at sunrise. |
| April 26-27 |
Booth's body is brought back to Washington, where it is autopsied, photographed, and buried in a secret grave. | |
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Book Description
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, led Union cavalry and detectives on a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.
James L. Swanson's Manhunt is a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you've never read it before.
Customer Reviews:
Fact or Fiction?.......2007-10-16
Based on the hundreds of glowing reviews on this website, I appear to be in a tiny minority regarding my opinion. Please read this review as a counterpoint to some of MANHUNT's praise.
MANHUNT has its merits. I'll point you to many other well-written reviews for evidence. Here's my beef: The author seems to mix fact with imaginative embellishment (read: fiction) for hightened drama. When setting most scenes, Mr. Swanson describes particular sensory conditions with great specificity like smells, lighting conditions, facial expressions, and most impresively, Booth's emotions.
My question is this: Where would he get this information from such a wide range of sources 140 years later? Eyewitness reports? I doubt it, especially when it comes to "enhancements" of Booth's motivations, emotions, and thought processes. (The man was killed before he had time to jot down a memoir...) Therefore, very large portions of this text must have come out of the author's imagination.
All this does "spice up" what's turned into a plausable historical tale. But what's real? What's not? It's impossible to know. Not that I would only endorse dry historic chronicles. This story would be intriguing and exciting enough without the author's efforts to "take it up a notch".
I couldn't take it seriously, and therefore couldn't finish it. Grade: D.
a great read... i was there!!.......2007-09-29
I have not read many books lately and have just started to get back to it. Manhunt was the latest book I read and it was AMAZING!! The vivid descriptions put you everywhere John W Booth and his cohorts are and makes for a fascinating depiction of history.
Brings history to life..........2007-09-14
I enjoy nonfiction books that read like novels, and James L. Swanson's Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer provides a dose of history in an enjoyable format.
Manhunt didn't include much information about the assassination that I didn't already know. But I did learn quite a bit about the 12-day pursuit of John Wilkes Booth and the hunt for his conspirators, as well as some other assassination trivia. It was especially interesting in that my husband and I often travel this same path through Maryland and Virginia when driving south. We pass right by the historic marker near the Garrett house barn (where Booth was captured and killed), although we've never stopped to see the actual location.
Swanson does a commendable job of bringing the complex Booth to life. The author describes him as "impossibly vain, preening, emotionally flamboyant, possessed of raw talent and splendid elan." Yet, this handsome and charismatic actor was willing to sacrifice everything for "his cause." After the assassination, he was stunned and enraged to discover that his acts not only met with outrage, but also, made Lincoln a martyr. I was surprised to learn that on April 16, 1865, CSA Lt. General R. S. Ewell sent Secretary of War Stanton a letter that was cosigned by 16 other Confederate generals. In the letter, Ewell wrote of their "unqualified abhorrence and indignation" at Lincoln's killing. He claimed that they were shocked by this appalling crime and that Southern men "are not assassins" nor their "allies."
Manhunt has a good number of pictures, drawings, maps and photographs related to the assassination. He also includes an excellent Epilogue where he tells the "story after the story." Swanson also provides a poignant description of the events of that time. When Lincoln died at the Peterson house, a "crude, improvised coffin" was brought to transport his body back to the White House. The people in the street were upset. "The box looked like a shipping crate, not a proper coffin for a head of state. Lincoln would not have minded. He was always a man of simple tastes. This was the plain, roughly hewn coffin of a rail-splitter."
After reading Manhunt, I intend on reading an earlier work that Swanson co-wrote called Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trail and Execution.
What a book..........2007-09-04
I bought this book for a teachers gift, he loves Lincoln and that whole period of our country's life. He said the book is one of the best he's ever read on the subject.
Well written, a quick read........2007-09-03
As a person who's read quite a bit on Lincoln and his assination, I figured I should finally get around to this text. I've been telling people for years that Dr. Samuel Mudd's family lobbied for years to get Mudd's name cleared--that he was simply a physician treating a patient with a broken leg. A colleague of mine suggested that this book denies that. It does, indeed.
I read a lot but am a slower reader than I'd like. So I like a book (1) that doesn't have microscopic print and (2) keeps me interested. This qualified on both counts. I don't mean it was large print, like a children's book. But it didn't have so much detail that I could maybe win a trivia contest but be none the wiser.
In fact, one item that I liked most was that Thomas Jones apparently kept Booth and his accomplice, Davey Herold, in a pine thicket for something like four days and five nights. Jones was freed of any responsibility for harboring perhaps the most wanted man in the US for those 12 days, but told the truth some years later. (When he was selling a book admitting to that, he was apparently attacked by some Union veterans!)
Among the things I liked too about the book was the admission by the author that Lincoln was not particularly popular at the time of his assination. Indeed, Booth was discouraged after the assasination that he'd created a martyr there there might not have been one.
Another thing I liked about the structure of the book is that the author ended with a kind of "where are they now," or what happened to the actors in the "drama." That's where I learned of the Jones story, for example.
What I didn't like about the book was the speculation the author did on what was going on in Booth's mind while he was in the Garret barn where he was eventually shot. I'm conscious of that ever since a good friend and former boss and I talked about a book years ago in which he accused I think it was Halberstram of doing that. "How could he know was was going on in [so-and-so]'s mind?" he asked. Of course he can guess, but then such speculation needed to be stated as such.
I must confess too that I almost downgraded the review by one star too because of what I saw in the book's acknowledgements. You see, Swanson thanked is friends "at the Heritage Foundation." What's the matter with that? Well, Heritage is extremely ideological. (I know, for, among other reasons, I have a distant cousin who works there.) How would one have felt after reading such a book if the author had said, "Many thanks to all my buddies at the Communist Party." It might make you want to find another more credible book because that party tends to be ideological. Heritage may be the other side of the political spectrum but is no less ideological, so it made me wonder about the author's motives and objectivity. But, despite Heritage, I found the book worth reading and, yes, difficult to put down. So, over and above the Booth speculation, I recommend it.
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Readers of Black Hawk Down know Mark Bowden can tell an exciting story about as well as any writer at work today. Killing Pablo is further proof. It describes the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, a notorious Colombian drug lord who became one of the narcotic trade's first billionaires. Pablo--Bowden refers to him by his first name throughout the book--started out as a petty thief and wound up running a massive smuggling empire. At his height in the 1980s, he owned fleets of boats and planes, plus 19 separate residences in Medellin, each with its own helipad. Violence marked everything he did: "He wasn't an entrepreneur, and he wasn't even an especially talented businessman. He was just ruthless." He bought off police, politicians, and judges throughout his country, and killed many others who wouldn't cooperate. The Colombian government tried to capture him, but without much luck; he evaded them time after time. "Now and then the police achieved enough surprise to catch him, literally, with his pants down. In [1988], about one thousand national police raided one of his mansions," writes Bowden. "Pablo fled in his underwear, avoiding the police cordon on foot." He got away, again, but his days were numbered. He was making powerful enemies in both Colombia and the United States. The final straw probably came when Pablo's men murdered a popular politician and, three months later, planted a bomb on a plane, killing 110 people, including two Americans.
The bulk of Killing Pablo describes what happened when the U.S. government put its resources behind the hunt for Pablo. Bowden describes the search in gripping detail, from the massive electronic-surveillance effort to bureaucratic infighting between rival U.S. agencies. This is an outstanding work of reportorial journalism, too: in the epilogue, Bowden drops tantalizing hints that it was an American--not a Colombian--who delivered the killing shot to Pablo in 1993. Readers looking for a real-life thriller--or any kind of thriller, for that matter--won't do much better than Killing Pablo.
Book Description
A tour de force of investigative journalism-this is the story of the violent rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel. Escobar's criminal empire held a nation of thirty million hostage in a reign of terror that would only end with his death. In an intense, up-close account, award-winning journalist Mark Bowden exposes details never before revealed about the U.S.-led covert sixteen-month manhunt. With unprecedented access to important players-including Colombian president César Gaviria and the incorruptible head of the special police unit that pursued Escobar, Colonel Hugo Martinez-as well as top-secret documents and transcripts of Escobar's intercepted phone conversations, Bowden has produced a gripping narrative that is a stark portrayal of rough justice in the real world.
"The story of how the U.S. Army Intelligence and Delta Force commandos helped Colombian police track down and kill Pablo Escobar is a compelling, almost Shakespearean tale." (Los Angeles Times)
"Absolutely riveting. . . . Mark Bowden has a way of making modern nonfiction read like the best of novels." (The Denver Post)
Customer Reviews:
Too long.......2007-08-25
Mark Bowden wrote Black Hawk Down, as everybody knows. I was looking forward to any book by Mr. Bowden, but this one is too much. If there was ever a guy who needed to be killed it was Pablo Escobar. However, reading the endless corruption and stupidity of Columbians was depressing, and furthered my low opinions of them. There is hardly a living soul in this sorry country who is not vile or evil. Anyway, the book runs on too long and I finally just turned to the page where he was finally shot, almost by accident.
A decent true-life thriller, but that's all........2007-08-21
If you want a vivid portrait of Pablo Escobar, his personality, and his methods, this book does the job. Halfway through the volume, though, it just becomes another thriller, the story of a chase that could have taken place anywhere on earth (with of course lots of detail on surveillance gizmos, military hardware, and the colorful individuals involved--a bit like Tom Clancy). But there is virtually no backbround, nothing that helps explain why Colombia became such a huge supplier of drugs. (If it hadn't been Pablo, it would've been some other guy.) Moreover, Bowden takes for granted the notion that the cause of the drug problems is the evil men in Colombia, while never considering the fact of enormous drug demand in the U.S. Without the vast gringo appetite for drugs, there would have been no Pablo. Supply and demand is a two-way street!
On another note, Bowden's referring to the Contras in Nicaragua as "pro-democracy" forces is questionable. Those people were terrorists who killed some 50,000 people.
Runs Too Long.......2007-07-16
Black Hawk Down is one of my favorite books. From page 2 onward, there's not one dull moment. I wish the same could be said for Killing Pablo. This book really drags and at about the halfway point you're wishing that they'd cut to the chase already and kill the SOB.
A gripping account of one of the greatest out-laws and the country he lived in .......2007-04-28
Despite the apparent flaws the previous reader and reviewer points out, this is still a well researched book and these flaws do not take away from this thrilling and appalling story of Pablo Escobar. What I really liked was the description not only of Escobar but also of the country he grew up in and that let him live such a violent life and have such a horrific career. A very good read!
finding Pablo.......2007-02-22
Killing Pablo was alot easier then finding Pablo...go behind the scenes of the drug war as Pablo is hunted down with all the latest eletronic gadgetry and eventually located..Mark Bowden writes a compelling, page turner...Pablo Escobar rises to the top of the drug cartel much like Scarface only this is a true story just as compelling..
Book Description
The clashes between President Abraham Lincoln and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney over slavery, secession, and the president's constitutional war powers went to the heart of Lincoln's presidency. James Simon, author of the acclaimed What Kind of Nation -- an account of the battle between President Thomas Jefferson and Chief Justice John Marshall to define the new nation -- brings to vivid life the passionate struggle during the worst crisis in the nation's history, the Civil War. The issues that underlaid that crisis -- race, states' rights, and the president's wartime authority -- resonate today in the nation's political debate.
Lincoln and Taney's bitter disagreements began with Taney's Dred Scott opinion in 1857, when the chief justice declared that the Constitution did not grant the black man any rights that the white man was bound to honor. In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln attacked the opinion as a warped judicial interpretation of the Framers' intent and accused Taney of being a member of a pro-slavery national conspiracy.
In his first inaugural address, President Lincoln insisted that the South had no legal right to secede. Taney, who administered the oath of office to Lincoln, believed that the South's secession was legal and in the best interests of both sections of the country.
Once the Civil War began, Lincoln broadly interpreted his constitutional powers as commander in chief to prosecute the war, suspending the writ of habeas corpus, censoring the mails, and authorizing military courts to try civilians for treason. Taney opposed every presidential wartime initiative and openly challenged Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. He accused the president of assuming dictatorial powers in violation of the Constitution. Lincoln ignored Taney's protest, convinced that his actions were both constitutional and necessary to preserve the Union.
Almost 150 years after Lincoln's and Taney's deaths, their words and actions reverberate in constitutional debate and political battle. Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney tells their dramatic story in fascinating detail.
Customer Reviews:
Two lawyers and a Nation in crisis.......2007-10-05
It should be widely known that during the greatest crisis that has faced the US, the Civil War, Lincoln suspended the rights of habeas corpus (trial by jury) and essential bent the Constitution in order to save the Union. In James Simon's book "Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War Powers" he gives us a fairly balanced approach in examining both sides of the issues facing the President and the Supreme Court as it relates to the Constitution and civil liberties. As a law professor Simon examines Justice Taney's rulings and Lincoln's position on civil matters that were affecting the Nation. His book shows how much of an uphill battle Justice Taney had to face when trying to fight the challenges to individual liberties. As the inevitable war approached, Lincoln didn't wait for Congress to return to session. He did all in his power to block any additional states from turning to help the Confederacy. This was especially true in Maryland Justice Taney's home state. Lincoln took the broad approach to Constitutional matters believing that he knew what the Founding Fathers had constitutionally desired for the Nation. Justice Taney maintained a more narrow Jeffersonian state's view. Simon relates Taney's early views expressed in a banking opinion while serving as Andrew Jackson's Attorney General. Reflecting Taney's words Andrew Jackson's states, "The opinion of the Supreme Court Judges has no more authority over Congress than the opinion of congress has over the Judges, and on that point the President is independent of both" Jackson wrote. "The authority of the Supreme Court must not, therefore, be permitted to control Congress or the Executive when acting in their legislative capacities, but to have only such influence as the force of their reasoning may deserve." As Chief Justice during the Lincoln administration, Taney found himself greatly challenged to maintain this opinion. Simon covers the infamous "Dred Scott vs Sanford" opinion that haunted Taney and how it became a catalyst to move Lincoln forward and into the Presidency. Both Taney and Lincoln had respect for the rule of law. They both desired peace. Taney was willing to allow the states to peaceable leave the Union in order to prevent civil war. Simon reveals that Lincoln's goal was to repair the rupture to the constitutional government established by the framers even if that meant civil war.
This is an important read in helping to understand the extraordinary powers assumed by the executive, with the consent of Congress, in times of emergencies and how when the emergency passes should be yielded up. In the epilogue Simon goes over several later Presidents and their use of war powers. He explains how Congress is the best check on the growing assumptions of Presidential war powers. The Supreme Court has been very reluctant to curb the president's powers especially when the Nation's security is at risk.
Simon revealed how much Lincoln "appreciated that the strength of the Union lay not in the force of arms but in the liberties that were guaranteed by the open, and sometimes heated, exchange of ideas"..."He didn't use this authority to trample on the civil liberties that the writ of habeas corpus was meant to protect". Had Lincoln imprisoned and kept imprisoned anyone just because they were unpopular would have meant the failure of the constitution as well as the failure of civilization and hello totalitarianism. Today as we face issue with regards to our own personal liberties, it is important to stay vigilant so that our rights aren't abused beyond the constitutional law. Simon lays open two legal minds in a time of tremendous pressure. Well worth the read to better understand this critical crossroad in US history.
Captivating Work of Legal History!.......2007-07-28
James Simon has been making a career out of writing great books that profile legal/political controversies. He has also written one about the Jefferson/Marshall, and then the Black/Frankfurter, fights. But not to worry. They are entertaining, all; this one is no exception.
The primary concern of this book is to explore the differing visions - on practically all issues - between then president elect Lincoln and then Supreme Court Chief Justice Taney. Lincoln, from Illinois, was a moderate republican who believed in gradual emancipation of slavery and - most importantly here - sweeping presidential war powers combined with the illegality of Southern seccession. Taney, by contrast, was a quiet Baltimorean and democrat who believed in states rights, fidelity to (a more narrow view of the) Constitution, even during times of war, and the states rights to choose whether to condone slavery. Needless to say for those who know even the most cursory history - Lincoln won.
While Simon does treat Taney with a tiny bit of hkostility, he is very careful to give him credit when credit is due. One of the main focuses of the book - the rightfully infamous decision in Dred Scott v Sandford, which saw Taney proclaim that Scott, a black man, could not bring a suit as he was not legally a person - is hard to justify by even the most generous legal mind. And Simon rightfully and flatly treats it to a stinging critique. This, as with several other Tany zingers.
But SImon is also quick to point out that Taney wss first and foremost concerned with civil liberties during war time, against the president's sometimes Orwellian actions, such as his acts to shut down newspapers that did not sympathize with the Union, or his actions - yes, it is true - to arrest a priest who did not pray for the Union. When these are looked at by Simon, Taney comes out with at least some dignity.
This book covers, first, both men's early years before going into the pre-civil war acts like Dred Scott and follows the trajectory of the entire civil war, highlighting the president's actions therein and Taney's (often ignored) responses to them. Legalese - have no fear - is kept to a minimum, and, in fact, the entire book reads like a historical thriller with a bit of courtroom drama.
On a final note, I find this book prescient for today's times, becasue many of the debates that Taney and Lincoln had are debates we ourselves are having in the US today. Whether or not military tributnals can or should supplant judicial courts, whether habeas corpus can be suspended in war time, what it even means to bve at war (the debate then was whether or not you can be at war with your own country men, today it is whether you can be at war with a group not a state). Finally, there is whether the president's war powers give the president virtually unlimited authority to ignore other constitutional provisions. Prescient indeed!
Anyhow, this is a good read for anyone interested in an in-depth study of the Civil WAr period or the legal issues rife therein.
Enough Reviews Have Now Been Written.......2007-04-21
Actually, more than enough has now been written about this book in the reviews above. One wishes there had been a more detailed analysis of Taney's pre-Lincoln opinions, a more detailed analysis of his anti-Presidential opinions, and a little less repetition of the well-trod facts of Lincoln's life. But nothwithstanding all this, it was a quick paced easily readable way to become re-acquainted with this too often ignored clash over executive power. And it provides much fodder for discussion of how W is using executive power in our time.....
Good, but not Great.......2007-03-10
Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney was a quick read (about 280 pages), which did not shed much new light on Lincoln or his presidency. The parts on Taney were interesting when you came across them, but the book itself was not balanced. Taney comes across as a "great" and fair Chief Justice untill the Dred Scott decision in 1857, and then he becomes blinded by his 'State's Rights' philosophy. This bias affects most of his post-Dred Scott rulings, and diminishes Taney's status as a potentially great Chief Justice. The book is interesting in that it really details just how far Lincoln stretched his interpretation of the Constitution during the Civil War, but the battles between Taney and Lincoln are limmitted. This book is interesting and good, but not great.
Too Little Taney.......2007-02-19
This book does offer quite a bit of information about the divergent evolution of Lincoln and Taney from their somewhat common beginnings, but unfortunately stops short of giving us a full insight into why Taney, who freed the majority of his slaves and personally abhored slavery, would defend it so vehemently and unrigorously in his Dred Scott decision. All the stuff on Lincoln is good, but I've seen it done more eloquently elsewhere (including his suspension of the writ of habeas corpus); I really expected more on Taney.
As a Catholic, I would have loved to see more on Taney's Catholicism than a mere mention of it and the name of his parish church -- perhaps how his views either for or against slavery and states rights were formed there. But the author makes mention of and dismisses this religious side in a few short sentences, while hinting that Taney was an intensely religious, if conflicted, individual. How can one arrive at a true understanding of Taney without knowing this dimension of his character?
Sadly, Taney himself occupies somewhat less than half of the book, and quotations from (and any extensive analysis of) his decisions other than Dred Scott are lacking. The author spends about as much time on Douglas as he does on Taney (Douglas' name could be added to book's title without falsity).
Finally, Simon, in his epilogue, moves to the present and makes this comment on the current political situation compared with Lincoln's: "And he did not attempt to escape judicial scrutiny in the name of national security, as the Bush administration has repeatedly done in prosecuting the War on Terrorism, which, unlike the Civil War, has no discernible end." In the book itself, Simon has Lincoln completely ignoring Taney's pronouncements on the writ of habeas corpus and packing the Court with three new pro-Lincoln justices to assure a good decision on the Prize Cases. He furthermore points out that, until quite late, the Civil War had no discernible end either, with defeat after defeat dogging the Union forces during the early and middle portions of the war. Simon's final intrusion of his own modern politics (conflicted with his admiration of Lincoln's strong prosecution of the war against slavery) provides a dissonant counterpoint to the rest of the book.
Amazon.com
It's an unlikely beginning to what became a momentous, history-changing history fair project. Eleven-year-old Hunter Scott was watching Jaws one day when he first heard about the World War II sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Intrigued, he investigated further, and discovered a shocking, heartbreaking story behind what should have been a tale of heroism and patriotism. Torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, the Indianapolis went down in minutes, taking more than 800 sailors with it. Several hundred survived, but only after spending days in the open sea with sharks diminishing their numbers hourly. This is only the beginning of the tragedy, however. In an effort to make an example of the ship's captain, and in order to deflect blame from itself, the U.S. Navy unfairly court-martialed the captain, painfully changing the lives of all the men involved.
Basing much of his text on young Hunter Scott's research, author Pete Nelson does a fine job of presenting this story through the eyes of many of the survivors. Old and new photos allow readers to know many of the men of the ship, and personal accounts reveal the horrors of those days in the ocean--and later in the courtroom. A bittersweet ending will leave the reader pensive and deeply moved. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter
Book Description
Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship sank in 14 minutes. More than 1,000 men were thrown into shark-infested waters. Those who survived the fiery sinking—some injured, many without life jackets—struggled to stay afloat in shark-infested waters as they waited for rescue. But the United States Navy did not even know they were missing. The Navy needed a scapegoat for this disaster. So it court-martialed the captain for “hazarding” his ship. The survivors of the Indianapolis knew that their captain was not to blame. For 50 years they worked to clear his name, even after his untimely death. But the navy would not budge—until an 11-year-old boy named Hunter Scott entered the picture. His history fair project on the Indianapolis soon became a crusade to restore the captain’s good name and the honor of the men who served under him.
Download Description
Hunter Scott, an 11-year-old boy in Pensacola, Florida, was watching the movie Jaws, listening to Captain Quint tell the story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis at the end of World War II. "Eleven hundred men went into the water. Very first light, the sharks come cruising. . . ." Hunter had a simple question: Was this a true story?
The story of the USS Indianapolis, the worst naval disaster in American history, is indeed true. So is the story of the shameful court-martial of the ship's captain, shameful because the loss of the ship was not his fault, and the Navy knew it. Hunter Scott became the catalyst for the survivors' efforts to clear their captain's name and set the record straight. This is the story of the ship, her brave sailors, their wronged captain, and a young man's crusade to right an old injustice.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book!!.......2007-03-13
If you want to give your students an inspiration to do more for others than for themselves, give them this book. Scott Hunter's work was important and I appreciate this author's choice to write the book for the left for dead navy soldiers.
Left For Dead was a fantasic read.......2007-03-08
This book was great. I absolutely loved it. I didn't give it full marks because the beginning was very slow. The excitement didn't come until the ship sank. After that it was great. I would recommend this book to everyone.
This book takes place mainly in the Pacific Ocean. The time is from 1945 to 2001. It ranges from the ship sinking to Hunter trying to fix the captain's name. There are two story lines in the book. (One is Hunter and the other is the crew) There were a lot of important events. Of course one of the most important was the sinking. Also when the captain was court-martialed it was huge.
There were a lot of conflicts in the book. Many of them happened in the water. For instance many men thought they saw a fantasy island. They would want to take a group of people and swim to it. The problem was that the others didn't see it, so they didn't want to leave the group. Sometimes physical fights would break out over weather or not to go. Eventually to solve the issue one guy would just swim out and see. (Of course they wouldn't find the island) some of them were attacked by sharks, while swimming away, and died.
Over all this book was great!!!
Interesting Read. Enjoyable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1.......2006-05-31
From start to finish I enjoyed much of this novel. THere were times when i didn't understand all of the fancy language of the navy and ships, but it was a great read.
THis novel is based on the story of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. THis ship sinks during the world war and everyone points their fingers at the captain. But a young boy chooses to aid this man who has been accused of this nonsense.
This book is very interesting and every page had more detail and suspense that made it a great read. Usually I can't sit through
an entire book but i got through this one. I reccomend it toaanyone interested in suspense and tension. THis book is for you.
Book Review.......2006-04-26
Ben Olejniczak
English 9 PIB
4-22-06
Rosie Book Review
"A Simple Review of Injustice"
The novel, Left For Dead by Pete Nelson and Hunter Scott, is quite an interesting piece of work. The book is about the story of the USS Indianapolis disaster, possibly the worst the Navy has ever seen. The story is centered around the injustice that was directed towards the ship's captain. Captain McVay was court marshaled because of his so-called inability to get out of the situation the USS Indianapolis faced. Hunter Scott, a boy who saw the movie, Jaws, became skeptical. He went on a journey to prove that Captain McVay was innocent. Does Scott prove that McVay is in fact innocent? Or does his efforts fail him? Read this novel and the ending will astonish even the worst skeptics.
Quotes in Left for Dead show the reader that this book is worth reading. First, in the Preface, Hunter Scott says, "I am trying to honor a group of veterans to whom honor is everything." Hunter says here that he is going to great heights as well as disadvantages to fight for Captain McVay. Hunter has a mission and nothing is going to stop him from doing what he thinks is right. He is trying to make up for all the sacrifices those men faced in order for our freedom to be in stone forever. Suspense is prominent in this novel. Here, before chapter seven, a quote from Herman Melville, a man from Moby Dick, is stated. It reads, "Any man unaccustomed to such sights, to have looked over her side that night, would have almost thought the whole round sea was one huge cheese, and those sharks the maggots in it." Here, foreshadowing of the accident is given. This is important because it gives a sense of suspense to the reader. The horrific disaster is shown in a nutshell from this little quote. Toward the end of Left For Dead, Pete Nelson writes, "Three hundred and seventeen survived the sinking of the Indianapolis, which meant that there were 317 different stories to be told afterward." Pete Nelson is saying here that this story is a classic. All of the survivors would not have stories to tell if it was not an experience of a lifetime. Just another reason to read Left for Dead.
Left For Dead has its ups and downs. I really enjoyed the history behind the USS Indianapolis. I learned many new things from this novel and there is plenty of knowledge to share! Also, I love how Pete Nelson implemented a story theme to the novel. It was not just a documentary; it was a story that included documentary material. However, there were some downsides to this novel. I did not like the fact that it jumped around from story to information often. It would have been better if the novel would have one way or another; either all storyline or either all documentary. As you can see, Left For Dead is a great novel and I would recommend it to anyone if they are interested in history regarding the Navy or even American history.
I couldn't put the book down.......2006-03-15
This book was recommended to me by a friend as a must read. After buying the book from Amazon, I couldn't put it down. The stories of the men who were left at sea and the struggle by the young man so many years later to restore the honor of the caption falsely accused is well written in this short book and should be on everyone's must read list.
Book Description
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history -- the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin led Union cavalry troops on a wild, twelve-day chase from the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.
At the very center of this story is John Wilkes Booth, Americas notorious villain. A confederate sympathizer and member of a celebrated acting family, Booth threw away his fame, wealth, and promise for a chance to avenge the Souths defeat. For almost two weeks, he confounded the manhunters, slipping away from their every move and denying the justice they sought.
Manhunt is a fully documented work, but it is also a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as youve never read it before.
Customer Reviews:
Manhunt CD:The 12-day Chase for Lincoln's Killer.......2007-01-12
Hard to believe that a story so well known to every American school child can be so riveting. Historically entertaining and educationally engaging this CD is a must listen.
Exciting.......2006-10-02
From the opening minute until the closing segment of this audio book is one that will keep your interest. The author writes a story that makes you feel like he was really there observing the entire adventure. Richard Thomas who is the narrator adds great depth to the story by his wonderful reading voice. In addition, this story is a great way to learn a little history of the Civil War time period while enjoying the audio book.
Great Story--Keeps you rivited even though you know the outcome!.......2006-04-24
You'll learn many fascinating facts about the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln (and others) in this fast-paced, well written book. From Dr. Mudd's actual involvement with Booth, to the escape route, to Secretary of War Stanton's actions after the death of Lincoln.
A must for non-fiction readers.
Customer Reviews:
(RAW Rating: 4.5) - What is happening to black men?.......2007-08-04
Demico Boothe has explored the reasons so many black men are indeed in prison in, WHY ARE SO MANY BLACK MEN IN PRISON? He begins with his own story of a shaky upbringing and his subsequent dabbling in drug dealing. He was caught with a few grams of crack cocaine but because it was the dreaded crack, he was given 10 years in prison. When he left prison after serving his time, he was actually railroaded back into prison by a crooked justice system. He delves deeply into our justice system and the motives behind all the new prisons that are being built. He gives succinct and reasonable views of exactly what is happening now in the United States and how the past has played a role in the present. He uses persuasive statistics regarding the number of black men in prison as compared to the number of white men who are incarcerated.
Demico Boothe has done an excellent job of researching his subject and it is a plus, if unfortunate for him, that he has actually experienced first hand what he's talking about. I knew I was hearing the real story rather than just statistics from an intellectual who had no real idea of what the prison system is really like. I would have liked for Boothe to search a little deeper into the Haiti, Aristide and USA question, maybe even reading Randall Robinson's take on the situation, and then he might see it a bit differently. Otherwise, it is a good book and one every one in America should read. We indeed, have a crisis going on.
Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In.......2007-06-09
The book was very interesting. I learned soooo much about the government and the prison industry. I did some searching independantly to check on the things reported in the book and they are very true. Great Read!! Buy the book.
A Must Read.......2007-05-25
Mr. Demico's book is a must-read for anyone concerned about young African American men. Although I did not agree with every conclusion he reached, Demico's main premises are convincing. As a white woman who teaches mainly students of color, I am always impressed, and often in awe, of those young men who reach college with so much going against them. Demico's books lays bare not only the horrible inequalities of our society, but also the racist attitudes of our political system - - Democrats, Republicans, and most everyone in between.
Why are so many Black Men in Prison?.......2007-05-13
I is a well put together book. He really goes into a lot of detail of how our society is really set up.
Why are so many blacks in prison?.......2007-05-12
I found this book very interesting. As a white devil myself, I had no idea that I was responsible for forcing blacks into committing crimes and then subsequently clogging up the whole "Prison Industrial Complex"(tm). I will try to stop causing this, as I am sure it is creating a LOT of trouble for everyone! Sorry!
It is probably also my fault that young black men dressed in XXXXL clothes overtly threaten me and my family members routinely. Can anyone tell me what I should do to make this not happen?
I imagine it's also my fault that black on white violent crime is WAY higher than white on black violent crime, even though blacks constitute about 12.5% of the population, and whites are about 70%. But since it is impossible for a black to commit a hate crime according to our criminal justice system (since blacks are not under any circumstances racist), statistically, there are more white on black hate crimes. Boothe notes a statistic regarding hate crimes, but he skips the one about interracial violence in general.
In sum, Boothe notes that just about everything blacks do is actually MY fault, because my skin is white. Boothe, I've got a word for you.
Introspection.
Book Description
John Ashcroft's service as attorney general began with turmoil: a loss to a deceased challenger in his senate reelection campaign and a tumultuous confirmation battle. Then, on September 11, 2001, his job was transformed into the greatest leadership challenge an attorney general has ever faced. Highly classified intelligence briefings, secret surveillance of terror cells, and war councils with President Bush gave Ashcroft a uniquely comprehensive--and uniquely chilling--view of the threats to American security.In NEVER AGAIN, Ashcroft breaks his silence about historic events that transpired during his term of office--including the largest terrorist attack in U.S. history, the enactment and defense of the Patriot Act, the Robert Hanssen spy scandal, the execution of Timothy McVeigh, and the recently discovered domestic surveillance program authorized by President Bush. In this provocative book, readers will meet the man behind the title and hear his take on the dangers to and within America from outside forces, and what he did to repair the serious breaches in our country's security. NEVER AGAIN is a fascinating and probing look at what Ashcroft believes will ultimately make America safe.
Customer Reviews:
Nothing new.......2007-09-09
There is nothing new here. The only reason I gave this a second star was because this did give a bit more insight into how these people think. The first third of the book hardly contained a page that didn't talk about God, prayer meetings, Church or otherwise profess his religiosity. The constant unsubstantiated backhanded slaps to Liberals, the 'Liberal Media', Gore, Clinton, etc. also got old fast.
This is a book for Christian Dominionists or those who still believe in the myth of the 'Liberal Media'. Intellectuals will find little value in these self-aggrandizing ramblings.
NEVER AGAIN do we deserve someone so incompetent!!.......2007-07-02
This book is Ashcroft's justification for his time as A-G. Yet, like his performance as AG, this book rambles all over the place, doesn't really have a point and, when it finishes, leaves the reader shaking their head.
With so many talented Republicans to choose from, Bush picked this no-hoper to head up the A-G's department, with predictable results. It is clear from Ashcroft's writing that he had no idea of what he was doing. To cover up for this, he simply took orders from Karl Rove and Dicky C.
The only good thing about this book was when it ended (much like Ashcroft's time as AG).
If you really must read about an incompetent Cabinet member, get a book on Rumsfeld, or Bush himself. Don't waste your time on this book!
Ashcroft battles the forces of darkness.......2007-02-19
Do you know two words that will cause a leftist to explode? John Ashcroft. Try it sometime. Go up to a sandal wearing, hot chai drinking, Clinton loving dip and whisper in their wax encrusted ear, "John Ashcroft," and then duck for cover as their head explodes with more force than that poor guy at the beginning of "Scanners". When President George Bush announced to the country that he was nominating the former senator from Missouri to the post of Attorney General, leftards around the nation went to the mattresses. Screams of outrage poured out of the television set and in op-eds at all the left-wing newspapers. Maureen Dowd was so depressed she scheduled another face-lift and fell off the wagon for the second time in a day. Tom Daschle threatened to set himself on fire on live television. Bill Clinton cheated on his wife. It was a dark time for liberals across the nation when Ashcroft said he'd like to take the job. He promised to take away our civil liberties, prosecute pro-choice advocates, and jail non-Christians. He also said he'd close public libraries so homeless folks would have to stay out in the cold. What an inhuman monster!
Of course, nothing of the sort described above happened. Except Bill Clinton did cheat on his wife, but that had nothing to do with Ashcroft's appointment and installation as the nation's Attorney General. In fact, the former senator did a good job while in office. And what a trying time it was! The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 occurred during Ashcroft's tenure in office, an incident that put the spotlight directly on him. He held up well, crafting laws that pulled down a wall separating law enforcement and intelligence operations so that both could work together to put terrorists away for good. He oversaw the passing of the Patriot Act, a piece of legislation decried by leftists as totalitarian, but in reality a healthy reaction to the terrorist acts that helped put into place databases that could track unwanted aliens in the United States. He also helped to put the awful Lynne Stewart, a left-wing radical lawyer with a history of anti-American rabble rousing, in jail for illegally helping a terrorist client communicate with his cell of lunatic followers. John Ashcroft covers all of these events, and many more, in his excellent book "Never Again: Securing America and Restoring Justice".
Ashcroft begins his book by describing the election that forced him out as Missouri senator. A favorite story for leftists, he lost his bid for reelection to a dead man when his opponent died in a plane crash before polling day. Well, not really. A vote for his opponent meant that his wife, Jean Carnahan, would take the seat. And she did when some sneaky democrat tricks, including a judge who allowed polls to stay open in St. Louis long after closing time, turned the tide in her direction. Ashcroft handles this account with grace and tact. He also is gracious when describing his contentious confirmation hearings in front of his former Senate colleagues. A seething cauldron consisting of one part Patrick Leahy and two parts Teddy Kennedy; you can imagine what the hearings were like. Ashcroft sailed through like a pro and went to the floor for confirmation despite an ugly smear campaign that made the Clarence Thomas hearings look like a friendly conversation with Mr. Rogers. He has almost nothing but good things to say about his former colleagues, even those who took cheap shots and disparaged him at every turn. Pretty big of him, I'd say.
Ashcroft discusses the 9/11 days in great detail, his challenges in crafting effective legislation, and his testimony in front of the 9/11 Commission where he slapped down Clinton apparatchik Jamie Gorelick for expanding the wall of separation between law enforcement and intelligence that allowed the hijackers to get away with their nefarious plans. If nothing else, "Never Again" serves as yet another piece of compelling evidence showing how reckless the Clinton Administration was with our national security. While Slick lounged around in the Oval Office with his cigars and Monica, our enemies plotted to bring down the World Trade Center, blow our ships out of the water, topple our embassies overseas, and generally make the United States look like a spineless weakling. They succeeded in spades. That doesn't mean the terrorist attacks of 9/11 might not have happened had adults been in office during the 1990s, but I think it's less likely they would have occurred if for no other reason than the attacks leading up to that horrible day in September 2001 would have received a much stronger response than anything Clinton did. Slick Willy was too busy trying to protect his scandal-plagued administration from impeachment to pay attention to real issues in the world. This work highlights that clearly.
I highly recommend John Ashcroft's book. It's an easy read written in a friendly, conversational style that puts to lie everything said about this man in the mainstream media. John Ashcroft came and went and the world did not end. No pro-choice advocates mysteriously disappeared from the streets of America. No far reaching conspiracy put an end to civil liberties as we know them (despite what liberals will tell you, only terrorists and pro-terrorist fellow travelers seemed to wind up in jail). That doesn't mean the Patriot Act COULDN'T be used to take away our rights, but John Ashcroft didn't use the law to do that. It will probably be a liberal sometime in the next twenty years, likely as a way to increase "diversity" and "tolerance". Anyway, pick up "Never Again" and breeze through it right away. I was pleasantly surprised to find this book in the library, and even more pleased to discover it is a wonderful, insightful book.
Great Book!.......2007-01-21
I have just finished reading, and my husband listening to, Never Again. What an interesting, informative book. We are both so glad we read and listened to it. (Read by the author.) We learned alot about recent happenings in our country. We would highly recommend this book!
The one book everyone should read.......2007-01-08
This is a terribly important book written by a man in the epicenter of the national response to the awful attacks of September 11, 2001. Without rancour or bitterness (despite his vilification at the hands of the predominantly liberal press), John Ashcroft lays out in detail the events following 9/11 and his horrific discoveries of the ineptitude and blindness of the previous administration in combatting terrorism within our borders. It exposes Clinton's "At least I tried" admonition to Chris Wallace for the bald faced lie that it was.....We have recently returned to power in congress the party principally responsible (although certainly not solely so) for the inadequacies so meticulously detailed by the former Attorney General. I hope that this book gives them pause before attempting to turn back the clock.
Book Description
Today many view Sigmund Freud as an elitist whose psychoanalytic treatment was reserved for the intellectually and financially advantaged. However, in this new work Elizabeth Ann Danto presents a strikingly different picture of Freud and the early psychoanalytic movement. Danto recovers the neglected history of Freud and other analysts' intense social activism and their commitment to treating the poor and working classes.
Danto's narrative begins in the years following the end of World War I and the fall of the Habsburg Empire. Joining with the social democratic and artistic movements that were sweeping across Central and Western Europe, analysts such as Freud, Wilhelm Reich, Erik Erikson, Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, and Helene Deutsch envisioned a new role for psychoanalysis. These psychoanalysts saw themselves as brokers of social change and viewed psychoanalysis as a challenge to conventional political and social traditions. Between 1920 and 1938 and in ten different cities, they created outpatient centers that provided free mental health care. They believed that psychoanalysis would share in the transformation of civil society and that these new outpatient centers would help restore people to their inherently good and productive selves.
Drawing on oral histories and new archival material, Danto offers vivid portraits of the movement's central figures and their beliefs. She explores the successes, failures, and challenges faced by free institutes such as the Berlin Poliklinik, the Vienna Ambulatorium, and Alfred Adler's child-guidance clinics. She also describes the efforts of Wilhelm Reich's Sex-Pol, a fusion of psychoanalysis and left-wing politics, which provided free counseling and sex education and aimed to end public repression of private sexuality.
In addition to situating the efforts of psychoanalysts in the political and cultural contexts of Weimar Germany and Red Vienna, Danto also discusses the important treatments and methods developed during this period, including child analysis, short-term therapy, crisis intervention, task-centered treatment, active therapy, and clinical case presentations. Her work illuminates the importance of the social environment and the idea of community to the theory and practice of psychoanalysis.
Customer Reviews:
An important contribution to the history of psychoanalysi.......2005-08-14
In Freud's Free Clinics: Psychoanalysis and Social Justice, 1918-1938, Professor Elizabeth Danto looks at a familiar subject and, by dint of serious scholarship and critical intelligence, manages to tell us fresh and important things about it. Much of the cultural and social impact of psychoanalysis developed in the political-economic climate of Austria and Germany during the two tormented decades between the world wars. Danto demonstrates a sensitive understanding of that scene and its powerful influence on what became the ideology and practice of psychoanalysis. This well-written book is essential reading for
students of the history of psychoanalysis and psychiatry -- indeed for anyone interested in twentienth-century cultural history. I recommend it highly.
Thomas Szasz
Manlius, NY 13104
Book Description
Across America today gated communities sprawl out from urban centers, employers enforce mandatory drug testing, and schools screen students with metal detectors. Social problems ranging from welfare dependency to educational inequality have been reconceptualized as crimes, with an attendant focus on assigning fault and imposing consequences. Even before the recent terrorist attacks, non-citizen residents had become subject to an increasingly harsh regime of detention and deportation, and prospective employees subjected to background checks. How and when did our everyday world become dominated by fear, every citizen treated as a potential criminal? In this startlingly original work, Jonathan Simon traces this pattern back to the collapse of the New Deal approach to governing during the 1960s when declining confidence in expert-guided government policies sent political leaders searching for new models of governance. The War on Crime offered a ready solution to their problem: politicians set agendas by drawing analogies to crime and redefined the ideal citizen as a crime victim, one whose vulnerabilities opened the door to overweening government intervention. By the 1980s, this transformation of the core powers of government had spilled over into the institutions that govern daily life. Soon our schools, our families, our workplaces, and our residential communities were being governed through crime. This powerful work concludes with a call for passive citizens to become engaged partners in the management of risk and the treatment of social ills. Only by coming together to produce security, can we free ourselves from a logic of domination by others, and from the fear that currently rules our everyday life.
Customer Reviews:
Imaginative interpretation of the most recent phase of US history.......2007-10-07
I've read plenty of books that deal with questions of the growth of mass incarceration and surveillance in US society, the 'culture of fear' paranoia that defines much of our popular political culture, etc. and so I thought this book would mainly cover familiar material. But I was wrong. Jonathan Simon offers a fresh interpretation of these developments. Central to the development of 'governing through crime' is the emergence of the crime victim as the central figure around which political debate revolves, and the identification of supporting police/prisons/death penalty with solidarity with that victim. Simon shows how this has raised the profile (and political power) of prosecutors and governors (most of our presidents recently, in part because of their ability to wield the death penalty). On the other hand, this development has thrown the judiciary on the defensive, as it is perceived as an obstacle to victim's righteous vengeance through their representatives, the police. Simon also deals with the way crime has defined the governance of families, schools, and, perhaps most originally, workplaces. In the latter, as unions have collapsed, charges of the crime of discrimination have become one of the few recourses workers have against employer power. At the same time, employers treat workers as potentially dangerous criminals who may be responsible for violence in the workplace. Simon ends by tying the logic and limits of governing through crime to the failings of the US in stopping, and later reacting to, the attacks of 9-11.
Simon does not have much to say about the economic changes that have accompanied and been intertwined with the practice of governing through crime. For that you should read Christian Parenti's Lockdown America or Ruth Wilson Gilmore's Golden Gulag. Nevertheless, this book should also definitely be on your reading list to understand this disturbing trend.
a brilliant analysis.......2007-06-03
How is it that the American state continues to grow in a politically conservative age? Professor Simon argues that the growth of federal crime control policy is the key to understanding this phenomenon. Beginning in the 1960s, and continuing through to century's end, the willingness of national politicians to assume responsibility for crime fighting and the establishment of social order has allowed the federal government to grow, even after Americans grew to doubt the ability of Washington D.C. to solve social and economic problems in the wake of the Great Society. Conservative Chief Executives promised to use the powers of the federal government to stop crime and social disorder and to secure Americans from all manner of threats to life and property. The fact that crime was in fact rising in the 1960s and 1970s gave the crime issue the needed salience to make crime control a seemingly legitimate policy goal for Washington D.C.
Professor Simon excavates how the image and substance of crime fighting proved to be manna for the continued aggrandizement of executive power in the American federal state. Also, conservative politicians in both parties worked in the legislative branch to delegate powers in crime fighting to the President, as well as governors, mayors and district attorneys at the state and local level. For Simon, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 was the key legislative template for this process; thus, that act ranks right up with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as one of the most important laws of the decade, though most Americans have never heard of it.
Simon covers this process in the first half of the book. That is his explanation for the modern American state. What about modern American society? In the second half of the book Professor Simon shows how the rhetoric and strategies behind federal crime control policy replicate themselves in all manner of lived experiences in America, from residential patterns, to the acceptance of surveillance in the work place, to the disciplining of students in schools through zero tolerance policies for any sort of real or perceived misbehavior.
This is a great book describing how crime and fear of crime governs our sense of proper governance and, indeed, life. I'd have preferred a bit more on how imperatives of foreign policy work to create a crime control state in domestic policy. How, for example, does the need to surveil foreign activity through the CIA and NSA work to grow federal domestic law enforcement through the FBI, DEA and state and local law enforcement?
This is a quibble though. Read this book to understand how America became security obsessed in the last decades of the twentieth century, and how we can approach strategies for a healthier polity and a more beneficial relationship to our fellow citizens and government.
Average customer rating:
- Not bad within it's genre.
- Unsatisfying
- Mad Mike Does Modern Day Reality Too
- Fine book for it's length
- Not as bad as it could be.
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The Scope of Justice
Michael Z. Williamson
Manufacturer: Avon
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Targets of Opportunity
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Confirmed Kill
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Freehold
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The Weapon
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The Devil's Finger
ASIN: 0060565241
Release Date: 2004-06-29 |
Book Description
The first book in a new military series revolving around one of the most fascinating professions within the armed forces––the sniper.
One shot, one kill––it is the code of the snipers. Within a military that prides teamwork, strength in numbers, and camaraderie, the sniper's is a rogue profession, feared by his enemies and distrusted by his allies. Kyle Monroe is one of this exclusive fraternity. Still recovering from a mission gone disastrously wrong, Monroe requests a field assignment and is paired with a partner and dispatched to Pakistan, instructed to take out a prominent member of al Qaeda. But the local tribe to which he's assigned want to use his deadly skills to settle a private war with a neighbouring tribe. If Monroe and his partner want to get out of Pakistan alive, they will have to rely on their skills, their experience––and absolutely nothing else.
Customer Reviews:
Not bad within it's genre........2006-07-14
Now being honest I've always been a great fan of what one reviewer has refered to as "right wing gun porn". I have quite a few hundred examples of the type filling up many a nook and cranny within my place of residence.
I liked this book, more depth then would be expected of this sort serial novel. However I do think Mr. Willimson did try to over reach himself with the main character. This type of book is much to short to realistically have the main character overcome his inner demons in *one* episode - this sort of thing should be underlaying a number of episodes.
But he did handle the book's plotting quite nicely, no slack time as sometimes can be found in this genre, nor was any of the action purely used a page filler.
Overall not too shabby (I do think Freehold is a much better work by this authour in all aspects). However for this genre I still think John Ringo's way OTT Kildar/Ghost series set the new standard.
And yes his Irish speach patterns are terrible, really, really terrible and the British speach patterns are worst if that can be believed :).
All told not to shabby for "gun porn".
Unsatisfying.......2005-10-13
The details may be right, but this never grabbed me. A work centered on action, but who cares?
Mad Mike Does Modern Day Reality Too.......2005-09-10
Michael Z. Williamson, better known as Mad Mike the Knife Builder, has produced a great action/adventure series to compliment his outstanding SF writing in Freehold and The Weapon, and his collaboration with John Ringo, Hero.
In The Scope of Justice, the world of the sniper and the covert operative is exposed. This is not James Bond, and it is not The Ballad of the Green Berets. This is modern military action, with all its faults and successes, as Kyle Monroe battles his demons and al-Qaeda terrorists.
We can all hope that the real Kyle Monroes do as well as the fictional hero does.
You should buy this book if you are trying to figure out what it really feels like to be a soldier in the war on terror.
Walt Boyes
The Bananaslug. at Baen's Bar
Fine book for it's length.......2005-02-07
If you like Tom Clancy's older stuff and cringe at Dale Browns cliches and innaccuracies then you'll like this book. It's a bit short for my tastes but the author crams in enough character development for you to care about them. Detail - Good, Characters - V.Good, Attempt to write irish speech patterns - BAD :).
Now go buy his other books, they're better than this one :)
Not as bad as it could be........2004-10-02
What we have here is a typical adventure yarn, with the heroes fighting for Truth, Justice, Etc. The US has the best of everything, the poor local Pakistanis just don't measure up. The good guys are good, the villain is bad. Shallow.
Frankly, after Freehold, I expected better from Williamson. This is better than average for the genre--at least the technical details seem right, and no one gets blown yards back from explosions, legs flailing. But it's still right-wing chest-thumping gun porn. It was a bit of a let down.
Books:
- Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
- Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
- Men at War 1914-1918: National Sentiment and Trench Journalism in France during the First World War (Legacy of the Great War)
- Military Innovation In The Interwar Period
- Moscow to Stalingrad: Decision in the East (Army Historical)
- Night (Oprah's Book Club)
- Number the Stars
- Olga's Story: Three Continents, Two World Wars and Revolution--One Woman's Epic Journey Through the Twentieth Century
- Operation Barbarossa in Photographs: The War in Russia As Photographed by the Soldiers (Schiffer Military History)
- Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe's Great Art - America and Her Allies Recovered It
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