This is an exhaustively researched book, with interesting photos and all sorts of detail. But it was a little short of the one thing I thought it would be filled with, given the title: Life saving. There's very little in the way of actual tales of rescue, and almost none until the last quarter of the book. I would have preferred a little less day to day minutae and a little more adventure.

There are a few other good books on the old life-saving service, but this is the first one to focus on the Great Lakes. I bought it to discover my roots, since I've been a longtime lifeguard at a converted life-saving service station. While my station (Rogers Park) is only mentioned in passing, the great information and detail of other stations, keepers, and rescues kept me engaged. The writing's a little uneven but Stonehouse is a great researcher and obviously has a deep passion for the subject. The pictures & illustrations are top-notch.

After reading this book, I still didn't know why Frederick II of Prussia had been accorded the title "the Great" by history. This volume spends a lot of time on detailing the personal life of a very flawed man, and very little explaining why he was a seminal force in 18th century politics. I finally turned to his entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica, which in a short article did a better job of explaining Frederick's place in history than this book did.

Other flaws in this book: for those of us not familiar with 18th century European political geography, a map or two would have been helpful; without maps, it's impossible to understand Frederick's political machinations or (especially) his military campaigns. Also, incredibly, among the pictures there is not a single one of Frederick's queen!

At times criticized and commended for its focus on merely Frederick, rather than Frederick the Great, MacDonogh's effort merits the attention of amateurs and enthusiasts alike. In a relatively brief space, MacDonogh is able to reveal a great deal of primary insight about a man who distinguished himself not only with the sword, but also a pen, a flute, etc. MacDonogh also demonstrates his ability to use the personalities to illustrate the time; weaving a thread through the German principalities of Frederick's youth is difficult enough without the need to discuss the circumstances of Frederick, his father and the machinations of foreign and Prussian envoys and courtiers. MacDonogh has given us an insightful piece about a man who lived a life full of something for everyone.

In a society stuffed with anglophiles and, more recently, celticphiles, we have little history available on Middle Europe and its grandeur. We know that it produced the most terrible army of the 20th Century. We also know of colorful snippets about how 18th Century German mercenaries lent a hand in Britain's fruitless effort to keep 13 American colonies from becoming an indepent nation.

The book gives a much deserved look at how Middle Europe's nations evolved through marriage, annexing and (naturlich) war. Frederick is taken off of his pedestal for us to take a closer look, and the authors shows us Frederick's warts and all. His family, especially his father, plays a vitol role in the book, which the author infers that this is a key element in driving Frederick to succeed.

If there is a shortcoming in the book, it would be the battles. Though the book was not published to be a historical guide on tactics and strategics, I would like to know more on how the protagonist became so land rich at Prussia's zenith.

What a pleasure to see the novels of Louise Muehlbach finally being brought back. Muehlbach, the pen name of Clara Mundt, was the daughter of one famous historian, and the wife of another-both professors at the University of Berlin - but in the early 19th century for a woman to become a professional historian was virtually impossible. She therefore turned to writing historical novels, and was one of the best-selling writers in German during the mid-19th century, producing over 100 books, about two-thirds of which were translated into English. This in addition to raising 5 children, managing a large household, and being involved in literary and cultural society! Her work remained popular as late as the first World War, but as with many popular writers - especially women - has never been regarded as "serious" and therefore has not survived. This is regrettable. Her work has, by today's standards, numerous historical errors - probably unavoidable under the circumstances - and she firmly displays opinions and prejudices of her own. On the other hand, most of her novels deal with persons and times only vaguely known to the average English-speaking reader, and offer a fascinating glimpse into strange worlds. And most important, she has the one indispensable gift of the novelist - she is a wonderful storyteller, who keeps the reader turning the pages and wondering what will happen next. Any reader who enjoys historical novels, or who is interested in German history should give her work a try.

This particular item - "Berlin and Sans Souci" - is part of a long series of novels on the Prussian Royal Family. Readers who are not familiar with the time period may find some of it puzzling. The publishers probably selected this volume for reprint due to one of the subplots, which involves a medical student "Lupinus" - who at the moment of his final exam is revealed to be a woman, and who is nevertheless granted her medical degree! This is the kind of side excursion the author always loved, and which adds an erratic charm to her work. Here's hoping the publishers continue to add to the series.

This book is a compilation of various tales we all heard growing up. It is a great book for bedtime reading. My two sons enjoy picking out which stories to read, and then listening intently. The stories are fun to read, and the boys have committed many of the "key" parts of each story to memory.

When the standard reference sources are consulted regarding Frederick William there are usually two things mentioned. He is credited with an innovative taxing system, and laying the foundation for the famed standing Prussian army. Derek McKays meticulous research includes details including the household expenditures of the Elector. In ten chapters the book gives a detail filled account of the life of Frederick William. The book provides a vast quatity of information that is not easily obtained in English elsewhere. In the first chapter there is discussion of his parents and grandparents, and other impressive family connections. The first chapters also establish the ruinous condition of the Hohenzollern family holdings at the time of Frederick William's accession. In chapters three and four his early years as Elector are covered. Chapters six through nine give a detailed account of his mature years, and a small final chapter wraps things up. Typical of this book's "stick to the facts" report style there are no reflective excursions into praise or criticism of the Elector's life. Still, Derek McKay must concede "... he was undoubtedly the greatest of the electors of Brandenburg." (pg. 223), and "... his reign set his dynasty and state on the road to their future greatness in Germany and Europe." (pg. 262)

A scholar with a military background, Connelly begins with an excellent thumbnail sketch of the changing nature of Western warfare over the past 250 years. This sets up the bulk of the book, which is selected words of 20, primarily European and American, military leaders from the same period. Each receives a separate chapter (except for Frederick the Great and Napoleon, who are combined), and each chapter starts with a short background on the leader. These are what Connelly refers to as "muddy boots" leaders, and each was successful in so far as his combat operations were concerned. He also concludes each chapter with an explanation of the importance to the field of leadership of that individual's ideas and methods. Thus, he provides a brief, but adequate rationale for each leader included in the book. His inclusion of T.E. Lawrence (Great Britain, World War I), Erich von Manstein (Germany, World War II) and Vo Nguyen Giap (Vietnam, French Indo China War and the War in Vietnam) were particularly excellent choices. The others were certainly apropos to Connelly's purpose, except for Charles de Gaulle. The rationale for including him escapes me. The other leaders Connelly included are:

oWilliam Tecumseh Sherman (Union, American Civil War)
oThomas Jonathan "Sonewall" Jackson (Confederacy, American Civil War)
oJohn Singleton Mosby (Confederacy, American Civil War)
oArchibald Percival Wavell (Great Britain, World War II)
oErwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (Germany, World War II)
oGeorge S. Patton, Jr. (US, World War II)
oBernard Law Montgomery (Great Britain, World War II)
oWilliam Joseph Slim (Great Britain, World War II)
oJoseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (American, World War II)
oMatthew Bunker Ridgway (US, World War II and Korea)
oMoshe Dayan (Israeli War for Independence)
oHarold G. Moore (LZ X-Ray, Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam)
oNicholas F. "Nick" Vaux (Great Britain, Falklands War)
oH. Norman "Stormin' Norman" Scwartzkopf (US, Persian Gulf War)

As you can see, he included small unit leaders (Mosby, Lawrence, Moore, and Vaux) rather than keying on just major commanders. This provides a nice blend to the discussion and demonstrates that good leadership traits are much the same at all levels of command. He might have commented on why some obvious choices were NOT included such as Zachary Taylor (US, War with Mexico), James Longstreet (Confederacy, American Civil War); or, for small unit actions (which may be more apropos today) Joshua Chamberlain (Union, American Civil War), Teddy Roosevelt (US, Spanish-American War), John Howard (Great Britain, Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, World War II), John Frost (Great Britain, Arnhem, World War II), William Orlando Darby (US, Rangers, World War II), or Robert Frederick (US, 1st Special Service Force, World War II). Each of these men exercised great leadership ability and skill in training and preparation for combat and later in desperate fighting. It might also be instructional to have provided a contrast with a few leaders of lesser caliber.

Connelly actually penned relatively little of the book. Rather, as the title implies, most is taken from the words of the leaders themselves (memoirs, letters, diaries) or from those close to them. His contribution is the choice of the leaders, choice of "their" material, and his set-ups and conclusions. Sometimes he uses whole blocks of material without explaining why the particular passage is important. The chapters are quite interesting reading on their own (especially the chapters on T.E. Lawrence and Harold Moore), and one can certainly draw conclusions about leadership, but I would have struggled to get full measure from them had I not read his final, Conclusions chapter first.

One point that isn't crystal clear is that leadership is a learned art. There are natural leaders (charisma, for example, helps), but most successful leaders are students of leadership. Moreover, the more you read about leadership, the more spins and nuances you see. Much of what is written is just that: spin with an eye to selling a new book. But in its essence, leadership is rather straightforward. It's the implementation -- the practice of good leadership techniques -- that's the difficult part.

That's the key attribute in Cohen's book -- his summary in the Conclusion's chapter depicting the key traits of good leaders, supported by the descriptions of how each applied some or all of these traits. In his summary they are:

oLead in person
oLead from the front
oImprovise according to the situation
oHold to unity of command
oTake care of the troops
oTake risks (calculatedly, not recklessly)
oPrefer the offensive
oKnow the value of winning.

I don't take exception to this list, but I would add that these must be against a backdrop of a sound set of positive personal values, first among which is integrity.

On balance, Cohen's book is a useful addition to one's library or reading list, whether you are military or civilian (each trait above has a corollary in civilian life), professional or amateur, or just enjoy reading about leadership or military history, but it could have been better for its intended purpose.

This is a real life account of service in the Royal Navy from 1793-1814. It provides some insight into naval service of that era from the standpoint of an officer. It has some failings in that it does not identify the time from year to year, and sometimes leaves the reader wondering exactly where the action is taking place. It also reflects the biases of the writer who comes across as a little self-centered and concerned with his own personal comforts. It is a little hard to sympathize with the writer's complaint about being retired as a commander on half-pay, as that was probably about five times the earnings of an ordinary working person and, as he relates in the book, he tended to squander money when he had it. He also dawdled about Paris for about 3 months after being released from captivity rather than reporting back to the Admiralty. Overall, the book is worth reading if one wants to gain some insight into the realities of naval service, where disease and accidents were often more life threatening than the enemy.

The best feature of this book is the photos, period. There are some excellent shots of wildflowers from the dunes, prairies, woodlands, and wetlands found throughout the book. Plants are grouped according to their habitat, making plants easier to identify in the field than they would be in an ordinary key. There are quite a few problems with the book, though. Bloom dates are very misleading and seem to be stilted to the very northern portion of the range covered. There is also a misidentification of appendaged waterleaf (canada waterleaf in this book), which is an oversight considering three botanists worked on the manuscript. There are also quite a few spelling errors that should have been corrected. Finally, the information is tired and recycled from the writers' past works. Great for the photos but I was highly disappointed by the text.

This book represents a credible attempt to add new perspectives (in many cases revolutionary ones) to a significant era in the Chinese political, military, and social landscape.

In my opinion, it fundamentally flawed in that the foundation of the entire work is the fervently-held premise that Mao was omnipotent during this relevant period. In attributing God-like qualities to this one mortal politician/demagogue, Dr. Teiwes and Dr. Sun create the universe of possible conclusions in advance of the critical analyses. Therefore, a tragedy of incredible magnitude (starvation of +35 million Chinese) is attributed not to a convergence of critical events (including environmental, political, and social) but instead to the actions or inactions of one man. Dr. Teiwes is known as a strong proponent of Mao-centrist philosophy so it is understandable that he holds Mao in this true sense of filial piety. Mao truly would be proud.

I think that this book has some value to the scholar of Chinese history and the legions of Mao proponents worldwide.