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Content data, records and biographies about the fighters are divided in three main sections: 1- the early pioneers from bare knuckle brawlers to the Boston Strong Boy; 2- the old timers when the sweet science becomes an American passion; and 3- the modern era when boxing waxes and wanes but the grear stars shine. Names like James Figg, John L. Sullivan (The Boston Strong Boy), Max Baer, Jack Dempsey (The Manassa Mauler), Jack Johnson (the first african-american heavyweight champion from 1908-15), Gene Tunney, Joe Louis, Archie Moore, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali (The Greatest) and many other great fighters, they are all here. You will also find information about boxing's supporting cast with names like Gil Clancy, Cus D'Amato, Angelo Dundee, Lou Duva, Don King, Arthur Mercante and others. Additionally, there are short essays on the governing bodies ruling the sport, the seamy side of boxing scandals, the influence of television in the sport, etc.
In conclusion, this is an outstanding source of reliable information on boxing as well as on individual fighters in a handy, manual, illustrated book format for a very reasonable price.
From 1935 to 1942 he roamed the western hemisphere where he wrote a column on his wanderings for the News and developed into a consummate craftsman of short prose and as Tobin noted "...in the process created "Ernie Pyle." Reflecting what would be his wartime style the author notes, "...he studied unknown people doing extraordinary things." The text relates Pyle's activities as a war correspondence in Tunsia where he shared the dangers and discomforts of the infantrymen at the front, and developed a bond with the American infantryman where his "writing transcended propaganda; it was richer, more heartfelt." At home Pyle's editors were delighted with the rapid growth of his popular column. After Tunisia, he followed the troops in the invasion of Sicily and later into Italy.
In Italy, he completed construction of his mythical hero, the long-suffering G.I. The text notes that the "inescapable force of Pyle's war writings is to establish an unwritten covenant between the soldier at the front and the civilian back home." Tobin also notes "Soldiers could see an image of themselves that they liked in his heroic depiction of the war...The G.I. myth worked for them too." However, as Pyle was becoming the "Number-One Correspondent" he became troubled because he had been "credited with having written the truth...He had told as much of what he saw as people could read without vomiting. It was the part that would make them vomit that bothered him..."
Pyle covered the Normandy landing in June 1944. In contrast to today's instant TV battlefront coverage, Pyle admitted to readers "Indeed it will be some time before we have a really clear picture of what has happened or what is happening at the moment." Pyle followed the infantry into France. The book notes, "The hedgerow country of Normandy was a killing field such as Ernie had never seen, and as the weeks passed, the constant presence of 'too much death' whittled down his will to persist." Once again the G.I.'s affection for him had risen after they saw Pyle force himself to share their dangers, which sometime made him, scream in his sleep. Those with today's anti-French attitude would agree with Pyle when he wrote that in Paris he felt as "though I were living in a whorehouse-not physically but spiritually."
Ernie Pyle returned to the United States in mid-September 1944. After a much needed rest, in January 1945 Pyle left for the Pacific Theatre. Here Pyle was in a different environment. He couldn't relate to the hot food and warm beds aboard Navy ships, the comfortable living conditions of airmen stationed on Pacific islands and the generally pleasant environment on Pacific islands. He wrote, "It was such a contrast to what I'd known for so long in Europe that I felt almost ashamed.... They're...safe and living like kings and don't know it." Even when relaxing with an aunt's grandson, a B-29 pilot who tried to relate the real combat conditions in the Pacific, Ernie just didn't understand the Pacific Theatre.
With the Army's 77th Division, "He went ashore" on a small island north of Okinawa "on the 17th of April 1945, talked with infantrymen during the afternoon and spent the night near the beach in a Japanese ammunition-storage bunker." The next morning he hitched a ride when at ten o'clock the jeep he was riding in came under Japanese machine gun fire. After jumping into a ditch with the jeep's other riders, Pyle raised his head and was killed instantly. Far from home, Ernie Pyle died among his beloved infantrymen.
In closing James Tobin writes "Ernie and his G.I.'s made America look good. The Common Man Triumphant, the warrior-with-a-heart-of-gold-this was the self-image America carried into the post-war era."
While the technology of war reporting has changed greatly since WWII, the author is correct when he observes, "As a practitioner of the craft of journalism, Pyle was perhaps without peer. After him, no war correspondent could pretend to have gotten the real story without having moved extensively among the front-line soldiers who actually fought."
The book ends with a nice touch, an Appendix that contains a potpourri of Pyle's articles.
Here is a wonderful tribute to Ernie and his easy going manner mirrored with his elequent style of writing. From the absense of life, back through his lifes struggles, this work is a journey into Ernie's life. It will bring back floods of memories from older readers and give new readers insight into a great journalist who was taken from us in the prime of his career.
Ernie's manner of writing was a joy to read and Tobin has done a superb job in relaying his stories in regards to the common man, and the private soldier.
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Monitor's creator was a Swedish engineering prodigy named John Ericsson who had supervised 400 men as a canal engineer by age 16. For an 1829 railroad design competition built a steam locomotive that established a land speed record by covering a measured mile in 57 seconds (63 mph). But the contest sponsors changed the rules to defeat foreigner Ericsson and his attempts to provide innovate designs to the Royal Navy were also rejected. In frustration Ericsson emigrated to the United States and in 1837 invented the first practical screw propeller to drive steamships through the water.
In 1861 Union intelligence indicated the Confederates were rebuilding the scuttled former Union warship USS Merrimac as a heavily armed ironclad. If that ship (rechristened CSS Virginia but generally called simply "Merrimac"), broke the blockade of Hampton Roads then US coastal cities, including Washington, DC, would be vulnerable to attack. The Union needed an ironclad quickly, and Ericsson already had a plan!
Monitor's keel was laid in Brooklyn, NY on October 25, 1861, and Ericsson and his numerous subcontractors worked 108 days and nights until on February 9, 1862 USS Monitor was turned over to the Navy. Exactly one month later Monitor faced Merrimac at Hampton Roads. Objectively the battle was a tactical draw, but strategic victory went to the Union. The Union blockade was preserved, the Confederates remained bottled up and Britain and France, who were leaning toward supporting the South, decided to remain officially neutral.
This book tells the story of the design, construction, combat history, demise and legacy of USS Monitor in a well-written narrative format. It provides enough details for general readers interested in naval, engineering and civil war history. It may be too general for the serious buff, but I recommend it as an amazing tale to everyone else who wants to know more about this important historical event.
There are some small reproductions of period etchings and photos and a good map of the Hampton Roads battle area. The only thing missing are good schematics of Monitor's interior design.
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I have read reviews here and there that claim this book is written at a "young adult" level. Not so. This is a complex story that only seems to be easily told because the author has mastered the ability to write with utter clarity, and without sacrificing style. As one who reads all day for a living (attorney) I have learned to appreciate authors who can write well. Nordhoff does this--the reader never loses the storyline because it is well told. The novels proceed with the precision of a laser beam but with a poetic, wistful, thoughtful tone that is a delight to read. This book has class.
The story of the trip to Tahiti and the mutiny which takes place early on the return voyage are wonderfully told. The ONLY possible criticism is that this story is not terribly true to the facts of the actual mutiny. The protagonist, Roger Byam, is an imaginary person. By the way, this novel is the source for the first of the Mutiny on the Bounty movies starring Charles Laughton.
The other two novels in the trilogy deal with the voyage by Captain Bligh and those of the crew who remained loyal to him, and the aftermath of the mutiny when the mutineers settle on Pitcairn Island. Both stories are first-rate.
Persons interested in a somewhat more accurate depiction of what happened on the Bounty voyage, as well as a ripping good movie, will want to see "The Bounty" starring Mel Gibson (Fletcher Christian) and Anthony Hopkins (Captain Bligh).
The Bounty Trilogy is a book anyone who enjoys adventure will want to read and own.
This trilogy has it all: adventure, drama, comedy, history, life at sea, love and loss. It's hard to believe this all really happened. I've given this book to two of my friends already, and they both liked it. You'll probably like it, too.
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Like virtually all the male characters here, Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur does not find that having a wife and child in any way limits his social life. This time, the middle-aged detective's extracurricular love is a 19-year-old college student whose best friend is the lover of Harpur's chief "grass," or snitch. When, as a result of information received from the informer, Harpur interrupts a robbery and kills the son of a vicious but somewhat inept criminal, he sets in motion a series of threats on the life of his lover Denise, thought to be a conduit of information between the informer and Harpur. As Harpur tries to protect her, the informer, his reputation on the force, and his marriage and family, we come to know him as basically a good-hearted man who enjoys living way out on the edge, a man willing to bend every rule, if necessary.
James manages to keep the excitement high and the threat of real violence foremost in the reader's mind at the same time that he presents some wonderfully funny scenes--the funeral of the thief Harpur killed, the disposal of a body which inconveniently appears on the grounds of a house where a lawn party is to be held, and the resulting garden party, almost certain to end the upward mobility of its host. His peripheral characters are quirky and memorable, his dialogue is superb, the plot and motivations feel realistic, and the novel, overall, offers a terrific escape into a well-developed and exciting fictional world.
The bad guys are Doug Webb - a truly low class criminal , Courtney Saquhar-Perry - a criminal of more elevated rank and good at organizing, and Ralph Ember - owner of a pub/club, where the low life likes to congregate.
And in between these two groups are the informers who supply the good guys with the inside info on planned criminal activities and, in return, are cut considerable slack when doing wrong themselves. Foremost is Jack Lamb (and his girl friend Helen), who worked his way into a super trophy mansion and a remarkable collection of fine art, most of it stolen and now for resale. On a lower rung is Tony Towler, and also our friend Ralph Ember.
Let the fun begin with a heist the police had been advised about. It turns problematic when Doug Webb?s son Martin is killed by Harpur. Webb needs revenge. Who blew the whistle? Maybe Denise, who is also friendly with Helen and could be the messenger go-between. She has to be eliminated. It definitely could be Lamb, but he is a few numbers too large to just blow away. No such problem with Towler, who quickly gets killed. But who can trust anybody? Saquhar-Perry plans a new heist at a bank. So let?s plant some desinformation to make sure the good guys are in the wrong place. Feed it to Towler, who will pass it on to Lamb, who will then inform Harpur. Towler can?t be found (remember, he is dead). You have to find a substitute. But who can you trust? What information can you trust? As a matter of fact - can Ember trust Webb? Can Saquhar-Perry trust Ember? Can anybody trust anybody?
The author has written a tightly constructed mystery. After introducing the actors, he starts to apply the vise and squeezes the last bit of thought out of them. The result is a cliff hanger not to be missed. I just wonder why it took ten years for this book to make the trip from England across the Atlantic. We desperately need more books of this caliber!