My father, who was an artillery Captain in the Philippines during WWII, frequently pulled this book off the shelf to show me what war was like. He said that it was as close as you could get without actually being there. He died before he could see "Saving Private Ryan," but I think he would still say so even after seeing the movie.

This is THE most unforgettable view of the first days of the then called "Police Action" in Korea. Author Duncan lived with the men and portrayed all the comraderie, terror and fear that they did. His work makes an indelable image in our mind & is easy to grasp the magnatude of it. My now deceased husband was one of those young Marines and one of the walking wounded who lived in pain his whole life. He treasured this book and knew the subjects. He found it a way to bury his emotions and go on with a "normal" lifestyle. This book had to help Truman change and understand it was not a simple mop-up action....but This WAS War! Although out of print, my family is trying to get copies to pass on to their children to help us better understand their father. It is especially appropriate at this time when attention is being given the Korean Conflict's 50th anniversary. I wish they would reprint it and distribute a copy to all high school and college libraries.

This book chronicles events that led to, during, and shortly after the Long March, which was a heroic journey that the Chinese Communist-led Red Army took in the mid-30's. The journey started as the Red Army was driven out of their base by Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalist Army and faced total defeat. The Red Army fled the Nationalist Army by walking in the remote areas of China for two years and some 7000 miles while defending themselves against the Nationalist troops that were chasing them. But at the end of the journey, the Red Army not only survived but was also strengthened and earned more popular support. The Long March is considered a key turning point in the modern Chinese history.

In this book, Salisbury combined his amazing story-telling skills with careful research and the unbiased attitude that a good reporter should possess. He interviewed generals, soldiers and ordinary citizens, collected stories related to historical events that were unknown to both Western readers AND Chinese readers. With all these materials, he tried to tell you what happened in China at that time, and why, and he succeeded. The details that Salisbury put in the book also allowed one to find out the personalities of the key players of modern Chinese history: Mao and his generals, Chiang and his generals.

Salisbury's story-telling skill is perhaps nothing new to many readers. I had great enjoyment when reading this book, I felt that I shared the emotions of the people in the book. The description of the battles was so vivid I almost felt that I was there watching.

So, if you want to know what life was like in the 1930s' China, if you want to know why Communism, an utterly unattractive idea in many people's eyes, won the support of Chinese people in the 30s', if you want to know what kind of people the Chinese Communist leaders were, or if you just want to read a good book on military history, read this one and you will not be disappointed.

This book set me off on a binge of Chinese history reading. I had to know more about Kang Sheng, for example, and "Claws of the Dragon" helped shed light on this "immortal". Then there were: Zhou Enlai's hagiography 'Eldest Son' at the hands of Han Suyin; The White Boned Demon, about Jiang Qing; Mao's doctor's self-glorifying account; Deng's biography. Nothing compares to this book for readability and sense of magnitude. You meet the twenty or so people who decided the fates of a billion Chinese. Modern democracy has nothing to compare. The personalities in recent Chinese history, the importance of them, are staggering. The Great Leap, the Cultural Revolution--these hellish mass movements affected hundreds of millions of people. You get to see the tiny coterie which ordered the lives of a significant portion of the Earth's inhabitants for fifty years. An amazing book.
I wish Harrison Salisbury were still around to write an update. TNE stops in 1991 as the economy is slowing and the hardliners are asserting themselves. Deng visited the "new cities" on the South China Sea in 1993-4, invigorating them and the "capitalism with Chinese characteristics" which they represented. What followed, of course, is our recent history of China thinking itself as a great power.

What Mao and Deng did as China's "new emperors" are well known. For Mao, the Korean war, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the establishment of China as a nuclear power; for Deng, the Reform and Opening, and the Tiananmen Massacre.

Why did they do it? This is a question that is seldomly asked and when asked, never satisfactorily answered. Salisbury has attempted to answer such a qusetion with more depth than the simple-minded answer "because they want to stay in power". Salisbury carefully laid out for the readers how Mao and Deng's acts were shaped by their personal histories, by attitudes of other countries toward China, and by the burden of Chinese history and culture (unlike America, the Chinese leaders did not start from a clean slate, instead, they carried 5,000 years of history with them). In short, this book is about how history, culture, international hostility and personality has shaped modern China; how these factors brought out the "emperor instincts" in Mao and, to a lesser extent, Deng.

Indeed, what Mao did was almost right out of history books. The emperors' attempts to annhilate their enemies when they sensed danger, the emperors' attempts to better people's lives using means that were totally naive and against human nature, has happened numerous times in Chinese history. China has been too burdened with its history, and Mao was simply an emperor fulfilling his roles while the whole world was watching.

The book also touched upon an interesting (and sad) question: what blames should be placed on ordinary people? It was Mao who unleashed the darkest aspects of human nature during Cultural Revolution, but the darkest sides of some Chinese people were so dark that one has to wonder: why were these people worse than beasts? The Red Guards and the on-lookers who readily cheered as thousands and thousands of people were tortured and beaten (or drowned, pushed from high-rise buildings) to death has to make one wonder: why did they do it? why did they have no judgment of their own and could become the worst creatures on earth simply because of a few words from their leaders? I believe that, if China wants to prevents something like the Cultural Revolution from happening again, it will not be enough to openly admit Mao's role in these atrocities. Ordinary people will also have to do some soul-searching.

After reading this book, I felt extremely sad. I sensed that the disasters that happened to the Chinese people in the past decades could have been avoided. If only Mao had studied Western politics instead of focusing entirely on the deeds of Chinese emperors; if only Kim Ii-Sung wasn't such a fool as to start the Korean War; if only the Chinese people were exposed to Western culture earlier and possessed more qualities than blind patriotism and loyalty; if only more of Mao's subordinates were willing to be outspoken; if only Stalin was a bit less sinister toward China; if only America was a bit more open-minded and not refusing Mao's request for negotiations outright... The list is endless. History is full of missed chances, and ordinary people suffer. Although no reversal is possible, we may be able to learn from the past and avoid some disasters in the future. Because of this, I highly recommend this book.

I am a fan of Salisbury's works for a long time, and this book has not disappointed me. The writing is compelling, the materials well organized, and his unbiased reporting is as good as ever. This is one of the best books on the modern history of China.

Salisbury's book is so good, his reporting so valuable, that it will provide ample basic information to future historians as they attempt to sift through this period with some scholarly distance. Just prior to Tiananmen "incident" as it is called in China, he went and talked to the last surviving people who remember Mao and Deng, the two most powerful leaders of Communist China. It was a unique time, as China was open for just a moment during a reform period before shutting down again after Tiananmen and those people were about to disappear forever. Salisbury found them and recorded their memories.

The result is a masterpiece of reporting, bringing Mao and Deng to life and in detail like no other account that I have read - and I have read a lot of them! The book concentrates on government and power politics, leaving the details of policies to others, which strikes just the right balance.

Highly recommended.

What a life Margaret lived with her mate in Russia! This is an extremely moving book. It leaves one feeling apalled at the horrendous conditions in which these people lived and tried to survive. Margaret's life story is certainly a tale worth reading.

Margaret Wettlin's book is insightful and very well written. She offers the reader a very personal account of her life under a regime which was as barbarous as any in history. Remarkably, despite all of the terrible events and deprivations she experienced in the Soviet Union, she expresses no bitterness or regret over her decision to live most of her life there. My only reservation about the book (and it is definitely not a reason to refrain from reading the book) is that her criticisms of the Soviet regime are far milder than that regime deserved.

I was so moved by Margaret Wettlin's courage. What a free spirit, so ahead of her time. She gave herself an education through her travels and experiences far exceeding anything we could ever hope for in a classroom. This book confirms that it is women who are the glue who hold the world together. I'll never forget the images she gave me of the women in Leningrad clearing away the thousands of starved, frozen bodies before the Spring. No one should miss this extraordinary perspective of an American living in Russia for 50 years including the harrowing war years and the oppressive years following them.

It is a great book on a not-so-well-known subject. A really gripping depiction of the struggle and suffering in besieged Leningrad. Starting at a rather slow (read: too slow) pace, as the author presents the political situation before the German attack on the Soviet Union, and events leading to Leningrad's encirclement, the book proceeds to very graphic, horrifying description of the life under the siege. Road to Life accross Ladoga Lake, desperate attempts to feed the city's population, cases of cannibalism are just a few highlights of this great book. However, the book never looked at these events from the other site. Germans are just shadows looming over the city. We never got a chance to hear from them, to find out what it was like from their perspective. Another problem with the perspective: author makes it look like Leningrad was populated in 90% by artists. Writers, painters, composers, and their likes, crowd the pages of the book leaving little room for ordinary people. With all that said, it is a great book, very readable, and, at least to me, very enlightening.

Reading this epic account of the Leningrad siege (written by an American journalist who lived in Russia for many years), I was stunned again and again by the horrors that the city endured. It is mind-boggling to realize that some of the siege's survivors are still around, almost sixty years after their ordeal. How long, I wonder, could an American city's populace hold out against such an onslaught? I'd like to think we would rise to the occasion, but I fear we've grown to soft.

Salisbury makes his narrative compelling by tracking the lives of several citizens, utilizing their diary entries and letters. Their micro-histories allow the reader to imagine, briefly, the hell that Hitler and his minions created. Which is not to say that the Soviet leadership comes off much better-- Salisbury is absolutely blistering in his report on Stalin's incompetence and paranoid lunacy. Stalin was quite willing to sacrifice Leningrad to the German Army if it meant protecting his own position in Moscow. And many of the leaders and heroes of the Leningrad community were executed after the war on bogus charges of treason.

If you're curious about the Eastern Front, get this book.

I'd like to mention this. Although the subject of this book is the one of the tragic battles in WWII( and largely forgotten) , It's not a 100% military history book. It's more like what happened and how Russian people suffered and finally prevailed Nazi juggernaut. Unlike Stalingrad, Hitler determined not to make his legions into the city of Leningrad.instead Armeegruppe Nord kept maintaining an encirclement of the city until 1944 . no doubt there were numeorus innocenet civilian victims.(and German soldiers loses were equally high.. if you need more information on this subject , read. Mr. sydnor's "solders of destruction" which well represents Armeegruppe Nord's bloody road to Leningrad) this book rather focuses on this painful victory of people of Leningrad than purely military triumph..(vainglory?)
for die-hard German Military fan, this book would be a great dissapointment yet, it is readable,well searched and balanced one.
If you are interested in military more than human drama.. it would be better purchase Col.Glantz 's 900days of terror(2001), but If you like to read human drama.. this book is for you.

This journal documents the tenure of the Price family in China between 1889 and 1900. Missionaries from the U.S., they are caught up in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, and do not survive it. Eva Jane Price's journal and letters--with other family members writings also included--fully reflect the ambience of western missionary life in China in the late 19th century. As an appendix, there is an account by a Chinese friend of the Prices murder at the hands of the Boxers. But there is much journal and letter writing prior to this. The attitudes of the missionaries towards the Chinese is revealed in this book, and they aren't altogether positive. Yet, overall, misdeeds are abundant for both host and guests. In the end, self-serving political forces in the Forbidden City capitalize on the missionaries unpopularity via mindless thugs. These sorry individuals have come to be known historically as the "Boxers", hence the Boxer Rebellion. This is a unique historical document, and I learned much about this era.

The book Heroes Of My Time is an outstanding book containing twenty short biographies of people from the 20th century. The author of the book, Harrison E. Salsbury is a Pulitzer-Prize wining journalist who spent six decades writing for the New York Times. These people are all heroes for different reasons. Some people gave inspiration to others while some were leaders and still others risked their lives for strangers. We do not live in an age of heroes but the people written about in this book are unmistakable heroes. The stories of these heroes are unknown, uplifting, and inspirational.
The heroes in this book are not always the top newsmakers of the day. Some are men and women who are just as important but seldom recognized in the public eye. An example is three Russian street poets known as The Three who wrote very good poems about Russian politics. The political leaders of the day did not like the poems, but The Three continued to write and recite poems anyway. They are heroes because, even though they were being scorned and yelled at by the Russian leaders, they continued with their poetry and gave inspiration to many people. Brigid Temple Keogh is an example of another obscure hero. Brigid was a teacher in China, but she wasn't like her other Chinese colleagues. "She encouraged her students to argue with her (unthinkable for the solemn Chinese scholars)" (5). She was fired but she didn't give up and eventually found a new job at Yanan University. Yanan University was a run-down school at the end of a road. With houses were merely grim caves carved out of hills. Brigid did not lose her faith, though. This shows heroism because she worked hard after her life got tougher, and she helped lots of people by building new things for their town like a Language center. All of these people were relatively unknown and all obviously heroes.
The stories of these men and women are uplifting. Deng Pufang's story was particularly uplifting. Deng Pufang devoted his life to helping the disabled in China after he was tortured and then thrown out of a four story university window and left for dead. His fall left him paralyzed from the waist down. This shows extreme heroism because he could have spent the rest of his life feeling sorry for himself over all of the tragic things that happened to him but he didn't. Instead, he worked hard and got rights for the Chinese disabled, including equal rights in the work force and education. One other hero from the book whose story is uplifting is the story of Homer Bigart. Homer was one of the best newsmen of his day. What makes his story so special is he spent the majority of his life at war, constantly risking his life to let the rest of the world know what was happening. A lot of times, Homer took no more shelter or food then the troops. Homer showed his heroism by laying his life on the line for other people and not thinking of himself as above other people because he lived under same conditions as the soldiers. Both of these men's stories are examples of a heroes story being uplifting.
A third trait the heroes have in common is that they are all inspirational. Roger Wilkins is an example of a role model. Roger was a leader for the blacks during the Civil Rights movement. Roger was almost killed twice, but he kept fighting even though his life was always in danger. Roger Wilking is a hero for two reasons. The first is that he kept working even though he was constantly being threatened to stop. He is also a hero and a role model because, as a kid, he had a very tough childhood he grew up in a poor black town, and both his parents had expensive drug habits. Roger overcame this, however, and grew up to become a leader and help thousands of people. A second example of these heroes as role models is Soong Chingling. She housed run away communists during the Cultural Revolution of China. She is considered a hero because she put her life in danger every time she took in another communist but she housed them anyway. As you can see, in both the stories of Soong Chingling and Roger Wilkins the hero is inspirational.
In conclusion, the people portrayed in the book Heroes Of My Time are often unknown, uplifting, and are inspirational. All of these people are undoubtedly heroes. These are only some of the people addressed in the book there are many others whose stories are just as inspirational. The book is an outstanding piece of literature. It's very uplifting but you can also learn something about the worlds history from it.

The book itself is well written but it is really the amazing first hand accounts that this one person was witness to that kept me reading.

Another interesting point was in the first part of the book. Mr. Salisbury talks about the regional economics of his early years. It was very similar to the experience that we were living at the peak of the dot com expansion. He describes the inconceivable crash in wheat prices in 1920. Tells how the depression hit Minnesota in 1920 and stayed through 1930's.

Famous American "star" journalists are well known for their bland, conformist mindsets, and their bad writing. This book is just another badly written and incredibly trite "travel diary". Much of the book has Salisbury anachronistically hyping his own career, but even the accounts of 1989 fail as a human interest story. As history or journalism, the book is useless, as it gives no background or context, and darn little content.

This is about the stupidest book on China I have ever read, and the worst account of the Tian'anmen Massacre. While people were being killed, he was cowering in his hotel room, upset because the incident was upsetting his TV shooting schedule. Come on get real! A friend sent me t his while I was living in Beijing, and it provided us with some good laughs! I always thought he was a respected journalist, but t his book really left me wondering.

This book was a fascinating read that really opened my eyes to what happened in 1989 during the Tianamen square massacre. I'm not sure the reader from new york and myself read the same book. Salsibury was in his hotel room during some of the events, but I don't blame him. With a totalitarian government's army on the loose against its citizenry, I'm not sure I could call his actions cowardly. This book is a must read for those of you uninformed on the horrific events that occured in this country that we Americans give "Most favored Nation" status. Happy hunting to find it, since its out of print.

I have read a few sections of this book and I was a bit disappointed that zhukov only talked about his triumphs and successful manuevers and skipped failures (operation Mars etc). Most disturbing was the fact that the casuality figures of enemies (germans) were highly cockeyed. For instance, he said that the enemy lost 1.5 million soldiers, 3500+ tanks, 3000+ airplanes etc in stalingrad. He actually multiplied each figure with 10. If germans had lost 1.5 million (half of the their original total strength that attacked russia)men in stalingrad they would not have left much to fight with. It could have been called 'Destruction of Army Group South' but we all know that all the South group was not totally destoyed in Stalingrad.