A magical rememberance of our past! Very well written. I highly recommend this book.

Everyone has heard of Benedict Arnold. He was a traitor during the Revolutionary War. In fact his name is practicly synonomous with being a traitor. So how is it that hardly anyone knows what exactly it was that he did? And what does all this have to do with Major John Andre? Major John Andre was the British Adjunct General during the Revolutionary War. That meant he was sort of a personal secretary to the commanding General of the British forces in America. It was Andre who negotiated with Benedict Arnold. Arnold at the time was the commander of West Point. And it was West Point that Arnold promised to the British for a sum of 20,000 pounds sterling. Most of the time they communicated in code which was fine for short messages.However in order to work out the attack on West Point they needed to meet face to face. Which they did. This presented a problem for Arnold who didn't want to be seen meeting with a British officer. So he told Andre to come in civilians clothes. Which of course made Andre nervous because if he were caught he could be hung as a spy. And thats pretty much what happened. Riding along with the plans for the attack of West Point Andre was stopped by a group of men. He noticed one of them wore a hessian coat so he thought he was amoung friends. He sought to impress them with his ring and his watch and told them he was a British Officer on important business and must not be delayed. That impressed them alright. They siezed both the ring and watch and anything else he had which they were entitled to do under the law of that day. Too bad he didn't show them the pass from General Arnold that he had on him. He tried the pass but oh too late. You said you were a British officer and pass or no pass we are taking you to the American troops. And so they did. This book was written over a hundred years ago. It goes over the happenings from many different sources. A very useful book if you want to understand what happened and why.

Well organized. This book hits all the key points in the evolution of ancient art of war. From the Babylon, to the Greek city-states, to Alexander the Great, to the Romans this book analyzes them all and shows how they are interconnected.

A classic American text, long out of print; if it weren't for the curse word "abridged," deserving of a perfect 5. The Puritans' first twenty-plus years are nowhere better served than in this rational, calm man who spent the better part of his life trying to steer a course between fanaticism and worldly involvement. Anybody who wants to understand how mainstream American culture began needs to acquaint themselves with this seminal work -- if you can handle the omissions.

Richard Dunn's long-awaited scholarly edition of John Winthrop's journal was well worth the wait. He presents a text as close to the original as it is now possible to come, with clear editorial method, solid supporting notes and a helpful introduction. The only legitimate complaint is that the index could be more comprehensive. This is, and will doubtless long remain, the only entirely recommendable edition of the Winthrop journal, one of the great early American sources.

Please note: THIS REVIEW was written referring to the full, UNabridged hardcover edition, now out of print: that is the only version truly useful for scholarly purposes. The abridgement is useful for college classes, and is well-done, but any true student of colonial New England must acquire the full version. (The abridgment does, oddly, have an index that is sometimes superior, however.)

While it does sometimes seem to be a bit too strongly infused with the 'stiff-upper-lip', and trundles a little too steadily to its conclusion, it is a remarkably clear memoir of (then) Brigadier John Hackett's experience in hiding in occupied Holland while recuperating from severe injuries. Without ever becoming overly sentimental, he vividly describes the straightforward determination and sometimes astonishing bravery of the family who took him in, and the network of friends who helped them.

It does assume a certain amount of previous knowledge about the 1944-1945 campaigns in Holland, but if you watched Band of Brothers recently, you probably know enough to get by (and you'll have a different account of the rescue of the British forces after 'Market Garden' it portrayed).

Read it, and be reminded that WWII was something that happened to people who were just like us.

Though I first read this book some twenty years ago it has remained with me ever since as a warm and generous "settlement of account for services rendered" by a wounded escapee who was sheltered and helped to liberty, at great risk to themselves, by a large number of ordinary people. In this it has much in common with that other masterpiece of the genre, Eric Newby's "Love and War in the Apennines", having the same, understated, values of compassion, humour and decency. Hackett's account of his wounding and capture at Arnhem, and of the cheerful valour with which he and his companions faced an uncertain future, is somehow typical of the spirit of all involved in that ultimately failed, but always glorious, venture. His subsequent escape from hospital and the medical care lavished on him, under the most difficult circumstances while in hiding, by courageous Dutch patriots is both exciting and inspiring. Despite severe shortages of medical supplies the treatment Hackett received for a serious intestinal wound was enough to restore him to sufficient fitness to allow an eventual escape back to Allied lines. He paints a moving picture of normal people doing abnormal deeds at great risk to themselves and to those who know and love the best in Dutch society this will come as no surprise. My wife and I remembered this book when we later made a pilgrimage with our family to the Oosterbeek Cemetery and to the areas of combat in and around the town of Arnhem itself and it served as a heartening, and often amusing postscript, to the story of the battle. In short, a delightful and noble memoir of courage, generosity and indomitability - highly recommended.

John Hackett was rescued in more ways than one after the failure of an airborne assault on Arnhem in Holland in September 1944. He spent around four months in the care of the Dutch resistance recovering from his wounds and hiding from the German army. The Dutch people are shown to have remarkable qualities of resilience, friendliness and community and family. Hackett mentions how he chose to abort one escape attempt. If only the same decision making skills had been shown before "Market Garden"? Hackett also makes a brief mention of Montgomery, perhaps in reconciliation.

John Ward was a newspaperman who went to work for Arkansas Governor
Winthrop Rockefeller and later became both editor of the Conway Log
Cabin Democrat and a senior official at the University of Central
Arkansas. His The Arkansas Rockefeller is the first-hand account of a
true intimate, but it is not exactly what could be called an intimate
account. While not a spin-job by any means -- Ward tells it like it is
-- it reads much like the sort of biography that late 20th Century
Presidential candidates have produced as campaign tracts: aimed at the
masses, short, lacking deep detail.

This is not a criticism of Ward.
Ward wrote precisely the book he set out to write, and it's a good one.
This is, rather, a criticism of those (myself included) who by now
should have written a scholarly biography of the man who represents the
greatest turning point in the political history of Arkansas. We have
all dropped the ball (though there is more information available these
days than before, including my thesis, "Winthrop Rockefeller and
the Enfranchisement of Arkansas Blacks, 1960-1966"), and we
should all be ashamed of ourselves.

But in the meantime, we are stuck
with The Arkansas Rockefeller as the only definitive biography of the
great man. It's a good, enjoyable, informative read. It just
shouldn't be alone.

I read this book on the recommendation from a fellow officer in order to gain a better historical perspective of the military profession. This book develops the lineage from Armies of the ancient world to today's modern Armies in a rather concise and insightful manner. Sir John Hackett focuses a lot on the relationship between the military forces and the countries they represent on the battlefield. He also offers some interesting opinions about training future leaders in the Armed Services based on his vast military experience and career. I thoroughly enjoyed this book (it has many interesting photos and prints throughout the text), although it is written from a European (the author is British) perspective. The author does devote some time to the US Army, but his main focus is the European military system. Therefore, if you are looking for a book about how the American Army has changed over time, I do not recommend this one.

On the other hand, I do recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about how the profession of arms has developed over time. It would make a fine addition to your military history library if you have one, or serve as a great first addition, if you are thinking of starting one.

I read this book many years ago for an American Literature class and am now rereading it for an American History class. I enjoyed it the first time and am enjoying it now. The writing is fluid, entertaining; the points made are profound. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Winthrop and the early Puritan immigrants--a quick, pleasurable read.

The impact of the Puritans on America is fascinating. The world has thrown millions of immigrants onto American shores over the centuries, but those millions have never quite diluted out the foundational impact of those 20,000 that came during the great migration. Regrettably, most Americans are not born again, but because the founders of New England were biblically minded people, the United States has inherited the ideals of family values, education, care for the less fortunate, accountability in governnment, liberty of conscience, reward for hard work and honest business dealings. Among the nations, we still stand as a beacon of hope because of these ideals. God used a few people fully devoted to His Word to do marvelous works and a wonder.
How exciting it is to watch the mind of Winthrop wrestle with the same issues that modern Christians wrestle with-how to best be salt and light TO the world without being OF the world. His response was to build a city on a hill, a New Jerusalem, a holy priesthood--and the world has never been the same.

Edmund Morgan was an excellent writer, and it shows through in this book.

This is the follow up book written after "The Third World War". It has less combat action and more Geopolitics than the first book. Acctually, the book is about 95% politics.

Before you start reading it get out your best world map, as the author is constantly talking about important towns and cities that are so small most altas's don't show them, so you can never figure out exactly where the Russians are advanceing to and from.

If you are into politics of the cold war, this is the book for you, if you want action, don't waist your time.

General Sir John Hackett and his collaborators have attempted, back in 1978, to portray what a war between the Soviet Union and NATO might have looked like if it had taken place in August, 1985. They got a few prognostications right, such as the potential implosion of Yugoslavia; the technological superiority of the West, thanks to commercially competitive business working in concert with the military industrial complex; the lack of cohesion behind Soviet-communist ideals and aggression at the popular level in Warsaw Pact countries; and the strategic importance, but relative weakness of the Middle Eastern powers.

The storyline is interesting enough, especially to the modern reader who knows that none of this actually happened, nor is likely to at this point. However, much of the telling of the story is fraught with repetition, especially for points of politico-military pertinence at the time of its writing. In addition, it doesn't make for a very entertaining read, despite its attempt to enthrall the reader with stark possiblities.

Perhaps Tom Clancy has spoiled us, but I tried to take the book for what it was when written--a prophecy. I guess the transparent political aim of the book (to scare NATO into serious revisions of its defense doctrines in place at the time of writing) overtook its value as a work of literature.

Probably this one is for the military historian more than the student of modern global relations.