In Lost in Kandahar by Alex Berenson the author shares what he saw while spending time with the fine young men and women of the 101st Airborne Division. Mr. Berenson is a fine novelist, and his descriptions of places, events and personnel are vivid and mesmerizing.
The author manages to touch on many subjects interrelated to society and science, as well as ask many tough questions about how we treat the less fortunate of our society and the state of healthcare in the pre AHA days. There are no good answers to these questions, there are no rights or wrongs, the Skoots felt they have been cheated by John Hopkins Medical Center, scientists believed they acted according to ethical standards of the time.
Charles I, King of England, was living beyond his means with England paying the bills. Parliament planned and carried out a trial, verdict and execution of the monarch. After several years, the Royalists return his son, aptly named King Charles II, to power.
The book is very dense with lots of eyewitness accounts to the battles from the average soldiers as well as civilian locals.
About: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes is a memoir by the versatile actor who portrayed Wesley in the beloved movie. 272 pages Publisher: Touchstone; 1St Edition edition (October 14, 2014) Language: English ISBN-10: 1476764026 My Rating for As You Wish— 5 Buy this book in paper or electornic format* Thoughts: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes is a must read for anyone who loves The Princess Bride. The book starts off with Mr. Elwes telling how he got the part of Wesley, his audition with director Rob Reiner and the rest is history. Mr. Elwes goes on the talk about meeting the cast, the pre-production and of course, preparing for what would become one of the greatest cinematic sword fight every filmed. Actually, the training for the sword fight, with two master swordsman who worked with Hollywood royalty such as Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster, would become one of the last scenes filmed and make Mr. Elwes and Mandy Patinkin (Inigo Montoya) actual swordsman. One of the things that shines through the pages is how beloved André the Giant…
The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War by Fred Kaplan is a thought provoking book which tells a good story and asks some hard hitting questions. The book is divided into three parts: the post-Vietnam era and introduction of counterinsurgency (COIN) warfare line of thinking into the US military, the history of COIN in Afghanistan and Iraq (with input from Washington politicians), and a third part which analyzes what was accomplished and the value of this strategy.
108 Rock Star Guitars by Lisa S. Johnson is a book featuring photographs of guitars (and guitars only) of famous guitarists. The book took 17 years to compile
My Pearl Harbor Scrapbook 1941 by authors Bess Taubman & Ernest Arroyo and illustrated by Edward L. Cox Jr. is a non-fiction book which has the look and feel of a post WWII scrapbook and tells the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath.
The author’s astute understanding of the material has provided the book with a fresh take on a man that so much has been written about. Mr. Robert’s understanding of the times and personalities helped him convey that information in a clear, concise manner which kept this book relatively short (considering Napoleon’s notoriety and achievements).
While I might not be the greatest Jane Austen devotee (a Janeite as I learned), I do appreciate her talent and I do love history and books about books. This book could easily be categorized under “History” in any bookstore, the artwork is varied, chronological and the text explains the pictures in the historical context in which they are presented.