Article first published as Book Review: Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber by Dane Batty on Blogcritics. About: Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber: The True Story of Leslie Ibsen Rogge, One of the FBI’s Most Elusive Criminals by Dane Batty is a true-crime book about the criminal career of this elusive man. 218 pages Publisher: Nish Publishing Company Language: English ISBN-10: 0615268455 My Rating for Wanted – 3 Buy this book in paper or electronic format* Thoughts: Dane Batty (Facebook) wrote Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber when he heard the stories his uncle, Leslie Ibsen Rogge, told or being told about him. As a young man Mr. Batty admired his uncle’s daring dues and it seems he does so to this day even though it seems the man will die in prison. This is a very entertaining and easy to read book, but with very little reflection, retrospect and analysis. There are stories of daring robberies and escape, but very little about the heavy price Mr. Rogge paid in personal freedom, family life and financial. The stories themselves are interesting but, as it is with many books of this type, it seems they were written to keep them in the family rather for the general populace. What…

There is much information about the war and a lot to digest. Mr. Fitz-Enz did the reader a favor by presenting his analysis in a series of short biographical chapters about key personnel in the war. Some of the key figures were competent, some simply looked for their own advancement, others took on responsibilities which they were not qualified for and caused disaster.

Article first published as Book Review: And Now We Shall Do Manly Things by Craig J. Heimbuch on Blogcritics. About: And Now We Shall Do Manly Things by Craig J. Heimbuch is a non-fiction book about the author’s adventures learning to hunt. The author chronicles his personal journey to while learning about the hunting culture in America. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book –to enter fill out the Raf­fle­copt­ter form at the end of the post. 336 pages Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks Language: English ISBN-10: 006219786X My rat­ing for And Now We Shall Do Manly Things —4 Buy this book in paper or elec­tronic format* Thoughts: And Now We Shall Do Manly Things by Craig J. Heimbuch(blog| @cheimbuch) is a hilarious perspective on the culture of American hunting which would make Bill Bryson proud. Born to a Midwestern family Heimbuch sets out to prove himself and hunt. Sadly, the author is a part of a generation I am greatly familiar with, a generation which suffered the “feminization ofAmerica”. Where boys could not be boys, and hence did not grow up to be manly men, and men were vilified for doing, well, manly things. Don’t misunderstand me, if a boy wants to play with dolls, all the…

Tarzan The Centennial Celebration by Scott Tracy Griffin is a coffee table book (13″ x 10 1/4″) celebrating 100 years of the famous lord of the jungle. Mr. Griffin is the leading authority on Edgar Rice Burroughs and on his 1912 creation of which this book is about.

Article first published as Book Review: Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap Stories on Blogcritics. About: Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap Stories is a non-fiction book by the famous rocker. Randy Bachman, a musician from Winnipeg who was in the Guess Who, BTO and other bands tells about his career and the people he met. 288 pages Publisher: Pintail Language: English ISBN-10: 0670066591 My rating for Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap Stories – 4 By this book in paper or electronic format* Thoughts: Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap Stories is a short book with many short stories. Mr. Bachman has sat down and wrote down great memories from a great career, reading the book I felt as if he would play a song after each story. My favorite story is one of the longer ones about Les Paul. Mr. Bachman saw Les Paul play at his hometown in Canada where he watched through the kitchen door since he was too young to enter the premises. Mr. Paul talked a bit with the young guitarist and showed him how he played a song. Fast forward years later when, now established musician Randy Bachman was introduced to Les Paul who actually remembered the-kid-from-the-restaurant and about an encounter even later when they got to play…

The Music of James Bond by Jon Burlingame tells of the real-life dramas which accompanied the sound track to the 007 movies up to Quantum of Solace.

Joining the Army to get away from the depression, 25 year-old Felix Spars arrives in Italy as a captain in the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Division – the Thunderbirds. Sparks proves to be a natural leader and a man of high intelligence, moral and respectability leading his men in 4 amphibious invasions, through the rough mountainous terrains of Italy and France and winter combat against the SS on the German border.

Few people in America knew who Tadamichi Kuribayashi was before Clint Eastwood’s heartrending film, Letters from Iwo Jima. They wouldn’t have known by name that Kuribayashi, ultimately, was the man responsible for one-third of the deaths in the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater of World War II. So Sad to Fall in Battle is available on Kindle, hardcover, and paperback. Letters from an unorthodox general Eastwood’s work (which is based on freelance author Kumiko Kakehashi’s book So Sad to Fall in Battle) makes clear that Kuribayashi was no ordinary soldier. Interviews with widows of long lost soldiers and the very letters and pictures that Kuribayashi penned to his dying day reveal a man unlike any American-held stereotype of a WWII-era Japanese. Far from the suicidal fanatics portrayed in Hollywood (who did, admittedly, exist, though in greater complexity than typically believed), Kuribayashi refused to allow his subordinates to execute banzai charges. Where many superiors in the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were hyper-sensitive to class distinctions and made their disdain corporally known to all inferiors, Kuribayashi held the view that his men were not expendable. He ate the same rations as his men, drank the same water collected in rainstorms, and walked every inch…

Article first published as Book Review: Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page by Brad Tolinski on Blogcritics. About: Light & Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page by Brad Tolinski is a non-fiction book which is a compilation of interviews the author did with the famed and private guitarist. Mr. Tolinski is the editorial director of Guitar World, Revolver and Guitar Aficionado magazines. 320 pages Publisher: Crown Language: English ISBN-10: 0307985717 My rat­ing for Light & Shade — 4 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format* More Books by Brad Tolinski Thoughts: Light & Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page by Brad Tolinski shades some light (pun intended) on Jimmy Page, mostly known as Led Zeppelin’s guitarist, his career, life and profession. Through hours of interviews we get a glimpse into Page’s life and aspects of his life which he has had much influence (fashion, magick and more). I’m sure that if I wanted to know more about Led Zeppelin I could find an almost unlimited amount, all written by other people and maybe with a cooperation of the band. Even though the band is legendary, the members of the band rarely let the public into their private life which is why I chose to read this book. In the interviews…

Andrew Jackson was born in northern South Carolina and at the age of 13 was already a member of the Revolutionary Army and a prisoner of the British. After securing his release, his mother left him an orphan at the age of 14, but Jackson thrived and became a lawyer through apprenticeships. By 1788 Jackson became the solicitor for Nashville, a frontier town.