A non-fiction book about Jack Robinson. Or better known as Jackie Robinson. The United States v. Jackie Robinson is not a typical biography of a baseball player. They start out with him being a child growing up as the only black family on their street. His mother’s strength and finally Jackie’s strength in the military. Few probably know that Jackie would not give up his seat on a bus either and it lead to a historic ruling, too. Finally, it ends with some of his […]
Army Chief of Staff Reading List #13
The Guns at Last Light is the finale of the Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson, the first of which, An Army at Dawn, won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2003. The series encompasses the history of the United States activity in the European theater of World War II. An Army at Dawn is about the U.S. Military during the North Africa campaign. Book two, The Day of Battle, is about the the war in Italy and the Mediterranean; it is subtitled, The War in […]
More things should be full of win
I was expecting something more in the fantasy realm from Tigerman, given Nick Harkaway’s first two novels, and although there is the titular superhero, this book stays much more grounded, more of an existential thriller with military and cloak-and-dagger elements, and for that, it’s a lot of thought-provoking fun. The story takes place on a mythical island in the Arabian Sea, an island previously controlled by the British and French, among others, but which has become an environmental disaster due to chemical companies pumping toxic […]
Army Chief of Staff Reading List #7
I looked forward to reading this book for a while. I really enjoyed another of the author’s books, The Generals, and its critical take on U.S. military leadership. Fiasco did not disappoint. Fiasco is the story of the early part of the Iraq War. There is a little background so that one understands the main players, namely Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld, and then it jumps headfirst into a chronological discussion of the decisions made and their repercussions. Fiasco discusses how the war was basically preordained. The […]
Repeating history?
I have many thoughts about this book but as always, here’s the situation that led to me reading it. This Kind of War is another book from the Army Chief of Staff’s reading list. It has also been recommended by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis as a must-read. Secretary Mattis is known, colloquially, as the Warrior Monk due to his dedication to his craft and his knowledge and understanding of making war. He is known to be a voracious reader and believes that all leaders […]
Some Perspective…
I read this book because I loved the author’s novel, Matterhorn. What It Is Like to Go to War is a non-fiction book that is, essentially, a behind the scenes look at Matterhorn. It also reads as two different books and I have mixed feelings about the two parts. The first part, which represents nearly the first two-thirds of the book, is Marlantes discussing his decision to join the Marines during Vietnam and his experiences in combat. I found this aspect of the book very […]
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