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Old 02-08-2012, 20:33   #916
Sigaba
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Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C, The Most Controversial Decision: Truman, the Atomic Bombs, and the Defeat of Japan Cambridge Essential Histories (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011) ISBN-13: 978-0521735360.

In this well-written work, Miscamble draws upon his previous work on Truman, as well as more recent scholarship, and forcefully argues that Truman's decision must be understood within the context of the Second World War. Truman sought to spare the lives of American servicemen--not to intimidate the Soviet Union. Miscamble repeatedly rakes 'revisionist' historians (in particular, Gar Alperovitz and Tsuyoshi Hasegawa) who argue that Truman practiced "atomic diplomacy" at the Potsdam Conference, that the use of the bombs was unnecessary, and that the Japanese were on the verge of surrender in the summer of 1945.

Miscamble also subtly excoriates those who justify the morality of Truman's decision in contemporaneous debates. Miscamble is especially skillful at skewering those who belong to the "Japs had it coming" school of thought.

While I agree with many of Miscamble's central arguments and appreciate his focus on operations in the Pacific War, I think he falls into the same trap as those revisionists he seeks to refute. Much of his argument that the use of the bombs saved millions of lives is (fortunately) counter-factual. Just as we can never know for certain what would have happened had the United States pursued the preferred policies of the revisionists, we can never know for certain what would have happened had the United States invaded Japan. History is the study of what happened, not what might have happened--but didn't.

Also, Miscamble leaves open the door for numerous revisionist counter-arguments. What does it say for Roosevelt and Truman that they did not do more to integrate the developing scientific and military knowledge about nuclear weapons into America's grand strategy? Or that FDR took no steps to establish a set of firm policies that he could hand off to his successor? Or that Truman deferred the conduct of American foreign policy to Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, who viewed statesmanship from a politician's point of view? Or that Truman and Byrnes failed to appreciate the extent of Stalin's ambitions in Eastern Europe?

Moreover, while Miscamble is not as strident as Robert Maddox or D. M. Giangreco, his tone is significantly sharper than he intimates in his introductory remarks. In this respect, Miscamble repeats a significant misstep of the earlier debates over the Cold War as well as a common mistake in military historiography (upon which the crux of his argument relies). That is, he often crosses the line between "Here's the evidence that supports the efficacy of a controversial decision" into the netherworld of "[So and so] was right all along." The latter realm is not, IMO, the historians' domain.

Despite these and other concerns, I strongly recommend this work to those who want a brief overview of the ongoing historiographical debates over the decisions to use the atomic bombs, the end of the Pacific War, and the start of the Cold War, as well as to those who question the vitality of professional academic history.
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Old 02-08-2012, 21:21   #917
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Re-reading Awaken the Giant Within

I first went out and read this book after reading after seeing this in recommended reading in Major Joe Martin's book (please forgive me if he's been promoted since).

It's quickly become a favorite & IMHO not a bad book to digest every 6 months to a year.... depending on how many books you're putting away a month.

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Old 02-09-2012, 07:19   #918
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Reaper View Post
Not book. Books.

Not hard reading, but not fluff either.

I am a big Shelby Foote fan. He was a Civil War expert. You probably saw him on Ken Burns Civil War special on PBS.

TR
I have all 3 books but have only finished the first. I should revisit them. Much more enjoyable than "The Battle Cry of Freedom".

I own and have watch Ken Burn's "The Civil War" a couple of times and every time I read Shelby Foote, I hear his great Mississippi drawl in my head.
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Old 02-09-2012, 07:31   #919
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I just finished "The Mission, The Men, and Me".
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Old 02-10-2012, 05:59   #920
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Mr. Bond, have you met Mr. Bond?

Carte Blanche, Jeffery Deaver (New York and London: Simon and Schuster, 2011), ISBN-13: 978-1451620696.

One of the many benefits of "the new" military and diplomatic history is that its practitioners get to study mass popular culture. Consequently, every television show, movie, book, graphic novel, comic book, sound recording, and performance remotely related to warfare and/or to diplomacy counts as research.*

In Carte Blanche, commissioned by the estate of Ian Fleming, Jeffrey Deaver re-imagines James Bond in post 9/11 and 7/7 England as an operative of the Overseas Development Group (ODG), a reboot of the SOE, tasked to "...protect the Realm...by any means necessary" (32).

While Deaver's Bond has most of the traits in Fleming's and Gardner's Bond novels (I've avoided Benson's contributions), missing (at least so far) are his misogyny, his emotional cruelty, and his borderline sadism. (At times, there is little difference between Gardner's Bond and Cormac McCarthy's Anton Chigurh.) From a geopolitical standpoint, Deaver treats Islamic terrorism as but one challenge among many facing Great Britain's intelligence community. While I understand many of the reasons for such choices, I would have preferred a riskier approach--and better writing.
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Old 02-15-2012, 20:29   #921
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The Profession, by Steven Pressfield.
I started with Gates of Fire and wanted to see what else the author had done. So far its very entertaining and doesnt have the same feel as any other novel of this genre.
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Old 02-16-2012, 10:34   #922
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Commando Extraordinary

I am reading a book I have been searching for for many years. It is the biography of the German Special Forces inaugurator Otto Skorzeny. What a story and what a man. He was responsible for the re-capture of Mussolini as well as the capture of Hungary regents son. He was responsible for the great confusion at the Battle of the Bulge and the rumour that he was tasked to capture Ike paralized the General for weeks. The Americans tried to hang him during the war crimes trials but he was vouched for both by British officers as well as Americans who admired him greatly. Written in 1953, the English is a bit old fashioned, but a very good read. What is interesting is that Skorzeny copied much of his modus operandi from the British Commandos, who in turn, copied their name and techniques from our own Boer Commandos who so impressed Churchill during the Boer War.
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Old 02-18-2012, 22:39   #923
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"THE APOSTLE"

A fiction novel by Brad Thor; Fantasy at its best, The USC grad has a vivid imagination, an ultra liberal view of what is possible in a war zone especialy by civillan contractors....TK
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Old 02-29-2012, 11:04   #924
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"American Sniper"........

Due to the kindness of Paslode(Drew) I've just received the book and I'm going to start reading it today....... When I'm finished I'll pass it on to whoever else may want it,just drop me a PM with you address details............

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Old 03-02-2012, 13:23   #925
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Just read Outlaw Platoon by Sean Parnell. Finished it one sitting. Great writing about an Infantry platoon in A-Stan.
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Old 03-04-2012, 07:24   #926
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Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic and Civil Wars: with the Supplementary Books attributed to Hirtius.
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“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
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Old 03-04-2012, 16:38   #927
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Tales of a Pathfinder By A.L. Westgard 1920

From the forward:
"The story of the highways is the story of mankind, whether in a state of barbarism or of civilization. The movement of primitive peoples has been by waterways and land-routes which, following lines of least resistance, often appropriated the trails made by wild animals. The movements of civilized men likewise followed the least resistive lines with the result that the great railways and the National highways coincide with the game-trails and the Indian paths of long ago.
The ascent of man has been in direct ratio to the progress that has been made in the speed, safety, comfort and convenience of the movement of men and goods from one place to another. "
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Old 03-07-2012, 23:44   #928
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Behind Enemy Lines by Terry O'Farrell.

Over 40 missions as an Australian Special Air Service soldier behind enemy lines in Vietnam. Signaller, Scout and eventually Patrol Commander. Excellent read, amazing and yet touching life story.
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Old 03-25-2012, 21:38   #929
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What it is like to go to war

What it is like to go to war - by Karl Marlantes

Mr. Marlantes is a Yale grad and Rhodes Scholar who won the Navy Cross as an USMC Infantry Officer in Vietnam, he writes of his experiences during and since with great eloquence and candor. While I don't agree with Mr. Marlantes politics, my $.02 there is a great deal to take away from this book, especially for the friends or family of combat veterans.
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Old 03-28-2012, 18:39   #930
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SOG, by John Plaster. Never knew about what happened to Larry Thorne til I read this book. He's got another good one out called Secret Commandos, also about SOG.

Just ordered The Five Fingers for 2 bucks. Outstanding book.
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