So, I’ve finished seven books since my last update. They were mostly just okay, although there were three that I really enjoyed. Starting with the “just okay” ones we have:
Battle Of Leyte Gulf by H.P. Willmott, I must say this one surprised me as I thought, based on past reading , that it would be better than it was. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t seem up to his normal high level of analytical excellence, perhaps because the theater is smaller than the broad stages dealt with in previous works of his that I’ve read. Note, I did enjoy the book and it may well be the best book out there as far as analyzing the decision making on both sides, so I’m not really complaining. I guess I’ve just been so impressed with Willmott, for so long, that I unreasonably expected more. As with other works by Willmott, this book is very long on analysis of why things happened, rather than the nitty-gritty tactical details of which ships got hit by what kind of rounds at what time.
Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis was another disappointing book. In this case Lewis, who did excellent work in the past with both Liar’s Poker and The Big Short, has taken a look at several countries which were negatively impacted by the recent economic crisis. Lewis visits Iceland, Greece, Ireland and California to look at how the crisis has played out in those places, but, unfortunately has focused almost exclusively on anecdotes of the individuals he meets and never really provides the “big picture” information that would provide the necessary context to understand the really meaning of the anecdotal information. At the end of the day, it just wasn’t very good. I recommend his other works very highly, and I’m glad I read it, but I’m also glad I borrowed it from the library.
Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath by Mimi Alford was a slight little volume dealing with story of a 19 year old intern in Pierre Salinger’s White House Press office who, on her fourth day on the job, is invited by Dave Powell to take a swim in the White House Pool. She shows up, swims with JFK, and later that day, loses her virginity to him, which begins a sexual relationship that will last until his death 18 months later. After Kennedy’s death, she confesses her secret to her fiancé who, essentially rapes her, then swears her to secrecy as a condition of going through with the marriage. Alford believes that her relationship with her husband never truly recovered from her admission and the couple divorced 20-odd years later.
The book was quite interesting, mostly for the poise of the author, who is reminiscing about this period in her life from a distance of fifty years or so. Her ability to describe her thought processes and the reasons behind her decisions was a particular strength of the book, and she doesn’t come across as a victim or as a bitter women looking for her “fifteen minutes”, but there’s really no “here” here. At the end, this is just a sad story of a naïve young women whose questionable decisions had a long term negative impact on her life.
Frankly, My Dear: “Gone with the Wind” Revisited by Molly Haskell was weird little book that read like a series of essays about all things GWTW. Chapters are more or less self-contained and cover the book, the movie, the characters, the difficulties in obtaining a shootable script, the progression of stealer (and not so stellar) screenwriters and the actors. It was just kind of a mish-mash. If you’re a big fan of GWTW, then I guess you will find it interesting, if you’re not, don’t bother. Another book, I’m glad I took out of the library.
Now for the good stuff!
Billy Boyle by James R. Benn was an excellent little murder mystery set in WWII London, in the early days of American involvement, when the build-up was just beginning. The eponymous protagonist is a young Boston Irish cop (he was promoted to Detective on 1 Dec 1941!) from a Boston Irish Cop family who has drafted into the US Army in early ’42. His family’s political connections get him commissioned via OCS and his mother’s family’s relationship to Mamie Doud (Ike’s wife!) get him assigned to the staff of his “Uncle Ike”. Given the LT’s police experience, Ike decides to use him as a sort of “trouble shooter” and it’s not long before he’s assigned to uncover a spy in the Norwegian Government in exile. When one of the chief suspects turns up dead, Boyle is thrust into the homicide investigation.
The book is very fast paced, has decent characters and is consistently entertaining and interesting. I enjoyed it thoroughly. So far there are six books in the series, which take us chronologically up through the Italian Campaign and 1943. I’m looking forward to reading all of them. In fact, I’ve already started the next book, The First Wave, set during the early days of Operation Torch. Finally, a “tip of the hat” to Consimworld’s Bill Ramsay for recommending them.
The Battle of the Atlantic: September, 1939-May, 1943 (History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. 1) by Samuel Eliot Morison, this is the first volume in Morison’s magisterial series, but my seventh since I’ve previously read the first six volumes dealing with the War in the Pacific. As with the other volumes in this series I’ve read, this is simply superb. Morison does an excellent job of describing the US Navy’s utter unpreparedness for the onslaught of the U-Boats, which resulted in what German submariners called “The Second Happy Time” when they freely ranged along the US East coast and torpedoed merchies and tankers which were silhouetted against the un-blacked-out cities.
In addition to the material on the U-Boat war, Morison also provides considerable detail on the pre-war preparations of the US Navy including; the mid-30s construction program passed when the Washington Naval Treaty lapsed; and the Two Ocean Navy Act passed when France fell.
As always Morison is an excellent writer with a very engaging style. Although is work is dated (particularly by its complete lack of information about “Ultra” or other code-breaking activities) it is still excellent and well worth the reading! A repeated “tip of the hat” to Vincent P. O’Hara for recommending them to me.
I also re-read Castles of Steel by Robert Massie I last read this book in September of 2010 (and that wasn’t my first time either!) those interested can find my thoughts on the book here (which haven’t changed!) here: https://billp46.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/another-great-history-book/
51 for the year
BillP's Book Blog 