Enduring Vietnam by James Edwards Wright

Enduring Vietnam: An American Generation and Its War by James Edward Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was born in the midst of the American War in Vietnam and it was over by the time I became aware of it. I had uncles that were there, one seriously wounded. The war itself wasn't if at all, discussed very much. In my reading the past year or so I've taken an interest in exploring this tumultuous event in our country's history. I've read many viewpoints from military and political narratives. I've also read personal accounts of the boots on the ground from the patrols to the large scale battles that went on. This one though seemed to blend those together to give an overall picture of the war not only overseas but how it was experienced on the home front without being politically charged one way or the other.

One particularly moving moment was how the government was unprepared to notify families of soldiers who were wounded or killed, especially early in the war. The movie "We Were Soldiers" shows this too where taxi drivers dispatched with telegrams to give to family's telegrams of their loss. As you can imagine that didn't go over well. It was later changed that a member of the military and usually a local clergy member wound do it. Even then it was a harrowing experience not only for family members but those tasked with notifying usually didn't last long doing it as it was an emotionally draining experience. I have an 18-year-old son and couldn't imagine hearing that kind of news myself.

The book came closer to my personal quest in finding something about the Vietnam War to sort of paint a before and after picture about how it affected attitudes and society in general. It seems it started with high ideals with a sense of duty and obligation. What seemed to happen during the course of the conflict was those ideals seemed to drain away when the war, which didn't have clearly defined goals, dragged on and on and on. It wasn't a more traditional war of territorial goals but became a war of attrition and patience in which the opposition had more of.

It is an excellent book about this era and can be a good starting point to go deeper into a given area as it covers a lot of subjects and viewpoints that could be booked on their own. Anyone looking for a deeper understanding of this historic period should put this on their reading list.

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The Korean War by Christopher Chant

The Korean War by Christopher Chant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book on the Korean War is part of a larger series called the "The Military History of the United States". It is relatively short in length with a mix of text, illustrations, maps and photograph. As the series title may foretell it focuses primarily though it does give some historical background that lead up to the war itself. At a relatively short 136 pages it seems to give a concise summation of the war rather than a thoroughly comprehensive history of the war. It does provide the basics of what happened for those that are unfamiliar or new to the subject. It provides a decent starting point for those looking into this event. After this I'd recommend "The Korean War" by Max Hastings and "The Coldest Winter" by David Halberstam which are more in depth.

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Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein

Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Given the state of today's current volatile partisan politics this book is still relevant and does shed some light onto the beginnings of it. The book looks at the beginnings of Barry Goldwater and what led up to his unprecedented popularity and then to his eventual landslide defeat in 1964 to President Johnson.

My recent reading obsession has been the 1960's. I was born in the middle of the decade but have not recollection of it. It perhaps growing up in the shadow of this tumultuous time in our country(and the world to) that has peaked my curiosity. The more I learn of this decade the more I realize it's impact it had on our society. I'm often curious as to attitudes and the way we looked at our government before and after this era. Obviously I only have the benefit of seeing what happened afterward which may not be perceptible as I don't have anything to compare it to.

Back to the book. Before this book I didn't really have an in depth knowledge of Senator Barry Goldwater. I did get the sense he was an icon in the conservative politics. I had heard of his defeat and his famous book "Conscience of a Conservative"but not much more.

I got the sense he was popular because he had a no nonsense approach and spoke his mind with out sugar coating his ideas or speech. These days we call it not being politically correct. He tended to say what people wished to express but were afraid to. I could help but draw parallels to supporters of our current President whom often quote a similar quality. He was a pilot and often projected a tough cowboy-like image. He was loved by many but scorned by establishment Republicans of the time.

The book paints his as sort of a reluctant Presidential candidate. He would often ignore prepared remarks or speeches and go off on tangents that would give those trying to help him fits. He wasn't much interested in being a polished candidate and it would seem he'd rather lose than do compromise his beliefs. He was also reluctant to disavow extremists in his party who supported him. It was probably this stubbornness that lead to his defeat but ironically enamored him to the conservative cause.

Although the book focuses on Goldwater the author also fills us in on what is going on in society at the time. Delves into events like the turmoil in Berkeley, the Kennedy assassination, the beginnings of trouble in Vietnam and the growing conservative movement that would continue long after his inevitable defeat.

It was hard not to draw comparisons to today's political climate. It's certainly an interesting book if you're looking into the roots of today's politics and conservatives in general. This is also first of a trilogy by the author the next s called "Nixonland" which I have listened too and also recommend.

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Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland by Malachy McCourt

Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland by Malachy McCourt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a look at the history of Ireland through the stories of about 50 people who have influenced, defined, created and have become the Irish. I must admit i didn't know a lot about Irish history, despite being of Irish heritage, in much of any detail before reading this. I knew about Saint Patrick, Michael Collins(because of the Liam Neeson movie), Frank McCourt(Pulitzer winner brother of the author) and of course U2. If you were to quiz me on Irish history before hand I'd fail miserably. I'd probably still fail but not because of this book. It would seem this book would assume you already knew a bit about Irish history. Although an excellent book, if your starting out in the beginning phase of Irish history something a bit more simplified might help. Perhaps an Ireland for dummies book would work along with a geographical map. It's still a very good book to learn about Ireland I just wouldn't start at the beginning with this one as the detail, politics and geography can be confusing for the Irish beginner.

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