Recensioni
This is an excellent biography of Dampier and the authors have really done their homework into his life and experiences.
It is an entertaining and well-written book that I had no hesitation picking up every night. The only reason I did not finish it sooner is because I am splitting my time right now between a couple of 500 page books.
If I were asked to name three things that changed warfare in World War I, I would come up with three different answers. My choices would be: the machine gun which killed more men than any other weapon in the war; the tank which helped break the stalemate of trench warfare; and the airplane, which brought a whole new dimension to warfare. My opinions are of someone that served in the military and looks at World War I from a practical warfighting point of view. Preston takes a different look at the war and bases her choices of a civilian perspective.
On April 22, 1915, near Ypres, Belgium, Germany released chlorine gas from near their trenches and allowed the wind to move it the mostly French defended Allied trenches. The heavy gas settled quickly in the trenches forcing soldiers to either asphyxiate in the trench or climb out into heavy German fire. The Canadian Expeditionary Force (13th Battalion) held the line with improvised masks. It was a day of heavy loss for both the Axis and the Allies. Panic and unforeseen success combined as multipliers adding to the death toll. Preston looks at the history of gas warfare before Ypres and after. It did not take the allies long to develop their own chemical corps. Chemical weapons had a terror effect when used in World War I, however their effectiveness was minimal. The German first use of the weapons added fuel to the propaganda machine vilifying the Germans. It did not take long for the British to counter with Livens Projector. The Livens projector, rather than relying on the wind, lobbed canister of gas at the enemy trenches. The use of canister was a loophole in the treaty that banned poison gas artillery shells. Although it had a shocking effect, and certainly the ability to make headlines, chemical warfare turned out to be more of a hindrance than a vital weapon. It was marginally effective until the troops were protected, then it became only a hindrance. Stockpiles of chemical weapon were available in WWII and never used.
On May 7, 1915 the Lusitania was sunk by the German submarine U-20. The sinking was carried out without warning as the ship approached the Irish coast. The loss of life is listed at nearly 1,200 people. The sinking was of great use to the allies in bringing the US into the war as one hundred twenty-eight of the dead were Americans. The sinking of the Lusitania is surrounded by stories, claims, and counterclaims. The Germans did provide warning to travelers, it was a British flagged ship, traveling in waters patrolled by a country Britain was at war with. Britain had used tricks like raising an American flag on one of its ships as it entered British waters (a tribute to the American passengers was the official claim). Britain also instructed ship’s captains to turn to and ram submarines if stopped. There was also the Q-Boat program where the British deployed cargo ships to draw out submarines. These ships however were armed and when a submarine attempted to stop and board the ship searching for contraband, the submarine was fired upon. There was a definite escalation to the violence. The Germany attempted to blockade England with submarines in the same way England had blockaded Germany with surface ships.
There is also the British investigation of the sinking of the Lusitania. The German submarine fired only one torpedo, but there were two explosions. The British government in the process of their investigation said the German sub fired two torpedoes. Any surviving passenger that said only one torpedo was fired was left out of the investigation. The cause of the second explosion has remained a topic for discussion ever since. In the tragedy of the sinking the German government made made the following truthful claims: The sinking occurred in a declared war zone; the Lusitania carried 4.2 million rounds of rifle ammunition, empty artillery shells, and fuses (all listed in her manifest); the Lusitania was officially listed by the British government as an auxiliary cruiser. Germany claimed it was in it’s right to sink the Lusitania without warning. Allied media and propaganda said otherwise.
The third event was the bombing of London from the air. Germany tried unsuccessfully to bomb England from zeppelins several times in the spring of 1915. Germans attempted to hit military targets, but conditions, gun sites, and practical matters made precision bombing impossible. The raids caused damage and killed 557 people in England in the course of fifty-one missions and 5,000 bombs. The raids, more than anything else, created a feeling of terror. London and other cities blacked-out at night. The British planes were nearly useless against the zeppelins, either they were incapable of reaching the altitude or by the time they did the zeppelins were gone. Fear helped the recruitment effort and caused violence for some unfortunate immigrants with “German sounding” accents. What the bombing raids did accomplish was opening military targets in cities to attack. In World War II bombing of cities became common place.
Preston does not limit herself the six weeks in 1915 for her information. She goes back and covers the arms limitation treaties before the war and puts each of her three events into historical context. While perhaps not the three biggest military events or innovations of World War I, her choices fit well with public concerns during the war. Chemical warfare is still something the modern military prepares for as evidenced in the two Gulf Wars. It is now relegated as a hinderance to a modern army rather than a source of massive casualties. Bombing of cities and military targets in and around them is now commonplace. One has to look no farther than the “Shock and Awe” of the Gulf War. Guidance systems and technology make the bombing much more accurate, but there are still civilian casualties. The submarine perhaps has changed the most. It is primarily used as a weapons platform for ICBMs rather than an anti-shipping weapon. In the second half of the twentieth century, only one ship has been sunk by a submarine -- HMS Conqueror sank the General Belgrano in the 1982 Falkland Island War. These choices made a change in how warfare is fought from the eyes of those watching. These three events probably had the biggest effect on the civilian populations during the course of the war. Machine guns and tanks had little effect on the general population of England, while the thought of a zeppelin dropping poison gas on London not only created fear, it was now a possibility. Preston gives World War I a look from a different perspective. Instead of the battlefield view many historians write, Preston seems to capture on what civilians would have read and learned of the war through the media. A very interesting perspective and well worth the read.
Each of the leaders came to the conference with a "wish list" for the agenda. For example, Churchill wanted to preserve the world affairs role of Britain and the British Empire as much as possible. Stalin on the other hand was the most determined (and best-prepared) of the three; he wanted to protect the Russian western borders by surrounding Russia with subordinate buffer states under Soviet control. Roosevelt in obvious poor health wanted to get the UN established and get the Soviets into the war in the Pacific to defeat Japan. Each succeeded to a significant degree and in the author's view, Stalin achieved the most: he had a strong hand, with Russian troops pushing into Germany and closing in on occupying Berlin. The exclusion of the de Gaulle from the conference was an issue for the Soviets but Britain wanted France as a buffer between it and Europe. The French general showed little or no gratitude for Churchill's strong support. Eventually Stalin relented to the extent that France was given a zone within Germany during the Allied Occupation.
"Eight Days at Yalta" is an informative narrative history, with plenty of anecdotes. (Bathroom facilities were in short supply at Yalta.) Diaries and memoirs are the source of significant amounts of the story. It's an entertaining read, a comprehensive overview of the Conference, uncluttered by detailed footnotes. The source notes and bibliography at the end of the book are helpful. I enjoyed having the several maps at the beginning of the book. Occasionally amusing, it focuses on the people: the list of attendees made for convenient reference as the narrative progressed.
The author includes as a tag end to this book, commentary about the Potsdam conference implicitly suggesting it was unimportant. By the time Potsdam ended two of the three participants had been replaced: Churchill by Attlee and Roosevelt by Truman. Potsdam, more than Yalta set the tone for future developments, and the Cold War, although decisions made at Yalta were more consequential. This book can serve as a good segue for a book focusing on Potsdam, such as Michael Neiberg's excellent "Potsdam: the End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe".
Recommended: "Eight Days at Yalta" is a good basic introductory text to the Yalta Conference, with a strong focus on the personalities involved.
NOTE: I requested and received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher, Atlantic Monthly, via Netgalley. The comments about it are my own. I appreciate the opportunity to review the book.
I wish that all history book authors would take notice of Preston's approach to writing. Forget the emphasis on dates, and instead wrap those dates into a story that will engage the audience.
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1Randal | 3 altre recensioni | Nov 14, 2019 |
1Randal | 3 altre recensioni | Nov 14, 2019 | 
I enjoyed Preston's Lusitania so much I sought out documentaries about the May 7th, 1915 sinking to learn more.
The stupidity of the cruise line and captain were appalling. They seemed to have learned nothing from the sinking of the Titanic and assumed that their ship was too fast to be hit and, if hit, would be slow in sinking, allowing everyone to be evacuated. There were no realistic drills for the crew and none at all for the passengers. Consequently, their inability to successfully lower the life boats was complicated by the ship's list and continuing speed.
For those who have read a good deal about WWI will not find too much new in this work. However, as a focused work on the six covered, it is a good read.
Like the first book I've read on the subject, Dead Wake by Eric Larson, An Epic Tragedy: Lusitania by Diana Preston looks at many people as they travel on the Lusitania and experience her sinking (The Lusitania was a passenger liner torpedoed by the Germans during WW1 before America entered the war). Preston seems to repeat the accounts of more people than Larson did, which I appreciate, even though getting glimpses of so many people does make it a bit 'crowded' at times and hard to remember who's who (that's more realistic right?). It makes it seem like one is getting a 'bigger picture' of the event.
As I was reading it seemed almost as if I could see the event happening. It was made more 'real' by Preston's describing the normal life and daily events that were happening just before and when the torpedo hit. Some people were eating lunch, others were taking walks on the deck, one man was trying to prove to another man how the Lusitania could not be torpedoed when the question was settled by the ship being hit during his explanation!
And then the accounts of thoughts and actions of people as the ship sunk and they entered the water (the huge ship sunk in only 18 minutes!) made it eerily 'come to life'. Some were inspirational in their bravery, some were pitiable in their cowardice and the behavior of others was shocking in their desperation to focus on saving their own lives. One man found two babies left behind on deck, picked them up and jumped into a life boat with one under each arm. Other men pushed terrified women into lifeboats while other men and women ignored those in need and greedily fought for the means to save themselves. Some survivors remembered having odd thoughts pass through their minds while in the water. I was touched and amused by the account of one man, Charles Hill who was "dismayed by the determined selfishness of his fellow passengers….As Hill thrashed in the water and began to go under again, he had the irrelevant thought that 'I hadn't paid the barber for my week's shaves.' He almost laughed. But moments later, as he tried to swim to the surface, he felt he was 'dragging something heavy.'" When he came up he found an old man holding one of his ankles while a woman with a child held his other leg, and he didn't kick them off (which one would think would be normal reaction as is proven by the accounts of the unloving actions of others)! He grabbed onto a lifeboat and they were all pulled in. I found Third Officer Albert Bestic's thought, as he hung on to an upturned collapsible lifeboat, especially striking when he "shuddered" at the sounds around him, "like the despair, anguish and terror of hundreds of souls passing into eternity."
Diana Preston writes well and keeps the interest almost all of the way through. Towards the end of the book she deals with conspiracy theories, questions, speculations and motives about the sinking of the Lusitania, and I found that a bit boring, though others may not. There were was some bad language used (quotations of various people at the time), and there was at least one detail given about someone's tatoo that I absolutely did not need to know….
It is an interesting account, a sobering look at the actions and thoughts of various people who are close to being summoned to stand before God.
Many thanks to the folks at Bloomsbury Publishing for sending me a review copy of this book! My review did not have to be favorable.
I do not understand why there is always so much talk about The Titanic. To me this tragedy was even worse. All the babies that died, and the boats that they tried to pull to the sea but in the meantime crashing and killing people. It was not a quick read for me (I although i admit I must guess when i finished it, did not keep track of my reading lately)
The story is a familiar one, but this book is a refreshing view point. Even many popular histories pick up on the Shakespearean dramatic ending of Cleopatra committing suicide via asp-on-breast following Antony's own suicide to avoid capture by Octavian. But Cleopatra actually buried her lover, and spent weeks negotiating with the soon-to-be Augustus Caesar, mostly in an attempt to secure a future for her children. When she could do no more, she orchestrated a suicide, but the snake was likely a cobra, not an asp.
It's detail like the above that make this a refreshing new look on a tale from the ages. I didn't think I would learn anything new, but Preston tells us of how Ptolemiac traditions created competition among the children in line for the throne and how it led to the rare occurrence of a woman ruler. Marc Antony was a rising star dating back to his time as one of Julius Caesar's most trusted generals, but Cleopatra played him for the benefit of her nation. More often than not, she appeared to "wear the pants" in their relationship, bringing military and other aid as it suited her, and not always when Antony needed it most. Cleopatra has the most to benefit from the relationship, her foreign influence reflected badly upon Antony and gave Octavian the upper hand in their struggle for complete control. That Antony had forsaken his other wives for the Queen of the Nile would indicate he was smitten and powerless to check her designs and leverage the relationship to his complete advantage.
Drawing on published and unpublished documents (government reports and dispatches, letters and diaries, &c.), as well as on Afghan oral traditions and other sources, Preston has done a masterful job. It is, at times, not an easy book to read: the whole tale reads like something of a slow-motion train wreck, frankly, as misstep piles on misunderstanding, political and military blunders come fast and furious, and duplicitous acts on both sides lead to disastrous consequences and long-term regional instability.
Preston mostly refrains from making overt comparisons with the First Anglo-Afghan War to more current events, but the implications are clear. There were and are lessons to be learned from this conflict, and as she points out in the epilogue, some Afghan memories of this long-ago war are still surprisingly fresh (I don't want to spoil the book by recounting one particular anecdote, but it struck me quite strongly as I read).
Highly recommended.
http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2012/04/book-review-dark-defile.html
Pros:
She steered clear of over romanticising Antony and Cleopatra's life together.
A good run down of Roman politics and culture.
Entertaining information about Cleopatra's family.
An interesting take on Cleopatra. She was shown as much more than a "beautiful seductress." Preston presented an educated, quick witted Cleopatra.
Cons:
There were a few sections that dragged.
Overall, the book was a thrilling read, and I highly reccommend it if you're interested in ancient Rome or Egypt.
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Honestly there are no complaints for this one. It's a thorough, well constructed biography of William Dampier! Even though Dampier spent a considerable amount of time in South America, I'm glad the author didn't decide to skip any significant portions in the timeline. It's all about the journey you know? Between understandably hostile natives, severe malnutrition and thirst, exhaustion, the Spaniards, and natural dangers, there's not one part that is truly boring. It was fascinating to see Dampier evolve from crewman to navigator to commander!. The authors have an engaging narrative style that isn't simply reciting his memoir, and they didn't romanticize him either. I'll be reading his memoir later and this is a useful guide!