This is another read I owe my friend, Wendell Erwin, as I had planned on skipping this. I read Olson's book about the Kosciusko Squadron earlier and assumed this would only be a slight embellishment on that. I was wrong. This is excellent and covers the stories of not just Poland-in-exile, but also France, Luxembourg, Holland, Belgium, Norway and Czechoslovakia. This book is about the contributions of the occupied countries, particularly in the Battles of Britain, the Atlantic and the cracking of Enigma.
Hitler attacked Norway because of its long and strategic Atlantic coastline. The same day, he occupied Denmark and ordered that both countries' kings be captured. Unlike his brother Christian in Denmark, Haakon escaped Oslo, headed north and was evacuated by the Royal Navy. His name became the rallying cry for the Norwegian resistance. Meanwhile, in Holland, Wilhelmina hoped for neutrality, but also escaped to London when the invasion began. The quiet, unassuming woman became the charismatic leader of her country. Leopold of Belgium was both king and commander-in-chief and as such led a spirited, effective and stubborn defense of his country. He opted to be taken prisoner. London welcomed governments-in-exile and foreign fighters. French soldiers joined the exodus at Dunkirk. Czech soldiers and Polish soldiers, sailors and particularly airmen went to England. The Norwegian merchant marine fleet of 1200 vessels joined the Allied cause and helped keep the sea lanes open in the face of the U-boats. It was the Polish airmen who made the most significant contribution to the Allied war effort. By the end of the Battle of Britain, it was acknowledged by the chain of command all the way up to Churchill and the King that the Battle of Britain, England's "finest hour", could have not been won without the Poles. Perhaps the first step of fighting back emanated from the broadcast studios of the BBC. The European Service broadcast in dozens of languages and inspired millions to believe that the hold of the Nazis was temporary. The Beeb started the V for victory campaign that spread throughout occupied Europe. Another meaningful Polish contribution came on the intelligence front. The Poles had the plans for the Enigma machine, built two of their own and delivered one each to Britain and France. It was a significant head-start for the Bletchley analysts. Eventually, the contributions of the USSR and the USA came to dominate the war. Yet, throughout the remainder of the war, the occupied Allies continued to contribute. The Czech resistance killed Heydrich in the hope it would help preserve their independence after the war. It didn't. The Belgians ran the most effective escape route for downed Allied airmen and it is estimated that 7,000 returned to England to continue the fight. French resistance held down thousands of German troops. The Norwegians stopped the export of heavy water to Germany. The three Benelux countries signed the treaty that led to the EU in London during the war.
This is a fine book and another welcome contribution from Lynne Olson. However, I believe it is probably too ambitious. It covers a great deal of material and bounces back and forth from one exile group to another. That said, it paints a vivid picture of the London under siege, yet filled with a many foreign languages and hope for the future of the continent.
12.20.2017
Enemy of the State, Mills - B
The Saudis are restless waiting for King Faisal to die, worried about ISIS and trying to plan for the future. Mitch Rapp sorts out that the Saudi Director of Intelligence is helping ISIS. In a midnight meeting, the President asks Mitch to take out a Saudi prince who has been the money man. At some stage, the Saudis have to pay for their perfidy and hypocrisy. Mitch 'retires' from the CIA and realizes the Saudi director is trying to frame him for a series of killings in Europe. Mitch mounts a counter-attack. In the end, he is thanked by the King and the President.
The Force, Winslow - B +
Stephen King compared it to 'The Godfather' and Lee Child said it "probably is the best cop novel ever written." It is that good. Denny Malone is pushing 40, the son of a cop and the king of Manhattan North. Sgt. Detective Malone runs 'Da Force' and rules Harlem. He dispenses justice, decides right and wrong, life and death, who earns who doesn't, and most importantly, who stays on the streets and who goes to prison. He lives large, is the man and views himself as the the one who holds the precinct, if not the city, together. But, he's on the pad and knows he's really messed it up as it unravels because all he ever wanted to be was a good cop. I recommend this to all.
12.05.2017
Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the American West, Knowlton - B +
"Perhaps no boom-bust cycle has had as lasting an impact on American society as the rise and fall of the cattle kingdom, and yet, oddly, this epic saga is largely forgotten today." The era ended in the winter of 1886-87 when nearly a million cattle died in the coldest winter ever experienced on the plains. It had begun twenty years earlier with the decimation of the bison. America viewed the great plains as a vast wasteland. The millions of bison that lived there, and the Plains Indian tribes who had cultivated the herds, were in the way on the route west. A Denver merchant imported some cattle in the 1860's presuming that they might hold up in the cold and arid climate. "In a stunningly short period of time...the bison were forced to the edge of extinction with no more than 325 surviving south of Canada. Cattle, so the thinking went, functioned better than the bison as a machine for converting grass into hide and meat, and ultimately into profits".
Cattle becoming king was a consequence of the devastation of the Civil War when the wild longhorn herd grew on untended lands in Texas. Eventually the cowboys, mostly Confederate cavalrymen, would drive ten million head north. They were shipped on the railroads east, mostly to Chicago, and the western railheads became the famous cattle towns of yore: Abilene, Dodge City, Witchita, Cheyenne and dozens more. The success attracted investors from the east coast and eventually the UK. And following the investments were the sons of wealth who came west to be cattlemen. The boom peaked in 1884 when twelve million cattle grazed over an area comparable to the size of western Europe. The Chicago stockyards cut the prices they would pay because of an oversupply and the ranchers reduced the wages and perquisites of the cowboys. The use of barbed wire and homesteading also reduced the demand for labor on the plains. The following year, Washington ordered cattle off the Arapaho and Cheyenne reservations that took up most of Colorado. Then, the Big Die-Up took nearly a million cattle. There was a run on western banks that spread to Wall Street and Aberdeen, Scotland. "The bursting of a commodity bubble is one of capitalism's most brutal and indiscriminate destroyers of wealth." The money that had poured into the industry was lost and what was left was withdrawn. The collapse was severe and quick.
Open range ranching and the era of the massive ranches was over. It was replaced by smallholders. The meatpackers* controlled the industry completely, and by managing demand, they limited the upside of the suppliers. They would no longer overpay the cattlemen. At long last, there also was a recognition that the resources of the west were finite. Conservation was taken up by the 'Cowboy President'. Owen Wister, a classmate at Harvard and friend of Roosevelt's, published 'The Virginian' in 1902 and created forever in American culture the myth of the cowboy and the old west. By 1890, the American west was populated and criss-crossed by railroads. Towns and cites spring up, states joined the union and the frontier was closed.
This is a delightful read for anyone interested in the west. I'm even thinking of visiting Cheyenne. One drawback is that the story is relatively thin, not meriting 354 pages of text and thus, there is a lot of related, but not really relevant, filler. I have long known that the death of the British aristocracy was caused by the globalization of farm commodities. One of the many nails in the coffin of the Downton Abbeys of England was American beef, both frozen and on the hoof.
*Swift and Armour developed such massive and successfully vertically integrated organizations with their stockyards, refrigeration and shipping businesses that they became the blueprint for the future industrialization of America.
Cattle becoming king was a consequence of the devastation of the Civil War when the wild longhorn herd grew on untended lands in Texas. Eventually the cowboys, mostly Confederate cavalrymen, would drive ten million head north. They were shipped on the railroads east, mostly to Chicago, and the western railheads became the famous cattle towns of yore: Abilene, Dodge City, Witchita, Cheyenne and dozens more. The success attracted investors from the east coast and eventually the UK. And following the investments were the sons of wealth who came west to be cattlemen. The boom peaked in 1884 when twelve million cattle grazed over an area comparable to the size of western Europe. The Chicago stockyards cut the prices they would pay because of an oversupply and the ranchers reduced the wages and perquisites of the cowboys. The use of barbed wire and homesteading also reduced the demand for labor on the plains. The following year, Washington ordered cattle off the Arapaho and Cheyenne reservations that took up most of Colorado. Then, the Big Die-Up took nearly a million cattle. There was a run on western banks that spread to Wall Street and Aberdeen, Scotland. "The bursting of a commodity bubble is one of capitalism's most brutal and indiscriminate destroyers of wealth." The money that had poured into the industry was lost and what was left was withdrawn. The collapse was severe and quick.
Open range ranching and the era of the massive ranches was over. It was replaced by smallholders. The meatpackers* controlled the industry completely, and by managing demand, they limited the upside of the suppliers. They would no longer overpay the cattlemen. At long last, there also was a recognition that the resources of the west were finite. Conservation was taken up by the 'Cowboy President'. Owen Wister, a classmate at Harvard and friend of Roosevelt's, published 'The Virginian' in 1902 and created forever in American culture the myth of the cowboy and the old west. By 1890, the American west was populated and criss-crossed by railroads. Towns and cites spring up, states joined the union and the frontier was closed.
This is a delightful read for anyone interested in the west. I'm even thinking of visiting Cheyenne. One drawback is that the story is relatively thin, not meriting 354 pages of text and thus, there is a lot of related, but not really relevant, filler. I have long known that the death of the British aristocracy was caused by the globalization of farm commodities. One of the many nails in the coffin of the Downton Abbeys of England was American beef, both frozen and on the hoof.
*Swift and Armour developed such massive and successfully vertically integrated organizations with their stockyards, refrigeration and shipping businesses that they became the blueprint for the future industrialization of America.
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