One Piece, Vol. 1, Romance Dawn - Oda

                  Thanks to my almost 11 year old grandson Elliot for introducing me to a manga, a Japanese graphic novel. This story introduces Luffy, a boy wishing to become a pirate, who ingests the fruit of the gum-gum tree that allows his body to stretch like rubber. He recruits Koby and Zolo, whom he frees from the pirates who were going to execute Lolo. Together they take on Capt. Axe-Hand Morgan, the pirate leader. They defeat Morgan and pursue the One Piece, a gold treasure hidden by Gold Roger, 'King of the Pirates.' They team up with Nami, a young girl who robs from pirates and they continue their quest.

The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston 1777-1780, Atkinson - A*

                This magnificent history continues in France in the winter of 1777. The king and government were more than willing to forward endless amounts of contraband to the Americans, as any revenge against the British was exhilarating. In the capital, Franklin lied, prevaricated, and hustled for any and all help for liberty, egalite and fraternite in the colonies. In Bordeaux, Lafayette and the Bavarian, de Kalb, were plotting to escape to America. The marquis, only nineteen and one of the richest men in France, left against his king's and family's wishes. Only his wife approved.

               By July 1, the British army of 8,000 men had travelled 400 miles from Quebec to just north of Ft. Ticonderoga, the first objective of Gen. John Burgoyne's plan that would be followed by Ft. Edward, and Albany. Gen. Arthur St. Clair opposed with 2,000 men. Within days of the first shot, the Americans retreated. By the end of the month, the British were at Ft. Edward.  It had taken three weeks to go 23 miles. Supply shortages and the rugged frontier were slowing Burgoyne down.  

               To the south in New York City, Gen. William Howe worried about the breadth of his responsibilities and the length of his 3,000 mile supply line. He decided to break the stalemate by sailing to Philadelphia, leaving Gen. Henry Clinton behind to defend the city, ignoring the propitious advance that Burgoyne was making. Clinton argued endlessly for an advance north to support Burgoyne. On the 23rd of July, 280 Royal Navy vessels set sail. Howe opted for the long route to the Chesapeake, rather than the Delaware River. Washington had no inkling of where the British were headed. In late August he found out, and marched the army south through Philadelphia and on to Wilmington.

               In upstate New York, "the Canada Army remained fifty miles north of Albany, struggling in this hostile land to build up sufficient strength for a final lunge down the Hudson." Burgoyne was suffering from a serious lack of supplies.  A sally to the east ended in a rout at Bennington. Relief from the west was beaten back at Ft. Stanwix.

              After a month at sea, the British landed on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Washington's nineteen thousand men dug in at Brandywine Creek. Led by Gen. Charles Cornwallis, the British left outflanked the Americans. By dusk on Sept. 11, the Americans were in retreat. A British officer observed that Washington "beats us in running and nothing else." Two weeks later, the British entered the capital city. Twelve thousand Philadelphians had abandoned the city. Twice as many remained. Two weeks later, Washington attacked Cornwallis at Germantown. The Americans prevailed until they lost touch with their flanks in the dense and rocky forest.  

          In New York, Burgoyne wrote that he never anticipated "such a tract of country and hosts of foes without any cooperation" from Howe. After Burgoyne crossed on a temporary bridge which he then destroyed, a German general said "the Hudson has become the Rubicon." Burgoyne was approaching an army twice his, meticulously prepared by Gen. Horatio Gates, Gen. Benedict Arnold, and Col. Thaddeus Kosciusko. The lines were manned by experienced fighters, and skilled frontiersmen.  On Sept. 19, Burgoyne attacked. The battle was engaged at Freeman's Farm and fought all afternoon, on an 800 by 400 yard wheat field that changed hands six times. At day's end, the British held the farm. The British casualties were 566 men, the Americans a bit more than half that. It was a stalemate. On Oct. 3rd, Clinton sent forces north from Manhattan to assist Burgoyne. His men were stopped just south of Kingston. On Oct. 7, Burgoyne attacked at Bemus Heights on the American left. The day was soon lost. For the Americans, Benedict Arnold had carried the day as he had done the previous month.  Soon, the British were in full retreat. On Oct.17, they surrendered. America was triumphant and exultant. 

          As the year closed, many British officers were despairing of the fight in a continent where two key cities, Boston and Charleston, were separated by a thousand miles of hostile territory. It had taken the Royal Navy two months from the time the army reached Philadelphia to fight through multiple naval and ground acts of guerrilla warfare to join the army in the capital. Washington was just north in Valley Forge with 19,000 soldiers. Gen. Howe requested he be allowed to retire.

      In London, George III felt "rebellion posed the threat of mortal disorder" and "demonstrated intolerable contempt for a sovereign Parliament, as well as the sovereign himself." He could not fathom that the UK had prevailed against superior forces in the Seven Years War but could not vanquish such a minuscule opponent. Many ministers feared that the bad news from America would embolden France and Spain. Opposition in the Commons was rising.

      In Paris, the French were concerned about a British-American collusion leading to an attack on the French Caribbean possessions. The news of Saratoga reached Franklin on the 4th of December. Within two days, the king approved negotiations, and a month later, France recognized the new nation and the US had an ally.  At Valley Forge, the Continental Army survived a winter of desertions and a frightening lack of supplies. The news from France led to an explosion of national joy. When Gen. Clinton arrived in Philadelphia to replace Gen. Howe, he received orders from London to return the army to New York and prepare to fight the French and Spanish. He began a march through New Jersey. The Continentals harassed his rear and flanks until June 28th when the armies met at Monmouth Court House. The battle was a draw, and the British continued their march to New York. Washington headed to White Plains. After three years of war, Britain held New York City, and Narragansett Bay. 

      The French arrived in July, and at the end of the month  attacked Newport, which Clinton had recently reinforced. Ten British ships were scuttled, as the French entered the harbor. The ground attack consisted of French and American troops. When the British fleet appeared outside the harbor, the French withdrew to engage them at sea.  The fleets were scattered by such a fierce storm that both flagships were dismasted. When the French retired to Boston without returning to the fight in Newport, American morale suffered, and the British rallied. Fearing the return of the Royal Navy, the Americans withdrew. The British retained Newport. As the year drew to a close, the British sent forces south to the Caribbean, and to Savannah. They captured the Georgia capital in late December.

       The Spanish joined the French in the war against Britain in the Spring of 1778. In less than a year, the British had gone from "battling a noxious insurrection on the end of the earth to fighting a world war against two formidable adversaries." In New York, Clinton worried about being blamed for the loss of the war and complained endlessly to London about its failure to properly supply both materials and men. The year's strategy began in Hampton Roads, Virginia. A flotilla of twenty-eight ships and 2,500 men sailed from New York in May. The British plundered the area around Hampton Roads Bay for ten days essentially unopposed.   Clinton and Washington skirmished in the lower reaches of the Hudson River.  

      The English Channel saw a series of naval battles in August and September. The French had spent a fortune upgrading their navy and had thousands of men ready to invade England.  Nothing  came of their efforts. In the Caribbean, the French defeated the British Fleet at the Battle of Grenada, thus decimating much of Britain's sugar exports. The French money, men, and large naval presence in North America had made it impossible for Britain to recapture America.  Clinton abandoned Newport. Believing their success in Savannah could be replicated in Charleston, Clinton opted for a southern strategy.  The north was suffering its harshest winter in living memory when Clinton, with half of his army, sailed to Charleston arriving in February. They landed on the 9th, twenty-five miles south of Charleston. By the end of March, Britain had surrounded and blockaded Charleston. In early May, the garrison surrendered. The southern half of the US was unprotected. The United States suffered a significant strategic defeat in the war's fifth year. Clinton thought he had won the war. Much of Britain's elites never understood that the vast majority ofAmerican subjects of the Crown wanted the independence they demanded. Nor did they appear to understand that endlessly pillaging, marauding, and burning many US coastal enclaves endeared then to no one. Clinton left Charleston and 9,000 men under Cornwallis' command to march north in 1780. In London, George III could not see any advantage to letting the Americans go free. He believed most of his subjects were loyal. In his winter quarters, Washington received Lafayette, who had just returned from Versailles. France would not just send ships, but 6,000 soldiers as well. They would be placed under Washington's command.

     The author is probably my favorite historian and I do hope it doesn't take six years to publish the next book. I am beginning to finally appreciate that, although in American history teachings this war is portrayed as a dynamic victory over the empire, it really was much more like the post-WWII era when in the colonies of the European nations fought guerrilla wars of independence. 

 

   

The Last Tsar: The Abdication Of NIcholas II And The Fall Of The Romanovs, Hasegawa - B+

                "The end of the monarchy was not a  preordained, inevitable conclusion, but rather a contingent process and where, had alternative options been taken, events would have followed a different trajectory." The empire entered the new century led by a man who was "the most ill-equipped and inadequate ruler in all of Europe." He was not prepared to be tsar, but was stubbornly committed to maintaining and passing on the Romanov autocracy. The Tsarevich, Alexi, was born in 1904. The royal couple kept their son's hemophilia a secret and withdrew further into themselves. Within a year, they welcomed Rasputin into their lives. In 1914, Nicholas acceded to his ministers' advice as the empire slipped into war. 

                Completely inadequate, the army lost 1,500,000 men by year's end. There would be occasional victories against the Austrians, but not the Germans. The people blamed the losses on the tsar, and the traditional connection between the people and their emperor unraveled. In the summer of 1915, Nicholas took two steps that sealed his fate. He left Petrograd to assume the supreme command at the front, and he dismissed the Duma, which had been working toward establishing a war government of national unity. In each situation, it was his increasingly domineering wife under the influence of Rasputin who pushed him to act. The ensuing year-and-a-half saw constant turmoil. The naive and unaware royal couple were now despised by the public. On Dec. 17, 1916, Rasputin was murdered. Revolution and dynastic collapse were in the air, and almost the entirety of the Romanov family begged Nicholas to establish a government of confidence, while Alexandra scolded them to remember that Nicholas was an autocrat by the grace of God. Nicholas was incapable of compromise, as he believed it was contrary to his sacred obligation to God. In late February, massive demonstrations rocked Petrograd. The security forces struck back, killing two hundred. On the 27th, soldiers mutinied in the capital. Nicolas decided to return to the city from the front, and the Duma Committee began to takeover the city. The revolution was at hand. Ministers were fleeing and important posts were abandoned. Nicholas countered with martial law, and left for the city at 5 on the 28th.

                  Throughout the day, the imperial train received telegrams outlining the collapse of order in Petrograd, where the insurgents controlled the entire city, and most importantly, the phone lines and the railways. Tsarskoe Selo was the tsar's objective, but the insurgents diverted his train. Meanwhile, the Duma was hoping to arrange Nicholas's abdication in an attempt to save the monarchy, not overthrow it. When Nicholas arrived at Plesko station late on March 1, there was no one there to meet him. Out of touch for two days, he learned that the revolution had spread to Moscow, the Baltic Fleet, and that the army command had recognized the Duma. Nicholas agreed to allow the Duma to form a responsible ministry, i.e. a constitutional monarchy. The following day, the army asked him to abdicate and he agreed to do so.  Fearing being separated from his son, Nicholas abdicated for both he and Alexi in favor of his brother Mikhail. 

             On March 3rd, 1917, 304 years of Romanov rule ended when Mikhail refused the throne. Russia was in disarray. Those trying to create some sense of legal continuity in the government were flailing. Amidst the confusion, the Provisional Government, so called even though it was appointed by the Duma yet under the Fundamental Law only the Tsar could appoint such a government,  announced it was succeeding to the powers of the monarchy.  On March 7th, Nicholas and Alexandra were placed under house arrest. 

          "The one most to blame for the sputtering finale of the three hundred year regime is Nicholas himself - through intransigence, inaction, weakness, stupidity, and, oddly enough, fatherly love.""Each member of the Romanovs suffered a tragic end of one kind or another, some in brutal murders by the Bolsheviks and others fleeing Russia with torturous difficulties."

             This book is extremely well done and recommended to anyone who reads 20th century history. The efforts and innumerable attempts to arrange a constitutional monarchy were unknown to me. The Russian Revolution was probably the pivotal event of the century. The German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires all collapsed at the end of the Great War. Many of the problems that followed in Germany and the Middle East were attributable to the Paris Peace Conference's failures. All of Russia's problems were of their own creation. Nicholas's lack of intelligence and backbone, exacerbated by Alexandra's obsessions, ended Romanov rule. The consequences to his family and country were fatal. The consequence for the world was seven decades of Bolshevik terror. All in all, an unmitigated tragedy.

                 

The Mail Man, Welsh-Huggins - B+

               This book introduces freelance delivery man, Mercury Carter. He is slight and not very tall, yet is as lethal one-on-one as Jack NMI Reacher, with the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes. Intent on delivering a package, as that is his job, he winds up in the middle of multiple off the wall plots, saves the day and a lot of people. A flat out must read page turner.

The Day of Atonement, Liss - B

              In 1755, Sebastian Foxx arrives in Lisbon from London. The authorities question his intention, which is to use a recent inheritance to join the Factory, a loose collection of traders. He further assures them that he is actually a closeted Catholic. None of this is true. He is a Portuguese Jew whose parents were sucked up in the Inquisition a decade earlier and he is back to seek revenge. He is in Lisbon to kill the priest who jailed his parents. During his decade in London, he had lived with and worked for Benjamin Weaver, who is the city's most successful Jewish 'thieftaker,' a private detective who takes on assignments to find bad people.  As such, Weaver is very skilled with his hands and weapons, and so is Foxx. 

             Once settled into the city, he is approached by the Inquisition to act as an informer at the Factory. He readily agrees. He also assures the man who had saved his life a decade ago that he will help him escape Lisbon. His plan involves borrowing money under false pretenses and then using it to steal a fortune from the man who cheated his father ten years ago. Everything possible goes sideways until the city collapses in a massive earthquake, freeing Foxx from the Inquistors who had captured him. He leads those relying on him out of the rubble and off to England.

          The author is superb and has a long history of putting together deeply-researched historical novels set in the 18th century. This too is great on the backstory of the Inquisition in Portugal, but I am afraid, that this time, the plot dives a bit after a very good start.

           

Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider's View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finanace, and the Road Ahead, Rogoff - Inc.

              The US dollar has been the world's "dominant currency" for over a century.  This position of dominance is seen in the pricing of commodities, international bonds, and just about all world-wide shipping. It has provided a meaningful boost to the US's wealth and security. Many economists thought the Soviets would challenge the US's primacy, but they obviously failed. Japan and the yen seemed assured of passing the US in the 1980's as their export driven economy boomed. In 1985, the US and Europe "bludgeoned Japan" to raise the value of the yen. The ensuing exchange rate appreciation, along with a declining birth rate, and the growth of other Asian economies led to a financial crisis asset bubble and recession that Japan has not recovered from in three decades. The unification of the European currencies was "the most remarkable example of regional macroeconomic policy coordination in modern history." In hindsight, it appears to have put a damper on growth, and although the Euro still has potential, it only prices trade within the EU. The four decade rise of China has changed the world, and will continue to do so for decades. At the moment, many see the remnibi as a bona-fide challenger to the dollar. Nonetheless, China is struggling in its quest to overtake the US because of a 'baby bust' and more importantly, a potential housing/real estate bubble. Just about all post-war financial crises have been caused by a housing bubble that eventually led to a recession. 

                 Over the years the dollar's endurance is attributable to the strength of the American economic system and the Federal Reserve's ability to act independently. Luck has also been a factor, as a great many of our competitors have made mistakes. For example, the Euro might be competitive had not France insisted on including Greece in the union.  The greatest danger to the dollars supremacy is, of course, internal. Our rising debt cannot be sustained, and will lead to inflation and financial crises around the world. "If runaway US debt policy continues to crash up against higher real interest rates and geopolitical instability, and if the political pressures constrain the Federal Reserve's ability to consistently tame inflation, it will be everyone's problem."

              I couldn't even read half the book, as the 'Dismal Science' is particularly dismal here. That said, I have read Rogoff in the paast and find him interesting and insightful. Since I agree that our cascading debt is a massive threat to the our prosperity, I think this is genius.

             

The Requisitions, Lopez-Barrantes, B+

              This novel about the Lodz Ghetto is a fascinating mixture of storytelling accompanied by thoughtful considerations and precise historical teachings. It is an excellent presentation of the horrors of the ghettos. Viktor is an elite, a professor who never knew his two Jewish grand parents, is half-Austrian, and proficient in both German and Polish. He is a known leftist who seems to stay away from trouble, and has potential usefulness to the occupiers as a translator. After a brutal Gestapo beating the first winter, he has survived for two years as an interpreter and statistician  for the Judenrat. The price he pays to survive is the daily participation in Jews condemning other Jews to death. On the night before the unannounced liquidation of the ghetto, the lives of Viktor,  a German women he had a brief flirtation with years ago, a German policeman, and a Jewish family hiding in the countryside come together in a dramatic unexplored denouement.

Waste Land: A World In Permanent Crisis, Kaplan - B+

               The author, one of my all-time favorites, divides this brief 187-page overview into three parts:  Weimar Goes Global, The Great Powers' Decline, and Crowds and Chaos. 

              "Weimar is a candy-coated horror tale:  a cradle of modernity that gave birth to fascism and totalitarianism."  "The entire world is now one big Weimar, connected enough for one part to mortally influence the other parts, yet not connected enough to be politically coherent." We are at "a fragile phase of technological and political transition."  Most governments around the world do not provide the stability necessary to preserve a world order as well as their predecessors, the monarchies of Europe and the Middle East, once did.  In today's much closer world, totalitarianism and authoritarianism can lead to cataclysm. Should such instability tip into war, the artificial intelligence-driven consequences could be extreme.  That said, it is humans, particularly charismatic and demagogic leaders such as Napoleon, Hitler, and Putin, who cause wars.  Add to the mix climate change, burgeoning populations, drought, famine, and a reduction in groundwater around the world to the tempestuous mix.

          The creative technological innovations expanding globalization have put immense pressure on America, Russia, and China.  In Iraq and Ukraine, two of these superpowers initiated "truly unnecessary and disastrous wars of choice."  These wars "show the dearth of wise and cautious leadership" in both countries.  The US has recovered from its "far-flung imperial adventure gone awry," because Iraq is central to our geopolitical  identity.  Our leadership has deteriorated, but Putin has "become increasingly dangerous  autocratic, and vicious."  The consequence of a failed political entity is the abject Russian incompetence and total humiliation of the invasion of Ukraine.  At some stage, Western Europe will have to deal with the aftermath of Putin's authoritarian failures as Russia has always been Europe's "unsolvable dilemma."

          China's peaceful meteoric ascension to world superpower can be ascribed to one genius - Deng Xiaoping.  He introduced aspects of capitalism gradually, unlike America's attempt to force feed it to Russia.  Unlike Deng, Xi has provoked tensions and conflict abroad.  We now face two autocrats instead of the benign Gorbachev and Deng.  Xi is nothing but a Leninist idealogue focused on struggle.  The vast size of China means Xi is exponentially more threatening than Putin.  His Mao-like return to authoritarianism is crippling the economy of a country in population decline.  Our trade linkage immeasurably complicates the geopolitical rivalry.

         Russia remains the major threat to world stability because there is nothing binding it together except Putin, and there is no system in place for when he dies.  Xi threatens Asia, and the Middle East continues its century-long turmoil. (This book was completed last year, and does not consider the economic and foreign policies of an unhinged American regime.)

         Increasing urban density is another challenge to stability. Urbanization and social media drive underlying forces that affect foreign policies.  Today's cities are "re-segregating by income, education, and class."  Social media can amplify crowd psychology, as can news organizations whose opinions reverberate far and wide and can lead a horde in one direction or another. Think Fox News.  The New York Times has comparable power, but uses it more wisely.  Today's internet-fueled mob is no different than the sans-culottes centuries ago.  It must also be stated that positive change may come from this dynamic, as, for example, young people in Iran have tried to initiate.

       Robert Kaplan is the most insightful and thoughtful assessor of where our lives are whom I have ever read, and his conclusions are quite negative.  "We are up against the natural process of history that will undermine the West, and all it stands for."  He hopes we can fight it, but isn't optimistic.  Every one of his books is filled with remarkable insights.  One literally has to stop on every page and think about it.  This one ends on a down note but nonetheless, it should be read.  And it's only 187 pages of text.

        

            

       

         

What We Buried, Rotenberg - B+

                Daniel Kennicott, Toronto PD detective, avoids an attempt to run him down outside his home.  He is shaken and ponders his family's tragedies.  A dozen years before, his parents had been killed in what was officially an accident, but which he and his brother believe was intentional.  Ten years before, his brother was murdered the night before he was to depart for Gubbio, Italy, a small town that had some connection to his grandmother.  Daniel takes a leave and heads there.  He learns of the Quaranta, the day in 1944 when the Germans murdered 40 locals in cold blood.  Later that same night, the villagers tell him that his mother's father, Grandpa Smith, was in Gubbio, in the SS, but was in the hospital that day.  Daniel's mother was a research historian who had uncovered her father's past and the Italians believe that she and her oldest son were murdered by those still trying to protect two SS men's families in Canada.  Although I'd have preferred a bit more clarity in the epilogue, the final third of the book and the conclusion are absolutely first rate in tying together events during the war and in today's Toronto. Excellent police novel with some great detective work and historically enlightening.  Excellent.

Blood Ties, Nesbo - B

                 Roy Opgard is a fundamentally decent human being, notwithstanding the many murders he's committed over the years.  Never mind the bribery, obstruction of justice, and bank fraud at the center of this story.  His primary problem is his younger brother Carl, about whom he has an abiding sense of guilt and responsibility because he had never stopped his father's sexual abuse of Carl—until he emphatically did.  He spends his life cleaning up the multiple nasty messes Carl leaves along the way, until Carl crosses the line.  This time Carl betrays him.  He, in turn, hatches his own plan, and the brothers engage in a three-dimensional game of chess with millions of dollars and jail time on the line.  The author seldom strays from his highly successful series about an alcoholic Oslo detective and does so admirably here.  Very good.

The Oligarch's Daughter, Finder - B

             The author specializes in preposterous page-turners and this is yet another.  Paul Brightman, a thirtysomething Manhattan hedge fund analyst, meets and falls in love with a struggling Greenwich Village artist.  Tatyana is Russian and speaks with a very slight accent.  Six months later, they are living together and she suggests that he meet her family.  Her dad, Arkady Galkin, is not a taxi driver from Brighton Beach, but rather a multi-billionaire who lives on the upper East Side.  Soon, Paul takes a job with his now father-in-law's 5th Avenue family office. When he realizes that the operation is illegal and funded by the Kremlin, he approaches the FBI.  The firm's security manager, a recent FSB agent, becomes suspicious, but Arkady backs Paul. When Arkady's security people arrive at his apartment, Paul excuses himself, escapes and heads to the FBI undercover office nearby. Everyone there is dead, and Paul takes a cab to the Port Authority.

     Five years later, he is working as a boat builder and an occasional fishing guide in a small town in New Hampshire. He gets the drop on the first Russian who shows up, but winds up in the woods running from the next two killers.  As good as he is, he can't make it on his own and is helped by hard-core survivalists. The story completely 'jumps the shark' as he survives,  exposes a CIA-KGB joint conspiracy and lives happily after. As incredulous as anything, it's still a one-day read.

Golden Fleece: The Story of Franz Joseph and Elizabeth of Austria, Harding - B +

             In the summer of 1853, a Bavarian princess traveled to Austria where her sister, Sophie, the Empress Dowager, was her host.  The two sisters intended for Helene of Bavaria to become affianced to Emperor Franz Joseph. When the young emperor set his eyes on Elizabeth, Helene's younger sister, he concluded otherwise. He fell for Sisi, an impetuous, stunningly beautiful, and  rambunctious free spirit, and decided that she would be his bride. Before half of Europe's royalty, they wed on April 24, 1854. Sisi and her imperious mother-in-law were immediately at loggerheads. The sixteen-year-old empress was soon pregnant, but the birth of a girl, Sophie, was not enough to satisfy her mother-in-law. Another daughter, Gisela, followed a year later.  The Empress Dowager took complete charge of both girls, and when the emperor realized that Sophie barely knew him or her mother, he insisted that the Empress Dowager relinquish control of his children.

            About this time, Franz Joseph learned that his Italian possessions were being grossly mismanaged and concluded that he would travel there to rectify matters. He decided to bring his wife and baby Sophie with him. Initially, the trip was a dismal failure, for at every turn he was met by the quiet hostility of the Italian people. In Venice, Elizabeth convinced him to pardon the political prisoners and return confiscated lands to their owners. He did the same in Milan, removed the administration of the reactionary Field Marshal Radetzky, and announced that his brother Maxi would become consul. Although he did not stave off the Italian desire for independence, he had made a very positive impression. He decided it would be best to try hands-on diplomacy in Hungary as well. He, Elizabeth, and the two girls headed to Budapest. The trip was a success from the beginning, as Elizabeth honored the Magyar language and customs, but turned tragic when baby Sophie died of fever.

           To the joy of the empire, Sisi delivered a boy in August, 1858. Rudolf was now the heir.  A year later, the Italians, with French backing, provoked the grossly unprepared Austrian army into war. Franz Joseph was equally incapable of managing the diplomacy. The Austrians' military equipment was so outdated that Napoleon III said, "It is a wonder they don't wear powdered wigs" into battle.  While the Austrian army lost every battle with Franz at the front, Sisi and the Dowager battled over the children in Vienna.  Failure was absolute and Franz signed away Lombardy.

           He returned home to the never-ending conflict between his mother and wife, and this time, sided with the Dowager. Elizabeth became so upset she left home three times for Madeira, Corfu, and Venice.  She exercised and starved herself to wraith-like status and ill-health.  Her mother convinced her to come north, and she returned to Vienna to become "a model wife-mother-sovereign." This idyll would be short-lived as two crises for the family were brewing. Maximilian and his wife Carlota sailed to Mexico to become its emperor and empress. And when a pan-Germanic conference was called in Frankfurt to explore further ties, the Prussians, under Bismarck, did not attend.

           Otto von Bismarck sought to provoke war to provide Prussia the opportunity to become paramount in Germany. His first victim was Austria, which he forced into a one-week humiliation in April 1866.  One consequence was the resurrection of Hungary's demand for a parliament and a constitution. Franz sent Elizabeth to Budapest, and she encouraged Franz to acquiesce. He agreed and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with Franz as emperor of the dual monarchy was established.  The royal couple's trip to Budapest for their coronation was an absolute triumph. But June 1867 saw the end of Maximilian's ill-fated venture when he was executed by the Mexicans. When Elizabeth delivered her fourth child, Valerie, she did so at her castle in Hungary and worked assiduously to keep her mother-in-law at bay. 

        In 1870, Napoleon III sealed his fate by declaring war on Prussia over the relatively unimportant matter of the Spanish succession, and in turn, quickly lost a war, his throne and Alsace-Lorraine.  Franz wisely declared neutrality. Two years later, the Dowager Empress died with Elizabeth at her side.  Franz thought that an exposition would lighten the mood in Austria, and Vienna hosted a successful one in 1873.  At the same time, Elizabeth was an ambitious horsewoman who endlessly traveled to ride in England, Ireland, and Hungary. Her extravagances offended the Austrians, who never loved her as the rest of the continent did. As she turned forty, she saw "the first signs of physical decline, which in a woman of her pride amounted to torture." She began to travel Europe seeking the fountain of youth.  She began to speak of suicide.

           In 1881, the Crown Prince was married to Princess Stephanie of Belgium in an arranged and disastrous union. The slowly-developing bride was barely out of puberty and had no concept of what her marital obligations were.  Rudolf returned to the cabarets of Vienna. After a few years, matters improved and Stephanie gave birth to a daughter. At the palace, Elizabeth began to further drift off as so many of her family had𑁋the Wittelsbachs had a history of mental illness.  Franz continued to indulge her to no avail.  "She remains history's most glaring example of a woman spoiled by a man's sheer kindness. The greater Franz's patience with her, the more insufferable she became."

          Undoubtedly, the low point of their lives, and likely Franz's sixty-eight-year reign, came in January, 1889. The year before, Rudi gave up on his loveless marriage to his barren wife and took up with the teenaged Baroness Vetsera.  When the Pope denied his request for an annulment, Rudi asked his father if he could renounce the throne.  Franz was one of the most duty-conscious monarchs of all time, and he told his son that he had to give up the Baroness and fulfill his duty to the dynasty.  The following night, Rudi and Marie committed a dual suicide.  Rudolf left letters of explanation for his loved ones.  None were addressed to Franz.  His letter to his mother said, "I ask my father's forgiveness, knowing full well I was not worthy of being his son."  Elizabeth never recovered.  She again began her endless travels, once again leaving Franz at home.  "Always a truant she had failed as an empress and mother.  She now failed as a wife."  Her mental and physical health continued to deteriorate for the next decade. On Sept. 10, 1898, she was waiting for the ferry in Geneva when an Italian anarchist assassinated her. 

          For Franz, the final agony came in 1914 when the Archduke, against his orders, traveled to Sarajevo and was assassinated.  Franz thought the resulting Astro-Hungarian ultimatum was too much but, at eighty-four, allowed his ministers to decide. No one envisioned the conflagration that followed.  Franz Joseph passed away quietly in November, 1916.

         This book is excellent, even though so much time is spent on the squabbles between Elizabeth and Sophie, and it was written in the somewhat florid and flowery language in 1937.  Elizabeth has universally been described as one of the most beautiful woman in Europe in the 19th century. With that beauty came the curse of mental instability.  Franz Joseph adored her and comes off as a well-meaning, very decent man who was likely in over his head. I have been fascinated by the Hapsburgs since reading a history of the era on my first trip to Europe, to Austria in 1987.  The author posed the idea that in the decades since the end of the dynasty, things have not gone very well for Central Europe. Under Franz Joseph, the multi-lingual and cultural lands had been relatively free and prosperous.  The ensuing seventy years saw revolution, poverty, Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and occupation by the Soviets.

           

Goldstein, Kutscher - B +

             In the third novel in this series, Brooklyn gangster Abe Goldstein arrives in Berlin in the summer of 1931. Rath is told to keep an eye on him. A parallel story involves two teenage street kids caught by the Prussian Police in Berlin's finest department store after midnight. Alex escapes, but from the street she watches as an officer sends Benny six stories to his death. She reports that Benny was murdered, and since the policeman has a record of violent outbursts, the matter is taken seriously. Alex disappears into the streets again, but the relentless Charly Ritter finds her.

           Although Goldstein is in Berlin for family reasons, all assume he is in the middle of an outbreak of gang violence. He is not, but he does help an old Jew being harassed by the SA. One of the Nazis, who is likely gay, winds up dead later in the night. And since Goldstein has been seen in their vicinity, he has a problem.  Once the police connect him to the Nazis, they begin looking for him, and they later suspect him of helping his dying grandfather off to the afterlife.  Rath, however, is certain that Goldstein did not kill the Nazi.

            While the police are following the cop who killed Benny, he is murdered, and they learn that he was another homosexual in the SA. It also appears as if his killer was in a police uniform. When finally uncovered, the police find that these murders, and quite a few others in the gang world, were committed by the White Hand, a conspiracy of right-wing police and judiciary personnel trying to save Germany from the liberalism of the Weimar Republic.  Of course, the ultimate irony is that Goldstein helps the police and is free to return to the US.  A totally brilliant police novel, once again with limited exposition of the politics of the era and very little in common with the Netflix series.

The Empress, Griffis - B+

              In 1853, two sisters, Helene and Elizabeth, both Duchesses of Bavaria, travel to Austria to meet the young Franz Joseph.  The emperor's imperious mother, Sophie, has invited her nieces to meet the emperor with the expectation that he will select the elder to be his bride, empress, and mother of the future sovereign. However, Franz is overburdened by the pressures and strictures of his life and the expectation that he will always do what the family wants.  He is immediately smitten by the impetuous and adventurous younger sister, Elizabeth.  His marriage proposal to her annoys his mother, shocks his aunt and destroys Helene. Marrying into the oldest dynasty in Europe is complicated and filled with roadblocks set out by Sophie, Helene, and Maxi, Franz's troubled younger brother.  Nonetheless, Franz and Elizabeth joyfully wed in a marriage of love in what will be the final Hapsburg marriage of a sitting emperor.  This novel is the basis of season one of the eponymous Netflix series.

The White Fortress, Morrison & Morrison - B

               This the third in the 14th-century series featuring Sir Gerard Fox and his wife Willa.  This one is set in Croatia and revolves around the vast wealth created by the salt resources in the city of Ston.  The ruler of Dubrovnik wishes to make Ston part of the Serbian Empire.  Fox and Willa find themselves assisting a couple they meet in Rhodes and wind up in the middle of a Balkan conflict. They defend Ston against a Serbian attack, and plan a return to France. Not as compelling as the first two, and I'm not sure if the authors are finished or are planning more. Fun historical fiction.

Blood and Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931-1945, Overy - B, Inc.

            This book presents a less conventional approach than we are used to. The war began in 1931, and did not end in Asia, the Middle East, and Central Europe until a decade after 1945. In many ways, the war and its predecessor were a second Thirty Years War accomplishing "the reordering of the world system in a final stage of imperial crisis." 

           The last quarter of the 19th century saw the new countries of Germany, Italy, and Japan join the imperial scramble. "Over the half century that followed, these were the three major states whose wish to create major empires would result in world war in the 1940's." Germany's empire was lost in the Great War, and the British and French expanded theirs. Both Italy and Japan felt ill treated by the Big Three at Paris, and were desirous of more spoils. All three countries' animosities and resentments were further exacerbated by the Depression. 

           Japan invaded Manchuria on Sept. 18, 1931. Once the military dominated national politics "a widespread campaign to raise national awareness and enthusiasm for territorial expansion was inaugurated." Over the summer of 1936, the Japanese moved south, and China declared war. By the end of 1940, Japan occupied most of China but had suffered 180,000 dead, 324,000 wounded, and had dozens of divisions tied up in a stalemate neither side could win. Italy's expansion ambitions were less grand.  Late in 1935, Italy attacked Ethiopia from its colonies in east Africa. The ensuing victory did not come quickly but was long and draining.  April 1939 saw Italy invade and occupy Albania. 

            Hitler rearmed Germany, but had no real strategy for gaining living space.  Hitler expected Poland to be a limited engagement at best, and was surprised when the Allies declared war. "The war against Poland can better be understood as the final stage in a largely uncoordinated movement to found new territorial empires in the 1930's rather than... the opening conflict of the Second World War."

          Germany attacked to the west in the spring. Their success was total and overwhelming. They "gambled everything on a rapid breakthrough and encirclement that eluded them in 1914." France had prepared to defend against a German advance on the Flanders plains. When the Germans came through the Ardennes, they were surprised, out of position, and grossly incapable of reacting. The French were soundly defeated. As the year ended, Britain was hopelessly out matched, alone, and stubbornly holding on to its empire.

           Hitler concluded that defeating the USSR was a pre-requisite to defeating Great Britain by eliminating its "last prospect of a European Alliance." Hitler's ongoing desire for Lebensraum and Stalin's aggression in the Baltics and Romania confirmed his conclusion. Meanwhile, Mussolini, without coordinating with Germany, invaded Greece and Egypt. A vastly outnumbered UK army handily defeated the Italians in the desert, and a British colonial army captured Ethiopia. Mussolini's abysmal showing in Greece led to a request for German help leading Hitler to invade Greece and send Rommel to Africa.

          "By June 1941, the largest invasion force in history was in place." At 3:30 AM on the 22nd, Barbarossa kicked off. Army Groups North and Centre exceeded the army's wildest expectations. Only in the South did the Soviets mount an effective defense. By the end of the summer, the Soviets lost 2,000,000 men. Eventually, time, distance, weather, and Soviet bravery stopped the Germans in the 3rd week of November. Fritz 

         The war was fundamentally "transformed" on December 7th. In addition to bombing Pearl Harbor, Japan occupied the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and the Dutch East Indies. "The collapse of the British Empire in Asia and the Pacific was complete." Clearly, attacking the US was a major strategic error for Japan.  Germany then declared war on the US. 

       The empires newly acquired by the Japanese and Germans were subjected to brutal occupations. In Asia, the false equality of an Asian led co-prosperity sphere was in reality regimes of torture, execution, and starvation. It is estimated that three million Indonesians starved in a country once a self-sufficient exporter of foodstuffs. For western European states, Germany's victories meant the expropriation of assets and the conversion of their economies to the support of the war effort. In the east, Hitler's goal was "to dominate, administer, and exploit." Exploitation proved unattainable as the retreating Soviets had dismantled and destroyed almost all of the industrial capacity of the conquered areas. For the civilian population, rations were just enough to keep people alive. Over half of Europe's Jews lived in the east and "Germany's most bitter anti-Semites were concentrated in the security apparatus that occupied those very same areas. However poorly co-ordinated and prone to friction the killing process in the East was, the end result for the Jews was the same - to die swiftly or slowly, but to die." In April of 1945 Hitler reveled in "having eliminated the Jew from Germany and Cental Europe."

      "Stalingrad, Guadalcanal, and El Alamein were the furthest points of advance" for the Axis powers. At Guadalcanal, Japan faced its first disastrous failure. Hirohito ordered it be abandoned at year end. In the desert, the British 8th Army defeated Rommel in the fall. Although both Stalin and Roosevelt were unhappy about Britain's focus on Africa, the fighting there was a serious drain on German resources. Both battles were important, but were dwarfed by Stalingrad. Two million men engaged in the carnage on the Volga before Germany surrendered the 6th Army in late January, 1943. After the Allies invaded Sicily (again Churchill's desire and opposed by Eisenhower and Marshall) Mussolini was deposed. The new government sought peace, and Germany occupied most of the country. A strategic stalemate ensued. In Russia, once again 2 million men engaged in midsummer in the largest tank battle ever at Kursk. The German retreat continued. As 1943 ended, it was clear that Japan and Germany were both headed to defeat. Throughout the Pacific, the US slowly advanced closer to the home islands. The Soviets pounded the Wehrmacht and pushed for a 2nd front. Late in 1943, the 8th Air Force introduced long-range fighters that were able to clear the Luftwaffe from the sky by the time of the Normandy landing. On June 6, the Allies landed 132,450 troops. However, it took until early August before they broke through the German defenses. With defeat on the horizon, the soldiers of the Empire and the Reich chose to fight to the bitter end.  Indeed the Japanese were so committed that almost none allowed themselves to be captured. Both the Red and Allied Army advances in late 1944 stalled for logistical reasons and resurgent German efforts. "The battles of the last months of conflict to subdue the crumbling enemy empires were among the bloodiest and costliest of the war." It took the Soviets three months to conquer the last 65 kilometers on the road to Berlin. The US and British did not cross the Rhine until March. The defenses of Iwo Jima and Okinowa were fanatical. Overwhelmed, the Third Reich collapsed in early May. The Japanese surrender came in late August after fire bombings and two atomic bombs. "For millions on both sides, the surrenders meant relief from the all-embracing demands of total war, but the many many arguments between the Allies...anticipated the coming Cold War, while the unresolved crises generated by imperialism...meant years of violence and political conflict still lay ahead."

         "The most significant geopolitical consequence of the war was the collapse within less than two decades of the entire European imperial project and the establishment of a world of nation states."

           This almost 900 page book has been acclaimed as a magnificent one volume history of the war.  I do not agree. I submit that No Simple Victory by Davies, Inferno by Hastings, and A World Of Arms by Weinberg are all superior. The most fascinating and compelling concept offered here is the war as an extension of imperial ambition and decline is fascinating and food for thought. I have never come across the idea and find it compelling. I am a bit surprised by the British author's disdain for Churchill and his constant attempts to take steps to preserve the empire. Clearly, the US senior warriors did not agree with Winston. That said, my observations are tempered by the fact that I skipped over 500 pages and six chapters that drilled down on specific aspects of the war that would probably have taken a month to read.

            

A Death In Berlin, Scarrow - B

         When the owner of a seedy nightclub is gunned down in May 1940, Kripo Inspector Horst Schenke is assigned the case. Apparently, the decedent was dealing in forged ration coupons that use ink obtained from official sources. The possibility of high level corruption haunts the investigation. Horst's next problem is much bigger. Berlin's leading gangster, the man behind the forgeries, has uncovered Schenke's relationship with a Jewish woman and threatens to expose him. When Guttman kidnaps Ruth, Schenke makes a deal with an opposing gang leader. Together, they attack Guttman's villa, Horst rescues Ruth, and Berlin now has a new crime boss.

Realm Of Ice And Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, And History's Greatest Arctic Rescue, Levy - B

          This book "is a serial history of the aerial explorations to reach the summit of the earth."  The first attempt was made by Chicago newspaperman and explorer, Walter Wellman, whose dirigible, America, set sail from Spitsbergen on Sept. 2, 1907. The vessel had been built in Paris, shipped north by sea, and assembled in the Arctic. The amount of supplies and equipment Wellman gathered to build, fuel, and protect the 185 foot long dirigible massively exceeded the usual sail and sled approach to polar exploration. Within hours of its start on the 700 mile trip to the North Pole, America crashed on a glacier. Wellman, his men, and the airship were rescued and returned to Spitsbergen. Two years later, the airship again failed the first day. This time, the crew settled into the sea and were rescued by a Norwegian ship. Later that summer, both Cook and Peary claimed the Pole, and Wellman knew his quest was over. His last attempt at fame was a trip across the Atlantic that foundered about 1,000 miles east of the US coast. He was acclaimed for the longest flight in history.

           Legendary explorer Raold Amundsen announced in 1924 that he would fly from Norway to the Pole and on to Alaska. On May 21, 1925, the six men of the Amundsen-Ellsworth Expedition took off in two custom built planes. One faltered about 150 miles from the Pole. The entire team returned to Spitsbergen in the other plane. They were soon back with a 350 foot rigid dirigible built in Italy and renamed Norge. Also, they faced competition from Americans, Floyd Bennett and Richard Byrd. Byrd and Bennett took off first, and returned 15 hours later claiming the Pole. Under the command of the Italian designer and builder Umberto Nobile, the Norge circled 90 north on May 12, 1926. After seventy-one hours and 2,700 miles, they landed in Alaska. Amundsen then announced his retirement. He and one of his colleagues, Omar Wisting, had been to 90 south fifteen years previously.  Many feel that Peary's proofs were inadequate, and that Amundsen actually was first to both Poles.

         Umberto Nobile, desirous of fame and glory for Italy, convinced his government to build the Italia and finance an Arctic exploration. The 350 foot dieigible safely flew to the Arctic, took a preliminary flight along the Soviet coast, and on May 24, 1928,  circled the Pole for a few hours. A day later, multiple malfunctions in difficult weather caused the Italia to crash. The survivors rigged a radio and sent out an SOS. Two weeks later, their radio received the response that an Italian naval vessel was on the way. 

        Amundsen felt, based on the explorers creed, he too should search.  A crew of six took off in a large flying boat on June 18th, and the greatest polar explorer of all time was never seen again. The Last Viking was gone, and all of Norway mourned.

       Soon, a Swedish pilot landed and began ferrying the Italia survivors back to Spitsbergen. On July 12th, a Soviet icebreaker finished the task. Mussolini's government harshly criticized and censured Nobile. Only in 1945 was his rank and reputation restored. Nonetheless, the era of polar exploration by airship was over. Ironically, a century later, various entrepreneurs are building and testing massive modern dirigibles. Fun read.

The Dark Hours, Jordan - B+

        Julia Harte retired from the Garda as a Detective Inspector five years ago and moved to a quiet town on the Irish Sea. She is known throughout Ireland for her solving of a serial killer case thirty years ago. When a copycat case arises in Cork, she and her old Chief Inspector are called in. The scene flashes back and forth between 2024 and 1994. Julia remains haunted by the events surrounding the case decades ago, when the killer murdered her partner, put her in the hospital and came close to killing her husband. This time, the patterns are the same and thankfully, are satisfactorily resolved. This is an excellent and recommended read, a page turner focused on fear.

War of the Roses - Ravenspur: The Rise of the Tudors, Iggulden - B+

        In 1470, with significant help from the King of France, the Lancastrian forces head back to England, where they once again free Henry VI from the Tower. Warwick leads the army when they go north to find Edward IV. Caught unawares, Edward and a handful of men flee to the Channel and on to Flanders. The following spring, he returns with 1600 mercenaries, lands at Ravenspur, and marches inland. He deftly avoids Warwick at Coventry, and races to, and enters, London. Edward once again imprisons Henry, has himself crowned a second time, and returns to the field to fight Warwick. They clash at Barnet just north of London. Edward of York prevails again, and this time Warwick is a casualty. Edward IV sets out after Queen Margaret and the Prince of Wales, who have just retuned from France. At Tewkesbury, he prevails as his forces kill many, including the Prince. In London, Henry VI dies upon hearing of his son's demise. York has prevailed and England is his. 

      Eleven years later, Edward IV keels over at a party at Westminster. Before he dies, he asks his brother Richard to look after his sons. Richard moves young Edward and Richard to the Tower for their protection. He declares them to be illegitimate, soon the princes mysteriously die, and Richard is now king. Within a year, his wife and only son are dead, and France decides one more time to interfere. The slimmest of Lancaster hopes is Henry Tudor, a distant descendant, through his mother, of John of Gaunt. They meet at Bosworth Field and Richard III falls in battle.  Thus, Henry VII brings peace and the Tudor line to England. Magnificent historical novel and series.

Lost Souls: Soviet Displaced Persons and the Birth of the Cold War, Fitzpatrick - B

               This is the story of the approximately one million Soviet refugees who refused to return home and the Allied resettlement of them outside of Europe. They were known as Displaced Persons (DPs). Almost all came from the states incorporated into the USSR under the 1939 Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, primarily the three Baltic countries. Also included were many stateless Russians, those who had fled after the 1917 Revolution, and Poles whose communities were made part of Belorussia and Ukraine. Additionally, British hostility to Jewish immigration to Palestine added tens of thousands to those stranded in Germany. Eventually, UNRRA, which attempted to manage the millions of displaced, was succeeded by the International Refugee Organization whose mission was resettlement not repatriation. The IRO was American managed, focused on refugees, and in was opposition to the Soviets, who vehemently insisted on the return of all of its citizens. The establishment of Israel and the passage of a US law welcoming refugees, opened the gates for many to leave. The US and Israel joined Canada, Brazil, and Australia as the optimum destinations. As the Cold War began to take form, the West stopped looking at what people did during the war, and focused on their anti-communist beliefs. Indeed, "a principled repudiation of communism" became mandatory. There clearly were many who had collaborated with the Germans, and worse, who told tales and escaped the continent. As they settled in around the world, a few opted to return to Europe and decades later, many were extradited as war criminals. All in all, the UNRRA and IRO programs for the DPs were a success.

               

Mask of the Deer Woman, Dove - B-

               Carrie Starr, a Chicago detective, seeks revenge on a drug dealer after her daughter's death. There is no proof; nonetheless, the CPD asks her to resign and leave the state. She winds up as the marshal on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma where her dad grew up. Completely without resources, drinking constantly and smoking weed daily, she is faced with a missing young woman. As she begins to dig, she realizes she's dealing with a serial killer. Facing her own demons and a very deep prejudice against outsiders, she pulls it off.

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy, Jacobs - C

            Sitting at her grandfather's funeral, Hazel opens a letter she just received from him telling her that he would be murdered and that she should destroy everything in his office except one equation. As it turns out, the great mathematician had devised an equation with the ability to predict events in the chaos of the world. Hazel delivers it to the right person, an Italian professor who will use it to do good. This very confusing debut novel peaked in the prologue.

Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years, Fredriksen

                 The origin of Christianity is "less linear" than perceived. This book's "goal is to introduce the reader to the complexities and ambiguities, the ironies and surprises, the twists and turns of this richer story." Christianity came from a Jewish world that was different than its contemporary pagan religions in that it was based on an "imageless worship" and a "god who demanded that he be the sole recipient of his people's worship."

                 The concept of a Kingdom of God arose out of Jewish prophecies, and its word was spread to non-Jews by Paul. Christianity's offer of redemption and an afterlife attracted  pagans. Notwithstanding Judaism's role in developing Christianity, two theologies unfriendly to Judaism became an integral part of Christianity. By the third century, Christians blamed the Jews for killing Christ, and demoted the god of Abraham to a lower place than Jesus' God the Father. By the 4th and 5th centuries, anti-semitism abounded in Roman law, custom, and daily life. "Legally, socially, religiously, Jews within a now Christian society retained an ambiguous status and experienced an unstable and inconstant tolerance, one that would follow them into the Middle Ages and beyond."

              Very early on, there was a diversity of opinion about the meaning of many of Christ's teachings. "Christianity as we see it emerging in the second century sponsored many genuinely different and competing visions and versions of the gospel, with all sides condemning the others." The fourth century adoption of imperial Christianity led to the establishment of an orthodox, universal church. "Religious uniformity, ... now become a concern of the state."

             "By opting out of traditional Mediterranean observances, by insisting on worshiping only one god and no others, gentile Christians sometimes drew down on themselves the negative attention of their pagan neighbors." In the 3rd century, the state too joined in the persecution of Christians. When Constantine adopted Christianity as the religion of the empire, tolerance prevailed. He also brought some sense of "concord and unity" to the feuding sects, and directed the Council of Nicaea to address these issues. The Nicene Creed would become "the touchstone for imperially recognized orthodoxy." A sixth century mosaic portrayed Christ as a Roman soldier, confirming the "church and empire coming together as one."

         In conclusion, the question is "how did the apocalyptic Jewish messianic movement, with its odd outreach to pagans in the face of the world's imminent end, transmute within three centuries into an arm of the late Roman state?" Edward Gibbon offered five reasons: 1, the "inflexible and intolerant zeal of the early Christians," 2, the offer of life after death, 3, the miraculous powers ascribed to the church, 4, the austere morals of the early Christians, and 5, the union and discipline of the Christian republic. The author suggests it was the organizational skills of the church's bishops and the adoption of Christianity as the empire's official religion that assured the church's success. 

         This brief, but intellectually challenging and demanding book is incredibly interesting and insightful. Nonetheless, I cannot remeber reading anything this difficult in a very long time.

Hang On St. Christopher, McKinty - B+

               While in Belfast for one of his six days of work per month, Duffy is dragged into working "a straightforward little homicide." Of course nothing is ever easy in Belfast and the decedent appears to have had some connection to the the IRA. A trip south, some reluctance on the part of some to talk, and assistance from a local Republic cop confirm that the decedent was a player, perhaps an assassin, in the IRA raising the likelihood of it being murder one and certainly not a carjacking. When Sgt. McCrabban finds a hit list at the decedent's home, it's apparent that this matter is well above the pay grade of the Carrickfergus RUC, and is turned over to Special Branch. Duffy is told he's free to go home to Scotland. Not capable of letting it rest, Duffy tracks down the killer. He finds him in Virginia because he works for the CIA. A long chat leads to Duffy flying home knowing that he peace process and the end to the Troubles could be on the way. Once again, a great read.

The Winner, Wayne - B-

            Conor is having a helluva summer studying for the bar while giving tennis lessons at an exclusive, gated community on the Cape. Pretty soon, a gorgeous 49-year old is paying him for wildly satisfying sex after lessons. However, he happens to fall for an age appropriate woman on the island, before he realizes that she, Emily, is Catherine's daughter. He juggles this ball for about a month when Catherine threatens him, starts hitting him and he accidentally delivers a fatal counter. The police investigation and the conclusions they come to fall flat as this novel stumbles toward its end.

London Rules, Herron - B+

            On the day terrorists kill a dozen innocents in a village that dates to medieval times, someone tries to run down Slough Houses's own Roddy Ho. Although all wonder if they'd have preferred his demise, they recognize it as a threat to them all, and they begin to tail him. And lo and behold, a second attempt is made at Ho's house and Lamb saves the day. MI5 determines that whoever attacked Ho was behind the Abbotsford bombing. Lamb realizes that the terrorists are following an old MI-5 template for destabilizing hostile nations, and if Ho is somehow part of a leak, Slough House could be in trouble. As the next step in the secret plan is to assassinate a populist politician, the slow horses divide up to keep an eye on the two likeliest candidates. Tragically, the newest slow horse, JK Coe, inadvertently kills one of the targets. When the slow horses capture the girlfriend to whom Ho leaked the information, they and MI5 headquarters narrow the search. The bad guys are N. Korean and not the usual suspects. While the security services focus on an attack at the memorial service in London, Shirley Dander and JK Coe head to the site of the first attack and stop the terrorists in their tracks. Once again Headquarters would like to shut down Slough House but cannot do so.

The Ghosts of Rome, O'Connor - B-

                  This novel is the second in a series based on a real life hero, Msgr. Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish diplomat assigned to the Vatican. He and the fictional Contessa Landini manage the 'Choir,' a system of escape for downed airmen, escaped prisoners, and anyone running from the Gestapo. In the spring of 1944, Berlin puts a vast amount of pressure on the local SS officer to end the escape line or suffer the consequences, and he in turn escalates the pressure on all in the Eternal City. Thrust and parry by both sides as the Germans close down streets, raid buildings, and sweep up a few, but there are so many in hiding, the process of moving them out of the city continues until the liberation.

                  Unlike its predecessor, this book has a stream of consciousness feel to it that I'm not comfortable with. Historians have estimated that O'Flaherty saved 6500 souls from the Nazi's.

Predator Of The Seas: The History Of The Slaveship That Fought For Emancipation, Taylor - B+

                  In 1807, the UK enacted the Act of Abolition banning the slave trade. Efforts to catch slavers generally failed because the Royal Navy's ships of the line were immeasurably slower than the slavers. 

                  The brig Henriqueta was built near Baltimore around 1820, and like all American ships, she was built for speed. She was purchased by a Brazilian, Jose Lima, who used it to successfully build up his slaver business. The Henriqueta was very fast, and was capable of holding over 500 humans, and transported 504 survivors on her first trip from Africa to Brazil. The brig continued to transport thousands of Africans each year and made Lima one of the richest men in Brazil. However, as the British became more and more frustrated with the continued high level of slaver activity, they decided to impound ships even if there was no contraband aboard. The Henriqueta adopted the ruse of flying under an American flag. She had delivered 3040 slaves to Brazil over six voyages. But, by virtue of a very lucky shot that dismasted her, her seventh was halted and over 500 Africanfreed. The ship was auctioned and purchased by an Englishman and soon was sailing for the Royal Navy as the Black Joke. Evidencing a change in policy, "she would be set free to cruise independently in battling the very atrocities she had enabled." In her first week, she captured a Spanish vessel headed to Cuba with 155 souls aboard. Their next success was a Brazilian with 695 slaves aboard, the largest capture in the history of the West African Squadron. Among the issues facing the squadron were fever, smallpox, and  violent weather.  They also faced the excruciating frustration of capturing slavers more than once. Oft times, the buyer at auction sailed the ships back to Brazil and sold them to the previous owner. They were fighting an uphill battle as slavers delivered far more of the enslaved to Brazil, Cuba and the Indies than ever before. The US did not cooperate in any way and more importantly, France was exempt from interference by virtue of a treaty. Thousands of Africans continued to pour into the New World.  In tropical water, a ship's wood often deteriorated and by 1831, the Black Joke was not what she once was. A heavily armed Spaniard, the Marienereto, vowed to sink her. Although "the scourge of Africa's oppressors" was fading, the Black Joke prevailed. A year later, the Admiralty decommissioned the ship and she was burnt on the shore at Sierra Leone.

            In 1833, Parliament abolished slavery in the colonies effective the following year, and in the Indies in 1838. The Royal Navy was able to end Brazil's trading in 1851. The British patrolled the African coast until 1867 and are believed to have saved 160,000 Africans from slavery. Nonetheless, it should be noted that prior to fighting slavery, the English in the 16th and 17th centuries, enslaved 3.2 million Africans, of whom an estimated 700,000 died in the Middle Passage.

                

War Of The Roses - Bloodlines, Iggulden - B+

               After defeating York at Sandal in 1460, Queen Margaret headed south to London where Henry VI was imprisoned. A York army blocked the road. They were outflanked when the queen's forces attacked from behind, carried the day, and recaptured the king. Their success was not rewarded when they were refused entrance to the city of London, and were forced to march away to safer surroundings. When the forces of York came to London, they were admitted and hailed. Edward, Duke of York, decided it was a propitious time, and had himself crowned Edward IV. Two weeks later, he marched north to pursue the the queen. At Towton, the bloodiest battle ever on English soil took place. It was fought on Palm Sunday in a raging snowstorm and the Yorkists sent the Lancasters fleeing. Margaret, the nine year old Prince of Wales, and the enfeebled Henry fled to Scotland. Margaret and her son sailed for France, and left Henry in the care of one of his lords. 

                In 1464, Henry VI stumbled into the hands of a York loyalist, and was returned to the Tower. Edward IV, a young and inexperienced monarch, began to mistreat his most loyal servant and chancellor, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, whose own father had died in battle with Edward's. So offended was Warwick that he conspired with the king's opponents, and captured Edward IV. Now, both crowned kings of England were imprisoned, but there was a difference: the people demanded Edward's freedom and could have cared less about Henry. Warwick eventually concluded he needed to free Edward, and he and his family fled to Paris. As a guest of the French king, he was obliged to meet with two guests, Queen Margaret and her son, the Prince of Wales. Another fine book that leaves me looking forward to the fourth in the series, and the climax of the War of the Roses.

          

Masters Of The Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought The Air war Against Nazi Germany, Miller - B

                  "The Eighth Air Force had been sent to England to join the ever accelerating bombing campaign, which would be the longest battle of World War II." Casualties would be shockingly high. The 8th had 26,000 fatalities, more than the entire U.S. Marine Corps. 

                   The U.S. Air Force came to the war as believers of strategic bombing, the destruction of the enemy's means of production, and the breaking of its morale. It was aided by the Norden bombsight, which American pilots bragged allowed them to drop a bomb into a pickle barrel. The Boeing-made B-17 was a majestic machine that was amazingly fast, heavily armed, and believed to be invincible. Consequently, the planners did not foresee the need for fighter escorts. Between February 1942 and the end of 1943, the 8th grew from seven men and no planes, to 185,000 and 4,000. However, their start was inauspicious. Throughout the second half of 1942, the U.S. put planes over the continent, but the inexperienced crews could not compete with the Luftwaffe's veterans, and their bombing was totally inaccurate. That first year, they were "flying and fighting without proper equipment, armor, warmth, or rest." Their losses were so high and unrelenting that there was a near total collapse of morale and well-being in the 8th. By the time the 8th began to receive reinforcements in the late spring of 1943, they had seen only a fourth of their crews live long enough to complete their 25 mission objective.

           Over that first winter, the Yanks began the construction of over 200 airfields in England to hold the eventual thousands of planes and hundreds of thousands of men set to arrive. The objective of the RAF and USAF was to destroy the Luftwaffe, its bases, and manufacturing facilities prior to the cross-channel invasion of 1944. The first major attempt the 8th made was against two plants in Bavaria, one the Reich's leading manufacturer of ball bearings, the other, a large Messerschmitt plant. On August 17, three hundred and seventy-six B-17's took off, sixty-one were lost and another 100 were so badly damaged that they were pulled from the line. The damage inflicted on the Germans was negligible. At this point, it was evident that long range fighter escorts had to be used or the US bombing campaign would fail. In Germany, the air war now became the Reich's primary concern. Albert Speer and the Luftwaffe's leaders begged for more fighter planes. Hitler opted for flak guns and revenge rockets. A second run at the ball bearing plant in Schweinfurt again led to massive U.S. casualties. Late in 1943, the 8th added a new strategic asset to its planes, air to ground radar. The American could now fly and bomb in northern Europe's perpetually cloudy skies.

           The air war over Germany finally turned conclusively in America's favor on January 11, 1944. On a mission deep into Germany, the B-17's were escorted by a new fighter, the P-51 Mustang. A single plane protected an entire group from the Luftwaffe only a few minutes west of Berlin. The Mustang changed everything. It could fly as far east as Poland, was faster and lighter than the Me-109, and was produced in massive quantities. Additionally, the Americans were told to not fly with the B-17's, but rather to push forward and aggressively attack the German fighters. On February 20, the 8th unleashed a massive bombing operation in which they lost a handful of planes and the escorts knocked out a third of their attackers. It was a clear cut victory, and the beginning of the end for the Luftwaffe. They carried their massive raids to Berlin next and dealt the capital  blow after blow. Finally in May, American casualties dropped precipitously, and morale skyrocketed. Gen. Eisenhower diverted both the RAF and USAF to ground support throughout the summer of 1944. When the 8th was released, it attacked the synthetic oil industry and finally hit a strategic target that substantially impeded the German war effort. In the fall, a resupplied Luftwaffe made their final effort, but were overwhelmed as the US was flying missions with 500-1000 bombers constantly. Over the winter, the 8th slowed down its strategic ambitions and began to aggressively bomb German population centers.  After the war, the Allies learned that their bombing of the cities throughout the Fatherland severely depressed front line Wehrmacht troops. When there wasn't much left to bomb, they provided ground support to advancing troops. And by the first week in May, it was at last over.

             History has not been kind to 'Bomber' Harris and the RAF's indiscriminate slaughter of German citizens for the entire length of the campaign. The record of the USAF is held in higher regard, but is still considered somewhat mixed. The only truly successful 'strategic'  bombing was of the synthetic fuel infrastructure in 1944. Almost everything else was area bombing. Their greatest and most important contribution was the defeat of the Luftwaffe. By clearing the skies, they made the Normandy landings and the ensuing successes possible. In many ways, this has been a frustrating read. It tells a story of magnificent bravery, steadfastness, and strength by very young Americans called to war. But at no point does it flow smoothly, and it is very long, almost wearying at times. That said, God bless the Greatest Generation.

                 

                     

                   

Hadrian And The Triumph Of Rome, Everitt- B

                   Hadrian's place in history has been secured by two accomplishments. He realized that further expansion was unsustainable and set about securing and strengthening the existing borders. And he refreshed and rebuilt Athens, leading it to be the cultural capital of the empire.

                  Born the son of a senator in 76 A.D., he lost his father when he was ten. A relative, Trajan, was appointed his guardian. During his education, he fell in love with the Greek language and its literature. The decade preceding his birth saw the empire face two momentous challenges. A series of revolts and the suicide of Nero meant the "elimination of the imperial system's founding family," and the declaration of an independent Jewish state led to a lengthy war. The Flavian dynasty of Vespasian and his two sons followed Nero, and ruled for three decades.  When Hadrian was 20, Trajan appointed him a tribune in his army, and he was with Trajan when Trajan became emperor in 98 A.D. The new emperor's first action was to attack the Dacians on the north side of the Danube. In a multi-year effort, Trajan triumphed, and created the province of Dacia, the first addition to the empire in fifty years. Hadrian was promoted and placed in defense of the province, and was made a consul in 108 A.D. Four yers later, Trajan attacked Parthia with Hadrian as his chief of staff. They added Armenia and Mesopotamia to the empire, but both were soon in rebellion. Trajan died, and his adopted son Hadrian ascended in 117 A.D. He immediately withdrew from the east to the empire's traditional borders, and permanently suspended the policy of seeking to expand the empire.

               Hadrian's goal was to bring peace and prosperity, and he sought to emulate Augustus' reign after he had prevailed at Actium. He was interested in the legal system and was the first to codify Rome's laws. He initiated massive public improvements in Rome, and traveled to all the reaches of the empire.  In 122 A.D., he went to Britain where he took great interest in a wall to separate the colony from the Picts. He extended Latin rights and Roman citizenship throughout the empire, and in particular to his legionnaires. Judaea, once again, rebelled and the rebellion was emphatically quashed in 135 A.D. with hundreds of thousands of Jews killed, enslaved, and exiled. He passed away in 138 A.D., and was succeeded by Antonius, who governed for two decades. He was a great emperor, a successful soldier and builder, but was never  popular with the people or the Senate. Edward Gibbon admired "his vast and active genius," and his "equity and moderation."  The noted Briton considered Hadrian's rule part "of the happiest era of human history."

Clear, Davies - B

                 In 1843 Scotland, an impoverished Presbyterian minister is hired to go to a remote Shetland island and evict the sole occupant. John Ferguson is shipwrecked on the shore of his destination and saved by Ivar, the island's last occupant who speaks an obsolete Norn language. As John recovers thanks to Ivar's ministrations, they slowly become friends. It takes a while, but Ivar eventually realizes that John could only be here on a mission from the laird, who Ivar hasn't seen in years. The men become close and closer, and John dreads what he has to do, but his wife, Mary, arrives, sees how close they are and offers to take Ivar in with them. An interesting and very different story.

Strategy For Defeat: The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945, Murray - B+

                "As with all military thought, a wide variety of political, historical, and economic factors guided the development of air doctrines in the period between the First and Second World Wars." Paramount though in the rush to build air forces was a desire to avoid a repetition of the horror of the first war's trench warfare. That said, what followed was not unlike what had preceded, a battle of attrition. Throughout the 1930's, the materials necessary to build an air force - rubber, aluminum, and petroleum were in short supply in Germany. And because the country was a continental power, the Wehrmacht's needs took priority. Thus, the development of the Luftwaffe was "subject to definite economic constraints," and the requirement to support the other armed forces. Goring was an incapable manager, and the only person attending to "strategic planning, force structure, or industrial production." His inadequacies, combined with the economic limitations above, led to the collapse of the air arm late in the war. 

             The rapid victory over Poland was due to overwhelming power, and the close coordination of air power supporting ground forces. In Norway, the Luftwaffe was critical to Germany's submission of the country. In France, "the use of dive bombers to support the Meuse crossings played a major role in one of the most decisive strategic victories in the military history of the 20th century." However as the Luftwaffe was at the outer limits of the range of its planes, it suffered serious losses over Dunkirk. Although the Battle of Britain was a close run thing, to some extent the result was preordained, as the Germans had no aircraft that could compete with the Spitfire and Hurricane. For Barbarossa, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to destroy the Soviet air force. On the first few days, the Soviets lost 3800 planes. However as the year wore on, maintenance and supply systems reached the breaking point in Germany. By December, the Germans had stalled, indeed they were facing defeat. They had not prepared for the losses they suffered, and production could not keep up with the loss of men and material. For all intents and purposes, defeat was now inevitable. Throughout 1942, the Luftwaffe remained focused in the east, supporting the army as it dealt with the burgeoning Soviet response to the invasion. Only in the Crimea region did the Wehrmacht and its air support achieve offensive success. However by the end of the year, the imbalance of men and material was overwhelmingly in the favor of the Allies, who outproduced Germany's airplane production by a ratio of 2.5 to 1. 

            The air war over Germany began in 1942 when the British initiated their bombing campaign, which escalated significantly the following year. They pounded the Ruhr in March at a "terrible cost" and "flirted" with defeat. Success soon followed with the use of chaff to confound local radar. They destroyed Hamburg that summer. The British nighttime area bombing was supplemented by American daytime strategic precision bombing. When the Americans flew into German airspace and beyond the range of their fighter escorts, the Luftwaffe inflicted immense casualties on the 8th Air Force. Because Hitler was so focused on revenge, he encouraged continued construction of bombers and missiles to attack Britain instead of building more fighters to defend the Reich. That said, when Bomber Command began the arduous task of attacking Berlin, Germany was able to hold them off by coordinating a defense based upon ground radar coordination with searchlights, night fighters with radar, and flak to inflict heavy damage on the British to the point that they called off the attacks. Indeed, in the first quarter of 1944, Bomber Command lost 796 planes and crew. The US introduced the long range American fighter escort, the P-51 Mustang, and changed the dynamics of the air war. Reinforced with a massive infusion of men, fighters and bombers, the objective of the 8th Air Force now became the elimination of the Luftwaffe. During "Big Week" in February 1944, the US began flying 1,000 bombers with as many escorts against the overmatched Germans. Luftwaffe losses became "unmanageable."

             The Allies then turned to preparations for Overlord by bombing French rail and marshalling yards, the rail bridges over the Seine, and German fuel and refinery capabilities. When the invasion came, it was only "the skill and tenacity" of Germany's soldiers that prevented a rout. From D-Day to the end of the month, Allied pilots flew 130,000 sorties, ten times the Luftwaffe's. By the end of the summer, Germany and the Luftwaffe were spent. But the Allies in the west failed to capitalize on the situation and conclude the final victory, assuring eight more months of casualties for both sides and the ongoing destruction of Germany.

             This is a magnificent military history, and one those who have an interest and patience will enjoy.

            

Silent Death, Kutscher - B

                  This is the second novel in the Babylon Berlin series and is set in 1930. Gereon is called out to an accidental death of a famous actress after a spotlight falls from the rafters in a movie studio and kills her. He concludes that the spotlight was manipulated to fail, and that it is a case of premeditated murder. The technician who is likely behind it is missing, as is a second famous actress. Soon thereafter, the technician plummets to his death from a very tall building. All conclude that it was suicide but Gereon is convinced he was pushed off. Then Homicide finds the second famous actress dead in an abandoned movie theater with her vocal cords removed. A third actress's body is found in another closed theater, also with her vocal cords gone. Gereon tries to convince all that the three are related, but no one at the Alex agrees with him. He's suspended for ongoing insubordination, but heads off to follow one more clue at Wannsee. There, he confronts the killer. This novel too is quite good, but unlike its predecessor, it is a straightforward police novel lacking just about any meaningful insights into the last years of Weimar.

Gabriel's Moon, Boyd - B-

              Gabriel Dax is a travel writer uninterested in politics who happens to be in the Congo when Patrice Lumumba asks for an Englishman to interview him and record the conversation. He jumps at the task but never has the chance to even write the article as Lumumba is out of office before Gabriel returns to London. Lumumba had told him the US and the UN wanted him dead "because of the uranium." Soon, he is dead and Gabriel's life begins to go sideways. He's followed, his apartment is broken into, and is of interest to MI-6 and the CIA all because of the tapes he's buried in the yard. He soldiers on trying to write his next book, but is repeatedly asked to do small favors for MI-6, and all along the way, his life is now at risk. Pretty weak tea from an accomplished novelist.

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, Higginbotham - A*

                As the Apollo program was winding down, NASA turned its thoughts to a vehicle that could leave the earth and return in- tact. "This would require a true spacefaring vessel, and such a vehicle remained the stuff of science fiction." A plane that could withstand the forces of liftoff, survive the "cold soak" of space,  reenter the atmosphere at 2700 degrees Fahrenheit and have  engines that could work both in the atmosphere and in outer space was seemingly impossible. Nonetheless, a plane was designed by NASA and began production at four different contractors.  NASA selected thirty-five new astronauts for the program and dropped the prior requirement that each candidate have extensive flying experience. TFNG's (the thirty-five new guys) included men of color and women for the first time. Columbia took its maiden flight on April 12, 1981 with two NASA veterans, John Young and Bob Crippen, at the controls. It exceeded all expectations and an exultant nation reveled in its success. 

              When the solid fuel rockets were recovered from the Atlantic, engineers were surprised to see that the O rings were charred after a two minute ignition. The massive 150 foot rockets weighed over a million tons and had to be manufactured in four parts before final assembly at Cape Canaveral. The O rings were part of the mechanism that sealed the parts together. NASA and the contractors' engineers believed they had solved the issue after the maiden flight, and there were no problems on ensuing shuttle liftoffs.  However in early 1984, Morton Thiokol engineers discovered another O ring erosion in two different places. The professional conclusion a month later was that future erosion was not a threat to the viability of the engine.  In January, 1985 after a once in a century freezing cold in Florida, the O rings failed to compress quickly enough and suffered significant charring. Senior executives at Huntsville and at Thiokol began to believe that sooner or later, there would be a catastrophic failure. 

             Flight STS 51-L scheduled for January, 1986 included two passengers, Christa McAuliffe, a social studies teacher from New Hampshire who would give lessons from space, and Greg Jarvis, an engineer from Hughes Aircraft selected to launch a Hughes satellite. The rest of the crew were NASA veterans; Ron McNair, Judy Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, and Dick Scobee had all flown previously. Only astronaut Mike Smith was a first timer. The crew and thousands of family, friends, and spectators descended on the Cape.  Cold weather scrubbed the launch for Sunday, the 25th, and the 26th. When Thiokol's engineers learned how cold it was, they alerted the Cape to the risks and offered a 14 man unanimous recommendation to not launch. The temperature at launch was forecasted to be 24 degrees colder than any previous launch and the O rings would lose all flexibility, be rigid, and would not hold their seal. NASA vigorously pushed back and the Thiokol men relented. Challenger would launch at 9:38 A.M. on the 28th.

           The early arrivers at the launchpad on Tuesday were shocked by the amount of ice everywhere. Florida was experiencing its second January in a row of a once in a century freeze. The crew entered the shuttle and the door was closed at 9:07.  When the Rockwell exec in California saw the ice, he told Florida that the manufacturer of the spacecraft could not assure the safety of the orbiter. NASA moved forward as another hold would disrupt the launch schedule for the year. As the countdown proceeded, the man at Thiokol in Utah who had pushed the hardest to stop the launch refused to watch on tv. At 11:39, the Challenger lifted off. Seventy-two seconds into the flight, the Challenger exploded.

           Within days, those who studied the film knew it was the O rings, and in Washington, it was decided that there would be a Presidential Commission to investigate the tragedy. Within a week, a Thiokol executive pointed out that the people from NASA were prevaricating about what happened. The commission, chaired by former AG Bill Rogers, concluded that many NASA people were lying and that their decision making process was "clearly flawed." The insistence to fly when the Thiokol people were opposed was the linchpin of their negligence. The final report was "damning." Those at NASA who lied and misled were quietly retired or shunted aside. The whistleblowers who told the truth at Thiokol became personae non gratae. In a famous appendix to the Rogers Report, a noted Caltech scientist said, "For a successful technology, science must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." Four families accepted the governments compensation, and three received awards after lengthy litigation. When Columbia failed in 2003, the report concluded that "many lessons of the Challenger disaster had gone unheeded." This very sad story is an indictment of any entity that insists on persevering through dissonant information because of the overriding expectations of accomplishing the mission. A truly great book.