04-09-2003, 06:51 PM
1. About U.S. politics that lead to the Civil War.
Freehling wrote a brilliant analysis of how the South seceded called "The Road To Disunion."
Warning: long book. Not sure how much time you have, and how much time you have to read. He is IIRC a University of Kentucky professor of history.
His major aim, it seemed to me, was to debunk the 'state's rights' argument and point to the fact that Slavery was the single driving cause of the Civil War, even if the North did not actually 'wage war to free the slaves.' (Plenty of other authors make that case as well.) He describes in detail how the Pro-Slavery faction in Southern politics, one of a number of factions, drove itself, and with it the entire South, into a corner.
He covers 1776 to 1854, and will or has put out a Volume 2 that covers 1854 to 1861. The best part of it, to me, was how he explains a lot of the detail in 1800-1850 US politics, a time period that I had, when I read the book, learned too little about.
2. Viet Nam // Stanley Karnow
I think Karnow is either Australian or Brit. He was a war correspondent in the 1960's, a contemporary of David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan. The volume, sort of long, is a pretty good overview Viet Nam the country, the character of the Vietnamese people, and the whole series of decisions, dating back to WW II and even back to Wilson and his Treaty of Verseilles days, and how they built the chain of events that led to Diem going down, Gulf of Tonkin, and the 1965-1970 phase that caused so much internal dissent within our own country.
Longish, but extremely readable.
If not 'the definitive' book, a very good and comprehensive look at a keystone event in American foreign policy post-WW II.
Understanding the Civil War and its origins is critical to understanding US history and our present, as I see it. Understanding Viet Nam is IMO critical to understanding modern US foreign policy, and some of the ghosts that still influence decision makers and critics alike.
3. A shorter book about modern U.S. policy decisions is by Woodward, called 'The Commanders.' He writes an able account of the wherefores and whys of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Not sure if he got it all right, but I found it interesting.
4. David Halberstam wrote "The Best and The Brightest" in IIRC the early 1970's. My Mom and Dad both read it when it came out, though for some reason I have not yet. It explores Kennedy's cabinet and some of the decisions they made and what went into them.
5. "Dereliction of Duty"
Caveat: this book was written by an Army Major or LTC, McMaster, who had an ax to grind. He was a cavalry troop commander (tanks and Bradley's) in the 1991 Gulf War who saw extensive combat.
The axe he grinds is essentially the axe Barbara Tuchman ground in "March of Folly," where she examines how a country can act against its own self interest. McMaster used recently declassified, as in the past 5 years, national security documents to show how self-delusion became a habit in the Kennedy, and more seriously the Johnson, administrations. McMaster was of course gunning for former Sec Def Robert McNamara and a whole slew of General Officers who served in Washington and Viet Nam, from the vantage point of thirty years later or more, and basically charges them all with a severe case of anal-cranial inversion.
6. Bright Shining Lie // Neil Sheehan
This one was a huge hit when it came out. It may not fit your list of background sources. It is a bit more of a personal account following the career of an Army Officer, John Paul Vann, and superimposing it on the Viet Nam War, where Vann served, and the realities of how in 1963 a lot of folks realized that the US was backing a bunch of yahoos. Sheehan was also a combat correspondent in Viet Nam. His own emotions bleed all over the page, but I had a hard time putting the book down.
Freehling wrote a brilliant analysis of how the South seceded called "The Road To Disunion."
Warning: long book. Not sure how much time you have, and how much time you have to read. He is IIRC a University of Kentucky professor of history.
His major aim, it seemed to me, was to debunk the 'state's rights' argument and point to the fact that Slavery was the single driving cause of the Civil War, even if the North did not actually 'wage war to free the slaves.' (Plenty of other authors make that case as well.) He describes in detail how the Pro-Slavery faction in Southern politics, one of a number of factions, drove itself, and with it the entire South, into a corner.
He covers 1776 to 1854, and will or has put out a Volume 2 that covers 1854 to 1861. The best part of it, to me, was how he explains a lot of the detail in 1800-1850 US politics, a time period that I had, when I read the book, learned too little about.
2. Viet Nam // Stanley Karnow
I think Karnow is either Australian or Brit. He was a war correspondent in the 1960's, a contemporary of David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan. The volume, sort of long, is a pretty good overview Viet Nam the country, the character of the Vietnamese people, and the whole series of decisions, dating back to WW II and even back to Wilson and his Treaty of Verseilles days, and how they built the chain of events that led to Diem going down, Gulf of Tonkin, and the 1965-1970 phase that caused so much internal dissent within our own country.
Longish, but extremely readable.
If not 'the definitive' book, a very good and comprehensive look at a keystone event in American foreign policy post-WW II.
Understanding the Civil War and its origins is critical to understanding US history and our present, as I see it. Understanding Viet Nam is IMO critical to understanding modern US foreign policy, and some of the ghosts that still influence decision makers and critics alike.
3. A shorter book about modern U.S. policy decisions is by Woodward, called 'The Commanders.' He writes an able account of the wherefores and whys of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Not sure if he got it all right, but I found it interesting.
4. David Halberstam wrote "The Best and The Brightest" in IIRC the early 1970's. My Mom and Dad both read it when it came out, though for some reason I have not yet. It explores Kennedy's cabinet and some of the decisions they made and what went into them.
5. "Dereliction of Duty"
Caveat: this book was written by an Army Major or LTC, McMaster, who had an ax to grind. He was a cavalry troop commander (tanks and Bradley's) in the 1991 Gulf War who saw extensive combat.
The axe he grinds is essentially the axe Barbara Tuchman ground in "March of Folly," where she examines how a country can act against its own self interest. McMaster used recently declassified, as in the past 5 years, national security documents to show how self-delusion became a habit in the Kennedy, and more seriously the Johnson, administrations. McMaster was of course gunning for former Sec Def Robert McNamara and a whole slew of General Officers who served in Washington and Viet Nam, from the vantage point of thirty years later or more, and basically charges them all with a severe case of anal-cranial inversion.
6. Bright Shining Lie // Neil Sheehan
This one was a huge hit when it came out. It may not fit your list of background sources. It is a bit more of a personal account following the career of an Army Officer, John Paul Vann, and superimposing it on the Viet Nam War, where Vann served, and the realities of how in 1963 a lot of folks realized that the US was backing a bunch of yahoos. Sheehan was also a combat correspondent in Viet Nam. His own emotions bleed all over the page, but I had a hard time putting the book down.
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete