Patterson Lyndon Johnson wanted to fight the war on poverty, not the war in Vietnam. Facebook Widget Plus. Claims Assistance. Our Members. Financial Readiness. Legislative Action. Davis offers a hard-hitting and sometimes critical look at some of the most consequential wartime decisions made by presidents and policy makers, but his admiration and respect for the men and women who have served and sacrificed so much for this nation is unwavering.
With his trademark storytelling flair, Kenneth C. A fascinating exploration of war and the myths of war. Kenneth C. There are no good wars. The stories of sexual assault and brutality were horrifying. They don't teach the Phillipine struggle in school, and they should, because it has repeated in my lifetime. What happened to the soldiers was just b I learned a lot from this book. What happened to the soldiers was just brutal. WWII was a war portrayed in movies and shows, but the reality was very R rated.
I appreciate how he told me what happened to the German actress. We get to the current wars and I lived through these and yet there was so much I didn't fully know or understand. This was a very well done book with loads to learn. Jan 15, Ken rated it liked it. Mr Davis Takes a look at several US military actions. The blunders at Petersburg during the Civil War. The unintended consequences of Roosevelt's sending the navy to the Philippines, without any real plans for afterward.
And the politics and poor understanding of the situation that ran our war in Iraq. Davis's writing reminds me of Zinns works, looking at the less desirable side of history. There are many sides to a story. It's good to try and see them all to try and get a better understanding of an event. Mar 12, Amy Kenney rated it it was amazing. So much I thought I knew but I didn't. I found myself wanting to take notes for future reference and wishing I had bought a copy to mark up with notes.
The Hidden History not only illuminates parts of American war history but also weaves it together as part of a continuum of connected over years of events both through American policy, war, and politics. Engagingly told and well written, this book should be required reading.
I may even reread with a highlighter. Apr 10, Tomi rated it liked it. Interesting study of six American battles. I always enjoy the little tidbits of information that appear in most history books.
Davis does a good job of showing changes in our military over the years. Jul 21, Brian rated it really liked it Shelves: military-history. I thought this was a good book. I liked the chapters about Vietnam and Fallujah the most. Sep 11, Gerry Connolly rated it really liked it. Fascinating take. Aug 02, Mike Day rated it really liked it Shelves: history , politics , war. This was well written. The author covers some wars that America fought with some facts that many Americans may not be aware of.
As a reader of military history, this was worth reading to me. Dec 02, Charlie Smith rated it it was amazing. Very insightful! Feb 24, Scouter Gord added it. Excellent interesting view of the political and social background and how they affected history. Mar 07, Arlene rated it really liked it. Enjoy all of his books. Oct 14, Chris Farrell rated it liked it. I enjoyed this book, which focuses largely on the plight and appalling treatment of black soldiers serving in the US Military from the revolution onwards.
While the US was founded on principles of liberty, virulent racism and a clear understanding that liberty did not apply to everyone have been in the blood of much of the country for its entire history, and this clearly extends to its military history to a degree that many may not appreciate. The American Revolution was fought by southerners to I enjoyed this book, which focuses largely on the plight and appalling treatment of black soldiers serving in the US Military from the revolution onwards.
The American Revolution was fought by southerners to protect the institution of slavery as much as in defense of liberty. Blacks who fought valiantly for the Union in very large numbers were not justly treated. Nevertheless, this was an entirely voluntary, completely mismanaged, needless, and totally disastrous war which we would do well to have seared into our collective brains.
Having said all this, the book focuses on only a few topics and with 6 case studies, doesn't really have the opportunity to go very deep on any of them. While I think the campaign in the Philippines will be of interest to many as this is an obscure to Americans but important and relevant piece of history, most of the other sections are broad-brush overviews. The book also does not use a very wide range of secondary sources.
While I think there are a good number of interesting and critical bits of history here that do focus on the people ignored by standard histories, it would have been better to tell those stories and use those ideas as the sole focus and thesis of the book, rather than wrapping them in bits of pretty vanilla survey history. View 2 comments. Apr 28, Michael rated it it was amazing.
As a fan of war history and history in general i have always lamented the fact that too often the human aspect of history is forgotten. The human aspect of these wars tends to get over shadowed by and pushed aside. These wars were still human conflicts where people suffered, sacrificed and in some cases lost their lives. To forget that war is still humans fighting humans an As a fan of war history and history in general i have always lamented the fact that too often the human aspect of history is forgotten.
To forget that war is still humans fighting humans and that people's lives are forever altered or even ended entirely is criminal. Davis does a masterful job to resurrecting the human aspect of these wars. He tells the story of the people who fought them and what the experienced on a human level.
This book made me feel in some small way what these people went through, what they endured, and brought me closer to people who stories should never be forgotten. I sincerely hope that more people read this book and that this is a new direction and wave that war history books take in the future. To marginalize human conflict and all the hardships it entails would be tantamount to ignoring.
May 20, Scott Martin rated it liked it. Overall, a solid and relatively quick read. While providing a basic overview of the situation leading up to and a narrative description of the battles, Davis attempts to provide a perspective on either a diff Audiobook.
While providing a basic overview of the situation leading up to and a narrative description of the battles, Davis attempts to provide a perspective on either a different aspect of a known battle the role of African Americans and the French in the battle of Yorktown or to bring to light a chapter in American history that most might not have much insight into i.
His descriptions of those events provide the reader a slightly different, but no less, important perspective on the conflict described. This book would not be the starting point for history, but should serve as a complement to someone who has studied or has had some insight into any of the six battles mentioned. The audiobook reader was solid and did not detract from the material. First Kenneth C. It was interesting at times.
More like Abe Simpson history though. Like the time he took the ferry to Shelbyville. He needed a new heel for his shoe so he decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days.
So he tied an onion to his belt, which was the style at the time. Now to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. Give me five bees for a quarter you'd say. Now where were we, oh yeah. T First Kenneth C. The important thing was that he had an onion on his belt, which was the style at the time.
They didn't have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get those days were big yellow ones. Kind of like trying to get the cohesion in the battle stories.
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