Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times - REVIEW

 

by Michael Beschloss

Widely acclaimed and ten years in the making, Michael Beschloss’s Presidents of War is an intimate and irresistibly readable chronicle of the Chief Executives who took the United States into conflict and mobilized it for victory. From the War of 1812 to Vietnam, we see these leaders considering the difficult decision to send hundreds of thousands of Americans to their deaths; struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, and antiwar protesters; seeking comfort from their spouses and friends; and dropping to their knees in prayer. Through Beschloss’s interviews with surviving participants and findings in original letters and once-classified national security documents, we come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war—or were broken by them.

Presidents of War combines this sense of immediacy with the overarching context of two centuries of American history, traveling from the time of our Founders, who tried to constrain presidential power, to our modern day, when a single leader has the potential to launch nuclear weapons that can destroy much of the human race.

Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times
by Michael Beschloss
Crown
ISBN-13:‎ 978-0307409614
752 pages

The Things They Carried - REVIEW

     A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

     Tim O’Brien was already an established writer when he penned The Things They Carried. He had won the National Book Award in 1979 for Going After Cacciato, and subsequent works such as The Nuclear Age were met with much acclaim. The Things They Carried, classified as fiction, recalls many of the incidents O’ Brien witnessed as a soldier in the Vietnam War. In his novel, he names the protagonist after himself and believes the best way to convey the horrific effect of war is to blend elements of fiction and nonfiction. O’Brien uses the words “things” soldiers “carry” as more of an emotional than physical metaphor. The author has been called one of the finest writers ever to focus on the Vietnam War. 

     The Library of Congress 2016 exhibit "America Reads" considers The Things They Carried one of "the most influential books written and read in America and their impact on our lives".

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Mariner | ISBN: 978-0-618-70641-9