Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen
2007 /464 pgs.  History

What a fantastic read.  Dr. Lorwen shows what has been missing in high school history classes for many years.  How textbooks are just a memorization of facts, or lies as the title says, and doesn’t show the ugly side of American History.

When I was in school, I wondered why sections about Slavery, Reconstruction, even World War 1 and others are glanced over.  We didn’t even reach Vietnam in my history class, and I’m sure that would have been a lesson that it was a bad war.  Heck, even the US Constitution isn’t required reading anymore. I started learning how America truly was when I was in graduate school. It was eye opening!

It reads like American is the greatest nation and has no warts at all.  We don’t really want to dwell on anything bad in our History, just the good.  Even our heroes are without faults. We’ve all read the lie about Washington and the Cherry tree.  Our great leaders never did have any bad thoughts or committed any bad actions.

Thomas Jefferson, who authored “all men are created equal,” owned over 300 slaves. However, is it taught in our history classes?  Or do we still revere Jefferson as the 3^rd president and important founding father that didn’t own any slaves?

This book is not an all-encompassing Lies book, there are many more that he doesn’t mention, and he even admits it in his second edition. The book’s point is we genuinely are not educated our youth, who will leave school and make decisions about the future of this nation based on false information. 

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in an eye-opening view of a few of the challenging issues that we face in today’s society.  However, be forwarded, you might get a little squeamish if you think America’s perfect.

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and an excellent book!

Lopaka

A Night to Remember
by Walter Lord 1955  / 164 pgs. History

A Night to Remember is the narrative of the sinking of the most famous ocean liner in history.  It is considered the holy grail of the sinking of the Titanic.  Mr. Lord interviewed 63 survivors, utilized maps, newspaper articles, and memoirs to retell that infamous night of 14 April 1912.  A Night to Remember (1958) and Titanic (1997) used Walter Lord as a consultant and the book as guide for the narrative.

The story the moment, 11:40 p.m., when Lookout Fleet spots the Iceberg and radio’s the bridge of the infamous words “Iceberg right ahead.” From there, the narrative plays out, as many have seen in the movies.  A 300-foot gash is torn through the hull of the ship and starts flooding the first five compartments.  Mr. Andrews, the ship’s designer, is summoned and, after inspecting the damage, states the Titanic will flounder.  The truth then comes to light, the Titanic only carried enough lifeboats for 1,178 people, and there were 2,207 on board. 

From this moment, the narrative of the events starts with passengers being loaded into the lifeboats, the infamous women and children first.  Also, the story of the Californian and why she didn’t respond.  The CQD sent from Titanic via morse code and changed to S.O.S, telling all available ships to come to her aid.  From the moment the Iceberg hit the boat to her going under is half of the book.  The other half is the survival of those on the lifeboats and the rescue by the Carpathia.  The narrative of what the Carpathia did to come to the aid of the survivors is thrilling to devoir.  Finally, the story ends with the arrival in New York and the truth of the disaster being told.

This book is a fast read as I finished it in about 4.5 hours. It’s a grand narrative of what happened including the thoughts of many of the passengers and how they believed events played out that night, bringing a different perspective of the sinking.

I would recommend this for anyone to enjoy reading about A Night to Remember.                     

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and get lost in an excellent book,

Lopaka

Next – The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

The Wright Brothers
by David McCollough 2015 / 321 pgs History

December 17^th, 2003, while onboard an E-3B Sentry, I watched small dots on the monitor move one by one over the location designated as Kill Devils Hill, North Carolina.  Each dot was an different aircraft that spanned over 100 years.
Witnessing the centennial of flight and flying at the same spot the Wright Brothers did 100 years prior causes one to pause and smile.  In 2015, my family visited Kill Devils Hill and saw the Wright Brothers’ exact location of that historic flight.

Naturally, I was eager to read the story of the Wright Brothers, Wilber, and Orville.  This book doesn’t disappoint.  It starts with their birth and then their final move to Dayton, Ohio.  Then moves into their early years as newspaper publishers and then eventually to bicycle builders.  After Wilber contracts Typhoid and is recovering, he read about a German aviator’s experiment in powered flight, that planted the seed that would change the brother’s destiny.

They set themselves to solve the challenges of powered flight.  After four years of experiments, trials, tribulations, and setbacks.  On a sandy hill in North Carolina with Orville at the controls, the Wright Flyer 1903 took off and flew 120 feet in 12 seconds.  They flew three more flights that day, the last one lasting 59 seconds.
  

The rest of the book is about their continued experiments, building the Wright Flyer’s II and III.  Then their public
displays of flights to sell the planes to the United States, Germany, and French governments.  Also, some of the
accidents at the beginning of aviation, including the first passenger who died in an aircraft accident, also the first military officer, Lt Thomas Selfridge. 

Anyone interested in the early days of flight would find this book exciting.  The first 108 pages, up to the first flight
on December 17th, 1903 was thrilling to read. After this section, the story slows down although, not challenging to
get through, sometimes it could be difficult. I’ve been to Kill Devils Hill, been on the aviation path in Dayton, Ohio, visited Huffman Prairie Field where the Wrights experimented and improved on the 1903design.  Finally, the Smithsonian and visited the original 1903 Wright Flyer brought a smile as I read about many of the
locations and aircraft that I got to see over the years.  

I would only recommend this to history or aviation buffs.  If those don’t strike your fancy, this isn’t a book for you.  I enjoyed it, even in the challenging sections.         

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and get lost in an excellent book,

Lopaka

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin 2006 / 917 (755 reading) pgs History

One hundred fifty-six years ago, today, at 10:14 pm. John Wilkes Booth pointed a .41 Deringer at the back of President Lincoln’s head and shot him.  Similarly, the RMS Titanic, which struck an Iceberg at 11:40 pm on the 14th of April, didn’t sink until the 15^th of April at 0220; Lincoln died 9 hours later, the 15th of April 1865 at 7:22 am.  As I read about the Assassination, it didn’t dawn that I was reading it on the anniversary.  The death of Lincoln is naturally the final chapter of a book about him.  What a book it is!

            Team of Rivals focuses on Abraham Lincoln’s rise in politics and his ability to use his allies and enemies at their most significant potential. He utilized his storytelling gift by employing the exemplary anecdote that would best illustrate what he means and is trying to convey. He would bring people together and also put them at ease.  Lincoln understood better than most the power and influence he had as President and used every means to defeat the Confederacy and unite the US as one nation.  Using the best people, even his rivalries, in the best positions, Lincoln built an army, rally them around him, and kept the US economy moving forward.   

            Team of Rivals is written in loose chronological order.  It starts with the four main characters that will impact the Lincoln administrations running of the war.  These are three men that all felt they should be the President and all ran against Lincoln in the 1860 election.  William Seward, who would become the Secretary of State.  Salmon Chase, Secretary of the Treasury and then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  Judge Edward Bates, Attorney General.  Finally, also a family that was very influential in the mid to late 1800’s, the Blair’s.  Interestingly, this family-owned what is known today as the Presidential Guest House, the Blair House.

            The book details these families, where they come from, what influence they had, and why they felt they should be the Republican nominee for President in 1860.  Once Lincoln won the election, the story naturally moves through the civil war, focusing on the Lincoln administration.  The fight between Gen McClellan and Lincoln on how the war should be conducted is spelled out nicely in this book.  As the war has its ups and downs, it shows the impact it has on Lincoln, and the decisions and the timing for each as Lincoln was a master of political timing.  Naturally, the last chapter is what is already mentioned, the Assassination.

This story is beautifully told and is an outstanding read.  If you want to know the Civil War from the battles and impacts, I would recommend Battle Cry of Freedom.  If you want to know the inside story, read Team of Rivals. It’s not a seriously dense history book. It’s a beautiful story told in a straightforward narration.  Naturally, I would recommend this book!

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good book!

Lopaka

The Pentagon Papers by Neil Sheehan, Hendrick Smith, E. W. Kenworthy, and Fox Butterfield
2017 (1971) / 810 pgs

The Vietnam war, one could argue the single conflict that changed how citizens feel about trusting the U.S. government today. The Pentagon Papers summarizes the papers that were released to news media and printed in 1971. At the time, a hotly contested event that went to the Supreme Court. As of this writing, our equivalent of this is the Snowden leaking of documents to Wikileaks.

Naturally, this isn’t the entire Pentagon Papers as they are many volumes. Historians and reporters sat down and wrote 10 Chapters the summarize a time frame by an event that impacted our involvement in the war.  It starts with the Truman administration (1945) and concludes at the Johnson era (1967). Interestingly, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara commissioned the report in 1967 to allow historians the truth behind the war.  One could argue it was him building his case for future judgment on his involvement in the war’s conduct.  [Sidenote: A fascinating documentary called The Fog of War has Sec McNamara talking about the 10 lessons he learned in his life included getting questioned about Vietnam]

I did find this very fascinating to read. Although it gets very tedious as you are reading memorandums written with many thoughts and opinions.  The format for each chapter is simple.  First, the title (significance and time frame), next is a list of highlights, an excellent exposition of the material, finally selected memo’s to support what was written.  In the memo’s, more information is added, naturally, that provide more insight.

I found it fascinating reading the truth of why and how we conducted the war versus what was being told to the American people.  After reading this, I wish the same thing was written for every conflict we have conducted. For historians, the information is invaluable.  Could we imagine how World War 2 would be written if something similar is released with all the leaders’ thoughts that led, planned, and conducted the war?  Would they have made the same decision if they knew that their papers and idea would be released in a record for all to read and judge?  I firmly believe that all leaders should read this and keep a copy near them on their work desk to think about when they make decisions that impact lives. 

Would I recommend this?  Only if you are interested in history or the truth of the Vietnam War.  Many times I almost fell asleep reading the monotonous memo’s that leaders wrote.  I did enjoy it, and it will have a place at my desk.

Favorite line: June 1964, President Johnson asked the C.I.A Director about the actual probability of the Domino Theory. He was informed on the 9^th of June, “With the possible exception to Cambodia – it is unlikely that no nation in the area would quickly succumb to Communism as a result of the fall of South Vietnam.”  – The Pentagon Papers

Enjoy a cup of coffee and a good book!

Lopaka