Dusk Before the Dawn

This book chronicles Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize winning author of the WWII history An Army At Dawn, during his stint as an embedded journalist with the 101st Airborne in 2003 next to Major General David Petraeus, now Commander of all forces in Iraq.

Unlike Atkinson’s outstanding recent WWII books, In the Company of Soldiers does not seek to chronicle all of the activities of a particular conflict (in this case, the 2nd Iraq war in 2003) but this time follows the 101st airborne, particular Petraeus and his command staff as they make their way from Kentucky to Kuwait to Baghdad. It is less a historical story and more of an insight into the goings-on of an army battling not only Iraqi forces but the elements, politics and logistics. And it is an interesting look at what war correspondents will do to record history.

It is particularly timely, as Patreaus is now in command of all Multi-National Forces in Iraq and was recently a runner-up as Time’s Person of the Year. (more…)

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Deeply researched, well written, essential history reading for all

Michael Oren’s POWER, FAITH and FANTASY is an immensely researched (80 pages of notes and a 50 page bibliography) and cohesively written accound of American impact in the middle east from the beginnings of America until the present. The background research and anecdotes provide a firm footing for any interested party who wants to know how the United States and the Middle East arrived to the situations they are in today.

Most notably, Oren describes the personalities of the people involved, and reminds us through evidence and quotes, that the policies of countries (whether democracy, autocracy or other) are shaped by the sentiments, education and background of their leaders. Mr. Oren runs through not only the leaders of the Middle Eastern countries in each phase, but goes in depth on the up-bringing and cultural leanings of each U.S. President (i.e., most of them) who had influence to bear on the events in the Middle East.

The book is crafted into seven sections, roughly paralleling developments in US History: independence, before the Civil War, during the Civil War, as America becomes a power, WWI, oil and WWII, and a brief skim over the years since WWII. In each section are weaved the three themes of Faith (religeous influences, including Zionist, pro-Arab, anti-Semite, etc.), Power (US ideas of democracy vs. European Imperialism, Soviet Communism, Arab self-rule) and Fantasy (films, impressions).

I enjoyed this book because Mr. Oren presented facts, not judgements, difficult to do in history as you can make the facts say what you want. But he convincingly presents as many perspecitves to each issue as he can.

His last section on the years from WWII to present was brief, but he acknowleded that it would be a fly-by because of so much material and interest that had already been written on the subject.

A long read at 600+ pages, but well worth it. I learned many new things and was reminded of some I had forgotten. Highly recommended.

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Bill Dietrich is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist whose fiction books have thus far taken his readers from the Roman Empire (Hadrian’s Wall, The Scourge of God) to futuristic Australia (Getting Back) and Antarctica (Ice Reich).

In his novel, Napoleon’s Pyramids, Bill combines Napoleonic history and Egyptology with a fictional American adventurer (and assistant to Ben Franklin) named Ethan Gage. The result of this combination is a fast-paced action and fact filled novel paralleling and involving Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in the 1790’s.

I read this novel in three consecutive nights. It is one of those “difficult to put down” reads.

Ethan Gage wins a mysterious medallion in a card game in Paris just after the revolution. Many people covet it, and one thinks it worth murder, as Ethan gets framed for the murder of a call girl. Forcibly enlisted into Napoleon’s army of savants heading to Egypt, Ethan and his fellow Mason’s embark on a quest to help Napoleon unlock the power of the pyramids, to aid in his quest for global domination. Ethan, who has until this point meandered aimlessly through life, is forced to decide what he believes in, and if he discovered the secrets of the Pyramids (with the help of a mysterious woman, the savants and Egyptian sages), will he hand over the secrets to Napolean for his uses, or keep them safe from the hands of men?

My favorite parts of this novel are the historical descriptions: the filth and beauty of Paris of that time; the terror of the sea journey with Napoleon across the Mediterranean; the annihilation of the French fleet docked near Alexandria by British Admiral Nelson; and the well written mathematical decriptions of the pyramids and the puzzles surrounding them (Fibonacci number sequences in an action novel? you bet!).

Napoleon, Nelson and other historical figures are woven into the story seamlessly, breathing them to life through their interactions with Gage.

Highly recommended.

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