Books

The HBO WWII historical miniseries like The Pacific and Band of Brothers seem to be starting a pattern of the remaining participants producing memoirs. There were quite a few that came out of Band of Brothers, and we're seeing similar things with The Pacific, with the variation that with The Pacific, the books are being timed to come out with the series, instead of showing up a year later. I suspect that this is because Band of Brothers was perhaps a bit of a surprise, but now we know what happens when one of these Tom Hanks history projects hits HBO.
R.V. Burgin (Romus Valton, you can see why he goes by R.V.) joined the Marines in 1942 in order to avoid being drafted by the Army. He subsequently fought as a mortarman on Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa. In the latter two battles, Eugene Sledge, author of the classic With the Old Breed, served under him as a ammunition carrier. One of the interesting aspects of this book is that Burgin occasionally points out issues where he disagrees with Sledge, for example, in his assessment of their Lieutenant on Okinawa, "Scotty". This is likely because, as a non-com, Burgin had very different interactions with officers than Sledge, as a Private.
The part of the book of the most interest, is the discussion of Cape Gloucester. This is one of the "forgotten battles" of the Marine campaign in the Pacific, perhaps because it was fought under MacArthur's command in the Soloman Islands. The battles of the Solomons and along the north coast of New Guinea in MacArthur's area of operations are very much neglected.
Another interesting variation from the other memoirs I've read is the different view of women. Contrast the discussion of womanizing in Leckie and Basilone with Burgin's point of view. Burgin fell for an Australian woman early on and married her immediately after the war, which is very different from the behavior of many (most?) Marines down under.
This is a very readable book, of particular interest for the Cape Gloucester section. I still recommend reading Sledge and Leckie first; these two books remain unmatched in the category.

Books Discussed


The recent proposal by some Republicans that Grant's portrait on the 50 Dollar Bill be replaced by Reagan's has triggered some reevaluation of Grant. Others have discussed the trajectory of Grant's reputation, strong immediately after the war, and then apparently declining in response to the development of the "Myth of the Lost Cause". It may be time for a rebirth of Grant's reputation.
So the other day, I ran across Grant and Twain_, and had to get it. It is a very nice book, an excellent way to arrive at an understanding of Grant's final years, and how he came to write his memoirs - for those who are unfamilar with them, _Personal Memoirs is one of the truly great works of military autobiography, frequently compared to Caesar's Commentaries.
In the same time frame that Grant started on his memoirs, Twain was completely blocked, with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn half finished. In _Grant & Twain_, Perry tries to make the case that the two influenced each other, Twain persuading Grant to write, and Grant inspiring Twain to finish his masterpiece. Perry is not completely successful in making this case, but nonetheless the factual narrative is very well done and compelling, making this book well worth reading, as it helps a great deal in understanding the character of Grant. Those of us who have studied Grant are very familiar with the stubborn general, standing in the rain at Shiloh chewing on a cigar and telling General Sherman, "We'll whip 'em tomorrow". Those who aren't familiar with that Grant could stand to learn a bit from _Grant and Twain_.

some reviews that will be along momentarily...

_Grant and Twain: The Story of an American Friendship_, Mark Perry. Just finished, nice little book, shows how their relationship affected both Grant's classic memoirs, and Twain's great _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_.

_Islands of the Damned_, R.V. Burgin, another book related to The Pacific miniseries. Just about to start this one.