Posted by
Bert Chapman on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 4:36:24 PM
Another busy year of reading books of all kinds and qualities. Since many news magazines have individuals contribute their valued readings for this year in their December issues, I'll take the same path. This year saw the beginning of Civil War sesquicentennial commemorations and since I was able to see the Civil War battlefields of Pea Ridge in Arkansas and Wilson's Creek in Missouri, I'll start with this genre. The four volume collection of works by Gordon Rhea on Virginia's bloody 1864 Overland Campaign (The Battle of the Wilderness, The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, To the North Anna River, and Cold Harbor-all published by LSU Press) are masterfully researched, written, and documented accounts of these bloody struggles between Lee and Grant in May and June 1864. Another Civil War work I enjoyed is Earl Hess' The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat (University Press of Kansas) which focuses on the multiple physical and psychological experiences of Union soldiers in combat.
Historian Niall Ferguson is always a worthwhile source of intellectual stimulation and provocation and his work Civilization: The West and the Rest is an excellent analysis of the multiple factors contributing to the emergence and global preeminence of western civilization and now that is now being challenged by the rise of China and economic and other forms of decline within the West.
Another book I enjoyed this year is Paul Ham's Kokoda (Harper Collins). This World War II campaign is seldom mentioned in American military histories of this conflict, but it is a story that needs to be told to help us appreciate the fighting spirit of the Australian military. During this campaign the Australians and their Papua New Guinean allies were able to withstand and drive back a ferocious Japanese invasion of New Guinea while overcoming numerous natural and human-caused obstacles. Had the Japanese been successful in conquering New Guinea they could have assembled troops, ships, and aerial assets for a direct assault on Northern Australia. Kokoda plays a huge role in Australia's national consciousness and identity. Many Australians take vacations for the purpose of hiking this rugged trail and experiencing the work and sacrifice made by their forefathers in this area. The U.S. is truly blessed to have such a stalwart and steadfast friend in Australia as we address emerging security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region in the immediate future.
Finally, I'm in the process of enjoying William Hague's biography of the 18th and 19th century British political and evangelical refomer William Wilberforce (Harcourt). This leader's dogged persistence, oratorical skills, and religious convictions succeeded in ending slavery in the British Empire decades before it ended in the U.S. The author currently serves as Britain's Foreign Secretary and has an extensive career in British parliamentary politics including serving as Conservative Party leader from 1997-2001. Hague has also written a biography of 18th century Prime Minister William Pitt the younger and Hague's knowledge of British parliamentary procedure and protocol, as well as his solid historical research, enables readers to understand what political debate was like within Britain during this time period.