United States

Sep 19 2011

Pacific Air by David Sears

Pacific Air: How Fearless Flyboys, Peerless Aircraft, and Fast Flattops Conquered the Skies in the War with Japan by David Sears is popular history at its best.  Sears does an excellent job of writing about the American effort to defeat Japan during World War II in an easy-to-read format.

In explaining why the Americans won the war, Sears writes about the American pilots who became aces and developed the air tactics that helped defeat the vaunted Zero.  These pilots include John “Jimmie” Thach who invented the fighter and wingman tactics still used today and Edward “Butch” O’Hare, the Navy’s first combat ace.  Although the stories about these pilots are somewhat disjointed, they are very engaging.

Not only does Sears write about American pilots, but he also includes the perspective of Japanese pilots via Imperial Japanese Navy pilot Saburo Sakai – a highly decorated pilot who survived the war with the loss of vision in one eye.  Sears describes, through the words of Sakai,  the Japanese pilots’ elation in dominating the Allies at the beginning of the war and, conversely, their total dismay when the tables were turned at the end of the war.

In addition to the pilots, Sears touches on the development of a few Navy fighters, especially the F4F Wildcat.  The writing on the development of the F2F, F3F, and F4F is very interesting.  Sears writes how Grumman (a small start-up company in the 1930s) was able to beat Boeing for the Navy’s first solely designed carrier-based aircraft.

As with many popular histories, accuracy is somewhat sacrificed.  There is more than one inaccurate statement in the book.  For example, Sears writes about the armored decking of U.S. aircraft carriers when in actuality the decks were made of wood planking (pine).  Many of the misstatements are minor, but they add up to be an annoyance.

Overall, this book is very entertaining.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions expressed herein are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commision regulations.

By Jeff Grim • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Sep 16 2011

Quick Takes: American Grace

Over the past year or so I have read a number of non-fiction books but failed to review them here. For some reason I have a hard time reviewing non-fiction – I always want to offer a more detailed and intelligent engagement with the book but never seem to have the time or focus to do so. Quick Takes is an attempt to offer quick assesments of these type of books without feeling the pressure to offer a full fledged review (whatever that is).

American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
by Robert D. Putnam, David E. Campbell
688 pages
October 2010
Simon & Schuster

 

I found this to be a fascinating and informative look at religious life in America. If you are a stats/data geek this is heaven – charts galore – but they have weaved the data into a compelling narrative. And church vignette chapters break it up and provide some more personalized examples.

There are some interpretations that are arguable, and the authors pretty clearly come from a liberal perspective, but it is still a remarkably interesting read for anyone interested in the history of religion and the debates over politics and the culture wars.

Here is the core narrative or argument of the book:

America has experienced three seismic shocks, say Robert Putnam and David Campbell. In the 1960s, religious observance plummeted. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, a conservative reaction produced the rise of evangelicalism and the Religious Right. Since the 1990s, however, young people, turned off by that linkage between faith and conservative politics, have abandoned organized religion. The result has been a growing polarization—the ranks of religious conservatives and secular liberals have swelled, leaving a dwindling group of religious moderates in between. At the same time, personal interfaith ties are strengthening. Interfaith marriage has increased while religious identities have become more fluid. Putnam and Campbell show how this denser web of personal ties brings surprising interfaith tolerance, notwithstanding the so-called culture wars.

I know there is a lot of disagreement about the components of this argument or story arc (both the conclusions and the data) but I don’t have the depth of knowledge needed to offer much of a conclusion either way.

Here is an example from the Books & Culture review by James L. Guth and Lyman A. Kellstedt:

This dovetails with a more pervasive concern: Putnam and Campbell’s persistent dismissal of the content of religious faith. Although their own survey includes a solid battery of belief items, the authors repeatedly deny that what people believe has any major relevance to social or political values, whether partisanship, charitable activities, or civic engagement. We are unconvinced. An old adage among students of religion and politics is that “behavior begets behavior, and belief begets belief.” Religious practices like church attendance should foster voting or working in campaigns, while religious beliefs should influence choices on issues, parties, and candidates. Thus, findings in American Grace that churchgoers excel in civic participation are not surprising. But reliance on religiosity may be misleading when explaining political choices. True, abortion and gay rights opinions may be structured by religiosity more strongly than other issues, but the authors ignore the possibility that they might be influenced even more by religious beliefs.

What is so helpful about the book is that you don’t have to agree with the authors to enjoy and learn from it. They present the data and the argument and you can engage it at whatever detail is appropriate for you – get into the data or just read it absorbing as much as you can along the way.

With this in mind, I wholeheartedly echo the above review’s conclusion:

These caveats should not deter anyone interested in American religion from reading this challenging volume. For scholars hoping to fathom the connections between religion and public life, for clergy wanting to understand better the people in the pews (and those not there), and for grass-roots believers desiring a broader picture of faith in America, this volume is required reading.

 

 

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

May 4 2011

Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern by John Gray

Cover of "Al Qaeda and What it Means to b...

Cover of Al Qaeda and What it Means to be Modern

Let’s face it, I can be a lazy and discursive blogger/reviewer at times. I frequently start my reviews with some multiple paragraph explanation of how I came to read the book in question or some point only tangentially related to the review. And I often steal the plot summary or review from some other source.

I am afraid this is one of those times.

The reason I often steal book summaries is that I am jealous of their ability to capture something about a book in so few words.  A prime example is the Kirkus review of Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern:

A smart, learned, lucid, and alarming argument, occasionally overstated for rhetorical purposes.

A one sentence review that manages to capture my thoughts just about exactly. Yes, I am jealous. Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • Featured, Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Feb 8 2011

Martin Luther King Jr.: A Life by Marshall Frady

I have long been a fan of the Penguin Lives series. I love history, and enjoy reading about fascinating and impactful people, but simply dont’t have the kind of time I used to have available.  Short interesting biographies allow me to dip into this genre without struggling through large tomes in short bursts over long periods of time.
I have  a number of the volumes in this series and I have often wanted to use the volumes I have as topical blog content for holidays, anniversaries, historical dates, etc.  But for the most part I have failed to get the timing right.
This year I once again determined to change that. So with the approach of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and February being Black History Month I decided to read the Penguin Lives volume Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life by Michael Frady.
It turned out different than I might have imagined – fascinating and surprisingly balanced but with a writing style that made it slow going at times.
Overall, I found it to be a nice introduction to the life of this towering figure and one that eschews hagiography and acknowledges both the strength and moral courage and the moral weaknesses of Dr. King.
For more keep reading.
Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Jan 18 2011

In the Mail: Where Does the Money Go?

Where Does the Money Go? Rev Ed: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis

Synopsis

Revised and Updated to Include the Probable Effects of the Great Recession, the Government Stimulus, and President Obama’s Health Care Overhaul

Federal debt will affect your savings, your retirement, your mortgage, your health care, and your children. How well do you understand the government decisions that will end up coming out of your pocket?

Here is essential information that every American citizen needs—and has the right—to know. This guide to deciphering the jargon of the country’s budget problem breaks down into plain English exactly what the fat cats in Washington are arguing about. Where Does the Money Go? covers everything from the country’s exploding federal debt to the fact that, for thirty-one out of the last thirty-five years, the country has spent more on government programs and services than it has collected in taxes. It also explores why elected leaders on both sides of the fence have so far failed to address this issue effectively and explains what you can do to protect your future.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

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