Black Faces of War: A Legacy of Honor From the American Revolution to Today by Robert V. Morris with a Foreword by Lt. Gen. Julius W. Becton, Jr., USA (Ret.) Zenith Press, $30)
When many of us think about the African-American experience in war, the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry, Colin Powell, the first black to become a four-star general in the U.S. Army, and the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII immediately come to mind. A fascinating new book underscores the fact that black involvement in our national wars was much, much more than the three examples cited above. For example, Crispus Attucks was the first to die in the American Revolution, Lt. Charity Adams became the first African-American female officer in the Woman's Army Auxiliary Corps, and Harriet Tubman shepherded slaves to freedom and served the Union during the Civil War.
Robert Morris, who began writing at an early age for the Iowa Bystander, the oldest black-oriented weekly west of the Mississippi, has compiled a remarkable historical overview of African-Americans who have served their country during wartime. The text is supplemented with more than 250 archival images.
"Black Faces of War" is divided into 8 main chapters: The American Revolution, Slavery and the Antebellum South; The Civil War, Western Expansion, and Buffalo Soldiers; World War I: Black Officers and the New Negroes; World War II: Black Woman at War; World War II: Tuskegee Airman Soaring Above, 758th Tankers Rumbling Below; World War II: Song of the South Pacific; Korea and Vietnam: Combat Integration and Black Power; and The Modern Era and the Evolution of Black Leadership.
The research of this book took two years and is exceptional. The text is crisply written and accessible. Morris claims that finding first-person accounts was sometimes difficult but it is what makes his new work so interesting. This is first-rate historical reporting and also an important literary contribution to our national history since "Black Faces of War" fills in many missing pieces and highlights information that has often been ignored or simply relegated to footnotes by other historians.
The Last Greatest Magician in the World: Howard Thurston Versus Houdini & the Battles of the American Wizards by Jim Steinmeyer (Tarcher/Penguin, $26.95)
Without a doubt, Harry Houdini was one of the most famous magicians ever. While he wowed crowds by escaping from containers and straight-jackets, a lesser-known man, Howard Thurston, was truly America's Greatest Magician during the early years of the last century. What is amazing is how almost completely forgotten this celebrated vaudevillian became. Thurston began his career as a con artist and traveling saloon entertainer during the nineteenth century but it was his work as a stand-alone act in vaudeville that made him a star. A master of illusion, Thurston thrilled his audiences with spectacular sets, fast-paced tricks, humor, and perhaps most importantly, flashy showmanship.
Jim Steinmeyer, a leading designer of magic illusion, focuses not just on the life of Thurston but also recreates American entertainment during the Edwardian era and how it evolved. This is the fascinating story of a magician and how he revolutionized the magic show by doing feats that set him apart from many of his competitors including the great Houdini.
George Washington's First War: His Early Military Adventures by David A. Clary (Simon & Schuster, $27)
During the years before the American Revolution, George Washington seasoned himself as a soldier mostly through trial and error, more error than trial according to David Clary, a best-selling author and historian.
Based on thorough research and crisp reporting that is so vivid it almost seems to leap from the printed page, the harrowing accounts of Washington's battles and bitter conflicts are documented. The result is a revealing look at not just the man but of the very times in which he lived. Washington was immersed in military life even at an early age and once said, "I heard the bullets whistle, and believe me, there is something charming in the sound." Ironically, the statement was made not following a pitched battle but shortly after his men and Indian allies had massacred a diplomatic party, an event that triggered the French and Indian War of 1754-63. Clary reveals that despite what you heard about the cherry tree, Washington could and sometimes did lie. He serves up several examples that document when our first president was less than truthful.
Washington was a colonel by the time he was twenty-two even though he had little or no training. He was a glory hound who often found himself in situations he was not prepared to handle and misguided by superiors who should have known better. His early soldiers were a band of disorganized amateurs, more often than not pitted against better trained men such as French professionals.
"George Washington's First War" is especially intriguing because it presents a side of the man that is rarely found in our history texts. As Shakespeare once wrote, all's well that ends well since Washington emerged from his earlier mistakes to become a great soldier and statesman. How he did it is an incredible, indispensable back story.
Ever By My Side: A Memoir in Eight pets by Dr. Nick Trout (Broadway Books, $24.99)
Nick Trout, a staff surgeon at the Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, has spent more than twenty years witnessing firsthand the profound impact that pets have on us, especially when their health is at stake. This inspiring new book, follows his 2008 bestseller, "Tell Me Where It Hurts," and is an intimate reflection on the pets that have touched his life. Dr. Trout claims that his pets, former and present, have helped shape him into the son, father, husband, and doctor that he is today. His memoir is, as might be imaged, personal and intimate. Using his own beloved pets as a vehicle of telling his story is an excellent format that is certain to connect with those who have ever shared their hearts with a four legged creature.
Dr. Trout is convinced that pets contribute so much more to our daily lives than mere companionship. He writes, "The lessons they've taught me have been subtle, startling and inspirational, playing a small but vital part in helping to shape the person you see with the stethoscope around his neck." The author lives in Massachusetts with his wife, daughters, and their two dogs: Meg, a yellow Lab, and Sophie, a Jack Russell terrier.
Letterboxed: The Evolution of Widescreen Cinema by Harper Cossar (University of Kentucky Press, $60)
Recently while watching "Lawrence of Arabia" on television, I realized that what I was seeing was much less than what had been captured on film in the original print. It was, in fact, a widescreen movie that had been formatted for television. Since as much as half of the shot had been deleted, I was viewing only a fraction of the actual product. This has been corrected by a process called letterboxing which prevents any of the footage to become lost. Because of this, the original impact remains to a great extent.
Movie formats that we take for granted today have not always been the norm. Harper Cossar, an Atlanta-based professor who has written extensively about video and the film industry, points out that experimentation in the widescreen format began in earnest in 1930, with the release "The Big Trail," directed by Raoul Walsh and starring John Wayne in one of his first feature films. The feature was shot in widescreen and Academy ratio since few theaters had widescreens.
This is an excellent book that traces the history of widescreen while displaying the visual differences between the two ratios with side-by-side comparisons. Cossar provides a new tool for examining the ever-evolving art of filmmaking as well as a window to understanding the changes that are taking place today as televisions undergo a similar change in format.
Growing a Farmer: How I learned to Live Off the Land by Kurt Timmermeister (Norton, $24.95)
Kurt Timmermeister had just opened his second restaurant in Seattle when he went in search of his first house. Just outside the city, he found a four-acre plot and despite the fact that it was littered with garbage, he quickly fell in love with the land. He became more and more interested in where food comes from, how it's produced, and how it's traditionally prepared, which inspired him to read every book he could on farming and farm-based cooking. Armed with his new found knowledge, he took a deep breath and began growing small crops of leeks, kale, squash, and tomatoes for his personal meals. His garden was soon home to a hive of honeybees and then a Jersey cow, he affectionately named Dinah. After buying two additional cows, he acquired a license to sell raw milk. 'Kurtwood Farms" soon began supplying produce for both his restaurants and consumers interested in healthier foods.
Timmermeister's journey into how and why he became a farmer is engaging reading. His relationship with his land is nothing short of inspirational. This is must reading for those are curious about the origins of food and how organic farming works.
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