Tag: unitedstates

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#BookReview: The Hiroshima Men by Iain MacGregor

Among The More Complete Histories Of The Nuclear Bombing Of Japan. Clocking in at nearly 450 pages, with only about 10% of that bibliography – and hence the star deduction – this account really is one of the more complete accounts of the entire event I’ve yet come across in all my years both reading books generally and studying WWII in its various facets more specifically. It was also the last of three books about the bomb and/ or the use of it that I read over the few days of US Memorial Day Weekend 2025 or in the days immediately after, the other two being Evan Thomas’ 2023 book Road To Surrender and Frank Close’s June 2025 book Destroyer Of Worlds.

Specifically, in tracking exactly who it does – including several key US personnel involved with both war planning and the Manhattan Project itself, the pilot of the bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, the reporter who really opened America’s eyes to the horrors of nuclear fallout, and even the Mayor of Hiroshima himself – this book really does give a complete all around picture of all aspects of the creation and use of the atomic bomb and the repercussions for both American leadership and Japanese civilians.

Reading almost like a Tom Clancy or perhaps Robert Ludlum war thriller at times, this text *also* manages to have the emotional heavy hitting of Hersey’s original Hiroshima report, which it covers in nearly as much detail as Lesley MM Blume’s 2020 book Fallout – which told the story of that report exclusively. Leaning more towards the American position that as horrific as this event was, it very likely saved lives – American, Japanese, and even Russian – this is one of those texts that largely doesn’t speak of the efforts in both America and Japan by several key, yet not quite highly ranked enough, leaders to at least consider trying to end the war through dialogue (ala Evan Thomas’ 2023 book Road To Surrender), but instead seeks to offer the reader a more complete understanding of the men who *were* making the decisions in these moments, from the President of the United States all the way to the commander of the airplane that actually dropped the bomb itself.

Ultimately a thorough yet sobering account, and with its release intentionally timed just barely a month before the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, this really is one of the most complete books I’ve ever encountered on the topic, one that at least attempts to strive for a balance in understanding *all* involved in this event. Thus, all -American, Japanese, and everyone else interested in discussing the event with intelligence and facts – would do well to read this particular accounting.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Hiroshima Men by Iain MacGregor was originally written on June 1, 2025.

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#BookReview: Road To Surrender by Evan Thomas

History In All Its Complexity. This is one of the better histories of the nuclear bombings of Japan that I’ve come across over the years in that it isn’t “hoo-rah we didn’t drop *enough* bombs on Japan!”, but it also isn’t “nuclear weapons are an absolute abomination and their use made the term “war crime” seem like stealing a piece of gum, it was so much worse than that”. (The second there being closer to my own position on the matter, for what that’s worth.)

Instead, Thomas takes pains to show the complex realities on both sides of the war, both in what the leaders at the time knew and in the various pressures each was facing in trying to lead nations during a war. This is a Western-based book, and thus ultimately comes down on the side of the deployment of these weapons being “necessary”, but Thomas really shows effort to show that at least some of the American leaders that ultimately selected the targets and ordered the strikes did at least attempt to consider other alternatives – but again, given their own intelligence estimates, planning, and pressures, ultimately concluded to issue the orders they did.

One thing that becomes crystal clear when reading this text, however, is that while there may not have been (apparently clearly were not) actual communications regarding this between the governments, there absolutely were people – high ranking people – on both sides that were seeking ways to avoid this fate. There were those on the American side high enough up to know what was being built in top secrecy but low enough to not be able to countermand the order to actually use them that wanted to avoid civilian deaths at *all* costs – even if it meant not dropping these bombs at all. There were those on the Japanese side that were striving, as early as late 1944 in particular, to find some way to end the war and still allow Japan to retain its Imperial system, or at bare minimum its Emperor. (Which, to be clear, despite the US “insisting” on “unconditional” surrender, *was* ultimately allowed – and yes, Thomas goes into detail here too about what the terms actually meant to both sides.)

Truly one of the better histories of the topic I’ve ever come across, and I’m glad I finally read this text on US Memorial Weekend 2025, as we begin to go through the 80th anniversary of many of the final events detailed in this book.

Very much recommended.

This review of Road To Surrender by Evan Thomas was originally written on June 1, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Gray Ghost by David Wood And Stephen John

Maddock AND Bones. Back Together! And Taking On A Civil War Mystery! This is what I love to see from Wood. Both Dane Maddock and Uriah ‘Bones’ Bonebrake back together again solving archaeological mysteries and kicking ass when needed.

The mystery – and adventure – here are awesome for this Son of the South who frequently notes how the Civil War is literally still visible in my home region between Atlanta and Chattanooga… and it isn’t even hard to find in that particular region. While this mystery starts in Virginia, it does in fact also find itself in a location I’ve been to a few times – even taken a date or two out there, *many* years ago. Atlanta’s Stone Mountain Park, home of the largest bas-relief sculpture in the world… and site of many anti-Confederacy protests over the years.

But even if you’re not from the Southern United States and haven’t grown up with this history all around you (as only certain regions of even the South have), the mystery here is still top-notch, and the action is even better. If you like say National Treasure, the 2000s era movie where Nic Cage steals the Declaration of Independence… now imagine Nic and his best friend are both former US Navy SEALs, with action – and danger – ramping up to challenge even them.

Ultimately this was the same type of dangerous (for the characters) yet fun (for the reader) action/ adventure tale that makes this series so excellent, and this was yet another truly great entry in this long running series.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Gray Ghost by David Wood and Stephen John was originally written on March 2, 2025.

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#BookReview: Turning Points In American Church History by Elesha J. Coffman

Well Documented Examination Of Oft-Ignored Periods Of History As They Relate To The American Church. Coffman makes it clear in the introduction of this book that she is setting out to examine 12 events/ periods of history that had what she believes is the greatest impact on the American Church over the course of its history – from the earliest days of Christianity in the land now called the “United States of America” through today. While some are rather obvious and typical, others – including her in-depth analysis of the Pentacostal style of worship – are less so. The writing style is nearly conversational academic – still clearly academic in nature, but not such that you have to be an academic (and particularly an academic in her given field) to understand, and Coffman covers pretty well the entire history and most all angles of the given moment for the chapter at hand. Other interesting writing choices are including a period worship song and a period prayer to highlight her overall points about the period in question. Overall an interesting look at a lot of history that even this amateur historian wasn’t completely aware of, the book still invites the reader to decide for themselves if Coffman really got the 12 most pivotal events, or why the reader believes other events should have been discussed instead, making it fairly rare in its overall tone and “aftertaste”. Truly an interesting book for anyone remotely interested in its subject or combination of subjects. Very much recommended.

This review of Turning Points In American Church History by Elesha J. Coffman was originally written on February 7, 2024.

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#BookReview: The Southern Way Of Life by Charles Reagan Wilson

Solid Exposition, Lacking Bibliography. This book is truly a phenomenal look at southern culture from the time the first Europeans came to the southern North American region through today and how various in and out groups have viewed and shaped that culture along the way. Divided into a few different eras, Reagan truly does an excellent job of showing just what Southern culture and Southern Civilization meant to the various peoples of the given eras and how those views would come to shape later generations. Indeed, the only issue I could find with this book (even given its 600+ page length!) was that its bibliography comprised just 10% or so of the text, when 20-30% is more normal for a nonfiction text in my experience across literally hundreds of Advance Review Copies over the last few years alone. Thus, the one star deduction – which even I admit may be debatable in this particular case, as 10% of a 600+ page book *is* 20-30% of a 200-300 page book. Still, I’ve seen similar length books still hit that 20-30% mark, so I’m sticking to my guns here even as I openly admit others may feel different. Very much recommended.

This review of The Southern Way of Life by Charles Reagan Wilson was originally written on November 22, 2022.

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#BookReview: This Earthly Frame by David Sehat

Mostly Solid History Of Official Religious Life In The United States. Sehat manages to trace the history of official religious life in the US fairly well from its pre-Founding roots through its current fights over religious liberty. There are a couple of glaring weaknesses – the largest being his claim that Natural Rights theory originated in the Christian Church (it was actually created outside of the Church as a challenge to the Church’s position that rights come from God). But as with that particular case, most of these tend to only exist in areas where a rare person might actually know the particular topic particularly well – as this former Libertarian Party of Georgia official and candidate happens to do re: Natural Rights theory. 🙂 Otherwise, a solid if slightly dry – though nowhere *near* as dry as other treatises of its type – history that would be beneficial for many Americans (or those seeking to understand America) to read. Recommended.

This review of This Earthly Frame by David Sehat was originally written on February 18, 2022.

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#BookReview: How Free Speech Saved Democracy by Christopher Finan

Exactly What It Claims To Be. This is a book written by a “Progressive” (not liberal, there is a difference that is crucial in these discussions) that mostly focuses on using the Progressive dog-whistle of their version of “democracy” and showing how fighting Conservatives has “saved” that version of “democracy”. In other words, a balanced look at the whole of the Free Speech issue in America… this is not. But it also never really claims to be, so it can’t really be faulted for this. It just could have been so much better if it *had* been more balanced and thus more complete. Still, progressives will love this version and even those adamantly opposed to the “Progressive” political agenda will likely find useful knowledge here, potentially even some they were unaware of. Thus, this is recommended.

This review of How Free Speech Saved Democracy by Christopher Finan was originally written on February 5, 2022.

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#BlogTour: The Girl In The Picture by Melissa Wiesner

For this blog tour we’re looking at a solid road trip romance that really does work for fans of Kerry Lonsdale and Diane Chamberlain, as the publisher notes – both of whom are authors I’ve read and reviewed on this very site. For this blog tour we’re looking at The Girl In The Picture by Melissa Wiesner.

Strong Road Trip Romance. This is a really solid road trip romance full of misunderstandings, some hijinx, tragic backstories for our main characters, and an element or two of danger – all while traveling the backroads of America as two strangers who happen to get thrown together due to, well, a major misunderstanding. 😀 You’ll laugh some, you’ll cry some, you’ll imagine yourself getting a bit wet – from rain, get your mind out of the damn gutter -, and yeah, you’ll probably fall in love with these two yourself. Very much recommended.

Below the jump, the “publisher details” including the book description, author bio, and social media/ buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Girl In The Picture by Melissa Wiesner”