Movie Review: The Great Escape

Danny and Sedgwick attempt to blend with the Russian prisoners.

Movie Review: The Great Escape (1963) directed by John Sturges During World War Two, the Germans captured quite a few enemy soldiers, primarily aviators who’d been shot down or crashed. The Allied prisoners considered it their first duty to escape from captivity, and several of them caused enough headaches that the Luftwaffe built a new prison… Continue reading Movie Review: The Great Escape

Book Review: Spitfire Pilot

Book Review: Spitfire Pilot by Canfield Cook Bob “Lucky” Terrell may be from Texas, in the currently neutral United States of America, but he knows the Nazis are bad news, so he enlisted via Canada for the Royal Air Force. He turns out to be a very good pilot, so has been trained on the… Continue reading Book Review: Spitfire Pilot

Magazine Review: High Adventure #98: The Crimson Mask

Magazine Review: High Adventure #98: The Crimson Mask edited by John P. Gunnison When Robert Clarke was young, he watched his police officer father be gunned down by criminals. The image of his father’s blood-soaked face never left him. So after training himself in disguise, hand to hand combat, criminology, and becoming a PhG (Graduate… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #98: The Crimson Mask

Movie Review: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Tuco and Blondie witness the waste of war.

Movie Review: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) directed by Sergio Leone Our title characters are introduced in reverse order. The Ugly, Tuco (Eli Wallach), is an outlaw with a price on his head, guilty of a long list of crimes that have more than earned him a hanging. He’s a survivor who’s always… Continue reading Movie Review: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Book Review: Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings

Book Review: Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings by Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the sixteenth president of the United States, shepherding the nation through the dark days of the American Civil War.  Though mostly self-educated, he had a gift for the English language, making memorable speeches and writing interest letters.  Because of his… Continue reading Book Review: Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings

Book Review: Army Wives

Book Review: Army Wives by Midge Gillies Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review.  No other compensation was requested or offered. The life of a soldier is hard and often dangerous, but the life of a soldier’s spouse has its hardships and hazards… Continue reading Book Review: Army Wives

Book Review: The Perfect Horse

Book Review: The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway to facilitate this review.  No other compensation was offered or requested. The year is 1945.  The war in Europe is almost over.  American troops learn that a stud farm in Hostau contains horses looted by the Nazis from… Continue reading Book Review: The Perfect Horse

Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo

Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo by Canfield Cook Squadron Leader Robert “Lucky” Terrell has at last gotten his small group of RAF Stratohawk fighter-bombers to China.   There’s a small problem–the Japanese launched a major offensive while our heroes were enroute, and the airfields they were planning to use have been overrun.  Only one badly… Continue reading Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo

Book Review: Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

Book Review: Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder The title is pretty self-explanatory; this book is about the location of the worst mass murders of the 1930s and 1940s; the part of Europe between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.  Starting with the 1933 deliberate starvation of Ukrainians by the Soviet government, policies… Continue reading Book Review: Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin