This is the personal wartime diary of Hans Keilson. I always appreciate these personal, first hand accounts of events during the war. The only problem that I had with this book was that it seemed very scattered at times, though it was a personal diary, so that is to be expected. It was an entertaining book, and I got a decent feel for the climate that he was living in during this time period. 

 George Washington is the focus of this book. Specifically, his leadership. Washington is heavily lauded in the United States as a military leadership genius, and he was certainly pretty adept. He was a very intelligent man, and his strategies were really quite on it. There were a lot of other famous names mentioned in this book, as one can guess, that were also key figures in the American Revolution. The biggest takeaway from me was the information about the troops. We always learn about the leadership, or how hard it was during the winter, but there were some really good thoughts about the state of mind of the troops. There was a lot of information that I had never considered before reading this book.

I very much enjoy the work of David McCullough, and I think it is an absolute loss to the historical community that he has died. His level of research is unmatched. This book was well researched, well written, and very readable. I only have a few more books left to read by this author, and I will be very disappointed when I finish them. I think they are essential works in understanding United States history. I found this book to be very valuable to me. 

I am a pretty well established fan of Andrew Morton, and I specialized in World War II history. I assumed I would like this book pretty well, and I did. This was the first real account I had read about Wallis Simpson, whom I have a low opinion of. It was very interesting to see what kinds of behind the scenes things that the major players in World War II were up to. Wallis Simpson wanted to do whatever possible to advance her situation, and the Duke of Windsor was in complete subjugation to her. I can see why the Royal Family hoped to keep these types of activities under wraps, but it did make for an interesting read all these years later.

 This book tells the story of three boyhood friends that grew up and reconnected for a trip across Europe. Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone (a member of the United States Air Force), and Alek Skarlatos (a member of the Oregon National Guard) stopped a terrorist named Ayoub El-Khazzani when he boarded a passenger train determined to commit as many murders as possible. He had a pistol, AK-47, and a box cutter. His motivation was to attack American travelers and get revenge for bombings in Syria. Stone was cut in the neck, hand, and head with the box cutter, while subduing the man with a chokehold. Skarlatos whacked him in the head with his weapon they took from him to help subdue him. Other passengers stepped in to tie him up until they reached the train station for police to take custody. Stone saved a passenger that had been shot by shoving his fingers in the guys neck to stop the bleeding until they were able to get an ambulance, which he did despite his injuries. Ayoub El-Khazzani was given a lifetime deportation from France, and a sentence of life imprisonment. All of the men who stepped in to subdue him were made Knights of the Legion of Honour. This was a good book about how troublemaking kids eventually grew up and made good lives for themselves, and helped out so many people by being men of action and character. I liked this book a lot, and when I finished it, I watched the film. 

 The premise of this book is to explain the complexity of Native populations before Columbus came along to ruin and subjugate their civilizations. These were not a handful of people scattered about vast lands. They had long standing histories and traditions. They had social structure. They had communication. They had trade relations. There were loads of things going on that made them a "civilized" society. (I would argue that the ones who thought they were civilized were, in fact, NOT.) It is horrific and tragic what happened to the Native populations for the benefit of European explorers and settlers. (Yes, I realize that I come from a whole line of Europeans who settled in North America, and that I am as white as a sheet of paper, but that doesn't mean I cannot realize it was abhorrent what happened and advocate for proper education and respect of people...)

I have mixed feelings about this book. The first thing that irritated me endlessly is that the Natives were consistently referred to as Indians. I think that at the time of publication, it was a well established fact that they were called such because Columbus and others assumed they were in India, or the West Indies. Can we PLEASE make a notation of that, explain how it is incorrect, and call these people what they are? Either their appropriate name, indigenous, or Native?? I have about 0.0000001% Native blood in me, so I probably do not have a valid opinion on this, but as a historian....it makes me INSANE. My book group has several members who have hyped this book up and sang it's praises from the rooftops...I found it underwhelming compared to what they said about it. The description of the Native civilization was well written and awesome to read about. I think the research was well done on this. I have that to say that is positive. I try to not be completely negative when I review something, because there is usually both positive and negative things about a book, so...this is my attempt at transparency. 

On September 11, 2012, two American government facilities in Libya by an Islamic militant group. During the attack at the diplomatic building, United States Ambassador Christopher Stevens and United States Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith were killed. Images of Ambassador Stevens circulated around in the media, and it is a disturbing image. The militant group also attacked the CIA annex, killing two CIA contractors, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. The fighting lasted thirteen hours, hence the name of the book. 

I bought this book after watching the film. I think the film did great justice to the book, and that was probably due to the fact that the survivors of Benghazi had a hand in both the film and the book. This story was so moving to me. It is unfathomable to me that these men went through this horrible event all on their own. I follow some of them on social media now, and I am glad that they were able to make it home and continue doing some positive things with their lives. The things that happened in this book are deplorable. It was a very suspenseful read, though that is nothing compared to those actually fighting.

 This book was originally published under the title Horse Soldiers, which the movie 12 Strong was based on. This book tells about a group of Special Forces soldiers who rode across Afghanistan on horseback to fight the Taliban. This book was well researched and told about the battles and struggles these soldiers faced. It seemed strikingly odd to me that in the year 2000 the United States military was riding to war on horses. I became aware of this book from watching a Medal of Honor special where these events were mentioned. I have been staying away from Iraq and Afghanistan war books for personal reasons, but I was really interested to read this. I plan to watch the film as well. The writing style and research was very well done. This was one of the better books I have read about this topic in a while. 

 I clearly remember sitting in 8th grade History class when a teacher came in to tell my teacher that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I also clearly remember her standing there crying and everyone being very silent and watching as the second one hit. I remember the caring and concern that people felt for the state of New York and those people who were sifting through the wreckage and those who had lost their lives. This book was a very detailed account of so many lives and the events as they unfolded. I hate to say that I enjoyed this book, simply because of the subject matter, but it was a very good book. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in United States history, disasters, or simply this event. 

Hurricane Katrina was a Category Five hurricane that made landfall in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. New Orleans was hit exceptionally hard, and most residents were horribly unprepared. The storm surge caused over fifty breeches in the flood barriers, and since New Orleans is below sea level, the water was absolutely devastating. Many people lost absolutely everything and suffered days in deplorable conditions. 

 I appreciated the on the street perspective of this book. It was hard not to feel incredible sympathy for the city of New Orleans and the people living and cleaning up there. I was less impressed with the formatting, however, and it kept me from truly enjoying this book. It really read like Chris Rose gathered all his articles and crammed them into a book, which I enjoyed much less than I anticipated. I would recommend this book, with the warning that the formatting may not be for everyone. 

 This book is about Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe. I had never heard of this particular tribe, and I was interested in learning more about Natives. The Ponca were not a large tribe, but their small numbers were further decimated thanks to smallpox. They were generally farmers, but did hunt seasonally. Like many other tribes, the Ponca were forcibly removed from their homelands. Many of them died on that death march to their new reservation, or fell seriously ill. Chief Standing Bear left the reservation, breaking the rules, to return home to bury his son in their ancestral lands. He was subsequently captured and faced trial... I will not spoil the book by discussing the trial, but Chief Standing Bear was certainly a brave and determined man. 

This book came up on a suggested list when I was buying other books off of the Book Outlet site, and I was not disappointed in it. I have always had the desire to learn the real truth about Native peoples and the way there were treated by colonizing governments. I know that a lot of the history surrounding Native people in the United States that I was presented in school, especially elementary school, was incorrect of half true...obviously with the United States government and colonizing people as morally upright and fair. The treatment of Native people throughout the United States, and certainly other places, has been absolutely abhorrent. This book really shines a light on that subject.