This is a wonderful little story of an American major who oversees the small Italian town of Adano after the Allied invasion. It reminded me of Lederer's "The Ugly American"; it's even better, I think. The only character who seemed a bit overdone was General Marvin, the villain. Reading this was a nice break from the usual blood and guts of the USMC list. This was an inspired selection indeed.

This book is filled with interesting stories about the founding of the American Navy. The building of the first ships (including the difficulties in floating one of them), Stephen Decatur's burning of the captured Philadelphia, the naval engagements in the War of 1812 - it's all great stuff. Finally you'll know the full story of "to the shores of Tripoli"!

This is a great read as Bernard Lewis effectively boils down the issues facing Islam. One thing he notes is a difference between Christianity and Islam - in Matthew 22 Jesus says to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" whereas there's no similar concept in Islam. This book is one you could re-read once every few years and still get good value.

This is a massive Civil War reference; it covers everything from details of all the major battles to the political maneuvering that Lincoln did to deal with his cabinet. It will take you a while to plow through this, but it's worth it.

This is an epic survey of Patton's life. One thing I found interesting was how Patton managed his career. He knew that in order to make flag rank he needed powerful allies, and he actively sought these people out even if it meant jumping the chain of command. The story of how he got to be Pershing's aide-de-camp in the Mexico campaign is a fine example of this.