TANKOBITE'S BLOG

Tankobite

A few more books (Part One of tonight's log)
Thursday, March 6, 2008

I've got a log update about the books and the idea, but for some reason it hasn't worked. I'm going to try putting it in two parts and we'll see if that does it.

First off, thanks to all who posted some suggestions for my reading list, I'll second any one of those; especially The Killer Angels which was what Joss said got him started on the idea of Firefly . The book is probably my favorite work of Civil War fiction; it centers on soldiers from both sides of the battle of Gettysburg, namely General John Buford, James Longstreet, Robert E. Lee, and Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Each perspective is different, from Buford's quiet professionalism and distaste for the political muck ups that have hindered the Union Army; to Longstreet's conflict between defending his home from a foreign invasion and having to fight against his friends (Notably U.S. Grant) on the other side; to Chamberlain, a professor of rhetoric who was granted a leave of absence to study in Europe, but instead enlisted in the army. Some have criticized the book because there are a lot of speeches in it, and I'll grant that there are, but they are damned fine ones.
This is an excerpt of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's speech to a group of mutineers; this particular text was the version used in the movie based on it, so some of it might be a little changed, but this is it.
Quote:

Many of us volunteered to fight for the Union. Some came mainly because we were bored at home and this looked like it might be fun. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many came because it was the right thing to do...
...This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you'll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we're here for something new. This hasn't happened much in the history of the world. We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow, no man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here you can build a home. But it's not the land. There's always more land. It's the idea that we all have value, you and me. What we're fighting for, in the end, is each other. Sorry. Didn't mean to preach.



I'll also recommend any of the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. The series centers around the exploits of a British Rifleman in the Napoleonic Wars (first books were written about the Peninsula Campaign specifically), but really it is a shadowing of the Duke of Wellington's campaigns. They're well done, full of action, they can be a little repetitive, but are still excellent. Keep in mind that what you're really reading is Wellington's exploits from an individual soldier's point of view.


Anyway, back to my book list.
Looking back over it, I realized that I overlooked some books that did intend to read for the project. Here are three more, which I'll suggest, but may be harder to find ( I haven't actually seen the third one anywhere, just heard of it).

Good-Bye to All That :Another classic anti-war memoir, written by a British World War I veteran and friend of the famous poet Siegfried Sassoon. He describes in detail life in the trenches, trench warfare, and the battle of Loos.

The Highland Brigade in the Crimea : This book is actually a collection of letters home written by LTC Anthony Sterling who served with Sir Colin Campbell (see my profile quote) in the Crimean War. I'm excited about this one, should be interesting to see a war from an officer's point of view (until now, all other books I've suggested or read have been written by private soldiers).

Tickled to Death to Go: The Memoirs of a Cavalryman in World War I : A bit of a self-explanatory title here, but the author was involved in the First World War from the first shots an Mons. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find it however, because I've only heard of it recently and the prices I've seen for it on the internet make me a bit hesitant ($49.95 US). The odd title comes from a chorus of a popular song, which I'll share with you at the end of the post.


That’s enough for one post now, here’s the song that the third book gets its title from:

Good-bye-ee
Quote:


Brother Bertie went away
To do his bit the other day
With a smile on his lips
and his Lieutenant's pips
upon his shoulder bright and gay
As the train moved out he said,
'Remember me to all the birds.'
Then he wagged his paw
and went away to war
Shouting out these pathetic words:

Goodbye-ee, goodbye-ee,
Wipe the tear, baby dear, from your eye-ee,
Tho' it's hard to part I know,
I'll be tickled to death to go.
Don't cry-ee, dont sigh-ee,
there's a silver lining in the sky-ee,
Bonsoir, old thing, cheer-i-o, chin, chin,
Nah-poo, toodle-oo, Goodbye-ee.

At the hospital at Kew,
The convalescents, dressed in blue,
Had to hear Lady Lee, who had turned 83,
Sing all the old, old songs she knew.
Then she made a speech and said,
"I look on you boys with pride,
And to thank you all I'm going to kiss each one",
Then they all grabbed a stick and cried,

Goodbye-ee, goodbye-ee,
Wipe the tear, baby dear, from your eye-ee,
Tho' it's hard to part I know,
I'll be tickled to death to go.
Don't cry-ee, dont sigh-ee,
there's a silver lining in the sky-ee,
Bonsoir, old thing, cheer-i-o, chin, chin,
Nah-poo, toodle-oo, Goodbye-ee.


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