The Vikings: A New History

The Vikings: A New History by Neil Oliver

Although this was mostly a very good book, I must first state that this really wasn’t what I was expecting. When I read “history” in a title, I really am wanting just that – a linear history of the subject matter.  I wanted to be transcended to the particular time and live through the events along with the people that created the story.  This really isn’t what you get with this book.  Now, to be fair, the Vikings lived over 1000 years ago, and we must remind ourselves that the further we go back in time, the less actual records of the time exist. This was several hundred years before the average laymen knew how to read and write, so one really shouldn’t expect that such famous marauders hired a secretary amongst the brood to keep a detailed journal.

In fact, I would argue that this book is more of an anthropology than a history. This book reminded me of watching one of those documentaries on the History channel where the narrator starts the biopic by walking into the camera view and begins with an introduction.  He’s in a field, or cemetery, or by a body of water, and he then starts talking to the audience about the subject of the program. He states that he’s actually standing where said events occurred hundreds, if not, thousands of years ago.  Throughout the program, we visit cemeteries, churches, castles, and many old relics as the history unfolds.  Not really a bad thing for a tv program, but it just didn’t seem an ideal narrative for a history book.

It seems as though we read more about the actual excavation of corpses and relics then the actual events during the times of the plundering and sackings that we always associate when hearing the word “Viking”.  We read a lot about the corpses’ teeth, the jewelry, and other accoutrements which, again, might be par for the course when one has to go back so far in history. It just seemed more of a distraction when I wanted to read about actual history.

When the author does get around to telling us the historical events, it isn’t necessarily done in a linear fashion either. This makes it harder when you’re trying to assimilate so many new names, places, and events from such a long time ago.  It’s almost as if the author (i.e. narrator) would rather focus on traveling from present-day location to location and telling a new story each time he arrives at a new destination.  Some of these new stories contain people we’ve already met in his earlier narratives, whereas other tales have brand new people and places; so it becomes a chore juggling all the different pieces.

It really is a good narrative though.  I was never bored.  You learn a lot of history of the Scandinavian countries and the people. We see the conquering and assimilation of many distant lands including England, France, Russia, Greenland, and even North America.  The pillaging never really comes across as too violent. I imagine the real history is somewhat more barbaric than the events described here.  Since the time period was quite a long time ago, this might be one of the most accurate recordings of the history of time – even if it is told in a rather unconventional way. I did learn a lot, it just really wasn’t quite I was expecting.

Counterattack (The Corps Series Book 3)

Counterattack (The Corps Series Book 3) by W.E.B. Griffin

Another W.E.B. Griffin book that’s part of yet another series.  These books are kind of strange in that I find them quite enjoyable, yet when I describe the books to someone, I’m a bit mystified by my appeal.  I guess you really have to read them to “get it”.  So give credit to the author.  This series (like the first one I read by him, “The Brotherhood of War”) is about the military.  Specifically, this book, the third in the series titled “The Corps”, takes place in World War II. It starts directly after Pearl Harbor and finishes with the landing at Guadalcanal.

Like most of his military books, there really isn’t that much “war” within the pages.  The book mainly deals with many of the soldiers (in the Marine Corps; of course) and their training, their assignments, and the overall politics of military life.  The characters mostly repeat from book to book in the series, yet as I recall, the events and timeline in this book run parallel to Book 2.  So some similar characters, but a lot of new ones.  There’s almost TOO many new ones. 

Fortunately, every time the author introduces a new character, he spends an adequate amount of page space detailing the person and their background. This allows us not to lose the individual in the “shuffle” since after we meet them for a chapter, we might not read about them again until 100 pages later or so.  

Again, there’s a LOT of actors in this particular play.  Then, of course, every time we’re reintroduced to a recurring character from a previous book in the series, we read a lengthy background about them as well.  Even though we “should” be familiar already with these characters, Griffin is smart enough to know most readers probably won’t retain the characters and their histories over such a large period of time. 

We read an awful lot about politics within the ranks, and this really shouldn’t surprise us.  Not all soldiers are warm, cordial, and loving to each other and there’s plenty of jealousy and backstabbing amongst the members of the corps. It seems the higher one goes up the chain in terms of military rank, the more tension and resentment occurs.  

Of course, then we come to the women in the story.  Now, I’m not sure if this author would be considered sexist or liberating when discussing his female characters.  The only reason that there are ANY women in this book, is so she can quickly shack up with one of marine corps members quicker than you can say Semper Fi.  Maybe I’m naïve, but were all women that slutty in the 1940s?  I would hope not. I mean Every. Single. Time a woman enters our story she’s quickly in bed with one of the soldiers.  Of course, there’s always women who enter our story who are already engaged or married to a soldier fighting in the war sometime, but the author always manages to kill off the boyfriend/husband in battle so our female characters can quickly hook up with a soldier.  It seems awfully silly at times. The only thing more ubiquitous than the sex in these stories is the booze.  It seems every officer, in every situation is never far away from a liquor cabinet stocked with cases of Scotch.  Again, maybe this was par for the course during the times.

I think the only thing that I really didn’t like about this book is that we have one marine captain who reports directly to (real) Secretary of Navy Frank Knox.  When our captain sends the Secretary confidential “eyes only” documents, Griffin decides to include the whole correspondence within the secret files; meticulously detailed in a different font than the rest of the book so it “stands” out as being different.  This isn’t bad by itself, but the correspondence that our character sends seems awfully detailed with useless trivial details about matters mostly inconsequential.  Don’t cabinet members have more important things to do with their time than read such insignificant ramblings?  I mean, if I’m bored as a reader, I can only imagine how the Secretary of the Navy felt.

So not a lot of war, but a pretty decent story with a lot of “how it really works” as far as military matters go.  These books are quite light reading even if they’re not necessarily brief.  It’s best, though, to start at the beginning if you’re going to read any of the books in the series.  Not crucial, but best.

Goering: The Rise and Fall of the Notorious Nazi Leader

Goering: The Rise and Fall of the Notorious Nazi Leader by Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel

Before reading this book, I didn’t really know that much about Herman Goering other than he was basically Adolph Hitler’s right-hand stooge. For the most part, he seemed to not really have any sort of function other than to, possibly, represent what Hitler felt was the ideal pure Aryan specimen – tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and a decent combat record in war.  In other words, everything that Adolph Hitler was not. Latter images of the man seemed to show his body suffering a bit from the excesses of ill-gotten fortune and fame.  My impression of him was basically similar to a grown-up Augustus Gloop from the Willy Wonka movie.

So it was quite fascinating to actually learn a bit about the man. After reading this biography, though, I didn’t really come away with the idea that Goering was particularly bright nor very insightful. He seemed to be smart enough to ensure he was always in the right place and at the right time; always careful not to upstage his twisted Bavarian failed water colorist of a boss.  He seemed to portray more image than relevance, but that was probably Hitler’s plan anyway.  It wouldn’t do anyone in Nazi Germany any good to try to upstage or be smarter than THIS particular tyrant.

Goering’s early life is told rather sparsely in this book, but we do feel we have a solid understanding of many of his traits. Even his escapades as a pilot in the first World War don’t get too much space here, but he does come away as being a capable pilot, a zealous soldier, and a fearless man. At the conclusion of the war, Germany finds themselves destitute losers of war that really can’t be attributed as “their fault”. So when tensions arise in the depressed 1920s, it’s not surprising to see the Nazi movement gain strength as they promise their nation a return to greatness.

It’s during one of the early attempted putsches by Hitler and his cronies that leaves Goering with a bullet in the leg. After Hitler ends up in jail (where he would write Mein Kampf), Goering becomes a fugitive and has to flee with a stolen passport. Because of this, his wound doesn’t heal properly and he ends up with a lifelong addiction to morphine along with other pharmaceutical cocktails.  It’s these drugs that alter his appearance and personality for the worse. During the remainder of his life, his drug addiction causes him the occasional violent outburst resulting in insults being screamed and objects being thrown.

Strangely, though, Goering doesn’t come across as quite the lunatic one might expect. He seems incredibly loving and devoted to his wife whom he adores. When she dies in the 1930s, Goering eventually remarries and is just as loving and devoted to his second wife. Still, though, the authors are very clear that whereas his bloodlust may not have been as strong as the other leaders of this insane party, the man is ultimately still an evil menace who truly deserves what fate eventually has in store for him.

This book does a very good job of balancing the man’s story and the story of the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. There were times when I forgot I was reading about Goering since the authors spend much of this bio talking about the abysmal Third Reich. This really is necessary though, as you can’t really tell the story of Goering without going into detail of this maniacal dictatorship.  We do read a lot of side material about Goering’s obsession with the “finer things” such as his ubiquitous expensive jewelry, his massive art collection, and his massive residence that he dubs “Carinhall” (named after his first wife).  It’s not surprising that he gains possession of this multitude of riches by rather unscrupulous means; including theft from the Jewish population that are condemned to suffer and die at the hands of the Reich.

The years leading up to World War II and the years of the war itself are covered quite well.  The detail during these years isn’t gone into too deeply, which is a good thing.  There are plenty of other volumes if one wants to learn such things.  Again, the authors ensure they focus on their subject matter and his actions during these times rather than an exhaustive history of the Reich.

Probably the biggest treat for me was the last chapter of the book that deals with the Nuremberg trials. Unlike Hitler, Goering was captured alive, and we get a good look as his warped personality after Germany eventually is bombed into submission and surrender papers are signed.  We see, as the entire world did, how twisted this man actually was.  He actually believed that even though his nation lost the war, that he would be revered by future generations and that there would be statues of himself throughout Germany.  Well, as twisted as his psyche was, we learn he’s quite smart during his trial. On the witness stand, he frustrates his adversaries with his testimony of the events during the reign of the Nazis.  He seems to have a legitimate answer to every travesty -in his mind anyway.  He knows he’ll be sentenced to death, but he’s not going to go quietly.

Although I thought this was the most fascinating part of the book, I confess it did wear be down a bit. Rather than summarize selected events of the Nuremberg trial, the authors actually include the verbatim recorded testimony of Goering along with the questions and comments from the defense and prosecution.  It’s a bit tedious, but we DO really see that Goering really was quite smart and not just a token symbolic leader.

There are many other detailed books about the Third Reich if you’re interested in learning more, or if you want more detail. But this book served as an excellent compendium of learning about one of the key figures, his personality and his role during the most infamous part of the 20^th century history.