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WILD BILL

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  WILD BILL By Tom Clavin St. Martin’s Paperbacks 347 pgs   We’ve always been fascinated by the legendary western hero, Wild Bill Hickok. From the days of the black and white television series starring Guy Madison, to tons of Hollywood films ending Keith Carradine’s portrayal on the HBO series “Deadwood.” Along the way we’ve picked up a few biographies, but none more complete and authentic than Tom Clavin’s “Wild Bill.” Clavin is a dedicated western historian and in this book he paints the picture of the real James Butler Hickok from his youth on the frontier to his days in the Union Cavalry during the Civil War. Then there are his exploits on the frontier with such companions and Buffalo Bill Cody and encounters with George Armstrong Custer and so many others.  Clavin takes special care in eviscerating false myths that have survived Hickok’s death at the hands the cowardly Jack McCall. Most prominently the falsehood that he was romantically involved with the ...
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THE FIRST CONSPIRACY

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  THE FIRST CONSPIRACY The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington By Brad Meltzer & Josh Mensch St. Martin’s Paperback 406 pgs   In the early summer of 1776, General George Washington and his Continental Army of the United States was encamped throughout New York City. Fresh from their victory over the British in Boston the previous year, Washington was focused on fortifying New York in preparation for the invading British Fleet which he logically assumed was enroute. How much time he had, he didn’t know which only added to his anxiety. Never mind that his so-called army was still a ragtag collection of various state militias with little or no real military training. They were short of supplies and ammunition. What added to the tense scenario the fact that half of the city’s citizens were Loyalist faithfully supporting King George. Though aware of this fact, what Washington didn’t suspect was that a plot was being hatched by the former British Governor, Willi...
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FOR THE LOVE OF A GIRL

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  FOR THE LOVE OF A GIRL By William Hiles Trafford Publishing 230 pgs   This review is personal. During the Vietnam War, 2.7 million American men and women served in that faraway country. 58,000 of them died there. William Hiles was there and so was I. After graduating from high school in 1964, I worked in a shoe factory until 1965 when I enlisted for three years in the Army. Hiles graduated in 1965 and shortly thereafter enlisted in the Marines. After two years of duty in U.S. bases, I was sent to Vietnam the Spring of 1967 and would be there until the summer of 1968. As it turns out, Hiles was also In-Country at the same time, though we never met. He was a Radio Operator stationed in Da Nang and I was a Personnel Specialist attached to the Adjutant General Office at Army Headquarters in Long Binh. Both us felt the heat, the monsoons and the mud. Both us did guard duty, burned shit and were attacked during the massive enemy Tet Offensive of 68. Whereas Hiles s...
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