America's Wars and Military Excursions

By Edwin P. Hoyt

Book Overview

military excursions This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0070306184
• ISBN13: 9780070306189
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 539 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An I was there historian

I have been reading this book off and on for years---he is to the point and the other review refers to brief chapters--well not everyone is going to spent their entire day reading unless you are a professor. Every chapter in this book could be the basis of a movie especially when Hoyt speaks from personal experience in having met Ho Chi Minh---who worked in a chinese restaurant down town Manhattan if I recall correctly. What is really interesting in Hoyt is the missed opportunities and the mistakes of Hull and Acheson. Claims therein are made that the Japanese could have been stopped in manchuria had we the interest and brass during the great depression distraction. I like Hoyts style--often unforgiving and unrelenting when criticizing US folly---yet the compliments are there as in our handling of Granada--surgical in and out- mission accomplished and no residual problems carrying over as in so many US excursions. His writing is fluent and clear and to the point and that may be because he was a journalist and met Ho Chi Minh personally and gives a fascinating view of how that leader wanted to get close to the USA and explain to them his views and how he wanted to work with us----fascinating stuff from this superlative writer--NOT an arm chair historian by any means--this guy was there in many instances and as mentioned was a jornalist in the south east-- I'll bet that if he decided to write a novel he would be another Conrad though hopefully less dark, severe and prolix. M. Pinsky

A quick lesson in history

With "America's Wars & Military Excursions" Mr. Hoyt gives the casual reader and the history buff a wonderful trip through well known and sadly forgotten military missions through the nation's history. Each narrative is relatively short but filled with enough concise information to give the reader a good understanding about what happened and why. He opens each with a somewhat personalized and off the cuff view of what happened which helps to keep you wanting to read more. As a history teacher and military historian I was amazed at how many times the US military has been used over the course of 200 plus years.Certainly an informative book that should remain on everone's bookshelf to bring out from time to time to refresh one's memory after watching CNN and hearing about the latest military deployment.