In the year 1683, a vast Ottoman army is laying siege to Vienna, the heart of the Hapsburg Empire. The Ottoman army was subsidized in part by the king of France, who although Catholic, opposes the also Catholic Hapsburg Emperor. Then, from the wooded heights, the famous Polish winged hussars smash into the Ottoman army and from another direction troops from Franconia, northern Italy, Bavaria, and Saxony break the Ottoman flank. Vienna was saved and from that day forward the Ottoman Empire begins to degenerate and weaken until at the end of World War I it finally falls.

After conquering most of North America, the United States was filled with success and energy.  The expansion of the economic power of the United States was viewed with awe by the Europeans and dynamic politicians, such as Theodore Roosevelt, while Henry Cabot Lodge believed that it was the destiny of the United States to carry on into what is now called the “third world” to bring Christianity, modernity and progress to the inhabitants of those regions.  Our soul was pure (unlike the Europeans who only sought to exploit those foreign lands) and we were sure that we would be welcomed with open arms as saviors. At least that was the theory.

Mr. Bradley has written a number of excellent histories, including Flyboys and Flags of our Fathers.  This volume covers the interesting history between the United States and China, from the time of the Yankee Clippers through the “opening of China” by President Nixon.  In this book he unveils many interesting facts such as:

• That much of the money of the Eastern Establishment was made selling opium to the Chinese.  In fact, the fortune that propelled Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the White House was based on the illegal trade of opium.
• The fabled “China Lobby” which helped to guide our Asia policy was based on an idealized vision of the average Chinese peasant wanting to be an American, believing in democracy and wanting to have a nice house with a beautiful lawn, etc.
• That due to the “China Lobby”, the U.S. spent billions to prop up the corrupt regime of Chiang Kai-shek and that he and his circle were responsible for the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars while not contributing to the war against Japan
• Finally, that U.S. Presidents, from Teddy Roosevelt to FDR to Truman were fooled by the Chinese, the “China Lobby” and their own ignorance of the world into believing that they could remake China into a western democracy.

While historians believe that after the victory at Midway Island the course of the war in the Pacific was set, this excellent history of the naval battels around Guadalcanal shows that had the U.S. navy not prevailed, the marines on the island would have been defeated, displayed in captivity and a serious setback handed to the overall strategy.  That the U.S. naval forces were not defeated was not due to the brilliance of the naval leadership, but rather due to luck, a technological advantage that was nearly thrown away, sheer luck and the misunderstanding of the Japanese military which was focused on tactics instead of logistics.

Years ago, when China was beginning to come out of its Maoist straight jacket, and inviting in foreign capital and expertise, I was discussing the process with some Japanese engineers who had been to China as part of the investments by Japan.  I asked them how it was to deal with the Chinese, and they said with a very straight face, “they are very difficult to understand”.  I thought that if the Japanese could not understand the Chinese, woe to our business and government leaders who were making the pilgrimage to China. 

The 2005 biography of Mao by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday opened many Westerns eyes to the real Mao; the Mandarin who was carried on a litter during the Long March, the debauched lecher who surrounded himself with young girls and the man who drew inspiration from the worse Emperors who wasted the lives of millions. This book by the personal physician of Mao, adds more information to the man behind the posters; the master politician who could wait years for his revenge, the man who believed his own propaganda.

How do you write the history of a political movement which killed between 100,000,000 and 150,000,000 men, women, and children? You gather some of the best historians in Europe under the direction of the Director of Research for the National Center of Scientific Research in Paris and have them examine the archives in the former Soviet Bloc to reveal the crimes committed by generations of those who felt they could change human nature.  Instead, they tortured, murdered, deported, starved, and exploited the hundreds of millions under their control.

Canada, the land of happiness, a land where its citizens are liked worldwide and a land where the government on the side of every citizen.  Except if you are an investor.

In graduate school, one of my top professors was Dr. Samuel Sarkesian.  Before becoming a professor at Loyola Chicago, he had a military career, ending up as a Lieutenant Colonel.  That quiet man was one of the first officers chosen by Colonel Aaron Bank to set up the 10^th Special Forces.  Formed in 1952, it was designed to combat terrorism, operate behind enemy lines, etc.  He served behind North Korean lines during the Korean War, as well as on various missions in Africa, Eastern Europe, Viet Nam, etc.

When we think of WWII in the Pacific, we tend to think of the great naval battles which involved mighty navies in ship to ship gun duels and epic air battles over many thousands of miles of ocean.  Yes, we remember some of the islands on which so much blood was shed, but for Americans, it seemed to be a great conflict between two great navies.