Elizabeth D. Samet

File under: Somehow, I expected more. Samet is at her best eviscerating assorted American expressions of toxic sentimentality, such as the notion of the "Greatest Generation" that fought World War II, or the related "Lost Cause" mentality of the defeated Confederacy, because making up fairy tales is so much easier than taking a hard look at the abyss into which your government's bad political decisions led you, or, maybe, contemplating the continuing failures of American society in so many areas. As an instructor of cadets at West Point Samet takes her role as being an agent of reality very seriously. Less good are the portions of the book dealing with how post-1945 American military adventures get interpreted through the lens of the WWII experience, particularly Korea and Vietnam. Also, there's Samet's excursion into film history which felt like it should be part of another book.… (más)

This is the first LOA volume that I have started & completed upon opening the parcel in a long, long, time. I was really looking forward to it.

I read _With the Old Breed_ within the past few years, and recently watched 'The Pacific' series, so I skipped the reread of that horror.

_Flights of Passage_ was new to me. The description of his training quickly reminded me of the early Evan Connell novel, _The Patriot_. So much of the war in the Pacific was training and preparation & then being posted to some out of the way locale to wait.

I could not read _Crossing the Line_ fast enough. Kernan captures a blueshirts war, and experienced the best and worst of it. I need to seek out an enlisted submariner's memoir for the same affect.… (más)

This anthology was really broad in scope covering a number of leadership topics like finding your way and cultivating trust. What I really enjoyed is that the selected authors were not your typical "leadership" experts. For example, the excerpt from Dashiell Hammett's [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1306421260s/29999.jpg|980184]. Sam Spade is used as an example of a leader taking responsibility for their actions.

This is a well curated collection and there are some really thoughtful pieces that could be used to spark conversations in a team.… (más)