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A Military Miscellany: From Bunker Hill to Baghdad: Important, Uncommon, and Sometimes Forgotten Facts, Lists, and Stories from America#s Military History |  | Author: Thomas Ayres
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $1.68
as of 9/9/2010 10:18 MDT details
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Seller: uggieandme2
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 1322500
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 208
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 4.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 0553804405
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.00973
EAN: 9780553804409
ASIN: 0553804405
Publication Date: October 31, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
For armchair generals, history buffs, and military enthusiasts everywhere, A Military Miscellany is an essential and entertaining collection of fascinating and little-known facts, anecdotes, lists, and stories from America’s rich military legacy. Forgotten heroes, amazing blunders, surprising trivia, and strange-but-true stories overlooked by historians, it’s all here in a book that will enlighten and amaze even the most avid student of American military history.
Did you know that American soldiers have been sent to invade foreign nations or their territories more than two hundred times since Thomas Jefferson dispatched troops to North Africa in 1803 to punish Muslim pirates? Or that during the Vietnam War a can opener was called a John Wayne? Or that a downed World War II airman once trekked across Germany, through occupied France, and across the mountains into Spain to avoid capture–only to be treated as a spy because Allied military intelligence said it couldn’t be done?
Open this book anywhere and you’ll find yourself instantly captivated. From the "peace president" who was our most frequent practitioner of gunboat diplomacy to the Revolutionary War hero whose refusal to cut his hair set off a four-year rebellion that went all the way to the White House, there’s plenty of fascinating lore here–from the monumental to the trivial–in an indispensable encyclopedic work that takes up where ordinary history books leave off.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
 AN AWESOME, FASCINATING TREASURE TROVE OF MILITARY FACTS & STORIES December 8, 2006
RBSProds (Deep in the heart of Texas)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Five ENGAGING Stars!!
Just handling "A Military Miscellany" almost reminds me of the military Field Manuals like FM 22-5, Drill and Ceremonies, in terms of dustcover color, approximate size, and the heft of it. And if you're a Vet like me that triggers a rush of military memories, past and present. Which is what we have here: an awesome collection of military facts, memories, stories, and sometimes just raw data stretching from the Revolutionary War to today. Not arranged in any particular chronological order, you can virtually open any page and begin reading another fascinating and little known fact or story or quote that usually begins and ends on that page (or less than a page).
Who is the only woman to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor? How did the Germans light up the nighttime battlefield at the Battle of the Bulge? What is the bloodiest conflict in the history of warfare? What is the only unit to have ALL members receive Congressional Medals of Honor? Who was "Wrong Hill Teddy"? What really happened in the case of Vietnam's Lt. William Calley (it's not what you may have heard!)? Were the Japanese planning to surrender before the A-Bombs fell? What did "Fat Henry" do at the Battle of Bunker Hill? What was the first non-stop flight around the world? Was mainland USA attacked during WW II (the answer is yes, but the way it was attacked is not the conventionally believed story)? What was the fate of the neutron bomb? Answers to those questions and many more are contained in these 199 pages. Of special interest are: the 13-page "A Chronology of America's Foreign Military Involvement" (can you 'cherry pick' it?) and "The Most Critical Battles in US History".
This is a wonderful book for military and non-military persons, it belongs on any military book shelf. It would make a wonderful present for everyone from a new recruit coming on active duty, to a military person in or out of battle, to a soon-to-be retired military person, to any Veteran or civilian war buff. And it may set off some arguments! This book is written to be consumed just the way we military personnel like our food: well-done, well-defined servings, with lots of meat in it, to be consumed in no particular order. An AWESOME collection!! Five Fascinating Stars!!
(Hardcover, 199 pages.)
For Any History Buff February 6, 2007
The Major (Chicago, IL)
A great book for any history or military buff. I bought two more copies as gifts after I finished reading it. It's formatted for an extremely easy read. You will not be disappointed.
Good Reading For Military Interests December 16, 2008
J Book (Salem, OR USA)
I got this book for my son, a major in the Green Berets, but I had to read it first... it was so interesting and so FULL of remarkable facts/figures of military information. A great read for anyone interested in military trivia and major facts broken down. Easy, so easy to read.
 Good, but: January 9, 2007
Kyle Lerfald (St. Paul, MN United States)
A seeming clone of Ben Schott's books- however some of the origins ("stiff upper lip", "hooker", others) are folk etymology, and some of the 'facts' presented may not be quite as accurate as the author would probably like them to be. The organization of the book is fairly haphazard; American Civil War pieces are next to WWII, WWI, and medieval-period factoids, which is a bit like taking a bite of everything on the plate at one time- which for some like me is fine, but if you like organization, it could drive you batty. This is a good curiosity-book, but I wouldn't want to depend entirely on it for military history.
 Slipshod Work December 23, 2007
David Gideon (Jacksonville, NC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Usually, I really enjoy books of this format. Unfortunately, Mr. Ayres' work falls far short of what I expected. Overall, the format was jumbled and the material was not presented in a logical manner. I expected to see material from different eras or themes together, instead of seemingly thrown together. Most distubring, though, were the blatant inaccuracies or ommissions. For example:
1) In the section of quotes from General George Patton, at least two of the quotes were wrong. For example, two curse words were substituted with less-offensive words w(doing so didn't diminish the power of the quotes, but invalidated them). Whether this was an oversight or intentional, it only served to call into question the validity of these and all other quotes.
2) In the "D-Day Facts and Figures" section, Mr. Ayres incorrectly lists the D-Day invasion of Normandy as December 6, 1944. The invasion kicked off on June 6, 1944.
3) In the section "1983", there's talk of the Grenada invasion. Mr. Ayres correctly mentioned the 2,000 Marines that took part in the fight, but neglected to mention the 6,000-plus Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Caribbean troops that also fought on Grenada
4) In the section "1994", Mr. Ayres talks about a raid in Somalia that costs the lives of 18 Americans. That fight happened in October 1993, not 1994.
These innaccuracies may seem minor to some, but they call into question the validity of a work. Listed as nonfiction, the work should have been more meticulously researched. Skip this and look for the info elsewhere.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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