“The Oxford Companion to American Military History”, edited by John Whiteclay Chambers II, Joseph T. Glatthaar, Fred Anderson, Ronald H. Spector and Lynn Eden

960 pages, Oxford University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0195071986

The Oxford Companion to American Military History is a gold mine of information on American military history, exploring battles and soldiers, ships and weapons, services and doctrines, and even the social and cultural impact of the U.S. military at home and around the world. This work, edited by John Whiteclay, the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Rutgers University, boasts over 1100 entries written by some 500 distinguished contributors covering a gambit of topics. Thus, readers will find a description of the D-Day landings by Stephen E. Ambrose, a brief biography of Jane Addams by Jean Bethke Elshtain, a discussion of the changing experience of combat by John Keegan, a blow-by-blow dissection of the Battle of Antietam by James M. McPherson, an entry on religion and war by Mark A. Noll, and a chat about Sitting Bull by Robert M. Utley, to name an extreme few.

Ranging from brief factual pieces to extensive essays, the entries examine every major war from the Revolution to the Persian Gulf; important battles from Bunker Hill, the Alamo, Gettysburg, Little Bighorn, Normandy, Khe Sanh and more; and military leaders like Washington, Grant, Lee, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Westmoreland and Schwarzkopf. Moreover, the Companion goes well beyond the usual “drum and trumpet” coverage of battles and wars to examine a wide range of subjects you might not expect to find, with entries on relevant acts of Congress and on diplomatic policies (such as the Monroe Doctrine and the Marshall Plan); on peace and antiwar movements; on war in film, literature, music and photography; and on war viewed through the disciplinary lenses of anthropology, economics, gender studies and psychology. The result is the widest ranging account compiled in one volume of war, peace, and the U.S. military. With its authoritative and vividly written entries, maps of several major wars, extensive cross-referencing, lists of further readings, and an exhaustive index, this volume is the first place to turn for information on our nation’s military history.

“The Oxford History of Christian Worship”, edited by Geoffrey Wainwright and Karen Westerfield Tucker

916 pages, Oxford University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0195138863

The Oxford History of Christian Worship is an encyclopedic treatment of the topic of Christianity, covering the major historical developments through the ages, as well as differing styles of worship throughout the world. Geoffrey Wainwright and Karen Westerfield Tucker have brought together contributions from various authors to outline the liturgical diversity of the Church, with each chapter written by experts in their specialized field; all the chapters are, however, accessible with extensive footnotes for further exploration, while the opening and closing chapters by the editors locate the topic in its theoretical, historical and cultural context.

Beginning with the earliest days of the Church, the articles detail the rich history of Christian worship over two millennia, followed by additional articles covering a specific facet of worship – the role of women in the Church, the ecclesiastical visual arts, spatial setting and music – rather than a particular tradition or period. Catholic, Protestant and Eastern traditions are all covered and, unlike many more academic surveys of Christian worship, recent developments, such as the growth of Christianity in Asia and Africa, are included. Most contributors go beyond merely describing liturgy, but provide the theoretical underpinnings and offer well-considered, challenging personal opinions, as well.

Overall, The Oxford History of Christian Worship is a book which lives up to its name of providing a rich history of its subject, but which also looks to possible future trends in this never-static faith. The quality of the articles is very high and they are generally self-contained and need not be read in order; thus, it is more a compilation of essays on the history of worship and liturgy rather than a coherent historical narrative. Both the early articles on liturgical history and the later one bringing together much of the fruit of the scholarship of the liturgical movement are written in a form suitable for scholar and educated layman alike. As a reference source for understanding the diverse traditions of Christian worship, The Oxford History of Christian Worship is indispensible.

“The Monks of War: The Military Religious Orders”, by Desmond Seward

338 pages, The Folio Society, ISBN-13: 978-0751336788

The Monks of War: The Military Religious Orders by Desmond Seward is, over-all, a well-written work that is intended as a concise introduction to the military religious orders of the Middle Ages. Seward covers the founding of the major orders, their organization and the major episodes of their history; consequently, the book sometimes has a superficial quality as he goes from one topic to another. Seward shows that the military orders were born in the Crusading zeal that infected Medieval Europe and were initially founded to safeguard pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land from Muslim raiders; they gradually evolved into a unique medieval hybrid, combining Cistercian monasticism and Chivalric knightly values, while rapidly gaining influence in the Crusader Kingdoms (and considerable wealth in Europe, to boot). Similar orders developed on other important frontiers between Christian Europe and non-Christian polities, notably in Spain – where they were the shock troops of the Reconquista – and the eastern Baltic littoral – where the Teutonic Knights, especially, led the conquest and Christianization of Prussia and what is now a good part of the Baltic States.

Seward shows well how the military orders become an integral component of religious and political life in Europe, and a consistent theme that flows throughout the book is how the growth in importance of the orders was accompanied by their complimentary involvement in the complex dynastic, political, and religious struggles of Medieval Europe and the Crusader States. The decline of the military orders in the Early Modern period was a result of the increasing power of European monarchies and the declining need for their essential mission, the military struggle against non-Christians. The military orders of Iberia were essentially absorbed by the Church and monarchies, the great Templar order was destroyed by the expanding power of the French monarchy, and the Hospitallers were marginalized by their expulsion from the Eastern Mediterranean and the ultimate success of European struggle against the Ottoman Empire. While some of these orders survive today as charitable institutions associated with the remains of the European nobility, their power has been forever crushed, for good and for ill.

“A Day in the Life of the Soviet Union”, by Rick Smolan and John Burdick

236 pages, Smithmark Publishers, ISBN-13: 978-0002179720

In 1987, fifty Western and fifty Soviet photographers spread out across the length and breadth of the Soviet Union in order to captured on film a day in a country as it celebrated the 70^th anniversary of the October Revolution…and just two years later it would all crumble into dust. And a good thing it did, too. When the Cold War started the USSR was ruled by Stalin and the grim memory of the Terror still lingered in people’s minds: the midnight knock, the denunciations and disappearances, the show trials and the gulags, which held more than three million prisoners at their height (by the way, no gulags are photographed in this book). There were vivid recollections of the Great Famine of 1932-33 when millions of Soviet citizens starved to death and millions more tried to migrate internally. The situation was nothing this bad during the Cold War, but shortages of all kinds and long queues of people waiting for goods to arrive in the shops remained commonplace. This is just a little background, as none of these facts are displayed in this book, which is a beautifully prepared whitewashing of one of the world’s most brutal regimes. Oh, as a record of a dead nation it is brilliant, with photographs that speak for themselves…but what is really interesting is what this book represented at the time; namely, unprecedented access to a closed, paranoid society; the struggle to create the book; the little vignettes the photographers told about their day and their experience; the cooperation (or lack thereof) between two very different societies taught through decades of propaganda to distrust each other (for good reason); and the knowledge (though only through hindsight) that the Soviet Union was on its deathbed. The USSR is now, thankfully, long gone now, but the book, I think, retains its relevancy as a historical record of a country that no longer exists.

“Israel: A History”, by Martin Gilbert

848 pages, HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN-13: 9780688123635

With Israel: A History the late Sir Martin Gilbert undertook a monumental task in writing a single-volume history of the modern State of Israel. Gilbert was a British historian and honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, the author of eighty-eight books – including works on Winston Churchill, the 20^th Century and Jewish history – and was a member of the Chilcot Inquiry into the UK’s role in the Iraq War. What all this means is that he was admirably up to the task of writing this tale, a popular history of this improbable nation that not only looks at the facts behind the founding and survival of modern Israel, but also at Israeli culture and the numerous personalities that helped to create and shape her. He highlights the efforts of the hard-working pioneers that brought life to the desert and established thriving farms just as thoroughly as he does the politicians that have struggled to establish the country on a sound political footing. In short, this book offers the reader a basic overview of Israeli history, from the evolution of Zionism and Theodor Herzl’s efforts to find a Jewish Homeland, all the way through the first sixty years of Israeli Statehood (the narrative ends in 2008 with Israel trying to implement the Peace Process so painstakingly negotiated with the Palestinians, a process Gilbert was obviously at pains to talk up).

With its breadth of vision and depth of detail, it is obvious that Gilbert took great care in the writing of this book to present an exhaustive and well-rounded look at the history of the modern-day Israel. He begins his compelling narrative with a discussion of Zionism, the national movement of the Jewish people that supported the reestablishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel (roughly corresponding to Canaan, the Holy Land, or the Roman-named region Palestine). Modern Zionism emerged in the late 19^th Century in Central and Eastern Europe as a cultural revival movement in reaction to anti-Semitic and exclusionary nationalist movements in Europe, led especially by Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian journalist, playwright, political activist and writer who formed the World Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish migration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Though he died long before its establishment, he is generally considered a founding father of Israel. Gilbert continues his narrative with a history of the Belfour Declaration and the events leading up the establishment of the State of Israel and takes the reader up to the 50^th Anniversary of the establishment of the State, through the turmoil of the Intifada and the ongoing conflicts that Israel has had with her Muslim neighbors, and offers a clear and honest look at the prospects for peace and the peace process(e)s themselves, including Camp David and the Oslo Accords. Most importantly, he also outlines the flaws inherent in trying to arrange a peace with a foe that refuses to acknowledge the right of Israel to exist at all.

But Israel: A History does more than recite a lot of dates and events in the refounding of Israel; Gilbert also delves into the people and personalities that reestablished and inhabited her. He chronicles the major political figures who shaped the development of the country, including – but certainly not limited to – Chaim Weizmann, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Abba Eban, Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon and many, many others besides. He also spotlights other individuals who, although not nearly as famous, nonetheless played important roles in Israeli history. Interestingly, Gilbert takes time chronicling the development and founding of the numerous kibbutzim found in Israel, an area of economic and cultural development that many historians tend to overlook. And, of course, one cannot speak of modern Israel without also chronicling the many wars that have shaped the country, such as the War of Independence, the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War and all of the other wars, large and small, to boot. While tales of battles and discussion of tactics are to be found in the descriptions of Israel’s wars, Gilbert spends just as much time mentioning the human cost of combat, going out of his way to name just a few of the fallen (on both sides) and, in so doing, highlighting the real, human cost of war while showcasing the determination of so many individual Israelis and their fight to create a land wherein Jews can live free from fear.

Outside of the battlefield, Gilbert provides a glimpse at the internal workings of the state, including how the numerous immigrants from all around the world have been integrated into the society and how this amalgam of cultures has shaped the country, both culturally and politically. He also looks at internal issues that are currently facing Israel, such as having to deal with ongoing terrorism and the conflicts that are growing between the ultra orthodox and the secular factions in Israel. Throughout, Gilbert refers to the many interviews that he has conducted with leading Israeli and Arab figures, besides consulting numerous diaries, memoirs and first-person narratives of those figures no longer with us. The inclusion of this information helps to bring the facts to life and to personalize the events described. This is a phenomenally readable and engaging work, although some readers may find Gilbert's lack of interpretation off-putting. Personally, I liked Gilbert’s style: he provides the reader with a plethora of facts and enough background from which to interpret those facts without dictating that this or that fact is the “right” one, allowing and encouraging the reader to come to their own conclusions (this facet was enough for me to forgive his obvious disdain for Netanyahu). Israel: A History is absolutely essential reading for anyone who wants to truly understand all the controversy surrounding Israel today.

“The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family”, by Mary S. Lovell

384 pages, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN-13: 978-0393010435

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell is just it says it is: a group biography of one of the most interesting and stylish families to come out of Britain during the interwar period. The sisters, six daughters (and one son) of David Freeman-Mitford, 2^nd Baron Redesdale and his wife Sydney Bowles, became celebrated and, at times, scandalous figures during their lifetimes:

• Nancy Mitford (November 28^th, 1904 – June 30^th, 1973) 
• Pamela “Pam” Mitford (November 25^th, 1907 – April 12^th, 1994) 
• Thomas “Tom” Mitford (January 2^nd, 1909 – March 30^th, 1945)
• Diana Mitford (June 17^th, 1910 – August 11^th, 2003)
• Unity Valkyrie “Bobo” Mitford (August 8^th, 1914 – May 28^th, 1948)
• Jessica Lucy “Decca” Mitford (September 11^th, 1917 – July 22^nd, 1996) 
• Deborah Vivien “Debo” Mitford (March 31^st, 1920 – September 24^th, 2014)

According to The Times journalist Ben Macintyre they were caricatured as: Nancy the Novelist, Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur, Diana the Fascist, Unity the Hitler-lover, Jessica the Communist and Deborah the Duchess (if you read the book you’ll discover just how accurate these thumbnail descriptions are).

I’ve read several biographies in my time and I have to say that this one was a real chore to get through; starting about halfway, after the Second World War, it became increasingly dull and difficult as the Sisters lives’ just kind of became rather conventional and, therefore, boring. But mostly it is because of the author: Lovell writes like a society gossip columnist with a style that is uninspired with any attempts at showing the wit and wisdom of her subjects invariably falling flat. It isn’t a terribly detailed history, nor is it equally balanced as far as information about each of the sisters is concerned: Jessica and Diana, each of whom the author interviewed, are given a lot more space than the others. She covers Unity’s “Hitler Years”, of course, but otherwise we learn very little that is new about Unity; likewise, Deborah (Duchess of Devonshire and, along with Diana, the only other sister still alive when this book was published) and Pam get scanty coverage, and even Nancy is relegated to the background.

And you cannot write about the Mitford’s without mentioning Der Führer, a man who held such sway over a good part of the family (even at the end of the war Tom Mitford was praising him) that you wish the author had asked herself just how could such educated or sophisticated people have been taken in by him. It’s not that others weren’t, as well, but that’s no excuse; what was it about this family’s psychology that turned many of them into admirers of a man so widely reviled? The author makes all sorts of excuses for them, showing that over the course of her research she became an admirer of the family and, thus, a lousy biographer, unable to see the bad as well as the good in a dispassionate manner. Her constant apologies become tiresome over time as the book begins to skate across the surface of grand homes filled with all kinds of pullulating cousins, nieces and nephews.

Lovell also occasionally doesn’t follow up on information that she presents, as for example making a point of saying the Diana’s husband, Sir Oswald Mosley, lost a huge amount of money on a radio venture and recounting his failure to reenter politics after the war – and then not describing how the Mosley’s moved from one lovely home to another, redecorating “with Diana's usual flair” without explaining where the money came from to support this lifestyle. Overall, the, The Sisters serves more as a primer on the Mitford Sisters than a biography; there are probably better works out there that I will have to find.