Ghost Soldiers (Hampton Sides, 2001)

This book covered a pretty amazing WW II story about which I knew nothing - the rescue of 500 or so survivors of the Bataan death march who were held at Cabanatuan prison camp on the Philippine island of Luzon.

The book gave the background on MacArthur's departure, the surrender at Bataan, the march to captivity, etc. Lots of detail on the maltreatment of prisoners by the Japanese - but I liked that the author seemed pretty balanced in this portrayal, not just out to demonize the captors.

The stories about surviving years in prison were really interesting. The book also talks in detail about the Ranger unit that accomplished the rescue (Colonel Mucci, Captain Prince, etc.).

The author also spends a fair amount of time describing the role played by the Philippine guerrillas in support of the Rangers - things wouldn't have turned out well without these folks. Even down to the water buffalo carts used to transport the freed prisoners to safety (many of whom were unable to walk).

Stalingrad: The Infernal Cauldron (Stephen Walsh, 2001)

I never get tired of reading about the battle of Stalingrad. It's pretty hard to imagine a more dramatic setup, let alone how the battle itself played out. I very much liked a previous book on the battle, which was moreso focused on the individual in the context of the battle, the suffering on both sides, etc. (see post of November 28, 2006).

This book seemed interesting mostly for the pictures, but also provided a really valuable overview of the context of the battle, and the context of the battle within the overall war. More detail about placement and movement of individual units - which is not of great interest to me, and is too complicated to follow anyway. I did like the explanation of the way the Germans tried to use encirclement techniques, and the "deep operation" theory of the Russians (which I didn't understand much). Also Stalin's interference and blundering in the early days (compounded by his 1930s purge of the officer corps).

But the overall discussion was interesting and very helpful in putting the pieces together for this part of the war. And the photos are great.

Ulysses (James Joyce, 1918)

I read this in part because it keeps showing up on lists of the "greatest novels of 20th century," sometimes as high as number one. I made it all the way through 800+ pages because I kept thinking something was going to happen. One day in Dublin (June 16, 1904). Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom. The book is full of literary allusions (most of which unfortunately are lost on me). It is modeled after Homer's epic of the same name (which would be of more interest if I knew that story better). The stream of consciousness stuff is fun for awhile - it makes one realize how much of time our minds are working just that way. Completely different writing styles in each chapter. Extremely clever.