Book Review: The 50 States

 The 50 States by Gabrielle Balkan, illustrated by Sol Linero, Wide Eyed Editions,Quarto Publishing, London, 2015.

This is a good reference book for information about the 50 states and District of Columbia.  Each state gets two pages.  One page is a map with pictures on the map of things in that state, historical and interesting.  There are also many blurbs about people from the state and what they may have done.  There is a brief history outline, and an introduction to each state.  There are also blurbs on the map about interesting things in the state.  For example Mammoth Cave in Kentucky has 400 miles of passages and caverns making it the longest cave in the world.  Stevie Wonder is from Michigan.  He signed with Detroit's Motown Records when he was eleven.  Wyoming is the first territory to provide women's suffrage and have a woman governor.  Finally a chart for each state with the state flower, tree and admission date.

Book Review: Historic Monuments of America

Historic Monuments of America by Donald Young, Portland House, New York, 1990.

This is a very good look  at National Monuments.  It is pictures with narration.  This includes some natural wonder, but also many significant places in history.  It mostly talks about places managed by the National Park Service.  It does center around the North East.  It has a fascinating look at Civil War Battlefields and Revolutionary War Battlefields.  Also all of the monuments in Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area.  A few of them I have visited, including grant's Tomb in New York, past the Statue of Liberty, The Capitol Mall is such a wonder, along with the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, WWII Memorial, Washington Monument, and much more.   Independence Hall along with the Liberty Bell are also fascinating.  Fort McHenry is another place I have visited.  The fort withstood the assault, and thus the British had to abandon their plans of going up the peninsula to Washington. 
The pictures of Gettysburg also fascinate me.  This is a battlefield I hope to visit.  Of course there are other significant battles, but this one includes a two-page mural of the battle.  The Chickamauga section is also very interesting. The Battle of Vicksburg was another significant Civil War battle.   Speaking of the Civil War For Sumter where the war started, and Appomattox where the war ended are both monuments. 
As we head west there are less monuments, but still some very significant ones.  This includes Lincoln's birth and burial places, many Native American mounds which are fascinate me.  And then the St. Louis Arch and Mount Rushmore and incomparable monuments.
Battle of the Little Big Horn site is remembered as a monument.  Also many missions in the southwest,   and the Anasazi left the four corners area dotted with monuments one can hardly fathom.  Also many old barns have been memorialized, including a beautiful structure at the base to the Tetons.  Fort Laramie, and a few other old forts are monuments.  Fort Point sits below the Golden Gate Bridge.  Scotty's Castle in Death Valley is marvelous.  Then of course in Hawaii is the monument to the attack on Pearl Harbor, including the Arizona.
This is a great coffee table book, because these pictures bring history to life. 

Documentary Review: The Fall of Saigon

This documentary portrays one of the most tragic moments in U.S. history.  It is presented by a You Tube site Maharbal which says it was posted in 2014.  These events actually took place 40 years ago this past week.  I was a senior in high school.

I lived through these events, and the nightly news which tried to tell the public what to think about them.  I thought they were tragic at the time.  In a very real sense the United States abandoned its allies and left them hanging in the wind to a fate worse than death.  I think events since the fall of Viet Nam have born this out.  However at the same time, Viet Nam has been a united country since.
I had a friend from work, who served as a doctor in the South Vietnamese Army, and was subjected to the re-education camps.  What a horrid life under communism.  And they say this was freedom. After released form the camps, he talked about the life of the people.  They could not be seen to have any wealth.  If you had chicken, you closed the curtains so no one could see and report to the government. We have all heard of the killing fields.  Millions of people died, so we could have peace.
Sometimes answers are not easy.  However I have a hard time getting my brain around the idea that this was the right way to go.  This documentary focuses on the last push towards Saigon,  from several sides, the government of Viet Nam, the U.S. military, the South Vietnamese military, and the North Vietnamese military.  It also focuses on the thousands who were left behind.  What a tragedy.