Author: szfreiberger

ZBIG: THE LIFE OF ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, AMERICA’S GREAT POWER PROFIT by Edward Luce

szfreiberger American Diplomatic History, Biography, Cold War Leave a comment

(Zbigniew Brzezinski in 1987. He had considerable influence in global affairs, both before and long after his official tour of duty in the White House.Credit)

When I was a graduate student in the early 1970s I was enrolled in a 20th century diplomatic history course.  The professor, a Holocaust survivor from Eastern Europe with a wicked sense of sarcasm presented deeply analytical lectures and a challenging reading list.  Perhaps the most important book on the list was Zbigniew Brzezinski’s THE SOVIET BLOC: UNITY AND CONFLICT.  Brzezinski’s work presented a comprehensive analysis of the relations between communist states through the late 1960s.  The author focused on the process by which Eastern European countries were turned into satellites by the Soviet Union, the first signs of trouble following Stalin’s death, and the uproar unleashed by Khrushchev’s efforts to come to terms with Russia’s Stalinist legacy.  In the second edition of the book, he goes on to explore the growth of “polycentrism” in Eastern Europe, particularly with the emergence of the Sino-Soviet split.

As I recall Brzezinski’s analysis it is clear he was developing the precursor to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 and would be proven correct as he identified the flaws in the Soviet system.  After reading Brzezinski’s later works over the years and following his career his impact on American foreign policy is obvious.  There have been one major biography of President Jimmy Carter’s former National Security advisor, Justin Vaisse’s ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINKI: AMERICA’S GRAND STRATEGIST but none as well written, incisively analyzed, and researched as the Financial Times’ American correspondent, and frequent guest on MSNBC’s ”Morning Joe,” Edward Luce.  The book entitled,  ZBIG:THE LIFE OF ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, AMERICA’S GREAT POWER PROFIT.  Luce’s monograph portrays a man who predicted the fall of the Soviet Union as an academic, then set in motion the strategy that eventually ensured its collapse.  I found Luce’s book to be a fascinating study of his subject’s ideas and career, and how each influenced them in producing an important intellectual and professional biography.

Even as a young man Brzezinski had an innate sense concerning the Soviet Union.  As Moscow overran Poland after the Nazis were defeated he knew “all the Poles understand this is not a liberation but simply a change in the form of terror.”  Decades later, as a member of the Carter administration his view of Moscow had not changed.  He still fervently believed that the Soviet Union was not a monolith and resentment of Russian colonialism would bring about the demise of Moscow’s Eastern Bloc.

No photo description available.

(The Brzezinski family)

Luce immediately gets to the core of Brzezinski’s impact on the disintegration of the Soviet Union.  The Carter administration waged ideological war against Moscow, and it was Brzezinski who laid the seeds of human rights as a weapon which encouraged hopes for independence in Eastern Europe which provided an impetus for the Solidarity Movement in Poland.  Many believe that the Iron Curtain went down on November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell.  But according to Luce the beginning of the breach in the Soviet Bloc occurred on June 4, 1989, when Solidarity swept Polish elections.  Brzezinski played a key role in protecting Lech Walesa’s worker-intellectual alliance and nurturing it to victory.  Obviously, Moscow saw him as an arch enemy due to his Polish roots and his actions as NSC head, but one thing is apparent, Brzezinski’s impact on the collapse of the Soviet Union is underappreciated even today.

There is no doubt that Brzezinski was a controversial figure.  Some believed his Polish roots curtailed his objectivity and would lead to a war against the Soviet Union.  Others believed he was anti-Israel and possibly antisemitic because of his Polish heritage as he argued for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and was a key player in the Camp David Accords.  Democratic foreign policy doves also found him wanting as he supported the Vietnam War and opposed McGovernites.  Further his clashes with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance resulted in the Secretary of State’s resignation as he lost battles with Brzezinski over normalizing relations with China, holding Moscow to account for treatment of dissidents, arming the Afghani resistance to the Soviet Union, and modernizing America’s nuclear arsenal.  As Luce develops his narrative it is clear that his subject was his own man and never could be described as an ideologue as he did not fit any category, did not coddle up to the media like Henry Kissinger, and he was unwilling to play the Washington game which took a toll on his influence.

President Jimmy Carter shakes hands with his national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski as he presents Brzezinski with the Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony on Jan. 17, 1981.

(President Jimmy Carter shakes hands with his national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski as he presents Brzezinski with the Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony on Jan. 17, 1981)

Luce develops Brzezinski’s intellectual development throughout his narrative.  Beginning with his subject’s teen years, we can see that his subject is very concerned with Eastern Europe as he writes in his diary each day.  Luce does not scrimp in discussing Brzezinski’s personal development but zeroes in on his thoughts.  Key aspects include how his father, Tadeuz, a career diplomat imbued in him the concept of the Polish nation that was inclusive.  He stressed the role of Joseph Pilsudski who envisioned a Promethean League with Poland playing the major role as the largest player in a multinational group of smaller East European countries that together would be strong enough to resist the squeeze of Russia and Germany.  Brzezinski’s World War II diaries reflect this concern and his obsession with Eastern Europe.   

Brzezinski’s master’s thesis written while at McGill University at Montreal continues this fixation as his analysis points to his belief that the Soviet Union would come to an end at some point and he laid out a roadmap for defeating the Stalinist regime.  He correctly argues that Soviet ideology should not be mistaken for internationalism, as it was a variant of Russian chauvinism disguised as being a champion of the proletariat.  He argues further that Moscow inherited the Czarist map which included numerous ethnic groups and nationalities, he predicted that the loyalty of allies would wither away as they would see that worldwide communism only pretended to foster equality.  Russia was made up of 50% non-Russians and Stalin could not dispense with his nationality problem, particularly Ukrainians which led to mass deportations.  As Russo-Soviet imperialism spread throughout Eastern Europe it would be seen as worse than European colonialism.  For Brzezinski, the west’s blueprint to defeat Moscow was the need to repudiate the idea that Russia had the right to a legitimate “spheres of influence” as the developing Tito-Stalin split highlighted, and the idea that Russia as a civilizing influence in the region belied the actions of Beria and his KGB.

Brzezinski’s Ph. D dissertation which eventually would be published in book form as THE PERMANENT PURGE: POLITICS IN SOVIET AUTHORITARIANISM continues his worldview that purges were endemic to Bolshevik rule and the normal tool of totalitarian states.  In the absence of counterbalancing constitutional checks, purges became a substitute for politics under Stalin and the immediate years after his death.  Lastly, the Soviet system was doomed because it could not reform itself even as Khruschev tried after his DeStalinization speech in February 1956, and later under Mikhail Gorbachev which set events in motion that gave us Vladimir Putin.  Brzezinski would visit Russia in 1956, and he concluded “in addition to the nationalities, authoritarian sterility – not Stalinist terror – was the USSR’s long term, problem.”  This view was supported by the Hungarian Revolution in November 1956 as Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest, a fate Poland was able to avoid at the last minute.  This provoked Brzezinski’s rage at the President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John F. Dulles who preached “roll back” of Soviet communism but were feckless in response to Russian aggression.

(Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski)

The Kissinger-Brzezinski dynamic is an important aspect of Luce’s narrative.  The author spends a great deal of time highlighting their relationship discussing their similarities and differences as their careers cross paths.  In a sense it began with John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign.  The Massachusetts senator liked to portray himself as an intellectual and advocated bringing intellectuals into government.  Brzezinski became one of Kennedy’s foreign policy advisors and wrote a number of campaign speeches and the candidate would mirror his call for greater economic engagement, cultural ties, and scientific exchanges with Eastern Bloc countries as it shifted its entire focus away from Moscow as saber rattling would only drive the Soviet Bloc closer together.

With Kennedy’s assassination Brzezinski lost a leader who had nominally adopted his Cold War strategy.  His attitude toward Lyndon Johnson was not as positive as he believed his obsession with Vietnam created a missed opportunity as the Soviet grip over its satellites was looser than most believed, particularly the Sino-Soviet split, along with his belief that China, not Russia was the main sponsor of global revolution.  Luce is correct pointing out that Hanoi was paranoid of China, again a missed opportunity.

Once Johnson withdrew from running for reelection in March 1968 he signed on to coordinate Hubert Humphrey’s bid for the White House.  Vietnam would be his albatross and Brzezinski’s visit to Saigon reinforced his view that the war was not winnable even if the United States doubled its commitment to 1,000,000 men and any further escalation of the bombing would exacerbate the situation.  Brzezinski, who liked Humphrey as a moral person, did not think he would be a good president and advised him to recalculate  what victory in Vietnam would look like.  He wanted to keep arming South Vietnam to prevent a communist takeover and saw the war as only benefiting Moscow.  Brzezinski grew frustrated with Humphrey throughout the campaign as he dithered in his decision making and he saw little daylight with Johnson’s approach.  Brzezinski’s disappointment with  Humphrey and Johnson increased due to their lack of response to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia during the campaign – for him it was a replay of Hungary 1956.  Luce reviews the accepted analysis of Humphrey’s inability to stand up to Johnson during the campaign especially over a bombing halt until it was too late to win the election, and the Nixon campaign’s role in interfering with negotiations in Paris which Johnson was aware of but did nothing about because of his doubts concerning his Vice-President.

(Original Caption) 12/16/1976- Serious new Carter appointees Charles Schultz (l) and Zbigniew Brzezinski walk along with their boss to his home after President-elect made announcement of their new jobs 12/16. Schultz takes the post of Chairman of Council of Economic Advisors and Brzezinski, National Security Affairs Advisor. credit Getty Images

(Zbigniew Brzezinski, right, with Charles Schultz and Jimmy Carter in December 1976)

Vietnam underscored the differences between Kissinger and Brzezinski.  For most historians Kissinger was a master manipulator who always seemed to play on both sides.  During the 1968 presidential campaign Kissinger was a consultant to the State Department and funneled information concerning the Paris Peace Conference to the Nixon campaign at the same time he was advising Nelson Rockeffeler’s attempt to rest the Republican nomination from Nixon.  According to Luce this was the first time the two were on opposite sides, Brzezinski favoring a bombing halt, and Kissinger working to prevent it.

The two men once colleagues at Harvard maintained a somewhat friendly-aversive relationship.  As the years melted away the veneer of professionalism fades between the two.  Once Kissinger became Secretary of State and National Security Advisor in the Nixon administration, Brzezinski’s criticisms of Nixon-Kissinger realpolitik  increased.  The issue aside from Vietnam that drove their disagreements centered on “Détente.”  Kissinger attacked Brzezinski for abandoning his long-held belief in peaceful engagement and called his latest approach “a right-wing critique.”  Kissinger offered a rebuttal to Brzezinski’s criticisms over SALT, preferential trade credits, failure to talk to allies, and Middle East talks.  Brzezinski believed Kissinger was an amoral opportunist, and that the Soviets were exploiting Détente for ideological mischief-making.  He would support Détente, but not in a one-sided way.  Though their interchange was civil and bordering on friendly in private Kissinger was apoplectic and referred  to his former colleague as a “whore.”   In public they remained sociable, but behind the scenes as the later declassified documents show Kissinger grew angrier and angrier.  Indeed, given Kissinger’s backstabbing and Brzezinski’s distaste for social niceties, it is amazing that Brzezinski managed to get as far as he did and have such a deep impact on American foreign policy.  Luce argues that his success was due to his intellect, tenacity and sense of mission which he attributes to his “wounded Polishness” and overwhelming distrust of the Soviet Union.

The most important development in Brzezinski’s career was his association with Jimmy Carter.  First, he became Carter’s foreign policy advisor during the 1976 presidential campaign and worked on developing the candidate’s policy “chops.”  He would focus on Kissinger’s “lone ranger” approach to diplomacy and soon Ford’s Secretary of State became a campaign liability.  Further, Kissinger was described as a “false pessimist” based on his forecast that the Soviet Union would probably overtake the United States as a global force in the 1980s.  Carter’s speeches reflected Brzezinski’s tutoring as he described a new approach to Détente which would be “reciprocal and comprehensive.”

June 18, 1979: U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance at background, center, looks on as U.S. President Jimmy Carter, left, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, right, sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) II Treaty in Vienna, Austria. [AP/Wide World Photo]

(June 18, 1979: U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance at background, center, looks on as U.S. President Jimmy Carter, left, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, right, sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) II Treaty in Vienna, Austria. [AP/Wide World Photo])

The competition between Kissinger and Brzezinski continued during debate preparation as Carter revived the “Kissinger issue,” and he and his tutor trapped Ford into one of greatest gaffes in presidential debate history when Ford stated and then reiterated that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there will never be under a Ford administration.”  This error would cost Ford his reelection since the election result was so close.

There was no doubt in Carter’s mind that he wanted Brzezinski as his National Security advisor despite the opposition of Democratic Party elites like Averill Harriman, Clark Clifford, and Richard Holbrook.  When Luce describes the new NSC head as having sharp elbows and not caring what others thought of him as long as he was true to his beliefs he is dead on.  Carter and Brzezinski would develop a fascinating relationship.  It began with Brzezinski as teacher and Carter as pupil and would evolve into a strong partnership.  Brzezenski, though at times was frustrated by Carter’s indecisiveness, but admired his character as the President would do what he believed was right for the country no matter the negative political implications for his own popularity.  Be it handing back the Panama Canal, aggravating the Jewish lobby over his view of the Palestinians, the need for an energy policy, or appointing Paul Volker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve knowing full well his policies would exacerbate inflation in the short run, Carter did what he believed was best for the country.

Brzezinski finally had his opportunity to be the architect of American Foreign policy.  His commitment to human rights and working closely with Karol Wojtyla who would be elected as Pope Paul II in 1978 was brilliant and it sent a message to Moscow as upon assuming the presidency Carter immediately stressed human rights and a new SALT II treaty.  In fact, the KGB argued that it was Brzezinski who had fixed the Papal election!  Meeting with Soviet dissidents like Andrei Shakarov and Vladimir Bukofsky (in comparison to Ford who refused to meet with Alexander Sohlsenitsyn) angered Leonid Brezhnev who threatened that there would be no SALT treaty unless the US backed off from emphasizing human rights.  Brzezinski was unconcerned, stressing the Russians needed a SALT treaty because their economy was in such poor condition.

Photo of U.S. president Jimmy Carter, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin shaking hands.

(U.S. president Jimmy Carter, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin shake hands after signing the Camp David Accords)

The other relationship that Luce delves into in detail is that of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Brzezinski.  Vance, who was part of Harriman’s brain trust and the last of the Democratic elites, was against stressing human rights, believing that a new SALT treaty was imperative.  Luce points to a long list of disagreement between Vance and Brzezinski that included policy disputes over allowing the Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment after American hostages were seized in 1979; prioritizing Détente instead of a more aggressive approach to Moscow;  careful not to antagonize Russia by moving to close to China;  and asserting a more aggressive military posture in the world.  Their differing worldviews led to a climate of public diplomatic discord which at times left the impression that the administration’s  foreign policy lacked coherence.   Ultimately, Brzezinski’s more hawkish approach often gained prominence during critical moments, contributing to the eventual resignation of Vance in April 1980 after the failed hostage rescue mission in Iran. Luce sums up their relationship perfectly, Vance had Carter’s heart, Brzezinski had his brain!

Despite this bureaucratic infighting Carter achieved a number of diplomatic successes.  The Camp David Agreements between Israel and Egypt, the bleeding of Russia by arming the mujahideen in Afghanistan, normalizing relations with China, and the return of the Panama Canal.  Luce’s deep dive into these issues is particularly gripping and an important aspect of his book as he provides fascinating commentary.  For example, Israeli Prime Minister Begin’s relationship with Brzezinski as both were Polish, despised Russia, and their knowledge of Jewish History.  Another instance is the relationship between Deng Xiaoping and Brzezinski which translated into the turning point for the Carter administration as the President sided with his NSC advisor over Vance to normalize relations with China.  Further, Luce stresses that the Russian invasion of Afghanistan was vindication for Brzezinski over the State Department which had argued repeatedly that the Soviet Union was a status quo power.

Jimmy Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski aboard Air Force One circa December 29th 1977

(Brzezinski and President Carter)

Despite these successes the Iranian situation overshadows all of them.  Luce lays out the familiar history of the emergence of Ayatollah Khomeini as the leader in Tehran and the ongoing hostage situation.  The Carter national security team was blinded on two fronts.  First, they misread the potency of the mullahs and did not take Khomeini’s words seriously.  Further, Brzezinski could not accept the concept of a theocratic revolution.  Another error was the state of the Shah’s health.  Brzezinski repeatedly called for a military crackdown and/or coup, but the Shah was in no condition to effectively deal with the security situation in his country.  Luce is correct that the Carter administration’s approach to the Iranian crisis was one of complete chaos highlighted by the inability of the State Department and National Security Council to get along and the fact that there were so many leaks of information to the public.  Carter could not make up his mind until it was too late.

I agree with Jonathan Tepperman’s review in the July 10, 2025, edition of the Washington Post concerning any shortfalls to Luce’s biography.  “If I were to quibble, I’d have liked more of a window into Brzezinski’s private, deeper self, especially given that Luce had access to all his diaries, correspondence and other papers. But perhaps that was impossible; as Luce repeatedly points out, Brzezinski spent strikingly little time on introspection. He may not have had an inner life worth plumbing.”

In the end according to Tevi Troy in his May 13, 2025, review in the Wall Street Journal that “it was neither the Soviets nor the State Department but an inability to deal with the Iranian hostage crisis that brought about the end of the Carter administration and, apart from some consulting roles, the end of Brzezinski’s time in government. Brzezinski continued to opine on foreign policy. As Mr. Luce points out, however, he did so without being closely affiliated with either political party. Mr. Luce speculates that this independent approach is both why he never returned to government and why he never received “his full due.”

Whatever Brzezinski’s shortcomings were as a foreign policy expert, no one could challenge his intellect, his commitment to his craft and doing what he felt was best for his adopted country.  In comparison to the conduct of foreign policy today with a hollowed out State Department and diplomatic core and strategies designed to assist the president in acquiring wealth and bullying allies, I long for the type of diplomacy narrated by Mr. Luce, which described a man who laid the groundwork to understand what Vladimir Putin’s goals are today.

Zbigniew Brzezinski in 2007. He warned that the US was destined to be not only the first but also the ‘last truly global superpower’.

(Zbigniew Brzezinski in 2007)

THE WOUNDED GENERATION: COMING HOME AFTER WORLD WAR II by David Nasaw

szfreiberger American Social History, World War II Leave a comment
wwii veterans in uniform

(GIs returning after WWII)

During his presidential campaigns Donald Trump has described American veterans as “suckers and losers.”  He “strongly” wonders why veterans went off to fight when it was clear there was nothing in it for them.  President Trump’s attitude toward men like John McCain and millions of others is both despicable and ungrateful.  These men and women are heroes who defended our country and in most cases selflessly.  Those who have survived war zones returned home with numerous ailments from the physical to the psychological.  Today, the mental issues have been labeled post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) with veterans suffering from recurring nightmares and flashbacks, uncontrollable rages, social isolation, fears of places and events that evoked memories of the war, resulting in behaviors that they did not have before they shipped out.  The label has been mostly applied to Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan war veterans, but symptoms were clearly evident for those who fought in and survived World War I and II.

In his latest book, award winning author David Nasaw, who has written such excellent works including; THE LAST MILLION which traces the plight of displaced persons after World War II, THE PATRIARCH a biography of Joseph P. Kennedy, THE CHIEF a biography of William Randolph Hearst, and ANDREW CARNEGIE, has just released a marvelous monograph entitled, THE WOUNDED GENERATION: COMING HOME AFTER WORLD WAR II.  Nasaw’s focus in the book is not on the heroism of World War II veterans, but how they adapted to civilian life upon their return from the war, how their wartime experiences impacted familial and other personal relations, and how the country they returned to treated them.  Nasaw’s most salient points revolve around the idea that these men and women were not the same people emotionally and physically as they were before the war, and the country which they returned to was quite different than the one they returned to.  How they adjusted to their issues and their surroundings are the key to the narrative.

(American Sgt. George Black addressing the crowd of homesick GI’s as they staged a demonstration outside the US Embassy in the French capital in January, 1946. They protested the slowdown in their redeployment from Europe to the US)

As the author writes in his introduction, “if we are to understand the pain and hardship veterans brought home with them we must acknowledge their experiences in the war and of war, their wounds, injuries, and illnesses, their realization that they were expendable, that chance alone would determine whether they lived or dies or returned home body and soul intact,”  therefore we must begin, not with their home coming but their actual experiences in the war.

Nasaw spends almost half the book discussing what soldiers experienced in combat, and at the same time how carefully the government informed the public of their plight with an eye on the issues they perceived would emerge once they were discharged.  From the outset Nasaw focuses on the issue of “neuropsychiatric disorders” as the term PTSD was not known.  It is clear that about 40% or about one million soldiers who were discharged or disabled during the first two years of the war fell into the category of “neuropsychiatric disorders.”  The problem for military authorities was that the army and naval medical corps were totally unprepared to deal with psychiatric disorders.  They were trained to deal with physical injuries, not mental, which were 33% of all injuries.  With the shortage of men, many of these individuals were returned to the front suffering from symptoms of anxiety and depression.  In treating these men, medical professionals were unsure if victims would ever recover.

Medics tend to wounded man.

As the narrative progresses the author makes many salient points, some obvious and others based on deeper analysis.  The American public was fully aware of what their sons and daughters were experiencing despite military censorship.  With an abundance of newspapers, magazines, books, and diaries the public was exposed to information on a delayed basis.  However, radio reports made the experience more immediate.  The government was in a bind, if it reported too many victories, particularly after the Battle of Midway authorities feared people would become complacent and the war might be close to an end.  The government knowingly believed that in “total war” the fighting could drag on for years, particularly against Japan and wanted the public to be educated to that belief.  By 1943, authorities in Washington wanted a more accurate representation of the fighting to be used as a tool against complacency in a war that had distinct racial elements to it. 

John Dower’s book, WAR WITHOUT MERCY: RACE AND POWER IN THE PACIFIC WAR develops this racial thesis, especially in Asia as the reason for the horrible conditions that soldiers faced when dealing with the enemy.  As Nasaw correctly points out, “American boys and men, once peaceful and non-violent souls, had to become merciless, pitiless killers in order to stay alive and defeat a merciless, pitiless enemy.”  The American media would caricature the “Japanese as vicious, conniving, beastly hordes of ‘monkeys’ and ‘rats,’ unstoppable, demonic torturers and killers,”  while Germans were said to be more law-abiding according to international convention ignoring the Holocaust.

American troops in a snow-filled trench during the Battle of the Bulge.

(American troops in a snow-filled trench during the Battle of the Bulge)

An interesting point that Nasaw describes deals with how soldiers spent their spare time.   We have all heard the saying “hurry up and wait” pertaining to the military and even in combat that was true.  Soldiers did not fight constantly, and outlets had to be provided for  men and women.  The creation of paperback books was boosted during the war as “pocketbooks” were created for soldiers to read as free reading material by the thousands was provided.  The most important ancillary product provided was cigarettes which was seen as a military tool that would calm nerves before and after battle, suppress hunger, and keep soldiers alert when they should have been sleeping.  During D-Day they helped to ward off sickness, reduce fear and shaking and sustain men.  They were given to soldiers at every opportunity – 63 tons worth of tobacco were delivered to the army, and tobacco farmers were deemed “essential workers during the war.  Soldiers were also seen as different if they did not smoke.  Cigarettes were provided with C rations and were available everywhere as they were a major resource for soldiers to trade.  Other activities that were employed to keep soldiers “sane” were alcohol and condoms.  As with nicotine addiction, drinking habits acquired during the war would carry over into peacetime.  Drinking served a similar purpose to smoking to calm soldiers and allow them to cope with the atrocities of combat.  In addition,  during the war over 50 million condoms were distributed by authorities who could not control the sexual drive of soldiers especially after they arrived in Italy in 1943.  Women were readily available as prostitutes as locals resorted to sex as a means to earn money, cigarettes to trade on the black market, and just to survive.

The racism that existed after the war, especially as Jim Crow was restored in the south, was a continuation of what went on in military theaters.  At first negro soldiers were given menial jobs – cleaning, cooking, waiting tables, and general labor.  Later as troop shortages continued experimentally, segregated units were created.  These units did quite well, i.e., the Tuskegee Airman, and a few combat units.  The fear on the part of southern senators was that if negroes got used to fair treatment and a better racial experience in the army it would carry over into civilian life and there would be certain expectations.  They wanted Jim Crow in the army, so negroes did not get any ideas once they were discharged.    The behavior of southern whites after the war reinforced Jim Crow as blocking voter registration, the return of brutal lynchings, and the refusal to hire negroes for other than menial jobs they had before the war, as opposed to employment which would allow them to use their military training and wartime experiences dominated race relations below the Mason-Dixon line.

(FDR signs the GI Bill)

Nasaw does an excellent job discussing problems that developed once the allies proved victorious.  The issue was demobilization.  With the end of the war in Europe soldiers wanted to be discharged, not sent to the Pacific as the Japanese were seen as fighting to the death and after Okinawa, Saipan and the rest of the island hopping strategy was implemented they knew fighting could be brutal.  European theater veterans were given 30 days leave and were then to be sent to the Pacific.  The dropping of the atomic bomb ended the war for good and domestic politics called for a rapid demobilization, however the United States needed troops for occupation duty.  Demobilization would be slow and about 1.5 million would be needed for occupation. 

The author spends the remaining 60% of the book on how the war affected American society once fighting ended.  Nasaw recounts the repatriation process and once again the racial issue arose as negroes were the last to be discharged.  By stressing the racial component to the post war period, the author relies on excellent source material, diaries, interviews of families, and other primary materials. 

Politicians in Washington did not want to deal with racial equality as the Democrats needed the support of southern senators to try and create a program which would reintegrate men and women back into civil society.  Memories of the Bonus Army of 1931 during the depression and the use of the military to crush it were still fresh in people’s minds.  The solution would evolve into the GI Bill whose rationale was not totally one of empathy but one to avoid unemployment, inflation , and retrofitting industry back to peacetime.  By providing educational funding  for tuition and books it would allow veterans to attend college and not enter the labor force which was undergoing a dramatic change as women began to lose their jobs as the men returned and wanted to reclaim their place in society.  Whatever the motivation was for the GI Bill the government implemented a “veteran’s welfare state” throughout the 1940s.

What is clear is that the federal government spent a great deal on white returning veterans.  Though Nasaw cannot settle on a figure as to how much the government spent; at times he states it is $17.3 billion, later it is $24 billion, and even later it is closer to $30 billion for the GI, bill the amount dwarfs what was spent on the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after the war.  Whatever the final figure was between 1945 and 1950 it was in the billions and went along way to implement the veterans’ welfare state of education, job training, medical care, and housing relief.  Many in Congress called for expanding this approach to all civilians, but that was not in the cards for decades, and even then it did not match what was spend on white veterans.

Nasaw is clear that the major issue was that veterans brought the war home with them – many were psychologically wounded and many carried diseases within their bodies.  Millions returned with undiagnosed untreated psychic wounds that would haunt them for years to come.  Men had to live with what they saw and experienced no matter how emotionally devastating it was.  For many, these experiences remained with them for the remainder of their lives.  Men came home with the characteristics of PTSD, though it was called “combat fatigue” or something similar.  When they returned they exhibited what psychiatrist, Robert Jay Lifton describes in his seminal work on survivors of the atomic bombings, DEATH AS IN LIFE as flashback, nightmares, violent tempers, survival guilt, psychic numbing,  all indicative of PTSD.  To make it even worse for women, children and the family unit, the military and society in general put the onus of helping their spouses recover on them.  They had to grant veterans the leeway to recover which the military stated would eventually occur over time.  Most veterans did not commit suicide and learned to live with nightmares and flashbacks they could not erase.  In addition to PTSD, many individuals suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) from concussive explosions during the war from which they had not recovered.  All this made the recreation of the family unit as it was known before the war, impossible to recapture.

Pilot CommissionsTuskegee Airmen stand with an airplane and prepare to receive commissions and wings from Colonel Kimble, Commanding Officer of the Tuskegee Army Flying School, Tuskegee, Alabama, 1942. (Photo by Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)

(Tuskegee Airmen)

Nasaw spends a great deal of time on the impact of the war on the family unit discussing the role of women who had lived independently during the war and now were faced with giving that up and allowing the husband to recapture his place as the breadwinner.  Many could not and the divorce rate would almost double.  The increase was also due to the fact that many men and women could not accept the infidelity of their spouses, women lonely at home, and men lonely overseas seeking comfort.

Nasaw seems to cover every aspect of how service in World War II impacted a myriad of issues following the fighting.  His coverage is comprehensive, but he also provides a wonderful touch illustrating his monograph with Bill Mauldin cartoons which were rather provocative for the time period.  Tom Brokaw has labeled those who were victorious in World War II as the “greatest generation.”  After reading Nasaw’s excellent book I would change that label to the “long suffering generation.”

(Doctors returning to the United States in the Mediterranean or Atlantic circa October 1945, The National WWII Museum)

THE PERSIAN by David McCloskey

szfreiberger Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thrillers Leave a comment
Aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran

(A view of the cityscape in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025).

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the arrival of the mullahs at the head of Iran’s attempt at theocracy relations with the United States have been fraught with hatred.  Over the years wars, assassinations, terrorism, computer related attacks, spying, kidnappings, a nuclear deal and its revocation, and economic sanctions have been the norm.  Today Iran finds itself at a crossroad.  Its Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is eighty-six years old and nearing the end of his reign, and as Karim Sadjadpour writes in his November/December 2025 issue of Foreign Affairs, “The Autumn of the Ayatollahs” the twelve day war last June laid bare the fragility of the system he built.  Israel bombed Iranian urban centers and military installations, allowing the United States to drop fourteen bunker busting bombs on their nuclear sites.  Tehran’s ideological bravado and its inability to protect its borders along with the defeat of its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas has reduced its threat to the region. 

Apart from the succession problem Iran faces a choice of how to prioritize its nuclear program, but with no negotiations, oversight, or concrete knowledge of Tehran’s stock of nuclear material another war with Israel seems inevitable.  Despite Donald Trump’s insistence that the United States “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, officials and analysts are less sanguine.  Iran may have been weakened, but it has not become irrelevant.  As the rhetoric between Iran and the Trump administration ratchets up it is clear that the Tehran government suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of Israel and the United States.  The Iranian economy continues in a freefall, and the regime remains in power through coercion and threats.   In this domestic and diplomatic climate, a novel that reflects the current forceful environment should attract a strong readership.  THE PERSIAN by former CIA analyst and best-selling author David McCloskey, fits that need as the author takes readers deep into the shadow war between Iran and Israel and plays out a scenario that is quite plausible.

Aerial view of Tehran, with the Alborz mountain range, Iran

(Aerial view of Tehran, with the Alborz mountain range in the background)

McCloskey begins the novel describing the assassination of Abbas Shabani, an Iranian scientist who was an expert on drone-cladding, making drones invisible.  The murder was carried out by a woman using a joystick at a Mossad site near Tel Aviv.  The operation continues Israeli policy of killing anyone it believes is a threat to the Jewish state engaging in any component of Iran’s nuclear preparation – a policy that is accurate in fiction as well as the real world.  McCloskey immediately shifts to an Iranian interrogation room where Kamran (Kam) Esfahani, a Persian Jewish dentist.   Kam, the main character and narrator of this taut political thriller, is counting down the days until he has enough money to leave Sweden for sunny California.   The interrogation allows Kam to rewrite and rework his confession over a three year period enabling the author to recount his novel through Kam’s acknowledgement of being part of a plot that killed Ismail Qaani, a member of the Qods Force, Unit 840.  The group is run by Colonel Jaffer Ghorbani whose  reason for being created is to kill Jews.  Kam had been recruited by Arik Glitzman, head of the Mossad’s Caesarea Division, who offered to pay him a fortune to sow chaos in Iran. Trading the monotony of dentistry for the perils of espionage, he runs a sham dental practice in Tehran as a cover for smuggling weapons and conducting surveillance.  McCloskey offers a wonderful description of Glitzman which is emblematic of his character development as the head of the elite team within the Caesarea Division of Mossad is described as “Napoleonic, short and paunchy with a thatch of black hair and a round face bright with a wide smile.  There was fun in his eyes and if they had not belonged to a secret servant of the state…they might have belonged to a magician, or a kindergarten teacher.”

In addition to using Kam’s voice to relate a major part of the story, McCloskey organizes the novel by repeatedly shifting back and forth in time and location as he organizes his chapters.  A key character who appears often is Roya Shabani who witnessed the assassination of her husband and seeks revenge against Israel.  She will be given that opportunity as part of Ghorbani’s unit, initially carrying out low level tasks.  Soon her immediate superior, Hossein Moghaddam, a Qods Operation Officer, who falls for her carries out an assassination of Meir Ben-Ami, Arik Glitzman’s deputy reflecting the real world that Israeli and Iranian intelligence regularly engage in.

An aerial shot of the Stockholm City Hall in Sweden

(Stockholm, Sweden)

McCloskey’s CIA background and research allow him to portray assassinations, the use of technology for spy craft, recruitment of assets, and organizing operations in such a realistic manner heighten the reader’s immersion into the novel.  In an NPR interview which took place on “All Things Considered” program on September 29, 2025, McCloskey admits that as a former CIA analyst who has been posted throughout the Middle East he is able to draw upon a great deal of inside knowledge in creating his characters and present them as authentically as possible.  The authenticity of his characters and storyline is enhanced as his novel must pass through CIA censors and at times he is amazed as to what the “Publication Review Board” allowed to remain in the book.  In a sense the book itself is prewritten as the actions of Iranian and Israeli intelligence officials and agents create the bones of an insane spy novel.

Aspects of McCloskey’s novel weigh heavily on the real world of espionage as the author delves into the fact that Israel was at a disadvantage in the world of espionage since it did not have diplomatic relations with the countries that surround her in the Arab world – it did not have embassies to hide intelligence officers who could carry out its operations.  As a result, operational teams are cobbled together, surged to where they are needed, and disbanded when the operation is completed.  Israel has to create different types of cover than the United States, United Kingdom and others because of this disadvantage and it amazes how successful they are when the playing field is not level.

Dagestan, where the Samur flows into the Caspian sea

(Caspien Sea)

McCloskey is very successful in creating multiple storylines as he goes back and forth between time periods and locations.   A major shift occurs when the kidnapping of a target fails as somehow he is murdered.  This causes Glitzman to change his plans on the fly resulting in Roya becoming a major focus of the novel.  Her evolution from the spouse of a scientist to an espionage asset is fascinating as is that of Kam.  The author does an exceptional job tracing Kam’s progression from an unsuccessful Iranian Jewish dentist raised in Sweden into a reluctant and fearful spy into someone who becomes devoted to his mission.  The explanation that is offered makes sense as Kam develops his own feelings of revenge toward Iran and its agents who kicked his family out of the country, for decades has laid siege to the country of Israel and wants to eradicate its entire population.  The problem is that his mission will result in his capture and the reader must wait until the last page to learn the entire truth bound up in his confession.

(Evin Prison’s main entrance)

The author’s goal in the book, which was already written before the war of last summer, was to go beneath that kind of overt conflict and get to the heart of the shadow war between Israel and Iran.  After reading THE PERSIAN it is clear that he accomplishes his goal completely as his characters must survive in a world of intrigue, paranoia, and what appears to be a world of endless violent retribution.

(Tehran, Iran)

ANNAPOLIS GOES TO WAR: THE NAVAL ACADEMY CLASS OF 1940 AND ITS TRIAL BY FIRE IN WORLD WAR II by. Craig L. Symonds

szfreiberger Biography, Military History, World War II Leave a comment
Aerial view of U.S. Naval Academy looking Northeast. U.S. Naval Air Station, Anacostia, Washington, D.C.

(An aerial view of the U.S. Naval Academy, looking northeast, mid-1930s)

In the tradition of Robert Timberg’s THE NIGHTINGALE’S SONG, Bill Murphy, Jr.’s IN A TIME OF WAR: THE PROUD AND PERILOUS JOURNEY OF WEST POINT CLASS 0F 2002, Rick Atkinson’s THE LONG GRAY LINE: THE AMERICAN JOURNEY OF WEST POINT CLASS OF 1966 and Joseph Waugh’s THE CLASS OF 1846 FROM WEST POINT TO APPOMATTOX: STONEWALL JACKSON, GEORGE MCCLELLAN, AND THEIR BROTHERS, Professor Emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy, Craig L. Symonds latest book, ANNAPOLIS GOES TO WAR: THE NAVAL ACADEMY CLASS OF 1940 AND ITS TRIAL BY FIRE IN WORLD WAR II examines the graduates of one of our service academies and how they were educated, trained, and adapted to warfare.  Symonds, who has taught naval history for thirty years and has authored numerous books that include THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY, NIMITZ AT WAR, LINCOLN AND HIS ADMIRALS, and OPERATION NEPTUNE has produced a poignant and disturbing story of how the Annapolis Class of 1940 experienced personal growth, pain, loss, and dedication as they participated in many noteworthy battles in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II.

The class of 1940 consisted of 456 men out of the 750 who graduated , though not everyone received a commission.  Of those who did, 401 became Navy Ensigns, and 25 became Second Lieutenants in the US Marine Corps.  They arrived at Annapolis as Adolf Hitler ordered the seizure of the Rhineland, the Spanish Civil War was beginning,  the Japanese had already seized Manchuria, Mussolini forces were ensconced in  Abyssinia, and Stalin had instituted his purges.  Despite these events most of the plebes were more concerned with how they would survive the naval academy for the next four years.  Symonds follows in detail a number of members of the class who would experience four transformative years, followed by four more hard years in the cauldron of war.  The end result was that 76 graduates of the “forties” as the Class of 1940 was known would perish in the war, the highest death rate of any class from either Annapolis or West Point.

File:Graduation day at Annapolis. Washington, D.C., June 6. The United States Naval Academy, Class of 1940, held graduation exercises today at Annapolis, Maryland. The climax of the ceremonies is LCCN2016877715.jpg

(Class of 1940 graduation from the US Naval Academy, June 6, 1940)

Symonds begins his narrative by introducing members of the new class and their socio-economic makeup.  What is interesting to note is their diverse backgrounds, the reasons they wanted to attend the academy, and how they achieved their admission.  Some were from privileged classes in terms of wealth who used their families political connections to gain an appointment.  Others saw it as a free education as their families could not afford college tuition as the depression continued to impact Americans throughout the 1930s.  A few saw it as a dream come true from the time they witnessed naval destroyers or cruisers at harbor when they were young men.  Curiously, of the new appointees, only one was black, and one was Filipino.  Symonds explores the plebes’ daily schedule that could be summed up as “reveille, formation, breakfast, class, lunch, athletics, dinner, study, lights out, repeat!”

The author does an excellent job integrating world events as he relates the experiences of his subjects.  He provides important aspects of events, in depth analysis, and the possible impact of what had transpired outside the “Naval Academy bubble” on its newest class.  A good example is Symonds discussion of the 1936 Army-Navy game which Navy was victorious by a score of 7-0 and the growing partnership developing between Japan and Germany which the following year would result in the anti-Comintern Pact, and the Panay Incident the following year when the Japanese attacked a US gun boat on the Yangtze River.  By September 1939, the fall of Warsaw provoked a growing interest on the part of the “forties” as they could imagine war on the horizon and their renewed commitment to their training resulted.

The USS Arizona (BB ) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Decth

(USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941)

The narrative reflects how racist American society was during this period.  Aside from racial makeup of the class, their behavior toward certain staff members of the academy was indicative of American values.  For example, the “forties” would pay janitors 25 cents a week to sweep their rooms and make their bunks.  They would also refer to them as “mokes” which translated to “colored corridor boy!”

Symonds intimate detail is impressive and reflects how intrusive academy regulations could be.  The navy had a regulation that men could not marry until they served two years as commissioned officers at sea.  Those who secretly married were dismissed from the academy and lost their commissions.  However, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the losses the United States suffered in the Pacific the need for more naval officers was acute and the regulation was changed, and men no longer had to wait two years to marry.  But again, if they did so before the change was implemented they were dismissed.  It did result in a number of the class of 1940 getting married before they shipped out.

(USS Yorktown at sea in the Pacific) 

Symonds does not devote much detail on the last three years the Class of 1940 spent at Annapolis.  After about a third of the book discussing the ”forties” he jumps to graduation as the situation in Europe, England, and the Atlantic deteriorates as the Nazis become even more aggressive.  Upon graduation 50 men are assigned to aircraft carriers, 167 are assigned to battleships, and another 101 are assigned to cruisers.  Others transfer to the Marine Corps, submarines, and aviation services.  At this time, the Atlantic was more dangerous than the Pacific as German U boats sought to cut off American shipments to England.  President Roosevelt would gain passage of the Lend Lease program which expanded the navy’s role in the Atlantic.  As US ships conducted search patrols as far as the Azores the navy became more engaged in an undeclared war against the Germans and naval preparation and operations increased and the training of the members of the Class of 1940 was put to use.

By September 1941 it became clear the US navy was increasingly escorting allied convoys in the Atlantic and active combat resulted as the USS Kearny was hit by a German torpedo and the USS Reuben James was sunk.  Symonds as he does with the course of the growing conflict explains correctly that Hitler was careful not to push naval confrontation with the United States at this time because he wanted to defeat the Soviet Union which Germany had invaded in June 1941.  The US would continue to increase its convoy role in bringing aid to England in the Atlantic, at the same time Roosevelt ratcheted up sanctions against the Japanese in the Pacific which would ultimately lead to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Symonds description of the attack on Pearl Harbor reflects the standard account of events.  What makes it more personal for the reader is how the author integrates the experiences of Class of 1940 graduates.  Men like Irving Davenport and Sideny Sherwin served on the USS Oklahoma which was sunk resulting in 429 deaths.  Dave Davison was the Officer of the Day on the USS Arizona as was Virgil Gex who made up two the seven “forties” with the over 1000 men who did not survive the attack.  Others from the Class of 1940 like Nick Nicholson was the Officer of the Day on the USS California as were a number of others.  Symonds stories of those who survived and those who did not reflect the heroism and personal sacrifice so many men experienced on December 7th.

  • This is the photo Robert Kaufman, 97, has of the...
  • Robert Kaufman, 97, is one of the only living Americans...

(Photo Robert Kaufman, 97, has of the Japanese surrender ceremony, which ended the U.S.’ involvement in World War II. Kaufman is one of the few remaining Naval Academy 1940 graduates).

The author’s expertise as a naval historian dominates and enhances the monograph.  His views are supported by years of research and familiarity with primary and secondary materials.  Symonds relies on letters, diaries, family archives, and interviews to augment his portrayal of events and the role of the members of the Class of 1940.  One example in particular stands out as he relates General Douglas MacArthur’s fears that building defenses and stockpiling food on Bataan would appear defeatist to Japan.  He convinced Washington to allow him to defend all of Luzon, including Manila once the Japanese attacked.  This was a grave error as the Japanese landed on Luzon on December 22 and MacArthur was forced to move his headquarters from Bataan to the small, fortified island of Corregidor.  Allied forces would surrender on April 7, 1942, after fierce fighting and “Sparky” Campo, the lone Filipino in the Class of 1940 was able to escape by executing a bold torpedo attack against Japanese destroyers.

By 1942 the Class of 1940 was in the thick of combat as convoy escorts became the primary function of the Atlantic fleet.  Despite tremendous losses it was decisive for the war effort because of the American ability to build new ships and filling the need to increase protection for the convoys .  This increase in American shipping created the need for more naval officers which tapped a number of the 1940 Class’s members.  They would fill many new staff positions; engineering, torpedo and gunnery officers, in addition to executive officers on smaller craft.

Symonds describes the difficulty and danger faced by the navy in convoying  across the Atlantic.  The author provides the speed and size of the convoys, their strategy designed to avoid U boats, even the inability to sleep and eat due to conditions caused by storms and high seas.  Symonds zeros in on the USS Buck and USS Bristol as he relates the dangers and anxiety that naval personnel faced.  The situation became even more difficult as the US began supplying lend lease aid to the Soviet Union as convoys had to transit the Arctic Ocean around northern Norway where the Nazis had an air base in their attempts to reach the Barent Sea. It became even more difficult as losses caused Roosevelt to suspend certain shipping to Russia which fed Joseph Stalin’s paranoia about the allies using Moscow as a vehicle to defeat the Nazis and at the same time destroy his country.  This paranoia and anger against London and Washington would fester and cause difficulties throughout the war and even contributed to the cause of the Cold War after 1945.

Midshipmen boarding battleship Texas

(Midshipmen go aboard the battleship Texas (BB-35) near Annapolis on 8 June 1940)

Symonds’ topic is vast because of the geography of the war.  His narrative encompasses the Atlantic and Pacific theaters but also devotes his coverage to the Mediterranean theater.  What stands out is the convoy support in the Atlantic which suffered tremendous losses of material and lives as we tried to supply our allies.  In the Pacific, the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal dominate as the Japanese zeroed in on the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier at the battle of Midway at the end of May 1942.  Luckily, they could not zero in on other carriers, the USS Hornet and USS Enterprise.  By chance, the officer on deck was Lt. Junior Grade Peck Greenbacker of the Class of 1940 who was at the center of the storm and eventually the Yorktown could not be saved as it was repeatedly hit by Japanese torpedoes.  At Guadalcanal, the US Navy suffered its worst defeat in its history as it lost the USS Quincy killing 370, the USS Vincennes with the loss of 322 men in early August 1942.  In addition, more ships were lost and the death total encompassing all losses included a number from the Class of 1942 as class members were involved throughout the battles.   So many ships were sunk in the waters off Guadalcanal that it soon earned the nickname, “Ironbottom Sound.”

Midshipmen USS Missouri (BB-63)

(Midshipmen holystone the deck of the USS Missouri (BB-63) during their summer training cruise)

In the Mediterranean Operation Torch became Roosevelt’s response to domestic pressure and Winston Churchill to finally take it to the Nazis.  Symonds fittingly points out that General George C. Marshall feared diverting assets to North Africa would cause a postponement of any landing in France in 1943, which in the end was the result.  The main obstacle to Torch was the French Vichy destroyer, Jean Bart in Casablanca Harbor.  Lt. Warren Walker’s USS Massachusetts and his compatriots were able to take out the ship allowing General George Patton’s troops to invade Morocco in November 1942, and later, Walker was involved with the cruiser USS Tuscaloosa’s heavy guns which assisted allied troops as they landed at Utah Beach on D-Day.  Another sailor associated with the Class of 1940 was Sam Edelsein who in early July 1943 was sent to the Mediterranean  on the eve of the invasion of Sicily to supervise the installation of SG radar sets on Admiral Richard Connolly’s flagship, the USS Biscayne.  Edelstein would oversee the acquisition and dissemination of radar intelligence throughout the invasion.

ANNAPOLIS GOES TO WAR is a well written account of the lives of the Class of 1940, and their contribution to the war effort.  Based on impressive research his narrative encompasses the vast geography of the naval battles of World War II and in the end is an acknowledgement and salute to those who gave their lives and those who contributed to victory.  

United States Naval Academy Annapolis Maryland

(U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD)

THE RAIDER: THE UNTOLD STORY OF A RENEGADE MARINE AND THE BIRTH OF U.S. SPECIAL FORCES IN WORLD WAR II by Stephen R. Platt

szfreiberger Biography, Chinese History, World War II Leave a comment

(Lt. Colonel Evan Carleson)

There have been many exceptional people throughout history.  People who emit bravery, compassion, and genius whose impact on others is immeasurable.  Many of these people have been somewhat anonymous historically.  One such person was Major Evans Carleson the subject of Stephen R. Platt’s new book; THE RAIDER: THE UNTOLD STORY OF A RENEGADE MARINE AND THE BIRTH OF U.S. SPECIAL FORCES IN WORLD WAR II.

As the book title suggests Major Carleson made many important contributions as to how the American military conducts itself.  A career that spanned fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and the Japanese in China, the Makin Islands, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Saipan saw him implement combat tactics that he observed and studied while watching the Chinese Communists engage Japanese forces in the 1930s.  The type of fighting is framed as “guerilla warfare,” which would be developed by Carson’s battalion that would be the precursor of US Special Forces known as “the Marine Raiders.”

Mao Zedong And Zhu De Portrait Photograph by Michael Ochs Archives

(Mao Zedong and Zhu De)

According to Platt, Major Evans Carleson may be the most famous figure from World War II that no one has ever heard of.  He was a genuine hero whose life was full of contradictions, and he would wind up disowned by his service, pilloried as a suspected radical, and forgotten in the postwar era.  Platt makes a number of astute observations, perhaps the most important being Carleson’s repeated warnings not to allow the wartime alliances in China to collapse.  Today, US-Chinese relations are in part hindered by events at the end of World War II – something Carleson saw coming.

After reviewing Carleson’s early life and career Platt places his subject in China for the first time in 1927 where he would carry out his lifelong ambition to make a difference in that theater.  Carleson would spend the next fifteen years observing the Communist Chinese, promoting democracy, fighting the Japanese, developing a philosophy of warfare which rested on a non-egalitarian approach to training men and leading them in combat.  Carleson was a complex individual, and like many people he had his flaws as well as his strengths.   On a personal level he had difficulties devoting himself to family life and was happier away from his wives and son, than trying to work on his familial relationships.  On a professional level he was an excellent leader of men as his approach was to have the same experience as his men in the field which led to success on the battlefield.

Chiang Kai-shek1 - 中國歷史圖片，維基媒體

(Chiang Kai-Shek)

It is obvious from the narrative that Platt has a firm command of his subject.  He successfully integrates the flow of Chinese history from the late 1920s through the Second World War and the immediate post war era.  Platt’s commentary and analysis dealing with Chinese Communists and Kuomintang relations, Chiang Kai-Shek’s authoritarian leadership, the strategies pursued by the Japanese and the United States are well founded and based on intensive research.  This allows the reader to gain a clear picture of what Carleson faced at any given time from the “Warlord Era” in China in the late 1920s, his meetings with Communist officials, particularly Zhu De whose combat strategies became the model for what Carleson created with his Marine Raiders, and events on the ground, and other important personalities he interacted with.

Platt is accurate in his comments pertaining to the balance of power in China.  He introduces the Soviet threat in the region as Joseph Stalin supplied Chiang Kai-Shek’s forces throughout the 1930s, reigning in the Chinese Communists as he wanted to develop a buffer to thwart any Japanese incursions on Russian territory.  The Soviet Union financed the reign of Sun Yat-Sen and continued to do so with Chiang Kai-Shek.  Stalin also forced the Communists to work with the Kuomintang and create a “United Front’ against the Japanese, a strategy that Carleson supported.  Carleson’s influence on American policy toward China and Japan was enhanced because of the special relationship he developed with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his son James who was his executive officer and helped create the “Marine Raiders.”  A case in point is when Carleson finally learned that the US was supplying oil, weapons, and other resources to Japan to use in China, he helped convince FDR to embargo these items.

In examining Carleson’s approach to the Sino-Japanese war after he was appointed  to be China’s Marine 1st Regimental intelligence officer in 1927, Platt correctly points out that many of his views were formulated because of his closeness to Chiang Kai-Shek, a man he admired despite his authoritarian rule.  Since he was getting his information from one source he seemed to follow the Kuomintang line.  This will change as he is permitted to imbed himself with Communists forces fighting Japan and his “special relationship” with Zhu De who commanded Chinese Communist forces.

(Agnes Smedley)

Platt will spend an inordinate amount of time tracing his subjects ideological development and personality traits.  He stresses Carleson’s need to improve.  After reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ideas as a young man, he becomes a convert to the concept of “self-reliance,” which he intermingled with the concept of “Gung Ho,” or working together which he learned from Zhu De.    He pursued a lifetime goal of educating himself and he always seemed to crave a literary career.  An important source that Platt makes great use of are Carleson’s letters to his parents where he relates his beliefs concerning the China theater and his own command career which allows him to develop analysis of his subject and the world with which he was involved.

Carleson developed many important relationships during his time in China.  Obviously, Zhu De was seen as a model for conducting war against the Japanese, but others like Edgar Snow greatly impacted Carleson.  Snow also had access to Chinese Communists leaders and wrote RED STAR OVER CHINA and including in part using Carleson’s intelligence work that the Chinese Communists were not like they had been described in the media.  He argued they were friendly, not hostile and open to democracy in the short run, but we know that was Mao Zedong’s strategy before the socialist revolution would emerge.  Snow argued that they were well organized, open to an alliance with the United States, and most importantly were not in the pocket of the Soviet Union.  Carleson and Snow developed an important relationship intellectually and personally and Carleson agreed with most of Snow’s conclusions.

Platt is a master of detail and is reflected in what Carleson experienced meeting Mao and observing Chinese Communist military strategies.  If you explore Zhu De’s approach to training his forces, which he argued were at least as psychological and moral as it was physical, we can see how Carleson mirrored that approach.  Apart from Mao and Zhu De, Platt introduces a number of different characters that impacted Carleson’ s life.  One in particular is fascinating and had influence over Carleson – Agnes Smedley.  Smedley was a left leaning journalist who developed a strong relationship with Carleson, in fact they fell in love with each other, but according to Platt they were never lovers.

These Japanese prisoners were among those captured by U.S. forces on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands, shown November 5, 1942. (AP/Atlantic)

(These Japanese prisoners were among those captured by U.S. forces on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands, shown November 5, 1942).

Carleson was exposed to Japanese military tactics in China and developed ideas as to why Japan could never be totally successful.  They had the antithesis of military structure from that of Carleson.  He believed the Japanese would fail because of their hierarchical military structure and were extremely vulnerable to surprise attacks and unexpected situations.  He further believed that Japanese were not well trained or allowed to think and act on their own.  They were more robotic in their approach when compared to Zhu De.  Carleson’s positive views on Zhu De would be openly mocked by higher ups, but no matter what was said he continued to speak his mind in interviews, written articles, and reports to FDR and other officials.  He would be admonished and warned not to publicize his opinions, but he never wavered by imparting his views no matter what others thought, i.e., he blamed the catastrophe of Pearl Harbor on America’s privileged officer class who lacked incentives to innovate and improve.  He argued “they were fearful of any experimentation that might threaten their appearance of infallibility or diminish their prestige.”  In the end his superiors had enough of his popularity, refusal to fit in, blurring the boundaries between officers and enlisted men, and idealistic politics promoting him as a means of taking his “Raiders” command away and giving it to a more conventional officer.

Platt delves into the training of the “Marine Raiders,” and the plans for different operations.  The results were mixed as the landing on Makin Island, a diversion the US sought to keep supply lines open to Australia which was not a success, while the amphibious landing at Guadalcanal was seen as a victory over Japan as 488 Japanese soldiers were killed as opposed to 16 Americans – eventually the Japanese withdrew from the island.  Part of Carleson’s success resides in the area of post-traumatic stress syndrome.  It seems that Carleson’s raiders did not suffer from mental issues related to combat as did others.  Platt points out that one-third to one-half of all US casualties were sent home because of mental trauma, while the “Marine Raiders” only had one person sent home.

World War II Battle of Saipan photographed by W. Eugene Smith 1944.

(A U.S. Marine rested behind a cart on a rubble-strewn street during the battle to take Saipan from occupying Japanese forces)

Platt has not written a hagiography of Carleson as he points out his warts.  One in particular is interesting is that he would not take Japanese prisoners of war, he instructed his men to shoot them because they had no way to imprison or care for them but also revenge for what they did to Americans.  On a personal level he basically abandoned his wives and his only son for his career and was seen as somewhat inflexible in dealing with higher ups in the military chain of command.  Many above him felt he had become a communist because of his association with Zhu De, Agnes Smedley, and his criticisms of Chiang Kai-Shek which would follow him for the remainder of his life as his reputation was destroyed during the McCarthy era as J. Edgar Hoover kept a file on him for years.

If there are other biographies to compare Platt’s work to it would be Barbara Tuchman’s STILWELL AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN CHINA , 1911-1945 and Neil Sheehan’s BRIGHT SHINING LIE: JOHN PAUL VANN AND AMERICA IN VIETNAM.  One book provides similar reasons to Platt as to why the “United States lost China” after World War II and examines very carefully Washington’s approach to the Chinese Civil War which ended in 1949, the other tells a familiar story why the Vietnam War was such a fiasco.  Platt’s work is based on strong research as he was the first historian to receive access to Carleson’s family letters, correspondence, and private journals, allowing him to develop complex personality and belief systems alongside the dramatic events of his life.  The result of Platt’s efforts according to Publisher’s Weekly “is a gripping, complex study of a military romantic who mixed ruthlessness with idealism.”

Japanese expansion

(Japanese expansion in the late 19th and 20th centuries)

Alexander Rose’s review; “The Raider” Review: Evans Carleson Made the Marines Gung Ho, June 6, 2025, Wall Street Journal is dead on when he writes; “Hence Mr. Platt’s superficially disproportionate focus on Carlson and his activities in China before Pearl Harbor and the formation of the Raiders—which was really a capstone to his long fascination and relationships with the Chinese Communists and Nationalists. By the late 1930s, Carlson was regarded as the China expert at home. His reports were circulated at the cabinet level and within the most senior ranks of the Navy department; he even enjoyed a secret, direct line of communication with President Roosevelt.

Yet in some quarters there were concerns that Carlson had, to use a perhaps dated expression, gone native. He had developed a severe case of Good Cause-itis and needed to be reminded, as one analyst commented at the time, that he worked for “Uncle Samuel, not China, the Soong Dynasty, or”—referring to one of the Chinese Communist party’s forces fighting against Japan—“the 8th Route Army.”

These suspicions were not baseless. If Carlson had a weakness, it was that he associated with too many American fellow travelers and idealized the Communists, seeing them as nothing more than slightly zealous New Dealers. He told Roosevelt that Mao had assured him that agrarian revolution, one-party rule and proletarian dictatorship might be on the agenda, but only after a prolonged period of capitalist democracy to guarantee everyone’s individual freedoms..

Similarly, Carlson promoted the astoundingly corrupt Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek and seems to have believed that they and the Communists would make a great team to secure China’s independence, once they ironed out a few inconsequential political differences. It was in 1944 that he finally tired of Chiang and wrote him off as a reactionary warlord. The Communist Party was the sole executor of the “welfare of the people,”  he judged, and thus America’s natural friend.

One gets the impression from his reports that Carlson was often told what he wanted to hear and saw what his hosts wanted him to see. He never grasped that the insurgents’ interests rarely matched American ones, even when the two forces were temporarily allied against a common enemy. Carlson, in other words, broke the cardinal rule of being an observer: Don’t fall in love with the side you’re backing; they’re fighting a different war than you are.

For a time, Carlson’s views held sway in the U.S.—he was a popular, progressive figure immediately after the war and was set to run for the U.S. Senate representing California—but his career soon began to go wrong. A heart attack ended his political ambitions, and in his final years he was castigated as a “red in the bed.” He died a disappointed man, as his illusions shattered against the hard rocks of reality. But American understandings of China have often been founded, or have foundered, on self-deception, both before Carlson’s time, and since.”

Carlson Evans afterMakin g11727

(Lt. Colonel Evan Carleson after Makin Island raid)

THE ZORG: A TALE OF GREED AND MURDER THAT INSPIRED THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY by Siddharth Kara

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(Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in Charleston, British Province of South Carolina)

As the current administration guts the Department of Education, coerces universities to adhere to what they think should be taught in classes, and pressures public schools to rewrite their curriculum to reflect its view of history it is important to examine books that tell the truth about history as opposed to a fantasy that makes certain elements in our society feel better.  Banning books, censorship, and curtailing funding is no way to examine our past – something from which we should learn!  Just because someone write or says something that is critical of American history does not mean it did not happen or is a threat in our current environment.  Remembering our past is a precursor to the present and is a necessity and must be carefully examined as we should learn not to repeat previous errors.  It is in this context that Siddharth Kara’s latest book, THE ZORG: A TALE OF GREED AND MURDER THAT INSPIRED THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY must be explored.

Kara’s narrative history portrays his subject with compassion, and accuracy based on exceptional research depicting the harsh realities of the 18th century slave trade involving Africa, the Caribbean, and the American colonies providing lessons we should never ignore.  This may come across to some as “wok,” but history is something that should never be dismissed or degraded.

A painting entitled "The Slave Ship" by J. M. W. Turner. In the background, the sun shines through a storm while large waves hit the sides of a sailing ship. In the foreground, enslaved Africans are drowning in the water, while others are being eaten by large fish.

(The Slave Ship (1840), J. M. W. Turner‘s representation of the mass killing of enslaved people, inspired by the Zong killings)

The narrative that Kara presents reads as a work of fiction, but it is not.  It is a work that is based on fact and presents an accurate picture of the events he describes.  Each chapter ends with a hint of what is to come next.  Each important observation is related to what will take place in the future and how it will affect his storyline.  Kara provides a very detailed history of the Zorg and its ill-fated voyage, describing in mesmerizing detail the story’s evolution as it embarked on a violent Atlantic crossing.  A British privateer captured the Zorg during the Anglo-Dutch War in early 1781, and the ship would sail from the Gold Coast of Africa to Kingston, Jamaica, with its ‘etween deck’ loaded with 442 slaves, including women and children, and a small crew which was not sufficient to care for them.  Even the Captain was problematical, a former slave ship surgeon, who had little navigational experience, hired by a rich Liverpool slave merchant.

There are a number of important characters that garner the author’s attention.  First, Luke Collingwood, Captain of the Zorg and a former slave ship physician who must have been considered competent since his mortality rate for the crew and slaves was considered below average, however he was not trained in navigation and would become a disastrous choice.  William Gregson, underwrote the cost of the Zorg and was considered one of Liverpool’s most prominent slave merchants.  James Kelsall, was second in command to Collingwood on the Zorg, and was the only knowledgeable navigator apart from the captain.  Robert Stubbs, one of the British governors for the Company of Merchants Trading for Africa (CMTA) was a scoundrel who sold slaves, pocketed the profit, and made decisions out of avarice that would end up in disaster.  He was eventually fired but wound up on the Zorg as it made its way to Jamaica.  William Llewellin, the captain of the British privateer, Alert, who captured the Zorg, which at the time had 120 slaves.  He would capture the Dutch slaving ship, Eendracht, and would add its 124 slaves to the Zorg.  Richard Hanley, one of the leading slave captains in Liverpool.  John Roberts, another CMTA governor who clashed with Stubbs.  Amoonay Coomah, the Ashante King who sold his people into slavery.  Olaudah Equiano, captured by slave traders at age eleven, he survived the two Middle Passages having been shipped to shipped to Virginia, served as an officer’s slave on British battle ships.  In 1766 he would buy his freedom and later would play an important role in trying to free slaves.  Lastly, Granville Sharp who early in career witnessed a scene were a black teenager was beaten, sold, and kidnapped and was outraged.  Sharp would work to gain the teenager’s freedom and spend his remaining career as an abolitionist developing arguments against slavery.  In addition, Kara introduces a series of English abolitionists who assiduously to end the slave trade in the late 18th and early 19th century.

(The Zorg, a replica)

Kara provides excellent background for the reader to gain a true understanding of what life was like on a slave ship.  He points to the difficulties in staffing a ship’s crew.  It was a daunting task since men new that Guinea voyages had high mortality rates, offered poor wages, required to complete unpleasant tasks, including guarding and feeding hundreds of captive slaves.  Many of the crew hired were impressed or had to work off debts acquired while they were drunk.  Most crews that were hired were not experienced enough for a successful voyage.

Kara offers a useful description of the British slave infrastructure in Africa, i.e., forts, factories, supply networks, the dungeons slaves were kept in, and the personalities or governors who were in charge.  It is eye opening because the of the horrors the Africans faced even before they were forced to board the slave ships.  He makes a series of insightful observations.  One of the most important is that once Africans were forced into a dungeon or on to a slave ship they had no concept of what was about to happen to them.  The dungeon the British built was indicative of the horrors that awaited the Africans.  It was built below the Cape Coast Castle designed to house over 1,000 Africans at a time.  Kara introduces Ottobah Cugoano who has written a biographical account of his experience in the dungeon, and his Atlantic crossing on a slave ship.  Years later, after obtaining his freedom he would become an important voice in England’s abolitionist movement.

The chapter entitled “Coffles” is an important one as it describes the process by which Africans were either seized by Europeans or sold by Ashante tribal leaders into the slave trade from the interior of the Gold Coast.  The inhuman treatment was abhorrent as they marched over 150 miles to the coast with little food and water.  Once again they did not know where they were going and what awaited them.  To highlight this experience Kara develops the name, Kojo to replicate what an African experienced.  Kojo would march for six months as part of this process.  Later, he would be forced onto the Zorg and along with the other 442 slaves who would be branded to show ownership. 

As Kara writes, “it is impossible to know what emotions the Africans experienced as they passed through the ‘door of no return.’  Was it anxiety, dread, anger, bitterness, hopelessness…perhaps even relief to be out of the dungeon?  Most Africans from the inland regions had never seen the ocean before.  What impact might first sight of the infinite blue have had on them?  Many surely feared they were heading for their doom.

Once Collingswood, Stubbs, and Kelsall overstuffed the Zorg with 442 slaves it was a disaster waiting to happen because the ship’s capacity was around 250.  The expected two month “Middle Passage” with a crew of 17 was clearly insufficient to care for their cargo.  In addition, supplies would not cover their needs.  Once the ship departed for Jamaica on September 7, 1781, a nightmare of dysentery would permeate the ‘etween deck’, the crew  would also suffer from scurvy, measles, typhus, measles, and malaria in steerage, as did the captain in his cabin.  Kara places the blame clearly; poor planning, a lack of organization and administration led to a shortage of supplies, particularly water, and to exacerbate the situation those in charge of the voyage made numerous navigational errors.  The key event occurred when Collingwood became so ill he could not continue in command.  He appointed his friend Stubbs, who had experience navigating slave ships, but had not done so in sixteen years, instead of the first mate Mr. Kelsall, who probably would have made better decisions and saved a significant number of lives.

Desperation set in as scurvy became rampant.   Kara describes the step by step physical and mental deterioration of the crew and cargo on a ship commanded by Stubbs, who was considered a passenger, in addition to the myriad of poor decisions which would result in disaster.  To solve the problem of disease and overcrowding a consensus was reached to throw away large numbers of slaves overboard.  By November 29, 1781, 122 individuals were tossed off the ship. Mostly women and children providing sharks with a culinary treat as they were shoved out of a window in the captain’s cabin.  Kara is correct that this action was a result of hoping to save enough slaves to recoup as much of a profit as possible once they reached Jamaica,  Another possibility was to collect insurance payments for the lost freight!  When the Zorg arrived in Jamaica on December 22, 1781, only 208 slaves remained, after roughly 224 slaves were thrown overboard.  A year later William Gregsonn would file an insurance claim of 30 pounds per head lost, arguing an ominous situation left the crew with no choice but to throw Africans overboard.

(Diagram of a slave ship from the Atlantic slave trade. From an Abstract of Evidence delivered before a select committee of the House of Commons in 1790 and 1791)

Kara describes the legal battle once the insurers refused to pay as Gregson sued the insurance company in February 1783.  The court found for the ship owner resulting in an appeal with England’s Chief Justice believing that the deaths were caused by the crews incompetence, Gregson would withdraw the suit.  Finally, Granville Sharpe would publicize the case as a means of forcing the government to abolish the slave trade.

The Zorg reflects a remarkable work of history despite the lack of sources.  The author does his best poring over what is available at the Royal African Company’s materials and has reproduced some key documents that highlight his narrative.  The most historically important one is an anonymous letter sent to the Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser which Kara reprints in full which would light a fire under abolitionist efforts in England that would not be extinguished until all slaves were free. The author should also be commended for integrating the 1783 court transcripts into the narrative which went along way to present the true facts pertaining to the events on the Zorg.   Kara’s contribution to the historical record concerning anti-slave movement cannot be denied as he has written a sophisticated account reflecting his moral compass.

(Enslaved Africans in chains marched to the East coast of Africa by Arab slavers)

OUT OF THE SIEGE OF SARAJEVO: MEMOIR OF A FORMER YUGOSLAV by Jasna Levinger-Goy

szfreiberger Balkans, European History, Yugoslav Civil War Leave a comment
Smoke rises from the Jajce barracks Tuesday after it was hit by artillery fired by the Yugoslav Army from the hills surrounding Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital. Army artillery pounded Sarajevo on Tuesday, May 5, 1992 leaving the city cloaked in flames…

(Smoke rises from the Jajce barracks Tuesday after it was hit by artillery fired by the Yugoslav Army from the hills surrounding Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital. Army artillery pounded Sarajevo on Tuesday, May 5, 1992 leaving the city cloaked in flames and smoke and its streets strewn with corpses)

A few weeks ago, my wife and I drove from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Sarajevo, Bosnia after spending a few hours in Mostar.  We observed remaining damage from the war for the homeland, a.k.a. the Yugoslav Civil War, and many signs of repairs and rebuilding.  The city of Sarajevo which suffered the longest siege in Europe since Stalingrad came across as a vibrant urban area that seems well on its way in recovering from a war highlighted by ethnic cleansing , unfathomable cruelty, and enormous destruction, and random death.  There are many exceptional historical works recounting and analyzing the breakup of Yugoslavia and the four separate conflicts that followed, including; the 1991-1992 war between Serbia and Croatia; the 1992 war between Serbs and Muslims; the 1993 war between Croats and Muslims in Bosnia; lastly, the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo.

Map of Former Yugoslavia

The horrors of these wars may have receded in the historical memory, however for most of those affected the scars remain as depicted in Jasna Levinger-Goy’s memoir of being on the front lines in Sarajevo in her at times, gut wrenching book, OUT OF THE SIEGE OF SARAJEVO: MEMOIR OF A FORMER YUGOSLAV.

(A 7-year-old girl who was wounded minutes before by mortar shrapnel cries as she is helped into the emergency room of a Sarajevo hospital on August 3, 1992)

The author was born and educated in Sarajevo, in addition to the United States and England.  She taught at Sarajevo and Novi Sad Universities and later moved to England during the Bosnian Civil War.  Levinger-Goy grew up in a non-religious middle class Jewish family in Sarajevo with parents who survived the Holocaust.  During the war 9,000 out of 12,000 Sarajevo Jews perished.  Her parents believed in what communism promised and readily accepted the concept of a unified Yugoslavian identity.  The author, a non-religious Jew had no issue accepting a life in a socialist country.  However, as the years passed Levinger-Goy realized that after ignoring her Jewish origins it took a civil war and fleeing her home  for her to accept Judaism as part of her identity.  She admitted to herself that her Yugoslav identity was an artificial construct and after registering as a refugee in 1992 in Belgrade her Judaism was brought home to her.

In explaining the origins of the war, she points to the socio-political fabric of Bosnia and Herzegovina as always being extremely complicated, remaining so today.  The touchstone of the war came as different political parties emerged by 1991 representing different ethnic groups.  One of those parties was led by Radovan Karadzic, a Bosnian Serb former politician who served as the president of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.   Under Karadzic the Serb Democratic Party withdrew its representatives from the Bosnian Assembly and set up a Serb National Assembly in Banja Luka.   President Alija Izetbegovic reacted on March 3, 1992, proclaiming the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, mainly a coalition of Croats and Muslims.

(One of 110 children at an orphanage in war-torn Sarajevo looks out from his crib on July 26, 1992. Many of the children lost their parents during the war) 

As storm clouds appeared, the author, like many, was mostly in denial.  She convinced herself that the coming war had nothing to do with her – it involved Serbs, Croats, and Muslims which she was none of.  She realized that in a multi-ethnic country, a unified ideology based on a single-ethnic values were  impossible.  A war based on ethnic domination and power was the result.  One of her primary concerns was the condition of her father who was dying of bone cancer.  This would be played out throughout the memoir particularly trying to decide to leave Sarajevo once the war was ongoing and escape to Belgrade.  The overriding theme of Levinger-Goy’s memoir is that of identity.  First, latching on to her Jewish background to acquire food and an escape, second, she thought of herself as a teacher and academic, lastly, she was not a member of any of the fighting groups.  At the outset she thought she could maintain her profession and who she thought she was, later she would realize how naive she was.  In the end after living in Belgrade and London she described her new identity as a “British traditional secular  Jew of Yugoslav origins!

As the fighting progressed it became eerie to be out on the streets with shelling and snipers to avoid constant trips to the shelter in the cellar of her building, then sheltering on the first floor, later in her family’s apartment.  Streets were unsafe, but the author clung to teaching, finding food, and staying in touch with friends and relatives.  She would become immune to bullets around her – her existence seems to decline in value, except for doing what was best for her parents.  The author would go from indifference to denial, to delusions and the final reality that they must leave Sarajevo as walking on glass and cement fragments everywhere was the norm.

Jasna Levinger-Goy - Registered Counsellor

(the author)

Sarajevo was surrounded by three impenetrable belts made up of different ethnic militias who made sure no one could come or leave the city.  Levinger-Goy spends a great deal of time recounting the daily struggle of life in the besieged city.  The crowded cellar, the constant shelling and sniper’s bullets, the search for food and medical care, and the psychological impact on Sarajevo’s residents who were powerless to deal with the randomness of death.  After a while the struggle to survive would become the norm as did the fears everyone experienced.  Fears they had to overcome on a daily basis.

Perhaps the most evocative chapter in the book is entitled, “Blind Denial,” as the author describes the decision making process and the actual move to leave Sarajevo and travel along the dangerous road to reach Belgrade.  High on her list was her father’s health and her mother’s mental state.  Reflecting everyone’s desperation she agreed to a marriage of conveniences with the son of a friend in order for him to take advantage of her Jewish identity so he could escape.  It is interesting that the Jews and their Jewish Community Center seemed to be in a better position than others in the city – something that feels antithetical to history.

Levinger-Goy’s work will change after leaving Sarajevo she concentrated on family, friends, and survival in Belgrade and eventually London.  She morphs into a philosopher as her commentary focuses on the positives and negatives of the human condition.  She spends a great deal of time ruminating on the life of a refugee and how people reacted to and treated them.  Interestingly, in Belgrade, which she viewed as the capital of her country she was treated as a refugee.  It was difficult for her to accept that her country, Yugoslavia, no longer existed.

My only suggestion for the author is that I wished she had spent more time on what life was like inside the siege of Sarajevo.  I realize for her it lasted months, but for others it was years.  An inside account portraying more of the daily existence was warranted.  Over half the book is devoted to her time after the siege focusing on her relationships, her battles dealing with depression, surviving on charity which she abhorred, and her personal demons as she tried to acclimate to a new culture.  At times, the book is rather poignant, particularly as she talks about her marriage to the love of her life.  A marriage which was sadly cut short when her husband, Ned passed away suddenly.  The book is insightful, and its conclusion provides the reader with the hope that Levinger-Goy has overcome her demons and can life as much of a fruitful live as possible in the years she has remaining.

A Muslim militiaman covers the body of a person killed yesterday during fierce fighting between the Muslim militia and the Yugoslav federal army in central Sarajevo on Sunday, May 3, 1992. Bosnian officials and the Yugoslav army bargained Sunday ove…

(A Muslim militiaman covers the body of a person killed yesterday during fierce fighting between the Muslim militia and the Yugoslav federal army in central Sarajevo on Sunday, May 3, 1992. Bosnian officials and the Yugoslav army bargained Sunday over the release of President Alija Izetbegovic from military custody)

CIRCLE OF DAYS by Ken Follett

szfreiberger Historical Fiction Leave a comment

Stonehenge

After being a fan of Ken Follett for decades and enamored with his Kingsbridge series which explored England’s development from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century I couldn’t wait to read a historical novel that offered a story of the neolithic British Isles and the creation of the Stonehenge monument.  Follett’s latest effort, CIRCLE OF DAYS is per his usual rather long, about 700 pages, and it appears very inviting.  However, I must say I am a little disappointed in the novel.  It is well written, it reflects a tremendous amount of research, and has a number of defined plot lines, but at times it seems simplistic, formulaic, and created doubts whether I should have continued reading it.

Overall, I am glad I stuck with the book, but it should not have taken almost halfway through to really foster my interest.  Perhaps it is the names that Follett chooses as you must write them down to remember them from Pia, to Joia, to Han, to Stam, to Troon, to Bez, to Gida, to Dee etc. etc., you get my drift.  To make sense of these characters I had to create a chart in order to keep everything sensible.  Perhaps a list of characters with a brief bio of each in the front of the novel is called for.   Further, the dichotomy of herders vs. farmers is clear, with farmers being misogynistic believing they own their women who have few rights, and herders who treat their women with respect and allow them to freely make decisions.  Farmers are presented as controlling and manipulative, and herders are communal, exhibiting a great deal of empathy, I found this dichotomy difficult to digest.  To say the least the novel is a mixed bag with a storyline that appears artificial at times as we witness a plan to turn a wooden monument into one of stone, but to Follett’s credit around page 350 he begins to pull the story together with a more in depth plotline and stronger character development.

(Straightening a leaning stone at Stonehenge in 1901) –

The story has a number of storylines, but at first, Follett presents his version of what life was like in England during the Neolithic period by inviting the reader into a primitive society and culture and delving into the trials and tribulations that people of that period dealt with on a daily basis.  Follett explores how people survived either as farmers, herders, flint  miners, woodsmen, and priestesses.  We witness the hatred and eventual violence due to the inherent differences between approaches to life that people take.  A useful example is how Yana, who is a part of the farmer society faces the death of her husband Olin, leaving only her daughter and herself to work their farm during an intense drought.  According to custom she must take a new husband within a year, but because of the “Main Man” Troon she is ordered to find a new husband within seven days.  Troon demands she marry his son Stam who is half Yana’s age.  As the story develops Pia, who is in love with a herder named Han, and upon learning she is pregnant escapes the farmer compound and runs away with Han.  Eventually she is recaptured, and Han is murdered by Stam who in the end will be burned alive by the woodlanders led by a man named Bez.  You can see that this is difficult to follow, but it works in the end.

The key storylines revolve around the following.  First, an endless drought affects everyone with food rationing, famine, death, and conflict as its by present throughout most of the novel.  Second, the role of the priestesses focusing on a character named Joia who joined the priesthood at a young age and became a rival of the head priestess, Ello.  It is her goal to replace the wooden monument that is the center of  faith with a stone monument that would withstand whatever the elements would bring.  Her ally in this effort is a carpenter/builder named Seft who is the key to the engineering problem that confronts those who want a stone monument.  Third, there is the constant conflict between farmers and herders and their allies that emerges.   Lastly, the personality conflicts and belief issues among major characters that drive the novel.

(1906)

In terms of being specific the novel comes down to a conflict between Joia, the head priestess, and Troon who is head of the farmers and sees himself as the “Main Man.”  Joia pulls out all stops in trying to move humongous stones across the Great Valley in order to rebuild the wooden monument.  Troon and his “thugs” do all they can to prevent this.  Follett turns to a detailed approach in the last third of the book in describing this conflict.  For Joia it is a means of recovering from the drought and the losses as the Midsummer rites attendance and trade declines.  For Troon, his own Farmer’s Summer Rites attraction has declined as the popularity of a stone monument takes off.  Fearing the loss of revenue and his attempt to be the leader of all in the Great Valley he does his utmost to sabotage Joia’s plans.  In addition to Troon’s machinations, Joia faces internal opposition from certain elders led by Scagga, a jealous individual who resents the power of a woman.

Experts believe Stonehenge was originally a circle of bluestone pillars

(Experts believe Stonehenge was originally a circle of bluestone pillars)

The key to enjoying this somewhat simplified tale is to surrender to it as soon as possible because the story will mature and eventually keep your interest.  Action dominates each page as conflict is riff, and characters have their own agenda.  Their key is Joia, the priestess who is obsessed with replacing the wooden monument with one made of stone that eventually becomes Stonehenge.  She and the other priestesses believe that the monument is the key to date-keeping, the Midsummer fair, and religious rites.  The problem is how to transport the gigantic stones in a time before wagons and harnesses to the monument site.  This conundrum dominates the third of the novel.

Follett does a workmanlike job creating a society from the 2500 BC period.  He provides useful insights on a regular basis and as a fan of the author, though not his best work, I would recommend his work to others who have the same loyalty as I do.  Relax, and immerse yourself into another world, long forgotten and a story that has a fairytale ending.

A photo of Stonehenge with plains in the background

CROATIA: A HISTORY FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE PRESENT DAY by Marcus Tanner

szfreiberger Balkans Leave a comment

May include: A map of the Balkan Peninsula showing the borders of countries prior to World War II. The map is colored in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. The map includes the countries of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. The map also includes the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. The text on the map reads 'The Balkan Peninsula', 'Scale of Miles', 'Capitals of Countries', 'Railroads', 'Elevations in Feet', 'Engraved and printed expressly for THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA', 'Boundaries prior to World War II. For later changes, see maps in World War II.'

I have always been fascinated by the History of the Balkans since I was in graduate school, studying European diplomatic history.   There I came across  Otto von Bismarck’s 1888 commentary that a future European war would be sparked by a conflict in the Balkans, referring to the region as a powder keg. Two of his most notable quotes illustrate his apprehension: “One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans;” and the “whole of the Balkans is not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier.”  Obviously, Bismarck was correct based on the events of June 28, 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand while visiting Sarajevo which led to the outbreak of World War I. 

My interest in the region has not waned over the decades, particularly with the Yugoslav Civil War of the 1990s.  Last year my wife and I worked with a wonderful guide on a trip to Portugal and Spain who was from Zagreb.  After two weeks of travel and conversation we agreed that a visit to Croatia and other Balkan areas would be a wonderful agenda.  Fast forward, my wife and I traveled to Croatia, Sarajevo, and Trieste.  Before leaving for our journey due to my inquisitive nature (there is a Freudian term which I will not use) I picked up a copy of Marcus Tanner’s informative book, CROATIA: A HISTORY FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE PRESENT DAY which was first published in 1997 and has gone through four printings.  The original edition was the first history of Croatia written by an Anglo-Saxon author and is important because of its coverage of Croatian history from Medieval times through its transformation into a modern state with membership in the European Union and NATO.  Tanner, a former reporter for London’s Independent  newspaper who covered the Yugoslav wars, authored the book to fill in the gaps in understanding the former Yugoslavia and in his view Croatia deserved to be studied separately.

Roman Rule in the Balkans, c. 200 CE

Overall, Tanner describes an area that for centuries has been rife with conflict and external threats.   Croatian history is disjointed and experienced many attempts to bring cohesion which usually resulted in failure.  The author begins with a chapter on the early Croatian kings exploring how the area was first settled in the seventh century, highlighting its relationship with the Papacy and conflict with  Slavs and Hungarians, culminating in the Pacta Conventa in 1102. 

Tanner describes how the  Hungarians would split the kingdom into north and south.  The north was treated as an appendage of Hungary, and the south had its own kingdom.  Croatia would be ruled as part of the kingdom of Hungary, and Habsburgs until the end of World War I.  However, before Habsburg rule that lasted until the end of the Great War took effect the Dalmatian coast experienced a great deal of political conflict and economic competition among its towns and cities exhibiting a great deal of jealousy between themselves as well as Dubrovnik, which emerged as a dominant commercial center.

Aside from internal conflict the region also faced tremendous external threats especially from Venice and the Ottoman Empire.  Tanner explains Venetian interest along the Dalmatian coast which was focused on the area between Zadar and Dubrovnik.  In addition, the Croats were confronted by the Mongols who were beaten back by the Hungarian army in 1241.  A century later the Ottoman Turks began to take hold of the region and slowly made their way through the Balkan peninsula seizing Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and by the 1490s it was Hungary and Croatia’s turn at the Battle of Kosovo in 1493; though the fighting continued into the 16th century.  With the accession of Suleyman the Magnificent, the greatest of the Ottoman Sultan in 1521, the remainder of Croatia began to fall in the 1520s.   As Hungary withered away the Croatian nobles turned to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor who was more interested in crushing Martin Luther.

View historical footage and photographs surrounding Gavrilo Princip's assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

(View historical footage and photographs surrounding Gavrilo Princip’s assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand)

Tanner’s monograph is very detailed, and the reader has to pay careful attention to the myriad of names, places, and analysis that is presented.  At times, the writing is a bit dense, but that goes with the detail presented.  Once Tanner reaches the late 1800s his prose becomes crisper, and my interest piqued as the information is more easily digested as the writing seems to become more fluid.  Despite any drawbacks, Tanner does a good job explaining the intricacies of Ottoman inroads into Croatia.  One must realize the Croatia of today was split into three parts in the 16th century; Croatia to the north, Venitia along the Dalmatian coast; and Dubrovnik.  Each was treated differently by the Turks.  Tanner explains the relationship among the diverse groups in the region and concludes that the Croatians were willing to accept Habsburg suzerainty, while Venitia and Dubrovnik were not.  The high water mark for the Ottoman Empire in the region was the 1590s, then their interest began to slowly recede.

Tanner is spot on as he describes Ottoman rule over Croatia as “an unmitigated disaster with no redeeming characteristics.”  Croatia was Catholic and the Turks had not forgotten the Crusades which led to the almost complete destruction of civilized life, the burning of towns, villages, and the mass flight of peasants.  As they laid waste to the countryside their persecution of Roman Catholics was intense and forced many Catholics to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy as the Turks allowed it to become part of the Millet System which granted a measure of religious autonomy.  By the early 17th century, the two main noble dynasties in Croatia were defeated and from that point on there was no one to rally Croat nationalism.

count josip jelačić von bužim, 1801 – 1859, also spelled jellachich, jellačić or jellasics. ban of croatia, slavonia and dalmatia, austrian general - josip jelačić stock illustrations

(Josip Jelacic)

Tanner is once again correct as he points to the failure of the Ottoman attempt to conquer Vienna as a watershed moment in Central European and Balkan history.  It would lead to the end of Turkish control over most of Croatia as the Sultan’s Grand Vizier, Kara Musrtafa tried to renew the tradition of conquest but was unable to defeat the largely unprepared Viennese.  The failure was due to the combined army of Poles, Austrians, Bavarians, Germans, and Saxons under the leadership of Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland.  It was as a result of this defeat that the Ottoman Empire earned the nickname, “the sick man of Europe.”  In 1699 the Ottoman Empire signed a treaty resigning any claims to Hungary or Croatia.

Tanner points to a number of historical figures that greatly impacted Croatian history.  One of these individuals is Josip Jelacic, an officer in the Austrian army during the Revolutions of 1848 as well as the Ban of Croatia, another is another 19th century Croatian Ante Starcevic, a politician and writer who believed in self-determination for the Croatian people.  He wanted a separate Croatian state, not unification with other southern Slavic states, and came to be known as “the father of the nation.”  By the late 19th century other individuals emerged as dominant politicians like Charles Khuen-Hedervary, the Ban of Croatia who tried to Magyarize his country.  As we approach World War I Hungary and Habsburg’s discredit themselves in the eyes of Croatians with their political machinations and in 1908 Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia Herzegovina.  What follows are the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, a rehearsal for the world war that was to follow.  The impact of World War I on the Balkans was significant as the nation of Yugoslavia emerged in Paris with the Treaty of Versailles.  From this point on the narrative picks up in intensity but Tanner should devote more time to the events leading up to war, the war itself, and the role of the Croats in Paris after the war.

Tanner succinctly recounts the diplomatic intrigues that produced a unified state in the Balkans and argues that Croats favored the creation of the new country.  A constitutional monarchy emerges, but constant ethnic tensions dominate the 1920s as Serbs wanted a centralized state, and Croats favored a federal structure.  These issues would dominate the remainder of the 20th century as Croatia opposed unification, favoring regional autonomy.

Ante Pavelic

(Ante Pavelic)

The dominant Croatian politician of the period was Ante Pavelic who created the Ustashe Croatian Liberation Movement in 1929.  He would come under the protection of Benito Mussolini who allowed him to train his own fascist fighting force in Italy.  Pavelic spent the 1930s in and out of prison, but his movement continued to expand.  By March 1940 under his leadership Yugoslavia would join the Axis powers as Pavelic morphed into the dictator of the Croatian state.  To acquire credibility among the Croatian people Tanner points to the support of the Archbishop of Zagreb, Alojzije Stepanic, an extremely controversial historical figure.  Here Tanner goes into depth concerning the transformation of a Palevic supporter to saving Jews from perishing and being nominated as a “Righteous Christian” after the war.

The actions of Pavelic’s Ustashe during the war would scar Croatia to this day as Pavelic modeled his reign, racial ideas, and militarism on Nazi Germany resulting in the death of about 80,000 people (20,000 of which were children) in concentration camps, the most famous of which was Jasenovac, Croatia’s most notorious  camp which I visited during my trip.  As with other subjects, Tanner devotes a paragraph to the camp.  Pavelic was a firm believer in ethnic cleansing and during the war for the homeland in the 1990s the Serbs accused Croatia of following the program Pavelic laid down decades before.

Tanner seems more comfortable analyzing events after World War II focusing on the rise of Josip Broz Tito who led a partisan movement that defeated the Ustashe.  Tito would assume power after the war, setting up his own brand of socialism with a foreign policy that played off the United States and the Soviet Union.  Tanner explores this period but does not provide the depth of analysis that is needed in discussing the 1948 split between Tito and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin which was highlighted by extreme vitriolic accusations, one must remember that Tito’s partisans liberated Yugoslavia, not the Russians which was the case in most of Eastern Europe.  Tito would institute his own brand of communism and during his reign allowed more and more private enterprise.  However, Tito brooked no opposition and ruled with a heavy hand which was the only way Yugoslavia remained united.  A.J.P.  Taylor, the noted British historian, explained Tito’s success as his ability to rule over different nations by playing them off against one another and controlling their nationalist hostilities.”  The problem delineated by CIA report warned in the early 1970s that once Tito passed from the scene the Balkans would deteriorate into civil war.

Yugoslav President Marshal Josip Broz Ti

(Josp Broz Tito)

Tito will die in 1980, and Tanner carefully outlines the deterioration of the Yugoslav experiment which resulted in a number of wars in the 1990s.  The two men who dominated the period in the Balkans was Franjo Tudjman, a former communist whose platform rested on Croatian nationalism and by the mid-1990s would prove the most successful Croatian politician of the 20th century.  His main adversary was Slobodan Milosevic, a Serbian nationalist who rose to power in Serbia who believed in the creation of a “Greater Serbia” by uniting all Serbs.  The fact that tens of thousands of Serbs lived within the borders of other Yugoslav republics was a problem he would try to overcome. 

From Tanner’s narrative it is clear that Serbia was responsible for instigating the blood and carnage that tore Yugoslavia apart.  Tanner expertly details Slovenian and Croatian independence announced in 1991 and the war that ensued.  Many argue that the Yugoslav Civil War was less a bloodletting of one state against another and more like a series of wars that was conducted with mini-civil wars in Croatia and Bosnia.  My own view parallels Tanner’s that a series of separate wars took place once Milosevic used the civil war within Croatia as an excuse to redraw the borders of Yugoslavia.  Further once the bloodletting ensued the European community and the United States were rather feckless in trying to control and end the fighting.  Milosevic pursued what he called a “cleansing of the terrain” of non-Serb elements in Croatia and Bosnia, and Tanner does his best to disentangle the complexity of the fighting and the failure of European diplomacy.  Further, after speaking with people in Croatia, the war should not be called, the Yugoslav Civil War, more accurately it should be described as the War for the Homeland.

(Archbishop of Zagreb Aloysius Stepinac)

It is clear that the first war was fought between Serbia and Croatia in 1991 and 1992 and Tudjman seemed to sacrifice a quarter of Croatian territory, i.e.; half of Slavonia and the Dalmatian coast excluding Dubrovnik to the Serbs.  However, Milosevic’s hunger for a Greater Serbia and the atrocities that ensued particularly in Vukovar led German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich-Genscher to manipulate the situation allowing Croatia to emerge victorious with Tudjman emerging as a hero for the Croatian people, but at an unbelievable cost.  For Zagreb, it was insidious and horrible for the Croatian people as 6,651 died, 13,700 went missing, 35 settlements raised to the ground, 210,000 houses destroyed……..  People described to me what the war was like and how the Croatian people suffered.

Slobodan Milosevic

(Slobodan Milosevic)

The second war of the period was the situation in Bosnia in early 1992 between Serbs and Muslims.  Within a few weeks of the fighting Serbia controlled 70% of Bosnia and after repeated atrocities against the Muslim community the United Nations voted sanctions, finally the Clinton administration and its European allies employed an arms embargo against the Muslims which Tanner does not really explain.  Further, the siege of Sarajevo receives a cursory mention which is a mistake.  The siege of Sarajevo and the massacre at Srebrenica deserved detailed exploration. 

By April 1993, a third war ensued with Croat-Muslim fighting in Bosnia.  Croat actions angered the United States and Germany who helped bring the fighting to an end.  In discussing the conflict Tanner presents an interesting comparison of Tudjman and Milosevic which is worth exploring.  Finally, the Clinton Administration pushed for peace through the work of Richard Holbrook to produce the Dayton Accords in 1995, but yet again Tanner only provides a cursory mention of the diplomacy that ended the third war.  The final war takes place as the 1990s ends in Kosovo whose detail is beyond the scope of Tanner’s narrative.

(Franjo Tudjman)

Tanner’s effort is the first of its kind since the end of communism and the rise of Croatia.  Tanner’s work is essential reading for anyone interested in Croatian history, despite the fact that his coverage of the pre-18th century is not as well written and dynamic as the periods that follow.  In addition, the book rests on research in mostly secondary sources and there is little evidence of the use of primary materials.  However, I found the book a wonderful companion as I explored Croatia, the Dalmatian coast, and Sarajevo and it appears now that Croatia is a member of the European Union and NATO it has tremendous potential for the future.

Balkins Road Trip Map: Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro

THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER by Joseph Finder

szfreiberger Espionage, Mystery/Thrillers Leave a comment

(View of the Kremlin from across the Moskva River, 2012)

In 1963, Jimmy Soul sang; “If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife, for my personal point of view get an ugly girl to marry you…….”  This advice is very prescient for Paul Brightman, alias Grant Anderson in Joseph Finder’s latest spell binding novel, THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER.  Brightman, an analyst and investor at Aquinnah Capital in Manhattan marries a photographer named Tatiyana Belkin.  It turns out she is the daughter of Russian oligarch, Arkady Galkin who runs AGF, a financial investment firm, also in New York City.  From the outset, Finder has hooked the reader as he has done in his sixteen previous suspense novels.

The author starts the novel rather placidly, but within a few pages a violent scene plays itself out as Grant Anderson, a boat builder is aboard his friend Lyle Bourdeaux’s boat substituting for him to lead a fishing excursion for a customer named Frederick Newman.  We soon learn that Newman was sent by a Russian oligarch to kill him.  Anderson turns the tide on Newman and after escaping Newman’s grip and gun, feeds him to the sharks.  It turns out that Anderson is not who he appears to be, having arrived in Derryfield, New Hampshire five years earlier and learned the boat building trade from “Old Man Casey,” and becomes involved with a teacher named Sarah Harrison.  But Anderson has a past, with a different name, and a few hours later two Russian thugs come to his house and kill his friend Alec Wood, a local policeman.  The FBI immediately becomes involved, and Anderson finds himself on the run from two divergent groups.

Super yacht Amadea

(The superyacht Amadea in Coronado, Calif., on June 27, 2022)

Finder organizes his novel by alternating between the past and the present over a six year period as he engages in sudden shifts in time.  “It’s Finder’s very effective method of ramping up threat and suspense. The revelations of modern espionage here—like ‘the only uncrackable safe is one that no one can find to crack’—come in quick bursts of surprise, seasoned by a gently sardonic viewpoint.”  He takes the reader back and introduces Paul Brightman who has a successful career and a rising star on Wall Street until he meets Tatiyana Belkin who he immediately falls in love with, unbeknownst to him she is the daughter of a Russian oligarch who appears to work  for the Kremlin.  Soon Aquinnah Capital goes under, and Arkady Galkin offers Brightman a job tripling his pay.   He will be approached by Mark Addison, an FBI agent who investigated Russian oligarchs and how they laundered their money and convinces Brightman to engage in aspects of spy craft for the government.  Brightman is in a quandary; he loves Tatiyana whom he marries but finds himself investigating his father in law.

It is easy to see where this is going.  Brightman takes on a new identity, that of Grant Anderson to escape Galkin’s revenge.  The novel moves quickly from scene to scene as first Anderson is on the run, and we are filled with further background pertaining to his real identity.  Finder keeps the reader on the edge of his seat as each scene unfolds.  However, at times the author makes assumptions without enough detailed explanation.  For example, when Brightman is first approached by Addison to engage in “dirty work” for the FBI he agrees almost without question, not weighing the possible risks enough and how it would impact his personal life.

(Author, Joseph Finder)

Finder’s description of the life of a Russian oligarch is fascinating and provides the reader a great deal of insight as to how they conduct their businesses and private life.  As Finder relates in a January 28, 2025, interview on NPR; “It is real. It is real. But, you know, what’s interesting about these oligarchs is that they are billionaires. They own sports teams. They are also patrons of the art in the U.S. They are sort of – I call them the new Medicis. And they are – and were, I should say – princes of the realm, princes of capitalism, in a sense, until the war in Ukraine began. And then they were persona non grata. They – overnight, they were forced out of the country. And this transformation – going from being somebody that you wanted on the board of your museum or your hospital or your university to someone who you wouldn’t acknowledge was, to me, humanly fascinating, and it made this an interesting story to tell.”

Another interesting aspect of the novel that Finder develops is how easily a person can disappear in the digital age.  The novel relates that the secret these days is to find a small town where they don’t have CCTV cameras and to live a life based on cash. Do not open a bank account. Or if you open a bank account, don’t earn any interest.  The key is not to pay taxes, because once the IRS learns who you are they are very good at tracking you down.  Further, Brightman/Anderson is able to employ many of the skills his “off the grid father” taught him.  It is clear that Finder has conducted a great deal of research to make his story authentic. 

Sometimes the novel becomes a bit complicated, but in the end all plot lines come neatly together in this ever surprising plot as Paul will have to unravel a decades-old conspiracy that involves the highest members of government.  This is not a novel about espionage as such; it has more to do with how espionage is being financed. It is, if you can believe the story, whose ending is not predictable, but in the end rather convincing in true Finder style.

The Moscow Kremlin in Russia today

(The Kremlin)