In Civil War Trivia and Fact Book more than 2;000 unusual; interesting; and little-known facts are assembled in a volume that will tantalize the mind at every page. What Confederate general could be identified at a distance by the ostrich plume in his hat? How many Southerners migrated to the North during the war? How many Northerners moved to the South? These and hundreds of other questions are answered. Included are 33 fascinating sidebar articles; lists of little-known facts; and 48 unusual photographs and stories. A thorough index makes the Civil War Trivia and Fact Book a valuable resource for students and researchers. As a member of the elite Mitchell Thunderbolts; Pvt. John Gilleland had an idea he was sure would bring a quick end to the war?a double-barreled cannon. Fired simultaneously; its barrels would eject a pair of balls connected with a chain in order to "mow down Yankees as a scythe cuts wheat." Legend has it that in its sole test firing; balls whizzed around in erratic fashion and killed three Thunderbolts. Transportation magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt prized each of his ships. But as a patriotic gesture; he agreed to sell a 1;700-ton vessel that bore his name to the Federal government?at his own price. He asked for; and received; exactly one dollar.
#1075734 in Books 2001-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.19 x 6.42 x 9.53l; #File Name: 1557504733286 pages
Review
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. The Wolf At The DoorBy Paul K. BarrettIt's a Jack Higgins book so you know it's great. Service from ; as always; was great.6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. America abandons its warriorsBy Harry EagarWhen Colin Powell; as secretary of state; was playing kissy-face with the Chinese Communists a few years ago; he did not demand an accounting of the several hundred American prisoners of war who disappeared without a trace in China during the Korean War. For a former chief of staff of the Army to abandon his fellow soldiers in this manner was dishonorable; but Powell is in other respects no different from any other high American official in the last half century.That China -- and North Korea and the U.S.S.R.; too -- violated solemn agreements and failed to return war prisoners has been known since the shooting stopped in 1953.For some reason; British ex-prisoners have been more active than America's former POWs in Asia about demanding an accounting; apology and compensation for mistreatment by various enemy states; including Japan; China and North Korea.Not successful; but active.Philip Chinnery; author of many histories; is part of this movement in the United Kingdom.The subtitle of his "Korean Atrocity! Forgotten War Crimes 1950-1953" is a little misleading. The atrocities did not stop in 1953.In every war there are outrages and crimes. But only occasionally does a government organize atrocities as policy. Such crimes are qualitatively and -- according to the Nuremburg Principles -- legally more culpable than freelance war crimes. North Korea; China and the Soviet Union were all guilty of these more heinous crimes in the 1950-53 invasion of Korea.Almost all the victims were South Koreans. The North Koreans systematically slaughtered anyone who worked for the Republic of Korea government and usually their families as well.There also was an organized procedure to torture and murder helpless prisoners of war from the moment they surrendered. This kept up in the prison camps; until; as Chinnery writes; the Chinese realized that the war would end someday and there would be a prisoner exchange and they would have to have to prisoners to return.Pitifully few were still alive by then. Chinnery's relation of how they died is not for the faint of heart.The GIs in South Korea in 1950 had the bad luck to be commanded by the vainglorious and incompetent Douglas MacArthur; who managed to get his men into more death marches than all other American generals put together.Chinnery quotes from judicial proceedings made during and after the war; and from personal experiences of survivors. Nothing in the history of human depravity exceeds what some of the United Nations soldiers were put through.Other evidence; though indirect; is in a way even more chilling. For example; at the end of the Korean War and again at the end of the Vietnam War; the enemies of the United States "returned" prisoners; as demanded by the Geneva Convention and specific agreements. Except in neither case did a single amputee ever return.In 1992; at Congressional hearings; some of the murders and tortures were briefly publicized; but public and governmental indifference were insufficient to do anything more."The men fought as best they could;" writes Chinnery; "and when they became prisoners of war their governments turned their backs and abandoned them. That is the greatest atrocity of them all."0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Realpolitik vs Justice: Korean war crimes trialsBy T. WashingtonThe question Chinnerty does not address is namely WHO would have conducted such war crimes trials: the Nuremburg tribunal had been dissolved the year before the Korean war broke out ( and the International Criminal Court would not come into existence until 2002 and anyway has NO retroactive- that is backdated- force)and any trial of North Korean or Chinese suspects by Britain or America would have been tainted by the same charges of "victor's justice" that dogged Nuremburg; no matter how professional or impartial they were in reality. The Cold War was as much a propaganda war as a politico/military conflict and any examination of war crimes would have to address issues such as those allegedly committed by US; British and Commonwealth forces (pace the No Gun Ri massacre by American troops in July 1950) as much as those done by North Korean or Chinese troops.Apropos of the issues of Western servicemen being held against their will in China; North Korea or the USSR; no US President( Truman; Eisenhower or their successors down to George H.W.Bush) could be expected to trade the lives of millions in order to free thousands. And apropos of alleged unethical/inhumane medico-scientific experiments on them by their captors; this is deplorable but I think we can agree that the record of Western governments on this matter(esp the United States) is far from spotless).Hopefully ; freed of Cold War realpolitik; the issue of war crimes can be addressed in a future Korean conflict!Terry
