George Gordon Meade could hardly believe it: only three days earlier; he had been thrust unexpectedly into command of the Army of the Potomac; which was cautiously stalking its long-time foe; the Army of Northern Virginia; as it launched a bold invasion northward. Meade had hardly wrapped his head around the situation before everything exploded.Outside the small college town of Gettysburg; Confederates had inexplicably turned on the lead elements of Meade’s army and attacked. The first day of battle had ended poorly for Federals; but by nightfall; they had found a lodgment on high ground south of town. There; they fortified—and waited. “Don’t give an inch; boys!†one Federal commander told his men.The next day; July 2; 1863; would be one of the Civil War’s bloodiest. Confederate commander Robert E. Lee would launch his army at the Federal position in a series of assaults that would test the mettle of men on both sides in a way few had ever before been tested—and the Pennsylvania landscape would run red as a result.With names that have become legendary—Little Round Top; Devil’s Den; the Peach Orchard; the Wheatfield; Culp’s Hill—the second day at Gettysburg encompasses some of the best-known engagements of the Civil War. Yet those same stories have also become shrouded in mythology and misunderstanding.In Don’t Give an Inch: The Second Day at Gettysburg; July 2; 1863; Emerging Civil War historians Chris Mackowski and Daniel T. Davis peel back the layers to share both the real and often-overlooked stories of that fateful summer day. In the same engaging style that has invited thousands of readers into the Civil War’s most important stories; Mackowski and Davis share their intimate knowledge of the battlefield they both grew up on.
#135450 in Books PublicAffairs 2011-09-13Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .75 x 6.13l; 1.10 #File Name: 1610390555318 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A Story of the Current ThreatBy David SouthworthWith the late 1999 rise of Vladimir Putin to first Premier; then later president; of the Russian Federation; a new class of leadership took over the levers of power in Russia. What they faced was a country in chaos; reeling from a currency crisis; a long war in the Caucuses; and general malaise in the country. Putin and his siloviki ended the war in Chechnya; started reforming the military; and gave a much different public perception of Russian leadership then the drunken and overwhelmed Yeltsin. What he also brought was a state run to the benefit of his former KGB colleagues. He enriched his friends and destroyed anyone who challenged politically. He also took a much darker view of world politics and relations with the west; especially the United States. Russian security services took to challenging Westerners operating in Russia; and there was probably a similar increase in Russian operations overseas. Russian journalists Soldatov and Borogan are brave to chronicle these topics and much more in this engrossing book. It will do wonders to fill in the picture of how Russian leadership views ongoing issues with the West over Ukraine; the expansion of NATO; and the need to make Russia appear at least to be among the world’s great powers.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The cold war is not over; just downsized and more intenseBy JohnAn excellent book if one is interested in modern Russian (Federation) history. I was amazed at similarities between the old KGB and the new FSB.How it managed to survive; then come back stronger; more powerful and more repressive than ever.This is not an easy read; it is quite involved and complex; like Russia herself.I suggest that people read appendix 1 and 2 first; it helps outline the events timeline.Then refer back to it as you progress through the chapters to keep from getting lost.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. How to elect the weirdest nobility possibleBy RostislavNot a slightest doubt: it is an extremely scary book; on the level with any well-detailed research about Inquisition; Gestapo; GULAG or StaSi. Paging through the horrors of the past; we always enjoy a happy soothing thought: thanks God for our lives in the present-day lawful democracies with no omnipotent henchmen around us! This book; however; denies us this enjoyment - its pages prove that even now; in our most democratic XXI century; we have no grounds for any soothing thoughts. In 2014; the Russian FSB is much more far from accountability than its KGB predecessor ever was. In fact; it owns the country entirely; ruling the Russian economy; industry; trade; banking; foreign relations; education - well; everything. The book shows; that; unlike KGB (which was driven by the Communist ideology; being accountable before the Party Politburo); the FSB is driven only by its own lust for unaccountable power and money; thus corrupting the nation with a speed of uncontrolled cancer; which devours greedily all the healthy cells of a human body. To judge from the book; actions of FSB (that is; of Service for Federal SECURITY) may be called "professional" only in the same sense as cancerous activities are professional in safeguarding the tumor's further growth. The activists of this cancerous progress were rewarded with a proud name of "The New Nobility". Just how could it happen in the democratic country; protected by the diligent copy of the U.S. Constitution; first; and by the common knowledge about millions of the old State Security's innocent victims; second?! Some two hundred years earlier Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his introduction to "Democracy in America" that "In the eleventh century; nobility is beyond all price; in the thirteenth; it might be purchased". It seems that in our century the nobility may be elected - and in the most democratic manner at that; without any machine-guns behind. The new nobility gives birth to a million-lives question: what kind of voters would voluntarily say "Yes!" to the representatives of the worst division in the totalitarian bureaucracy - the old State Security; whose iron "cadres" had proved long ago both their total amorality and their total absence of skills in anything but destruction? The authors give no answer; but readers are hardly expected to say the usual "Ah; those Russians!" Because approximately the same picture (of course; to the smaller extent; for the present) of careless voting for all clones of dangerous cancers is becoming more and more typical for many Western countries too. Numerous gifted authors analyze the weird phenomena of voters' nonchalance in the most convincingly documented studies of their countries' decline (like the American "Obama Zombies"; the British "Not With a Bang"; etc) - but; nevertheless; omnipresent cancers just continue their merry democratic growth; decline or not. "The New Nobility" supplies us with the timely warning about quite real chances for the ultimate decline: from the initial bright hopes of freedom and prosperity into a hopeless realm of totalitarian dictatorship. I believe; the book is an excellent food for our thoughts; - and; unfortunately; not about my Russia only. Rostislav; Saint-Petersburg.
