At fourteen he became the head of his impoverished family; responsible for feeding eleven on the rough American frontier. By thirty-nine he had established himself as a successful plantation owner worth over $1 million. And at forty years old; Nathan Bedford Forrest enlisted in a Tennessee cavalry regiment—and became a controversial Civil War legend. The legacy of General Nathan Bedford Forrest is deeply divisive. Best known for being accused of war crimes at the Battle of Fort Pillow and for his role as first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan—an organization he later denounced—Forrest has often been studied as a military figure; but never before studied as a fascinating individual who wrestled with the complex issues of his violent times. Bust Hell Wide Open is a comprehensive portrait of Nathan Bedford Forrest as a man: his achievements; failings; reflections; and regrets.
#1759967 in Books 2016-10-31Original language:English 9.21 x .56 x 6.14l; .0 #File Name: 1618115227236 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Honour Due to JapanBy Geoffrey C HazzanAt a time when the Holocaust was in full swing; the feared Japanese to their eternal credit spared the lives of some 40;000 cosmopolitan Jews scattered across the territories of their wartime empire. In this scholarly and eminently readable work; Medzini posits various reasons. The Jews were credited with vastly more power and influence; particularly in the United States; than they really had. The beloved and normal consensual action policy was strangely absent. Despite being allies; the Japanese had a distaste for Nazi racism. There was also a calculated decision not to confront Russia and its spheres of influence. The Jews steered clear of politics; were too few in number and therefore a marginal issue.Medzini is right to speculate further on Sugihara Chiune; the Righteous Gentile. But; at the risk of naivety; it could be that he was just a very kind soul.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. a story of mild benevolence and mild malevolenceBy Michael LewynAccording to Medzini; Japan generally did not mistreat Jews during World War II; either in Japan or in places conquered by Japan. Japan did imprison and mistreat citizens of its wartime enemies such as the UK and the US; however; Jewish prisoners were no more mistreated than anyone else. One limited exception to this pattern was the Shanghai ghetto; stateless refugees were forced into a small; crowded area. But even this was nothing like Nazi ghettoes; Jews could leave and enter the ghetto; and refugees were not executed or tortured. Moreover; Russian Jews were exempt from the ghetto; Japan still hoped to avoid provoking Russian entry into the war against Japan.Why was this? Medzini explains that the Japanese generally were apathetic about Jews; despite German pressure; they saw no need to invest resources in harming them. Even though there was some anti-Semitism in Japan; such anti-Semitism actually discouraged mistreatment of Jews; some policymakers had been exposed to propaganda about Jewish power; and they thought it was a bad idea to antagonize this mysterious (to them) group.On the other hand; Japan was no more eager than the rest of the world to admit Jewish refugees. Even Japan's most famous "righteous gentile"; Sugihara Chinune (the Japanese consul in Lithuania in 1940) issued transit visas that helped Jews reach a variety of places through Japan. I learned some surprising (to me) facts about Sugihara. At the time; he probably didn't know how helpful he was: at the time; Jews were trying to avoid the Soviet Union (which then controlled Lithuania) rather than Germany; so it is unclear whether either Sugihara nor his beneficiaries knew that leaving Lithuania was as much of a life-and-death matter as it turned out to be. Unlike similar officials in other nations; Sugihara was not immediately punished by his superiors: after the Soviet Union closed the Japanese consulate in Lithuania; Sugihara was transferred to a variety of other European posts.
