Book Description
Most organizations struggle with the question of leadership. How do you identify leaders in the making? How do you train them, taking into account their unique strengths and weaknesses? This collection of articles examines the ways in which managers and executives develop as leaders, and then helps readers apply successful tactics in real-life settings. Using innovative as well as time-honored approaches, Harvard Business Review on Developing Leaders guides readers through the challenges of leadership development.
Customer Reviews:
Great Product.......2007-09-09
Product in GREAT condition as described. Very fast shipping!! Will do business with again!!
Book Description
William T. Sherman's burning of Atlanta helped reelect Abraham Lincoln. In contrast, if Confederate President Jefferson Davis had left Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, one of its most effective generals,
Customer Reviews:
Interesting Dual Biography.......2007-02-11
This book is an interesting dual biography picking two generals from the American Civil War that were not the most famous, but well known enough to make interesting biographical subjects.
The two generals had much in common. Both were professional soldiers that understood the advantages the defense had over the offense during the war. They understood that it was better to out flank, out guess, and approach indirectly than bloody attacks against dug in defenders. The two generals seemed to admire each other, even while they were enemies.
This book gives an excellent history of the battles where the two generals were involved as well as the 'on again, off again' nature of Johnston's relationship with Jefferson Davis. This is a well written and easy reading book, although it covers little new ground.
Worthy Opponents: A Worthy Read.......2007-01-25
Once again, Mr. Longacre has done a magnificent job of profiling two important leaders of the American Civil War. In his highly readable style, he follows the parallel careers of these two military leaders focusing on the periods where their paths converge. I highly recommend this book for even the casual reader of military history or biographies of important American leaders.
Average customer rating:
- Was hoping for more
- Joseph E. Johnson and the Defense of Richmond
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Joseph E. Johnston and the Defense of Richmond (Modern War Studies)
Steven H. Newton
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
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ASIN: 0700609210 |
Book Description
Most often viewed as a prelude to Robert E. Lee's Civil War victories of 1862, Joseph E. Johnston's campaign in Virginia early that year has been considered uninspired at best, catastrophic at worst. Steven Newton now offers a revisionist account of Johnston's operations between the York and James Rivers to show how his performance in the "Peninsular War" contributed to a crucial strategic victory for the Confederacy.
Newton acknowledges the limitations usually attributed to Johnston by other historians but suggests that assessments of the general's performance in Virginia have been colored by later controversies. He argues that contemporary sources portray Johnston as conducting his operations competently and within the strategic framework laid down in Richmond, even when he personally disagreed with those decisions. By holding his outnumbered army together and delaying the advance of Union forces, the general bought critical time for the Confederacy to recruit, organize, and arm the expanded army that would drive the Federals away from Richmond soon after Johnston himself was wounded at Seven Pines.
Focusing on the period between mid-February and late May 1862, Newton examines in detail the high-level conferences in Richmond to set strategy and the relationship of the Peninsula campaign to operations in the Shenandoah Valley and the western Confederacy. What emerges is a portrait of a general who was much more complex in thought and action than even his advocates have argued. By examining what Johnston actually accomplished rather than speculating on what he might have done, Newton shows that his overall conduct of the campaign holds up well under scrutiny.
Marked by painstaking research and analysis, Newton's reconsideration of Johnston is a key account of Confederate operations in the pivotal eastern Virginia theater in 1862. It provides an important new look at an episode in the war that until now has received little attention and helps rescue an unduly maligned leader from the shadow of Lee.
This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.
Customer Reviews:
Was hoping for more.......2004-03-05
given the title of the book, I thought the author would spend a bit more time on the Battle of Williamsburg - one of Johnston's few battles he fought before his woudning sent command over to Lee.
Given Williamsburg is a topic of interest I was taken aback by several very poor inaccuracies made by the author. For example the author stated on page 136 "...neither he nor McLaws knew the exact locations of all the forts (at Williamsburg)." This is a terrible inaccuracy as McLaws oversaw the building of the fortifications and had his command based in Williamsburg for 6 months form 61-62. This fact really makes it questionable Johnston pulling him out of the defensive line he constructed and knew better than any other commander in the army in lieu of Longstreet. The Author takes much of the OR reports regarding this battle - especially Longstreets at face value which is a mistake. The map included in the book is a borrowed one from anotehr publication (one on cavlary skirmishes on May 4 between Williamsbur and Yorktwon and major flaws - the 6th Cavalry moved up on the East not West side of Fort Magruder on May 4th, Emory did not move up to Williamsburg on the Hampton Road on May 4 and Grier was with Gibson's guns not separate as shown. The author does not even mention who or what Grier's force was. He credits Stuart as keeping Johnston "informed of the advance of the union cavalry," when in actuality Stuart managed to get cut off and nearly captured. Johnston was so uninformaed that the redoubts at Williamsburg were not even manned whent eh Union vanguard arrived. With regard to Stuarts near capture and forced march through the tidal pools of the James River the author characeterizes this as being "resourceful in every extremity in detouring..." i could go on. It is details that are needed and really impact his revisionist take on Johnston and if the book contains as many imperfections as the section on Williamsburg one should read it with much caution when determine credibility.
This is fast history based on OR accounts - a scratch of the surface with a new twist.
Joseph E. Johnson and the Defense of Richmond.......2000-05-12
Professor Newton has written a readable account of the generalship of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston for the period from February 1862 until General Johnson's wounding at the battle of Seven Pines on May 31,1862. The book begins with a brief discussion of (1) the deteriorating trust between Johnson and Jefferson Davis; (2) the Department of Northern Virginia; and (3) the process, including both political and military factors, used in making the decision to move Johnston's army from Centerville, Virginia to be closer to Richmond. The decision and the details of withdrawal are well documented after which the author covers the Peninsula Campaign, the Battle of Seven Pines and ends with an interesting assessment of Johnston's campaign.
Some scholars and Civil War buffs have questioned the expenditure of resources to defend Richmond and speculate that a capitol located in the interior of the Confederacy would have been preferred as being easier to defend. Professor Newton outlines the strategic importance of Richmond stating that it was a critical manufacturing, transportation and financial center. The Tredegar Iron Works alone justified the defense of Richmond. In addition, the city had four major banks, had five railroads lines and was a flour-milling center . Having established the strategic necessity of defending Richmond, the writer proceeds to document General Johnston's defense of the city.
The writer objectively narrates the involvement of Lee in the decisions during this period noting areas of agreement and differences between Johnston, Lee and Davis. While Professor Newton openly states ". . the tenor of this work is pro-Johnston in terms of my assessment of the general's handling of his army" he favorably reviews Joseph Johnston's performance without engaging in "Lee bashing" the approach often used by revisionist historians to support their thesis. He gives credit and/or blame where it is due in his
opinion. This makes for interesting and provocative reading.
Professor Newton gives a balanced evaluation of General Longstreet's performance. Longstreet is depicted as neither a hero nor a villain. The writer may well have summed up Longstreet's Civil War career in one sentence when he wrote ". . that Longstreet, though undeniably talented, was incredibly willful, and his cooperation in operations of which he did not approve was notoriously poor."
The narration of the Peninsula Campaign and Seven Pines is well worth the price of the book. Especially interesting is his description of Johnston's reaction to Federal transports reaching the mouth of the Pamunkey River and the Union gunboats ascending the York River following the Confederate evacuation of Yorktown; a situation Johnson both anticipated and feared. The author observes that at Seven Pines Johnston ". . totally abdicated his responsibility for the overall conduct of the battle when he led Whiting's division down the Nine Mile Road . ." and then makes the interestingly observation that this was a similar failing of almost all Civil War commanding generals, Confederate or Union, in their first offensive battle.
The last chapter is an assessment of Johnston's campaign. Here the author states that Johnston's retreat from Williamsburg was a skillful maneuver with strategic insight. Professor Newton correctly states that Joseph Johnston did in fact successfully defend Richmond. In view of the strategic importance of Richmond in 1862 this was a significant accomplishment. The last chapter is insightful and well worth reading.
The lack of a sufficient number of maps is the book's major shortcoming.
Book Description
General Joseph E. Johnston was in command of Confederate forces at the South's first victory -- Manassas in July 1861 -- and at its last -- Bentonville in April 1886. Many contemporaries considered him the greatest Southern field commander of the war. To Grant and Sherman, he was the Union's most skillful opponent.
But Johnston remains an enigma. His battlefield victories were never decisive. He failed to save Confederate forces at Vicksburg and he retreated in the face of Sherman's march. His feud with Jefferson Davis ensured the collapse of the South's western campaign and made Johnston the focus of a political schism.
Craig Symonds, professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy, gives us a rousing narrative of Johnston's Civil War and the first rounded portrait of the man.
Customer Reviews:
Joe don't get no respect................2007-09-19
During the Civil War, General Joseph Johnston was viewed as one of the South's three greatest Generals; today, he is essentially forgotten....he has exactly one monument [in Georgia], while Lee and Jackson have an untold number. And yet....he was never defeated on the field of battle...he won the first AND last major battles of the war...Generals Grant and Sherman each said that he was the toughest commander they faced [Lee said the same about McClellan; interesting]...maybe there was more to Joe than we realize....
Like many Civil War officers, Joe Johnston was the child of a Revolutionary War officer, though he was raised with niether the vast wealth of Polk, or the crushing poverty that afflicted Lee. He followed a life pattern typical of the breed....West Point....service as an engineer. Joe resigned from the Army due to low pay and lack of promotion, but didn't stay out long....while a civilian engineer with a group of inexperienced troops in Florida, he saved the day when the unit was attacked by Seminoles. Distinguished service in Mexico....eventually he became Quartermaster General of the US Army; this fact was to cause profound problems later, as Joe was the only General Officer to follow the South. [His portrait hangs in the main auditorium at Ft. Lee, VA, along with all the other Quartermasters General].
Joe Johnston could be a vain, difficult man; touchy about his dignity, he forever resented not being made the senior full General of the CSA [he was fourth]. He hated for his equals to call him "Joe", yet any of his soldiers was free to do so. The profound dislike of Joe Johnston and Jeff Davis for each other was a disaster for the South. Davis resented that Joe wouldn't communicate with him, and Joe knew that communicating a secret to the President's office was equivalent to printing it in a newspaper. After Joe was wounded at Seven Pines [Davis was properly supportive of his injured General], Lee took over the Army of Northern Virginia, and Joe was relegated to a series of assignments that involved cleaning up the messes of others...
Johnston was a General loved by his troops...they knew he wouldn't waste their lives. He had the "common touch"...Symonds relates an incident where Joe jumps down in the mud to help free a stuck cannon...reminds me of the scene in "Patton" where Patton plays traffic cop, getting jeeps out of the mud. He was criticized as being too "defensive", and was replaced in command of the Army of Tennessee by John Bell Hood [whom I consider a great General]...US Grant later said that the South might have won the war by leaving Joe in place, as he would have simply outlasted the North's desire to fight. Sort of like the US in Viet Nam; we could have nuked the North Vietnamese into submission anytime, but.......
After the war, Joe served one term in Congress [he headed the committee that cleared the name of Fitz John Porter], and was a US Railroad Commissioner. He and Davis continued to hate each other, and put their bile into print.
Craig Symonds has written a superb book about a great man and General who still doesn't get the respect he deserves. This is the finest book about Joe, and one of the finest about any General. Yes, Robert E. Lee was a great man, and so was Jeff Davis...a series of tragic circumstances deprived the South of the full service of a great officer. It's time you knew....
A Great Biography of a Controversial General.......2007-05-16
Whatever your opinion of Joseph Johnston, in my humble opinion, Craig Symonds has written a fabulous biography that is easy to read and seems to be fair in its treatment of Johnston.
Symonds comprehensively covers several areas of Johnston's life:
1. Early life in Virginia.
2. Years at West Point.
3. Service in Mexican War.
4. Army service between the Mexican War and the Civil War.
5. Civil War service - First Bull Run, early part of the Peninsula Campaign, Vicksburg, Atlanta Campaign, Bentonville, and surrender to Sherman.
6. Relationships with various Civil War generals and politicians.
7. Family life.
8. Post-Civil War years and death.
Symonds is fair and objective by pointing out Johnston's weaknesses (temper, sometimes a little touchy, prone to fight a defensive war), and his strengths (cared deeply for his troops, managed to win some battles while not suffering major defeats, ability to get along with Robert E. Lee, etc.). The writing style is fine and flows freely throughout the book.
After reading this title and the biography of Patrick Cleburne, I have concluded that Symonds is one of the best Civil War biographers around.
Read and enjoy the book and form your own opinion of one of the most controversial Civil War generals. Highly recommended!
awesome.......2007-01-25
I like Joe! I really like Joe. And this is a great biography of the man. Too many folks bring all the world's troubles down on him. His was a rough role to play. I mean, he was head quartermaster in the US Army. That meant that caring for the soldier's welfare was first and foremost in his mind..hence the later Civil War cautiousness. Joe's cool. Don't be too hard on Joe. Read this book.
Great-Great Grand Uncle Revisited.......2005-12-29
Joseph E. Johnston was my great-great grand uncle. This book has become required reading for everyone in my family, and I will have my children read it as well. Craig Symonds recounts Johnston's life accurately, and for this our family is proud. A must read for all people interested in the civil war, or the life of an old world general!
Forgotten General.......2005-08-30
I must say that I have always been interested in Joe Johnston and having finally read such a good biography of him I am even more interested. As others have said you can't help but feel a bit sorry for "Old Joe." He was blamed for Vicksburg, even though it was Pemberton who disobeyed his orders and got his army trapped in the city. It was Davis who refused to allow Johnston the use of the troops west of the Mississippi. Johnston was blamed for not being able to stop Sherman in Northern Georgia when all facts show that he had done an incredible job of holding his army together against a superior force and perhaps the best general in the Union Army.
Symonds has done a great job with this biography. You can't help but get interested in and just keep reading. I read this book in 2 days it was so good. Symonds reveals Joe Johnston to be a complex, yet overall admirable general. I liked how he included the jealousy Johnston felt for Lee at one time, and the eventual end to that jealousy when Johnston took command in North Carolina. I loved reading about the constant fighting between Joe Johnston and Jefferson Davis. I think Symonds did an excellent job writing about this conflict that lasted for some 25 years. Only real complaint would be that I would have liked a bit more on Johnston before the war, specifically in Mexico. I felt that was rushed a bit. Besides that though this biography was excellent. I strongly recommend it to all.
Average customer rating:
- Book that should have been good
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Destroyer of the Iron Horse: General Joseph E. Johnston and Confederate Rail Transport, 1861-1865
Jeffrey N. Lash
Manufacturer: Kent State Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0873384237 |
Customer Reviews:
Book that should have been good.......2007-08-13
If your attention is attracted by the title of this book, you are not alone. Unfortunately it is a book that does not stand up to its promise. Its virtue--it is mercifully short. I sincerely wish something good could be said for this book. My advice is don't spend your time or money on this.
Product Description
Correspondence between the President and General Joseph E. Johnston: together with that of the Secretary of War and the Adjutant and Inspector General, during the months of May, June and July, 1863. Gale Archival Editions: On Demand are digital copies of rare and out-of-print historical content. Delivered where and when you need them, Gale Archival Editions arrive complete with original fonts, marks, notations, punctuation and spelling, giving you the feeling of owning the original work. These images of original works—from the world's leading libraries—include everything from books to pamphlets, many with original illustrations, indexes, maps and other annotations. Sourced from Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America from its Discovery to the Present Time (1868-1936), the Sabin American Civil War Collection includes thousands of titles on all topics related to the Civil War experience.
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Joseph E. Johnston: Confederate General (Famous Figures of the Civil War Era)
Christin Ditchfield
Manufacturer: Chelsea House Publications
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ASIN: 0791064123 |
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The Rambling Kid: A Novel About The IWW
Charles Ashleigh
Manufacturer: Charles H Kerr
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0882862723 |
Book Description
One of the best and move informative books concerning the IWW. First published in London in 1930, this is, astonishingly, the first American edition. Soapboxer, writer, poet, agitator, and publicist, the British-born Ashleigh was active in the IWW from 1912 until his deportation 9 years later. As a first-hand account of the Wobbly way of life in the 1910s, The Rambling Kid was few equals. "Charles Ashleigh's semi-autobiographical novel fills a void in the record of the events that led to the federal government's brutal attempts to suppress the 'One Big Union' during World War 1. Ashleigh's characters ride alongside IWW job delegates, bindle-stiffs, and gandy dancers as they crisscross the country hopping freight trains en route to jobs and strikes and everything in between. .....an intimate glimpse into pre-World War 1 workers' culture on the eve of the Russian Revolution. Steve Kellerman's superb introduction provides the critical and biographical context for understanding the importance of Ashleigh's work and the historical forces that produced The Rambling Kid" [Salvatore Salerno]
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