Robert Gaudi

Initially, I was getting a lot of enjoyment out of Gaudi's almost satirical treatment of one the interminable Hispano-English colonial conflicts, but, after a certain point, the wise-guy tone began to annoy me. This was probably about the time when the phrase "collaborationist squaw" was used. Still, Gaudi does cover a lot of ground and does a good job of placing this war in the context of the global economy of the time, as it was very much a war over trade. There's certainly an interesting set of historical characters to follow, including Lawrence Washington, the brother of George Washington. At this point, I'm now wanting to read Craig Chapman's "Disaster on the Spanish Main," for a more sober treatment of events at the failed British operation to take Cartagena.… (mais)

African Kaiser is probably the best book about one of the most fascinating and overlooked episodes of WWI, the German East Africa campaign. The war on this tropical front didn't bog down into trenches but was characterized by continual maneuver and sabotage in exotic settings with famous African big-game hunters and romantic stories one finds in The African Queen. Such it was with General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck who remained undefeated despite overwhelming odds. The stories are wonderful the stuff of legend, but hardly known in the English speaking world, probably because Lettow emerges the hero, morally and otherwise, while the British are the bumbling fools and abusers. Robert Gaudi has written an absorbing and transporting account of this amazing time and place. Gaudi's writing is first rate, I would read anything by him again, he is at the top of the form in creative non-fiction. My only complaint it isn't a longer book.… (mais)