Dieppe

Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff: "Little did I ever think in the old days of my regular journeys of Newhaven-Dieppe, that I should have been planning as I was this morning!" - O'Keefe, One Day in August

"Red" Ryder

"Robert Ryder was a rare character in the annals of military and naval history . . . resolute, determined and courageous in battle as he was reserved, humble and self-effacing in its afterglow." -- O'Keefe, One Day in August 

Secrets

There have been reports lately that British intelligence officials maybe don't trust their American counterparts to keep secrets. Well, according to David O'Keefe's "One Day in August", there has actually been a long history of such mistrust, dating as far back to at least WWII.

Taxes

Imagine! Taxing people proportional to wealth. Outrageous! So . . . Berniesque!

Library Haul

I've returned Michael Miller's Music Theory and Alice Hogge's God's Secret Agents this past week. Both were excellent reads. I think I even set a record for myself with Miller's book for the number of renewals, as it's a workbook and therefore intended to be used over an extended period. Shoot! I may even break down and purchase a copy . . . or not. In any case, I genuinely appreciated the opportunity to review some of the theory I learned years ago both in high school and college.

The Whiskey Rebellion

Finished reading Hogeland's book last night. Heartily recommend it to anyone, but especially to those who may still think the American experiment has been nothing but glorious. George W. perhaps put inordinate trust in Alexander Hamilton, and Hamilton -- well, let's just say his handling of the excise tax and subsequent rebellion was probably not his finest moment. In our patriotic zeal, we sometimes, I think, overlook just how difficult and sometimes inglorious the march towards national sovereignty was.