Non-Fiction

Title: Burn the Town and Sack the Banks: Confederates Attack Vermont
Author: Cathryn Prince
Genre: Non-Fiction History
Reviewer: Betsy Beard

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0786717513

On a dreary October afternoon, bands of Confederate raiders held up the three banks in St. Albans. With guns drawn, they herded the townspeople out into the common, sending the people of the North into panic. Operating out of a Confederate stronghold in Canada, the raiders were young men, mostly escapees from Union prison camps, who had been recruited to inaugurate a new kind of guerilla war along the Yankees' unprotected border. The raid, though bungling at times, was successful ând the consequent pursuit of the rebels into Canada. The celebrity-like trial it sparked in Montreal and resulting diplomatic tensions that arose between the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain, left the Southern dream of a second-front diversion in ruins. What survived, however, is a fascinating tale of the South's desperate attempt to reverse the course of the war. Burn the Town and Sack the Banks is a tale filled with dashing soldiers, spies, posses, bumbling plans, smitten locals, lawyers, diplomats, and an idyllic Vermont town, set against the backdrop of the great battles far from the Northern border that were bringing the Civil War to its bloody conclusion.

Title: Rapscallion Summer
Author: David Michaelson
Genre: Humor
Reviewer: Barbara Peacock

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0982760329

A humorous romp thru a 12 year-old rascal's glorious summer.

Title: A Sea Story
Author: Joseph Pignataro
Genre: History
Reviewer: Jim Greenwald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): B007W9F4A8

The U.S. Navy was among the first responders on 9/11. Entrusted with the
iconic Ground Zero flag, the Roosevelt battlegroup took to the seas searching
out those responsible, and to bring justice to a nation in mourning.

1145 September 2001, the U.S.S. Leyte Gulf deployed within hours of the
attack on the W.T.C. with orders to shoot down and destroy any "birds not
squawking" over New York City. We were entrusted with the Ground Zero flag
raised by the NYFD. We flew that flag with pride and determination from our
mast on our important mission. After two days we were then redirected to the
gulf and given orders to destroy the Taliban with the Tomahawk missiles
onboard. During transit, we were told by our Captain that the Taliban would
be waiting for us in the narrow Suez canal. So narrow in fact, only a single
ship can go through at any one time. If the first and last ship were to be
hit by surface to air missiles, there would be no way out. The aircraft
carrier U.S.S Roosevelt, would be trapped in the middle and defenseless.
There they were, waiting for us on horseback atop the sandy Suez
dunes...following us. Just a bunch of scared kids manning the ships 50 cal
guns, wondering what was to happen next.

One late night in the gulf, Bush declared war. It was our task to launch the
first Tomahawk missiles and kick off the war on terror. We were cut off from
the outside world. Email and any other means of communication had been banned
for security reasons. Television reports of Anthrax gripping the country with
fear and WW3 rumors scuttling through the ships decks. A six man boarding
party manned up to routinely search an unresponding suspect Iraqi
tanker...what was found would change our lives forever.

This is our sea story.

Title; Battle for Baqubah - Killing Our Way Out
Author: Robert Colella
Genre: History
Reviewer: Ron Camarda

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1469791080

The Battle for Baqubah: Killing Our Way Out is a firsthand account-and sometimes a minute-by-minute tale-of a raw, in-your-face street fight with Al Qaeda militants over a fifteen-month span in the volatile Diyala Province of Iraq. This story is presented through the eyes of a first sergeant serving with B Company 1-12 Cavalry (Bonecrushers), 1st Cavalry Division, out of Fort Hood, Texas.

The author takes the reader into the midst of the conflict in and around Baqubah-Iraq's "City of Death"-a campaign that lasted most of 2007. The author and his fellow Bonecrushers watched as the city went from sectarian fighting amongst the Shiite and Sunnis, to an all-out jihad against the undermanned and dangerously dispersed US forces within Baqubah and the outlying areas.

Title: Stories of Faith and Courage from the Vietnam War
Author: Larkin Spivey
Genre: Spiritual/Religious
Reviewer: Fran McGraw

IISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0899570194

In a new collection of true stories from the Vietnam War, Larkin Spivey reveals the violence and danger faced by a generation of young Americans that answered their Nation's call and rose to the challenge.

Many stories show the power of faith under the stress of combat and separation from loved ones, while others show the complex spiritual journey of men forced to confront the dark side of human nature for the first time.
Ultimately, the power of God to redeem every human life and event shines forth in this amazing collection.