It Doesn't Take a Hero

Rating:
Summary: My Review
Review: Sometimes books start of interesting and fun. Other times they are just plain slow and ipossible to "get into." I recently read read one of the "impossible" books. It Doesnt Take a Hero: The Autobiography was possible the most plodding book i have ever read. Lacking in interest, this book didnt appeal to me. If anyone plans to read this book i highly recommend them to reconsider. The boring manner and inconsistent interest made this and incredibly boring book, and I wouldn't recommend anyone to read it. "It Doesn't Take a Hero: the autobiography" is not a very good biography and supplies inadequte information.

Rating:
Summary: A very readable military autobiography
Review: The book begins with a young Norman Schwarzkopf. As with many autobiographies, there is not a vast amount of childhood memories, but here, enough memories are included to show the influence on a soldier.

From his childhood, Schwarzkopf lived a military life. With all the skills and languages he learned, as well as the cultures he experienced, the reader sees how all these were put to good use in the many duties and functions he has carried out for the United States.

His tale not only covers the events of his life, but the reader also sees how the Army has changed since Vietnam. His perspective provides us with a bit of insight that all non-soldiers should see. Although he uses some military terminology, this book is very easy to understand.

What really struck me was that he left out the names of many people he really disagreed with to prevent attacking them personally. He does mention names when he is giving praise. This, I feel, added a lot of class to my image of the general.

As expected, quite a bit of this book covers the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations. Also, the book ends rather abruptly after the operations were over.

I would recommend reading this book, and I thank him for sharing this.

Rating:
Summary: A very readable military autobiography
Review: The book begins with a young Norman Schwarzkopf. As with many autobiographies, there is not a vast amount of childhood memories, but here, enough memories are included to show the influence on a soldier.

From his childhood, Schwarzkopf lived a military life. With all the skills and languages he learned, as well as the cultures he experienced, the reader sees how all these were put to good use in the many duties and functions he has carried out for the United States.

His tale not only covers the events of his life, but the reader also sees how the Army has changed since Vietnam. His perspective provides us with a bit of insight that all non-soldiers should see. Although he uses some military terminology, this book is very easy to understand.

What really struck me was that he left out the names of many people he really disagreed with to prevent attacking them personally. He does mention names when he is giving praise. This, I feel, added a lot of class to my image of the general.

As expected, quite a bit of this book covers the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations. Also, the book ends rather abruptly after the operations were over.

I would recommend reading this book, and I thank him for sharing this.

Rating:
Summary: It doesn't take a hero used book from Redstone Books
Review: The service was excellent and the book from Redstone books was in excellent condition. Eaglecandy is excellent too. keep up the good work.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocrity at its Best
Review: The thing that really irks me about this book is that it is really a 600+ page resume to help a retired Schwartzkopf find civilian employment. He spends loads of time distancing himself from the Army. He portrays himself as a folk music loving, sensitive, open minded, liberal, kinda guy who was kinda sorta against the Vietnam War but just happened to excell at soldiering. He even tips his hat to the victimolgy culture by portraying himself as scarred by having to deal with an alcoholic mother. With this in mind, I believe the main thrust of this book was to show the General to be just a regular guy who could be a great CEO. Thats fine in itself, but he should not have been so demeaning of the Army and of himself. Its unsightly.

That said, the book does show insight into being a successful officer in the United States Army during the post-Vietnam/pre-Gulf War era. After reading this book, I was shocked to see what a relatively uneventful career Schwartzkopf had. While he claims to be a guy who likes to be with the troops, he logged a load of staff time (where he got to hob-nob with movers and shakers). His assignments also seemed to be calculated to be low risk and high gain. Outside of the Vietnam tours, he avoided the Pacific Rim like it was the Plague (he freely admits he saw no career opportunity there). He stayed away from Special Forces assignments and his only airborne assignments were as a junior officer. If you boil it all down, there were only three things schwartzkopf did that were even vaguely remarable; he saved a soldier in a minefield, he created family support groups and was in the vanguard of leaders to bring Burger Kings onto Army posts. While these are good things, they dont make one a great leader of men or astounding battle captain.

Schwartzkopf's success came from two factors. These were luck and patronage. If as a major, Schwartzkopf had not slid into an assignment with the Vietnamese Airborne Division early in the Vietnam War, he would have retired in the 1970s as a Lieutenant Colonel. Had he not come to the attention of the movers and shakers like Gens Vuono, Thurman, etc. he would have left as a Colonel or Brigadier General. This is no big smear against GEN Schwartzkopf. This is just the way 90% of American Army Generals made it to the top.

In the end, the book shows some great truth behind some of the unseemly cheesiness. Schwartzkopf was a good officer and probably an exceptional manager/administrator. But he is no MacArthur or Napoleon!

Rating:
Summary: Great read, filled with adventure...
Review: This is a great book written like a novel. Norm takes us with him, we feel like we are there reliving his life events. We also get to see the softer side of Stormin Normin, as he nearly punches out a MP in Vietnam who was less than respectful of an asian college. Softer, you ask? Read the rest of the book to see what he gets like when mad. I also liked the part of the book where Norm was talking about the problem with the NVA attacking, then running across the Cambodia border so the USA Army could not attack. One day Norms platoon is attacked and the NVA runs away, so Norm calls another soilder and asks for the map. The other soilder points to Cambodia and says "they crossed the border". Norm takes the map, licks his thumb, and proceeds to erase/smudge the part of the map that shows the border. Norm then says "Nah, they are still in Vietnam, lets go get em".

Just be warned, after reading this book you might feel like going to the local Army recruiting station. It is a great book!

Rating:
Summary: Good to use for book reports (age 12)
Review: This is a really interesting and inspiring book. I recommend it to anyone who has to read a biography for a book report. It is rather long, though. If you have less than two weeks, you shouldn't read this one for your report. The description of his tour in Vietnam is really exquisite. Mike, age 12

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Summary: A General ahead of his time
Review: This is an excellent book that covers the life of a General ahead of his time.

At the close of his autobiography, Schwarzkopf lists, and answers, common questions that are asked of him. One of his responses to the issue of the future of the U.S. Army clearly demonstrates how "ahead of his time" he is in his thinking. Schwarzkopf, in his characteristically analytic vein, suggests the downsizing of the U.S. Army needs to be the result of a thorough analysis of the potential risks and rewards; not an arbitrary "shifting of funds." This forward-thinking policy, while seemingly obvious to a layman, is a project currently under way in the Department of Defense.

Perhaps the most obvious example of how ahead of his time Schwarzkopf really was is his list of the "big five." This is a list of goals that he would aim for as a division commander. The big five were: 1) to make sure the division was combat-ready, 2) to take care of the soldiers, 3) to take care of the soldiers' families, 4) to encourage camaraderie and cohesion at every level of the 24th, and 5) to teach subordinates [as he had been taught by his mentors]. While this list was similar to the "big four" that Warner had given Schwarzkopf at Fort Lewis, the "big five" incorporated elements from the many lessons he had learned in his diverse career in the Army. This integration of knowledge and creative thinking put him well ahead of his time in the bureaucratic Armed Forces.

His desire to find ways to establish himself as a leader, using the "big five" as a mold, is another example of Schwarzkopf's forward-looking leadership style. Upon his arrival at Fort Stewart, he was "on the lookout for ways to establish myself as the leader from the moment I set foot on the base." All of the above listed attributes, combined with his ability to work with military and political leaders of other countries made Schwarzkopf a "general ahead of his time."

Rating:
Summary: Must read!
Review: This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read. It explains the background (childhood in Europe, Iran and America, West Point military acadamy, Vietnam) that sculpted an incredible man.

Schwartzkopf also details many of the lessons he has learned the hard way about leadership, in command of tens to tens of thousands of men.

If that weren't enough we get to see an honest and interesting account of what Vietnam was like from someone who knows how to get things done.

Buy this book. It's truly awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Inside Review of Guts and tough decisions
Review: This was a very entertaining look at the General his life and the decisions that he made. Time and time again you will see someone interested in being a soldier! The generals success came because American views parallelled with his views that he had for decades. Well worth listening too!