Soldier Extraordinaire

Students of history are taught historiography; while it's one thing to discuss the course and nature of history, it's quite another to focus on the individuals, the dramatis personae who are its heroes and victims, and the revealing details of their lives. One unusual player on the world stage during the years from the 1920s and beyond World War II was a member of the US Army who is the main subject of this multi-faceted study. He was Brig. Gen. Frank "Pinkie" Dorn (1901-81), whose nickname (sometimes spelled "Pinky") stemmed from his cadet days at West Point from 1919 to 1923. Certainly Clio, the goddess of history, must have been at her best when she inspired Dorn to embark upon the venture of writing about his life and the era and locations in which he lived and served.Whether Dorn might be considered a "great man," as suggested in the epigraph, his account is especially relevant regarding the presence of the United States military in Asia in the twentieth century and his own varied and involved Army career from 1919 to well after World War II. In the course of his years of service, Dorn manifested probing observations and analyses especially of Asia, where he was mainly stationed. During this time, he produced writings on numerous subjects such as his knowledge of Philippine native tribes and, through extensive explorations, much else about the islands. Also of importance were his detailed studies of Peking's Forbidden City, the origins and course of the Sino-Japanese War that began in 1937, and Burma's history early in World II. Throughout, his great love of China-especially Peking-and his mastery of the Chinese language were paramount. He always seemed to recognize and absorb various aspects of Pen-wei wen-hua, "China's own culture" as distinct from that of the West.Another perennial aspect of his career was his close contact with Gen. Joseph Warren Stilwell, who was the major commander of the Allied China-Burma-India (CBI) theater of operations in World War II and hence also closely involved in China and its struggles. Stilwell had studied the Chinese language in the 1920s; then in the late 1930s, he was the US xiv military attaché in China. Dorn was one of his assistant attachés and later in World War II, was Stilwell's aide for several years and commander of Chinese troops in the re-conquest of Burma. Following the end of World War II, Dorn was closely involved in Gen. Douglas MacArthur's brilliant occupation and pacification of Japan.Beyond these prime considerations, though, this study covers several books. It includes Dorn's basic biography, with some mention of his Irish and especially Dutch forbearers; his deep interest in lives of those with whom he was in contact; his world-class art; and even his cooking interests and writing of cookbooks, his considerable skills in cartography; details of life on several military cantonments in the United States and abroad at various times; and his close interrelations with various people of all walks of life.Dorn was also quite knowledgeable about the endemic folkways and Philistine culture of the US military establishment at all levels during his years of service. He especially focused on the frequent maelstroms and the interplay of relevant personalities on social and military scenes, revealing thereby layered dimensions. In any case, his account is a veritable tour de force. Dorn's autobiography, then, features a blend of varying depths and frequently sharp contrasts-extending from the frivolous to the sublime and profound. A rich tapestry, his work reveals that his insights were more than adequate for this rather grandiloquent, yet humbling, task. To be sure, it exudes much of the extraordinaire.

"Soldier Extraordinaire explores the colorful life and varied accomplishments of Brig. Gen. Frank "Pinkie" Dorn, an unusual player on the world stage during the 1920s and beyond World War II. Over the course of his 30-year Army career, Dorn manifested probing observations and analyses especially of Asia. He produced writings on subjects ranging from Philippine native tribes to Peking's Forbidden City and the origins of the Sino-Japanese War that began in 1937. Following the end of World War II, he was closely involved in Gen. Douglas MacArthur's brilliant occupation and pacification of Japan. Beyond his military successes, Dorn created world-class art, enjoyed cooking and writing cookbooks, was renowned for his cartography skills, and relished opportunities to comment on the frequent maelstroms and interplay of relevant personalities on social and military scenes."--Provided by publisher.

Volume II, Book II of the Abaddon Trilogy. Laiel Brockade has been found. Fallen down a dark hole for a year, he’s been rescued and brought up into the light once more. But he’s not doing so good. He looks a little chipped around the edges, like a smile with broken teeth. But he’s making his big comeback. And with one of the Devil’s own sons, a ‘Big Comeback’ takes on fantastic, destructive new meaning. His gang’s teeming with monsters and brimming with magic, and they’re out for blood. The problem is, they aren’t wise to the true depths of evil within the man they’re jobbing for. Laiel has some ideas all his own on how exactly to hop, skip, and jump his way to the other side of the checkerboard of darkness. The jester of the Devil’s court, your friend and mine, Mr. Laiel Arturus Brockade, is nearly positioned to shout “King Me!” That, or he’ll flip over the gameboard and shoot his opponent dead. Either way, he’s not just playing to win… He’s cheating. Genres: Occult & Supernatural, Horror, Action & Adventure, Sub/Urban Fantasy, Humor/Satire, Philosophy, Religion, War, Pre/Post-Apocalyptic. Prior Reading: Provoker. Volume I Nocturnal Whispers: Volume I Seducer: Alliance. Volume II:I Further Reading: Seducer: Insurgence. Volume II:III Nocturnal Whispers: Volume II Destroyer: Onus. Volume III:I

Highland Indians and the State in Modern Ecuador chronicles the changing forms of indigenous engagement with the Ecuadorian state since the early nineteenth century that, by the beginning of the twenty-first century, had facilitated the growth of the strongest unified indigenous movement in Latin America.Built around nine case studies from nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ecuador, Highland Indians and the State in Modern Ecuador presents state formation as an uneven process, characterized by tensions and contradictions, in which Indians and other subalterns actively participated. It examines how indigenous peoples have attempted, sometimes successfully, to claim control over state formation in order to improve their relative position in society. The book concludes with four comparative essays that place indigenous organizational strategies in highland Ecuador within a larger Latin American historical context. Highland Indians and the State in Modern Ecuador offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of state formation that will be of interest to a broad range of scholars who study how subordinate groups participate in and contest state formation.

From the Treaty of Versailles to the 2018 centenary and beyond, the history of the First World War has been continually written and rewritten, studied and contested, producing a rich historiography shaped by the social and cultural circumstances of its creation. Writing the Great War provides a groundbreaking survey of this vast body of work, assembling contributions on a variety of national and regional historiographies from some of the most prominent scholars in the field. By analyzing perceptions of the war in contexts ranging from Nazi Germany to India’s struggle for independence, this is an illuminating collective study of the complex interplay of memory and history.

Leaving the chaos of postwar Germany for an uncertain future, 17-year-old Gerhardt Thamm arrived in America in 1948 with little more than his American birth certificate. With minimal command of English and little formal education, he enlisted in the Army and quickly found himself assigned to operations where his German language abilities were put to use. With the Soviet Union's emergence as a potential adversary, Thamm was recruited into the Army's clandestine services, where he operated as a secret agent in Germany, under multiple identities. This richly detailed personal narrative tells Thamm's incredible story (with more than two dozen photographs and sketches).