Submitted by Theodore Toothman, Sep 2, 2008 18:51

I read this book less than a month ago, as soon as the Cleveland Public Library stocked it. I do not dispute the basic premise of the book. However, if you read it, please ask yourself this: didn't I read this in the last chapter? What I mean is, the book repeats so many times the same assertions and impressions, especially of what Mr. Gatling must have thought at such and such a time, the repeated references to America changing from agricultural to industrial, the reduction of personal valor in war to a mere mechanical process, etc. In short, this "book" really seemed to me like a long article that was inexpertly expanded to book-length merely to capitalize on the fact that it was written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, just to make more money. Reader's Digest Condensed Books, where are you when we need you?.

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