Review: The Pinks

The Pinks: The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency by Chris Enss

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Introduction

The Pinks is a book about the women that worked for Allan Pinkerton and his Pinkerton Detective Agency in the years before, during, and after the American Civil War. The author makes it very clear that in hiring these women, especially Kate Warne, Pinkerton was far ahead of his time. Kate Warne led the Pinkerton women - or "Pinks" - and was a master of disguise and espionage. Her actions, as well as those of the women in her network, saved thousands of lives in the war and paved the way for women in the police force (although that would not truly become commonplace for over 100 years later).

The story

Kate Warne had gumption, initiative, and courage. She was resourceful, creative, and perhaps just the right amount of crazy. She fit right in with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, despite being the first woman on the payroll. Her disguises and acting abilities were masterful and crucial to Pinkerton cases involving everything form murder and robbery to espionage and conspiracy. Allan Pinkerton credits her efforts with saving thousands of lives during the Civil War, as well as solving many high-stakes cases. This book provides the harrowing detail of some of the most notorious cases of the Pinkerton ladies. Kate had her hand in all of them, although there were other women, some of whom paid for their efforts with their lives. This is an illuminating tale of one of the parts of history that deserves more of our attention and respect.

Literary analysis

This book was very well written with only a couple of very minor grammatical errors. It has been very well edited for form and grammar. In that respect it is a joy to read.

This book is also very well researched, relying in large part on the personal recollections of Allan Pinkerton himself, among others. Each chapter is a unique story, and as such each chapter has it's own bibliography. This can make the book feel a bit disjointed, but goes to show how thorough the author was in their research.

The biggest criticism I have for this book is the ending. It's far too abrupt! The author seems to make an attempt at a summarization ending in the final story. It could, however, benefit from an epilogue of some sort. The ending feels rushed, as though the author wasn't quite sure how to end so they just included the summarization with the final story. It was a quick read, but one might think a bit too quick.

Conclusion

This is a fascinating and quick read! It is well-written, thoroughly researched, and certainly worth your time. I recommend this book!

Review: MacArthur's Spies: The Soldier, the Singer, and the Spymaster Who Defied the Japanese in World War II

MacArthur's Spies: The Soldier, the Singer, and the Spymaster Who Defied the Japanese in World War II by Peter Eisner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Introduction

MacArthur's Spies is a harrowing tale of heroism and espionage in the Philippines during World War II. The author chose to focus on the people and events surrounding three main players: Claire (the primary character and the "Singer" in the title), Boone (the "Soldier"), and Chick Parsons (the "Spymaster"). It is broken into five parts: 1) Claire's life before WWII and the Philippines leading into war with Japan; 2) war in the Philippines and the US surrender; 3) life in the Philippines under Japanese occupation; 4) liberation by the US and life immediately following the war; and finally 5) Claire's life in her later years and her battle to get compensation from the US government.

The story

I call myself a World War II history nut, but I have a shameful confession - I am one of those who focuses mostly on the European theater, especially the Holocaust. I know very little about the Pacific theater, especially other than Pearl Harbor. Shameful, I know! I chose to read this book in an effort to remedy that and I'm sure glad I did. Despite the somewhat misleading title, the book mostly focuses on Claire - her life, her relationships, her many aliases, and her contributions to the resistance efforts. She was a woman of many mysteries, having married at least four times and somehow adopted a little Filipino girl along the way. Though she aspired to be a performer, she wasn't successful until she opened a nightclub in Manila during the Japanese occupation. At that point she became "Madame Tsubaki," and one of the leaders of the efforts to surreptitiously support both the American POWs interred on the islands and the guerrillas hiding in the densely forested hills. Boone was her contact with the guerrillas. He had escaped capture during the US surrender and led a large contingent of American and Filipino fighters. He was in direct contact with General MacArthur himself via the spymaster, Chick Parsons. Chick had originally escaped imprisonment by masquerading as a somewhat-legitimate diplomat. After his escape, he asked to return and be put to work in the efforts to recapture the Philippines. Without spoiling too many details, we know the historical outcome - MacArthur did indeed return in resounding triumph to liberate the Philippines and vanquish the evil (in this instance) Japanese. He credited much of the success of his campaign to the intelligence gathered by Claire, Boone, Parsons, and their extended network. Many American POWs and guerrillas also owed their lives to Claire and others who provided supplies and money whenever possible. Claire returned to the US a hero. She even wrote a book and had a movie made, although both suffered from the Hollywood effect of an over-eager ghost writer. She spent years trying to get compensation from the US government for all of the money she spent of her own funds to help the guerrillas and POWs. Due to many factors, including the incredible number of people making similar claims, Claire only received a fraction of what she spent. The Filipino people honored her sacrifice after her death by memorializing her in the capitol building in Manila.

Literary analysis

This book was written by a reporter, and as such it carries with it that style. It is fast-paced and filled with facts expounded by conjecture. Mr. Eisner did a ton of research, even dusting off the court documents from Claire's claim. He is to be commended for his hard work in being thorough, even traveling to the Philippines and interviewing family members and survivors. Claire was a mysterious character and given what little is truly known about her identity, Mr. Eisner did a wonderful job of making her an intriguing character. I only wish he'd been able to expound more on Boone and his troops, or on Chick Parson's harrowing experiences being spirited back and forth behind enemy lines on submarines. There's no doubt that Claire was a hero in her own right; I just would have liked to know more about the other heroes listed in the title (namely Boone and Parsons).

The format in the digital version was all over the place and at times this made it difficult to read. However, I have a feeling this is due to it being an advanced copy adapted for Kindle (similar to a PDF) and is not the fault of the publisher or author.

There were also times that sentences and/or phrases were awkwardly repeated, or the editing wasn't complete so that the sentence structure was clumsy. Again, with a final edit I'm sure this will be corrected. It in no way detracted from the story itself.

My only other criticism is that I would have like to have seen any photos that survived. The author mentions a specific photo - that of Peggy in front of the Tsubaki Club - several times. Why wasn't it included? Again, this might be due to the nature of this particular digital format. Still, I might have to google that photo as well as others of Claire, Boone, etc. They're such intriguing characters!

Conclusion

While I still maintain that the title is a little misleading (this is really a book about Claire, with asides about her "supporting cast" and "costars"), the book itself is very enlightening. I had no idea that the Philippines were so crucial in the Pacific war, let alone how much the American POWs and Filipinos suffered (aside from the Bataan Death March - everyone knows about Bataan...I hope...). I would definitely recommend this book for it's educational value alone, let alone the heroism of the people it portrays. I will always have the utmost respect for "The Greatest Generation," especially after reading accounts such as this. I am grateful to Mr. Eisner for highlighting these international heroes!

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The Man Brag Blog, 2d Edition

It's been a long time since I've taken the time to brag on my sweet husband. What better time than Father's day? I like to take every opportunity to brag on my husband and tell the world what a wonderful person he is. I'm not as good at doing it in person, but I've been working on that and that is a blog post for another day. Today I want to share a few of the beautiful things my husband has built, as well as the wonderful ways in which he has built me up as a wife and loved on our small family.

First up are my absolute favorites: my new bookshelves. Aren't they gorgeous?! They're solid wood and he took so much time tending to every angle and detail. Side note - the bookshelves are straight and level, but our floor isn't, so if they seem to lean, it's the floor! They're almost full of books already and I've been teasing him that I may need more soon. Mostly I just love them and would be happy to have a whole room full of them! He did such a good job!

Next is this gorgeous cradle he made for our daughter. We knew having a new baby brother would be an adjustment for her, so he wanted her to have a little baby doll of her own to love. She loves this cradle, although admittedly her stuffed Mickey gets more "nap time" than any of her baby dolls. I love the gentle curves on this and the way that it rocks sweetly so that she can rock her baby dolls. Even my daughter herself has tried to take a nap in it more than once. haha Now I just need to get the little foam mattress and blanket finished...(Obviously my husband is so much better at prioritizing and finishing projects than I am...)

He also completed this sweet little airplane toy. Isn't it adorable?! He used several different models as inspiration, but the final product is of his own imagination. My daughter loves airplanes, pointing out every single one that flies overhead. This toy is the beginning of my husband's foray into toy making, and I hope to have more photos of more toys next time. For now, this one is our favorite (well, my daughter's and mine anyway), and maybe she'll be willing to share this very special little airplane with her brother someday. Maybe. haha

Along the same line, we decided to decorate our little boy's room in the theme of airplanes and flying high among the clouds. For this, my husband made the most precious little airplane mobile and even cut clouds out of composite wood (the letters are from Hobby Lobby). I will do a short post on this nursery at a later date, but for now I just want to share these shots of my husband's hard work. I'm so excited about this room; it's the cutest room for a little boy!

The next little project actually started out as an antique dresser that was given to me by my parents when I was in middle school. It was such a cute little dresser, but being n antique, it didn't survive our many moves very well and has started to literally fall to pieces. My husband is working on repairing it in stages - the first of which was this mirror topper. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the dresser or the topper, so my husband had the brilliant idea to repurpose the topper as an entryway piece. We're going to add hooks on either side of the cubby holes so small children can hang their jackets, but otherwise it is perfect for our small entryway. And I love that I get to keep such a special piece! 

Last but not least is this cool little iPhone/Apple Watch charging station. My husband and I share a hatred of clutter, and cords are no exception. Thus my ingenious hubby came up with this solution after taking inspiration from none other than Pinterest. The final design is all his own, and it's awesome! He said he'll actually be disappointed the next time he upgrades his phone, but it'll give him another chance to innovate. 

I don't want to give the impression that this is all he's done since the last Man Brag Blog - quite the opposite! My husband is constantly working on projects around the house as well as these very special things. We have a wonderful new fence around the backyard, a swing for our toddler in the garage (for those rainy days when the park isn't an option - awesome, right?!), and numerous other things.

On top of that, we have a well-maintained home that reflects the loving care of a diligent husband and father. He spoils us, really he does, and we love him all the more for it. He can't be with us this Father's Day, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to recognize his hard work. I also wanted to publicly thank him for everything he does. We are blessed beyond measure to have him as the head of our family, a beloved husband and Daddy, and the favorite parent if we're honest. haha We love him so!

Until next time I'm...

Hapless but hopeful,

Cassie