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Articles by Gerald D. Swick

Posted on Aug 27, 2014 in Books and Movies

The Red Baron – Book Review

The Red Baron – Book Review

In his latest graphic novel–style history, “The Red Baron,” Wayne Vansant takes to the skies of World War I to tell not only the story of Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, but of the development of aerial warfare.

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Posted on Jul 15, 2014 in Books and Movies

Lincoln’s Bishop – Book Review

Lincoln’s Bishop – Book Review

‘Lincoln’s Bishop,’ by Gustav Niebuhr, tells the little-known story of Henry B. Whipple, Minnesota’s first Episcopal bishop, who tried to convince Lincoln to reform the Office of Indian Affairs and tried to calm white hysteria in the wake of the Sioux Uprising of 1862.

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Posted on Aug 2, 2013 in Electronic Games

New Games from the Slitherine Group – Part 2

This is the second part of a two-part report by ArmchairGeneral.com editor Gerald D. Swick on games shown at The Slitherine Group’s Press Days (Slitherine-Matrix-Ageod), July 18-19, 2013, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, during the Historicon miniatures gaming convention. Click here to read Part 1. Apart from the game designers and developers and the journalists who were there to cover the event, Press Days had a special guest, Robert Tokarz. He was the winner in a fan contest in which one person from among those who “liked” an entry on the Matrix Games Facebook page won a trip to Historicon. He also received an award. Scourge of War series, developed by NorbSoftDev. This highly regarded American Civil War series started with Gettysburg, then covered Antietam and Chancellorsville, as well as the battle-that-never-was, Pipe Creek, where George Gordon Meade had intended to fight Robert E. Lee’s army during the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania. Recently the entire series was bundled into a 150th Anniversary package that includes Brandy Station, the largest cavalry battle...

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Posted on Jun 3, 2013 in Books and Movies

WW II from Space – DVD Review

The ‘hook’ in ‘WWII from Space’ – images shot from space, on which information overlaid – sounds good but isn’t particularly impressive; however, the content and the other visuals make this DVD of a program from HISTORY well worth owning.

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Posted on May 11, 2011 in Books and Movies

Wartorn 1861 – 2010: DVD Review

Wartorn 1861–2010 may be tough to watch in its exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the American Civil War to modern times, but its information is essential for veterans and their families and friends coping with PTSD.

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Posted on May 3, 2010 in Books and Movies

Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States – Book Review

Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States: His own words selected and arranged by Daniel Ruddy. Smithsonian Books, 2010. Hardback, 318 pages plus foreword, introduction, and source notes. No photographs. $27.99. It unabashedly, unstintingly reflects a man whose love for his country ran as deep as the Mississippi. People who attain great fame are often even more contradictory in their personalities than the average person is. Certainly, that can be said of Theodore Roosevelt, a fact that is abundantly clear in Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States. The man who said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" comes through as both starry-eyed optimist regarding the American people and a curmudgeon in his opinion of particular individuals. Daniel Ruddy says in the book’s introduction that he decided to compile this book after realizing that if he could talk with anyone from American history, living or dead, that person would be Roosevelt. His approach was to "create Roosevelt’s part of the conversation," based exclusively on the soldier-politician-adventurer’s own words....

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Posted on Mar 10, 2008 in Stuff We Like

Armchair General’s New Online Editor

Reporting for duty, sir! Let me introduce myself. I’m the new senior online editor for armchairgeneral.com and HistoryNet. The rest of the staff who have been bringing you the history and interactive features you enjoy are still here and will have greater opportunities to develop exciting new content as I assume more of the editorial responsibilities. Some of you may remember me as the author of the “Commander Dossier” and “Weapon Files” departments in the print version of Armchair General magazine, as well as some of its interactive articles like “Yamamoto’s Dilemma” and “ Washington at Germantown .” You may have seen my name among the authors of articles in ABC-CLIO’s The Encyclopedia of World War II: A Political, Social and Military History or The West Virginia Encyclopedia from that state’s Humanities Council. I may also have rolled dice with you at Historicon, Nashcon, Origins or other game conventions. A couple of days before writing this blog, I visited Fort Morgan at the mouth of Mobile Bay, where Confederate...

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