By Chris Dickon
. . . popular maritime history at its best - fast paced, discursive, and continually interesting. You won't go wrong with this one. Gregory Gibson
A gem of a book . . . sums up the amazing history of the planks and timbers of that star-crossed warship. - Paul Clancy, author of Ironclad: The Epic Battle, Calamitous Loss, and Historic Recovery of the USS Monitor
. . . at times assuming an almost mystical significance as Dickon traces a voyage that has already touched four centuries. Combining history, detective work and heritage preservation, The Enduring Journey is a fascinating story about the amazing survival of an American icon.
- John Boileau, author of Half-Hearted Enemies: Nova Scotia, New England and the War of 1812
It is quite possible, indeed probable, that no other ship in the United States Navy has traveled on so interesting a journey and for so long a period of time as the USS Chesapeake. The author of this book that describes the journey, Chris Dickon, has done a thorough and interesting job while taking the readers along on the trip. - Jack Gottschalk, author of Jolly Roger with an Uzi: The Rise and Threat of Modern Piracy
The coverage of Lawrence's 'funeral' in Halifax was so beautifully expressed that it put a lump in my throat! The way he seamlessly slips in such snippets as the repeal of the Corn Laws and Roman roads cleverly contextualises events. This coupled with thumbnail character sketches, moves the narrative smoothly between countries and centuries with a spatiotemporal expertise. - John S. PGCSS BA(Hons) BSc(Hons) Shipwright
A treasure by any standard. This is a reader's gem, the kind of book one finds by chance with surprises and tidbits that make turning each page an unforgettable pleasure. I found myself metering the reading to prolong the effect. -- Charles A. Krohn, American Battle Monuments Commission, Ret.
. . . a masterful job of researching the facts and presenting them in an interesting and readable way. Well documented with extensive footnotes, a reliable index, appendix and many photos, Dickon's book will certainly be the primary reference work on this subject for many years to come. It is up to us to speak, and as Dickon concludes, this fascinating story must be taken to the children, so the living remembers the dead and what they died for. – Bill Kelly, Remember the Intrepid Organization
A full accounting for our soldier dead who remain on foreign shores. A wonderful and very caring read which covers our boys in France AND the North Russia Expeditionary Force. Chris has done some excellent work and is another inspiration to us here. – United States World War I Centennial Commission
Appendices include 4,000 named burials worldwide.
The author's contribution is that he has gathered together information formerly available in newspaper and magazine articles scattered over a century. His documentation, excellent bibliography, good index and well-chosen photographs are all assets and a lucid and terse writing style makes this an easy, enjoyable read. No other book covers this topic. Consequently, it will find a place in all graduate university libraries and colleges with strong history and political science programs. Community colleges will find this a desirable but not essential work. Highly recommended, – Choice Connect, American Library Association
. . . the account of men who served in the Canadian armed forces in the two world wars, the largest number of Americans ever in foreign service, is particularly good. Dickon’s book tells a largely untold story, and is very much worth reading for that reason. -- A.A. Nofi, Review Editor, Strategy Page
Those interested in an unfamiliar area of military history as it relates to Canada will find Dickon’s book both an enjoyable and fascinating read. – The Military History Society of Manitoba
The subject matter is presented in an approachable way, and the author tells the story well, skilfully blending the stories. - Tyler Wentzell, Canadian Forces College. Toronto
A thorough and in-depth account of Americans who have fought and died under the banners of foreign powers during the first half of the twentieth century. The author presents a painstakingly researched collection of personal stories and government records that intertwines tens of thousands of American-born combatants with some of the greatest military struggles of the last century. – Maj. Lance B. Brender, U.S. Army
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In “Rendezvous With Death,” Dickon, a veteran public television and radio producer, has written a worthwhile and important biography of Seeger that is meticulously researched, amply illustrated . . . a masterful job of enabling the reader to view Seeger in his place and time and to evaluate his contribution to World War I and the poetry it produced. - Timothy J. Lockhart, The Virginian-Pilot
In the end, of course, it is "I have a Rendezvous with Death" which, rightly or wrongly, is Seeger's striking memorial . . . It dramatizes loneliness, courage, the speaker's sense of his relationship with the universe, and it shares those qualities with other poems which perhaps warrant greater critical attention. Chris Dickon puts it succinctly: 'The sub-conditions of time don't apply - the poem can be judged on its own merits, but it would be artificial (not to say impractical)to look at it out of its context, and the context is what Chris Dickon provides very satisfyingly. - Meg Crane, War Poetry Review 2017 -2018, Journal of the War Poets Association (GB)
I just finished for the second time. I'm glad to have repeated the experience, for it allowed me to appreciate better the depth and breadth of the research. Throughout the entire book, without leaving the direct line of the narrative, the author takes the reader down fascinating side paths which provide color to the epoch at hand as context for Seeger's personality and values.– DMC, Germany
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Kirkels and Dickon not only show how segregation was shamefully maintained on American soil, but also how the complex racial relations regulated in this way entered another dimension when these soldiers were deployed overseas for the liberation of Western Europe. . . a history which in this book finally gets the attention it deserves. – Kees Ribbens, NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam
Many did not know their fathers, and they faced abuse and social alienation. This book brings up interesting questions about the meaning of “Dutchness,” about social and cultural change in the Netherlands, and the place of mixed-race people in Dutch society. The authors ought to be commended for finding so much new material and for handling a sensitive topic carefully . - Michael Douma, VP Association for the Advancement of Dutch - American Studies
This work is well worth reading as a reminder of how long-lasting the human suffering inflicted by war can be and it is an especially timely message in our present era when numerous world societies are experiencing major efforts to ban the reading and teaching of history, and to routinely engage in arbitrary warfare. – Allison Blakely, professor emeritus of European and comparative history, Boston University.
Based upon Kinderen van zwarte bevrijders, published by Uitgeverij Vantilt
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