REVIEWS

Peculiar Liaisons
in War, Espionage, and Terrorism in the Twentieth Century

hardback, paperback, ebook

Gavrilo Princip, Dragutin Dimetijevic, Sidney Reilly, Mata Hari, T.E. Lawrence, Richard Meinertzhagen, Jimmy Doolittle, Knut Haukelid, Adolf Hitler, Claus von Stauffenberg, Wilhelm Canaris, Reinhard Heydrich, Lee H. Oswald, and David Ferrie.

Overview of the book / Click here

Purchase here:

Peculiar Liaisons in War, Espionage, and Terrorism in the Twentieth Century [hardback and paperback]

G. A. Bixler, IBookReviewer: Peculiar Liaisons is a significant research effort. Are today's actions molded from history? Perhaps, more specifically, are individuals, who may be viewed as heroes or enemies, depending upon your perspective or background, actually who influences us? . . . references and selected bibliography provide a solid basis for further study. In the midst of the "War on Terror," Peculiar Liaisons should be on your bookshelf.

Jim Bless, RoundTable Reviews: "The White Hand, The Golden Dawn. The Black Hand. These and other little known subjects are briefly, yet thoroughly, examined and described in this historic and important work . . . you will discover many things you never read in your history books, and some of the material shocking and incredible. I found this book hard to put down."

Jim Agnew, producer of the Michael Dresser Show, USA Radio Network. "This is my kind of read. Short, well-researched chapters on my favorite events and people: Lawrence of Arabia, JFK and his assassination, Jimmy Doolittle and his raid on Tokyo, and the master-spy Kim Philby. Honest evaluations on historical events of enormous interest. The Middle East and T.E. Lawrence is quite timely. The book flows. Highly recommended."

John Cullen, Far Sector. "Peculiar Liaisons touches all the traditional bases from Mata Hari to Gavrilo Princip, from T.E. Lawrence to Lee Harvey Oswald, in a lively yet believable style . . . shows a tangled skein of connecting threads running among famous as well as infamous individuals . . . You will want to drag your computer in there too, since Craig will have you doing searches on all the marvelous little goodies he has arrayed for you like a grocer arranging apples in a crate for your sidewalk in(tro)spection."

Bob Spear, Publisher and Chief Reviewer, Heartland Reviews. "If you have an interest in the Balkans, this is a must read. It is also excellent background for both WWI and WWII. Finally, if you're a Kennedy assassination follower, there is some interesting material. These diverse subjects are drawn together by the thread of the actions of a few unique individuals and how they affected the flow of history. This is an interesting academic read of the history of the last century in terms of war and world conflict . . . extensive bibliography and references."

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Also by John S. Craig

Heroes, Rogues, and Spies

25 historical essays on various subjects including Alexander the Great, Greek-Trojan War,

Medieval Crusades, The Battle of Beecher Island, The Battle of Summit Springs, George A. Custer, Edgar Allan Poe, Ali Agca, Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan, James Earl Ray, Adolf Hitler, Claus von Stauffenberg, American Sports, Celebrity Spies, George S. Patton, James Bond, Ian Fleming's Black Ops, Osama bin Laden, Twentieth Century Terrorism, Baader-Meinhof Gang, Japanese Red Army, June 2 Movement, Tamil Tigers, Black September, Al Qaeda, and others.

Glenda Bixler, IBookReviewer --

John S. Craig's book (Heroes, Rogues, and Spies) is a serious review of a motley group of people--ranging over hundreds of years ... The book represents the work of a true historian who has done his research, providing ample references, and creating an overview that is quick to read, timely and still very informative. However, with this type of book, I tend to read it over a period of weeks, keeping it handy so that you can pick it up and read each memorable story. It helps me to remember better, so I pass this suggestion on to you ... As with Craig's first book, Peculiar Liaisons in War, Espionage, and Terrorism of the Twentieth Century, which I read and reviewed a number of years ago, and which I'm sharing on my blog at this time, these are both suggested as part of your permanent home library. Historians and writers of historical fiction will find these books, including their bibliographies, valuable resources. Highly recommended for those who want to see how history is formed and changed ... updated into a new history.

Glenda Bixler's complete review / click here.

William Beck, Independent Reviewer --

The lessons of history are various, but the first, perhaps, can be derived from the study of historical writing itself: namely, that there is less profit in grand Hegelian schemes of universal synthesis than in an antithetically Kierkegaardian attention to the analysis of individual detail; that the general depends upon the particular, the typical is subordinate to the peculiar; that though from the cosmic perspective of Walter Benjamin's Angel of History the hand of God may be manifest in the shape of events, mere mortals caught up within their flux have no such privileged vision, and in the meantime the Devil is in the details.

From this insight derives the plan of this volume of essays [Heroes, Rogues, and Spies] by John Craig [author of Peculiar Liaisons] -- who chooses, simply, to follow his whims wherever they may lead him -- and, in a series of studies which survey the career of mankind from Alexander to Oddjob, treats topics as various as Olber's paradox, the psychedelic secrets of the Oracle at Delphi, the Plains Indian Wars, the burning of the library of Alexandria, the origins of the flying wedge, and the influence of The Manchurian Candidate; persons as various as Aristotle, Guy of Lusignan, George Armstrong Custer, Gavrilo Princep, Dusko Popov, "Eric Starvo Galt", Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and the Mata Hari of Beirut; and the bizarre hidden networks of coincidence and causal connection which link the land of Mordor with the battle of the Somme, Ludwig Wittenstein with Alan Turing, Adolf Hitler with the Rothschilds, Rudolf Hess with Aleister Crowley, Graham Greene with Kim Philby, E. Howard Hunt with Lee Harvey Oswald, Jean-Paul Sartre with the Baader-Meinhof Gang, spies with movie stars, Arabs with Nazis, Ian Fleming with Umberto Eco. One may learn here that Noel Coward in his wartime career as a spy eschewed the use of encryption, claiming that his handwriting was unreadable even without the aid of invisible ink, that Dashiell Hammett in his Black Mask pulp fiction heyday wrote sentences which averaged thirteen words in length, and that it is inadvisable to attempt to circumsize oneself with a pair of nail clippers; who almost whacked Werner Heisenberg, who may have whacked General Patton, and who tried to whack the Pope; the true author of The Concologist's First Book, or A System of Testaceous Morphology, Glenn Davis's time in the hundred yard dash; the identity of the real Miss Moneypenny and the fate of Martin Bormann; and even who that guy was Anthony Hopkins was supposed to be playing in Oliver Stone's version of the life of Alexander.

The results are inevitably fascinating, unfailingly entertaining, and invariably illuminating; and are less testimony to the kind of narrative unity Spengler or Toynbee imagined they could find in the fabric of history than to the unending diversity of human folly -- and, of course, the inexhaustible curiosity of Mr. Craig, whose energy, mastery of historical detail, and meticulous preparation and research are in this work everywhere on display.

Mile High Cold and Other Stories

Freelance – A freelance dealer of illegal prose and arts is encountered by a bounty hunter interested in stopping the dealer’s unsanctioned distribution of lost history, literature, and music in a future America.

The Kid in the Cold – William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, is trapped by Pat Garrett’s posse on Christmas eve of 1880. Bonney reminisces on his life and how he got to the end of the road.

In the Eyes – Two 19th century London children of Whitechapel are the recipients of an extraordinary gift from a brilliant doctor. Their gift provides them new strength and confidence to face the horrors of poverty and crime.

Hunger – A Banana Republic dictator rules his land with an iron hand by winning his people through their stomach.

Blanket of Crickets – An ancient evil descends on the occupants of a Texas motel for an overnight stay.

Invisible Chain – A hit man and hit woman, hired by the same super corporation, cross paths when they find their hits are not what they seem.

Le Morte d’Dupin – The chronicler of Dupin’s brilliant exploits tells his story and how revenge and jealousy over Dupin’s fame finally overwhelms him.

The Spring Stand – The innocence of a school playground is shattered when attacked by a group of renegade Cheyenne set on revenging broken peace treaties.

Three Ravens -- Strangers invade the peace of an 1872 American prairie town after two young girls, abducted by renegade Plains Indians, are temporarily rescued.

The Case of the Glowing Scarabs – Mister W. Edmiston, an American Wild West consulting detective, is faced with the job of saving President Grover Cleveland’s life from an airship assault bent on assassination.

Mile High Cold – a private detective is framed for a child kidnapping perpetrated by dark forces in an American Western city.

Purchase here: Mile High Cold and Other Stories