Patrick K. O'Donnell

I lived in South Korea for two years, and I decided to read this to bone up a little on the history of the peninsula. I hadn't realized that the Korean conflict came so close behind the end of WWII. This was written from the perspective of Fox Company and the horror that they went through. Written based on interviews and first hand stories, this really paints a picture of the devastation because of the conflict.

Living in modern-day Seoul, nearly 50 years after the truce, was a stark contrast to where the countries were in the mid 1900's.… (more)

The first-ever full story of American sabotage operations in World War II, based on hundreds of revealing interviews.

The battles of World War II were won not only by the soldiers on the front lines, and not only by the generals and admirals, but also by the shadow warriors whose work is captured for the first time in Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs. Thanks to the interviews and narrative skills of Patrick O'Donnell and to recent declassifications, an entire chapter of history can now be revealed. A hidden war—a war of espionage, intrigue, and sabotage—played out across the occupied territories of Europe, deep inside enemy lines. Supply lines were disrupted; crucial intelligence was obtained and relayed back to the Allies; resistance movements were organized.… (more)

A history of the American Revolutionary War, focused on troops from Maryland. Maryland troops saved Washington’s army at the Battle of Brooklyn, holding off the British long enough for the rest of the Continental Army to retreat across the East River. (According to legend, the Maryland dead were buried in a mass grave somewhere in Brooklyn, but archaeological digs have failed to find any evidence. There’s a plaque on an American Legion hall and a monument in Prospect Park). The reconstituted 1st Maryland fought at most of the important battles – Trenton, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse – and author Patrick O’Donnell ends up producing an interesting history of the entire war (because he has to fill in the gaps where the 1st Maryland wasn’t involved). George Washington’s praise of the Marylanders led to one of the State’s nicknames, “The Old Line State”, since the 1st Maryland was a “line” regiment in the Continental Army as opposed to a militia unit.
Covers the same ground as a lot of other Revolutionary War histories but well written enough to stay interesting. Excellent maps of both tactical battles and strategic campaigns. For more, see Partisans and Redcoats, Long, Obstinate, and Bloody, and The Life of General Francis Marion. South Carolina’s Revolutionary War Battlefields, The British Are Coming, and The Winter Soldiers.… (more)