The Peregrine Pages

Cairos, Forgotten God of Favorable Opportunity

There is a moment, that instant when you must choose to do or not to do. Instinct makes you aware of its importance: Act now, and everything hereafter is different. Act not, and things remain the same.

In her History of Ancient Sculpture (1883), Lucy M. Mitchell describes a Greek deity, long out of fashion, represented in sculpture by Lysippos, who worked in fourth-century-BC Peloponnese:

“Cairos was to the people of Lysippos’ day … an actual god, believed to influence men at critical moments, when sudden decision was required, and leading them to the proper improvement of every fleeting opportunity” (511).

Choose.

Continue ReadingCairos, Forgotten God of Favorable Opportunity

Farnese Hercules

Heracles is resting. He leans on a club. The end of which is adorned by a lion’s head, hooked by its jaws. The beast’s hide drapes the shoulders. Behind the back, an over-large hand holds two apples. The other hand and the penis are broken off. Even at rest, the hero’s muscles ripple with the strength to lift Heaven from Earth.

The statue was carved in marble by Italian artist Giovanni Comino in the years 1670-1672. It’s a copy of a copy. The original work, long lost, is attributed to the Greek bronze sculptor Lysippos, who worked in the fourth century BC. We know of its existence from the numerous copies made of it. One copy from the third century AD is signed by Glykon of Athens.

Glykon’s reproduction was lost for a time as well. Uncovered in 1546 at the Roman Baths of Caracalla, the statue of Hercules (the hero’s Latin name) was acquired by Alessandro Farnese (1520-1589), who assembled one of the great sculpture collections of the Renaissance. The hero’s resting pose then became known as the Farnese Hercules.

Born to the mortal woman Alcmene, which means “wrathful,” fathered by Zeus wearing her husband’s guise, Heracles was given to fits of rage. In one such fit, he slaughtered his wife and children. In remorse, he sought penance and gave himself into the servitude of Eurystheus, who assigned him a series of labors.

The first labor was to slay the Nemean Lion, which terrorized the countryside. Its teeth could cut armor, and its hide could not be pierced. Heracles whacked it with his club, and skinned the beast with one of its own fangs.

More labors followed, twelve in all. The eleventh was to steal the apples of the Hesperides. Growing from a tree in the goddess Hera’s garden, these apples were of pure gold, tended by the nymph daughters of Atlas, and guarded by a hundred-headed dragon.

Heracles went to the end of the earth, where Atlas, a titan, held the world on his shoulders. Heracles asked where his daughters kept the apples. Atlas agreed to tell him only if Heracles would take his burden for a spell, so he could catch his breath. Heracles sensed a trick, so he lifted the sky, thus giving Atlas some respite without accepting the object of the titan’s condemnation. Information gained, the hero hurried on to the garden, slew the dragon, and purloined the apples.

Glykon’s Farnese Hercules was moved, with much of the Farnese collection, in 1787 to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples. Comino’s rendition was installed in the gardens at the Chateaux de Sceaux, south of Paris, in 1686. It was moved in 1793 to the Tuileries Garden, where it lived its still life for over two hundred years. In 2010, the statue returned to Sceaux, protected from weather in the Orangerie. Two more copies were made, both from a mold of Glykon’s work. One occupies the place at Tuileries; the other the flower garden outside the Orangerie at Sceaux.

Farnese Hercules Comino 1670-1672

Heracles pauses to contemplate his twelfth and final labor: to capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the gates of Hades. A task Eurystheus believes impossible…

Continue ReadingFarnese Hercules

The Joust

Here I excerpt a chapter of The First Story of Littlelot, because everyone likes a joust. In the story, the hero must joust against the villain to rescue Gwenevere. If Lancelot wins, Maleagant frees the queen from his tower prison. If Maleagant wins, Lancelot becomes a prisoner too.

 

The Joust

Maleagant and I charged each other. Tilt’s hooves pounded the ground like rolling thunder. His muscled shoulders rippled with each stride, ears bent back, gray mane flying. I leaned to the right in the saddle so he and I wouldn’t both fall over.

As Maleagant and I drew near to each other, I lowered my lance and aimed it at his left shoulder. At the same time, Maleagant raised the blue shield higher and deflected the blow, while the point of his lance passed aside, missing me.

At field’s end, I turned Tilt to face Maleagant again.

“Give up, Maleagant! I am the best fighter of all the knights of the Round Table.”

“You are only the best until you are bested by another,” he said as he raised his lance high.

I also raised my lance, and Gwenevere held up the banner, then drew it down.

We charged. Still leaning to the right, I aimed at Maleagant’s shoulder again. Maleagant also leaned right, only for an instant, to avoid my lance. Then he moved back to the middle of the saddle so he wouldn’t fall from his mount. As he passed, he hit the left side of my shield with his lance, but it glanced off.

Maleagant turned his mount. “That’s the second time you’ve aimed for my left shoulder, Lancelot. The best fighter of all the knights of the Round Table must learn to vary his attack.”

Raising my lance, I said, “Next time I might aim for the other shoulder.”

Maleagant squinted at me and raised his lance. Gwenevere drew down the banner, and we charged each other for the third time.

This time, as we came together, I didn’t change my aim, but I adjusted my position to the middle of the saddle, only for an instant, so Tilt and I wouldn’t both fall over. Thinking I wouldn’t aim for his left shoulder yet again, and that I wouldn’t aim for the right shoulder as I had announced, Maleagant held his shield down to protect against a lower attack.

His lance hit the center of my shield and broke into splinters, while my lance’s point struck his left shoulder. The impact forced him from the saddle, and he fell to the ground.

 

Read the Preface to The First Story of Littlelot.

 

The First Story of Littlelot - Full-Color Illustrated Edition
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The First Story of
Littlelot
Full-Color Illustrated Edition

In his game of make-believe, a boy must make a choice—break his oath to the king or break the heart of the woman who gave him the most meaningful gift.

An Arthurian legend with knights and damsels and other action figures.

The frontispiece and six chapter illustrations by celebrated artists Arthur Rackham, N. C. Wyeth, Thomas Moran, and Herbert James Draper bring Littlelot’s Arthurian adventure to life in this beautiful paperback book.

Available in paperback and e-book.

 

The First Story of Littlelot
Buy on Bookshop

All book sales made through Bookshop directly benefit independent bookstores.

Also available at these retailers.

The First Story of
Littlelot

An Arthurian legend with knights and damsels and other action figures.

In his game of make-believe, a boy must make a choice—break his oath to the king or break the heart of the woman who gave him the most meaningful gift.

Available in paperback and e-book.

Continue ReadingThe Joust

Soulstitch

Sunrise on Soulstich

As a child the word for me was imbued with mysterious and profound meaning. I understood that it was the longest day in summer and the shortest in winter, but I thought there must be something more to it. And I still do. So on this, the shortest day of the year, I wish you all Happy Soulstitch.

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Bookshop Gift Cards

Looking for a gift for a book lover? It’s difficult to know what book they might enjoy. Plus, most book lovers already have a whole slew of titles on their To-Be-Read list. A gift card is often the best solution.

Now you can send a gift card and support independent bookstores with Bookshop gift cards!

Bookshop gift cards never expire and have no hidden fees. All book sales made through Bookshop directly benefit independent bookstores.

A Peregrine Reads is Stephen’s storefront on Bookshop. When you click through and make a purchase from Bookshop’s extensive catalog, Stephen earns a commission. What’s more, you select which independent bookstore gets the profit from your purchase. Thank you for your support.

Bookshop Gift Cards

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AVMP Bonus Material

The list of bonus material for A Very Muddy Place is, I think, complete. Feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions you might have about any aspect of the book. I’m happy to reply, and maybe the exchange will make a spark.

Thank you for reading A Very Muddy Place: War Stories.

 

 

Hardcover edition available in December

A Very Muddy Place
Buy on Bookshop

All book sales made through Bookshop directly benefit independent bookstores.

Also available at these retailers.

A Very Muddy Place
WAR STORIES

An intimate account of a soldier’s experience in World War I, A Very Muddy Place takes us on a journey from a young man’s rural American hometown onto one of the great battlefields of France. We follow Private B. F. Potts with the 137th US Infantry Regiment through the first days of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. We discover a personal story—touching, emotional, unforgettable.

In 1918, twenty-three-year-old Bennie Potts was drafted into the US Army to fight in the World War. He served with the American Expeditionary Force in France. At home after the war, he married and raised a family, and the war for his children and grandchildren became the anecdotes he told them.

A century later, a great grandson brings together his ancestor’s war stories and the historical record to follow Private Benjamin Franklin Potts from Tennessee to the Great War in France and back home again.

Available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book.

More about A Very Muddy Place…

 

Disclosure: This page and linked pages contain affiliate links to Bookshop, Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. As an affiliate of those retailers, Stephen earns a commission when you click through and make a purchase. Thank you for your support.

 

Continue ReadingAVMP Bonus Material

Armistice Day Veterans Giveaway

Dear Veterans,

I want to give you a copy of my book.

If you’re an armed forces veteran of any country, tell me what unit you served in, and I’ll send you an electronic copy of A Very Muddy Place: War Stories.

Look for “Email Me” below in the page footer or send me a private message on Facebook or Twitter.

The book is available in MOBI for your Kindle, EPUB for other e-readers, or PDF for reading on your PC. This giveaway is not time limited. It starts today and goes forever. Feel free to share this message with veterans you know.

Thank you for your service.

—Stephen

“A vivid and deft mingling of anecdotes, history, and dramatic fiction—captivating and historically important.”
—Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story

“A VERY MUDDY PLACE is an insightful combination of historical narrative and fictional recreation that brings the Great War to life.”
—Steve Ruskin, PhD History, author of America’s First Great Eclipse

“A poignant, stirring, and ultimately remarkable account, interspersed with personal anecdotes and a keen sense of empathy—a unique, triumphant work.”
—LTC Kevin Ikenberry, USA, Ret., author of The Protocol War series

 

A Very Muddy Place: War Stories
Buy on Bookshop

All book sales made through Bookshop directly benefit independent bookstores.

Also available at these retailers.

Disclosure: The links above go to Bookshop and to Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. As an affiliate of those retailers, Stephen earns a commission when you click through and make a purchase. Thank you for your support.

An intimate account of a soldier’s experience in World War I, A VERY MUDDY PLACE takes us on a journey from a young man’s rural American hometown onto one of the great battlefields of France. We follow Private B. F. Potts with the 137th US Infantry Regiment through the first days of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. We discover a personal story—touching, emotional, unforgettable.

In 1918, twenty-three-year-old Bennie Potts was drafted into the US Army to fight in the World War. He served with the American Expeditionary Force in France. At home after the war, he married and raised a family, and the war for his children and grandchildren became the anecdotes he told them.

A century later, a great grandson brings together his ancestor’s war stories and the historical record to follow Private Benjamin Franklin Potts from Tennessee to the Great War in France and back home again.

 

Praise for A VERY MUDDY PLACE

“A VERY MUDDY PLACE is one of the most fascinating books I’ve read about the humble soldier’s point of view. It focuses on the experiences of the author’s great grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Potts, who fought with the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War I. The book is a vivid and deft mingling of anecdotes, history, and dramatic fiction, enriched with historic photographs, documents, and detailed maps. This is a captivating and historically important work. I highly recommend it!”
—Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story

“Far too many histories of the First World War languish in private letters and forgotten family records. In A VERY MUDDY PLACE, Stephen Wendell constructs a narrative with his great grandfather’s stories to open a window on the horrors of that distant war. Using primary source material, he brings the Great War to life in the person of Benjamin Franklin Potts. This book is a delight, an insightful combination of historical narrative and fictional recreation, and we are better for it.”
—Steve Ruskin, PhD History, author of America’s First Great Eclipse

“Stephen Wendell crafts a poignant, stirring, and ultimately remarkable account of his ancestor’s service in the Great War. His attention to detail and depth of research is commendable. Interspersed with personal anecdotes and a keen sense of empathy, A VERY MUDDY PLACE is a unique, triumphant work of the highest merit and a tribute unlike anything I’ve ever read.”
—LTC Kevin Ikenberry, USA, Ret., author of The Protocol War series

Continue ReadingArmistice Day Veterans Giveaway

Your Local Independent Bookstore: Online!

“Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.”—Bookshop.org

Exciting news for book lovers: You can buy books online and get them delivered to you in a couple days—just like buying on Amazon. But it isn’t Amazon—it’s your local brick-and-mortar independent bookstore.

“We believe that bookstores are essential to a healthy culture. They’re where authors can connect with readers, where we discover new writers, where children get hooked on the thrill of reading that can last a lifetime. They’re also anchors for our downtowns and communities.”—Bookshop.org

The Bookshop.org About page explains very well how it works in a dozen sentences, five of which I quote here. Below I summarize the essentials.

Shop online

You browse the Bookshop.org book catalog or find the book you want using the search bar. At check-out, you tell Bookshop.org which independent bookstore* gets credit for the sale.

*To avoid confusion, I use “Bookshop.org” to refer to the online store and the term “bookstore(s)” to refer to the brick-and-mortar shops we know and love.

“By design, we give away over 75% of our profit margin to stores, publications, authors and others who make up the thriving, inspirational culture around books!”—Bookshop.org

Independent bookstores

Bookshop.org distributes 10% of regular sales to independent bookstores every six months. Currently, the amount is over $7 million.

What’s more, an independent bookstore can become an affiliate, promoting and selling books online through Bookshop.org with affiliate links. In which case, the bookstore earns 30% of sales generated through its affiliation, which is the entire profit margin—Bookshop.org doesn’t make any money from these sales.

All the books

Bookshop.org gets its catalog from Ingram Content Group, a major US book distributor, which is used by most US publishers. So, you can find books from the “Big 5” publishers, like Simon & Schuster and Random House, to mid-size and small presses, and even from clever self-published authors, yours truly among them, who distribute their books through Ingram.

Print-on-demand and delivery

The bookstore doesn’t do anything more than promote the book. Bookshop.org provides the online interface, and when you place an order, Ingram prints the book and ships it to you.

International

In January 2020 Bookshop.org got started in the US.1,2 They plan to be fully operational in the UK by Christmas3, and they aim to offer similar support for independent bookstores worldwide4.

Centralized

Ingram does all the material work, and they get paid for it, as they should. Printing and shipping costs are included in the price of any printed book we buy anywhere.

Still, Ingram Content Group is a large organization and a subsidiary of an even larger company, Ingram Industries, which earned over $2 billion in 20145—compared to Amazon’s $280 billion (2019)6.

Future awesomeness?

Maybe I’m dreaming here, but wouldn’t it be awesome if our local independent print shops could print books on-demand? I’m guessing it comes down to economics. When the local demand for print-on-demand comes up to meet the cost of the print machine, such as an Espresso Book Machine, small print shops around the world might replace the centralized printer.

By providing the platform, Bookshop.org may be an important step to making the dream a reality. By buying books from our local independent bookstores online, we provide the demand. We make the future awesome.

Bookshop - Support Local Bookstores

1 This Startup Wants to Help Indie Booksellers Take on Amazon

2 The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Changing How People Buy Books

3 Bookshop Opens in the U.K.

4 Bookshop.org FAQ

5 Ingram Industries

6 Amazon

 

Continue ReadingYour Local Independent Bookstore: Online!

AVMP Bibliography

Entering the web addresses from AVMP’s bibliography can be tedious. With the publication of the Kindle edition, I have the bibliography in HTML format. For the print reader’s convenience, I copy it here with hyperlinks.

 

Annotated Bibliography

The following is a list of selected sources used in research for this book. I give notes on those I found most useful.

For the reader who would like more details about what life was like for B. F. Potts and about his movements with the 137th Regiment, I draw attention to the works of three authors: Haterius, Hoyt, and Kenamore, who were with the regiment or its parent division.

Where a source is available on the World Wide Web, I give a URL. All web addresses below were last accessed March 15, 2019.

 

American Battle Monuments Commission. 30th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1944.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3110102.

To accompany this and similar volumes, including one for the Thirty-Fifth Division (below), the ABMC also produced maps showing each division’s position during the battles in which it participated. For high-resolution digital versions of the ABMC maps used in this book, see the web page:
https://www.stephenwendell.com/avmp/.

American Battle Monuments Commission. 35th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1944.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3110105.

American Battle Monuments Commission. American Armies and Battlefields in Europe: A History, Guide, and Reference Book. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1938.
https://www.abmc.gov/sites/default/files/publications/AABEFINAL_Blue_Book.pdf.

Ambulance Company Number 139. History of Ambulance Company Number 139. Kansas City, KS: E. R. Callender, n.d.
https://archive.org/details/historyofambulan00kansiala/.

Association of the Friends of Vauquois and its Region. “Mound of Vauquois.”
http://butte-vauquois.fr/en/.

The website of the Association of the Friends of Vauquois and its Region has photos and information on visiting the site. The guided tour of the underground galleries, where the mine war took place, is enlightening, educational, and horrific.

Crosby, Alfred W. America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association (website). “Arl B. Kelly.”
https://etvma.org/veterans/arl-b-kelly-6676/.

Giangreco, D. M. “Captain Harry Truman and Battery D, 129th Field Artillery, in Action in the Argonne.” Journal of the Royal Artillery 130, no. 3 (Autumn 2003): 56-59.

Giangreco is the author of several books on military and sociopolitical topics, including two about Harry Truman: Dear Harry . . . : Truman’s Mailroom, 1945-1953 (Stackpole Books, 1999) and The Soldier from Independence: A Military Biography of Harry Truman (Zenith, 2009). The journal article is also found at Worldwar1.com’s Doughboy Center:
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/truman2.htm.

Haterius, Carl E. Reminiscences of the 137th U. S. Infantry. Topeka, KS: Crane, 1919.
https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesof100hate/.

Haterius was a band member in the 137th who kept a diary. Although events sometimes run together and the dates can be nebulous, what Haterius does well is give the ambiance—what it felt like at a place and time. He also reproduces the division and brigade orders for the beginning of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Hoyt, Charles B. Heroes of the Argonne: An Authentic History of the Thirty-Fifth Division. Compiled by C. B. Lyon, Jr. Kansas City, MO: Franklin Hudson, 1919.
https://archive.org/details/heroesofargonnea00hoyt/.

A private first class in the 139th Field Hospital, Hoyt wrote this history from official records, orders, and interviews with officers and men of the division. While it lacks Haterius’s intimacy and Kenamore’s detail, the book corroborates dates and places, and accompanying the text are plentiful maps and photographs.

Hurley, Edward N. The Bridge to France. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott, 1927.
http://www.gwpda.org/wwi-www/Hurley/.

Kenamore, Clair. From Vauquois Hill to Exermont: A History of the Thirty-Fifth Division of the United States Army. St. Louis, MO: Guard, 1919.
https://archive.org/details/fromvauquoishill00ken/.

Kenamore had previously reported on another of General John J. Pershing’s exploits, the Mexican Expedition, in 1916. When the officers and men of the Missouri and Kansas National Guard units shipped to Europe, Kenamore followed. A correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he reported back to the folks at home the activities of their sons on the front. After the war, he collected articles and notes to write this history of the Thirty-Fifth Division.

King, Benjamin, Richard C. Biggs, and Eric R. Criner. Spearhead of Logistics: A History of the United States Army Transportation Corps. Washington, DC: Center of Military History, 2001.

Poor, Henry V. Poor’s Manual of Railroads: Fifty-Third Annual Number. New York: Poor’s, 1920.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.a0002685253.

Powell, Ted. King Edward VIII: An American Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Rinaldi, Richard A. The United States Army in World War I: Orders of Battle, Ground Units, 1917-1919. Takoma Park, MD: General Data, 2005.

Smith, Eugene W. Trans-Atlantic Passenger Ships Past and Present. Boston, MA: George H. Dean, 1947.
https://archive.org/details/transatlanticpas00smitrich/.

Stuart, Richard W., ed. American Military History Volume II: The United States Army in a Global Era, 1917-2008. Washington, DC: Center of Military History, 2010.
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/educational-services/military-history/american-military-history-volume-2.pdf.

The US Army’s Center for Military History produced this thorough but brief text, which covers the nation’s military history up to Afghanistan and Iraq in two volumes. Volume II, Chapter 1: “The U.S. Army in World War I, 1917–1918,” covers our target period in fifty pages, including maps, photos, and informative sidebars.

Sparks, Winnie, ed. Livingston County Illinois in the World War. N.p.: Board of Supervisors of Livingston County, n.d.

 

 

A Very Muddy Place
Buy on Bookshop

All book sales made through Bookshop directly benefit independent bookstores.

Also available at these retailers.

A Very Muddy Place
WAR STORIES

An intimate account of a soldier’s experience in World War I, A Very Muddy Place takes us on a journey from a young man’s rural American hometown onto one of the great battlefields of France. We follow Private B. F. Potts with the 137th US Infantry Regiment through the first days of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. We discover a personal story—touching, emotional, unforgettable.

In 1918, twenty-three-year-old Bennie Potts was drafted into the US Army to fight in the World War. He served with the American Expeditionary Force in France. At home after the war, he married and raised a family, and the war for his children and grandchildren became the anecdotes he told them.

A century later, a great grandson brings together his ancestor’s war stories and the historical record to follow Private Benjamin Franklin Potts from Tennessee to the Great War in France and back home again.

Available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book.

More about A Very Muddy Place…

 

Disclosure: This page and linked pages contain affiliate links to Bookshop, Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. As an affiliate of those retailers, Stephen earns a commission when you click through and make a purchase. Thank you for your support.

 

Continue ReadingAVMP Bibliography