Friday, December 11, 2009

THE IMPERIAL CRUISE: THE BOOK! PREVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE IMPERIAL CRUISE

A Secret History of Empire and War
By James Bradley


ABOUT THE BOOK:

In 1905 President Teddy Roosevelt dispatched Secretary of War William Taft, his gun-toting daughter Alice and a gaggle of congressmen on a mission to
Japan, the Philippines, China, and Korea. There, they would quietly forge a series of agreements that divided up Asia. At the time, Roosevelt was bully-confident about America's future on the continent. But these secret pacts lit the fuse that would-decades later-result in a number of devastating wars: WWII, the Korean War, the communist revolution in China. One hundred years later, James Bradley retraces that epic voyage and discovers the remarkable truth about America's vast imperial past-and its world-shaking consequences. Full of fascinating characters and brilliantly told, THE IMPERIAL CRUISE will forever reshape the way we understand U.S. history.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


I was born in Wisconsin surrounded by a loving family of ten and loved swimming in cold lakes. When I was a boy I read an article by former president Harry Truman recommending historical biographies for young readers. His reasoning was that it was easy to follow the storyline of someone’s life, and they would absorb the history of the times on the journey. History soon became my favorite subject and I have been an active reader all my life.

When I was thirteen years old I read an article by James Michener in Reader’s Digest which I paraphrase: “When you’re twenty-two and graduate from college, people will ask you, ‘What do you want to do?’ It’s a good question, but you should answer it when you’re thirty-five.” Michener went on to write that his experiences wandering the globe as a young man later inspired his works on Afghanistan, Spain, Japan and other places.

When I was nineteen years old, I lived and studied in Tokyo for one year. I later brought my Japanese friends home to Wisconsin. My father, John Bradley, had helped raise an American flag on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima and had shot a Japanese soldier dead. My dad warmly welcomed my Japanese buddies.

I traveled around the world when I was twenty-one, from the U.S. to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, France, Germany, Italy, England and back to the United States.

At twenty-three I graduated with a degree in East Asian history from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

For the next twenty years I worked in the corporate communications industry in the United States, Japan, England and South Africa.

In my late thirties I took a year off to go around the world again. On this trip I made it to base camp on Mt. Everest and walked among lions in Africa.

My father died when I was forty years old. My search to find out why he didn’t speak about Iwo Jima led me to write Flags of Our Fathers and establish the James Bradley Peace Foundation.

Flags of Our Fathers went on to be a bestseller and a movie, but few saw its potential at first. In fact, as this New York Times article documents, twenty-seven publishers turned the book down over a period of twenty-five months. This difficult and humbling birthing process inspired my live presentation Doing the Impossible.

In 2001 a WWII veteran of the Pacific revealed to me that the U.S. government had kept secret the beheading deaths of eight American airmen on the Japanese island of Chichi Jima, next door to Iwo Jima. After researching their deaths, I informed the eight families and the world of the unknown facts in my book second book Flyboys. (One flyboy got away. His name was George Herbert Walker Bush.)

After writing two books about WWII in the Pacific, I began to wonder about the origins of America’s involvement in that war. The inferno that followed Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor had consumed countless lives, and believing there’s usually smoke before a fire, I set off to search Asia for the original irritants. The result of that search is my third book, The Imperial Cruise.

I am working on my fourth book, about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and China.

Above my desk are the framed words of James Michener:

“Just because you wrote a few books, the world is not going to change. You will find that you will go to sleep and awaken as the same son-of-a-bitch you were the day before.”

For the past ten years, the James Bradley Peace Foundation and Youth For Understanding have sent American students to live with families overseas. Perhaps in the future when we debate whether to fight it out or talk it out, one of these Americans might make a difference.

MY REVIEW:
SEE MY REVIEW IN THE AUDIO BOOK GIVEAWAY COMING UP LATER THIS WEEK!

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO MIRIAM AND THE
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I
HAVE FIVE COPIES OF THIS
WONDERFUL BOOK TO GIVEAWAY!


THE RULES:
--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY



HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: TELL ME ABOUT ONE OTHER GIVEAWAY THAT IS STILL GOING ON HERE AT BOOKIN' WITH BINGO THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED. IF YOU HAVEN'T, GO ENTER SOME, AND YOU CAN COME BACK. LOTS OF GOOD STUFF TO TRY FOR!

+1 MORE ENTRY: TELL ME IF YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG AND HOW. I HOPE YOU FOUND IN THE LEFT COLUMN THAT I HAVE ADDED A WAY SO YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL NOW! (I HOPE!) LOTS OF YOU WERE ASKING, SO YOU MAY WANT TO TRY IT!

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, DECEMBER 30


GOOD LUCK!

WATCH FOR THE AUDIO BOOK
OF THE IMPERIAL CRUISE TO TRY
FOR LATER THIS WEEK

50 comments:

Kaye said...

Wow, this one sounds right up my alley. WWII, Asia. Most interesting.

I've entered your contest for the National parks book. It looks just gorgeous!

florida982002[at]yahoo.com

Kaye said...

I'm a google friends connect follower


florida982002[at]yahoo.com

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I have entered for the Patton, Montgomery and Rommel book.

nbmars AT yahoo DOT com

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I follow on Google Connect and Google Reader.

nbmars AT yahoo DOT com

Charleydog said...

I have entered the "Cleaving" giveaway.

pboylecharley AT hotmail DOT com

holdenj said...

I am entered in The Piano Teacher giveaway!
Thanks.
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

I am a google friend connect follower!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

Reading said...

This looks like an interesting read. I ented the Holiday set of books contest.

lizzi0915 at aol dot com

Reading said...

+1 I follow on Google friend connect.

lizzi0915 at aol dot com

Linda Kish said...

I entered the Buckley Story giveaway

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

google reader follower

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

g.g. said...

I entered for most and one is The Piano Teacher

anjamie4 AT gmail dot com

g.g. said...

I am a GFC follower and subscribe with email

anjamie4 AT gmail dot com

Benita said...

I just entered Buckley's Story Giveaway.

bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

Benita said...

I subscribe via email and follow via Google Friend Connect.

bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

Margie said...

I follow by email (and it works very well!)
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com

Margie said...

I have already entered the giveaway for Lucana
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com

Rebecca Orr said...

Follower! Thanks for the chance! bekki1820cb at gmail

rubynreba said...

I entered Dear John audio book.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

rubynreba said...

I follow on google friend.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

traveler said...

Thanks for this wonderful giveaway. I entered Cleaving. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

Esme said...

I entered for Lacuna

thanks

chocolate and croissants at yahoo dot com

Esme said...

I follow

chocolate and croissants at yahoo dot com

Esme said...

cococroissants

http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/2009/12/imperial-cruise-book-preview-and.html

chocolate and croissants at yahoo dot com

Glenn said...

Also entered for The Piano Teacher. Thanks for the giveaway.

glenn_pessano AT yahoo DOT com

Angie said...

I entered I, Alex Cross

aksimmo@brainerd(dot)net

Angie said...

I do follow your blog but I am not a subscriber. I just don't want more e-mails to wade through.

aksimmo@brainerd(dot)net

Sarah E said...

Please enter me in this giveaway!

I have also entered the Choose Your Holiday Book Sets Giveaway.

saemmerson at yahoo dot com

Sarah Emmerson

Sarah E said...

I follow your blog via RSS feed, Google Reader, and e-mail subscription. However, RSS feed is the method I use the most.

saemmerson at yahoo dot com

Sarah Emmerson

Sarah E said...

I tweeted: https://twitter.com/saemmerson/status/6795180856

saemmerson at yahoo dot com

Sarah Emmerson

Anonymous said...

I've entered for the New York pop up book.

ebeandebe at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I follow on google reader.

ebeandebe at gmail dot com

ossmcalc said...

I entered the My Paper Chase: A Memoir by Harold Evans Book Giveaway.

thank you,

Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net

ossmcalc said...

I had been following via Google Reader and was very happy when we were provided with the opportunity to follow your blog via email. I quickly took advantage of it.

Thank you,

Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net

ossmcalc said...

I tweeted about this giveaway http://twitter.com/ossmcalc/status/6919541863

thank you,

Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net

Carol W. said...

This is certainly a book my husband would love. Please enter me in the giveaway.
I just entered the Michael Crichton giveaway. That one's for me.

wolfcarol451(at)gmail(dot)com

Carol W. said...

I follow with Google Friend Connect, and I also just subscribed to your email list. I wouldn't want to miss your great reviews and giveaways!

wolfcarol451(at)gmail(dot)com

dsandyboy said...

Count me in.

dsandyboy@gmail.com

dsandyboy said...

I'm a follower.

dsandyboy@gmail.com

dsandyboy said...

Let it Bleed is still going on and I've entered it.

dsandyboy@gmail.com

FrankSandy said...

Please enter me. walkerd@primus.ca

FrankSandy said...

I'm a follower. walkerd@primus.ca

FrankSandy said...

The Imperia Cruise AUDIO giveaway is still running and I've entered it. walkerd@primus.ca

catss99 said...

I entered the paper chase giveaway
catss99@yahoo.com

catss99 said...

i follow w google friends
catss99@yahoo.com

CherylS22 said...

I entered the giveaway for "Pirate Latitudes".

Thanks ~ megalon22 at yahoo dot com

CherylS22 said...

I follow in GFC & subscribe via Google Reader.

megalon22 at yahoo dot com

Nancye said...

I entered the Giveaway for the book: "My Paper Chase" yesterday and I plan to enter "Let It Bleed" tomorrow.

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

I found the email subscriber button and have signed up for that. (Thank you! I need those reminders about upcoming GA's!!) I also follow on Google Friend Connect.

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

Tweet! Tweet!

http://twitter.com/NancyeDavis/status/7200378281

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

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