3 out of 4 stars
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The book Blowing Sandstorms by Horace Crenshaw Jr. is the real-life story of one military unit, the 233rd Quartermaster Company, and their mission in Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is told by their commander, who not only explains his personal testimony; he expounds, also, on the leadership methods that he used.
This is one of the first ‘inspirational’ or ‘self-help’ books I’ve read, and I must say that I was impressed and, in fact, inspired. The story of the 233rd Quartermaster Company is truly interesting, and I could see it playing out in my head. The testimony of Horace Crenshaw Jr., too, struck me on a personal level.
The leadership skills that the author describes are clear, intelligent, and resourceful. Though I’m not in a position of leadership in my life at this moment, if I ever am placed in one, I know that I will use the things I read in this book.
One of the biggest hurdles an author has to overcome, if they are writing about the military, is making military jargon understandable for the everyday civilian reader. There were some moments when I became confused, but, all told, Crenshaw puts a good amount of effort into making it both comprehensible to the layman and not a drag for the soldier. In short, he made it easy to understand. Not only did I learn some tips on how to become a better leader, but I also learned a good amount about the military.
There were two problems that I encountered with the book. Firstly, there were moments when it became repetitive. The author would explain certain things over and over again, even after they’ve been made clear to the reader. A little bit of trimming down the excess, and this book, for what it is, would be near-perfect. One other problem I found might bother mainly me, and not other readers: while explaining, Crenshaw overuses words like ‘however’ or ‘therefore’ or ‘ironically’ at the beginning of sentences. Not only should there be more variation in sentence structure, but some of the words don’t make sense—none of the times that he said ‘ironically’ were truly ironic.
This, though, is certainly nitpicking, which means that I had to do some digging to find things wrong with this book. That, I believe, should be a good sign for anyone interested. If you enjoy stories about the military or any sort of nonfiction, I would say that you would enjoy Blowing Sandstorms. It was inspirational, personal, and informative, and I am going to give it 3 out of 4 stars.
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Blowing Sandstorm
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