u/AerwynFlynn

Yes. It took me 10 years. To be fair, I did start over at one point, but I was only about 25 pages in. My first observation is that it is very dry, especially at the beginning. I honestly used it as an “I can’t sleep” book cause it would put me out within 10 pages at the beginning but 15 by the end, so it did improve a bit in pacing. My biggest issue was the geographical descriptions because I have a hard time envisioning maps and movements unless I have a visual aid. Other people probably won’t have as much of an issue with that.

The subject matter was very interesting even if I found the writing style not to my liking. Other people might like the writing style more than I did though. I learned a lot more about Benjamin Butler and it inspired me to look into him further which I appreciated. It definitely helped me understand the deeper importance of the Western role in winning the Civil war that tends to be *way* over shadowed by Lee in the East. And I really liked learning about more than just Shiloh, Chickamauga, Vicksburg, and Atlanta. Although he really didn’t talk about Kennesaw Mountain like, at all and I would have liked to have more information about that, especially since it was kind of a big deal!

All in all, if you don’t mind a bit of a dry tome and long stretches of geography of the area this book is very interesting and definitely for you. If you don’t like a bit of dry storytelling and have a hard time envisioning topographical maps but have a hard time sleeping, then this book is also for you! You will learn *and* fall asleep! I found it quite effective lol.

If anyone has any other recommendations of books about the Western front then definitely pass them along!

I’m watching Dinosaur Train this morning with my toddler (shout out to Dr Scott the Paleontologist!). In this episode Larry Lambeosaurus gets caught in the mud and can’t get out. Mr Pteranodon also gets stuck while trying to help Larry out. Buddy and Leroy manage to get them out. The whole time Larry is terrified that a theropod is going to come and get them. Of course that doesn’t stop him from hooting so loud it echoes through the whole damn forest. I guess self preservation isn’t exactly his strong suit.

Well at the end, after the main characters leave, the theropods show up. They decide to jump into the mud pit. The very same mud pit that almost took out Larry and Mr Pteranodon! Just hopped right into it with wild abandon! Which means, they probably starved to death after a few days since they don’t have anyone else there to get them out! The Dr Scott segment was even about how dinosaurs would get caught in mud, die, and that’s how we have fossils. So we can infer that these two are part of that group.

Not the first time Dinosaur has gone morbid, but damn! Are we not supposed to feel bad because they are meat eaters? That’s clearly Theropod discrimination and I will not stand for it!

Also, what kind of cut rate Train is Mr Conductor running? I swear the Pteranodon family is constantly only getting 10 minutes when they get off at whatever station their dinosaur of the day lives at. Why can’t they spend the day and wait for the train to come back around on its return trip? Or does The Conductor only stop there once, never to return? Waste of money on those tickets if you only get such a small time frame to visit a new place! Also, what currency are they using in the Mesozoic era?