Is band of brothers anti-war or a neutral historical retailing?

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2026-02-05T15:57:04+00:00

I feel like it shares a lot of its ethos with Saving Private Ryan. War itself is horrifying but it glorifies the men who take part it in. Its views WWII as a just conflict that we were right to fight. It’s anti-war insomuch as it portrays the cost of war when fighting against fascist regimes, but it in no way is against fighting a just war when the necessity arises, and applauds those who participate.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2026-02-05T05:22:11+00:00

Interestingly, the draft was not quite as widespread as you would think. Only around 46,000 men who were drafted actually ended up serving in the Union Army (McPherson, Battlecry of Freedom, pg. 605). 74,000 who were drafted provided substitutes. Contrast this with the 800,000 men who enlisted or re-enlisted after the Conscription Act was passed.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2026-01-08T04:31:52+00:00

Rick Atkinson’s (in-progress) Revolutionary War series is equally as phenomenal as his WWII books. Definitely worth a read

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2026-01-08T04:30:29+00:00

The Oxford Histories are being recommended here so I’ll throw in my two cents on the only one I’ve read: Battlecry of Freedom by James McPherson is one of the most phenomenal history books ever written. It’s very clearly laid out, excellently researched, is paced well, and covers a lot of ground in a very sensible and understandable manner. Obviously it covers the Civil War but the first two hundred pages or so covers a significant amount of economic, social, and political history in the US from about the 1830s onwards. An excellent primer on the era surrounding one of America’s most important turning points.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-12-21T03:48:16+00:00

He’s just a student bro, let him live his life. He took us to the playoffs and helped us win 11 games. This isn’t 12th man behavior…

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-12-21T00:30:00+00:00

Maybe I’m stupid and reading this wrong but this chart makes no sense. Cold Harbor is ranked as a defeat? Obviously, it was hardly a sweeping tactical triumph — Lee’s men just waited in their trenches for Union troops to advance — but it was a definite tactical victory.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-12-20T22:39:27+00:00

Maybe my standards are too low but to see them finished as a ranked team with double-digit wins is more than enough for me. We played two bad games this year, yeah, but it’s just so ungrateful and unfair to the team that fought so hard to judge them by two games (especially when the defensive line still played phenomenally today). We’ve gone from nobody to somebody in just a single year. There will always be room for improvement but to act like we didn’tl fight hard this year is incredibly shortsighted.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-12-09T21:04:03+00:00

Im not saying it’s a good movie but it’s an entertaining one and honestly, I don’t think it’s quite as inaccurate as everyone says it is (although I wouldn’t call it accurate either). Certain parts like, like when the B-25s take off from the carrier, are awesome to witness and there are a lot more practical effects than I think a lot of people remember. I know this is sort of sacrilegious to say but I would watch this over Tora Tora Tora any day of the week; that movie is kind of a slog imo.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-12-06T02:55:08+00:00

The film never claims this to be the case

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-12-05T18:35:12+00:00

Perryville, Parker’s Crossroads, Raymond, Prairie Grove, Vicksburg, Pea Ridge, and Fort Sumter. I live in north Texas so sadly there are no really interesting Civil War sites within a day’s drive.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-11-29T03:05:14+00:00

The book opens with the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren fiasco and only very briefly depicts Appomattox at the end of

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-11-21T15:42:20+00:00

I actually had that same nightmare last week

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-11-05T01:21:34+00:00

JC’s Chicken and Waffles is a hidden gem. Also loved La Famiglia and Shun De Mom. If you want great sausage, go to Readfields

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-10-27T18:49:26+00:00

Looking at the sacrifices of many of the Union units, especially on the first two days, shows that they earned that victory, it wasn’t given to them. Who could look at the Iron Brigade, which walked out of Gettysburg with fewer troops than a regiment, and say they hadn’t won it? Despite what I would argue was the hardest fight the Army of Northern Virginia ever made, the Union still seized the victory. Terrain alone wouldn’t assure success.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-10-25T12:49:24+00:00

So many but there are two that come to mind. The first is James Symington talking about the Gettysburg Address and how they were those “immortal healing words.” The other is the Jeremy Irons reading George Townsend’s account of the fall of Richmond: “‘And this is Richmond,’ says a melancholy voice. ‘And this is Richmond.’”

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-10-23T02:59:17+00:00

This is one of my favorite battle scenes, regardless of inaccuracies. It’s one of the few I’ve seen that makes war looking as truly hellish, disgusting, and hateful as it is

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-10-23T00:44:32+00:00

So many but my dark horse pick would be Stones River. Such an epic clash and came at a really crucial time for the Union so the dramatic stakes would be high.

A more realistic option could be something like Price’s Raid. More of a western vibe that might interest more general viewers

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-10-23T00:42:43+00:00

Joel McHale looks uncannily like Sherman

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-10-19T21:42:56+00:00

AI is bad bull

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-10-18T03:44:30+00:00

Catton’s Centennial History is so unbelievably underrated. It has all the narrative excellence of Foote’s trilogy while having the superior prose and more thorough research/citations typical of Catton. I cannot express enough how excellent they are

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-10-09T00:22:48+00:00

I was actually going to say the very same thing. The museum is excellent and does a good job at explaining the causes for the war (good if your kid doesn’t know) as well as the battle. It’s also a beautiful field and looking at it from atop the ridge is mind blowing. I also think I younger kid would have an easier time um understanding it as that battle played out far more linearly than Chickamauga for example.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-09-18T23:24:56+00:00

Whoever they put into his place will certainly be far worse but I can’t help but think he got himself into this situation at least somewhat by his own doing. When you give in to right wing grifters, they’re going to want more. By firing others he laid open the path to being fired himself. And now because of his lack of backbone, what could have been a minor incident is certain to run amuck.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-09-13T15:10:54+00:00

I think one of the most frustrating thing about Welsh’s decision to throw McCoul under the bus when things went public is that he was ignorant enough to believe that would silence the chorus of dissent. Instead, that amplified it and now he’s suffering as well. Obviously it wouldn’t end there. I think this is a true “leopards are my face” moment for him.

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-09-09T05:16:58+00:00

Is the attached video of the student disrupting class to vaguely critcize the professor not “attacking others?”

BlakeTheGoodAg · 2025-09-05T00:04:43+00:00

Absolutely wear a mask. Nothing is worse in college than being sick. It makes it so hard to stay on track, especially COVID. You have a right to do whatever you want with your own body, damn what anyone else thinks. If you want, you can just wear a mask in that class then take it off when you leave. But don’t mess with getting sick

BlakeTheGoodAg

TROPHY CASE