Great Battles for Boys: Bunker Hill to WWI

Great Battles for Boys #2

by Joe Giorello

"This book should be in school libraries everywhere…" Amazon Top Ten Hall of Fame reviewer, 5 starsDoes your son play video games for hours but dreads picking up a book?Does he think history is just a bunch of boring old facts? What if you could give him all the excitement of screen time but also spark his love of reading and history? You can with these exciting tales of military battles written especially for boys who are reluctant readers.

Popular history teacher Joe Giorello's hugely successful class, "Great Battles for Boys" is now into an engaging and bestselling non-fiction series written for boys ages 8-14.

In chronological order, beginning with the Revolutionary War, Great Battles for Bunker Hill to WWI takes young readers to the front lines of American history's most thrilling clashes. Boys discover the raw truth about the colonial fight for freedom, the hardships of Civil War soldiers, the fierce battle of the Alamo, the American Expeditionary Forces winning World War I, and much more!

Packed with historic photos, maps, and notable biographies, Great Battles for Boys also explores the military leaders, weapons, and strategies that won victory—or suffered defeat.

If your son likes action-packed stories, authentic details, and easy-to-read but exciting chapters, then he’ll love Joe Giorello’s thrilling accounts of history's greatest battles.

"He asks to read these books on his own!" — Paix, 5 stars

Buy Great Battles for Boys today and take your son to the frontlines of history!

Praise for the Great Battles for Boys "This book should be in school libraries everywhere. It is a treasure trove of information that is engagingly written that makes one feel they are in a great classroom with a great instructor sharing his knowledge in a fun way." — Top Ten Hall of Fame Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars

Genres: History, Childrens

111 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 6, 2016

About the author

Joe Giorello teaches a highly popular middle-grade class in the Seattle area called “Great Battles for Boys." Find out more at his website, http:// www.greatbattlesforboys.com, or at the Facebook page for Great Battles: https:// www.facebook.com/greatbattles

Reviews

[Amanda Charles]

Poorly edited and minimally researched, this book may be intended to appeal to boys who are interested in battles, but its recounting of history is limited and flawed. It simply does not work as nonfiction. I declined to add this title to our nonfiction collection due to numerous typos, poor sourcing, and antiquated pop-culture recommendations. Two stars is generous.

[Bookworm]

It says “Irish immigrants didn’t like black people.”

That’s a LIE.
It accurately said the Irish were angry that they were being drafted and dying to free black people in this “rich man’s war.”
(Rich men paid money so they NEVER had to fight.)
But is inaccurate that they were angry at black people — they were angry at their white government for drafting them!
So to Racistly claim Irish in specific were against black people?? When the problem was actually the draft??
No.
No, no, no!!
Irish were angry that they came to America for better lives and instead were being press-ganged (KIDNAPPED) off the street for the Draft to be shoved to the front lines with OLD OUTDATED equipment — Irish immigrants were being kidnapped off the street to be SLAUGHTERED.
Black people weren’t even on their radar — all Irish cared about is they were being slaughtered by their own government.
So NO!!
Irish did NOT dislike black people — not wanting to be kidnapped off the street and get killed has NOTHING to do with racism.

And heck! It wasn’t just Irish! Rich men NEVER had to fight because they could buy their way out of the draft — this was a rich man’s war — and the people angry about the draft were ALL POOR PEOPLE.

That riot where poor people didn’t want to get drafted (kidnapped and killed) anymore was NOT a race war.
It was a CLASS WAR.
Poor men kidnapped and slaughtered.
No wonder they were mad!
They were angry at their rich overlords for kidnapping and killing them!

So pretending it was “Irish” and “Irish didn’t like black people” is a LIE!!
A disgusting and racist anti-Irish LIE!!
Screw you, dude!

[Tony Williams]

The title here says it all. If you know your history, you surely know that there's a lot of time between those two events. To try and cover that time-frame in any sort of depth, you need more space than it's given here.

The writing quality is not quite on par with the other book that I've read from this series (Pacific WWII), but I chalk a lot of that up to the lack of narrative cohesion. You really can't build any kind of dramatic arc leaping from a few events during the Revolutionary War to the Alamo.

In the end, this jumbled thumbnail just isn't worth the effort, and I think kids would be better served by books that take their time and flesh out these very important events and give them the focus that they deserve.

[Lisa Montgomery]

When I purchase a book for young people, which I plan to donate to the local school's library, I always like to read it first to view whether it is age appropriate for the grades.
This book would work for children of 4th to 7th grade reading.
The interest level is high, although there are the occasional typo, which I found annoying, but most children would not take note.
I was disappointed there were no battles reflecting the War of 1812. It was, as if, that war had not occurred.

[Paula Greenfield]

This is a great book for learning about the battles from Bunker Hill through WWI. If it doesn't give you enough information you can look into the other resources it suggests. It had resources from books, internet, and even movies. I really enjoyed learning about about the different wars and I learned things about battles I didn't even know that had happened. This should be a read for any history buff.

[Nathanael]

Another great battles for boys book, not just for boys, but for grown men who want to brush up on prominent portions of history from major battles and wars of the past. This one was a little more graphic describing some of the horrors of the battles and wars, might not be appropriate for some younger boys. Learned, or re-learned a lot of fascinating details about Custers last stand, the Alamo, Bunker Hill and so many other battles.

[Elizabeth Braden]

I bought this book for a fourth grade student I'm tutoring, hoping this will interest him. It's a good little book. Editing could have been sharper, as there are a few dropped words here and there. But the included battles are good ones to highlight and should be good for reading and discussing.

[N]

A quick overview of many important historical battles from Bunker Hill to San Juan Hill and the key figures in the battles. We listened to it and the narrator is awful at pronouncing many common words (awry, recipient, etc.). But my son enjoyed hearing about battles he knew about from other sources.

[Roger Feenstra]

A great book to teach boys about our history. The best battles are Gettysburg, Little Big Horn, and San Juan Hill. Book is poorly edited, but I read it out loud and was able to edit it myself on the fly.

[Christina]

Very good book, very easy to understand.

I really liked this book because it is so easy to understand, and I also like the battles he picked out to write about, I would not say this book has any flaws, I will definitely be reading the next book!👍👌👍👍
- Aiden, age 10

[David Sylvester]

History is captivating

Wonderful book and very well written for the reader. I love history and this was a great read and taught me many things I had previously never known.

[Dillon]

A simple but effective telling of various battles for younger readers.

[Simeon]

I like this book because it tells about a bunch of wars and not just one. The battles it does talk about are well narrated.

[Kristy]

This is a good book, but it repeats some battles from other books including 3 battles from the Civil War book. However, it was an enjoyable read for my son.

[Marie Williams]

My boys enjoyed learning about various battles.

[Tricia Mingerink]

Proofing this book before giving to my nephews for Christmas. The battles are told with the factual details, even if those details are gory, but without the writing lingering in a gruesome manner that would be inappropriate for the target age-range.

Content Note: Quotes from soldiers are kept entirely accurate, including any language. D*** and h*** are the most common. No S*** or f-bombs. If you are uncomfortable with your younger boys reading that kind of language, you may wish to proof with a black market on hand.

[Jeannette]

✅

[Cheryl Kotschevar]

What a great book!

For any boy who likes history, Mr. Giorello is a wonderful author who paints vivid pictures in the reader's imagination.