SO FAR FROM DUTY

Ferol Egan writes in his excellent review of John S. D. Eisenhower’s “So Far From God, the U.S. War With Mexico 1846-1848” (Book Review, June 25): “Eisenhower brings his background as a former Army general to bear upon the wide range of battles in this war.”

Actually, the former President’s son, although holding a reserve brigadier general’s commission, resigned from active duty in 1963 as a lieutenant colonel. And it was probably his 19 years’ background at finally this Regular rank plus his subsequent distinguished civilian military writing career that contributed to this most recent work.

The point is that there is a low correlation between background as a general and excellence in writing military history.

DAVID CARLISLE

LOS ANGELES