No comments about Best of Newt Gingrich's Bedtime Stories for Orphans.

5 comments about East to the Dawn : The Life of Amelia Earhart.

1. I agree with the author who wrote the review, "Excellent descriptions of her flights; short on criticism." As an aviator and a student of history I was excited to find a book purported to have done such research on the subject. I was disappointed in the balance and lack of critical analysis. I was very disappointed in the writing skills of the author. There are numerous grammatical errors that are anathema to a writer who has honed her skills. These errors should not have escaped freshman composition courses. In addition there are a plethora of misplaced modifiers. I have had to reread many sentences to determine about whom the author is discussing.
   
   One review mentioned factual errors. Those errors lead one to question the accuracy or the rest of the research. Another reviewer questioned the balance of analysis and balance of the work. I have to agree with that reviewer.
   
   Overall the work is a bit disappointing.



2. I can't believe the author spent 10 years researching this book. I've found two errors in the first chapter. Pottawatomie Creek (pg 12) is not west of Atchison, Ks. It's approximately two hours to the south. Kansas State University (pg 23) is in Manhattan, Ks. It does not have a law school. The law school is located at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. These facts could be easily verified in a short amount of time.



3. I appreciate the author's honoring Amelia Earhart, someone I, along with millions of people, admire and hold in high esteem. Regardless, I believe it is a biographer's purpose to present as accurate a presentation of someone as the evidence on record provides. The lack thereof of a few important points and this author's omitting relevant facts, that Amelia was NOT considered, among the top women pilots of her day, to be the best woman pilot by any means and most importantly, that Amelia and her celebrity rose specifically due to her business partner and publicity agent George Palmer Putnam. Putnam had been looking for a talented female pilot to ride the Friendship flight that initially made Amelia famous. From thereon, it was publicity stunts arranged by Putnam and his huge publicity machine that enabled Amelia to take off in more than her plane. It was also the onset of the new film industry that enabled Amelia to get so much worldwide attention, through news reels on the earliest movie screens, all arranged by Putnam.
   
   Whatever Amelia's lacking of extensive training as a pilot (as noted by interviews of the top female pilot who knew Amelia) had also been overshadowed by her other talents and tireless contributions in other areas. It was Amelia's drive, talent, skills and her decision to continue with Putnam as her publicity agent, who she eventually married, that made her the best known woman pilot, not her being the best female pilot in the world as this biographer states in clear error.
   
   More seriously, this author fails to comprehend the severity or examine the final flight and how disaster could have been averted, in claiming in the forward that Amelia was a woman of great judgement. Here, I disagree since it is obvious to anyone that the FIRST attempt at a round-the-world flight that ended in a crash, should have been an indicator more flight training was needed to continue, rather than just repairs to the plane. The author fails to address how unnecessary it was for Amelia to surrender her life to being a legend in her last fatal flight, when she began cutting corners in preparation, all due to pressure from her husband George Palmer Putnam.
   
   I do understand the author's wanting to honor the memory of Amelia, to recover from what was a form of failure of the way her final flight ended, I just don't feel the certain omissions of relevant facts is the nature of what a biography should do. Nor do I appreciate this biographer's attempt to disspell any links with Amelia possibly being a feminist lesbian ahead of her time, such as stated in the forward in which the author strongly disputes Amelia rejecting men. Two men were in fact, pressuring Amelia on a continual basis to overcome her natural tendency to reject them as life long partners in marriage. This biographer, wanting to disspell any rumors of the possibility of Amelia being a feminist lesbian, remains in denial of these facts of continual rejection of men, and of their pressuring Amelia up to her final fateful flight.



4. East to the Dawn is very well-researched, going to many primary sources for information, but not very well-written. There are many cases in which I was aggravated by Butler's choice of words or annoying editorializing.

   However, any book about Amelia Earhart which features so many of her own words cannot possibly fail. Her letters, remarks, interviews burst out of the text full of personality, wit, and intelligence. It is no less than shocking how completely contemporary seems, and how inspiring she could be. We can only hope that in the future there are other perfect marriages of a remarkable person and remarkable circumstance, for Amelia Earhart and the early days of aviation were made for each other. Though somewhat clumsily, this book gets this across and for that it is very much worth reading.




5. This was a very interesting and informative book.
   I feel like it really let me know Amelia.
   Only thing I did not like about it was that the begining was
   a little slow. A little too much time spent on her ancestors.

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No comments about Lincoln.

1 comments about No Time to Die.

1. This book was written with warmth, humor and honesty. Liz was a remarkable woman who inspired woman to live with grace, strength and faith. Must read.

5 comments about Honor's Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln.

1. This book is an exemplary view of Abraham Lincoln's young adulthood in New Salem and Springfield between 1831 and 1842. The book begins with an introduction, than an explanation about the evidence that the historian of Lincoln's early life must sift through, and then it examines such important and interesting elements of Lincoln's early adulthood life as his numerous failed experiences with women, the tension between his honorable and ambitious external life and his tendency to mock religion and insult political enemies in his private life, as well as his professional successes and failures as he began his political life. This book is an excellent resource to any fan of Lincoln and any history student curious about the early life and formative years of Lincoln's political education. The book is easy to read and provides many fascinating quotations of personal letters that provide an aid to the authenticity of the author's occasionally startling claims.



2. Honor's Voice is terrific in two respects: both for its insights into Lincoln and for its insights into effective communication. I recommend it to anyone who uses words for a living, and for anyone who wants a fascinating, insightful look into how Lincoln crafted some of the most important speeches in our nation's history.



3. This book staggered me. Its careful research is combined with acute observations by author Wilson, on topics ranging from a fateful wrestling match that made Lincoln's reputation in a frontier village to Lincoln's bewilderment when courting Mary Todd. Wilson here produced one of the finest volumes ever to appear in the crowded field of Lincoln books. For anyone interested in how Lincoln's pre-presidential years shaped his conduct in the White House, Honor's Voice will be rewarding. It is one of the most significant Lincoln biographies I have ever read.



4. This is one of the most astonishing books I have ever read. I love history and yet this portrait of Abraham Lincoln is so much more. Had he been a Blacksmith, he would have been a hero. This was a man, a real man - no the greatest of men...who could not dissemble, lie, cheat, even when it came to marrying a woman that he knew (after they became engaged) would risk ruining his very life. He entered into a promise...and he would not go back on it. Of course, in those times, Breach of Promise (please read Anne Perry's book on this), was a serious offense against a woman's honor. But Lincoln carried this same integrity into everything he did no matter how difficult or huge - like the Civil War. I would hope that any student of American history would not miss out on this very important Masterpiece. As the cliche goes, if we do not learn from our own history, we are doomed (you know the rest....).



5. The reason this shouldn't be the first Lincoln book you read is that the author presupposes that the reader already has a basic command of Lincoln's life story. This book really speaks to those who are familiar with the various bits of Lincoln lore that permeate our culture: his wrestling match with Jack Armstrong, his courtship of Ann Rutledge, his off-and-on-again relationship with Mary Todd, and various accounts of his bookishness, his depression, and his early flirtations with agonisticism, among others.
   
   Having said that, I like this book more than any of the standard Lincoln biographies I own (I have the Thomas, Donald, and Sandburg bios.) The very best thing to read, of course, is Lincoln himself (his collected speeches and writings), but of the biographies written by others, this may be my favorite.
   
   The author dissects several of Lincoln's often-told formative experiences. In one example, he will explore the story of the wrestling match with Jack Armstrong, and ask:
   
   -- When is the earliest surviving account of the story, and what is the source?
   -- How has the story evolved over the years?
   -- How true is it? What does the evidence show?
   -- What is the significance of the story?
   
   For those who don't know the Jack Armstrong story, it is basically as follows: Lincoln was getting harassed by a gang of toughs in his town, and to deal with it, he challenged their leader, Jack Armstrong, to a wrestling match. The match was widely anticipated and witnessed, and Lincoln had the better of Armstrong. Afterwards, Armstrong restrained his allies, saying that Lincoln had won fair and square, and afterwards, he was a loyal friend to Lincoln, as were his associates.
   
   Like so many stories in the Lincoln canon, it's become a parable. It is a lesson about courage and forthrightness and insisting on fair play. In Lincoln's case, it also fills out the legend about his own physical strength, and how he became popular in his home town.
   
   Wilson's book analyzes many such stories. The anecdotes have varying degrees of truth, though on balance, most of the standard Lincoln tales do appear to be based in fact, even if they have become embellished over the years.
   
   You will like this book if you already enjoy the history of Lincoln, and if you like a little skeptical scientific inquiry thrown into your reading material. The reader is asked to travel along with the author as he gets to the bottom of the various issues surrounding Lincoln, and it's an enjoyable journey.
   
   I personally feel that this book is much more pleasant than as a mere exercise in critical history. I found that the dissection of these stories brought Lincoln much more fully to life for me. You get a much more multi-faceted view of the man because you aren't really relying on one author's perspective, as tends to be the case in other Lincoln biographies.
   
   It's an unusual work of history, and not the first Lincoln book to read, but it truly is outstanding. Highly recommended.

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