4 comments about Lincoln and the Court.

1. I found Brian McGinty's book on Lincoln and the Supreme Court a well written, comprehensive review of events and legal thinking on several levels. I learned a lot about the history of race relations in the U.S. from the earliest days of the Revolution through the 1870s, and why the Dred Scott decision was such an important event. I learned a lot about how the Supreme Court developed as an institution, the many personalities that made up the Court over this period, and how the growth of what was a young nation was reflected in the kinds of issues the Court considered. There is a lot of interesting insight about American politics through the middle of the 19th Century, and the personal relationships that influenced the advent of the Civil War, its execution, and its aftermath.
   
   There is a good review of various areas of the law that were important at the time, some of which, such as Admiralty, of less general interest today, but others, such as Civil Liberties and habeas corpus, very much current.
   
   McGinty provides good support for his professed esteem for Lincoln. There is much in this book about the personal and political relationships Lincoln had, and how Lincoln showed wisdom in managing the many forces seeking to influence the course of his presidency and the war.
   
   There is a lot of information packed into the 315 pages of text. McGinty expresses himself well and clearly. Sometimes he uses 10 words when 7 or 8 would suffice, and sometimes he summarizes things he had just explained a few pages earlier, but the reader won't lose track of who the characters are.
   
   As a general reader, I found this an interesting history of the Supreme Court and the Civil War, and I thought it a useful addition to my knowledge of Lincoln's life and philosophy.



2. I found this to be an outstanding work in legal and constitutional history, bringing a fresh perspective to this topic that already has been well covered by others. See, e.g., James F. Simon, "Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney." I think there are several reasons for the outstanding success of the book. First, the author takes his time and thoroughly discusses his topics--no quick summary of a case and then moving on here. Second, the author is extremely through in covering his topic--not just Lincoln and Taney, although that is an important theme obviously, but also he discusses topics such as Lincoln's appointments to the Court and how the Court continued on dealing with these issues after Lincoln's death. Finally, the author writes so effectively that even familiar material becomes interesting and stimulating.
   
   All of the major cases are examined (habeas corpus, trial by military tribunals, Legal Tender, McCardle limitations on jurisdiction, and Texas v. White holding that the Union was never dissolved). Several chapters stand out, including that on Dred Scott (one of the best treatments I have seen) and the Prize Cases, which I used to think were quite boring. In addition, each Justice is profiled in depth, and a Gallery section contains excellent full-page photographs of each. Lincoln's challenge in making Court appointments is well covered, presenting the President with the opportunity to secure solid votes to uphold his conduct of the war, but also the need not to antagonize the border states he sought to keep in the Union. The author's attention to the post-Lincoln Court allows him to offer a fine assessment of Taney's successor, Salmon P. Chase, who managed in the Legal Tender Cases to vote exactly opposite the position he had taken as Secretary of the Treasury.
   
   The book is supported by 29 pages of notes, an excellent bibliography and index, as well as being a beautifully-printed volume to boot. Sometimes taking a new look at an old topic can result in important insights--such is the case with this book.



3. A nice overview of the Supreme Court, encompassing the years just prior to Lincoln's election, his term in office, and through the cases decided after his assassination but on matters that arose out of the conduct of the Civil War. The era's critical legal disputes, from the infamous Dred Scott decision to the Test Oath cases, are reviewed. Of special interest to today's reader is the discussion of the validity of sentences imposed on civilians by military tribunals.
   
   This book is a good reminder of the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court, and the rule of law, during our country's Civil War. It also provides useful short character sketches of the various justices who served at that time and the role politics played in the selection of these same men, including Roger Taney and Salmon P. Chase. (More attention, rightfully so, is paid these two flawed but historically important chief justices.)
   
   Brian McGinty provides a good legal analysis in prose that while not soaring is more than adequate to the task. One significant overstatement, I think, is made on page 245, when the author writes, "Although his own views on racial equality had evolved over the years, he [Lincoln] never denigrated blacks." While Abraham Lincoln was ultimately a great man on racial issues, he did say certain negative things about blacks during his life, such as in his famed debates with Stephen Douglas.
   
   (As an aside, the use of the word "denigrated" is interesting in that it is derived from the word "nigare" or "black". It means to "blacken" or disparage.)



4. I am not much for political history or biographies. Given a choice between reading Sears' Gettysburg and Goodwin's Team of Rivals, my choice is reading Gettysburg. That fact needs to be explained as I found this a difficult book to read but a very rewarding learning experience. My difficulty has nothing to do with the author's skill as a writer but my preference as a reader. This is a book about judges, most of them old, and their ideas on how the law should be applied. President's have problems with the court when the court's idea conflicts with the Presidents. Lincoln was no exception but he faced a greater danger to the nation and the court's actions could have had a much greater impact than they normally do.
   
   McGinty starts with a series of portraits of the judges and how they had achieved their position. He manages to make them both human and inform the reader of their outlook in an interesting an informative manner. He covers personal quirks, deeply held beliefs, family and background showing us these men as both human and political beings. This provides a very firm foundation for a somewhat technical discussion of the cases and issues that follow.
   
   The chapter on the Dred Scott case is one of the best in the book. Having covered Lincoln's opposition to the Court's decision in a prior chapter, the author walks us through the issues and the Court's decision. He insures that we have the opportunity to gain a solid understanding of their reasoning based on their personalities and the law.
   
   The next major case is Merryman and once more, the author takes the time to cover the issues, the history and the decision. Again, this is a very good chapter and fully explains the issues and what happened after the decision was made.
   
   I was very impressed with the introduction and the author's ideas of the Court's view on secession. While never tested, it has given me a new series of ideas to think and talk about.
   
   This is not an exciting book to read, unless you enjoy reading about legal precedent. However, it is well written and thought provoking. As my title says; this is not an easy read but it is a rewarding one that will give you an additional perspective on the Civil War.

5 comments about The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty.

1. A fascinating account of several remarkable women who were lost in the mists of historical records, The Women of the House entertains its readers while still providing historical knowledge of the time period. Women were and will forever be crucial aspects of our society, yet they are constantly forgotten in history. This book allows us to look at the colonial lifestyles in a new way, in the perspective of a talented woman.
   
   In 1659, one of the most remarkable women in history arrived at New Amsterdam, determined to establish her presence in the form of a she-merchant. Her name was Margaret Hardenbroeck, and she would be one of the first to defy societal norms and create a dynasty at Philipse Manor Hall. She arrived with a duty to serve as a representative for a trading business conducted by her cousin, a well-off merchant named Wouter Valck. Margaret had grown up in a middle-class family, and possessed particular skills in the art of business transactions. Arriving at Manhattan, she wasted no time and soon established herself as an important figure within the community. Within a couple months of settling, on October 10, 1659, Margaret wedded Pieter Rudolphus de Vries, who was six years older than her father. The couple hurried to the alter due to their coming baby, despite the Dutch Reformed Church's sinful outlook at premarital sex. By the time the hot sickness of 1661 killed Pieter, Margaret had become a young and financially secure woman. She then married Frederick Philipse, who would become her future business partner. Margaret bought three hundred acres of Westchester County in 1670 to create her storehouse, which would later be developed into the magnificent Philipse Manor Hall. After arranging the betrothals of all of her children, Margaret passed on peacefully in 1691, at age 54. Her property holdings spanned from Albany to the Barbados Islands, and she had become arguably the wealthiest woman in the area.
   
   Margaret's death marked the beginnings of a new era for the rest of her family. Through the next two generations, her property and wealth would continue to expand, creating a rich legacy among the future owners of Philipse Manor Hall.
   
   Zimmerman does a good job engaging her audience throughout the book. Although some parts would appear slow and insignificant, the book was overall very well written. One flaw of the book is its lack of historical basis. Because records containing information about these women have been lost or destroyed, it is nearly impossible to find first-hand accounts. Despite its lack of primary documents, the book appears to be complete in its description and rarely seems ambiguous or false.
   
   The Women of the House traces the remarkable journey of Margaret and her successors. It provides excellent insight and creates a new perspective on life in Dutch America.



2. I bought this book for my wife and she would really like to rate it at 4 1/2 stars. Interesting characters in an interesting time, a you learn a great deal about New York and the changing position of women in society.



3. Early America, and indeed most of the world, was a man's world. Women couldn't own property, vote, etc. etc. Margaret Hardenbroeck must have stood out as a wolf among sheep. In 1659 she moved to New Amsterdam (Manhattan) -- young (22), single, a business factor or agent for her family's business, a 'she-merchant' or today what we could call an entrepreneur.
   
   Our limited studies of the women of the time usually show them as individuals but reflected in the light of their husbands. Martha Washington, Abigail Adams were indeed strong women, but we would never have heard of them except for their husbands.
   
   Margaret made her own life, hers was not a reflection of her husband. She made her own way. She was probably not a nice person. In the way we think of Martha Stewart, she was tough. And as a slave trader we need to remember her in the light of her time, not of ours.
   
   Much of the book covers life in New Amsterdam at the time, with only supposition that this was how Margaret lived or what she did. There was limited material available on her personal life, much more on her business activities.
   
   This book opens up a new aspect of life in Dutch America, and of the rights and lives of women in our history.



4. If the walls of the Philipse Manor Hall could talk, what stories would they tell? Zimmerman gives voice to the women who lived in the house, from humble beginnings to New York's high society.
   
   Margaret (1659-1691) would become the richest woman in New York. She attended elementary school in Holland and would use her reading, writing and math skills to become a she merchant. She would own trade vessels, property in Manhattan, New Jersey, Albany and Barbados. Margaret would also have a family and raise five children. (She merchant was a term applied to females who were respected for their skills in commerce.)
   
   Catherine (1652-1730) was an heiress who married Margaret's widowed husband, Frederick. She would build a church and was appointed the guardian of Frederick II, her step-grandson. Frederick II would inherit a large portion of Margaret and Frederick's estate.
   
   Joanna (1700-1765?) married Frederick II. Due to the hard work and the business savvy of Margaret and Catherine, Joanna was able to be a society matron. I loved the description of the dessert buffet, complete with marzipan hedgehogs made by the hostess and her daughters.
   
   Mary (1730-1825), Margaret's great granddaughter, was a beautiful socialite. She had a number of eligible bachelors after her hand in marriage, among them George Washington. Mary and her family lost most of the family fortune during the American Revolution.
   
   The book also deals with the unethical practices of this time period: slavery and piracy. (However, in the 17th and 18th Century, many people did not think these practices were wrong.) Margaret and Frederick added to the family fortune through transporting and trafficking slaves from Africa. Frederick also did business with "the King of Pirates," trading in slaves, tobacco and rum. The Philipse family would continue to own slaves until the very end. They would also have a personal connection to a slave revolt.
   
   Zimmerman makes the colonial period come alive with her storytelling and interesting trivia that ranges from hummingbirds to slave gangs. There are detailed notes for each chapter and sixteen pages of black and white pictures. It is unfortunate that the women in the Philipse family did not leave any journals or letters because it would have been interesting to read their own thoughts.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Travel back in time to meet the colorful inhabitants of Colonial New York.



5. I really enjoyed reading this book. It gave interesting insights into how colonial New York was developed, mixing the lives of one family with the broader stage of changing governments and cultural values. Great book!

5 comments about Freud: A Life for Our Time.

1. This book describes Freud`s life with deep insight, and you can review the European history at around late 19th century to the beginning of 20th century through Freud's life. Very well done.



2. Best compendium of Freud's work by far. And with intelligent commentary by Gay. Yes, some of Siggy's turgid prose is hard going but, it is worth the investment in time and effort. Read it with an open mind and you will see how timeless Freud's message is...and Gay does not sink into sycophancy, as many others did.



3. If you have minimal knowledge about the father of psychoanlaysis, or if you hold strong opinions about the "Prof" as his students and colleagues referred to him deferentially and affectionally, this work by Peter Gay will highlight the peaks of Freud's dazzling insights, and provide plenty of background for his all too human failings. Freud is presented as a man struggling with issues of family, career, and the inevitablity of death. Gay is able to condense and summarize key Freudian concepts and place them in the context of the life and cultural time of the father of psychoanalysis. For students of psychology as well as observers of our current cultural and political delusions, Gay neatly captures the details as well as the broad scope of Freud's shadow on the 20th Century and beyond.



4. May 6 was the 150th birth anniversary of Sigmung Freud; he died in London in 1939. His theories have been changed along the way by other psychologists, but they remain the basis for therapy. He believed that past conflicts cause current emotional problems, the trauma of being born was actually at the root of neurotic anxiety, and that childhood experiences are the crucible of character. He delved into the science of recollection and reflection. Some of his beliefs have been tossed aside as so much feminist bunk, but had he still been alive, he would have agreed that history will never end because it is made by human beings.
   
   Someone acting rashly (out of character) is said to be "frontal" referring to the part of the brain involved in impulse control. They react to slurs in a violent manner to protect their self-integrity. One must confront the parts of himself which are painful and shameful and difficult to face. A philosopher at the University of Chicago identifies a "core idea" on which Freud's reputation must rest, that human life is "essentially conflicted." Today, we have brain-imaging technology which can prove or disprove his mind-boggling ideas.
   
   A person of character always is truthful. Dishonesty by omission (withhold the truth) or commission (telling an untruth) is a byproduct of the change system. Don't tell people what they want to know; that is misleading. When you fail to tell the truth, minor issues escalate into major ones. You usually become angry at perceived psychological threats. Someone threatens your self-esteem, your reputation, your peace of mind, or your sense of well-being, and you explode in anger. There are biological reasons for the way we act or react to this threat to our self-preservation. Empathy helps us to contain and expand our own sense of self-esteem. You have to confront the parts of yourself (your mind) that are painful, shameful, and difficult to face.
   
   Eric Kandel wrote a book about the memory for which he won the Nobel Prize. The future of neuroscience leads us to the biology of the mind. This science is called phrenology -- a science of the mind. Why we act and think the way we do. How we interpret danger from slander. Too much sadness become depression, too much gladness becomes mania, too much fear becomes panic, and too much anger becomes rage. Can virtue be taught? In today's society we constantly search for the pursuit of happiness. One thing to question is "What makes a problem moral."
   
   It's too bad Freud isn't around to see how immoral our society has become with deceit and even by the way they dress in public. Many more humans have psychological problems these days than in the '30s, which are going unresolved. His ideas probably would be considered obsolete, but they have been expanded to include behaviorism, humanistic, mythological, cognitive behavioral therapy, even self psychology. With his sometimes wrong ideas, we can pick and choose which field is best for us to overcome our hurts (caused by others, not being born or ignored as children) and understand that we are not alone.



5. Disagree with two of the reviewers below: Gay is not unbearly biased in favor of Freud, book is not too much for casual dabblers in the subject.
   
   First, one could hardly expect a six hundred page biography of Freud to be authored by someone who hates the man. Important to be realistic about who writes books in the first place.
   
   Second, Freud was a prolific writer, and the book doesn't shy away from in depth analysis, so really it's like two three hundred page books. Now, if that's too much Freud for you, you're probably not that interested in the first place.
   
   I like to read biographies of thinkers who left behind copious amount of published work. That way, it's easier to get a sense of what you want to read (if anything) by the author.
   
   Because much of Freud's work revolves around family life, his family life is more then usually interesting. It's impossible to appreciate the originality of Freud's thought without having a firm context for HIS everyday life.
   
   This book provides a balanced reading of Freud's controverial life. I found the bad to be included as much as the good. Freud's influence on the 20th century has been so profound that even if you completely disagree with the man (over, say, his attitude towards women), it is still rewarding to learn about his thought.

5 comments about The Pope and the Heretic: The True Story of Giordano Bruno, the Man Who Dared to Defy the Roman Inquisition.

1. This book is far from being either a thorough or balanced biography of Bruno. When its not digressing into the author's sweeping and judgmental generalizations about history - "For such people, everyday life was an agony and the society in which they lived was almost stagnant...all but a few... spent most of their time inebriated" - and his demonization of Christianity, it focuses only on Bruno's arrest and trial and covers only in bad summary or not at all the rest of his life. White rips on Catholicism and Protestantism beyond the facts, yet depicts Renaissance intellectuals anticipating a supposedly true faith of modern scientific theories and method as humanity's salvation. What few and poor citations and footnotes are provided - "Christian doctrine does not evolve; it is based upon cast-in-stone tenets and therefore cannot develop or offer anything radical or original." - are too little to justify the sweeping judgments, and leave one confused as to whether the Hollywood style dialogues between Bruno and his confessor are actual quotes or White's embelishments.
   
   Its no secret that the churches and governments of Europe abused their power severely during the last 1900 years. A lot of the bleakness of situation that White describes is true. But he goes beyond history to paint a black and white picture of a purely evil church and intellectuals martyred for their belief in scientific methods and theories that DIDN'T YET EXIST. The complexity of the historical situation and the intelectual relationships between the Christian clergy and scholars is glazed over; the motives and reasons for the atmosphere of suppresion are chalked off solely to the evil ignorance and greed of every single person of power in the church. The complexity of the crossover identities of European Christian scholars and their struggle to reconcile their faith and observations goes out the window - White has Bruno convenienently seeing the good in everything mainstream science currently cheers, and totally condemning everything it currently despises. His treatment of Bruno's interests is completely anachronistic and belays all the tenets he held to that scientists would balk at, and vice versa.
   
   This book isn't about Bruno's views - its about White's. Like a bad Hollywood movie set against a historical backdrop, this is more about what's going on now then what happened back then.



2. It is strange, that religion and burning in the history of mankind frequently lie together so near: momentarily the assassination attempts of Islamic fundamentalists in New York, London, Madrid and elsewhere, or (on the other hand) the million humans, who became victims of the Inquisition of the catholic church in the Middle Ages. Giordano Bruno has been one of the most famous mourners. Because he questioned the Ptolomaei conception of the world of an earth, around which everything circles, and because he tried to replace the earth-centric-theory by an analysis, which postulated a lot of moving solar systems (plausibly spoken from today's view), in which there is no hierarchical order, - therefore he had to accept more and more furious attempts against his person, which wanted to force his obedience. Apparently unteachable he classified the subject not as passive nullity directed of God, but as active, self-constructing substance. The theories of the Vatican of the case of sin and of the predetermination of the fate Giordano Bruno rejected as life-strange. "The general opinion is not always the perfect truth..." Giordano Bruno today is still quoted. Such remarks produced expensive, bitter consequences: On 17 February 1600 he publicly was burned on the Campo di Fiori in Rome after eight years torture and dungeon detention. Hundreds of years the burning of disbelieving people seemed to be the major task of the Christian denomination. However today the Pope-administration gradually makes some steps backwards, remorseful: On February 18, in the year 2000, cardinal Angelo Sodano, the undersecretary of state of the Vatican, expressed the "deep regret" of the catholic church (according to ZENITH NEWS AGENCY with regard to the death sentence against Giordano Bruno) in a letter to the participants of a congress in Napoli, which took place for the memory of this Italian philosopher in the local theological faculty 2000. It was a "terrible death", "a sad episode in newer Christian history". Respect considering the dignity and the conscience of humans, who look persistently for the truth: this is a level, in the present not yet all countries, confessions or population circles succeed to manage. The book of the British science journalist Michael White ("Science editor of British GQ Magazine") was criticized by some reviewers, because it has been written in a teenager-language, less scientific, more thrilling like an adventure-story. But on the other hand it is an easily reading, you can practice before you will fall asleep. Short before snoring you can brood about the fact, that religion (connected with the aim to burn people of "wrong" confession) did not yet disappear as a pattern of acting among the earth inhabitants 400 years later...



3. I have a bad record of choosing books from the Airport Bookstores. I have made some really attrocious choices. This one is not that bad, but I could not recommend it to anyone. If I would have read the inside flap I would have realised that Michael White was the "Science Editor of British GQ Magazine" --- I did not know that anyone who read GQ would be even interested in Science, but if they are, there taste would be light to the point of idiocy, like this book.
   
   The title is inane enough. It lured me in like a sucker... I was interested in reading the counterpoint of what would be two personalities --- the Pope and Bruno. But the Pope does not even really appear in the book.
   
   The main problem is twofold:
   
   1) Lack of any discernable organisation. The book is a mess. It is hard to put together any discernable record of the like of Bruno after I read this --- was he in Frankfurt first and then Paris? Maybe it was the other way around?
   
   This means that White mixes everything up, chronology, main themes and the roles of people in the book. Ideas are not at all well developed. There is a sometimes peurile feeling about his writing style: when an idea is developed a little he switches to other things --- one feels that he is writing at times for the attention span of a 12- yr-old reader.
   
   2) Weak development of themes inside the book. Scholastic ossification of the ideas of the Catholic Church is a great topic, but White's starts with a description of how Aristotle was always wrong on everything... and vaguely brushes him off as an almost personal hindrance to development of ideas. Such comic-book interpretations really show a lack of mastery of his subject.
   
   White intimates a tremendous importance for the hermetic tradition, although he keeps this significantly nebulous (something that a reader of GQ or Omni might be interested in). As usual his work verges towards veneration for mysticism.
   
   At the end of the day he should have marshalled his forces with more discipline and spent the time on making this into a serious work that it should be, and as Bruno deserves. It appears that he merely cranked this one out. He will pay for this as readers such as I will never buy another of his books.
   
   Back to the Thompson Twins Mr. White!



4. Michael White succeeds in personalizing the heretic monk Giordano Bruno, giving us a more complete picture of the man than we find in other sources. His book educates us about the social, political, and religious environment in which Bruno lectured and wrote. We also feel his suffering at the hands of the Inquisition. Unfortunately, we learn less about Bruno's ideas, which covered a remarkably wide range of speculations. We are given only shorthand versions.

   White's writing is very readable, but one sometimes wonders if all of it is based on documented fact. For example, he writes that "A sudden hush fell over the room; the judges sat motionless. Bruno, his confidence clearly ebbing away, his energy almost drained, looked around the room once more, seeing the still faces, the eyes of witnesses quickly averted." How does White know all these details? Passages like this read as if the author were using literary invention to make the dry records of the Inquisition more interesting.




5. This is a horrible book. I checked it out from my local library because I didn't have much faith in it, and I was sorry I even wasted my time reading it.

   Who does this book serve? For those who know anything about Giordano Bruno, it is a waste of time. And those who don't know anything about him might be discouraged by how poorly-written this book is, and thus decide not to look further into Giordano Bruno or his philosophy.

   Only the most titilating aspects of Bruno's execution at the stake are really described with any detail in this book. Michael White doesn't really explain anything about Bruno's complex philosophical system, based upon the Art of Memory and founded through the Renaissance perspective that ancient wisdom had more to offer than the modern knowledge of the time. Bruno intuited that the sun was the center of our solar system and that the earth was only one of an infinite number of planets, not through data compiled by looking through a telescope, but by reading ancient texts -- from Plotinus to Nicholas of Cusa and others -- and picked out the parts that made sense to him. He then syntesized these ideas into a coherent worldview that reflected his perception of the world around him. In the work On the Composition of Images, Signs and Ideas, Bruno's discussion about images and ideas the humans construct in their minds and how they relate to the actual objects themselves can be seen as a precursor to semiotics.

   If you are looking for a biography of Bruno in English, then read Giordano Bruno: His Life And Thought by Dorothea Waley Singer. It is out of print, but might be out there still on the internet. The writing is clear, it avoids sensationalistic descriptions of bloodshed (unlike Michael White), and has a more firm understanding of Bruno's philosophy.

   If you are looking for inspired attempts to place Bruno's philosophical system within the context of other streams of thought in Renaissance Europe, then look into Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition and/or The Art of Memory, both of which are by Frances Yates.

   The main drawback with these books by Yates is that she thinks of everything as "Hermetic." Their are Cabalistic influences in Bruno's thought, and Yates doesn't always bring that out in her analyses. But there are other books available that follow up on the good scholarship in Yates, and question her bold enthusiasms when they overstep the evidence. Such works are Eros and Magic in the Renaissance by Ioan Couliano, the book by Hilary Gatti -- which analyzes how he operated as a scientist and not just a philosopher, and Giordano Bruno and the Philosophy of the Ass by Nuccio Ordine -- which tries to place his theory of the path to wisdom through ignorance in a well-established tradition.

   If you want to read Bruno's work itself, there are many of his works available in English, including the Rabelaisian and bawdy play, The Candlebearer, published by Dovehouse Editions in Canada, as well as his more philosophically mature dialogues, The Ash Wednesday Supper, The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast, and The Cabala of Pegasus.

   In short, anyone expressing even the slightest interest in any aspect of Giordano Bruno should look elsewhere, and avoid this book by Michael White.

No comments about Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945.

5 comments about Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson.

1. This book shows how a marriage can and is a legal arrangement as well as an emotional one. From inside the story, the author describes how his parents built a life and marriage together that protected the whole family legally, while allowing both partners to express themselves sexually in outside relationship, mostly of the same sex variety. This was so much more necessary in an earlier time than it is now. About the only thing we can liken it to in contemporary society is the marital arrangement between parties that allows one of the parties to immigrate to another country.
   
   
   Higher Love (Lavender Line) (Lavender Line)



2. The centre of the book and its raison d'etre is Vita Sackville-West's own extraordinary memoire about her life so far including her catalytic 3 year affair with Violet Trefusis. The affair came very close to wrecking her life with her husband, Harold Nicolson, who she loved deeply but no longer felt sexual passion for. Harold threatened to leave Vita and it was only under such pressure - on both sides of the affair - that it was ended. The memoire, written in 1920-21, and discovered by Nigel in 1962 begged a narrative and an afterword; Nigel provided this and presented an eloquent, classic book which has never been out of print since it was published in 1973.
   
   Whether this marriage is to be admired as much as Vita, Harold and Nigel felt it should be admired is for the reader to judge. What makes it most extraordinary is the homosexuality of Vita and Harold and the fact that their once discreet open marriage is now in the public domain. They would each be getting on for 120 years old today but they still seem so fresh that readers, whatever their sexual preferences are, might learn lessons (positive and negative) from them even today.
   
   Towards the end of her life in 1961, Vita wrote (in a letter to Harold not included in 'Portrait') that she had been 'madly in love' with Violet but the affair was now 'passion completely spent'; she wrote 'the true love that has survived is mine for you, and yours for me.' She also gently rebuked Harold for not explaining his own homosexuality in the first place. 'It would have saved us a lot of trouble and misunderstanding. But I simply didn't know.' Harold's reply, if there was one, is not published.
   
   The intimacy of Vita and Harold's relationship is contained in their voluminous correspondence. Harold's diary, Violet's letters and Vita's mother's diary are also key sources for this book. All these were at Sissinghurst in the early 1970's. Nigel separates Vita's memoire into two chapters, draws from the other sources and adds his own voice and, to a lesser extent, that of his brother Benedict. Vita's relationship with Virginia Woolf is affectionately documented. The book created the legend of Vita and Harold who led compartmentalised lives, had multiple relationships, multiple careers and remained devoted to one another. It is a well written and well crafted tribute.
   
   `Portrait' is, as it would be, slanted in favour of Vita and Harold. This book could not be the whole truth or a detailed portrait of the marriage but it is a portrait of two fascinating and productive people. Because of the scandal it caused, Nigel was excoriated by some for publishing this book and in essays written afterwards he would defend his decision and fill in some of the gaps. But the gaps are justified in this labour of love because it is written from such a personal stand-point. This is a wonderful read and is well recommended.



3. I recently re-read this book for research on the novel I was working on (having not looked at it in many years). Unlike many things read in youth, it was even more searing and electrifying this time than the first go-round. Perhaps that's because the subject matter has become routine (there are even web sites devoted to polyamory, lesbianism, bisexuality, open marriage, etc.), while the emotions that Vita Sackville-West's affair with Violet Trefusis have not been dealt with by this explosion of sexual variety.
   
   This book is not for the faint-hearted. It's not great writing, as it was meant to be a personal diary of Vita's passage through fire, and is not literary in that sense. But given the weakness of Vita's professional writing (most of which has been forgotten), it's perhaps a good thing she couldn't re-write and mar the freshness and raw emotion of this tale.
   
   The book has been a Bible for some, including the protagonist of my novel. It has that kind of "read me if you dare" emotional dynamite.



4. Both those unfamiliar with the extraordinary life of British aristocrat Victoria (Vita) Sackville - West and those who have read Victoria Glendinning's compelling Vita (1983), Virginia Woolf's Orlando (1928), or Sackville -West's own multiple published works of fiction, poetry, or nature and travel writing will thoroughly enjoy Portrait Of A Marriage (1973). Composed around a posthumously discovered confessional manuscript Sackville - West wrote and hid away in 1920, the book's chapters alternate between portions of Vita's nuanced, forthright manuscript and son Nigel Nicholson's more objective recounting of the facts in the lives of his parents, Sackville - West and her spouse, author and diplomat Harold Nicholson.

   Chiefly remembered today for her garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent and for being the romantic ("Better to gloriously fail than dingily succeed"), daring, and bisexual inspiration for Woolf's historical, gender-addressing novel Orlando, Sackville - West was a temperamental, multifaceted, and deeply emotional woman who followed the dictates of her heart and defied the conventions of her era to what many would think an alarming degree. As her manuscript clearly reveals, Sackville - West was a very human, self - honest individual who was conscious of her moral and ethical weaknesses and who continually struggled with her wayward nature and its debilitating affects on her husband, children, and extended family. Today a hero to some and a somewhat ridiculous figure to others, readers of Portrait Of A Marriage are likely to come away with more than a modicum of sympathy for the not - entirely enigmatic Vita; throughout her life she managed to straddle a great number of seeming paradoxes and today remains potent proof that many Western conventions concerning love, marriage, parenthood, sexuality, and friendship are as not as tightly mapped out as most would generally like to believe. Unlike fellow writers and contemporaries Hilda Doolittle, Djuna Barnes, or Jean Rhys, her excesses, dependencies, and emotional vacillations did not ultimately undo Vita, either psychically, artistically, or socially. Admittedly, Sackville - West was a child of privilege and remained financially comfortable most of her life. However, her managerial skill, expert monetary planning, and her own hard work as an author, radio broadcaster, lecturer, and internationally acclaimed gardener went a long way towards securing that position.

   Portrait Of A Marriage and the story of Sackville - West's life may be the ultimate romantic tale of the twentieth century, though one in which the glamour of wealth, palatial family estates (365 - room Knole), creative talent, international fame, and steadfast love were offset by dark episodes of betrayal, spousal abuse, transvestitism, emotional violence, and apparent child abandonment. Remarkably, Vita's story was ultimately a happy one, and the end of her life, relatively serene. Increasingly a loner with age, Sackville - West sequestered herself in her private tower at Sissinghurst, where she continued to write novels and other literature. But men and women continued to fall in love with her and she with them; as Victoria Glendinning wrote, "For Vita the great adventure was never over."




5. Despite the fact that Vita Sackville-West was the subject of Virginia Woolf's Orlando as well as her lover, the author of numerous books, and a world famous gardener, she still manages to be a somewhat enigmatic character. This unusual and engrossing portrait, written by her son, contributes a great deal to bring substantial light on Vita's very interesting life and loves. Nicolson is generous in quoting her verbatim from her diaries, the most compelling of which recounts her wild affair with Violet Trefusis, during which the two women fled to Paris pursued by their husbands, where Vita passed as a man by dressing as a wounded soldier. This is one of the most passionate accounts of any love affair I have read.

   Nicolson's act of documenting his parents' intimate passions is a great contribution to literary history. He did us a great service by writing this book and in quoting liberally from their own writings, in many ways lets his parents speak for themselves. Any one interested in Bloomsbury, women of the left bank, passing women, feminism, gay/lesbian/bisexual history should make this part of their library.

5 comments about Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr..

1. John D. Rockefeller Sr. was probably the biggest, baddest robber baron in 19th century America, and also its leading philanthropist. Many writers scorned his ruthlessness, notably Ida Tarbell, who wrote two books on Rockefeller and his company, Standard Oil. Author Ron Chernow digs deeper, through masses of Rockefeller family documents, to present the founder of the Rockefeller dynasty as a "man of flesh and bone and soul." He covers Rockefeller's ugly, dramatic and even shameful aspects, while concurrently demonstrating his business acumen and his philanthropic leadership amid a remarkable generation of business barons, including William Randolph Hearst, Jay Gould, William Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan. An amazing portrait emerges of an almost invisible, rather megalomaniac ascetic who wanted to fulfill God's will. He became extremely wealthy, gave millions away, and believed that he brought the benefit of inexpensive oil products to all mankind. getAbstract highly recommends this multifaceted biography.



2. This is a really excellent book on Rockefeller. It made me laugh; it helped me to understand who he was as a person; it showed how he became who he was; and it gave me a true and complete understanding of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Sr. in an unbiased way.
   
   I read the negative reviews on here, and I want to refute them. Some say the author clearly favored Rockefeller; I felt quite the opposite at some points and think a really objective depiction was achieved. Others say the editing was poor; I didn't find a single spelling or grammatical error during the read. In terms of its editing, it was fine.
   
   If you want to know who Mr. Rockefeller, Sr. was, this is the book for you.



3. Hopefully it is good, Kinda Long but I am looking foward to having time to read the whole novel.



4. Rockefeller is reported to have searched endlessly for golf balls lost in an attempt to recover them, yet could nearly buy the world - why?
   
   Objective biographies are important to show that it is rarely money or greed that inspires the mind of man; it is the pursuit of the solution to the particular problem that he has defined worthy of solution. Both great inventions and great works of art have been formed as a result of the tiny seeds of construction or of destruction that engage the human spirit.
   
   Without it, are we not all merely reduced to automated machine status, the robots of today for the future of tomorrow?
   
   Is the mind of man made for the pursuit of money, or for the pursuit of satisfaction of what he perceives is worthy of addressing, focusing his attention upon the manner and the object of his passion?
   
   What makes people tick is a source of inspiration often overlooked in the attempt to idolize or endow humanity, and far too often, misconstrued by mistaken others who aim to profit from that misinterpretation.
   
   Molded soles, like molded fingerprints, rarely sit anyone else. Why then do we not concentrate upon the perspective of what men aim for, and why, rather than what they accomplish, and its yield?



5. 
   This book is the best biography I've read thus far.
   Ron Chernow has a deep understanding of
   economics and history. He uses this understanding to
   paint an accurate, balanced and complete picture of
   the Rockerfeller dynasty with J.D. Rockerfeller as the
   center of their powerful universe.
   
   
   To emphasise just how well this book was written,
   consider the fact that I spent my whole
   Christmas weekend reading it! I couldn't move from my
   library or sleep until it was done. Though the book
   weighs in at approximately seven hundred pages, it is
   reads like a novel, a trait which makes it both
   palatable and pithy.
   
   

   Synopsis

   
   Rockerfeller has all the traits of a classic self made hero. His
   antecedents are not amazing. He grew up in a poor
   family featuring a bigamist foot-lose father who was
   hardly ever around. His father taught John painful
   lessons in business and human behaviour. John's father
   would regularly tell John to jump from his high chair
   into his father's arms. Once, in order to teach John
   never to trust anyone, he told John to jump. He then
   walked away, leaving John to slam painfully into the ground.
   John's mother was the backbone of the family; quiet,
   anassuming and hardworking. He assumed the role of
   surrogate father and dedicated his life to ensuring his
   mother and the rest of his family were safe, secure
   and happy.
   
   
   When Rockerfeller got into the business world, he
   began as a book keeper. It was from these early
   beginnings that he showed the traits that would be the
   core of his success. He was meticulous and diligent
   when keeping financial records and accounts. He would
   manage his own funds as well as the company's money down to the
   decimal point! Like Warren Buffet after him,
   J.D. Rockerfeller would emphasis that "numbers are
   everything."
   
   
   J.D also proved that discipline is more important than
   intelligence. In school, he wasn't the sharpest blade
   in the set but his slow, diligent, determined and
   disciplined approach to study ensured his success. He
   emphasised this in his business dealings as well. With
   this method, he created the jaggernaut monopoly of
   Standard Oil. He began by consolidating the mass of oil
   refineries and wells in Cleveland under his umbrella.
   Later, after recruiting his alter ego, Henry Flagler,
   they would proceed to dominate the oil industry
   thoughout the world.
   
   
   Rockerfeller also exemplified a reticence that would
   inspire respect and fear in his enemies while planting
   admiration and loyalty in his friends. At board
   meetings, he was often known to lie back in a settee
   with his eyes closed as he let his leiutenants debate.
   Later, he would discuss these issues in great detail,
   as though he had absorbed and understood everything
   without skipping a beat. Within his company, he was a
   ghost. Employees would never see him arrive or watch
   him leave. However, they were made acutely aware of
   his presence when he popped up at some underlings desk
   and discussed their jobs and records in great detail. He
   knew everything and everyone.
   
   
   Later on, Standard Oil would become the focus of the
   anti-trust movement. The Spellman Act was passed in
   order to curb its power. In later years,
   Rockerfeller's juggernaut would be split up with
   unforseen results. Instead of destroying his wealth,
   as his detractors and politicians had hoped, his
   wealth and that of his shareholders trippled!
   Rockerfeller's success was enduring and could not be
   stopped or limited.
   
   
   Rockerfeller dedicated the first half his life to becoming the
   richest man on the planet. He then dedicated the
   remaining half to becoming the greatest philanthropist
   in the planet. His medical foundations brought
   back the disciplined approach he applied to business to
   the medical field that had erstwhile been dominated by
   quacks and homeopaths. Were it not for Rockerfeller's
   contributions to medicine, modern health might not be
   as advanced as it is now.
   
   
   After living to the ripe old age of ninety eight,
   Rockerfeller had achieved more than most people achive in a
   hundred lifetimes. He was one of those individuals so
   powerful that he forever changed the destiny of
   humanity forever.
   
   
   
   Something in the nature of J.D. Rockerfeller had to
   occur in America, and it is all to the good of the
   world that he was tight-lipped, consistent and
   amazingly free from vulgar vanity, sensuality and
   quarrelsomeness. His cold prsistence and ruthlessness
   may arouse something like horror, but for all that he
   was a forward-moving force, a constructive power.
   
   --H. G. Wells. The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind.
   
   
   

   Conclusion

   
   This book is mandatory reading for all students of
   success. It teaches the nature of the monopolist, the
   spirit of the leader, the hunger of the rich, the
   ambition of the visionary, the structure of a dynasty
   and the soul of the innovator.
   
   
   I've idolized Rockerfeller my whole life. Reading this
   biography gave me an understanding of both his faults
   and his virtues. It humanised him. The fact that
   Rockerfeller is so much like a next door neighbour
   leads the reader to a very important conclusion:
   success is not about nature, it's about nurture. It
   is not about intelligence but of intent. It is not
   about destiny but of decision. It is not about magic,
   it is about method.
   
   Each of us can make the decision to be successful. All
   we have to do is practice the method by mimicking that
   of the giants who have come before us. That is the
   Billionaire Way.

5 comments about Buffalo Bill's America: William Cody and the Wild West Show.

1. This book is a bore with minimal facts and an author with a wild imagination. Tries to tie many outside events whether real or imaginary to the theme and because of this he has been able to add 200 maybe 300 plus pages of fantasy.
   
   Don't waste your time like I did and try to find something a lot better.
   
   Sorry, I don't like to belittle authors but this was one of the worse books I have read in many years.



2. Great book from a great professor. Reading this was like sitting in Dr. Warren's class again. He can totally make history come alive and this book is no exception.



3. I was quite pleased witht the speed of delivery on this book and it's excellent condtion. It was all I could have hoped for. 5 Stars!
   
   Don Gilmore



4. William Cody was the most famous American of his times, renowned as a Pony Express rider, soldier, buffalo hunter and overall hero - but his creation of the Wild West show, a traveling company of cowboys and Indians which toured North American and Europe for over thirty years, solidified his importance and his name. BUFFALO BILL'S AMERICA: WILLIAM CODY AND THE WILD WEST SHOW provides the most detailed critical biography of Cody to appear in over forty years, considering his showmanship, his achievements, and the controversies which swirled around his life, both during time and into modern times. Chapters use source material references and quotes but maintain a lively style which lends to appeal by leisure audiences as well as students of American history.



5. The Historians of today, especially those who have a different perspective of America instead of the "Good versus Evil" themes that folks like I grew up with like to shatter legends and myths.
   
   Not that a bit of reality is wrong. For example it is good to know what a virulent racist Nathan Bedford Forrest was, or how wrong it was to label the entire Abraham Lincoln Battalion as a bunch of "Commie Rats" (although with the release of much of the Moscow archives, it can be verified that up to almost 90% of them were either Communist Party or Young Communist League members - not the 40-60% as stated in past histories).
   
   It is however suspect when a Davey Crockett, long believed to have died swinging "Old Betsy" at the advancing Mexican soldiers at the Alamo, died, shot down as a captured prisoner, by Santa Anna's orders; or that the gallant Custer was a reckless fool.
   
   Which leads me to Dr. Warren's interesting biography of Buffalo Bill. Having got it as a holiday present I was at first enthralled by the depth and detail of this work which covered practically every aspect of this simple yet complex American hero.
   
   Then Dr. Warren had to spoil it all.
   
   First, he cast doubts on whether or not William Cody ever rode with the Pony Express. He cites available records, but admits Cody did ride for the Express parent company - Russell, Majors and Waddell.
   
   Secondly, he then claims Cody rode with Jennison's Jayhawkers instead of working as a Scout for the Union Army. In other words, Cody was involved in some of the ugliest savagery on the frontier as Unionists retaliated for the depravations of Quantrill, the James-Younger boys, Bloody Bill Anderson, and other Confederates. Yet, if that was the case, and with rosters of the 7th Kansas being available, why haven't Civil War historians made light of this in the past? Warren seems to imply that Cody was one of the 7th Kansas boys who faced down Bedford Forrest at Tupelo and Brice's Crossroads, but where is the evidence? (note: I do stand corrected as I have found another source on Cody's experiences in the 7th, and indeed they did fight Forrest in Tennessee and Mississippi, but were recalled to Missouri in time to help stop Sterling Price in the fall of 1864, a campaign where Cody and Bill Hickok fought practically side by side)
   
   Third, Warren also seems to claim that there was an almost unfriendly rivalry between George Custer and William Cody, and that outside of the celebrated Buffalo hunt with the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, the two men rarely met or studiously avoided each other. Why? Because Libbie Custer only named Wild Bill Hickok as a Custer intimate, not Buffalo Bill. Furthermore, Warren also describes the Custer marriage as being as troubled as that of the Codys. He has even suggested that Libbie Custer had an affair with another (unnamed) cavalry officer - that's news to me as I'm sure it is to others who have read extensively of the Custers and their marriage. Custer jealous of Bill Cody? Hmmm. And why would Bill Cody present Custer as an all-hero in his future shows if he didn't feel a regard for the late soldier's heroism on the American Frontier?
   
   He then describes Cody as being benevolent and more open-minded towards Native Americans, yet almost a cruel overseer to those Indians who rode and worked with the Wild West Shows - try suggesting that to Sitting Bull. Oops, you can't because he's long dead. But then again, so is Buffalo Bill Cody.
   
   What is even more troublesome is Warren's wanting to put a societal spin to the life and times of Buffalo Bill. He pictures America of the late 19th Century as being a nation split between the "haves and have-nots" with another Civil War looming in the distance. He brings up the Haymarket Square Riots, and calls Albert Parsons, the former Confederate Soldier turned Radical leader the William Cody of the Confederacy, yet offers no evidence to prove this. For me, that was a major disappointment, because I would have liked to have seen where a young Confederate hero, having risked his life for the reactionary South, could change so drastically to push for the violent overthrow of bourgeois America. He also brings in the Johnson County War as if to suggest that Cody could easily play both sides down the middle - lionized by the proletariat Cowboy and loved by the intolerant landowners.
   
   In the end, with little or no commentary about those final, almost destitute years of Cody's life - including that poignant final year when after riding in a Wild West Show he had virtually no say in, with his kidneys shutting down, and being in constant pain, helped by his "son" Johnny Baker, Cody went home to die. Warren surprisingly makes little comment about this sad history, which is even more surprising when one sees how much he placed detail on irrelevances or suggested things that never have been proven before.
   
   Maybe it is because I like my biographies to be straightforward -and my Western History to be not simplistic but not mired down in complex issues either that this once promising work turned me off towards the end. That, and another unfortunate debunking of another real American hero. After all, Mr. Cody isn't around to say whether or not he exaggerated his life and\or career, or to refute or not some of Dr. Warren's more damaging charges.

5 comments about Life of St. Columba (Penguin Classics).

1. Running to 432 pages, including 10 pages of maps and geneological tables, an introduction (100 pages), the translated Life (134 pages), scholarly footnotes (144 pages), bibliography and index, this is almost two books in one, and good value for the modest price.
   
   I began reading this book reluctantly as part of the research for my Storyteller series, because Columba's life (521?-597) spans the period of my stories. I expected a dry, boring read: I was wrong. The introduction is interesting and well-written, with a large amount of helpful historical detail about the people and customs of this period, and the Life itself is lively and entertaining. Columba and his monastic family were important figures in 6th-8th century Scotland and Ireland, and anyone interested in this period should know their acts and history. If you fall in this category, buy this book now and read it: at only $12, you have no excuse. Highly recommended.



2. The Penguin Classic edition of Adomnan's Life of St. Columba must rate as the modern standard of the life of this early Celtic saint. A new translation by Richard Sharpe of Wadham College, Oxford has as its goal to make the work by Adomnan understood in English. A very readable historical introduction of about 100 pages sets the scene for Columba, for Adomnan and for the early monastery in Iona. Sharpe sifts through the many layers of stories that have grown up over the many centuries and notes what we have real evidence for and not. Adomnan's text itself is about 125 pages and then there is over 140 pages of detailed notes on the text, followed by an extensive bibliography and index. To take it all in one would have to be very familiar to early Irish history but of course this is the source for much of that history.
   
   Whether one has been to Iona or followed the lives of the Northern Celtic saints in England & Scotland this work puts these stories in a living context. Adomnan was the 9th abbot of the monastery on Iona after Columba and wrote about 100 years after the saint's death. There is almost a sense of being present at the time of his stories about Columba and the monks and noted people of his times. With all the claims to veracity and eye-witness the hundreds of miracles that are related make one stop to think that perhaps these people experienced the interconnectedness of all life in ways beyond our experience today. This is an amazing story about a small out of the way place and a larger than life person. It is about real events that have had more effect on western history than we can probably imagine. It is almost forgotten to many and this new work (1994) may help bring it into our contemporary appreciation for the roots that made us who we are today.



3. What truly amazes me, are the number of Christians who read this stuff, and come away saying, "Well, it wasn't really like this. He (the author) made some things up..." This is absurd. At least have the courage of your convictions. If you're looking for hard core, empirical research on the life of Columba, then you don't belong in the Hagiography section. However, if you are a devotee of Columba, whether as a monastic looking for guidance, or a spiritual seeker "in the world", then this Life of the Saint is a wonderful guide to the spiritual life. All conceivable things are covered: how to embrace one's spouse when they're just not lovable, how to raise children, how to do business, how to work, how to pray, and last but not least, how to get outside of your laughable self for a change. Those who are seeking a "factual" account of this Saint are in the wrong place entirely, since they can't seem to discern that the monster of Lochness might in fact, be a spiritual metaphor. They also can't seem to accept the fact that the hagiographer is telling the truth, as he knew it, is further a monk, and who, even further, knows full well that "tall tale telling" is a DEADLY SIN! Why people assume that hagiographers are waxing poetic is bad scholarship and bad logic. Instead, let's simply read his account and see what we discover: A truly good, compassionate and humble man who discovered the secret of Life: Jesus Christ. And why? Because life in Christ is just plain fun! It's fun to overcome evil Druids with prayer, and it's FUN to have the victory in Christ. It's FUN to go around feeding souls and touching hearts like only Columba can!
   
   Eu'nan, the author, certainly isn't going to give you any "good reasons" or theories as to why his kinsman left the island. He says quite simply, "...he chose to be a pilgrim for Christ." How many Christians today can really make that simple and profound claim? He's giving you the soul of the Saint and you're wondering if he's telling the "truth"? The sooner we all understand this, the sooner we can all go have lunch. I like lunch. Columba liked lunch too and often relaxed the fast to accomodate guests. Let's read this book over lunch and you can have your people fax my people and we'll discuss it. Spiritual food always tastes better with real food.



4. A sweeping tapestry of the life and times, historically evocative and informative, but little available on Adomnan.



5. Richard Sharpe's version of Adomnan's Life of St Columba consists of three, roughly equal, parts - an introduction, the book itself, and a series of scholarly notes. My advice would be to read the book itself first, then delve back into the introduction, which gives a helpful background to the political, religious and social climate of the time. The appeal of Celtic Christianity, I suppose, is that it arrives with us largely unsullied by the development of modern, industrial civilisation. Where other denominations have grown up with us, maybe aged with us to become cynical and confused, Celtic Christianity remains untouched, almost child like. It appears to be a religion that is close to nature and simple, appealing to our concerns for the environment, peace and justice. And its art is cool. Perhaps, though, it makes more sense to see life on Iona in the sixth century as just simpler, but also tougher and harsher. Columba says goodbye to his horse when he's dying (ah, he loved animals) but he also provided a poor man with a magic pointed stick to provide him with regular food. He's also politically astute and vengeful (well, via the wrath of God). So no hippy then. Adomnan's book is essentially a case for St Columba the saint, with miracles, prophecies and angels, but precious little of what the man really thought. Richard Sharpe's book allows this to come through clearly, and reminds us of how little we know for certain about these times. Maybe that's why today we are tempted to inspire them with the beliefs we need to give us comfort.

5 comments about Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now.

1. There has been so much written about what Mr. McCartney did versus what Mr. Lennon did that we risk losing sight of the tremendous creativity that each spurred in the other. Mr. McCartney discusses the backstory behind a lot of the songs and what was going on in his life at the time, and what each song meant to the group as a whole. It is surprisingly candid and, as long as you remember that many of these memories were over a third of a century old when the book was compiled, I think it is as close to reality as anyone will ever get when it comes to who wrote what. In the end, though, the team was "Lennon/McCartney" and those two names guarantee a quality product. Does it really matter who penned what line, and when? This is a good book with Mr. McCartney's actual, and very extensive, recollections in it. It also functions as a nice reference if you want to look into the background of a particular song.



2. Barry Miles' biography of Paul McCartney (Many Years from Now) is distinctive from other Beatles's biographies for its detailed look at how all that iconic music came together. As one example, McCartney gives an insider's view of where he was and what he was doing when he composed "Here, There, and Everywhere," as well as the off hand remark that playing one particular chord led to "Fool on the Hill." Improvisation and luck appeared to have influenced so many wonderful Beatles' tunes. By the time you've finished Miles' book, you'll begin to wonder whether some higher power was also a Beatles' fan.
   
   Donald Gallinger is the author of The Master Planets



3. I picked up 'Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now' on Amazon. I wasn't sure if I was interested enough in McCartney/Beatles lore to slog through 600+ pages. However, it proved to be a compelling read, especially with McCartney's thoughts and opinions scattered throughout. McCartney proves to be an intelligent, thoughtful, regular bloke whose input is essential to understanding the times and the little band he was a part of.



4. A unique approach of combining both Miles and McCartney's first person perspectives on the events and personalities of the Beatles and their era. Especially informative on the London scene of 1960 as well as the collaboration between McCartney and Lennon. While it has been criticized as being a bit parochial for Paul, it is after all, his side of things. After all, Paul is one of the main reasons that the logo on your Mac computer is based on



5. No doubt this was a great book, a great source of information on Paul, and a must for any true Beatlemaniac.
   The pluses of this book:
   --The author was close to Paul beginning in 1964. I think he provides the right balance to all the events, and since he was in the artistic and musical circles the Beatles and the Stones were in, he's able to put press hype into perspective. There were several sides of stories I'd never before heard or considered, but his version is the best.
   --The author had unlimited interview access to Paul, and to his archives. The text is full of long quotes by Paul, describing in detail his memories of songwriting, touring, fame, daily life, and anything else you could want to know about. In this way, the book sort of has a special place as the "official" Paul McCartney biography. It would not be unfair to say that Paul was the main writer and source of information, and Miles was the ghostwriter, and provider of context.
   
   The minuses:
   --Boring/unnecessary sections. Other reviewers complain that there were parts that were very boring and unnecessary. I enjoyed the whole book, but I definitely do know what they're talking about. One chapter, "Up the Smoke," seems to be mostly devoted to name-dropping all the famous people the Beatles hung out with when they were 21 and first got famous. Miles goes to a great length to describe the London celebrity scene pre-rock-n-roll. The book talks about all these old radio stars they met, all the restaurants and nightclubs they went to, all the special treatment they got as stars, and all the other great things about their new lifestyle, then ends up saying that a lot of these old stars got put out of business because of the Beatles.
   Similarly, the chapter "Avant Garde London" spends a long time going over people's lives who seemed very tangential. After reading all of it (and it's not the first Beatle book I've read), I still don't know exactly who people like Robert Fraser, Peter Brown, and John Dunbar were or why they were important, but I see their names everywhere.
   --In the great Paul/John debate, the book always rules in favor of Paul, but that could only be expected. I've come to the conclusion that there are no clear answers as to who wronged who when the Beatles broke up, and most of it was nobody's (within the Beatles anyway) fault. Paul has a platform to defend himself in this book, and actually does a very fair job. I think he's the best steward of John's memory, and the way he talks about John and their friendship is a credit to both of them. Both John and Paul come off looking good. As Paul says in the book, he's got no reason to tear John down in memory, and he wants to present things as they truly were. He's got one advantage no other biographer has, and that was actually being one half of the friendship. Paul defends John when necessary, and is conciliatory about some of John's attacks.
   
   I definitely recommend it. Goes over every song, gives lots of interesting stories, and a clear start-to-finish review of the Beatles' career.