5 comments about Victoria's Daughters.

1. This book was not only arranged beautifully - managing to juggle the extensive years covered by its subkects - but also written beautifully. So many interesting anecdotes alongaide a real feeling for the people described. Being a huge afficiando of Queen Victoria's family, I was totally absorbed in its pages and as soon as I finished reading it, I returned to the beginning and read it again! I would like to read more by this author.
   
   Most Beautiful Princess



2. This story of the lives and deaths of Victoria & Alberts female children is written at a fast and furious pace, thus avoiding any hint of dullness. We are introduced to a world of splendour and wealth,but, also a world of human frailty. Victoria's mothering skills or lack of, are laid bare as are her relationships with each daughter.
   
   For anybody with the most basic interest in Royalty and how they live their lives, this is a must read.



3. I am a history buff. There is a great deal of written material on Victoria, but not so much on her children even though the family was part of some major historical events. Mr. Packard wrote respectfully and made each daughter come alive for me. The photos were the icing on the cake.



4. A very good biography on Queen Victoria's five daughters Victoria, Alice, Helena, Louise , and Beatrice. All five growing up under a domineering and interfering mother who was also queen which none of them were ever allowed to forget. Victoria grew up the favorite daughter while Alice became the more humble and more interested in helping others especially nursing. The youngest three found it more difficult to try and have their own marriages after the death of their father the last on Beatrice in particular ended up fighting over a year in order to get her marriage because her mother didn't want to lose her helper. In the end Beatrice got her marriage but was still not allowed to leave her mother's side as her mother's messager Beatrice was often isolated from her other siblings. In fact upon her mother's death didn't quite know what to do with herself. I enjoyed reading about their childhood especially. An excellent read.



5. Victoria's Daughters is so well-written and informative, I found it hard to put down. Jerrold Packard seems to strike just the right happy medium of having tons of information without going into too many unnecessary details. The book contains sometimes startling insights into the personalities and private lives of Vicky, Alice, Helena, Louise, and Beatrice that most biographers don't delve into. This is easily one of the best royal biographies I've ever read.

5 comments about Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II.

1. Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II by Charles B. MacDonald. I highly recommend Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II by Charles B. MacDonald. At just 21 years of age, Captain Charles B. MacDonald first commanded I Company, 3 Battalion 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division from October 1944 to January 1945 and later G Company, 2 Battalion 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division from March to May 1945. This memoir was written in 1947 when recollections were still sharp. It resulted in a very detailed account of what it was like to take command of a line infantry company and lead it into battle. The book gives us template for writing a personal military memoir.
   
   It is by far the finest memoir of any junior officer in World War II. Charles MacDonald does a great job of keeping his focus on his own experiences. He does not speculate or waste my time by giving conjecture on the big picture. We only have first hand information from the events of his personal participation. He sticks to what life was like for a junior officer in command of an infantry company, sleepless, hungry, dirty, stressful, and very dangerous. He takes us from the Siegfried Line in the Ardennes, through the Battle of the Bulge, and to the end of the war in the Czechoslovakia.
   
   This book is a must-read for all army officers who seek to command at company-level and it is informative for military historians as well. It is still required reading at West Point and on the company level officer (second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain) recommended reading list by the U.S. Army today. Upon this book's publication in 1947, Charles B. MacDonald was invited to join the U.S. Army Center of Military History as a civilian historian, the start of a career during which he wrote three of the official histories of World War II in Europe and supervised the preparation of others. The book is simply the best. Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler in June 2006.



2. I loved this book. It depicted the toil and drudgery of the WWII combat infantryman. There are no frills in this story, just the day to day experience of being on the spearhead of the Allied push into Germany. It portrayed the feelings and emotions of the men, in a very accurate light. I'm sure that there are people that will read this book and feel that they haven't been entertained. However, this book is not about entertainment. It is about the reality of the men that fought so unselfishly in the Ardennes Forest, and suffered intense hunger, cold (this was one of the coldest winters ever recorded in Europe), anxiety and fears. It also portrays the humor that existed amoung these brothers in arms. It is a great companion to Mac's other history, "A Time for Trumpets." Great, GREAT book! Thanks Mac!



3. In 1947 Charles MacDonald published Company Commander. It is his story of leadership under fire from the Siegfried Line to Czechoslovakia. In September 1944 Captain MacDonald was given command of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. The lives of nearly two-hundred men were his responsibility; MacDonald was twenty-one years old.
   
   MacDonald received his baptism of fire in a squalid, captured German pill-box part of the captured Siegfried Line his men were ordered to hold. Five days before the massive German attack in the Ardennes, MacDonald's 2nd Division was relieved by the 106th Infantry Division. As a result of the German offensive that began on 16 December 1945, two of the three infantry regiments of the 106th Division would be surrounded and captured.
   
   MacDonald's unit was moved north for an attack into, and through, the Siegfried Line aimed at taking the Roer Dams. The jumping off point for this attack was along the north flank of what was to become "The Bulge." On the evening of 16 December, MacDonald was ordered to quickly deploy with the other companies of 3rd Battalion to hold a vital crossroads "at all costs." Nobody knew it at the time but elements of two German Divisions, the 277th Volksgrenadier and the 12th SS Panzer, were headed for that crossroads.
   
   The 17th would witness concentrated hell in the forest in front of the crossroads. MacDonald's men held off six successive attacks by German infantry. The Germans got closer to the American foxholes with each successive attack. MacDonald's men were getting low on ammunition and had received no artillery support. Except for two M4 Shermans somewhere behind their position, I Company had no anti-tank defenses. At that moment five Tiger Tanks rumbled up the road. The German tanks began to systematically blast the Americans in their foxholes. After approximately thirty minutes of that I Company broke for the rear. The Shermans got two of the German tanks before being destroyed.
   
   MacDonald arrived at the battalion headquarters only knowing where a handful of his men were. As he states he was disgusted with himself feeling he had failed to hold the crossroads and by allowing many of his men to be killed or captured. He wondered if he would be court-martialed and if it would not have been better to have been killed in the battle. The first thing his battalion commander said to him was, "nice work, Mac." The 3rd Battalion had held the crossroads under impossible conditions just long enough for the 2nd Division's other regiments to get into position. MacDonald received the Silver Star.
   
   Richard E. Cowan was a machine gunner from M Company assigned to MacDonald's unit during the battle. For staying at his gun and covering the other men in their retreat, Cowan became the subject of both German infantry and tanks. Nevertheless, Cowan held his position and was the last man to pull back. He was killed the next day. For his efforts on 17th December he received the Medal of Honor.
   
   Jose Lopez, another machine gunner who was attached to the neighboring K Company, also received the Medal of Honor for his courage on 17th December. Fortunately, Lopez survived the war and lived to a ripe old age. Reading the award citations gives some indication of the ferocity of the German attack.
   
   A month later leading his company in a counterattack MacDonald was wounded. After two months of recuperating, MacDonald was given command of G Company of the 2nd Battalion of his old regiment. MacDonald led this company from the Rhine to Leipzig and into Czechoslovakia by the war's end.
   
   The book isn't all blood and gore there are moments of humor and dialogue right out of a movie. For example, MacDonald reports the following comments by his troops who had just witnessed a P-47 fighter-bomber attack on German positions:
   
   "Well, their work's done for the day," someone said. "Yeah," a mortarman answered, reaching for a shovel, "they'll go home now and have a short Scotch and a hot bath and shack up with some mademoiselle or some Limey wench. What a life!" "Yeah, and draw a double salary for it," a headquarters man put in. "That's the life for me." Willie Hagan said, "Oh, dry up. You never had it so good."
   
   In passing MacDonald notes that the 3rd Battalion surgeon was Edward T. Matsuoka of Honolulu. Matsuoka received his medical degree in 1941 and was awarded the Bronze Star for his efforts during the Battle of the Bulge.
   
   MacDonald was wounded on 17 January 1945. The final volume of the Green Series on the European Theater, The Last Offensive, takes off from around that time and concludes with the war's ending. This volume of the series was written by Charles B. MacDonald who retired as Deputy Chief Historian, U.S. Army in 1979. MacDonald also wrote or co-wrote two other books of the Green Series, The Siegfried Line Campaign and Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo, and Schmidt. He also contributed to Command Decisions.
   
   After retiring, MacDonald wrote A Time for Trumpets (note the title). This, I believe, was his last book. It is the history of the Ardennes Offensive and concentrates on the first two weeks of the struggle. Needless to say, this was a deeply personal work for him:
   
   "I approached the work with a kind of messianic zeal, for I wanted to tell the story to my own satisfaction (the battle had shaped my life, and I have always felt that I left a little something of me in the Ardennes)."
   
   This leads to the question, can someone with such an intense personal involvement write an objective history? I believe he did. It is the best work I've read on the battle (not that I have read them all). Perhaps, MacDonald had a personal need to understand what had happened and therefore, he wrote an honest account because of his personal involvement.
   
   The title of the work is of interest because of the ongoing debate about "Drums and Trumpets" military history that focuses on battles, leaders, weapons and campaigns and the future and direction of the field. This may be what MacDonald had in mind when he penned the closing paragraph of A Time for Trumpets:
   
   "Hitler saw the American soldier as the weak component (the "Italians") of the Western alliance, the product of a society too heterogeneous to field a capable fighting force. Bouck, Crawford, Tsakanikas, Umanoff, Moore, Reid, Descheneaux, O'Brien, Jones, Erlenbusch, Goldstein, McKinley, Mandichak, Spigelman, Garcia, Russamano, Wieszcyk, Nawrocki, Campbell, Barcellona, Leinbaugh. Black men, too, although their color was hardly reflected in their names. The heterogeneity was indeed there, but at many a place - at Krinkelt-Rocherath, at Dom. Butgenbach, in the Losheim Gap, behind the Schnee Eifel, at St. Vith, atop Skyline Drive, at the Parc Hotel, Echternach, Malmedy, Stavelot, Stoumont, Bastogne, Verdenne, Baraque de Fraiture, Hotton, Noville - the American soldier put the lie to Hitler's theory. His was a story to be told to the sound of trumpets."



4. An excellent book about the leadership of an army officer during the
   crucial battles that ended WWII in Europe. As an untested officer thrown
   into the Battle of the Bulge he performed magnificently. His mettle was sorly tested,and his humanity shone through. A very,very good read



5. Charles B. MacDonald wrote what it was like for a 21year old to command two infantry companies in WW2. He took notes along the way (I have a page of his notes that survived). They cover the capture of Hombressen in Germany. I also have the original typewriter on which he typed the manuscript of his book. I have trvelled the route he took in 1944/45 and found his descriptions of the various lovcations to be exceedingly accurate in every detail.
   
   Will Cavanagh

5 comments about The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Penguin Classics).

1. The Letters of Abelard and Heloise is an intense read. It is no doubt true that the staying power of these writings is owing to the soap-opera-like lives of its authors as well as the poetic and romantic language. This collection brings together Abelard's biography written to a friend, "The History of My Own Misfortunes" in which he divulges from beginning to end, all the drama surrounding his rise from philosophy student to a sort of Scholastic celebrity in Paris. The other part of this book is taken up by the personal letters between Abelard and Heloise, from which the reader discovers much about the relationship of a monk and nun who had a romance outdoing anything Shakespeare could have dreamed up for Romeo and Juliet. Their relationship became more formal for Abelard following his radical nighttime castration by Heloise's father. Heloise displays the passion with which she continues to love Abelard even though she joins a convent at his behest. Abelard's tone changes in his personal letters from what it was in his "History," yet Heloise never changes hers. She remains in love with him and lets it show in each letter to him. He takes on the role of a spiritual leader and writes to her instructions and answers to her questions, but he does not keep up with the romantic language as Heloise does.
   
   The value in this type of book, when the texts themselves are available for free download on the internet, is the translation, introduction and notes provided on the historical situation which allow the reader to enjoy it more fully. The translation and introduction done by the late Betty Radice in 1974, who succeeds in humanizing these two long dead authors so that their writings move the reader to an emotional reaction. The updated introduction added by M.T. Clanchy provides a clear look at what scholarship has done with Abelard and Heloise since Radice's book was first published. Her translation aids the reader's enjoyment because it contemporizes the language. The internet versions available are translated archaically due to the fact that those texts are in the public domain and therefore prior to about 1926, which makes it a slower read. This is not a book of theology, though Abelard was arguably the greatest theologian of the Middle Ages, but of real romance despite the star-crossed lovers' ill fated lives.



2. didnt read yet-will review later..have read a fictionalized account of their love affair-looking forward to reading their actual letters



3. Arrived in very good condition as promised.



4. This book was definitely thought provoking, or at least the parts I had to read for class were. I'm not sure if I would recommend it as a fun read. However, it was interesting.



5. Letter 1 (Historia Calamitatum), Abelard to a friend. You think you have it bad? Let me tell you about the mess I've been through and you'll feel a lot better (p. 3). Things were going great until the other professors realized I was smarter than they were and hated me for it. And then I met Heloise, and things really went downhill from there. Her looks were okay, and I'm a handsome dude, so I thought she'd be easy (p. 10). Her uncle Fulbert was an idiot to leave me alone with her (pp. 10-11). I was her teacher and she was just a kid, but I couldn't keep my hands off her. I slapped her around a little to make it look like I was teaching her and not doing her (p. 11). We went at it like rabbits. I knocked her up, she had a kid, and Uncle Fulbert made us get hitched. It was supposed to be a secret, but Fulbert started to spill the beans, so I put Heloise in a convent. That really pissed off Fulbert, so he made a steer out of me (pp. 16-17). Then I made Heloise take the veil, and I became a monk. Now I'm stuck in a hellhole of a monastery in Brittany with a bunch of thugs.
   
   Letter 2, Heloise to Abelard. I just saw the letter you wrote to your friend. Too bad things have been tough, but how come I haven't gotten a letter from you in over 10 years? I think about you all the time, you big stud. It makes me crazy. I'd rather be called your whore than your wife (p. 51). All the girls were jealous of me; we still sing your songs (pp. 52-53). I'd really like to get a letter from you, especially since it was your idea that I become a nun (p. 53). You were a real jerk back then when you waited to make sure I became a nun before you became a monk (p. 54). The least you can do is write.
   
   Letter 3, Abelard to Heloise. How am I supposed to know you wanted to hear from me? I figured you've had better things to do in the last few years than read my letters. Be a good sister and don't worry about me. But if I kick the bucket, bury me at the convent (p. 61).
   
   Letter 4, Heloise to Abelard. Don't talk that way! It makes me crazy to think of you dead. It seems especially unfair that Uncle Fulbert waited until after we were married to get the knives out. I loved doing the nasty with you. All I do is remember us getting it on. I can't even sleep (pp. 68-69). I really can't stand it.
   
   Letter 5, Abelard to Heloise. Black women are not as good-looking as other women, but they have nice teeth and soft skin - it's better to keep them behind closed doors, you know (pp. 73-75). Do you remember when I used to smack you around when you weren't in the mood (p. 81)? Quit your complaining. Let's write only about religious stuff from now on.
   
   Letter 6, Heloise to Abelard. Are there any loopholes in the Benedictine Rule for nuns?...

5 comments about Scars of Sweet Paradise: The Life and Times of Janis Joplin.

1. There are a whole bunch of biographies of Janis, including the well known Buried Alive, but this late comer published in 1999 appears to be the most even-handed, well-researched, and scholarly. In fact Alice Echols is a scholar of the 1960s (without any personal connection to Janis) so there is a lot of contextual information to put the period in perspective - I've probably learned more about the 1960s San Francisco scene in this book than anywhere else, it's worth reading for that reason alone.
   
   This is my first "rock-star biography", a genre I have avoided because of the groaning shelves of narcissistic "tell alls". I choose Janis to be my first (something she would have loved) after seeing a couple YouTube clips: one showing her singing "Ball and Chain" live, the other a TV interview at her Texas hometown high-school reunion. In these clips I saw a deep, complicated and obviously brilliant person, her charisma on stage was memorizing and off-stage equally so. For me she became more than a raspy-kinda-scary voice on the radio from another era, and I wanted to learn more about who she was, and why she had become so famous and died so young.
   
   Joplin's personality was a wild horse who kept on the move, never finding but always seeking a new home and greener pastures, running from her personal demons while embracing her desire for living life in the moment to the fullest. She drank heavily (Southern Comfort), f...ed thousands of guys and hundreds of women, got in fights with Hells-Angels, shot heroin and was a mainlining speed-freak. She was a vulnerable, loving and kind child from a well-off Middle Class suburban family. She was a walking enigma. Her origins are with the beatniks and folksie scene of the early 60s, she was never fully accepted in the San Francisco scene as a hippie, yet she is widely imagined as one of its founding mothers with her "Perl" costume of boa-feathers, clunky bracelets and lots of beads.
   
   In the end her death was no surprise even to herself, she put her body on the front-line of the cultural revolution pushing the boundaries forward on many fronts. It is unfortunate she was largely forgotten in the 70s and 80s but I think with historical reflection on the 60s her life will find more prominence - if nothing else than an archetype of a generation, but also for being ahead of her time as a woman rock star in a male dominated industry.
   
   Echols does a good job of balancing the exterior fame with the interior truths of Joplin, a psychological profile that will remind the reader of other people they know like her, it's believable because she seems so "normal" (in a somewhat abnormal way). I came away both with an intimate understanding of Janis and a much stronger sense of the 60s having seen it through the life of a single person who was a central catalyst.



2. If you want to know the basic facts about Janis Joplin's life and the cultural context in which she rose to fame and self-destructed, this book is perfectly adequate to fill you in. In some respects the book is quite exhaustive, especially in documenting Janis's relationships with various musicians and her series of bands. The author did a reasonably good job of showing how Janis fit in -- or didn't - with the cultural and political context of her day, and also gives some fun general background on the birth of the San Francisco rock scene. Most compelling was the author's description of Janis's tormented family life, and it was those sympathetic attempts to piece together her psyche that seem the most genuine. My complaint with the book is that the writing and editing are far from graceful. It reads more like an academic thesis, often dry, lacking in momentum, and wordy. I read a lot of biographies and I am sure it is very hard to write a good one, but it can be done. Writing about musicians is a special challenge because to really do it well requires deep knowledge and appreciation of the genre and a gift for metaphor. I found the musical criticsm aspect of the book particularly lackluster and it often sounded like the author was parroting others' musical opinions. The editing was a puzzle, too -- sometimes you would want more information on someone, sometimes there was just too much information. Not a page-turner, but I'm glad I read it.



3. An interesting read, both sad and sweet, about an interesting woman who lived during an interesting time in history. It lay heavy on my heart that such a tremendous talent as Janis, could never see it herself. This book would mean much to those who remember her and the time period. It would not mean much of anything to those who weren't part of those years.



4. I was never a big fan and I'm still not, but this well written bio seems to do full justice to its mythic subject. You don't hear Joplin much these days. Her voice is so over the top and she only managed to eke out three albums before she od'd on junk, so there isn't that much to hear. She didn't make it past 27, and it's no wonder, according to this account. She was either drunk or high most of the time. She didn't fit in in Port Arthur, Tx., but she did more than most of her generation ever managed. Bisexual and straight, Janis was a mess. You wonder where she'd be today if she'd lived. Of course, she'd never have been a misfit if she had been born a little later. Her quirks would barely register today. For that, in today's culture. Janis Joplin is probably one of the ground-breakers responsible.



5. This is my fourth biography I've read of Janis' and by far the most well-written and informative. Instead of being filled with personal judgements and opinions it seems to document the happenings in Janis' life and the lives of those around her in a very easy to follow manner. Lots of history about other San Francisco bands and connections in the music world. Photos are great!!

5 comments about Churchill: A Study in Greatness.

1. this book by geoffrey best will rank as one of the greatest book ever written about churchill full of wise summations and not too long thi work is recommended by the churchill society . for sure one of the very best one volume work



2. Best nos presenta una panorámica de la vida de Churchill. Algunos capítulos están mas inspiradoa que otros. Trata de mostrar una perspectiva imparcial del personaje aunque claramente se comprueba que le admira grandemente, pero no tanto como a su esposa Clementine. La extensión de la parte que corresponde a la segunda guerra mundial es mucho mas amplia (quizás la mitad del libro). Casi no responde las preguntas o dudas sobre asuntos controversiales que existen sobre la vida de este personaje.
   
   Como se comprende, al escribir sobre Churchill es necesario mostrar una parte de la hisoria de GB y del mundo pero esta se queda corta a veces para ayudar a comprender a cabalidad la circunstancias que rodearon a los hechos.
   
   En general el texto es bueno, muy bien redactado, fácilmente comprensible. Algunos artículos mas inspirados que otros pero todos interesantes.



3. A very readable book that provides balanced and insightful coverage of the whole of Churchill's life. I would highly recommend this book either to those who have not previously read much about Churchill or equally to those who have read other Churchill biographies or war histories and wish to take a fresh look. Of particular value is the way that the author take the occasional opportunity to dispel certain myths and revisionist ideas about Churchill.



4. Not a true biography but more than just a compilation of essays concerning Churchill's life and times, the author provides us with a 300+ page synopsis/chronology with a sprinkling of his thoughts, insights and conclusions. I found nothing new or "earth-shattering" here. On the other hand it makes a nice supplement, (i.e. much like Meachem's book on FDR and Churchill), to biographys/books I have read. If you are looking for a full-fledged bio start elsewhere, (Manchester or Gilbert), and if your interest is piqued as mine was, come back to this one.



5. A compact biography (384 pages) by Oxford Historian Geoffrey Best is far and away the best I have read on Churchill. The many facets of Churchill's life are covered in a series of essays from the author. Best summarizes Churchill's life with clarity and high degree of accuracy.
   
   If you're looking for a comprehensive study on Churchill, this isn't it. You won't find page after page of stilted verbiage here, but you will find a well written presentation of this fascinating man, perhaps the savior of England. If it is possible to write a detailed account of such a varied figure within the brevity of such a small volume, the author has done so admirably.
   
   Though the author clearly admires the subject, this isn't just another "I love Churchill" book. Best gives a fair and balanced account of many areas where Churchill may have erred, such as Gallipolli. The book is fair, and it is no-nonsense, to the point, without a lot of ambivalent inflection.
   
   I have a number of volumes on the life and times of Churchill. I may go to other volumes for research purposes, but this is probably the most enjoyable read I have encountered on the man.
   
   Monty Rainey
   www.juntosociety.com

5 comments about George Washington and Benedict Arnold: A Tale of Two Patriots.

1. If you want to have a history lesson, by a acknowledged expert, yet have it told in a spell binding manner that makes this book difficult to put down, order this book today!!! Additionally, if you plan to visit the battle grounds of our country's independence, get this book before you go!



2. Excellent piece of history -- incredible detail -- easy reading. Dave Palmer is a retired general and past supervisor at West Point. He is also a terrific speaker and a very ethical person. (Obviously, I have heard him speak, after which I bought the book).



3. Reading Palmer's great book made me think about today's events in Iraq. Those who don't read history believe that most events that occur are happening for the first time. They believe things have never been worse. As Palmer so eloquently writes, Washington had major problems in his execution of the war and had not only enemies on both sides, but cabals of fellow military men working for his defeat and wanting his job. Some of these narratives were revelations about our first president. He lost more battles than he won, the war was going terribly and the morale of his troops was so low they were loathe to re-up when the terms of their duty had expired. More than once he had to intervene to keep from losing troops to desertion. He acted firmly in handling all these obstacles and persevered to win the war and save the fledgling nation. There may not have been a CNN, MSNBC or NY Times working to bring him down. But, as Palmer tells us, there were many who published the most vicious things about Washington, and sometimes, directly to him, and wished him ill throughout the war. So, some things never change. Things go wrong in wars. People, including the Congress, carp and think they can do better. Washington had the character to see the plan through to its satisfactory ending. This in spite of having a "friend" like Benedict Arnold working eventually to defeat him and the rest of the new nation. Palmer's book serves as a defining account of the Revolutionary War and why George Washington deserves a day in his honor. It should never have been diluted into a "President's Day." Read the book and learn more than you've ever known about Washington, Arnold and the Revolutionary War.



4. I enjoyed this book for the good narrative that it is. Most of my pleasure came from learning the rough details of Benedict Arnold's treason. I had only known him as a traitor prior to reading this book, but had no idea that he was "America's Hannibal" prior to becoming a turncoat, nor was I aware of the reasons for his treason or the way in which he tried to execute it.
   
   The book is a quick, enjoyable, and easy read, which I am also grateful for, because if it weren't, I probably would have put it down and tried to find something more comprehensive on the subject of Arnold to read instead. I have never read a book on a subject such as this that contains no bibliography. Palmer includes a few suggested readings at the end of the book, but it is only about 10 books altogether, and two of them are prior works of his own.
   
   Even within the text, Palmer several times says something like "as a prominent modern historian says 'George Washington was...'"
   
   Well, who is the historian?!
   
   This unwillingness to cite anyone else within the text or in a bibliography really bothered me the whole time I was reading the book. The whole thing reads like something a high school student would turn in to his history teacher. The only difference between this book and the student's essay is that the book is nearly 400 pages long.
   
   There may be some very good reason for not including a bibliography or giving a prominent modern historian credit for his words in the text. I am not accusing Palmer of anything, only saying that these things bothered me quite a bit.
   
   Now, I will find some more books on Benedict Arnold to get the full story.



5. Gen. Palmer came and spoke to the Betty Martin Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution to review his book. We found out that every penny of profit that would be his is sent to fund Mt. Vernon, Washington's home. The book is an interesting contrast of two men with eerily similar backgrounds. Gen. Palmer contends that the difference in the outcome of the two lives is CHARACTER. Gen. Palmer is an excellent speaker. In his book, he presents a clear picture of the lives of these two very different men - each of whom played a major role in the foundation of our country. The character of the man determined the content of that role. I gave copies of the book as gifts at Christmas.

5 comments about Benjamin Harrison (The American Presidents).

1. BH and I share the same fraternity, so he is high on my list. Brief book, but a great example of a President overlooked due to his era.



2. Calhoun's biography came highly recommended by the staff at President Harrison's home and museum in Indianapolis. I found Calhoun's book to be concise and thorough. The author's self-confessed OCD is evident in the amount of footnotes included (more than most of the other American Presidents Series books I've read thus far). These footnotes, I must admit, inspired me to further reading on Harrison in early biographies by Harry Sievers. Calhoun's book is a great option for both the novice and the well-versed Harrison historian.



3. A new biography on Benjamin Harrison, our 23rd president, has been written by Charles Calhoun who is a professor of history at East Carolina University. Harrison is solely remembered now for being the one-term president who served between rival Grover Cleveland's two non-consecutive stints in office.
   
   Harrison was elected for one term in 1888 by defeating incumbent Grover Cleveland. He then lost to Cleveland four years later in a re-match over pretty much the same issues once the president's popularity dropped when the nation's economy tanked in a recession so he was shown the White House door by the voters.
   
   Harrison's time in the White House more resembles the tenure of George Herbert Walker Bush, our current incumbent's father, who was also a somewhat popular president yet got tossed out after one term when it appeared he was out of touch with the public. The younger Bush seemed to have learned the lessons from the defeat of Harrison, his father and other one-term presidents who lost their second term chances by making sure he attacked first on the issues in his re-election contest instead of being put on the defensive to criticism of his administration by Democratic candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election.
   
   Harrison grew up with privilege, just like the current officeholder, being the grandson of a chief executive and a descendant to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He ably served in the Civil War, then entered politics against the advice of his father to rise through the ranks of political positions until he was the Republican Party presidential nominee of 1888.
   
   That contest was a close race and Harrison won the electoral count for the win even though Cleveland actually got more votes from the public in the same manner the younger Bush did in his 2000 election triumph over Al Gore. And he took office with his party controlling both houses of Congress just like our current leader.
   
   But the Republicans of the late 1880's were complete opposites to the GOP politicians of today. Then, they were in favor of tariffs on imported goods from other countries to pay for government services. Today, they encourage open borders and the constant arrival of foreign-made products to power the economy and the elimination of all government interference in global commerce to the detriment of American manufacturers who must now compete with cheap labor outside our country and are forced to keep wages as low as possible to the American worker in order to stay in business.
   
   Most of the money coming into the U.S. Treasury in those years was through the fees raised by tariffs on those imports. Harrison campaigned in the 1888 election against Cleveland to keep those protective tariffs in place since there was no federal income tax on citizens to raise government revenues at that time. His strategy was successful and he defeated the first Democrat to be elected to the presidency since 1856. But things began to immediately go wrong for the Indiana politician upon arriving in Washington and taking the oath of office.
   
   Calhoun makes the argument that Harrison's presidency soured when he tried to please too many special interest groups of his own party as the nation had its first billion dollar peacetime budget and Harrison's Republican Party subsequently lost control of both houses of Congress in the 1890 mid-term contest as a result of voter dissatisfaction. An ill-advised attempt to annex Hawaii as part of the growing nation and the constant fighting between his administration and both parties in Congress led to his sliding popularity as his upcoming re-election approached.
   
   His opponent in the 1892 contest would be former President Grover Cleveland who was trying to win his job back. A lackluster campaign on Harrison's part plus the death of his wife two weeks before Election Day took away all of his interest in keeping the presidency so only got 43 percent of the vote and left office a dispirited man.
   
   Harrison paid the price from a scorned populace by trying to please too many special business interests when the country was becoming less agrarian and relying more on manufacturing to spur economic growth in order to compete with the other nations of the world.



4. Benjamin Harrison lived most of his adult life in Indianapolis, and his handsome brick Victorian home on Delaware Street has long been a memorial open to the public. Yet even the citizens of his hometown are vague on who he really was. Many confuse him with his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, "Old Tippecanoe" as he was called, who also served in the White House, albeit for only thirty days. Some see the signature of "Benj Harrison" on the Declaration of Independence and assume that the Indianapolis resident was in Philadelphia in 1776. If they only stopped to think, they would realize that the city of Indianapolis was not founded until 1821 and that their Benj Harrison was not born until 1833. The signer was the great-grandfather of the 23rd President. Charles Calhoun has done a scholarly job of helping stamp out the ignorance and confusion surrounding Benjamin Harrison, the last President to sport a beard and the first to decorate a Christmas tree in the White House. He and his wife Caroline were occupants of the Executive Mansion when electricity was first installed, replacing the gaslight fixtures. The old story goes that they were both afraid of the strange new utility and refused to touch the light switches. Harrison was the second shortest of our Presidents, coming in at 5' 6" and was affectionately referred to as "Little Ben" by the 1000 soldiers of the 70th Indiana Regiment who followed him into the Civil War. His bravery in battle was recognized by General Joseph Hooker ("Fighting Joe") who awarded Harrison a battlefield promotion to Brigadier General. Calhoun makes a good case that Harrison could be considered one of the earliest "activist" Presidents, long before Theodore Roosevelt became the poster boy for the position. He makes the point that Harrison's term helped to restore the power of the Presidency that had been nearly destroyed by the impeachment attempt on Andrew Johnson. Harrison surprised and irritated his own party when he bucked their directives and insisted that party hacks would not automatically get patronage. He wanted to make sure his appointees were qualified for their jobs. It sounds like a "no-brainer" today, but it was liberal thinking in those days. Six states came into the Union under Harrison, more than any other Presidential term. Oklahoma was opened for settlement, 13 million acres of land were put into reserve for national forests, the size of the Navy was greatly increased, and Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the McKinley Tariff. So it's not like nothing happened under Benjamin Harrison. Calhoun points out that Harrison often had to serve as his own Secretary of State as a result of frequent "illness" on the part of James G. Blaine, whose relationship with Harrison can only be described as "chilly." Toward the end of his term, in the midst of a re-election campaign, Harrison's beloved wife Caroline was dying of tuberculosis. He stayed at her bedside. "I was so removed from the campaign that I can scarcely realize that I was a candidate," Harrison wrote to one supporter. Two weeks after Caroline died in the White House, Grover Cleveland won another term. But it was just as well to Harrison. He wrote, "It does not seem to me that I could have had the physical strength to go through what would have been before me if I had been re-elected, with the added burden of a great personal grief." He returned to his beloved home on Delaware Street and resumed the job he really liked from the beginning - attorney at law. Charles Calhoun, a scholar of the "Gilded Age," provides a very readable account of a President who helped lay the foundation for the 20th century.



5. If you ask most people what they know about Benjamin Harrison they might tell you two things they remember from history class...that he was the grandson of a president (William Henry Harrison) and that his term was sandwiched in between the two non-consecutive terms of Grover Cleveland. Beyond that, Benjamin Harrison remains a mystery to most, but author Charles Calhoun has done a crisp and clear job of relating Harrison's life and term in office.
   
   This is the third of the American Presidents series I have read and I think that these books serve better in telling the stories of the more obscure presidents. The brief length of the Harrison book (as well as the ones I've read about Arthur and Harding) give just enough overview regarding these men. They are nice "starter" books, which might, one would hope, prompt the reader to seek out deeper accounts of the lives of these presidents. That said, Calhoun's book offers a good flow of information. Harrison is usually rated in the middle of the presidential mix, and Calhoun creates no impression that Harrison should be moved up or down. He was a solid, if stoic president with some notable legislative accomplishments. While never rising to the stature that a more forceful president might have, Harrison nonetheless fought for rights of blacks to vote and was keen on providing a pension for Union veterans of the Civil War. It was fascinating to read that Frederick Douglass said of Harrison, "to my mind, we never had a greater president". That's certainly high praise coming from one of the leading abolitionists of the nineteenth century and a man who knew Abraham Lincoln personally. Harrison had a few challenges abroad, but his four years were generally quiet as the country saw the passage of such landmark legislation as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Harrison's political problems as president seemed to stem as much from members of his own Republican party, especially his wily Secretary of State, James G. Blaine. Through a combination of forces against him, Harrison lost badly to Grover Cleveland in 1892.
   
   Calhoun tells of the president's dalliance with and subsequent marriage to his wife's niece, Mary (Mame) Dimmick...it's a colorful addition to the life of a pious president. The rift that this marriage caused seems never to have healed with his two adult children as Harrison died just five years after his second wedding.
   
   Benjamin Harrison may have been a footnote in history but Charles Calhoun has rightly written about him. After all, there have been only forty-two different occupants of the presidential chair...and Harrison was one of them. I recommend this book for its insight and easy narrative style.

5 comments about Ulysses S. Grant (The American Presidents).

1. Excellent for for those interested in our early history. Covers things you never hear about when it comes to Grant.
   
   Good Read!



2. Interestingly, the only five post-Lincoln US Presidents who have concerned themselves with Civil Rights (Grant, Harding, Truman, LBJ and Nixon) have ended their Presidencies rated by journalists and historians at the bottom of the list of Presidential greatness. To be sure, it wasn't civil rights that doomed their reputation, it was supposedly corruption (Grant, Harding, Truman and Nixon) or an unpopular war (Truman, LBJ and Nixon), but the corruption charges do not compare with the abuse of the FBI and the IRS by FDR and JFK, let alone the sale of military secrets and pardons by Clinton, and none of those Presidents seem likely to be tainted. And Truman's war had a happy ending while Vietnam was not the fault of either LBJ or Nixon. So their bad reps are something of a mystery.
   
   Only slowly have they recovered their reputations. First it was Harry Truman who leaped from the lowest Gallup poll ratings in history to the status of "Near Great", helped by his oral histories and a Broadway show. Ever since Frank Scaturro's groundbreaking work, President Grant Reconsidered, Ulysses S. Grant has seemed next in line for promotion.
   
   Josiah Bunting's inclusion in Arthur Schlesinger's American President series should be welcomed as the establishment's acceptance of a more favorable view of President Grant. Arthur Schlesinger, whose "greatness list" perpetuated the sour rankings of the civil rights Presidents for many years, was the general editor of the American Presidents Series and he has generally chosen establishment, orthodox, mildly leftist authors for the series who can be counted on to say nothing that will challenge the established order or, indeed, have anything novel or interesting to say.
   
   That Schlesinger chose Josiah Bunting, the highly respected general and scholar, is a different matter. Gen. Bunting has written a concise and highly recommended defense of Ulysses Grant, building on Frank Scaturro's work and humanizing Grant in the process. There are the occasional typos, but that is to be expected in American publishing these days. What Bunting does is show just how far thinking and compassionate Grant was with enlightened views toward international affairs, civil rights, civil service, the claims of native Americans and economic matters. He also shows that the scandals were less his Administration's fault than they were those of Congress.
   
   I fault him only on his focus. Only sixty pages out of less than 160 are devoted to his Presidency and fifteen of them to Grant's first inauguration, his cabinet choices and the Black Friday gold panic. Only six pages are devoted to the second administration (although, to be fair, some of Grant's actions from 1873 to 1877 are covered in thematic chapters devoted to subjects such as Reconstruction and Indian Affairs). The Colfax Massacre and Grant's willingness to prosecute the murderers right up to the Supreme Court don't get a mention.
   
   The result is that this is a first rate introductory biography of Ulysses Grant, highly recommended to anyone who is interested in, but ignorant of, the man, but as a history of the Grant Administration, we will have to wait for the second volume of Brooks Simpson's biography of Grant.



3. Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but there's a story there, as summarized in this work) was to ascend to the highest ranks in the hearts of his countrymen--from commanding general of the Union forces to President of the United States.
   
   His rise to such positions seemed most unlikely to those who knew him in the years after the Mexican War. He grew up in Ohio and, through happenstance, ended up at West Point. He completed his studies, ranking in the middle of the pack in his class. He was noteworthy for his skills as a horseman and for his mathematical ability. His performance in the Mexican War was very strong. In the process of his tour of duty, he served under both Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, and learned considerably about what makes a general. Thereafter, he had a series of postings leaving him isolated and sometimes "on the bottle," where he developed a reputation as a drunk.
   
   There follows the familiar story of his departure from the army, failed effort after failed effort at creating a solid economic grounding h=for his family. As the Civil War opened, while he was working in the family store in Galena, Illinois, he served as an officer as civilian military units were formed.
   
   After that, his meteoric rise in the Army--from regiment command to commanding general of all Union forces. In between, he displayed the ability to win battles that often led other generals to retreat. In the process, Americans had come to respect him as the war closed.
   
   The book chronicles his disagreements with Andrew Johnson's policies after Lincoln's assassination. Then, in 1868, Grant was nominated by the Republicans for president. This book takes a hard look at his presidency--the good, the bad, and the ugly. There were some important contributions--despite faltering, he did try to support the newly won rights of former slaves; he also supported humane treatment of Indians (even against the wishes of his top lieutenants--William Sherman and Phil Sheridan). But his economic policy contributed to the Panic that engulfed his second administration. His blind eye toward corruption of some of his colleagues does him no honor in history. There were also some foreign policy successes, to round out the picture.
   
   And, his final years, in which he courageously tried to provide for his families' economic security.
   
   All in all, another good entry in this series of brief biographies (155 pages of text, with a useful chronology following the text). As always, if one wishes a quick and accessible view of this American president, this book will do nicely. And, even though this book is brief, the author pouts Grant's performance as president in a nice context.



4. While Bunting does a creditable job of presenting an accurate chronology of Grant's career, the concise format leaves minimal opportunity to examine motivations and nuance of the many facets of the general and president. Those interested in Grant and the Civil War /post-war reconstruction will find this a worthy starting point only - for a more insightful examination the next step would be Grant's autobiography itself. Do not choose this text for coverage of the Civil War engagements to any extent. Bunting has delivered a well-written but terse overview of an impossibly complex character and time in American history.



5. The short volumes in the American Presidents series offer an outstanding way for readers to get reacquainted with American history and with our Nation's leaders. Each volume is written by a scholar who brings his or her own perspective to the subject, focusing on the factors that make the president in question worth knowing and remembering. In this volume of the series, Josiah Bunting III offers an admirable and challenging portrait of U.S. Grant (1822 -- 1885) who served as the eighteenth president of the United States (1869 -- 1877). Bunting is a former army officer who served as the superintendant of the Virginia Military Institute for many years. He offers a reappraisal of the Grant presidency in this volume, in company with some other contemporary scholarly reassessments.
   
   As Bunting emphasizes, Grant has suffered from cliches both as General and as President. He is frequently castigated as a "drunk" (Grant did indeed have problems with alcohol early in his career) and as a "butcher", in spite of the extraordinary strategic skill he displayed in the Vicksburg campaign, at Fort Donelson, in crossing the James River en route to Petersburg, and elsewhere (and in spite of the relatively low casualty rates, overall, of the armies under his command). In his presidency, Grant is often found at the bottome of the various rankings, primarily due to the corruption that ensued during his administration.
   
   Bunting's book offers a brief portrait of Grant's early life and a good brief summary of his accomplishments during the Civil War. He also offers a brisk account of Grant's activities during the four years between Appomattox and Grant's own election to the presidency, focusing on his increasingly strained relationship with Andrew Johnson and his eventual rejection of Johnson's lenient policy of Reconstruction. This pivotal period of Grant's career is frequently overlooked.
   
   But the focus of the book is on Grant's presidency. Bunting properly points out that with the exception of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, no person faced greater challenges than did Grant in assuming the executive office. The country was seriously divided over Reconstruction, with the seemingly intractable goals of restoring the Union on the one hand and protecting the rights of African Americans on the other hand. Bunting praises Grant for the efforts he made to protect the rights of the freed people. With substantial justification, Bunting says that Grant's efforts were the strongest made by an American president until the mid-20th Century. Bunting also praises Grant for pursuing a relatively humane policy towards the Indians, for his courageous veto of inflationary paper money legislation in 1874, and for his calm and principled stance during the Hayes-Tilden controversy in the presidential election of 1876.
   
   Bunting does not overlook Grant's deficiencies as president, but I think he tends to downplay them. He acknowledges a substantial degree of moral obtuseness in Grant, if not personal culpability, in the manner in which the President responded to the scandals which plagued his administration. Grant showed a high degree of cronyism while in office and a tendency, derived from his success as a general, to be peremptory in has actions and judgments. On several occasions, Grant's policies and inactions led to economic difficulties, including the severe depression of 1873. Even in the area of Reconstruction and civil rights, Grant frequently compromised his efforts due to political considerations. And he was aware that the military presence in the South and the agressive Federal efforts to protect the rights of the freed people would need to end, due to lack of support in the nation, if not during his administration, then in the administration of his successor.
   
   Grant remained a revered figure during his lifetime. He probably could have been elected to a third term in 1876, had he wished, and he narrowly missed a renomination for president in 1880. Grant's Memoirs of his Civil War and Mexican War experiences, which he wrote towards the end of his life, is a classic of American literature.
   
   I think historians will debate the extent to which Bunting's work, and similar studies, serve to rehabilitate the presidency of Grant. But clearly, Bunting offers a fresh and thoughtful approach which will serve to modify the stereotypes that many informed Americans carry about him. Bunting's book offers a good introduction to a great, if enigmatic, American and to his difficult presidency.
   
   Robin Friedman

5 comments about The Civil War Diary Quilt: 121 Stories and The Quilt Blocks They Inspired.

1. This book is so gorgeous. Have inside many stories about the women and yours blocks while waiting yours husbands was in the civil war. Beautiful histories and the blocks of each, with colours . Very good.



2. The thoughts and daily activities of several civil war era women both very young and very old of varring religious beliefs and backgrounds. This book is a nice read on a cold afternoon snuggling up on a couch or as a less time consuming interest book. I was personally surprised and delighted to hear of my old hometown mentioned within it;(Coldwater, Mi). Connections to your own past may be here and you may feel it is so to hear of one writer, a bridesmaid to General Custers wife or of a small child crying for her brother not to go off to war who was then lost, finding a link to her brother so many years later. Read how farmers' of many places were forced to take in soldiers first from one side, then from another to feed them and their animals and put them up for the night. (200 soldiers just popping in at dusk) and of their dangers they faced closer to Virginia that they were. Included in between the diary pages, seperating authors diary entry pages from each other are themed quilt pieces with instructions and templates on how to make them, including a doll dress design at the back.



3. This was a very interesting book. I find this time in our history rich. The stories are compelling and touching. I have become interested in quilts of this era and have began to do some piecing that reflect this period I was very excited to find this book for its patterns as well as it rich historical content.



4. I collect quilt history books and "The Civil War Diary Quilt" book is an excellent addition to my collection. The diairies are priceless pieces of our nation's history and I feel an emotional attachment to each one of the writers. The title of this book is misleading, however, because the main theme is not a quilt pattern, but the fantastic collection of diaries. Don't get this book if you want patterns - buy it for the wonderful history.



5. This is a lovely book but not as good as i thought it would be. I have wanted it for over one year and now that I have it, realise I could live without it. The illustrations and overall appeal ie. colour, setout and feel are lacking. Not a really appealing book in my opinion. Overall it is a lack-lustre offering. Some good facts re: real life stories from the Civil War however.

5 comments about The History of Browning Firearms: Fortifications Around the World.

1. The story of John Moses Browning and his inventions.
   It gives a clear look on his live, and on his arms.
   Most of his inventions are still in use today.
   A must have for the one who is interested in the development of the fire arms from the single shot breech loader up till the modern fire arms of the 2000 century



2. This book has some okay pictures and covers the major milestones of Browning, but there were inaccuracies which seem to make the remaining information suspect. For example, one old photograph in the "Shotguns" chapter directed the reader to notice a particular type of shotgun in the hands one of the hunters in the picture. Unfortunately, the individual in the picture is clearly in possesion of a Remington Model 81 rifle. I sent this one back and am still looking for a more reliable and authoritative guide to Mr. Brownings legacy.



3. Very interesting book about the greatest gun designer ever lived.
   As engineer and owner of a 1911 I found this book very interesting. This is a kind of history lesson I like!



4. David Miller, the author of this excellent book, is a former British military officer and writer for Janes and other military publishers. His expertise, graceful style, and thorough research are attractively packaged in this beautifully illustrated book on John M. Browning and the firearms he designed.
   
   The book itself has the slick eye-appeal of something designed for a coffee table and its photography is first-rate and full color. In fact, it's almost too pretty to take very seriously.
   
   The narrative, however, is worth the price of the book. Miller has covered all his bases in his research, from the LDS archives in Salt Lake City, Utah, to the factory archives of FN in Herstal, Belgium.
   
   Miller does an impressive job of combining a biography of John M. Browning with a description of the family of firearms he designed, including a couple (like the M-2 .50 caliber machine gun) which are still in use today by American soldiers their allies around the world today. Browning was a patriot and would doubtless be pleased to know the high regard in which some of his firearms are held by American soldiers, police officers and sportsmen.
   
   I enjoyed this book and gave it five stars. If you're interested in firearms and their development, or in Browning's designs, you will like this book. The only thing it lacks is a good bibliography.



5. The Browning gun design firm was influential in the field of American firearms ever since it was founded in Utah in 1855. For the most part, the history of Browning Firearms is about the founder's son, John Browning (1855-1926), who came into the business in the latter 1800s and headed it for decades until his death. John sold designs for hundreds of firearms to companies which then manufactured them in quantity. Because of the popularity of the Browning firearms both in their design and performance, copies of them were produced by other manufacturers; but these were inferior to authentic Brownings. Beyond the pistols, rifles, and shotguns familiar to many, Browning designed machine guns and automatic rifles for the military since the 1890s, and also knives for outdoorsmen. A complete, mostly photographic, introduction to the history of the famed Browning Firearms and the variety of its products.