5 comments about London: The Biography.

1. I've only had the opportunity to spend a few days in London, so I can't claim to know the city well. But, says Ackroyd - himself seemingly a lifelong Londoner, it's been centuries since anyone can claim to really know the city. His bibliographic essay notes there are at least 21, 778 works on the city, and he doesn't claim to have read them all. Still, he has overturned a fair sized library for this book , added some personal observations, and produced an impressionistic, kaleidoscopic book.
   
   Ackroyd eschews a straightforward chronological history. There are sections on London from its beginnings to 1066, medieval London, the Great Fire, Victorian London, and the city's destruction in the Blitz and its later rebuilding. But most of the book is essay like chapters built around themes covering every aspect of London life from its Underground and buried past to its notorious fogs and smogs, its wildlife and street life, markets illicit and licit, disasters and buildings, festivals and executions. And it's not exactly a celebration of the city. Again and again he returns to the metaphor of London as prison. The exemplar here is Jack Sheppard who escaped from London prisons six times. Yet, he never left the city for more than a few days even though it cost him his life.
   
   London as theater is Ackroyd's other metaphor. It extends far beyond the literal stage to the garb of its inhabitants or the speeches of the soon to be hanged at Newgate. London, emphasizes Ackroyd, is a great commercial maw. All has been subsumed in trade at one time or another from the goods of empire coming in at the Thames docks to the sewer hunters and mudlarks scouring muck for treasures. Men, women, and children all played their roles. Even would-be rebels became a trade in Carnaby Street.
   
   One of the most fascinating things in the book is Ackroyd's frequent quotes from foreign visitors. Yoshio Markino, a Japanese painter, noted that the garish colors of London's buildings became beautiful when seen in a fog. Dostoevsky remarked on Londoners haste to drink themselves insensible. (After reading the book's accounts of London riots and drinking, one is tempted to see some modern London problems as a return to some sort of default state for the city.)
   
   How certain London neighborhoods have long been associated with certain acivities is also well told by Ackroyd. He not only talks about the famous Soho but Clerkenwell as well. The latter has, for centuries, been associated with religious heretics and revolutionaries. (Lenin lived there for a time.) And the same neighborhood has a long tradition of clockmaking. (Perhaps explaining why Hiram Maxim worked on his machine guns there.)
   
   Given Ackroyd's many books on literary figures, quotes from British literary figures are to be expected. (Ackroyd notes that it is exceptional for them not to have a London connection.) Dickens, Defoe, Smollett, Milton, Boswell, Orwell, and Wolfe all had things to say about London in essays, letters, and fiction. The literary minded reader may be tempted to make a game of remembering relevant quotes and writers not in the book.
   
   As well as being associated with literature and the capitol of empire, London's bustle helped develop the theories of Darwin and Engels - though Ackroyd asserts this in passing without much proof. The instrument makers of London were crucial to developing the science of the Enlightenment.
   
   There are three minor quibbles with the book. Some of the anecdotes do get repeated though not many in a book so long. Second and more seriously, Ackroyd exhibits some unquestioned pieties. Seeing the poor as diseased and dirty is not a totally groundless stereotype. Mental illness can underlie all three conditions as well as less pathological mental traits. And Ackroyd, in a section on immigrants to London, makes the lazy analogy that complaints about today's immigrants are the same - and equally groundless - as those of the past. That ignores the numbers and cultures of Britian's current immigrants and the corrosive effects of modern transportation and communication on assimilation. One wonders, now that Islamic terrorism has made its way to Britain and sharia law can be enforced by the state, if he feels the same eight years after the book was published. The third quibble is that sometimes Ackroyd thinks he is describing a unique trait of Londoners when it's really more universal. For instance, in what city aren't children attracted to dangerous and forbidden places?
   
   Still, this is a remarkable book in its variety, and it almost never bores despite its length. Anybody interested in one of the great cities of the Western Mind will want to read it.



2. Meet the family of characters and events that go to making up the world's most easily recognised name . This book invites you in and sits you down , to eat of the feast of interesting and intriguing characters that are London .



3. This book was fantastic. I could hardly put it down. Since I'm a history buff and London is one of my favorite cities, reading this book was a real treat.



4. This 773-page book is a good 500-page history waiting for an editor.
   
   Too much rambling and philosophizing without enough history and geography.
   
   About 300 pages in, the reader begins to realize that Ackroyd is never going to settle down to writing enough history or geography to make the subject really meaningful, and begins to feel cheated by this unnecessary waste of time.
   
   It should have been better.
   
   Ackroyd also edited a set of photgraphs of Dickens' London: An Imaginative Vision



5. This book is at times very interesting. At times it is a chore to wade through the attempts to link places and times throughout history. The author really reaches for connections through history as if making them is the only point of the book. I wonder if he was just trying to find something to link the various subjects so that the book didn't feel completely disjointed. The organization by theme instead of chronology sometimes gives the book this feel. I personally liked that it was not a simple chronology, however.
   
   Some of the other reviewers have mentioned the lack of maps. I can't stress enough the need to have some on hand while you are reading this book! If you are genuinely curious you will find it maddening not be able to see the streets and places so picturesquely described.
   
   Having said all of that, I have certainly learned quite a bit. The poor are often not much recorded in history and there is a lot to be found about them in this book. Certainly, the poor are discussed far more than the wealthy, but their numbers and thus their impact was greater.
   
   Ultimately, this book is like an impressionist painting. If you look at the details it doesn't always seem clear. But the whole is an intriguing image of a massive and ever changing subject.

5 comments about Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman.

1. Sarah Morgan is the real Scarlett O'Hara. As the world as she had known it crumbled to ashes around her, she had hardships she had never even dreamed of in her upper class society before the War. She knew nothing of the harshness of slavery or of the stuggles of others outside her own crumbling world. It is a beautiful narrative, an historical treasure and she is a gifted writer beyond her years. The description of the death of her father brings me to tears every time.



2. This is a very interesting view of the Civil War. I always thought that my children were the "ME" generation. Maybe I was wrong, the young upper-class in the South were also a "ME" generation. From the research I have done this was wasn't the general case. Just like the young Confederate soldiers had to learn to be a good soldier, the Southern belles were also forced to grow up and do what was needed to survive the war. I am sure there were some that continued to be spoiled, but they were in the minority. By Ruth Thompson author of "Natchez Above The River" and The Bluegrass Dream"
   
   Qualifying Laps: A Brewster County NovelSins of the Fathers: A Brewster County NovelTravelersWriting as a Small Business Natchez Above The River: A Family's Survival In The Civil WarThe Bluegrass Dream: A Wilderness Adventure of Early Settlers



3. The other reviewers said it all and in the length of this book there's time for agreeing with all said at one time or another. For someone who will never be part of that "set" I found it fasinating to see into the mind of one of them and especially in that time period. A quick read even for all the pages unless you really want to pay attention to the history. I have little to no interst in the history but found Sarah so interesting I wanted to read more about her. I loved the way she articulated what she perceived, and thought it a good lesson in journaling. I especially enjoyed her standards, such as her explanation of why she wouldn't allow a male friend to kiss her or her dreading the arm of a gentelman around her waist as he helped her off a carriage, a bit much, even her beloved family memebers didn't agree with her, but I found myself wishing todays society had a bit more of that modesty.



4. Well, I never thought I'd be writing one of these, but the last two reviews, being grossly unfair, inspired me. I read Sarah Morgan's diary about two years ago, so this is coming from memory. Whatever one may think of Ms. Morgan as a person (and judging her from contemporary standards would surely be a mistake), she was for her age extremely well-educated and articulate. Her prose is, in comparison to most today, exceptional (again, especially for her age). The same can be said of her insight (which, of course, for any person of her age, is by no means beyond reproach). Aside from constituting a valuable guide to the mind of a young southern woman during the Civil War, her story (which is anything but dull) provides historical context and perspective to the union army's ascent up the Mississippi. Without knowing something of this military campaign, I can see how another reader might not enjoy her diary. Lastly, Ms. Morgan was truly a feminist -- a word I do not particularly care for as it seems to overly excite some and unduly offend others. She was, like most women of her time, a product of a male-dominated society. She questions this society in her diary and, if I recall correctly from the preface, led her later years in a way most feminists of today would be proud. Nothing but enjoyable reading here.



5. So far I am enjoying the diary of Sarah Morgan, it is my opinion that Scarlett O'Hara was patterned after her. Her writing is very interesting without being droll or boring.
   And as a Civil War reenactor with a Southern character, it is helpful learning how the women of the south felt and what they did while enduring the hardships of the war. Having to leave your home and all the worldly things that we all hold so dear was a hardship for many of them. Thank goodness for those who were successful in hiding family heirlooms and whatnot to pass down through the generations. It really was horrible how the "Federals" (Yankees) destroyed there homes just for the spite of it.
   The long and short of it is; I am enjoying the diary very much and learning another stitch in our history.

5 comments about Johannes Brahms: A Biography.

1. I wonder how Brahms would have compensated for the defeat to his friend's wife - Clara Schumann. Although lively attention to details was a notable characteristic of the German woman, pianist and composer, her love to the sentiments of her husband - the German composer Robert Schumann - was, at times, so shallow as to miscalculate Robert's perturbation with Brahms's apathy.
   How could Brahms, having degenerated to low stage, get over the perfidy of his feelings for the woman who was fourteen years his senior (and who also raised seven children)?
   Brahms could find no strength in a faith in the after-life; he remained peculiar, having sneering disbelief about human relationships, though devoted to his true friends and to Robert Schumann in particular.
   While there are grounds for believing that he had anxious feelings about the strength of his own passions, he was denied the excitability for happiness in love ... On the face of it, Brahms was soulfully devoted to Clara Schumann and regarded Robert with the utmost respects. Clara cordially returned and her emotions remained held in careful control. ""Yet the profound seriousness of his temperament demanded a philosophy; above all, if Death was no longer accepted as the gateway to eternal life for the righteous, what was its meaning?"" Those were his words
   Yet Brahms remained 'the confirmed bachelor''
   With women, Brahms's approach was destined with indecision of purpose.
   
   Brahms gave us medley of music; conscious of the shadow of the dead, Ein Deutsches Requiem {1867/8} is one that represented heavenly masterpiece as if to seek pardon in humble supplications like the sinner who renounces lifelong bad habits when in extremity of pain.



2. What a wonderful biography. Brahms' dealings with Clara Schumann, Joachim, and other friends is studied in fascinating detail through meetings and letters -- an intimate portrait of personal relations, desires and fears, quiet joys and resentments, etc., all as absorbing as a Henry James novel.
   
   Meanwhile, Brahms' incomparable music is a life of its own, and we are treated to the master's views of it, as well as those of contemporaries and the author. The author's assessments seem to me almost unerringly valid. (Take, for example, his lofty praise of Gesang der Parzen, an underheard choral masterwork, or his concession that the Double Concerto, a concert standard, is on a less than inspired level.)
   
   Add to this the author's occasional shift of focus to the Austro-German culture in which Brahms lived, in retrospect an even more remarkable time and place, where music was valued to a rare degree, and where ideas and events -- artistic, philosophical, political -- were poised to take momentous turns. Fascinating, even haunting, stuff, and all the more appropriate for discussion as these were issues about which Brahms had much concern in his later years.



3. This is a great story about a great composer. The book tells his life story, and highlights many of his great works. Within this biography, the book also mentions the interactions, disagreements and perspectives of the different composers of the late 19th century - Liszt, Wagner, Schumann, Bruckner, Mahler and of course Brahms. From that perspective, it is not only a biographry of Brahms but in some ways a history of classical music in that period. In my opinion, Brahms was the best composer of the group, and this book highlights why he was. It focuses on many of his great compositions, even providing the major musical notes for key parts of a composition. For example, in what is arguably his best work, the 4th symphony, this book spends four pages on the last movement of this symphony, a very powerful cantata and chaconne that Brahms brought to the symphony. This form, according to the book, derives from the Baroque period and Bach has a great similar work with the violin. Brahms took it a step further and using the whole capabilities of the symphony orchestra, weaves this concept into a very powerful piece of music. Since reading these four pages, I've developed a greater interest in this movement and in the 4th symphony in total. It is a beautiful powerful work and this book provides a beautiful perspective of this work. The same is true for all of the book. It has given me a better perspective of Brahms and classical music. For this reason, I highly recommend this book.



4. I have never heard a piece of music by composer Jan Swafford, but if he composes as well as he writes, his music should be stimulating indeed. Some reviewers have called this book hard to put down, a page-turner. I found it so. Part of its interest lies in Brahms himself; any book that purports to shed even a bit of light on so enigmatic a figure would cause one to turn pages in hopes of illumination. But I can imagine, too, a very dull book about Brahms. Well, there are few dull pages among the 600+ in Swafford's biography. As is now de rigueur in good modern historical writing, Swafford creates a judicious blend of primary-source material and commentary thereon, along with a rich store of anecdotes told in his own fine, writerly voice.
   
   Musical analysis is treated in such a way that the amateur musician, and even the musically challenged, will not be put off. In all cases, Swafford demonstrates well one of his chief theses--that Brahms was the most Janus-like of the great nineteenth century composers. He looked back all the way to Renaissance masters, assimilating their contrapuntal styles in ways beyond anything that Beethoven, Mendelssohn, or Schumann had done before him. Yet he so thoroughly anticipated the ambiguity of tonality and rhythm in twentieth-century music that Schoenberg could, long after Brahms's death, speak of "Brahms the Progressive."
   
   But there is much more than musical analysis in this book. There is a thorough investigation of the many dualities in Brahms's nature: Brahms the generous, Brahms the curmudgeonly; Brahms the respecter of (intellectual and artistic) women, Brahms the misogynist; Brahms the romantic, Brahms the classicist; Brahms the sentimentalist, Brahms the cynic; Brahms the self-effacing, Brahms the monumentally egotistical. Swafford presents them all in their staggering incompatibility. And while Swafford himself admits that no one can ever quite hope to reconcile all these manifestations or indeed fill in the gaps in a life that the composer himself hoped to keep mostly a closed book, he comes close to making this great study in contrasts that was Brahms into a flesh-and-blood individual whose most mystifying acts seem almost comprehensible because we have seen him in action in similar contexts. By an exhaustive examination of the primary literature and shrewd speculation based thereon, Swafford builds a picture that convinces. He can't make us always like Brahms or even sympathize with him, but we come to understand him better through Swafford's portrait than we ever thought we could. That is some accomplishment.
   
   Beyond this are the passages in which Swafford speaks of musical and indeed cultural history after Brahms. The epilogue to this book, in which the author traces Brahms's paradoxical legacy through the great century of change since his death, should be mandatory reading for all students of culture in the West.
   
   Are there flaws? Yes. Some parts of the book show haste while others show careful crafting. In a work this large, that is to be expected. And Swafford overuses the word "magisterial." This may describe Brahms to a tee, but so, I hope, do a few other adjectives. Small gripes? Small indeed, given the wealth of insight and reading pleasure that Swafford provides here. I'm ready for his biography of Ives!



5. Mr.Swafford did excellent jobs in dissecting and analyzing major symphonic works without sounding pedantic and dry. However, I wish he had invested more ink on the other major orchestral works such as Piano Concerto no.2 and the Violin Concerto, two of my favorites, like he did Piano Concerto no.1 and the symphonies and variations, etc. On the late concertos he merely described the circumstances surrounding their creation and barely touched on structural analysis.
   
   Other than that, the book is very detailed and enjoyable to read. It sheds a lot of light on the human side of the composer and his friends, and thus makes these historical figures come back to life. At several instances I was so touched by Swafford's writing that I almost shed tears. Reading this book has been an emotional journey for me, and I rank it as my favorite book on music and musicians. Very touching! I love it!

5 comments about Abigail Adams: A Biography.

1. The author attempts to pull together from principally Abigail's letters and some of her sister's Mary Cranch - and not enough from others - a discerning portrait of this extraordinary woman in American history. In this sense the effort falls short. Abigail without John Adams or vice-versa leaves too much out of the story...an important story that needs to be told. In the process what the reader gets is a limited portal into Abigail life that leaves a big piece of Abigail's life out, that of John Adams and her rising son John Quincy. In contrast, David McCullough's enjoyable, insightful and wonderfully written biography of John Adams weaves closely and seamlessly the life of the late President with that of his beloved Abigail so as to make Phyllis Lee Levin's biography of Abigail Adams seem in comparison as unnecessary surplusage and just a two star read. Although an autodidact, Abigail's Adams genius, political instincts and deep intellect (Jefferson and Adams thought so) fails to shine through in Ms. Lee Levin biography but is captured refreshingly in David McCullough's work through many quotes from Mrs. Adams extensive epistolary. Phyllis Lee Levin's prose is wooden and the book is simply a dry and not artful rephrase of Ms. Adams masterfully written letters; in the process, Ms. Lee Levin obscured and diminished Abigail Adams' pen and intellect. In sum after slogging through the book's 491 pages of text, you are left with no new insights into Abigail's persona and life experiences not already covered by Mr. McCulloch's book. The author may have missed the opportunity to break new ground by discovering other insights from what the extant and extensive diaries and letters of foreign ambassadors and their wives in Louis XVI and George III court set forth on Abigail's appearance, intellect, manners, conduct and deportment. The upshot here is, that given a choice, the reader may be better served by reading David McCullough's "John Adams". It is truly two wonderfully written closely integrated biographies for the price of one.



2. I was introduced to Mrs. Adams by Laura Linney's portrayal in the HBO miniseries. I am happy to report that the show was pretty faithful, and that this lady really was ahead of her time, inspiring in so many ways. A feminist, a patriot, and a wife who demanded her husband be her life's partner. Abigail and John's was a true love story. And what a letter writer she was! With only a minimum of schooling, as was the custom for women of her class at that time, she was a faithful reporter who witnessed the birth of a world power.



3. Abigail Adams was an amazing woman in so many ways - a conservative feminist (before the word "feminist" was in popular use), and a woman who was unashamedly and passionately in love with her husband when such things weren't generally discussed. Despite her professed lack of education, Abigail's letters were erudite, eloquent and got right to the point in an era where legalese and dense language were the norm. Her understanding and interest in politics was nothing short of astounding (at times I think she had a keener understanding of the issues than her husband did).
   
   Ms. Levin's painstaking research is apparent in every page of this meticulously crafted volume, and she should be very proud of her accomplishment in bringing someone who left us almost 200 years ago to vivid, blooming life.
   
   This is an excellent companion to David McCullough's "John Adams," and should be required reading for anyone, especially any woman, who is interested in American history.



4. A wonderful and indept biography about Abigail Adams. On her own she's a very fascinating person and one of the first pioneers for women's equality hoping the newly formed United States would including women being made equal too. Its was interesting learning more about her. Her childhood, msrriage, children, the years of being alone raising her children and trying to support her family while John was away with meeting with the Congress or sent to France and her experiences being first lady. She was a remarkable lady.



5. I am an avid fan of biography, and I found this one to be OK. It was certainly informative, but there was little information here that can't be found in David McCullough's book on Abigail's husband John. Abigail is a true heroine of American history, and certainly deserves her own study, I just wish there was a bit more here. In McCullough's book both John and Abigail are so well drawn that it basically leaves this work as a side note. Pick this one up if you just want more on this dynamic, rare political woman who was opinionated and at the same time develop a true partnership with her husband.

5 comments about Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend (Missouri Biography Series).

1. This is by far the best biography on Laura Ingalls Wilder available. This is a scholarly, indepth look that goes beyond her books and looks into what made her a writer. Written for adults.



2. This is the real-life Laura and family. Biographer John Miller provides tremendous detail in a smooth, quick and fascinating read. Gives a lot of historic context from the time of Charles and Caroline's childhood through the 1950's, and many new tidbits about Laura's actual childhood. The most thought-provoking and disturbing section of the book is toward the end, covering the period between 1925 and Laura's death in 1957.
   
   Rose, having worked and travelled all over the world as a successful author, came home to Rocky Ridge for some 9 years in the late 20's and early 30's. While there, she suffered frequent depression, writer's block, financial trouble, and a frustrating relationship with her mother, Laura. Yet it was at this time that she helped Laura begin the Little House books, the first of which was published in 1932. The collaboration between the two on the series has been a topic of contention among scholars, critics, and fans from the beginning. Here we learn the truth, book-by-book, on who wrote what, and how each felt about her role in the partnership.
   
   This truth is enlightening and yet Rose's sad mental state and resentment toward Laura is a bit heartbreaking for fans who still believe in Pa's beloved, spunky, hard-working, Plum Creek-swimming, Nellie Oleson-hating, hay-making, bible verse-reciting, school-teaching, buggy-riding, half-pint who wanted nothing more than to send her blind sister to college.



3. This would be a very interesting book if I had not already read all the little house series plus the book where she went to Mansfield from DeSmet and the one where she went to visit Rose in San Francisco.
   
   This is best read before reading the other books. The books by Laura Ingalls Wilder give more detail than any of the birographys by any other author.



4. I found this to be a good book, although I wish the author would have personalized Laura a little more. The ongoing battle between mother and daughter might have been overemphasized, but one comes to learn that this probably worked for both of them. I found a lot of good information, but the statistics were a little much. I found myself reading between the lines and wanted to get back to the meat of the story...Laura.
   
   I recommend this book to any Wilder fan, for it does give us a glimpse into the woman she really was. Like anyone else, Laura was only human, faults and all.
   
   Meloni Cassidy
   Author of Everlasting Journey



5. I purchased this book to read about how Laura Ingalls Wilder became the celebrated author of the Little House series of books. I was very disappointed, therefore, that this uninsightful, dry, fragmented, and repetitious tome read more like a bad history book with too many statistics, facts and figures, rather than character analysis, leaving me with no more knowledge of Laura's character than before I read it. For example, after describing ad nauseum all the organizations and activities one could possibly participate in their town, the author states that we do not know if Laura and her family enjoyed any of them. It was frustrating to constantly read the words "probably, maybe, if, we can presume ....." The author makes too many assumptions and repeatedly expresses his inability to accurately understand and relay Laura's personal feelings due to the unfortunate lack of diaries, letters, and journals left behind by Mrs. Wilder. Relying too much on her daughter, Rose's writings, he portrays Laura as an overprotective, condescending, controlling mother and a domineering wife who refused to vow to obey her husband during their wedding. Miller is not quite sure he even believes Rose's unflattering portrayal of her mother, because she was mentally ill and emotionally unstable herself. This book contains so much one-sided information about Laura's daughter that it should instead be titled Becoming Rose Wilder Lane.

5 comments about Jack and Rochelle: A Holocaust Story of Love and Resistance.

1. This is a truly amazing story of human courage. Jack and Rochelle were not only brave enough to run away from their Germany captors, but then spent years living in the woods surviving and fighting back. Even after the Russian liberation and their departure from the woods, Jack and Rochelle fought danger constantly until they could get to an American displaced persons camp. They were such survivors. I can't imagine living through what they did, especially at their young ages.
   
   I read this in a day because I couldn't put it down.



2. Jack and Rochelle Sutin were Jewish and met during WWII. I have read many stories of the holocaust from the perspective of the concentration camp. But never a story like Jack and Rochelle's!! They escaped from the ghetto and hid out it the woods during the war. (Small groups of Jews banded together in the woods.) Sound idyllic? Their existence was horrific, dreadful, and desperate! They were often reduced to being like animals. If a woman arrived pregnant, no one wanted her in their group - a baby is noisy and would be too risky. (If the woman was accepted into the group despite her pregnancy, she was forced to kill her newborn or someone in the group killed it for her.) Jewish women, who were alone and did not find a group of Jews to join, often had to perform sexual favors to find someone to take them in or help them. (Cruel and heartless Russian partisans were the worst offenders!) Despite the absolute horror of this true story, the story of Jack and Rochelle is inspiring. They met in the woods, and survived - overcoming great odds. They later married and came to the USA. The book is also well-written, and is an "easy read" in regards to the writing style.



3. Jack and Rochelle is probably one of the best books I have read in the past 5 yrs. It is truly amazing what they endure during the war and how they survive. There truly isn't any words to describe how much I loved this book. Thank you Jack and Rochelle for writing your experiences! This is a well written and easy to read book. The story is very easy to follow and so important to be read! I hope that everyone has a chance to read this book. It makes you realize you need to be a kinder and more understanding person to others. Hate is an awful thing....and there is still too much of it in our world! Thank you Jack and Rochelle! God bless you both!



4. Ably edited by their son Lawrence, the instructive and inspiring Holocaust narrative of Jack and Rochelle Sutin provides ample proof of both the degradation implicit in the Shoah and the astounding strength and courage Jewish partisans demonstrated in their battle against the attempted Nazi genocide. "Jack and Rochelle" is a deceptively easy book to read; the chapters consist of blended chronological testimonies; Lawrence Sutin honorably avoids imposing his own voice on his parents, instead allowing his mother and father to describe, in their own words, their own cadences, the horrors they faced and the gritty resolve they mustered to fight back. Rarely does a subtitle so accurately depict the contents of a memoir as does their own: "A Holocaust Story of Love and Resistance."

   Both Jack and Rochelle came from educated and enlightened eastern European Jewish families. As the two of them chronicle the onset of anti-Jewish depradations, they remind us of the rich texture of their pre-war lives. This dimension of humanity, of lives complicated by strained love relations, competitive urges and the deeply felt need for independence, makes the Nazi onslaught all the more unsettling and horrific.

   Several themes predominate in the Sutins' braided lives. First is the omnipresence of Jew hatred, whether it be in pre or post war Poland, in the brutally repressive Soviet bureaucracy or the finely honed hatred of Nazi Germany. Indifferent neighbors, vicious anti-Jewish Russian partisans (who commit ghastly sexual offenses against women who want nothing more than to join them in battling a common enemy), and the active participants in human eradication, the Nazis, make the Sutins' world one of constant peril. Survival is never taken for granted, and Jack and Rochelle's descriptions of their physical torment, often undertated, is wrenching to read. Personal sacrifice exists on every level: physical, social and spiritual. Rochelle's first child dies within a day due to exposure when its survival imperils others; Jack is literally covered with pus-filled boils as a result of living outside the boundaries of human habitation.

   Yet, neither Jack or Rochelle never complain, never give themselves away to self-pity. Instead, they are infused with the Judaic command to remember and Rochelle's mother's insistence on revenge, to take action to avenge the murder of their people. In this charged atmosphere of sanguine justice and physical erosion, amidst the rank and fetid habitat of primitive partisan surroundings, hope and love survive. Jack dreams that Rochelle will appear. She does. Despite sexual abuse and spiritual depletion, Rochelle gradually accepts and receives Jack's love. He has never stopped loving her.

   "Jack and Rochelle" is above all a cry of victory. It is a cry that murder and eradication cannot conquer a people. It is a cry that memory and consecration to life will prevail over death. It is a cry that love can endure, even if it is formed in the absolute crucible of death.




5. A true story well told. An uplifting story about the power of love, faith, and self reliance. The unbelievable resiliance of humans to survive and keep their sanity in a world gone crazy. The book does not dwell on the horrors or even give explicit descriptions. The two main characters had a hard enough time and were not physically tortured or held prisoner. They simply hid out and lived in terror for several years until miraculously making their escape to the West. These were two lucky people who nevertheless suffered years of fear and depradation.

2 comments about Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner.

1. Just too many names to remember but the end result is exhilarating. Follow-up with the Stalin Duo



2. Frequently historians have chosen to focus on the more on the love affairs of Catherine the Great rather than on what she actually did to achieve greatness. After all of the things that Catherine is famous for are also things that won the Empresses Anna and Elizabeth notorious reputations. Catherine was great because she was a great ruler, not because she came to power with the aid of an army of lovers. She was also very good at talent spotting and the empire ran as well as it did because she could place members of the nobility in positions of influence.
   
   One of the greatest of Catherine's assistants was Prince Potemkin. Simon Sebag Montefiore has broken new ground here and has exploded old myths. Potemkin emerges as the most capable of Catherine's subordinates, but also as her consort. Whereas previous books had dwelt on the eccentric qualities of Potemkin, this book demonstrates rather convincingly that he was in fact Catherine's consort. It appears that after a prolongued period Potemkin can be recognized for being something more that a battleship.

5 comments about Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography.

1. The product came in great condition as expected and when the shipping was late, the dealer was able to let me know what was going on. The next few days I received the book with no problems. Also the seller was quick to respond and very easy to work with. Thanks!



2. Bill Gienapp was a brilliant historian, and his work "The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856" is a pillar of American political history. Unfortunately, his final work, "Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America," is a tremendous let-down. It is perhaps one of the worst examinations of Lincoln's life, and has almost nothing to do with "Civil War America." Essentially, it is an unqualified love poem to Lincoln, and strives only to prove his greatness -- there is no critical analysis at all. Lincoln is given credit for every political and military success 1861-1865 and is absolved from blame for all his mistakes. In reality, Lincoln was a complex personality and his public career was much more tumultuous than Gienapp proposes. It is disappointing that Gienapp, a man who dedicated his life to exhaustive, nearly flawless historical research would resort to such frivolous, uncritical "pop history" at the end of his tragically short life. Skip Gienapp's Lincoln and, instead, read Stephen Oates's "With Malice Toward None" or Don Fehrenbacher's "Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850s."



3. A short, but very well biography of Lincoln. It counts only 250 pages, but it gives an excellent overwiew and superb analyse of the life of AL. The bibliography is also very interesting. One of the best books about the 16th president. A must for a Lincolnhistorian.



4. A good short, solid political biography. While Lincoln and the Civil War is its focus, by no means is this a battle history: Gettysburg is described in one paragraph.
   
   Professor Gienapp has written a book that will introduce one to, or remind one of, the long and trying path traveled by Abraham Lincoln toward ultimate greatness.



5. William Gienapp's Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America answers a longstanding need for a biography of Lincoln manageable in size, accessible in style, and wise and balanced in content. Lincoln appers on every page of the book and is never lost sight of in the welter of events. He emerges from the text a real believable person, an individual and persuasive assessment of Lincoln's leadership abilities, the finest such appraisal avilable anywhere.

5 comments about America's Constitution: A Biography.

1. Professor Amar knows the US Constitution is broken, dead, corrupted, and he is one of the few people smart enough to fix it. As a private citizen who is concerned about the serious dangers confronting our country, I summon Professor Amar and over one hundred other of the nation's best thinkers, politicians, statespersons, Constitutional scholars, foreign policy experts, business leaders, and media stars to Independence Hall in Philadelphia beginning July 4th, 2009, to craft an alternative Constitution. I ask them to fix serious flaws regarding the balance of power among the three branches of government, to fix foreign policy, to prevent crime & tyranny & foreign terrorism, to define citizenship, to limit partisanship, to preserve privacy, and to write a new document that is as well written and brief as the first one.



2. Amar makes the contradictory claims that the Constitution was ratified by the peoples of the individual sovereign states, but that somehow they also did so as "one people" that he admits didn't even exist as a legitimate ratifying body. And it just goes downhill from there; Amar, being a satist lackey, reads powers into the Constitution that would have the Framers and States calling for his head on a platter-- most notably the power of the federal government to interpret the same Constitution that supposedl LIMITS its powers, thus being the judge of its own powers as Jefferson warned.
   However that doesn't bother Amir, who naively and arrogantly holds the Constitution as so utterly "brilliant" and "perfect" on its "checks and balances," as to circumvent any such possibility of abuse; and on this point alone, Amar disqualifies his analysis from any intelligent consideration.
   However this is only the beginning of such fawning disqualifications, as Amar displays himself as a true lackey of Leviathanism.



3. This is a remarkable book. The author's knowledge, insight, analysis and synthesis are amazing. There's too much to praise about it, so I'll just mention one aspect: Amar makes a very compelling case that from the beginning slavery was a disease spreading infection in our society and political system (aided by the 3/5 clause), increasingly corrupting our character and institutions until a terribly bloody breaking point was reached. The evil was partially righted, then amorality returned, allowing a viciousness to fester until another crisis led to new progress. But it remains that slavery and its legacy constitute the central national failure, which we still haven't nearly corrected. Most of the book is quite positive, and slavery's not the principal focus, but Amar's treatment of it is both convincing and unforgettable.



4. For decades I've been wandering about with a mish mash of semi-contradictory ideas about the constitution. Mr. Amar has managed to correct, justify, and reframe most of them into a (_thoroughly_ documented) coherent whole.
   
   Where the constitution is unclear, he quotes the debates and letters of the founders explaining what they meant. Where there is modern debate, he footnotes where to look for different viewpoints. Where there was debate during the writing of the constitution, he tells you who said what and why.
   
   That would probably be enough to earn 5 stars, but he somehow managed to turn an erudite treatise on the history of one government into a page-turner. I don't know how, but there it is...



5. Wow, I learned more about the consitution then I ever could have imagined. I didn't have any idea about many of the themes and debates over the constitution and it's amendments. I'm a novice at political thinking, before the presidential campaign I could've care less about politics. Some of this is a bit over my head since I don't have a background in law or political history. However, Mr. Amar explains it well enough that most should understand. I can't recommend it enough for anyone interested in the constitution.

4 comments about Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost.

1. An excellent work for hard core fans of old time and pre-Nashville Country music. Russell's research is comprehensive and he has a very accessible writing style. The book, as others have noted, is really not designed for a cover-to-cover read but makes a great night stand book where you can read a biography or two before bed. I also recommend two JSP box sets, Mountain Blues and Serenade in the Mountains, where works by many of the covered artisits can be heard. Now if only I could find a comparable work for pre-war blues artists...



2. Tony Russell is one of the finest writers in the field of early recorded country music and blues. He has spent decades researching the facts about the artists and listening to the historic recordings. Now, with "Country Music Originals," he shares with us his synthesis of all this knowledge on the subject of old-time country music.
   Russell writes true criticism, based on his extraordinarily rich and deep listening experience. He is articulate in spelling out the reasons he finds one artist's work compelling and another's pedestrian. He writes with enthusiasm about several artists I've never heard, and so now I'm seeking out their recordings.
   Mind you, I know just enough about this music, and have just enough listening experience of my own, that I have my occasional quibbles with Russell's facts and opinions. That's only to be expected when it comes to discussing art. I thoroughly enjoy my mental conversations and arguments with someone as articulate and knowledgeable as Russell.
   Why, oh, why is there no index? There isn't even an alphabetical listing of the 100+ articles. Since they are, quite reasonably, organized chronologically, in order to find a particular artist, I have to take a guess as to when they first recorded -- information I'm not nearly so in touch with as is Russell. The indexes are part of what make Gunther Schuller's definitive jazz history books ("Early Jazz" and "The Swing Era") so great and useful. Those indexes cover every single mention of every musician, composer, and song.
   The discographies in "Country Music Originals" are superb. They're compact, yet very informative, covering most of the currently-available CDs of old-time music. On my first reading of the book, I kept noticing one particular JSP anthology that includes many of the artists I find most interesting. So that set moved to the top of my shopping list. I've also been stimulated to go back to my collection to take another listen to particular artists and tracks Russell comments on.
   Printing booklets is an expensive component of CDs, so most of the old-time music reissues come with rather inadequate texts. "Country Music Originals" complements these discs beautifully, giving much richer (and better-written) information, enhancing both our enjoyment and our understanding of the recordings.
   This is a valuable addition to the limited library of serious writing on old-time country music. -- Hoyle Osborne



3. As someone who has been studying and collecting American popular music for more than four decades now I am always on the lookout for new resources to add to my knowledge and understanding of this music. I am quite excited to report that the London based music historian Tony Russell has come up with a real gem with his splendid new book "Country Music Originals: The Legends and the The Lost". This book is a virtual treasure trove of information for anyone who is interested in the origins of the genre that would eventually evolve into what we now call country music.
   I am in complete agreement with another reviewer who indicated that for most collectors and country music afficianados "Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost" is probably more appropriate as a reference volume. As a cover to cover read I found that the book could become a bit tedious at times. But having said that I learned an awful lot about the early history of country music in this volume. Tony Russell introduces his readers to a whole host of colorful and quirky vocalists, duets, fiddlers, stringbands and groups that would make an indelible mark in the development of this genre. You have to love the names of some of these artists. There is Fiddlin' John Carson, The Skillet-Lickers, The Carolina Tar Heels, Dr. Smith's Champion Hoss Hair Pullers, The Georgia Yellow Hammers, Light Crust Doughboys and Lulu Belle and Scotty to name but a few. Now some of those featured in "Country Music Originals" were regional acts who were popular for a relatively short period of time. Others would go on to long and prosperous careers in the music business. All in all, Tony Russell offers up essays on more than 100 artists who made a name for themselves in the period from about 1926 when this music was in its infancy until the late 1950's or early 1960's. Russell also presents revealing portraits of some of the better known figures in early country music such as Vernon Dalhart, Bradley Kincaid, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff. And of course no book about the history of country music would be complete without a close look at the careers of legendary figures Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter family. It is positively fascinating to discover how this music has evolved over the decades. In addition, the text is sprinkled with more than 200 rare photos and illustrations depicting many of the artists being discussed as well as images of some of the actual record labels, newspaper clippings and advertisements from the period. I found that this material greatly enhanced my enjoyment of this book. It was also quite interesting to learn how many of the earliest recordings were done. In the middle to late 1920's it was fairly common for the three major record companies of this period, namely Victor, Columbia and Gennett to send recording equipment directly to towns like Bristol, Tenn. in search of promising new artists to record. This is precisely how both Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family and dozens of other important acts of this period were discovered. It was certainly a much different world in those days!
   As I indicated earlier "Country Music Originals: The Legends and The Lost" succeeds more as a reference volume than as a narrative. I plan to add a copy to my library in the very near future. This is a book that I am likely to refer to again and again in future years. There is so much new information in this book about the rich heritage of country music that I simply have not seen anywhere else. A well thought out and nicely done project! Highly recommended!



4. I have had an interest in early "country" music for decades, but this book seems to me to be worthwhile for the die-hard specialist rather than the casually curious consumer. Short biographies, CD discographies, and photos are presented here for more than 100 stage, recording and radio artists active from the 1920's into the '50's. Almost everyone profiled here was born earlier than 1925. A few are truly famous: Gene Autry, The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Snow, Roy Acuff, Bob Wills, and Ernest Tubb. The rest are more obscure, and in many cases, much, much more obscure. Unless you are willing to search the internet for the CD's onto which their old records have been transcribed, or you are a musician yourself needing to hear some fiddle or mandolin technique as played by its originator, you will never encounter the actual work of most of these artists. And frankly, you don't need to know about them if not a scholar or a person doing roots music yourself. If your curiosity is just casual, as mine was, get the book from the library, as I did, and just skim it until your pleasure runs out.