5 comments about Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times.

1. Unique amongst most presidential biographies, which devote the majority of their pages to the pursuit and practice of the presidency, Brands' biography is more personal, devoting only 125 of 525 pages to Jackson's election and presidency, the rest to his full and violent life. This quote from Brands, spoken in context of the nullification (States Right) fight during Jackson's term, could well be his life's epitaph: "Jackson lived in a world of struggle. And the struggle never ended."
   
   Jackson's continuous struggle as an adult was for the preservation of the Union, during a time when the preservation of the Union was often tenuous and its eventual dissolution in the not-distant future assumed by many. Jackson's repeated mantra, as he expressed in a toast in defiance of the states-rights nullifiers: "Our Federal Union--it must be preserved." His policies and actions, vilified or praised, must be viewed through this prism.
   
   With only 125 pages to cover the highlights of Jackson's two-term administration--the nullification crisis, the Bank of the United States war, the (aborted) annexation of Texas, and relocation of the Southeastern Indian tribes across the Mississippi--the details are brushed over in summary form. But Brands captures the heart of the progression of American political leadership from republicanism to democracy, from federalists to Whigs to Republicans, from anti-Federalists to republicans to Democrats, from Washington to Jackson--and Lincoln, the connection Brand makes in the final paragraph.



2. Although it is 550 pages, this biography served as an excellent introduction to the life of our seventh President because I started the book almost wholly ignorant of this fascinating American patriot. This is the second H.W. Brands bio I have read. His bio of Benjamin Franklin was a better book but Andrew Jackson is, by no stretch, a disappointment.
   
   Jackson was the first of many Presidents to realize that one doesn't have to know a thing about politics or even like politics to rise to this nation's highest office through popular vote. Actually, that makes sense. After all, the average American neither likes nor understands anything about politics. He spoke as the man of the people while simultaneously placing himself far above them & ruling with an iron will and fist. As a retired general who was renowned for his fearsome temper, he was used to being obeyed or else. Old habits die hard. Jacksonian Democracy seems to be: democracy is great as long as I'm in charge or, to paraphrase Jefferson "all men are created equal but some men are more equal than others." Jackson was a self-made man through considerable leadership and intellectual talents. He not only knew he was more capable than the next man, he had proof.
   
   Politics is the art of compromise and Jackson was never a compromiser. A smart man of strong passions, he brooked no insult & did not suffer fools kindly. He seems to have considered anyone who disagreed with him in the slightest a fool. Jackson had that peculiarly abrasive personality that brought out the worst in anyone who disliked him & even caused much hesitation in those who supported him. Jackson's epitaph could fairly have read "loved, hated but never ignored." As a younger man, Jackson repeatedly demonstrated a singular lack of self control manifested in a hot-head and itchy dueling finger. He also seems to have unhesitatingly relished killing "the enemy" whether the enemy of was the misbegotten Indians or the wicked British. A slaveowner & expansionist, Jackson squarely alligned himself with the furtherance of American interests, whatever the collateral. Ignorable orders and bendable laws were hardly impediments to his goals. The ends justified the means. As an older man, he seemed to mellow and become more thoughtful but the lion could still roar and his claws, though usually retracted, were still very sharp and powerful. He was never a very intellectual nor spiritual man but had a surprisingly compassionate side to his personality in regards to his family. He was a strict Literal Constitutionalist and struggled incessantly against Interpretationalists. For a supposed common man of the people, he was strikingly conservative in his policies and Presidential demeanor.
   
   Brands spends a tremendous amount of time on Jackson's pre-Presidency life and not nearly enough on the contentious elections that sent his rival, John Q. Adams and then himself to the Presidency or on Jackson's two terms. Now I need to read a book or two specifically about Jackson's political career. A long, rewarding and unhesitatingly recommended read for anyone looking to familiarlize themselves with Old Hickory.



3. Complete and truthful. Jackson was a onery old coot and a great president and military hero. Brands does a very good job of covering his life and times. A good read.



4. H.W. Brands writes a detailed, fact-laden biography that treats Jackson with sincerity, but not excessive bias. The book is serious as well as alluring in that it maintains elements of the sweeping myth of the West - so relevant to Jackson and early America.
   
   More than half of the book deals with Jackson's life prior to his inauguration in 1821. While this may seem excessive, the context is critical to understanding Jackson and evaluating his legacy. As the first congressman for the newly formed frontier state of Tennessee, Jackson seems unfit for the laborious political maneuverings of Philadelphia and more apt to lead by the sword. With draconian discipline he succeeds brilliantly on the battlefield, crushing the Creek Indians and defeating the British in New Orleans in one of the most lopsided victories in American history. The people revere him as a fearless hero and maverick who is less inclined to listen to the Washington elites than to follow his own code forged from frontier experience - an experience rooted in dueling, drinking, slaves, Indian slaying and horses as well as in initiative, courage and persistence through immense hardship, of a sort unknown in the East.
   
   Jackson's fame, and infamy, ultimately propels him to the South Lawn where he hosts a raucous inauguration party, in stark contrast to his presidential predecessors. Again, Brands largely explains the most important acts of Jackson's presidency - the tariff, the bank crisis, Indian policy and western expansion - in terms of the lessons learned on the frontier as well as Jackson's instincts to preserve the Union at all costs - which fills the void left by his own deceased biological family.
   
   The end result is erudite and entertaining - a scholarly portrait peppered with stories of the frontier - that leaves the reader with a fuller understanding of Jackson and, despite Old Hickory's glaring flaws, at least a grudging respect for Jackson's courage, emotional devotion to the Union and embodiment of the hopes and fears of the American people. "His strengths were their strengths, his weaknesses were their weaknesses," writes Brands. More than anywhere else this was true of the American West.



5. Since I live close to the area where Andrew Jackson was born (while I am a native North Carolinian, South Carolina seems to have the most evidence for claiming him as a native born son since one of the pieces of evidence was that Jackson himself claimed to have born in South Carolina), I had natural interest in reading about his life.
   
   Overall I would say the book is a good read - the story gets off to a good start in describing Jackson's early life but does seem to drag on in other periods.
   
   Among the areas covered by Brands include:
   
   1. Jackson's early life and how he was orphaned at an early age.
   2. Participation in the American Revolution.
   3. Training and experiences as a lawyer.
   4. Move to Tennessese.
   5. Military experiences with Indians and the War of 1812.
   6. Political alliances and his many political enemies.
   7. Marriage to Rachel Donelson.
   8. Later life.
   
   I would have like to have seen some more maps that pertained to his travels and military battles - doing so would have made it easier to follow some of the narrative.
   
   Still, a good read on "Old Hickory". Recommended.

5 comments about The Death of Sigmund Freud: The Legacy of His Last Days.

1. "The Death of Sigmund Freud" is a timely look at the last days of Freud since he was facing the march of Nazism, and since after 9-11, the US has tilted quite a bit to the Right, and it is wise to weigh into possible reasons to be concerned about tilting further, and a look from Freud's perspective is certainly interesting.
   
   Since anti-Semitism was rampant at the time, from the book, critics did say that psychoanalysis was right, just that it was a 'Jewish Science' only applying to Jews, an attempt to discredit it. Some of Freud's thoughts on the matter were:
   
   1. Freud called the relationship crowds form with an absolute leader, erotic. Hitler, himself, in his speeches said that he made love to the German masses. Essentially, the crowds become hypnotized. Not that we are anywhere near such a situation, but one surely can notice a more 'patriotic' tone to many of the current presidential supporters and calling dissenters un-patriotic.
   
   2. Inner conflict, between one's ego, id, and superego, is not only inevitable, but desirable to better modify behavior. Seeking some perpetual, peaceful state is dangerous because it is more likely to erupt into really bad behavior. So, public dissent is healthy and should be encouraged.
   
   3. Freud, a Jew, recognized in monotheism, that the ability to internalize an invisible god prepares a person to think more abstractly. He saw Jews' long history with that as allowing Jews to distinguish themselves in math, sciences, law and literary arts, ways which effect some control over nature. Better to have some invisible god, than some human authoritarian one, be it political or some religious one who tries to have crowds focus on him or her. Freud felt that such thinking made Jews more likely to reject pageantry and less susceptible to elevating humans to god-like status, one reason for anti-Semitism to run rampant as Nazis knew they would meet resistance from Jews. Not that one should conclude that Judaism is superior, just that the internalizing of an invisible god is the important part of monotheism.
   
   4. Rather than blame something about Germany, Japan or Italy for the rise of 20th century fascism, Freud felt that internally we are all fascists/fundamentalists, at least potentially. So, it is the inner conflict we need to use to overcome it. Once again, dissent is healthy.
   
   A very interesting book!



2. This is not intended as a complete review, as I have nothing to add to the other reviews which appear in this space. However, in what is otherwise a thought-provoking and inspiring book, there are some lapses in German usage which are a little disconcerting. Nouns in German always capitalize the first letter, so it is a bit wierd to see Hitler referred to as "the fuhrer" rather than "the Fuhrer". (And the capitalization would give a better sense of his own self-importance.) Also, in spite of the fact that recent spelling modifications now render the combination "oe" as a single "o" with an umlaut, this does not usually apply to dead historical personages such as Goering or Goethe.



3. OK, who were the most influential people of the 20th century? Einstein, Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Freud. You can jockey the order, probably add Hitler depending on your definition of "influential", but that's the short list.
   
   Freud's life as a writer/thinker, like Churchill's and Einstein's, was very long. If you want to learn something about this giant, you definitely want to start slowly. THE DEATH OF SIGMUND FREUD is a great way to get a feel for both the man and what he stood for. Mark Edmundson picks up Freud, after a brief introduction about Vienna in 1909, in 1938. Freud is 81, in poor health, and about to come under Adolf Hitler's Anchluss.
   
   Edmundson, in this short volume, gives you a great feel for how Sigmund Freud lived: how his study looked, his industriousness, his love of dogs, his relationship with his daughter Anna, his relationships with his disciples, what Freud's Vienna was like, what he collected, his (ultimately dangerous) love of cigars, etc. Even if the book did nothing more than accumulate these bits of Freud's life in 1938 and 1939, it would be wonderful, because what can an author do beyond transporting the reader to a place and time? And what a place and time! Freud, Hitler, Vienna, Anchluss.
   
   The author also gives readers a great short course on some of Sigmund Freud's work. As certain subjects dominate the last year of Freud's life - the rise of Nazism, his relationship with his daughter, the need for conflict in his life to create brilliant work, his enjoyment and suspicion of fame, his need to shock and create controversy (to name a few) - Edmundson describes how Freud wrote about those matters, quoting from and summarizing Sigmund's most famous theories and ideas, usually from works created decades before.
   
   Even as an introduction to Sigmund Freud, this book is incomplete (though by design). But it gives you a taste as well as a feeling you're following Freud at the end of his life, trying to make sense of it all. You may find yourself, like me, back on Amazon.com looking for a comprehensive biography of Freud and ordering translations of some of his classic works. I'd say that's a pretty high compliment for the book and author.



4. Outstanding book....couldn't put it down. As a psychology teacher this book really put into perspective Freud and his relationship to Hitler and many other prominent leaders of the time. Historically, it brought together so many of the major movers and shakers of Hitler's quest for power. Highly recommend for those interested in Freud or Hitler.



5. The Death of Sigmund Freud is a perfect companion book to the bigger Freud biographies ... a critical addition to the Freud section of your personal library on this fascinating man, doctor, thinker. The author begins the narrative just before Freud fled Vienna for England ... and it ends with Freud's pitiful death.
   
   The comparative exploration of the life of Hitler and Freud as Europe began to change is interesting and well constructed, but the real fascination is found in the details of Freud's working and personal life. I think the real punch in a biography is felt at the point in the book where you feel the subject's been fleshed out ... really captured by the author ... and Freud is now more real and understood in my mind than ever before. He's a mythic personality now. He was back in his day. Edmundson has rendered Freud's human, day-to-day life beautifully ... and what Freud professionally and personally believed, whether it's believable to us or not.
   
   Reviewer Todd Sentell, a Psychology major who graduated "Oh Lordy," is also the author of the hilarious social satire, TOONAMINT OF CHAMPIONS

5 comments about The Portable Abraham Lincoln (Viking Portable Library).

1. There are several anthologies of selections from Abraham Lincoln's writings available. But The Portable Lincoln is my favorite among them. My copy is dog-eared, underlined, and scribbled on to such an extent that it now looks quite shabby. But this is as much a tribute to the wisdom of Lincoln's words and the judicious editorship of Andrew Delbanco as it is a sad monument to my hard treatment of books.
   
   There are two main reasons why I find The Portable Lincoln so pleasing.
   
   First, editor Delbanco (who's best known for his insightful work on American Puritans) prefaces the collection with an elegant and informative intellectual biography of Lincoln that prepares the way for a more informed reading of the selections. He also provides a useful chronology of Lincoln's life, and he introduces each of the book's six sections with prefatory remarks that put the selections in context.
   
   Second, the selections themselves are carefully chosen and genuinely representative of Lincoln's thoughts in each of the six periods of his life from which they're drawn: his early years up to 1850; the pivotal "republican" years of 1854-1859; the presidential campaign, 1860; the early days of the war, 1860-1861; Lincoln the war president, late 1861-1864; and the reflective Lincoln, 1864-1865. Within each section are to be found exactly what one wants in a collection such as this: for example, Lincoln's early Address to the Springfield Young Man's Lyceum; his Handbill Replying to Charges of Infidelity; his House Divided speech; the first (and possibly best) Lincoln-Douglas Debate; the not-so-good Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions; the Cooper Institute speech; the too-neglected great First Inaugural and the justly-praised Second; the July 4 Message to Congress in Special Session; the Final Emancipation Proclamation; and assorted letters, private memoranda, and speeches. Taken together, these selections give the finest overall impression of Lincoln the private man, politician, thinker, and statesman that one's likely to glean from reading his own words.
   
   I might add that even long-time readers of Lincoln are likely to find one or two pleasant surprises in this collection. Let me mention but one. Everbody's familiar with Lincoln's barbed quip, when McClellan failed to pursue Lee after Antietam, that he'd like to borrow the army if McClellan wasn't going to use it. But Delbanco quotes an even more barbed (and delicious!) zinger from Lincoln to McClellan, written on 24 October 1862:
   "I have just read your despatch about sore tongued and fatiegued [sic] horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?" (p. 244) Ouch!!
   
   Highly recommended, not only for its historical interest but because of the fact, which becomes more obvious to me each time I reread Lincoln, that his words are just as timely today as they were 150 years ago.
   ________
   * From Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, p. 203.



2. This book os simply another attempt to perpetuate the Lincoln Myth. He almost certainly did not write the Bixby Letter, John Hay, his secretary almost certainly did. Lincoln in fact wrote very little himself, leaving most of the work to his two secretaries, Nicolay and Hay. As for his writing all his own speeches, this too is untrue, certainly not after he became President. There is not a shadow of a doubt that his Secretary of State, William H. Seward had a hand in most of his speeches and in fact was virtually the power behind the throne throughout Lincoln's presidency. Lincoln was a nice enough man, though a manic depressive, as for a genius and great emancipator, GIVE ME A BREAK!!



3. This is a very good and readable collections of the major writings and speeches of Abraham Lincoln. Unlike many collections of writings and speeches of that era, this is no dull melange of dated issues, but wisdom of the ages.
   
   In one early piece, Lincoln waxes nostalgic by comparing the lethargy of his generation to the generation who fought in the Revolutionary war (talk about the "good old days" is nothing new). In an 1848 letter, he makes some stinging comments against the then-president's "lies" that got America into the Mexican War(sounds similar to modern complaints about you-know-who getting us involed in you-know-where).
   
   Modern revisionists love to take scattered comments by Lincoln about Black people to show that Lincoln was a racist. Aspects of the Douglas debates and his mesage of colonization of 1862 do not deny this, but such people conveniently forget (or omit) Lincoln's evolution of thought as evidenced by the Second Inaugural Address (which also appears in its entirety at the Lincoln Memorial) and his statements about Black soldiers having the right to vote (in the 1860s, mind you). Some racist!
   
   It is also important to remember that Lincoln wrote all of his own speeches and was largely self-educated! When you compare the quality of his speeches and writings to our soundbyte era, it is truly remarkable.
   
   Read this book and become acquainted with greatness.



4. This collection of documents in a sense tells the life- story of Lincoln. It consists primarily of letters but also contains communications of other kinds, including his great speeches. Lincoln's immense power with language, the depth of his feeling and insight, his quiet humor and his great imaginative sympathy are all on display here. Also of course his political wisdom, his detailed knowledge of local and national political affairs, his struggle in conducting the great Civil War.
   There are certain people it simply an honor and uplifting to be in the presence of . Lincoln is such a person, and so these words of his inform and most often, inspire.



5. The Portable Abraham Lincoln is just that, a small book packed with nothing but Lincoln's words and ideas, from the famous debates with Stephen Douglas to his immortal 2nd Inaguaral Address.

   Mixed throughout the speeches are letters, both public and private, which reveal his inner thoughts and animating philosophy. Included is his short and moving letter to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, featured in the movie Saving Private Ryan, which is the most eloquent expression of patriotic grief I have ever read.

   The book is organized in themes, from his emergence of a polictian to his writings as Chief Executive and as Commander-in-Chief, and ending up with Fate.

   This book is for people who want to go beyond the soundbytes featured in documentaries; it places those famous phrases in the context of the entire speech and the commentary is kept to a minimum, showing respect for the reader.

5 comments about The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America (includes 16 pages of B&W photographs).

1. Echoing some of the other reviews - it's 'thin', disorganized and has a large Bill:Annie ratio. McMurtry's point is that, per the title, BB & AO were among the 1st superstars in America & he repeats it every other chapter or so. It reads like something that was whipped up over a weekend. The style & depth of the book are intentional on McMurtry's part but readers should be forewarned that this isn't a traditional biography.



2. This slender volume conveys the slightest amount of information about its subject in a confused, repetitive, meandering style. Surely there is more to the story than this.



3. This book is presented in true McMurtry style showing careful research, painstaking attention to facts vs. fiction, identifying what could be fictional about the people being discussed, and the wonderful McMurtry style we all expect with each publication. Having visited Buffalo Bill's gravesite and the small museum there, this book rounds out the images I have of the man, the performer, and the first superstar of North America.



4. Being a complete sucker for his western fiction, I was surprised at how slim a book this is. There a more than a few good stories to tell about Americas' first media star, but the chapters are so short, McMurtry never gets any momentum going.
   It's surprising too that while the book is supposed to be about the two title characters, Cody gets the lions share of attention, while Annie Oakley gets only a handful of chapters.



5. If you are a fan of the old west or not, this book will entertain you and make you one. I now know more about buffalow bill and annie oakley along with a deeper understanding of that last period of the wild west and the characters that made it such a wonderful exciting time in america.

5 comments about The Prophet Outcast: Trotsky 1929-1940.

1. This last of 3 volumes in Deutscher's biography caps an astonishing and captivating historiographical achievement. Deutscher weaves together character study, drama, and historical narrative to give an authoritative account of Trotsky's tragic final years, as the great leader waged a rearguard ideological struggle in the face of an avalanche of Stalinist harassment, slander, repression and murder. Simultaneously, Deutscher lays bare the blunders and disasters of the Communist International under Stalin's leadership, making clear how inexorably these failures followed from Stalin's deadened bureaucratic-centralist socialism.
   
   Deutscher's deft handling of the facts, personalities, ideas, and situations of the time is simply unparallelled, and makes for a tremendously enjoyable and informative read. His account of Trotsky's last hours left me in awed tears.
   
   Essential material for anyone exploring the question of where socialism went wrong in the 20th century.



2. THIS YEAR MARKS THE 66TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF LEON TROTSKY-ONE OF HISTORY'S GREAT REVOLUTIONARIES. IT IS THEREFORE FITTING TO REVIEW THE THREE VOLUME WORK OF HIS DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHER, THE PROPHET ARMED, THE PROPHET UNARMED, THE OUTCAST.
   
   Isaac Deutscher's three-volume biography of the great Russian Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky although written over one half century ago remains the standard biography of the man. Although this writer disagrees , as I believe that Trotsky himself would have, about the appropriateness of the title of prophet and its underlying premise that a tragic hero had fallen defeated in a worthy cause, the vast sum of work produced and researched makes up for those basically literary differences. Deutscher, himself, became in the end an adversary of Trotsky's politics around his differing interpretation of the historic role of Stalinism and the fate of the Fourth International but he makes those differences clear and in general they does not mar the work. I do not believe even with the eventual full opening of all the old Soviet-era files any future biographer will dramatically increase our knowledge about Trotsky and his revolutionary struggles. Moreover, as I have mentioned elsewhere in other reviews while he has not been historically fully vindicated he is in no need of any certificate of revolutionary good conduct.
   
   At the beginning of the 21st century when the validity of socialist political programs as tools for change is in apparent decline or disregarded as utopian it may be hard to imagine the spirit that drove Trotsky to dedicate his whole life to the fight for a socialist society. However, at the beginning of the 20th century he represented only the one of the most consistent and audacious of a revolutionary generation of mainly Eastern Europeans and Russians who set out to change the history of the 20th century. It was as if the best and brightest of that generation were afraid, for better or worse, not to take part in the political struggles that would shape the modern world. As Trotsky noted elsewhere this element was missing, with the exceptions of Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and precious few others, in the Western labor movement. Deutscher using Trotsky's own experiences tells the story of the creation of this revolutionary cadre with care and generally proper proportions. Here are some highlights militant leftists should think about.
   
   On the face of it Trotsky's personal profile does not stand out as that of a born revolutionary. Born of a hard working, eventually prosperous Jewish farming family in the Ukraine (of all places) there is something anomalous about his eventual political occupation. Always a vociferous reader, good writer and top student under other circumstances he would have found easy success, as others did, in the bourgeois academy, if not in Russia then in Western Europe. But there is the rub; it was the intolerable and personally repellant political and cultural conditions of Czarist Russia in the late 19th century that eventually drove Trotsky to the revolutionary movement- first as a `ragtag' populist and then to his life long dedication to orthodox Marxism. As noted above, a glance at the biographies of Eastern European revolutionary leaders such as Lenin, Martov, Christian Rakovsky, Bukharin and others shows that Trotsky was hardly alone in his anger at the status quo. And the determination to something about it.
   
   For those who argue, as many did in the New Left in the 1960's, that the most oppressed are the most revolutionary the lives of the Russian and Eastern European revolutionaries provide a cautionary note. The most oppressed, those most in need of the benefits of socialist revolution, are mainly wrapped up in the sheer struggle for survival and do not enter the political arena until late, if at all. Even a quick glance at the biographies of the secondary leadership of various revolutionary movements, actual revolutionary workers who formed the links to the working class , generally show skilled or semi-skilled workers striving to better themselves rather than the most downtrodden lumpenproletarian elements. The sailors of Kronstadt and the Putilov workers in Saint Petersburg come to mind. The point is that `the wild boys and girls' of the street do not lead revolutions; they simply do not have the staying power. On this point, militants can also take Trotsky's biography as a case study of what it takes to stay the course in the difficult struggle to create a new social order. While the Russian revolutionary movement, like the later New Left mentioned above, had more than its share of dropouts, especially after the failure of the 1905 revolution, it is notably how many stayed with the movement under much more difficult circumstances than we ever faced. For better or worst, and I think for the better, that is how revolutions are made.
   
   Once Trotsky made the transition to Marxism he became embroiled in the struggles to create a unity Russian Social Democratic Party, a party of the whole class, or at least a party representing the historic interests of that class. This led him to participate in the famous Bolshevik/Menshevik struggle in 1903 which defined what the party would be, its program, its methods of work and who would qualify for membership. The shorthand for this fight can be stated as the battle between the `hards' (Bolsheviks, who stood for a party of professional revolutionaries) and the `softs' (Mensheviks, who stood for a looser conception of party membership) although those terms do not do full justice to these fights. Strangely, given his later attitudes, Trotsky stood with the `softs', the Mensheviks, in the initial fight in 1903. Although Trotsky almost immediately afterward broke from that faction I do not believe that his position in the 1903 fight contradicted the impulses he exhibited throughout his career- personally `libertarian', for lack of a better word , and politically hard in the clutch.
   
   Even a cursory glance at most of Trotsky's career indicates that it was not spent in organizational in-fighting, or at least not successfully. Trotsky stands out as the consummate free-lancer. More than one biographer has noted this condition, including his definitive biographer Isaac Deutscher. Let me make a couple of points to take the edge of this characterization though. In that 1903 fight mentioned above Trotsky did fight against Economism (the tendency to only fight over trade union issues and not fight overtly political struggles against the Czarist regime) and he did fight against Bundism (the tendency for one group, in this case the Jewish workers, to set the political agenda for that particular group). Moreover, he most certainly favored a centralized organization. These were the key issues at that time. Furthermore, the controversial organizational question did not preclude the very strong notion that a `big tent' unitary party was necessary. The `big tent' German Social Democratic model held very strong sway among the Russian revolutionaries for a long time, including Lenin's Bolsheviks. The long and short of it was that Trotsky was not an organization man, per se. He knew how to organize revolutions, armies, Internationals, economies and so on when he needed to but on a day to day basis no. Thus, to compare or contrast him to Lenin and his very different successes is unfair. Both have an honorable place in the revolutionary movement; it is just a different place.



3. This is perhaps the most "weak" part of the "Prophet" trilogy, in that Deutscher thought Trotsky's opposition to Stalin was, at the time it happened, useless, as Stalinism was the necessary mechanism of modernization that made a future fully-fledeged socialist society possible. Now, amid the smouldring ruins of Stalinism and with the former Soviet bloc reduced to a sorry parody of compradore capitalism of the Latin American style, one can be certain that, in the long run, Trotsky was right, after all, but then Deutscher puts his case so throughly that one can see precisely in what he was wrong and therefore how Trotsky managed to make so outstanding and unexpected a prevision as the final demise of Stalinism. Only that makes this book a necessary reading.



4. The last ten years of Trotaky's life was one of exile and assassination, an account worthy of the death of Jesus and Socrates. Mme Trotsky even remarked that her husband when mortally wounded look like Jesus taken down from the cross in an El Greco.
   
   It remains to me still incomprehensible that so many Communists and supporters of Communism did not come to Trotsky's defense and aid, allowing that thug Stalin to persecute him, to destroy his followers in morale and in life, and finally to send an assassin to finish him off. Granted that Trotsky's position against Stalin and in favor of the Soviet Union was perhaps too sophisticated for most Communists to rally to, he was after all still the greatest Communist figure after Lenin and perhaps even including Lenin.
   
   Trotsky would of course have been horrified to learn of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but had he led the Soviet Union after Lenin much might have been different and better for all concerned. He certainly was more right than Stalin about Hitler, about China, and about the dangers of extremist collectivization and industrialization, even though collectivization of agriculture and rapid industrialization were program he had initially advanced against the hesitations of Stalin.
   
   In the end Bolshevism has in Trotsky its hero and prophet which nothing can really take away.
   
   This reprint series, others have correctly noted, is marked by numerous typos and other errors.



5. This is the final volume of Isaac Deutscher's famous three-volume biography of Leon Trotsky, the great Russian revolutionary. Deutscher's biography is the standard biography of Trotsky by which all other biographies of Trosky are measured.

   Picking up the life of Trotsky from the time of his first exile from the Soviet Union in 1929, this book carries the story of the later portion of Trotsky's life all the way to his murder in Mexico in 1940.

   Deutscher's writing is enticing and holds the interest of the reader. The book is also wonderfully indexed and serves as a guide to the voluminous writing of Leon Trosky during the last phase of his life.

5 comments about Elizabeth & Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses.

1. bad marriage,being kept from young sons would wreck a lesser woman,but bess land on her feet with duke duchess devershire.having strong friendship with duchess didn't stop her from boring two childern by duke,keeping her friendship with the duchess.this is a positive view of lady elizabeth foster who later got her duke,very comfortable life.



2. I suppose few people really care now that Lady Elizabeth Foster finally got her man. This book is nonetheless a caution to historians dependent upon family archives for primary source material. Laudatory bias is bound to creep in somewhere. As the previous reviewer noted, Bess does not come across so attractively in other biographies, even those written about Georgiana's niece, Lady Caroline Lamb. The book's positives have already been noted: good descriptions of aristocratic society and travel in the 18th century. The book is not, however, good history or even good biography.



3. If you haven't read "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire," you're likely to come away from "Elizabeth and Georgiana" with a very positive view of Lady Elizabeth Foster. I had read "Georgiana," and I didn't find Bess all that likable, even after reading Chapman's glowing chapters about her life. I did, however, love this book and found it very interesting and well done. There are unanswered questions, though, about Bess and the Duke's children and what the Duchess knew; but, Chapman does a good job of filling us in on what happened to the main characters after Bess's death. Easy to read, filled with information about the Georgian period (for instance, a good explanation of how people traveled in the time), and not so mired in politics of the day as "Georgiana . . ." is.



4. While I had read about the triangular relationship between Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Elizabeth Foster, nick-named Bess, I never realized that Bess had such colorful life. The authors use letters and other historical documents to present Bess in a more positive way, than previously recorded. It is a fascinating biography.



5. Excellent book on the lives of two amazing women sharing the same man. Highly recommend it if you like reading about 'ton' society in late 18th-early 19th century England.

No comments about Founding Fathers: The Essential Guide to the Men Who Made America.

5 comments about An Uncommon Woman - The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm.

1. A very well written and interesting book on Empress Frederick who's mostly nowdays remembered in relation to her domineering mother Queen Victoria and her psycho eldest son Kaiser Wilhelm II. Her childhood was very interesting and it was fun to read about her courtship and marriage to a man she actually loved and loved her and how the death of her father impacted her life completely. Another wonderful addition to anyone's collection of royal biographies.



2. This was a great biography that made you feel the happiness and sadnest moments in Empress Frederick's life time. Although I must admit there were moments in the book, particularly when Kaiser Frederick as well as the Empress herself were on their death beds, that made me want to box the ears of Kaiser Wihelm if he were still alive today!



3. Hannah Pakula did it again in another superb biography of one of the last great princesses in the sunset of European royalty. The high-minded, brilliant, passionate, beautiful oldest daughter of Queen Victoria was a woman fit to rule in her own right and yet she was shackled by the narrow, rigid Hohenzollern court. The very liberalism with which her father Prince Albert indoctrinated her ended up working against her ability to influence German political affairs in a positive way. Her great love for her husband and their passionate relationship is captured as well as the tragic dimensions of his death. It is horrible how Vicky dies, and especially the way her awful son treated her. A book that shows that sometimes marrying the handsome prince of your dreams is not enough. Highly recommended!



4. An Uncommon Woman is an excellent, first rate biography of Vicky, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria who, through marriage, became the Crown Princess of Prussia, and then Princess and later Empress Frederick of the German Empire. She played an influential (and one wishes a much more influential) role in German, and more broadly European, history during the latter 19th to early 20th centuries. Vicky strove to move German politics towards a more liberal, democratic, parliamentary form of government, but was successfully opposed by the autocracy of Chancellor Bismarck and even her son, who eventually became the Kaiser. The author persuasively implies that had this "uncommon woman" been able to prevail, European history may have benefited. The book succeeds as both an intimate, full-fledged account of this remarkable woman, her family members, and the many important historical persons of the times, as well as a comprehensive history of the creation of the German Empire, the rise of autocracy and militarism, and the lead-up to World War I. The writing style is excellent; the author is exceptionally skilled at presenting a thoroughly well-researched life of Vicky and detailed history of the times in a highly readable, well paced narrative. One of the most engaging and informative biographies I have read. Highly recommended.



5. You will feel great sympathy towards Vicky, the Empress Frederick, who was an unfortunate hostage to the intrigues of the German court. Sympathy will soon give way to awe at her courage and determination to do her best while having to perform the impossible: being all things to all people.
   
   Vicky was seen as the catalyst for change in Germany. Her parents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did not like the autocratic, militaristic way in which Emperor Wilhelm I was running Prussia. Instead, they visualized a united German nation with a government much like that of England. Their plan was to sow seeds of liberalism and constitutional monarchy through their daughter and her marriage to Wilhelm's son, Prince Frederick (Fritz). In preparation for the eventual match, Vicky was schooled in politics and German life by Prince Albert. Eventually, she and Fritz would be Emperor and Empress of Prussia, and could bring about German unity.
   
   Little did Vicky know that upon arriving in Berlin, she was at a disadvantage from the start.
   
   As the daughter of Queen Victoria, she was encouraged to retain her Englishness yet was expected to be a Prussian wife and princess. Her efforts to raise her eldest son Willy as Prince Albert had raised her backfired. Her tendency to over-criticize (a trait passed on from Victoria) turned the young Wilhelm away, and he grew up under his thoroughly Prussian grandfather Wilhelm. Otto von Bismarck had seen his own chance to manipulate the future emperor, and along with the groveling royal court, Willy was turned into a bombastic power fanatic.
   
   Her relationship with Fritz was not seen as loving, but as an English princess scheming to Anglicize the House of Hohenzollern. Vicky was painted as "die Englanderin", unfaithful to Germany and a demon on the shoulder of her husband, whom she 'manipulated'.
   
   Hopes that Fritz's mother, Empress Augusta, would watch over Vicky were dashed. Augusta was known to be very liberal and free-thinking, unusual for royal women of the time. In her they thought they had an ally, but both the Queen and Vicky would be sorely disappointed. The once-progressive Augusta had seen her marriage to Emperor Wilhelm unravel over the years, and as a result she became a bitter, self-absorbed woman. She gave Vicky little support in her new role.
   
   When they finally became Emperor and Empress, Vicky and Fritz had precious little time to implement any real changes. Fritz died from cancer of the larynx three months into his reign. Upon his passing, Vicky was left alone and devoid of support or influence. Your heart cries at the unfairness of brilliant minds wasted, while Willy becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II - egotistical, manipulative, and dangerous.
   
   Thankfully, Vicky did not live to see the destruction of the Hohenzollern dynasty when Wilhelm II pulled Germany and England into a devastating world war. After fighting his own relations across Europe, he headed into exile, never to see the throne again. Albert's catalyst did indeed create a change, but not in the way he had expected. Germany would be unified, but the reigning royal house would fall from power, never to recover. -MandysRoyalty.org

2 comments about The Deadly Sins Of Aristotle Onassis.

1. I enjoyed the book because It contained several pages about two of my cousins, and because it is very interesting to get more of an inside account as to the lives of Aristotle Onassis (whom I've never cared for, and this made me feel even more dislike for the man) and Jackie Kennedy Onassis,( giving me a different perspective of her as well ,it made me feel that she was overly interested in money.)
   
   It took me awhile to get thru the first few chapters as there was a great deal of technical information. Good information, but a little deep for someone not entirely interesting about planes and boats at that level. Again, further into the book there was lots of technical stuff that slowed me down.
   
   If you have an interest in Aristotle Onassis and family and Jackie Kennedy Onassis this would be an interesting book and if you wanted to know the depth cause and result of his son dying in a crash, THIS is the book to read.



2. The Deadly Sins Of Aristotle Onassis is the true-life story of the famous Greek shipping tycoon who married Jackie Kennedy. He was the penultimate 20th century con man, able to charm the press even as he spun ever more elaborate frauds, from the illegal acquisition of war-surplus ships by falsifying ownership records to bribing Saudi Arabian officials for oil concessions to slaughtering whales in violation of international agreements to hiring Howard Hughes' hatchet man for wiretapping and intimidation, tax evasion, and more. Yet his life of deceit and control caught up with him, robbed his children of their happiness. The Deadly Sins Of Aristotle Onassis reveals how his boastful behavior and charade of invincibility ultimately trapped his son Alexander aboard his fatally defective personal airplane; how the guilt from his son's death caused him to end his own life prematurely; and how his legacy of criminal behavior lived on in his daughter, who tried to cheat Jackie Kennedy out of her rightful widow's share of his estate. A tragic true story of wicked deeds reaping grim rewards.

5 comments about George Washington (The American Presidents).

1. This is one more work in The American Presidents series. The stage is set by one quotation from the Introduction by the series editor, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (Page xvii): "The greatest presidents in the scholars' rankings, Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, were leaders who confronted and overcame the republic's greatest crises."
   
   One fact that sets this book apart from others is co-author James MacGregor Burns, eminent political scientist and a leading authority on leadership. He examines George Washington, in part, from the perspective of leadership. To begin, Burns and co-author Susan Dunn lay out the obvious--but profound--point (Page 3): "His presidency. . .would be his ultimate achievement, for it would undergird every future president who would seek to offer strong and determined leadership." In a sense, Washington made up the presidency as he went along, painfully aware that he was setting precedent for future occupants of that office.
   
   One of Burns' accomplishments was development of the concepts of transactional leadership versus transformational leadership. The authors apply both to Washington, noting, first, that he was an exemplar of transactional leadership--(Page 64) "managing, supervising, delegating, compromising, mastering the centrifugal forces in the government." In short, marshalling resources at his disposal and "getting things done" efficiently and effectively. In addition, it is argued, he was a transformational leader--(Page 64) "giving strong institutional shape to an enhanced philosophy of executive leadership as well as inspiring and cementing citizens' commitment to the federal government. Many examples are adduced throughout the volume to bolster the contention that Washington was effective at both aspects of leadership.
   
   The book itself provides a reasonable background to Washington's life, including his checkered military career before the Revolution. He is also described as having towering ambition, which he strove to control and channel throughout his life. Then, his key role during the Revolutionary War and serving the country in a variety of ways after the ending of the war, including his simple presence at the Constitutional Convention, bringing credibility to that event.
   
   Then, Washington's first term is described. One major strength of this was, overall, a terrific leadership team, including Alexander Hamilton at the Treasury Department, Thomas Jefferson at the State Department, Henry Knox (not so successful) at the War Department, and Edmund Randolph as Attorney General. He also, at this point, had a very good relationship with now Congressional leader James Madison. He used his cabinet to good effect, creating a form of collective leadership, in which he received advice from his Cabinet, discussed with them, and then withdrew to reflect and make his own decision. It is worth noting that John Adams, his Vice President, was NOT a part of the leadership team. Within a handful of years, differences began to emerge among political leaders (including a schism within his own Cabinet), presaging the rise of political party. This puzzled Washington who felt that through reason we could all come to agreement. It also began the challenges to Washington's authority by those who disagreed with him.
   
   The second term featured the development of even greater partisan divisiveness (in Washington's eyes, anyhow). Policy battles became fiercer, wearying Washington, Nonetheless, if one look at the accomplishments during his two terms, one can only be impressed by what he and his team did.
   
   The conclusion is a nuanced essay by the authors on Washington's moral leadership, his strengths and weaknesses on that dimensions. While there is much to admire, there are also some questions raised, such as his desire for land and wealth and his tacit support for slavery (even though he increasingly became ill disposed toward the "peculiar institution"). Nonetheless, the last line of the book says much (Page 157): "Transcending all this was the legacy for all Americans of Washington the man--the revolutionary hero, the founding president, and the First Citizen of the republic."
   
   If you wish a more detailed work on Washington, one might examine Joseph Ellis' book "His Excellency: George Washington." However, for those who wish to learn more about our first president without going into lengthier expositions on him, this slender volume will prove rewarding.



2. George Washington has a deservedly iconic, larger than life, stature among Americans; and yet his own reserve and aloofness, combined with the 18th Century world in which he lived, make him difficult for most Americans today to understand. With President's Day approaching and our country in the midst of a presidential election, I wanted to revisit Washington. This biography by James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn, part of the "American Presidents" series, tells a great deal in short compass about Washington and why he remains important. The study avoids the tendency to place Washington upon a pedestal, and it also avoids the more modern, and much more regrettable, tendency to deflate.
   
   Washington (1732 --1799) was born to the landed aristocracy of Virginia. He served in the French and Indian Wars (1754 -- 1758), as a delegate to the first Continental Congress, as the Commander in Chief during the American Revolution (1775- -- 1781) and as the president of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (1787), among other accomplishments, before becoming the first President of the United States (1789 --1796). In the early chapters of this book, Burns and Dunn trace the character traits of Washington that fitted him for leadership, together with some of his flaws. They paint a portrait of a Washington driven by ambition and concern for his reputation, but also a person of character, intelligence, and sound judgment. More than once in his life, Washington professed himself reluctant, notwithstanding his ambition, to assume or to expand upon powers he readily could have assumed. Washington did indeed temper his ambition and drive with restraint.
   
   The central theme of this book is how Washington proceeded to set the tone of the American Presidency. The authors draw a number of valuable distinctions. The first is between the ceremonial function of the American President -- as representative of the American people and above the political fray -- and the President's political function. As a result of the respect in which he was held, Washington unified the United States under his leadership and, as the authors state, enhanced the position of the Presidency by his occupation of it rather than, as with his successors, having his own reputation enhanced by virtue of becoming the President. This was an invaluable accomplishment to perform for the new nation.
   
   The authors further distinguish between Washington as a transactional and as a transformational leader. As a transactional leader, Washington acted as an administrator in supervising the complex business of government, including the relationship of the Executive Branch with Congress and with foreign countries. As a transformational leader, Washington acted to create a strong presidency, within the limits established by the constitution, "as well as inspiring and cementing citizens' commitment to the federal government." (p. 64)
   
   The authors also two main commitments underlying Washington's presidency: a commitment to reason, compromise, and judgment, as developed in the philosophy of the Enlightement, and a commitment to happiness as the end of government. Washington did not view happiness as synonymous with pleasure but rather as involving a well-ordered republic with laws that applied fairly and equally to everyone and which allowed everyone the opportunity to improve themselves and to flourish.
   
   The book examines Washington's relationships with his brilliant colleagues, Hamilton, Jefferson, and James Madison and how, at his best, he listened to their frequently divergent views before deciding himself on a wise course of action. Washington's toleration and slowness to judgment receive deserved praise in this study. The authors also examine some of the less fortunate aspects of the Washington presidency, including its elitism, lack of understanding of those other than the rich and powerful, and its obsession with order and discipline. These factors, among others, would lead even in Washington's lifetime to the development of the party system that Washington had hoped to avoid. The authors also are critical of Washington's failure to publically address the issue of slavery and to his all to frequently demonstrated acquisitiveness and tendency to drive sharp bargains in his private life.
   
   In our complicated, difficult political world, this book will remind the reader of the origins of our system of government. It will encourage reflection on the nature of leadership, both when brilliantly executed and when it fails, as exemplified in the Presidency of George Washington.
   
   Robin Friedman



3. This book is part of the American Presidents series. As with all of these books, they are well wriiten and very informative about every stage of their lives not just the political. They also inlcude detail that I rarely see in other biographical books concerning the political machinations of their time.



4. This book is cowritten by one of my favorite authors from my college days, decades ago. James MacGregor Burns wrote a classic about presidential and congressional politics entitled "The Deadlock of Democracy." That book was about the interaction between presidential and congressional parties and how they act as checks on one another. In this book, we see the formation of our political system. Beyond what the Constitution set forth, the nature of our federal system is, in great part, defined by what Washington made of the presidency. As the first chief executive and a highly popular figure, he was in position to define the presidency for the future administrations. He could have asserted much greater power than he did and he would have been (at least initially) largely unopposed. He was in position to sieze almost monarchal power but in significant ways, he did not. For example, he set the two term custom which held until FDR was elected to a third term. Also, he often deferred to Congress.
   
   On the other hand, in both foreign affairs and financial affairs Washington utilized power when it was unclear from the Constitution, whether such power was intended. The authors point out such example as the taking of an official position of neutralitry in the conflict between Great Britain and France. The Constitution makes it clear that congress issues a declaratrion of war. However, does this also mean that a position neutrality must be declared by congress? Washington's actions made this a presidential power. Also, Washington appointed a cabinet of very able men and they, paticularly Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, consolidated significant power in the executive branch. Indeed, there is nothing in the Constitution regarding a cabinet so, Washington's creation this institution set a significant precedent.
   
   In Washington's second term, an opposition party was taking form and this greatly disappointed him since he believed in consensus and felt that parties were harmful. The formation of parties was probably inevitable but Washington almost took it personally, as he hoped his leadership would lead to consensus and he saw the formation of parties as sort of a rejection. In fact, he was a great success since the actions that Washngton took set the precedents for future presidents. As the authors point out so well, "[w]hile future presidents would be respected because of the office they held, in Washington's case, the office would become respected because of the man." For that reason, Washington was a great president.



5. This book, along with the others in the series, is a short biography of George Washington. There are plenty of other book about him that deal much more in depth, but this book makes for a good beginning.
   
   He was a man of tremendous ambition that was concerned with climbing the social ladder. Indeed, he was one of the richest men in Virginia at the time. But the fact remains that after the end of the Revolutionary War he resigned his commison and went back to his Mount Vernon farm. Instead of taking advantage of his tremendous popularity at a time when he could have easily grabbed a lot of power from the young nation, he wished nothing more than to become a country farmer. That fact tells volumes about his character. How many men would have not taken advantage of the situation?
   
   Not to put him on a pedestal, or portray him as a saint, this book tells of his ambition, his concern with climbing further into the social strata, and also tells of his love for the new-founded country. He was a great man, and totally human.
   
   A good short introduction to George Washgington, and another great volume in the series!