3 comments about George Burns and the Hundred-Year Dash (G K Hall Large Print Book Series).

1. WHEN I WAS A BOY, I THOUGHT THE FUNNIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WERE BURNS AND ALLEN, LAUREL AND HARDY AND JACK BENNY AND RODCHESTER. AS I GOT OLDER I ADDED GROUCHO AND W.C. FIELDS. BUT GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN WERE SPECIAL. THEY WERE LIKE SOME OF MY FAMILY, LIKE NEIGHBORS, LIKE, WELL, REAL PEOPLE. ADDED TO THAT WAS THE FACT GEORGE AND JACK BENNY WERE THE BEST OF FRIENDS ALL THEIR LIVES. THIS IS JUST A MARVELOUS BOOK AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE REVIEWER WHO SAW IT AS MAKING GEORGE LOOK SORDID. IT MADE HIM LOOK EVEN MORE HUMAN AND KINDER. HE WAS DEVOTED TO GRACIE, TO HIS FAMILY AND TO JACK. HE WAS A BRILLIANT AND KIND MAN ALL HIS LIFE AND ONE OF OUR NATIONAL TREASURES. READING THE BOOK WAS LIKE SITTING DOWN AND REMINISCING WITH OLD FRIENDS AND MARTIN GOTTFRIED SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR HIS WORK.
   
   I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR EVERYONE WHO IS A FAN OF BURNS AND ALLEN AND JACK BENNY, ANOTHER KIND MAN SADDLED WITH A REALLY MISERABLE WIFE, NOTED FOR SUCH THINGS AS THROWING A DECORATED MARINE WAR HERO OUT OF ONE OF THIER PARTIES BECAUSE HE WASN'T "HOLLYWOOD". BUT I DIGRESS, PLEASE READ THE BOOK, IT'S ONE YOU WILL KEEP AND READ AGAIN, ESPECIALLY IF YOU FEEL DOWN OR DISCOURAGED. GEORGE AND GRACIE, I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE JOY YOU BROUGHT TO US THROUGH THE YEARS.



2. To the earlier reviewer : If you can't stand the unvarnished truth, why are you reading this book. If you want rose-colored platitudes, read People magazine. This book tells it like it was, warts and all. Isn't that what a proper biography should do?



3. In this world, it is rare that a man show as much love, kindeness, and humility as did George Burns. However, this book chooses rather to focus on the sordid details of his life. The sexual immorality, the dirty jokes off stage, the things that George himself varnished over. George had a right to varnish over the negatives. It is the soul of the man. It is how he made it to 100 years of age. This book instead punches him below the belt posthumously. I was and am a big George Burns fan, and I was sorely disapointed that someone could be so cheap and callous as to sully his image.

5 comments about She Got Game: My Personal Odyssey.

1. Some people may shy away from this book because they think its about basketball. Wrong -- it's about life, about a person who happens to play basketball.
   
   I think every girl should read this book, because it deals with Cooper's issues with self-esteem and confidence, overcoming poverty, and her pursuit of excellence. I also think every mother should read it, because the book shows how effective a role model Cooper's mother was to her. Maybe mothers and daughters should read this book together, and have discussions about it.
   
   This is not an overtly Christian book, but Cooper is a Christian and does not hide her faith. It is not really an evangelistic book, though one can say it is pre-evangelistic.



2. Cynthia Cooper could be a role model for anyone. She knows how to play the game of life as well as basketball: when to hold, when to fold, and a whole lot more.
   What impressed me most? Signed to play in Italy, Cynthia didn't hang around being homesick. She took the opportunity to learn and grow.
   My favorite scenes:

   (1) New to Italy, she'd never even heard of famous cathedrals that someone asked her about. Later, she could have discussed the architectural history and features -- in Italian.

   (2) She asked Ford to give her a marketing internship -- and she felt right at home with the men. I use this example a lot when I talk to parents who are concerned that their daughters are more interested in sports than school.

   (3) She takes us behind the scenes of the championship Comets.

   Hard to put down, well-written, honest -- the perfect gift for any WNBA fan or any young woman looking to her future, in or out of basketball.




3. This autobiography is one of the best, if not the best, that I've read. It's amazing how Cynthia Cooper writes her own story to motivate and make readers have more confidence. She's a real example of a true athlete hero, someone that can be a role model to all. Thanks to her and her success in the WNBA, she's given Women's Basketball a new meaning. Her determination and motivation to become successful is admirable. This book is really an inspiration to those who lack self-esteem and self-confidence. I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone because is really interesting and inspirational. I'm proud of Cynthia Cooper because she's a real good representative of Women's basketball and a great example of determination and success. She also proved that with God's help, anything is possible.



4. Cooper's book has made me relieze that nothing can turninto something. Also Cooper provides a positive role model for anyonewho wants to better themselves and improve their way of life. This is a book that can be enjoyed by all. There was problems growing up, college, overseas (work) love, and death of loved ones. This tells the reader that everyone faces problems at many different stages of life. Also how they could be overcome with the correct outlook. END



5. This book is about the story and life of a great know person and athletic. It has its good times and bad times. It tells you what happened in her life till the time she published the book. It tells you from her first time she touched a basketball until she became the leauges MVP. If you want to read a great story about a player and her good times and bad times this is the book you should read. It is for sure the best book I've read about a great person and a life she lived. You should get this book no doubt.

1 comments about Autobiography of an Elderly Woman: In large print for easy reading.

1. Firstly and thankfully this book has been brought out in large print which makes it very easy and comfortable to read. Anyone old person will be able to identify with the predicament of the author who describes how it is to be old.
   
   But young people will like it too because everyone gets old, and if you are young this book describes what will happen. Its more important for young people to read this book because they can prepare for old age.
   
   . The book begins by recalling the stages of the authors life: her girlhood, the years when she was raising her children, the years when she and her children were adults together and companions.
   
   Vorse describes how she did not know when changes came. "I cannot put my finger on the time when I was of their generation. I cannot identify the moment when old age finally claimed me."
   
   Changes will come to everyone - read this book and be prepared for them.

No comments about Al Pacino: The Authorized Biography (Ulverscroft Nonfiction).

5 comments about Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.

1. I'm giving this book 4 Stars. I was going to go with 3, but based on the works readability and style I believe that there is something to be taken away by everyone. The information presented by Ellis will interest the scholarly historian as well as the casually curious reader. The former of the two readers may busy themselves more with disputing some of the poorly cited, questionable material presented within the pages of this book.
   If I have it right, Ellis was attempting to portray the founders as a group of thoroughly human participants that possessed the omniprescence to grasp the scope of what their actions meant to history. This fundamental paradox of presentation left me scratching my head in search of the authors true motives. Was Ellis attempting to unite us with the men and politics of the Founding generation or was he furthering the mystification of these men, by adding to the accumulated material that presents them as histoical deities.
   Regardless of the overall impression the book leaves on you, I am sure, the reader will find themselves entertained from start to finish.



2. In the afterglow of the HBO series on John Adams, I grew interested in some of the founding fathers, many of whom had seemed boring to me ever since I read their bios in grade school. Ellis does a highly intelligent and readable job of laying out the personalities, conflicts and battles of the whole group during the first years of the nation. I particularly like the chapter on the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Also great is the chapter about George Washington, who had seemed a cardboard character to me until my interest was piqued by the TV series. Ellis is more than a little inclined to repeat himself in that particular way academics have, although his ruminations are likely to advance the story, although a bit wordily. That aside, this book is worth digging into by anyone who wants to know what those guys were really all about and who doesn't want to be told by some ideologue what to think about them.



3. If I had to recommend one book to read in a year, I would recommend The Founding Brothers.
   
   Joseph Ellis recounts the early stages of American history with six historically-based tales about the Founding Fathers or, as he thinks of them, the Founding Brothers. The stories of Jefferson, John Adams, Madison, Washington, Hamilton, and Franklin (more of a Founding Grandfather, Ellis asserts) highlight how the period after the Revolutionary War was the most politically treacherous in our nation's history. It was the Founding Brother's talents and foresight that allowed them build a country out of a revolution which, in most cases, falls short of ideals because of personal ambitions.
   
   The stories of the Founding Brothers is completely factual, however, the stories are written so that the reader can see the emotional and personal character aspects that the Brothers experienced during the early years of our nation. The stories are interconnected and woven so that even though each of the stories highlight different facets of the nation's early history (the ratification of the Constitution, the question of slavery, the infamous duel at Weehawken, the location of the new republic's capitol), the major players remain the same. Their personalities are built together to create interesting and insightful history.
   
   This book won the Pulitzer Prize. After reading, I found that to be no surprise at all. It's an excellent read with a blend of wit, conviviality, learnedness, and intelligence.



4. Others have commented upon Ellis' problems with the truth in his personal life, and I will not revisit those issues here. However, while this book is a good read and tells interesting stories, there are factual problems here when you get down to the details. First, the book is poorly documented. Only direct quotes seem to be cited with footnotes. Thus, when the author makes questionable assertions, his sources are unidentified. For example, he claims that the idea of political parities was new in the 1790s. Anyone with a fundamental knowledge of colonial or British politics knows this claim to be false. Second, Ellis claims that Jefferson's affair with Sally Hemmings has been proven by DNA evidence beyond all reasonable doubt. Again, this claim is false. The DNA testing has only proved that a member of the Jefferson family fathered Hemmings' children. Personally, I believe it was Thomas Jefferson, but the DNA evidence has proven nothing beyond a reasonable doubt. Third, Ellis claims that Hamilton's pamphlet against John Adams had no major impact on the election of 1800, which is a fact others would certainly dispute. These are some examples of Ellis' weakness with details and facts. His interpretations are often made, it seems to me anyway, to fit his preconceived agenda. George Washington, for example, is portrayed as the father of big-government liberalism.
   
   This book is very readable, but the stories seem disconnected to me and some statements of fact and assertions are highly questionable. I cannot even see very clearly what the overall argument is in the book. I almost wonder if these stories were bits and pieces left over from other works that Ellis threw into a book he thought would easily sell to the general public. If you read this book, read it critically and do not take it at face value. I'm really not sure why this book won a Pulitzer. It must have been for the writing itself. This book is a good read, but it is often very bad history.



5. Ellis presents this as if it were a light little book: a collection of vignettes about the Founders that will give us some random insights into the Revolution and the early Republic. It certainly reads like a light, little book. The pages turn easily, and it is a very entertaining read.
   
   But, beneath the very decorative surface, this is a very serious book. It is nothing less than a prolonged series of explorations into the contradictions at the heart of the Revolution and of America. The fundamental contradiction which Ellis sees is between the spirit of the Revolution -- which opposed all authority of any kind -- and the needs of the new Republic to have effective leadership. This is why the unity of the Washington period gave way to the extraordinary bitterness of the partisan warfare during the Adams Administration. Washington, Hamilton and Adams focused on the need to build a nation with effective institutions of leadership. Jefferson and Madison saw any strong leadership -- until THEY won the White House -- as a betrayal of the Revolution.
   
   It would be easy for Ellis to see Jefferson as essentially a hypocrite. The great exponent of freedom who kept slaves. The merciless attacker of the shoemaker's son (John Adams) as an aristocrat when he inherited his wealth. The leader of the slander and defamation against both Washington and Adams, who served as a high official in both of their Adminstrations.
   
   All of this is true, and Ellis examines it, but there is more to Jefferson than just hypocrisy, and Ellis sees that as well. As he explains, Jefferson had a great talent for creating stories, which fit grand narrative lines. Unlike Adams, who insisted on seeing reality as a mass of messy contradictions, Jefferson also saw the world as playing out the simple and inspiring lines of the great Englishtenment melodrama in which reason and freedom marched to their inevitable victory over superstitution and feudalism.
   
   This, of course, speaks to Jefferson's ability at self-delusion -- of which he was a master -- but there is more. The new Republic needed a founding story. People need a simple narration, to use to make sense of their world. Adams was quite unable to giving one to America; he insisted there there was no simple story line. Jefferson was so incredibly effective as a leader, precisely because he could create these story lines and make people believe them. More than all of the other Founders, Jefferson was able to create a new iconography for the new Republic. Ellis sees, and lucidly explains, all of these levels of Jefferson, the self-deluding hypocrite who flattened out the messy parts of reality to fit the story line in his head, but then made that story line THE story line which inspired the new nation. Very complex stuff, and Ellis does full credit to it.
   
   The insights into the individual leaders are just extraordinary. Ellis simultaneously is deeply sympathetic to, yet harshly critical of, nearly all of the Founders. He understands them, and he sees into their souls. He loves and admires them, yet no one is more aware of their failings. This is not a book with easy answers. Instead, it is a book

4 comments about Minnesota Fats: Never Behind the Eight Ball.

1. Though well written stylistically, it's horribly researched. The author basically just took Wanderone and his fans' word for it, on everything. As most people with any knowledge of billiards history know, "Minnesota Fats" was a fictional character (from the novel, and later movie, "The Hustler"). Wanderone, who had been known as Brooklyn Fatty and New York Fats at the time, adopted the name and then began making up stories of his "exploits". But, in fact, he never played against most of the people he claimed to, much less beat them, and was not a very accomplished player at all (as completely crushing defeats at the hands of real pros, at least one of the televised, demonstrated). In Wanderone's defense, his snookering (pardon the pun) of the media and the general public was a masterpiece of p.r. manipulation, and his stage presence (he did many demonstration tours and other public appearances) was lengendary for its charisma, humor and general entertainment value. Still, people should not be taken in by this book or any other book that treats Wanderone as actually being "Minnesota Fats" (who never existed, nor was based on Wanderone), or as actually being a great player. He was mediocre on the table at best.



2. Written by someone that really knew the Great Pool Hustler! Walther's sincere compassion for the game of pool and for Minnesota is clearly evident. Not just a "Billiards" Book, it offers much more. And the proceeds go to a good cause too! A sincere fan, Mike Soper



3. I read the book on my last flight...I htought it was very insightful as to what this man experienced. It gave me a real feeling of what it must have been like to have this kind of skill, not just shooting stick, but everything that went along with it. I enjoyed it.



4. Fred Walther demonstrates his talents as an author with this wonderful read about the greatest pool player that has ever lived. For anyone interested in billiards or veteran students of the game this book is a must read. It's filled with insightful, helpful and humorous tips and stories from the master himself. What's even more intriguing, is Walther's insight into the fascinating life of Rudolph Walter Wanderone (a.k.a. Minnesota Fats). Walther balances objectivity as an author with his genuine affection for Fats who was his longtime friend. I've read it and re-read it numerous times always finding something new.

   Technically, the book is well laid out with large print. The section on "Tips" straight from Fats is priceless. You can open to any page and start enjoying. I highly recommend this diamond in the ruff.

   Peter Billingsle

5 comments about All Too Human: A Political Education.

1. In this moving look into the White House, Stephanopoulos carefully treads the line between worship for his idealized boss who embodied all the dreams and hopes Stephanopoulos had for his country, and distraught disappointment at the human flaws that caused this man to dally with a certain females and to lie to his aides about it. For Stephanopoulos, the crime here is not the actual act, but the fact that his boss let his people lie for him - without even realizing they were lying. This lack of trust and respect was crushing to the young idealist and it shows through in every page of the book. He mourns for what could have been, but wasn't; he hangs his head for the mistakes made by his "all too human" boss. He does not, however, descend into mudslinging - he obviously still adores his former boss, even if he did turn out to be a little less large than life.



2. This book is interesting in two ways. The first is the rise of a working class immigrant's son to the position of political advisor of the world's most powerful statesman. The father of Stephanopoulos was an working class immigrant yet his son was able to become a Rhodes scholar and reach the position in politics he did. The American success story. It is also interesting, from a much more cynical perspective, in that Stephanopolous' political advice was all politically motivated and absolutely none (with emphasis on absolutely) had a basis in the actual non-political benefits or costs (or efficacy). Extremely cynical. One comes away wondering whether it is even possible for the political process to produce socially beneficial policies instead of just politically expediant solutions.



3. First, my standard disclaimer: I am a political moderate and social conservative. This book is an average look at what happens in political inner circles, specifically the Clinton white house. I was a little disappointed that Stephanopoulos did not take more risks to write about subjects that the general public did not already know. It seemed that much of the reason for the book was for the author to exonerate himself from any wrongdoing.



4. George Stephanopoulos' memoir of working in the White House during Bill Clinton's first term in office makes you feel like a fly on the wall of the Oval Office. Written in that hypersmart, jargon-fluent style familiar to "West Wing" viewers, "All Too Human" is an engaging, candid companion to readers of any political stripe, in part an impassioned defense of one of America's most infuriatingly bipolar personalities, in part a cautionary tale of power trumping principle.
   
   Among the best and brightest that made up Clinton's 1992 campaign staff, no one burned brighter than Stephanopoulos, a senior advisor to the President at the tender age of 31 whose charge included Congress (he formerly worked for House Majority Whip Dick Gephardt) and satisfying Clinton's critical liberal base.
   
   Stephanopoulos makes no bones about being a true believer. He likens his work with Clinton to being an altar boy for the Greek Orthodox priests of his youth. "It's Nazi time out there," Clinton explodes when the Republicans campaign against him in a special congressional election in Kentucky. Stephanopoulos seems on board with this Hitlerian characterization of the GOP.
   
   Yet Stephanopoulos' passion is tempered by a cool calculating side that finds much common ground with the president, too much, he comes to find. "The last temptation is the greatest treason/To do the right thing for the wrong reason," goes the Eliot verse Stephanopoulos keeps on his desk, in a cramped room he coveted for its proximity to the Oval Office. Even when he manages to get the president to save affirmative action or appease other liberal concerns, it all comes back to a base sort of pragmatism. Is Clinton doing it because it's the right thing to do, or for the political benefit? What about George?
   
   Stephanopoulos' candor is this book's greatest asset, candor about the calculating Clinton, his prickly wife Hillary, and especially himself. He recalls a moment in the first campaign when he caught himself telling a small child that her father is "a bad man" for lying about Clinton. Stephanopoulos wants us to see him, and his boss, as good people, but like the title suggests, with some intrinsic flaws.
   
   While the first half of the book is marginally more interesting as a whole, as the Clinton team finds their way into the White House amid bimbo eruptions and fights its own party to pass a budget through Congress, the second half has the book's most interesting figure, the one man Stephanopoulos paints in entirely black hues: Dick Morris.
   
   Morris could be a Dickens character, "a small sausage of a man encased in a green suit with wide lapels, a wide floral tie, and a wide-collared shirt." As unctuous as Uriah Heep, Morris twitters on about his access to the president, all the time sizing our narrator's back for a place to stick his knife. Stephanopoulos, who views Morris as nothing less than a Republican mole, does likewise.
   
   "I have no home. I have no one left to talk to," Morris tells Stephanopoulos at one point.
   
   Get a dog, Stephanopoulos finds himself wishing he had the nerve to reply.
   
   Morris has claimed Stephanopoulos misrepresented him, but I find the depiction very close to the bone from what I've seen of this fellow commentating on Fox News.
   
   There are flaws in the book, like Stephanopoulos' shorthand with the facts. He seems to assume the reader is as well-versed as he is about the Clinton years, which has him skirt over a lot of material or peripherally refer to things like Tammy Wynette being upset with the First Lady as if we all will know the rest of the story. There is also a fatal Yuppie self-absorption in how Stephanopoulos whines about his trials. A lot of people deal with mega-stress. Not so many have a movie actress ready to draw them a bath.
   
   But "All Too Human" is a good read, and buttressed by Bob Woodward's "The Agenda," one gets an immersive sense of life around Bill Clinton in his first term, a time of great possibilities, hopes, and, inevitably, more than a bit of frailty.



5. The subtitle of this wonderful memoir taught me more about politics in 400 pages than I'd learned in 40 years. A diehard liberal and a political fanatic, someone whose views would normally make me sneer and scoff, Stephanopolous paints a picture of the stresses, ins-and-outs, spin, activities and the vital scope of the world inside the Oval Office. Every newsworthy event or program is canvassed for its political ramafications; the very definition and refinement of the word "politics" is reinforced on every page; the mistakes that lead to triumphs, and the feel-good preparations that lead to disasters are all here in stark detail. Stephanopolous proves himself a very sensible man, and even his staunchly liberal views are sidenotes to the greater energies, arguments and preparations that occur inside the White House. I occasionally disliked S's speaking his own platform (which he did sparingly), or telling how political parties are constructed to blunt the other even when their plans are sensible, but all in all I learned more from this book about the workings inside the White House than from all my prior readings and public education.

No comments about Martin Van Buren: The American Presidents Series.

5 comments about The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series).

1. Although I've always known that Billy Graham was a charismatic evangelist, I didn't realize just how spiritual, humble, forgiving, and influential he was until reading this book. Not only was he allowed into the "inner sanctums" of powerful United States politicians and other movers and shakers, but he was also admitted entry into places in the world where others would not have been allowed. At the same time, he cared about "the least of these" and always felt his #1 mission in life was to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
   
   Although he could easily hobnob with the presidents and their wives, he never lost his humility and the sure knowledge that God is in control of our lives. Whether golfing with a Bush, swimming with Johnson, or praying with Nixon, he did so in a spiritual role, not a political one. As the authors bring out, Graham didn't need fortune or fame. He saw himself as their pastor, their advocate with the Father. Presidents aren't as free as the rest of us to go to the Baptist church around the corner or the Catholic one downtown, so Billy Graham felt it was his responsibility to go to them...and go he did. Plus, I learned that no matter who the president was, Graham believed that he was God's divine choice and was thus supportive, even after Clinton's misdeeds and Nixon's Watergate situation.
   
   The most recurrent theme that I picked up is that regardless of what he was exposed to, Dr. Graham remained the evangelist sure of his purpose. Interestingly, however, the pundits and press and other religious leaders all had their criticisms...even when he was clearly doing what the scriptures admonish us to do. They even criticized him for being too forgiving, too conciliatory, not judgmental enough. HUH???
   
   Sure of his mission, I've got a feeling that Dr. Graham doesn't worry about such criticisms. His message is that everyone wants to be loved and that God loves us each and everyone, even the ones who disappoint, hurt, or criticize us.



2. A fascinating read and deservedly praised, I found this book hard to put down until Chapter 31 on Billy's acquaintance with the Clintons. That chapter had a false ring - a different tone from the rest, that smacked me in the face. With so few comments there in Billy's words, as were heavily used in the chapters about other presidents, the writers droned on and on in their attempt to paint the Clintons as good as the rest. After their fairly even-handed (and exhaustive) work on both the humanity and duplicity of Nixon earlier in the book, I was unpleasantly amazed. Of course, most of the others are dead and gone, while Mrs. Clinton is running for a third term as co-president, and this makes it worse. The chapter sticks out as an effort to rub some of Billy's good character onto the Clintons by association. It didn't work.
   
   Several times during that chapter, I did put it down in disgust, wondering what happened here? I know spin when I see it. For what purpose did the writers, after relating so much that sounded genuine about all the presidents up to that point, think they needed to con readers into accepting that; while we were subjected to an amoral sex offender and his socialist wife for eight years, they were really just as normal, good Christians as all the others. Pandering to them in such a book included the writers' insinuations that Billy Graham supported the Clintons and approved, for example, of abortion and homosexuality along with them, which he emphatically did not. The way the writers gloss over the criminal conduct of the Clintons, a pass they certainly didn't give Nixon, defending and excusing them on and on ad nauseum, speaks volumes. The comparatively few words of Billy himself on that period, when it was he being interviewed for the book, is noticeable, too, in a look at the chapter. Note that Hillary bragged on several occasions what a personal help Billy had been to her, with no corroboration from him other than a meeting in 2005 in which he mentioned "private time". Yet by this point, we know his own self-imposed rules about that. Hillary's stories of "huddling with" Billy are as blatant lies as so many of her other stories, judging by what Billy himself says. But her stories are presented as accurate with no input from him, in contrast to the rest of the book.
   
   In giving the writers license, Billy was too trusting - as he often was because of his basic love for and trust in people. But I was so put off by this whitewash, I had to put the book down for a few days. Later I glanced back through the chapters, because I had also been struck by the short space given to President Reagan's term in the White House after he and Billy had been friends for 30 years. Yes, I was right - amazing how little space was given to those more recent years, compared to presidents before him.
   
   I learned a lot that was new; Carter's dislike for Billy despite professing the same religious beliefs, LBJ's real fondness for him. I was entranced by the new look at Eisenhower, saddened at the way Nixon took advantage of a genuine friendship, pleased to learn things I hadn't known about Bush 41 and the whole family. For the writers to push their personal bias in my face near the end came close to spoiling a great read for me. It is a wonderful book except for Chapter 31.



3. This biographical piece is considerably different from other works written about Billy Graham's life. Just As I Am (autobiography) and other histories of the Billy Graham Crusades evolve into hagiographies where Graham has faults but these are downplayed. This book tries to be as balanced as possible portraying some glaring weaknesses such as Graham's heavily favoring various presidents and presidential candidates, even in public, while not legalistically endorsing them.
   
   The insights into various presidencies is also very informative and shows them in ways that are probably consistent with what can be publically known but with nuances that may have been previously unknown. Certainly other Graham biographies have not entered into this level of detail.
   
   On balance, this is a genuine attempt to present Graham as he really is, particularly in relation to the presidents of the past 60 years. Those who are looking for a spiritually uplifting journey may be disappointed. That does not appear to be the point of this book.
   
   But for those who are not fans of Graham, and would like to know him better, this limited biography is very valuable



4. Given the enormous financial and investigative resources available to Time magazine reporters Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, it shouldn't be too much to expect historical accuracy in this biography. Then again, Time has been an uncritical cheerleader for Graham's ministry since the day in 1950 when publisher Henry Luce visited the young minister, then a houseguest at South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond's mansion, and decided to join William Randolph Hearst's efforts to "puff Graham." Time has a substantial investment in Graham's ministry, having run more than 600 stories about his career. Unfortunately, historical accuracy isn't one of the strong points of a book that is otherwise a pleasant enough read. People make mistakes, of course, but when they tend to fall in the same direction, one begins to suspect a hidden agenda. On the other hand, simple sloppiness can't be ruled out, as when they place Graham at Bob Jones College in Greenville, S.C., for his first year of higher education. When Graham dropped out during his freshman year that school was located in Cleveland, Tenn. The subtitle tells you all you need to know about the story between the covers. The book begins with Graham's rocky relationship with Harry S. Truman and ends with his fatherly embrace of George W. Bush. Those attracted to the preacher will find nothing to dislike, but also little that is new. This is the same generous tale told by Graham's publicity team in countless books, articles, movies, advertisements, TV appearances and, of course, crusades. According to this account, from Eisenhower forward, all of the presidents have sought Graham's counsel in varying degrees, and discovered a deep well of comfort and spiritual wisdom. The authors make mild forays into Graham's political mistakes and spend a long while on his purported close friendship with and later betrayal by Nixon, but the poking is gentle and Graham emerges as an older but wiser hero. The mistakes and omissions are telling, however. Careful to paint Nixon as the agent of darkness, they write: "The beloved Ike, Nixon charged, was `a far more complex and devious man than most people realized.'" Thus they imply that Nixon was even nasty to sweet old Dwight Eisenhower. But this can only be a deliberate misquote. In his book SIX CRISES Nixon actually concluded the sentence "and in the best sense of those words." His intention was to PRAISE Eisenhower. It is important for Nixon to be the sinner because the preacher the authors have chosen to present was supposedly suckered into long-term support for Tricky Dick, and was devastated when he learned that Nixon had deceived him. Much to Graham's enduring dismay, his back-room politicking had been tape-recorded and would come back to embarrass him over and over again through ensuing years. Nor have all of Nixon's notorious tapes yet been released. Graham's support for civil rights is painted as enthusiastic and heartfelt, but his actual record is far from clear. The authors repeat Graham's assertion that Martin Luther King, Jr., endorsed his arms-length approach to integration, without corroborating evidence, and neglect Graham's reaction to "I Have a Dream" in 1963. Graham conducted a press conference the next morning and said, "Only when Christ comes again will the little white children of Alabama walk hand in hand with little black children." Concerning King the authors also claim that he delivered volumes by Gandhi disguised in Billy Graham book jackets to imprisoned Freedom Riders in Mississippi. This is another example of either the authors' incautious research or eagerness to hitch Graham's wagon to King's star. According to Taylor Branch, writing in PILLAR OF FIRE (which the authors cite as their reference), the transporter of disguised books was Rev. Edwin King, a white preacher of no known relation to MLK. Lest it be overlooked elsewhere as it is in THE PREACHER AND THE PRESIDENTS, Graham's nonprofit enterprises have profited nicely from the high profile that presidential palavering has, in no small part, afforded him. While his annual personal income from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association only totalled a bit over $500,000 in recent years, he enjoyed a well-appointed "log cabin" estate in Montreat, N.C., with high tech communications gear and an indoor swimming pool, a vacation home in the posh country club community of Pauma Valley, California, and controlled tax-exempt properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars in North Carolina alone. Nor do these figures include income from books, recordings and television appearances, and may not include the receipts of the individual LLCs created for each of his crusades. To top it off, he bragged that he "never paid for a suit or a hotel room," though he seems to have preferred lodging in various mansions, both public and private, to the common discomforts of life in commercial rooms. THE PREACHER AND THE PRESIDENTS offers comforting fiction disguised as history. It is, without doubt, a book written for believers.



5. This book is a must read for people who want to learn about ultimate influence

5 comments about The Great Republic (Random House Large Print (Paper)).

1. This book looked promising but I'm sorry to say that I have not gone past the first few pages.

   Churchill's writing style is very dry (no matter what they say) and his sentences about historical events are full of summaries and platitudes. I'm not sure where he gets his facts from. If one doesn't have the facts, one could at least have an opinion and be funny about it. Churchill is neither.

   I bought it thinking it would be a good introduction to American history written by a great man (I am still a fan of his speeches), but this is not the right book. I don't know why it even got published - its edited form should already have given me a clue that the whole unabridged work was unreadable.




2. This excerpted work is a light summary of American History from the perspective of a good friend and ally. It is not, however, a book that would have been taken seriously had it not been written by Churchill. To students of U.S. history, it will seem too superficial in most places (eg. Industrialization), too romantic in others (eg. the Civil War), and downright misleading in still others (imagine anyone describing Jefferson as 'frugal'!!). Having said all that, I enjoyed it precisely because it is our cousin's celebration of his own American roots.



3. I couldn't bear to listen to this audio book for more than 15 minutes before I put it away for good. Winston Churchill's grandson appears to be unable to read complex sentences out loud. He ends sentences where commas occur, only to continue in suprise that there is more to read. His introduction is also incredibly pompus.



4. As histories of the U.S. goes, these selected excerpts from the mind-boggling works of the great, the heroic Winston Churchill, is rather skimming and selective (try Paul Johnson's masterpiece "A History of the American People".) What's good fun, however, is that it makes me remember afresh that history has always and will forever be interpretative!! I sometimes forget that fact as American media and academics so often shove "flavor of the month" history, in all its changist glory, down our throats. This early account of American history and current events as written in the early 1900s can be splendidly candid and even startling in its un-PCness. Discover how much and yet how little the American psyche has changed over the decades and exactly what people thought of America and Americans way back then.



5. The Great Republic is essentially Churchill's historical overview of America contained within his History of the English-Speaking Peoples. Normally acknowledged as one of the great political statesman of his, perhaps any, age, Churchill was also quite the historian. His complete works span over 50 volumes of material. These excerpts of his larger work provide us with a unique perspective on American history from an alternative vantage point, although not entirely foreign. Churchill was, in fact, intimately connected with Amercia. As the introduction provided by his grandson (appropriately named) Winston S. Churchill reveals, three of Churchill's ancestors were actually passengers on the Mayflower. He had even more recent connections through his mother who was an American. Churchill was a great admirer of what he affectionately called 'the Great Republic' (thus, the title), and so his endearment of our country is also the result of embracing his own heritage.

   Only half of this edition is taken from Churchill's original history. Obviously, the work has a Euro-centrist perspective of America and its events. But this is part of its unique charm, added with the fact of the man who had written it is highly regarded world-wide. The span of history covered begins with the Europlean effort to find alternative routes to the East Indies, resulting in America's discovery. It ends at the beginning of the twentieth century having little to say of these times. Because American history was not the focus of the original work, much history must be expected by the reader to be left out. The themes discussed are almost entirely political, as one would expect. The central focus of our history it turns out is our Civil War. It seems that it is not only historians in America who have such a fascination with this epic. More emphasis is given this historic confrontation than that of our Revolutionary War (after all, what Englishman would glory in that story). Nevertheless, the greatness of Churchill as an historian is fully evident here.

   The latter half is a collection of Churchill's writings and speeches regarding America covering a span of over 50 years. Here we find how America was viewed by the prominent politian. He is certainly credible enough to have formed an opinion of our American customs and habits considering his background and his numerous trips to the New World. The topics vary covering our eating habits and social customs to our landscapes to our common language and heritage to opinoins on Prohibition and War. These, or course, act as a history of America in the first half of this last century. On the whole, The Great Republic is an exceptional and brief read in American history.