2 comments about The Founders' Almanac: A Practical Guide to the Notable Events, Greatest Leaders & Most Eloquent Words of the American Founding.

1. I added this fine work to my library about 4 months ago and already the pages are showing signs of wear. I can't begin to say how many times I have turned to this fine work for a reference source..
   
   Mr. Spalding has put together a very readable sourcebook. The book begins with a calendar of notable events, followed by six outstanding essays on six of America's most notable founders. All six essays come from different authors and each one is equally well written.
   
   The last half of the book is devoted to notable quotations, founding documents and additional resources. The quotes are divided into numerous indexed categories. The documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, have quick reference sidebar notes. You won't regret adding this fine work to your personal library.



2. I added this fine work to my library about 4 months ago and already the pages are showing signs of wear. I can't begin to say how many times I have turned to this fine work for a reference source.
   
   Mr. Spalding has put together a very readable sourcebook. The book begins with a calendar of notable events, followed by six outstanding essays on six of America's most notable founders. All six essays come from different authors and each one is equally well written.

   The last half of the book is devoted to notable quotations, founding documents and additional resources. The quotes are divided into numerous indexed categories. The documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, have quick reference sidebar notes. You won't regret adding this fine work to your personal library.

2 comments about Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Commissar (1918-1945).

1. Last week we listened to the `messages' given in the UN by many heads of states.
   Hugo Chavez president of Venezuela and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, in particular, have been quite interesting and extremely filled most of us with fun and enjoyment.
   
   They have spoken with great presumptuousness.
   
   Their intention has been to insult and accuse their opponent head of state - USA President Bush, and they did it in such a way that their words, taken literally, sounded innocent.
   Those who are not familiar with the background and meaning of `being garrulous' will find nothing odd about their sentences, until they could get the hidden implications.
   
   Perhaps we should `exhume' one simple example of what we are talking about.
   During the Cuban missile crises in the early sixties of the twentieth century, Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, used to pound his desk at the UN General Assembly to interrupt British and American heads of states from giving their speeches. The frustrated NK even pulled off and waved his shoe and banged it on his desk in front of shocked and amused world delegates occupying the large UN hall.
   Nevertheless, the annals of history has recorded that in 1964 Brezhenev ousted NK.
   Twenty-seven years later the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics was dissolved after some seventy-five years, since the Russian Revolution in 1917, of acting as the second principal world super power.
   
   You see, in the tug of will, the point is not in pronouncing words of strength, because at the end of the day what really counts is `Who' is able to bind the economic noose tighter until decided to pull the rope.
   
   This memoirs is not a Mrs Love's poem that we are talking of. This is a tough fight of crucial struggle for world supremacy; this is the tug of war, like a Greek salad, if one is not able to notice a dropped olive seed lurking beneath the cheese and the green succulent lettuce, and if one cannot realize how strong and durable the seed is, one will lose one's tooth.



2. a Don Quixote, the Ego, and a Sancho Panza, the Self."
   
   W.H. Auden's aphorism forms an appropriate framework for reviewing The Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Volume I. Although the Memoirs have more Don Quixote than Sancho Panza they are compelling, informative, and insightful.
   
   Volume I consists of two sections: Khrushchev's Memoirs from the early days of the Russian Revolution through the end of the Second World War and Sergei Khrushchev's (Nikita's son) essay on the creation of the memoirs and the decades long struggle to see it published in the USSR.
   
   Khrushchev's memoirs are fascinating for a number of reasons. As set out in Sergei's essay, these Memoirs were dictated and not written. As a result, the Memoirs have a very conversational tone whcih, for me, brought the Memoirs to life. Khrushchev had a prodigious memory and his Memoirs bear this out. Each chapter of Khrushchev's life is rich with the type of detail that one doesn't expect in a memoir written decades later. The bulk of Volume I is devoted to World War II. Khrushchev served as a member of the Military Council and as Commissar in the Ukraine (a political hierarchy that paralleled the military chain of command). Khrushchev played a critical role in the Ukraine during the war, lived and worked through the horrendous battle of Stalingrad, the enormous victory at Kursk, and the liberation of Kiev. Khrushchev is at his narrative best when describing these events. At the same time, Khrushchev does not shy away from discussing the chaos and confusion that reigned at the beginning of the war. Stalin (rightfully I think) bears the brunt of this criticism but Khrushchev did not shy away from brutal assessments of soldiers and political leaders who displayed cowardice or put their own interests above those of the state. Interestingly, Khrushchev does not stint in his praise for Marshall Zhukov, despite the fact that Khrushchev had Zhukov removed from a top party post in the 1950s when he became a threat to Khrushchev's power base.
   
   The Memoirs are fascinating not only for what is said but also what is left unsaid. George Orwell once wrote that "[a]utobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful." There is nothing to distrust in these Memoirs as they relate to Khrushchev's external life, most of which can easily be confirmed by the available records. However, missing from the Memoirs (at least in this Volume) is a detailed examination of Khrushchev's inner life. We know he survived the purges and we know he began to question Stalin's actions. Khrushchev writes convincingly of Stalin's mistakes but we never quite find out what he knew and when. Khrushchev was (seemingly) at the time a devoted servant to Stalin. He participated in party purges and in these Memoirs he ruefully acknowledges his then belief that many of his colleagues were enemies of the state. Yet this was the same Khrushchev who took a tremendous leap of faith in revealing Stalin's `crimes' at the famous Party Congress in 1956. What is missing is some indication of the inner reflections (the Sancho Panza-like reflections if you will) on the survival mechanisms that led an intelligent and clearly decent person to suspend disbelief for such a long period of time. However, Sergei Khrushchev's fascinating essay on the fight to publish these Memoirs leads to some valuable insights.
   
   Sergei's essay is an intriguing story in its own right. The Kremlin put pressure on the family to get Nikita to stop writing. They were followed and interrogated by the KGB. Khrushchev seethed at these attempts to suppress his memoirs. Khrushchev defended his rights as a Soviet citizen and fulminated against these affronts to his dignity and self respect. There is no small amount of irony in reading about Khrushchev's struggle with the Politburo. Despite the fact that he was primarily responsible for "the thaw", Khrushchev also managed to crack down on artists and writers who he thought "went too far". The illicit export of a copy of the manuscript placed him in the same company as such writers as Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn, Voinovich, and Grossman.
   
   More importantly, however, the essay portrays Khrushchev's struggle as one compelled in part by his sense of dignity and self-respect. The historical record and the Memoirs are filled with references to Khrushchev and other leaders abasing themselves before Stalin. I think Sergei's essay goes a long way toward fleshing out (at least implicitly) Important parts of Khrushchev's internal life that are missing from the Memoirs. Khrushchev was a figure of great substance and no small amount of talent (despite some glaring failures during his premiership). He was a man who with only four years of formal education but he had enough talent and ambition to lead a nation. But along the way he had to endure almost daily humiliations at the hands of his `master'. These humiliations, along with his participation in the development of the cult of Stalin all constitute part of what may be called `the sin of survival'. Although not uncommon in Gulag memoirs they strike a jarring note in the memoirs of the leader of a nation. Khrushchev's actions at the 20th-Party Congress and his fight during his last days to preserve his right to publish seem, to me at least, to be an attempt to reclaim some part of that dignity that was voluntarily (if by necessity) forfeited years ago.
   
   Nikita's Memoirs, together with Sergei's essay, provide a profoundly interesting and informative examination of one of the 20th-Cenntury's most complex and misunderstood leaders. The Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev Volume I should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the history of the USSR and its place in world history.

5 comments about Revolutionary Suicide: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Penguin Classics Deluxe Editio).

1. As a white middle class generation x'er, I knew nothing of the Black Panthers or Huey Newton that was based on personal knowledge or experience. What I had heard was that they were radical, dangerous, and hated white folks. That seemed overly simplistic, so I decided to look into the black power movement for myself. Of all the books I read on the movement (Malcolm, Eldridge Cleaver, SNCC, Soledad Brother, etc...), Revolutionary Suicide was the best.
   
   First off, Huey is the best writer of all the writers I read on the subject. That includes both the primary books and the secondary interpretive books written by historians. Huey's writing reflects his life philosophy, he lives for the people and therefore writes for the people. He doesn't seek to impress the reader with a fantastic grasp of the english language. He writes simply and matter-of-factly, much as a good journalist does. This to-the-point writing style more engrossing than any of the other books I read on the movement.
   
   Second, Huey, unlike many other movement leaders, doesn't look to hog the glory for himself. He is very upfront about what he was responsible for and what he collaberated on with others. He passes the glory around liberally (some would say too much) to spread the power to the people.
   
   Finally, this book will give you a primary understanding of who Huey P. Newton was and what he was really about. Did he hate white people? Did he advocate armed revolution? Was he a murderer and thug? Read it for yourself.



2. This book is one of the first and only unaltered accounts of the Black Panther Party by somebody who was in it. The book is in Huey's compassionate voice. This book dispells rumors about the BPP Huey set the record straight. This is my favorite book of all time its a book for the ages.



3. What can I say, that hasn't already been said? Huey P. Newton was a very complex individual, and I find myself reading a section over a second time to digest what was written. It's worth it no doubt. When you start to read this book, you will not be disappointed, Newton sheds light on even personal matters like falling in love, and views on family. This is great if you want specifics on Mr. Newton himself, and not just the BPP as a whole.



4. If you want to attempt to get into the mind of Huey Newton, then read this book. Reading his autobiography gave me a view of the Party I have never felt. This gave me an understanding of how and why the organization was started and also some insight on the life of Huey. You will defintely have a different view of the Party once you have read this. So read, read, read, and keep reading, and educate yourself about this incredible man and organization.



5. If you're going to study the Black Panther Party, you of course must check out a story of its preminent leader. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. He gave me an understanding what it meant to be a radical Black activist during the 60s and 70s. It meant that you had to be courageous, committed, and five steps ahead of the cops, the FBI, and informants.

   Of course, now, this is Huey's account of the Party. While his is seriously important, the works of other Panthers and scholars who are now publishing works about the Panthers must also be studied. For now that I'm reading a biography on another Panther leader, Geronimo Pratt, I'm very interested in understanding more about the political split that took place in the BPP. Why did Huey expell Pratt from the Party? Why did Eldridge Cleaver turn out to be so reactionary? I look forward to reading other books on the Panthers to answer these and other questions.

5 comments about "An Honorable Profession": A Tribute to Robert F. Kennedy.

1. This Book is a must read for all who Loved Kennedy.What a great man and Father.Its great reading.



2. It's amazing how a young man (THAT'S WHAT HE WAS WHEN HE DIED) who came from the most wealthiest of surroundings can relate to people from all fronts and walks of life, who could walk to the strongest and hardest of ghettos across this land amongst people less fortunate than he and with sincerity and fearlessness & yet still have an immediate connection with people on the other side of the fence (UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, WEALTHY) Robert Francis Kennedy was perhaps the last white man/ politician who the trust, respect, and effection of the entire human population (with the exception of BIll CLINTON) that's why you can a feel the dispair and sense of loss that people felt when he was murdered. "AN HONRABLE PROFESSION" is more than just a tribute to a man who was coming into his own but it is a tribute to the best and grestest sides of the Human Spirit,.



3. "An Honorable Profession" : A Tribute to Robert F. Kennedy, is one of the best memorial book of rfk, there are a lot of picture and some newspapers article.
   the texts are good and interesting, it is never boring.
   I recommend it to all rfk admires



4. There are beautiful poems, touching stories, and inspirational words in this book. I learned a lot about the good and decent man and his course. I sensed the feelings and spirits of so many Americans at that troubled time. There has never been a book of tributes after reading which I have been filled with so many hopes, though so sad at the same time... Robert F. Kennedy died in the course of the honorable profession, but he did not die in vain. His course made the profession an HONORABLE one, and made people believe that we can do better, and that we can also make our profession honorable.



5. This beautifully written biography of the late Senator Robert Kennedy does an excellent job of focusing on not only the man's career, but the issues and questions he was confronted with, such as civil rights, poverty and the disenfranchised citizens.

   Robert Kennedy had a very impressive resume -- father of 11, an undergraduate degree from Harvard, a law degree from University of Virginia, attorney, Attorney General, Senator and lastly, presidential candidate for the 1968 election.

   This was a man who apparently set high standards for himself throughout his life. The seventh of 9 children, he fought to prove himself among his siblings. As a boy, he strove to develop his physical prowess. One can smile at the young Bobby, then 4 trying to teach himself to swim despite his older brothers' chagrin. The same small boy who kept jumping in deep water would, 35 years later climb a previously unscaled mountain. Robert Kennedy, by then a senator suffered from acrophobia his entire life, yet pushed himself to climb that mountain. In March of 1965 he would table his fear and, with veteran mountain climbers Jim Whittaker and Barry Prather (both of whom had scaled Mt. Everest in 1963) ascend Mt. Kennedy in Canada. He climbed that mountain out of love for his slain brother, the late President. This particular event is inspirational; this man faced his biggest fear and acted out of love.

   As a boy, Robert Kennedy grappled with a mild form of dyslexia. Although by all accounts he learned to read within normal limits and was certainly an intelligent man, he learned early to combine his intelligence with diligence and very hard work. In adult life he would seek solace in classic literature; by 1964 he was able to quote long passages by authors such as Camus and Aeschylus by heart. The title of this book is a nod to the Senator's love of classic literature; "An Honorable Profession" is from "The 39 Steps" by Lord Tweedsmuir.

   Diligence appeared to be the core Robert Kennedy; the man who drilled himself in academic pursuits was the man who would also set high standards for himself throughout his professional/political career. In reading this work one cannot help drawing the conclusion that Robert Kennedy was at core a good man and a sincere man and a man who would stop at nothing to accomplish all tasks he had set for himself. His daughter Kerry Kennedy Cuomo's input provides some enlightening insights into the characteristics of this complex, often driven man.

   In reading this work as with many on Robert Kennedy, one can readily draw the conclusion that this man genuinely cared about people; his work with and for civil rights certainly attests to his deep level of empathy. He appeared to move and blend with equal ease among all people. Robert Kennedy could easily be described as the man for everybody. He was certainly a strong voice and considered by many to be the advocate for all.

   In 1968 Robert Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles, California. His loss leaves the questions open today of what he would have accomplished had he lived to win the 1968 election.

5 comments about Because He Could.

1. The style is smart and at times engaging, but between the lines you can tell this guy is plain jelous of his ex boss, obviously he lacks everything that makes the other so charismatic. He resents that he did not receive the recognition HE thinks he should have received. It is the ex wife ranting about his ex, who left her for another. I suspect he has a man crush on Bill.



2. This man...Mr. Morris has so many skeletons in his closet, he shouldn't be throwing stones. The Clintons were his employers. He found writing a book about them would bring him wealth. It will be interesting to see if he will switch parties again when the Democrats are back in control. I don't put too much credence on most of the things he says and those I believe is a "so what?" Don't waste your money. Too bad he had to turn traitor on people who trusted him.



3. Dick Morris clearly outlines why Bill Clinton was such a horrible president and such a characterless person. Clinton put our nation at risk and I just wish more people who think he was a genius would read this book.



4. Dick Morris, political analyst and advisor under president Bill Clinton, offers a inside look at what the President left out of his very large autobiography that shared nothing on how he made policy decisions. And from what is shared in this book, I can now understand why. Mr. Morris was someone who worked very close with Bill Clinton on a daily basis for years. He reveals both his strength and weaknesses, so the book reads as if it is objective, but I am sure the Clintons do not like it. Mr. Morris leads us through all of the omissions from the President's own entertaining, yet self-serving book.
   
   It explains some of why the Clinton's lied when there was no political or legal reason for doing so. And how vicious they run a campaign, even when they have no personal stake in the race themselves in order to eliminate possible future competition. We also learn of a truly empathetic man who always had a scapegoat handy for when things went wrong. Which makes me wonder how much empathy he really has? But he also shares with us the good the man did while in office, even if it was an idea of an advisor, it takes a President to push an agenda.
   
   I know that Mr. Morris is a political animal himself. But this book is must reading if you read "My Life" in order to get a balanced view of the man who was President. This is also required reading in order get the definition of what is 'is', so that you can understand the inconsistencies of the Presidents book. This book is a very fast read.



5. Dick Morris critizes Bill Clinton because he didn't know then what we know now. Of course he didn't. None of us knew then what we know now. Sure it would have been nice to take care of Osama bin Laden then. I wish we could have done that. But who knew? I liked Dick Morris before, and I read one of his book. I thought of him as a smart guy. I'm disappointed that he turned against Clinton. I'd like to know the story behind that.

5 comments about Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland.

1. Excellent book, very well written in the usual "Coogan" way, that is, skilfull, fluent and full of nice anecdotes. Gives an insightful portrait of one of Ireland's greatest men and my personal favourite. Eireann go brach!



2. An informative humanizing biography that provides a good picture of revolutionary Ireland. More photogrpahs would have made for 5 stars.



3. I recommend this book to anyone who wants an intense indepth study of Collins and Ireland of his time. This is easy to read and full of interesting information about the man and those around him. Collins was a genius who shaped the fate of modern Ireland and did so with an acute sense of how far he wcould go to achieve what he wanted.
   
   It really makes me wonder how much better off Ireland would have been if he had not best lost so early in his life.



4. This is an extarodinary book about an extraordinary man. It is well wriiten, it is exciting and easy to read. It gives a wonderful insight into the life and times of Ireland during this remarkable time



5. Although the pages and the sophisticated writing style might intimidate one, if you stick to it and read the book to the end, you will NOT regret it. It was my first book in Irish History and I have learned so much from reading it. This book is amazing beyond words. If you buy it, you won't reget it.

5 comments about Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant (Volume 1).

1. I only received this book from Amazon today so I have no review of the book itself. But be careful when you order it because it comes in two volumes and unless you scrowl down you won't know that Volume Two is a separate book which you get only if you order both at the same time or order Volume Two separately. One of the other reviews said that the first volume took you up to the the Battle of Vicksburg, the second volume takes you to the end of the war. Reading this, I assumed I would get both volumes with the order. Not so.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



2. Amazon and its various sub-concerns obviate customer inconvenience- and any reasonable complaints! First-class people of merchandising withal.



3. To start off, I am usually relectant to read autobiographies, as many should be considered works of fiction. I have read countless book on the Civil War and several on Grant, but I had shamefully neglected reading his Memoirs-my mistake. Several years ago I got a copy on sale and thought I would give it a read-I was a born again Grant fan!
   As many know, after leaving the presidency he lent his name and money to a failed business venture in New York and was near bankrupt. He had been approached by many to write his memoirs, but always resisted. The prospect of his beloved Julia not being provided for plagued him and so he consented to write them. He intially had a fairly good contract to write a subscription book, but his friend Mark Twain interviened and got him a deal that was substantially better. For an excellent overview of this, see Mark Perry's, "Grant and Twain".
   After reading this, I came away with a completly different view of Grant. The only job he suceeded at was the one he disliked the most-a soldier. He served with distinction in Mexico, but was opposed to the war. All he wanted to do was to teach math at West Point.
   The real heart of the memoir is, of course, the Civil War and here a masterpiece was made. He writes in a simply, though not an uneducated style. He is quite defferential and praising to his subordinates and clear describes where he made errors in judgement, not the usual justifications seens by so many. He cannot say enough good about Sherman and tactfully puts down Henry Hallecks meddling. The book ends with the end of the war and his last words were written only a week or so before he died.
   In my opinion this is a classic in history and needs to be read by anyone interested in knowing how the North really won the war. The copies of the original maps leave a lot to be desired, but this is trivial. My only regret is I cannot give it a higher rating than 5 stars!



4. Much to my surprise and delight "The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant" are surprisingly readable and full of a dry understated sense of humor. U.S. Grant's memoirs give a very down to earth approach to his personal history starting in Ohio and continuing through his education at West Point and his involvement in the Mexican-American War. I highly recommend this book to anybody who enjoys Antebellum U.S. and Civil War history, or just history in general. Personal memoirs are an excellent medium for getting into the shoes of some of histories greatest figures and seeing the world as they saw it. U.S. Grant's memoirs do all that and more. You will not be disappointed.



5. General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher, bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.

   Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."

   Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.

   Though Grant's Memoirs were written 113 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them in! their entirity 30 times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.

No comments about On Her Majesty's Service: My Incredible Life in the World's Most Dangerous Close Protection Squad.

5 comments about Napoleon: A Biography.

1. I frankly couldn't finish the book, although I did read the beginning, his youth, and the end, and skimmed the middle. I was so put off by the psychobabble that pervades nearly every sentence of the biography of this man that I found it impossible to go on. It felt like being in a high school class just introduced to Freud, Jung et al. The author actually talks about Napoleon's short stature as an impetus to his need to succeed...the first sentence of the book I thought was tongue in cheek (to the effect of Napoleon was not a real person but a creation of the French nation's need for blood after the age of reason ---paraphrasing). But no...its all like that. His mother is powerful and controlling, his father is weak and emasculated...he hates his older brother and repressed it, therefore, the rest of Europe will suffer because he holds in what he would like to do to his older brother but cannot. And on and on. Does anyone still write and talk this way?



2. I saw a piece about Napolean on CBS Sunday Morning and I was very
   interested in learning more about him-this book contains all of the info
   you need.



3. I'm sure every biographer of Napoleon aspires to be the one to pin this man down once and for all, to figure him out and deliver him on a platter. Well, it does not happen with this book and even if the author claims that this was never the goal, the attempt is there. The result is a tome that might become increasingly tiresome to anyone who is already familiar with the subject and who does not already harbor a dedicated dislike for Napoleon, and too much for those trying to find a starting point. I would not recommend it to beginner students of Napoleon as it is heavily charged with the largelly negative personal biases and opinions of the author, lacks in specific maps - a necessity when covering a battle in great detail - and assumes the reader has a solid grasp of Europe in the 18th century, particularly France.
   
   McLynn, though calling him a "genius" at times, is hyper-critical of Napoleon as a man, son, husband, step-father and leader - at every stage of his career. His relationships with women are always "misogynistic". With the rest of society, institutions and other powers, invariably "machiavellian" - a word repeated ad nauseam, applicable or not. He is equally censorious of his mother, his wives, his lovers, his brothers, his sisters, his entourage, his friends, his assistants, his bourgeois nobility and his marshals. Did I leave anyone out?
   
   His marshals are singled out for scathing condemnation, marched in front of the firing squad of his pen one by one. Those like Masséna, Ney and Augereau who were "low born" are particular targets. Once riff-raff always riff-raff he seems to be saying.
   
   What made reading this book almost unbearable for me, in the end, are Mr.McLynn's psychoanalytic pretensions. He seems to rely heavily on Jung's speculative rumminations about Napoleon, coming up with novel and often ridiculous (as in "laughable") diagnoses of his own. Thus, Napoleon suffered from every personality disorder and crippling neurosis known to modern mental health professionals, and a few others yet to be discovered; enough for a full psychiatric conference, in fact! In their milder forms, his mental quirks are presented as "complexes". The "Rome complex" for example...Napoleon was interested in ancient Rome but indifferent to the Rome of his own time and, no Gibbon he, never went there. McLynn seriously writes that an "obsession" (another word he loves) with a city one doesn't intend to visit is a "complex". I personally have several then.
   
   His "Oriental complex" is the vague explanation for Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. Nothing about European powers keeping an eye on the crumbling Ottoman Empire and the generally held ambition to be the first to take Constantinople. Oddly, the planned invasion of England - which French strategists studied and prepared for long before Napoleon burst on the scene, and something he personally pursued on and off during his career - never rises to the status of an "England complex". But those familiar with complex-nomenclature in general will be happy to find "Oedipal complex" in there too. Of course.
   
   And so on. Annoying also are the puritanical judgments on the mores, or lack thereof, of 1789-1815 French society, which betray a poor ability to understand the period and refrain from veneering it with present values. It has also been observed that some biographies of Napoleon are essays on tyranny as understood by a post-Stalin or post-Hitler world. It's time Napoleon was allowed to return to his own time.



4. As the title indicates, the book is "a biography" of Napoleon, one more to join the likely thousands written since his death and, like many, highly speculative in some respects. A welcome touch is that it adds considerably to our knowledge of Napoleon's formative years, childhood, stint at Brienne, and involvement with Paoli in Corsican affairs. The military campaigns are described thoroughly, almost hour by hour (I recommend a map nearby, or an Osprey book companion) and constitute the one aspect of the book that makes it outstanding. A great deal, however, is in the take-it-or-leave camp.
   
   I did not appreciate the attempts at psychoanalysis. Some "insights" are simply thrown in..."there were already indications of his bisexuality" (really? when? how?) or gleaned from the clearly speculative, at a great remove diagnoses of others - Jung, Freud, Adler, inter alia. They become annoying, as does his over-use of the term "Machiavellian", to the point of rendering it meaningless; I'd like to remind readers that in the shifting sands 1789-1795 France, that description would fit almost anyone who struggled to survive by cunning and calculation, as many did. He often describes Napoleon's attitude to women as misogyny, that is, one of hatred. At worst Napoleon disliked certain types of women and was cavalier in his treatment of others, something not untypical of men in general, but to call it "hatred" is going a too far. In that vein, the author's own attitudes are curious to say the least. Women like Josephine and Pauline, who used sex as a tool for survival and/or happened to like it become "nymphomaniacs" under his pen; women who aspired to an intellectual life, such as Germaine de Stael, are described as "pushy" and "pedant".
   
   Rather unforgivable (and astonishing in a serious writer) is the author's inclusion of certain malicious items of gossip with, incredibly, the addendum (also malicious) that there may have been a basis for it after all. So, as a glaring example, the English-sourced bit of calumny that Napoleon fathered Hortense's first child is given some credit by McLynn by the fact Napoleon grieved over the death of the boy. Napoleon loved Josephine's children as his own and it was perfectly natural that he would mourn the death of his first step-grandson (and nephew, since he was also Louis's son) I guess natural human responses are not allowed Napoleon!
   
   Annoyances apart, the book is good mainly, if not solely, for its excellent treatment of the military side of things.



5. Frank McLynn always does an excellent job regardless of what subject her approaches. This is truly a day by day account of Napoleon's life from childhood through his battles. Although I prefer Robert Asprey's two book biography of Napoleon McLynn does an excellent job of explaining Napoleons rise and fall. Do not be deterred by the length it goes very quickly and is a great start for someone who wants to learn about Napoleon.

2 comments about Horace Greeley: Champion of American Freedom.

1. A fine life of a fascinating and, it seems, often infuriating man. It has fitted in with many of the good American history books I have been enjoying of late.It is well worth any reader's attention- though I find the author at times at little too determined to drive his points home- one gets them the first time!



2. Robert C. Williams' "Horace Greeley" is an engaging and very readable historical narrative that is as much about the times and tribulations of mid-nineteenth century America as it is about its underappreciated subject, Horace Greeley. This book will appeal to anyone interested in pre-Civil War America. The decades culminating in the Civil War were extremely turbulent as the nation searched its soul for a consensus on the vaguely- defined "freedoms" promised by our Founding Fathers. Greeley was in the thick of this volatile political and moral debate, earnestly seeking ways to avoid the coming "irrepressible conflict."
   
   Horace Greeley was a kind of 19th century "zelig," an opinion-leader who played an influential role in virtually every political and social movement of the mid-1800s. But Greeley was more than a bit player to the leading actors of his day. He was a bold and innovative journalist who molded the modern newspaper. While considered one of the founders of the Republican Party and a political kingmaker, he ran for president against Grant in 1872 in perhaps one of the most unusual and fascinating presidential elections in American history.
   
   The author deserves high praise for debunking many myths surrounding Greeley's alleged eccentricities, stereotypes that often originated from the distortions of his mudslinging rivals. The author's dispassionate analysis, rooted in a deep understanding of the political and social crosscurrents of the era, succeeds in putting Greeley's seemingly contradictory stances and actions in an understandable context.
   
   This is a very accessible and enjoyable read, betraying none of the dry or plodding style of some specialized history. The author's depth of knowledge and scrupulous research is evident on every page.