5 comments about Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years.

1. Abraham Lincoln comes to life through the words of his devoted and talented biographer, Carl Sandburg. This edition is an excellent compromise between Sandburg's six-volume edition and the shorter, incomplete texts that abound regarding Lincoln. Take your time with this masterpiece and follow Lincoln from youth through the climax of his political career in Washington.



2. Thousands upon thousands of Civil War books are available, as American readers seem to have a limitless appetite for that era. If you are looking for the best, read Sandburg on Lincoln. A major American poet takes on one of the best-known, best-loved, most tragic of American historical figures.

   When I was a freshman in high school, our English teacher offered us a deal: Anyone who read Sandburg's biography (then in six rather daunting volumes) would not have to attend class for a semester. I took him up on that offer, and was blessed to find my way through Sandburg's gift to the American people. Here is the highly detailed, thoroughly researched, and articulately written story of Abe Lincoln's years among us.

   If you have time to read only one of the Civil War books from that burgeoning genre, read this one. You will come to know, from the inside out, this prairie boy who became a towering figure in American history.




3. I believe Sandburg is the only author to win the Pulitzer for both poetry and history. Originally a multi volume history taking decades to complete, this single volume work is an appetizer. I read it in the 1960's and went on with relish to the full multi volume work.

   This single volume is insightful, laser like in it's detail yet painting the times of Lincoln in a broad and beautiful brush. Did you know that in 1860 tools could be honed to within one ten thousandth of an inch of accuracy? That magazines and newspapers said the world would change for-ever because of the new "instant" communication nation wide?

   This is more than biography. It is a woven fabric depicting the times and life of Abraham Lincoln.




4. I collect old and rare books. My mother bought me a copy of Sandburg's one-volume edition published in 1954. Honestly, it was slow to start, but once it got to the 1850's, I couldn't put it down. Lincoln's deeds are so often trivialized in our history books. But Sandburg meticulously builds up the background in a way that forces his reader to appreciate the magnitude of the moment, and the importance of each decision--whether right or wrong--that President Lincoln made. It easily took three full weeks to read, but it was more than worth it. I closed the book thinking, "I can't believe it's over!" My advice: Read this book right away, and make someone else read it too. You'll need someone to talk to when you're through!



5. This biography of lincoln is an unbiased look into the man's life. You'll find everything you would expect and much, much, more. This is not a book for the weak hearted reader. Many of the sections seem to be endless. This is not however a negative, the opposite is true. Sandburg's quest for a truly indepth redering of the Lincoln story creates these long spells and the pay off is just. Much of the humor in the book is dated and therefore will be lost on many readers. Once again, an outstanding book that gets an easy 5 stars.

4 comments about Louise Michel: Rebel Lives.

1. As the treatment of mental health disorders continues to expand outwards, beyond the domain of psychiatric institutions, the nature and implications of intensified psychiatric intervention is a cause for concern for all of us.
   
   A social worker, teacher, and community activist, Diana Ralph takes on contemporary community mental health systems. In a meticulously researched and highly readable work, the growth and change in the definition and treatment of mental health disorders is subjected to a concerned and scholarly scrutiny.
   
   Ralph finds available theories, from the liberal to the Marxist to the radical antipsychiatry approaches, inadequate in accounting for these changes. Instead, she locates the ideological origins of community psychiatry within the tradition of industrial psychology, and is able to show how its operation is linked to the needs of contemporary industrial management in their efforts to diffuse dissatisfaction and alienation in the workplace.
   --- from book's back cover



2. Kliatt, November 2004
   
   MACLELLAN, Nic (ed): Louise Michel (Rebel Lives) Ocean Books.
   
   Louise Michel. a relatively unknown figure outside of her native France, was an activist, an anarchist, and a fighter against racism who is known principally for her role in the short-lived French Commune in the spring of 1871.
   
   A local rebellion, the Paris Commune was a reaction against the provisional government set up by the French after the defeat of Napoleon III by the Prussian armies in the Franco-Prussian War. Michel, a schoolteacher who had read widely in political theory, was fully embroiled in this brief moment of revolutionary ferment, organizing meetings, writing tracts, speaking, and even firing her gun as a fighter in the ranks.
   
   Deported to New Caledonia at the fall of the Commune. she continued to write; and alone among her fellow deportees, championed the native Kanaks, a local tribe that attempted to rebel against French colonial rule. Back in France, she continued to live as she believed, travelling and speaking for the radical and anarchist causes she promoted.
   
   What makes the Rebel Lives series valuable is its presentation of primary source material once the historical background has been carefully laid out in an introduction. Not only are excerpts from Michel's autobiography and letters included, but also brief pieces taken from the works of Engels and Marx writing on the Commune as well as short citations from many others, including Lenin, Emma Goldman (who calls Michel "a complete woman"), and Howard Zinn. Selected reading lists contain books and Web sites in both French and English. A unique resource.
   
   Patricia Moore. Brookline, MA



3. Compiled and edited by Nic Maclellan, Louise Michel: Rebel Lives is the dramatic biography of Louise Michel, the fiery leader of the 1871 Paris Commune, a short-lived workers' government created when the city population rose up to exert its will. Also known as "The Red Virgin", Louise Michel was a rebel who spent much of her life on the run, in exile, in jail, or in danger of being locked in a mental asylum. "Louise Michel" tells the story of her life by directly collecting and editing her own words from her memoirs and the insights of her contemporaries. Her story is presented with her sharp-eyed criticism of a society and an era where the only lucrative trade for a woman was prostitution, and tributes to her life and efforts from such prominent figures as Emma Goldman, Victor Hugo, Karl Marx, and much more.



4. "Since it seems that any heart which beats for freedom has the right only to a small lump of lead, I demand my share. If you let me live, I shall never stop crying for vengeance, and I shall avenge my brothers by denouncing the[ir] murderers" (p.101).
   
   So said Louise Michel before the court passed sentence on her for participating in the rebellion that became the Paris Commune. The court did not execute her. Instead, it sent her into exile at the prison colony in New Caledonia 20,000 miles from Paris. Even there Michel advocated for the indigenous people of the island (the Kanaks) in their struggle against the French occupiers.
   
   Michel was dubbed the "Red Virgin": "red" because she was an anarchist and "virgin" because her sexual orientation was unclear (as if this mattered) and because she was unattractive. I don't see it. She had a great and beautiful spirit, and I have fallen in love with her.
   
   Ocean Press is to be commended for providing a good introduction to the person of Louise Michel and the times that stirred her and she helped to shape. Through the writings of such notables as Bakunin, Kropotkin, Marx, Engles, Lenin, Emma Goldman, Howard Zinn, the editor's introduction (Nic Maclellan) and Michels herself, we learn about her mixed proletarian and bourgeoisie background, her undying devotion to her mother, her days as a school teacher, her militancy and leadership role during the Paris Commune, her exile in New Caledonia, her return to Paris and her prescient feminism. All in a mere 115 pages. It is quite a feat.

No comments about Trotsky (Life&Times).

5 comments about Bad Bet on the Bayou: The Rise of Gambling in Louisiana and the Fall of Governor Edwin Edwards.

1. If you were asked to make up a Grisham type tale about politics and corruption I do not think it would rival the true story this book takes you through.



2. "Vote for the crook. It's important." This was a bumper sticker seen around Louisiana at the time of the Edwards-Duke Election. It implores the electorate to vote for the three-time governor whose definition of an honest politician was one who stayed bought in order to beat the former Ku Klux Klan wizard.
   Like this bumper sticker, the book is funny--the thievery was so inept and outrageous, yet sad because this stuff was really going on.
   The author knows his stuff, and the subject area, Edwin Edwards and the rise of gambling in Louisiana is a great story. This book reads like a thriller.



3. The author could not decide what his subject was: a) the corrupting effects of contemporary gambling in Louisiana; b) how gambling licenses were won there; or c) Edwards' corrupt activities. Although I enjoyed many of its anecdotes, the book is structurally flawed and does not hang together. It also suffers from annoyingly redundant quotes.

   Bridges undoubtedly could have written excellent 50-100 pp. pieces on each of the three subjects above, or he could have shortened them into very readable magazine pieces. But he has failed to turn these related topics into a cohesive whole.




4. This book is excellent because it is supported by hard evidence of Louisian-style corruption.. For example, the author reports that former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Eddie Jordan, had a videotape of Gov. Edwards delivering a $20,000 bribe to former U.S. Representative Cleo Fields (D LA). Over the objection of his staff, Jordan declined to prosecute Fields or Edwards because , in his opinion, the evidence was insufficient. The Clinton Justice Department did not overrule Jordan's decision. How much more evidence did Jordan need? The real reason that Jordan decl;ined prosecution is that Fields and U.S. Representative William Jefferson (D LA) were both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Jefferson and Jordan worked together in the same law office. Jordan could not prosecute his enemy, Edwards. without prosecuting his friend, Fields. The bitter irony of Edwards' criminal activity is that the U.S. Court of Appeals will probably reverse his conviction on legitimate grounds. Both the prosecutors and the trial judge overreached by dismissing during jury deliberations the only juror who was voting for acquittal and by ministrepreting the RICO statute. In any event, the question remains: why did "60 Minutes", "20/20", and "Prime Time" fail to cover the Fields bribery case? Dan , Tom and Sam, "What's the answer?"



5. I got this book for my husband, as he's the non-fiction reader in our family. I was out of something to read, so I picked it up and could NOT put it down.

   Bridges does a great job of putting a lot of convoluted information into readable form. Edwin Edwards and his Crazy Cajun Cronies didn't really do anything new...they just continued a long tradition of crooked Louisiana Politics!

   I enjoyed almost all of this book...the only parts that made my eyes glaze over were the details regarding the financing. My mind just can't wrap around deals where the broker stands to make 27 MILLION dollars....and then one million a year after that!

   If you ever wanted a peek into the world of slick politicians, oily gangsters and brash billionaires, this is your book. BAD BET ON THE BAYOU should be required reading for anyone who votes!

   Enjoy!

4 comments about Hillary Clinton: The Inside Story: Revised and Updated.

1. Using Clinton's past interviews and comments from her friends and colleagues, Warner details the evolution of the first lady from teenager to college student to lawyer, mother, activist, and politician's wife. Clinton's strong personality and intellect seem to have made her a success in her own right, and appear to be crucial elements in Bill Clinton's rise to the top. From this book it seems Bill would never had been able to become the President; but she would have made at least senator on her own. This book places a positive light on an intelligent Hillary Clinton. And actually shows Bill as a liability. This is worth reading to see how she was when she first entered the limelight of political life.



2. This is a very well written biography of Hillary Rodham Clinton's life from childhood to the aftermath of the Monica scandal. It portrays Clinton as a woman of uncommon intellect and empathy. Warner shows Clinton's dream of a better well-being for America's children, and her personal and not so personal successes and failures. I believe Warner does show the "real" Hillary Clinton.



3. Well, the books on Hillary are coming too fast and furious to read all of them. Yet, better to learn more than less. What I cannot understand is why people just do not leave her alone and let the people decide when she runs for election. Speaking of elections, Hillary should switch from running for the Senate of New York to running for The Presidency of the United States. Why? Because she has a great opportunity to win based on her their power of incumbency. No can manipulate people, votes and power better than these two political gurus. If she loses the Senate race and when he leaves the seat of power, like what is in the book, the choice for Americans will be to not recall the past. She is viable, willing and able to win the Presidency now not in 2004. The book discloses such insight between the lines. She has the right to put forth her agenda and have it accepted or rejected by the voters. Read it, it will not provide you with the greatest of stories but it is interesting.



4. This book portrays Hillary Clinton as an intelligent, complex, strong, sensitive person. Her identity as a thoughtful, dedicated public servant has been derailed by marital troubles, the harrowing pursuit by partisan bloodhounds, and the fickle opinion of the press and public. This is a book about the stigma that still exists in being a smart, bold woman. It is a sad, frustrating story about misunderstandings, personal foibles, and distortions of Clinton motives and activities created by politics and the media. A believable portrait of Hillary Clinton as a lively, spirited individual who cast her fate with a man whose ideals she shares, suffering pain and doubt that the public and press presume to be privy to but don't understand. We see her expend her incredible energy and talents in public service, only to have her intentions twisted. The book details a great body of work she's done in the areas of family and child advocacy, which endears her as a truly dedicated public servant. I want my daughter to read this book and to learn to persevere, as I cheer Hillary Clinton on to do.

5 comments about Inside Congress: The Shocking Scandals, Corruption, and Abuse of Power Behind the Scenes on Capitol Hill.

1. The sleaze in Congress is truly disgusting. Kessler documents what a bunch degenerates most Congressmen and Congresswomen are. To think that these people control of $2 trillion dollars of our money every year is shocking.
   
   I've surprised that the media did not report on this book.
   
   This abuse of power should be broadcast to every American. Perhaps then we'll get decent people to represent us in Congress. I was shocked and repulsed by what I read. I recommend that everyone read this book.



2. Although repetitive (could be cut down by half if everything wasn't restated three times), the book is an open door to the real happenings on Capitol Hill. Written in an amusing manner with comical statements throughout to keep the reader from becoming bored. Reveals behavior so appalling it makes one ashamed to be a US citizen. A book every American should read and should take to heart when voting.



3. I enjoyed Kessler's book on the Presidents sooo much more. Maybe I just find the Presidents more interesting subjects, but I thought this book was rather dull and plodding, just a laundry list of problems with the members of Congress. It's based on personal interviews and news reports, which are thankfully all footnoted so we know KESSLER is not making this stuff up, but how honest are his sources?? This book is for those who enjoy the National Enquirer.

   If you like the Enquirer and can get this book in a cheap paperback, go ahead. Otherwise, don't bother.




4. The book started off slowly with all the sexual escapades of our elected officials, in a tabloid way. However, once you just accept the fact that this is the norm, it's easy to continue into the more substantive issues: passing laws that don't apply to themselves, spending our money as an entitlement, the blatant misuse of the capital police, and the endless, endless hunt for money, which usually ends up in the selling of votes.

   If only half of what Mr. Kessler says is true, the quality of our representation is abyssmal. I was very disheartened by both parties. They're both shamelessly arrogant and in it only for themselves. No wonder they stay in DC after they are turned out, usually kicking and screaming.

   Kessler did not cover a related topic, and that is that we, the represented, will elect anyone who can deliver the goods, and bring home the bacon.

   Maybe it's time we hold a Constitutional Convention to get back to what the founding fathers had in mind. It surely wasn't this morass of self-important egos and libidos.




5. I found this book to be an easy read that details the arroganceof both houses of Congress from the early 1900's to the late 1990's.The book lays out sex scandals, drunk driving and other criminal acts, the corruption of the Capitol Police, and what congressman/woman spend most of their time doing. It appears the author has conducted thorough research and interviews. I would reccommend it to anyone interested in American politics.

4 comments about Fighting the Lamb's War: Skirmishes with the American Empire.

1. What more can be added to the excellent reviews already posted here but to say that Philip Berrigan stands ever, though now posthumously, as the most courageous of Catholics in America, with his Jesuit brother Daniel, and provides us the way to live ever and fully Catholic in our anglo America.
   
   Father Philip earned his sainthood through courageous and direct action for peace and justice, suffering for his Catholic faith within the dank cells of federal prisons. Not for him the country club prisons of the wealthy GOP and Enron offenders, etc., for which much of the present administration seems bound and determined. Father Philip suffered the same fate as our poor who dare to defy the Empire and cry prophetically for peace and economic justice, for social justice, for equal opportunity, for our Faith.
   
   Read this book to learn where Phil came from, in his own words, the strength of his courage and uncompromising Faith conviction. Read this book to discover how Phil lived our Faith to the fullest ("hasta las ultimas consecuencias" as we say untranslatably in Latin America). Read this book to discover the strong example of living the Catholic Faith which we leaves us all to follow, to live as true children of God, working for peace and justice as powerfully and bravely as Jesus of Nazareth at the market stalls dirtying the Temple gates.
   
   Highly recommended for all Catholics, particularly for those of us grown lazy and materially comfortable and thus compromised by the secular powers and dominations from the full exercise of our Faith, a prophetic Faith which compells us to alter those structures which oppress us, as Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI clearly states repeatedly in the conclusion of his Apostolic Exhortation The Sacrament of Charity: Sacramentum Caritatis, where he writes the Eucharist compells us to action, where he writes we cannot remain on the sidelines in the face of such injustice and oppression, in a world, as His Holiness explicitly exhorts us, in which a tiny percentage of the resources wasted on war would feed our world's hungry and poor.
   
   Read this book and learn to live with courage and truth our Faith to the fullest, in the footsteps of the prohpetic martyr of the Americas Archbishop Romero, in the path to peace and justice forged of Phil Berrigan.



2. The perfect antidote to Mel Gibson's version of Christian values. Phil Berrigan was a typical product of the depression--family of dirt poor immigrants, went into the army to fight Hitler and do his patriotic duty--but then came home and entered the seminary. His first posting was to inner City Washington DC, where he encountered racism and poverty up close. Rather than just put in his time, and then turn his back, serving out his priesthood in a comfortable middle class white community and give an occasional sermon about poverty, Berrigan engaged the poor children he was working with as brothers in Christ, and asked why.

   His quest for answers continued as he was posted in the deep south (Louisiana) in the late 50's, early 60's...Emmett Till through the Freedom Rides. He concluded that racism was a violation of Christ's principle that all men are brothers--and said so.

   Forced out of the deep south, he relocated to Baltimore--still a racially divided city, where Blacks were in poverty. As the Vietnam War escalated, Berrigan saw that the racism and poverty he experienced daily were inextricably linked to this country's increasing military industrial complex, and its position of world domination/exploitation.

   As a Christian, Berrigan felt he had no choice but to resist this injustice, demand that the world put aside militarism, and treat all of mankind as brothers in Christ. He joined civil rights movements, and the anti-war movement--always maintaining that non-violent resistance was not only the right tactic, but was the only course open to a practicing Christian in America.

   He poured blood on draft files, burned them with napalm, and spent six years in high security prisons as a result. While imprisoned, the FBI charged him (along with his brother, Daniel Berrigan and his by then wife, Elizabeth McAllister) with plotting to bomb the White House and kidnap Kissinger himself.

   Berrigan freely admitted to discussions about making a citizens arrest of Kissinger for war crimes, but denied all other charges. He was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

   For the rest of his life, Phillip Berrigan resisted the military. A founder of the Catholic Ploughshares movement, he consistently sought to beat swords (nuclear weapons) into ploughshares. As he explains at length, he did not expect his actions to cowl the US government into abandoning its nuclear program. Rather, he was acting on his conscience.

   Reading his autobiography makes one ashamed of all of the excuses we each make on a daily basis of why we can't act better--too busy, might affect my job, I have kids, and on and on. Berrigan let none of this stop him. He married, raised three kids, and spent most of his adult life in prison, on bail awaiting trial, or on parole.

   His courage is magnificent. His dedication to living a life of conscience is inspirational. But above all, Berrigan's version of Christ and Christian duty is one of universal love and respect. If these principles were lived by everyone, we would live in a far better world than that of Mel Gibson and his glorification of pain and violent sacrifice.

   Berrigan lived the life (as he put it) of a Catholic attempting to become a Christian. Whatever one's beliefs, Berrigan's was a life worth understanding.




3. This book is an autobiography by Phillip Berrigan, a man that hated war and murder by nations and people. He fought for peace and justice but the state continually locked him up in prison for his beliefs. But that did not stop him from spreading the word of the Gospel and being and activist for peace, against war, invuluntary inlistment into the army and nuclear weapons.



4. Philip Berrigan,who beacame {in}famous for being the first Catholic priest jailed ON PRINCIPLE{for his destroying of draft files in Baltimore in 1967},has penned a sort of autobiography. Philip Berrigan has always been a huge burr in the side of everyone in power:religious superiors,wardens, govenment officials{his encounter with Rober McNamara during the war is telling}et,al. He has courage that is beyond my comprehension,continually going forth to non violently protest the ongoing nuclear threat{often by hammering a submarine,or desnt the hollow nose cone od a missle, the pouring blood as a symbol over the objects] For these protest, he has served the majority of the past 30 years in tough penitentaries.What would make this talented handsome intelligent man do such things? The story that he tells, almost mundanely is captivating. Childhood on the Iron range in Minnesota,Stern Irish father and sweet,loving german mother,brood of brothers,athlete,decorated soldier in WWII[they didnt give medals out for laying in foxholes},the he joined the only Roman Catholic order dedicated to serving Black americans, the josephites.{S.S.J} His older brother Daniel,Jesuit priest and famous poet and peace activist,was his role model on this. Throughot the momoir, Phillip Berrigan recounts the good life and hrad times of the next 35 years of his life. His eventual leaving the priesthood, his marriage to Elizabeth McCallister{a former nun , which coused much idiotic tounge wagging back then},his three daughters, his life in Jonah House in Baltimore,Md.{a kind of catholic woker house}, and his dogged, relentless pursuit of the Gospel truth as he sees it. Whether or not one agrees with Berrigan{and in the current climate, thew number of sympathizers must have shruken dramatically}, his almost sisyphusian struggle is admirable. Time alone will decide whethere or not Philip Berrigan has been a prophet or not. What he is is a courageous,honorable man who is willing to put his life, NOT YOURS, on the line for his beliefs. Now that is quite extraordianry.Good book, well written{if almost purposely low-keyed},simply astonishing story.

5 comments about Burr, Hamilton, and Jefferson: A Study in Character.

1. This book has a beginning but not a middle or an ending. He skips, for example, Burr's final trial in front of Marshall that was the cornerstone of the Jefferson/Marshall antipathy. (There is discussion of the surrounds political background and a touch of the law involved, but no more.) I was, and still am, very interested in the character of our founding fathers, and this is what is promised. Other than Hamilton was a good guy (you won't find out why) and Jefferson was a scheming politician with an uncertain grip on ethical behavior (Kennedy is certainly not the first historian to think so), I don't know much more than when I started the book other than to follow Burr's ramblings around the country while he was searching for either treason or a life purpose. I certainly know nothing more about Burr. He is defended generally, but there is no factual skeleton to which these conclusions can be attached. Why did Jefferson so hate and distrust Burr? No clue. Did Burr have treasonous plans? Kennedy thinks not, but never proves it. We learn that Burr is educated, amiable and good company but always from indirect testimony of side characters whose lives are pursued in painful and unecessary detail. This book is for historians already familiar with the duel, Jeffersonian politics and with overview of the times, and already knows whether Burr was looking for land or adventure. Burr's motivations? Unknown. There is a list at the end of possible motives but they are not compelling argued--and nearly not argued at all. The detail is excruciating without being informative. Sometimes I felt as though I was reading another book altogether: lush descriptions of architecture or the landscape or side trips into historical detail that doesn't have any bearing on the character of anyone. Kennedy's word choices are certainly academic but often unecessary flourishes that detract from the flow of his text. The time line tangles. I had the sense he wanted to impress me with his erudition and slap around unamed but apparently competitive scholars--neither of which are reasons for reading the book. I still would like to read the book the title promises. This is just not it.



2. If you are expecting to read about the influence these three founding fathers had on the development of early America, you will be disappointed. If you would like to learn about the backgrounds and development of character of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, again, you will not find that information in this book. However, if you intend to expand your knowledge of Aaron Burr and to reinforce any support you might have of the man and his politics, then this is the book to read.
   
   The style of writing Mr. Kennedy presents as he attempts to study the "character" of these three founders is disjointed and difficult to follow. He initially writes about one of them and then continues on to the other two without any recognizable continuity of the point he is attempting to make.
   
   Eventually, the book focuses exclusively on Mr. Burr and turns into nothing short of a complete endorsement of him, his personality, and his politics. Burr was definitely an intelligent and capable man, and he did not shy away from difficult assignments in the Revolutionary War. However, his personality defects, as well as his pursuit of power at all costs, have deprived him of an elevated status when compared to other founding fathers, particularly Hamilton and Jefferson.
   
   To obtain clearer portraits on the character of Hamilton and Jefferson, I would recommend the books by Ron Chernow and Joseph Ellis. If you are interested in the life of Burr and support his politics, this is the book to read.



3. One of the worst books I've ever attempted to read. The author rambles from Burr to Hamilton to Jefferson with no thread between the characters or background. The author assumes you know all the background and gives you his opinions on it. Don't waste you time on this as I did!



4. This book has been given quite a good number of reviews on this site, so I would like to merely add some pertinent points. In my opinion, the format that Kennedy used in this book, zooming backward and forward in time, and in and out from one scenario or character to the next, was wholly appropriate given the task he set for himself. Kennedy did not intend, nor claim to intend, to review the full chronological history here. His intention was to zoom in on what he saw as the salient elements of the characters of these men. This style should not be confusing to one who has read previous biographies and histories of these men. I found the book immensely gratifying. I have been a "student" of Burr history for over twenty years. The truth is, there are a tremendous number of discrepancies in prior accounts of Burr, which no previous scholar has resolved. Kennedy has pulled together a massive amount of material to bring together the facts which lead to his insights, and I believe that those insights are dead-on right.



5. Roger Kennedy freely acknowledges at the beginning of this study that he has a point of view: Aaron Burr had a greater character and value to our nation than his reputation provides, while Hamilton and Jefferson had lesser character and value to our nation than their reputations. This book is a clear and concise defense of Aaron Burr, amply annotated, easily read, and quite entertaining. On a larger scale, the study gives reason to contemplate the formulation of reputation, especially historically. Had not Burr's daughter perished at sea with all his notes and letters, we might have a much greater opinion of Burr. Any fair reader of this book will come to a much deeper appreciation for Burr, the man, and the failures and shortcomings of Hamilton and Jefferson. I highly commend this book to your attention.

2 comments about Beria - My Father: Inside Stalin's Kremlin.

1. Most sons will only remember what a good man his father was. It is a pity any man has to go through life knowing that his father had no morals at all, and had so many people tortured and murdered. As sad as it is, this is one case where no amount of cleaning up behind his father can remove the blood. The author has no reason to even attempt this clean up, but he does. Would we want to read a book by a son of Hitler's that tells us that "Dad was just misunderstood?" Beria made Hitler look like an amateur. This son is not guilty of anything, other than writing this book. He should go through life with his head held up just as any other man. However, the book should never have been written. The only purpose of remembering Beria at all is to remember what pure evil, the devil and Hell is, and how the Russian people got there. At best, the book is fiction, and it made me angry at Sergo for writing it.



2. If I didn't know so much already, I would have gone away thinking
   Beria was a great moderating influence on the most bloodthirsty
   government of the 20th Century. But then I recall he was the very top man of the terror organization of this government; that requires volumes to record it's crimes and victims. Sergo is a good son, and could teach our liars in D.C. a thing or two about spin!
   Nevertheless, this book is fascinating reading.

3 comments about Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's Thermopylae (Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage Series).

1. There were actually two battles at Sabine Pass during the Civil War. The first one ended with the fort there being captured by Union forces. However, because of its distance from Union headquarters, Texas was hard to hold, and Sabine Pass was quickly returned to Confederate control. The second battle is the one author Edward T. Cotham, Jr. recounts in his well-researched "Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's Thermopylae."
   
   By the third year of the Civil War, Texas had become an important objective to the Union, primarily to cut off Confederate trade. Sabine Pass was considered the best invasion point because of its proximity, not only to Louisiana and the Mississippi River, but to the Houston train yards.
   
   In the interim between the two battles at Sabine Pass, a new, stronger fort had been built at a location where the river forks around an oyster reef, dividing the stream into two channels. Manned with six guns set to pivot at ninety-degrees the artillery could cover both channels. Lieutenant Dowling expected an assault on the fort and, in preparation, drilled his men using range stakes placed in the two channels.
   
   On September 8, 1863, the Union fleet began to arrive at the mouth of the Pass. In all there were four shallow-draft gunboats, and seven transports loaded with Union solders and sharpshooters. The soldiers were a landing party designated to take the fort from the rear while the gunboats assaulted from the river.
   
   At the start the battle looked to be a match between David and Goliath. The forty-four Confederate gunners, Irishmen of the Davis Guard, were outnumbered a hundred to one. But a series of missteps made by the Union fleet, the shallow water and some deadly accurate fire from the six cannons turned the assault into a rout by this small Confederate contingent.
   
   After 45 minutes, the two leading gunboats ran up a white flag. One had been blown to bits, the other was hung on a sand bar. Dowling sent boats to recover 350 prisoners.
   
   The troop transports never landed. In a desperate attempt to retreat through the shallow water, they off-loaded horses and supplies. For a distance of thirty-five miles west of the battle, beaches were littered with these supplies and the bodies of dead, hobbled horses. As one soldier put it, "Such a skedadling you never saw."
   
   At times I was unable to keep straight the names of the commanding officers on either side in the battle, but confusion is one of the side-effects of the Civil War with brother fighting brother. I appreciated the detailed description of the topography and underwater terrain, as well as the background material the author exhaustively researched, including skirmishes at Corpus Christi and off Matagorda Island.
   
   A monument stands at the Sabine Pass Battleground State Park honoring the Confederate heoes. I found myself wanting to jump in the car and make a trip there, but after a phone call I learned the park has not reopened after damage from Hurricane Rita. More information can be found at the Texas Parks & Wildlife web site, [...].



2. Author Edward Cotham provides a well-written and interesting account of the civil war at Sabine Pass and the events leading to a decisive battle there in front of Fort Griffin. Although the author spares few superlatives for the victorious Texans' unanticipated and stunning victory he does so for good reason and in an overall balanced manner. The Union officers' failures (as well as successes in other areas) are fairly presented.
   
   This engagement was small but costly for the Union. It set back operations for capturing the important port of Mobile, Alabama as well as delaying operations against the Texas coast.
   
   On the Union side, the roots of the fiasco rested in poor intelligence, coordination, and execution. The first major failure was the arrival of the attack force, when the coordinating blockader was away re-coaling--setting back the attack a critical day and a half. This provided the small garrison the opportunity to bring powder and projectiles to what would have been a defenseless set of gun emplacements.
   
   The well-led and well-drilled garrison occupied a small but well-conceived and constructed earthen fort. It was ideally sited and designed to inflict maximum damage to any naval assault while limiting their ability to counter fire. Attacking gunboats would be forced to approach in tightly constricted channels where they could employ only their forward most guns at a low profile target. Lt. Dick Dowling's handful of men were itching for a fight and well equipped to do so.
   
   The attack was to be a joint operation, with the navy leading the attack in order to allow the army to land. Unfortunately a lack of intelligence about the new fort and unrealistic expectations of the naval vessels' capacity to fight it meant that the gunboats were at a severe disadvantage. Earlier in the war, a small predecessor fort nearby had been easily taken by Crocker, but allowed to fall back under rebel control. This prompted the CSA to build Fort Griffin, and for Crocker to become overconfident.
   
   During the assault everything that could go wrong for the navy did. The lead ship in the east channel suffered an early hit to its boiler scalding the crew and disabling it. Crocker's flagship in the west channel also was disabled by a hit to its rudder chain, then boiler. The other two navy gunboat captains displayed cowardice and fled, not even attempting to assist their disabled comrades. Crocker attempted to fight on, expecting that the army would land as planned and win the victory. U.S. Gen. Wietzel inexplicably decided not to land his force, squandering the painful sacrifice by the navy. The defenders had only 40 charges of powder in the fort at the end of the battle. Then after the battle Wietzel's superior Gen. Franklin retreated to New Orleans rather than carrying out his original instructions to attack elsewhere along the coast if necessary.
   
   350+ Union sailors and infantry serving as sharpshooters were captured when the two disabled ships were surrendered. The little rebel garrison suffered no casualties. The author reasonably suggests that the setting sun would have made gunnery effect hard to distinguish for the union gunners. Texas rejoiced and the CSA enjoyed some increasingly rare good news.
   
   In addition to the pivotal battle, Cotham reviews the initial Union capture of Sabine Pass, the CSA's successful cottonclad attack, operations at Galveston, and Calcasieu Pass. The maps and figures are excellent. My complaints and quibbles are few: I did notice a few confusing descriptions of some of the heavy artillery early in the book such as an 8 inch Columbiad rebored as a 6" rifle (?) and a 12 pdr howitzer described as a 12 inch howitzer. The author perhaps overstates the importance of the blockade running at Sabine Pass since it seems to have only been well suited for very light vessels rather than steam blockade runners. Also, supplies entering this pass would only really have been available to those in the Trans-Mississippi theater. Finally, I believe he fails to sufficiently emphasize the importance of the early delay that granted the defenders time to obtain ammunition.
   
   In spite of the above minor criticisms I highly recommend this book. It is a fascinating read and provides a useful perspective of seacoast warfare in Texas.



3. Sabine Pass was a narrow, 6-mile-long defile that channeled the Sabine River, which was the boundary between Texas and Louisiana, into the Gulf of Mexico. Guarding the Sabine River was Fort Griffin, a mud citadel which Union Army Intelligence believed had a force of 200 Confederate troops, including a field artillery battery, two 32-pounders (heavy artillery) and two boats that had been converted into rams. Actually, Fort Griffin was manned by only 46 Irish Texans, officially known as the 1st Texas Heavy Artillery, under the command of 25-year-old Lieut. Richard W. Dowling. It's artillery consisted only of six fieldpieces (the two 32-pounders had been removed weeks earlier). The two rams were ordered scuttled by Dowling near the entrance to Lake Sabine. This meant that any Union ships which did make it past Fort Griffin would run into the trap of the sunken boats, especially since the Sabine was running dangerously low.
   
   The Union plan to take Sabine Pass was developed by Maj. Gens. Nathaniel Banks, Henry Halleck, and William Franklin, as well as Admiral David Farragut. The Union assault force would consist of 5,000 troops in 22 transport vessels protected by four gunboats (with another two gunboats in support). On September 8, 1863, the battle began, and after just 45 minutes, it was all over. One gunboat, "Clifton", was so badly hit by the fort's artillery that it was disabled and abandoned, while another, "Sachem", was forced into shallow water and surrendered to the fort. One humiliated captured Union officer said to Lieut. Dowling,"You and your 46 men in your miserable little fort in the rushes have captured two gunboats, a goodly number of prisoners, many stand of small arms, and plenty of good ammunition, and that is not the worst of your boyish tricks: you have sent three Yankee gunboats, 5,000 troops, and a major-general out to sea in the dark!"
   
   The battle at Sabine Pass had disproved once and for all the myth about the invincibility of Union gunboats. And it gave the Confederacy a much-needed victory after recent disasters at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. In fact, President Jefferson Davis was so impressed by Lieut. Dowling and his men that he commemorated the battle by striking a silver medal in honor of the men. A statue honoring Dowling was later erected near the site of the remarkable fight. This is, at least in my opinion, one of the most fascinating battles of the American Civil War, yet very little has been written about it. Edward T. Cotham has obviously done exhaustive research for this book and his narrative makes for an exciting and very informative book on this extraordinary battle. Highly recommended!