2 comments about In The Footsteps of Churchill.

1. British military historian Richard Holmes' "In The Footsteps Of Churchill: A Study In Character", is a book that, inspite of its brevity, offers a most penetrating, thoughtful analysis of Winston Churchill as a politician and statesman. While he is obviously someone favorably disposed to Churchill for some intriguing personal reasons, Holmes does offer a surprisingly nuanced portrayal of Great Britain's greatest 20th Century prime minister, which veers from a self-indulgent narcissist to a deliberative, often profound, observer of his fellow British politicians and of foreign affairs, especially in the 1930s, with respect to Hitler's Nazi Germany. Understandably Holmes, as a military historian, emphasizes Churchill's military service, his celebrated exploits as a military journalist and finally, his service as First Sea Lord in both world wars, as a means of exploring Churchill's personal character, and demonstrating how his military experience played an important part in defining it. Holmes may be the first historian I know of who does consider simultaneously Churchill's service as First Sea Lord, ultimately portraying a less than flattering portrait of someone who was too "wedded" to the interests of charismatic, flamboyant leaders like Admirals Fisher and Beatty (For example, Churchill seriously underestimated the crucial need of smaller escort vessels for the Royal Navy in both world wars, relying more on the advice of his admirals interested in big gun warships like ballecruisers and battleships.). And yet, inspite of a detailed exploration of Churchill's personal and leadership flaws, Holmes does conclude that ultimately, his strong, decisive leadership during World War II was necessary for ensuring Great Britain's survival. Those who think they know well Winston Churchill's biography will ultimately be as surprised and intrigued as I was while reading Professor Holmes' superb study of Churchill's character. Without question, it is among the finest books on Churchill's life that I've come across.



2. Professor Holmes is a British military historian and it shows in this interesting attempt at describing Winston Churchill's character. He decidedly has an opinion, usually conservative, on most political and social issues of the last century and is happy to share them with the reader. He also spends more time on battle issues in the two world wars than would most authors of a character study of this type. This book is best for readers who have some prior knowledge of the life of Winston Churchill. The professor points out many of the faults and warts of his subject but the ultimate verdict is in recognition of his genius.

1 comments about Behind Embassy Walls: The Life And Times Of An American Diplomat.

1. A most absorbing and well written memoir by a now retired American diplomat who experienced an outstanding thirty five year career in the U.S. Foreign Sevice: Both East and West Germany: Somalia:and Zaire to mention a few. But written with much compassion, humor, humanitarian, and historical insights. To say nothing about his including his experiences with several notable personalities such as Chester Bowles, Robert and Ethel Kennedy::Ronald Reagan: and The Carters etc. etc.

No comments about Big Daddy from the Pedernales: Lyndon B. Johnson (Twayne's Twentieth-Century American Biography Series).

No comments about Tribute To Early Texas: Through the Lens of Master Photographer John R. Blocker.

No comments about POLS: Great Writers on American Politicians from Bryan to Reagan.

No comments about Safirka: An American Envoy.

3 comments about Understanding the Cold War: A Historian's Personal Reflections.

1. Written by Adam B. Ulam (1922-2000) an erudite professor emeritus of Harvard University, Understanding The Cold War: A Historian's Personal Reflections, is both an engaging, informative examination of the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, and a an intimate, candid confession of how the world-changing effects of the Cold War personally affected his family. Vividly written and tracing a personal legacy in the post World War II world, Understanding The Cold War offers the reader a different perspective on history, embracing the microcosmic as well as the world-spanning shape of events.



2. I have never read any of Professor Ulam's other works (I believe the tally ended at 18, with this book, after Ulam's death). I had been told by several friends and colleagues that his were, if nothing else, a brilliant marriage of the scholarly and the approachable. The latter is more the case here, wherein Ulam provides his life story, with the tumultuous changes in Europe (both East AND West) as the backdrop.

   More than just a series of anecdotes strung together with a calendar, Ulam presents us with gripping and often moving tales from his past - including, most notably (to me), his departure from Poland at the age of 16, just six days before Hitler's invasion.

   This is a book I'll proudly display on my shelf; it's certainly not one I would have run out and bought the second it hit the shelves, but it was, like a roller-coaster ride through the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, a breathtaking journey, and one I'll revisit again and again.




3. Prof. Ulam's recent death need not deter anyone from finding this book a welcome salve to the usual academic tomes that even he sometimes produced during his many years as a father of Sovietology. His studennts and colleagues knew him as a real "mensch" and this book shows those who didn't get to know him how a powerful set of personal experiences, both before and during the Cold War, made it possible for Adam to create a unique body of knowledge which was truly innovative.

   Those who were not terrible cognizant of the sometimes stark and sometimes ambigious realities of the Cold War will find this an engaging read.

No comments about Gustav Stresemann: Weimar's Greatest Statesman.

No comments about Madame President 1901-1905: Nellie Fairbanks, Path Finder To Politics for American Women.

5 comments about The Secret Wars of Judi Bari: A Car Bomb, the Fight for the Redwoods, and the End of Earth First.

1. While reading this book I find myself thinking that the author really did not seem to like Judi Bari. She was always pointing out Judi's flaws but never anything good that she did. She makes her to be a very unfocused dramatic liar. I don't know much about the woman's story but I really feel bad that the story just doesn't seem fair to her. I will finish it, I love stories about the redwoods, but I think I may look for another book on the subject to try to balance this one out.



2. I purchased this book by mistake, thinking it was a serious biography. IT IS NOT.
   I knew Judi during the 1970's postal organizing period of her life. The fact that this book was funded by a known right-wing group (the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation)which has funded other books pretending to be serious biographies of people like Hillary Clinton and Anita Hill while chopping them up with distorted facts and outright lies and well as doing kiss-up bios on right wing heroes like Clarence Thomas.
   To prevent this right-wing hit piece from becoming a source book on Judi Bari, her friends, associates and family are compiling a page-by-page list of the errors, lies and omissions in Coleman's text. So far, the list has reached 351 (the ;last time I checked), more than one mistake per page. For a detailed list of the errors and lies in this book check out the Friends of Judi Bari website.



3. that implied bari didn't follow through at all during redwood summer and beyond? I just read bari's own words in timber wars, and it is easy to tell she followed through in a huge way- she wrote, spoke, and represented a deep ecology that is to be admired- coleman is a gossip monger on a good day- I recommend this book as campfire fuel-



4. This book read like a detective story and once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. It presents a fascinating, well-researched, convincing and even-handed perspective on the complexity of the personality and motives of its subject, Judi Bari, as well as of others connected with the environmental activist movement on the West Coast. Ms. Coleman's writing is a pleasure to read, and her telling of Judi Bari's story contributes to a better understanding of the reasons for her (and her movement's) successes as well as its failures. It's a good antidote to the uncritical adulation often bestowed on people such as Ms. Bari, whose lives are dominated by a unidimensional devotion to a non-mainstream cause (especialy by others who also espouse that cause).



5. I was left wondering why Coleman wrote this book. Was it just to let us all know that Judi Bari was a bitchy, braless diva? Was it to suggest that she was bombed by her ex-husband? Coleman's tone was so contemptuous of her subject that she weaked her central argument, which I believe was to create a more complex view than the highly idealized one promulgated by left media. I would have been open to that project. I loved the book Scars of Sweet Paradise, which attempts to create a more realistic vision of Janis Joplin, a super-star who was not always likable, even to herself. But the book on Joplin does a meticulous and sympathetic job of placing Joplin in the context of the San Franscisco psychedelic era--something that, as other reviewers here have noted, Coleman fails to do. This book is ultimately neither good journalism nor good biography. If Coleman has a bone to pick with Bari's legacy, that is fine. But she ought to frame her project as a polemic, not a piece of journalism. Her book raises these questions: do we expect all leaders to be "nice" people, or do we have higher standards for certain leaders, especially women? Does the "dirty laundry" that accompanies all human life detract from the significance of their accomplishments? And can we find ways to have leaders without expecting super-human powers?