5 comments about The Sins of the Father: Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty he Founded.

1. Kessler details the life of Joseph P. Kennedy, the father of Robert, Teddy and Jack Kennedy and the founder of one of the largest political dynasties in America. JPK is not given a very favorable look in this book. He is listed as an adulterer, a swindler, a crook, power hungry and unscrupulous. And that was just on the first side of the first tape. Because I don't know how much of this book is truly factual, I can't give it a proper review. Frankly, I bought it out of a discount bin for a long trip I was taking. However, it's a fascinating look at one of the people that isn't closely examined in history. It is an abridgement of the source work; it runs three hours and is read perfectly by Frank Langella.



2. Kessler does an excellent job writing, truly, about the sins of the father, Joseph P. Kennedy. I had heard many stories about the man, but I didn't realize to what extent these stories were myths or real. Kessler certainly dispels that these stories are myths. He tells us what a manipulative, conniving, scheming, deceitful man that Kennedy really was.
   
   We are treated to the stories of Kennedy's manipulation of the stock market for his own personal gain; his illegal importation of scotch to pad his growing millions; his manipulation and theft of Gloria Swanson's monies. It doesn't stop there. Kessler tells about how Joe wanted to avert war since he was afraid he would lose millions of dollars.
   
   Kessler tells us how much Joe manipulated and controlled his children so that they would conform to his standards; and how their political life was formed in order for Joe to pursue his own dreams via his children's lives.
   
   After reading of Joe's death, one has to wonder whether Joe's cruel and deceitful life was worth it in the end - two assassinated children; Rosemary's lobotomy; a family myth built on lies. A simply incredible book - first rate from start to finish.



3. A very fine book exposing the Kennedys. I am somewhat surprised that such immoral things could happen in free and democratic U.S. In any event, justice has been done. No Kennedy is likely to be President in the near future. Jo's manipulative and power-hungry character did not serve him well. The early and untimely deaths of his three sons gave him more sorrow and grief than anything else.



4. I have read a few books by Ronald Kessler. It is a recurring theme that I find myself irritated by how uncharitable Kessler is...unless Kessler honestly believes that The FBI ("the Bureau") did nothing right and that Joseph Kennedy was an absolute villain. Kessler has a tough time saying anthing good about Joseph Kennedy, The FBI or most of his other topics. I think Kessler's novels need balance and fairness. Maybe only the negative and scandalous is stimulating or salable but the novels leave me feeling annoyed.



5. It is a good and fair book, well written and researched. To read this book is so essential to know and understand - really - an important american family like the Kennedys, apart from the mith that this cool man, Joseph Kennedy, helped much more than anybody else in the family to create and foster. There are some dark sides, but the truth is one thing and the legend is another and of course if you prefer the latter leave this book on the shelf and go on dreaming.

5 comments about Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life.

1. The bottom line is that the author does an exceptional job of providing an extremely interesting book that covers General Eisenhower's life from childhood through to the end of the war in Europe that I highly recommend to anyone at all interested in World War II or the key leaders involved in that war.
   What I think I liked most about this book is that although I believe that the author respects General Eisenhower, I don't think that he makes the mistake of many authors of biographies - that of falling in love with the subject of his book. In my opinion, the author gives a very balanced view of an officer thrust into a position that was arguably the most difficult assignment for any General in the 20th century, and provides us with a balanced view of both his successes and failures. His arguments are both logical and interesting.
   Again - highly recommend



2. This is a very difficult book to properly evaluate. Well researched and certainly well written, it is definitely a worthwhile read for those interested in learning about Ike and his European command (ETO). However, one should take D'Este's work with a grain of salt. As a history teacher and a Vietnam veteran, I have studied WWII for the last thirty years and I just don't agree with many of his conclusions and opinions, especially his obviously pro-British attitude. Montgomery was a good general if he happened to outnumber his enemy by ten to one in men, tanks, and aircraft like he did against Rommel in N. Africa, but he wasn't a great one and he certainly wasn't a loyal subordinate. Moreover, I don't think Bradley, Hodges, and Ike were that inapt and out of their league, unless one happens to agree with the British viewpoint. Much like today's television news media, D'Este just doesn't tell the whole story, and what he does tell is rather slanted, misinterpreted, and apologetic.



3. This massive biography of Dwight Eisenhower, focusing on his life up until World War II's end (705 pages of text), is a major investment of time--but well worth it. A major strength of this work is the nuanced analysis of Ike, both his strengths and his weaknesses. He had many flaws, but he also had certain character traits that served the nation and the allies well.
   
   The author says of Eisenhower (page 5): "The path from the poverty of turn-of-the-century Abilene, Kansas, to supreme Allied commander was as improbable as it was spectacular." Eisenhower, in short, advanced far further in his military career than almost anyone could have guessed. This volume tries to explain that and to assess his work.
   
   The book is divided into several parts. The first examines the background of the family, from 1741-1909. Part II focuses on "The Accidental Soldier." Ike really had no clear career goals after high school. At the advice of family friends, he worked to get into the military. He finally was admitted to West Point. His career at West Point is outlined (not distinguished, not bad).
   
   During the years of World War I, he missed combat action. Instead, he was involved in training troops. During this time, he also became involved in the development of tanks as weapon systems. On page 137, D'Este notes that "During the rush to return soldiers to civilian life, an appeal was made to induce enough men to form the nucleus of a postwar tank corps to remain on active duty." Eisenhower was one of those.
   
   Part IV examines the interwar years and Eisenhower's role. General Fox Connor took Ike under his wing. Over this period, he became a valued staff officer. In 1933 he (page 217), ". . .commenced what would be nearly seven years as a staff officer and principal assistant to [General Douglas] MacArthur in Washington and Manila." It was not the best of times for Eisenhower, given MacArthur's and his disagreements. He returned to the United States.
   
   Part V focuses on the preparation for war, from 1940-1942. Ike's role was not to be what he desired--combat action. He was coveted for staff support. After seemingly improbable events, Eisenhower became the chief American army commander in North Africa (Part VI outlines his Mediterranean career). There were many frustrations--including working with a variety of prima donnas, from George Patton to Bernard Montgomery. Things started off dismally in North Africa for the American forces, although the troops grew with experience. Then, Sicily and the unfortunate showdown with Patton after his mistreatment of a soldier..
   
   Part VII examines the invasion of Europe and the immense toll that this took on Eisenhower. Part VIII considers the breakout from Normandy to victory.
   
   The book illustrates Ike's weaknesses--lack of command experience, poor record in a number of operations (Anzio and Arnhem, for example), having to spend much of his time trying to negotiate between different commanders with very different views and often letting politics determine the outcome (e.g., Patton versus Montgomery). On the other hand, his patience and diplomacy kept fractious generals working together.
   
   The book makes us aware of his failings--but also his successes. He was a complex person and his record is not an unalloyed success. But he may have been the right person to lead the Allied forces in the later years of World War II in Europe.
   
   All in all, a very strong biography.



4. Carlo D'Este's "Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life" is a serious tome, clocking in at 848 pp. But does size matter? In this case very little of the nearly 850 pages is at all wasted or squandered. D'Este's has contributed several significant works to the Second World War genre in his career and "Eisenhower" is not exception. While this reviewer picked up "Eisenhower" with the expressed purpose of seeing what D'Este's had to say about strategic controversies in which Ike was embroiled in NW Europe, mainly those surrounding the 'broad vs. narrow front' arguments between Ike and Monty. Unfortunately D'Este's provided little new insight into or interpretation of these topics. Fortunately, this reviewer was treated to a plethora of information as regards Ike as a man, family member, husband, soldier and commander.
   
   D'Este's breaks down his treatise into eight separate sections: I) The Eisenhowers, 1741-1909; II) The Accidental Soldier, 1910-16; III) World War I, 1917-19; IV) The Interwar Years, 1920-39; V) The United States Prepares for War, 1940-42; VI) A General's Education: The Mediterranean, 1942-43; VII) The Invasion of Europe, 1944; VIII) Crisis in Command: Normandy to the Elbe, 1944-45. As should be obvious from the title, section I discusses the familial history of Ike, and in many ways sets thee tone for the rest of the story - clearly Ike's upbringing and family 'baggage' influenced his outlook on life and war. Given what we learn about Ike and his immediate family (most notably the family lack of money and connection to allow Ike to attend college) it should not be surprising that, despite his mother's strong pacifist beliefs, that Ike chose to enter the US Armed Services in order to go to college? What was new information to this reviewer was the fact that Ike really wished to go to Annapolis rather than West Point, but attended the latter because that was the option open to him; certainly an 'accidental soldier' in more than one way! Sections III-V focus on the early military career of Ike, much of it spent in frustration at not being part of combat action, rather watching the years go by in various staff positions. What becomes clear to the reader is that these sundry of positions provided Ike with much of the necessary administrative 'schooling' that was later to pay dividends to the Allies when he took the reins as Supreme Commander. Section VI can be thought of as representing the critical turning point in Ike's illustrious career as a military commander. He got his first true taste of command of field troops and made his first set of mistakes that refined further his command style that would be employed in NW Europe (and of which he would take components to the White House). This section is also important in that it defines many of the important relationships Ike forged during the Second World War, especially those with our British allies. Sections VII and VIII represent the sections likely most familiar in content to the average WWII genre reader. Yet D'Este's provide enough flair and interpretation to these sections to make them important in their own right.
   
   "Eisenhower" is a massive piece of work that is not for the feint of heart - if long reads are not your thing "Eisenhower" will not be high on your list. If however such things are not bothersome to you and you wish to learn more about one of the most important figures of thee Second World War (a judgment made independent of whether one believes Ike was a great leader or not) this may be a book you should track down. D'Este's is a historian of some note and this work is of similar high quality as others he has penned. Recommended for the serious and curious alike. 4.5 stars.
   



5. I am a student of World War II having read scores of books on the subject and I discovered not only many interesting facts that were new to me about this man but also that his legend may be a bit larger than his life. Although I still think Eisenhower was a great leader who was probably the best man for the job of Supreme Allied Commander in the European theater, D'Este reveals him to be someone who struggled near the edge of breakdown to meet the horrendous challenges that were continually set before him. Like many acclaimed leaders of history, he seemed to be swept along by circumstances he was typically ill-equipped to handle. D'Este portrays him as an intrinsically good and moral man whose virtuous attributes may have helped him keep his job more than anything he actually did. Even the famous, though controversial, British Field Commander Bernard Montgomery genuinely liked him, although the feelings were probably not mutual.
   
   Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life recounts Eisenhower's life from birth to the end of WW II and gives insights to where and from whom he learned the things that would eventually aid him in his future life-defining role. D'Este's biography reads like a fast-paced novel and you find yourself disappointed at watching the unread side of the 700 plus pages dwindle. I highly recommend this book!

5 comments about Bad Boy: The Life And Politics Of Lee Atwater.

1. I read this right after seeing the frontline episode about Atwater. This man had no redeeming qualities and seemed to be a complete egomaniac.
   
   this book was a quick read and nothing short of a horror story
   
   I kept thinking, well.. maybe he was a loving husband or father since he seemed to be a pschopath in his work life but NO it seems he was a self obsessed freak in his personal life too.
   
   the author did alot of research obv. for this book but somehow I didnt really like the way it was written, it seemed sort of choppy. Still, I did get through it in a matter of hours (insomnia)
   
   I felt dirty after I read this book TBH.
   
   I hope we're done with this sort of ugly campaigning. I wish Atwater was alive to see his beloved party implode in 2008 :)



2. About the political life of Lee Atwater, "the godfather of spin," this book details Atwater's political strategies, from managing local races to running Bush's 1988 campaign. Woven into the biography are valuable lessons about campaigning -- information that they don't teach you in college. Though many disagree with Lee Atwater's personal -- and political -- life, it shouldn't dissuade you from learning from this brilliant strategist. (We certainly don't endorse his sins, but you'd better understand them if you're going to work in politics).



3. Like Lee Atwater himself, this biography is entertaining, and quick-and-dirty. Also like Atwater, it is essentially skin deep, offering little assessment on how a figure like Atwater could arise and become so powerful within the Republican Party so fast. There's also not much about Atwater's innovation -- "oppo" research-based politics that turned the nascent 24-hour news cycle to the advantage of the savvier campaign. Atwater invented the style of "war room" campaigning that was enhanced by another southerner, James Carville, four years later.
   Still, the book is well-crafted and does an excellent job of chronicling Atwater's life. It is especially admirable for revealing the truth about Atwater's alleged deathbed renunciation of hardball politics -- which never really happened. The real story is far more interesting.



4. I read Bad Boy with great anticipation and came away with mixed feelings. "If only we had another Lee Atwater" is a sentiment that resonates with today's too-often clutzy, tone-deaf GOP. But the Lee Atwater presented in Brady's comes off less as the strategic Messiah lionized in Republican circles and more like a go-getting prankster. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

   Typically, Brady obsesses over the Willie Horton episode, even though he does dislodge the pervasive myth that Atwater was somehow the prime mover behind this over-hyped episode. Still, these pages would have worked better as a more detailed account of the strategy behind the '88 campaign. (That's why I bought the book -- not to read more re-hashing of the Horton claptrap.) After enjoyable and vivid accounts of Atwater's early South Carolina campaigns, Bad Boy starts to disappoint and doesn't shed much more light on the politics of the 1980s and beyond.

   Atwater may be called the master of negative politics, but after watching the latest episode in Florida and recalling the impeachment ordeal, I doubt that this is what will distinguish him in the pantheon of political masterminds in years to come. Atwater's legacy will be that of a strategist who had a unique sense of what was really going on in his generation, and one of the first to recognize the current transformation of politics from a battle between left and right to contest between libertarian-minded thinkers who relish progress and freedom and traditional populists who want to control it.




5. Atwater was pretty much a moral scumbag, but the father of politics as we know it today. He did it his way and for that he is a hero. Brady tells the truth about the man and his life. Reading, you feel like a part of the action. It's a great book, but don't pick it up unless you're comfortable being obsessed with politics for the rest of your life!

2 comments about Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's Prisoner of Conscience.

1. This biography does what few other biographies of any leader do - it puts the subject in the proper historical perspective. Starting from the beginnings of the Burmese state, Wintle provides readers with background on Burma. This is useful because it places the country's modern politics in an appropriate frame of reference. For example, Wintle does not avoid the complexities of Burma's ethnic minorities and their long history, which later allows him to show how Aung San and his daughter Aung San Suu Kyi may have been the few leaders to be able to gain the trust of the minorities.
   
   I also appreciate Wintle's honest appraisal of Suu Kyi near the end of the book. While Wintle is obviously sympathetic to Suu Kyi (as we all should be), he does ask important questions about the success of her non-violence movement and stubbornness.
   
   My only criticism is that the book does not have comprehensive footnotes. While the author footnotes a few interesting articles, there are many other anecdotes and interpretations that should have been footnoted so the reader can check the source and read further if he desires.
   
   Hopefully, when (and if) Suu Kyi is released and allowed to lead in a democratic Burma, Wintle can update his volume to include more insights into this remarkable woman.



2. Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's Prisoner of Conscience
   
   
   Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of assassinated democratic hero Aung San, may be undertaking a hunger strike, according to sources in Thailand. Suu Kyi has refused food for three weeks and has turned away visitors, according to sources quoted by "The Nation." A lawyer who visited her recently said she appears thin and under stress. The 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years. Merely mentioning her name aloud in the wrong society can bring imprisonment by Burma's ruling generals. Burma is one of the world's most repressive regimes, carefully regulating the media, limiting access by foreigners and repressing all dissent.
   Human rights organizations routinely cite Burma for violating civil liberties, using forced and child labor, and tacitly encouraging opium production. Burma is the world's second largest producer of opium and a source of forced trafficking of women and children for sex. The ruling Junta has gone so far as changing the nation's name to Myanmar, and relocating the administrative capital from Rangoon to an inland city that affords greater secrecy.
   Despite its rich natural resources... petroleum, timber, tin, rubber, zinc, natural gas and hydroelectric power... Burma remains one of Asia's poorest countries because of mismanagement and a centralized economy. It's "Burmese Way to Socialism" was an unequivocal disaster. Politically Burma is a pariah in the international community; its only close ally is China. The US refuses to recognize the "Myanmar" regime.
   
   Against this background, British writer Justin Wintle has written a valuable political biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, now an ageing but tireless advocate for reform. Burma's ruling generals are in a dilemma: Suu Kyi's father, the murdered Aung San, is revered as a founder of Burmese democracy and its independence from colonialism, but his daughter is the regime's avowed enemy. Wintle does an excellent job outlining Aung San Suu Kyi's marriage to British national Michael Aris; her student years at Oxford, and her rise to power, her exile, as well as recent developments in the struggle for freedom.
   It was probably Burma that George Orwell had in mind when he wrote his political satires "1984" and "Animal Farm." Orwell, who was born in India, served in the British Colonial Police in Burma between the World Wars. Everything Orwell wrote about--a civilization turned on its head; a paranoid, insular, xenophobic totalitarian state where Big Brother watches everyone and the Truth Squad launders public opinion--is true in Burma today. In "Burmese Days," Orwell says of his colonial character, Flory:
   "For he had realized, suddenly, that in his heart he was glad to be coming back. This country which he hated was now his native country, his home. He had lived here ten years, and every particle of his body was compounded of Burmese soil. Scenes like these --- the sallow evening light, the old Indian cropping grass, the creak of the cartwheels, the screaming egrets - were more native to him than England. He had sent deep roots, perhaps his deepest, into a foreign country."
   Like Flory, Aung San Suu Kyii is a product of her homeland. But she is exiled within her homeland: she faces the Hobson's Choice of remaining at home in virtual exile; or leaving her homeland and not returning again.
   And the clock is ticking: she is in failing health, past middle age; and separated from her supporters and loved ones. History will judge; we can only hope that moral and economic pressure from the international community will bring about the changes she has given her life to achieve.
   
   
   
   
   Suggestions for further reading:
   Letters From Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi
   Burmese Days by George Orwell
   Finding George Orwell in Burma
   Finding George Orwell in Burma
   Letters from Burma
   Burmese Days
   Freedom from Fear and Other Writings: Revised Edition
   
   
   Why Orwell Matters

No comments about Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I.

3 comments about Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia.

1. I am an intermediate level student of Spanish. This book keeps being mentioned and I would like to read it in Spanish. I can't find a copy where I can read a page or two to see if that might be possible. Does anyone familiar with this book have a recommendation?



2. Although I've read this book before, this time, as an older and wiser reader I was able to recall a lot more information and specifics that had slipped my mind since the previous reading. As a non-native spanish speaker, it was easy to follow, in a dialect I could easily translate if necessary. Plus, this book is useful in the spanish classes that I teach in portraying a realistic view of guatemalan history.



3. After reading this book, I realized how truly blessed I am. My problems are so minor compared to theirs. It also helps you to understand the suffering of the Indigenous persons both in Guatemala and in other countries throughout Latin America. I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about the world around them.

5 comments about George Mason, Forgotten Founder.

1. I felt this was a good book about a secondary figure in the revolutionary period. Mason was important because he was close to leaders like Washington, Madison and Patrick Henry. He was also a leading figure in his beloved state of Virginia and since Virginia was so influential Mason's contributions should not be overlooked. Mason was a firm believer in the union but he feared a strong central government and the threat it could pose to individual liberty. Thus he was a leading anti-federalist who attended the constitutional convention but was one of the leaders against ratification. This book yields important insights into the battle between federalists and their opponents in Virginia and shows how this split among leaders of the early republic foreshadowed much that was to come including the whole states rights controversy. Well worth reading.



2. George Mason, truly an ignored Founder of whom Thomas Jefferson said was "one of our really great men", is treated in a fair and easy to read biography penned by Jeff Broadwater.
   
   The book follows his political career touching upon the many important bills and concepts he introduced into the Revolutionary era Virginia Legislature. The book does a fine job shining a light upon what a key figure to our founding that Mason was.
   
   In many ways, however, one gets a negative view of the man over his constant shirking of duty -- he too often arrived late or not at all to legislative sessions -- and his constant complaining over his health. Granted, if one knows much about the Founders and their era, health seems to be one thing they all constantly whined about. After all, men rarely lived past the late 30s in those days, so any pain or discomfort was feared to be death come a' knocking.
   
   In any case, it was interesting to see the turmoil and difficulty that the state of Virginia had funding and supplying troops to the war effort. With history settled, it is always too easy to feel that the country was united with a single mind and all for the spilt with England as well as ready to sacrifice their last strengths to that effort. Reality, though, is a far different thing than the rose-colored glasses of popular sentiment.
   
   One thing seemed missing from this book, as important as is the information contained within. Mason's voice does not come through in Broadwater's work. We never get as much of a feel for the man as we do for his end work and the times in which he lived.
   
   It's a shame that Broadwater didn't give us more of Mason's own quotes so that we might see what his contemporaries saw in his applauded rhetoric. Perhaps not enough of his own words survive to have attempted that treatment and maybe Broadwater really only had Mason's legislative work from which to glean "the" man, but I still felt the book seemed somewhat detached from the man himself.
   
   In any case, I recommend the book to those who are interested in a Founder who has missed out on the lionizing so many of his fellows have received.



3. I was actively looking forward to a book about George Mason, whose home is a landmark I visited 40-50 years ago, and whose name in my area adorns a major street and a university. Who was he? This book helps explain that. An amazing tale, really, of a gent who had a surprising lot to do with the birth of our nation and its constitution, yet is relatively little known. (Author Broadwater notwithstanding, it's no mystery why Mason has been neglected; he may have been an influential, clear, brilliant, and nonpartisan thinker but he didn't support the Constitution and in general, shunned the limelight.)
   
   The book is not just a biography, but a deep-reaching regional history. It tells a lot about the economic and social issues of the "American colonies" in the 18th century. Many of us overlook that, in the turmoil of creating a nation, there were a lot of ongoing matters of concern, such as the future of the lands to the west. Mason's careful husbanding of his economic and commercial interests augurs the role that commercialism has played ever since in the formation of our country. Finally, Mason's role in creating our Bill of Rights and some of the key elements of the U.S. Constitution cannot be overlooked, but his view that the inevitable tendency of "rulers" to augment their power leads just as inevitably to tyranny remains well worth keeping in mind today.
   
   The writing is a bit turgid, and if you're not much interested in the finer points of constitutional law or legislation, this will likely be a boring book. The author's annoying reliance on "if" clauses, (about one per paragraph) rather than the simple "but", doesn't help.



4. I struggled for a long time to try and force myself to read this book. I finally gave up and donated it to our public library. It was boring beyond belief. Only 1 of our 7 member book club finished it, and he didn't like it either!



5. George Mason was an important figure, seemingly coming out of nowhere, just before and during the Revolution and up to the formulation of the Constitution. He is one of the lesser known founders, probably as much known for being one of the few who refused to sign the Constitution (along with such figures as Luther Martin and Elbridge Gerry).
   
   One key aspect of Mason's personality (page 19): ". . .Mason possessed an incisive intellect and a commanding personality, but he was not inclined to suffer fools gladly or to compromise his own opinions. Given his nature, the mystery may not be why Mason initially showed little interest in the day-to-day business of government, but why he sought public office at all."
   
   This book focuses on his consuming passion for business, including his tenacious effort to make the Ohio Company work. This land company intended to take land and develop it for the profit of the owners. It was a constant struggle and never panned out as desired. His political views had some quirky elements for the time, including a condemnation of slavery (although phrased in the context of the times), although he himself owned slaves.
   
   Given his reputation as one of the leaders in the runup to the Revolution and through the Consitutional Convention, it is odd to see that he was not involved in politics in a major way until middle age. Yet, from 1774 to the Revolution, he bacame one of the major writers of Revolutionary tracts, laying out a critique of England and a case for freedom. While his relations with George Washington were sometimes frosty, he apparently worked well with other leading Virginians, such as Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, James Madison, and Richard Henry Lee.
   
   After the Constitution was ratified, with Mason arguing against this document, his health began to decline, until he died in 1792. He grew disenchanted with the national government and disagreed with many of its policies after Washington became president. However, he appears to have remained on good terms with some officials, such as John Marshall and James Monroe. While he remained mildly active in local politics from 1789 until his death, he refused an appointment to the United States Senate.
   
   In the end, Mason (page 251) "helped to make a respectable revolution." His legacy (page 251): ". . .his contribution to America's founding documents: the Declaration of Independence through the Virginia Declaration of Rights through his dogged opposition to a Constitution without one."
   
   The book is not particularly elegantly written, but the style is serviceable. There is enough depth to the biography that the reader gains a pretty good picture of Mason, his life, his times, and his role in history. For those interested in the Founding generation and its major actors, this book would be a useful addition to one's library.

3 comments about Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President.

1. Not read the book but I bet it makes no mention of the raid that Lincoln knew a lot about but managed to avoid being blamed for because Stanton burnt the incriminating documents. THe Dahlgren/ Fitzpatrick Raid is a massive blot on Lincoln's supposed character.
   Alan Lowe, Manchester Metropolitan University



2. This was such an engrossing and captivating book that I read it in only a couple of days. Of all of the many, many, many books already published about President Lincoln, this one is a most worthy addition to the canon. For many people who have grown up treasuring or swearing by urban legends or outright historical falsehoods (such as Betsy Ross making the first American flag or President Washington chopping down a cherry tree), it can be hard to be confronted with the facts demolishing the legends, but intellectual honesty and historical truth should matter more than preserving a myth just because it makes one feel good or because it's been repeated so often that it's taken on the stature of truth.
   
   I've read a lot about President Lincoln since I was a child, but some of the legends in this book were new to even me, such as the stories about his supposed out of wedlock birth, his alleged late-night baptism in a freezing river, and "Peanut John," the boy who held Booth's horse while he was inside of Ford's Theatre on that fateful night. Other topics covered include Dr. Samuel Mudd (was he or wasn't he an innocent doctor caught in the wrong place at the wrong time?), the true nature of the relationship between the young Abe and Ann Rutledge (I was kind of disappointed to learn that they may not have had a romance, though there is still no conclusive evidence in either direction), the modern-day myth about President Lincoln being gay, the "lost" draft of the Gettysburg Address, and Andrew Potter, the man who never was. Some of these legends may be more interesting to Lincoln scholars than to the general public, but they're all interesting. Some of them even made me laugh, like the one about his supposed true paternity and the totally implausible scenario for his alleged secret late-night baptism in the freezing December weather. There's something in here for everyone who has more than a passing interest in our greatest president.



3. Most of Lincoln Legends is directed at buffs attracted by such arcane topics as the provenance of the Lincoln "birthplace" cabin, the final resting place (or more likely, places) of Ann Rutledge, whether Lincoln could have been baptized by immersion in the Sangamon River, and assorted odd notions about the assassination. A few chapters are of greater significance, among them the one spiking the myth of a "gay Lincoln" and the thorough examination of the "deceptive doctor," Samuel Alexander Mudd.
   
   Steers writes well enough, but the book might have been improved by a more vigorous application of the editorial pen. Steers' method is usually to begin by laying out the mythological tale at perhaps too great a length and then to demolish the myth at the end of the chapter. This course often leads to wordy repetition. Books about myths and hoaxes are often fun to read; and this one is no exception, although it would have been better if it had been say, fifty pages shorter.

3 comments about Samuel Adams: A Life.

1. This book is written in a very tedious style. Most of the book goes something like this: Sam Adams did this, then he did this, then he did this, etc. There is very little story-telling in the book. One of the reviews compares this book with McCullough's "John Adams" - this is completely wrong. McCullough's "John Adams" is a great, very enjoyable book, while this book by Ira Stoll tends to be dull. Having said that, there is a lot of great information in the book and one can learn a lot about the often-overlooked Samuel Adams.



2. This is a must-buy for anyone who loved McCullough's John Adams or Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin. Ira Stoll puts Sam Adams back where he belongs, front and center with the great founding fathers. But "Samuel Adams, A Life" is not merely a work of history, it is a powerful argument about the ideas that made America and still, to this day, shape the nation. Stoll demonstrates, through the life and writing of Adams, how much religion and property rights motivated the revolutionaries of New England. From the first chapter, I felt I was not just learning about important history, but I was also gaining insight into the character of America. This book is bound to help change how we think about the Revolution. And it will help us understand how Sam Adams continues to influence our own era.



3. In "Samuel Adams: A Life," journalist Ira Stoll has rescued from relative (and undeserved) obscurity one of the most influential and fascinating figures of the American Revolutionary generation. Samuel Adams was one of the earliest and most zealous of the Boston firebrands. At the same time, he was imbued with a worldview inherited from his Puritan ancestors that placed the urgent events of the day in God's time. His "religious tranquillity" was much commented upon by his contemporaries, and Stoll is committed to understanding the paradox of the "tranquil revolutionary." Stoll's crystal clear and plain-spoken prose is entirely fitting for his equally plain-spoken subject. What emerges is a full-blooded portrait of a man whose idea of America resonates -- and often tellingly contrasts -- with positions on the right and left in our own debates about the nation's course and what it means to be a patriotic American. For history scholars and enthusiasts, for anyone interested in the origins of American political culture, and for today's political junkies, this book is a wonderful read.

5 comments about Gandhi: A Life.

1. After 500 pages of microscopic print and extraordinary detail characterizing the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi, I am truly delighted that I embarked on the adventure contained in this literary masterpiece.
   
   This volume is a vastly more level-headed caricature of Gandhi, I am told. You get the distinct sense that this was a human being, not a saint as some have painted his life and being.
   
   This is also a volume that takes one to the depths of issues like self-sacrifice, racism, conflict between people of different faith persuasions, oppression, the fight for freedom, transition, change, non-violence, the emergence of a nation (S.Africa, Pakistan and India) and death. The issues and the approaches to these issues are a pertinent today as they were during Gandhi's lifetime.
   
   An arduous read for me, yet one I could not abandon. I urge you to do the same. Enjoy.



2. I like the book because it was very easy to read and his life is very ineteresting



3. This is the second biography of Gandhi that I have read in the last few years. Yogesh Chada's book being much longer than the previous biography that I read, I hoped to get more detail and more insight about that extraordinary man named Gandhi.
   
   This much praise I can give to Chada: he did his homework. Gandhi: a Life is a non-stop littany of facts; overpowering, insightful, and boring. It sounds harsh for me to say that, because this book is an excellent account of Gandhi's life in terms of facts, but it simply has no narrative flow. And after 500 pages it becomes overwhelming. For so much reading, I took away far less from it than I would have supposed. This works very well if one is researching Gandhi and needs the details of certain events and episodes in India's independence movement, but the dryness of it all makes it hard to remember and appreciate the story that is being told.
   
   Gandhi may be the subject of this book, but it is objective in the extreme; removed of life, sapped of interest. But it is factual, and if that is what you are looking for in a biography, then you have hit pay dirt with Chada's work. And for that I cannnot completely be upset with this book. It is effective in certain ways, but not in all the ways I was looking for.



4. I am not an avid reader but I found the movie "Gandhi" so intriguing that I decided to find a biography on this inspirational man. The book left me as satisfied as the movie did. While other books may be shorter and closer to the point, this book really goes in depth of what was going in India during Gandhi's non violence movement. I feel I really got to know the man and his policies better while even learning a lot of the Indian politics of the time. The inspiration I drew from this book and the Mahatma has led me to search for more information on this subject and to look closer into how one is supposed to live. While no man is without his faults Gandhi helps us find the truth in peace with each other. Great book



5. I purchased this book because I wanted to learn more about Gandhi and his influence, given that he's been regarded as the father of modern India, and was an inspiration for Martin Luther King Jr.

   Gandhi: A Life is a densely packed book; I wouldn't say it's hard reading, but there's a huge amount of material here. Unfortunately, I felt disappointed by it since it does a good job of presenting the basic facts of Gandhi's life (carefully cross-checked for accuracy, the author assures us in his foreword), but goes no further than that. As such, it will teach the reader much about what Gandhi did and said, and about the state of India circa 1890-1948, but it will provide little insight into the man himself.

   As one would expect, facts about Gandhi's later life are more readily available than about his earlier life. Despite this, the first third of the book feels the most rewarding, as several formative events provide profound insight into the man, including his vegetarianism and policies of non-violence. His gradual development from a shy young lawyer with stage fright into the powerful and dogmatic leader is carefully shown through his experiences in South Africa.

   His return to India prior to 1920 and his ascension to the top of Indian politics, though, is not as successful. Just when we most need explanations and interpretations of Gandhi's behavior, Chadha fails us. Gandhi suddenly ceases to talk on Mondays, for some reason. He acquires what is essentially a cult of personality, but his own personality seems basically unlikeable, and the personalities of those around him are left sketchy. Chadha introduces supporting characters with a few paragraphs when they appear, but then takes as a given that their behavior will be understood.

   While I can understand the desire to deconstruct the mythology around a figure such as Gandhi, it seems to me that the author does us a disservice in not probing deeper into the figure, even if he does have to work with some less-well-documented material. Such interpretation seems to me to be an essential part of being a biographer.

   The book concludes on its lowest note, a three-chapter description of the plot (if it can be called that) leading to Gandhi's assassination. Filled with characters who never met Gandhi, and whose motivations were not particularly profound, it adds almost nothing to our understanding of Gandhi, those around him, or his nation. It is, ultimately, a digression and an anticlimax.

   If pure facts about the life of Gandhi are what you're looking for, then this is the book for you. If you're looking for interpretation or better understanding of who he was and why, then I recommend you look elsewhere.