5 comments about Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer.

1. This is a worthy effort by a very able biographer. But, alas, I found the subject, Francis Younghusband, less than compelling. As Younghusband's life went on, he seeemed, like his biography, to get duller and duller. The details of his life in the Indian subcontinent and the Himalayas are superbly rendered, and anyone interested in "The Great Game", Tibet or India during the British Raj MUST read this book. For Younghusband was a major player in those events. The author also vividly conveys Britain's colonial environment of the time. But for me, as Younghusband entered the more mystical period of his life, he revealed himself as a dilettante. I think he just didn't know what to do with himself and just puttered around for the rest of his life. He was a very complex and conflicted man -- envious, I believe, of his more notable friends and associates. French paints a nice picture of this man and his times. But, in candor, beyond his Tibet adventures, he wasn't all that fascinating a character. However, at the end of the day, this is a book many will find worthwhile.



2. This book is an excellent achievement by a young British writer. Patrick French has meticulously researched all aspects of the life of this enigmatic 'empire builder'.

   In the earlier stages of his life Francis Younghusband was desparately trying to gain fame and get his name into the annals of British imperialism. In a way time was running out, for the era of great explorations was coming to an end. Therefore the young officer set his eyes on the last frontier: Central Asia.

   Very soon Younghusband was caught up in the hike-stake 'Great Game': the competition between Britain and Russia for control over the enormous expanses of inner Asia. Both states considered this region as vital for its strategic interests. The British feared that control of Turkestan and Tibet would bring the Russians too close to the mountain ranges separating India from the rest of Asia. The Russians in turn considered the steppes and deserts of Central Asia as a buffer zone between its Far Eastern territories and British-ruled South Asia.

   Younghusband's travel experiences through the Himalayas, Karakorum, Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains would turn out to be essential for the formation of his later-day personality and activities. By temperament Younghusband fits into that strange category of the late Victorian soldier-adventurer with a spiritual bend. Just like General Charles 'Chinese' Gordon and T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia), he paired a love for action with unmistakable spiritual inclinations.

   After his military and administrative career in the British India service had come to an end, Francis Younghusband started a new mission in life. He became involved in a myriad of organizations concerned with inter-religious dialogue and the pursuit of world peace. Although, along the lines, he maintained a vivid interest in all 'things Asian' and was deeply involved with the first Mount Everest Expeditions.

   French has been extremely thorough in investigating this second career of Francis Younghusband, pursuing all kinds of vague leads and intent on turning over the last stone. Patiently sifting through years of correspondence and personal journals, he pieces together a very detailed picture of Younghusband's later life and relationships with the people around him.

   French's five year involvement with the life of Francs Younghusband was nothing short of an obsession, with the writer being determined to get into the head of his subject. The result is one of the best and most entertaining biographies I have ever read.




3. The book traces the life of one of most intrepid explorers of fin-de-siecle 19th century, Sir Francis Edward Younghusband (FEY).

   FEY was a man of many talents : explorer, writer, athlete, spy, thinker and philosopher. Born to English parents in `Imperial' India, FEY spent his early years at Dharamshala where he came under the influence of his maternal uncle Robert Shaw. Shaw was a keen adventurer and trekker himself which left a deep impact on the young FEY.

   FEY started his career as an official of the British Empire and because of his treks to China (Gobi desert) and within India (Rohtang Pass) he became recognised as an explorer. At the turn of the century, Tibet remained one of the last uncontrolled regions in the 'Great Game' between Russia and Britain (for increasing their respective influences in the Asian region). Curzon, afraid of Russia's growing influence over Tibet (later proven unfounded), decided to send an 'expedition' to Lhasa headed by Younghusband. (Curzon and Younghusband were very good friends). The expedition was actually a military adventure to assert British influence over Tibet. In this most celebrated event of FEYs life, he along with British troops trekked from Sikkim to Lhasa and signed the Treaty of Lhasa which was responsible for Tibet coming under British influence (till the Chinese took it over much later on).

   In the post-1904 phase of his life FEY tried, unsuccessfully, to enter politics. However, this physically-resilient explorer turned into a philosopher after he had a near-fatal accident in Belgium. He also led the `probably' unsuccessful attempts over Mt. Everest in the early-1920s (`probably' because till date the mystery over whether George Mallory did reach the summit in 1924 before perishing to his death remains unresolved).

   The author also discusses in detail FEYs relationship with his wife Helen and daughter Eileen. PF also uncovers an affair FEY had in the twilight of his life with Lady Madeline Lees.

   The book is also interspersed with details of how the author, Patrick French retraces Younghusband's steps. In true `living in his shoes' style, the author traces the travels / exploits of FEY. PF travels to Dharamshala, China, Gobi Desert and Sikkim to get a feel of Younghusband's travels. The research done by French on events of more than hundred years ago is commendable and extremely detailed. He even details the number (67) and type of shirts FEY took with him on his 1904 expedition !

   Patrick French has also recently written `Liberty or Death' which is a lucid and well-researched account of the Indian Freedom struggle.




4. Patrick French's biography of Francis Younghusband - `the last great imperial adventurer' - is beautifully written, insightful and above all humane. I say humane because at first glance Younghusband could easily be ridiculed - in his youth for a reckless jingoism that cost lives and embarrassed the British government, and in his later years for a brand of religious mysticism that was, well, bordering on insane. It is a tribute to French's understanding of his subject that he digs beneath these criticisms to bring us a deeply satisfying portrait of a surprisingly complex man.

   Frank Younghusband's most pressing claim on history was that he led the British expedition into Tibet in 1904 - even at the time seen as being based on a flimsy pretext of stopping Russia from gaining control of central Asia. Some 2000 Tibetans were killed as the British force made its way into Lhasa. Younghusband forced a treaty on the 13th Dalai Lama pledging loyalty to the British empire. The Government in London found this deeply embarrassing and almost immediately repudiated the treaty. Younghusband himself was convinced of the threat Russia presented to British interests in India and central Asia.

   But while the expedition created popularity and profile in England, it finished any chances of a senior career with the civil service. Younghusband served in India in a number of middle-ranking posts and wrote books about Tibet and his earlier exploits as an explorer in central Asia. In 1906 he played a bit part in the Jamison raid in South Africa - in the pay of The Times. Most importantly Younghusband thought about spirituality. Literally following a mountain top revelation in Tibet, he increasingly devoted his life to promoting a form of all-embracing spirituality which led in its silliest form to speculations about aliens living on a planet called Altair. His later years were devoted to boosting this form of spirituality by establishing popular movements in England, lecturing widely including in the US, running the Royal Geographic Society and supporting Indian independence.

   All of which one could easily ridicule. But French brings life to his subject and a subtlety of understanding which makes the book absolutely engrossing. One reason is that Younghusband was a prolific letter writer - the India Office Library contains 600 "bulging" boxes containing his papers. Through these we see into the private mental world of Francis - his arid and rather sad marriage to Helen, and the relationship in his very last years with Madeline Lees - truly the love of his life. These insights allow French to paint a much deeper and satisfying portrayal of a complex man - a person of his time and place but also a complete iconoclast, some one who pushed against the establishment for most of his life. Remarkably, this is Patrick French's first book, written in his mid-twenties. He is a natural, a gifted writer with a fine sense of judgement. No sentence rings out of tune in the whole book. In short Younghusband is worth every one of its five stars. If the publishers have any sense they will issue a reprint soon. If not, readers should do everything they can to somehow find a copy of this wonderful biography.




5. Even more astonishing than the fact that Younghusband marched with bayonets to Lhasa, to convince Tibetans they must have no truck with the Russians, was the complete reversal of his political persepective a mere thirty years later. The result was the historical precedent of an arch imperialist striking camp to cross over to the opposition, becoming, in the process, a hero for Indian nationalists. Ironically the man responsible for the death of hundreds of Tibetans fighting for their freedom would today be a huge thorn in the side of China, had he survived to join their successors in their continuing cause. The contradictions in his character are beautifully and arrestingly captured by French, who has done a marvellous job of bringing this paradoxical enigma to life in a thoroughly entertaining manner. I can't believe this book is no longer in print. Books this good should never be out of print.

5 comments about My Life.

1. My Life is a fascinating book. I was most attracted to the style in which Trotsky took responsibity for his mistakes. He didn't try to blame others for what happened at Kronstadt. My Life is a wonderful show of a great and bizarre life. Since the McCarthy era, it has become fashionable to slander revolutionaries or look for "Physcological" motives. My Life is written from a bias, but it certainly has none of taint of an author who tries to discredit someone smarter than them. My Life also show Trotsky as a complete person- bound by unbreakable ties to an idea. My Life is written as many different things- half autobiography and half history of the revolution. The only thing I found bad about My Life is how absorbed it is in its time. My Life is entertaining and readable, and includes some rather funny incidents- like Trotsky naming his socks after Soviet leaders. The only fault is that My Life requires a basic understanding of events to be fully understood. For instance, if you haven't the foggiest what permenant revolution is, you may need to find out. My Life is idea-based, and challenges readers to discover those ideas- and then to do something about them. Buy the book-it is worth a $1,000



2. Today we expect our political memoir writers to take part in a game of show and tell about the most intimate details of their private personal lives on their road to celebrity. Refreshingly, you will find no such tantalizing details in Russian Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky's memoir written in 1930 just after Stalin had exiled him to Turkey. Instead you will find a thoughtful political self-examination by a man trying to draw the lessons of his fall from power in order to set his future political agenda. This task is in accord with his stated conception of his role as an individual agent at service in the historical struggle toward a socialist future. Thus, underlying the selection of events highlighted in the memoir such as the rise of the revolutionary wave in Russia in 1905 and 1917, the devastation to the socialist program of World War I and the degeneration of the Russian Revolution especially after Lenin's death and the failure of the German Revolution of 1923 is a sense of urgency about the need for continued struggle for a socialist future. It also provides a platform as well for polemics against those foes and former supporters who have either abandoned or betrayed that struggle.
   
   At the beginning of the 21st century when socialist political programs are in decline it is hard to imagine the spirit that drove Trotsky to dedicate his whole life to the fight for a socialist society. However, at the beginning of the 20th century he represented only the most consistent and audacious of a revolutionary generation of Eastern Europeans and Russians who set out to change the history of the 20th century. It was as if the best and brightest of that generation were afraid, for better or worse, not to take part in the revolutionary political struggles that would shape the modern world. As Trotsky notes this element was lacking, with the exceptions of Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and precious few others, in the Western labor movement. Trotsky using his own experiences tells the story of the creation of this revolutionary cadre with care and generally proper proportions.
   
   Many of the events such as the disputes within the Russian revolutionary movement, the attempts by the Western Powers to overthrow the Bolsheviks in the Civil War after their seizure of power and the struggle of the various tendencies inside the Russian Communist Party and in the Communist International discussed in the book may not be familiar to today's audience. Nevertheless one can still learn something from the strength of Trotsky's commitment to his cause and the fight to preserve his personal and political integrity against overwhelming odds. As the organizer of the October Revolution, creator of the Red Army in the Civil War, orator, writer and fighter Trotsky he was one of the most feared men of the early 20th century to friend and foe alike. Nevertheless, I do not believe that he took his personal fall from power as a world historic tragedy. Moreover, he does not gloss over his political mistakes. While one would not want to be on the receiving end of his rapier tongue neither does he generally do personal injustice to his various political opponents. Politicians, revolutionary or otherwise, in our times should take note.



3. 
   This is many books in one. A fine autobiography from a literary point of view, a historical document with brilliant insights into the time period and major players, and, most important, a rich and sustained polemic in favor of a life of commitment to revolutionary, working class politics. Trotsky dedicated his later life to keeping alive the continuity of Lenin and the Russian Revolution, and what a fascinating, courageous life it was, full of prison, exile, escape, insurrection, and more exile. Trotsky was an inspiring man of action, one of two or three figures who matter most to the working class. The politics of the working class struggle for total human emancipation is the piston that drives both the man and his autobiography.If not available from Amazon, booksfrompathfinder will have it. Click on "New and Used" near the top of the page.



4. The phrase "Life is Beautiful" in the Italian film came from Leon Trotkys's last testament. It was written in exile in Mexico. At the time Trotsky's friends, family, and comrades were being harassed, slandered and murdered by Stalin, when he himself faced imminent assasination. He also faced death from the growing illnesses that had slowed him. Yet, in his testament he proclaimed that life is beautiful. Life must be cleansed of the evil and garbage Capitalism and Stalinism have left to this world.
   
   Read this book and you will see how Trotsky's life became valuable for him because he decided to fight oppression, decided to learn about the world to fight, and never stopped fighting. Maybe your life can be beautiful if you read this book, and decide to fight like Trotsky did.
   
   The introduction by the late Joseph Hansen Trotsky's secretary in Mexico is worth the price of the book. Joe explains how the household and work center in Mexico functioned, about how Trotsky valued hard work, but also valued celebrating comrades birthdays, hobbies like raising rabbits, trips to sites of Mexican history. Reading this also tells you how Joe organized the staff at World Outlook/ Intercontinental Press, working with him was one of the great privileges of my life.
   
   In these pages and memoirs of Trotsky by Joe, George Novack, Farrell Dobbs, and other comrades who knew Trotskty, you could find how serious Trotsky enjoyed and embraced life. In Turkey if he wanted to go fishing, he went to sea with Turkish fishers in their trawlers. If he wanted to raise rabbits as a hobby, he soon was taking care of something bordered on a commercial rabbit farm. Both in valuing work--chained to his desk was the term Trotsky passed down--and valuing parties and celebrations of new people coming onto the staff and leaving, Trotsky made his life beautiful.
   
   Read this book, valued as much as a literary work as a political statement, and learn how you can make your life beautiful.



5. When I decided to write this review, I had to choose between the various reasons why it's so beautiful and important. But, above all, I think that, in a world where the necessity of Marxist was supposedly to be more deeply felt than ever, what repels most people that would be liable to lend an ear to it is the repelling Stalinist mythology of the revolutionary as the relentless, ruthless, single-minded, google-eyed fanatical. Trotsky, on the contrary begins by assessing that, although his life was out of the ordinary, he neverthless remained a men with a penchant for a well-ordered ordinary life; that he found pleasure in seeing a well-ordered table or a well-kept fence; that he didn't becomne a revolutionary out of a feeling of opression, but because of being faced with a life that, although prosperous, offered him nothing but grey drudgery and no opprtunity for individual achievement; that he, like all revolutionaries, was a man like any other. I think that would be reason enough to commend this modern classic to the reader of today, outside from the wonderful style, the importance of the events narrated and so much else.

3 comments about Woodrow Wilson and World Politics: America's Response to War and Revolution (Galaxy Books).

1. Woodrow Wilson believed that American foreign policy should aim to spread democratic capitalism to every corner of the world. He thought that democratic capitalist countries would eschew war, uplift their populations, accept American leadership, and open their markets to American trade and investment. The upshot would be a peaceful capitalist world order regulated by morality and international law, where American firms could sell their surpluses and make productive investments. The main threats to his vision were reactionary imperialism on the right (as exemplified by Imperial Germany) and communist revolution on the left (as exemplified by Lenin and the Bolsheviks).
   
   "Woodrow Wilson and World Politics" shows how Wilson's worldview played out in Germany, Russia and the Far East in the aftermath of World War I. It is based on solid archival work and is alive to the nuances and ambiguities of real-world foreign policy. I knocked off on star only because the book's lack of biographical detail or other "color" makes it a fairly dry read. Readers should know, moreover, that the book is mainly a treatment of Wilsonian ideology and its application in specific cases. It is not a detailed reconstruction of Woodrow Wilson's entire foreign policy.
   
   It is impossible to read "Woodrow Wilson and World Politics" in 2008 without drawing comparisons to the foreign policy of George Bush. Bush shares with Wilson a moralistic approach to world affairs that grates on foreigners and gives rise to charges of hypocrisy. He also shares the belief that long-term American well-being requires that all states (at least in the Islamic world) adopt American-style political and economic systems. But whereas Wilson put his faith in international law and the League of Nations, Bush has opted for unilateralism and aggressive war. His goals and rhetoric may be Wilsonian but his methods come straight from the playbook of Big Power diplomacy.



2. I am going to write an unfair review. This book is probably useful for scholars or fans of Woodrow Wilson. However, I did not find it very interesting. Woodrow Wilson was not one of my favorite presidents. The book did not change my mind about him. It was not a good "read" and it was not sufficiently informative to me to justify reading through the pedestrian prose. In addition, I am told that Wilson scholarship is now more advanced and perhaps kinder to Wilson in this particular area. If you are deeply interested in this subject, do not let me put you off reading this book. If you have a more general interest in Wilson, I would suggest reading a different book.



3. This is a fundamental book on U.S. foreign policy in the 20th century, its premises and contradictions. It is also an acute account of Wilsonian "idealism." It has general as well as specific value and is not in the least dated.

   It is one of a handful of basic books on the making of American foreign policy.

5 comments about Assassination of Lumumba.

1. Patrice Lumumba is the subject of so much distortion and so much mythology that the simple truth is never said. He was a bad leader who destroyed Congo and them himself. This book is the long tradition of lying about africa in the west. Local politics and reality are ignored in favor of the evil colonialist conspiracy.
   
   What happened in Congo? Patrice Lumumba took power and incited an army mutiny. He dealt with the army mutiny he created himself by making speaches inciting violence against europeans and watching their blood flow. Literally within days of taking power, he had managed to reduce the entire country to chaos. When the "evil" Belgians tried to step in to put down the army mutiny, Lumumba screamed about colonial oppression and called in the UN.
   
   And the UN came in. It came in with ten different countries following ten different agendas. Each country (including african countries and Indian) started funding politicians and parties within the congo to pursue their own interests. Rather than bringing order, the UN brought more chaos. Lumumba gradually alienated everyone around him and ended up dead. The politics of the situation are complicated because every politician in Congo was one SOMEONEs payroll at the time including Lumumba himself.
   
   Ludo DeWitte in this book presents the classic stupid view of events. The great Lumumba was going to build a magical socialist utopia in Congo and the evil colonialist conspiracy had to stop him at all costs including eventually killing Lumumba. The plain facts that Lumumba was a terrible leader are swept under DeWitte's very large rug. The fact that the political leadership of Congo was fractured and not behind Lumumba is also ignored.
   
   The book inflates the role of Belgium in the matter. For all practical purposes, Belgium was pushed to the side the minute that Lumumba brought in the UN. What went on in Congo was a world-wide "land grab" for what had formerly belonged to Belgium. Russians, Americans, British, French, Africans and Indians all wanted a "slice" of Congo. And they all interfered politically in the country.
   
   The sad truth is that the book is right and wrong. While it is correct to say that the international community is responsible in part for the death, it is wrong in that the factors that brought about Lumumba's death were local. He was a disaster as leader and he had to go. He did not even have the skills to be a competent tyrant. He made the decisions that sent the army into rebellion and he brought foreign intervention into the country. Any real history of the Congo (and hopefully someday there will be one) will accept those simple truths.
   
   Generations of Africans have paid the price for those who listen to the Ludo DeWittes of the world in their love of the incompetent leftist strongman as savior of africa. Wear sunglasses and fatigues, scream about colonialism and socialism....and you will have a free hand from those people to plunder and ruin any country in Africa. After sixty years of blood and murder in Congo, its time to bury Lumumba. One more strongman crocodile more or less in Africa in the 1960s would have made no difference.
   
   What we need is books about modern africa. In terms of Congo, we need honest books about how its african neighbors lined up to plunder the country with their armies in the 1990s. The truth is that the colonial era and the era of Lumumba are irrelivant to the africa of today. There is nothing useful in this book and printing it was a waste of paper.



2. For readers interested in the facts about Patrice Lumumba's murder, this translated book is a very valuable source of new information. In addition to giving a detailed narrative of what happened, it backs up that narratie with numerous illuminating quotations from now-unclassified documents, recorded interviews and writings of persons involved in the murder. As a writer and analyst, the main author is thorough, meticulous, and accurate.
   
   The main takeways from the book, for me, was first that Belgian officers and diplomats were integrally involved in the capture and murder of Lumumba, even to the point of leading and being members of the firing squad that killed him. The second was the participation of high UN offiicials in actions that led to Lumumba's murder.
   
   On an interpretive level, the book is interesting because, like the book Overthrow, it shows how the post-colonial nations' actions against politicians such as Lumumba were motivated by antipopulism more than atnicommunism.
   
   The main downside of the book is that the first author is not conversant with the documentary record in English, especially that arising in the US or from US nationals working abroad. It's important to read it in the light of the Church Report, which you can access on line through a link in Wikipedia or through the U.S. Congress website, and Raoul Peck's two films on the assassination.
   
   Other lessor problems with it are that it is very difficult to read if one is not a researcher very interested in the subject and not as fully illustrated with photographs as it could have been, in my opinion.



3. I remember reading a book on Ralph Bunch about his time in the Congo, and he said something to the fact "how can millions of African men allow a few pasty faces to rule them so thoroughly?"
   
   Lumumba was an interesting character. I learned a lot from the book.



4. But here is a circular issued by the Lumamba Govt.
   
   On September 15 he issued the following lengthy and highly revealing directive to the heads of the various provinces throughout the Congo:
   
   SUBJECT: Measures To Be Applied During the First Stages of the Dictatorship.
   
   Sir,
   
   I have the honour and the pleasure to inform you that with a view to the rapid restoration of order in the country, the House of Representatives and the Senate [of the central government], meeting in special session on 13 September of this year, decided to grant the government full powers.
   
   Full powers should be understood to mean that the government is free to act as it thinks fit in all respects, for the purpose of suppressing abuses, disorders and any action which is contrary to the will of the government over which I have presided legally since the attainment of independence by the Congo. . . .
   
   The most effective and direct means of succeeding rapidly in our task may be summarized as follows:
   
   1. Establish an absolute dictatorship and apply it in all its forms.
   
   2. Terrorism, essential to subdue the population.
   
   3. Proceed systematically, using the army, to arrest all members of the opposition. I will be personally responsible for those at Leopoldville including the Head of State and his close supporters. A few weeks ago, in view of the present situation in Katanga and Sud-Kasai, I sent the National Army to arrest Tshombe and Kalonji and even to kill them if possible. . . .
   
   4. Imprison the ministers, deputies and senators, who sometimes abuse their parliamentary immunity. In such a case I should be glad if you would not spare them but arrest them all without pity and treat them with ten times more severity than ordinary individuals.
   
   5. Revive the system of flogging and give the rebels 10 lashes, morning and evening, for a maximum of 7 consecutive days.
   
   N.B. Double the number in the case of ministers, senators, and deputies, reducing the number gradually according to the condition of each individual.
   
   6. Inflict profound humiliations on the people thus arrested, in addition to the obligatory treatment described above. For example, strip them in public, if possible in the presence of their wives and children. Make them carry heavy loads and force them to walk about in that state. In case of such a walk, however, drawers may be worn.
   
   7. In view of the seriousness of the situation of the country, which is in danger of sinking into anarchy, it would be well to imprison repeated offenders in underground cells or prisons for at least six months, never allowing them out to breathe fresh air.
   
   N.B. If some of them succumb as a result of certain atrocities, which is possible and desirable, the truth should not be divulged but it should be announced, for instance, that Mr. X has escaped and cannot be found.
   
   8. Those who do not succumb in prison should not be released for at least a year. In this case they shall be exiled to a country to be determined by me in agreement with certain foreign countries which have already signified their agreement in principle.
   
   Some of the provincial presidents will say that the measures described are severe. In reply I would point out to them that certain politicians have attained power by means of dictatorship. Moreover, the measures of execution that I have indicated above constitute only the first stage of the basic regime that we hope will succeed in the Congo. The second stage will be to destroy anyone who criticizes us. . . .
   
   In conclusion, I would point out that this letter should be communicated only to those authorities under your orders in whom you have entire confidence.
   
   (signed) P. LUMUMBA
   Prime Minister
   
   I see no point in removing the Belgians just to put in someone worse.



5. This book is an outstanding piece of work that reflects the author's intellectual honesty and his passion for the truth. A truth that has been hidden and distorted in so many ways, for so long. Ludo De Witte's detailed account of The Assassination of Lumumba finally makes a breakthrough. The book is both enlightening and disturbing but, above all, educational. While providing powerful and troubling data about this horrific event, it also helps to understand the facts from the context of the struggle against the neo-colonial order in which they occurred.

   It is my hope that this well documented and careful study about this important period of Congolese history will serve as basic reference and become a classic textbook for educators and anyone interested in the long and complex history of the struggle for freedom, dignity and justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

5 comments about Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters (Thorndike Press Large Print Biography Series).

1. I haven't read the book, but if the book is a message to America's daughters, why is there now a large print edition?



2. Amy Hill Hearth did a great job summarizing major stepping stones in our first female Speaker of the House' life. She touches on the main challenges faced by a dedicated mother of five, wife and career politician. Certainly Amy had a huge selection of material - Nancy has lived a fascinating life to date. I was disappointed that the book was written specifically for teen and pre-teen daughters and sons as I had been under the impression that this was a book for adults. Perhaps once Nancy has retired and is sufficiently distant from the current political circus, she will share some of her incredible experiences with the reader as well as, hopefully, some of her beliefs and opinions. As a book for young people I would give it 5 stars. It would have also helped to have included photos. Nancy strikes me as a highly intelligent, dedicated, cultivated and attractive lady and the book would have been enriched by professional and personal photos. I look forward to one day reading her unabbreviated memoir - if not as an autobiography then as an in-depth treatise by Doris Goodwin Kearns. Giving this book an average of 1.5 stars is not an accurate reflection of its value - it deserves at least 3.



3. The first 30 or so pages came off as a Catholic Mother's monologue of all the goodness in her world.
   
   I was bored but kept reading. Surely there must be something of merit in this book.
   
   I was also put off by the fact that there was NO message directed to women on welfare or their daughters -- America IS full of rags to riches stories and by all means, young girls from ALL walks of life want to know that their goals are JUST as important, and JUST as achieveable, no matter what their current financial situation is. Sis and I (and many of our girl (and guy) friends in the Bronx) grew up close to the poverty level -- but we made our way in this world succesfully (it was tough but we did it) -- not because someone who was born into a priviliged life inspired us (although THAT would have been a boost to morale) , but because we KNEW that what was out there for the taking was there for ANYONE who had drive, determination and confidence, whether they had empty pockets or not.
   
   BTW-- I STILL say that "If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Politicians to Hear" by Melinda Henneberger is THE best (compared to anything else I have read on this subject) book to bring anyone up to date on how the subject of Politics relates to women in the varying "social strata" -- from the Upper Crust female Movers and Shakers, to Women on Welfare who have to split their medications in half and take those halves on alternate days just so they do not run out of medicine before their next welfare (or Social Security) check comes.
   
   Now, back to Speaker Pelosi's book -- I was "impressed" by parts of the book, where it seemed to say that politics was a "good ole" club (of both genders now), a game of double meanings, of reading between the lines, suckering up, being careful not to step on certain people's toes -- and not always "What can we do for those who believed enough in us (and our ability to legislate for what is right and just) to vote us into office?"
   
   Good words to note: "Know the topic at hand". "Be able to defend your position with facts". "Listen carefully when you are counting votes" -- and I WAS glad to see that there is Woman to Woman mentoring in politics now -- also happy to see how Nancy Pelosi used her wits to get some difficult-to-pass bills passed because she inspired her colleagues to look for loopholes and press on regardless. I would have preferred to have read MORE about these types of procedures in her book, and less of what it takes to be a good mother, and of course, less about how religion makes us better people.



4. House Speaker Pelosi's inspiring story will hopefully lead many young women to a life of service.



5. I am a political junkie, I read it all-but this book stinks! Hope she had a ghost writer!
   It is 193 pages too long. (...)
   
   No substance, contradictions and general "what?" (...)

5 comments about Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House--1911 to 1980.

1. I passed this book by many times before finally breaking down and buying it. Somehow, its title and dust cover just didn't grab me. Besides that, having already read several biographies of the Reagans and the Reagan family members, I was fairly well convinced that the book couldn't possibly contain much of anything new. Even after buying it, I still wasn't much inclined to read it. What finally convinced me to do so was when I read in the prologue that Colacello was a personal friend of Nancy Reagan and that Nancy had arranged for him to have unprecedented access to her personal files and to virtually all of the Reagan's living friends and associates and/or their children. How could I resist? This had to be a spectacular source of inside information. And it was!
   
   The early part of the book traces the lives of Nancy Davis and Ronald Reagan in parallel chapters. This section is interesting primarily for the light it sheds on Nancy's early life; her relationships with her mother, Edith Davis, and her adoptive father, Dr. Loyal Davis; and for the in-depth background provided concerning both Edith and Loyal.
   
   The book really takes off, however, in the mid-sections where it deals in depth with Reagan's and Nancy's film careers; Reagan's military service; his marriage to and divorce from Jane Wyman; his actions while president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), particularly in combating the Communist attempt to take over Hollywood's film industry; his, and other's, testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) - who was who and what was what; the members of "The Group" who induced Reagan into politics and the subsequent "Kitchen Cabinet" members (mostly wealthy, conservative, high-powered friends of Nancy or Edith) who guided, supported, and, it might be said with some degree of truth, made Reagan Governor of California and President of the United States; Reagan's abortive run for president in 1968; and the rationale for his run in 1976. From that point on, the book is hard to put down.
   
   In summary, this book contains inside information which can't be found anywhere else, making it a vital historical document. The information doesn't always reflect well on Ronald Reagan or Nancy, but it dispels a lot of myths and misinformation, and certainly provides a great deal of insight into what it takes for even a great leader, such as Ronald Reagan, to become President of the United States.
   
   The book certainly rates five stars for content. It loses something for readability, however, due largely to its repetitious descriptions of parties and dinners, including: who was invited; what foods and wines were served; what gowns the women wore and who made them; who were the women's hair stylists and what were their hair styles; etc. But that was a small price to pay. I give it four stars.



2. Some friends of ours in Australia started to read this on an Asian cruise last Fall and asked us to bring them a copy when we visited Cairns in August.
   
   They loved it and so did we, when we got to look at it prior to giving it to them.



3. As a Reagan supporter, I really wanted to love the Reagans and to see Nancy Reagan's reputation vindicated. Nancy, in her elder years, is very admirable. It is a bit creepy to read that Ronnie always called her Mommie, but no one can deny their mutual love. Bob Colacello is quite thorough in his research,fair and honest - no whitewashing here...the endless sniping and self-aggrandizement of Nancy's pals, like Betsey Bloomingdale et al? These women were all intimate friends, but were clawing at each other for primacy in the Reagan inner circle. Bloomingdale brags about her caviar parties and hobnobbing with the Paris set of sophisticates, but gets caught evading customs duties for lying about how much she paid for a new couture outfit in France. The other graceless, snobby chums of Nancy also seem like the idle, witless, rich that P. G. Wodehouse skewered in his books. The Kitchen Cabinet husbands are scary and only a tad less obnoxious. The book makes one feel queasy; Ronnie and Nancy seem bought and paid for by their cronies. Nancy herself comes off as self-deceiving and controlling - a shallow and manipulative social climber who rewrote her personal history;possibly she is portrayed as second only to Joan Crawford as Mommie Dearest. Ron takes up ballet as an adult. Patti has herself sterilized at 24 because she's afraid she'll be like her mother??!
   
   The book proves what most of us assume - being well-connected helps a lot with success and acts as a powerful "deodorant". Colacello is due to write a second volume on the Reagans. I will read it for the writing, the history and my belief in redemption.



4. Colacello deconstructs the Reagans like no other author has. He starts with the premise that their personal and social lives were inseparable from their political ambitions, and an essential factor in Ronald Reagan's rise to power. He goes on to explore how the couple's social milieu and interpersonal relationships influenced Reagan's political ideas and governing style.
   
   A fascinating portrait of Nancy emerges as well: Colacello sees her as supremely focused and determined to advance her husband's political career, but motivated by pure adoration of Ronnie rather than any overriding desire for control and power.
   
   The writing flows easily and is peppered with enough interesting anecdotes and revealing quotes to make the reader forget at times that this is, in fact, a serious political biography. A great read from cover to cover.



5. The perfect mix of gossip and history. Meticulously researched and carefully observed. You won't be able to put it down.

3 comments about Feingold: A New Democratic Party.

1. Horwitt portrays Senator Russ Feingold as a principled guy with a passion for progressive politics who worked his way to the top all the way from the bottom rung by connecting with and listening to people. That's exactly who Russ Feingold is and that's exactly what a Senator should be.
   
   The first half of the book includes a short biography of Russ's life with special emphasis on the events that encouraged him to enter national politics. The second half of the book focuses on the events that define Russ Feingold. Whether the instances concern campaign financing, the vote on the Patriot Act or the vote on Bill Clinton's impeachment, Russ proves that he is not a panderer or a partisan but ultimately he supports what's in the best interest of his beloved state, Wisconsin, and his beloved country, the United States of America.



2. I've always been proud that Russ Feingold represents me in the Senate and this book enhanced my knowledge of his story and made me even prouder to call him My Senator. In such a mobile society, it is good to know that Feingold's roots run deep in Wisconsin. It was fascinating to learn some of the decision making process behind the principled stands he has taken through the years. He is a politician who considers The Constitution to be the touch stone of our government and as relevant today as ever in our history.
   
   I think many Wisconsinites would find the historical references to local names and places stories fascinating. But I also highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks there is no one still willing to stand up against the big money interests for Constitutional principled government. Russ Feingold is one of the real people our founders were hoping would govern us. I agree with the previous reviewer that young people would benefit from reading this book to give them hope and an ethical guide, we sorely need heroes.



3. Many reviews have noted the simplicity of Horwitt's book about Senator Feingold, all for the good I say. Horwitt brings a clarity to the life of a rare individual and politician, similiar to his book on the father of community organizing, Saul Alinsky. The author takes us through the life of Feingold, from small town Wisconsin youth to brilliant academic achiever to ever thoughtful and ethical politician. You have a front row seat through all the elections that Feingold has won, and understand that he did it on principle, even though many times he was seen as the likely loser because he wouldn't play ball the old (unethical) way. Feingold and his staff often had to use creativity, instead of lots of money, to win campaigns. Media watchers will love reading about the hilarious shoe-string television commercials that were created for Feingold's astounding wins.
   Political junkies will love the analysis of Feingold's most important senate work in Wisconsin and in the U.S. Senate. From BGH (bovine growth hormone), Campaign finance reform, the Patriot Act, the Iraq war, and much of his work in regard to civil liberties. If you want to know about any of these things: Wisconsin, the U.S. Senate, ethics, politics, the Progressive movement in history, the constitution, where we go from here - you will want to read this book. And then if you have a young child or even a college age child, interested in politics or upset with the lawlessness of our times, give them this book. People like Russ Feingold are our hope for the future. Give your child hope and maybe they can change the world too.

3 comments about John Quincy Adams (American Profiles (Madison House Paperback)).

1. John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, the second President, was one of America's greatest diplomats. He made a name for himself as the country was being formed, especially with his defense of "the rules of law" against the will of the majority. He was one of the last of the old Federalists. He was a foreign minister to Holland, Portugal, and Prussia, and was Secretary of State under Monroe (where he was the main force in establishing the Monroe Doctrine). He became the sixth President in a controversial election that was decided in the House of Representatives.
   
   Parson's short (272 pages) but thorough and well-written biography of Adams is a job well done. She details the accomplishments of his life, but focuses primarily on the man himself. Adams was a stern man (his portrait reminds me of some evil Dickens character, Marley perhaps), and not well-liked by the public. He believed that one should not "run" for a political office, but should just accept it if offered (imagine that today!). He hated Andrew Jackson and slavery, and fought hard against both. This is an excellent book on an interesting man.



2. After reading this well written biography, I experienced the sorrows, joys, and accomplishments in the life of one of our country's greatest statesmen.



3. Lynn H. Parsons has written a biography that is blessedly free from 'academic speak' or the sense that he is only writing for other historians. This is definitely a biography for even the most casual lover of history. Parsons' familiarity with JQA allows him to introduce us to that prickly character as one would introduce an eccentric friend--always aware of the eccentricities but never apologizing for them. Adams (and his father) are two of the greatest of America's early statesmen and two of it's worst politicians. Parsons presents the genius and the folly and allows us to weigh our opinions--tho' its clear where Parsons' affections lie. It is hard to imagine that anyone will (or could) write a better one volume popular biography of JQA. Parsons clearly could tell us much more, but he chooses not to bog his narrative down in the kind of historical detail that glazes the eye of the casual reader. For serious historians this is a valuable book because it doesn't get lost in its own importance--the writing is direct, succinct and keeps the reader aware of the difference of the attitudes of Adams and his contemporaries to our current sensibilities. Parsons ends with a note that JQA's only monument in Washington is a small plaque in statuary hall in the Capitol. I would argue that Adams' best monument in DC is the one he would be proudest of--the Smithsonian Institution he fought so hard to help establish. I highly recommend this book.

5 comments about Woodrow Wilson: World Statesman.

1. I am reading all the presidential biographies in order and just finished this book.
   
   Overall, I thought it was just "okay." I like my books to be in chronological order. This book was organized loosely chonological, but by topic. It made following the chain of events rather difficult. Also, the auther wrote the dates like this: 29 March 1917. Rather than March 19. That was a stumbling block and a distraction.
   
   This read more like a textbook than a biography, which made it rather flat and dull. He devoted page upon page to the intracacies of war finance, but breezed over and barely mentioned the death of his wife and his debilitating series of strokes in the twilight of his administration.
   
   If I can identify with the subject of a biography and feel as if I KNOW the subject, I can say "this is a great book." And, as corny as it may sound, I feel sad at the end when the president dies. In this book, there could have been several instances where I could have "felt" the book -- when his first wife dies, when he dies, etc. I didn't feel that at any point in the book, which means I didn't get close to Wilson.
   
   If you are reading all the presidential bios like I am, this is a good book to get a general idea of what Wilson was like so you can move onto Warren G Harding. You'll probably need to go back and read the multi-volme bios available on Wilson to really FEEL him or to undertsand the complexities of the events leading up to and including WWI.



2. The writing in this book is good, but in places it jumps around in time. It is also slow paced and not light reading. However, it covers Woodrow's life pretty well for a one-book volume.



3. "God helping her...she can do no other!"

   Unlike our current prez, Wilson was no war monger. He earnestly sought peace even as he committed our boys to the 20th centuries first horrific war. This is his story and I highly recommend it.




4. Kendrick A. Clements "Woodrow Wilson" delivers what it promises -an excellent introductory study of our 28th president - in just 223 pages of text. Some readers may want more intimate details about Wilson and the people in his life; for them there are 11 additional pages of pertinent bibliographical information. Clement's brief book, nevertheless - billed as the 'best available one-volume biography' on Wilson - provides the reader with that essential information that prompts many historians to rank Wilson in the top tier of U.S. presidents. We learn, for example, that Wilson (our only Ph.D. president) was one of just a handful of our truly intellectual presidents - i.e., he loved books and ideas and was a voracious reader of books and a prolific writer of books. He was the son of a Presbyterian minister who'd instilled in him a love of his fellow man and a desire to serve his fellow man. Wilson - like Theodore Roosevelt before him - came to believe that the federal government is an organ that must be involved in helping those unable to help themselves. As president he pushed through legislation that protected workers, women, and children from abuse and exploitaton in the workplace. He believed in the capitalist system and in the prerequisite free market conditions; consequently, he fought against any practices employed by business or industry designed to create monopolies or restrict free competition. As president he felt obligated to be deeply involved in both legislative and executive branch activities - in order to better realize his domestic and foreign affairs goals. Wilson was a decent man with a wide range of significant accomplishments: after acquiring his Ph.D. (political science) at Johns Hopkins University, he distinguished himself in a number of capacities - as a college/university professor, university president (Princeton), governor (New Jersey) and U.S. president (2 terms). While he was in office women got the vote, the Federal Reserve Bank was established, the mechanism for funding government activities was changed (the graduated income tax was adopted to suplement less effective tariff and excise tax revenues). When U.S. entry into World War I became unavoidable, Wilson vowed that the war should end with something positive - namely, with a non-punitive peace (provided for in his '14 Point Plan' for peace)and with the creation of an organization that could prevent world wars in the future (he proposed the League of Nations). Because U.S. congressional opposition was more powerful Wilson failed to achieve these goals - but he did win a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Nevertheless, Wilson was correct in warning the world that a punitive peace would cause serious trouble in the future (aka Adolph Hitler), and he was correct in predicting that the world would eventually be forced to create a collective organization of nations (aka the United Nations) to resolve international disputes and to punish nations who violate international law. We now see that Wilson was also important as the transitional president who helped the United States abandon its 19th Century isolationist positions - and he did his best to push the country into the modern era (20th Century) when it would eventually accept and assume its duties and responsibilities as a leader among nations.



5. Woodrow Wilson. Here was a president who put himself in the middle of European power politics in order to achieve the goals he had in mind. This book helps to suggest a man of action and persuasion at a time when most Americans were fed up with affairs that didn't concern them. Woodrow Wilson is regarded with respect, but at the time he was proposig the League of Nations as the answer to the world's problems, he was criticized left and right. We now know that his policies for peace and security were right, and if Wilson was president today, we could be made certain that the world would be at peace. This book, which was written in such a way as to paint a picture of a daring, courageous president, is by far one of the better books on Wilson that I have ever read. I would recommend this account of our 28th president to both the serious student of American Presidential History, and also to the laymen reader. This book is more of an outline of alreay well-known facts, and serves as an introduction into the life of one of our country's greatest presidents.

2 comments about American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism.

1. Transcendentalism has never been easy to define, all the more so because its two most well-known adherents, Emerson and Thoreau, were highly poetic souls who had much better uses for their rhetoric than in crafting creeds or clear-cut manifestoes. It is a pleasure then to read Grodzins' biography of Theodore Parker, in whose life and work we can see more clearly the philosophical and personal dramas that played themselves out within the Unitarian Church in regard to its Transcendentalist sympathizers - in particular, the attempts of one Transcendentalist to define his views against the charges of Deism. Religion is a key concern for Transcendentalism, though in Emerson and Thoreau there is no sense that organized religion can play a key role in the individual's enlightenment. Parker remained in the Church as he struggled to know and preach Truth, and gained a large following. Our understanding of Transcendentalism is eminently richer for our appreciation of his struggle.



2. Grodzins has written an astonishingly thorough and readable biography of an important but neglected 19th Century American. Parker is one of the most influential Americans of the mid-1800s, a brilliant scholar and powerful preacher who became a crucial figure in our religious and political history.

   The book is destined to become the standard biography of Parker for generations. Anyone interested in American political thought and the evolution of American religious doctrine will find this book invaluable. Any New Englander will find this a treasure trove of well-written stories.