3 comments about The Progressive Presidents.

1. John Blum's short, but informative book on the Progressive Presidents presents a fairly balanced picture of the presidency after the ascendency of progressivism. The author admits he is a "conventional liberal" who "grew up" with the FDR administration while he "admired" FDR. However, he raises many important questions about the "Imperial Presidency" that this men invented. He admits that in the wake of welfare-statism after LBJ has "provoked reconsideration." This reconsideration owes itself to the progressive presidents continiously testing, exceeding, breaching and redefining constitutional and customary limits to power. For an avowed liberal to even concede that the Presidency at the behest of progressive liberalism has perhaps gone awry is a watershed event.



2. The Progressive Presidents is a perfect text for any American History fan. You can't go through life without knowing something about these progressives: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and of course Lyndon B. Johnson.

   Get The Progressive Presidents right away!




3. The Progressive Presidents is a wonderful text, perfect for any American History buff.

No comments about Nelson Mandela: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies).

2 comments about John F. Kennedy Handbook.

1. 
   I have been following the Assassination of JFK ever since that terrible day on November 22,1963.I was glued to the TV for nearly a week and watched Jack Ruby actually kill Oswald live in plain view of millions of viewers. At the time ,there was no doubt about how serious an event was underway,and one had to wonder where will it all end. The only comparable event in my lifetime was the attack on America on 9/11.
   Over the years I have read numerous books and watched many hours of films,documentaries and much discussion on the Assassination.
   The book covers the whole life of JFK and picks out the most important events,comments and photographs.
   There has been talk of conspiracy ever since it happened and this book sums up the reasons why the Assassination took place and who was behind it.
   Look at these quotes and try to convince yourself that there was no conspiracy.
   
   "Mark my word, this man Kennedy in in for trouble,and he will get what is coming to him....Kennedy's not going to make it to the election. He is going to be hit."
   Mafia Boss,Santo Trafficante
   
   "If I told you what I really know,it would be very dangerous to this country. Our whole political system would be disrupted."
   J.Edgar Hoover
   
   "Our polls consistantly show 80% of Americans believe there was a Conspiracy. If in fact there was,and if President Johnson and the FBI did pressure the Warren Commission to defuse the fears of a conspiracy,in doing so they may in fact have averted a chance for war against Cuba and the Soviet Union."
   
   "One of your boys did it."
   Robert Kennedy to Cuban Exile Leader, Harry Williams
   
   The book also gives many quotes that were so well made by Kennedy.
   On being asked how he became a War Hero;
   "It was absolutely involuntary.
   They sank my boat."
   
   Another of his great quotes;
   "Any man who may be asked in this country what he did to make his life worthwhile,I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction;
   "I served in the United States Navy."
   
   The book concludes with a most moving picture of Jacqueline,kneeling at the grave of her husband; with the comment by Mary McGrory;
   "Jacqueline Kennedy....lit a flame that is to burn forever in his grave--against the day that anyone might forget that her husband had been President...
   
   The important question is not "Who killed Kennedy", but,
   "Why was Kennedy killed."
   
   If you want only one book on JFK,make this the one.



2. Having been a J.F.K. fanatic for many years, I've seen many documentaries and have read countless books on our 35th president. So, imagine how thrilled I was when I happened upon a nifty hand-sized book titled, John F. Kennedy Handbook, while browsing at Barnes & Noble. Reasonably priced, this book is literally a fountain of information on Jack Kennedy's life, spanning his childhood and school years; his heroic life in the Navy during WW2; and takes us through his political years as both a senator and president - ending with his tragic assassination on Nov. 22nd, 1963. You'll read about the close election with Richard Nixon, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the nightmarish Cuban Missile crisis, and about the many memorable speeches he dilivered. Anything you ever wanted to know about J.F.K. is in this book, including the people he associated with. I was so impressed with all the details and facts and beautiful pictures, I wasted no time in buying my own copy. Over an inch thick with a stunning picture of President Kennedy on the cover, this gem is easily the best book on J.F.K. I've ever had the pleasure in reading. I strongely urge students of High School and College to buy copies of this magnificent book! In fact, this book is so powerful and gripping, it should be required reading for every American. I truly feel as though it expanded my knowledge on J.F.K. The author, Gareth Jenkins, did an outstanding job documenting an outstanding American hero!
   
   History Fan,
   Robert McCoy
   
   PS - The flame continue to burn at Arlington . . .

5 comments about Ronald Reagan: The Politics of Symbolism, With a New Preface.

1. This book is good, but a little difficult for me.

   Before I had read this book, I hadn't understood Ronald Reagan's regency much. I can understand why he is still popular among not only American but also people all over the world. I am assured that he is one of American heroes. He is sincere, hearty, humorous, and powerful.

   He faced a tangle of economic problems. The inflation, interest rates, and the projected federal deficit stood at nearly record highs, and unemployment was 7.4 percent. In this situation, he said, 'government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.' How great that was! He worked out a plan for economic recovery and promised lower taxes, business expansion, more jobs, less inflation, lower interest rates, smaller deficits, and greater military strength. He stuck to the plan and succeeded!

   Now Japan has a big economic problems. The national debt become grower, unemployment is higher.. Most of Japanese can't see Japan's future and their one. Reagan worked out the plan and kept to it not for government's benefit but for the national concerns. He certainly executed what he had said. I want Japanese government to follow his example.

   I appreciate this work. I will recommend Japanese to read this.




2. This book is good, but a little difficult for me.

   Before I had read this book,I hadn't understood Ronald Reagan's regency much. I can understand why he is still popular among not only American but also people all over the world. I am assured that he is one of American heroes. He is sincere, hearty, humorous, and powerful.

   He faced a tangle of economic problems. The inflation, interest rates, and the projected federal deficit stood at nearly record highs, and unemployment was 7.4 percent. In this situation, he said,'government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.' How great that was! He worked out a plan for economic recovery, and promised lower taxes, business expansion, more jobs, less inflation, lower interest rates, smaller deficits, and greater military strength. He stuck to the plan and succeeded.

   Now Japan has a big economic problems. Most of Japanese can't see Japan's future and their one. Reagan worked out the plan and kept to it not for government's benefit but for the national concerns. He certainly executed what he had said. I want Japan to follow his example.

   I appreciate this work. I will recommend Japanese to read this.




3. Robert Dallek is an excellent historian, as seen in his work on FDR's foreign policy and his masterful accounts of LBJ. This book was an attempt to gauge Reagan's presidency in the midst of it. It has some wonderful insight on Reagan's use (and abuse) of political symbolism, but it needs to be updated with more than a new preface to stay fresh.



4. The careful reader will recognize enough factual errors in this book to be made uncomfortable with its scholarship and research.



5. Robert Dallek, one of my favorite historians, here paints a picture of Reagan in his first four years in office which sees the former actor and Governor as an ideologue who, ironically, uses symbolism over substance to form his coalition.

   Dallek's book makes great points about Reagan's legacy, even though it was written just four years into his Presidency. He points out the horrible legacy of the national debt, which grew by about $3 trillion during Reagan's watch. He points to the coming redistribution of wealth towadrs the wealthy and away from the middle and working class and poor. Statistics have shown that from 1979 to 1993 the top 20% saw 97% of the real increase in wealth, thus proving Dallek's beliefs. Dallek shows Reaganomics to be an anti-working class and anti-social and moral justice crusade dedicated to the old Republican views of Hoover and a slap in the face to dwindling moderation in the party, as portrayed by the great moderate Gerald Ford. Dallek shows Reagan to be an ideologue on foreign policy, whose 'zeal' for eliminatiing so-called 'waste' on programs for the poor does not translate into a zeal to eliminate true waste which affects the pockets of the wealthy arms dealers. Dallek shows Reagan's views to be uncaring and regressive and ultimately harmful to the progress of the past.

   This is, to say the least, a great book. It began to show the injustice of Reaganomics, which saw the top income tax rate on the wealthy fall from 70% to 28% and payroll taxes on working individuals increase 7 separate times. Reagan ignored great issues - such as medical insurance reform, civil rights, urban issues, the environment, education and progressive social policies - and concentrated on tax reductions for the wealthy, a false foreign policy which portrayed a hollow Soviet empire as a true warrior and a regressive nature in regards to civil rights and economics. He also began a great scam, the forging of the modern religious right. Reagan, whose religious views were inactive at best, portrayed himself as a true fundamentalist in order to win over angry white fundamentalists, who were upset with scores in civil rights, women's rights and public activism. He won over millions of working class whites by telling them he was on 'their side' and not 'the other folks' side,' that is, on the side of the minorities. Yet, while he did this, he became the poster boy for the Chamber of Commerce - what a scam! To add insult to injury, he defeated in 1980 Democrat Jimmy Carter, a truly devoted evangelical Christian. Once again, what a scam!

   As a true fan of real history, I appreciate this work. Republican ideologues today falsely paint Reagan as a great President, when in fact he was mediocre at best.

   Dallek is one of the best out there. His books on LBJ and FDR are great, as is his work on the Presidents. For those who enjoyed his past work, I would highly recommend this one! This one comes with a great recommendation by the great historian James Mcgregor Burns.

1 comments about Inward Hunger: The Education of a Prime Minister.

1. "When the author, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, was a lad, his country was a British Crown Colony, and its government offered one university scholarship a year to the entire population. Young Williams won it, and went off to Oxford to study history and politics. He became an authority on West Indian history and, back home, founded the People's National Movement Party, which has repeatedly returned him to office. Mr. Williams' education has endowed him with a lucid style and, despite his dedication to his homeland, a mind that is anything but insular. This account of his efforts to make a new nation closes in 1968; one looks forward to another installment." -New Yorker
   In the meantime, this autobiography has become a classic in African-Caribbean history.
   Just Published
   
   Paperback Info:
   ISBN 10 digit: 1-55876-387-2
   ISBN 13 digit: 978-1-55876-387-6
   $24.95
   About Eric Williams:
   Eric Williams built his reputation as a professor of political science at Howard University. He later took an active role in politics, leading Trinidad and Tobago's independence movement and becoming the state's prime minister. Colin Palmer, Princeton University, is the author of Passageways: An Interpretive History of Black America.

5 comments about Grant (Great Generals).

1. I admire Washington, Lincoln and Grant. While the former two have garnered numerous accolades, Grant has been unjustifiably denigrated personally (alcoholic, fool, depressed) and professionally (butcher). His presidency has been unappreciated. Mosier makes a persuasive case that General Grant was probably a genius. In the final chapter, he briefly discusses Grant's undervalued presidency. I would highly recommend two other brief succinct biographies one by Korda and another by Bunting both of which explore Grant's presidency.
   
   Mosier dispels many Grant myths. He was not an alcoholic in a medical sense. He was self-taught in algebra. He entered West Point which was one of the best educational institutions in the world. West Point entrance examination had a 50% failure rate. He graduated 21st in a class of 39 but 40 of them failed to graduate so he was in the top 25%. He was a good artist with a great 3-D vision which was essential for a commander during battle. He was a great horseman.
   In the Mexican war, Grant was a quartermaster who demonstrated tremendous skill in logistics. This experience was vital when he commanded the Union armies and he made sure his men got enough ammunition, food etc. He displayed tremendous personal courage during the Mexican war (riding away to get ammunition) and ingenuity (dragging cannon to a church steeple).
   
   Mosier compares U.S. Grant favorably with other great generals, namely Wellington, Napoleon and Foch. He finds Grant to be superior all of them. Without him, the North would have lost the war. Grant never lost a battle. Mosier defends Grant against charges of butchery by comparing Civil War casualties with those suffered by the British and French in World War I. Robert E. Lee said, "I have carefully searched the military records of ancient and modern history, and have never found Grant's superior as a general". Grant's magnanimity in victory is still an American tradition.
   
   The book contains some historical errors which other reviewers have pointed out and I will not belabor here. This prevents me from awarding 5 stars. I am happy to find a book that appreciates this good, decent, honest everyman, great general and undervalued president.



2. In my humble opinion, while Mosier has written a book with interesting insights and conclusions about Grant's ability as a general, I feel that he got too much into analysis of his personality and why he did what he did. I say this because at the beginning of the book, Mosier admits that he does not have much information on Grant the man. So why draw all of these conclusions if you do not know much of the man's personality? Why not just instead analyze his successes and failures?
   
   Another point of contention I have are the lack of good maps. While Mosier does have some good descriptions of Grant's campaigns, there are not nearly enough maps to detail his Civil War movements.
   
   Granted, while I am a lifelong Civil War buff, I am by no means and expert on the period. However, I do believe readers will get more out of reading other titles on Grant, specficially: "Grant" by Jean Smith, "Grant and Lee" by JFC Fuller, or the titles by Bruce Catton (Grant Moves South, Grant Takes Command).
   
   Complaints aside, I do believe that Mosier has written a book that will challenge the reader to further assess Grant's ability as a general and president.



3. I wish that I read these reviews before purchasing this book and hope that a few will save their dough by reading this. Not only is the book filled with basic factual errors it paints such a saintly figure of General Grant that one would suspect Mosier is related. From the author's perspective, Grant is not only a genius but his alchoholism and depression were actually assets! U.S. Grant was an excellent commander, far better on the offense than on the defense but Mosier's treatment would lead one to believe that he won the war single handedly. Again, I urge you to save your time and money, and find a good copy of Grant's Memoirs.



4. Have to concur that the book abounds in factual errors and this is a shame because the overall approach and observations about Grant's genius are sound. Mosier dispels the myth that Grant was a dullard at West Point (not challenged enough) or a chronic alcoholic-- more likely an "episodic alcohol abuser" who had it under control by war. Other points: Casualties were as great, and often greater, in the Napoleonic Wars but armies were made up of the dregs of society and most of the dead weren't missed--harsh but probably some truth in that. So Grant wasn't a "butcher" but all strata of society was now represented even in the lower ranks and, coupled with a literate society and a lively press, deaths shook the nation, especially starting with Shiloh. Halleck comes off even worse than in most works: he set Grant up for Shiloh. Anyway, the novice really needs to get his facts elsewhere--and some decent maps--elsewhere but should eventually read this book.



5. Mosier has done something few historians are willing to do- he compares the achievements of U.S. Grant with other great generals, namely Wellington and Napoleon. He also compares Grant's eye for strategy with later developments in American strategic doctrine. I.E., the notion of overwhelming an enemy's forces with eye to destruction as opposed to capturing territory are direct descendants of Grant's strategy to defeat the confederacy.
   
   Mosier spends to much time on Grant's early career and not enough for a curious reader on his leadership of all Union forces post 1864. All in all- this is a great introduction to a great general. Mosier often draws the ire of military historians for his methods and his desire to write about the things that people really want to learn about (namely, how does Grant compare across time as a general?)- to often historians are unwilling to make any such comparisons. This is a great intro to Grant.

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

No comments about America Ascendant: From Theodore Roosevelt to FDR in the Century of American Power, 1901-1945.

5 comments about Hitler: The Path to Power.

1. Another of a line in study of out of control power that changed the world. A study of Hitler that contributes to the greater picture of governmental agents of change.. Study with opinions.



2. Here we have a terrifically lucid, readable, and even entertaining account that truly does answer the question, how such a seeming loser from nowhere could rise to become the undisputed leader of the German Nazi party. The tragic and horrible conditions in Germany between 1918-1924 are described in haunting detail, the economy a wreck with inflation reaching 1 billion% by the time of the Novemeber, 1923 Putsch. The cast of characters includes the mesmorizing speaker Hitler, plus the weird general Ludendorrf, Rohm, Hess, the Strassers, Drexler, Goring, and many others, including the WC Fields-like Putzi Hafstaengel, who kept contact with foreign journalists. And the actual events of the BeerHall Putsch have their horrid moments plus some Keystone Kops moments too! In short, about the best early Nazi history out there!



3. This well-researched journal of Hitler's early days will really get you thinking. You cannot understand World War 2 or the Holocaust without learning about what went on with this man before the age of 40. I recommend this to anyone and everyone who loves history or is doing a report. It is out of print so you can either get it used or get it at your local library. Whatever you do, you will enjoy this great book.



4. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone interested in reading about the causes and origins of German fascism. Any book on Hitler can always veer off into the cartoonish, reinforcing the idea that the man was a monster. That approach devalues the very serious underpinnings of Hitler's ascent that Bracelen Flood describes: The Versaille Treaty and the short-sighted behavior of the victors of World War I; the intense racialism of Bavaria; the sheer incompetence of Germany's leaders; and the brilliance of Hitler's campaign to rule the country. Telling details are on every page of the book, but Bracelen Flood is very careful to qualify his observations when the evidence is conflicted. He sees the interaction between the anecdote and the big picture, using several devices to ground the reader in the reality of what happened. Best of all, Bracelen Flood's extensive research allows us to understand what people involved in the events were thinking. At several points, I was struck by how, above all else, Hitler was abetted by luck and the fact that he was consistently underestimated by people who should have known better. The end result is both a study of a pivotal portion of the last century and a valuable tool to ensuring that nothing like it ever happens again.



5. ...this book captivated my attention. Very clearly and well written, Flood takes you almost step by step from Hitler's early years as a floundering nobody to the flourishing of what became the Nazi party under his rule. Be advised that this is as far as the timeline goes. The historical context is thoroughly discussed, a necessity considering that the rise of a man such as Hitler happened as a reaction to the political and cultural and social stagnation that occured in Germany after WWI.

2 comments about The Business of May Next: James Madison and the Founding.

1. The Busines of May Next is easily the best book I have ever read on James Madison's intellectual journey from his dismay over the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation to his draft of the Virginia Plan, which was the underlying foundation of our Constitution.

   The title is taken from a letter Madison wrote in which he discussed the "business" of the upcoming Constitutional Convention (in May of 1789), of which Madison--along with Alexander Hamiltion--was the prime mover.

   Miller's book expertly and eloquently explores the influences on Madison's thinking, from his reading of David Hume's essays on the ideal conditions for a republic, to his correspondence with Washington, Jefferson and many others in which he fleshed out his ideas of how to turn the weak, ineffectual Articles into a government that had both power and staying power.

   As Miller points out, Madison's genius was his understanding of human behavior, and his awareness that any government must be shaped in ways that take advantage of the "better angels of our nature," but also (more important) minimize, or at least accommodate, the darker side of our nature.

   By fashioning a government with limited and shared powers; by holding frequent elections in which the leaders are held accountable; by ensuring that the people possess certain rights that no government can threaten (on pain of being altered or abolished), Madison was the first among equals in the creation of a truly representative government that has lasted more than 200 years and shows no signs of dying out.

   Miller himself is one of the few (William Manchester is another) historians whose thorough research is matched by his delightful writing style. I have two copies of the book--a hardcopy for reading and a paperback for underlining.




2. This is a very good discussion of Madison's role in the development of the Consitution. Very readabl