No comments about The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: A Chaplain's Story.

1 comments about Faces of Discord: The Civil War Era at the National Portrait Gallery.

1. I found this 300 page volume of portraits and information on many Civil War persons englightening because there are pictures of the Famous and not so famous people who I have read and written about. I will treasure this volume for many years

3 comments about Worthy Opponents: William T. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston: Antagonists in War-Friends in Peace.

1. Good read. I'm partial to good U S Civil War Historical books. Longacre certainly did his homework. The research was very in-depth. The details and story telling were excellent. I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.



2. This book is an interesting dual biography picking two generals from the American Civil War that were not the most famous, but well known enough to make interesting biographical subjects.
   
   The two generals had much in common. Both were professional soldiers that understood the advantages the defense had over the offense during the war. They understood that it was better to out flank, out guess, and approach indirectly than bloody attacks against dug in defenders. The two generals seemed to admire each other, even while they were enemies.
   
   This book gives an excellent history of the battles where the two generals were involved as well as the 'on again, off again' nature of Johnston's relationship with Jefferson Davis. This is a well written and easy reading book, although it covers little new ground.



3. Once again, Mr. Longacre has done a magnificent job of profiling two important leaders of the American Civil War. In his highly readable style, he follows the parallel careers of these two military leaders focusing on the periods where their paths converge. I highly recommend this book for even the casual reader of military history or biographies of important American leaders.

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.

5 comments about My Life as an Indian.

1. This is a eye opening I can't put it down book! Seeing how the Blackfeet lived, their culture, social structure, horse raids, war, etc., through the author's eyes is fascinating. As he joins their society, marries into the tribe and lives as the tribe did you will find it informative and insightful. As the old ways pass away you feel his sadness and the end will break your heart. A beautiful, lively, fun book that takes you into another time and place as you ride with Schultz and the tribe. A must have!



2. This is an excellent first hand account of the major transformation of Plains Indian culture that occured during the nearly complete extermination of the buffalo which was so central to their life. It starts with the buffalo in plenty and ends with reservation life. This is a bittersweet book. Schultz marries into a band of the Piegan branch of the Blackfoot confederacy. But although he lives among them, and loves them and their lifestyle, he never completes his assimilation. This is evident when he writes with almost distant amusement of some of their religious beliefs. Adding to this is the problem that while he loves the life of the buffalo days and deeply laments their end, his occupation as a trader in buffalo robes is hastening the end of the very thing he loves. His description of the post-buffalo, early reservation life is the most distressing, complete with corrupt reservation Agents, and sometimes rascist newcomers.
   His stories are not all downers though. His writing is a very detailed, intimate, and at times amusing description of his life and those around him. I've loaned my book to a number of people and they all have liked it. If you read this and like it too, you'll be glad to know he wrote a whole series of books of his life in early Montana, and of the lives of prominent people he knew. I've read many, but not all of them, and I prize every one.



3. This is a terrific story of a young white man's time with the Piegan Blackfeet. James Willard Schultz came west for adventure and joined an Indian trading post 45 miles north of Fort Benton, Montana.

   He not only traded furs, gold, liquor, and dressmakers goods to the Indians, but became fluent in the language of the Blackfeet, sharing in their hunts and wars and even taking a young Indian wife.

   It's a somewhat self-conscious story from a masculine vantagepoint during a time when warrior bravado was in vogue and the buffalo were still thriving. This book portrays a segment of Native American life and culture just before the buffalo were diminished and the people were forced to reservations.

   Given that _Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: an Indian History of the American West_ by Dee Brown contains only 2 or 3 pages in reference to the Blackfeet, a book such as _My Life As an Indian_ is a superb addition to one's bookshelf. Recommended.




4. I just came online to see if it was in print. I have had a copy of this book from the 1935 paperback that my Grandfather gave me when I was a boy. Not that I was a boy in 1935, it was actually in the early 70s. . .I was captivated by the stories JW Schultz lived! Helping his friend steal his wife from under the nose of the ever watchful father. It still grips me even today. Alas, my old copy is just that, old. That is how I came to write these words. Ordering a fresh paperback.

   I cannot recommend this book more highly!




5. I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down! I have been to the Blackfeet Reservation and Glacier Park many times, and while reading this book I could just imagine how it was back then. It gave me a new perspective on Indian life. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story about the old west and the Indians.

2 comments about The Bridges of Vietnam: From the Journals of a U.S. Marine Intelligence Officer.

1. Fred Edwards served as an intelligence officer during the Vietnam War and visited very major ground unit from Special Forces camps and ground reconnaissance unites, to armored calvary units, and waterborne reconnaissance units. An invaluable and strongly recommended contribution to the military annals of the Viet Name conflict, Edward's The Bridges Of Vietnam: From The Journals Of A U.S. Marine Intelligence Officer is as vivid and candid memoir of the war from the perspective of a front-line intelligence officer as is available to the non-specialist general reader or military buff.



2. I have read quite a few books made from journals of individuals in Vietnam. Most are either dry accounts of movements or almost novelized disjointed experiences. This Book "The Bridges of Vietnam: From the Journals of a U. S. Marine Intelligence Office" Is not only chronologically organized, but also has a list of external events that took place at the same time.
   
   With out a frame of reference it would be hard to tell if he was barging or borrowing someone else's idea of Vietnam. However in chapter Three "Internship" he covered the same territory (II Corps TZ) as I did; only he was there six months earlier. I saw his reference to the Fourth Infantry with out any reference to the armed reconnaissance First of the Tenth attached to the Fourth Infantry. I also spent some time in other locations and he does a good job of describing daily life. It looks like he left out how to do the job he does and maybe some things he did. For the most part he was dead accurate as to the people and environment of the time. He makes you feel that you are there.
   
   This book is well worth reading and then keeping as a reference. Especially as time passed and you forget your first taste of warm "33" beer.

5 comments about We Are Lincoln Men : Abraham Lincoln and His Friends.

1. This was an interesting book. Every historian has a favorite story about one of the greatest American presidents-Abraham Lincoln. He talked plain, told funny stories, and acted like a relative of the family. However, Lincoln had few friends in his life. You can actually count the number on a pair of hands. The reason was Lincoln's upbringing in very isolated areas of Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. The death of his mother at an early age also stunted his development. Except for two individuals (Speed and Herndon), Lincoln had few long term friends.
   
   Professor Donald goes into all the close friends Lincoln had. He examines the relationship with Speed, and lays the fact that Lincoln had a really close relationship with Speed.
   He also examines his relationship with Browning, Herndon, Seward, his two presidential aides, and a bodyguard. Many others may have known Lincoln, but few knew him in a personal way. Lincoln was a very lonely man with plenty of burdens on him. It is a wonder he managed to guide the country through the Civil War without many personal relationships.
   
   Donald examines all of Lincoln's close personal relationships. He disputes the present accusations that Lincoln was gay with good historical facts. This is a good read for those interested in the Civil War.



2. Donald's book "Lincoln" is incredible. So maybe I was unfairly expecting too much.
   
   But I didn't learn much from this book. He makes the point that Lincoln did not have any very close friends and therefore there was no one that could truly speak of what Lincoln was thinking.
   
   Much of this book discusses the relationship Lincoln had with each of the people involved. And it then talks some (not a lot) about that those people wrote or said.
   
   But to me, Lincoln did not come out of what was said. I didn't find myself seeing anything new.
   
   Get his book "Lincoln" instead.



3. David's confusion about Lincoln's sexuality is shown by his going back and forth on the question of whether Abe was in love with Anne Rutledge. At present he seems to deny the legend, which he endorsed a few years ago when Douglas Wilson revived it, having previously followed his mentor J. G. Randall in denying it. Talk about Senator Kerry-like flip-flopping. David, to all appearance a Kinsey "O," is obviously even more at sea about homosexuality. He quoted the obnoxious remark made by Charles B. Strozier (a type who would have fascinated Cesare Lombroso) that a homosexual (or bisexual, in the case of Lincoln) couldn't have led the war or even gone into politics. Have they forgotten Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar? Did they never hear about their bisexuality? But Donald did for a time acknowledge a homoerotic bond between Abe and Joshua; though he has made the outrageous claim to me that no single American president ever had sex with another male.
   When I put C.A. Tripp in contact with David Donald, whom I described to Tripp as the leading Lincoln scholar, I warned him that however much he might learn from David, he could not even hope that David would accept the thesis that Abe had homosexual experiences, and I predicted that David would write a preemptive strike. It duly appeared: We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends.
   John Lauritsen, an aesthete of unrivaled sensitivity, tells me that in We Are Lincoln Men David writes on two levels: one for the public ("the great unwashed"), who couldn't bear to learn that some presidents were gay; and on another for the initiates, when he describes the banter between Abe and his hardened male secretaries, which borders on camp. At any rate, David certainly notes the electric homoeroticism.



4. David Herbert Donald has produced an interesting portrait of Abraham Lincoln through the eyes of those who can claim to have known him best. By taking a "friend's eye" view of our sixteenth President, Donald peels back some of the mystery surrounding this very private and guarded man. Some, but not all. As Donald demonstrates, Lincoln was unusually adept of shielding much of his inner self even from most of his close associates. Whether by insecurity at his humble origins and self-taught manner or, (as I am more prone to think), by the design of a very focused ambition which was early on and constantly navigating his life's journey, Lincoln only let those he knew intimately get so close.
   
   The friends (some early life companions, young adulthood companion Joshua Speed, law partner William Herndon, some-time political ally Orville Browning, rival and then acolyte Secretary of State William Seward, and private secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay), give portrayal of Lincoln at every stage of his life. Most give testimony to Lincoln's ultimate reserve, but all have insights, shared thoughts and anecdotes that provide a great depth of understanding at what formed the man and to some extent what made him tick.
   
   Although Donald has a minor psychological theme of motherless-children (Lincoln's mother died at an early age; he benefited from a loving step-mother who he gave great credit to), and the nature of friendships running through the book, most of this is good, solid history. I personally thought the psychological stream could have been left out of this book, but it only occasionally intrudes and never surfaces enough to dominate any chapter of Lincoln's life.
   
   It is instructive to view Lincoln through the lens of those who know Lincoln best, particularly those who knew Lincoln before he was great. Donald has added another valuable work on this most significant and interesting of Americans.



5. Luckily, I was able to find the Large Print edition at the public library. Written in the modern history style, forming opinions instead of using factual information, he even changes his mind from his earlier writings, LINCOLN'S HERNDON (his law partner), saying he has grown "skeptical" about what he had passed on as facts. Feelings don't matter in factual history.
   
   He intimates that Abraham Lincolnn had "questionable" relationships with Joshua Speed with whom he boarded and shared a room and Ann Rutledge, though Lincoln seemed to have avoided becoming involved with women. He quotes Stephen Ambrose whose opinion was that presidents need a confidant "who can be trusted absolutely never to divulge a secret."
   
   These six spotlighted as "intimate friends" to Lincoln all divulged the letters and confidences they were trusted to keep secure! They profited from the assassination by writing books. His personal secretaries, the two Johns: Hay and Nicolay were no exceptions.
   
   For a private, "close-mouthed," self-educated, diversive president, he had no real friends as a youth, nor as President. He enjoyed his sons, playing on the White House lawn with goats and other farm animals. You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy. Did Mark Twain say that?
   
   Since his orations were considered on a par with Shakespeare, I am wondering if they had speech writers for the presidents back in the 1800s. Are those really his words and beliefs? Did JFK really come up with the "Ask not what your country can do for you" or was that also phrased by some speechwriter? Lincoln was a good actor, sought public influence with his Civil War addresses.
   
   Mr. Donald has won two Pulitzer prizes for his earlier books about Lincoln and many concerning aspects of the Civil War. But I would not call him an expert like Geoffrey C. Ward or William Davis. He is a good researcher.

No comments about Son of Italy (Picas Series 36).

4 comments about Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would be President.

1. In a moment of autobiographical reflection, Belva Lockwood once stated that while her work as an equal rights activist had failed to raise the dead, it had "awakened the living." Jill Norgren's biography of Lockwood, a little known but extremely important historical figure should and could awaken all of us to live a life of conviction and activism.
   
   At 232 pages long, Norgren eloquently and succinctly educates the reader on the story of the first woman to ever be allowed to argue before the United Supreme Court, as well as the first woman to ever launch two full scale bids for this country's presidency. Lockwood's place in history is far less prominent than many of her contemporaries, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but her contributions were significant and seem all the more important for study today as we witness a very legitimate bid by another woman for the United States presidency. As a woman who was deeply concerned with advocating for democracy, pacifism and equal rights, Belva Lockwood led a life defined by fighting for the causes she believed in and worked hard not only to further said causes, but at the same time had to support herself as a single widow of a young daughter. Lockwood turned her tragedy into an opportunity to exercise freedom and possibility with education and her voice. While little remains of Lockwood's personal writing and documents, she used the power of the pen tirelessly during her life and much of her writing was published and documented.
   
   Norgren's writing is engaging and her narrative is accessible yet rich with fact. Like her other book The Cherokee Cases, which makes difficult United States Supreme Court case studies accessible and engaging; Norgren could inspire all of us to become avid readers of historical biographies. Jill Norgren took an obscure historical figure who left few personal papers behind, and gave us a portrait of a political hero. At a time when heroism in politics is scarce, one can't help but read this book and recommend that we use Lockwood as an example that could awaken us to the possibilities and expectations we should have for those who desire to be a leader in this country.



2. Even if Hillary Clinton were not running for president and Nancy Pelosi wasn't the first woman speaker of the house, this book is a must read. The story of a woman of humble beginnings who would not take NO for an answer and became the first woman lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court and the first woman to run a serious campaign for President is told in an objective yet compelling fashion by author Jill Norgren. The research is exhaustive and Norgren does a great job of integrating Belva's home and family life with her professional achievements. Belva comes across as an extraordinary ordinary person, which makes her an inspiring role model for all of us looking toward the day when the American promise of equal rights becomes a complete reality.



3. Belva is a forgotten heroine. A century before the barriers to law school admission began to fall, Belva beat on the doors of the legal establishment. Jill Norgren's fascinating and lively biography reveals the grit and determination that enabled this failed farmer's daughter to obtain a college education, a legal degree and support her family with a successful law practice. Anyone who is interested in why women have faced such opposition and achieved so little success in their attempts to participate in the political process should read this book and give it to their daughters.



4. This book made a deep impression on me, but it's also just fun to read. I can't recall when I've had such pleasure reading a work of non-fiction. The life of Belva Lockwood, presidential candidate and first woman to argue before the Supreme Court, is the stuff of an engrossing novel, filled with real characters and gripping "plots," and Norgren tells it with engaging sympathy, passionate drive, and first-rate scholarship. The book is filled with anecdotes, quotations, and stories that are alternately touching, bizarre, amazing, and outrageous. This truly is a book that is hard to put down, and it conjures up a past rich in context and immediacy. But at a deeper level, it dramatically brought to my attention, as a male who considers himself relatively "enlightened," a dimension of the struggle for human rights that I appreciated before only in a fairly general way. As such, the book has obvious bearings on contemporary issues and continuing struggles. In summary, this is a page-turner that made me think and see the world in a new way.

5 comments about The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln.

1. Let me state the obvious. Each of us is a product of our time - of all the people and events we encounter, and the values of the societies we live in. So was Lincoln. So was Tripp. Current Gay and Queer identities are 20th cent constructs and could not have been embraced by Lincoln, nor does Tripp claim this to have been the case. Nor does Tripp present a view that all Gay people will see as politically acceptable - his work helped build the current identity but he was, himself, a product of another era. However, as Robert Aldrich and others have demonstrated, homosexuality is as ancient as humanity and exists in many forms across societies. Tripp gives a good portrait of a remarkable man coping with homosexual urges in an emerging nation. Tenuous though some of his arguments may be, his critics are, in many cases subject to the academic biases of reliance on surviving documentation (often ignoring context and the nature of covert behaviour), lack understanding of the experience of being in a hidden minority and even, in a few cases, rely on arguments that make Tripp's weakest sound strong. The truth is that here is meticulously well researched book that presents a convincing arguement but shows evidence of the author not having survived to do the last few re-writes that would have bought it up to his usual high standard.



2. The world of Lincoln scholarship can be highly contentious, but controversy about this book relates to Tripp's use of evidence, not the topic he examines. My own specialty is Lincoln's pre-presidential life. Determining what happened in those years can involve surmise and supposition. I don't fault Tripp for lacking unobtainable proof. Even outright speculation can freshen thought.
   
   I am concerned, however, by Tripp seizing a kernel of evidence, extrapolating from it, and pronouncing the resultant structure to be proof of his contention. For example, he finds a unique statement from Bill Greene noting that Lincoln had well-developed thighs. Tripp then turns to the Duncan and Nichols biography of Mentor Graham, a source I consider so unreliable that I have never dared cite it as authority for anything. Relying on an undependable source and a single comment from Greene, Tripp claims to prove a homosexual relationship between Greene and Lincoln.
   
   Tripp extrapolates further and argues that because Greene became embarrassed when Lincoln introduced him to Secretary of State Seward as Lincoln's grammar teacher, that meant Greene was uneasy about his old homosexual relationship with Lincoln. Tripp considers and rejects the possibility that Greene said little during the meeting because he didn't want to reveal his poor grasp of grammar to Seward, thereby belying Lincoln's praise and humiliating himself. I find the possibility that Tripp rejects to be more plausible than the one he embraces.
   
   Another type of reasoning is illustrated by Tripp arguing for a homosexual relationship between Lincoln and Joshua Speed because (in part) when Lincoln moved into their sleeping quarters, Speed failed to say anything about his admiration of a Lincoln speech. Tripp here assumes that because Speed failed to mention this in his account of his conversation with Lincoln, that absence means no conversation about the speech occurred. Lincoln and Speed may have talked about many things that Speed didn't mention (weather, crops, politics). Tripp seems to think that if an account doesn't say something happened, then it didn't happen. That's invalid reasoning.
   
   Regarding Lincoln and Speed being bed mates, neither man was secretive about the arrangement, and some men Lincoln slept with had definite heterosexual orientation. Public comment about a politician's sex life was rare in that era, but I have seen examples in Illinois newspapers. If anyone had thought the Lincoln-Speed sleeping arrangement could be portrayed as homosexual, I think political opponents would have raised the issue regardless of whether they believed it.
   
   We can speculate all day about Lincoln's place on the sexual continuum between heterosexual and homosexual, and speculate reasonably, but speculation isn't proof. Still, the topic is worthy. For me, the big disappointment in Tripp's book was in finding him wrong again and again about things I know about. If it had been the other way around I would probably have found the book exciting rather than frustrating.



3. Most art, literature and history is studied from the straight, white, male perspective. If a famous man professed his undying devotion to a woman and slept with her for years, SWM academic theory would presume the couple was sexually involved and use that as proof of heterosexuality. C.A. Tripp simply looks at the facts of Lincoln's intimate life from the position of a queer theory scholar. Interpreting findings from a queer point of view takes this book beyond the genre of biography and helps us understand how all historical theory about any minority has been skewed to fit a mainstream mold, disregarding history as it most probably was.



4. What is it that propels peopel to reinterpret history? This book is so chock full of speculative flim flam. It is written by a person who is applying 21st century culture to 19th century culture. It was not uncommon for men to share quarters 200 years ago and ...GUESS WHAT? Not be gay.
   
   The irrational claim this author makes is based on this one single premise:
   
   "OOOH two men shared a room...they MUST have had gay sex!"
   In the military I slept in very close quarters to other men, and NOT ONCE did I have any inclination of homosexual conduct. What is wrong with leftists? Why must everything be centered around sex? Is there anything else to life for them, than fleshly gratification? Good grief.
   Lincoln had a close friend and shared a bedroom with him. AND? Does that AUTOMATICALLY mean he was gay? Cmon people!
   Can you not see the obvious fallacy? It is a false conclusion. It is a desperate attempt by the left to twist history into something that suits them. Its taking a *REPUBLICAN* president and trying to make him into a liberal!
   
   Hows this for the left? Lincoln advocated PRAYER in school. Next thing you know, the left will be trying to twist that around.



5. ...because that's all this erroneous piece of trash is. I'm not homophobic. I am against people trying to cash in on the name of a legendary historic figure simply to cause controversy, and thereby gain some extra dollars.
   
   Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Cruise and others can sue the tabloids when they twist stories. Lincoln's dead. He can't.
   
   Just remember that.