1 comments about Fifty Black Women Who Changed America.

1. Sonia Sanchez, Betty Shabazz, Zora Neale Hurston, Florence Griffith-Joyner. What do these women have in common aside from the fact that they're all African Americans? Answer: They've all contributed to the positive image of black women in America, and around the world. Buy this book for your home library. It's a wonderful reference book. Buy it especially for your daughters. They can read a story a week and by the time they're finished with the book, they will have a fairly good idea of the glorious strength and resilience of black women.

2 comments about A Confederate Nurse : The Diary of Ada W. Bacot, 1860-1863.

1. I direct your attention to the back cover of this book, wherein it states that Jean V. Berlin taught history at the University of Virginia. Turns out all she was was a teaching assistant! I guess you do't have to win the Pulitzer Prize to be found out as someone who makes stuff up about themselves!

   Seriosly, this sort of inflation gives writers a bad name. Let's hope it was all just a misunderstanding.




2. Nothing Ms. Berlin says in her introduction allows us to escape the fact that Ada Bacot, while pretending to assert her independence and find her self-esteem, simply came to the front and did what Dorothea Dix feared women nurses would do ... find another husband. How pathetic.

5 comments about Lincoln's Tragic Admiral: The Life Of Samuel Francis Du Pont (Nation Divided).

1. Weddle has given us a sympathetic tale of one of the premier figures of the 19th century navy -- Samuel Francis Du Pont, whose statue initially graced Washington's Dupont Circle before it was moved to his home state of Delaware and replaced by a fountain.
   
   The climax of Du Pont's career was his least-succesful campaign -- the abortive attempt to take heavily-fortified Charleston from the sea. Weddle convincingly argues that this attack -- undertaken in spite of Du Pont's reservations -- was doomed to failure. The early ironclads were simply no match for heavy shore-based fortifications. In the best tradition of inter-service rivalry, the Navy rejected Du Pont's request for a joint army-navy assault: "I beg of you not to let the Army spoil it."
   
   Equally interesting is Weddle's description of Du Pont's early career, which spanned a period of rapid technological change, from sail to sidewheeled steamers to ironclads with screws. Perhaps Du Pont's most important and lasting contribution was his successful struggle to introduce merit into the navy's promotion system.



2. A fascinating book! I particularly appreciate the way the author integrates Du Pont's human strengths and frailties with the bureaucratic, logistical, and armament systems of the time. He provided just enough background information on Du Pont's family, peers, and related events for readers to appreciate their impact without being taken off track. Ultimately the reader sees the guy as very much a real man with skills, challenges, successes and failures that are just as relevant today as 150 years ago. (Anyone who doubts the relevance of history to modern events need only read this book.) Finally, I greatly enjoyed learning about the technological advances of the day in the context of the times. It's easy for us today to look back at the Civil War as being an "old-style war" like that of 1812, but in reading Weddle's book I was enlightened to the fact that from a technological attitudes standpoint, the Civil War was much more of a "modern" war than I had previously realized. What kid isn't fascinated by the battle of the Monitor and the Virginia (Merrimack), for example? In history books that event is always presented as an isolated incident, but thanks to this book I now realize that steam-powered vessels and ironclads were the wonder weapons of their day -- they captured the public imagination (and those of military planners) just as tanks, jets, and nuclear weapons have in more recent times. It has been a truly delightful read and I've learned a lot. Incredible the peers Du Pont rubbed elbows with at the time -- legendary heroes like Stephen Decatur and Matthew Perry. If you like history, you will love this book. Not only does it offer fascinating facts and insights into a man and his times, but it reads like a novel. Don't miss it!



3. For those of you who eagerly await the one book on Civil War naval history for every fifty released concerning the land war, you will not be disappointed. Not only is this book an exceptional biography of Admiral Du Pont, but it also provides a thorough look at the Navy during the service's formative years prior to the Civil War. This is possible because Du Pont's influence proved instrumental during this period; he authored the first comprehensive national maritime strategy (which provided guidance for transforming the Navy from a coastal defense force into a "Blue Water" service with offensive capability), as well as catalyzed much-needed personnel reform. Du Pont's at-sea adventures in the Mexican War and during a hazardous voyage to the Far East also make for great reading. What sets this book apart from any good biography, however, is the insightful discussion of civil-military friction and ill-conceived reliance on technology that characterize Du Pont's 1863 attack on Charleston, SC. Du Pont was against this operation (believing it to be an unnecessary peripheral enterprise that would siphon off valuable - and limited - resources from the all-important blockade), but Lincoln, Navy Secretary Welles, and Assistant Secretary Fox all though the capture of Charleston had important symbolic value. Since civilian leadership sets policy and related strategic objectives, Du Pont saluted smartly and began planning the operation. Friction arose when the admiral tried to persuade Welles and Fox that Charleston could only be captured via a joint Army-Navy operation. Welles and Fox (demonstrating blatant service parochialism) favored an all-Navy operation, and instructed Du Pont to proceed without Army assistance. Despite evidence to the contrary (Drewry's Bluff, VA and Fort McAllister, GA), Welles and Fox were convinced that monitor ironclads alone could destroy Charleston's forts and capture the city; as a result, they confidently assured Lincoln that the monitor technology would prevail. Of course, Du Pont was correct and the operation tragically ended in failure. Civil-military friction and technology as a military panacea are familiar themes throughout American military history - and we see them still in the current global war on terrorism. Colonel Weddle, therefore, does the reader a great service by providing such a thought-provoking discussion and analysis of these crucial issues. Superbly written, thoroughly researched, and well organized, this book was a pleasure to read and I highly recommend it.



4. Great read! Easy, smooth flowing syntax and text. Almost reads like a novel. A nice mixture of text, maps, and images. Substantial research has brought together the personal man as well as the public man and his concern for United States protection and the well being of his naval forces.
   Coming from a naval family, I was very interested in seeing the evolving history of the US Navy. I was also interested to follow the interaction of husband and wife and her influence on DuPont. Highly recommend this book.



5. Kevin Weddle has blazed new trails in this long-overdue look at one of the U.S. Navy's most important but little-known leaders. He has tapped into the extensive resources of the Du Pont family to capture the essence of a complex figure who stood tall at the cusp of a critical period of American history. The book is a quick read and Samuel Francis Du Pont's story is told with balance, style, and accuracy.
   The best biographies hold relevance for for present and future leaders - and this one is no exception. Du Pont plays key roles as mariner, technological innovator, personnel reformer, diplomat, strategist, combat commander, and family man. Through it all, he remains a man of steadfast principle.
   Kevin Weddle has spun a superb yarn and created an impressive work that shines a contemporary lamp on a long-neglected giant of the U.S. Navy. This volume is a worthy addition to the library of those with an interest in naval history, the Civil War, or leadership.

5 comments about The Kennedy Men: 1901-1963.

1. Didn't like it. Basically refers to President Kennedy and his time in office. Too boring.



2. I give this book a borderline 3 - 4 stars. It isn't bad - it explored all of the Kennedy men adequately but none very extensively. Leamer does do a great job of explaining the relationships among the Kennedy men, especially the complicated relationship that Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. had with all of his children.

   The author offers up stunning and excruciating details about Joe Kennedy Jr's. death, as well as Kathleen's death. These instances were painful to read, but very insightful about the patriarch's emotions.

   I feel Leamer did concentrate a bit too much on JFK's sexual trysts, but that is a topic that no book on the Kennedys will neglect, so it's not really a complaint.

   It would have been nice had the book ended in 1968 and not 1963. Another 100 pages would have given the reader much more great reading on RFK following the president's death and also his run for the presidency in 1968.

   All in all, this is a good book for diehard Kennedy aficionados.




3. In the years since John F Kennedy was elected President two kinds of "Kennedy Myths" have developed. The positive one portrays John, Robert and Ted Kennedy as liberal "saints" committed to a progressive revolution in America. The negative one shows the Kennedys to be rapacious libertines who throw off all social conventions in their personal and political lives. Leamer's book transcends these over-simplistic views and covers the lives of patriarch Joseph P Kennedy and his four sons, bringing out the complexity of this unique group of people.

   Those who hold a negative view of the Kennedys will find much material to confirm their beliefs. In truth, Joe Kennedy seems to be a man with almost no redeeming virtues, a virulent anti-Semite and pro-Nazi, greedy and miserly, manipulative man. The second generation of Kennedys learned not to ask where the family's money came from. Yet Joe Kennedy went on to implement needed reforms in the Security and Exchange commission to which he was appointed, supported the progressive FDR and became the most powerful Catholic in the US.

   Similarly, JFK went on to be an incredibly reckless philanderer who possibly compromised the very security of the US with liasons with women involved with organized crime and possibly even East German intelligence, but at the same time, he inspired young people to volunteer for the Peace Corps and set American on course to landing on the Moon. RFK goes to work for family friend Senator Joe McCarthy and works with the Mafia in order to destablize Castro's regime in Cuba, but then also works vigorously against the same Mafia and institutionalized racial discrimination (and somehow escapes the taint of his association with McCarthy).

   Leamer show that JFK and RFK were definitely not "soft liberals". JFK was the best friend the "military-industrial complex" ever had, pouring unprecedented amounts of money into defense and space projects. They supported a very tough anti-Communist policy in Cuba and Vietnam which almost led to nuclear war and did lead to the quagmire in Southeast Asia. One important point about the book is that Leamer does not demonize various "bad guys" from the positive Kennedy Myth, such as General Curtis Lemay and other military men from the Cuban Missile Crisis, FBI Director J Edgar Hoover who was friendly for many years with Joe Kennedy and showed great forebearance with the many indiscretions of his sons and had good reason to be concerned with JFK's behavior and finally Lyndon Johnson who loyally served the Kennedy Administration and yet was treated with contempt by RFK and many of JFK's advisors (although not by JFK himself).

   Finally, the author has come to the same conclusion that other investigators have arrived at regarding JFK's assassination, namely, that it is very likely that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald was motivated, either with or without the knowledge of agents of Fidel Castro, to kill Kennedy in revenge for the Kennedys' attempt to kill him.

   It is not easy to cover the lives of five different men in a singel book, and much had to be left out, but as an introduction to this remarkable tribe of American aristocracy, this book is indispensable.




4. I've read 64 biographys and it's one of the worse.
   There are a few photos.
   some informations are odd, because the author invents them.
   buy not this book, but buy better book like a common good, the thirteen days, the kennedys and the fitzgerald, robert kennedy and his time...



5. I read The Kennedy Women a few years ago and found it to be one of the most impressive biographical works that I had ever encountered. I was most impressed with Leamer's ability to fully chart the lives of so many diverdse characters.

   I eagerly awaited the Kennedy Men. If I had not read his previous work, this probably would have seemed better. I felt that the Kennedy Women had a broader scope dealing with a longer (and earlier!) time frame and more individuals. This started, really with Joe Kennedy and didn't focus on too many others. A very minor complaint, is that the Kennedy women had a comrehensive time line in the beginning. It would have been useful to include one here as well.

   Otherwise, this is an extaordinarily well rearched volume. What I enjoyed most was the conversational approach taken by Leamer. It is a pleasure to read. I wish that the final chapter "Requiem for a President" was slightly more detailed, but this was a chance to learn not about invididuals, but about complex family relationships and bonds.

   I am glad that I read it and look forward to volume 2!

5 comments about Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman.

1. I was unfortunately persuaded by a review of this book that it was a better one to start with than McCullough's Pulitzer-prize-winning book "Truman." So I gave it a try, but had to quit about 100 pages in because it was SO bad.
   
   I suspect that Hamby (who wrote a book on Truman in 1972) had this book in the works when McCullough came out with his tour-de-force a few years before. Not wanting to lose out on his efforts to date, he packs his text with the most meaningless minutiae (eg, endless quotes of dollar figures regarding Harry's business ventures) just to show the reader, I think, how many hours he spent slogging through county records and such -- but at the cost of any flow to his narrative.
   
   Now this is actually a very favorable spin on his writing, but I suspect the truth is that -- even without this junkyard of data -- he is not a writer capable of holding the reader's interest. SO many times while I was reading this book I kept a running argument with the author over why he was not providing more backstory to the events in Harry's life. When I finally dove into McCullough's book it was a man starved for oxygen finally breathing it in.
   
   Perhaps the most telling part of Hamby's book is his dig on McCullough's book (p722). He describes it as "a nicely told story but (despite its length) episodic and lacking much in the way of historical perspective." From this I can assure Hamby that he has succeeded beyond his wildest expectations in producing a book that is A POORLY TOLD STORY. Congratulations.
   
   As for his own implication that he, and not McCullough, has provided historical perspective for Truman's story, well, I guess he's right if "historical perspective" is defined as "a mind-numbing recitation of meaningless but accurate little facts."
   
   Using the "forest-for-the-trees" analogy, McCullough is a pilot carrying you effortlessly over the forest with a flawless narration. Hamby is a blind stuttering lumberjack who gets off on the texture of tree bark while you quitely go insane with boredom. (My apologies to any blind stutterering lumberjacks who may take offense.)



2. This is one of the better biographies of a US President I have ever read. Hamby avoids the hero worship which plagues other authors and, instead, takes a frank look at the man and how he discharged his duties, public and private, throughout his life. I found this book invaluable resource for understanding the cold war and American politics in the middle of the 20th century.



3. I had a hard time getting through this book. The first half was pretty dull, and throughout the book the writing is workman-like, but not inspiring. As for the author's integrity, I would say the book is written fair-mindedly and with adequate research having been done.



4. David Mccullough's book on Truman is great. It is well written, full of great information, and though many people think too pro-Truman it does show why he was a Great Man. Unfortuantely many professors and especially those with Revisionist Tendancies don't feel Mccullough's book is scholary. They see it as Pop History. I think this is academic snobbery, and also stubborness upon the part of the revionists to admit Truman was a great President. However, a good way to silence the revisonists and to read another great book on Truman is to read Hamby's Man of the People. Though a little more critical than Mccollough, Hamby again paints a great portrait of a great man. For whatever reasons, Hamby is considered more scholary and his book more scholary. Whatever makes our Professors happy. But regardless, this is a great book. Though long like Mccollough, it tells a great story. Hamby is a fine historian who was also on c-spans look at Truman for its President's series. So in short, a more "academic" but just as great book on Truman.



5. Hamby uses the tools of a professional historian -- excellent documentation and sources, superb prose, and healthy skepticism -- to brilliantly move beyond the standard adoring view of Truman as a plain-talking, quick-deciding everyman. While he is shown to have been those things, he is also revealed to have shared much of the pettiness, anger, and impulsiveness that have marked many of his predecessors and successors. He is (surprize, surprize) a human being rather than an icon. Especially good is Hamby's narrative of the downhill trajectory of Truman's second term and the post-Potsdam evolution of his anti-communism. Historical biography at its absolute best. And by rendering Truman human, he ultimately produces a more admiring portrait than other books that set out to be adoring.

1 comments about The Jefferson Image in the American Mind.

1. Peterson's book captures snapshots of how Americans have viewed Thomas Jefferson throughout our history. On July 4, 1826, Thomas Jefferson died, and this is where the Jefferson image begins to take shape. The thesis concerns "the composite representation of the historic personage and of the ideas and ideals, policies and sentiments, habitually identified with him" (Preface). We watch how his image is refashioned and molded by various politicians over the course of one hundred and fifty years that this book covers. We are led by a great historian who has written eight books on Thomas Jefferson. It is a stimulating, whirlwind journey. The intellectual beginnings of the strains about slavery start with the Jefferson image. Ambiguity seems to sum up his points in his writings. It became possible for abolitionists to point to the Declaration of Independence and his comments on the Missouri Compromise, "it was like a fire-bell in the night" sounding "the knell of the Union" (189). The pro-slavery side could use Jefferson's and Madison's Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 and cloak the issue as states' rights. To make this jump, however, the states' rights supporters had to change the interpretation of nullification from a consortium of states to a single state. These issues made for a gigantic loggerhead that would only be solved by a Civil War. Peterson shows us with great clarity how both sides claimed they were the true heirs of the Jefferson mind. Alleged sexual relations of a president are not only in twentieth century politics. Jefferson's affair with Sally Hemings is described and refuted by the author. Peterson pulls out three possible roots for these "rumors." They are all very interesting arguments; however, it has been proven true by DNA tests. Abraham Lincoln shines in this account as the person capable of synthesizing the conflicting ideas of Jefferson into one whole. I would argue that it is Lincoln's portrayal of Jefferson that we all have come to accept as our standard. Lincoln combined "the work of Alexander Hamilton, on the basis of the principles of Jefferson; and thus united...the two strands of political philosophy..." (220). This was Lincoln's genius as a leader, to bring a powerful government together with the ideals of the Declaration. This has made the image of Jefferson and Lincoln interconnected in the American mind. Jefferson falls into disrepute after the Civil War because of his intellectual dilemmas that helped shape it; consequently, there was a resurgence of popularity of the Federalists and particularly of Hamilton, Jefferson's nemesis. The twentieth century ushers in a new era over the Jefferson image. Differing policies and presidents resurrect Jefferson in the Progressive movement, the Wilsonian New Freedom, and Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism (331). This leads us to the same conflicts that Hamilton and Jefferson had, especially concerning the role of the federal government. It is, however, a changing country that will soon no longer be the agrarian dream that Jefferson would have liked. The U.S. had become an industrial and political powerhouse in the world, and there was no going back. The image changes to fit the times as the New Deal comes. Franklin D. Roosevelt uses Jefferson to provide a symbol to rally around, but it also seriously undermines and revises Jefferson's ideals. A big government program like the New Deal would not have been a priority according to strict Jeffersonian principles. Peterson writes that the Jefferson Memorial which was built in 1943 during FDR's administration "testifies to the artistry with which the New Deal combined reverence for the symbol and freedom of revision" (333). The book concludes in 1943 with the completion of the Jefferson Memorial and his birthday centennial. What are we left with at the end? We can quote a variety of different aspects to the Jeffersonian image depending on whose interpretation you prefer. You can quote Jefferson, "the anti-statist, states' righter, isolationist, agrarian, rationalist, civil libertarian, and constitutional democrat" (445). This division of the mind of the Sage of Monticello has created a boon for historians and politicians. We can all find something about Jefferson to argue and point to as a support for our position. Peterson has written a wonderful guide book though American thought on a very enigmatic figure in our history. Occasionally, the book gets bogged down in little details. It mostly provides extremely clear arguments concerning the historical disputes over who is the heir to the Jeffersonian image. Merrill Peterson has made an important contribution to the interpretation of a complex American figure. After consulting recent bibliographies, no one has written a similar work. Only the author himself could have improved on this book. The book has been republished and it currently available.

4 comments about Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator.

1. Nice pictures. Amusing anecdotes. Stories that tug your mouth upwards. Long on voodoo and short on substance, just like his presidency. If you're a fan, go ahead and part with the $20, just don't expect anything exhaustive or deep... then again, who would?



2. This book is one of those I refer to as a bathroom book. It is 175 pages of short stories, quotes, quips and speeches of and by the Great Communicator, which makes for perfect reading when you are ,... well, you get the idea.
   
   A beautiful and loving introduction by one of America's finest First Ladies, Nancy Reagan, sets the tone for this insight to the former first family, whose love for country was only eclipsed by their love for one another. The book concludes with a devoted after word by Peggy Noonan. Everything in between is pure Ronnie.
   
   If you admired Ronald Reagan, and since you are reading this review, chances are, you do, you'll want to add this book to your collection. Get to know the personal side of this great American leader.



3. This book is one of those I refer to as a bathroom book. It is 175 pages of short stories, quotes, quips and speeches of and by the Great Communicator, which makes for perfect reading when you are ,ý well, you get the idea.
   
   
   A beautiful and loving introduction by one of Americaýs finest First Ladies, Nancy Reagan, sets the tone for this insight to the former first family, whose love for country was only eclipsed for their love for one another. The book concludes with a devoted after word by Peggy Noonan. Everything in between is pure Ronnie.
   If you admire Ronald Reagan, and since you are visiting the Junto, chances are, you do, youýll want to add this book to your collection. Get to know the personal side of this great man.



4. Okay- This is what is aptly dubbed a coffee table book... It isn't a thorough biography, but rather a concise biographical pictorial of the Reagan Presidency. As a fan of Reagan, I've already got quite a few books on the Gipper from an American Life to Dutch. It is a nice addition to my library, and recaptures the nostaligia of the 1980's with its vivid pictures. However, if you're looking for substance and informational content than I'd recommend Ronald Reagan by Dinesh D'Souza or Ronald Reagan's autobiography, An American Life.

No comments about The Fastest Kid on the Block: The Marty Glickman Story (Sports and Entertainment).

5 comments about America's First Dynasty : The Adamses, 1735--1918.

1. I saw this on sale and thought it would be a nice 'chaser' after David McCullough's long but excellent "John Adams" that I was just finishing up. I was right, but barely. First, on the good side: it's a well written quick review of the four famous and interesting generations of Adamses. It gets high marks for putting a lot into a small package. Also, all four get equal time, which, given the complexities of each, I appreciated.
   
   On the negative side: it did not surprise me that Brookhiser took a less flattering (and more mainstream) view of John Adams than McCullough. But when his disparagment stretched to the following three generations I started to wonder what size burr the author may be sitting on. If you buy Brookhiser's somewhat malignant view of these four, it then begs the question how such an irascible hypocritical set of men could be so successful. Which is neither asked nor answered.
   
   It was worth the $5 I paid, but I wouldn't pay full price.



2. Throughout much of human history, leaders of nations were the children of leaders of nations. Nearly 230 years ago, a radical notion was advanced in a document that would help to form a new republic: that all men are created equal. Many of those American colonists who declared themselves independent of their king wanted not only to limit the power of the executive but to be sure that they had the ability to choose who that executive would be, rather than to have it pass from father to son. Thus, "only three of the first eight presidents produced potential successors, [and] only three of those sons were considered presidential timber." Two of them were named Adams, and one of them would actually become president.
   
   In America's First Dynasty, Richard Brookhiser uses just under 220 pages to paint compelling biographies of four successive generations of a family from 1735 through 1918, an unusually active one that included two presidents of the United States, a public servant of the republic and his state, and a writer. These men lived through tumultuous and eventful times and played roles in them.
   
   The text appears to be well-researched and is quite readable. Quite a lot of history was packed into a very small number of pages; readers with a good understanding of the times and concurrent history will find their understanding of these characters enhanced. Readers who do not know much of the concurrent history might feel rushed.
   
   In groups of three chapters, each of the subjects is considered. Beginning with John Adams, we're introduced to him already in service of his country, at a dinner party in France. We follow him through the highlights of his professional career, and into retirement. We're suddenly focusing on his son John Quincy, as his career starts at an early age with his father, and how he differs from his brothers, who fall prey to the snare of alcohol. John Quincy himself was distinguished, even becoming president, but (much like his father) was hampered by his distaste for political parties and the method of serving in public office.
   
   Charles Francis Adams married well and held various public offices throughout his career, even running as a candidate for Vice-President on the Free-Soil party ticket. Most of his public life was in state and then federal legislature, followed by a diplomatic appointment by Abraham Lincoln. Brookhiser points out that it is in the family of Charles Francis that the family tendency toward alcoholism is broken.
   
   Henry Adams apparently had no taste for public life, preferring instead to become a writer. Much of the biographical sketch focuses on the creation of his best-known work, The Education of Henry Adams. With only his lineage and his wife's suicide to frame the work, we're left wondering what else Henry did. Perhaps this was Brookhiser's intention: to focus on that which each of the subjects left behind for posterity.
   
   Indeed, after the biographical sketches, we're given several more brief chapters that discuss the family habit of keeping a diary and the writing of history. Brookhiser then attempts to frame much of what we have read, discussing such matters as dynasty and legacy. I found the discussion a bit strange because while various Adamses were clearly concerned with the matter of greatness-returning to the question of who are great men-I was under no impression that the Adamses themselves were much concerned with the legacy of the family. I saw only that they were like every other family, wanting what is best for their children, hoping that they will be of good character and do well for themselves.
   
   Putting the discussion in terms of dynasty might not be so strange when viewed through the lens of history. The fact is that John Adams was there from the founding of the country, and his family remained prominent in American life into the twentieth century. Had Henry fathered children, perhaps the chain of prominent Adamses would be unbroken today.
   
   Given this country's interest in the families that produce presidents, it's hardly any surprise that there would be such interest in a family that produced two presidents, especially in light of the fact that the current president is also the son of a president. In all, America's First Dynasty makes for an engaging read, but the extreme brevity of the biographical sketches left me hoping for more.



3. The old style of biography was much like theatre criticism. The more cleverly you could trash the subject, the more you were -- or felt yourself to be -- a winner. When personality peculiarities made subjects as vulnerable to witticism as John Adams' was, we got decades of historical biographers trying to out-acidify the likes of Bernard Shaw. This style had faded significantly by the time David McCullough wrote a biography of John Adams that was unabashedly laudatory...an open fan letter...clear hero worship!

   From Brookhiser's race through four members of the Adams family I learned only two things for sure.
   1. The Adams's irritate him.
   2. The old adage that "the things you criticize most in others are usually your own worst fault" appears to be true.

   The author's rancor calls and raises the rancor he attributes to his subjects. Reading it was an unpleasant experience with little to no redeeming informational or ideational value for anyone but the author's therapist.




4. "America` First Dynasty" by Richard Brookhiser. Sub-titled: "The Adamses, 1713-1918".
   Understandably, this book concentrates on the two presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Their contributions as one-term presidents help to establish democracy in the nascent United States. Brookhiser notes that the two Adamses were the first presidents not from Virginia. Much of what John Adams did became precedents for later presidents.

   It appears to me that the author makes the tacit assumption that the reader has a fairly good knowledge of American history, so he casually introduces lesser know subjects, such as the "Know Nothing Party " (Native American Party) and the anti-Masonic efforts in upstate New York. This, of course, leads you to things that you want to examine further, but, on the other hand, inhibits the free-flow of the book.

   I think that the author is stretching to consider Charles Francis or even Henry Adams as "greats" who were continuing the Adams "dynasty". I did, however, enjoy Brookhiser's "book review" approach to "The Education of Henry Adams" and Henry's book on Mont St. Michel. Perhaps the next book by Brookhiser would be the comparison of the contributions of the Adamses, the Harrisons, the Roosevelts and the Bushes: all presidents who related by blood.

   I listened to the seven tapes as I commuted around Boston; excellent reading by Dan Cashman. It is appropriate to note the name of the town of Haverhill is pronounced as HAV AAAA rill by the natives.. The reader sounded it out and said Have Er Hill, which is logical but not the way it is said in Massachusetts. Further, the hometown of the Adamses , Quincy, is said as "QuinZZZy".




5. I've read all of Richard Brookhiser's biographies of the Founding Fathers (Washington, Hamilton, Morris) and I've enjoyed them all, but I liked this one the least. Brookhiser writes very well and his observations on the character of his subjects are always revealing. He shows how often the best quality in a biographer is not polished prose or research skills, but judgment.

   In his book on the four generations of Adams, however, Brookhiser overreaches. Had he kept his focus on the men, this would have been a fine if undistinguished book. But Brookhiser appears to be trying to say something about families, American dynasties, and the difficulties of sustaining greatness. What he wanted to say, I could never quite figure out. The wonderful aphoristic quality of Brookhiser's prose -- that makes him so good when writing some sharp and brief observation -- fails him when he must sustain an argument.

   An example of this is when Brookhiser writes in his introduction of the contradiction of an egalitarian society having so many political family dynasties, from the Adamses to Bushes. In noting this, he writes "[An American political dynasty] is the tribute democracy pays to aristocracy." This sounds very nice, but it's meaningless. Most of Brookhiser's comments on the significance of American political dynasties and how the Adamses were able to sustain their greatness fall along this line.

   Thankfully, most of this book is on the Adamses, and it is when writing on them that Brookhiser shines. Still, the bad ideas -- even though they don't make up a substantial part of the book -- hang over it. Brookhiser is always interesting when writing about a person, but is not at his best when trying to come up with a conceptual framework to make sense of it all.

5 comments about Get a Shot of Rhythm and Blues: The Arthur Alexander Story.

1. This is a great book that provides clear and concise insight into the life of Arthur Alexander. The story behind the singer, the songwriter and a true influence behind some of the greatest figures of rock and roll. This story should be made into a movie so everyone can learn about this unsung hero. Richard Younger has researched Arthur's life, the people he affected directly, and the soul of this talented man. READ THIS BOOK AND LEARN THE STORY OF A MAN WHO DESERVES TO BE RECOGNIZED AND REMEMBERED!!!



2. After being a fan of Arthur Alexander in the early sixties he seemed to drop out of sight, occassional records but very little else seemed to appear, this book puts the record straight and fills in all those gaps. It also goes a long way to answering the reasons that he did not make it to the position in the music scene that his undoubted talent deserved. The book is very well written by Richard Younger who obviously felt very deeply about the subject, he deals with the problems that AA encountered in his music career and his private life. It was sad that at the very time that AA was begining to make a comeback and he was again showing the talent that was always there he was taken from us. He had become religious during the last few years and this seemed to have a calming effect on him and I am sure that he would have again had big selling records. Thank you Richard for an insight into the life of Arthur Alexander through the highs and lows.



3. Arthur Alexander was always a mystery man - till now! Richard Younger's biography of one of the most distinctive and influential black singers of the 60s sheds sympathetic illumination upon the life, the music - and the demons - of this woefully underrated singer/songwriter (the only writer to have songs cut by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan). AA's hugely-satisfying vocals married to his distinctive soul-country arrangements (his reputation was founded on just four 1962 Dot-label singles) emerged moments before the UK beat boom swept the globe and was crucial in its influence on the Beatles and the Stones. Younger's book explains how it all came about, taking us on a roller-coaster ride through AA's life of musical and personal extremes. With a series of revealing interviews he transports us to the heart of the Alabama music scene and charts Arthur's role in the foundation of the Muscle Shoals/Fame recording empires. Whether you're a long-term Alexander devotee, a soul music buff, or simply a Sixties survivor, then you'll find this unputdown-able tome a tonic that'll have you listening with a fresh ear to those perennial Alexander classics.



4. Fans of soul music will find Richard Younger's Get a Shot of Rhythm and Blues to be a fine biography of one Arthur Alexander, a singer/songwriter who may not be well known by name, but whose songs influenced the 1960s rock musicians. A fine coverage of his life and achievements is presented in a lively survey of soul and rock and roll music.



5. Fans of soul music will find Richard Younger's Get A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues to be a fine biography of one Arthur Alexander, a singer/songwriter who may not be well known by name, but whose songs influenced the 1960s rock musicians. A fine coverage of his life and achievements is presented in a lively survey of soul and rock and roll music.