No comments about Plain Anne Ellis: More About the Life of an Ordinary Woman.

5 comments about George Washington and the New Nation: 1783-1793 - Volume 3.

1. After a brief lull at Mount Vernon, the victorious general of the Revolution found himself harnessed unwillingly into the first presidency of the infant United States. Flexner handily traces Washington's first term, from the foundation of a new government on an untried Constitution to the internecine warfare in his own cabinet that threatened to split that government and sink the republican experiment.



2. I was somewhat disappointed when I received this book. When I looked for it on your web site, I did a search, and had asked for only hardcovers, so I missed the part on this item that indicated it was a hardcover. I normally collect only hardcovers, and would not have spent $38 on a paperback book. Now, I still have to keep searching for a hardcover version, and I'm stuck with this paperback.
   
   Admittedly, this was my own oversight, so I can only blame myself, but maybe you can fix the problem with your search engine, so when looking for ONLY HARDCOVERS, that is what the result gives.



3. This book is the third in a series by Flexner on the life of George Washington. I highly recommend this series for anyone seeking to really understand the founding fathers. Flexner draws his material from many different sources to dovetail the life of Washington with those around him. His attention to detail makes the book a facinating read from cover to cover. It is quite a journey you are taking with a great man. I am so glad that Flexner took the time to put together such a magnificent compilation of data. I feel so much more appreciative of George Washington for all that he did to hold our nation together in its formative years after reading this book. A must read for those who love history!



4. This the third installment of a four volume series by James Thomas Flexner on the life of George Washington taking us through the years 1783 - 1793.

   We see Washington returning to his beloved acres... Mount Vernon, after the British are finally leaving the American shores. Washington is exhausted and wants to retire and live out his life in the resplendency of his home and family. We begin to see Washington open up so to speak, relaxing in his quiet country life. But again the matters of the New Nation are begining to pull and strain the rather reluctant Washington to a leadership roll.

   Being a very popular figure in early American life... Washington now is growing in popularity and as such is called to lead the Constitutional Convention for ratification of a new and untested government. Washington is elected to become the First United States President. Flexner gives us a lot of detail and put into the writing feelings and emotions felt at the time.

   From the writings that were written about Washington from his peers and thoughs of Washington to others, we again see Washington's fallibility, a man wrought with insecurity and heavy responsibilities trying to cope with a newly emerging government. Even present that others from overseas were watching and waiting for the new government to fail, but proving to them a government viable and alive. But, alas, Washington is now aging and retirement is begining to take hold once again in his life.

   This volume take us through Washington's thoughts and thoughs of Jefferson and Hamilton and how does Washington really feel. Washington is now working harder than ever trying to forge this fledging government into a working model of that written on paper. We see Washington's self-doubts again arise... troubling him with insecurities. Then again, who can he trust, to give correct counsil and if he left too soon would the government fail. If he stayed too long, would he be no better than the Kings he fought. We feel Washington's dilemma.

   I found this book to be very well written with sound documentation.




5. George Washington and the New Nation is actually the third in a four volume set, and continues to follow the life of George Washington after the Revolutionary War. From the years immediately following the last withdrawal of British Troops, up through the end of his first term as the President of the United States.

   Flexner does an excellent job of describing the man behind the legendary hero. Through the actual writings of Washington, and those of his contemporaries, we see not only the "Great General" and the "Father of Our Country," but also see Washington as fellow human being, just as fallible as the rest of us.

   This is also a remarkably telling book about the nature of politics and how in over 200 years, very little has changed. As distrustful as we are of todays politicians, Flexner's book puts those of Washington's days in an even less favorable light - and he uses their own words to do it.

   Through this book (and the other volumes in the set) I gained an even deeper appreciation for the one who was "First in War...First in Peace...and First in the hearts of his Countrymen." I heartily encourage this book and this entire set to all.

5 comments about Diamond Jim Brady: Prince of the Gilded Age.

1. I wanted to like this book, but it seems to have been put together in a hurry. Mr. Jeffers facts were not checked. I don't know if I should blame the author or the editor. pg 305 - 309, Washington Roebling the NEPHEW of the Brooklyn Bridge builder died on the Titanic, not the bridge builder who lived until 1926.

   Brady is NOT entombed in Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn, he is in the ground in Holy Cross cemetery in Brookyn. pg 319

   My head hurt from the mistakes! THey are throughout the book. I hope Mr. Jeffers is more on top of his other works - this one was painfull.




2. This book reveals what, sadly, the recent Burns PBS documentary 'New York' totally ignored; The whole wonderful parade of characters and events that defined the Gilded Age. While the book has flaws (Reggie Vanderbilt was the great-grandson, not grandson, of Commodore Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan was not 'the most hated financier' in America) it still does a good job of bringing to life this epochal time. Especially enjoyable are the descriptions of the New York cafe and restaurant society (Emeril eat your heart out!!) that Brady and Lillian Russell were so much a part of. This book is a good starter for those beginning to explore this period. From here then read Strouse's 'Morgan; American Financier', Patterson's 'The Vanderbilts' and Gregory's 'Families of Fortune' and your off to a good start!!



3. Someone once wrote that there is more to history than wars, treaties, and presidents. This story of Diamond Jim Brady and his platonic friend Lillian Russell makes for great reading of the gilded Eighties, Gay Nineties, and Naughty Naughts. The flamboyant Brady made his money selling railroad equipment and didn't hesitate to spend it on his passion for diamonds, food, or lavishing gifts upon others. It's true that Jim enjoyed advertising himself, but he did enjoy giving gifts to others. When he moved to his West 86th street home on Manhattan he refurnished it with entirely new furniture along with a complete new wardrobe. He introduced New York to the automobile which ran on an electric battery which had a cruising range of thirty-six miles. Since it would be bad for his image if it broke down, he had a friend test drive it for five successive days in the early morning hours. Most people eat to live, but Diamond Jim truly was one who lived to eat. His gustatorial tales fill the book. During the removal of a kidney stone it was found that his stomach was six times larger than normal. I will share a very funny line from the book regarding Jim's wearing of diamonds. It was a rule of his that "diamonds larger than doorknobs should be worn only in the evening." I did find that Diamond Jim had feelings of insecurity regarding his appearance when he was turned down in marriage from a woman named Edna. Jim lamented, "I asked her plenty of times to marry me and she always refused. ...There ain't a woman in the world who'd marry a fat, ugly guy like me." He also offered one million dollars to Lillian Russell to marry him, but she turned him down saying, "Why ruin a beautiful friendship?" If you enjoy American social history you have a treat waiting for you in reading this book.



4. If you are looking for an enjoyable book about an interesting historical character, look no further. Paul Jeffers, chronicler of Teddy Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland, reaches back once again to the Gilded Age in painting an entertaining portrait of Diamond Jim Brady. An up-from-the-bootstraps son of an Irish immigrant saloonkeeper, Brady would amass a colossal fortune in the burgeoning railroad and steel industries of the late 19th Century. This colossal fortune he used to cut an imposing figure on the New York City social scene, giving new meaning, in the process, to the concept of "living large." One New York restaurater dubbed Brady the best 25 customers he ever had. On page after page, Brady plunges into 14-course meals, often in the company of the era's most renowned American actress, Lillian Russell, who routinely matched the rotund Brady plate-for-plate. Jeffers' descriptions of Brady's voracious appetite are worth the price of the book: "He stationed his chair so that there were four inches between the edge of the table and his stomach. Eating ended when the gap had been closed."

   There's more to Jeffers'new book than Brady's prodigous eating forays. It's actually an engaging history of New York high society in the period between the Civil War and World War I. Robustly recommended.




5. This book brings you back to the Gilded Age, through the story of Diamond Jim Brady. I couldn't believe how enticing this rags-to-riches story was, especially for people interested in this time period. The author brings Diamond Jim Brady to life, with factual details on his relationships, his love for food, his jewelry collection, and much more. This is one biography you wouldn't want to miss!

5 comments about Was Jefferson Davis Right?.

1. History has not been kind to Jefferson Davis. This is especially true now with the current wave of politically correct motivated attacks on him. The Kennedy brothers seek to rectify this by placing him under a mock trial charged with treason against the United States government. Incidentally, Davis repeatly asked for this trial which the U.S. government refused based on recommendation of their legal counsel.
   Most Davis critics know very little about him. An excellent biography introduces him to the reader. The Kennedy's present the questioning and motives of his federal accusers and offer a stalwart defense in his behalf. Decide for yourself if he was guilty or innocent of treason.
   Also, included in addendum are informative documents relative to the period and subject.
   When Jefferson Davis died in 1889 the South mourned. Thousands upon thousands of people of all races and walks of life attended his funeral and processions. The South still loved and respected their president.



2. This book provides a defense of the southern cause. Slavery was a sympton of the civil war, but not it's direct cause. Although the book's intention is to defend Jefferson Davis and the CSA, it does provide some very thought provoking information concerning Abraham Lincoln, the origins of today's Republican party and an authorative central government. It is a worthwhile read for anyone looking to find the second edge to the sword. There is much more to America's bloodiest war, and most of it are skeleton's buried deep in the closet of Abraham Lincoln and the heroism associated with his deeds.



3. I found this book interesting. I'm an amateur historian with great interest on the Civil War and the leaders from both sides. I originally bought this book looking for more information on the Biographay and beliefs of Jefferson Davis. It does provide some insight into who he was but REMEMBER WHEN READING the authors' state that it is a defense of Jefferson Davis and what he stood for. Therefore this book definately has a slant toward defending and sugar coating who Jefferson Davis was.

   The book is a defense of State Rights (and decentralized government) as opposed to a strong centralized government. Wether you support one idea or the other this book is definately worth reading to get a different point of view.

   For historical reading on Jefferson Davis read his own writings and speeches from his life and service to the United States and then the Confederate States.




4. This book is: 1. A book that opens up bringing Jeff Davis to life telling us of his lifes joys and sorrows. His adventures and his sufferings. His victories and his defeats. 2. It vindicates Davis's character and faith shrugging off the lies told about him as well as John Edsmoe vindicates the Founding Fathers in "Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of our Founding Fathers" 3. It provides some solid Constitutional points Davis and his countrymen made about states rights and secession. Davis was definatly NOT a traitor. 4. It shows the reader that the issue of slavery was not as cut and dry as television and movies would have us believe. Not everyone who owned slaves was a cruel barbaric beast. And just because the Abolitionists were called abolitionists does not mean they were interested in the well being of black people. In fact they, like the Environmentalists and Anti-Smoking crowd today, were just using the issue as a vehicle to gain control wealth and power. A great book



5. "Some of the statements seem particularly misguided, for example, the assertion the the Bill or Rights applies only to Federal actions, not state actions!" (I know what you are thinking, this is not my typo, it belongs to Mr. Connelly.) Mr. Connelly, I am writing to inform you "the the Bill or Rights" did originally apply to Federal actions only. It was not until the previous century and the latter part of the one before it did this change. The blame for this can be placed on an activist U.S. Supreme Court of the time.

   Now that this is out of the way, I can say that this is an excellent book for anyone who is Pro-South. I myself found it very pleasing to read and I feel that others will to. It is full of interesting facts that you just can not find in other books. The Kennedy brothers have, as they have done before, written a great book.

1 comments about The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Biographical Roster of the Fifty-one Members and a Composite Diary of Their Activities from All Known Sources (Lewis & Clark Expedition).

1. 
   This book is basically in two parts: the first is a listing of all 51 men associated with the L & C expedition and their biographies (most are very short since little or nothing could be learned about them); the second, and much longer part, is a reproduction of those sections in the Journals that mention specific men and their roles. Clarke believes that "as the men are rather lost in the maze of descriptive matter found [in the Journals], the aim of this condensation is to bring them back into sight." He has therefore culled the original journals, not only of Lewis and Clark, but also of Gass, Ordway, Floyd, and Whitehouse, seeking out the names and activities of the expedition's members. It's an interesting approach to the records of the expedition: in studying the original journals with all their mention of miles traveled, campsite locations, weather highlights, etc., it's easy to forget that it's a body of men who are performing this monumental task of exploration. Jefferson wanted the diarists to record "the facts"; this account adds the human element to those facts. A most interesting book.

No comments about More Zeal Than Discretion: The Westward Adventures of Walter P. Lane (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest).

3 comments about Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man.

1. The English poet and Cromwellian revolutionary John Milton had his Samson struggling against forces that he did not understand and that in the end he was unable to overcome. Professor Wills in his seminal contemporaneous study of the career through his successful run in 1968, up close and personal, of one Richard Milhous Nixon, former President of the United, common criminal and currently resident of one of Dante's Circles of Hell tries to place the same spin on the vices and virtues of this modern "Everyman".
   
   Wills takes us through Nixon's hard scrabble childhood, the formative Quaker background in sunny California, the post World War II start of Nixon's rapidly advancing hard anti-communist political career, his defeats for president in 1960 by John Kennedy and for California governor in 1962 by Pat Brown and his resurrection in 1968 against Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey. And through his discourse, as is his habit, Professor Wills seemingly writes about every possible interpretation of his rise to power and what Nixon symbolized on the American political landscape. If one has a criticism of Wills it is exactly this sociological overkill to make a point but make your own judgment on this one as you read through this tract.
   
   However, as well written and well researched as this exposition is it will just not wash. Nixon knew what the score was at all times and in all places so that unlike old Samson there was no question of his not understanding. As Wills points out Nixon had an exceptional grasp of the `dark side' of the American spirit in the middle third of the 20th century and he pumped that knowledge for all it was worth. Moreover, rather than cry over his self-imposed fate one should understand that Nixon liked it that way. There is no victim here of overwhelming and arbitrary circumstances clouding his fate.
   
   It is perhaps hard for those who were not around then, or older folks who have forgotten, just what Nixon meant as a villainous political target to those of us of the Generation of 68 for all that was wrong with American political life (although one Lyndon Johnson gave him a run for his money as demon-in-chief). Robert Kennedy had it very eloquently right, as he did on many occasions, when he said that Richard Nixon represented the `dark side of the American spirit'. For those who believe that all political evil started with the current President George W. Bush, think again. Nixon was the `godfather' of the current ilk. Some have argued that in retrospect compared to today's ravenous beasts that Nixon's reign was benign. Believe that at your peril. Just to be on the safe side let's put another stake through his heart. And read this book to get an idea of what a representative of a previous generation of political evil looked like.
   
   Although the Nixon saga is the central story that drives this book Professor Wills, as is his wont, has a lot more to say about the nature of those times. He takes some interesting side trips into earlier days in California where Nixon grew up. He draws a direct line on the various other personalities like Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney (Mitt's father) and a younger Ronald Reagan who fought Nixon for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968. He gives an interesting overview of the state of liberal and radical thought during 1968 and how the tensions between them were fought out at the Democratic Convention and in the streets of Chicago.
   
   Wills also tries to draw out the meaning of the virulent George Wallace independent third party campaign and how that kept everyone on their toes on the question of law and order the code word then, and today, for race. In short, Professor Wills has enclosed the Nixon story in a hug sociological and political survey of the times. Some of his observations had momentary importance; some have a more lasting value. Others seem rather beside the point. Collectively, however, they give a helpful history of the key year 1968 in America. The proof is in the pudding. The `culture wars' on the nature of personal rights, political expression and lifestyle choices that we have been fighting for the past forty years have their genesis in this time. Give this book a good, hard look if you want to know what that was all about by someone who covered many of the events closely.
   
   Revised: May 14, 2008



2. A colleague just asked me if this is an apologia of Nixon - it is not. I read this and most of the other burst of books that came out in the 1970s right after Watergate, and they were all great reads, especially with the fire of those times still burning -- and Nixon Agonistes was one of the enduring best, engrossing and well rounded. Nixon was a peculiar character but Wills does a good job of being the good historian, with balance and insight. And as I say, it was engrossing -- I read it all the way through. College poly-sci majors in particular should add this to their must-read list.



3. It's too bad that this book is out of print. Probably it stopped selling because of its title -- people must have assumed that it was only relevant for the Nixon era. Not so! The book is valuable today for the evocation of the early part of that time (especially the summer of 1968), but more than that, it is a masterful analysis of that collection of shared intellectual assumptions that make up a great deal of American political (and other) impulses -- specifically, that set of post-Lockean interpretations of social, moral, economic and political life which fall under the rubric of "liberalism". Wills details the connection between Nixon and this background, and the results are far-ranging. Many of the great American assumptions about life are implicated and their mythical foundations revealed: equality of economic opportunity, electoral "mandates", democracy via fair elections in countries that do not have them, fair competition of ideas in academia, and others. Wills leaves no stone unturned. The book deserves to be reprinted again.

   Original review above was July 1998; Below added Jan 2003:
   Hurrah! It's back in print! Get your copy before it disappears again!

   I should have mentioned that, in addition to the fun of watching Wills dismantle the superstructure of liberalism, the book provides great pleasure through its style. Wills writes non-fiction better than most poets write sonnets.

No comments about William and Henry Walters, the Reticent Collectors.

3 comments about Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South (Brown Thrasher Books).

1. Since few people in respectable circles today would admit to having supported segregation, it is rare to read honest accounts from White southerners who admittely accepted the system and went along with it, as most did at the time.
   
   This book is an interesting read for that reason. He speaks matter of factly about his own acceptance of the prejudices of his era and area, as he punches a black boy who uses his mouth on the same needle that he does to blow up a basketball without realizing why at the moment, although he is usually pleasant in hiis relations with the black customers who frequent his grandfather's general store in Wade, NC in the 1950s.
   
   However, he comes across people who challenge everything he is led to believe about Blacks. There is the African-American schoolteacher who forces him to refer to her as "Miss" and most of all, his unlikely friend Street. Street is a self-educated free spirited intellectual who is amazingly accurate on biblical, astronomical, and constitutional facts who lives in a cave by himself. The local Whites dismiss him as crazy and eccentric, but Melton comes to see that Street is not only accurate in his facts, but represents the tragedy of racism through the inability of Street to make a living from his knowledge. One of the most interesting characters in all of Southern biography, one could easily picture Louis Gosset Jr. or James Earl Jones portraying Street in a film version of this book.
   
   I would strongly recommend this for exposing young people in particular to a seldom-heard side in writings about the segregation era.



2. McLaurin has written a valuable and beautiful book. It deserves a place on the shelf with "Coming of Age in Mississippi" as a document of life in the segregated South and of the moral challenges that segregation presented to those who lived in the system.



3. McLaurin's book is a touching recollection of growing up in the South during the 1950s. His rich narative describes not only the difficulties all teenagers face, but explores how these difficulties are made even more difficult in a changing environment. While so many imagine the white teenagers of the Little Rock school integration as pictures of young whites during the 1950s, McLaurin paints a picture of a young man sensitive to the plight of blacks in the Jim Crow South. A very good book, highly recommended to those who wish to get a detailed portrait of the 1950s South

4 comments about The Autobiography Of Calvin Coolidge.

1. Who would think about reading a book about Calvin Coolidge? I'd like to report though that it was a wonderful experience to read about a humble, self-effacing man with a legendarily dry sense of humor,in marked contrast to some of today's self-serving politicians.
   
   Coolidge tells of his boyhood,his warm relationship with his mother, father,sister and stepmother,how he was sworn in by candlelight,about his political life,but most importantly the book is a true model of character and values which can serve as a fine example for anyone,particularly for those entering political life. It would also be an excellent resource for character and values courses for elementary and high school students.
   
   Coolidge isn't known as a great president, but his interpretation was that the role of making laws was the function of Congress,not requiring presidential initiation. Since FDR of course, the President has taken on a far more active role in setting policy. Coolidge's great contribtion to history was not his presidency, but his embodiment of character and values. He also helped restore the dignity of the office after the Harding scandals, much as Ford and Carter did after Nixon.
   
   His autobiography and his character motivated me to create a website about his life,quotes,humor and his truly charming, way ahead of her time wife Grace Coolidge: www.calvincoolidge.us. I also wrote a two hour one man show of his life and performed it twice. It all started with his humble book.
   
   A visit to his family homestead where he took the candlelight oath, and also where he and his wife and sons are buried,is in Plymouth Notch, Vermont,one of New England's prettiest spots in the Fall. But I digress, as they say. The book is excellent.



2. To the extent that most Americans remember Calvin Coolidge, it is for a series of amusing anecdotes concerning his economy with words. That characterization is only partly true. Few people know that Coolidge was one of the last presidents who wrote his own speeches and that he held regular press conferences without a press secretary running interference for him. Coolidge, the son of a general store owner in rural Vermont, was immensely popular and could have easily been renominated had he chosen to run in 1928. There was even a movement to draft Coolidge to accept the nomination in 1932. He declined and his successor, Herbert Hoover, was renominated and defeated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
   
   Coolidge had a syndicated newspaper column following his retirement from party politics and he produced a highly readable autobiography that is candid and simple in its approach. Coolidge possessed a sense of humor and he did not take himself too seriously. This brief book should not be dismissed by anyone interested in America during the Twenties. Coolidge's reputation suffered, somewhat unfairly, at the hands of the New Deal historians who sought to promote Roosevelt by denigrating his predecessors. Coolidge was neglected as a historical figure until Ronald Reagan sought to rehabilitate his boyhood hero.
   
   Coolidge is buried in Plymouth Notch, close to the same country cross roads store in which he was born and sworn into office by his own father following the sudden death of President Warren G. Harding.



3. "The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge" is a fabulous autobiography. Calvin Coolidge was a good man and a good writer, and in his autobiography, Cooidge talks about growing up, his career in law and politics, his family, and everything anybody would want to learn about President Coolidge. People who are interested in becoming President should read Calvin Coolidge's autobiography: Coolidge shared with his readers some duties of the President and what seeking a third term can do to you. How a President is elected has changed since Coolidge's time, but Coolidge became President because of the death of his sucessor, Warren G. Harding. Even though Coolidge shared his opinion, anybody in the White House because of the death of their sucessor should take Coolidge's opinion. Calvin Coolidge was a good man, and there are lessons everyone could benefit from by reading his autobiography.



4. President Calvin Coolidge was a good man and great President who deserves to remembered for more than his reticence. Read here the life story of the President who grew up learning that hard work and a thoughtful outlook are the keys to success. He cut taxes four times and vetoed agricultural subsidies twice. He was unusually tolerant of minorities for his time. The story of President Coolidge is one that deserves to be read. Conservatives and libertarians will find his story especially appropriate for their children.