3 comments about Geronimo's Story of His Life.

1. I really, really enjoyed reading this book. Although I am not particularly fascinated by our aborginal American brethren, I do feel sorry for their plight at the hands of my ancestors and find myself in awe of those such as Geronimo who attempted to fight back against the inexorable tide of foreign inmigration to Indian lands. As the American Indian did not have a written language (excepting the Cherokee, late in their history) it is nigh on impossible to observe the situation between the White man and the Indian from the Indian's perspective. Thus it is almost like manna from heaven that one prescient being, in the form of S.M. Barrett, prevailed upon Geronimo to recount anything at all about his life story. This book is disappointingly short because Barrett approached Geronimo toward the end of his life, and because the Indian chief deigned to tell his story on his own terms, in his own way, and only once each time that he began to speak. Still, what little information Geronimo was willing to impart is vital and spell-binding and utterly fascinating. Interspersed amongst Geronimo's bits and snippets of incidents in his life and descriptions of Apache cosmography and social structure is background information from the author and editor which help to place the story in the context of the White man's historical account of the Apache wars. Obviously, such a short and unstructured narrative is wholly inadequate to illuminate a great man's life, but it still allows one to begin to form an opinion about a man who has by now become a legendary chapter in the story of the conquest of the American West. An especially nice aspect of this book is the dozen or so photographs of Geronimo and members of his extended family.



2. For those interested in Apache history, this may make a nice read, but most of it amounts to a catalog of battles, which to me, are very uninteresting. Some aspects of the way Geronimo thought comes out, but this was basically a boring, tedious book.



3. No greater story can be told about Geromino than one told by the man himself. Not only do we gain insight to this famous figure in history, but we also get an in-depth account of Apache life and philosophy. There are many books that describe the Apache lifestyle, but it is rare to come across a first person account. Learn about Geronimo's ancestry, how he got his name, and the many wars he waged on the Mexicans. Read about life on the reservation and if the U.S. government upheld their end of the bargain. I definitely recommend this book to any lover of Native American history

No comments about At Lincoln's Side: John Hay's Civil War Correspondence and Selected Writings.

3 comments about Earthbound and Heavenbent: Elizabeth Porter Phelps and Life at Forty Acres (1747-1817).

1. If you want a personal view of the past, and a unique opportunity to imagine living in an old house when it was new....this book is for you! Please enjoy this labor of love by the author, who compiled and created a detailed and well-researched volume that brings history to life! It is a must-read for anyone with a connection to Western Massachusetts!



2. The reviewer who found this book dull must have been reading a different book than the one I read.
   
   I thought this was the most interesting biography I've read in a long time and I read a lot of biography.
   
   I loved it because the author, unlike so many recent historians, did not turn her subject into a modern woman in ancient dress. She didn't discover hidden signs of feminism or modern emotions. Instead, she gave us, bit after bit the little observations and thoughts that build up the picture of how different the thought-world and emotional life of a woman in this period was from ours.
   
   I thought the author did a particularly good job of bringing alive the very alien Calvinist worldview with which Phelps lived. She and made me realize the extent to which we have sentimentalized our view of our New England forbears and forgotten how extreme their religious views were. I have read many books about religious history, but this one somehow got at the core of what it meant to live with the philosophical ideas that the other books explain.
   
   The author also made me think, long and hard, about what it was like to live in a world where children frequently woke up with what seemed like a cold and were dead within the day. Phelps' relentless focus on the state of her soul and her terror of eternal damnation made sense to me as the author showed us how her friends and family so often were snatched away by death with no warning.
   
   I also loved the way that the author made the house a kind of metaphor for the larger family and community life which took place within it. I have driven by this particular house many times as it is on my way home from the local shopping mall, but had never had any idea how many people lived there, worked there, visited there, and even, though strangers, stayed there for a night on their way, walking, to central Connecticut. I don't think I will ever look at any big old farmhouse the same way again now that I have more feeling for what the life in such a house was like.
   
   The author does not write like a graduate student. I throught her writing was deft, particularly in light of the nature of the primary source material she was working with, which is heavy going to read. It is no small task to make something readable out of this kind of writing. The author is not educated and does not write the kind of polished letters women wrote in the generation later when they grew up reading Burney and Austen. This is the writing of a woman whose reading was the Bible, hellfire sermons, and Pilgrim's Progress.
   
   I'd recommend this book to anyone who has a serious interest in New England History, social history or womans' history.
   
   If you enjoy this book, another book you'll want to read is OUR OWN SNUG FIRESIDE by Jane Nylander, which gives you a great deal of information about the physical details of daily life in the Porter-Phelps household.



3. This is not the personal life story I expected. I've read a lot of historical biographies (most recently, "Ethan Allen", by Jellison) but this one reads like a senior thesis gone bad. The author "guesses" or "supposes" what Elizabthe Porter Phelps "must have" or "might have" been thinking about certain events transpiring around her. There is no evidence Elizabeth Porter Phelps thought any such thing. The author interjects her own modern thoughts upon a colonial farmwife.

   There is no reason to read this dull and "probably" inaccurate book.

   I was interested in what Elizabeth Porter Phelps words were from that time. The book does not deliver. You might as well read a historic novel -- it would be at least more entertaining.

No comments about American Social Leaders and Activists (American Biographies).

No comments about Captain Granville Perry Swift: California Pioneer and Sonoma Bear.

1 comments about JJ Dickison: Swamp Fox of the Confederacy.

1. Captain John J. Dickison, 2nd Florida Cavalry, CSA, was Florida's equivalent during the Civil War to Virginia's celebrated partisian John Mosby, or to Kentucky's John Hunt Morgan. It was Dickison and his small band of horsemen who almost single-handedly kept Florida's interior from falling under Union control. Using the states natural terrain for cover and employing modern guerilla tactics, he inspired such fear and respect in his northern enemies that Federal forces rarely ventured west of the St. Johns River in central and north Florida. This land became known as "Dixie-land", a play on his last name, and he became known to all as the "Swamp Fox". Using numerous published and unpublished primary sources, Mr. Koblas has written the first-ever thorough military biography of this legendary and overlooked Confederate.

4 comments about Death of a Legend: The Myth and Mystery Surrounding the Death of Davy Crockett.

1. When I saw this book on the shelf, I was really hoping to read an objective analysis of this topic. I had read several earlier books by other authors about the battle for the Alamo, and was aware of the de la Pena account, and thought this book would be the true scholarly discourse on the topic I wanted. What a disappointment! It quickly became clear while reading that scholarship was absent. Scholars don't write works like this in first person, or flip-flopping between 1st and 3rd. Even more however, the author states upfront a personal scepticism about the de la Pena account before ever discussing it, and makes it clear this book is motivated by criticism he received on an earlier book on the same topic. When he finally gets to the de la Pena account, his arguments appear more to be opinion, and does he want scientific testing of the document, no, that wouldn't prove anything to him! How about present the facts and let the reader decide? Throughout the book, at every opportunity he poos all over the de la Pena account without ever giving the reader the information/analysis to decide for themselves. The sad thing about this is that I still haven't seen an objective scholarly treatment of this topic and I need to keep on looking.



2. The argument goes on and on..

   But it is bewildering how some authors will find any means possible to support their hero worship sentiments. The question I ask is why are Mexican eyewitness accounts scrutinized and summarily dismissed if they counter legend? And why are some Mexican accounts acceptable when they support legend? Why does the author accept questionable Anglo accounts (Dickinson) yet fail to question her credibility in light of some confused observations (her sighting of Travis body on the chapel roof)?

   The author,I guess, believes students of the Alamo will believe what they want to believe...and accept the verification of that belief that best fits their views. In my opinion, those who want to maintain the The Legend Must Live! view of the siege and fall of the Alamo have an ally with this author.




3. I try and read everything that comes out of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. This author is beginning to make "a living" off the argument that the de la Pena diary is a fake, but in the end he can offer absolutely no evidence is the contrary from what we already know before the work is read! Did Crockett die in battle? Groneman says no one knows. But was Crockett taken prisoner and then executed? Groneman does not know, but believes that the de la Pena diary on which much of, but not all, that tale is founded, is a fake. So by the time the reader gets to the end of the work, there is nothing conclusive. So, the question that begs to be asked is: what's the point? Crockett was at the Alamo. Crockett fought. Crockett died. What difference does it make HOW he died? The entire exercise is analogous to the question of whether or not Napoleon was murdered on Saint Helena? Who cares? It does not change what Napoleon did in life any more than how Crockett met his end changes what he stood for by choosing to fight and die at the Alamo. My suggestion to Mr Groneman is for him to please move on.



4. This book's focus and raison d'etre - the death of Crockett - is "...the opportunity to present the history and evolution of our beliefs regarding this one brief moment in history...to look at the question from beginning to end." The author's own remarks here encapsulate the book's intent, with "beliefs" the most telling word.

   In their writings, authors reveal more about their own work and about themselves than any review can. It often escapes our attention that reviewers offer their own opinions (welcome to Oz!) which many, for better or worse, will ultimately share. The most any prudent reviewer can do is say if - and why - a book is worth reading. Too many reviewers tend to view a book tangentially and focus on what it is not. This reviewer regards an author's work for what it is and gauges it on its own merits. That's my modus operandi.

   Bill Groneman gives us a solid work. That's his modus operandi. Western historians will have to live a long time, amass abundant research material, study it diligently, and learn a great deal from it before realizing they'd be hard pressed to nullify this book's substance and findings. Even with the most convincing arguments unanswered questions remain - but behind argument stands evidence. If we're persuaded, it's not by the author's comments but more importantly by his actual findings. That he so acknowledges this in his book is very much to his credit: he has enough confidence in some of his readers' intellect to feel they can come to their own conclusions and he wants us to think for ourselves.

   There's evidence Crockett died in battle and several accounts place his remains near the front of the Chapel. No book will ever hold the last word on the matter (but this one holds the most recent one), and the evidence Groneman presents here is certainly persuasive. It's a given that many believe Crockett died battling because they wish to, and because other less heroic possibilities go against their grain; revisionists may believe otherwise, but for corresponding reasons. Even if only by common sense, it seems unlikely Crockett would have met his end another way, including (as some revisionists claim) by surrendering or hiding - particularly when we consider personal self-sufficiency not only as one of the concepts but as one of the operative characteristics of those who lived in that era and particularly in that area. It appears submission or cowardice would be, in the most basic and understated term, rather inconsistent with someone who had been variously a farmer, hunter, veteran of the Creek Indian War, militia colonel, Tennessee state legislator, and three-term U.S. congressman. The rational person concludes that Crockett's conduct throughout his too-short life speaks for itself.

   The only objection the judicious reader should make is that this book isn't long enough. You can't choke a cat with cream. Even at nearly 200 pages of actual text, with additional pages of subsequent sections (including one titled Conclusions which offers incredibly perceptive possibilities), significant contributions by Joseph Musso and well-executed original drawings by artist Rod Timanus, we'd welcome more. Some of Groneman's turns-of-phrase encapsulate the discord between opposing factions; about one academic, his insightful observation "...the quintessential professor straightening out the errant student" warrants nomination for inclusion in future editions of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations by its masterfully deriding contextual explanation.

   The only objection this reviewer has to the book's layout is that the footnotes appear at the end of the volume itself, but it's reasonable to presume these footnote placement logistics originated with the publisher, not the author. Footnotes so rendered are if not equivalent then certainly comparable to hearing knocks at the door on one's wedding night.

   JEFFREY DANE

No comments about Defending Mexican Valor in Texas: Jose Antonio Navarro's Historical Writings, 1853-1857.

5 comments about Geronimo's Bones: A Memoir of My Brother and Me.

1. This book may be powerful, but readers need to know that the story is not a memoir. Indeed, it is not even nonfiction. As recent reviewers have noted, Nasdijj has been unmasked as a white man who previously wrote gay porn. This book--like other works by Nasdijj--is basically a novel, marketed as a "true story."
   
   There is--or should be--a contract between readers and writers so that readers know what they are buying and how much of what they are reading is actually true. Sure, genres overlap and the rules are fuzzy. A reader has one set of expectations for a work of history that adheres to academic standards and a different set of expectations for a memoir or autobiography by a Hollywood star. Ben Franklin probably fudged things a little in his AUTOBIOGRAPHY; James Frey made up a whole lot of stuff in A MILLION LITTLE PIECES.
   
   Publishers need to be more careful about what they publish and how they promote their books. Obviously, scrupulous fact-checking is a thing of the past, but Frey's "memoir" is full of totally unbelievable incidents, and Nasdijj's work was questioned by respected Native American authors and academics before it was published.
   
   That is not to say that works like A MILLION LITTLE PIECES or GEROMINO'S BONES are totally without merit as pieces of writing. But they are not memoir. They are not history. And they are not nonfiction. They are novels, and it is unfortunate that they were not presented and marketed (by their authors and publishers) more honestly.
   
   Readers beware. We need to learn from this lesson. As readers, we are moved by stories--that is good--but we need to know whether or not those stories are "true" because that does affect how we respond to a writer's work.



2. ....since the author is apparently a brotherless non-Native American named Tim Barrus (look him up -- his other works might surprise you). See the LA Weekly's story "Navahoax", available online....



3. I don't have an critical opinion of this book, but I think it would be extremely depressing to read. I did read an online article from the LA Weekly that raises questions about the authors authenticity, and just wanted to pass that along. This may be a fictional book writen by a white. http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lawcontent&task=view&id=12468&Itemid=47



4. Navajo poet Nasdijj has produced another triumph in his latest memoir, Geronimo's Bones: A Memoir of My Brother and Me. Although the writer's earlier works centered on his adopted children, in this new book Nasdijj explores his own abusive past and that of his brother, Tso.
   
   There's no polite way to put this: Nasdijj and his brother were repeatedly raped and beaten by their father over a period of several years after their mother died. Nasdijj frequently emerged from these confrontations with broken bones that, he indicates, are to blame for a painful bone disease that threatens his life now that he is in his 50s. This cycle of abuse took place within the context of poverty, hunger and instability. A migrant worker, Nasdijj's father moves his family every few weeks. A chronic alcoholic, he rarely gets around to shopping for food or cooking for his boys. Other migrants are too scared to report the abuse to the authorities. And the arm of the law isn't long enough, apparently, to catch up with a migrant child molester.
   
   Geronimo's Bones is loosely woven around the brothers' daring escape from their father. At ages 13 and 14, they pick their father's pocket of several thousand dollars, steal a Corvette from a chop shop and drive it to California. One of their first stops is a House of Pancakes where they pick up a 16-year-old girl who is also running away from home. Her driver's license facilitates their journey since she can legally drive and can check them into motels along the way.
   
   Their journey is not told in a straight line, however. Nasdijj deliberately fragments his story, going back and forth in time, slipping years ahead without warning. By organizing his story this way, he mimics the way the human mind deals with harsh memories-in pieces that string together in random patterns.
   
   "What pisses me off about the assumption that my life, and the life of my brother, can be explained in linear ways, is, too, an assumption that my father was destroyed in degrees," explains Nasdijj. He goes on to write, "our father was destroyed in a thousand ways, a trillion ways, ways far beyond our limited ability to understand even as it was happening in front of our eyes. Even as it was happening to him, it was happening to us."
   
   Nasdijj interweaves his narrative with Native American mythology, especially the myths surrounding Indian leader Geronimo. The author reinvents himself and his brother as mythological "war twins," sons of Changing Woman, sister to White Shell Woman. Each new chapter of his narrative begins with myth, then gears back into the story of his own horrible childhood.
   
   In Geronimo's Bones, Nasdijj casts a light on the psychology of abusive parents and children who are so disempowered they don't appeal for help. Some people may find themselves drawn to this book for the lessons it offers psychologists and social workers. Others will be drawn to Nasdijj's haunting poetic style. Whether for its sociological values or for its literary merit, most readers are bound to find Geronimo's Bones a groundbreaking and important new work.



5. A lyrical, pain-filled memoir of two Native American boys, Nasdijj (To Become Again) and Tso (The Smart One), fighting to survive the harsh, oppressive world of countless migrant camps and the consistent abuse and terror inflicted on them by their white father in the 1950's.
   Before the tragic death of their alcoholic mother, she instilled in them the beauty and myth of her Navajo people, "those who walk the surface of the Earth". Nasdijj weaves the myths of Indian leader Geronimo and the War Twins, put on Earth to slay monsters, into each chapter of his narrative. These myths sustained him through illness, poverty, racism and the horror of his life, sustaining him until he and Tso were brave enough to escape the tyranny of their father and travel the open road.
   Although many may find the agony and brutality resonating from every page of Geronimo's Bones difficult to read, it is a powerful, evocative book of poetry that gives us insight into the very depths of Nasidjj's love and strength for his younger brother. Revealing a world not known to most Americans, it is an incredible testimony to the astounding resilience of human nature. Listen and learn "to walk in beauty".

No comments about Matthew Lyon, "New Man" of the Democratic Revolution, 1749-1822.