5 comments about Lee: The Last Years.

1. Lee: The Last Years
   
   This is a wonderful book about a wonderful man. Although Robert E. Lee is most remembered as a General, for most of his adult life, he was an engineer and educator (although in the army). Mr. Lee could have become very wealthy after the war by simply allowing his name to be used commercially. However, he wanted to make a contribution and did so by accepting the position as President of Washington College. He seldom spoke of the war and brought no military flavor to the College.
   
   There is an argument that Robert E. Lee is responsible for more American dead than any other single individual. The difficult part of this book is tying to tie that Robert E. Lee to the man he was in his last five (5) years. He played Santa at Christmas, broke up a lynching, stroked the ego of his horse Traveller, was a good family man, looked out for the under dog and took care of his students, even when they were in trouble. How he handled all these situations, often minor by standards of the war, brings out the essence of the man including his character, values, wit and subtle humor.
   
   I have read/studied history and biography for 40 years. I have spent more time on Robert E. Lee than any other individual and this book someway brings all my study of Mr. Lee together and puts it in perspective. I highly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in American History. Thanks Mr. Flood.



2. Outstanding biography of the man. Much has been written about the general, this book brings the humble father, husband and Christian man to life.



3. I've long considered myself a student of Southern history and the Civil War. Heck, I've been a historian at museums so I think I have a pretty good knowledge of the Civil War era. Furthermore, I live in Virginia and have been to the campus of Washington and Lee University. However, nearly every page of Charles Bracelen Flood's work on Robert E. Lee's post-war years is full of information I've never heard about. Flood has used many differing sources to pull together a wonderful, highly readable account of Lee's years after the war, how he came to be President of Washington College, and his role in the reconstruction of this country. What jumps out off the pages is that for as much as Lee has been studied and idolized for his exploits on the battlefield, his postwar years as President of the college should get just as much press. While Lee did not think defending his native state was wrong, he did wish for both North and South to reconcile as quickly as possible. After reading the book, I still do not think Lee is the god that some people hold him up to be, but he does stand out as a good man who wanted to bring the nation back together while also helping his fellow Southerners get back on their feet. While Flood's writing can be unimaginative at times and I thought he threw in little stories and vignettes that he didn't need too, the book is excellent overall and should be a must read for anyone interested in Lee. However, the book is such an easy, good read that I think almost anyone should pick it up.



4. Bracelen Flood clearly does extensive research in order to render this intimate and engrossing portrayal of Lee.



5. Lee: The Last Years was well worth reading. A must for anyone who wants to know a little more of the Rest of The Story about a fine American, though much misunderstood.

5 comments about America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (Penguin Classics).

1. Its present lackluster era notwithstanding, America still commands the world's attention and arouses curiosity. No matter how much we read about the country, how frequently we visit there, even live there for years, we have the nagging feeling that we do not understand its true essence. And that is not for want of pertinent information. The mass of available statistical data is beyond imagination. So is the daily, weekly and monthly output by journalists. There is no lack of in-depth analyses by eminent economists, sociologists and political scientists. And yet, it is hard to distill from all of the above an essence that speaks to me, the common everyday man. I am a native of Germany who spent most of his life in Brazil. I have always had a deep interest in American literature and have done my best to get a good glimpse of it, but even that is not an easy job. Whereas the name of John Steinbeck is fully familiar, I had always associated him with his California novels. Only recently did I take an opportunity to look at his postwar production and felt immediately attracted by the title 'America and Americans'. I certainly was not disappointed. The book offers in rich measure what is so hard to come by, the human aspect, offered in understandable, indeed beautiful language, by an unusually lucid observer. Even though the country and its society have changed dramatically over the forty years since the date it was published, the book looses nothing of its informative value. It provides a picture of a point in time, and tells of the values of that time. That is an excellent backdrop to contemplate the present moment and reflect on future options.



2. AMERICA AND AMERICANS AND SELECTED NONFICTION is a compilation of articles that John Steinbeck wrote during his journalism days from 1936-1966 and one of his last novels, AMERICA AND AMERICANS. With Susan Shillinglaw and Jackson J. Benson's helpful introductions for each short essay, readers can see how his real life observations and experiences resonate within his fictional works.
   
   Steinbeck's writings are distinct and unique as a result of the deep connection he had with the people he encountered and the respective landscape in which they lived. The most compelling aspect about these articles and essays are the periods in which they were written -- from Great Depression to the War in Vietnam. These previously published nonfiction articles possess a part of Steinbeck's personal life that was poignant at times: "Indeed, the "Steinbeck" tone and "unmistakably American" approach could be the stamp on all his writing, whether about growing up in a California town or about French fishing habits in Paris -- it was American in spirit" (xv).
   
   AMERICA AND AMERICANS AND SELECTED NONFICTION is a treasure to own. This is a great example of John Steinbeck's versatile style of writing that was historical and political as well as ironic. And with this in mind, Steinbeck aficionados or curious readers will find this book insightful.



3. This is only essential for hardcore Steinbeck fans, but his insight and singular turns of phrase pervade this prolific collection. Of particular note is his homage to his three best teachers, less than two pages long, called "...like captured fireflies." America and Americans is dated in parts, but his takes on corporations and America's obsession with children are prescient, and his indefatigable optimism essential. A different resonance than the novels, but of the same calibur.



4. Although overall this book is clearly inferior to some of Steinbeck's other works of nonfiction, it has its high points and is worthwhile for big fans. If you are not already familiar with Steinbeck's nonfiction, I suggest you read A Russian Journal, Travels with Charley in Search of America and Once There Was A War before buying this book.
   
   Among the best pieces in this book are "I Am A Revolutionary," "The Soul and Guts of France" and "Terrorism." Aside from these three pieces - and a paragraph or two scattered here and there among some of the others - this book consists of fairly slow, relatively uninteresting and disappointingly uninsightful text. Still, it's Steinbeck, and if you've a big fan, then reading even his mediocre work is more fun than most things you could be doing with your time. Otherwise though, if you have a mere passing interest in Steinbeck or have not read the other works mentioned above, then either read his other material first or just forget about this book altogether.



5. Steinbeck, as he and the annotator in this book repeatedly declare, let his interests range freely in his choice of nonfiction subjects. The whimsical pieces darn near steal the show. There's an affectionate account of his old Model T, and how its radiator happened one day to spew hot oatmeal all over his mother while riding in downtown L.A. There's a self-deprecating sports article, in which he proposes the sport of oak tree racing. There are some quite funny and surprisingly touching dog stories. The man could make *anything* a joy to read!

   But the meat of the "selected nonfiction" section is the 1930s reportage of the California migrants, which would later become the basis of his Depression novels. It is a searing experience even seventy years later, being made to watch formerly solid American citizens being ground into the mire by poverty, malnutrition, and hopelessness.

   Even his much-denounced Vietnam coverage has unmistakably Steinbeckian passages of humanity. He goes for a combat patrol in an AC-47, a "Magic Dragon", and frankly confesses his fear. He flashes back to conversations with combat journalists and ordinary soldiers, who were killed very shortly thereafter. He accurately contrasts the omnipresent threat of guerrilla attacks with the more formal setpiece battles of previous wars--and portrays the confusion this arouses in the public back home.

   The final bit is the republished _America and Americans_, which is one long cry of "Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?" Perfectly understandable for someone of his age and background encountering the Sixties for the first time... But even here his native American optimism refuses to let him despair. He concludes, "We have failed sometimes, taken wrong paths, paused for renewal, filled our bellies and licked our wounds; but we have never slipped back--never."

3 comments about Pershing (Great Generals).

1. The author, Jim Lacey, does an outstanding job of capturing the history of one of the first great military leaders of the 20th Century, General Pershing. It is undeniable the mark that Pershing left on the military after WWI, giving the United States a huge advantage when it saw action again during World War II. Lacey does a fantastic job of telling the life story of Pershing in 193 easy-to-read pages. For any student of history, more specifically military history, this text is a must read.



2. Author Jim Lacey clearly gives the GENERAL'S perspective of the events during Pershing's life. The reader gets no feeling of having been in the trenches although the general's perspective is presented quite well. The author, if he truly did set out to communicate only the view from above, was very successful and I do recommend this book for those who are interested in that angle.
   
   The clearest example of this bias is the campaign against the Moros in the Philippines. The slaughter was presented as always a necessary thing. It makes one wonder. Perhaps the reader who wishes a broader perspective of Pershing's professional activities should compare and contrast views by other historians as well.
   Paul Baum, Ph.D.
   Living Historyist
   Audrain County Historical Society



3. Pershing has always been an interest of mine, as I viewed him as the best forgotten general America has ever produced. The two best biographies prior to this were both huge multi-volume editions and I was a bit wary about anyone trying to capture Pershing and all of his many accomplishments in a single slim volume. However, Jim Lacey appears to have captured everything I would want covered and even presented a few priceless bits of information I had not seen elsewhere. For instance, he lays to rest a debate that has raged on the Internet and among historians as to whether Pershing ever condoned wrapping dead Islamic insurgents in pork skins to deter others. In summary, the book proceeds at a furious pace and truly brings Pershing to life. It is a must read for all historians, and for anyone else look for brilliant leadership study.

1 comments about Civil War Goats and Scapegoats.

1. "Civil War Goats and Scapegoats" is a highly readable, even-handed book that does an admirable job in defending generals who have been maligned unfairly and censuring those who committed major blunders. It's well researched and amply illustrated, hard hitting but fair, and includes clear descriptions of military terms and Civil War military organizations as well as interesting anecdotes on the pre- and post-War lives of many of the commanders. The book is recommended for anyone - novice or serious student - interested in the Civil War.
   
   Three scapegoats defended passionately by Winkler are J.E.B. Stuart, often criticized for his controversial performance at Gettysburg ("He was following Lee's orders, and he provided Lee with substantial cavalry assistance, which Lee misused," Winkler wrote); Charles P. Stone, a Union general vilified by the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War (or JCCW, of which the author is repeatedly critical) for his defeat at Ball's Bluff; and Henry Wirz, the commandant of Andersonville, the infamous camp in Georgia for Union prisoners of war.
   
   Winkler is equally passionate in blaming generals for incompetent performances, including Stonewall Jackson for his "chronic tardiness" in the Seven Days' battles (though, as he notes, Jackson was ill); Ulysses S. Grant for his suicidal attack at Cold Harbor; and Grant and William T. Sherman, then one of the former's division commanders, for being "completely and shamefully surprised" at Shiloh. In the book's most provocative passage, Winkler wonders whether Jackson's mortal wounding by his own troops at Chancellorsville might have been an intentional act. Also interesting is Winkler's assertion that George McClellan, in addition to being undone in the Seven Days' battles by his notorious cautiousness, also was undermined by political intrigue leading up to those battles, with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and the JCCW chairman, Sen. Ben Wade, as the chief culprits.

5 comments about Passing for Normal: A Memoir of Compulsion.

1. Passing for normal gives the reader great insight on life with OCD and Tourette's. It talks about her very first tic to her treatment that she has today. Amy is very open about her problems in this outstanding memoir. I also have OCD and can relate to many of her stories. This book also gives hope to reader's.



2. This book was so incredibly interesting. I've read quite a few books on the subject of suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder and I have to say this was one of my favorites. Amy so honestly tells the stories of her childhood, the way she suffered from tourettes as well as OCD and went undiagnosed for years. Amy details such difficult subjects, her trials and tribulations, but often speaks humorously about her past. She takes dark subjects, and writes seriously, but keeps them from being too dark and weighty by keeping a humorous attitude about her whole situation.



3. Passing for Normal (by Amy S. Wilesky) Reader Review
   Reviewer: Kristina M. Emard from Lebanon, ME USA

   Amy is an awesome writer, she tends to skip around a little but her detail and thoughts and opinions about everything are just so selective and different. Too bad there weren°Øt more writers like her. She talks about her life and the things she had to deal with. She did very well in school even with her disabilities.

   Amy had a very rough up bringing dealing with her two disabilities (1) Tourette Syndrome which is a rare disease that is characterized by involuntary tics and by uncontrollable verbalization involving especially echolalia and the use of obscene language, (2) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by obsessions or compulsions having one or both is sufficient for the diagnosis. An obsession is a recurrent and intrusive thought, feeling, idea, or sensation. A compulsion is a conscious, recurrent pattern of behavior a person feels driven to perform. Amy didn°Øt even know she had the disorders until she was older. She had to deal with her family and friends who thought she was crazy. She does finally end up getting the strength to go see a doctor because she knows that something is wrong with her. She was diagnosed with OCD and Tourette Syndrome, so her doctor put her on Prozac and other medications.

   After, when she knew she had the disorders she had a hard time, and didn°Øt want people to say bad things or make fun of her because of her disabilities, so she kept them to herself. When Amy is at her group meeting she isolates herself, she says °?My main problem is this: I seriously questioned myself up to a group of people who wouldn°Øt or rather couldn°Øt accept my party line.°± When Amy says °? people who wouldn°Øt or couldn°Øt accept my party line°± she means, people wouldn°Øt accept her for her. She was afraid that people wouldn°Øt accept her.

   In group she met a man named Bryant. They shared many similarities, which built their strong relationship. When Amy moved and was able to start at a new school, she loved it! She made many new friends, who again didn°Øt know she had these disabilities. Her friends thought that the twitching and the need to touch everything was cool. Amy eventually becomes obsessed with her obsessions and compulsions.

   Amy goes to college at Vassar like her many other relatives, where her and her first boyfriend begin living together. She was afraid of relationships, afraid of getting hurt, and afraid of being touched, but most of all afraid of any sexual activity. She trusted Ben very much though.

   In the last chapter she sends a very strong message that includes the title of the book. °?The older I get the more arsenals I acquire, the better I get at keeping my secrets, sometimes overriding them, sometimes Passing for Normal.°±

   This book has an amazing twist in the end but I wont spoil it for you. It is a great book for any reader that can follow flash backs and such. She uses great detail and amazing thoughts and opinions. She is a great writer.




4. I thought it was a really good book.

   I think that overall my experience with Asperger's syndrome (AS)has been more traumatic than hers has been with Tourette's, still, I think it's an important book. "Passing for normal" is something I'm trying to do all the time when I am with people.

   My only criticism is that she uses "like autistic" as a description of some of her behaviors and implies that it's a BAD thing to act autistic. It sort of feels like a put-down to me, but I don't think she intended autistic people to read her book and feel that way.

   It's amazing at the overlapping issues that Tourette's has with AS (some people have both), but they don't have any intrisic problem with making friends or understand typical motivations, as she shows.

   I thought her description of her relationship with her father was really interesting.




5. This memoir read like an article that was stretched out into an entire book. It was not a particularly interesting memoir or a good book on the topic of OCD or Tourette's. It was long-winded, obvious, and stale.

1 comments about The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton: The Life and Legacy of America's Most Elusive Founding Father.

1. This crisply written volume of eleven essays by leading Alexander Hamilton scholars provides an excellent reading experience for any person interested in the founding years of the United States. The essays are well documented and present new scholarship and a clearer understanding about the centrality of Hamilton throughout the founding period of the U.S. The beauty of the book comes from the clarity of writing and information conveyed, while not glossing over the debates still surrounding Hamilton and his many legacies.

5 comments about Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall.

1. The author, a direct descendant of Samuel Sewall, provides a much-needed full assessment of the life of her notorious ancestor. The most important fact in this book is provided in the frontispiece illustration--a portrait of Sewell's apology before his congregation for his role in the witch trials and executions, known by few, if any, readers outside Massachusetts' students of history. Sewell was the only judge to apologize for his role in this horrific episode in American history.
   More fascinating, though, are the other extraordinary acts of repentance enacted by the judge over his long life. And his writings are nothing less than astounding--including examinations of experiences of various groups and even a piece on women - making him an equalitarian of the first order centuries ahead of his time. At the least, official historical accounts of what happened at Salem need to include information about Sewall's apology and repentance.



2. Author Eve LaPlante, who is a descendant of witchcraft judge Samuel Sewall, covers her subject well in this book. Life was difficult in Puritan New England with death being a common visitor to families with many children lucky to live beyond the age of five. Puritans came to America for land and religious freedom, but were not accepting to those whose beliefs differed from their own. People often questioned their salvation and figured that hard times such as diseases and death among family members was due to having angered God in some way. Prayer was the most accepted method of dealing with a sick individual. A vaccination for smallpox was viewed by many as unacceptable. Surprisingly enough, Cotton Mather was open to the idea. Women certainly took a back seat in Puritan New England with their job being the bearing of children. Puritans even questioned whether or not women would be in God's heavenly kingdom. Approximately half of the book deals with the witchcraft craze of 1692, a belief they brought over from Europe. The question of whether or not the girls believed they were afflicted will never be settled. If they did it to spice up their otherwise humdrum lives they could be charged with murder. Judge Samuel Sewall had the courage to own up to his mistake while the other judges did not. Author Nathaniel Hawthorne added a "w" to his last name to disassociate himself from his ancestor John Hathorne who was an unrepentant judge at the trials. It seems difficult to believe that judges could convict people based on spectral evidence whereby you could prove where you were at a certain time, but you couldn't prove where your "shape" was. The final section of the book relates the latter part of Judge Samuel Sewall's life and others who were influential during this time period. The author also provides us with directions to visit sites mentioned in the book. I have done previous reading on this subject during my college days, and this is one of the best sources I have come across.



3. The note I wrote on the inside page of this book reads as follows:"Absolutely fascinating!" How come? Because Ms. LaPlante presents us with a character who lived as a giant in his own time. But more, she offers a clear picture of the potent religious world view and powerful lens of faith through which citizens of Puritan New England perceived the world and their place in it. The reader will find this approach not only interesting but, as the author describes Sewall's engagement with life and with his God, both existentially and theologcally terrifying. The witch trials arise from the nexus of life's uncertainty in 17th century Massachusetts and a fierce and unpredictable God through whom the likes of Samuel Sewall try to discern the "realities" of good and evil. He,his neighbors and colleagues can discern wrongly . . . as Sewall himself confessed some five years after the trials he oversaw as judge.
   But enough of this. Ms LaPlante mines Sewall's diaries and public writings for - yes - romance! In addition, she finds him a humane and civil defender of Native Americans amid local, social contempt.Sewall wrote the first Anti-slavery tract in North America, a touching and compassionate piece. He testified from a vivid Biblical perspective in behalf of gender equality when such thinking brought widespread disdain. His personal and public presence as described by the author represent a monumental figure in early American history. You will find the book clearly written and every effort made to explain to ignorant moderns 17th century language and cultural nuances. The title tags Sewall as "Witch Judge." OK. But really, so much more. Indeed, absolutely fascinating!



4. This fascinating account of an early American leader's
   public and private life is the story of a good man who
   was guilty of a terrible mistake. Seeing he did wrong,
   Samuel Sewall had the courage to say so, and repent.
   Eve LaPlante paints a vivid portrait of life in early
   New England, especially the world of the educated
   elite. Religion and the Bible were the dominant
   intellectual features of a world ruled by fears and
   disagreements only too comprehensible to us now.
   Sewall and his peers worried about foreign relations
   and governmental debt, and lived in constant fear of
   attacks by Indians, pirates, and the French. "Salem
   Witch Judge" offers an intriguing journey into a world
   as far away as colonial America, yet at the same time
   as close as the human heart.



5. Eve LaPlante's book on Samuel Sewell, one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials (and her distant ancestor) is extraordinarily well researched, and her prose is easy to follow. Those not intimately familiar with the history of the time will appreciate her care in explaining details that many have now forgotten.
   
   Ms. LaPlante's style is worthy of comparison to Claire Tomalin's (the author of the great biography of Sewell's contemporary, Samuel Pepys). She well explains the beliefs and folkways of the times, i.e., Massachusetts in the last half of the 17th century. She reminds us of the extraordinary "dangers, toils and snares" (to quote a later hymn) that the New England colonies had gone through after the first, pleasant, and peaceful foundation of the colonies at Boston and Plymouth, exacerbated by the sudden war with France that followed the accession of William and Mary in 1688. All these people could do was to ascribe to witchcraft the disasters that in reality were the inevitable result of our ancestor's struggle to make their homes in a world that had finally become hostile to them.
   
   Remarkably, Sewell was semi-ostracized by his pastor, who came to feel the witch trials were unjust, and in response, he made a public confession of the sinfulness of his Court's proceedings -- the only judge to do so.
   
   The book should be read along with the great book about the era, "Manitou and Providence", with the sermons of Cotton Mather and his father, Increase (some of them, at least) and of course with Arthur Miller's play, "The Crucible", which takes some license with historical fact, in the service of a very good story.

5 comments about Citizen McCain.

1. As the 2008 election season ripens, this six-year old "classic" will give you an extra interesting angle on one of the presidential candidates, and maybe future President of the US. No matter what, this work's popularity will increase shortly, then drop off sharply after January, 2009!
   
   The interesting angle comes from Elizabeth Drew, a columnist, pundit, and traveler-with author. Not everyone will like this kind of story, a sort of short-interval biography, or an informal/insider diary of trials and travels with a famous Senator. Nevertheless, it is a good tale showing in some detail what a national legislator must do to get his bills passed. In this case, of course, the legislation centers around campaign financing, resulting eventually in the McCain-Feingold law. One is also left marveling how anything much gets passed through Congress in the first place.
   
   Clearly, the author liked John McCain, and liked following the thread of the Senator's political life, as well as schmoozing in the company of the Senate's most famous maverick. She astutely points out, though, that an effective legislator has to get real business done, and McCain showed often how he was not a wild-shooting, alienating maverick. Given the author's usual philosophical tendencies, one also wonders what she will be thinking as the '08 campaign winds along. One bet might be that she will be "all kinds of sorry" she wrote such a glowing, pal-sy book back then!



2. I have to agree with one of the previous reviewers and say that there is too much admiration in this book for Senator McCain. However after saying that, it took guts to take on the leadership of his party to propose campaign finance reform. McCain did it for the best of reasons--because it will make our republic more democratic, and not beholden (as much) to money. For that reason along, I also have a lot of admiration for the Senator from Arizona.
   
   Even though the author shows her bias, this is a nice story about how the forces of politics works in our nation's capital. Introduction of a key piece of legislation requires diplomacy, conviction, and working with disparite groups. Senator McCain should be congratulated for his efforts in getting this legislation passed.



3. Always original and always unabashedly candid, John McCain has won over many fans in the realm of politics - as well as his fair share of enemies. Whenever I hear McCain is to appear on Hannity & Colmes or another show, I make it a point to tune in - because I know something provocative - and possibly something controversial, may be said. That's what sets McCain apart from the politically correct force-fed politicians of today - he refuses to rigidly adhere to the strident dogma of party lines. McCain, instead, subscribes to his own agenda - one of morality, reform, and good old-fashioned honesty.

   While Elizabeth Drew primarily delineates McCain's co-authored monumental McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill throughout the book, she all the while allows us to delve into the innerworkings of the McCain office and his devoted staff. While others in his own party(and those outside as well) bash him and label him as being bitter towards Bush as to why he didn't back the President's tax cuts, McCain proves that he, above all, is a man of principle, not party line. True American patriots like John McCain are few and far between. As SC Senator Lindsey Graham says, "The thing about John McCain is that if you ever get to be his friend, he'll be with you thick and thin. There ain't a lot of that up here."




4. I just finished this book, and I really don't see any point at all. This book was just a meandering tale with McCain at the center, shedding no light on him as a private or public figure. I have to point out that I like McCain as a character and I was hoping to learn more about him as a politician. Articles that I have read in magazines lately are much more informative. Read the excerpt and if you are not hooked, do not expect the writing to improve.



5. John McCain is the new Don Quixote of American politics -- honest, decent, committed and innocent; a political virgin in a pleasure dome where most of the residents are dedicated to pleasing the big spenders.

   He's an adopted Arizonan, probably more because of his wife than any other cause, but he's the perfect impratical heir to a long tradition of Arizona idealists who flopped magnificently on their own but set a grand stage for others. Think of Barry Goldwater, or Stu and Mo Udall, as the epitome of political idealism and the graveyard of personal achievement.

   In a nation based on the idea that errors of opinion may be safely tolerated where reason is left free to combat them, McCain poses as a champion of restricting open political debate. Ironically, his McCain-Feingold bill to ban soft money in politics contained a neon sign pointing the easy way to simple evasion, allowing "unaffiliated" campaign committees to raise the same money from the same influence peddlers to achieve the same results.

   Political limits have been sought for hundreds of years; in America, some of the first limits were ending the free whiskey for one's supporters on election day. Teddy Roosevelt banned corporate donations in 1907, and McCain is merely the latest but surely not the last in a long line of distinguished opponents of political influence peddling.

   Drew, an excellent reporter, does a masterful job in detailing the long intrigues that bedevil all legislation. She has a good knowledge of the legislative process, and her this alone her book is a revealing insight into just what goes into the making of our laws.

   The sad part, of course, is that McCain's efforts are meaningless. Money pours into politics for one simple reason -- donations buy favorable results for donors. People rarely give to politicians to improve the community; it's a pity McCain didn't learn this as a charter member of the Keating 8. If donors were really interested in good government, they'd buy snowplows for Washington. D.C., rather than giving "soft" or "hard" to politicians.

   McCain is a maverick, as gutsy in politics as his grandfather was as an admiral in the Pacific in World War II. Like Goldwater, like his grandfather, John is totally authentic (okay, I've known McCain since his first campaign in 1982). Like Goldwater, his success may not be measured in immediate results; but, look for McCain's name to sound long and true if the campaign to make politics more open, honest, candid and accessible to everyone someday achieves positive results.

   This is why Drew is worth reading; granted, she's wrapped up in campaign finance reform, but she touches some undercurrents in modern society that McCain has tapped. Like Don Quixote, McCain's aim is true; unlike Quixote, McCain's efforts may may pay off in another 20 or 30 years with a birth of new honesty in politics.

   McCain is a masterful politician, and Drew nicely captures these skills. He is genuinely committed to public service for the public good; before his first campaign, he talked to a wide range of Arizonans about a potential role in state politics. His first thought was to run for the legislature; when a Congressional seat opened up, he seized the opportunity and won a close but significant victory in a state where the largest newspaper open favored conservative Republicans.

   Like his grandfather, John McCain III knows how to seize opportunity when it arises. Many politicians are 90 percent show and 10 percent candor; McCain is the opposite, and it is this honesty which Drew so nicely portrays that has made him into yet another national figure from Arizona.

1 comments about The Secret to Freedom.

1. Set in the years before the Civil War is this story of Lucy and her brother, whose parents have been sold as slaves. It's up to the siblings to help slaves escape to freedom using a 'quilt code' by the Underground Railroad: when he brother escapes as well, Lucy wonders if their family will ever unite. Good reading skills will lend to an appreciation of this pre-war saga.

5 comments about James A. Garfield (The American Presidents).

1. James A. Garfield is one of those forgotten 18th century U.S. presidents--along with Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Hays, two Harrisons, and a few others. Garfield is forgotten because he served only six months as President, and more than two of them were with a bullet in his back. Ira Rutkow does a credible job of reviewing Garfield's life. He shows Garfield to have been an intelligent, ambitious, talented, brave man(he served as a general in the Civil War)who was just a little full of himself. We'll never really know whether he would have done more to deserve being remembered.
   The great strength of this book are two chapters-- one, a detailed narration of Garfield's wounding and its immediate aftermath. The second chapter is on medicine in the 1880s. It shows clearly how doctors who examined Garfield's wound, probing it with unclean fingers and instruments, gave Garfield an infection. And it was the infection that actually killed him. The idea of sterilization was fairly new, and many "old school" doctors did not subscribe to it. Unfortunately, it was the "old school" doctors who handled Garfield's case.
   This book will give you a sense of who James Garfield was. But nothing can give Garfield memorable status. His brief presidency simply does not merit it.



2. I suppose by some measure, James Garfield was one of the best presidents ever. After all, he didn't really mess things up. Conversely, he may be one of the worst, as he had no real accomplishments either. That's what happens when you occupy the office for around six months, much of which were with an eventually fatal bullet wound. In truth, even if Garfield had not been assassinated, he would probably would never have been one of more significant Chief Executives, just another in a line of minor figures to occupy the White House after the Civil War. Wedged in a group that includes Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison, Garfield would be similarly obscure had he not died in office.
   
   Ira Rutkow's brief biography of Garfield (part of the American Presidents Series) does not have much to say about Garfield's brief tenure as President. Instead, the focus is on two things: Garfield's rise to that office and the medical bungling that did more to bring about his death than the bullet had.
   
   After an uneventful childhood, Garfield eventually started taking education seriously and, after finishing college, briefly taught and practiced law before becoming involved in politics. This was on the local level until the Civil War, where he served as an officer and eventually rose to the rank of general (though his military career left little impact on the war's outcome). Even before the Civil War ended, he had moved on to Congress where he served for nearly twenty years.
   
   Garfield was one of the more "radical" Republicans and parlayed his growing influence in the party to become a dark horse candidate in the 1880 Presidential election. He would win, but a disgruntled (and somewhat crazed) Charles Guiteau would shoot Garfield just four months into his Presidency. Unfortunately, the doctors who oversaw his care were essentially incompetent, ignoring basic rules of cleanliness that were well-known by that time, and they wound up causing far more damage than the original bullet.
   
   Rutkow, whose background is in medicine, spends a lot of the book discussing late 19th Century medical practices and goes into great detail about the shortcomings of those who treated Garfield. He does a decent job, and given Garfield's limited historical significance, it is probably more appropriate for a medical educator to write this book than a regular historian who would probably be hard pressed to fill 150 pages with Garfield's accomplishments. If you're really interested in the life of Garfield, I know there are bigger, more detailed biographies out there, but this book is at least a good introduction, and for most people will provide all the information on the twentieth president that they would ever need.



3. Once again I found myself enjoying the strange politics of America's Gilded Age as I was introduced to a man who, up to this point, had remained a dim figure in my mind: someone who was famous only for his very short term as one of this nation's Chief Executives. It turns out that James A. Garfield did exist, and he was more than a footnote in history. He was a leading Republican (always a party man) who stood for a brief moment as the chosen voice of "the people" (or at least the voice of a very splintered Republican party).
   
   Party politics was the defining, big-picture issue as Garfield came into the Presidency. Following U.S. Grant's term, which was tarnished by scandals, the men who held the highest office were by necessity forced to discuss (if not actually devote themselves to) civil service reform. Of course this only led to further deal-making and intrigue as both parties (a demoralized Democratic party that hadn't had a president in the White House since Andrew Johnson, and a Republican party at odds with itself over which faction should be in control) tried to vie for offices of importance. Enter James A. Garfield, a man who would, by his assassination, become a martyr to civil service reform.
   
   All this is easily found in most grade school history books though. What the author, Ira Rutkow, does in this fine biography is outline not only the political forces at work behind the rise and fall of the Garfield presidency, but the conditions of American medicine at the time...conditions that directly impacted the death of America's 20th President. The chapters that immediately follow the attempt made on Garfield's life examine the care he was given by his doctors and the unsanitary methods used (methods that, as a reader, I found both interesting and grueling). One wonders how Garfield would have faired had he lived in a later century.
   
   Mr. Rutkow has done a very good job of bringing this unknown, little-remembered president back to life, if only for awhile. "For who was Garfield," Thomas Wolfe asked, "and who had seen him in the streets of life?" Here, finally, we have an answer.



4. In the grade school litany of the names of our nation's leaders, James Garfield does not even merit a pause. Amidst Washington, Adams, Jackson and Lincoln, then Roosevelt and Eisenhower later, the twentieth President gets little more in even High School U.S. History than does Pierce or Fillmore. Yet he was a complex and accomplished individual, a General in the Army and a most skilled politician.
   
   Rutkow is a physician, and an accomplished author. He brings the eye of the surgeon to the treatment of the President after the assassination attempt while concisely reviewing his early life and run to the presidency with aplomb. At a time when the subject of errors in medicine is much with us, it is sobering to read of the "treatment" of the highest elected official. Rutkow validly makes the point that President Garfield was not simply maltreated: he was killed by the physicians watching over him, primarily one eclectic and ego-driven surgeon. Had Garfield suffered the same bullet wound in 2006 he might have been discharged from the emergency room and lived to a ripe old age.
   
   Beyond this tome, the entire "American Presidents" series edited by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. now numbers 33 volumes and is a collective treasure providing brief but well written biographies of the men who have led our country.



5. A great job of bringing James Garfield into the limelight. The author's insight (medically)was very helpful.