2 comments about One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln's Road to Civil War.

1. A basic history of Abraham Lincoln's political journey from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Nothing in this book will be a surprise to dedicated readers on the Civil War era.
   
   The author writes in a folksy style, sourcing quotes from local press accounts of the time, memoirs, and early Lincoln biographies. Mr. Waugh uses the Little Giant, Senator Douglas, and his long-time and somewhat unusual relationship to the up-and-coming Lincoln as a common thread throughout his book.
   
   Not broad or deep scholarship, but worth reading for one in need of an introduction to, or reminder of, the greatness embodied in the one who finally ended slavery within our land.



2. There are a raft of Lincoln books published seemingly every year. Each author has a slightly different take on the Great Emancipator, seeing him in a slightly different light. Most think him as great as the name implies, nad I tend to agree. So does the author of this current book, who takes a look at Lincoln's political philosophy, especially as it relates to the issue of slavery. Author Waugh spends only a little time dealing with incidents in Lincoln's life: his marriage, the death of his son, and so forth are all dealt with very cursorily. His father's death is only mentioned in passing, when the author is recounting something that happened a decade later. The majority of the space in this book follows Lincoln's transformation from a Whig who had only vague opposition to the institution of slavery into an abolitionist of sorts who had very definite views about pretty much every aspect of the issue.
   
   I've never read a book by John C. Waugh before. On one or two occasions, people have recommended books by him to me, and I think I have a copy of one of his books floating around here somewhere, but I never did get to it. This book crossed my path, and the time was right so I read it. I have to say I think I'm going to have to find that other book, because this volume is very well-written and interesting. I really enjoyed it.

5 comments about James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity.

1. Lack of information? This is a good Biog. It does get a little wordy, especially concerning Monroe's foreign affairs work. Personally, I like to study the revolutionary mind, and read about the founding fathers' philosophy concerning politics and life. I just don't think there is as much information about Monroe as some of the others. He seems to have been a somewhat private person. Over all though this is pretty good work. Probably about as good as it gets for the amount of info available.



2. I read this book as part of my goal to read the established biography of every President. This was really an outstanding biography on what is clearly an underrated President.
   
   I would consider Monroe the Eisenhower of the 1800s. He did a lot and doesn't seem to get a lot of credit for it. I don't think credit was what Monroe was after.
   
   He played a key role in both the military and political history of the country and the author did a great job in depicting both. I especially liked the authors discussion of Monroe's role in reaching agreements with G.B., France, Spain, Russia, Portugal, etc.
   
   Obviously we all know about the Monroe Doctrine, but the author went into great detail in other key areas and detailed his relationships with other important men from his era.
   
   It may be longer than most would want to read, but if you want to read a really great book on a great President that is well constructed, flows well and is detailed enough to highlight the key and not so key aspects of a Presidency. This is the book on Monroe you should read.



3. I am presently reading a biography of every U.S. President in order. From browsing the reviews of Monroe biographies, Ammon became the obvious choice. I can gladly say that I was not disappointed. Ammon's biography of Monroe is comprehsive, well written, and superbly researched. Ammon's writing style is refreshingly easy to read and the information is very well organized. Monroe emerges as a very important President and, while not as brilliant intellectually as his two predecessors, certainly well suited to be chief executive and arguably the most important influence on American foreign policy until Theodore Roosevelt.
   
   My criticism of Mr. Ammon's volume is that, despite adeptly describing the political life of Monroe and its importance to American history, the biography never succeeds at leading the reader to understand Monroe on a personal level. Perhaps this task is not possible given the research available, but this is the first presidential biography that I have finished feeling that I did not have an adequate understanding of the personality traits behind the subject's actions.



4. This highly readable book focuses on the foreign policy elements of Monroe's career almost to the point that it is more of a book on diplomacy than a general biography. The portions that detail his partnership with his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, especially the genesis of the Monroe Doctrine, are where it is at it's best. Unfortunately it gives short shrift to his relationship and feelings to his own slaves, even while giving a very good account of his activities around the Missouri Compromise.



5. James Monroe by Ammon
   Over the last several years, I've read biographies of the first 40 presidents. I've usually used Amazon readers to guide my selections. At the end of this review is a rating of these biographies.
   
   James Monroe was the last of the founding fathers to be president and he is one of most underrated statesmen and presidents. During the Revolutionary War he served with George Washington. Later he was minister to France and Secretary of State. Aside from Washington he is the only president to run for a second term without opposition. He was an excellent diplomat. His cabinet included John Quincy Adams and John C. Calhoun , and it can be argued this was the most effective cabinet and administration of the 19th century. Monroe is closely linked with fellow Virginians, Madison and Jefferson, and while he does not rank as a genius or philosopher with this pair, he was probably a better leader than either. Monroe's political style was to solve problems, be diplomatic, and develop consensus. Ammon's accounts of 12 hour cabinet meetings demonstrate this style of governance. Monroe also believed in a limited presidency . He consistently chose to respect the separation of powers, and at times limited his effectiveness out of respect for the Constitution.
   
   Ammon's biography is better than serviceable. It shines during Monroe's early years and his presidency. The book often drags during the middle third. My sense is this is because Monroe was more of a peripheral figure during these years, and this biography tends towards a tangential sense of history during this section.
   
   
   Bonus - You can see my reviews (SMR) for many of the following books, but here's a capsule summary
   The BEST
   Franklin Roosevelt - Conrad Black - captures so many facets of a great leader weaving his way through constant challenges, completely engaging writing; SEE MY REVIEW
   Teddy Roosevelt - Edmund Morris - the best writing hands down of a presidential biography - Teddy himself was so much fun that its hard to miss with this subject
   John Kennedy - Robert Dallek - detailed, balanced biography of a complex man, SMR
   Lyndon Johnson - Robert Dallek - volume one is as good as Morris' Teddy Roosevelt in terms of story- telling and describing the complexity of an absolutely driven man. Volume 2 deals with LBJ's presidential years and the morass of Viet Nam - its well written but like the war itself, it goes on and on from one disappointment to the next. SMR
   John Adams - David McCullough - great writing, perhaps a bit too favorable to Adams, but this is the book that got many readers to take a first or second look at our founding fathers
   Warren Harding - Francis Russell - absolutely the best biography of a unqualified president - captures Harding's sexual scandals as well as the smoked filled rooms and corruption of the times and Harding's administration, SMR
   Chester Arthur - Thomas Reeves - a great biography of an very corrupt politician and an incredible job of detailing the spoils system and New York politics, SMR
   The SECOND TIER
   Harry Truman - David McCullough - McCullough is always engaging, but it seems to me that he places Truman a little too high on the pedestal
   Abraham Lincoln - David Donald - the authoritative biography of Lincoln, I felt like crying at the end
   Jimmy Carter - Peter |Bourne - a good history of the time and an unflinching, thorough analysis of Carter Written by a Carter insider, but not afraid to criticize. SMR
   Franklin Pierce - Roy Nichols - a well written description of a man who was simply in over his head, SMR
   Martin Van Buren - John Niven - paints a pretty likeable picture of a man who many despised and distrusted, sifts through a great deal of detail about New York politics, and the Jackson and Van Buren administrations - subtly introduces the idea that most of Jackson's successful policies came from Van Buren
   Grover Cleveland - Alyn Brodsky - a better than average biography, very well organized and readable, soft pedals Cleveland's personal indiscretions SMR
   James Buchanan - Philip Klein - Buchanan schemed to become president for 30 years - Klein's biography gives a great overview of years of US politics and of Buchanan's scheming sort of politics, SMR
   James Monroe by Harry Ammon
   Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation - Merrill Peterson - a very thorough description of Jefferson and his times - much more emphasis on his politics and other works than his personal life, SMR
   Andrew Jackson - Robert Remini - this is perhaps unfairly low - I read the one volume abridgement, and would have preferred the detail of three volumes
   Gerald Ford - James Reeves - brisk writing and the best retelling of Watergate. A thorough description of Ford's developmental years and career prior to becoming president, but his presidential years are given less than 30 pages. SMR
   John Quincy Adams - Paul Nagel - uncovers Adams' personality and depression in a very sympathetic way but covers Adams' failed presidency with only a single chapter.
   Andrew Johnson by Hans Trefousse - a very good biography of a very complicated guy during the US`s darkest years - at times I had trouble keeping the many Reconstruction era politicians straight
   Rutherford Hayes - Ari Hoogenboom - a good biography including Hayes' war years, rise to the presidency, and his years in office. Although the election crisis of 1876 is presented in detail, Hoogenboom tries a bit too hard to give Hayes a free pass. SMR
   Ike Eisenhower - Geoffrey Perret - a workmanlike complete biography
   Ulysses S. Grant - Feeley - a great biography of Grant as a general, but it really falls down (as did Grant) during the presidential years
   Millard Fillmore - Robert Rayback - a good biography of a forgotten president who actually had some success in forestalling the Civil War
   Ronald Reagan - Edmund Morris - the weirdest "major" presidential biography - the fictional and real narrative are confusing. Although Morris captures Reagan, so much time is taken up with childhood, adolescence, and acting that important parts of the presidency are glossed over. SMR
   George Washington - Douglas Southall Freeman - I read the one volume abridgement of his seven volume monster. Freeman tells a great story, but he probably admires Washington too much.
   NOT QUITE GOOD ENOUGH
   Ulysses Grant - McFeely - This is a great biography of Grant's early life and Civil Wars years, but Feely seems about as disconnected from the eight years of Grant's presidency as Grant was.
   James Garfield - Allan Peskin - Garfield could be a caricature of a post Civil War president - log cabins, Civil War general (not much of one), Ohio, Republican, and weak - Peskin writes too much about Ohio politics and not enough about the corruption of the times
   Herbert Hoover - David Burner - A pretty boring read about a fascinating character during a fascinating time
   Woodrow Wilson - August Heckscher - Wilson was a very complex guy. This book captures Wilson and his times but it is a pretty dry read
   James Madison - Ralph Ketchum - just too dry - SMR
   Calvin Coolidge - Robert Sobel - this never really grabbed me but it is written in an engaging style
   William Henry Harrison - Freeman Cleeves - This biography is more than 50 years old. The narrative is engaging and Harrison had an interesting life; BUT, Harrison gets pretty much a free pass for his relationship with the many tribes who he evicted from the Northwest Territories. See the recent biography of William Clark for an more revealing telling of this aspect of Harrison's life.
   VYING FOR THE WORST
   Zachary Taylor - Jack Bauer - Taylor was an egotistical, quarrelsome, and paranoid guy who became president after winning several important battles during the Mexican War. Bauer does a workmanlike job detailing Taylor's life but he avoids a lot of the controversy by not making some pretty basic judgments into Taylor's character.
   Richard Nixon - Tom Wicker - An odd book. Wicker writes with great insight into Nixon, but he seems to get tired of writing the book. Watergate is almost completely left out as is much of the last years of Nixon's presidency. SMR
   James Polk Eugene McCormac - This two volume set was one of the most disappointing biographies I read, but there is little available as far as a complete biography of Polk. A political biography, that completely ignores Polk's personal life (slave-owner, ambitious wife, father). SMR
   John Tyler - Oliver Chitwood - A poorly organized and overly apologetic biography of one of the leading candidates for worst president. Written in the thirties, this book is stylistically dated. SMR.
   William Taft - Judith Icke Anderson The author is a disciple of the Fawn Brodie - psychoanalytic school of biography. Taft is actually a pretty easy guy to figure out, and he was quite open and honest about his feelings about his life and career. He didn't need this sort of biography.
   Benjamin Harrison - Harry Sievers - This is dreck! Three volumes of hero worship. Harrison had an interesting life and was an ineffective president, but this set does little to engage the reader. SMR
   William McKinley - Kevin Phillips - This is more of a long essay than a biography. Way too many aspects of his life are brushed over. I was left with far too many questions about McKinley, and definitely feel a need to find another McKinley biography. SMR

5 comments about Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintences and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career.

1. Anyone who has read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote knows that it was his best writing. He created a new genre of reporting and fiction combined by immersing himself in the subject of his book. He spent months living in Kansas where the Clutter family was murdered and many hours with the two young men who did the killing. After the blockbuster book came out, Capote was catapaulted into celebrity and high society. This book is so interesting because it follows Capote's life from childhood through his rise and fall from grace. His friends and acquaintances tell the story as if you were sitting there listening to them discuss Capote, the good and the bad. Truman was an elfin sprite, full of stories, not all true but extremely entertaining. But at the end of his life he was using drugs and alcohol to deaden the frustration of being unable to top his masterpiece book and finding nothing better to write about, turned on his high society friends, writing a tell all book about them using thinly disguised characters. Because of this, the people who made him, dropped him out of their lives completely, leaving him bewildered. He had wrongly assumed that they would understand and forgive him. After that he simply drifted and declined physically, drinking until his body gave out. He died in the arms of his best friend Joanne Carson, exwife of Johnny Carson. He knew he was going and begged her not to call for help, as he was worn out and finished. I think I would like to read In Cold Blood again, this time with a different understanding of Truman Capote.



2. As a fan of Plimpton's witty style, I picked up the Capote biography, only to realize that Plimpton didn't write it. Instead, he interviewed dozens of people and let them tell Capote's life story. At first, I was mildly disappointed but soon understood the irony: Capote was infamous for his gossipping, and now these acquaintances are gossipping about him. In the same way that Capote created a "nonfiction novel" with In Cold Blood, Plimpton compiled a "subjective biography" that focuses on Capote's public persona more than his private life. (Perhaps because much of his private life was public.) The interviews are colored by the subjects' relationships with Capote, and many of them have an agenda in talking about him, so I would not recommend the book to someone who wants to read a factual chronicle. However, it is entertaining and gives a portrait of the New York high society--in which authors had a place, unlike today (I think)--probably better than a standard biography could provide.



3. Full of salacious detail and struck through with the the vagaries of human nature, this oral history highlights, in an immensely readable way, the arc of ambition that propels the talented Tuman Capote to reach beyond the world into which he was born. The journey takes us on a wonderful romp through post WWII New York society and careens toward a place where our subject falls to his own singular sirens. It was a great Nantucket beach read.



4. I really liked this book. I am a Truman Capote fan, and the book was wonderful. A must read for Capote fans especially!



5. Honestly, Capote would have loved this book, he loved the subject above all others. Ths late Plimpton does a fine job getting many of Capote's friends and admirors, as well as detractors, to give an insightful look at this singular man. Capote was complex and manipulative, but people were drawn to him, he was the ultimate self promoter. I really think even those who hated him, missed him when he died. He could be heartless and cruel, but he had a certain quality, I guess it's called star power, that made him a very powerful friend to have, he rode the success of In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffanys to the apex of society. He was painfully insecure and it's sad that he felt people were only his friend because of his ability to write great books, it's tragic that late in life he felt the need to make up the fact that he was writing this masterpiece, I think he was terrified of writing the book that would follow In Cold Blood, that I believe is what lead him to write the ill advised Unaswered Prayers. You will really want to avert your eyes when the vail is pulled away on Capote.

5 comments about Personal Memoirs: Ulysses S. Grant (Modern Library War).

1. Written by the dying hand of one of the chosen men of his time. For any scholar of Grant, Civil War or Military History, these readings are a must. Grant's military genius was without equal. Had his superiors, early on, had his keen foresight, the Civil War could have ended a year or two earlier. Another great read is "Grant" by Jean Smith.



2. It is surprising that the most balanced and impartial view of U.S. Grant should be written by Grant himself. His style of writing is clear and sparse, recounting fact as fact and without lengthy editorializing. A must read for any civil war buff or serious historian.



3. I think this is the only real account you can get of the civil war. It's...Great!



4. This book really provides incredible insight into Grant and what made him a great general. In a plainspoken & straightforward manner he gives a recount of his role in the war and his military philosophy (attack). Unlike a modern autobiography we get nothing personal or confessional (not necessarily a bad thing). Any mention of drinking, or his dismal presidency are omitted and his family gets only a paragraph or two; which is fine because no one is interested in Grant's parenting or presidenting tips.



5. Although Grant doesn't blow his own horn, a close reading of his campaign accounts supports the "revisionist" view that far from being a butcher of men and Lee's inferior, Grant's victories (other than Shiloh) were tactical in nature, not brute force charges. (OK, there was Cold Harbor, but that was one mistake in a year-long campaign to destroy the South before the North lost its will to fight. Time was not on Grant's side.) Furthermore, Lee, Jackson, Johnson, et. al. always had the easier side of the equation, playing defense and disrupting the North's long lines of supply and communication.
   
   This is also an interesting study on how an apparently unremarkable person find greatness within himself when he is in his element, and how a great general can fail as a president because the leadership roles are quite different.
   
   There is a dry wit in much of Grant's writing which makes it a fun read even if you don't care for the details of his capture of Vicksburg and his eventual destruction of the South's Eastern armies. Grant does not shy away from describing the slogging nature of the war or his mastery of maneuver warfare.

5 comments about American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond.

1. This book is well written and contains a good narrative account of Watergate break in. Aside from that Mr. Hunt seemed torn at the time he wrote this book (near the end of his life), He critizices the leaking of the events a Abu Graihb (not the actual events), yet at the same time he is critical of the decision to go to war in Iraq and seems uncomfortable with certain aspects of GWB's expansion of FISA.
   Maybe these contradictions are due to his long career in CIA and other post that required deceitful and duplicitus words and actions. Whatever the reason this is still a book worth reading.



2. "American Spy," confirms we are living in one of the most exciting eras of history.
   
   Per example, Hunt includes an intriguing insight in his final summation.
   
   "I have rewritten this chapter twice as events keep catching up to me," he begins. {Page 328, para. 2, line 19.} He continues on to note that suggestions he made in the previous versions actually were fulfilled before the publication of the book, causing him to rewrite those passages.
   
   Hunt's delving and the reviews available here on Amazon, make one immediately aware that this field of study is ripe for examination.
   
   One fascinating abscence from Hunt's chronicle is the chapter of various societal affiliations of the leading players, beginning with the past CIA directors, few, if any, of whom qualified for the position 'intelligence chief.' The question begged, that none in authority thought to ask, "Why?" A related list to be made as cross-reference with the names of these scions of snooping? Suggested entries would have to include the Council on Foreign Relations and, naturally, good ol' Skull & Crossbones. Any illumination as to where these configurations might lead?
   
   Just those two would have answered many of the questions Hunt posed throughout his familial confession. But, then, that perhaps reveals Mr. Hunt's true position : American Spy. And few spies tell all, American or otherwise.
   
   Good reading. So close to his own demise, Hunt could have entitled the work, "Racing Through Paradise." Had not, of course, his good friend and compatriot, {how telling that phrase becomes in context}, W.F. already absconded with the plume for one of his own tumblings.
   
   To those who cry 'surfeit' one need only close with Hunt's observation leading into his 'rewrite' remark. Just two paragraphs prior, Hunt waxes on the flood of information being created by the exponentially increasing technologies, casting all intelligence agencies adrift on this Sea of Portent.
   
   One revels in the closing scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as Hunt opines, "...finally content {the CIA} to stamp them TOP SECRET and file them in massive storerooms, with only about 5 (sic.) percent of the information ever undergoing analysis."
   
   Oh, the tangled webs !
   
   TL Farley,
   author,
   When Now Becomes Too Late,
   Distant Reaches
   
   When Now Becomes Too Late { Hard copy }
   
   When Now Becomes Too Late {Kindle copy }
   
   { Prophecy : The Rapture In Brief }
   
   
   
   Distant Reaches
   
   { True Life Adventure In Ireland, Boston and On The North Atlantic }



3. This book reads just like a mystery novel. It's easy to read and full of suspense, so I couldn't wait to turn the page to find out what happens. The pages on Watergate were especially suspenseful. This book was good from beginning to end. It's interesting to get the inside information on CIA training and activities from someone who was really there. Also, it was good to read about Watergate from someone who was really there and knows what happened. He also fills this book with stories about his personal life, his parents, wife and children. At the end, he offers his views on how to fix the agency today. This is a very good and easy to read book! I enjoyed every page of it.



4. This man, even as he looked at death, could not even come close to the truth. If you buy this book call me i got a bridge for you...
   
   mmmm just to be straight i bought this book...so don't be a sucker like.....me



5. I really looked forward to reading this book having been in college when Watergate grasped the nation I wanted to see how well I remembered some events. But after reading half the book I knew that much of what I was absorbing was the result of a memory even more flawed than my own. The topper came when he has President Eisenhower in office in 1950 when even a junior high schooler could tell you Eisenhower was elected in 1952 - after the Korean War. After that how reliable could the rest of the book be. Was it just a case of poor editing, or did Hunt really believe what was written? It left me questioning how much of the book was meant as an attempt to absolve himself of his crimes or justify the mistakes he made of his own free will. Is he trying to rewrite history? I just don't know, and after finishing the entire book I still am not sure if this is non-fiction or fiction.

No comments about James Jesus Angleton, the CIA, and the Craft of Counterintelligence.

5 comments about Franklin Delano Roosevelt (The American Presidents).

1. This abridged version is read by Richard Rohan & he even tries his hand at FDR inflections. This is a pretty good overview of FDR's life,but you wouldn't expect much depth with 3.5 hrs. running time on a CD. Roy Jenkins died shortly after or maybe a little before this was completed. Arthur Schlesinger jr. edited. But the tone gets more reveverential towards the end. Not really Jenkins style so maybe Mr. Schlesinger finished. But there is no doubt that FDR was the most influential president of the 20th century. His impact is still very much with us.



2. The New Deal, Social Security, World War II. FDR was the greatest president of the 20th century. He was a polio victim with braces on his legs. Perhaps America needed such a leader to get it through the Depression and the war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. We have seen the video of FDR addressing Congress following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor: "December 7, 1941, a day which will live in infamy!" Americans volunteered for military service in droves. They fought the Japs island by island. Army engineers built the Alaska Highway, stretching 1500 miles from Dawson Creek, Canada to Fairbanks. After Pearl Harbor, the fear was that Japan might take Alaska. Japan bombed the two western-most Aleutian Islands. Roosevelt was president the same years Adolph Hitler was in power in Germany, 1933-45. Roosevelt and his staunch ally, Winston Churchill, proved tougher than Hitler. Roosevelt was elected 4 times as there was no two-term limit. Roosevelt's archrival, Hitler, was born in 1889 in the Austrian town of Braunau. In his youth, Hitler wanted to be an artist. He lived and struggled in Vienna. It was there that he came to hate Jews and Communists. He believed in an Aryan master race. He fought against Britain in World War I. He joined the Nazi Party and went to prison after a failed coup. Hitler dictated Mein Kampf (My Struggles) to Rudolf Hess in prison. After his release, he reorganized the Nazi Party and surrounded himself with men like Himmler, Goebbels and Goering. Hitler became German chancellor in 1933. World War II began when Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Germany occupied France, bombed London and attacked Russia. The United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Americans landed at Normandy Beach on the coast of France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and drove the Germans back. They met their Russian allies, who poured in from the east to crush the Nazis. Hitler and his companion, Eva Braun, committed suicide. It came to light that 6 million Jews had been exterminated in what is now called the Holocaust. America helped to rebuild Europe with the Marshall plan. Donald Rumsfeld's "Old Europe" became a suburb of the U.S. in light of the Soviet threat. The time has come the United States to put itself first. If the U.S is going to police the world, the world must pay for that protection. Police cannot work for free. Government is about war and money. Too often, it is a gang of thugs terrorizing its own people. Government should exist to serve. Its best form is democratic, not totalitarian, neither fascist nor Communist. Government needs to foster education, promote arts and sciences and care for the aged and disabled. It must encourage agriculture and facilitate transportation and communication.



3. avoid books where the author's personality and florid prose obscure the subject. besides, what precisely does jenkins have against short sentences and one-dollar words?



4. The late Roy Jenkins, in assessing Roosevelt, rates him in the top three of all American Presidents, along with Washington and Lincoln. Whether you like FDR or whether you are one of his critics, it is hard to dispute Jenkins' conclusion. Jenkins believes that had FDR not run for a third term, he would have been one of the better, near great Presidents, but that it took WWII to make him the icon he became. Jenkins fails to point out that FDR did not create any appreciable number of private sector jobs prior to WWII and that, in fact, unemployment was almost as high as it was eight years earlier, when he took office. The reason may be that Jenkins had been a Labour Party member of the House of Commons, accordingly, his world view was that of a government interventionist. However, I ultimately agree that nontheless, FDR was, at least, a better than average President during the depression years, due to the great optimism that he conveyed.
   
   I believe that Jenkins is correct, that FDR became one of the greatest Presidents due to the war. He led the United States in a great mobilization effort. Certainly, responding to events can make one great and FDR's optimistic leadership during the war made him great. This does not mean that he is beyond criticism, and Jenkins offers very little of that. Again, as a Labour party menmber, he would not have been as staunchly anticommunist as a Conservative, such as Churchill or later, Thatcher. Therefore, he spares FDR of any criticism for Yalta. His view is that since the USSR already occupied Poland, there was nothing to give away.
   
   I must contrast this book with another book in the American Presidents series, Tom Wicker's biography of Eisenhower. Wicker could find almost nothing Ike did as President that did not deserve criticism. Jenkins, on the other hand, finds little, in FDR, to criticise. An example is his absolving FDR from any real criticism for not taking in more Jewish refugees during the holocaust.
   
   This series of books constitues short biographies, thus it is not possible for the authors to be comprehensive. However, Jenkins covers a lot of ground. He gives a lot of coverage to FDR's career prior to his presidency. This is something Wicker failed to do, in his biography of Eisenhower, regarding Eisenhower's prepresidential career. Still, there was much Jenkins could not cover. For example, FDR went to great legnths to hide his disability. In a television documentary, it was revealed that he always would hang on to the arm of either a secret service agent or one of his sons and, by pretty much thrusting his hips forward, would give the illusion of walking. The legnths FDR went to are certainly fascinating but, I recognize that this book was too short to cover it in depth.
   
   Perhaps this biography was a little too adoring. The fact that there is much to criticise does not detract from the fact, that ultimately, FDR was indeed one of the truly great Presidents. Still, Jenkins covers a lot of material and I highly recommend this short biography.



5. This is a very good brief introduction to Roosevelt, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a brief understanding of Roosevelt. It is very easy to read and suitable for high school students. Being written by a man from Britain, it also shows how the world views FDR - as one of the most important leaders in world history.
   
   You will not acquire a thorough understanding of FDR by reading this book. For that I would suggest the huge "Champion of Freedom" by Conrad Black.
   
   In response to Mister Syzek, my understanding the post-war settlement is that Stalin broke violated the Yalta agreement, which was quite favorable to the west. FDR achieved most of what he wanted, including the stipulation that Eastern Europe was to have elections. But Stalin broke his promises and controlled Poland despite the agreements that FDR was able to extract from Stalan. FDR got the deal in writing. Stalin did not abide by it.
   
   Stalin was determined to control Poland no matter what, so Poland was firmly in his grip, despite what the actual terms of the agreement said. Staling went so far as to say that it was "a matter of life or death."
   
   Franklin Roosevelt was a geopolitical realist, and the reality is that the Soviet armies controlled Eastern Europe and Poland, and the USSR would be willing to fight - and win - to stay. The American people had no enthusiasm for yet another world war againt Russia. They wanted their soldiers home. Maybe you should ask the American people why they were not willing to suffer 5 million killed for Poland. You see, in America you must deal with these pesky things called voters and democracy.
   
   To complicate the matter, the Soviet Union took the brunt of the war (17 million dead), and Stalin was rigidly determined to secure a buffer between Mother Russia and Western Europe. Stalin would not have budged on his goal.
   
   So what Roosevelt obtained from Stalin was the best he could obtain - firm promises from Stalin to hold elections. It was Stalin who broke his promises. That made the Soviet Union look like the bad guy.
   
   Truman then waged the Cold War (without the millions of dead from a hot war) leading to an eventual liberation of Eastern Europe. It's no surprise that Reagan was a huge fan of Roosevelt, voted for him four times, and attended his third inauguration (a moving event for Reagan). Reagan then brought an end to the Cold War without firing a shot.
   
   You may be able to criticize Truman for not liberating Eastern Europe while American had a monopoly on the atomic bomb... or Eisenhower. After all, USSR staged a coup in Czechoslovakia and then staged a brutal crushing of the revolt in Hunguary in which tens of thousands were killed. Clearly this was in violation of the agreement that FDR was able to extract from Stalin. It was the USSR that broke the agreement. FDR did not sell out anyone.
   
   Then again, maybe the path Truman took was wise. Maybe waging a long-term cold against USSR was better than a violent real war. Maybe FDR realized that no European-based power has ever conquered Russia. Remember Napolean? Remember Hitler? Could even USA have defeated USSR in 1945? Maybe Roosevelt would have done things differently. We will never know because he died.
   
   As this book says, FDR was clearly moving to a get-tough posture against USSR. Indeed, FDR moved closer to one of his advisors who was anti-USSR. I suggest you read this book.
   
   At the same time, Roosevelt was an idealist in the Wilsonian tradition when realistic. He believed in the free determination of free people, but he was also realistic. For example, he essentially pushed for an end to world colonialism in his design for the post-war world. Churchill opposed this but he could do nothing about it. The British empire was too weak.
   
   By the way, Poland was not even a country at the start of World War One and was viewed by some in a similar way to the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Should American have gone to war over the Baltic States?
   
   This fine little book is a fine introduction to Roosevelt. It is the best brief book on Roosevelt. Read it if you want an easy introduction to FDR.
   
   If you want a more detailed study of Roosevelt's foreign policy then read Robert Dallek's Bancroft Prize-winning "Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy." My essay here pales in comparison. Or read Conrad Black's "Champion of Freedom."

4 comments about A Woman's Civil War: A Diary, with Reminiscences of the War, from March 1862.

1. Cornelia Peake McDonald's diary shows us what life was like for the South during the Civil War. This inspiring story shows the noble character of Mrs. McDonald and the people of the South in general as they fought for their homeland and their beliefs. Most of us can only dimly imagine the hardships they endured with courage, authentic trust in God, and sacrifical help from neighbors and friends--hardships which included battles being waged in their yards, the death of loved ones, cruel treatment, and women with children being driven from their homes as refugees.



2. This book provides a glimpse into the struggles and mindset of a southern wife & mom and her family during the civil war. Cornelia McDonald's fortitude and faith under extraordinary trials and tragedies is inspirational. We are a homeschooling family and I think this would be an excellent supplement to a high school student's studies of this time period.



3. I stumbled on Cornelia Peake McDonald when I discovered she was a relation. Of course I had to obtain this book when I was surprised to find her diary(or in this case an edited form of it) still in print.
   
   This book is not for the light hearted history buff that wants the stories of battle. It is the diary of a woman living through extra-ordinary times. A diary that her husband asked her to keep when he announced that their town was going to be taken by the union while he had to go to Richmond. Col. Angus W. McDonald organized the 7th Virginia Cavalry and served on the staff of his friend Jefferson Davis.
   
   The town of Winchester changed hands a few times. As such Cornelia was on the front lines. She had to deal with the union occupiers who were not too gentlemenly with seccesionists. Cornelia refused to turn over her house several times. Food was hard to obtain as access was denied to people that did not take an oath to the union. Yet she talks of union soldiers that violate orders and trade for flour and bread. As a good conferate she does not like the union forces as she describes life on the occupation. Yet she finds decent people that help her to what extent they can. In fact she even spoke up for a doctor that stayed in her house and did not bother her too much and kept soldiers from pillaging too much.
   
   She speaks of fears of the occupation as everyday more and more mistreatment happens as people are forced from their homes. Some dropped in the middle of nowhere without food or money. The fact that women are accosted if they walk around in pairs. You feel hear heart ache at the loss of her youngest child.
   
   Eventually she and her family become refugees to Lexington. You learn of her hardships as she deals with starvation and tried to get firewood for the family. Creating Confederate Candles, spinning wool for clothing. She even had to beg a man to make shoes for her boys.
   
   She was faced with breaking up her family. Especially after the Col. died. She decided to keep them together no matter what. After the war, they learn their homestead was unusable and decide to stay where they are.
   
   You also get to hear about the personalites of the war. She sits in a pew near Stonewall Jackson in church. Dinners with the Ashby brothers, meeting Robert E. Lee after the war. There are others that I will leave for you to find. :)
   
   Cornelia is an interesting woman and a product of her era. She speaks out against slavery and yet is offended by actions of freed slaves. She speaks of the short lived effort of reconcelliation of the North that was destroyed by John Wilkes Booth. At first she is happy with Lincolns death as she thinks he got what he deserved. And yet on reflection she realizes it was a big mistake that will hurt the South. She talks about the abuse of Jefferson Davis and the fact an innocent woman and her innocent son go to the gallows for the assassanation.
   
   It should be mentioned this is not the full diary and the fact she lost some of it as she moved around. Yet her memory is rather good as she rewrote events that were lost. She eventually penned a copy for each of her children.
   
   All in all a facinating read about a tough resourcefull woman struggling to keep and feed her family.



4. I read this journal/reminiscence during a short period in whichI read several other Confederate women's diaries and reminiscences,and something that made this one particularly significant in my opinion was that unlike some of the other southern women whose writings I read, Cornelia McDonald lived along a major battlefront of the Civil War from the early months on. Thus, although she definitely preferred to have the Confederate forces around her and appears to have retained some bitterness toward the Union government after the war, she had a more complex view of Union soldiers than did some other Confederate women who lived further from the warfront through much of the war. She mentions the kindness of a shoemaker in her town who sympathized with the Union cause but made shoes for her large family of children even though she could not pay him, and at one point she even has a good word for the Union general who heads the forces occupying the town where she lives. The story of her struggle to feed and protect her children, help nurse soldiers, maintain tense but somewhat peaceable relations with soldiers who occupy her home, and support her family when she is eventually left alone is a story of courage, resourcefulness, pain, and gratitude. Cornelia had not lived only the life of a sheltered belle before the war, and despite the chaos around her, she manages to combine practicality and a love of beauty to keep enough sanity to survive the war and go on with family life afterward.

5 comments about Bat Masterson: The Man and the Legend.

1. Bat Masterson: The Man and the Legend
   I have been watching the old Bat Masterson TV series recently and I got curious about who he really was. This book is very well written and full of stories and excerpts for other biographies and newspaper articles to create a pretty complete picture of William Barclay Masterson.



2. This is a well researched and written book about a western icon. Unlike many westerns, this one is a very interesting read - sharing not only the life of Bat Masterson but the gunfighters and others who lived around them and their experiences. For example, a whole chapter is on Jim Masterson and his experiences in southern Kansas and Colorado in the late nineteenth century. Although the book does an excellent job of covering Bat during his Dodge days and especially his two years as sheriff of the county and the "battle of the Plaza" afterwards, I especially liked the stories about his late years in Denver and New York, including his close calls with possible gunfights during that time. Yes, Bat Masterson did not kill 27 men, and only one is credited to him, but it is clear from this book, that the reason for this was that most people stayed clear of him because of the recognition of his prowess with a six gun. This book is not only a history of Bat Masterson but an excellent history of the gunfighters who crossed his path. Consequently, I highly recommend this for any individual interested in that period of US history.



3. This is probably the best biography of Bat Masterson out there. It is also a good history of 19th Century Kansas is that interests anyone. I learned that alot of western history took place in Kansas so I may want to travel there and check out the sights thanks to this book.



4. Mr. Dearment has provided an excellent read. The data is presented in a well thoughtout manner while the writing style is easy to read and comprehend. It seemed like there was less of Bat's later life presented then earlier days but that may be because there was more to present. I tend to read mostly non-fiction, historical books and found this to have been a very worthwhile project to read.



5. 
   
   I bought this book in hardcover when it was first published back in 1979, having that same first edition copy on my shelves. Hadn't read the book in quite a few years and with Encore Westerns now re-running the "Bat Masterson" TV series of the late 1950s thought it time to once again to brush up on the 'real' William Barclay Masterson. While the TV series offers great intertainment it also offers very little solid history or biography.
   
   I have all of Mr. DeArment's books so coming to this book was nothing new to me, but the one thing that struck me during last evening's read was the amount of collateral information included in this book; it is not just a straight biography focused on Bat but included much surrounding information, for example, the founding of Fort Dodge with the later Dodge City becoming just Dodge. The rough, tough edge of the frontier men: some fair and square, others just vicious killers. Whether as DeArment states no evidence exists for Bat's killing anyone, many, many other men with whom he daily associated did kill with some killing more than once. And most famous names of those western times on both sides of the law, were personally well known to Bat Masterson, and he lived to tell about them and the times, too.
   
   It's good to see this book still being read by people not only interested in Bat Masterson but also the west in general. No better way to spend a few evenings than going over this book that is now close to a generation old; but as one reviewer here remarked, it is still the standard bearer for contemporary writings on Bat Masterson. Since I am an avid western reader, fiction and non-fiction, I have most of the newer biographies on Earp and Holiday, but for Masterson no newer book has appeared. Best to read this one if Bat Masterson is your man!
   
   Recommended.
   
   Semper Fi.

3 comments about Days on the Road: Crossing the Plains in 1865: The Diary of Sarah Raymond Herndon.

1. This diary is well written and thoughtful. The detail is really vivid.



2. I found this diary charming and informative. Having always had a fascination with the time period and wagon trains, I couldn't put this book down. By the end of the book, I was saddened by the fact that Sarah didn't continue recording her life in Montana. I felt as if I had known her personally and was touched by the whole accounting of her travels.



3. Enhanced with a Foreword by Mary Barmeyer O'Brien, Days On The Road: Crossing The Plains In 1865 is the personal diary of Sarah Raymond Herndon, a young pioneer woman who, as the dust from the Civil War settled, left the battle-scarred state of Missouri with her family and traveled overland to the Rocky Mountains in search of a new place to live and a new life to build. Sarah's daily insights, her depictions of life on the trail, her descriptions of the hardships, the triumphs, and the evocations of her memories, combine to form a vivid and accurate image of pioneer life through the words of a pioneer who headed west to escape the ravages of the American Civil War to start her life anew. Days On The Road is a welcome and strongly recommended addition to 19th Century American Studies reading lists and history collections.