3 comments about Witness to the Civil War: First-Hand Accounts from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

1. This book gives a timelessness to the reality of the Civil War by seeing it through the eyes of the people who were living through it at the time. The illustrations are amazing and easily take you 150 into the past. Any history buff will want to have this book!



2. Witness to the Civil War is the Smithsonian's abridged compilation of the 1895 Frank Leslie's Illustrated History of the Civil War. Few have or could do it better. Rivaled only by Harper's Weekly, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper utilized correspondents (we today refer to as "embedded") to bring news and pictures from "the front" to eager readers, many of whom had husbands, fathers and sons engaged in the conflict. This book gathers the best of this coverage into a single volume, not so much as a comprehensive history but to illustrate and describe the major events.
   
   The book combines contempoary text (in italics) and illustrations with modern observations and color photophrapy, the latter ensuring flow and context. The illustrations appeal both as art and as history, albeit with occasional exageration stemming from the rhetoric of the time and admitted Northern bias. A gallary featuring the likeness and thumbnail biography of forty-two Union officers (pages 104-109) is particulary interesting. The net result is an engrossing collection that adds life to the history as seen through the day's press.
   
   While Frank Leslie and his wife are profiled at the beginning of the book, I was disappointed not to find more detailed information on the specific correspondents and artists who contributed the stories and illustrations in the book. Notwithstanding, the book is nicely presented and would be a great supplement to any Civil War buff's library.



3. The Journalist in every war are underrated because they do not fit the mould of Fighting men. Where would we be without them? Would only the Victors tell the tale of the Battle? History must have the unbiased reports of the Journalist. That is what makes this book valuable to me as a civil war historian.

5 comments about Five Sisters: The Langhornes of Virginia.

1. The only reason I bought the book is because the sisters are/were (whatever) cousins of mine. So, for me personally, being able to read more about them all was very interesting. That said, even if someone is a history buff - and I am - I can't imagine the general population being that interested in this book. I'm not that sure that the Langhornes during that time period were at all typical.
   
   However, as for a good bit of the other criticisms, you really can not lift these characters out of their time and examine them under todays light. Think of all the things we here now could be judged for in 100 years from now. You must leave historical figures in their own context as we should be allowed to remain in ours.



2. If you love the Mitford's of England you will love the Langhornes of Virginia. When I traveled to Virginia as a very young woman I kept hearing about them and finally I discovered Nancy Lancaster. These women changed the world and are a role model for me. You will love these stories written by a nephew and son who lived it first hand. Another world......long gone.



3. I had more fun looking at the pictures.
   
   To say I struggled through this book would be the understatement of the year. The teaser is "Gone With The Wind meets Pride and Prejudice". Really? Where? The text begins strong, with a gripping narrative about a family destroyed by the Civil War fighting to restore themselves and their fortunes to their prior grandeur. After covering the marriages of the five daughters, however, the text diminishes into a muddled mess of historical details interspersed with personal correspondence between the main players. I found myself skipping pages, sometimes entire chapters, in the hopes of finding something intriguing. Every now and then I'd be rewarded - a page or two about Bobbie's homosexuality and the resulting consequences; Winkie's boozing and recklessness with his money; Lizzie living luxuriously and expecting her wealthier kin to foot the bill. But these wonderful nuggets were few and far between.
   
   The main source of my discontent with this book was its focus on Nancy (Langhorne) Astor. How about equal playing time for everyone? There were five sisters, so why devote so much time, energy, and space to the acid-tongued malcontent of the family? I understand her social importance, but at the same time her harshness and cruelty reverberated through the family with devastating effects. Personally I would have liked to see more of fun-loving, free spirit Nora and level-headed, sensible Irene. Seems they only appear when something's gone wrong.
   
   BTW, I never finished the book. Couldn't bring myself to do it.



4. I didn't know that the author was related to the subjects of the biography until half-way through the first chapter. This relationship allows him access to many never-before studied historical documents, mostly letter between the sisters; however, it also provides him with an unfortunate bias. Within the first chapter, it seemed to me that he was stumbling over himself to extoll the virtues of his grandmother and her family. According to Fox, each of the sisters seems just about perfect in chapter 1, with the exception of Nancy, who is introduced as both needy and powerful and, honestly, sounds like the most (I almost want to say only) interesting sister in the bunch.
   
   I might have read further to see if there was further character development, but I was completely put off by what I saw as the author's disregard of historical fact in order to agrandize his own family. For example, I would enjoy reading more about Nancy Astor, as long as it was free of attempts to surreptitiously convince me that the Langhorne family slaves were really part of the family and they loved their masters. While I'll agree that Nancy Astor reminds me of Scarlett O'Hara, I think it's important to remember that Mammy and Big Sam are ultimately literary conventions and that the image of southern gentility painted in novels like "Gone with the Wind" is just that - an image.
   
   Additionally, while I'm sure it is admirable that his grandfather, Bob Brand, realized that forcing the Germans to pay reparations would breed economic and social instability, he was certainly not "almost a lone voice in trying to persuade the Allies." In fact, one of Brand's colleagues and an influencial economist of the day, John Maynard Keynes, not only recognized this, but also wrote an essay on the subject published in, I think, 1920 or 1921. In doing a Google search for "Bob Brand" and "The Wisest Man in the Empire," it appears that the only record on the Internet of this pseudonym is in this very book. While I'm sure that Mr. Brand was intelligent and influencial in his career, I found the author's idolization of his grandfather to be extremely self-serving.
   
   If you're looking for a book about sisters or about women in history who had to juggle their national and familial obligations with their own desires, fears, and personal weaknesses, check out "Victoria's Daughters" by Jerrold M. Packard. It's set around the same time-period, and there are even five sisters. It's not perfect, but I felt the character development was much more carefully done and the book is not so historically fluffy.



5. It was wonderful to reread an old favoritein such excellent condition. Many thanks for the quick delivery!

5 comments about A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (The Western Frontier Library, 14).

1. This book arrived in top condition and in time. In a college book store this book cost a lot more, so I am very pleased to be able to buy it from this seller.



2. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the descriptive way the author wrote. I have been through Colorado and have seen the beauty she described. Also enjoyed the story because there wasn't a lot of violence and if there was any sex, it was only in our imagination which is the greatest kind. I was amazed at how the lady rode for miles in rugged wilderness without seeming to get lost. The fact that she could subsist on meager food was also interesting.



3. I bought this book while visiting Estes Park, CO...hungry for books about life in the West that may not be so readily available here in NJ. I found it to be one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read! Isabella's descriptions of the Rocky Mountains and the climate through which she travelled are vivid and gripping. But more than that, she gives a detailed and honest account of what life was like for settlers on the frontier. How she managed to ride thru the mountains where the only "trails" were tracks of wagons or animals, when often those were covered with the seemingly constant snow, boggles the mind. Her love for Colorado sings out in every word she writes. I too was deeply touched by its beauty, and hope to return again, this time with an enriched appreciation due to this wonderful recounting of Isabella Bird's journey.



4. For many years I saw this book in National Park bookstores and passed it by thinking it would be an example of the overwritten, rather tedious journals of other Victorian travelers. When I finally found it at a used bookstore and rather reluctantly bought it, I was surprised to find out how exciting and relevant her story was.
   
   Because I live in Colorado, I recoginize and travel through many of the places she describes. Just this weekend as we traveled along Highway 67, my husband and I remarked on the likelihood, that this was the same route she'd taken out of Colorado Springs.
   
   Her accounts lend life to the grey, weatherbeaten cabins, abandoned roads and rusting rails that we see. Even though many parts of Europe and the US were relatively modern at the time of her adventures, it is surprising to read just how primitive and precarious was the life of many Colorado settlers.
   
   Even if you aren't from Colorado, read this book to become aquainted with a Victorian woman who found a way to live life fully. Read it to learn about life in the west. Read it just because it's a good read.



5. Did you ever read any of the BEANY MALONE novels by Lenora Mattingly Weber? In them I first read about Isabella Bird and her remarkable life in the American West. Beany's older brother, Johnny Malone, is a teenager when the series begins, a young Denver boy with a remarkable passion for unearthing the memoirs and daguerrotypes of Colorado pioneers and taking notes on the old-timers who settled the state. Their colorful lives make his ordinary life seem rather pastel, so he often sinks into a nostalgia of the past, while his family members tease him about the dreamy look in his eyes. He helps a veteran journalist, Emerson Worth, complete his magnum opus, OUR CITY HAS DEEP ROOTS. And among the pioneers Johnny obsessed about was none other than Isabella Bird, so when I found this book on a recent trip to Boulder, I added it to my rucksack.
   
   If you are reading on horseback, as Isabella Bird did, this is perhaps the ideal book to carry with you. She was a woman used to the English-style horse with its Ascot breeding and high carriage. What she found in Colorado were, naturally, the horses of the West, more perfectly adapted to the mile-high atmospheres, but slung somewhat lower than anything she's been used to and slightly swaybacked. Bird adapted quickly, and the fun of her autobiography is to see her taking in her stride a series of calamities and hardships that would have Job complaining bitterly! No matter if it's an insect infestation or tumbling right through a sheet of ice into zero degree river chills, for Isabella Bird it's all part of a day's fun. Travel writing in the 19th century was, of course, the leading genre of prose. From no other source were English-speaking readers able to find out more about other people's lives, and the curiosity was immense.
   
   You'll like Isabella, and her crazy love affair with Colorado. She remains very much a lady, but will challenge your preconceived notions of what a lady is and isn't. Most of all you will thrill to follow the course of her journeys up and down the mountains through which, now, there are some better trails but still the same amazing sunrises which she describes with the thrill of one for whom every day's an adventure.

5 comments about Lincoln and Whitman: Parallel Lives in Civil War Washington.

1. The only problem I had with the book was the author's obsession with Whitman's so-called "personal" life. I can't say the H word since xena keeps deleting my comments, but take it from me, Walt was NOT what Epstein seems to think he was. When Carpenter and Wilde tried to corner him about it, he was absolutely AGHAST that anyone would do that, let alone think HE would ever be so depraved. Whitman was America's only conscious poet. Lincoln was America's only conscious president. You can't get there having a corrupt soul.



2. Daniel Mark Epstein succeeds at what seems simple, but in truth is a daunting task: combining the literary and the historical in a moving, evocative narrative. The book gracefully moves between and across the lives of Lincoln and Whitman, with a cathartic spirit uniting the stories of both men. Epstein makes no claims that the spiritual union was, in reality, anything more than a parallel, largely reliant on the troubled times (and Whitman's obsession...or coincidence). There is a somewhat amplified mysticism surrounding Lincoln and Whitman as "characters" in this historical narrative, but such characterization errs more often on the positive than it does otherwise. The parallels between the lives of both men are compelling, revealing, and informative, and the ending is truly poignant. Civil War Washington also comes alive with a mapmaker's eye and a storyteller's gift for detail. Wonderful!



3. Epstein hits the ground running in this extraordinary blend of dramatic storytelling and lit crit, and he never lets up until the final page. Everyone has always known that Whitman was influenced by Lincoln, but it has been a matter of heated controversy for many years as to whether Lincoln was or was not influenced by "Leaves of Grass." Epstein proves this beyond any reasonable doubt in the first thirty pages, as he introduces us into the gritty atmosphere of Lincoln's law office in the 1850s. He follows the two men to Washington, D.C. during the Civil War, and his capturing of their two characters and their struggles, as their paths cross and shadow one another during that intense period, is a literary and historical tour de force. One of my favorite books about the Civil War.
   
   Bernard Northrop
   Providence, R.I.



4. The PW reviewer might have been a little careless in political characterization, but I think that this book does soften Whitman's views, and muddle Lincoln's, to try to put them both in the same place. The analysis of the poetry might be fine, but the political analysis isn't. The portrait of Chase, and the descriptions of the "radical Republicans", is one-sided. Mary Todd Lincoln is bad and horrible, and somehow that is conflated with her sympathy for the slaves & for a war against slavery. (Whitman only had lovely relationships, apparently). Also, it is true that there are little irritating errors, the "relationship" between Howells & Whitman in 1860 being a clear one.



5. I thought that this book was very moving, and successfully portrays two men who completely embody the Civil War. The title of the book is very appropriate, because the number of instances in which Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln's lives crossed is quite interesting. Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents who was responsible for emancipating those under slavery. Whitman was one of the greatest poets of all time, and had a huge amount of respect towards Abraham Lincoln.
   
   I found it very interesting that Lincoln and Whitman had never officially met, yet they had both listened or read eachother's words at very crucial times in each of their own lives. Both had so much complete and utmost respect for the other person, and that is clearly seen from the moment that Lincoln reads Whitman's famous book of poems, "Leaves of Grass," until Whitman composed the famous elegy after Lincoln was assasinated.
   
   Both of these men had the same vision of democracy,and Epstein did a great job showing the effect that the war had on these two men. I didn't know that Whitman had volunteered at a hospital during the war, and learning what a huge impact the wounded soldiers had on Whitman and his writing was very interesting. The book also showed the huge toll that the Civil War had on Lincoln, especially when families and loved ones were torn apart because of the war.
   
   I loved how Epstein showed the increasing amount of honor that Whitman had for Lincoln after he was assasinated. His poem, "O Captain, My Captain," is a prime example of just how much admiration that Whitman had for the beloved president. In fact, my favorite part of this book came in the last chapter of the book over twenty years after Lincoln had died. Whitman gave a final speech on Lincoln at Madison Square Theater in front of such people as Mark Twain.
   
   Epstein does a great job of showing the incredible amount of passion that both Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln had for life. Both men lived by eachother's words and had an amazing amount of respect for one another, it definitely makes me wish that they would have gotten the chance to know each other personally.

3 comments about The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Modern Library Classics).

1. I once met Luthor Evans, the foremost expert on the complete works of Jefferson, and had dinner with him once with a friend who worked at the United Nations. I didn't know much about Jefferson except what I learned in school, but it was interesting to listen to Evans talk about Jefferson and his achievements, and what a true Renaissance man he was. Evans was also the first director general of UNESCO, and a former Librarian of Congress, a position often used to honor the most outstanding American historians, I hear. But getting back to the present volume, I found it a useful selection of his works, even if I can't seem to find the collected works of Jefferson on Amazon, and I owe much of my appreciation of Jefferson to that evening I once spent with Evans. I'm not sure I'm up to reading the complete works, as Evans did in his prime, but I'm at least up to reading a good compilation, and this one served a useful purpose for that.



2. This study is a wonderful compilation of the life and writings of Thomas Jefferson. The introduction by Koch and Peden of Jefferson's long and fruitful life is rich and complete. Jefferson's greatness shines forth in the pages of this volume. His Anas, Autobiography, Essay of the Anglo Saxon language, Notes on Virginia, And his numerous public papers and letters show the reader the depth of this great man. Koch and Peden clearly admire Jefferon which is a welcome respite from the sad and anti-intellectual deconstructionist philosophy of modern historians. No PC here. For a student of Jefferson, or someone attempting to familiarize themselves with his ideals, this is a great buy!



3. We added this book to our library when I was doing research for a doctoral project on Racism. In one volume, is Jefferson's autobiography, travel journals, essays, biographies of other historical figures, notes and correspondence. It is a wealth of material into a foundation stone personality of our American identity.

   Lately Jefferson has drawn fire because of his position on slavery and his philandering activities as a plantation owner. Still, within this volume you can observe the full story historical context provides.

   In my favorite passage in connection with the slavery issue he writes,

   "And can the liberties of a nation be though secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of thepeople that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever; that considering numbers,nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events; that it may become probably by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest." (Notes on Virginia, Query XVIII; p. 278 Modern Library Edition)

   I think every family should have a copy of this volume in their library. It is enlightening, powerful and life changing material.

5 comments about My Life on the Plains: Or Personal Experiences With the Indians.

1. Custer's autobiography, covering a very limited period of his life, is a remarkable document, first, as an important piece of historical information regarding the events covered, and second as an intriguing look at one of the most mythologized figures in US history. Being Native American on my mother's side, I was prepared to thoroughly dislike the man, but I was pleasantly surprised by the individual I met in the pages of this book.
   
   Custer is an excellent writer and storyteller, and his famous prankish sense of humor shows up on several occassions. The man had the ability to laugh at himself and was willing to tell tales on himself, which goes a long way to endear him to the reader. It's a powerful contradiction of the Myth of Custer, conventionally portrayed as a stupid, arrogant, racist, and humorless figure. It's hard to continue viewing him as the symbol of American Evil when he goes to battle against the Indians dressed in his bathrobe. (They attacked at night, darn them. He didn't have time to put on his uniform.)
   
   The comic relief is absolutely essential -- Custer's eyewitness account of the atrocities committed by Pawnee Killer will turn the stomach. Unlike every other author covering the Indian Wars, Custer presents the information in a straight forward matter and neither glosses over it nor demonizes the Indians. And, to the man's credit, he understood very clearly that the mutilated bodies he had to identify and bury were the work of a particular individual who happened to be an Indian, and did not let it prejudice him against the entire Native American race. The same cannot be said for most of his contemporaries. Custer clearly understood that Indians, like anybody else, were people who had to be judged according their individual actions, and not stereotyped and condemned in whole. In short, whatever his shortcomings might be, he does not deserve to be the poster boy for American Racism Against Indians.
   
   Custer, the man, is far more complex. He detailed his part in the first assault on Black Kettle's village; being the tracker assigned to trail Pawnee Killer, he knew that Pawnee Killer's trail did not go to Black Kettle's village and that Black Kettle and his people were peaceful Indians. When given the order to attack anyhow, he and other officers protested. General Hancock, the commanding officer, threatened them with court martial -- in those days that an order was immoral was not grounds for an officer to refuse to carry it out; a principle that was not established in the US Army until the public outrage over the massacre at Mai Lai during the Vietnam War. Custer caved in and did as he was told. If he had not, his military career would have been over. Certainly Custer was culpable of moral cowardice, but that is entirely different from the myth of reckless disregard for the humanity of others that clings to his name.
   
   In short, the real Custer is a fascinating, articulate, funny, tragic, complex, flawed, and ultimately human individual. His eyewitness account of the Indian Wars and his role in it are a riveting read. Anyone who has found the usual 19th century authors dreary beyond belief will find Custer's writing lively, wry, unflinching, and far more educational than his contemporaries.



2. No one can read My Life on the Plains without coming away with a changed view of Custer as a military leader and an important historical figure. I often tell people that Custer was a great writer and direct people to read this book. I am occasionally met with laughter and suspicion--except by those who take my advice and read it. Amazingly well-written, and very descriptive.



3. This book is a partial memoir of General George Armstrong Custer, of Little Bighorn fame. This work does not cover Custer's campaigns against the Cheyennes and Sioux, however, nor does it detail his flamboyant career in the Civil War. Instead, this book is literally an account of Custer's life on the plains, and covers his experiences with the Kiowa, Comanche, Arapaho, and Cheyenne Indians of the plains of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Despite the fact that this record is so incomplete a picture of Custer's life, however, this book is very valuable in that it covers the very controversial winter campaign of 1868-1869, which climaxed in Custer's attack of Black Kettle's village on the Washita River.
   
   Custer had a remarkable gift for storytelling, and his prose, though flowery and often somewhat extravagant (as I envision the man himself), is crisp and engaging. In addition, this book provides a valuable look at the life of an army soldier campaigning against the Indians after the Civil War. The book may be very biased, and it may in fact contain many points of exaggeration, but it nevertheless is a valuable resource for any study of the Indian Wars.



4. This book is a partial memoir of General George Armstrong Custer, of Little Bighorn fame. This work does not cover Custer's campaigns against the Cheyennes and Sioux, however, nor does it detail his flamboyant career in the Civil War. Instead, this book is literally an account of Custer's life on the plains, and covers his experiences with the Kiowa, Comanche, Arapaho, and Cheyenne Indians of the plains of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Despite the fact that this record is so incomplete a picture of Custer's life, however, this book is very valuable in that it covers the very controversial winter campaign of 1868-1869, which climaxed in Custer's attack of Black Kettle's village on the Washita River.
   
   The question of whether Black Kettle and his band were hostile at the time they were attacked, as well as the question of whether innocent women and children had been wantonly slaughtered in the attack, is one of the driving forces behind this book. In it, Custer attempts to describe life as he lived it on the Plains, and attempts to paint a picture of the army that would persuade people back East that his Seventh Cavalry had acted in good faith, both in the battle and in the rest of the campaign that year. Custer had a remarkable gift for storytelling, and his prose, though flowery and often somewhat extravagant (as I envision the man himself), is crisp and engaging. In addition, this book provides a valuable look at the life of an army soldier campaigning against the Indians after the Civil War. The book may be very biased, and it may in fact contain many points of exaggeration, but it nevertheless is a valuable resource for any study of the Indian Wars.



5. Wow, all I can is wow. This is a very interesting read. What a great way to see how life was out on the plains and during the war. Also, it's very trippy to read all about what Custer thought of "Indians" and the views that he held for them.

   What really got me was the reality of this book. Getting an intimate look at the life of not only Custer's, but the soldiers and scouts that he commanded and worked with.

   Very good and easy read. Custer does like to go off and get very wordy and talkative about subject matter that must have been important back in the 1870's. Still, it does not detract from the book, but only makes it that much more interesting.

   Pick this one up.

2 comments about The Lincolns in the White House: Four Years That Shattered a Family.

1. Errors appear in even the best edited works. Perhaps the next edition will correct the incorrect information about the "last" photograph. As one of the multitude of Lincoln fans I found this book to contain lots of personal information about Lincoln and his family that I had not read in collected form elsewhere. I value the author's collected research that gives us a brief peek into the life of a very private man with more than his share of family tragedy. The relationship with his sons and wife is much clearer to me now that I have read this work. I consider this a well-written, highly readable account of the A. Lincoln family in the White House and belongs on every Lincoln collector's, if not scholar's bookshelf.



2. I received Mr. Packard's book yesterday, and I could not wait to begin reading it. Although I have little interest in the war aspects of Lincoln's presidency, the personal side of his story has always piqued my interest. I recently purchased books on Lincoln's depression and on his supposed (by the author) sexuality. Mr. Packard's contribution seemed to fit the motif quite well. After reading the back of the book jacket, which states that his book was written "with painstaking research and an eye for historical detail", I was disheartened to see that the first page I opened up to (purely by coincidence), was a photograph of Lincoln purported to be his last. The photograph in question was believed, for many years, to have been taken by Alexander Gardner on April 10, 1865, four days before the assassination. Packard dates the photograph to that session. The problem lies in the fact that many Lincoln scholars, relying on primary sources of the time, including the diary of portrait painter Matthew Wilson, who attended the photo shoot, have long since established that the Gardner photo was taken on February 5, 1865, and that the true last set of photographs were taken of Lincoln on the south portico of the White House on March 6, 1865, two days after the second inaugural, by Henry F. Warren. This will undoubtedly come across as nitpicking to some, but when a book markets itself as one conducted with "painstaking research and an eye for historical detail", it makes one wonder just how much of the content is accurate, ala "A Million Little Pieces." I tried to contact Mr. Packard before writing this review, but naturally his number is unlisted. In any event, the written portion of the book may be incredibly interesting and perhaps even accurate, but the author gets a one for making such an obvious and unnecessary error, in light of what current scholarship has already undercovered through the writings of Lincoln's secretaries, John Hay and John Nicoloy, Lloyd Ostendorf, W. Emerson Reck et. al.

No comments about Lincoln's White House Secretary: The Adventurous Life of William O.Stoddard.

3 comments about Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life.

1. Very insightful - brings history to reality; I'm at Amazon now looking for other books by this author. She has fit so many details found from so many places to truly work a story. The author, like "the General" herself, is an excellent story teller. I couldn't wait to read more each night! Too, I liked that the author used third person to tell the story in an artful way, allowing me to both enjoy the saga as well as to know fact from conjecture. A tremendous telling of an amazing woman - the likes of which our generation has not known! Enjoy!



2. Wonderful and inspiring read. The author explores Tubman's spirituality as she herself used it to live a truly outstanding life.
   
   In a 12-step program or love someone who is? This book exemplifies how to "live in constant contact with the higher power of your personal choosing (Alcoholic Anonymous Big Book)" and what an extraordinary and fulfilling life that can result. Case in point - Harriet's mom is not grateful to be saved from slavery and moved up north where it is cold all the time and never lets Harriet forget it. Yet she responds with serenity even as she hides in a closet to get away from her nagging. She then asks for and takes direction from her higher power. Bill W. could not have written it better.



3. After any number of biographies about Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) aimed at adolescents, Beverly Lowry's new work takes its place among two other recent efforts: Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom (2004), by Catherine Clinton, and Kate Larsen's Bound for the Promised Land; Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero (2004). Tubman looms large as one of our country's greatest and most inspirational heroes. She's also a biographer's nightmare. Tubman was born as one of nine siblings into a Maryland slave family, she never learned to read or write, and reliable documents about her, especially her early years, are sketchy to non-existent. Thus in her author's note Lowry describes her work as "the story of a life as I have reimagined it." She tries to avoid "weasily qualifiers" about Tubman, rather unsuccessfully in my opinion, but one can hardly fault her given her subject.
   
   Born Araminta Ross, Tubman was rented out as slave labor when she was about six years old. She later escaped to the north at age 27, then, defying all odds, made as many as nineteen return trips back into slave-holding territories in order to rescue as many as 300 other slaves. She also served in the Civil War as a spy, nurse, and armed soldier. About a year after her death, in 1914 a bronze tablet was laid at her home in the central New York town of Auburn where she lived for forty years, which includes her own description of her life work: "On my Underground Railroad I nebber run off de track and I nebber los' a passenger." Stubborn and stoic, dignified and determined, it's hard to fathom the bravery and brilliance it must have taken to do what she did. Tubman saw visions, heard the voice of God, and dreamed dreams as a truly fearless woman of faith. She also suffered from acute narcolepsy. By the time she died she was famous, which left me wondering why Lowry ends her biography in 1868, when Tubman still had another 45 years to live. Her book includes 62 photos, illustrations, and maps, along with extensive bibliographical sources for further study.

5 comments about Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs.

1. This diary of a genius in his last weary days is a beautiful gift. An explosively brilliant visionary with insight reaching far into the future, but also a kind man who loved his cats.



2. I remember when Burroughs did an interview with Jerry Casale. And Casale spoke of midwestern misanthropy and the sense of shame about being a human. Well, in this diary, Burroughs gave full voice to his midwestern curmudgeon persona.
   
   I almost croaked when I came across the following passage: "I must tell James: Please never conceal from me any nasty letters or reviews. I want the names of these creeps. The addresses, so I can put one of my curses on them. It will give me something to do. And jog a few higher-up elbows hiding behind the nameless a--holes. I will make a list and cross names off one after another. Like the new rich in St. Louis. At his daughter's coming-out party. Nobody showed. She went mad. He made a list of all the invitees who didn't show. And ruined them one after another. It gave meaning to his life. He crossed off the last name on his deathbed, gave a contented belch and died. He was a fully fulfilled evil old man."
   
   The anti-drug-prohibition rants are tedious enough. But what's surprising is that he begrudges atheists just for being atheists. As if their mere existence was a personal insult to his non-denominational theistic yearnings: "I believe in God. Not omnipotent. He needs help now."
   
   The cat-sentimentality is pretty icky. Burroughs ended up valuing humans only insofar as they're capable of being caretakers of cats: "If a plague should or will kill a third of the population, I can only pray that it affects not only humans but domestic animals, with special reference to dogs and cats. The picture of trillions of dispossessed cats is too horrible to be confronted."



3. Touching, amusing entries in the life of an intellectual pioneer.

   Burroughs revealed so much in his fiction but the journals are a more probing way we can peer into his mind and see what he was thinking in the last days.

   One often wonders where good psychedelicists are headed in their final corporeal days, so works like this provide a certain insight not gleaned from their main body of work.

   Burroughs was quite a character.




4. These last words of Burroughs will have great poignancy for his fans, but might not be all that meaningful to the casual reader. He writes about mundane everyday occurrences, memories of his eventful life, makes extensive literary references and provides loving descriptions of his cats. For me, the Burroughs magic is here in abundance and this book helps to complete the big picture of his life and work. It's not all smooth sailing, though, as his repetitive railings against the "war on drugs" can become a bit tedious. Obscure references are explained in the explanatory Notes: I was interested to see he was a member of IOT (International Order of Thanateros - see the books Liber Kaos and Liber Null & Psychonaut by Peter Carroll) and friends with V. Vale (See Re/Search Publications like Industrial Culture Handbook and Incredibly Strange Music). Some sections are funny, some are sad (especially where he writes about Joan Vollmer and his family) and some very interesting from a literary perspective. There are powerful passages of great beauty that stick in the mind. His love for his cats and for other animals like lemurs is very moving and shows that he may have been larger than life, but in the end he was very human. So, to wrap it up: Last Words is essential reading for the Burroughs enthusiast and the Burroughs scholar, to finally understand the man and his writing. Phew ... I am relieved, to know how much he loved some people and his pets, in the end.



5. It will be good in the future to see the orginal notes--one really wonders what has been edited out to protect the image. Any journal is a problem to read--but when the editing is done by those with the most to protect (family, lovers, etc), historians must be really concerned. Probably not worth buying new, but it will be out in paper soon. Get the cheap copy.