5 comments about Hogan.

1. Few people, even non-golfers, can escape ever having heard of Ben Hogan. Maybe you don't know exactly who he was, but the name is oddly familiar.
   
   To golfers, Ben Hogan is as close to legend as anything. Other players, even Bobby Jones and Tiger Woods, lack the mystique which has encompassed Hogan, even many years after his death.
   
   What few of us know is just who he was. This information may not be so pertinant to people who play the game, since they are mostly interested in his swing. However, anyone who has touched even in a small way on part of his career realizes the great mysteries that lie in his life and being.
   
   "Hogan" may not answer everything satisfactorily, but it comes as close as any are likely to get. This covers his life in as much informative detail as could be needed, and presents Hogan not so much in a less-than-glamorous light, as is common to biographies, but rather in a "judge for yourself" presentation of evidence for what made the man what he became.
   
   Anyone curious about this modern legend will get more than he bargains for. Where perhaps the book does not go into his game to the extent golfers may want, the story of Hogan's life is engaging enough without it.



2. In my very large golf library this is clearly the best book on golf
   I have read period. For the first time you get an insight into the "wie ice mon" in what reads like a novel.



3. When I was growing up the names of Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, Player, and their generation were the top competitors. Ben Hogan was a revered name, but one of past glory. His great year of 1953 was in the past. I had heard about his auto accident and his amazing comeback, but this book helped me see the man who "dug it out of the dirt" through hard work, discipline, and ferocious tenacity.

   Mr. Hogan started out with less than most. His father's suicide and the family's subsequent poverty didn't leave him with many open paths to success. He found golf and found that it not only matched his physical skills, but was an even better match for his nearly obsessive temperament.

   The swing he developed has become the pattern millions of us try to emulate, although he would find our haphazard approach to the game less than useless. Why we love being duffers would be beyond him. He knew how to work and to practice. I still cannot fathom the kind of internal strength it would take to come back from that terrible leg shattering accident when his Cadillac was struck by a bus. He played in great pain for the rest of his life and had four surgeries on his left shoulder. When I realize that his greatest achievements and most of his wins at major tournaments were after the accident I am simply dumbstruck.

   Mr. Hogan was a very private and enigmatic figure. Mr. Sampson does a good job in teasing what facts we know into a good story. We get interesting stories from the golf side of his life (mostly stories told about Hogan by others) and those are very enjoyable. However, I like the way Mr. Sampson puts all that in the context of a real person - a real man. Ben Hogan wasn't a fictional character even though the media version of him was a distortion of the actual hard working man who practiced, practiced, and then practiced some more, who loved his wife, Valerie, and built a successful golf equipment business.

   Ben Hogan made a long journey through life and I think this book tells the story well.




4. This book really only confirmed what I had thought for a long time, behind Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan was a tremendous golfer who was way ahead of his time. Hogan nearly won the grand slam, and could not compete in the PGA because of the fact it started almost the same time the British Open was finishing. As we all watch Tiger Woods try for the grand slam, let us not forget Ben Hogan who was as close as anyone has ever come to doing it. The most amazing part of Hogan's story was the fact he won the US Open after almost dying in a car crash.

   Sampson does a nice job with this book, telling about Hogan like he was, stearn and driven, and definitely not writing a fluff piece like some biographies can be. Hogan was tough, and I would equate him as the "Ted Williams" of golf, so good it was hard for him to teach anyone because he set such high standards for himself. I recommend this book to golfers and people who want to read about a remarkable man.




5. Ben Hogan was a no nonsense, focused champion who realized early in life that hard work was the path to success. Curt Sampson does a great job in presenting the real Hogan, not just the golf legend. This book should be required reading for all golf fans.
   Especially the goofs who scream "You da man!" everytime Tiger hits a shot. There will never be another Ben Hogan.

5 comments about Grant: A Biography.

1. I am currently reading a biography of every President in order. I must say that none of the preceding Presidents (even Lincoln) seem to be as difficult to pin down as Grant as to their "definitive" biography. In addition to McFeely's Pulitzer prize winning effort is Geoffrey Perret's offering, which seems to be universally derided as a scholarly farce, Jean Edward Smith's biography of Grant is clearly meant for a more popular readership (indeed Smith's commitment to scholarly research is somewhat dubious himself given he was able to produce a 1,000 page biography of FDR in less than 5 years after writing his Grant bio), and finally Brooks Simpson's projected two volume biography which when complete will certainly be the most comprehensive modern effort. McFeely's biography was the Pulitzer prize winner and that ultimately swayed me in favor of it, although I was a bit concerned about some of the poor reviews it received.
   
   I will state from the outset that I think most of the criticism of McFeely's biography I have read in other reviews is either unwarranted or overstressed. This is a straightforward "old school" biography that is directed by the research and not by some new spin that the author believes will help sell the book. McFeely won the Pulitzer Prize for this work and rightfully so. This is a comprehensive and balanced biography of Grant that is a highly enjoyable read on top of that.
   
   I'm not sure what the negative reviewers expectations were before reading this book. Obviously most feel that Grant is somehow misrepresented by McFeely, however I definitely did not reach that conclusion. I believe this is the best comprehensive one volume biography of Grant available based on extensive research and solid writing.



2. Any good biographer has to have, if not sympathy, at least some understanding of his or her subject. Unfortunately, although this book is well researched, you get the uneasy feeling that Mr. McFeely is examining Ulysses Grant like a bug under a microscope. This is the classic example of an academic who lacks understanding of real life and as a result cannot grasp the dynamics of a man of action, as Ulysses Grant certainly was.
   
   Mr. McFeely also unquestioningly adopts the prejudices of prior historians without thinking for himself. As a result, an historian who DID think for himself, Frank Scaturro in President Grant Reconsidered, has rendered Mr. McFeely's book obsolete. Every biography since Mr. Scaturro has reviewed the Grant Administration with a fresh and generally favorable eye. As the last civil rights President before Harry Truman, Grant certainly deserves that revised opinion.
   
   Mr. McFeely's book is no longer worth reading, if it ever was.



3. The book covers the important parts of Grant's life. The book has good research on Grant's youth.



4. McFeely won the Pulitzer Prize for this book in 1982, but the conclusions he reaches about his subject have drawn fire ever since. Those sympathetic to Grant correctly point to errant assumptions and mistakes in character analysis. Most glaring is McFeely's insistence that Grant gloried in carnage, was insensitive to death and suffering, and was an incompetent chief executive.

   Actually Grant was one of the most exquisitiely sensitive men ever born and was nothing like the 'butcher' that McFeely describes. However, the research in the book is quite good and there are very few factual errors to be found, though his chapters on the civil war are relatuvely weak. This contrasts markedly to Geoffrey Perret's 1997 Grant biography, which contained inaccuracies on nearly every page. McFeely is most solid in the period of Reconstruction, though he is usually overly prone to criticize the hapless Grant. Throughout many chapters, it seems the General can't buy a break.

   McFeely's greatest admiration for Grant is contained in two areas of his life: his family relationships, specifically his loving marriage to wife Julia, and his abilities as a writer. McFeely leaves no doubt that he regards Grant's 1885 Memoirs as one of the great books ever written and the best part of this biography is in explaining the processes Grant used to produce such a masterpiece, while dying of throat cancer.

   With its flaws and uneven treatment of Grant, McFeely's book cannot be considered definitive, but it is still the only complete biography of Grant written in the past 30 years. Perret's limping entry isn't even in the same league as this book, in accuracy, writing or research. To sum up: overly critical, but a must read for Civil War buffs.




5. This is one seriously irritating book. There may be relatively few factual errors (at least, compared to Geoffrey Perret's work on Grant, a masterpiece of unintentional humor,) but McFeely's work is riddled with what I can only believe are deliberately insulting mischaracterizations and misrepresentations, tiresomely pretentious writing, and amateur psychoanalyzing of the most obnoxious sort. McFeely is particularly fond of quoting the words of Grant or his wife on some matter or another, and then proclaiming that--no matter how clear their meaning may have been to us poor dumb non-historians--what they were REALLY saying and thinking was something else altogether. If there is anything I can't abide, it's a biographer who persists in reading a subject's mind and putting words into his or her mouth and thoughts into his or her head that were never said and never thought. McFeely not only obviously believes he is much smarter than Grant (hah!) but more percipient than his readership, as well.

   If this book is worthy of a Pulitzer, then I trust my next grocery shopping list will earn me a Nobel Prize for Literature.

5 comments about Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle.

1. some of these reviews with one or two stars attached are perfectly accurate. they express far better than i can just how bad this book is. the author is so smug and full of himself as to be laughable. the author becomes a parody of himself, if thats possible, maybe better said- he is everything he claims to hate. i felt pangs of embarrassment for him. awful.



2. This book is almost completely unreadable, a puff piece, really, navel-gazing by yet another grown child, raised in wealth and privilege, who turned his back on his family in order to drop out of society during the turbulence of the late 1960's.
   
   Peter Coyote's personal life story is nauseatingly boring, a life without any particular real angst or pain, a life in which one must import and manufacture angst and pain. One is reminded of Candice Bergen's autobiography Knock Wood, in which she admits that as a very young actress, a director tried to elicit some kind of sense memory within her, one of grief and loss, and she had nothing in her past upon which to draw upon the needed emotions. Coyote's life and self-realization in Standing Where I Fall just isn't very interesting, and beyond being some kind of catharsis for him as the author, there isn't much here to interest any reader.



3. Peter Coyote, was that incredibly cool "older brother", born just in time "to do" the sixties in all its guts and glory, that later generations would look back on with envy. Tall, dark, handsome and talented Coyote (are you really surprised that's not his real name) from out east lands smack dab in the heart of San Francisco just at the moment when the town is experiencing the labor pains that will soon give birth to hippiedom. We begin the journey of the sixties when Coyote was a twenty-something grad student sharing digs with the daughter of legendary Americana painter, Thomas Hart Benton, and continue to watch in fascination as he becomes an active participant in street theater, the Diggers (a band of revolutionary artists), the drug scene of Haight-Ashbury, radical politics, commune life and a lover to many lovely young women. Coyote and his friends drifted outside their urban existence when they took to the road like modern day gypsies in a beat up school bus carrying their caravan into the wilderness. It is there that they attempted to build a walden pond utopia in northern California; shooting and growing their own food, making their own clothes and birthing & raising the next generation, on a rustic farm. In his tell-it-like-it-was warts and all style, Coyote depicts how the unhygenic conditions they lived in lead to a bout with hepatitis and his baby daughter getting sick from eating dirt from the ground. Despite that rough road of youth, Coyote came out alive, and with his political & social beliefs mostly intact. Unlike many who never made the journey back from their drug addled and counter-culture adventures, Coyote, has made hay with the 2nd half of his life as an actor, political activist and can stake a claim to one of the most recognized voices in commercial television, audio and documentary narrations. Oh yes, and he can write.



4. I've read several books on this era, books I consider definitive. Specifically, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Ringolevio and Hell's Angels, by Hunter Thompson. This may be a late addition but it actually points out a quite amazing fact, my claim of which I'm certain will be looked upon as utterly outrageous. But I've read this book and I know psychology. And I've read between the lines. The fact is this. If it weren't for Peter Coyote, the sixties would NEVER have happened. Not anywhere remotely resembling what happened. It would have been a rather disjointed affair and wouldn't have gone anywhere but Peter Coyote's involvement in the Diggers was what changed the world. And I'm not talking about any butterfly effect. I'm talking about an entirely NEW WORLD that was the inevitable result of Peter Coyote's having done what he did, all those years ago. HE himself never made such a claim. He simply states, in no nonsense terms, the specific things that he was involved in, things that were done BECAUSE HE MADE THEM HAPPEN - things that snowballed into an entire counter culture. The movie Forrest Gump was about a retard who caused world events to unfold. Peter Coyote was NEVER a retard but he has had more effect on the world than ANY HUMAN BEING ALIVE TODAY and more effect on the world than any human being in the last century save for Nicola Tesla. And I mean any politician, doctor, scientist, entertainer, what have you, Peter Coyote stands head and shoulders above anyone you can name as having some kind of effect on the world.



5. I lived through the '60's, but on a different, more acceptable level....married to a student. I did, however, live in Vancouver's "hippie district", and had a half-hearted admiration for those who thumbed their noses at society's norms. This book gives me a better insight to the ideals and the guts to live those ideals the hippie culture evoked. Peter Coyote's book was honest, insightful and informative. He creates a feeling in the reader of having been in San Francisco and in the communes. I couldn't help but being impressed by his knowledge, abilities and his joy at being what he had been.

1 comments about Gilded Girls: Women Entertainers of the Old West.

1. I love the wild west books written by Chris Enss. They are very vivid and detailed. The subjects are created very realistically. Great reading...

4 comments about Sam Houston and the American Southwest (Library of American Biography Series) (3rd Edition) (Library of American Biography).

1. This is an excellent little book. It's entertaining reading and highly informative. I'm not only glad I read the book but I find myself wanting to know much more about Sam Houston and his era. I think Texans and all Americans are much more indebted to men like him than we realize. Would to God we had some Sam Houstons today!



2. Randolph B. Campbell writes about a man I never knew had that much impact on Texas and the United States in Sam Houston and the American Southwest. The writing is quick and simple to read, and flows from one topic to the next easily.
   
   The book covers everything from Sam Houston's beginnings, to his forrays as a military man and finally to his exploits as a political leader. He impacted Texas more than any other person, and was a leading voice in both the War against Mexico and the Civil War. To characterize his impact on Texas, one would only have to look at the political atmosphere of Texas in their early Republic days. Texas was a two party state, those who were Houston supporters and those who were anti-Houston.
   
   I loved learning about Sam Houston's command during Texas's fight for independence, his thoughts on the Civil War (always a Union man, something unusual for a southerner), and the love he had for his wife (his last words will emphasize this). He was the first President of the Republic of Texas, served as a senator after the state was annexed, and is the only man to serve as governor in two states (Texas and Tennessee). I would have never known three fourths of this information if it wasn't for Randolph B. Campbell's Sam Houston and the American Southwest. I highly recommend this read, for literature lovers and history buffs and all those in between. Everyone enjoy!



3. This particular portrayal was a mandatory reading in a History course in college, and by far, the depiction from Campbell is astounding, and amazing. He brings to the surface far more than just the fable you hear about in junior high Texas history. The man was tall, but this piece makes him larger than life.



4. Texas's Savior Ever since Texas was a territory in the middle of no where, one man stood up to lead the way to statehood. That man who rose above the rest and conquered endless, unimaginable barriers was Sam Houston. Rudolph B. Campbell wrote a chronologically correct book about Houston entitled Sam Houston and the American Southwest. He became the most popular and most honorable man in Texas. The battle of San Jacinto, acquiring Presidency of the Republic of Texas, and obtaining a place in the United States Senate all proved that Sam Houston was a competent and trustworthy leader. First and foremost, the battle of San Jacinto was one Houston's greatest accomplishments, defeating Santa Anna and shamefully returning him to Mexico. This battle turned out to be the turning point in Texas's becoming a Republic and Sam Houston's popularity beginning to soar across Texas. Even though the revolution was a failure and Mexico still didn't recognize Texas as a republic, Houston still received the recognition that he deserved. It happened "...at three o'clock in the afternoon, Houston ordered his 'effectives' into battle formation that stretched across the prairie" (Campbell 68). After this strategic move, Sam Houston attacked and eighteen minutes later ended the battle. With this fight under his belt, Houston slowly arose to become a powerful and noteworthy man. This rise in power enabled Houston to become the first President of the Republic of Texas on September 18th, 1836. He was basically the only man for the job, supported by a landsliding "5,119 vote to Smith's 743 votes" (74). Houston saw himself as the candidate who could bring unity to Texas, despite its ambiguity and immense size. With Mirabeau B. Lamar at his side as vice president, Sam Houston would find as much

   money for Texas as he could, balance the budget, and keep good relations with Mexico. In order to make and save money, Houston sold Texas's navy. Even the money gained from this sale didn't help the budget at all. By the time Houston's term of presidency was over, the debt had grown to roughly two million dollars. As far as keeping relations with Mexico, Houston must have apparently done a very good job because they did not attack again for a long period of time. Plus, he helped the Indians, especially the Cherokee, as much as he could, considering how he U.S. was driving them farther and farther away from their land. After Houston's three-year term was over, he resigned and moved to a higher position. In addition to already being President of the Republic of Texas more than once, Sam Houston became one of the first senators of Texas as well. Nothing is more suitable for a man with Houston's recognition and fame than to represent "his" state in the United States Senate. Even a more powerful and demanding job than president of a republic, Houston represented Texas better than any man possible. As a senator, and included in his inaugural address, Houston believed that "...finance, Indian policy, and relations with Mexico" were the most important things needed to be taken of in Texas and all over the United States (93). In the interest of finance, Sam Houston recommended that suspending all payments of interest and principal on the debt should be done. In addition, signing treaties, describing boundaries, with the Indians would depress war and bring on peace. Finally, the Texas senator thought it would be best to "...leave the Mexican nation alone," since "diplomatic relations had not been improved" (93). Overall, Sam

   Houston improved Texas by taking its troubles all the way to Congress by using his intelligence and popularity to serve as a weapon for political listeners. Rudolph B. Campbell showed how Sam Houston became the most prominent, influential, and powerful man of his time. Houston basically devoted his entire life to serving other people's needs and wants. There wasn't a man during his time that was even close to becoming as great a hero as Sam Houston.

1 comments about Wives of the Signers.

1. Describes the hardships and struggles experienced by the wives of those who signed the Declaration of Independence. A very enlightening read; something that should be a part of every high school American history class!

5 comments about On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie.

1. I knew of the Delany sisters from a 60 minutes segment after the first book. In 1998, while starting through the divorce process that seemed so daunting after a quarter century of marriage, I found Sadie's book. I read and reread this book and was always helped with the grief and feelings of being overwhelmed by having to create a life on my own. I figured if Sadie could do it at 107, I could do it at 50. The thought of her having to learn to fix her own hair by herself at that age was such a specific challenge that helped me put my own challenges in perspective. As I read her progress through the grieving process, I made my own progress as well. As I look back on those times 10 yrs. later, I can see this book was one of the most valuable tools I used to not only survive, but to thrive and grow in so many ways.On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie



2. Sadie and Bessie Delany lived together for over 100 years before Bessie died at the age of 104 in the home that the two sisters shared. They were well-educated African-American women in an era when few blacks or women attended college. Sadie was a teacher and Bessie worked as a dentist. The sisters were devoted to each other and Bessie's death was a severe blow to her older sister.
   
   The original story about the sisters is told in "Having Our Say". This book by Sadie chronicles her experiences in learning to live without her sister in the difficult first year after Bessie's death. Sadie's faith, common sense, love, and wisdom come shining through in this little book.



3. Grief is pictured beautifully here as "Sadie" describes her first year after the death of her beloved sister with reference to the beautiful flowers Bessie always raised. The fall and winter of dormancy and renewal in her grief gradually gives way to the vibrancy of spring blooms and summer sun.
   
   When Sadie sees the first spring flowers peeking through the snow, she realizes for the first time that she will grow through her grief. This is a stirring portryal of the experience we all face.



4. I read the first two books about these two remarkable sisters ("Having Our Say," and "The Delaney Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom") and they also deserve five stars each, absolutely. In fact, the best book, in terms of literary merit, is the first one, and I loved looking at the photos in the book of the whole family, going back a few generations.
   
   But this book here really helped me in the first year of my husband's death. I read it at least once a week, usually more. I found strength in the fact that if Sadie could make it on her own after being practically attached at the hip for over 100 years to Bessie, and loving each other so much and so well, then I would somehow find the strength to go on too.
   
   Sometimes I was so cried out, but I was still so sad and wanted to cry more, but the tears wouldn't come. The way the "as-told-to" author Hearth expressed Sadie's feelings always helped bring back those cathartic tears.
   
   I read many books of comfort for the grieving widow, but for some reason, this little book near saved my life.



5. "On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life without Bessie" is by Sarah L. Delany with Amy Hill Hearth. Their text is accompanied by illustrations by Brian M. Kotzky. This book contains the reflections of 107-year old Sarah "Sadie" Delany after the death of her sister and lifetime companion Bessie at the age of 104.

   A foreword by coauthor Hearth discusses the lives of these two extraordinary African-American women and the success of their book "Having Our Say," published in 1993 and adapted as a Broadway play. Bessie was a pioneering dentist, and Sadie a teacher; remaining unmarried, the two enjoyed a lifetime partnership that lasted over a century.

   The main body of the text is divided into four parts, each with an introductory section by a 3rd person narrator. But the bulk of the text consists of Sadie's first-person reflections. Interspersed throughout the text are Kotzky's beautiful full color illustrations of the many flowers that longtime gardener Bessie loved: crocuses, tulips, rhododendrons, coral bells, etc.

   This is a wonderful book about family, faith, growing old with grace, and surviving the death of one's life partner. Sadie's voice is wonderfully moving and sometimes funny. Ultimately the book celebrates the cycles of life.

   This book is a touching tribute to Bessie Delany and a celebration of the enduring partnership she shared with her sister. Early in the book Sadie declares, "Why, I have been so blessed in my life!" Likewise are we readers blessed with this beautiful book. Recommended especially for those with an interest in women's studies, African-American studies, flower gardening, and issues related to the elderly.

5 comments about Bedford Forrest: and His Critter Company (Southern Classics Series).

1. Andrew Lytle was the dean of Southern writers, and in this work -- one of his earliest -- he not only brought to life America's greatest military figure, but an age and a people as well. It was Lytle's aim to make the times of Nathan Bedford Forrest come alive for the reader. He devoted himself to intensive research of the Tennessee where Forrest was born and the Mississippi where he lived.
   
   In reading this book we not only learn about the marvellous -- indeed, often incredible -- feats of a military genius, but we learn at the same time about the people, the places, the morals, the values, and the way of life of a people long gone now. (Lytle's subsequent book, A Wake for the Living, deals more pointedly with how much of the good of those days we have lost.)
   
   This book, although a worthy history, reads like a novel. It truly is one that is hard to put down once you get started.



2. In terms of his impact on modern warfare, no general of the Civil War had more than Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Not Grant, not Lee, not Longstreet or Sherman. This is the man. No less a general than Erwin Rommel studied Forrest's tactics and implemented them with modern weaponry when his Afrika Korps marched all over Libya and Egypt in World War II.

   The reason I say this book isn't for the "politically correct" is that it was written some 70 years ago, by a man of the old South who obviously idolized Forrest and everything he stood for. As you know already, not everything Forrest stood for was good. He was 100 years ahead of his time as a soldier, but stuck in 1860 in his personal beliefs.

   But...getting into the book. He was a brilliant commander who never had enough men under his command to turn the war in the South's favor. Still, he was a hero to the people of the Tennessee river valley where he won most of his victories, with good reason. When the Union troops overran these areas and placed them under military rule, Forrest made sure they treated the citizens decently. Once he even saved a group of innocent men from a flaming death at the hands of vengeful Union soldiers whom he was defeating in battle. Reading these and other stories makes you understand why he was such a hero to the author, who would have heard first-hand accounts of Forrest's exploits.

   Lytle believes that the South would have won the war if Forrest had been placed in command of the main Confederate army in the west, and he's probably right. Forrest was an extraordinary individual who had more impact on the 20th century than any other Civil War general.




3. I never fully appreciated the intellect of Forrest until I finished this book. It peels away the myths about the man, and tells about what he was really like. I loved it, and often flip around in it from time to time. A must for Civil War buffs!



4. Cunning as the Devil was Nathan Bedford Forrest and this book indicates just how quick and clever this military genius was. Little wonder then that Lee considered this dark knight to be his finest soldier, above even the legendary Stonewall Jackson.



5. Great book and a fast read with lots of information. After reading this book I was left with the feeling that bragg was working for the yanks! If only we had a little extra money a couple thousand more men, supplies and had listened to the likes of Longstreet and Forrest . How things would be different in todays politics. Let's hope that one day movies depicting true southern patriots and the real causes concerning the war for southern independence will light up the screens. END

5 comments about Douglass and Lincoln: How a Revolutionary Black Leader and a Reluctant Liberator Struggled to End Slavery and Save the Union.

1. Douglass and Lincoln is an exceptionally researched and well-written book on the relationship between these two important men. Most of the book focuses on Douglass rather than Lincoln, perhaps necessarily so. The Kendricks do a superb job of tracing Lincoln's slow transformation from a leader reluctant to press the emancipation issue to one who eventually embraced it, all within the context of Douglass's lifelong struggle not only for emancipation, but for equality. Douglass and Lincoln met only a few times, but it's evident in this book that they held a mutual respect for each other due to each man's struggle against adversity in their early lives. I recommend this book not only because it is well-researched, but because it's well-written. It's quite a page turner. I couldn't put it down.



2. As the Kendrick's stated at a recent book talk on their new work: 'we often approach this war [Civil War] through the lens of its ending...but it wasn't like this at all at the time.' This book chronicles, in a very enjoyable novel-like way, the constantly shifting dynamics of the War as reflected in the personal relationship of two great men. Not afraid to tackle the folklore that surrounds each man, Paul and Stephen Kendrick provide helpful insight into a profound relationship.



3. Having read both Oakes' Radical and the Republican and the Kendrick's new book on Lincoln and Douglass (the Abolishionist, not the rival Senator), it seems to me that this recent book gives a much fuller human dimension to the relationship. Though this is an amazing political story (one Americans should know more about), Douglass and Lincoln offers a more vivid, personal insight into these very complicated, indeed enigmatic, men. All told, I enjoyed the book, and have no hesitancy in giving it the full five star treatment. In the current deluge of Lincoln books leading up to the 200th anniversery, this is one book that truly has a fresh angle on a well-worn topic. To see the struggle of the Civil War through Frederick Douglass' eyes makes it all seem new, even surprising. A wonderful read even for people tired of the Civil War.



4. As a student of history, I found this a compelling look at two towering figures and a cogent study of their rarely-explored relationship through the Civil War. Approaching the subject with subtlety and sensitivity, Kendrick and Kendrick make a case for the mutual influence of their dialogue. It was this force that ultimately cemented Lincoln's conviction to continue the war, not just his aversion to breaking the Union. Through new primary sources--unpublished letters, black abolitionist papers--the book provides critical background which gives abolition new resonance.



5. This is a truly fascinating book and an exciting story.
   The Kendricks' use letters, articles and mountains of other research to bring these men and their struggles to life. I found myself seeing them not as icons, but as people. It is an exciting story to follow Douglass' mission to make the Civil War about freedom, his son's perilous experiences as soldiers and the Kendricks' interesting take on Lincoln's evolution.
   Watching Lincoln through Douglass' gave me a Lincoln I had never seen before. While they do not hold back with aspects of Lincoln on race that may surprise you, he emerges as great because he is not paralyzed by his prejudices as he rises to monumental deeds.
   I cannot recommend this book highly enough. These two have a true gift for making history interesting and inspiring.

5 comments about Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air.

1. I am not a typical non-fiction reader, but after reading the book, First Lady of the Air, I could see myself reading more non-fiction. Kathleen Winters creates an easy to read non-fiction account of the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Throughout the book, I could really identify with Anne as a woman and fellow aviator. Winters portrays many sides of Anne, from her days as a young woman, to a woman aviator, and finally to a wife and mother. She makes it easy for any reader to identify with the struggles that Anne faced in each of those times in her life.
   
   Winters describes the historical significance of what Anne and Charles were accomplishing with their many long distance flights in uncharted areas; setting up air routes and paving the way for what future commercial jet liners would utilize on a daily basis. Anne was an active participant in an adventurous situation, which was not typical for women of her time. Very inspirational story showing that women can do the same things that men can do. A good read for anyone interested in aviation history.



2. There was a time when Charles Lindbergh was the most famous man on Earth. His 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic caught the world's imagination and the public couldn't get enough of him. When he decided to get married he made looking for a wife into a project. Anne Morrow was the daughter of a wealthy and prestigious family and while Anne didn't quite take to Charles at first, it wasn't long until she was caught up in his charisma and the thrill of flying, and they were soon married.
   
   Kathleen Winters has given us a very interesting biography of Anne that necessarily includes material on Charles, but usually from Anne's perspective. The subtitle of the book is "first lady of the air" and most of the book is about Anne's achievements as a pioneering woman in powered flight and gliding. The majority of the book focuses on two major expeditions Charles and Anne made to Asia in 1931 and all around the North and South Atlantic in 1933. Anne was not just along for the ride on these long and dangerous trips to open flying routes around the globe. As Charles noted when asked about taking his wife along on these hazardous flights, "she is crew". Anne operated the radio, used Morse code, and much more. The radio in those days was much more art than the standard technology it has become.
   
   Winters provides great maps of these great journeys along with some terrific photographs. The revolutionary nature of these flights is made clear by the medal Anne was given by the National Geographic Society for her part in opening air routes around the globe.
   
   While the book does cover the major biographical details including the kidnapping and murder of their firstborn with the subsequent trial of Hauptmann, everything but the flying is covered in short form, but all the major points are touched on.
   
   I found Winters' treatment of Charles being given Service Cross of the German Eagle by Goering most interesting. It has become usual to bash Lindbergh for accepting this award, but the accusers rarely put the event in context. It happened only a few weeks after the "peace in our time" four-way pact signing between Britain, France, Germany, and Italy and weeks before Kristallnacht. The Lindbergh's had stopped in Germany for eighteen days after a trip to Russia. The presentation was made without warning or announcement at a men's only dinner at the American Embassy and at the time neither Charles nor the other men at the dinner thought much about it. Afterwards, Anne expressed her concern that the white cross would become an albatross around his neck. After Kristallnacht occurred, Charles wrote in his journal, "My admiration for the Germans is constantly being dashed against some rock such as this."
   
   Winters also provides very interesting information about Anne's efforts and success as an author. I have not yet read any of Anne's writings, but this book has piqued my interest in seeking them out.
   
   This is a most interesting book about a talented an intrepid women who held her own in a marriage to one of the great historic characters of the 20th Century. Her life is instructive, inspiring, and very much worth knowing. Winters' has written an honest and interesting look at her life and accomplishments. I recommend that you get a copy and enjoy it.
   
   Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI



3. This book is a gem. Well written. Informative. It is Anne's story -- the woman who loved to fly and who often was the first to explore some new phase. Because she is such an ethereal writer -- and because she was Charles' wife -- we tend to lose track of her actual aviation accomplishments. Author Kathleen C. Winters has nicely remedied that. Originally in hardback, the book is due out in paperback spring 2008.
   
   Sarah Byrn Rickman, author of the newly released Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II (University of North Texas Press).



4. I thought Anne Morrow Lindbergh-First Lady of the Air was going to be a historical documentary, which would have been interesting. It was much, much more. It is exciting reading that covers the gamut from insight into the personal life of an aviation icon to a unique look into the early days of the flying machines. Kathleen Winters' writing style made me feel like I knew the Lindbergh family personally. Her research is impeccable. I was awed by the challenges of mixing high society and celebrity with the rigors of exploratory flying. We all know about Charles Lindbergh. Now learn about the shy, but brave wife who made him what he was.



5. "Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air" illuminates the aviation career of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who is more often remembered for her literary success later in life. But aviation consumed Anne's time, directed her relationship with her husband, and gave her much joy and satisfaction in the early years of her marriage to celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh. Author Kathleen C. Winters, aviation historian and pilot herself, approaches this subject that has been largely neglected by Anne Lindbergh's previous biographers with an empathy for Anne Lindbergh's elation at the experience of flying and respect for her many accomplishments as a pioneer woman aviator and as an instrumental partner in husband Charles' groundbreaking survey flights in the 1930s.
   
   We are introduced to Anne Morrow Lindbergh mid-flight during the Lindberghs' 1933 Atlantic Survey flight for Pan Am, for which Anne acted as radio operator and relief pilot, roles she regularly played while Charles' position at Pan Am called for frequent long and perilous journeys all over the globe to chart potential air routes. From there we revisit the early lives of Anne Morrow and Charles Lindbergh to learn how these two people of disparate personalities and backgrounds married and formed a formidable aviation team. Winters follows Anne's experiences and accomplishments in aviation, with and without her husband, from her first flight until Anne let her pilot's license expire and retired from aviation in 1937.
   
   Winters places Anne Lindbergh's aviation career in the context of her personal life. Charles' high expectations of his wife were both liberating and trying for sheltered, insecure Anne. But Anne was buoyed by her husband's confidence in her skills and found strength and respite from the overwhelming media attention in the air. The book is most compelling when it takes us along on the Lindberghs' 10,000-mile Arctic Survey (1931) and 30,000-mile Atlantic Survey (1933). Anne's love of flying is apparent, as is the author's, as she describes the perils and wonders of these extraordinary flights. I never understood the enthusiasm that many people have for flying, but I think I do now. Winters' pleasant, precise prose reveals Anne Morrow Lindbergh's importance in the Golden Age of Aviation and explores her personal relationship with aviation.