5 comments about Life is Just What You Make It: My Story So Far.

1. I found that this was an excellent account of Donny Osmond's memoirs of his life and of his enccounters with social anxiety. I recommend this to anyone who is a Donny Osmond fan.



2. As a life long Osmond fan, I was captivated by this book. Donny really put himself out there, the book was honest, written with feeling,I really understood the grown up Donny and felt the fear he must have felt when he was going through his Social Phobia. I am glad that he wrote it the way he did. People get the wrong impressions and they run with them. I feel that fans and the entertainment industry let Donny down. Everyone wanted the gorgeous teen aged boy, he grew to be a handsome man, a loving husband, a good father and a fantastic artist. This book gave you a true picture of who Donny is and that above all he is human just like the rest of us. I have even read this book again because it was very interesting. We see the glamour and the fun part of being famous, but it has its nightmares and is very hard work. What I admire about Donny the most is that he hasn't let success change who he is, he could have done something drastic to be in the front pages amd he has chosen not to. As of this date he is married to Debbie for 30 years now, how many celebrities can say that.



3. Am not a big reader but loved to hear how Just like others Donny has not had a perfect life, A must for all Donny fans and those who just want a insight into his life.



4. LIFE IS JUST WHAT YOU MAKE IT: MY STORY SO FARas I read donny's book, i couldnt help but feel partly responsible for Donny's downfall from super stardom. I was devastated to learn of Donny's marriage to Debbie and felt so betrayed by him that i put my Osmond albums and posters away and turned my back on him for what I vowed would be forever. It made me sad to read how hard it was for him to go from being on top of the world to a has been at the age of 21. And a broke has been as well. At times through out the book, i felt Donny was feeling sorry for himself but then, thats understandable too. Something I was absolutely delighted to read about was the family home. I always pictured the Osmond clan all living in one big giant mansion. As each brother got married, he'd just move his wife in. Well that wasnt quite right. they bought an entire apartment building and knocked out some walls to accomadate them. I also was touched by the story Donny wrote about briefly about the relationship between his mother and Elvis Presley. I am glad i read this book. although i dont listen to or care for his music anymore, I do, from time to time see him on TV and will watch. I was very disappointed in him when i saw him insult Rosie Odonnel about her weight. Totally rude and uncalled for. He explains in his book that he thought her words of praise and love for him was her way of mocking him and he lashed out. I don't buy it. He said too it was a joke. Ask any fat person if they've ever heard a fat joke that was funny. I lost alot of respect for Donny that day. However i was amused at Rosie. She over exaggerated his comment and for weeks, every guest she had on her show, she'd ask them if they saw the show where donny called her a big fat pig. Guess he picked the wrong fat girl to pick on. I would definately recommend this book to Donny fans.



5. I truly enjoyed reading this book as it showed a side of Donny that I assumed existed but didn't believe until I read his book. The book is honest, truthful and forward about his life, family and how he got where he is now. Eye opening in a lot of personal stories. I got a sense that his father was more of a disciplinarian than was let on and this affected Donny more than we knew. If you really want to know more about Donny and what makes him tick, read this book. I read it in 2 days.

No comments about John Washington's Civil War: A Slave Narrative.

5 comments about Carl Sagan: A Life.

1. Mr. Davidson has written an excellent biography of astronomer Carl Sagan with this one. I think the book was written with a fine balance of view on the man. Davidson obviously did his homework. The book sufficiently covers Sagan's professional and personal life, without pulling any punches. In this book, I think most will also see the slow metamorphosis of a man primarily interested in science, becoming more and more interested in self-promotion. But don't get the idea is a Carl Sagan-bash. It is nothing of the kind, just admirably frank.



2. By his enemies, detractors, and those envious of him, Carl Sagan has been called a "bozo", a "psuedoscientist", an "idiot", a "moron", and many other names that need not be repeated here. Those who like him though do so unabashedly, and in rare instances have had their scientific careers stymied because of their admitted admiration of him. It is fair to say, and an in-depth statistical study may support this, that the scientific community is automatically dismissive of public figures and the general public, and get angry when anyone within their midst attempts to explain things to people in these two classes. It is almost as though the attempt to explain difficult scientific ideas and concepts to the general public constitutes almost a criminal act, to be punished by banishment from professional societies and academia. The reason for this anger is unknown, and does not seem to serve any useful or constructive purpose either within the scientific community or outside of it.
   
   Although the author is not a practicing scientist, from the words in this book it is apparent that he identifies with the general scientific community in their attitude about the popularization of science. The author comes across as being deeply cynical, and this is readily apparent throughout the book. It seems he has a score to settle with Sagan and he endeavors throughout the book to take Sagan down a notch and expose his faults and inadequacies. The book for this reason is difficult to read, for it confuses objectivity with blatant negativism. What is needed in the case of Carl Sagan is a biographer who will not engage in uncritical adulation and yet at the same time not become indulged in muckracking.
   
   Indeed, the author makes it a point to bring out Sagan's alleged use of marijuana, his reluctance to assist his wives in housework, and his shortcomings as a father to his children. He discusses the zeal with which several scientists denied Sagan admission to the National Academy of Sciences, and Sagan's supposed inability to discuss scientific topics in depth. The author therefore patronizes the reader, with the implicit assumption that the reader has been unduly influenced by Sagan and needs assistance and release from this influence. The emotional responses that many have obtained by viewing Cosmos or reading some of Sagan's works is dismissed as being a result of Sagan's skilled oratory. It seems to never occur to the author that such responses are a natural consequence to being exposed to ideas that are accurate and true.
   
   It is a little over ten years since Sagan has passed on, but his legacy is alive and well, and even though he has made many contributions to both science and its popularization, his most profound contribution, and one that outweighs the rest by many orders of magnitude, is his implicit demonstration that the history of the human species has been one of brilliant developments rather than war and strife. For a human being to purposely take the life of another is actually extremely rare, but it is frequently taught, both in educational institutions and outside of them, that the human species is a destructive and dangerous one. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the writings of Sagan illustrate this time and again. It would be incorrect therefore, and statistically invalid, to say that his view of history is romanticized and idealistic. It is the most realistic of any that currently exist, and deserves to be propagated at a large scale. There has yet to arise an effective surrogate to Carl Sagan, at least from the standpoint of someone who delivers the message in books, movies, and television as effectively as he did. But there are millions, or shall we say, billions and billions, of individuals that make up the collective genius of the human species, and it is these individuals, some known and some unknown, that are so eloquently described and championed by Sagan throughout his writings and personal life.



3. I grew up with Carl Sagan. An avid watcher of his COSMOS program when it aired in 1980, I like to credit Carl with turning me on to the wonders of science and, especially, the wonders of space exploration. Prior to seeing COSMOS I thought outer space was just a playground for X-Wing fighters, Colonial warriors, and the Starship Enterprise. Carl made space into a very real place, more fascinating than my young mind had ever thought possible, and COSMOS similarly impressed upon me the value of science as, to borrow the sub-title from one of Carl's best-known volumes, a candle in the darkness.
   
   Many years later, shortly after I got married, my wife found the entire COSMOS series on VHS tape at a local library. I eagerly re-screened the entire series with adult eyes, and was reminded again of how fantastic the series was, what a great science promoter Carl could be, and I suppose the old child-like hero worship resurfaced with new energy. Carl then died tragically not longer after I re-screened COSMOS, and in a moment of telegraphed fan grief, I set up a web memorial to the man which I called the Carl Sagan Electronic Monument.
   
   On that web site I extolled the virtues of the Great Popularizer. I praised his wisdom, his brilliance, his prowess as both husband and father, and generally set the man up on a pedestal of enormous height. For a few years I communicated with other Sagan fans, and even received one or two touching e-mails from Ann Druyan, thanking me for the CSEM and thanking me for being part of the enormous outpouring of support and love which centered around Carl following his passing.
   
   Knowing my affinity for Sagan, my wife bought me "Demon Haunted World" and an audiobook, read by Sagan, of "Pale Blue Dot". I loved these as I loved COSMOS, and it seemed nothing could stem the hero worship.
   
   Then, my wife bought me "Carl Sagan: A life", and the carefully constructed illusion slowly came apart.
   
   I'd always known that certain people had a gripe against Sagan. I'd always chalked it up to petty jealousy against a truly great man. But as I turned the pages of this book, and the REALITY of Carl Edward Sagan began to hit home, I realized that in my rush to embrace Sagan as an idol, I'd completely fooled myself.
   
   Meticulously researched, this book is an eye-opener for any Sagan fan. I've seen a lot of the one star comments, declaring that this is a book for "Sagan haters", which I think is unfair. If anything, this book exposes Sagan for who he really was, not who we wished him to be. I think all Sagan fans owe it to themselves to read this book, and then decide, as I did, which they loved more: Sagan as a PERSON, or Sagan as a vehicle for opening the wonders of space and science to the average man?
   
   My conclusion, upon finishing this volume, is that I was not a fan of Sagan the man. Sagan seemed a poor husband, at least until the advent of Ann Druyan, and even then it seems clear he was already involved with Druyan prior to the dissolution of his relationship with his second wife. Moreover, Sagan was not a particularly good father to his first children, again only cleaning up his act for the Druyan years.
   
   I have always believed that no amount of professional success can make up for failure in the home. I am glad that Sagan seems to have reformed by the time Druyan came on the scene, and that his youngest children seem to have enjoyed at least a competent dad. But what of the first two marriages, and the children that came of them? What of the abuse that he apparently doled out to his first wife? These things significantly mar the brilliant image of Sagan, and left me feeling as if I'd seriously deluded myself.
   
   Moreover, Sagan the professional was also not without faults. For much of his life Carl seems to have been an enormously vainglorious and pompous fellow, essentially ruining his relationship with COSMOS producer Adrian Malone, so much so that the men were not on speaking terms by the time COSMOS earned its Emmy and Peabody Awards. Carl also developed a reputation as a scientific dilettente, precocious and opinionated and eager to claim mastery over various scientific subjects without actually contributing much bona fide advancement in those same fields. Many scientists came to resent Sagan as being too much of a self-promoter and not enough of a researcher, and as Sagan's public popularity began to soar, so did the grumbling by some in the scientific community who felt that Sagan was getting credit for their effort.
   
   When I came back to my Sagan memorial web site, after reading this book, I realized I couldn't keep the web site up in good faith anymore. I slowly pruned the site down until it was just a placeholder, and then I shut it down altogether not longer after that.
   
   Having said all this, I must emphasize that "Carl Sagan: A Life" is not a one-sided bash-session. There is much good said about Sagan, especially in regard to his role as popularizer, and in regard to his struggle with health problems, including a throat condition I had not previously known about, and his long decay due to myelodysplasia. His work in debunking UFOlogy and stressing skepticism (alongside other skeptics like James Randi) is to his credit, as are his forays into environmentalism and combating the threat of nuclear holocaust. The Planetary Society continues as one of the most energetic public bodies lobbying for continued space exploration, and there is no doubt that Sagan's legacy as a spark which has fired the efforts and imaginations of millions around the world, is secure.
   
   I still own a DVD set of COSMOS and enjoy watching the series from time to time. As a character on the screen, Sagan is engaging, witty, brilliant, and engrossing, and COSMOS still stands, in my mind, as one of the greatest television science series of all time. I still keep the copy of "Demon Haunted World" and have the "Pale Blue Dot" tapes, because there is great thought and wisdom in these volumes, and they are to Sagan's eternal credit.
   
   But Sagan the person has been permanently removed from his pedestal. In hindsight, I should have never placed him up there to begin with.
   
   In COSMOS, Sagan lauds German astronomer Johannes Kepler for having the courage to face the reality of celestial planetary motion, rather than cling to his beloved illusion of the nested geometric solids. In the same spirit I would encourage all Sagan fans to cast aside any illusions they may have regarding Carl Sagan the man, and read this book, and know the faults and flaws and shortcomings of the man we all learned to admire and idolize as children.
   
   You will be surprised. You will be dissapointed. But you will know the truth.
   
   Five stars for this book. Absolutely. Thanks to Keay Davidson for having the literary courage to delve into Sagan's life, and not just offer up a superficial pean.



4. This biography differs from many of the other sycophantic works about celebrity lives in that it treats its subject as its subject treated the world: objectively. Those who have ears to hear, they will hear and agree.
   
   Sagan was larger than life. A brilliant man with a passion for his subject he was none-the-less subject to human feelings and human failings. This book portrays the human side of Carl Sagan from his sudden, relationship damaging mood swings, to his desire to achieve the greatest good. It takes the myth of Carl Sagan and exposes the very real man underneath it all.
   
   Sagan the scientist allowed his passions to distort his views at times but what great scientist hasn't had moments of irrational behavior? Sagan the humanitarian often demanded that things be done to relieve human suffering and end nuclear proliferation. He could be stubborn to the point of being annoying when it came to exposing frauds in science and the inhuman monsters (Edward Teller) whom he resented.
   
   The book portrays a very human Sagan. A product of his era, he smoked pot, desired peace, devoted himself to his scientific calling, and became a legend. If you can stand to have the curtain drawn and the wizard exposed, this is the book for you. If you like fantasy over reality, move on.



5. This "biography" is one, long malicious attack upon Carl Sagan.
   
   Keay Davidson obviously detests Sagan - so much so that I don't know why he would wrire a book about someone he hates so much.
   
   Only someone who hates Sagan could enjoy this book - but anyone who hates Sagan wouldn't be buying/reading a biography about him anyway.
   
   This book has no real audience. I would rate it ZERO stars if I were able.
   
   If you like anything Carl did, please look elsewhere for a biography and do not waste a penny or a second on this unfathomably putrid piece of attack-journalism.

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.

5 comments about Wild Rose: The True Story of a Civil War Spy.

1. Perhaps many of you already know about the Southern socialite who passed critical information to Beauregard just before 1st Manassas. I just finished reading this excellent biography, Wild Rose, of the famous Confederate spy and firebrand, written by Ann Blackman, Random House, 2006. The author delves into the social life and politics of pre-bellum Washington, DC. with great care and finesse. Even though Blackman is obviously an abolitionist, nevertheless, she treats respectfully the beliefs and viewpoint of Rose Greenhow. The work is a scholarly labor with dozens of period photographs and hundreds of end notes. The author writes well and I highly recommend this work to anyone who is interested in just how life was in Washington in the 1840's and 1850's. You will be entranced reading about the balls, late night visits, slave antics and agonies, political shenanigans, prisons, and European courts.



2. There were many women in the spy business for the North and for the South. Rose certainly was a very important one for the South. Blackwell gives a very good account of Rose's life before the war and during the war. True stories are always more interesting than the fictional ones. Rose was a very remarkable woman. She clearly was important in the out come of Bull Run. Jefferson Davis felt that she could influence the English to give their support to the South. The author keeps you turning the pages in her story of Rose. By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"
   
   Writing as a Small BusinessQualifying Laps: A Brewster County NovelSins of the Fathers: A Brewster County NovelTravelersThe Bluegrass Dream: A Wilderness Adventure of Early SettlersNatchez Above The River: A Family's Survival In The Civil War



3. Excellent! Rose O'Neale Greenhow was an extraordinary woman, a master mind as a secret agent. Her life, which was obtaining intelligence from the North for the benefit of the Southern government, was extremely intricate. Great reading, not a dull moment in the book!



4. THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE BEST SPY THRILLER OF THE YEAR BUT THE BEST PART OF THIS BOOK IS ITS ALL TRUE AND IT ALL HAPPENED ITS NOT A NOVEL.I SAW ANN BLACKMAN ON TV AND I WAS SO IMPRESSED BY HER TALK THAT SHE GAVE ON THE LIFE OF THE SPY MASTER ROSE O NEALE GREENHOW THAT I BOUGHT THE BOOK RIGHT AWAY AND COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN ONCE I GOT MY HANDS ON IT.THIS TALENTED WRITER HAS TRACKED DOWN SO MANY NEW AND EXCITING DOCUMENTS AND FACTS THAT PROVE BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR GREENHOWS UNDERGROUND ACTIVITYS THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER SOONER FOR THE SOUTH . THIS REAL PAGE TURNER WOULD MAKE A WONDERFUL GIFT FOR A FAMILY MEMBER, A FRIEND , OR RECAMENDATIONS FOR YOUR CIVAL WAR ROUND TABLE OR CIVAL WAR BUFF OR HISTORY BUFF OR MILITARY BUFF. PLEASE GET THIS BOOK TO A SOLDIER SERVING OVER SEAS.



5. Rose O'Neal Greenhow was "the" Civil War spy. This is a true story of her exploits before and during the Civil War.
   
   In 1857, Rose was described by a jealous Northern woman as "she looked fity or seventy." That's me sometimes. She was on trial in San Francisco where her husband, Robert, was a lawyer. She might have passed for thirty-five. She was asked "How old are you?" She answered with dignified finality -- "Of sufficient age to testify." She was the Ethel Rosenberg of the Civil War on the Southern side, of course.
   
   Her Oriental Hotel on Market Street was a noted gathering place for the Southerners. Among the generals she met there were Johnston of Shiloh fame, Sherman, Scott and McDowell. Some of their graves at at Shiloh in southwest Tennessee. There in San Francisco, there were polka cotillions and the Southerners lived akin to the way they did in Washington, D.C. She made trips back and forth, carrying messages, and became known as a Confederate spy.
   
   Seven years later, in 1864, she looked years younger in looks as she sailed on the 'Condor' from England to the Confederate States. Rose had often said she would glady die for the Confederacy, and she was drown in the ship wreck during a storm.
   
   In Washington, she had been the fashionable hostess to the likes of John C. Calhoun, James Buchanan, and Dolley Madison. She and Robert went to California during the height of the Gold Rush. After his death in a tragic accident, she became notorious for her many love affairs in Washington. D.C.
   
   With the Civil War, things changed rapidly for, overnight Rose became an intrepid spy. She supplied accurate intelligence against the Union forces, written in code, to General Beauregard, reportedly one of her lovers. She made the difference in the outcome of Bull Run with her information, but Allan Pinkerton arrested her as a spy. Indomitable Rose journeyed to Europe during the crisis of the war to plead the Confederate 'cause' to the royal courts of England and France.
   
   No woman in the North or South rivaled this Civil War heroine, who risked everything for the cause she valued more than life itself. She declared, "I am a Southern woman, born with revolutionary blood in my veins (she meant Rebel tendencies)."
   
   This biography is about an astonishing woman, a book which will stand with the finest of Civil War true stories. Wild (Rebel) Rose was one to deal with only if you were a Confederate sympathizer. Ann Blackman wrote THE SPY NEXT DOOR: ROBERT PHILIP HANSSEN and SEASONS OF HER LIFE (about Madeleine Albright). She was a news reporter with 'Time' magazine and the Associated Press covering American politics and social policy.

5 comments about Joseph P. Kennedy: The Mogul, the Mob, the Statesman, and the Making of an American Myth.

1. It is obvious from reading this book that the author holds Joe Kennedy Sr. in very low esteem and cares little for the Kennedys in general. Based on the information he presents, one can clearly see why. If only a fraction of it is true; Joe Kennedy could best be described as a ruthless, self-serving, border-line criminal and stock manipulator; an inveterate philanderer, ignoble husband and father, and, all-in-all, a poor excuse for a human being.
   
   It isn't clear, however, as to whether the author held these views when he began researching the book or came to those conclusions after studying his subject. The answer to that question would seem to bear heavily on the efficacy of the subject matter he presents. Did the author, for example, pick and choose his data? If so, although it seems highly unlikely, Joe Kennedy may have had some redeeming qualities which went untold. Perhaps he didn't kick his dog.
   
   It is also somewhat disconcerting that throughout the book the author occasionally throws in gratuitous pejoratives seemingly intended to cast aspersions on Joe, although, in light of the evidence, Joe certainly needs none. And, at other times, he tells us what some of those who knew Joe were thinking and lets us know what they thought of Joe. One is left to wonder how he knows, since he rarely references these sources.
   
   Nevertheless, based upon its numerous notes and references, this is a well researched and well substantiated biography of a man who, although extremely wealthy and politically powerful, spent most of his life in the shadows. In later life, he used his wealth and power to give America the illusion of "Camelot," but during his lifetime he did much more than that. During World War I, for example, he dodged the draft. Then, with the advent of prohibition, he used his father's connections in Canada and England to arrange booze shipments for delivery to underworld characters in the United States, such as Al Capone. He never worked as a "bootlegger" in a romantic sense. He never outraced the Coast Guard to deliver the goods. Instead, Joe just made the money. Later, he went to Hollywood where he made his mark and took Gloria Swanson as his mistress. While there, he managed her affairs (business) and lavished her with expensive gifts - most of which were later found to have been paid for with Gloria's own money. (Geez, what a guy!) Then, if truth be told, Joe established and helped run various stock pools aimed at manipulating the stock market to the benefit of the pool members. (This is said to have been one of the causes of the stock market crash of 1929 and the resulting "Great Depression.") Later, Joe helped get Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president and, as a result, managed to get himself appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain shortly before World War II. Unfortunately, Joe didn't understand world affairs, seemed to side with the fascists, and never grasped the fact that he was in England to represent the president of the United States, not to express his own views and make more money. So, when the State Department was finally forced to bypass him in the decision making process, President Roosevelt demanded and accepted his resignation. Following the war, Joe had a frontal lobotomy performed on his daughter, Rosemary, ruining her life; then set about furthering his son's, John F. Kennedy's, political career through one nefarious scheme after another. Joe even managed to preclude JFK's being court marshaled for dereliction of duty for letting his PT boat (PT-109) be rammed, causing two deaths, and instead arranged to have JFK cast as a national hero. The rest, as they say, is history.
   
   Bottom line: Those who are more interested in the Kennedy's than I am, and knew a lot more about the Kennedys than I did, may find this book repetitive of previous works. Those who aren't, and particularly those who fell for the Camelot myth, will certainly find it to be a real eye opener, particularly since old Joe still wields some measure of power having tried very hard to mold his sons in his own image.



2. If you have never read anything in depth about either the Kennedy family or Joseph Kennedy (sins of the father, the founding father) you might go thru this book and discover a revelation or two. If you have, then this book will come across as trite, boring and a bit fraudulent. By the latter, I mean the book promises new revelations, and delivers nothing more than the usual information that any "light" student of the Kennedys and Joe in particular already know. Worse yet, some of the contentions are incorrect and almost none of them are backed up by source materials in the book's note section. For instance, the author suggests that JFK's doctors knew he would not live thru a second term, and further suggest that the assassin's bullet spared us-Citizens that is- from watching our president die in office post 1964. Yet, the author offers absolutely no source information for this contention. Yes, anybody who has read more than two Kennedy books knows that JFK was ill throughout most his life; but that same person would know that most of his life threatening ailments were under control by the time he was elected president. (The fact that these illnesses were kept secret from the general public does not make them fatal within the second term, as the author implies!). There are other points in this book where it is evident that the author just plain does not like Joe Kennedy. That's ok. A little odium dripped on a biographical protagonist as deserving as Joe Kennedy can be forgiven- after all the man did do a great many horrible things in his life time. But when that level of despise effects the quality of ones research and ultimately hobbles ones effort, than a little restraint might have been appropriate. Don't bother with this book.



3. The book was a great insight into JPK and gives the reader a more solid understanding of his descendants. It also sheds a great deal of light on anti-Irish sentiments and gives an almost psycho-social explanation for JPK's actions based on the discrimination he encountered as a youth. One review stated that there was too much anecdotal information that is not properly accounted for. This may be true. However, i always enjoy a biography that explains the subject matter (i.e.JPK) in the historical context in which they lived in. This was done masterfully by Mr. Schwarz.



4. If you're a follower of the Kennedy saga, there may be little new material here in the biography, JOSEPH P. KENNEDY. But it's interesting and highly readable. It covers everyone from JPK's ancesters in Ireland to Caroline and John Jr.'s generation. Jackie comes off well. But there are a lot of unpleasant things about Rose I'd never heard before. And there are things I knew about but never knew the truth behind -- like the tragedy of Rosemary.

   As I read the book, I thought he made statements that would be considered controversial. But as I read on, and looked at the notes and bibliography, I realized Mr. Schwarz did indeed appear to be well informed. It's oddly written, with some really long sentences and some anecdotes stuck in totally out of any time sequence. If only for the insights into the worlds of politics and Hollywood, it's well worth your time. And it's pretty enjoyable.




5. I thought I knew a lot about the Kennedy family before, but this book opened up a whole new world. It's really fascinating reading, especially if you like to read about the Kennedy family.

5 comments about The Compleated Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin (Completed Autobiography).

1. I had never read Volume 1 of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, so I didn't know what to expect when I bought Volume 2, which was compiled from Dr. Franklin's diaries by one of his descendants, Dr. Mark Skousen. I really thought that because 200 years had gone by, it would be rather dry with way too many historical details and that I would never finish it. A good book to help me fall asleep at night. But I was wrong. I simply loved it.
   
   Dr. Franklin was quite a character and this book shows in his own words what he thought of his fellow 'founding fathers,' (especially his opinion of John Adams!!) how he managed to keep some of his English friends in the midst of the Revolutionary War, and the woman who got away (quite possibly the only one).
   
   This is not a book just for a history class. It is most, most entertaining and I finished it in record time. I wish Ben had lived to 100 instead of just 84.
   
   Highly recommended if you like history and even if you don't.
   
   Heidi Walter
   [...]



2. This is a review of the audio version of this work.
   
   I found this to be a great disappointment, bordering on annoying. The author was attempting to complete Franklin's autobiography which doesn't cover the second half of his life. I found two very difficult problems with the work.
   
   First, the opening of the audio book presents the author's background including why he wanted to do this. This introduction was distractingly self-serving and provided quite a bit more about the author than any reader would probably expect. He is a descendant of Franklin, which may spurn his motivation....but failed to make the experience any more enlightening.
   
   Second, the book is written "using Franklin's own words"...or so says the notes from the publisher. What it does is try to use the language of Franklin's day including quickly worn out expressions and lines. I tired very quickly of the authors attempt to turn every phrase like a Poor Richard quip. What he may have gained in accuracy, made the audio experience painful.
   
   I do not recommend the audio edition for those two reasons, nor would I recommend the book. One would be better served with Isaacson's (BF: An American Life) book for a look at the second half of Franklin's life....it's simply written better and it offers more insight.
   
   The idea of getting inside Franklin's head and finishing the autobiography is compelling....but this attempt failed in it's lofty goal.
   
   --Cudo



3. Let's just say I am a Franklin buff. If you really like Franklin or history this is a worth while read. If you want to learn more about Franklin you should start with the Autobiography and then move to one of the many Bios, the most recent of which is Walter Isaacson's "Benjamin Franklin." If you get through those, you may be well ready for this read. To be honest, in my opinion, the author stands in the way of this work a little but it is not bad.



4. Book received timely and in excellent condition. Am still in the process of reading it.



5. I gave this as a gift to my mother. My father read it cover to cover and enjoyed it and my mother is in the process of doing so. It is written in an older style and can be a bit dry, but history buffs (my parents) are really enjoying it.

5 comments about Reagan: A Life in Letters.

1. "Reagan, A Life In Letters," is the first book that I have read on President Ronald Reagan and it has nearly confounded me of how little I knew of our 40th U.S. President. He was so much different and such a better person than he was portrayed by the news media. He was an intelligent, compassionate patriot who really loved the United States of America. I was so impressed by the book that I purchased three additional copies and gave them away as gifts. I also purchased three different books about President and Mrs Reagan that I am looking forward to starting.



2. After all the sneering put downs from the leftist elitists, we can see the truth of a great man, in his own words. Almost singlehanded, he led the revolt of the common man against the elitists who would steal the common man's liberty for crass political gain. The revolution continues.



3. If you are expecting intricate epistles along the lines of Paul the Apostle or C. S. Lewis Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis - Box Set, forget about it. Sixty percent of this book is small (almost jotted) memos. It is nice to see that Reagan kept in contact with people, and that he nudged his relationships along with these small bundles. But as a presidential source book, we could have done with less. The book could have been half as long, and therefore twice as effective.
   
   If you are looking for sources on Reaganism, then I recommend Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches and Reagan, In His Own Hand: The Writings of Ronald Reagan That Reveal His Revolutionary Vision for America. We get interesting policy letters about once every 25 pages or so. The gems are his correspondence with Nixon and Brezhnev. Plus we have a lot of material from the Governator years. These are key, since one does not go from GE spokesman to Leader of the Free World in one bound. We see the Reagan we all know love and . . . developing in the California Crucible.
   
   I think the biggest surprise was the section on pen pals. Instead of Ronaldus Magnus, we see Ronnie, all around good egg. Many of these letters are folksy, dealing with human problems, and occasionally we get Reagan's insight into current events--Lt. Calley, Charles Manson, and Sirhan Sirhan. Several letters are personal response to his critics. His firm but gentle way of rebuking a misinformed foe serves for a universal lesson.
   
   Favorite Letter: page 664.
   
   Andy Smith, a seventh-grader in Irmo, S.C., wrote the President in 1984, "Today my mother declared my bedroom a disaster area. I would like to request federal funds to hire a crew to clean up my room."
   
   Dear Andy:
   
   I'm sorry to be so late in answering your letter but as you know I've been in China . . .
   
   Your application for disaster relief has been duly noted but I must point out one technical problem; the authority declaring the disaster is supposed to make the request. In this case your mother.
   
   However setting that aside I'll have to point out the larger problem of available funds. This has been a year of disasters, 539 hurricanes as of May 4th and several more since, numerous floods, forest fires, drought in Texas and a number of earthquakes. What I'm getting at is that funds are dangerously low.
   
   May I make a suggestion? This administration, believing that government has done many things that could better be done by volunteers at the local level, has sponsored a Private Sector Initiative program, calling upon people to practice voluntarism in the solving of a number of local problems.
   
   Your situation appears to be a natural. I'm sure your mother was fully justified in proclaiming your room a disaster. Therefore you are in an excellent position to launch another volunteer program to go along with the more than 3,000 already underway in our nation--congratulations . . .
   
   Sincerely,
   Ronald Reagan
   
   
   Priceless!!!
   
   *
   
   This book should be part of the Essential Reagan Cannon. Along with "Speaking My Mind" and "In His Own Hand," this book should be read with The Reagan Diaries, An American Life, Ronald Reagan: A Life in Politics and In the Words of Ronald Reagan: The Wit, Wisdom, and Eternal Optimism of America's 40th President. I also recommend Reagan: Man of Principle, for insight on the elusive Governator years.



4. This review is not probably going to be what one would think for someone who loved Ronald Reagan, because this book was written for people who ignorantly thought he was "the most dangerous man in America".
   That is the focus of this book in being 'Legacy' which was what his family, friends and administration were dealing with in releasing this book. We knew President Reagan was brilliant, wise, caring, God fearing, moral and a world leader who only comes along in a generation to transform the world, but these letters were meant to convince the narrow minded how wrong they were about him.
   For someone who adores this gentle man, I found it startling in reading he names Jane Fonda and her husband a traitor, how Democrats lied to gain power while the nation suffered in mirror image of what just happened to Bush 43 and his insight that Jimmy Carter would be a disaster and was a phoney before he even took office. The reason that was startling is Reagan was right about Star Wars, was right about how to topple the Soviet Union without a nuclear war and was right how the key to eastern Europe's freedom was religion, so Reagan being always proven correct has deeper meaning for all of history in his naming people traitors and phoneys.
   His greatest warning in his letters today are the dangers of a national health care system which will ruin American health care and how it is only a power grab by socialists to gain more control over America for their rule. It will be the 2008 election and Hillary Clinton as part of her agenda is to implement that national health care. Reagan's voice rings eternal in warning America of what is right and what is wrong.
   I would have enjoyed the book more if the letters would have have been his living legacy of God given wisdom more and less of the facts in trying to prove to ignorant people he really was a good soul. I already knew that like most Americans and we didn't require convincing.
   The book though proves Reagan was the genuine person on camera or off. He and his lovely wife, Nancy, endured more from their children and petty personalities than anyone ever should have to. Americans owe them an eternal thank you and an even more deeper gratitude to God in guiding this American's life who revolutionized America and the world and whose "shining city on a hill" is still moving the entire world.
   That is legacy a generation later and I still love that old man.



5. Reading this book, its impossible to escape a few conclusions. First, Reagan was a very warm and cordial man. Regardless of your political views, his decency and civility are very much missed in today's Washington. Next, Reagan was obviously someone who has a grasp of his material. Whether you agreed with him or not, reading this book and others that have reproduced his correspondence, speeches etc. that he drafted personally will forever shatter the mythical "amiable dunce" that his opponents were quick to embrace. Finally, I got a much better sense of the Reagan the man than any biography I've read so far. Interestingly, one gets a MUCH better sense of Reagan the man and the President than from his autobiography, which was fairly mediocre in comparison.

5 comments about Descent into Darkness Pearl Harbor, 1941 (The True Story of a Navy Diver).

1. Commander Raymer did a fantastic job setting the mood of this story in the first chapter as he described his first dive into the sunken Arizona (it was the first ever dive on the ship), months after it had sunk. His descriptions are so vivid, I often pictured (what he experienced) as if I were there.
   
   Other reviewers mention Raymer's escapades into early WWII Honolulu and his encounters with the the locals, but this story really focuses on what the divers did, hazards they overcame, and innovations they devised as they fought to return the heavily damaged warships back to the fleet.



2. what a great book! i couldn't put it down. commander raymer and the men working with him were brave heroes.this book gives a glimpse of life in hawaii in the early forties as well as the navy's diving program in its infancy.not to mention the unique problems of salvaging the ships that were damaged in the pearl harbor attack.i highly recommend this book.



3. 
   Most books on WWII center around specific battles. However, Commander Raymer gives the reader a somewhat different perspective of WWII. Although, Raymer discribes several important engagements and the sinking of his own ship by Imperial Japanese naval forces, he also concentrates on the overwhelming and depressing daily tasks of the Navy salvage diver stationed at Pearl harbor shortly after the infamous attack. His objectives; recover bodies, raise or salvage the flagship U.S.S. Arizona, and other capital ships such as the U.S.S. California, U.S.S. West Virginia, and others.
   
   His writing style is simple, and straight to the point. His ongoing descriptions of the scenes he saw and experienced in Hawaii and through the divers helmet port are well worth the read!
   
   If, you liked the movie; "Men of Honor" then I guarentee you will like "DESCENT INTO DARKNESS!"



4. This really is a first-rate account of a process that has largely been ignored by writers and historians. I think it's a "given" that diving around sunken, fully armed and fueled battleships would be dangerous, but until I read this book I didn't realize just how MANY different hazards there were. For example, who would have known that it's dangerous to enter a previously-sealed but empty compartment that contains rust? (the formation of iron oxide [rust] depletes oxygen in the space)

   The reader gets a firsthand account of the daily lives of salvage divers, and how frequently solutions to problems were devised on the spot. Rather unexpectedly, readers also get a firsthand description of what life was like "on the ground" during the Guadalcanal campaign.

   Anyone wanting to know more about the Pearl Harbor attack really should read this book. Many people tend to think of the battle as being over when the last Japanese plane returned to its carrier; in truth, the battle had just BEGUN.




5. I recieved Descent In to Darkness as a Christmas pressent from my sister. I could not stop reading the book. I have always been a huge history buff as well as a great interest in diving . Febuary of this year (2002) I went to Maui to visit my cousin. While in Maui I got my scuba certification. My last day we flew over to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona. It was very moving because I had more of a conection to the Arizona due to Raymer's detailed report on Pearl Harbor and the Arizona in the salvage eforts to raise our Pacific Fleet.

2 comments about Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, 1739-1762: Intriguing Letters by One of Colonial America's Most Accomplished Women (Women's Diaries & Letters of the Nineteenth-Century South).

1. Eliza Lucas Pinckney did almost everything. She was the daughter of a British Officer, making her a military brat, she helped run the plantation, developed the market for indigo that allowed Charleston, SC, to survive, wrote a cook book, educated some of her slaves, made sure her children were educated and fought cancer! Her letters are full of amazing facts, of both her daily life and the life of the colonists. Her letters cover everything from her own problems to wars, Indian attacks and taxes. It is a great addition to any library.



2. I thought I had written a review for this book awhile back but hadn't so here it is. Wonderful journal of information on Eliza Lucas Pinchney, a South Carolina woman of history who brought Indigo into prominence. Fascinating research within about this woman and her passion for nature and plant dye.