5 comments about Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973.

1. Fine, scholarly biography of the Ph.D.-thesis type. Dallek relies mainly on documentary sources (which he reviewed copiously). The result is somewhat detached.
   
   You get little feel for the lengendary "Johnson treatment" that LBJ used to such great effect. There is, though, much quasi-psychological stuff. Johnson was poorly educated but intellectually brilliant. He was absolutely driven. He was Lincoln-like in his humor, his yarns, his frontier similes. But these gifts were often misdirected. He just had to be first, the best, at everything. He was frighteningly insecure, almost to the point of true paranoia. There are many stories of his abuse of subordinates.
   
   Dallek is a New Deal/Great Society liberal, and this viewpoint pervades. He is mostly enthusiastic about the Great Society and civil rights achievements, but scathing about Johnson's handling of Vietnam. The most revealing part is the recital of how Johnson felt forced to back into the war, and to try to do it almost surreptitiously. Reassuringly, Dallek presents Johnson as simply misguided and ill-advised. There is none of that Oliver Stone crap about being a tool of the military-industrial complex.
   
   Robert Caro's latest volume in his multi-volume opus, "The Master of The Senate", takes Johnson only up to 1960. Dallek's two volumes cover Johnson's whole life. Caro puts in ten years of research for every one that Dallek has put in, and Caro's doggedness is beyond herioc. Dallek is a solid, straightforward writer (unusual for an academic), but he has little of Caro's inspired literary style. Flesh, blood, and sinew pervade Caro's books. Dallek's sounds like a political science seminar.
   
   Read it by all means, if you are interested in Johnson. But wait for Caro's next volume is you want the definitive treatment.



2. I sped through last year reading all three mammoth books in Robert A. Caro's Pulitzer Prize-winning LBJ biography series, and found them an incredibly readable, detailed portrayal of a man who was half megalomaniac, half incredibly gifted politician, a complex American Shakespearean character whose presidency crumbled into self-induced tragedy. Caro hasn't written the final book in his series yet concentrating on LBJ's presidency, so I decided to check out a competing LBJ biography by Dallek focusing on those years. And it's solid history, with great insight into LBJ's character and the disastrous decisions he made in Vietnam that undermined all the powerful social changes he achieved in civil rights and Medicare. Yet "Flawed Giant" is also kind of a slog, which Caro's books weren't. I can't quite put my finger on it, but Dallek lacks the fluid prose, deft research into place and era, and storytelling talent that Caro brought to LBJ - I was able to read hundreds of pages about dry as toast subjects like congressional redistricting and vote tallies and found them compelling reading under Caro. Yet here, I ended up getting bored silly by Dallek's bland recitation of the ups and downs of Vietnam, which you think would be interesting stuff. Dallek is a bit more even-handed in his appreciation of LBJ than Caro, but it just all felt a little too much like work. Guess it goes to show that it's as much in the storyteller as it is in the story. I'll be eagerly awaiting Caro's take on this same era, whenever it comes out.



3. Robert Dallek completes his two volume biography of Lyndon B. Johnson with "Flawed Giant". Its a well written book that tells the story of a brilliant politician who is overwhelmed and outmatched by events he failed to anticipate.
   
   The book begins with Johnson in the unhappy position of serving as Vice President under John F. Kennedy. A most difficult place for a man of Johnson's ego and stature to find himself. Nevertheless, Johnson struggles and does the best he can with this job obtaining recognition in his efforts to further U.S. diplomacy abroad and advance the space program.
   
   On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy is assassinated and Johnson becomes President. No one could ever accuse Johnson of not seizing the moment and this he does masterfully. Within a year, he obtains passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a number of domestic initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and improving quality of life for Americans that become known as the "Great Society". Johnson's accomplishments as President all took place during the first two years of his presidency. Some of those accomplishments include the Head Start Program for disadvantaged children, a federal student loan program for college students, the Job Corps program for kids who dropped out of school, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which enfranchised millions of blacks, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Medicare.
   
   Johnson proves his skill as a politician by defeating opponent Barry Goldwater with almost 62% of the vote in the 1964 election. Unfortunately, these same skills waned as time went on. By the end of 1965, the positive accomplishments of the Johnson Presidency had come to an end. Johnson inherited the Vietnam War from his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. However, he made a series of mistakes after doing so. First, he concluded that America had to hold onto South Vietnam and prevent a "take over" by the North. He never grasped that the conflict was not an attack by the communist world upon the free world, but simply a regional civil war that had gone for decades. Second, he failed to grasp early on that the conflict was not winnable by conventional means, so he committed 500,000 American soldiers. Third, he failed to understand that the American people wouldn't stand idly by for years supporting such a war with no measurable progress being made. Fourth, he failed to consider steps such as simply withdrawing when it did become apparent that the war was unwinnable.
   
   As the Johnson Presidency unfolds, the accomplishments of the Great Society are overwhelmed by the Vietnam War. Johnson finally realizes his mistake at the end of his presidency. He announces he won't run again and initiates peace talks with North Vietnam.
   
   One must look at Johnson carefully and not jump to conclusions. He was a complicated man who did much good during his presidency. Sadly, though, he will most likely be remembered for the Vietnam War which cost America 58,000 lives.



4. Over the last several years I've read more than 30 presidential biographies, usually letting Amazon reader's guide me to the best choice. While I would place Dallek's LBJ Volume 1 in the top five presidential biographies, Volume two is not quite in the same class. Dallek continues to write well, and I think he presents a complex man and a very difficult time in a balanced way. But over half of this biography details the morass of Viet Nam, and it is truly depressing to read as Johnson and his advisers relentlessly lead the country over the cliff.
   
   During the first two years of LBJ's presidency he led the US Congress to pass some of the most significant legislation in our history - Medicare, greatly increased low income housing, legal aid, increased funding for education and student loans, the most important civil rights legislation of the 20th Century, and the Great Society legislation, a muddled effort to end poverty.
   
   Then, slowly and inexorably LBJ took the US deeper and deeper into Viet Nam. Dallek argues that whatever other geo-political factors were involved, LBJ's drive to be a great president and his fear of failing made the Viet Nam catastrophe inevitable. Johnson simply could not admit to being the first president to lose a war, he couldn't cope with the reality of the corruption of Viet Nam's leadership, and he couldn't stand to be honest in telling the American people just how poorly the war was going. Dallek presents a president who was increasingly paranoid of a nonexistent communist menace influencing the anti-war movement and of Bobby Kennedy leading JFK's ghost to steal LBJ's legacy.
   
   Today, there are numerous editorials comparing the war in Iraq to Vietnam (or denying any comparison). I've yet to see an article comparing President Bush to LBJ, and in most ways they are polar opposites. Still, this biography is very timely. There are unmistakable similarities between America's descent into the two wars, Iraq and South Viet Nam's lack of resources to provide leadership to their own people, our leaders' reluctance to level with the US, the isolation each president sought to avoid criticism, and a society that was so polarized by other issues that it is somehow ok to not take an objective look at the facts of the war.



5. Capt. Lance Sijan, USAF Medal of Honor winner, was tortured to death while a captive in a North Vietnam prison. Gerry Coyle, Army PFC, died in Tay Ninh . Bill Fahey, Marine PFC, died in Quang Tri . Leo Matylewicz, an Army Spec 4, had his body literally blown to pieces in Kontum. Dave Rozelle was killed in Quang Tri while a Marine Lance Corporal. Tom Malloy, Army Spec 4, died in Bien Hoa. Mike Turose's body was never recovered for a return home or even a burial when his F-4 was shot down over North Vietnam. Dick Christy was killed over Cambodia when his forward air control aircraft was shot down. Mike Bosiljevac's remains were not recovered until Vietnam opened up to allow forensic search teams years after the war was over - 20 years after he was shot down over North Vietnam. Mike Blassie's remains were placed in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. in 1998 DNA testing identified the remains as Mike. He had been shot down over An Loc.
   Why do I list these men killed in Vietnam as the introduction to this review of Robert Dallek's biography of Lyndon Johnson - "Flawed Giant"? Because Lyndon Johnson as President of the United States from Jack Kennedy's assassination until 1968 might as well have pulled the trigger or pressed the button that sent them to their deaths. Jane Fonda may have posed on the North Vietnamese anti-aircraft weapons but Lyndon Johnson placed those men in harm's way - for no reason other than his fantastic ego. Let me quote Dallek's afterword:
   "Vietnam was a larger mistake. It was the worst foreign policy disaster in the country's history. Aside from the sacrifice of the many brave men and women who lost their lives or suffered because of the conflict, there seems nothing heroic about the struggle. ... Vietnam was a morass. The battlefield clashes and constant discussions in Washington and Saigon about the war were a confusion leading nowhere. ... the planning for Vietnam led to unproductive commitments in what came to seem like an open-ended conflict.
   ...
   "The principal products of administration discussions about the fighting were false hopes, self-generated illusions, and paranoid fears of domestic opponents, who were not the Communist dupes Johnson believed them to be but men and women devoted to the national security and well-being as anyone in the government and military."
   "Johnson knew from the first that he might be pursuing a losing case in Vietnam."
   "Even less flattering to LBJ is the reality that he also pursued the war for selfish motives. To admit failure on so big an issue as Vietnam would have been too jarring to Johnson's self-image as a can-do leader."
   During the 1964 presidential campaign when Johnson ran against Goldwater, one of the Democrat slogans was "If you vote for Goldwater your sons will be in Vietnam." Well, my parents voted for Goldwater and I ended up in Vietnam.
   This book covers the years from 1961 to Johnson's death in 1973. Of course there is more than Vietnam. Johnspn's outstanding record on civil rights is well covered. But, for me, I cannot help but think about being in the Boy Scouts with Mike Turose and wondering what our futures would be after we got out of engineering school. Fortunately for me. I ended up with a future. Thanks to Lyndon Johnson, Mike didn't.

5 comments about Hardtack & Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life.

1. Hardtack and Coffee provides an excellent picture of Army life in the mid-nineteenth century. The sketches illustrate the text superbly. This is a useful handbook for students and teachers as well as an intriguing introduction to the Civil War.



2. I am a Civil War reenactor, and this book has been an excellent source of ideas for first person scenarios and ideas for living history. It is an insightful, unique record of the soldier's life for living historians or students of history. I would highly recommend this engaging book.



3. This engaging book fills the void that other Civil War histories leave, and that is an understanding of the everyday experiences of the foot soldier. "Hardtack and Coffee or the Unwritten Story of Army Life" by John D. Billings is an exhaustive and fascinating look back at the flesh, bones, and blood of those lines and arrows on the maps of Civil War battle strategies.

   The book is filled with anecdotes, observations, and songs arising from the era. (I very much appreciated the introduction which details the election of 1860 and started the whole terrible tragedy that ensued over the next half decade.) The generous amount of illustration truly helps evoke the period. "Hardtack and Coffee" is a perfect companion to Bell Irvin Wiley's "Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union" and "The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy". And it is a perfect part of anyone's Civil War/American History library.

   Rocco Dormarunno, author of THE FIVE POINTS




4. I'm one of those men with the "Civil War Itch" who can't get enough reading, can't get enough time on the battlefields. This book is hands-down one of my favorites in my extensive collection, re-read several times and dog-eared. It's something I always put in my bag for air-travel reading, because you can pick it up and put it down when you need to...the author and the illustrator both were participants in the Conflict, so you know it's accurate. The content is educational but not stuffy, since it was written to explain to soldiers' families what exactly Union Army life was like...and the humor still carries through to this day. After you've read the historical studies or walked a battlefield, THIS is the book you want to read to put yourself in the shoes of the everyday soldier--and it's easy to do with the author's skills. For me, the best chuckles are the chapters "Jonahs and Beats", and "The Army Mule". A must-read for those wanting more than just a general's biography or an order of battle.



5. This is the best book on the life of the Civil War soldier. The other reviews attest to this, so here is something different.
   Charles W. Reed, the illustrator, was ALSO a Civil War veteran.
   He served in the Ninth Massachusetts Battery and won the Medal of Honor at Gettysburg for saving his commanding officer, Captain
   John Bigelow, who had been seriously wounded in the fight at the
   Trostle Farm on 2 July 1863.
   My favorite chapter was the one on the army mule.
   Buy, read & enjoy this book!

No comments about Black Like Me: The Definitive Griffin Estate Edition.

No comments about Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies).

5 comments about Good-Bye, Boise... Hello, Alaska.

1. If you've ever dreamed of getting away from it all, start dreaming again. We've all heard of amazing people who've climbed Everest, etc. But here is one relatively normal human being who plunges herself into a challenging, but very rewarding world, then opens it up to us to share.



2. As a boy I deamed of just such an adventure. Cora lives it & shares it with the reader. A very easy read & quite appropriate for a 7th -10th grade reader.



3. When you read this you think 1920's or 30's and then you see it was published only 11 years ago. This was a fun visit to a world that we can never know while living 'down below'. I envy Cora and her guys but I have to admit, I would prefer to read about it then live it. Cora is an excellent writer and she makes her world come alive. She also is honest about her fears and family. She isn't perfect, they are not perfect but I would be proud to call any of them my friend.



4. I couldn't put it down. Exciting true story about a mother of two young boys who answers and ad in a newspaper for a job in a remote Alaska ranch. Great story, and all the more exciting because you know it's true. People of all ages will enjoy reading this book. It makes you want to pack up and move to Alaska....



5. After one of Cora's sons are brought home by the police one day in Boise, Cora made up her mind to raise her kids without the pressures of today's society. For a single mom with two young sons, it must have taken great courage to pick up and move to Alaska and never look back. Her sons are now young men on their own and with their mothers help now have a love for nature, each other and most importantly a love for themselves. The book was very easy reading and was quite enjoyable. Sometimes I felt I was right there on the island with her. Looking forward to her follow-up book.

5 comments about Papa Jack: Jack Johnson And The Era Of White Hopes.

1. AS a boxing historian I really enjoyed Robert's book having reread it many times. I feel Robert's did a tremendous amount of research and is very well informed about his subject. You cannot study Johnson without discussing how he reflected his times and how thy effected him. My only criticism and it is a serious one is that I feel Robert's was extremely hard in judging his subject as a man. No athlete in American history had to live through the constant painful attacks that Jack Johnson did every day from 1908 on when he took the title from Tommy Burn's ... the pressures had to be exceptionally overwhelming and in hindsight I feel Johnson should not have been judged so harshly as a man. He deserved better ... he was decades ahead of his time, a highly intelligent, self-educated and cultured man and one of the greatest fighter that ever lived.



2. I guess it would be to much to objectively view Jack Johnson as a man and not a symbol. As with all Johnson biography's the author apparently feels compelled to reduce his subject to a level that is readily digestable to the reader. Though you don't find the author referring to Johnson as a "shiftless coon" in the tradition of Denzil Batchelor, Mr. Roberts summation that Johnson was "not the hero..." places his work in line with practically every other book written on Jack Johnson.
   
   So what makes a man dead 60 years a threat to an establishment and culture which says it long ago set aside the error of its ways inregard to race relations. If this were true would we still be reading books which at every turn question the methods and motives of a Jack Johnson? Would the words of angry racists in the guise of official government reports carry the weight and ring of truth the author gives them while pointing out frequently that the subjects life style, choice of company and words are subject to scrutiny due to his ego and self-centered nature?
   
   In this age of ego driven athletes, businessmen, politicians, clergy etc., it was a wasted point to declare that Johnson's greatest strength "his ego," was his most glaring weakness. I think it safe to make this assumption of many men. Though we have politicians admired for their drive and commitment to the very values which Jack Johnson was and apparently continues to be viewed as a threat to. Their egos nor motives are challenged. What man worth his salt doesn't believe he is the best at the things he commits himself to mastering?
   
   Jack Johnson was harshly scrutinized and mistreated because of his ability to dominate his circumstances. Be they opponents or a system which physically, financially and emotionally abused the hopes and dreams of his people, Jack Johnson was an overcomer. Jack Johnson is despised today as a symbol. A bad example of what happens when one man is allowed to much independence. In every since of the word Jack Johnson was a revolutionary. We are told he wasn't a hero, nor was he a man to be admired but I would disagree whole-heartedly. Jack Johnson was simply a man born a century to soon.
   
   Mr. Roberts says their is no ghost in the house, but how wrong you are Sir. The ghost is in the house everytime a camera snaps a photo of Tiger Woods and his wife. Everytime you see a clip of Ali with his arms thrust high in the air in victory look closely you'll see the ghost smiling his golden capped smile in the front row. For every man who longs to live free you'll find the ghost dancing in his heart. Long live the spirit of freedom and the ghost of Jack Johnson.



3. Jack Johnson did tell his own tale but this was in a haphazard, uneven, entertaining if not always believable book ("Jack Johnson Is A Dandy"). Because of this we have to look elsewhere for more reliable testimony. Randy Robert's `Papa Jack' from the mid 80s was for a long time the definitive bio on the first black heavyweight champion. In the absence of people still living from Johnson's day, Roberts researches heavily and of course has the unenviable task of unearthing the facts from the deeply racist and hate filled press of the time (among many other sources all of which are referenced in detail).
   
   The book itself is an easy read. Information from Johnson's early years is scant at best, so Roberts providing an account of his family and how they came to be in Galveston, Texas in the late 1800's is not only fascinating but very admirable. How he came to box and his patchy early years in the fight game are deciphered, as is his rise to notoriety (forced to continually fight the same batch of outcast super-tough black boxers) and historic title winning fight with Tommy Burns and subsequent seven year reign (including defences against the likes of Ketchel and Jeffries), through to a 37 year old, mentally weary Johnson dropping the title to the huge but ordinary Jess Willard.
   
   For the very real danger any black man faced at the time, Johnson's fearlessness is near beyond belief. Robert's does a good job recounting his personal life cavorting with a crew of white men, romancing a string of white women, shady business practices and misadventures the world over, many times correcting the claims Johnson made in his autobiography. It makes for great reading.
   
   As for gripes? A few. The major being Roberts annoying use of obvious misquotes. Supposedly this colourful and intelligent man spoke like this: "de fight was good, erm, me tink Jeffries was good challenger" etc. A man of Robert's intellect should have gathered that this was the racist press of the time stereotyping Johnson in their reports as a mentally slow Neanderthal, whereas existing recordings of Johnson's voice prove he was a lucid speaker. This is made worse because elsewhere Robert's includes more believable coherent Johnson quotes, yet doesn't spot the discrepancy in his own work. Otherwise, what pictures are included are great, but we would have liked more. Also, there is no fight record at the back, nor are many of his later fights covered.
   
   But overall, this is a good read. Robert's does the best he can with what he had to work with, and for so long this has been the reliable and comprehensive account of the Galveston Giant. However, recently Geoffrey C Ward's award winning `Unforgivable Blackness' has surfaced, complete with supposedly far more extensive research and a greater depth of information and material. I look forward to reading that book and cannot at the time offer any comparison, however for a concise overview I would recommend combing the two and educating yourself on the incredible life of the master boxer and controversial man that was Jack Johnson.



4. Randy Roberts absolutely nails it with this wonderful and thoughtful biography of the extraordinary Jack Johnson. A must-read for any student of U.S. history and the social impact of sport. The semi-literate, one-star review below says far more about its writer than it does about this book. Can this person even read? Ignore these idiotic blitherings.



5. This is truly a terrific book - easily the best and clearest view of who Jack Johnson really was. Exhaustively researched and beautifully written - this book is well worth your time if you're interested in learning about one of the 20th century's most controversial figures.

1 comments about An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln.

1. In An Honest Calling attorney Mark E. Steiner makes good use of his professional training and years spent in helping to compile Lincoln's legal papers.
   
   Study of Lincoln's law career has long been hampered by the scattered nature of Lincoln's court documents throughout Illinois and the Midwest. Now they are gathered together, and Steiner has made a fine presentation of what they reveal about Lincoln's "day job," which may have consumed as much of his time as politics did. Steiner deals with Lincoln's law practice in general and with some individual cases revealing Lincoln's handling of particular issues (including slavery and railroad corporations). Civil and criminal practices are covered.
   
   This is an excellent introduction to Lincoln's law practice, and will also interest persons seeking information about the influence of attorneys on the Western frontier.

2 comments about The Incredible Band of John Philip Sousa (Music in American Life).

1. This book is primarily a reference work for those looking for deeply detailed information from primary sources. It has other excellent background material as well, but if you want to see a nice cross-section of actual Sousa Band programs, or you want to find out if your great-grandfather actually played in Sousa's Band like your grandmother always told you, this is the most definitive reference available.



2. This author has written extensively about Sousa and his band before. Much of that information is repeated here, but there are some new additions as well. The author has nicely highlighted each aspect of Sousa's career which makes for easy reading.
   
   The problem with Sousa is that we tend to exclude all other band composers and their music. There were many other great band composers around including R. B. Hall, Karl King, and Henry Fillmore to name some of the prominent American ones. Their music deserves notice as well, as Sousa often played their works.
   
   Sousa's band also tends to be somewhat over-rated by hero worship. Sure it was a great band, probably the best in the US at that time. But it was not the greatest in the world! Too many other European bands were around to deny Sousa that title. Sousa knew that any British Guards band like the Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards etc. was certainly as good. The French Garde Republicanne were also. In Prussia you had William Wieprect who did much to modernize the modern military band. His combined Prussian Guards band got top ratings in Paris during a band festival there just before the Franco-Prussian War. How ironic indeed!
   
   So Sousa was not the only around with a great band, and any serious reader should know this. Certainly Sousa did. But what Sousa did was market himself far better than anyone else. He saw that as a civy street guy he could make a lot more fame and money than he was as director of the US Marine band. This was Sousa's main advantage, and he knew how to make the most of it. His conducting style was flamboyant, his programing entertaining and interesting. The whole concept of the encore march after a long piece of music was unique, and introduced excitment to his concerts. These things are what made him and his band great.
   
   Unfortunately Sousa developed the cult of his personality so much for his concerts that when he was not on the podium concert hall attendence often suffered. This indicated that his band would not likely outlive him. Americans came to see Sousa the man as much as the great music his superb band played. I doubt Sousa could have promoted his works any other way in this country. In that regard he was the first super-star who got his name all over the media. Many have followed in his foot-steps since.
   
   Some might think I am trying to downgrade Sousa and his great band here. Certainly not. One should merely have a little sense of perspective when reading about him. His marches were first-rate. He wrote 136 of them, of which only the top 10-15 often get played now. Most of them were excellent, some certainly were better than others. While this sounds like a lot of music, keep in mind some famous German march composers wrote hundreds of marches. Blackenberg is believed to have composed over a thousand! Kenneth Alford, the Great British march composer did only about 20, but they are all classics. Alford was a regimental bandmaster, and thus did not have the means to promote himself like Sousa did.
   
   Sousa should also be known for his many opperettas, novelty pieces, and classical transcriptions. In this regard he greatly expanded the musical level in the US during this time. Orchestras were around as well, but these did not travel like Sousa. There were also other great bands, like the Allentown band, far odler than Sousa's from 1828. In fact Sousa took many players from this great band which still exists today, and which probably recreates the approximate sound and style of Sousa better than any other.
   
   The great strength of this book are the many details provided of the personnel who played in the band, as well as concert programs, and tour iternary. There is one chapter devoted entirely to a band memebers diary recording his expereinces during Sousa's great World Tour of 1911. Great stuff, if perhaps a little too much at times. There is a lot of detail here, perhaps excessive at times, but obviously a labor of love by the author. This is certainly THE book to have about Sousa and his incredible band who left their mark in the world's concert halls.

5 comments about The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan.

1. In Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King, a young adventurer named Daniel Dravot penetrates feudal Afghanistan disguised as a cleric. In this nonfiction account with a similar title, MacIntyre, a columnist for The Times of London, tells the story of the real life adventurer who may have been Kipling's inspiration. He describes the life and adventures of Josiah Harlan (1799-1871), a young Quaker from Chester County, Pennsylvania, who set sail for China in 1822, telling his fiancée that they would marry when he returned. Upon reaching Calcutta, Harlan received a letter announcing that she was marrying another man. He resolved never to return home.
   
   So began his adventures. After a failed stint in the Indian army--an action for which the Quakers excommunicated him--Harlan met Shujah al-Mulk (1792-1842), an Afghan king exiled to India in 1809 after just six years on the throne. Harlan offered a deal: he would raise an army, subdue Kabul, and restore the kingdom. In exchange, he would become vizier, the equivalent of prime minister. The deal struck, Harlan began recruiting native troops, using the U.S. flag as his own. In 1827, he and his army began their long march. But he soon had second thoughts about his army's loyalty. He picked a trusted team, paid severance to the others, and launched his Plan B: dressed as a dervish, he made his way to Kabul, arriving in 1828 just as an epidemic of cholera ravaged the city. Years passed and Harlan changed his allegiance to Shujah's rival, King Dost Muhammad Khan (1793-1863), to whom he became aide-de-camp. This Afghan king granted Harlan's wish for power. The itinerant Pennsylvania Quaker and stilted lover became prince of Ghor, today a province in central Afghanistan.
   
   Harlan's story is riveting. MacIntyre describes his adventures, disillusionments, and eventual return to the United States as the only Afghan general to serve in the U.S. Civil War.
   
   Harlan was not alone in his adventures. In the nineteenth century, a handful of men made dangerous journeys through Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Tibet. Not all survived. Author Peter Hopkirk has chronicled their stories.[1] But it is rare that so much new material surfaces in one book, and for this MacIntyre deserves special credit. After learning of this curious American from cursory references and footnotes in old travelogues gathering dust in the British Library, MacIntyre made it his mission to uncover the saga of this historical Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern. His quest took him to Punjab and Pennsylvania, Kabul and California. He scoured through the official records of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore and poured over the intelligence archives of imperial India, whose agents were suspicious of Harlan's plots and schemes. Finally, in a Chester County museum, MacIntyre found a long-lost manuscript replete with love letters and sketches. Explanations of historical and cultural context weave together in his fluid prose. The result is impressive and well-worth reading.
   
   Note
   
   1. See for example, Great Game (London: Murray, 1990); On Secret Service East of Constantinople (London: Murray, 1994); Trespassers on the Roof of the World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)
   
   Michael Rubin
   Middle East Quarterly
   Fall 2006



2. A fascinating read in every respect. Macintyre is a fluid writer and the book is a real page turner. Apart from vivid details of the remarkable adventures of the first American in Afghanistan; the intrigues, machinations and sheer depravity of virtually all the players in the great game are in plain sight. The book also provides rare insights - via Josiah Harlan's prism - of British mendacity, misrule and astounding arrogance. Harlan's account of British shenanigans may have a tinge of exaggeration owing to his eventual deep hatred of the Empire and many of its emissaries but the substance of Harlan's writings can be corroborrated in other accounts such as the Great Hedge of India by Roy Moxham (another British author) and in more substantive form with relevant data in Angus Maddison's The World Economy. Macintyre deserves considerable praise for presenting the unvarnished truth, albeit through Harlan's pen, about the largely negative legacy of the British Empire. It is a shame that Harlan's story, despite this wonderful book, remains largely unknown both in the US and the East.



3. Most people who pick up this book will already have read some of the travelogues of the "mad dogs and Englishmen" who wandered through Central Asia in the 19th and early 20th century: Burnaby and Nazaroff's memoirs, as well as any of Peter Hopkirk's books on the era.
   
   But here we have a real fish out of water story, and a fascinating one at that: an American Quaker leading, or joining, armies through Afghanistan and elsewhere in the name of, variously: the sitting ruler of Afghanistan, the deposed predecessor, his Sikh neighbor, the British Empire, and arguably himself as "Prince of Ghor."
   
   The tale is fascinating because it's so poorly-known, despite the fact that Kipling's fiction, which I understand to be inspired by Harlan and other adventurers of the time, is so well-known.
   
   Undoubtedly, Harlan's own financial misfortune and quiet death contributed to the obscurity of the narrative, but Macintyre does a great job of weaving the scraps together, and keeping the story's pace. An interesting read, and a bit of history which has earned its place in Central Asian lore.



4. Considering all that's happening in Afghanistan today, this is a timely and fascinating story of an American who travled there in the early 1800's. Fast paced book that's hard to put down and it gives a glimpse into early 1800's life in a country that most people still don't understand today.



5. If you enjoy history, especially military history, then you will enjoy this book. Written in much the same style as Byron Falwell's "Armies of the Raj," this amazingly true yarn about a Quaker who becomes, if not a king, the Prince of Ghor will keep you wondering just what is going to happen next. I absolutely enjoyed the book. My only negative comment is that the later years of his life are glossed over rather quickly, but, that is understandable since the last years were no where near as exciting as the first 40. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history or biographies. Enjoy.

5 comments about The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up.

1. I found "The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up" well-written, insightful and inspiring. I am a straight female and don't usually read a lot of material about gay men, nor do I read a lot of biographies (boring). So why did I read this in the first place? Actually, because I liked "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need" so much.
   
   The investment guide was invaluable to me when I inherited some money and had no clue what to do next. That book transformed me rather rapidly from someone who felt like she needed help but was not even sure where to turn, to feeling that I could handle things just fine on my own, and it's working out very well for me. In addition to being useful, I found that book so well-written and just plain entertaining that I have re-read it several times and started looking for other things he had written.
   
   I tried "My Vast Fortune" but it didn't grab me for some reason, and I liked "The Best Little Boy in the World" better. But I felt this follow-up book about his adult life is extraordinary. I have known quite a few gay folks in my life, but I have to admit this book still made me more aware of their issues than I had been. I'm not very political, and if the book were preachy, I would have tossed it. But Tobias makes his points with deft humor and a variety of fascinating anecdotes. It is quite entertaining as well as emotionally gripping. I highly recommend it.



2. I'm not going to reiterate the negative reviews here, mostly because they're right on the mark. This book is boring, unnecessary, grandiose, and lacking in any editorial judgement. I read his first book many years ago, enjoyed it, and thought that its follow-up would be equally entertaining. Boy was I wrong. I bought it back in '98, tried to read it, and gave up. I recently moved and found the book in a box. I thought I'd give it another try, and it was just as insipid as it was eight years ago. If you want a good memoir, go elsewhere.



3. pretty much useless. for much better memoirs, i would say go look at paul monette, edmund white, or augusten burroughs, all of which are way superior to this narcissistic and charmless writer whose name i won't even bother mentioning. waste of bucks.



4. I've just read this wonderful book and cannot understand how some of the other reviewers here can call Mr. Tobias self-absorbed. I saw him as merely human and in fact found that he was often self-deprecating--and also it is a book about HIM, so what did the other readers here expect him to write about, his mother? Make no mistake, Andrew Tobias is not a saint, and neither is any of us. His writing reflects his very human experience.
   
   Name dropping? Please. Did some of the other reviewers here expect Andrew Tobias to indulge in navel gazing or something? In any case, I found his experiences to be inspiring. His descriptions of how significant others in his life managed later on in life was to me a great way to vicariously learn some of the lessons of life. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. I have in fact read this book before I read TBLBITW because I felt that it would be more relevant to present times.



5. What a shock! The Best Little Boy in the World was one of those formative books I read when I was coming out in the 70's. I naturally assumed this was going to be a powerful follow-up to that volume. It was anything but that. Mr. Tobias tells us all about the wonderful, glamorous, rich and political un-gay and then gay-gay life he has had. With references to that book. If not for the fact that the book was cheap, I would've been furious. As it was, I just threw it away when I was done with it.