Book Description
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.
The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.
After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.
From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut.
Customer Reviews:
INCREDIBLE READ!!!!.......2007-10-21
What an incredible book, this is one from the moment I started reading I could not put down. BUY THE BOOK you will love it!!!
What an Adventure.......2007-10-18
What a great book. It is amazing to me that in the face of all the danger and near death experiences, these men continued to behave in the most civilized manor. Very inspiring for me.
river of doubt.......2007-10-06
This book was great, if you like adventure, exploration, or teddy roosevelt this is the book for you.
not boaring at all this book is awsome
A Gripping Tale of Men of Character.......2007-09-21
Oh, for a President who had even one tenth of the character and integrity of the Teddy Roosevelt portrayed in this book. This is a real-life version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but the central figure never loses his sense of dedication and honor. Although there is plenty of suspense, even horror, in the story, I found it to be ultimately quite inspiring.
Awesome.......2007-09-20
This book went into so much detail about TR's expedition in Brazil that is hardly mentioned in other books on his life. And what a story it is! I heartily recommend it to anyone.
Average customer rating:
- Gienapp Let-Down
- magnificent!
- My Captain!
- Abraham Lincoln And Civil War America
- Abraham Lincoln in one slim volume.
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Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography
William E. Gienapp
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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This Fiery Trial: The Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
ASIN: 0195151003 |
Book Description
While the heart of the book focuses on the Civil War, Gienapp begins with a finely etched portrait of Lincoln's early life, from pioneer farm boy, to politician and lawyer in Springfield, to his stunning election as sixteenth president of the United States. We see how Lincoln grew during his years in office, how he developed a keen aptitude for military strategy and displayed enormous skill in dealing with his generals, and also how his strategy evolved from a desire to preserve the Union into one of emancipation and total war. A former backwoodsman and country lawyer, Abraham Lincoln rose to become one of America's greatest presidents. The biography offers a vivid account of Lincoln's dramatic ascension to the pinnacle of American history.
Customer Reviews:
Gienapp Let-Down.......2006-11-08
Bill Gienapp was a brilliant historian, and his work "The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856" is a pillar of American political history. Unfortunately, his final work, "Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America," is a tremendous let-down. It is perhaps one of the worst examinations of Lincoln's life, and has almost nothing to do with "Civil War America." Essentially, it is an unqualified love poem to Lincoln, and strives only to prove his greatness -- there is no critical analysis at all. Lincoln is given credit for every political and military success 1861-1865 and is absolved from blame for all his mistakes. In reality, Lincoln was a complex personality and his public career was much more tumultuous than Gienapp proposes. It is disappointing that Gienapp, a man who dedicated his life to exhaustive, nearly flawless historical research would resort to such frivolous, uncritical "pop history" at the end of his tragically short life. Skip Gienapp's Lincoln and, instead, read Stephen Oates's "With Malice Toward None" or Don Fehrenbacher's "Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850s."
magnificent!.......2006-06-27
A short, but very well biography of Lincoln. It counts only 250 pages, but it gives an excellent overwiew and superb analyse of the life of AL. The bibliography is also very interesting. One of the best books about the 16th president. A must for a Lincolnhistorian.
My Captain!.......2005-04-04
A good short, solid political biography. While Lincoln and the Civil War is its focus, by no means is this a battle history: Gettysburg is described in one paragraph.
Professor Gienapp has written a book that will introduce one to, or remind one of, the long and trying path traveled by Abraham Lincoln toward ultimate greatness.
Abraham Lincoln And Civil War America.......2002-03-23
William Gienapp's Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America answers a longstanding need for a biography of Lincoln manageable in size, accessible in style, and wise and balanced in content. Lincoln appers on every page of the book and is never lost sight of in the welter of events. He emerges from the text a real believable person, an individual and persuasive assessment of Lincoln's leadership abilities, the finest such appraisal avilable anywhere.
Abraham Lincoln in one slim volume........2002-03-10
This book is a welcome addition ot the already crowded Lincolnia bookself. The author is the presumed successor to the retired David Herbert Donald at Harvard University. Gienapp has produced a highly readable and concise version of a Lincoln biography that can be completed on a moderately long airplane trip(and it's quite portable unlike most hardcover books). While relatively short,this book is a sufficiently thorough treatment of the Civil War Lincoln. I especially enjoyed the author's analysis of the politician Lincoln who mastered his rivals, both Republican and Democrat. This a good book for either a new Lincoln /Civil War "buff" or a good refresher for a scholar of the times.
Average customer rating:
- Because I enjoyed it
- (three and a half stars) alternative history with an autobiographical twist
- Excellent, if flawed, novel
- Poorly constructed, fundamentally disappointing
- It could have happened here...
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The Plot Against America
Philip Roth
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ASIN: 1400079497
Release Date: 2005-09-27 |
Amazon.com
"What if" scenarios are often suspect. They are sometimes thinly veiled tales of the gospel according to the author, taking on the claustrophobic air of a personal fantasia that can't be shared. Such is not the case with Philip Roth's tour de force, The Plot Against America. It is a credible, fully-realized picture of what could happen anywhere, at any time, if the right people and circumstances come together.
The Plot Against America explores a wholly imagined thesis and sees it through to the end: Charles A. Lindbergh defeats FDR for the Presidency in 1940. Lindbergh, the "Lone Eagle," captured the country's imagination by his solo Atlantic crossing in 1927 in the monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, then had the country's sympathy upon the kidnapping and murder of his young son. He was a true American hero: brave, modest, handsome, a patriot. According to some reliable sources, he was also a rabid isolationist, Nazi sympathizer, and a crypto-fascist. It is these latter attributes of Lindbergh that inform the novel.
The story is framed in Roth's own family history: the family flat in Weequahic, the neighbors, his parents, Bess and Herman, his brother, Sandy and seven-year-old Philip. Jewishness is always the scrim through which Roth examines American contemporary culture. His detractors say that he sees persecution everywhere, that he is vigilant in "Keeping faith with the certainty of Jewish travail"; his less severe critics might cavil about his portrayal of Jewish mothers and his sexual obsession, but generally give him good marks, and his fans read every word he writes and heap honors upon him. This novel will engage and satisfy every camp.
"Fear presides over these memories, a perpetual fear. Of course, no childhood is without its terrors, yet I wonder if I would have been a less frightened boy if Lindbergh hadn't been president or if I hadn't been the offspring of Jews." This is the opening paragraph of the book, which sets the stage and tone for all that follows. Fear is palpable throughout; fear of things both real and imagined. A central event of the novel is the relocation effort made through the Office of American Absorption, a government program whereby Jews would be placed, family by family, across the nation, thereby breaking up their neighborhoods--ghettos--and removing them from each other and from any kind of ethnic solidarity. The impact this edict has on Philip and all around him is horrific and life-changing. Throughout the novel, Roth interweaves historical names such as Walter Winchell, who tries to run against Lindbergh. The twist at the end is more than surprising--it is positively ingenious.
Roth has written a magnificent novel, arguably his best work in a long time. It is tempting to equate his scenario with current events, but resist, resist. Of course it is a cautionary tale, but, beyond that, it is a contribution to American letters by a man working at the top of his powers. --Valerie Ryan
Book Description
In an astonishing feat of empathy and narrative invention, our most ambitious novelist imagines an alternate version of American history.
In 1940 Charles A. Lindbergh, heroic aviator and rabid isolationist, is elected President. Shortly thereafter, he negotiates a cordial “understanding” with Adolf Hitler, while the new government embarks on a program of folksy anti-Semitism.
For one boy growing up in Newark, Lindbergh’s election is the first in a series of ruptures that threaten to destroy his small, safe corner of America–and with it, his mother, his father, and his older brother.
Customer Reviews:
Because I enjoyed it.......2007-10-01
I really loved the first 300 pages. Roth's voice is wonderful as a child trying to make sense of chaos, and the nightmarish what-if built a good tension.
However, the ending was rushed and way too neatly wrapped up. I would prefer if the last 60 pages were just removed from the book. I'm still giving it five stars, because despite the ending, this was a fun, fast read.
(three and a half stars) alternative history with an autobiographical twist.......2007-09-18
I liked Philip Roth's "Plot Against America," but didn't love it. It seems to me that any alternative history novel (or time travel novel, for that matter), which maintains the possibility that the Nazis might prevail in World War II, is almost inevitably going to have its chilling moments. Indeed, it was quite terrifying to be reminded of how close Hitler came to invading all of Europe during the early phase of the war. Here, of course, Roth's alternative history centers on Charles Lindbergh, a known Nazi sympathizer, defeating FDR in 1940 (his unprecedented third term in real history). Of course, it is well known that a good percentage of the U.S. population didn't want to be involved in "Europe's War," until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, so it is not completely far-fetched that Charles Lindbergh, an aviation hero who strongly favored U.S. isolationism, might have had a chance to be elected President.
What makes "The Plot Against America" unique I suppose, is how Roth basically writes his "autobiography" as a young boy as it might have been through a Lindbergh administration, and the rising tide of anti-semitism that resulted. Some of it works quite well and we can feel the world closing in on the Roths in particular, and the Jews in general, especially through a nefarious plot to dilute the Jewish communities through the newly created "Office of American Absorption" and other such efforts. However, other parts of the book feel contrived such as how the Roths are one acquaintance away from Lindbergh himself, namely through Philip's Aunt Evelyn, who has married the much older Rabbi Bengeldorf: a complicit sympathiser of the new administration. (SPOILER!!!). The manner in which the clock sets itself back to zero in the second to last chapter also felt forced to me.
I found the afterward of the book very informative, where Roth reviews the actual series of events through the historical figures mentioned in the book. It would have been more interesting to me if Roth had covered in greater detail the war itself, and the consequences of the U.S. failing to enter the fray at the end of 1941. But I understand this wasn't Roth's principle focus.
I do think "The Plot Against America" serves well as a genuine warning about how a different course of events in the past could have lead to a very different America, and different World for that matter. Perhaps the frightening scenario portrayed in this book can also be used as a forewarning to future generations.
Excellent, if flawed, novel.......2007-08-26
The book appeals from different points of view: a gripping book of fiction, alternative history and a warning call to the complacent. The switch in history is scary and it is possible that things could have been this way. It is both chilling and fascinating to think of the German fascism of the 1930's and 1940's happening here. Roth's writing as usual is spectacular. I could not put it down. My only problem was that the resolution happens so glibly and quickly that it is hard to imagine it could happen so easily. I recommend this to Roth fans, people into Judaica,
historians.
Poorly constructed, fundamentally disappointing.......2007-07-10
The Plot Against America was occasionally interesting, well-styled, but generally bad. As a general rule I have mixed feelings about "alternative history" as a genre. Such stories can raise interesting questions and "what-if" scenarios. They can also, however, wander painful far into the realm of fantasy where suspension of disbelief becomes an exercise in rejecting rationality. Unfortunately, Roth's wanders from an interesting, well-constructed novel to a silly fantasy by its final chapters. Yet, this is not the most fundamental problem the story faces. The book is first and foremost a story of rising anti-semitism in 1940s America and its impact on, and the reaction of, a Jewish New Jersey family. My problem is that the fear felt and displayed by the family far exceeds what would be a reasonable reaction to the events with which they're faced at any specific point in the first half of the book. It's as if the effects (the family's responses) are always several chapters in front of the causes (government sponsored discrimination of Jews). This problem was so pronounced that I found myself wondering if the book was some kind of statement about what Roth calls "ghetto Jews" seeing anti-Semitism everywhere. (Its not)
It could have happened here..........2007-07-08
This book draws obvious parallels with the modern political situation in the U.S., how facism creeps up on us rather than appears overnight. It comes complete with a folksy, popular President in the guise of Charles Lindbergh, whose seemingly benign programs hide a more sinster agenda (this one against the Jews, who slowly and systematically begin to lose their rights throughout the book); people who are complicit in the plot against their own people; and a watchdog reporter who is speaking out against the administration, a la Edward R. Murrow or Keith Olbermann (Walter Winchell, who in the scope of this book, goes beyond his job as a gossip columnist). The characters are all drawn well, from the prideful father who is less than successful at protecting his family; the relative who becomes a bitter disabled war veteran; the aunt who falls under the spell of a power-hungry rabbi; and of course the protagonist, who slowly loses his childhood innocence as these events unfold around him.
The only problem I had with the book was its rather sudden ending, which I won't reveal here, but it sure seemed like everything was suddenly wrapped up nicely and neatly, and not in tune with the rest of the story. Still, I would say this was a good book and I would recommend it.
Book Description
The words Abraham Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg comprise perhaps the most famous speech in history. It has been quoted by popes, presidents, prime ministers, and revolutionaries around the world. From "Four score and seven years ago..." to "government of the people, by the people, for the people," Lincoln's words echo in the American conscience. Many books have been written about the Gettysburg Address and yet, as Lincoln scholar Gabor Boritt shows, there is much that we don't know about the speech. In The Gettysburg Gospel he reconstructs what really happened in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863. Boritt tears away a century of myths, lies, and legends to give us a clear understanding of the greatest American's greatest speech.
In the aftermath of the bloodiest battle ever fought in North America, the little town of Gettysburg was engulfed in the worst man-made disaster in U.S. history: close to 21,000 wounded; very few doctors; heroic women coping in houses, barns, and churches turned into hospitals; dead horses and mules rotting in farmyards and fields; and at least 7,000 dead soldiers who had to be dug up, identified, and reburied. This was where Lincoln had to come to explain why the horror of war must continue.
Planning America's first national cemetery revitalized the traumatized people of Gettysburg, but the dedication ceremonies overwhelmed the town. Lincoln was not certain until the last moment whether he could come. But he knew the significance of the occasion and wrote his remarks with care -- the first speech since his inauguration that he prepared before delivering it. A careful analysis of the Address and the public reaction to it form the center of this book. Boritt shows how Lincoln responded to the politics of the time and also clarifies which text he spoke from and how and when he wrote the various versions. Few people initially recognized the importance of the speech; it was frequently and, at times, hilariously misreported. But over the years the speech would grow into American scripture. It would acquire new and broader meanings. It would be better understood, but also misunderstood and misinterpreted to suit beliefs very different from Lincoln's.
The Gettysburg Gospel is based on years of scholarship as well as a deep understanding of Lincoln and of Gettysburg itself. It draws on vital documents essential to appreciating Lincoln's great speech and its evolution into American gospel. This is an indispensable book for anyone interested in the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, or American history.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting, But It Felt Slanted.......2007-09-14
I found this an interesting, but possibly flawed book.
The history and detail was fascinating, as was the examination (and inclusion!) of Everett's speech, of which I'd heard, but had never read. The description of Gettysburg immediately after the battle, and in the days surrounding the dedication ceremony was truly a window into another era.
However, as the book continued, and the instances of "Good, God fearing Republicans, struggling to save the country" and "Bad, pro-slavery/appeasement-minded Democrats not caring about the Union" mounted, I felt I was reading a political text that was slanted to support the current national situation, and not a dispassionate historical examination of the events of a century and a half gone. Other reviewers have mentioned this occurance as an interetsing coincidence. Even though I'm a Republican, I was jarred by the tone.
As a result, my enjoyment of the book was lessened, as was my trust of the text and the author's use selected references.
An interesting book, but too interpretive for my tastes. Read it, but have a pinch of salt ready.
Strange title for a good read.......2007-07-11
It truly is amazing that so many words and books can be written about a speech that is but 272 words long. Gabor Boritt's book is an enjoyable and easy read on Lincoln's most famous speech.
Much of the book deals with the immediate aftermath of the terrible Gettysburg battle with the author painting a vivid picture of the terrible scene which must have greeted the eye on July 4th.
It is interesting that the famous address did not get immediate general approval. Boritt shows that the speech was almost forgotten until the 1880's.
As with most Lincoln supporters, the author attempts to show that the speech was not written on the train to Gettysburg and that Lincoln gave the speech considerable thought. The truth is no one knows, but a good argument can be made for the proposition that Lincoln must have given it little thought prior to the event. Who in their right mind is going to travel from Washington to Gettysburg and DECIDE to present an address of only 272 words. The words came from the heart and from years of experience and empathy. Just as Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was somewhat spontaneous (although a very similar speech was presented at Cobo Hall, Detroit some weeks previously), there is strong circumstantial evidence that Lincoln put this speech together at short notice.
I have no idea why the book is sub-titled "The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows," but Boritt does provide a number of slightly different versions of the speech in the appendix. Most of the differences are minor to put it mildly. The author's description of how the speech initially got little response but grew to be appreciated over time to be a work of genius is well developed.
Paradoxically, the most enjoyable section of the book is the full text of Edward Everett's speech which I read fully for the first time. You can appreciate why Everett was seen as a great orator because of his ability to paint pictures with words although his two hour address can hardly be described as uplifting. Almost all of the speech was taken up with a chronological history of the events at Gettysburg (spoken from memory) and the aging orator failed to properly commend and eulogize the thousands who had given their life on the adjacent battlefield.
The book has copious appendices, bibliography, notes which provide a rich resource for serious students of Lincoln and Gettysburg. Overall, an enjoyable not too studious read on the topic.
Lincoln and the Gettysburg Gospel is a Gem of Exegetical Clarification of the greatest political speech in world history........2007-05-31
The Gettysburg Address was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863. The battle had been fought in July but now a National Cemetery was to dedicated honoring the Union dead who had died that the United States might live.
What a day it was ! A beautiful autumn crisp with the promise of a warm sky sailing serenly over the sight of the bloodiest batlle in American history. A day when the renowned orator Edward Everett spoke for over two hours drawing analogies between Gettysburg and those men who died to preserve Athenian democracy. Everett gave a detailed account of the battle emphasizing the legitimacy of the Union effort. He also spoke with insight on the superiority of the federal government to which the individual states pledged their loyalty.
And then...after the bands and the songs, the prayers and the cheers were silent the sixteenth President of the United States rose to speak. He had a mild form of smallpox; had lost his son Willie to death in the White House and had a son Tad who was ill back home in Washington DC.
Lincoln spoke his 272 words concluding with his immortal words, "''that the goverment of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
Lincoln drew on a lifetime of study to produce this masterpiece. The Declaration of Independence; the oratory of Webster and Clay, Shakespeare and the Bible all played a role in his crafting of the speech. If the Emancipation Proclamation was prose genius then the Gettysburg Address is poetry sublime in its assertion of indivdual freedom and the right of human beings to breathe free air.
The speech was neglected, for the most part, by contemporary press accounts. Only in the 1880s when the movement to reconcile NOrth and South picked up steam did it take on an importance in the American heart that has never been usurped, The GA inspired black fighters for Civil Rights as the twentieth century led to a cry for racial equality in our nation. Men like Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela in South Africa were inspired by Lincoln's words.
Boritt's book is divided into several sections. The first two hundred pages deal with the account of the night and the day Lincoln spent in Gettysburg in 1863. We learn of the horrific battlefield casualties and see closeup the preparations made and the carrying out of the ceremony on November 19th. Other sections deal with the five authentic copies of the Gettysburg Address; the complete text of Edward Everett's two hour oration that day; an extensive bibliography and notes. Professor Boritt also shows us pictures of the drafts as written in longhand by Lincoln.
The book is also a fascinating look into how the Gettysburg Address achieved mythic fame since it was first uttered on that November day. In a moving final chapter we read the address in the context of a 9-11 obervance of the attack on the World Trade Center.
As long as our United States lives we all pray that the Gettysburg Address will be there to inspire us to work for equality and justice for all of our citizens regardless of race, religion or political affiliation.
Boritt is one of the best scholars on the life of Lincoln and the Civil War era. Anyone who teaches the Civil War in the classroom should make use of this outstanding work of scholarship and love.
More Focus Please!.......2007-04-15
Boritt's 'Gettysburg Gospel' is one of the very few Civil War books that I could not get into. Stylistically, this book is way too haphazard and unorganized to be considered one of the best books in the Lincoln cannon. Boritt falls into the trap that Garry Wills fell into in his "Lincoln at Gettysburg." The two authors try to be over-elegant and verbose because their book itself is about one of the greatest triumphs of the English language rather then a singular event. Boritt (and Wills for that matter) would be better to just write in a plain, inelegant fashion without the grossly excessive verbiage which permeates this book. Wills, in all fairness, can get away with it, but the more academic Boritt has a difficult time indeed. For example, Boritt writes early on in describing the dead on the battlefield: "Others even pulled bodies from shallow graves. A weapon is worth a great deal. Who cares who the dead man was? Who was it? Dead." This kind of useless prose brings the momentum of this book down time and time again.
For Civil War enthusiasts themselves, many already knew that Everett went on for a very long time before Lincoln delivered his address. One of the things that surprised me was the lack of analysis of the address itself. That disappointed me because the book was subtitled as: `The Lincoln Speech Nobody Knows." In order to get a fresh analysis that Wills does not offer in his book, the reader will have to turn to the appendix to get the several versions of the address. Overall, more focus and less sentimentality would have made for a leaner, more coherent account of the making of the address and it's meaning through the last 140 years.
Read Wills Instead.......2007-04-08
The main text of this book is a loose, often disjointed accumulation of facts surrounding the dedication of the cemetery. That portion of the book is mostly filler since only a small portion deals with the Address. If that were the whole book, I would give it 2 stars. However, the Appendices, including Everett's full address, all versions of Lincoln's Address, and the scientific evaluations of the relative accuracies of the versions, are very enlightening. Read Wills' Lincoln at Gettysburg for a much more insightful book on the speech itself. Skip the text in this one and go directly to the Appendices.
Book Description
From the acclaimed bestselling author of The Conquerors
Michael Beschloss has brought us a brilliantly readable and inspiring saga about crucial times in America's history when a courageous President dramatically changed the future of the United States.
With surprising new sources and a dazzling command of history and human character, Beschloss brings to life these flawed, complex men -- and their wives, families, friends and foes. Never have we had a more intimate, behind-the-scenes view of Presidents coping with the supreme dilemmas of their lives.
You will be in the room with the private George Washington, braving threats of impeachment and assassination to make peace with England. John Adams, incurring his party's "unrelenting hatred" by refusing to fight France and warning his enemies, "Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war." Andrew Jackson, in a death struggle against the corrupt Bank of the United States. Abraham Lincoln, risking his Presidency to insist that slaves be freed.
Beschloss also shows us Theodore Roosevelt, taunting J. P. Morgan and the Wall Street leaders who dominated his party. Franklin Roosevelt, defying the isolationists -- and maybe the law -- to stop Adolf Hitler. Harry Truman, risking a walkout by top officials to recognize a Jewish state. John Kennedy, the belated champion of civil rights, complaining that he has cost himself a second term. And finally, two hundred years after Washington, Ronald Reagan, irking some of his oldest backers to seek an end to the Cold War.
As Beschloss shows in this gripping and important book, none of these Presidents was eager to incur ridicule, vilification or threats of political destruction and even assassination. But in the end, bolstered by friends and family, hidden private beliefs and, sometimes, religious faith, each ultimately proved himself to be, in Andrew Jackson's words, "born for the storm."
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book - must read for adults and young adults.......2007-10-03
I enthusiatically recommend this book. I read it and gave it to my son to read to illustrate the difficulties in doing the right thing - even if it costs you your carrer.
Easy and entertaining read as well.
Not what I expected.......2007-10-01
Michael Beschloss is a fine historian, and the book is well-researched. Unfortunately, the examples he provides show little in the way of actual courage. If anything, they paint a series of portraits of presidents who acted less out of courage than out of self-preservation. Nearly all of them resisted mightily before doing what was right, or -- in the case of Andrew Jackson -- used a veil of bravery to disguise the real motive: petty vengeance. How disappointing to find that these men whose actions have reverberated throughout history were less noble than we believed.
I was also disappointed in the writing, which was choppy and often inelegant.
Fun, Informative Read.......2007-09-30
Beschloss writes well and this is a very engaging read. I differ with his politics in places, but he is even handed. FDR's actions in the book don't sound like courage as much self-exalting opportunism.
Beschloss has inside information in various settings from interviews with family members, etc. which really adds to the account.
This is a great read and very informative.
Presidential Courage.......2007-09-22
Excellent book! I could hardly put it down. Beschloss tells the story of presidents who, in spite of their personal failures, took a stand for what they believed was right and, often aganst a massive tide of public opinion, changed the course of American history for the better.
Missing important courageous actions.......2007-09-15
I attempted to read his book, but frankly I just couldnt get into it. I made several attempts. I enjoy political history. But there are two issues that he failed to talk about. Correct me if I am wrong. These are important courageous stands taken by presidents.
1. Harry Truman had no chance of winning election in 1948. Blacks didnt vote in large numbers (mainly because of impediments at the polls). He had two major third party candidates to deal with in addition to the Republican candidate. In 1948 in the middle of the campaign, he signed an executive order intergrating the armed services. He had nothing to win. Many whites would not vote for him because of it. But he signed it anyway.
2. Lyndon Johnson knew that if he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Democrats would lose the south for decades. Up until 1964, it was the solid south for Democrats. After 1964, it has been practically the solid south for Republicans. Johnson knew what would happen, but he signed the bill anyway.
[...]
Amazon.com
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert "Buzz" Patterson was a military aide to President Clinton from May 1996 to May 1998 and one of five individuals entrusted with carrying the "nuclear football"—the bag containing the codes for launching nuclear weapons. This responsibility meant that he spent a considerable amount of time next to the president, giving him a unique perspective on the Clinton administration. Though he arrived at the job "filled with professional devotion and commitment to serve," he left believing that Clinton had "sown a whirlwind of destruction upon the integrity of our government, endangered our national security, and done enormous harm to the American military in which I served."
Dereliction of Duty is not a personal attack on President Clinton or a commentary on his various scandals; rather, it is a "frank indictment of his obvious—to an eyewitness—failure to lead our country with responsibility and honor." Lt. Col. Patterson offers a damning list of anecdotes and charges against the President, including how Clinton lost the nuclear codes and shrugged it off; how he stalled and lost the opportunity to launch a direct strike on Osama bin Laden at a confirmed location; how the President and the First Lady, and much of their staff, consistently treated members of the military with disrespect and disdain; and how Clinton groped a female Air Force enlisted member while aboard Air Force One, among other incidents large and small. A considerable portion of this slim book is devoted to the myriad ways in which President Clinton undermined the military, and hence the security, of the nation. He seriously questions Clinton's decisions to send troops to Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and Bosnia to accomplish non-military tasks without clear objectives. Having participated in each of these engagements, Lt. Col. Patterson personally "experienced the frustration of needlessly wasted lives, effort, and national prestige" as well as the alarmingly low morale that Clinton inspired.
This is certainly not the first anti-Clinton book, but it is different in that Patterson does not seem to have a political ax to grind. In fact, at times, he appears apologetic about having to write about his ex-commander in chief. Yet, in the end, this retired soldier felt his last act of service should be to share his experience with his country. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Here is the ultimate insider's account from the highest and most sensitive levels of the Clinton administration, revealing how the irresponsible use of power can lead to a terrible price paid by all Americans.
Customer Reviews:
No Lies Here.......2007-09-25
I bought and read the book at the behest of a friend I worked with, who served as a USAF security officer (NCO) aboard AF One. He is the one who told me about Col. Patterson's book, and said he was surprised to find himself portrayed in it. You see, he was the person who broke the news to Maj. Patterson (at the time) that Bill lost ...oops, MISPLACED, the nuclear launch codes. Folks, I know this man to be a man of Honor and Integrety, something that neither of the adult Clintons that occupied the White House ever had, nor ever will have, IMHO. Read the book. It is all true, according to my friend.
Larry
Sour Grapes?.......2007-08-18
Why would any self-respecting Air Force officer give up a flying career to be a liveried factotum for a couple of power elites? Answer: political schmoozing on this level is a virtual guarantee for a fast promotion. That this cocktail party warrior somehow buffooned an easy shot at full Colonel perhaps best explains this unmitigated rant against all things Clinton. Egregious overstatement of this sort gives cause to wonder whether or not the author dropped the `football' a time or two, perhaps on Bill's toe. Although I can fully appreciate why many people have a negative opinion of the Clintons as a matter of prerogative and political persuasion, vicious slander of the sort one finds in this book does not seem to be the product of sober reflection, no matter how biased. To paraphrase a dead-white-guy philosopher, `insincerity protests too much!'
As 'Insider' as It Gets.......2007-06-27
Robert Patterson was Clinton's top military aide. He was at the presidents side whenever he was on duty.
Read this book before you make a decision on Hillary.
Wow Refreshing Read.......2007-06-10
For once a book about Bill Clinton that has some basis in reality. So many books out there are written based purely on politics and ideology but this book seems more based in facts.
If you want to learn more about Bill Clinton but can't stand all the typical Left wing defenses and Right wing attacks this book is for you
Truth Can Hurt and Is A Stubborn Thing.......2007-05-21
Ron Marlar (a retired USAF officer, college professor, school teacher, living currently in Florida)
I checked Robert (Buzz) Patterson's Dereliction of Duty out of our local library and read it shortly after it was published (2004). Then I bought copies - one each for self-admitted liberal and conservative friends. The copy for the liberal friend was a housewarming gift. It certainly warmed his house and more. At his instigation we have hardly spoken since his warming. Conclusion: Liberals take great offense at criticism no matter how well documented and by eyewitnesses of their favored people.
One of the many incidents - this one personal - Buzz Patterson reports may have been a major factor prompting him to write a book with such a telling title and so full of failures and offenses to civility by the Clintons and their staffers. Bill Clinton hit on Patterson's wife according to Patterson. Should anyone be surprised by that, given the other revelations so far about the Clintons, especially Bill, his own confessions and apologies?
Should anyone be surprised by the Clintons demeaning, misusing and harming the military? Unlike George H.W. and George W. Bush who served at least in some capacity in the military the Clintons have not done so. Indeed Bill evaded military service by deceiving the University of Arkansas ROTC commander.
Those who attack the messenger rather than the message often do so because they cannot attack the message. Despite the ad hominem attacks on Patterson his message rings true as consistent with other reports on the attitudes and actions of the Clintons, those whom they gather around themselves, the supporters of the Clintons and other Democrat politicians, both past and present. Together with that consistency in reports, attitudes and behavior patterns the attackers of Patterson lend credibility to him as the messenger.
Be careful when selecting Dereliction of Duty for buy. The main title is the same as another book (by H.R. McMaster, 1998) recounting the dereliction of duty by Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert Strange McNamara and those that they appointed as top military leaders. Did I not say something already about the consistency of attitudes, behavior patterns and misuse of the military by Democrat politicians, both past and present?
Customer Reviews:
October Surprise: America's Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan.......2007-05-21
An intriguing look at teachery and treason by the Republican Party. I have never understood the interest that Republicans have in running for elected office; they have little or no knowledge or understanding about how a modern government should work and less interest in the subject. Their dependence upon misogyny, free ranging corporations, inflated dollars, social slavery, outright corruption and pagan material idolatry stymies me. They would regulate the poor and warehouse the rich in gated communities and are loathe to remember that both heaven and hell are gated communities. Never has there been a political party with such base intentions and such great appeal among the nouveau riche.
This story is probably true but now unindictable like the crimes of 9-11; it typifies the arrogance and modus operandi of the GOP. To have negotiated and extended the hostages' captivity in Tehran for any reason whatsoever is the height of immorality and inhumanity but standard political expedience for jumpy political losers like the GOP. They are cut from the same cloth as the kidnappers themselves and thus their nascent ability to negotiate with them. But this is the same party that two decades later suspended our civil liberties, tortured prisoners and took us to war for no credible reason. At this point (2007) if you are catching up on your political research, this book is a great sequel to anything written about Watergate or Richard NIxon's plumbers and an ominous prophecy to the political horrors that follow.
A Well-Documented Must READ!!!.......2005-11-27
If this work were fiction it would be an exceptional read, unfortunately, it is just HORRIFYING!!!
Casey is the ominous voice & Bush is the corrupt clown behind the curtain strategizing & manipulating his way to the White House.
Liberals will love it, Conversatives will repel its Republican blasphemy, and everyone else will appreciate the sliver of light exposing this political cancer.
Gary Sick writes a fabulous tale of factual American political corruption, deceipt & manipuation...painfully it carries the burden of being a history book...and for its contents, I am ashamed.
A mishmash of proven lies and half truths.......2005-10-08
I read this book years ago when it was first published. Mr. Sick allowed himself to be taken in by a collection of Iranian liars as well as some phonies claiming to have experience in intelligence. Some of the people Sick listened to were shown in the Iran-Contra hearings to be con artists who also took in Ollie North and Bill Casey. These con artists are experts at saying what the listener wants to hear. One guy claimed to have been in Special Forces and was an eyewitness to one of VP-candidate Bush's flights to meet with Iranians. It turns out that he was not in Special Forces at all and he had been dishonorably discharged from the US Army. In addition, he could not have been an eyewitness to the event he claims to have seen because he was in jail at the time. The phony intelligence specialists have also been proven to be liars with no experience in intelligence or anything resembling national security work. By the time I finished this book, I actually felt sorry for Sick because he had allowed himself to be taken in by these jokers. He clearly wanted to believe that what he was being told was true.
This book does not prove anything except that even an experienced researcher can be fooled if he really wants to believe. Subsequent investigations by a Democratically dominated Congress proved that there was no October surprise.
Completely Discredited - Fast And Loose With Facts.......2004-04-23
The irony of this book is that it changes the meaning of what "October Surprise" actually meant. The phrase was actually invented by the Republicans (Bill Casey, Stu Spencer, and VP candidate Bush) as a warning as to what Carter would try to do with the hostages. Yet now a former Carter administration member writes a book and hangs the term around the necks of his opponents.
The thesis simply doesn't work. A Congressional investigation spent over a million dollars and released a 968-page report that refutes the claims in this book. (I would add to those who see everything through partisan eyes that the Democrats controlled Congress and all the committees at that time).
The most obvious question is this: how did Ronald Reagan and his team get ahold of the equipment necessary to pull this off? Supposedly, an SR-71 Blackbird flew Bush to Madrid to negotiate for the hostages to be kept until after the election. But SR-71s don't just fly themselves, so who flew it? And what commander signed off for the plane to be missing from his fleet for a couple of days? Did Bush really have time to do that since the polls were showing a close election?
Sick has a well footnoted book, but it fails all across the line. Just because there's a footnote doesn't mean we know who actually said what. We don't know if the antagonists had been in contact with each other (the Congressional investigation showed they were - which ruins their credibility).
The book appears to be a retroactive attempt to say the reason Carter lost was because of the hostages. While there is no doubt that is one of the reasons, it is simplistic to say that such is the ONLY reason. How, after all, can you blame Reagan for the helicopters that didn't work in the bungled rescue attempt in April 1980? And let's not forget that half of the Democratic voters in the primary didn't want Carter to run again anyway.
This book is an attempt to besmirch a Presidency solely because the author disagrees with that man's ideology. It is a shame and a disgrace that this can be done. Reagan won, Carter lost. And it wasn't even close. Please get over it, Mr. Sick.
Totally Discredited Book.......2002-07-18
Gary Sicks' bizarro theory that George Bush flew to Paris in an SR-71 to meet with the Iranians to convince them to keep the hostages until after the election in 1990 is just plain crazy. Congress investigated this and found no basis for Sicks account. This is better fiction though than most spy stories but no one should take this silliness seriously.
Amazon.com
In this unique biography of Thomas Jefferson, leading journalist and social critic Christopher Hitchens offers a startlingly new and provocative interpretation of our Founding Father. Situating Jefferson within the context of America's evolution and tracing his legacy over the past two hundred years, Hitchens brings the character of Jefferson to life as a man of his time and also as a symbolic figure beyond it.
Conflicted by power, Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and acted as Minister to France yet yearned for a quieter career in the Virginia legislature. Predicting that slavery would shape the future of America's development, this professed proponent of emancipation elided the issue in the Declaration and continued to own human property. An eloquent writer, he was an awkward public speaker; a reluctant candidate, he left an indelible presidential legacy.
Jefferson's statesmanship enabled him to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase with France, doubling the size of the nation, and he authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition, opening up the American frontier for exploration and settlement. Hitchens also analyzes Jefferson's handling of the Barbary War, a lesser-known chapter of his political career, when his attempt to end the kidnapping and bribery of Americans by the Barbary states, and the subsequent war with Tripoli, led to the building of the U.S. navy and the fortification of America's reputation regarding national defense.
In the background of this sophisticated analysis is a large historical drama: the fledgling nation's struggle for independence, formed in the crucible of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, and, in its shadow, the deformation of that struggle in the excesses of the French Revolution. This artful portrait of a formative figure and a turbulent era poses a challenge to anyone interested in American history -- or in the ambiguities of human nature.
Discover More Eminent Lives
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George Washington: The Founding Father by Paul Johnson |
Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy's Guide by Joseph Epstein |
Book Description
In this unique biography of Thomas Jefferson, leading journalist and social critic Christopher Hitchens offers a startlingly new and provocative interpretation of our Founding Father. Situating Jefferson within the context of America's evolution and tracing his legacy over the past two hundred years, Hitchens brings the character of Jefferson to life as a man of his time and also as a symbolic figure beyond it.
Conflicted by power, Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and acted as Minister to France yet yearned for a quieter career in the Virginia legislature. Predicting that slavery would shape the future of America's development, this professed proponent of emancipation elided the issue in the Declaration and continued to own human property. An eloquent writer, he was an awkward public speaker; a reluctant candidate, he left an indelible presidential legacy.
Jefferson's statesmanship enabled him to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase with France, doubling the size of the nation, and he authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition, opening up the American frontier for exploration and settlement. Hitchens also analyzes Jefferson's handling of the Barbary War, a lesser-known chapter of his political career, when his attempt to end the kidnapping and bribery of Americans by the Barbary states, and the subsequent war with Tripoli, led to the building of the U.S. navy and the fortification of America's reputation regarding national defense.
In the background of this sophisticated analysis is a large historical drama: the fledgling nation's struggle for independence, formed in the crucible of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, and, in its shadow, the deformation of that struggle in the excesses of the French Revolution. This artful portrait of a formative figure and a turbulent era poses a challenge to anyone interested in American history -- or in the ambiguities of human nature.
Customer Reviews:
There are so many Jefferson books..........2007-09-28
...and this one is not among the top ten. That should be a helpful enough review for most readers. May I recommend my own listmania--Jefferson's Shadows--as a better starting point for learning about the Sage?
Astonishing Disappointment.......2007-07-29
Wow! This book was a complete letdown. First of all...this book is only 188 pages long. And they're small pages! To think that you could even come close to encompassing even the public life of Jefferson in less than 200 pages is laughable. Secondly, instead of focusing on particular points in Jefferson's life, Hitchens attempts to cover many different topics, in no specific order and thus barely scratches the surface on any of them. To say the least, this book left me wanting more...a LOT more. I don't know if Hitchens just decided to slap together a quick book on TJ or if he was given an impossible deadline to meet by the publisher. But this book doesn't even cover one subject about Jefferson partially, let alone many subjects completely. The positive side to this book is that it is short, so the painful incompleteness only lasts a couple of hours. For those wanting a good book that encompasses more than a mere cursory look at Thomas Jefferson I would certainly recommend looking elsewhere. For those looking to burn a couple of hours who don't really care what they read...I would still recommend a different book...a good fiction or something of the like. This one gets a definite PASS!!
Hitchens on Jefferson.......2007-05-12
Part of the Eminent Lives series Christopher Hitchens has written a great fairly short biography of Thomas Jefferson that examines the man warts and all. Off most interest to many these days will be his constant battle with his conscience versus the practicality of freeing all the slaves in the South.
That while this is meant to be a short history it is by no means one that skimps. Christopher Hitchens eloquent style is well used her getting the idea across while not being too wordy. He uses Jefferson's own words and writings to demonstrate how the great man felt during his lifetime.
It is hard to describe how important Jefferson was to the history of the United States, whether it be his penning most of the Declaration of Independence to his major role in the monumental Louisiana Purchase towards the end of his career. He even managed to provide the foundation for the modern Library of Congress after the fire that destroyed 2/3s of the book in their collection. Then there is Monticello, his house and lands, of a most impressive type.
The man was not infallible as he had his troubles over slavery, his half-black mistress and his bitter rivalries with some of the other major players of the early American experience. He was an writer of note, philosopher, orator, politician and diplomat in extremis. A man not afraid to take it the enemy when needed as seen in his handling of the Muslim Barbary Pirates. A test for a young nation that Jefferson made sure they passed.
Who better than Christopher Hitchens to tell us his fascinating life's tale.
Jefferson the polymath.......2007-03-08
Hitchens has written a brilliant and concise biography of Jefferson, a complex, multitalented and flawed man. Writer, author, architecht, botanist, diplomat, president. America was fortunate that President John Adams served only one term and lost his re-election bid (barely) to Jefferson because of 3 things: 1. War on Terror; Jefferson sent the US Navy to the Barbary Coast and tamed the pirates of North Africa who kidnapped Americans and demanded ransom. Adams preferred to pay ransom. Jefferson did away with this menace once and for all. 2. Louisiana Purchase; Adams was dead set against this bargain purchase which Jefferson obtained from France for 4 cents an acre. 3. Lewis and Clark expedition; here Jefferson had a vision of manifest destiny. Adams ridiculed Jefferson's vision as fanciful and a waste of money. Had Adams won re-election, America would certainly have been different today. On a matter of character, Adams was clearly a better man. He wanted to end slavery. Jefferson (unlike George Washington) did not free his slaves even upon his death with the exception of his mistress Sally Hemmings and their 3 children. Hitchens did a great job putting the story of this complex man together in a short book.
Excellent.......2007-01-03
Hitchins is brilliant, and even if he were not, I would read anything on TJ. Good book.
Book Description
George W. Bush came to the presidency in 2000 claiming to be the heir of Ronald Reagan. But while he did cut taxes, in most other respects he has governed in a way utterly unlike his revered predecessor, expanding the size and scope of government, letting immigration go unchecked, and allowing the federal budget to mushroom out of control.
Despite their strong misgivings, most conservatives remained silent during Bush’s first term. But a series of missteps and scandals, culminating in the ill-conceived nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, has brought this hidden rift within the conservative movement crashing to the surface.
Now, in what is sure to be the political book of the season, Bruce Bartlett lays bare the incompetence and profligacy of Bush’s economic policies. A highly respected Washington economist—and true-believing Reaganite—Bartlett started out as a supporter of Bush and helped him craft his tax cuts. But he was dismayed by the way they were executed. Reagan combined his tax cuts with fiscal restraint, but Bush has done the opposite. Bartlett thus reluctantly concluded that Bush is not a Reaganite at all, but an unprincipled opportunist who will do whatever he or his advisers think is expedient to buy votes.
In this sober, thorough, and utterly devastating book, Bartlett attacks the Bush Administration's economic performance root and branch, from the "stovepiping" of its policy process to the coercive tactics used to ram its policies through Congress, to the effects of the policies themselves. He is especially hard on Bush’s enormous new Medicare entitlement…and predicts that within a few years, Bush's tax cuts and unrestricted spending will produce an economic crisis that will require a major tax increase, probably in the form of a European-style VAT.
Bartlett has surprisingly kind words for Bill Clinton, whose record on the budget was far better than Bush’s. Whatever else one may think of him, Bartlett argues, Clinton cut spending, abolished a federal entitlement program, and left a budget surplus. By contrast, Bush has increased spending, created a massive entitlement program, and produced the biggest deficits in American history.
In fact, Bartlett concludes, Bush is less like Reagan than like Nixon: an arch-conservative Republican, bitterly hated by liberals, who vainly tried to woo moderates by enacting big parts of the liberal program. It didn't work then, and it won't work now—and may have similar harmful effects for the GOP.
Customer Reviews:
Powerful critique of GWB not written by whiney liberal.......2007-06-02
Well written entertaining hard hitting book on the various failures of the Bush presidency.
This book is packed with facts and logic supporting the author's thesis that George W. Bush is not a conservative president and has done a bad job from a conservative perspective. Rather GWB has been a highly partisan Republican president in the genre of Richard Nixon in that he has pushed liberal policies like expansion of medicare benefits, pouring billions into educations, committing the troops to nation-building of a democracy (which no doubt will end up like Vietnam) in a place where US troops don't belong.
If you are a die-hard Bush fan or a liberal Bush-hater don't bother buying this book as it probably won't provide any enjoyment. But if you are an intelligent open-minded individual who appreciates a frank discussion of policy from the conservative viewpoint you should not be disappointed.
Well written critical summary of the G.W. Bush Years.......2007-05-20
This book by a Reagan insider reveals in stark detail Bush's hipocracy in using the conservative title. Bartlett shows him as an grandiose opportunist who believes he is guided by God, and making all the errors of judgement that stem from such absurd overconfidence.
Good, but..........2007-04-18
I hate Dubya as much has the next good liberal, but I found this book to be a bit tough to get through due to its focus on economic issues. Cleary, he can be similarly criticized for straying from conservative positions on a whole host of other issues, but the author never strays from economics (but to be fair, that is his area of expertise). At the end, he even veers off on some VAT tax tangent that has nothing to do with Bush.
It's not a bad book, but buyer beware.
An attack more in sorrow than in anger.......2007-02-23
This is a good book. As a political book it is well above average.
As an attack book it is one of the best because it deals with facts,
mostly, and usually identifies opinions as opinions.
We have 210 pages of text, divided into 11 chapters, mostly complaining about
what Bush did, but a lot of complaints about how he did it, and why.
There 35 pages of appendices and notes, documenting the "what" quite well,
and the "how" fairly well. The "why" seems not as well done, but better than
the average political attack book.
A common attack book strategy is to make a statement as a fact, and provide
a note reference. The reference turns out to be an opinion offered elsewhere,
sometimes by the same author. Another is broad labelling. A request for a
hardship deferral makes one a draft dodger. Not accepting a particular
theory espoused by a professor makes one anti-intellectual. These are
rare in Bartlett's book.
There are also 31 pages of end notes, 49 pages of references and a 14 page
index. You can check his claims. In most cases there are references to
both sides of an issue.
I also appreciated that Bartlett identified the political biases of think
tanks and publications.
There are some weaknesses in the book. Much of the subject matter involves
economics, a topic most readers find boring, intimidating, or both.
To aid the attack, Bush is compared against Clinton in some ways and
against Reagan in others. Bartlett gives Clinton credit for welfare reform.
He properly identifies the tax increases that partly offset the Reagan
tax cuts, but ignores the slowness of spending reductions. Bartlett
argues there will be a major tax increase, probably after Bush is gone,
then spends many pages supporting a value added tax (VAT) as the least
bad way to do it.
Some Republicans will hate the book because it attacks one of their own.
Bartlett got fired for writing it. Some Democrats will hate the book
because it does not accuse Bush of treason, rape, armed robbery, and
wearing ugly ties. This is clearly an attack book, but it seems to have
been written more in sorrow than in anger. The book is far more rational
and far less emotional than some of the reviews here.
Critique of the President from the Right.......2006-09-24
This is an interesting work. Many of the critical analyses of the Bush II Administration (George W. Bush as opposed to George H. W. Bush, referred to as Bush I below) have come from journalists or those on the left or from Democrats. This book is fascinating precisely because it is authored by a conservative, one who served in the Reagan White House and in the Bush I Treasury Department. In that, it is akin to Francis Fukuyama's critical analyses of neocons and the Administration's Nation-Building efforts. And, indeed, Bartlett paid a personal price for his criticisms--he lost his job.
He suggests that the Bush II Administration is simply not conservative. In fact, the first chapter's title exemplifies that theme: "I Know Conservatives and George W. Bush Is No Conservative." Among his contentions: the Bush II administration simply does not care about serious policy analysis; it is more concerned with attaining its goals. The chapter, entitled "The End of Serious Policy Analysis," quotes part of Ron Suskind's interview with a top Bush official (some opine that this quotation may come from Karl Rove himself): "You guys, the aide said, are 'in what we call the reality-based community.' Such people are defined, the aide went on, as those who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernable reality.'" The aide went on, quoting Bartlett: "That's not the way the world works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. Any while you're studying that reality--judiciously as you will--we'll act again, creating other new realities. . . ."
Other chapters question the Bush II Administration for its tax cuts, its trade policy, why Enron serves as metaphor for Bush's economic policy, the budget (mirabile dictu, Bartlett suggests that Bill Clinton's policy is preferable to Bush II), and so on.
Precisely because this is a critique from the right, this becomes a very interesting volume to reflect upon. While sometimes the critique becomes a bit shrill, this is still worth looking at and thinking about.
Book Description
Grant wrote his "Personal Memoirs" to secure his family's future. In doing so, the Civil War's greatest general won himself a unique place in American letters. His character, sense of purpose, and simple compassion are evident throughout this deeply moving account, as well as in the letters to his wife, Julia, included here.
Customer Reviews:
U.S. Grant in his own words..........2007-06-26
U.S. Grant is often said to have been a failure at everything in his life except his marriage, war, and his memoirs. The latter, written as he was dying of throat cancer in 1884-1885, provide a straightforward account of his years in uniform during the Civil War.
Grant passes quickly over his Ohio boyhood and time at the United States Military Academy. His service in the Mexican War and his financial misfortunes out of uniform between the wars get only slightly more coverage. His story really begins with his return to uniform in 1861 as a commander of Illinois volunteers. The narrative follows Grant's campaigns in Missouri, Tennessee, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, his elevation to supreme command of the Union Armies, and the final grinding agony of the war in Virgina. The account ends with the cessation of hostilies in 1865.
Grant's memoirs are remarkable reading for a number of reasons. First, they provide insight into the first-rate military mind of a consistantly successful general. Grant's ability to determine the essentials of a situation and remain focused on them are evident. Second, the memoirs are a classic example of clear, simple, English narrative. Third, they display the considerable modesty of a naturally reserved man, a departure from the egotism often found in the personal memoirs of famous men. Grant himself continues to be something of a mystery to historians; these memoirs do not really lift the veil of his sense of privacy.
The Union Army of the Civil War had more than its fair share of politicians in uniform and politically-minded generals. Grant was not immune to spinning history his way; careful-eyed scholars have found more than a few instances where Grant remembered only part of the story or settled a few scores with old opponents. Nevertheless, Grant's memoirs are a valuable resource for understanding the conduct of the Civil War, not least because Grant became such a key figure in the winning of it.
Grant's memoirs are highly recommended to students of the Civil War, and to scholars seeking to understand the art of war in the midst of rebellion.
Review of Memoirs of US Grant.......2006-07-10
General Grant's use of the English language is very interesting and informative. Absolutely a pleasure to read.
A Masterpiece.......2006-02-22
This book is a must-read for any Civil War or American history buff. Grant's writing is consistently clear, elegant, beautiful. He gives an engaging account of his wartime experiences that are accurate to the best of his ability, and he writes with introspection and humility. The personal letters at the end of the volume reveal much about this fascinating man, and are a welcome addition. Please read this one! Another wonderful book in this series is the volume containing Frederick Douglass's autobiographical works.
A History Buff's Wet Dream..........2006-01-17
This is certainly a great book, and in parts, it is a good book. Grant has a very terse, matter-of-fact style, which makes for easy reading. The bulk of the book is devoted to the Civil War, and there are dry patches, and multitudes of "We went to the ridge, and then to the river, and moved our artillery up to the picket" and such-like. But that is what happened, and so you can't fault Grant for his meticulous detailing of troop movements, correspondence with fellow officers, etc. As I said, the great majority of the book is devoted to the Civil War, and there is not a word about Grant's tenure in the White House. Personally, of all topics covered by Grant, I find him to be most fascinating on the subject of the Mexican-American War of 1847. This is not something commonly focused on in history classes, but Grant's account is riveting. Additionally, Grant's remembrances of Lincoln are very interesting, as is his almost awed reverence for the military abilities of Sherman. The book is long, but it doesn't seem long, and if you have a love of history, this is indispensable stuff.
essential.......2005-10-04
A unique chronicle of one who saved the Union. Lucid, entertaining, and expansive. A rare view of one of the most important lives in the 19C. Highly recommended
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Recommended Books
- Brooklyn Remembered: The 1955 Days of the Dodgers
- Rottweilers for Dummies
- Heaven Sword & Dragon, Sabre Vol. 4
- History: Fiction or Science
- New York Rises: Photographs by Eugene de Salignac
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
Team of Rivals
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
