I'm a huge fan of Doris Kearns Goodwin. It therefore pains me to say that this book is a disappointment. Granted, her ambitious undertaking of such a I'm a huge fan of Doris Kearns Goodwin. It therefore pains me to say that this book is a disappointment. Granted, her ambitious undertaking of such a mammoth scope of work demonstrates( again as with her book Team of Rivals) her literary courage and scholastic dedication. This book However, bites off far more than it can digest intellectually by focusing on far too many major characters.
There isn't much to say about Theodore Roosevelt that hasn’t all ready been said, yet I never tire of hearing more. This books strong point details his relationship with the then burgeoning investigative journalist movement forged by those brave literary muckrakers. The tragic thing is that the most interesting muckraking leader (by far), Ms. Ida Tarbell gets the major short shift compared to other journalist ( not early as interesting) and also politicians, chiefly amongst them the plodding political tortoise William Taft, a decent -yet utterly boring- man, except when he headed the civilian government of the Philippines and beat down Gen. MacArthur. Yet over all Taft elevates to higher levels of power due to his white skin and wealth, and then under the grand and generous patronage of the great T.R.
The dilemma in this book is chiefly how much did Taft owe T.R.? Substantially enough that Taft should have always consulted with T.R. over major policy positions including major administrative firings, even when T.R. descended- basically incommunicado- into the heart of Africa to kill animals? Clearly Taft didn’t agree to being a caretaker president for T.R, just as T.R believed that he brought Taft to the "dance" and therefore Taft should have approved all his dance moves, such lead to the unraveling of the republican party. What's striking about this book is that Doris Kearns Goodwin seems to have compromised her much needed feminist voice that shook up the staid white man's club of historical narratives, when she released "No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt - The Home Front in World War II., which I say is the root cause of the recent spurious charges of plagiarism brought against her by those jealous white male "haters". I therefore look forward to her next project and hope her attackers have not left her gun shy of using her gifted and wonderful voice, because women like Ida Tarbell deserve to be fully heard especially during these times. ...more
While Lincoln struggled with incompetent general after incompetent general, he had to mediate and put out one diplomatic fire after another while estaWhile Lincoln struggled with incompetent general after incompetent general, he had to mediate and put out one diplomatic fire after another while establishing both a foreign policy that supported the war effort and an effective diplomatic team. The union cause could have been doomed numerous times had Lincoln not handled, France, Britain, Spain and Mexico with deft hands and a good sense of humor. This book, that I purchased at Dauphine Street Books in New Orleans, was an enlightening and well written read....more
As you can see from my start and end dates of reading this book, I felt as if I were trudging along side Napoleon's royal army as a silent observer to As you can see from my start and end dates of reading this book, I felt as if I were trudging along side Napoleon's royal army as a silent observer to his intentional trespass of wars that brought large scale rape, pillage, and plunder through out Europe dragging every European nation into chaos and poverty, under the hard yoke of the French Empire. What was particularly interesting was how now France (besides for this war in Libya) is considered a civilized nation that values restraint. But back then, they were us. Oh this is a worthy read. It's a long journey because the author not only takes you into the bloody brutal fields of battle ( Napoleon didn't believe in spending valuable money on surgical field hospitals or medical supplies and what money that was spent was embezzled first by his top officials ) and into the ante chambers, bed rooms, parlors and staterooms were decisions were made by Napoleon on how to carve up the Europe ( and his family) that lead to his own final demise. ...more
So much good information is wasted with this uneven book that's more gossipy than enlightening, but still it's clear Elizabeth got her talents from herSo much good information is wasted with this uneven book that's more gossipy than enlightening, but still it's clear Elizabeth got her talents from her mother because Henry VIII was more of a royal stumbler than a king and an intellectual light weight compared to his daughter. Smith glosses over major events while rambling on about useless gray fluff.
This is a very muscular book written by a southerner about some very southern white men and a few northerners back in the time when southern white menThis is a very muscular book written by a southerner about some very southern white men and a few northerners back in the time when southern white men ruled the United State's Congress. Still Mann shows poise in detailing complicated relations between the powered political elite as the civil rights struggle lead by Black folks forced them to separate from each other in choosing sides. ...more
Thank you for the time machine Anne! The only detail this book leaves out is that clearly Her Majesty had a libidinous sex life equal to that of a youThank you for the time machine Anne! The only detail this book leaves out is that clearly Her Majesty had a libidinous sex life equal to that of a young prince. Actually some of the details are its only flaw. Yes, I wanted to know that the Queen was stylish, but not to the point of redundancy, especially when her domestic and foreign policy was so intricately complex and of course interesting. But what really made her (and this book) stand out was not the wars she fought against stronger powers, nor how she made a weak country strong. But how she did all of the above not only being a women, but a women who did not need nor want one man and refused to let any man eclipse her. This fight was the most precariously difficult for her as it was waged against her whole Kingdom. Yet she prevailed as in all things. Oh, she did have a weakness for certain men, but she still managed to never wed while enjoying the fruits of her Queendom. And the fact that she managed to keep England from not crumbling from within due violent religious strife( like all of the rest of the world powers) was truly amazing. ...more
Wow, while I continue to have an infinite amount of respect for "Dr. Do" I had no idea of his level of scholarship. Reading this book was like readingWow, while I continue to have an infinite amount of respect for "Dr. Do" I had no idea of his level of scholarship. Reading this book was like reading the work of a highly researched overly diligent scholar today. Although this book may not be for every one, every one should read the part about how the recently freed Black people clamored and fought for the first public schools for every one. The Southern establishment was dead set against educating even poor whites, but because Black people wanted it more than any thing, it happened. The bitter irony is that Black people in less than 20 years were driven from the very schools they caused. Clearly the South Actually lost the battle but won the war until the civil rights movement....more
This book’s thousand and one cuts of minutiae from a thousand spies and wanna be spies all but destroys some really interesting tales of behind the seeThis book’s thousand and one cuts of minutiae from a thousand spies and wanna be spies all but destroys some really interesting tales of behind the seen interactions between FDR, Churchill Stalin, Hitler, Japanese leaders, etc. I also enjoyed how the author details the physical toll that the war took of FDR. Too bad he had to impress of with his pomp of scholarship as opposed to letting an amazing story of behind the scene dealing between the Allies and the Axis Powers ...more
This book was hard on my soul. I always thought when a Black person was lynched, they died of a broken neck, which is a relatively quick death. I didnThis book was hard on my soul. I always thought when a Black person was lynched, they died of a broken neck, which is a relatively quick death. I didn't know that being strung up on a rope was done after the person was tortured, mostly by first taking "souvenirs" of the still living person. The first to go was the victim's penis. then the fingers, toes, ears, etc. Then the person was roasted slowly over a fire, and then hung. After that pictures were taken of the body and sent all over the country with hundreds and even thousands of people standing around smiling. the audience actually fought over the remaining pieces of the victims. I also didn't know right after reconstruction up until the 1940's at least ten lynchings too place a month. Most of them with cooperation with the local authorities , including the railroad companies that added special trains to get hundreds of people from different states to a lynching in another state. The papers covered these lynchings as entertainment. At times this was a difficult book to read, but I'm glade I did. Reading Chekhov along side it was soothing for some reason....more
One of the best things about being an active reader, is getting the opportunity to discover that the foundation of a long held and firm belief, actua One of the best things about being an active reader, is getting the opportunity to discover that the foundation of a long held and firm belief, actually rested on pudding. To have such shifts in thinking, is what real living should be about. No matter how uncomfortable that process can be.
I always took W.E.B. Dubois's side over Booker T. Washington. I never considered Booker T a "sell-out" or an "Uncle Tom". But I did think his actions were mostly self serving, and toward the end of his life,( he died with his boots on) harmful and destructive to the Black Freedom Movement.
But the fact was that, unfortunately, Booker T. Washington was caught up in an unfortunate power struggle with Dubois, and his northern faction, comprised of prominent members of the Black educated elite. The battle was over both ideology and influence over the Black community and whites who provided badly needed resources for the fledgling Civil Rights Movement, that W.E.B Dubois ultimately got credit for. But in actuality, Washington at least incubated and perhaps even nurtured the movement before DuBois and his "team" even got started.
The problem was that Washington, had to down play his political activism. So he operated behind the scenes yet was very engaged and proactive. This was the only way he could get away with it, and it was astill risky. His grand college was located in the cradle of extreme white violence and hostility directed toward any Black person who even deviated from the status quo.
In fact Washington's school was highly controversial down south. Most white legislators believed that education was harmful to Blacks, which is why Washington was so dependent on Northern funding. Clearly W.E.B. Dubois knew this. He was also one of the many beneficiaries of Washington's support early on. Part of this sadly came down to class. The Northerners were Harvard trained and lived safely in the North, so they could be far more outspoken. But Booker T was a former slave with little education which was a factor I believe in how they treated him. I'm glade this important book was written, and it's been a long time in coming, because Booker had both a long term and a short term strategy. The short term strategy was particularly successful, and is probably what's needed today because the Black community has lost so much social and economic ground due to the economic collapse. Black saving/wealth in America was primarily in home ownership. Many of these homes were passed down from relatives from several generations. This wealth has now almost been depleted.
Washington stressed home ownership and self sufficiency from planting and farming. But equally important, Booker was about building schools in impoverished Black communities. Schools that whites not only refused to fund but burned some of them down and killed teachers and principals.
Booker's long term strategy, was the same as W.E.B Dubois and could have been far more successful had they been working together. And on that it seems DuBois was largely responsible. ...more
One of the few times where I regretted my “pick it up then finish it” book rule. This book is like a Henry Kissinger lecture on steroids and its ass bOne of the few times where I regretted my “pick it up then finish it” book rule. This book is like a Henry Kissinger lecture on steroids and its ass backwards. The beginning sealed this tomb by spending far too much time on the developments of tiny oil wells and small characters who in the scheme of things meant nothing. Meanwhile glossing over national and international events with a page or paragraph. The only positive thing I can say about this immense crypt is the coverage of WWI was informative, but that’s it. ...more
The first part where the interactions between KFK and Nixon was interesting but after the death of RFK, the rest of the book centered on crazy paranoiThe first part where the interactions between KFK and Nixon was interesting but after the death of RFK, the rest of the book centered on crazy paranoid Nixion and Ted Kennedy two subject that I don't need to read any more about....more
I read Lemann's "The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America" a while ago. It was dry, but good information. I have alwaysI read Lemann's "The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America" a while ago. It was dry, but good information. I have always wanted to find a good book about the reconstruction period after the civil war. I'm hoping this is a good book, but concerned that its only 200 pages
UPDATE:
Well Lemann is still dry as the desert, but still this was a emotionally bitter book to read. Reconstruction was suppossed to usher former slaves into full American citizen ship, while brining the south back into the Union as humans instead of Slave holding/murdering Barbarians who thought themselves above human.
But because of cowardly and racist northerners, the barbarians redirected (and won) the civil war, by instead of attacking, the U.S Government, slaughtering whole towns of Black children, women and men. The book reads like this, southern county elects Black and white officials, ex confederates publicly execute them. Around election time, ex confederates spread rumors that Black citizens are going to kill all white people, white southerners from around the south descended into town and kill all black people. X confederates, Klansmen, "Regulators" and "Redemears" make example by hanging/ killing any registered Black voter they can find, etc, etc. The book moves from southern town to southern town telling the same story, always ending on how the Federal government fails to send troops to protect Black Citizens. So one of the most progressive eras in U.S history, turns into one of the darkest chapters in American History. ...more
As part of the Movement to rescue/bring The General back to Logan Square before Daley melts him and his horse down into a wrought iron fence around thAs part of the Movement to rescue/bring The General back to Logan Square before Daley melts him and his horse down into a wrought iron fence around the Grant Park( his current home) Children's Museum, I need to get into the General's mind
UPDATE, clearly the General must be returned to Logan Square! The spirit of this War Hero is so irrepresable, that not even the a boring biographers like Gary Ecelbarger could not contain the Black Eagle! ...more
So I just finished my Blue Line reading selection two days ago I feel and continue to feel sullied. I always knew that Nixon was a creep, dishonistDisSo I just finished my Blue Line reading selection two days ago I feel and continue to feel sullied. I always knew that Nixon was a creep, dishonistDishonest and a liar, but I had no extent that he sabotaged LBJ’s negotiations with Vietnam to get elected, bugged both government officials and members of the media, destroyed a democratically and popular government of Chile, etc, etc, etc. And while I do not think a person’s past mental history should be used against him but, clearly Nixon was crazy- as stated by his own chief of staff, secretary of state, etc, etc, etc,. I mean seriously this guy makes George Bush seem almost statesman. So my question is what does it say about our country when crazy disturbed and dishonest white men can get elected to the highest office?
And what does it say about us that he was able to reinvent himself?
Oh I had Kissenger as a lecture once upon a time at a distant university. I felt instant dislike for him then. Now I call him Creepenger....more
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