Scan barcode
komet2020's reviews
1665 reviews
The Facts: A Novelist's Autobiography by Philip Roth
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
The Facts: A Novelist's Autobiography encapsulates 3 phases of the life of Philip Roth, who became one of America's pre-eminent novelists in the late 1960s with the publication of the best-seller Portnoy's Complaint and remained on that lofty perch until his death in 2018, age 85.
I enjoyed reading about the first 2 phases of Roth's autobiography which described his childhood, adolescence (capturing the essence of what life was like for a Jewish boy growing up in Newark, New Jersey from the late 1930s into the early 1950s), and his time as an undergraduate at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, followed by his stint at the University of Chicago (on a fellowship), where he earned an M.A., engaged in some teaching, dropped out of a doctoral program, and began developing his skills as a writer. I felt that Roth largely followed the path of the traditional autobiography by laying bare essential truths about himself to the reader.
But when I began reading the third phase of Roth's autobiography, I felt that he had tired of the undertaking and showed a reluctance to share more about himself. Roth had brought the reader up to the late 1960s, when, following a divorce from his first wife (who came from a very troubled background and proved a trial for Roth to deal with - that is, until she died in an auto accident in NYC), had taken up with another gentile woman, and was just hitting his stride as a novelist. I was expecting that he would take the reader into the following 2 decades of his life, shedding more light about how the impact of his growing fame as a writer impacted his life and relationships. Alas, that was not to be.
Nevertheless, The Facts was an interesting book to read because it gave me some additional insight into Philip Roth that I didn't have before.
I enjoyed reading about the first 2 phases of Roth's autobiography which described his childhood, adolescence (capturing the essence of what life was like for a Jewish boy growing up in Newark, New Jersey from the late 1930s into the early 1950s), and his time as an undergraduate at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, followed by his stint at the University of Chicago (on a fellowship), where he earned an M.A., engaged in some teaching, dropped out of a doctoral program, and began developing his skills as a writer. I felt that Roth largely followed the path of the traditional autobiography by laying bare essential truths about himself to the reader.
But when I began reading the third phase of Roth's autobiography, I felt that he had tired of the undertaking and showed a reluctance to share more about himself. Roth had brought the reader up to the late 1960s, when, following a divorce from his first wife (who came from a very troubled background and proved a trial for Roth to deal with - that is, until she died in an auto accident in NYC), had taken up with another gentile woman, and was just hitting his stride as a novelist. I was expecting that he would take the reader into the following 2 decades of his life, shedding more light about how the impact of his growing fame as a writer impacted his life and relationships. Alas, that was not to be.
Nevertheless, The Facts was an interesting book to read because it gave me some additional insight into Philip Roth that I didn't have before.
James Baldwin: A Biography by David Leeming
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
James Baldwin (1924-1987) was one of the foremost writers and thinkers of the 20th century. He first came to my attention in the autumn of 1979, when, I, then a 10th grader, was assigned to read one of his novels, Go Tell It on the Mountain, in English class. In the intervening years, he has seldom been far from my thoughts of literature's role in society, confronting and speaking the truth about the ongoing corrosive impacts of racism in the U.S. and worldwide, challenging that racism, Baldwin's battle for Black identity, and his lifelong struggles to "end the racial nightmare and achieve our country." Yet, in all that time, I had never sought out a biography about this richly talented writer and social gadfly. That is, until I picked up this book from the local library a short time ago.
Baldwin was born in Harlem, which at the time of his birth, was a largely mixed area of New York City, with fairly even numbers of African Americans and whites living side by side. He never knew his real father. But when his mother married David Baldwin, a laborer (with whom she would give birth to 8 other children), Baldwin fully accepted him as his father, though theirs was not an easy relationship. The elder Baldwin had come up to New York from the South, with a deep distrust of white people. He struggled to find a place for himself and his family in society, and went on to serve as a preacher with his own church. For Baldwin, his father came to typify the psychologically damaged and embittered African American man whom the larger society denigrated and marginalized at every turn, and sought to destroy should he become a threat to what was regarded as "the normal order of things" in Jim Crow America.
From early childhood, Baldwin was recognized by some of his teachers (including the first African American principal in New York City at his first school) as having a talent for writing, and he was encouraged to write. Baldwin would also develop into a voracious reader, with Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin being among his favorite books as a preteen. It was at this time that he made the acquaintance of Orilla "Bill" Miller, a young white woman schoolteacher from the Midwest who would come to play a significant influence in Baldwin's life, taking him to see plays, movies, and encouraging his writing talent. Baldwin himself gave Miller partial credit in that he "never really managed to hate white people."
Later, in junior high school, Baldwin would have Countee Cullen, one of the celebrated poets of the Harlem Renaissance, as one of his teachers. Baldwin would later attribute to Cullen his latent desire to live in France - Cullen had been a teacher of French at Baldwin's junior high school, as well as an advisor to the school's English department. After high school, Baldwin applied for and was accepted into DeWitt Clinton High School, a mainly white and Jewish high school in the Bronx that instilled a desire for high achievement among its student body. While there, Baldwin struck up a friendship with Richard Avedon, who was later one of America's top photographers.
It was during his student days at DeWitt Clinton that Baldwin experienced struggles with his sexuality (he was attracted to men) and the impacts of racism in his daily life. It was the latter that would prove difficult for him to come to terms with following his graduation from high school (1941) and some of the wartime work he performed as a laborer in New Jersey, working closely with white colleagues, many of whom had come from the Deep South in search of work, who resented Baldwin for not showing what they regarded as "proper servile behavior" for an African American. Baldwin also struggled with his religious faith, which led him to become a preacher for a time. He ended up being fired from the job he had in New Jersey and returned to Harlem to work in a meat packing plant. Indeed, Baldwin would bounce around from job to job from his late teens into early adulthood, fearing that he might end up like his father (who had died in a sanatorium from tuberculosis when he was 19), eking out an aimless existence.
From Harlem, Baldwin went to Greenwich Village where he made the acquaintance of Beauford Delaney, an African American modernist painter 23 years his senior. He helped Baldwin to see that an African American man could make a living as an artist. He would serve as a mentor to Baldwin, who at that time in his life, had suffered his first nervous breakdown and had taken up drinking. The Harlem of his childhood, which was for him a "renaissance city" had metamorphosed over time in a very hard place for African Americans in which to live, with its temptations of drugs, crime, and alcohol within easy reach.
Baldwin studied acting for a short time at The New School, where he made the acquaintance of Marlon Brando, with whom he would strike up a lifelong friendship. He also had a succession of sexual relationships with men (ultimately unsatisfying emotionally) and a few with women. All the while, Baldwin kept writing. In 1945, he started a literary magazine with the help of the wife of a former DeWitt Clinton schoolmate. This was also the time when Baldwin met Richard Wright, arguably then the premier African American novelist. He encouraged Baldwin with his writing after Baldwin had shared with him a manuscript he had been working on, which would later become Go Tell It on the Mountain. Though later the two men would have a falling out, it was Wright who helped Baldwin win a Rosenwald Fellowship, which facilitated his move to Paris in 1948.
The book goes into considerable detail about Baldwin's expatriate life in France (which lasted a decade) during which Baldwin came into his own as a write, thinker, and critic. He cultivated a wide variety of people into his life, not all of whom had his best interests at heart. The author (who first met Baldwin in Turkey in 1961, where he was working as a teacher; later the 2 became lifelong friends) shares with the reader the full extent of Baldwin's involvement in the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement from the late 1950s (when Baldwin made his first visits to the segregated South; though fearful of going to the South, he felt he had to experience it first-hand to better understand the sting of overt racism/white supremacy there), his friendships with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X and on through the 1960s.
What most impressed me about James Baldwin was his unwavering commitment to social justice, to speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo through his novels and plays, and his frustrated ambition to work in films. (Baldwin was a lifelong movie fan.) This book showed me that there was much more to James Baldwin than I had previously thought.
What made me a bit sad is that, from reading the book, I don't think that Baldwin truly found the personal happiness he sought most out of life. Yet, he was at times honest enough with himself and some of his friends and associates in conceding that he wasn't always an easy person to live with. Baldwin's life was that of the artist who braved the slings and arrows society heaped upon him in his pursuit of truths that he believed could help make possible a better understanding among people - and ultimately, an enlightened humanity where racism and injustice would have no place.
Baldwin was born in Harlem, which at the time of his birth, was a largely mixed area of New York City, with fairly even numbers of African Americans and whites living side by side. He never knew his real father. But when his mother married David Baldwin, a laborer (with whom she would give birth to 8 other children), Baldwin fully accepted him as his father, though theirs was not an easy relationship. The elder Baldwin had come up to New York from the South, with a deep distrust of white people. He struggled to find a place for himself and his family in society, and went on to serve as a preacher with his own church. For Baldwin, his father came to typify the psychologically damaged and embittered African American man whom the larger society denigrated and marginalized at every turn, and sought to destroy should he become a threat to what was regarded as "the normal order of things" in Jim Crow America.
From early childhood, Baldwin was recognized by some of his teachers (including the first African American principal in New York City at his first school) as having a talent for writing, and he was encouraged to write. Baldwin would also develop into a voracious reader, with Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin being among his favorite books as a preteen. It was at this time that he made the acquaintance of Orilla "Bill" Miller, a young white woman schoolteacher from the Midwest who would come to play a significant influence in Baldwin's life, taking him to see plays, movies, and encouraging his writing talent. Baldwin himself gave Miller partial credit in that he "never really managed to hate white people."
Later, in junior high school, Baldwin would have Countee Cullen, one of the celebrated poets of the Harlem Renaissance, as one of his teachers. Baldwin would later attribute to Cullen his latent desire to live in France - Cullen had been a teacher of French at Baldwin's junior high school, as well as an advisor to the school's English department. After high school, Baldwin applied for and was accepted into DeWitt Clinton High School, a mainly white and Jewish high school in the Bronx that instilled a desire for high achievement among its student body. While there, Baldwin struck up a friendship with Richard Avedon, who was later one of America's top photographers.
It was during his student days at DeWitt Clinton that Baldwin experienced struggles with his sexuality (he was attracted to men) and the impacts of racism in his daily life. It was the latter that would prove difficult for him to come to terms with following his graduation from high school (1941) and some of the wartime work he performed as a laborer in New Jersey, working closely with white colleagues, many of whom had come from the Deep South in search of work, who resented Baldwin for not showing what they regarded as "proper servile behavior" for an African American. Baldwin also struggled with his religious faith, which led him to become a preacher for a time. He ended up being fired from the job he had in New Jersey and returned to Harlem to work in a meat packing plant. Indeed, Baldwin would bounce around from job to job from his late teens into early adulthood, fearing that he might end up like his father (who had died in a sanatorium from tuberculosis when he was 19), eking out an aimless existence.
From Harlem, Baldwin went to Greenwich Village where he made the acquaintance of Beauford Delaney, an African American modernist painter 23 years his senior. He helped Baldwin to see that an African American man could make a living as an artist. He would serve as a mentor to Baldwin, who at that time in his life, had suffered his first nervous breakdown and had taken up drinking. The Harlem of his childhood, which was for him a "renaissance city" had metamorphosed over time in a very hard place for African Americans in which to live, with its temptations of drugs, crime, and alcohol within easy reach.
Baldwin studied acting for a short time at The New School, where he made the acquaintance of Marlon Brando, with whom he would strike up a lifelong friendship. He also had a succession of sexual relationships with men (ultimately unsatisfying emotionally) and a few with women. All the while, Baldwin kept writing. In 1945, he started a literary magazine with the help of the wife of a former DeWitt Clinton schoolmate. This was also the time when Baldwin met Richard Wright, arguably then the premier African American novelist. He encouraged Baldwin with his writing after Baldwin had shared with him a manuscript he had been working on, which would later become Go Tell It on the Mountain. Though later the two men would have a falling out, it was Wright who helped Baldwin win a Rosenwald Fellowship, which facilitated his move to Paris in 1948.
The book goes into considerable detail about Baldwin's expatriate life in France (which lasted a decade) during which Baldwin came into his own as a write, thinker, and critic. He cultivated a wide variety of people into his life, not all of whom had his best interests at heart. The author (who first met Baldwin in Turkey in 1961, where he was working as a teacher; later the 2 became lifelong friends) shares with the reader the full extent of Baldwin's involvement in the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement from the late 1950s (when Baldwin made his first visits to the segregated South; though fearful of going to the South, he felt he had to experience it first-hand to better understand the sting of overt racism/white supremacy there), his friendships with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X and on through the 1960s.
What most impressed me about James Baldwin was his unwavering commitment to social justice, to speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo through his novels and plays, and his frustrated ambition to work in films. (Baldwin was a lifelong movie fan.) This book showed me that there was much more to James Baldwin than I had previously thought.
What made me a bit sad is that, from reading the book, I don't think that Baldwin truly found the personal happiness he sought most out of life. Yet, he was at times honest enough with himself and some of his friends and associates in conceding that he wasn't always an easy person to live with. Baldwin's life was that of the artist who braved the slings and arrows society heaped upon him in his pursuit of truths that he believed could help make possible a better understanding among people - and ultimately, an enlightened humanity where racism and injustice would have no place.
THE MAYORS OF NEW YORK by S.J. Rozan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
What starts out in THE MAYORS OF NEW YORK as a seemingly straightforward undertaking by PIs Lydia Chin and Bill Smith to find the teenage son of New York's first newly elected woman mayor (who had hired them for the job) turns out to be a convoluted, murky, and perilous trek across the city that uncovers a nest of crimes.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel with its bumper car twists and turns, along with its heavy emphasis on sparkling, pithy dialogue. It epitomizes what a good, exciting detective novel should be about. That is, engaging as well as entertaining.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel with its bumper car twists and turns, along with its heavy emphasis on sparkling, pithy dialogue. It epitomizes what a good, exciting detective novel should be about. That is, engaging as well as entertaining.
Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
In sum, it has taken me 22 years to finish reading what was a magnum opus of a biography. This is not to suggest that I lost interest in reading Peter the Great: His Life and Work in all that time. Not at all. I confess to being a peripatetic reader, who sometimes flits about like a hummingbird from book to book. There were moments when I would put this book aside when I chanced upon another whose subject matter commanded my attention and interest. Nevertheless, I was determined to return to reading about the life of a most extraordinary man and monarch who can be said truly by his personality and force of will to have shaped the destiny of a nation.
Peter was born into a Russia that stood in the shadows of Europe. A nation held together by autocracy in the person of the Tsar, an aristocracy jealous of its privilege and power, and the Russian Orthodox Church. He ascended to the throne in 1682, age 10, as part of a joint ruling arrangement with his half brother, Ivan V, while Ivan's 25 year old sister Sophia was made regent. This was a rather precarious arrangement in which Peter's position was not altogether secure. Sophia largely excluded him from governmental affairs and one of the most powerful factions in the government, the Moscow streltsy, had killed some of Peter's supporters, and was set on maintaining an iron grip.
Peter, unlike his predecessors, grew up with wide-ranging interests which he was largely free to pursue. He "enjoyed noisy outdoor games and took especial interest in military matters, his favourite toys being arms of one sort or another. He also occupied himself with carpentry, joinery, blacksmith’s work, and printing." Furthermore, his interest in the outside world was stoked by his exposure to what was a "German colony" not far from where he lived. Peter also became fascinated with seafaring upon finding a derelict English sailboat. Though he was given an incomplete education, Peter developed a lifelong fascination with mathematics, the sciences, fortifications, and navigation.
At 17, Peter entered into an arranged marriage with Eudoxia, and they had a son, Alexis. But the marriage was more of a political act to show that Peter was capable of thinking for himself and exerting his authority. By 1698, having lost interest in his wife, Peter had her relegated to a convent. In the interim, the streltsy had staged a revolt in 1689 which Sophia tried to use to her advantage in staging a coup, thus consolidating her position on the throne. But she miscalculated and events redounded to Peter's advantage. He removed her from power and banished her into a convent. Subsequently, when the streltsy attempted another revolt in 1698 and failed, Peter compelled Sophia to become a nun. What's more: upon Ivan's death, Peter became the undisputed ruler of Russia. (He would go on to marry one of his mistresses, a Lithuanian servant girl, who he would make Tsaritsa Catherine, to whom he was devoted and she devoted to him until his death.)
Peter, at 6'8", was someone who commanded respect and inspired fear in those who were opposed to his moves in opening up Russia to the West and his modernization schemes and programs. He first travelled to Europe in the late 1690s, spending a considerable amount of time in Holland (where he learned first-hand all the rudiments of shipbuilding and navigation in a country that was then one of the leading maritime powers) and England. He also encouraged foreigners with skills he deemed essential in modernizing his nation to come to Russia, where their rights to worship were respected (provided they did not try to act in opposition to his rule) and they were accorded freedoms denied to most Russians.
Peter also set out to build a navy, modernize the army, and acquire territory so that Russia would be more closely integrated with the West. Thus, Russia became involved in a long, protracted war (1700-21) with Sweden, then a great continental power controlling large swaths of Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Baltic States. He also involved the country in a war with the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to expand Russian power and authority in the south to the Sea of Azov, the Crimea, and the Black Sea. While the war with the Ottomans resulted in some reversals for Peter, he was able to prevail -- despite heavy odds -- against the Swedes and concluded a peace treaty with them in 1721 that secured the gains he had made in acquiring much of the Baltic States and an expanse of land bordering on modern Finland. It was also during this time that Peter built a great northern city on the Neva River -- St. Petersburg, which he made the nation's capital, moving much of the governmental offices there from Moscow.
All in all, this was an engaging and fascinating story. I'm glad I stuck with it. But if I had it to do all again, I would have finished reading Peter the Great much, much, much sooner.
Peter was born into a Russia that stood in the shadows of Europe. A nation held together by autocracy in the person of the Tsar, an aristocracy jealous of its privilege and power, and the Russian Orthodox Church. He ascended to the throne in 1682, age 10, as part of a joint ruling arrangement with his half brother, Ivan V, while Ivan's 25 year old sister Sophia was made regent. This was a rather precarious arrangement in which Peter's position was not altogether secure. Sophia largely excluded him from governmental affairs and one of the most powerful factions in the government, the Moscow streltsy, had killed some of Peter's supporters, and was set on maintaining an iron grip.
Peter, unlike his predecessors, grew up with wide-ranging interests which he was largely free to pursue. He "enjoyed noisy outdoor games and took especial interest in military matters, his favourite toys being arms of one sort or another. He also occupied himself with carpentry, joinery, blacksmith’s work, and printing." Furthermore, his interest in the outside world was stoked by his exposure to what was a "German colony" not far from where he lived. Peter also became fascinated with seafaring upon finding a derelict English sailboat. Though he was given an incomplete education, Peter developed a lifelong fascination with mathematics, the sciences, fortifications, and navigation.
At 17, Peter entered into an arranged marriage with Eudoxia, and they had a son, Alexis. But the marriage was more of a political act to show that Peter was capable of thinking for himself and exerting his authority. By 1698, having lost interest in his wife, Peter had her relegated to a convent. In the interim, the streltsy had staged a revolt in 1689 which Sophia tried to use to her advantage in staging a coup, thus consolidating her position on the throne. But she miscalculated and events redounded to Peter's advantage. He removed her from power and banished her into a convent. Subsequently, when the streltsy attempted another revolt in 1698 and failed, Peter compelled Sophia to become a nun. What's more: upon Ivan's death, Peter became the undisputed ruler of Russia. (He would go on to marry one of his mistresses, a Lithuanian servant girl, who he would make Tsaritsa Catherine, to whom he was devoted and she devoted to him until his death.)
Peter, at 6'8", was someone who commanded respect and inspired fear in those who were opposed to his moves in opening up Russia to the West and his modernization schemes and programs. He first travelled to Europe in the late 1690s, spending a considerable amount of time in Holland (where he learned first-hand all the rudiments of shipbuilding and navigation in a country that was then one of the leading maritime powers) and England. He also encouraged foreigners with skills he deemed essential in modernizing his nation to come to Russia, where their rights to worship were respected (provided they did not try to act in opposition to his rule) and they were accorded freedoms denied to most Russians.
Peter also set out to build a navy, modernize the army, and acquire territory so that Russia would be more closely integrated with the West. Thus, Russia became involved in a long, protracted war (1700-21) with Sweden, then a great continental power controlling large swaths of Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Baltic States. He also involved the country in a war with the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to expand Russian power and authority in the south to the Sea of Azov, the Crimea, and the Black Sea. While the war with the Ottomans resulted in some reversals for Peter, he was able to prevail -- despite heavy odds -- against the Swedes and concluded a peace treaty with them in 1721 that secured the gains he had made in acquiring much of the Baltic States and an expanse of land bordering on modern Finland. It was also during this time that Peter built a great northern city on the Neva River -- St. Petersburg, which he made the nation's capital, moving much of the governmental offices there from Moscow.
All in all, this was an engaging and fascinating story. I'm glad I stuck with it. But if I had it to do all again, I would have finished reading Peter the Great much, much, much sooner.
Diplomats at War: Friendship and Betrayal on the Brink of the Vietnam Conflict by Charles Trueheart
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
DIPLOMATS AT WAR: Friendship and Betrayal on the Brink of the Vietnam Conflict is a complex and ultimately tragic story of the development and playing out of U.S. foreign policy in South Vietnam between 1961 and 1963. Its author was the son of the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission (William Trueheart) in Saigon during that time. He explores the complicated relationships between Ngo Dinh Diem (the President of the Republic of Vietnam), his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu (who served as Diem's counselor and exerted a baleful influence in the government), and the Kennedy Administration.
The book also explores the relationship between William Trueheart and his close friend from their university days in the late 1930s (Virginians both) Fritz Nolting, the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam from May 10, 1961 to August 15, 1963, when he was replaced by Henry Cabot Lodge. Sadly, this was a relationship that was not to survive the changing nature of U.S. policy vis-a-vis Diem's government as the situation in South Vietnam went from bad to worse, culminating in the Buddhist Crisis of the spring and summer of 1963. Indeed, this crisis caught both the Diem government and the Kennedy Administration flatfooted, and led to the latter losing confidence in Diem's ability to govern South Vietnam. With Lodge installed as Ambassador that August, plans were put into effect to foment a coup (one in which the Kennedy Administration could claim deniability) among the leading generals of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) to depose Diem and Nhu.
Events in South Vietnam would spiral out of control and by year's end, the U.S., now led by a new President (Lyndon Johnson) --- following President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas TX on November 22, 1963 --- would be fated to be ensnared in a full-scale war in Vietnam that would end in defeat for both the U.S. and South Vietnam.
The book also explores the relationship between William Trueheart and his close friend from their university days in the late 1930s (Virginians both) Fritz Nolting, the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam from May 10, 1961 to August 15, 1963, when he was replaced by Henry Cabot Lodge. Sadly, this was a relationship that was not to survive the changing nature of U.S. policy vis-a-vis Diem's government as the situation in South Vietnam went from bad to worse, culminating in the Buddhist Crisis of the spring and summer of 1963. Indeed, this crisis caught both the Diem government and the Kennedy Administration flatfooted, and led to the latter losing confidence in Diem's ability to govern South Vietnam. With Lodge installed as Ambassador that August, plans were put into effect to foment a coup (one in which the Kennedy Administration could claim deniability) among the leading generals of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) to depose Diem and Nhu.
Events in South Vietnam would spiral out of control and by year's end, the U.S., now led by a new President (Lyndon Johnson) --- following President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas TX on November 22, 1963 --- would be fated to be ensnared in a full-scale war in Vietnam that would end in defeat for both the U.S. and South Vietnam.
DE HAVILLAND DH2 AND THE MEN WHO FLEW THEM by Trevor Henshaw, Barry Gray, Mike Kelsey, Mick Davis
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
As the First World War proceeded apace on the Western Front in 1915, air power began to gradually assume more importance in the outcome of military operations. With the adoption by the Germans in July of that year of the Fokker Eindekker single-seat monoplane fighter, which boasted one forward-firing machine gun synchronized to fire through the propeller arc, this aircraft played a significant part through the remainder of the year and into early 1916 in preventing Britain's Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in carrying out effectively its allotted roles of gathering intelligence, scouting over the front lines and beyond, bombing, and artillery spotting.
In response to the challenges now facing the RFC, the DeHavilland DH2 biplane fighter was introduced to help wrest aerial supremacy (what was then a new concept) from the Germans over the Western Front. (A prototype of the DH2 had already been tested and deployed in action in August 1915. But unfortunately its pilot was killed and the plane ended up in German territory.) The DH2 was a unique aircraft for its time in that its engine was situated behind the cockpit, and a forward-firing Lewis gun was set directly in front of the pilot, affording him a clear field of fire.
Throughout the spring and summer of 1916, the RFC deployed 3 squadrons on the Western Front with the DH2 (Nos. 24, 29, and 32 Squadrons), which proved themselves to be more than a match for the Eindekker in aerial combat. Indeed, the DH2 performed so well in combat that the Germans were compelled to withdraw the Eindekker from frontline service by mid-1916 and work on developing and deploying at the Front fighter planes that could effectively challenge the DH2.
So it was that the DH2s - which was among the RFC's first true fighter planes - gave the British aerial supremacy over the Somme Front until the introduction by the German Luftstreitkräfte in the late summer and fall of 1916 of the Halberstadt DV (armament: 1 forward-firing machine gun) and Albatros series of fighters (the DI, DII, and DIII) which boasted 2 forward-firing Spandau machine guns, synchronized to fire through the propeller. These planes, in terms of performance, were superior to the DH2 in terms of speed, firepower, and rate of climb. But until the RFC could introduce to the Front advanced fighters, it had to soldier on with the DH2, which it did well into the spring of 1917.
This book offers a full and definitive story --- rich with photos --- of the DH2s' service on the Western Front, in addition to its later service in Salonika (Macedonia), Egypt and the Middle East. There is also extensive information about the aircraft's characteristics, full color illustrations of the DH2, the tactics it deployed in combat, and the squadrons they flew the DH2 overseas and with Home Defence in the UK.
I highly recommend DeHAVILLAND DH2 AND THE MEN WHO FLEW THEM for any World War I aviation enthusiast. It's an absolute keeper.
In response to the challenges now facing the RFC, the DeHavilland DH2 biplane fighter was introduced to help wrest aerial supremacy (what was then a new concept) from the Germans over the Western Front. (A prototype of the DH2 had already been tested and deployed in action in August 1915. But unfortunately its pilot was killed and the plane ended up in German territory.) The DH2 was a unique aircraft for its time in that its engine was situated behind the cockpit, and a forward-firing Lewis gun was set directly in front of the pilot, affording him a clear field of fire.
Throughout the spring and summer of 1916, the RFC deployed 3 squadrons on the Western Front with the DH2 (Nos. 24, 29, and 32 Squadrons), which proved themselves to be more than a match for the Eindekker in aerial combat. Indeed, the DH2 performed so well in combat that the Germans were compelled to withdraw the Eindekker from frontline service by mid-1916 and work on developing and deploying at the Front fighter planes that could effectively challenge the DH2.
So it was that the DH2s - which was among the RFC's first true fighter planes - gave the British aerial supremacy over the Somme Front until the introduction by the German Luftstreitkräfte in the late summer and fall of 1916 of the Halberstadt DV (armament: 1 forward-firing machine gun) and Albatros series of fighters (the DI, DII, and DIII) which boasted 2 forward-firing Spandau machine guns, synchronized to fire through the propeller. These planes, in terms of performance, were superior to the DH2 in terms of speed, firepower, and rate of climb. But until the RFC could introduce to the Front advanced fighters, it had to soldier on with the DH2, which it did well into the spring of 1917.
This book offers a full and definitive story --- rich with photos --- of the DH2s' service on the Western Front, in addition to its later service in Salonika (Macedonia), Egypt and the Middle East. There is also extensive information about the aircraft's characteristics, full color illustrations of the DH2, the tactics it deployed in combat, and the squadrons they flew the DH2 overseas and with Home Defence in the UK.
I highly recommend DeHAVILLAND DH2 AND THE MEN WHO FLEW THEM for any World War I aviation enthusiast. It's an absolute keeper.
The Lost Prince : Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy by Hank Searls
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
For those of us with a fascination or interest in the lives of the Kennedys, the story of the eldest child, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (aka Joe Kennedy), is one of unrealized promise. Unlike his brother JFK (who was not quite 2 years his junior), who had suffered from a host of ailments from childhood - yet managed to persevere, Joe was the "Golden Boy." He seemingly breezed through life from prep school to Harvard, to the London School of Economics, and to Harvard Law School.
Like all the Kennedy children, Joe was a keen competitor and risk taker. He also took a special interest in his younger siblings that, as this book illustrates, was heartfelt and unselfish. I think that of all the Kennedy children, he was most like the Old Man. Joe was the standard bearer of that generation of Kennedys. Indeed he would assert to anyone who knew him that his great ambition was to be the first Roman Catholic to be elected President of the United States.
Joe was entering his third year at law school when he willingly opened himself to the draft and enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an aviation cadet in May 1941. A year of arduous flight training followed which led to Joe earning his golden wings and commission. What erked Joe, however, was that his brother JFK (who managed to get into the Navy with the Old Man's help) earned his commission as a Lieutenant (jg) before him. (Joe was an ensign, which ranks below Lieutenant.) Next to JFK having had his Harvard senior thesis published and become a best seller in 1940, this was the first time Joe had been eclipsed by his younger brother. Furthermore, JFK (through pulling more strings) managed to get transferred from a desk job in Washington into a program in which he learned to operate patrol torpedo boats. This was hazardous duty. Subsequently, JFK was posted to combat duty in the South Pacific early in 1943 - several months before Joe (who was impatient to see action) was posted from Puerto Rico (where he flew flying boats with a patrol squadron tasked with seeking out and destroying German U-boats; the squadron was also stationed for a time in Norfolk VA) managed a transfer to VB-110. This unit flew the naval version of the U.S. Army Air Force's B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, flying long range missions out of England into the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay hunting for U-boats.
Unlike Joe's previous posting, there were many more hazards with which to contend. Examples: the vagaries of the English weather, flak, and enemy fighters (both long-range and short-range operating out of Occupied France).
Joe flew 2 combat tours (in excess of 50 missions, each of which lasted on average 12 hours). He was "tour expired" shortly after D-Day and could've returned to the States. But he was dissatisfied with his war experience, having failed to earn any medal or commendation. That was in contrast to JFK, whose ship had been cut in two by a Japanese destroyer on a night patrol deep in enemy waters in August 1943. Though seriously wounded, JFK managed to bring together the survivors of his crew and swim to a nearby island, where they sheltered for several days. All the while, JFK swam into shark-infested waters, seeking help. Eventually, JFK and his crew were found by Allied coastwatchers and friendly natives in the area, and spirited away to Allied territory. JFK was later decorated and his story was published worldwide.
Joe would volunteer for an extremely hazardous secret mission which would lead to his death on August 12, 1944. He was 29 years old.
This is a rather remarkable book, originally published in 1969. Hank Searls (who had himself been a naval pilot during WWII) was able to interview many people who knew Joe Kennedy Jr., including his mother Rose and brothers Bobby and Ted. He also consulted a wealth of resources from different phases of Joe's life.
Like all the Kennedy children, Joe was a keen competitor and risk taker. He also took a special interest in his younger siblings that, as this book illustrates, was heartfelt and unselfish. I think that of all the Kennedy children, he was most like the Old Man. Joe was the standard bearer of that generation of Kennedys. Indeed he would assert to anyone who knew him that his great ambition was to be the first Roman Catholic to be elected President of the United States.
Joe was entering his third year at law school when he willingly opened himself to the draft and enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an aviation cadet in May 1941. A year of arduous flight training followed which led to Joe earning his golden wings and commission. What erked Joe, however, was that his brother JFK (who managed to get into the Navy with the Old Man's help) earned his commission as a Lieutenant (jg) before him. (Joe was an ensign, which ranks below Lieutenant.) Next to JFK having had his Harvard senior thesis published and become a best seller in 1940, this was the first time Joe had been eclipsed by his younger brother. Furthermore, JFK (through pulling more strings) managed to get transferred from a desk job in Washington into a program in which he learned to operate patrol torpedo boats. This was hazardous duty. Subsequently, JFK was posted to combat duty in the South Pacific early in 1943 - several months before Joe (who was impatient to see action) was posted from Puerto Rico (where he flew flying boats with a patrol squadron tasked with seeking out and destroying German U-boats; the squadron was also stationed for a time in Norfolk VA) managed a transfer to VB-110. This unit flew the naval version of the U.S. Army Air Force's B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, flying long range missions out of England into the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay hunting for U-boats.
Unlike Joe's previous posting, there were many more hazards with which to contend. Examples: the vagaries of the English weather, flak, and enemy fighters (both long-range and short-range operating out of Occupied France).
Joe flew 2 combat tours (in excess of 50 missions, each of which lasted on average 12 hours). He was "tour expired" shortly after D-Day and could've returned to the States. But he was dissatisfied with his war experience, having failed to earn any medal or commendation. That was in contrast to JFK, whose ship had been cut in two by a Japanese destroyer on a night patrol deep in enemy waters in August 1943. Though seriously wounded, JFK managed to bring together the survivors of his crew and swim to a nearby island, where they sheltered for several days. All the while, JFK swam into shark-infested waters, seeking help. Eventually, JFK and his crew were found by Allied coastwatchers and friendly natives in the area, and spirited away to Allied territory. JFK was later decorated and his story was published worldwide.
Joe would volunteer for an extremely hazardous secret mission which would lead to his death on August 12, 1944. He was 29 years old.
This is a rather remarkable book, originally published in 1969. Hank Searls (who had himself been a naval pilot during WWII) was able to interview many people who knew Joe Kennedy Jr., including his mother Rose and brothers Bobby and Ted. He also consulted a wealth of resources from different phases of Joe's life.
What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life by Billy Dee Williams
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
WHAT HAVE WE HERE? : Portraits of a Life is Billy Dee Williams' memoir. Actor, artist, bon vivant, ladies man, seeker, humanitarian. Taken together, these words encapsulate the essence of a unique and extraordinary man whose work as an actor spanned and, in many ways, defined the second half of the 20th century.
Prior to reading this book, I had to some extent been aware of Billy Dee Williams' work as an actor from the 1970s, having watched him in movies such as "Lady Sings the Blues", "Mahogany", "Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings", "The Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi." I also remember seeing him during the 1980s in a series of seductive TV beer commercials and in the popular night-time soap "Dynasty" opposite Diahann Carroll (whom I learned in the memoir had attended the same high school as Billy Dee in New York). He struck me as a cool, urbane dude. But at the same time, I never evinced any interest or curiosity about his personal life. All I knew about the latter is that he had married a Japanese-American woman and had children.
In WHAT HAVE WE HERE?, Billy Dee Williams speaks with considerable candor about his life, his family (both his parents were strivers, hard working, and loving and supportive of Billy Dee and his twin sister whom the family affectionately referred to as 'Lady'; Williams also speaks with affection and respect for his maternal grandmother, a British subject who hailed originally from the Caribbean island of Monserrat and had immigrated with her husband to the U.S. in the early 20th century; following the death of her husband, she lived with Williams and his family and wielded a considerable influence in his early life, along with his mother whom he dearly loved and cherished), and the people -- many of them some of the most famous and notable people in the movies and music -- with whom he worked and had relationships, professional and/or personal.
It surprises me how some reviewers decry the use of "name dropping" by the memoirist in tracing the arc of his/her life. That makes no sense to me. After all, don't most of us read memoirs of famous or noteworthy people because we want to know something, not only about the memoirist, but also the correspondingly famous or notable people who figured significantly in the life of the memoirist? Well, I love the "name dropping", especially when it's spiced with stories by the memoirist that give me, the reader, a glimpse or insight into what that person was really like on a uniquely human level.
I'm glad I read this book because I learned A LOT MORE about Billy Dee Williams, who, it became clear to me, has an artistic soul and humanist approach to life. The memoir has plenty of photos from various times in Billy Dee Williams' life in addition to photos of his paintings, which display his talents in that medium as well.
WHAT HAVE WE HERE? is one of the best, most interesting memoirs I've read in a long time. It has deepened both my respect and admiration for Billy Dee Williams, who, despite the obstacles and challenges he faced in his life and career, refused to sell himself short. Soon to be 87, he's still going strong.
Prior to reading this book, I had to some extent been aware of Billy Dee Williams' work as an actor from the 1970s, having watched him in movies such as "Lady Sings the Blues", "Mahogany", "Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings", "The Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi." I also remember seeing him during the 1980s in a series of seductive TV beer commercials and in the popular night-time soap "Dynasty" opposite Diahann Carroll (whom I learned in the memoir had attended the same high school as Billy Dee in New York). He struck me as a cool, urbane dude. But at the same time, I never evinced any interest or curiosity about his personal life. All I knew about the latter is that he had married a Japanese-American woman and had children.
In WHAT HAVE WE HERE?, Billy Dee Williams speaks with considerable candor about his life, his family (both his parents were strivers, hard working, and loving and supportive of Billy Dee and his twin sister whom the family affectionately referred to as 'Lady'; Williams also speaks with affection and respect for his maternal grandmother, a British subject who hailed originally from the Caribbean island of Monserrat and had immigrated with her husband to the U.S. in the early 20th century; following the death of her husband, she lived with Williams and his family and wielded a considerable influence in his early life, along with his mother whom he dearly loved and cherished), and the people -- many of them some of the most famous and notable people in the movies and music -- with whom he worked and had relationships, professional and/or personal.
It surprises me how some reviewers decry the use of "name dropping" by the memoirist in tracing the arc of his/her life. That makes no sense to me. After all, don't most of us read memoirs of famous or noteworthy people because we want to know something, not only about the memoirist, but also the correspondingly famous or notable people who figured significantly in the life of the memoirist? Well, I love the "name dropping", especially when it's spiced with stories by the memoirist that give me, the reader, a glimpse or insight into what that person was really like on a uniquely human level.
I'm glad I read this book because I learned A LOT MORE about Billy Dee Williams, who, it became clear to me, has an artistic soul and humanist approach to life. The memoir has plenty of photos from various times in Billy Dee Williams' life in addition to photos of his paintings, which display his talents in that medium as well.
WHAT HAVE WE HERE? is one of the best, most interesting memoirs I've read in a long time. It has deepened both my respect and admiration for Billy Dee Williams, who, despite the obstacles and challenges he faced in his life and career, refused to sell himself short. Soon to be 87, he's still going strong.
The Trouble with You by Ellen Feldman
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
The Trouble with You is the BEST novel it has been my pleasure to read thus far in 2024. Indeed, it may be the most satisfying, compelling novel that I have read for many a moon.
The story begins in a cozy family home in Suburban New Jersey on Christmas Day 1947. Max Fabricant, the husband, is a recently returned war veteran from Europe, where he had served as an Army doctor in the field, working at saving lives whilst Death hovered ever near. Like other returned veterans, he was in the process of putting the war behind and getting his life back on track, intent on developing a flourishing medical career in Manhattan. Fanny, his wife, is a college graduate (rare among many women of her socioeconomic status in the U.S. at that time), feeling blessed to have Max in her life, for their relationship is very much a complimentary and mutually supportive bulwark in a world redefining itself in ways shaped by a dawning Cold War. A war in which people would be forced to choose sides, because to be neutral or on the "wrong side" would be seen by society and the powers-that-be in the U.S. as tantamount to treason.
Max and Fanny have a daughter, Chloe, who is almost 6. She is to be a flower girl in a wedding the family will be attending at the Hotel Pierre in New York. It is a very joyous occasion marred only by the onset of a wholly unexpected winter storm that leaves New York and the surrounding areas with a deluge of heavy snow. Luckily, Max, Fanny, and Chloe managed to make the trek home. Soon thereafter Chloe is put to bed, and Max is helping his wife to undress -- the two of them engaged in a playful badinage -- when after walking over to the closet, she says: " 'Honey, can you --- ' She stopped. What were the clothes --- his suit, several of her dresses and skirts and blouses --- doing on the floor? Later she'd realize he must have pulled them down when he'd grabbed the pole to keep from falling. But he had fallen. He was lying on his side, his body twisted, has face as white as the pleated shirt she'd danced against all evening, his eyes terrifyingly blank.
"She didn't remember calling the ambulance, but she must have, because it came, though it took forever to get through the snow. All she remember was sitting beside him, holding his hand in both of hers, begging him not to leave her."
Fanny's life is jolted, given a hard shove, leaving her with Chloe to raise alone and at a loss as to how to put herself on an even keel. She manages for a time to live on the payout from Max's life insurance plan. A widow's life was one to be pitied. Fanny's family and relatives (in particular, her Aunt Rose, who, as the novel progresses, is revealed to be a rather forward-thinking woman who has always moved to the beat of a different drummer, with a passion for progressive politics and social justice, having worked as a seamstress to help pay her brothers' university tuition; this latter skill would stand Rose in good stead, for she gained a reputation for quality work which netted her lots of upper class clients) offer what help they can.
Fanny eventually finds a job in Manhattan as a secretary for a business that produces radio serials (i.e. radio soap operas). When one of the writers on one of the shows the business produces and broadcasts is blacklisted and let go, because of his left wing leanings, Fanny’s life becomes more problematical. This writer is Charlie Berlin, who comes to later figure prominently in the lives of both Fanny and Chloe. The Red Scare is on and where Fanny works, actors and writers are fearful of being branded as “subversives” or "un-American" and having their careers destroyed.
The author does a superb job of revealing the dynamic fluidity of both Fanny and Chloe's lives as they are played out over the following decade. During this time, Fanny makes the acquaintance of Dr. Ezra Rapaport, a pediatrician who had been a classmate of Max's at medical school. Fanny had gone to see him because of some unexplained stomach complaints Chloe had been having with mounting regularity after returning from summer camp, where she had been with her cousin Belle (whose mother Mimi - Fanny's straitlaced cousin - was a wartime widow who would soon remarry a man who loved her and assured her of the social and financial security women then were expected to have from a husband). The source of the stomach complaints was from Chloe's yearning for a father in her life. Like Fanny, she missed Max and sensed the emotional emptiness that her mother with which Fanny often grappled.
A loving relationship slowly develops between Dr. Rapaport and Fanny, while at the same time Fanny surreptitiously enters into a literary collaboration with Charlie through which she acts as a front, passing off scripts Charlie had written for radio serials as her own, which supplements her income considerably.
There are also a lot of interesting and, for me, unexpected situations that develop among the major characters of the novel. But I won't give any of that away. The writing in this novel runs smooth and hardly a word is wasted. The characters ring true. As a reader, they are real and tangible to me. I almost feel how fearful people in those times must have felt of being seen as out of step with what was considered “normal behavior” in the country.
Usually in a novel, there are winners and losers. But as far as I can tell in The Trouble with You, everyone comes out ahead or in a satisfactory, stable situation in their lives. I now am determined to search out Ellen Feldman's other novels.
By all means, read The Trouble with You. It's a delightful, highly readable gem of a novel.
The story begins in a cozy family home in Suburban New Jersey on Christmas Day 1947. Max Fabricant, the husband, is a recently returned war veteran from Europe, where he had served as an Army doctor in the field, working at saving lives whilst Death hovered ever near. Like other returned veterans, he was in the process of putting the war behind and getting his life back on track, intent on developing a flourishing medical career in Manhattan. Fanny, his wife, is a college graduate (rare among many women of her socioeconomic status in the U.S. at that time), feeling blessed to have Max in her life, for their relationship is very much a complimentary and mutually supportive bulwark in a world redefining itself in ways shaped by a dawning Cold War. A war in which people would be forced to choose sides, because to be neutral or on the "wrong side" would be seen by society and the powers-that-be in the U.S. as tantamount to treason.
Max and Fanny have a daughter, Chloe, who is almost 6. She is to be a flower girl in a wedding the family will be attending at the Hotel Pierre in New York. It is a very joyous occasion marred only by the onset of a wholly unexpected winter storm that leaves New York and the surrounding areas with a deluge of heavy snow. Luckily, Max, Fanny, and Chloe managed to make the trek home. Soon thereafter Chloe is put to bed, and Max is helping his wife to undress -- the two of them engaged in a playful badinage -- when after walking over to the closet, she says: " 'Honey, can you --- ' She stopped. What were the clothes --- his suit, several of her dresses and skirts and blouses --- doing on the floor? Later she'd realize he must have pulled them down when he'd grabbed the pole to keep from falling. But he had fallen. He was lying on his side, his body twisted, has face as white as the pleated shirt she'd danced against all evening, his eyes terrifyingly blank.
"She didn't remember calling the ambulance, but she must have, because it came, though it took forever to get through the snow. All she remember was sitting beside him, holding his hand in both of hers, begging him not to leave her."
Fanny's life is jolted, given a hard shove, leaving her with Chloe to raise alone and at a loss as to how to put herself on an even keel. She manages for a time to live on the payout from Max's life insurance plan. A widow's life was one to be pitied. Fanny's family and relatives (in particular, her Aunt Rose, who, as the novel progresses, is revealed to be a rather forward-thinking woman who has always moved to the beat of a different drummer, with a passion for progressive politics and social justice, having worked as a seamstress to help pay her brothers' university tuition; this latter skill would stand Rose in good stead, for she gained a reputation for quality work which netted her lots of upper class clients) offer what help they can.
Fanny eventually finds a job in Manhattan as a secretary for a business that produces radio serials (i.e. radio soap operas). When one of the writers on one of the shows the business produces and broadcasts is blacklisted and let go, because of his left wing leanings, Fanny’s life becomes more problematical. This writer is Charlie Berlin, who comes to later figure prominently in the lives of both Fanny and Chloe. The Red Scare is on and where Fanny works, actors and writers are fearful of being branded as “subversives” or "un-American" and having their careers destroyed.
The author does a superb job of revealing the dynamic fluidity of both Fanny and Chloe's lives as they are played out over the following decade. During this time, Fanny makes the acquaintance of Dr. Ezra Rapaport, a pediatrician who had been a classmate of Max's at medical school. Fanny had gone to see him because of some unexplained stomach complaints Chloe had been having with mounting regularity after returning from summer camp, where she had been with her cousin Belle (whose mother Mimi - Fanny's straitlaced cousin - was a wartime widow who would soon remarry a man who loved her and assured her of the social and financial security women then were expected to have from a husband). The source of the stomach complaints was from Chloe's yearning for a father in her life. Like Fanny, she missed Max and sensed the emotional emptiness that her mother with which Fanny often grappled.
A loving relationship slowly develops between Dr. Rapaport and Fanny, while at the same time Fanny surreptitiously enters into a literary collaboration with Charlie through which she acts as a front, passing off scripts Charlie had written for radio serials as her own, which supplements her income considerably.
There are also a lot of interesting and, for me, unexpected situations that develop among the major characters of the novel. But I won't give any of that away. The writing in this novel runs smooth and hardly a word is wasted. The characters ring true. As a reader, they are real and tangible to me. I almost feel how fearful people in those times must have felt of being seen as out of step with what was considered “normal behavior” in the country.
Usually in a novel, there are winners and losers. But as far as I can tell in The Trouble with You, everyone comes out ahead or in a satisfactory, stable situation in their lives. I now am determined to search out Ellen Feldman's other novels.
By all means, read The Trouble with You. It's a delightful, highly readable gem of a novel.
A Republic of Scoundrels: The Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers Who Created a New American Nation by Timothy Hemmis, David Head
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
A REPUBLIC OF SCOUNDRELS: The Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers Who Created a New American Nation refutes the triumphalist version we're often taught in school of the young United States as it emerged as a republic in 1789 following the ratification of the Constitution and the election of George Washington as the first U.S. President [under the Constitution]. And that is as a nation blessed with an amazing array of selfless, exceptionally brilliant and insightful men who governed the country and led it wisely through its growing pains. Certainly, in Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, we had wise leaders who played key, vital roles in the development of the country from the revolutionary period through the 1820s. And yet, there were also corrupt, mendacious, duplicitous, crafty, and wholly self-serving men in the young United States who were determined to get as much for themselves in terms of status, wealth, land, power, and influence as they could accrue for themselves, their friends, and families.
One prime example of such a man was James Wilkinson, who, while commander of the U.S. Army in the 1790s, was also in the employ of Spain as a spy for close to 20 years! What is amazing to me is that this fact about Wilkinson was quietly whispered about by some people in the federal government. But as far as I could determine, there was never any substantial proof furnished that could establish Wilkinson's guilt. He was recognized and promoted within the government for being the clever organizer and ingratiator that he was.
The other scoundrels cited in the book are:
William Blount (first territorial governor of Tennessee Territory and later governor of the State of Tennessee; he was also a notorious land swindler);
Matthew Lyon (a British immigrant who became a fervent Jeffersonian Republican in Congress who was unafraid to speak truth to power as he saw it - for violating the Alien & Sedition Act of 1798, he was put in jail; notwithstanding that, Lyon was re-elected to Congress);
Jason Fairbanks;
Philip Nolan;
Thomas Green;
the Kemper Brothers;
William Augustus Bowles (a Tory from MD who fought on the British side during the American Revolution and later became a self-styled Native American leader set on leading a confederation of Native American tribes in what is now parts of Louisiana, Georgia, and Northern Florida during the 1780s and 1790s);
Aaron Burr (Revolutionary War hero, Tammany Hall lawyer, rival of Alexander Hamilton, and Vice President under Thomas Jefferson);
Benedict Arnold (who, I confess, from the essay written about him in this book, led me to think that he was driven to betray the revolutionary cause and go over to the British side because he was often maligned by his fellow officers who envied him because he had considerable battlefield skills - indeed Arnold's role in the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 was key to the revolutionaries' crushing defeat of the British in that battle which convinced France to side with the United States -- militarily and economically -- to help it achieve its independence);
General Charles Lee (another British expatriate and former army officer who commanded troops under Washington - but had a knack for saying the inappropriate, impolitic things out loud, and having the hubris to think that he could be a better commander than Washington); and to me, one of the most fascinating figures profiled in this book ---
Diego de Gardoqui, a Spaniard who was an astute businessman as well as fluent English speaker, who materially aided the Americans during the Revolution on a massive scale that amazed me. (Later, as a representative of Spain in the U.S., he would intrigue against the U.S. government in support of his country's interests in what was the western frontier of the U.S. during the 1780s.)
On the whole, A Republic of Scoundrels is an interesting book to read, especially for anyone who wants a better understanding as to whom and what helped shape the United States during the first quarter century of its existence.
One prime example of such a man was James Wilkinson, who, while commander of the U.S. Army in the 1790s, was also in the employ of Spain as a spy for close to 20 years! What is amazing to me is that this fact about Wilkinson was quietly whispered about by some people in the federal government. But as far as I could determine, there was never any substantial proof furnished that could establish Wilkinson's guilt. He was recognized and promoted within the government for being the clever organizer and ingratiator that he was.
The other scoundrels cited in the book are:
William Blount (first territorial governor of Tennessee Territory and later governor of the State of Tennessee; he was also a notorious land swindler);
Matthew Lyon (a British immigrant who became a fervent Jeffersonian Republican in Congress who was unafraid to speak truth to power as he saw it - for violating the Alien & Sedition Act of 1798, he was put in jail; notwithstanding that, Lyon was re-elected to Congress);
Jason Fairbanks;
Philip Nolan;
Thomas Green;
the Kemper Brothers;
William Augustus Bowles (a Tory from MD who fought on the British side during the American Revolution and later became a self-styled Native American leader set on leading a confederation of Native American tribes in what is now parts of Louisiana, Georgia, and Northern Florida during the 1780s and 1790s);
Aaron Burr (Revolutionary War hero, Tammany Hall lawyer, rival of Alexander Hamilton, and Vice President under Thomas Jefferson);
Benedict Arnold (who, I confess, from the essay written about him in this book, led me to think that he was driven to betray the revolutionary cause and go over to the British side because he was often maligned by his fellow officers who envied him because he had considerable battlefield skills - indeed Arnold's role in the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 was key to the revolutionaries' crushing defeat of the British in that battle which convinced France to side with the United States -- militarily and economically -- to help it achieve its independence);
General Charles Lee (another British expatriate and former army officer who commanded troops under Washington - but had a knack for saying the inappropriate, impolitic things out loud, and having the hubris to think that he could be a better commander than Washington); and to me, one of the most fascinating figures profiled in this book ---
Diego de Gardoqui, a Spaniard who was an astute businessman as well as fluent English speaker, who materially aided the Americans during the Revolution on a massive scale that amazed me. (Later, as a representative of Spain in the U.S., he would intrigue against the U.S. government in support of his country's interests in what was the western frontier of the U.S. during the 1780s.)
On the whole, A Republic of Scoundrels is an interesting book to read, especially for anyone who wants a better understanding as to whom and what helped shape the United States during the first quarter century of its existence.