After reading Zachary Taylor's campaign biography I decided to tackle something on Winfield Scott next. Old Fuss and Feathers by Arthur D. Howden Smith was published in 1937 and runs for 376 interesting pages.
The book is well written and moves along well as it covers Scott's life from birth to death. The author presents a very realistic picture of his subject. General Scott's strengths and flaws are mentioned and explained. While his shortcomings are not minimized he still comes across as a great man who almost lives up to his own ambitions and expectations.
Being familiar with Scott's connection with the Civil War and somewhat with his deeds in Mexico I was particularly interested in his early service. I was unaware that he was a lawyer prior to entering the military. His service on the Canadian border during the war of 1812 was well detailed in the book and was the springboard for his later career.
I found Mr. Smith's assessment of Scott as a good regular army general who distrusted volunteers to be interesting. In part this accounted for his clashes with Andrew Jackson and Zachary Taylor. The clashes also sprang from each man's ambitions and from political differences with Jackson.
Old Fuss and Feathers was an easy and informative read. The one drawback was the lack of documentation and footnotes. Still, Arthur D. Howden Smith deserves and thumb and half up on this interesting book.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Book review - Life of General Taylor.
Just finished another book from my Grandfather's library. Life of General Taylor by J. Reese Fry is a 325 page biography of General Zachary Taylor. Having given only brief attention to The War with Mexico and General Taylor's part therein, I was interested in reading this book. Another thing that served to whet my interest was the fact that it was published in October of 1847. Since General Taylor would win the presidential election of 1848 I wonder if this could be considered a campaign biography.
The book was of course positive to General Taylor but it did not come across as fawning. The General's early years are quickly summed up and the book really starts to pick up steam at the beginning of his military career. Incidents are recounted from the Blackhawk war and the Second Seminole conflict in Florida. These take up some space in the book and are interesting foundations laid leading up to General Taylor's rise to national prominence.
The emphasis of the book by far is The War with Mexico. General Taylor was the commanding general of U.S. troops along the border prior to the war and his actions there are carefully laid out. His movements once the war broke out are also detailed. The book covers the siege of Fort Brown, and the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de La Palma, Monterrey, and Buena Vista. The narrative ends shortly after Buena Vista with General Taylor in his camp preparing for the next action.
The book is of particular interest for several reasons. It shows the American view of the war and General Taylor at the time. I found this to be interesting. It also includes reprints of much of General Taylor's reports and correspondence with the War Department. These are valuable primary sources that help explain some of what went on and why. The final reason I found the book interesting was what was not in it. Only very sparing mentions were made of President Polk and General Scott. This seems to confirm the possibility that this book was originally published with the intent to further General Taylor's presidential possibilities.
All in all Life of General Taylor was well-written and an interesting read. It needs to be read for what it is, the biography of a presidential candidate prior to election. Still, I heartily recommend this book to anyone who can find it.
The book was of course positive to General Taylor but it did not come across as fawning. The General's early years are quickly summed up and the book really starts to pick up steam at the beginning of his military career. Incidents are recounted from the Blackhawk war and the Second Seminole conflict in Florida. These take up some space in the book and are interesting foundations laid leading up to General Taylor's rise to national prominence.
The emphasis of the book by far is The War with Mexico. General Taylor was the commanding general of U.S. troops along the border prior to the war and his actions there are carefully laid out. His movements once the war broke out are also detailed. The book covers the siege of Fort Brown, and the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de La Palma, Monterrey, and Buena Vista. The narrative ends shortly after Buena Vista with General Taylor in his camp preparing for the next action.
The book is of particular interest for several reasons. It shows the American view of the war and General Taylor at the time. I found this to be interesting. It also includes reprints of much of General Taylor's reports and correspondence with the War Department. These are valuable primary sources that help explain some of what went on and why. The final reason I found the book interesting was what was not in it. Only very sparing mentions were made of President Polk and General Scott. This seems to confirm the possibility that this book was originally published with the intent to further General Taylor's presidential possibilities.
All in all Life of General Taylor was well-written and an interesting read. It needs to be read for what it is, the biography of a presidential candidate prior to election. Still, I heartily recommend this book to anyone who can find it.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Book review - catching up.
Have recently read several small books. Because they are each so short I have decided to combine the reviews here.
The first book was George Sullivan's Baseball's Boneheads, Bad Boys, & Just Plain Crazy Guys. This 62 page book is aimed at the younger set and is illustrated. It is still an interesting read. Mr. Sullivan starts off with a disclaimer that most of the stunts discussed in the book should not be attempted. Sound advice. In the course of the book we see one player jump from a hotel window and another lock himself in a drink cooler. There are also the stories of players doctoring the ball and making wacky or absent-minded plays. Overall a neat little book of fun baseball stories.
Second up is another baseball book. Like Father, Like Son is Sarah Gardiner White's 151 page contribution on Major League Baseball families. She covers mostly famous families like the Alous and Ripkens. The DiMaggio brothers come in for a mention as do the Bretts, Alomars, Griffeys, and several others. The book is written to junior high kids and is a little dated. Not too bad a read all the same.
The last book is The County Sheriff America's Last Hope by Sheriff Richard Mack. Sheriff Mack was one of the sheriffs who successfully challenged parts of the Brady Bill. His subsequent fame lead to him writing several books and this 49 page book/booklet is one of them. The book is fairly well written and flows well. Sheriff Mack contends that the county sheriff is the last hope of a free America and that only if the sheriffs begin to stand up to unconstitutional laws will the country survive. He does an excellent job of rallying the troops to the call. His reasoning behind the call is a little less well done. Aside from the fact that sheriffs are elected by the people Sheriff Mack never explains quite what gives them this power to take on the Federal Government. He also neglects to mention what a sheriff should do when the Federal Government decides not to play along with his defiance. Beside these two weaknesses I found the book to be an interesting read. Sheriff Mack is definitely not shy about what he believes.
The first book was George Sullivan's Baseball's Boneheads, Bad Boys, & Just Plain Crazy Guys. This 62 page book is aimed at the younger set and is illustrated. It is still an interesting read. Mr. Sullivan starts off with a disclaimer that most of the stunts discussed in the book should not be attempted. Sound advice. In the course of the book we see one player jump from a hotel window and another lock himself in a drink cooler. There are also the stories of players doctoring the ball and making wacky or absent-minded plays. Overall a neat little book of fun baseball stories.
Second up is another baseball book. Like Father, Like Son is Sarah Gardiner White's 151 page contribution on Major League Baseball families. She covers mostly famous families like the Alous and Ripkens. The DiMaggio brothers come in for a mention as do the Bretts, Alomars, Griffeys, and several others. The book is written to junior high kids and is a little dated. Not too bad a read all the same.
The last book is The County Sheriff America's Last Hope by Sheriff Richard Mack. Sheriff Mack was one of the sheriffs who successfully challenged parts of the Brady Bill. His subsequent fame lead to him writing several books and this 49 page book/booklet is one of them. The book is fairly well written and flows well. Sheriff Mack contends that the county sheriff is the last hope of a free America and that only if the sheriffs begin to stand up to unconstitutional laws will the country survive. He does an excellent job of rallying the troops to the call. His reasoning behind the call is a little less well done. Aside from the fact that sheriffs are elected by the people Sheriff Mack never explains quite what gives them this power to take on the Federal Government. He also neglects to mention what a sheriff should do when the Federal Government decides not to play along with his defiance. Beside these two weaknesses I found the book to be an interesting read. Sheriff Mack is definitely not shy about what he believes.
Coming soon to a country near you?
Interesting article at the Times Online. Seems to me that this is just a natural extension of the encroachment of government on every area of life but specifically in the area of health care. After all, if the government pays for your health insurance shouldn't it be allowed to engage in health assurance?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Book review - The Historical Atlas of the Civil War.
One of the books that I got for Christmas was The Historical Atlas of the Civil War by John Macdonald. The book is a 383 page coffee table volume that claims "Maps and photographs chronicle the fascinating and dramatic story of the Civil War." I was excited to get this book, maps are often small or poorly drawn in smaller books.
I was bound to be disappointed in Mr. Macdonald's work. The book was poorly laid out with each chapter covering a specific battle or series of events and the chapters not all falling in sequential order. The maps were not very detailed and did not show the progression of events well. Those were the high points.
The pictures were not as numerous as might be expected and quite a number were misidentified. Some simply had the wrong names as in the picture of General George Custer on page 198 that is identified as Kit Carson. Others are simply not what they are purported to be. On page 366 a part of the Gettysburg cyclorama painting is labeled as being from 1861 and showing a field hospital of the time. On page 110 a picture is labeled as showing the CS battle flag. There isn't a picture of any CS flag anywhere in the picture. Page 129 shows the damage to the USS Monitor following the battle with the CSS Virginia. The damage is attributed to "the guns of the Union craft." Pictures on page 138 of the US army supply depot on the Virgina peninsula are labeled as showing "the Union Army encamped near the Mississippi River." There are more examples than just these but they suffice to demonstrate the problem.
As bad as the photograph captions are, the text is even a bigger disappointment. Sometimes there are obvious typos, other times outright mistakes. On page 72 the author has the Seven Days ending with the Union forces driving the Confederates back into Richmond. On page 165 we are introduced to CS General "Kirkby" Smith. The name should be Kirby. In case this be mistaken for an isolated error, "Kirkby" is repeated several times on pages 166 and 167 as well. On page 248 General Ulysses S. Grant commits treason by laying "siege to Petersburg, Pennsylvania." There are many more examples but the above sample should give you a good idea.
While the concept for The Historical Atlas of the Civil War is an excellent one the execution falls short of the goal. The layout, picture captions, and text all combine to give this book one thumb down overall.
I was bound to be disappointed in Mr. Macdonald's work. The book was poorly laid out with each chapter covering a specific battle or series of events and the chapters not all falling in sequential order. The maps were not very detailed and did not show the progression of events well. Those were the high points.
The pictures were not as numerous as might be expected and quite a number were misidentified. Some simply had the wrong names as in the picture of General George Custer on page 198 that is identified as Kit Carson. Others are simply not what they are purported to be. On page 366 a part of the Gettysburg cyclorama painting is labeled as being from 1861 and showing a field hospital of the time. On page 110 a picture is labeled as showing the CS battle flag. There isn't a picture of any CS flag anywhere in the picture. Page 129 shows the damage to the USS Monitor following the battle with the CSS Virginia. The damage is attributed to "the guns of the Union craft." Pictures on page 138 of the US army supply depot on the Virgina peninsula are labeled as showing "the Union Army encamped near the Mississippi River." There are more examples than just these but they suffice to demonstrate the problem.
As bad as the photograph captions are, the text is even a bigger disappointment. Sometimes there are obvious typos, other times outright mistakes. On page 72 the author has the Seven Days ending with the Union forces driving the Confederates back into Richmond. On page 165 we are introduced to CS General "Kirkby" Smith. The name should be Kirby. In case this be mistaken for an isolated error, "Kirkby" is repeated several times on pages 166 and 167 as well. On page 248 General Ulysses S. Grant commits treason by laying "siege to Petersburg, Pennsylvania." There are many more examples but the above sample should give you a good idea.
While the concept for The Historical Atlas of the Civil War is an excellent one the execution falls short of the goal. The layout, picture captions, and text all combine to give this book one thumb down overall.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Book review - No Less Than Victory.
For Christmas my in-laws gave me No Less Than Victory, a novel about World War II. This is the latest book in Jeff Shaara's series and follows The Steel Wave, finishing the war in Europe. The book keeps some characters from the previous volume, drops some, and adds new ones. As is expected by now, Mr. Shaara's writing is intense, gripping, and historically accurate.
The book starts off with a bombing raid on Berlin from the perspective of one of the airmen involved. It then moves into a discussion among the Allied high command of the next step to take now that the German army has been pushed out of France and most of Belgium. Of course the Germans have other ideas and they launch the offensive that came to be known as the Battle of The Bulge. The book follows the offensive's course and the downward spiral of Germany's fortunes as the Third Reich stumbles towards its doom.
Mr. Shaara does an excellent job recreating the war from the American side. The British and Germans have smaller but equally well-done voices. The Russians are a force beyond the horizon, a rumor to be pondered and shuddered at. This technique adds to the reality of the American soldier's view. Once again the characters are convincingly drawn in a way that clearly shows their strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and fears.
There is a warning though. As the Allied forces advanced into Germany they uncovered the true consequences of Adolf Hitler's mad dream. The descriptions of German war atrocities are chilling. The description of the liberation of a concentration camp shook me to my core.
You must read this book as well as the rest of the Shaara series. Mr. Shaara has a gift and he uses it. This is not a textbook, it is history coming alive. If you think history is boring you owe it to yourself to read this book and as many others of the series as you can track down. It won't be boring when you're done. No Less Than Victory easily scores an unreserved two thumbs up.
The book starts off with a bombing raid on Berlin from the perspective of one of the airmen involved. It then moves into a discussion among the Allied high command of the next step to take now that the German army has been pushed out of France and most of Belgium. Of course the Germans have other ideas and they launch the offensive that came to be known as the Battle of The Bulge. The book follows the offensive's course and the downward spiral of Germany's fortunes as the Third Reich stumbles towards its doom.
Mr. Shaara does an excellent job recreating the war from the American side. The British and Germans have smaller but equally well-done voices. The Russians are a force beyond the horizon, a rumor to be pondered and shuddered at. This technique adds to the reality of the American soldier's view. Once again the characters are convincingly drawn in a way that clearly shows their strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and fears.
There is a warning though. As the Allied forces advanced into Germany they uncovered the true consequences of Adolf Hitler's mad dream. The descriptions of German war atrocities are chilling. The description of the liberation of a concentration camp shook me to my core.
You must read this book as well as the rest of the Shaara series. Mr. Shaara has a gift and he uses it. This is not a textbook, it is history coming alive. If you think history is boring you owe it to yourself to read this book and as many others of the series as you can track down. It won't be boring when you're done. No Less Than Victory easily scores an unreserved two thumbs up.
Friday, January 08, 2010
Book review - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
Wow! Been awhile since I wrote. Sorry about that. Holiday traveling and all. Have finished two books in the past few weeks. The first is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. This interesting 446 page book is subtitled "An Indian History of the American West." I had long heard of Mr. Brown's work and looked forward to reading it. While it did not totally live up to expectations it was still a very good read. The book was well-written and moved along quite smoothly. The documentation seems to have been as good as the circumstances allowed.
Mr. Brown begins his narrative in 1860 and follows white expansion across the plains of the United States until 1890. The story is told from the perspective of the American Indians rather than the settlers and soldiers. This aspect alone makes the book worth reading. As tribe by tribe fight and fall it is clear to see the divisions and gut wrenching decisions that they underwent. Treaties were broken and atrocities committed by the United States military. Whole peoples were forcibly removed from their homes. Hearing about these events from the view of the people who underwent them is enlightening and somewhat sorrowful.
In spite of all the good points to the book, Mr. Brown did stub his toe several times. He accused the whites of magnifying Indian atrocities while minimizing their own. He then proceeded to do just the same thing in reverse. In like manner he (and the tribesmen of which he wrote) holds the United States accountable for the actions of rouge officers and free-lancers even while complaining that the whites all too often held the Indians accountable for the unsanctioned actions of hot-blooded young braves. Mr. Brown also condemns Philip Sheridan's statement that the only good Indian is a dead Indian. However, I was unable to ever find a good white man in the book.
Overall Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is an interesting and well-written read. If one keeps in mind the obvious double-standard frequently displayed there is much knowledge to be gleaned from the pages. I give the book one and a half thumbs up.
Mr. Brown begins his narrative in 1860 and follows white expansion across the plains of the United States until 1890. The story is told from the perspective of the American Indians rather than the settlers and soldiers. This aspect alone makes the book worth reading. As tribe by tribe fight and fall it is clear to see the divisions and gut wrenching decisions that they underwent. Treaties were broken and atrocities committed by the United States military. Whole peoples were forcibly removed from their homes. Hearing about these events from the view of the people who underwent them is enlightening and somewhat sorrowful.
In spite of all the good points to the book, Mr. Brown did stub his toe several times. He accused the whites of magnifying Indian atrocities while minimizing their own. He then proceeded to do just the same thing in reverse. In like manner he (and the tribesmen of which he wrote) holds the United States accountable for the actions of rouge officers and free-lancers even while complaining that the whites all too often held the Indians accountable for the unsanctioned actions of hot-blooded young braves. Mr. Brown also condemns Philip Sheridan's statement that the only good Indian is a dead Indian. However, I was unable to ever find a good white man in the book.
Overall Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is an interesting and well-written read. If one keeps in mind the obvious double-standard frequently displayed there is much knowledge to be gleaned from the pages. I give the book one and a half thumbs up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)