5 comments about Where Death and Glory Meet: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.

1. Where Death And Glory Meet: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw And The 54th Massachusetts Infantry is the fascinating military biography of Civil War Colonel Robert Shaw who commanded an infantry unit composed of Negro soldiers, the North's first Black combat regiment. Russell Duncan presents a poignant portrait of an average young soldier struggling against his mother's indomitable will and thrust unexpectedly into the national limelight. Drawing upon Shaw's letters home before and during the war, Where Death And Glory Meet tells the story of the rebellious son of wealthy Boston abolitionists who never fully reconciled his own racial prejudices, yet went on to lead his black regiment into fierce and bloody battlefield conflicts where they performed with heroic distinction and scotched forever the notion that black soldiers would not or could not fight successfully against the Confederate forces. Where Death And Glory Meet is a superb contribution to Civil War studies and will prove of deep interest to students of Black history.



2. This book serves as an important source of information regarding the birth of the 54th Massachusetts,black soldiers, politics, Shaw's personal and Civil War life. It is well written and places the reader at the start of northeastern politics and Shaw's upbringing. Shaw leads a pampered life of a wealthy family. He travels the world yet comes back to fight for the Union in the Civil War. His family is influencial in his military promotions and sets his promotion to Colonel with Governer Andrew's backing. Shaw becomes Colonel of the 54th and dares to take a risk at leading the first ever black regiment. His daring tale of being an outcast and a potential political target for his role in getting the 54th ready for battle is courageous and inspiring. The book covers the plights of the 54th in learning drill, military life and battle in chronological fashion. Much is covered in this short yet informative book on Shaw and the 54th. The definate "must read" for anyone looking to get an understanding of how the 54th and Colonel Shaw came together and fought!



3. Although Robert Gould Shaw was only 25 years old when he died, leading the 54th Massachusetts Infantry in a futile assault on Fort Wagner, he has become an object of interest in the past dozen years, especially since the release of the movie "Glory," which gave a somewhat fictionalized account of the 54th. This book by Russell Duncan is a good introduction to the life of Shaw, and gives an extensive bibliography for those who want to engage in further reading and research.

   In this book (which is an expanded version of the introduction to Shaw's collected letters that Duncan edited and published in the book "Blue Eyed Child of Fortune") Duncan gives a view of a life that one can truly say was tragically cut short by war. Robert Gould Shaw spent much of his short life trying to find his way and place in the world, something that many of us can identify with immediately. He had difficulty in accepting authority; he could not decide upon a career; he was the only son of well-known abolitionist parents, yet he had grave reservations about the abilities of black people. A "rebel" by nature, he could be rigid and unbending with others. He was dominated by his mother, only truly breaking away from her by marrying a lovely young woman against his mother's wishes. Married to a woman he apparently adored, he also engaged in a flirtation with a schoolmistress in South Carolina after accepting the command of the 54th. Shaw had found his calling in the military: he was brave, and able to inspire confidence within his men, yet he promised his future wife that he would not persue the military as a career once the war was over.

   This book is a good introducation to the brief life of Robert Gould Shaw. It contains some photographs of the Shaw family and Annie Haggarety, Shaw's wife. It also dispells some of the myths about the 54th that were present in the movie "Glory," chief among them the myth that the 54th was made up primarily of unlettered escaped slaves. From reading Duncan's book it appears many were literate freedmen of long standing. Also, the sergeant-major of the 54th was the son of Frederick Douglass, not the middle aged recruit as played by Morgan Freedman in the movie. I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the life of Robert Gould Shaw, or the history of the 54th, as a jumping off point for further reading.




4. HONOR THE MEMORY OF COLONEL ROBERT GOULD SHAW AND THE FIGHTING MASSACHUSETTS 54TH BLACK REGIMENT IN THE CIVIL WAR
   
   COMMENTARY
   
   FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
   
   Those familiar with the critical role that the recruitment of black troops into the Union Armies in the American Civil War usually know about the famous Massachusetts 54th Regiment under Colonel Robert Gould Shaw which has received wide attention in book, film and sculpture. Those heroic black fighters and their fallen leader deserve those honors. Glory, indeed.
   
   Although Shaw was hesitate to take command of those troops after suffering wounds at Antietam when he accepted he took full charge of the training and discipline of the regiment. Moreover, as the regiment marched into Boston to cheering crowds before embarking on ships to take them South each trooper knew the score. Any blacks captured (or their white officers, for that matter) were subject to Southern `justice', summary execution. Not one trooper flinched. Arms in hands, they fought bravely at the defeat of Fort Wagner and other Deep South battles, taking many causalities.
   
   I have remarked elsewhere (in a review of William Styron's Confessions of Nat Turner)
   that while the slaves in the South, for a host of reasons, did not insurrect with the intensity or frequency of say Haiti, the other West Indian islands or Brazil that when the time came to show discipline, courage and honor under arms that blacks would prove not inferior to whites. And the history of the Massachusetts 54th is prima facie evidence for that position.
   
   I should also note that the Massachusetts 54th was made up primarily of better educated and skilled freedman and escaped slaves unlike the black troops recruited from the plantations in the Deep South in the 1st and 2nd South Carolina black regiments. Thus, one might have suspected that they would not be up to the rigors of Southern duty. Not so. After reading a number of books on the trials and tribulations of various Union regiments, including the famous Irish Brigade, the story of the 54th compares very favorably with those units.
   
   However, so as not to get carried away with the `liberalism' of the Union political and military commands in granting permission for black recruitment it is necessary to point out some of the retrograde racial attitudes of the time. It took a major propaganda thrust by Frederick Douglass and other revolutionary abolitionists to get Lincoln to even consider arming blacks for their own emancipation. Only after several severe military reversals was permission granted to recruit black troops, although some maverick generals were already using them, particularly General Hunter. As mentioned above there were qualms about the ability of blacks to fight in disciplined units. Moreover, until 1864 black troops were paid less than their white counterparts. The Massachusetts 54th is also rightly famous for refusing pay until that disparity was corrected.
   
   One should also not forget that the North in its own way was as deeply racist as the South (think of the treacherous role of the Southern-sympathying Northern Copperheads and the Irish-led anti-black Draft Riots in New York City, for examples). This reflected itself in the racial attitudes of some commanding officers and enlisted men and well as the general paternalism of even the best white commanding officers, including Colonel Higginson of the 2nd South Carolina. It was further reflected in the disproportionately few blacks that became officers in the Civil War, despite the crying need for officers in those black regiments and elsewhere. Yet, all of these negatives notwithstanding, every modern black liberation fighter takes his or her hat off to the gallant 54th, arms in hand, and its important role in the struggle for black liberation



5. Every Civil War buff (and many others, too, thanks to the movie "Glory") knows the story of the 54th Massachusetts, the black regiment commanded by the boy-colonel Robert Gould Shaw which attacked the Confederate Fort Wagner in July 1863.
   
   The story of the 54th is memorable for many reasons. The most obvious one--and the one usually focused on--is that Shaw and the 54th displayed extraordinary courage in the assault on Fort Wagner. Another less emotional reason is that the 54th proved to the nation that men of color could and would fight for the end of slavery. This was the shattering of an important color barrier and an important stage in the evolution of the conflict. By war's end, an incredible 74% of free Northern blacks of military age would enlist (p. 50).
   
   But a deeper, more significant reason why the history of the 54th is important--and one, moreover, that's usually missed--is that it invites reflection about the standards by which our culture, then and now, measures "manhood." W.E.B. Du Bois (quoted on p. 123) put it well: "How extraordinary...in the minds of most people...only murder makes men. The slave pleaded; he was humble; he protected the women of the South, and the world ignored him. The slave killed white men; and behold, he was a man." Prior to proving themselves in battle, both the North and the South looked at men of color as bumbling and cowardly half-wits. Except for the minority Abolitionists, most whites considered blacks subhuman, and there seemed little or nothing blacks could do to break through that conviction. But he moment they proved themselves skilled at killing other human beings, they were accepted (even if reluctantly) as "men."
   
   Duncan's Where Death and Glory Meet is a fascinating chapter in the history of how our culture determines manhood. Although a rather detached supporter of abolition, Shaw was skeptical about the fighting abilities of freedmen, and initially declined the command of the 54th. When he did accept, he was painfully aware that the eyes of the nation were on his regiment, and his training of them was relentless. But the 54th measured up by proving itself in battle.
   
   Moreover, Shaw is also representative of the cultural measure of manhood. In his private letters, he expresses great ambivalence about commanding the 54th and almost panicky fear about assaulting Fort Wagner--a task that he (correctly, as it turned out) thought rather hopeless. Just as th But Shaw, fully aware of what was expected of a "man," overcame both doubts and anxiety in order to perform his duty. Just as the ability to kill men made his black soldiers "men," so Shaw's willingness to die in battle also demonstrated his own "manhood," his final maturation from a boy-colonel to a seasoned warrior.
   
   What fascinating under-currents run through the Civil War. Too bad they're so often bypassed in favor of the surface stories of guns and glory. For more on our cultural conflation of manhood with battlefield courage, Margaret Creighton's magisterial The Colors of Courage is highly recommended.

2 comments about All Things for Good: The Steadfast Fidelity of Stonewall Jackson (Leaders in Action Series).

1. This is an excellent look inside the life of Thomas Johnathan "Stonewall" Jackson.
   
   Reverend Wilkins does an excellent job of researching first-hand accounts of the important events that occurred during Jackson's life and how they refined him into the man that God made him.



2. First let me say that the "Leaders in Action" series is tremendous (check the rest of them out--Robert E. Lee, Winston Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt, William Wilberforce and more). They are biographies which deal not only with facts, but also with the character and faith of historical figures. Every school age child should read these books and take these role models to heart.
   
   The great thing about this book is that it gives a solid summary of Stonewall Jackson's life and history as well as a thorough examination of his faith and values. If you can believe it, I was almost brought to tears by the account of his death. Especially for Civil War buffs--this is a must read.

2 comments about Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War.

1. If you want an excellent look at the cloak and dagger world of spying, during the American Civil War,then this is a great start.If you're a history buff on warfare,then this book will not disappoint you.I enjoy reading about military history and the social actions leading to the declarations of war.Battle areas are interestingly called 'theatres'.And i'm always fascinated by the inter-play of the opposing armies and the power-brokers behind the scenes.If you have a keen sense of European social history,you will be intrigued by this look at the American internecine war of the 19th century.For those who want a complete understanding of current American political diplomatic strategies,domestic and foreign,you have to understand the American Civil War.



2. This is a great all-round reference to the world of Civil War espionage. It has an almost encyclopedia-type approach, giving the names of every known spy, both male and female, and on both sides of the war. It profiles their tactics, equipment, motives, and, for many, their fates, and tells real-life stories of dashing heroics and close escapes.
   
   In short, if you want to read about the spies and espionage of the Civil War, this is your book.

5 comments about Chechnya Diary: A War Correspondent's Story of Surviving the War in Chechnya.

1. Until I read 'Chechnya Diary' I was willing to accept what seemed to be conventional wisdom about the conflict in Chechnya--i.e., just another incidence of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. Mr. Goltz provides another view: i.e., an effort (at least initally) to restore to a displaced people the homeland of which they were deprived by the Stalinst regime. I also found it refreshing to read something by a journalist who is willing to acknowledge that his presence may have an impact on the turn of events. All in all, I think this is a most enlightening book and, like Mr. Goltz's 'Azerbaijan Diary', a terrific adventure story.



2. Chechnya Diary isn't your typical book about war. For one thing, it reads more like an adventure or a novel than straight history. It's also much more philosophical than I would have expected. The book begins with the quote, "The observer affects the observed," and boy is that statement ever borne out as the story unfolds.

   Author Thomas Goltz sneaks into the country to cover the war, and ends up in a small town called Samashki, where he depends on the hospitality of a man named Hussein. Ostensibly there to record the fighting, Goltz soon becomes intimately involved, raising many tough questions about journalistic ethics and the effects of media war coverage.

   The book really picks up steam in the second half, as Goltz returns to Chechnya to discover the damage his participation has caused, and tries to rectify it.

   It's a thought-provoking book that provides background on the Chechnyan war but also goes far beyond that to dwell on how our shallow media culture affects our understanding of world events (and beyond that, how media coverage actually determines the course of those events as they play out). Goltz is a likable narrator who doesn't shy away from implicating himself when it comes to the sticky moral questions. He brings to life real Chechnyans in such vivid fashion that you'll remember them every time you hear about Chechnya in the news.

   I had tears in my eyes as I finished the book. Highly recommended.




3. This book is a sign Goltz has matured since writing "Requiem" and "AZ Diary", and has found his niche. This is to say, maybe he's realized he isn't much for political synthesis or history. He has obviously done a lot of good and original thinking about journalistic ethics in wartime and the "Hawthorne effect"--these are the reasons you want to read this book.
   
   There are a lot of books, historical and journalistic, in several languages, on Chechnya and this is the least exciting and informative of the ten or so of those I've read.
   
   "Allah's Mountains", "Chechnya--Tombstone of Russian Power" and "Chechnya--A Short, Victorious War" are more interesting and written by less self-obsessed authors.



4. I'll state straight away that I count myself a an old and loyal friend of Thomas Goltz, and I'm a journalist too, so my five stars should perhaps seen in that context. But I believe they are well deserved, not least for the personal bravery the author displayed in getting the story. For me, this book's particular value is that for once it strips away the shield that we reporters feel necessary to arm ourselves with to protect ourselves from emotional involvement with the subjects of our reportage. This is the first time I read the account of someone who has faced up to naked realities of this situation. The result is a rare and compelling tale of the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewed, and set against a backdrop that shows how both sides behave and above all feel when trapped in forces outside their control.



5. This is the true story about the struggle the people of Chechnya are going through - a region I know little about. It is written through the eyes of a war correspondent - an occupation I know little about. Goltz brings some understanding to the layman with a direct, no-nonsense writing style that will capture your attention and send your senses reeling through sorrow, joy, dispair, hope and more. A must read for anyone who wants to gain some knowledge of the on-going struggle of Chechnya without wading through a dull textbook.

5 comments about Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Penguin Classics).

1. I used an excerpt from this book included in a women's literary anthology used in my women's literature class. It was one of the many classes' favorite reads. For their final they were allowed to concentrate on one class assignment, write a documented essay, and from it, give an oral presentation with visuals....several successfully replicated, small scale, the yard and house with attic where Jacobs describes as being hidden for years... an incredible true story for everyone of all ages!



2. Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is unique in that it is one of the few firsthand accounts written by a woman. The book is a tribute to an extraordinary woman who spent much of her life fighting against slavery. She also provides details into the reality of this dark period of American history, constantly struggling with how a nation can be Christian and yet allow the practice to continue. It is impossible to read this book and not be impressed with the quality of this historical figure.



3. Concerning this edition (the book is a must read)... Dover's thrift editions are just that--thrifty. The text is close together and the overall readability of the edition is fair. It works, but I'd like to see Oxford or Penguin make a "classic" edition with a scholary introduction, footnoting and contextual information like 19th century reviews, etc... A good edition, needs improvement, but then it wouldn't have a "thrifty" price!



4. It's obvious the difficulty slaves endured. Ironic, but she endures a great deal more than most. How her story ends is not predictable.



5. I had no idea that this book would be as compelling as it was. Really, it was a bit of a pleasant surprise. I bought it because it was required reading for a class, but ended up liking it... Who knew?

1 comments about Civil War Hospital Sketches (Dover Evergreen Classics).

1. This book was short and gave some insight, but was a little disappointing since I had just finished reading Civil War Nurse: The Diary and Letters of Hannah Ropes. Both Louisa May Alcott and Hannah Ropes were assigned to the same hospital. Hannah Ropes' book is more in depth with the day-to-day details and her feelings than Hospital Sketches. Louisa May Alcott's book makes you think it was written specifically for a certain reading audience in mind and was found lacking in some respects.
   (signed LAS)

3 comments about Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle to End Slavery.

1. I met the author through a friend, and was intrigued at the wonderful conversations I had with Striner. As we discussed "Father Abraham," which at that point had not yet been released, I was very anxious to get ahold of it. Having finally acquired the book, I am nothing but impressed at the detailed information that backs every assertion made, and the very much conversational style writing that Striner uses. The book is an easy read and really gets the gears turning in your mind.



2. It has become fashionable in recent decades for historians and commentators from the extremes of the ideological spectrum to depict Lincoln as a cautious racial conservative, even a racist, only brought in the end to reluctantly embrace the destruction of slavery as a measure to win the Civil War. In such a view, Lincoln is far from the traditional "Great Emancipator"; instead he is limited to following in the wake of those persons more forward-looking, more morally courageous than Lincoln himself. Richard Striner's book persuasively demolishes such a picture and, on the contrary, portrays Lincoln as a dedicated enemy of slavery (and a friend to racial equality, at least in 19th century terms) who labored consistently and at great length to at last crush the hated institution. Striner does this with a careful survey of Lincoln's career from his earliest political days until his death. And Striner boldly takes on each of the quotes from Lincoln speeches and writings that are usually used to "reveal" Llncoln as a racial conservative who adopted emancipation much against his real will, showing those quotes in their broader contexts, describing not only what else was going on at the time and what else Lincoln was simultaneously doing, but also examining those quotes in context of what else was said in that particular speech or document. Lincoln was a politician of great skill, willing to publically advocate a course seemingly adverse to his real goals but, in the long run, laying down a pathway towards accomplishing those goals. And, perhaps more than any other American president, Lincoln was a master of language, sometimes crafting a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph that superficially says one thing while meaning, upon close examination, something else.
   
   Stiner also provides a valuable look at the very real fears that Lincoln and his associates had in the years leading up to the Civil War that slavery was on a road towards expansion, not extinction. Moreover, Striner shows that the South's leading spokespeople on the subject of tariffs (sometimes cited as the "real" underlying cause of Southern secession, instead of the uncomfortable issue of slavery) privately admitted that their real concern was slavery, with tariffs providing a convenient stalking horse at a particular moment. The shadow of slavery lay darkly over antebellum America, and Striner's book retores the portrait of Lincoln as a dedicated leader in bringing the country forward to the end of the "peculiar institution".



3. I picked this up in a general English language bookstore here in Bangkok, without any expectations, encouraged only by the fact that James McPherson strongly recommends it on the back cover. It's a beautifully researched, well-written, engaging, and convincing overview of Lincoln's attitudes to slavery and emancipation.
   
   The author has a strong thesis and a clear point of view, but whatever your views on Lincoln are at the start, you won't feel bullied (always my experience when I read anti-Lincoln books). The author demolishes all the old arguments for the view that Lincoln had no interest in ending slavery.
   
   The opening chapters were the best and clearest single summary of the build-up to the civil war that I have yet read.
   
   Let me mention two things that I did not understand before I read this book, that I now understand fully, and that most people still have serious misconceptions about.
   
   First, it is often claimed that the civil war was at least partly, and perhaps mostly, caused by an argument over 'tariffs' and only partly by the debate over slavery. Striner points out that John Calhoun, the most famous opponent of the tariffs, was at first very much in favor of them. He later reversed his position. Why? Because it dawned on him that federally funded projects might not just lead to things like roads and railroads (which he was in favor of), but also to publicly funded emancipation of slaves (which he was against). People like Calhoun also felt (and stated at the time) that the tariff issue was just a test case for blocking the power of central government in general, and that their only goal in blocking that power was to prevent any future constitutional interference with slavery.
   
   Second, I used to think that Lincoln 'only wanted to save the union' and saw emancipation as a means to that end. I now see that that was a very simplistic view. The threat to the union only arose in the first place because of the argument over slavery. Lincoln was against its expansion into new territories, because he (rightly) felt that its expansion meant its perpetuation, while its containment in the slave states held out the possibility of its extinction. Through his entire political career after the repeal of the Missouri compromise, he was driven by that desire to bring about the eventual extinction of slavery.
   
   Once his election had caused secession (because of his anti-slavery stance) he then insisted on saving the union, but not if that meant compromising his goal of extinguishing slavery, his original purpose in entering politics in the first place. His goal was to preserve a union still dedicated to what he considered its original principles of human equality and freedom. This account of his thinking seems to me to make far more overall sense.
   
   If you are cynical about Lincoln, or about politics in general, read this book and feel free to take a more positive view.

5 comments about Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power.

1. This is a brilliant book! It is extremely well researched, well written and tremendously interesting.
   
   Author Richard Carwardine provides unparalleled insights into the life of Abraham Lincoln, his pursuit of political power, and his use of that power once installed in the White House.
   
   Lincoln made many mistakes as a politician, President of the United States, and Commander and Chief of the Union armies. But he learned from those mistakes and emerged as a powerful leader, who dominated every aspect of Union strategy - political, economic and military.
   
   More importantly, during the Civil War he alone stood rock solid in the belief that there could be no compromise with the Confederacy that would undermine the union of the United States. Later he extended his unwillingness to compromise to the issue of slavery. Thus, while others around wavered, Lincoln stood firm in the belief that the Union had to remain united and that slavery had to end.
   
   This book was a joy to listen and I was enthralled by the rich and flowing narrative and the valuable insights I gained into the life of my favorite President. Lincoln was a master at manipulating those around him and, more importantly, at crafting a powerful message aimed at eliciting the support of other politicians and the American people.



2. This book will give you insight on the political tactics Lincoln used and will also educate you on some of his beginnings.
   
   For a true biography I'd look elsewhere.



3. Presumption presented as bold fact. I do not like others telling us the hidden thoughts and motives of others (as this book does). We barely understand ourselves. The bible says of our own hearts "who can know it?". Yet this writer presumes to know more about Lincolns heart than even Lincoln did. Sorry but "No".



4. If one were to approach Richard Carwardine's "Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power" and expect an exhaustive review of Lincoln's life then it would be easy to be critical of Carwardine's treatment of the life of Abraham Lincoln. Carwardine's focus is quite narrow and the biographical details of his personal life are, at best, sparse. Instead, Carwardine elucidates Lincoln's political life and his apparent spiritual growth over the course of his political life. The reader in search of a full picture of Lincoln would actually be better served to read Carwardine's book in conjunction with David Herbert Donald's fine biography Lincoln.
   
   Lincoln presided over the most tumultuous time in the history of the United States and Lincoln's presidency witnessed (and contributed) to the greatest Constitutional crisis in the history of the United States. In order to confront the tumult, Lincoln assembled a gifted cabinet made up of rivals. Carwardine expertly depicts the rivalries as well as the achievements of this extraordinary cabinet. If one is looking for a fuller treatment of Lincoln's cabinet, one should read Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
   
   Carwardine also take great pains to portray Lincoln's great respect for the rule of law and precedent. For Lincoln, it was not as simple as emancipating the slaves. While the ideals of liberty and equality were enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, the sanctity of property rights were enshrined in the Constitution, most notably the Due Process clause in the Fifth Amendment. Whether rightly or wrongly, slaves were considered "property" and to emancipate the slaves would be to deprive the salveholder of property "without due process." Carwardine shows Lincoln struggling with legal justifications (e.g. military necessity) for emancipation and means of emancipation (e.g. compensated emancipation). The only way to rightfully square the Declaration of Independence with the Constitution would be to enshrine the ideal of liberty and equality in the Constitution and, thus, the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery was passed.
   
   Carwardine also spends some time on Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Many find it ironic that the "Great Emancipator" was also responsible for the suspension of habeas corpus and the detention of thousands of people without trial. For a fuller treatment of Lincoln suspension of habeas corpus (as well as the exegencies of war) check out William Rehnquist's All the Laws but One: Civil Liberties in Wartime.
   
   I would also be remiss not to direct you to the Amazon review of Etienne ROLLAND-PIEGUE.
   
   Dick Hill's narration begins quite flat and in using vocal inflections to denote the words of Lincoln, Hill had a tendency to make Lincoln sound like "crazy uncle Jethro." However, Hill's narration picks up steam in Chapter 2 and by the end you can see why he has been named a "Golden Voice" by Audiofile Magazine.



5. Abraham Lincoln was born dirt poor on a farm near Hodgenville, Ky in 1809. He died with a bullet in his head on April 15, 1865 in a boarding house in Washington DC where he had been taken following Booth's fatal shot. Lincoln had been attending Ford's Theatre for a performance onf
   "Our American Cousin." As Richard Carwardine shows in his Lincoln Prize winning biography Mr. Lincoln is our our peerless American hero whose marytdom and mythic life have made him an iconic figure of democratic freedom throughout the world.
   Carwardine's book is not a traditional biography in which author follows the outward events of a figure's life. Instead, the author looks with Sherlock Holmes microscopic inquiry at the moral development of the great man. He shows that Lincoln felt slavery was wrong; issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 and defended the Constitution and Union throughout our most destructive war. Lincoln was kind, compassionate and moral. He gave up his plan for gradual compensated emancipation for slaves and plans to send African-American colonists abroad to live free of the taint of blatant racism and slavery. Carwardine opines that Lincoln grew stronger in his advocacy for full citizenship for African Americans as he made of the Civil War a moral crusade for freedom. Lincoln, says Carwardine, received support from Protestant evangelicals, the new Republican party and friendly editors in the press. (Lincoln was also reviled by Democrats and unfriendly newspaper editors). He was a strong president who would suspend habeas corpus and go to the limit of presidential power to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and preserve the United States.
   This is the best book on Lincoln by an Englishman since the early twentieth century biography by Lord Charnwood. The book deals with Lincoln's moral development and evinces his sharp political skills. Lincoln, like the great politician he was, knew how to read the mind of the public in his effort to win rights for African-Americans and keep the quarreling north together and patriotic in winning the Civil War.
   I found the book to be similar to the fine two volume work on Lincoln recently published by William Miller. Similar in that they focus on the mind of Lincoln and the major themes running throughout his career. Those two major themes were Union and the abolition of chattel slavery. Carwardine writes in a scholarly but comprehensible style. His book is worthy of your time and effort in perusing its wise pages. One longs for a man or woman of Lincoln's stature in today's world!

5 comments about Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America.

1. This is the first book that I've read about John Brown and I'm glad that I waited. Brown's story is a simply amazing one and Carton is the master of every detail. He writes very well, is excellent at telling a story, and, most significantly for me, he is well-versed in the historical period. He has deep knowledge about pre-Civil-War politics, intellectual life and social relations. And he integrates what he knows brilliantly into John Brown's story. Brown emerges as more than the leader of the raid at Harper's Ferry; in this book we come to understand his Christianity, his early life, his family, his values and most particularly his relations with black people, which were perhaps without precedent in America. The book is very moving, though quietly so: Carton doesn't shy away from being critical of John Brown, but eventually his esteem for Brown comes through and it's tough not to be sympathetic. The book was a great pleasure and I felt that I learned a lot from it about race relations past--and present, too.



2. This is an excellent, thoroughly researched and referenced book by Evan Carton which is also a very gripping read. Even though the outcome is known, the book is hard to put down. But while the style is nearly novelistic, it is solidly factual. I read this book because I wanted to understand if the usual myths about Brown were correct - if he was indeed a madman. Carton shows him to be a deeply religious and principled man, and one whose reasoning was consistent with his values and with his understanding of the enormous injustice of slavery in nineteenth century America. Brown was an extremely effective fighter against the murderous "border ruffians" from Missouri who attempted to terrrorize free state settlers in Kansas. These Missourian slaveholders and their agents drove free-soil settlers away, burning and looting their settlements such as Lawrence, Kansas, fixing elections, and occasionally killing free-soil setlers, and bragging to "shoot, burn, and hang" abolitionsts, not believing the abolitionists or the free soil settlers(who often weren't abolitionists) would dare to fight back. Initially, they didn't. Brown did, with a very small force, and the reader may find his actions quite shocking. On some occasions his small force routed or captured gangs of the border ruffians who outnumbered them substantially. Brown's desire to accelerate the end of slavery, which he clearly saw as a odious blotch on the ideals which founded his country, led him eventually to more decisive action. Carton provides a clarification for his thought processes through his letters, meetings with sponsors and other associates, and the recollections of survivors after the raid on Harpers Ferry, and convinces that Brown's reasoning was sound, although it certainly was radical. Both before and after the raid, Carton shows us the Brown was confident of the positive effects of the raid even if it were a military failure. Ultimately, it was the notion of the slaveholders that they could indefinitely extend their profitable institution that proved to be madness.



3. John Brown's attempt to free slaves by sparking a national uprising through the assault on the Harpers Ferry in October 1859 was a complete and utter failure when measured by how quickly they were thwarted, how many of Brown's men died in the attempt or by execution. Yet, his communications during his trial and from prison galvanized the hardest of abolitionists in the north (including the Transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau) and the secessionists in the south. More than a few people believe it was the reaction to this raid that set events in process that led to the ferocious bloodshed of the Civil War less than eighteen months later.
   
   Was Brown a madman acting in a crazed spasm or emotion? That judgment has changed radically in the near century and a half since his execution. Immediately afterward, the largest popular reaction was negative because it was lawless and was an assault on the Federal Government. Some of the most extreme abolitionists did hold him up as a kind of messianic figure. When I was in high school, he was regarded as someone hardly worth mentioning. He was clearly crazed and criminal to boot. In the past decade several books and documentaries have taken another look and come to a much more favorable view of Brown. Some even see him much as the Transcendentalists talked about him right after he was hanged.
   
   Evan Carton focuses more on the life of Brown and only gets into the societal issues in a couple of places. He does a fine job in keeping the life Brown lived front and center rather than letting it stand for whatever his supporters or detractors would have it be. Carton trusts the reader enough to let him decide for himself. This is quite important for the modern reader who likely knows little about Brown because of the issues his life raises for our own time. Is a private choice to violence ever justified? Certainly slavery was a great evil. Was Brown justified? Would or could slavery have been eradicated in the United States as it was elsewhere in the European Empires without war?
   
   If you answer that slavery was so evil that Brown was justified how do you say that someone who is trying to prevent millions of abortions is wrong? Or someone who wants to retain affirmative action? Or whatever else drives their personal conscience to extreme action? If you say that Brown was not justified, how do you avoid the guilt of slavery? Weren't the millions of souls in bondage worth fighting for? Should they have been left as chattel property for another decade or two or another century until things could work themselves out?
   
   I guess my own view is a cheat on the question. I do not condone private violence and believe that those who blow up abortion clinics or violently attack Federal installations actually help their opponents more than their cause. Brown was so fervent and articulate that his passion moved a great many people. If he had stepped forward more as a Frederick Douglass and engaged in demonstrations he would have probably accomplished more. But you can justly come to different conclusions than mine.
   
   Brown was a man of great integrity to the point of rigidity. As a businessman his personal sense of what was right led him to drive customers away. He wouldn't sell leather until it was cured to his level of satisfaction even if the customer wanted it as it was. When he was selling wool, his own classifications mattered more to him than what his customers wanted to buy and what those he was an agent for wanted to sell. When he and his family were caught up in the Kansas War, he was clearly justified in protecting those who opposed letting the Missourian slave advocates run roughshod over the territorial government. The Missourians committed many atrocities and Brown was the man who taught the victims that they could stand up to their oppressors. Still, attacking and murdering people in the homes and hacking them to death with a sword still shocks us.
   
   Brown was not an unfeeling man dispensing justice as if he were God. He was a man of deep passion who also knew pain and personal loss. Many of his children died in infancy or youth. He knew poverty and want. There is a tremendously moving scene when Brown is found flat on his Dianthe's, his first wife, grave crying in agony. And his last visit with his second wife especially when she has to leave him is also quite moving. Brown did what he did because he knew (that personal conviction problem again) that he was on God's work and was doing what God wanted him to do. And this despite the deep personal loss the mission brought him.
   
   I recommend this book because I like the way Carton focuses on the life and leaves most of the commentary to you and because Brown's life raises issues that resonate in our time. The author does get in to the larger national issues in chapter 10 and in the aftermath of the execution in chapter thirteen. In the epilogue he shares a few of his own views that you might or might not accept. I also recommend it because one can never know too much about the Civil War and its origins. It was a cataclysm whose shockwaves still resonate underneath almost everything in our present national life.
   
   There are some very good pictures in the book, but the one flaw I hope they correct in a subsequent edition is to provide a listing of the illustrations and their page numbers. Now you see them mixed in the text as you read, but if you want to find them later it becomes somewhat of a hunting game.



4. And...written by a Texan, too! Every detail of Brown's life is told here, from his humble beginnings to his single-handed start of the Civil War. Worth the 15 hours unabridged.



5. A balanced biography of a complex man, "Patriotic Treason", is both scholarly and involving. A rich, anecdote-laden text, it easily moves between chronicling the life of abolitionist John Brown and describing the larger tapestry of American life in the 1850s.
   
   The book is chockful of dramatic scenes and thematic discussions, including- as pointed out in the other Amazon reviews of this book- the question of whether it's acceptable and perhaps even a moral obligation to sometimes break the law in favor of a greater good. Mr. Carton covers the question well, quoting leading figures of the time who address that very question in response to Mr. Brown's well-publicized actions.
   
   The book is sobering at times, and not just for the expected reasons (like being reminded again of how terribly slaves were treated or how much widespread support there was for slavery in this supposed land of liberty). No, what I found surprising is that among whites who didn't like slavery and even among outright abolitionists, there was very little use or affection for blacks. Most just wanted them deported or resettled somewhere else, where they wouldn't compete for American jobs or mingle with the more "refined" white race.
   
   John Brown, on the other hand, actively befriended blacks all his life, had them over to his house for dinner with his family (unprecedented!), humbly solicited advice from his black friends on a variety of matters, and regularly interacted with blacks in all kinds of other "normal" ways. For John Brown, abolition wasn't just the right answer to an academic question or a detached moral opinion that had little to do with one's daily life. John Brown lived his anti-slavery views because he lived side by side with blacks every day. Whatever excesses Mr. Brown may or may not have undertaken later when he put his anti-slavery views into action, that fact scored points with me.
   
   If you check out my other Amazon reviews, you'll see that I don't read a lot of biographies or memoirs, but every now and then I dive into one. I'm really glad "Patriotic Treason" grabbed my attention. It illuminates a shameful part of U.S. history and again debunks the tired mantra among many that we need to return to the values of our historical past. No, many of those "values" should stay in the past where they belong. It was a dark, evil time in many ways, and John Brown played a huge part in helping this country move beyond it.

1 comments about Faces of Discord: The Civil War Era at the National Portrait Gallery.

1. I found this 300 page volume of portraits and information on many Civil War persons englightening because there are pictures of the Famous and not so famous people who I have read and written about. I will treasure this volume for many years