5 comments about John Tyler, the Accidental President.

1. I have to agree with several of the others who have posted reviews here that this book is something of a dissappointment. There are some jarring tranisitions, and the narrative jumps about sometimes. While the problem of slavery was the crucial issue of the times, Crapol belobors his text with this subject.



2. I am currently reading the biographies of all the American presidents in order. The quality of the books available for this project varies a great deal. This biography, of our usually ignored tenth president, is well-written, very informative, a good read.



3. Bland, soft and somewhat apologetic, this book does little to elucidate a rather unknown and denigrated U.S. president. Although Crapol strains to paint Tyler as a determined expansionist of high principles, the Tyler legacy is hardly burnished by his Southern sympathies, his post-pesidency treasonous bent and the negative contribution to pre-war stability of the nation. Very little new ground is covered here, and with vague conviction on behalf of the author, I reflected that I gained no certain grasp of the man or his true bearing on history. Notation of research was poor, so it may well be that there is little reference material to work with, perhaps that Tyler himself was little to work with.



4. I highly recommend this book as a very well-written and thoughtful narrative of Tyler's presidency, his political thought, and of the political conflicts of his time.
   
   While not acting as an apologist for Tyler, the author nonetheless portrays "His Accidency" as a visionary leader and forceful chief executive who successfully balanced a range of diplomatic challenges in his brief, not quite four year term, concluding with the annexation of Texas in the final days of his presidency. In Crapol's hands, Tyler also comes across as a skillful political artisan, carefully nurturing the diplomatic skills of the secretary of state he interited from Harrison--Daniel Webster--until the president began his push for the annexation of Texas, which Webster opposed.
   
   Tyler also faced domestic opposition from his erstwhile Whig allies, led by Henry Clay of Kentucky. Unfortunately, the author does not choose to play up or accent this relationship, and Tyler's veto of Clay's bank bill, and Tyler's eventual abandonment of, and by, the Whig Party that elected him is given somewhat short thrift here. Crapol does, however, provide considerable discussion and analysis of Tyler's foreign policy initiatives in China, the South Pacific, and in handling a conflict with England over the Canada-Maine border.
   
   Crapol also devotes a good deal of time, I think appropriately, to Tyler's belief in the country's Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny and how the South's "peculiar institution" of slavery fit into that vision of national greatness and continental expansion. Like other Southern defenders of slavery, Tyler apparently believed that the conflicts over slavery would be reduced if it was allowed to be diffused throughout the territories and if the country was able to likewise expand across the continent and beyond. There are some unanswered questions here, however. I was left wondering if Tyler--and those of like minds whom Crapol also discusses--believed in "diffusion" for purposes of political expediency or as a means of reducing the potential for racial conflict and slave insurrections that were always a potential and sometimes realized risk to the South from its peculiar institution. Perhaps both motives drove Tyler's view of slavery and American destiny.
   
   In any event, at the end of his life, Tyler appeared to believe so heartily in the role of slavery in the support of empire that he sided with his native south and voted in Virginia's secession convention to withdraw from the union which he once led because of it.
   
   One considerable gap in this book is the minimal attention given to Tyler's family life, which in the case of the tenth president was quite unique, as he fathered some 15 children. It would have made for a stronger connection between reader and subject if more attention has been paid to this unique aspect of Tyler's life. On the plus side, the author's minimization of Tyler's family life and earlier experiences allowed for a more detailed discussion of his presidency within the book's length parameters(Crapol is also the author of another book on the presidency and foreign policy, so it would seem this is the author's main interest).
   
   In sum, I highly recommend this book for its careful analysis of the presidency, American slavery and continental expansion.



5. I think if one approaches this biography with lowered expectations, one is more forgiving of some its flaws. After all, there are very few full-scale works on John Tyler's life. Still, at the end of this book, the author notes that he has written a "full-scale biography" and that it is twenty years in the making. Unfortunately this is problematical. Despite the author's protestations, this work does indeed focus on Tyler's foreign policy - certainly not exclusively, but still a disproportionate amount of pages is spent laboriously picking it over. And though the book may have been written over twenty years, that time window seems to have done a disservice to the narrative. It has a patched-together quality that lends itself to repetition and that made me wonder at one point whether these chapters were actually essays that had appeared elsewhere over the years. That certainly would explain the lack of overall cohesion. Additionally, one rather distracting tic on the author's part was the incredible overuse of the old 19th century phrase "peculiar institution" for slavery. It could be argued that historians use the euphemism to evoke a certain antebellum mindset. Overusing it borders on the absurd. I picked up this book because I wanted to learn about John Tyler's life. In the end, though I came away with knowing more about him, I would need to look elsewhere for a definitive biography.

5 comments about Chanel: Her style and her life.

1. This is a spectacularly beautiful and insightful view of a woman who was the major force in 20th century fashion. It is elegantly written and sumptuously illustrated and no doubt will become the definitive book on Coco Chanel. I learned a great deal that I did not know before and I had a long career in fashion. This book will delight men as well as women because it contains many revealing stories about Chanel's sexual escapades. Buy it by all means!



2. I haven't read the book but I really need a picture of Coco Chanel. Is there any about? I need it for my A Level French Course work!!!! Any Help Thanks xxxxxx



3. This book is very good. The text isn't hard to read, and in this book are allot of pictures, only in black and white. There should have been also a few colour pictures. This book is only looking at the period that Coco Chanel designed the collections and not the Karl Lagerfeld era.



4. I have always been fascinated by whatever's written about her ever since I received a Chanel purse for an 18th birthday present. There have been a number of books written about Chanel, I'm sure but Janet Wallach's will not disappoint any reader. It is simple and elegantly written with beautiful black and white illustrations. Even if one is not a fan of Chanel's style, you will be intrigued by her notorious life as told here. Either for yourself or a friend, a nice book to keep and look through now and again.



5. I absolutely loved reading this book! It provided me with an insight into the life of Chanel including all of her successes and struggles. It really made an impression on me and I would encourage anyone who is looking for a good read to pick up this book. Not only was it very informative, it also provided a great story full of saddness, love, and many other touching and motivating elements.

No comments about Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House: Memoirs of an African-American Seamstress.

5 comments about The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson.

1. There is no shortage of books about Nelson. The past couple of years have added several more titles. There is no shortage of interest in the man, and the great days of the Royal Navy.
   
   This book is very good--I doubt there are any better. It is detailed, full of new information, and extremely readable. The man can write, and the book carries you away.
   
   Nelson is presented as a man with some great abilities-- and some faults. He did not always distinguish himself, but he never made any fatal blunders. It is interesting to note that he, too, was able to benefit from connections--something that was almost impossible to get along without in the Royal Navy, with so many officers, and so few ships.
   
   Nelson's faults did cost him, but his strengths and abilities overcame them. He was lucky. His ability to ignore orders helped him, when it would have hurt others. His connections carried him through other difficulties, and , in the end, he was the right man at the right time.
   
   As is usual, the reader also comes to appreciate his great friend Collingwood. If Nelson had a secret weapon, it had to be Collingwood, who was less impetuous, and more reasoned in his actions. His behavior and skill helped Nelson more than a few times. This book, like so many others, makes it obvious.
   
   Nelson will always fascinate--his affair with Lady Hamilton, his bravery in battle, his fearless method of attack, and his brilliance always appeal to new generations. A great story about a great man.



2. As others have noted, there are many biographies of Nelson, and almost all of them suffer from the same problem: that a man so brilliant, talented, contradictory, demented, jealous, generous, gracious, foolish, naive and clear-thinking is very hard to understand. The fact that his death at the triumphant British naval victory of Trafalgar in 1805 immediately turned his life into legend, means that from first to last it's been hard to get a handle on Nelson the flawed but unique human being.
   
   I've read many biographies of the man, and I was shocked to find that many second-hand truths fine biographers have relied on in prior biographies are incorrect. Knight's meticulous scholarship, his lifetime of study of the age of fighting sail in Britain and France, means that his careful analysis of sources in this book is stunning and irrefutable. No book I have ever read on Nelson is so thorough in finding every possible source to illuminate the daily life at sea, as well as by land, of this remarkable leader. That he quietly sets the record straight on innumerable myths and errors of past biographies with grace is simply another pleasure of the book. The fact that Knight deals tautly with the fairly disastrous consequences of Nelson's affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, without letting it swallow his book, is a fine achievement. The heart of Nelson's importance in English history lies in his life at sea, and there Knight's study is especially enlightening.
   
   Although not a book for everyone - you need to want to learn about both Nelson and the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars - I tend to agree with the dust jacket blurb, that this book will be THE definitive factual study of Nelson. But as Knight himself admits - in the end, the whole of the man is greater than the sum of his parts, and probably always will be.



3. Noted Nelson scholar Roger Knight has written an elegant biography of Great Britain's greatest fighting admiral, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, which was published shortly after the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar; both Nelson's greatest victory and the scene of his tragic, yet heroic, death. But is it the definitive biography devoted to Admiral Nelson's life and career? Although it does come close, regrettably, the answer is "no", since another eminent Nelson scholar, John Sugden, is currently at work on the second volume of his Nelson biography, which will cover Nelson's exploits from late 1797 to the Battle of Traflagar, which occurred on October 21, 1805 (This review is being published here at Amazon.com one day prior to the 201st anniversary of this battle.).
   
   Knight covers Nelson's life and career in a massive tome of more than 800 pages, breaking it down into five sections. Much to my amazement, Knight has successfully covered Nelson's life and career from his birth in 1758 to his appointment as captain of HMS Agamemnon in January, 1793 in slightly more than a hundred pages, "I Youth and Disappointment 1758-1793" (Readers who think they are missing important aspects of Nelson's career should turn instead to the first volume in John Sugden's Nelson biography, "Nelson: A Dream of Glory", which emphasizes the young Nelson's rapid rise through officer ranks to becoming among the Royal Navy's youngest post captains.). Here Knight demonstrates how Nelson relied upon patronage from well-connected relatives like his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling and substantial exposure to good seamanship and officer conduct, which allowed him to secure rapid promotion to Post Captain and command of a frigate during the American Revolution. We also get our first glimpse of the heroic Nelson through his participation in an ill-fated joint Royal Navy and Army invasion to seize Nicaragua from the Spanish, which will not only cost him his command of a heavily armored frigate, but also his good health, and indeed, almost his life. Knight covers succinctly Nelson's two tours of duty in the British West Indies, devoting substantial coverage to Nelson's adulation of the mediocre Prince William Henry, later, Duke of Clarence, and eventually, King William IV, assigned to Nelson's command as a junior Royal Navy frigate captain (Here we see Nelson's unabashed admiration for royalty emerge unexpectedly, which will have serious consequences for his career in the late 1790s.).
   
   The biography's second section, "II Maturation and Triumph 1793 - 1798" covers Nelson's early career during the French revolutionary wars, chronicling his eventual rise to Rear Admiral and his hard-fought victories at the battles of Cape Saint Vincent and the Nile. Nelson learns how to command a squadron at sea, cultivating friendships with many of the Royal Navy officers who would become his celebrated "Band of Brothers"; distinguished captains such as Thomas Troubridge, Samuel Hood, Benjamin Hallowell and Thomas Masterman Hardy. Knight also discusses Nelson's complex relationships with his superiors, most notably Admiral Sir John Jervis, later Earl Saint Vincent, his commanding officer at the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent. We also witness the disastrous attack on Tenerife, Santa Cruz, in the Canary Islands, which nearly costs him his life.
   
   The biography's third section, "III Passion and Discredit 1798- 1801", is devoted to the most controversial period of Nelson's career; his service as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, in which he finds himself supporting unabashedly the Bourbon royal dynasty of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Knight demonstrates clearly that Nelson's actions in "liberating" Naples following a French-supported popular insurrection, were motivated solely by his notions of loyalty and duty to a royal family in dire need of both, and though quite critical of them, he does not agree with Terry Coleman, author of "The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson", that these acts amounted to war crimes. Moreover, he demolishes completely the myth that Nelson fell immediately in love with Emma Hamilton, the young wife of Britain's ambassador to the Bourbon court at Naples, showing that it blossomed months later. And Knight, while sympathetic to Nelson, does show that Nelson's actions immediately before and after the Battle of Copenhagen, left much to be desired for someone serving as a fleet commander.
   
   In "IV Adulation and Death" Knight opens with Nelson, now living openly with Emma Hamilton, enjoying nearly 18 months of peace, finding time to take a leisurely journey through Wales and serving in the House of Lords. With the resumption of hostilities between Great Britain and Napoleonic France, Nelson, now a vice admiral, returns to the Mediterranean Sea as the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, hoisting his broad pendant aboard HMS Victory. Some of Knight's finest prose is devoted to the long chase across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies in search of French admiral Pierre Villeneuve's fleet, culminating of course in the bloody Battle of Trafalgar. In "V Transfiguration", Knight describes not only Nelson's funeral in London, but also takes stock of the admiral's character, yielding a sympathetic, yet highly nuanced, appraisal of Nelson's life and career.
   
   "The Pursuit of Victory: The Life And Achievement of Horatio Nelson" includes several appendices, of which the most important ones are the brief chronologies of the major events in Nelson's life and career, and of world events during Nelson's life, especially with regard to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. There is also a chronological recounting of Nelson's service aboard various Royal Navy warships, which, regrettably, isn't nearly as succinct as both chronological outlines. Less successful, but still quite useful, are the brief biographical sketches devoted to Nelson's family, friends, and associates, both in the British government, and of course, in the Royal Navy itself.



4. I highly recommend The Pursuit of Victory: The Life And Achievement of Horatio Nelson, a new biography of England's greatest warfighting admiral, Horatio Nelson.
   
   This biography does a superb job of providing context and background for Nelson's astonishing rise to fame and his equally astonishing victories at sea--and lesser known defeats, which always occurred on territory unfamilar to Nelson, i.e. land. We find that the extreme risks of Britain's war with Napoleonic France created a brief window of opportunity for commoners such as Nelson to rise within the class-conscious and peerage-dominated Admiralty. Merit was so essential to victory that the Admiralty could not afford to advance captains by favoritism alone.
   
   Equally interesting is the author's careful descriptions of the role of mentors in Nelson's career arc--captains and admirals above him in the bureaucratic Royal Navy who guided, aided and promoted him, not so much to benefit themselves but in recognition of his talents. Without these mentors--several of whom he maintained as close personal friends until death--his rise from the ranks of hundreds of junior captains to admiral at a young age would not have happened.
   
   Not that Nelson enjoyed a perfect career. A gross political miscalculation--falling under the influence of the King's ne'er do well son, who had been given a position as Admiral not on talent but on birthright--caused Nelson's career to falter at a critical juncture. Having fallen out of favor for his destructive sycophancy, Nelson was sent home without a command, where he languished for seven long years as a poor gentleman landowner.
   
   A renewal of the war with France gave him one more chance, and with the aid of his mentors, he assumed command of the Mediterranean Fleet (bypassing many jealous senior admirals), enabling him to score his first great strategic victory in the Battle of the Nile.
   
   Life at sea was not easy, and Nelson was often ill and exhausted. Having lost an eye and an arm in two land engagements (he was deployed twice to joint Army-Navy commands, both of which ended badly, partly due to Nelson's ignorance of land warfare), he was often in pain. he also had to make judicious political decisions regarding allies, harrass the Admiralty for supplies, maintain discipline on a huge fleet of wooden ships in poor weather, and a host of other challenges which would have ground down by sheer workload alone a lesser commander.
   
   This engaging, masterly paced work covers not just Nelson's life but the political context of the Royal Navy and the role of senior commanders in his rise to the highest levels of command. It is a portrait of one man's life set within a detailed account of his family, era, superiors and comrades.



5. I think this book is way too thick. I would recommend for a reference when looking up facts about Lord Nelson, but not for learning about his life. I seriously doubt all the 'reviewers' with raving compliments on the back cover of the book read from start to the last page...
   
   I am giving 3 stars for the credit of compiling all the facts. However, the author could have done much better job at writing a "biography."

5 comments about The First Elizabeth.

1. A great book about a Queen whose story reads more like "The Godfather" than you'd guess.

   Elizabeth I, thrust onto the throne while her country was still in the midst of it's centuries-long emergence from Roman rule, turned England into Great Britain through a heady mixture of guile, guts, and British steel(How's that for rhetoric?).

   It's a great book, as are most of Erickson's titles.




2. The major difference in "The First Elizabeth" by Carolly Erickson and "The Life of Elizabeth I" by Alison Weir is stylistic. Both women are thoroughly versed in the life of their royal subject, and obviously enthusiastic about her as well.

   Erickson's style, however, leans more toward novelistic narrative. She seems to be sitting with you, telling you a story about this great monarch with her infamous "virgin" status, her political adeptness, her fearsome temper, her penchant for swearing oaths that made one's blood freeze, and her ability to command deep love and adoration from her subjects.

   This style is especially appealing for those for whom this biography is their first foray into Tudor biography. It introduces the major players in the queen's life thoroughly so that one is well acquainted with Robert Dudley, Cecil and Walsingham, as well as Mary I and the many other colorful characters that populated the Queen's life. You also get a real feel for the terror and uncertainty of Elizabeth's youth, when she lived in fear of death at the hands of her unstable, Catholic sister.

   Erickson adroitly paints a stunning (and sometimes shocking) picture of life at court - and what a life it must have been. Living at the various castles Elizabeth moved between (they changed castles regularly so that the one previously used could be cleaned and "aired out") was far from our 21st century idea of luxury, and when you read about the trials and travails inherent in the Queen's annual "progresses", you'll never gripe about rush-hour traffic again!

   Again, I would recommend this to anyone starting out to read about Elizabeth I, and to the reader already familiar with the life of the greatest queen of England. Those of the latter group might find that the author falls in love a bit too much with her subject (and who wouldn't, as this lady is one of the most fascinating people in history). In some places towards the end the flow of the narrative (going from event to event) isn't quite as seamless as it could be (you feel as though you are jumping from one to the other without a lead-in sentence/paragraph) but never mind that. Erickson does a marvelous job of painting a portrait of the life and times of Elizabeth and it's a most pleasurable learning experience and enjoyable read.

   After finishing "Elizabeth I", the reader would do well to continue on with Weir's biography mentioned above. I started with Weir and am now committed to reading Erickson's extensive series on the Tudors, including "Great Harry", "Mistress Anne", etc.




3. I tend to read mostly fiction, but for some reason earlier this year I decided to foray into biographies. This book gives you a peek into Elizabethan life, gives you insight into Elizabeth I's personality, and you learn quite a lot of history, scandals, and rumours-of-the-day along the way.

   This book reads more like a biographical novel than a pure biography, which, considering the subject matter is about 500-years old, probably means some license was taken with dialogue, etc., however, I think the style makes the subject infinitely more memorable.




4. Carolly Erickson has done her homework on the Tudors of England and in her 1984 biography of Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603)
   does a fine biographical profile.
   Elizabeth's mother Anne Boleyn died at the stake failing to produce a male heir for the cruel HENRY VIII. Her only chld was Elizabeth who ruled Britain from 1558 to her death in 1603.
   Elizabeth had a difficult and dangerous life dealing with such
   enemies as:
   1. The might of Spain and France.
   2. Various Catholic groups wanting to assasinate the Protestant leaning queen.
   3. Personal enemies include her half-sister Queen Bloody Mary
   who at times had Elizabeth imprisoned in the tower. She burned
   Protestants at the stake in her short reign from 1546-1553 following the death of her half-brother Edward VI (son of Henry and Jane Seymour). Another enemy was Mary Queen of Scots who Elizabeth had executed in 1587.
   4. Elizabeth was very intelligent, crafty and skilled in survival in a dangerous time of civil war, various rebellions and complicated international political and religious warfare.
   Erickson is good at writing Elizabeth's story focusing on her many love affairs most notably with the Earl of Leicester.
   Elizabeth's reign is well told in this biography which is a good place for a burgeoning interest in Tudor History to bloom.
   The book is one of the finest I have read on Elizabeth. I can
   recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good story well told about one of the great female rulers in history!



5. Erickson gets one star for a lively and readable writing style. She's great at engaging the reader.
   
   I'd give her zero for accurate substance.
   
   If you examine her body of work, you find that she's a Mary Tudor apologist and that bias informs every line of this "biography" of Elizabeth as she revels in gossip and ignores accomplishments.
   
   Erickson should stick to novels, because that's what she's writing here. She misrepresents facts and her editorial slant colours every line. Nearly any other biography would give you a better idea of what really went on.

5 comments about The Titled Americans: Three American Sisters and the British Aristocratic World into Which They Married.

1. Interesting story about these sisters but it is very shallow in that it never gets past the surface. We never know what drives these women and never get a true sense of their personalities. then towards the last third of the book, it becomes more of an itinerary than anything else. All you read is "....then Clare went here, then Jenny went there..." I think this author has promise. Apparently, this is her first book so I am hoping that she learns more writing skills. Lots of incorrect historial information as well. Unless I am missing something, was there someone called "Grand Princess Tsarvena" and "Grand Prince Tsar"? Apparently, the author tells us these 2 people were the future Nicholas II and Alexandra, who, according to the author "..attended his sister Marie's wedding to Queen Victoria's son..." Now, last I read, Marie was the daughter of Alexander II and NOT the sister of Nicholas II. AND, Nicholas II didn't even know Alexandra at this time. This is just one historical error but since this was my first connection with these sisters how can one be assured that they are reading the truth.



2. Elisabeth Kehoe's "The Titled Americans" is a good examination of the lives and careers of the surviving daughters of American financier Leonard Jerome: Leonie, Clara (originally Clarita), and especially, Jennie, the oldest, and probably best known for being the mother of Winston S. Churchill. Kehoe covers a lot of ground, focusing primarily on the lives of Leonie and her Leslie family and of Clara and her Frewhen family. Unfortunately, as another reviewer has so aptly noted here, we do not really get more than a terse descriptive look at these sisters, their husbands, and children. Without question, Jennie Jerome Churchill (Lady Randolph Churchill) was undoubtedly the most interesting of the three, working tirelessly as a dutiful politican's wife and as an unpaid resident "American Ambassador" to the United Kingdom at a time when relations between Americans and the British were far more cordial, and far less friendly, than they are now. I was struck reading how the lives of all three sisters were in many instances quite similar, having endured either poverty or unhappily married bliss (or in at least one instance both) inspite of their matrimonial alliances to British aristocracy. This slender volume serves mainly at best as a fine overview of the Jerome sisters and of their families; those wishing to read more about them should read the elegant biographies written by family members, most notably those by Winston S. Churchill.



3. This work chronicles the rise of one American family in the first half of the 1800s. The father is able to acquire a fortune through the stock market, and the mother is determined to take her three daughters to Europe where they will be able to trade their financial prospects for a European title, coming at the beginning of a series of marriages in which American heiresses were joined to less wealthy but socially advanced British nobility (particularly minor nobility). However, as the fortunes of the Jerome family wax and wane with the unsteady stock market, so do the prospects, marriages, and lives of the three Jerome sisters. Of special interest because one of the sisters (Jennie) is the mother of Winston Churchill.
   
   Quote: "It was all the more important to women of their class to adhere to these standards because they had so little else beyond their social position. Their story thus illuminates what it meant to be a female member of the British aristocracy during its decline, when incomes were falling but lifestyles were slow to follow the downward spiral."
   
   
   While I enjoyed this story and learning about the interesting lives led by the sisters, I also felt that it dragged on for rather longer than it needed to given its subject matter. And I'm a history teacher, so it's not that I automatically think history non-fiction is going to be boring :). However, the research seemed well done (end notes, yay!), and the stories of the lives of the three sisters and their offspring were woven together nicely.



4. The author has done a good job for her first book, her writing style is engaging allowing you to imagine you are witnessing the trails and trumipths of the Jeromne sisters.
   
   However, there was times that I had to consult the family tree (found in preface pages of the book) in order to understand which family members the author was writing about.



5. My title applies to the protagonists of the book as well as the book itself. The three Jerome sisters were certainly fascinating women, though incredibly self-absorbed at the expense of their children. The husbands all come off as cads, which I suppose can excuse some of their excesses. You almost get exhausted reading all the examples of shallowness throughout the generations. There were some eggregious errors by the author (one passage referred to a Tsar of Russia as Nicholas II before Nicholas was even born! The author must have meant his father, Alexander III). It's errors like this that detract from getting into the story. It's entertaining, but not as good as other bios of the time period.

5 comments about Jay Cooke's Gamble: The Northern Pacific Railroad, The Sioux, And the Panic of 1873.

1. John Lubetkins literary genious is always very well transferred to his books. I highly recommend all of his books. He puts lots of research into his books and it really shows in the quality and the details. You wont regret picking up any of his books.



2. Author John Lubetkin has done an excellent job pulling together a widely diverse stockpile of sources and developing in-depth and unique look at the ill-fated attempt to construct the Northern Pacific Railroad in the early 1870s as America's second transcontinental rail link. Other books in the past have extracted the best-known portion of the series of events that constitute this story, namely Custer's 1873 Yellowstone Expedition as recounted in biographies of Custer and Sitting Bull as well as works from the late Larry Frost and John Carroll. The strength of Lubetkin's work lies in its all inconclusive disection of Jay Cooke and his Northern Plains Railroad dream which in no ways detracts from the military events that many of us find so compelling.
   
   In the late 1860s, Cooke had reached the apex of America's banking world, having financed the Union war effort in the Civil War, funding that was crucial in the ultimate victory. He backed the dream, dormant since its 1864 charter, of creating the Northern Pacific Railroad running from Duluth, Minnesota across Dakota Territory, through Montana, Idaho, and ending in the Pacific Northwest.
   
   The author's engaging style and in-depth research combine as he takes us back in time to the full context of the Gilded Age. We witness the brilliant Cooke as he ably finances his dream through repeated bond sales but the reality of what was being paid for soon begins to take its toil--poor management, gross overspending and corruption by those under Cooke, the unanticipated engineering challenges of laying a railroad through Minnesota's boggy, swampy terrain and, ultimately, the will of the the Lakota in resisting the railroad through their prime hunting grounds.
   
   History is fortunate that former Confederate General Tom Rosser was the chief engineer on the 1871 Whistler Expedition and the 1872 Rosser-Stanley Eastern Yellowstone Expedition as well as served at the start of the 1873 Expedition where he was reunited with former West Point classmate, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. The author has delved deep into Rosser's diaries and correspondence from the manuscript repository holdings of the University of Virginia. For those like myself with an interest in the Indian Wars, the large section of this book devoted to these expeditions will prove compelling. An entire chapter is devoted to the 1872 Battle of Poker Flats and is absoluelty fascinating, especially the description of Sitting Bull's calculated act of courage of sitting on the ground, smoking his pipe as soldier's bullets failed to hit him as the battle concluded.
   
   All of this culminates with the 1873 Expedition which proved necessary since staunch Lakota resistance prevented the 1872 foray from completing the survey. The author argues that Eastern newspaper coverage of the intractable Lakotas begin to slowly but surely unnerve Eastern investors who became more and more concerned over the feasiblity of a railroad through hostile territory, a concern that would explode in September 1873 with the worst possible results. The military responded to the 1872 difficulties by sending Custer's 7th Cavalry to the Northern Plains, thus giving the 1873 survey an offensive capability lacking in the infantry companies. This act also placed Custer and his regiment into the heart of the most untamed portion of the country where Custer's 1876 demise would carry him and the 7th Cavalry beyond the realm of history and into legend. Separate chapters on Custer's August 4, 1873 battle near the Yellowstone/Tongue River confluence and the larger battle a week later near the Big Horn/Yellowstone junction do full justice to these events as well as ably demonstrate Custer's ability in Indian warfare. Readers will be somewhat surprised as well as enlightened by the more positive picture of General David Stanley, Custer's superior on the expedition, as he has generally been written off as a hopeless drunk. As this book reveals though, he was able to command effectively when the situation demanded and there is far more to him than my previous knowledge had encompassed.
   
   The book concludes with the return of the 1873 Expedition, the final survey complete but its results of little use until the end of the decade when the railroad was finally completed by a Northern Pacific under different management. For in September 1873, judgement day arrived for both Jay Cooke and Company as well as the U.S. economy as a "Panic" was unleashed on Wall Street, numerous banks, including Cooke's, failed and work on the Northern Pacific ground to a halt, dragging the nation into the depths of a depression that at least one economic historian has judged as second only to the 1929-1932 Great Depression. The author makes the argument that the reports of Custer's two battles, despite their small size and the success of Custer and his regiment, were the last straw in undermining investor confidence in the safety of the area that the railroad was trying to cross.
   
   Excellent and numerous maps by Vicki Trego Hill are included throughout this book and their quality is such that even the most difficult to please cartographer will be satisfied. If there is anything that the author can be faulted on, it is for not including more of the William Pywell photographs from the 1873 expedition but I have to remind myself that this book is on the entire Northern Pacific Railroad effort, not just the Custer expedition. For those wishing to view these photographs as well as gain additional, in-depth, excellent insight into the 1873 Expedition, see Lawrence Frost's CUSTER'S 7TH CAVALRY AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1873, out of print but available wherever fine rare books are sold, including Amazon as of this writing.



3. Mr. Lubetkin's work is well researched and well written. He's able to weave a narrative together that brings the beginning of the Gilded Age to the Indian Wars and railroad construction... frankly, I had never made the connection between the Northern Pacific and Sitting Bull until I read this book.
   However, the final conclusions made me question the depth of the research. Lubetkin identifies the completion of the Northern Pacific several years later, and its competition with the Great Northern, whose surveyors "found" Marias Pass. There is no mention of the railroads' cooperation and attempted merger, nor the landmark Sumpreme Court case concerning Northern Securities and the creation of the ICC. Oh yes, and with reference to the previous review of the map quality, it would have been nice had the book included a larger map or two of the entire proposed routes.
   I still believe Pierre Berton's The Last Spike (Canadian Pacific) to be the standard against all railroad construction history books should be measured. If Berton rates a 10, this book is an 8.



4. This is one of those special books that is virtually impossible to put down once you start reading. Written in a highly readable, narrative style that puts the reader in the time and place being depicted, this book is the story of Jay Cooke's attempt to build a second transcontinental railroad, known as the Northern Pacific. Present readers may recognize its successor, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad that just happens to be the largest private landholder in the United States. An integral part of the story is the creation of Yellowstone National Park, the forced Canadian-British effort to build the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railroad, the Panic of 1873, the instigation of the Great Sioux War, and most interestingly, the link between Cooke and George Armstrong Custer that brought him back from the South and, as is said, the rest is history. This is a worthy addition to both national and regional history.



5. Jay Cooke's Gamble covers important background into the North pacific Railroad's history. It does not focus much on the actual railroad operations, but rather the financing and surveying behind the scenes. The author writes in a very readable style and does his subject justice.
   
   The reader will be transported to a time when railroads determined settlement of the American interior. But before the roads could be built, the land had to be surveyed, and in this case the land was also still occupied by natives who wished to preserve their traditional way of life. The reader will encounter a cast of characters ranging from the venerable Jay Cooke himself, to General Geoerge Armstrong Custer, and all the important NP company engineers and surveyors in between. Some were drunkards (the author appears to have a strong bias against alcohol), some prone to mismanagement, and some, like Cooke, never set foot in the land where the action took place. All of this makes for a very entertaining and informative read. One statistic does stand out as being a possible typo: the author on page 274 states land in Bismarck, Dakota was selling for as much as $8000/acre. That figure appears high.
   
   But this is a very good book. One hopes the author will continue on and write the history of the railroad after Cooke's demise and the Northern Pacific's ultimate completion and beyond to its eventual merger with the Great Northern and CB&Q.

No comments about Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon.

3 comments about The Jews of Sing Sing.

1. I have read many books about the various gangsters (Jewish or other) who served time in Sing Sing. What makes this particular book unique is that it is born out of Ron Aron's personal interest in this subject. The hook is that he unearths the dark secret in his own family that his grandfather served time at Sing Sing. His grandfather's story is revealed slowly by interspersing his story with chapters devoted to other Jewish prisoners. I admit I couldn't wait to find out the whole story and I read the three chapters devoted to Isaac Spier first.
   
   The book is painstakingly researched. The writing style is fluid and engaging.



2. As a former New Yorker, I thought I was pretty savvy; but I had no clue that there was such a vibrant Jewish criminal population. Ron Arons opened my eyes, big time! The book is a great read and I am glad that MY grandfathers are not in there.



3. Thanks to Ron, my grandfather's life has finally been told truthfully. The chapter on Dopey Benny Fein was fantastic as was the entire book. I'm glad I had the opportunity to help Ron with this chapter, and to meet him.

5 comments about Nathan Bedford Forrest: In Search of the Enigma.

1. For anyone with an interest in the Civil War's most interesting character , General Nathan Bedford Forrest , this new book is a MUST ; "Nathan Bedford Forrest , In Search of the Enegma" , by Eddy W. Davison & Daniel Foxx (and forward by Ed Bearss) !!
   
   I own many books , old & new , on General Forrest's life and activities . This is the very best that I have ever read on this topic . There are plenty on good ones and some are on very specific topics , such as the new books "Forrest's Escort & Staff" , by Michael R. Bradley and "Men of Fire" , Grant & Forrest at the Battle of Fort Dolelson , by Jack Hurst ! These 2 new books concerning General Forrest are excellent & are must reads for "Forrest entheusists" , but are basically on very specific topics concerning Forrest . "In Search of the Enegma" covers Forrests life , with emphasis on the civil War , of course , but is in search of The Man , behind the legend !
   
   It is extremely well written , in every way , but I must comment on the way that "battles & engagements & troop activity" of General Forrest's are described ! Everyone with an interest in General Forrest has read about his part in battles at Shiloh or Brice's Crossroads or the Tupelo & Memphis Raid ,for example . I have from several good books ! I have never had such normally "complex battle situations" ; with moving men & horses & confussion & indecisions & mistakes & foul weather & poor communications & heroism & bravery & inactions & retreats----so clearly described & made more understandable than ever before ! Davison & Foxx turn a battle into a "moving picture in your mind" ! You are "there" & you "feel" the situation . You understand more about the "Why's" of how these battles & engagement , concerning Forrest , turned out as they did & its very interesting reading & not "dead facts" !
   
   These two authors , Davison & Foxx , give first hand accounts , often from "non-famous" soldiers & civilians , recorded long after the war , that add "something new or a different prespective" on General Forrest ! The indepth research is fantastic ! You find out from Union reports , just what was being discussed concerning Forrest & his command , as certain actions were about to take place or were happening ! You see how unique Forrest was in almost always "creating the illusion" of haveing a much , much larger force than was reality , to his enemy . Also , you see how confussing Forrests actions & objectives were to the opposite side in a conflict !
   
   Just a splendid work on Nathan Bedford Forrest , by two excellent researchers & story-tellers !
   
   A MUST Read , for anyone interested in Forrest !
   
   Just the over-all best book on this topic of Nathan Bedford Forrest , that I have ever read ! Highly recommended to all who want to know & understand more on "Forrest The Enegma" and Forrest The Man !



2. I picked this book up and almost returned it after looking at the campaign maps. They were well made but gave me the impression this was a bland recounting of every little military move by Forrest. Luckily I kept the book and found a gripping story of his life, personality and campaigns. I felt like I really had an idea of what kind of person or leader he was after reading the book. This is an excellent story. It was one of those books you hope never ends.



3. The authors did a great job of trying to put the pieces of a very interesting warrior. Bedford was that a warrior. This is now my favorite book on Forrest. I have read many. They have come close to telling it as accurate as I have read. They had respect for him as a leader for battle but also recognized he had failings in temperament. He was a more agressive Patton in battle. He did slap soldiers for being out of line and maybe even as a coward. This is a more total history of the man and if you want to read a book that a movie could be made this is it. It is nearly unbelieveable that he was able to do what he did with no military background just common sense and will to fight and win. It is a shame that his history could not be told exactly as it was without some unknowns in the background. It is good for the North that the leaders of the Souith did not recognize his ablility until it was to late. A very readable and interesting book about the Civil War in the west.



4. Being a Civil War buff, I greatly appreciated the angle Davison and Foxx took to capture the lost story of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a pivotal character in the war, yet so much of his story has been swept aside in light of General Lee and other figures who were more recognized or perhaps more publicized. This is a must read for Civil War aficionado's and those just diving into the pages of history because it is so well written and ties Forrest into so many important historical happenings. Bravo! Write another one!



5. I am a highly biased reviewer due to the fact that I drew the maps for this book. I deeply thank everyone who has purchased this book and/or given it a positive review. It warms my heart that there are still real Americans that can appreciate a real American hero, and not cave in to the forces of Political Cowardice.