4 comments about Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life.

1. After any number of biographies about Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) aimed at adolescents, Beverly Lowry's new work takes its place among two other recent efforts: Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom (2004), by Catherine Clinton, and Kate Larsen's Bound for the Promised Land; Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero (2004). Tubman looms large as one of our country's greatest and most inspirational heroes. She's also a biographer's nightmare. Tubman was born as one of nine siblings into a Maryland slave family, she never learned to read or write, and reliable documents about her, especially her early years, are sketchy to non-existent. Thus in her author's note Lowry describes her work as "the story of a life as I have reimagined it." She tries to avoid "weasily qualifiers" about Tubman, rather unsuccessfully in my opinion, but one can hardly fault her given her subject.
   
   Born Araminta Ross, Tubman was rented out as slave labor when she was about six years old. She later escaped to the north at age 27, then, defying all odds, made as many as nineteen return trips back into slave-holding territories in order to rescue as many as 300 other slaves. She also served in the Civil War as a spy, nurse, and armed soldier. About a year after her death, in 1914 a bronze tablet was laid at her home in the central New York town of Auburn where she lived for forty years, which includes her own description of her life work: "On my Underground Railroad I nebber run off de track and I nebber los' a passenger." Stubborn and stoic, dignified and determined, it's hard to fathom the bravery and brilliance it must have taken to do what she did. Tubman saw visions, heard the voice of God, and dreamed dreams as a truly fearless woman of faith. She also suffered from acute narcolepsy. By the time she died she was famous, which left me wondering why Lowry ends her biography in 1868, when Tubman still had another 45 years to live. Her book includes 62 photos, illustrations, and maps, along with extensive bibliographical sources for further study.



2. Wonderful and inspiring read. The author explores Tubman's spirituality as she herself used it to live a truly outstanding life.
   
   In a 12-step program or love someone who is? This book exemplifies how to "live in constant contact with the higher power of your personal choosing (Alcoholic Anonymous Big Book)" and what an extraordinary and fulfilling life that can result. Case in point - Harriet's mom is not grateful to be saved from slavery and moved up north where it is cold all the time and never lets Harriet forget it. Yet she responds with serenity even as she hides in a closet to get away from her nagging. She then asks for and takes direction from her higher power. Bill W. could not have written it better.



3. Very insightful - brings history to reality; I'm at Amazon now looking for other books by this author. She has fit so many details found from so many places to truly work a story. The author, like "the General" herself, is an excellent story teller. I couldn't wait to read more each night! Too, I liked that the author used third person to tell the story in an artful way, allowing me to both enjoy the saga as well as to know fact from conjecture. A tremendous telling of an amazing woman - the likes of which our generation has not known! Enjoy!



4. This book is part research document, part biography, and part interview woven into a touching story about one of America's bravest women. Harriet Tubman, Imagining a Life, by Beverly Lowry is a patchwork combining subtle hues of Tubman's enslaved childhood and the shadowy escapes and rescues of fellow captives, finely finished with her lifelong efforts on improving the lives of others.
   
   Glimpse into her life as a unique and amazing trailblazer. Our heroine Harriet was born into slavery in 1821and named Araminta Ross (Minty). A bright and hard-working child, at six years of age she was hired out to care for children not much younger than herself. She preferred physically demanding outdoor work to cooking and childcare, but always made the most of every situation.
   
   Slaves changed their names once free. This made it more difficult for the slave hunters to find them. One night Minty made her way out of bondage, safe house by safe house, night after night, on foot, by boat, step by arduous step. This is where a life of freedom begins for Harriet Tubman.
   
   Harriet returned numerous times to aid the flight of her enslaved family and friends. She sang songs in the night the others recognized. Codes were embedded in the lyrics so they would know if it was safe to begin the journey from a life of oppression.
   
   Lowry states, "... she had great instincts and a natural head for logistics, unusual peripheral vision, an irresistibly engaging manner, a great sense of humor, a fearless and single-focus temperament." Many believed Harriet had psychic powers because of her keen intuition. All of these attributes coupled with her physical strength and good sense equipped her for what she believed was God's work.
   
   Proof that one person can make a difference; I found the retelling of a familiar life inspirational. Harriet was not born into a family of great renown, yet she seized every new day with vigor and unselfishness, even until the very end.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Powerful story.

5 comments about Give Me My Father's Body: The Life of Minik, the New York Eskimo.

1. Storyline is very intriguing, but the writing is a bit droll. It is also longer than necessary.



2. Kenn Harper has managed to bring together an amazing story through detailed research. Minik, the Polar Eskimo child, was brought to the US by Robert Peary and essentially placed on display. The story of his disconnected life is full of pathos and sorrow. Yet Harper weaves the story with life.

   Peary's behaviors were simply egotistic and reprehensible. He treated the Eskimos as his property. He placed their lives in harms' way by bringing them to a culture and location that assaulted their senses and immune systems. Minik was the price paid for that deed.

   I did get bogged down in names from time to time, especially as Harper recounted the financial misdealings of Wallace, who had taken responsibility for Minik. But overall, the story is entertaining and enlightening. It speaks to the ethnocentrism of Peary's generation and to the isolation of the Polar Eskimos. It took me a long time to read and absorb this book but it was rewarding in the end... to see and feel a culture so far away.




3. Kenn Harper's Give Me My Father's Body is undeniably and superbly researched; easily the book's crowning achievement. Occasionally though, I was annoyed with the "what if" scenarios. At least twice in the book Harper says what would have happened if things had gone another way. In one instance, the book describes Minik's plan to return to the Greenland and to lead a group of Inuit to the North Pole. He hoped to attain international honour for his people. Harper made the declaration that even had Minik tried, there was no way that he would have been successful. He further added that Minik's desire to prove the superiority of his race was an ethnocentric idea no doubt learned from the white people of New York, that the Greenland Inuit would balk at such ideas and that, with nothing to gain but glory for their people, they would surely refuse to help Minik. Even if Harper's learned ethnocentrism theory is correct, Harper has no way of ever knowing what Minik could have accomplished had he tried. If Minik had learned such ideas from white people, who's to say the Greenland Inuit wouldn't in turn learn such ideas from Minik? The point is, no one knows what would have happened and it is futile to guess (even for the well-informed). Also, the edition of the book that I have, has included discussion questions at the end for readers groups. These are very laughable. To paraphrase a typical question, "Kenn Harper lives among the people that he writes about and is therefore the greatest historian and writer to ever write about Northern peoples. Discuss how his portrayal of Eskimos is the most accurate description ever to be put on paper." But despite the embarrassing readers club guide at the end and the occasional subjective statement from Harper, the book is eye-opening about the victims of science and was a pleasurable read.



4. This book is a must-read. The reader must come into it ready to make his or her own conclusions about the material, though, as it is written to persuade a certain viewpoint. With no other viewpoints offered to compare this one to, it is difficult to say for certain if this one is correct. The story is one that anyone interested in humanity, globalization, anthropology or just an interesting story should read.



5. Poor Minik, captured by white traders and brought to Manhattan to be a freak! It was the age of freaks, when everyone who was different was first taken away from their home, and then put on display. Minik found out that his beloved father had been stuffed and mounted for all to jeer at the New York Museum of Natural History.
   
   Author Harper has been through the files of the Museum and what he has come up with will convince even people who love the Museum, that reparations are in order. Eskimo people are not the only ones outraged at the long ago disposition of native relics. It is still worthy of outrage. What puzzles me is actor Kevin Spacey's interest in this affair. His preface to the book is well-written, not that I believe he actually put pen to paper to write it up, but clearly he has an emotional investment in this material and, from what I understand, he is planning to play Minik himself once his duties as Lex Luthor are finished in the new Superman movie. But why not let a native actor play the part? My in-laws who know Kenn Harper by reputation, and who have seen him speak in public, say that Spacey is part Inuit and hgas had a long interest in Peary's expeditions.
   
   Peary himself emerges from Harper's well-researched book as a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand he showed true courage in surmounting obstacles and sub zero temperatures. On the other hand he was not particular gifted in solving human personnel difficulties, and seems to have grown impatient if his will was crossed by others (or by the hand of God). We have all known men like Peary--impetuous, self-assured, and gifted. But few of us have known the crushing tragedy of Minik of Qaanaaq, of Greenland's icy shores.

3 comments about Days and Nights of Love and War.

1. This book is for anyone immersed in the human condition, waging a war internally and silently stuggling externally. Galeano's collection of thoughts and essays and stories stirs the emotions of the reader and forces them to consider the entirety of the Latin American canon of literature as a formidable one. It encompasses genres such as autobiography, biography, testimony, prose, and short story. This is poetry of the soul for the soul, and shouldn't be limited to those obscure literature classes dealing with oppression



2. The personal testimony of one of Latin America's foremost contemporary political writers, Eduardo Galeano's Days And Nights Of Love And War blends memoir journaling with an eloquent history to record the lives and struggles of the Latin American people under two decades of unimaginable violence and extreme repression. Galeano combines straight-forward reportage with personal vignettes, interviews, travelogues, and folklore with an impressive and engaging emotional enrichment that includes anger, irony, sadness, and humor. Days And Nights Of Love And War is very highly recommended for students of late 20th century Latin American political history and culture.



3. is as Galeano define "Days and Nights of Love and War". The author open the memory box and let escape the pain and the love, the sadness and the joy. That is not only his box, it's my box too, all latinoamericans' box. So, when we open it we live.

3 comments about Charles Goodnight, Cowman and Plainsman.

1. Being a shirtail relative of Charles Goodnight, Ihave been anxious to learn more of him. My mother was a Goodnight, but not a direct descendant. More like a great-great niece. Would like to here from anyone who may be related. The book is very informative. I have an early copy from about the 1940's.



2. This book is not only about Charles Goodnight, but it is an excellent source on the history of the Panhandle, especially the settlement of the Palo Duro Canyon. You'll learn about the land, the wildlife, and the men who came to tame them both. It's an excellent biography, and should be required reading for anyone who lives within a hundred mile radius of the Palo Duro canyon.



3. 
   
   My first indication this book existed was a chapter, entitled The Making of a Scout, that Ole Hosstail (Joe Austell Small) ran in TRUE WEST magazine back around August, 1966.
   
   Charles Goodnight was many things in the Texas Panhandle, pioneer, ranchman, Indian fighter, homesteader, leader and all around man 'with the bark on. One of the outstanding things he did, among all his other activities, was his work with the Bison (buffalo) saving a herd but also in achieving the 'cattalo' a cross between range cattle and the bison.
   
   This book was already 20 some years old when it crossed my trail, and though I have a good hardcover copy, it is a second printing. But no matter which copy one may have, it is definately a prime source of information and no small classic in its own right.
   
   In September, 2007, the University of Oklahoma will publish a newer biography of Charles Goodnight by William T. Hagan. Though having much fewer pages it will no doubt be worth having on a reader's western shelf as well.
   
   No matter what your western reading interest concerning the west, Charles Goodnight is almost a must read.
   
   Semper Fi.

5 comments about Josephine: A Life of the Empress.

1. This was my first read of Carolly Erickson, and I was enthralled by her writing style. Yes, the book reads like a novel, but I don't find this detrimental. One of the biggest problems with historical biographies are they are often heavy and dull, and I don't think this should be the case when describing extraordinary times and events. I felt like I was transplanted "into the period;" and while Josephine had qualities pro and con, I found her to be accessible and human. A lot of times with biographies, I ended hating the subject by the time I am done, because the author relishes revealing the subject's tarnished persona in such an unflattering light. Ms. Erickson's Josephine I liked, despite her evident flaws.

   My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?




2. This was my first read of Carolly Erickson, and I was enthralled by her writing style. Yes, the book reads like a novel, but I don't find this detrimental. One of the biggest problems with historical biographies are they are often heavy and dull, and I don't think this should be the case when describing extraordinary times and events. I felt like I was transplanted "into the period;" and while Josephine had qualities pro and con, I found her to be accessible and human. A lot of times with biographies, I ended hating the subject by the time I am done, because the author relishes revealing the subject's tarnished persona in such an unflattering light. Ms. Erickson's Josephine I liked, despite her evident flaws.

   My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?




3. This was my first read of Carolly Erickson, and I was enthralled by her writing style. Yes, the book reads like a novel, but I don't find this detrimental. One of the biggest problems with historical biographies are they are often heavy and dull, and I don't think this should be the case when describing extraordinary times and events. I felt like I was transplanted "into the period;" and while Josephine had qualities pro and con, I found her to be accessible and human. A lot of times with biographies, I ended hating the subject by the time I am done, because the author relishes revealing the subject's tarnished persona in such an unflattering light. Ms. Erickson's Josephine I liked, despite her evident flaws.

   My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?




4. This is a very well written book, and the author keeps the reader captivated as she tells the life story of Josephine, better known as Napoleon's first wife.
   
   For avid history buffs of the Napoleonic era, this book will offer scant new insights. If, however, you are only beginning to learn about the movers and shakers in imperial France, this may be a good jumping off point for you. Bear in mind that everyone is a secondary player to Josephine, so every one presented is colored by how they interacted with her-- and the author's mostly sympathetic portrayal of the woman.
   
   Josephine is not presented as a saint by anymeans in this book. She is, however, given a back story that allows us to have a greater understanding at how she could be both kind and charming while attempting to amass a fortune as a war profiteer.
   
   Ultimately this book is like cotton candy. Sweet and charming but leaving the reader wanting for more. I find that to be a good thing in this case, I'll be reading more about Josephine and her contemporaries in an attempt to gain an even larger understanding of her and the times she lived in.



5. Josephine (1763-1814) was born Rose Tascher on the French colonial island of Dominique. Her father raised her on a failing sugar plantation she wed a disssolute French aristocrat (who wa
   executed during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution)
   and had two children by him: Hortense and Eugene.
   Josephine met the young Corsican Napoleon and wed him. Napoleon knew she had connections in the government and married her for politcal reasons as well as to satisfy his lustful longings for the fetching Creole.
   Josephine was five feet tall, had rotting teeth and was unfaithful to Napoleon (as he was as well!). She could not produce a male heir and the Emperor divorced her to marry Marie Louise of Austria.
   Her life was one of glamour, love, rejection by her husband and dissolute living. Josephine was no saint but she was known
   for her loving kindness.
   Erickson has written a good biography of Josephine which introduces the reader to a fascinating woman living in amazing times.

2 comments about Magda Goebbels.

1. And producing 6 beautiful children! This is indeed one of the strangest biographies you'll ever read, not to mention fascinating thruout! Magda was educated at a Catholic school, had charm, beauty, and polish in abundance, and was the stepdaughter to a Jewish father..Friedlander was her maiden name.She fell for a leading German Zionest in early 1920's, then married a leading German industrialist, and divorced him to marry one of the three most infamous Nazis (along with Hitler and Himmler). Traveling in the highest of social circles, she became the ideal German mother, producing a child about every year with Goebbels, who was known for his incredible infidelities, not to mention anti-semitism, and general nastiness. Even so, obviously he had charm and personality. Anyway, just look at the family photo Mr. and Mrs. Goebbels, and you may agree a more beautiful set of children, including 5 girls, is a true rarity. Also, do not miss the photo of the 1943 audience of Goebbel's "Total War" speech. The entire audience, including Magda and her 2 daughters, is completely bewildered, possibly scared, during this "Total War" speech. This book is about perfect in showing how a German woman could sell her soul to the devil, her hubbie and Hitler. WE all know the horrifying ending, but this is still a truly fascinating, unique, if sometimes repellent read throughout!



2. Very few people, even WWII expert, know a lot about this woman, Magda Goebbels. I was astounded to learn about her background, her relationship with Arloseroff during her youth, her flirtation with conversion to Judaism and her relationship/admiration with Hitler. The book seems to be thouroughly researched although I guess that there are quite a few "artistic" addition to make the book more readable. It flows very smoothly and you often have the feeling that you are reading a novel. A lot about Magda's life cannot be explained rationally although the author tries to make some sense of her actions. The fact that she murdered six of her seven children because "life is not worht living without the Fuehrer" cannot be explained by any rational person.
   I found this book fascinationg and frightening. It did give me an insight however into the mindset of the people who followed Hitler: empty, unfullfilled lives without any values, morals or goals, drifters who were looking for a "guru" to fill their empty shells.

5 comments about Memoirs (George F. Kennan Memoirs).

1. His writing lacks coherency and he seems as though he genuinely has no knowledge of the subject, a thoroughly challenging book with no discernable benefit. The conclusion is inadequate and unjust, perhaps he should learn the facts first.



2. In a very different period of time, I have travelled to (or lived in) almost all the places described in these memoirs. Furthermore, I have confronted - a generation or so removed - many similar anecdotes, characters and bureaucratic missteps. This book has a ring of authenticity that is striking. It describes the ordinary and then shifts smoothly to the momentous. I have not found anything else quite like it. (Leigh White's 'The Long Balkan Night' has this similar feature, but it's the story of a journalist).

   With all of that said, I was nonetheless struck by Kennan's essential desire to survive by avoiding any personal risk. He was a successful bureaucrat. During his life, he derived his status entirely from his position, or membership in an organization, and not from any personal endeavour.

   How many today would naively do as Kennan and, during a whole career, derive status from membership? There are too many other things on offer. And the bureaucracy now is, well, too bureaucratic. Thank God.




3. This book is about the author of the "Long Telegram" in his own words. He helped lay the foundation for the Cold War that was eventually successful.
   
   For people who think Reagan won the Cold War, don't forget people like Kennan.
   
   We need more people like him in the diplomatic corps today.



4. George F. Kennan's Memoirs: 1925-1950 provide a fascinating personal and diplomatic history of these years based on his experience at the center of many of the most important events during his quarter century of diplomatic service. This history is interspersed with numerous insights from his philosophy of how US foreign policy should be formulated that are quite applicable today. Finally, Kennan's Memoirs provide a rich background that is useful in digesting his numerous books on diplomatic history. As John LeCarre put it, if a writer claims to have written the definitive work on the hill tribes of northern Burma, it would be useful to know that he has at least been south of Minsk. Kennan has definitely been east of Minsk.
   
   Kennan entered the Foreign Service in 1925 fresh out of Princeton and was posted to Berlin. Upon learning that the government paid a premium to officers with skills in exotic languages (pretty much any non-western European language), he enrolled in the Russian graduate program at the University of Berlin. After completing his Russian training, he was posted to Riga, Latvia, which served as the US listening post on Soviet affairs since we did not have diplomatic relations with Moscow until 1933. In 1933, Kennan was selected by the newly appointed ambassador to accompany him (as translator, aide, and country expert) on his first trip to Moscow, to open an embassy, find a suitable building, recruit local staff and so on. After a brief stay in Moscow, the ambassador returned to the US to recruit a diplomatic staff, leaving Kennan, about age 30, to fly solo as the only US diplomat in Russia.
   
   Reassigned to Prague in 1938, Kennan arrived on the same day as the Munich conference that effectively ended Czechoslovakia's existence. He stayed in place as the lone American diplomat in Prague for a year after the fall of Czechoslovakia, reporting on the German occupation. After a year, the Germans insisted that he move to Berlin to maintain his diplomatic status. He remained assigned to the Berlin embassy until Germany declared war on the US in 1941 and was then interned along with the rest of the US diplomatic mission. Throughout the six months that it took the US and Germany to arrange an exchange of diplomatic internees, Kennan was the senior US internee, with responsibilities for the entire staff. Upon arriving in Portugal after the exchange of personnel, he was notified that he and the other internees would not be paid their salaries for the last six months since they had not been working! Not discouraged by this resounding "Welcome Home", Kennan proceeded to negotiate the use of the Portuguese Azores as a refueling stop for US aircraft enroute to Britain, not a small feat since Portugal was under direct pressure from Franco's Spain (at Hitler's direction) to consider the serious impact that providing military bases to the allies would have on Spanish (and German) perceptions of Portugal's neutrality. Somehow, Portugal managed to provide the bases without being dragged into the war.
   
   Late in the war, Kennan returned to Moscow where as early as 1944 he observed that US and Soviet post-war goals were becoming increasingly incompatible. After Stalin's refusal to either assist the Polish uprising against their German occupiers in 1944 or to allow the US to provide assistance from bases in Soviet held territories had resulted in the slaughter of the Poles, Kennan increasingly advocated a distancing of US policy from support to the Soviet Union. In essence, his position was that we should recognize that we could do little of a practical nature to prevent the Red Army from occupying eastern and central Europe; on the other hand, we needed to make clear to the world that we neither supported nor condoned the occupation. Throughout this period, US policy seemed inflexibly wedded to the idea that the Soviet Union was one of our closest allies, despite the fact that Stalin had chosen to ally himself with Hitler rather than Britain and France when he concluded the 1939 Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact which enabled Hitler to invade Poland without fear of fighting a two front war.
   
   Kennan's trepidation about US-Soviet relations culminated in his "long telegram" from Moscow to the State Department which laid the foundations for the policy of containment. In Kennan's mind, containment was primarily a political and economic, rather than military, policy. His views led to the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe, thereby reducing the appeal communism to Europeans. As Secretary of State, General Marshall invited Kennan to form and lead a Policy Planning Staff with a charter to provide analytic papers and policy proposals directly to the Secretary. When Dean Acheson replaced Marshall as Secretary, he revised Kennan's charter to one of coordinating policy papers among the multitude of Assistant Secretaries (who could seldom agree on where to have lunch). Realizing that his job would become that of a bureaucratic coordinator rather than an independent advisor to the Secretary, Kennan retired from government service to pursue an academic career where he believed he might have more influence on US foreign policy.
   
   There is much in Kennan's Memoirs: 1925-1950 of continuing significance for American foreign policy. Some of his key observations include:
   
   * Regrettably, both the American people and their governments tend to seek universals in foreign policy, trying to apply the same policies to all countries despite their differences. We seem to have a similar naiveté in viewing all nations as either close friends of implacable foes, with no middle ground.
   
   * US foreign policy is too often based on domestic political concerns, particularly in thee next election. Our national leaders seem to have had a universal urge to claim that their diplomatic policies have been great successes. In reality, diplomacy is a two party relationship where success depends on both parties actions and on the existence of common goals. Pretending otherwise results in short sighted and inconsistent policies. Throughout WWII and the early post war years, our national leaders sought to collect domestic political capital by emphasizing how well they were getting along with Stalin.
   
   * The Anglo-American alliance won WWII but was not strong enough to win it without allying with one of our enemies (the USSR) and in the process we failed to make clear to ourselves and our people that this alliance was one of convenience and not one of shared values, principles, or goals. In reality, the only goal we shared was the defeat of Hitler.
   
   * Following the end of WWII, Soviet aggressive action against European countries not already overrun by the advance of the Red Army proceeded largely by means of Soviet recruitment, supply and encouragement of indigenous communist stooges, rather than by direct Soviet military action. The antidote for this threat, in Kennan's mind, was the economic redevelopment of Europe via the Marshall Plan, of which Kennan was a major conceptual contributor, not by direct US military involvement. Since the communist threat came from indigenous elements, rather that Soviet forces, direct US military involvement would have placed us in the position of the outside force opposing local political and military forces. Direct military involvement would have acted to our detriment and to the benefit of the local and Russian communists.
   
   * Kennan harkens back to George Washington's caution against entangling alliances. In his view, forming alliances is fraught with difficulties of inclusion and exclusion. There is a natural tendency toward inclusive alliances, which stems from the desire to make the alliance appear both broadly supported and formidable. However, not every country that might seek to join an alliance is a desirable candidate. Some may be geographically remote from the core of he alliance and, therefore, hard to protect. Some may not share the alliance's core values. Alliances are almost always directed against some actual, potential, or perceived threat, such as the many US led alliances against the Soviet Union. Expanding an alliance in a manner that encircles the adversary may provoke a more aggressive response than would have been forthcoming had the alliance been less encircling. On the other hand, one would not want to create the impression that a country was outside the alliance's area of interest by excluding it from alliance membership, unless, of course, it really was and we were prepared to see it overrun or its government overthrown.
   
   Sadly, Kennan's Memoirs: 1925-1950 are out of print. They deserve wider attention in both academia and government.



5. The first half was just amazingly well written, and surprisingly interesting--because the title and photo, the subject and the themes (politics and history in Eastern Europe and Russia, bio of a career foreign service man) didn't sound that exciting. But it won a Pulitzer and got high marks. I found the second half much less enthralling, got into politics and less about his adventures.

5 comments about He Shall Go Out Free: The Lives of Denmark Vesey (American Profiles (Rowman & Littlefield Paperback)).

1. This was an extraordinary book. Douglas Egerton does a marvelous job of telling the different lives of Denmark Vesey. The book is extremely well researched and tells the historical truth of Vesey's life. The author does a wonderful job of finding the true story of Denmark Vesey and incorporates intriging insights into his life. This is a wonderful book that illustrates what life was like for a dynamic slave who turned free. Egerton tells Vesey's story in a fascinating way and does a great job of recapturing Vesey's life. The author tells of how Vesey was a strong-willed, highly intelligent leader who had an ingenious plot to help slaves and free blacks to truly become free. The author shows how fascinating Vesey was even though his plan failed. This is a marvelous book and I highly recomend reading it! It is an absolute joy to read!



2. This is an excellent history of slavery in South Carolina with a focus on the unsucessful revolt led by Denmark Vesey. The strength of the book is the history of Vesey and the evolutionary process that leds him to his death.

   What is most intriguing was the discussion of Vesey's rejection of the New Testement as a guide for his actions and his use of the Old Testement as a guide. The book deals well with the issue of the effect of the masters use of the Christian faith as a justification for slavery on the slaves and freemens spiritual life.

   The only flaw in the book was the authors obvious admiration for Vesey. Not that such admiration is not deserved, but it tended to color some of the more difficult issues in Vesey's revolt. For instance, a major controversey has arisen concerning whether as part of the revolt the whites of Charleston were to be massacred. The author does not deal with the claim other than to dismiss is as illogical. However, this dismissal is insufficent given the hate and feellings for revenge that the slaves must have felt toward their masters.

   All in all, this is a very readable history important events in American history. A good read.




3. I have very mixed feelings about this book because there are parts that I enjoy and think are important, but as a whole I think that this is very dangerous not because of the content but because of how this book was written.
   
   For anyone who wants to understand the difference between field slaves and town slaves (there are a lot) in the 1820's in the South this is a good book. Douglas Egerton follows the life of the slave Denmark Vessey as a way to "show-off" Southern society and culture at the time and discusses issues that arose for enslaved and free blacks in Charleston.
   
   But the main part of the book is when Egerton gets to the failed insurrection by Vessey (a plan that involved killing a large portion of white Charleston and sailing on boats to Haiti). This too he describes in great detail from the planning of the revolt to how Vessey and his conspirators were tried and hanged.
   
   Then I read "Denmark Vessey and his Co-Conspirators" by Michael Johnson which appeared in the October 2001 issue of The William and Mary Quarterly. It is necessary that you read this in conjunction with Egerton's book. Johnson attacks the very evidence used by Egerton in his book (mainly trial documents) to claim that there wasn't a revolt at all and that Vessey and many others were killed because White Charleston "thought" there was a slave insurrection. He further argues that historians like Egerton have fabricated this entire plot and rewritten history, hence "co-conspirators."
   
   Personally, I don't agree with Johnson that there was no revolt, but he convinced me that Egerton's evidence isn't adequate to say there was. Egerton did write a response to Johnson which pushed that there was in fact a revolt but doesn't even acknowledge that a lot of his evidence is faulty.
   
   I got the chance to meet and discuss the issue with the author and got little besides a character assassination of Johnson. I cannot deny that his lack in recognizing his mistakes and trying to correct them has made me biased and I like his book a lot less. He sees it as a finished product, I see it as a rough draft that needs to be re-researched. But I think that this is the real issue here. Historians make mistakes, but when we are too prideful our mistakes can become what many see as the truth. I'm not saying that Denmark Vessey's slave revolt never happened, I don't know, but the attitude of historians like Egerton is dangerous because it provides the right conditions for this "rewritten history" to occur.
   
   In Egerton's defense he did make a revised addition at the urging of his publisher (not on his own accord), but the changes are menial, the biggest he said was confirming that one town slave was a mulatto and not completely black, and he wants to later include how Vessey's wife, Beck, ended up in Liberia. To me, this was no effort to revisit any of the old evidence that is inadequate, just adding more fluff.
   
   The other issue (others have mentioned) is that the Vessey is almost deified in this book. And yes I realize that it is convenient for me, as a white person, to say that killing all of the whites in Charleston is morally bankrupt, but Egerton doesn't even try to address this issue anywhere in his book.



4. The Lives of Denmark Vesey is a story of an atypical slave (Telemaque) born in the Caribbean who ends up in Charleston, South Carolina by the time he's sixteen. Vesey, having learned three languages, was extremely intelligent compared to slaves of his time and would later lead a slave revolt in Charleston.
   
   Douglas Egerton does a great job of vividly describing Charleston and many of its inhabitants in the early 19th century. This interesting and astonishing book about a slave in the early 1800s is very accurate and truthfully coincides with many historians living in Charleston today. I recently did a report comparing Egerton's book to various sources of the known history of Charleston in the late 18th and early 19th century, and Egerton's book hits on all the main aspects of Charleston. The buzzard and manure infested streets and the large "underground" slave population that roamed the streets at night are just a few of the characteristics of Charleston Egerton accurately hits on. Props to Egerton on an interesting and accurate story about a monumental aspect of Charleston's history.



5. I enjoyed the book and would encourage my folks to read it. It is so hard to get an unbiased history of Denmark Vesey. I am looking for African descened historians to give me an accurate picture.
   
   Considering the author isn't a black historian, he gives a pretty, fair and balanced view of Denmark. I believe the truth is a problem for many people, but I am relatively satisfied this book.
   
   It is beyond belief that some folks would have a problem with enslaved humans rising up and slaughtering thoe with their foot on their necks. These same people don't seem to having a problem with the the whites slaughtering, maiming, and raping, terrorizing and working to death the Africans. Go figure!
   
   I highly recommend.

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