4 comments about All but the Waltz: A Memoir of Five Generations in the Life of a Montana Family.

1. I am in this book



2. While I enjoyed this book - it made me aware of just how fragmented my own family history is. How I wish my ancestors had written (or kept) diaries and especially wish they had written on the backs of all those old photos to know what states, counties, cities, villages they were in at the time of the photograph and what was the event or celebration, etc. Thanks for a good read, Ms. Blew



3. The book All but the Waltz is something you should read if you are interested in learning some things about Montana life from the 1880's on. You should only read this book if you have patience because it skips around a lot. The book is a lot of stories put together and don't really ever tie together. If that bothers you then you shouldn't read this book but if it doesn't then I think that you would like this book.



4. This fine book is a collection of essays that weave together remarkable accounts of four generations of the author's ancestors, from their settlement in central Montana in the 19th century to the latter years of the 20th. Pioneers of strong fortitude, originating in Pennsylvania, her father's family, the Hogelands, are among the first settlers along the headwaters of the Judith River.
   
   Good years, wise management, and a faith in the rewards of hard work serve them well - until the early death of the author's grandfather, followed by a decade of severe drought and then the Great Depression. While half of the homesteaders around them go broke and move on, her family continues to scrape a living from the land, the women on her mother's side of the family supplementing their incomes with teaching in remote one-room country schools.
   
   Reconstructing her family's story, the author brings vividly to life her father and mother, grandmothers, aunts, and her great-grandparents. She deciphers and transcribes the writings of her great-grandfather Abraham, interviews living relatives, and studies family photographs, many of which are included in her book. While the primary theme of the book is the survival of her family, she also has much to say about the role of women, focusing on the circumstances that invariably compromised their hopes and aspirations.
   
   There is her father's mother, Grammy, who does the work of a man while providing home and shelter for a live-in hired man without benefit of clergy. There's her mother's mother, who teaches school into her seventies to support her family and pay for her husband's care in a nursing home. There's the author's aunt Imogen, who remains unmarried and also teaches school. There's the author's mother, who marries a handsome cowboy and then struggles to make a place for herself in her husband's domineering family.
   
   Meanwhile, the men in her stories make equally interesting studies, especially her strong-willed father, Jack, who's a natural horseman and top hand; her mother's father, who cannot withstand the pressures of a lonely, hard life on the prairie; and a husband in later years, a wildcat oilman who is in complete denial that he is dying of pulmonary fibrosis.
   
   I highly recommend this well-written, absorbing and sometimes harrowing book that renders such a vivid picture of Montana homesteaders and the extremes of rural life. Thanks to the University of Oklahoma Press for keeping it in print. Readers of this book will also like Judy Blunt's memoir of growing up on a Montana ranch, "Breaking Clean."

5 comments about RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon.

1. Nixon became president the month I was born and had left the scene before I became politically aware. Nobody spoke of him during the 70's, or of Johnson for that matter - they belonged to a past era which nobody much wanted to revisit, and so I knew very little about either of them as a kid or teen.
   
   By resigning Nixon had admitted at least some guilt in the vast number of things he was accused of and his abdication was a political cataclysm. Through my childhood years he lived out his old age as a pariah off in San Clemente, California, the personification of the period of enormous turbulence during the height of the Vietnam war. He was the living embodiment of the dark heart and excess of the GOP, and everyone, especially in Democratic Massachusetts, considered him a cancer on the body politic and was happy he was gone.
   
   But his resignation was sincere and he was mostly contrite. In retirement he was a sad old giant in exile and after a while the Press which had hounded him out of office allowed him some dignity as an elder statesman and left him alone.
   
   He's nothing like the caricature I expected. I have to say - I really like him. He's very thoughtful, well spoken, modest, with good intentions towards the country and had a warm, respectful dialogue with the major statesmen and characters of the day.
   
   It's a beautifully written book. It was easy to see how he had become a leader. He had the air of solid, calm composure and reasonableness which I admire. As for doublespeak tendencies, the clues are missing for someone who didn't live through that time period.
   
   The contrast with Bush could not be more clear. Maybe the candor came from Nixon's retirement, but I can't imagine Bush being this straight and honest with his audience. POTUS 43 isn't smart or eloquent enough to write this kind of book, and he's too secretive to make that leap of trust with the little people to allow them into his mind.
   
   Of course Nixon was at least as bad as Bush - he was famous for having a blind-spot as big as a barn, which one can see in his writing. Despite the resignation, he wasn't entirely remorseful - he saw himself as the victim of many media conspiracies and other antagonists, both real and imagined. But Nixon has the breadth of worldview and honesty with himself, and by extension the reader, to allow us into his world.
   
   His dark tendencies had other origins. In an era when 30 soldiers were being killed in Vietnam every single day - over ten times the volume of Iraq - and the world convulsing in protest and chaos around them, Nixon's lieutenants and were just brutalized by their environment and lost their sense of direction and fought back with every realpolotik' weapon and dirty trick they could imagine.
   
   Nixon himself is much too close to the action to see how complicit he was - and as the leader he was de-facto fully culpable. But he did take responsibility resign over it - so if it is noble to forgive, then he deserves some rest.
   
   My folks on the other hand strongly disliked Nixon because they thought the GOP machine had sabotaged all the moderate Democratic primary candidates, leaving only Muskie and worse, McGovern, who were far too weak and radical. So he had effectively dismantled the American democratic process - even aside from the Watergate bugging and coverup. Nixon's Southern Strategy of making the GOP a safe place for whites upset by the Civil Rights movement, is still the dominant fault-line in American politics.
   
   Now, after the cancer has been lanced and we have survived him, Nixon's transgressions feel like water long past under the bridge. I'm only sad and sorry that he passed away. He was a wise, complex man and this book shows that his shadow is still very large.



2. I read it twenty-five years ago and just read it again. Fast paced until he gets bogged down in justifying his actions in Watergate. Nixon was an excellent writer, but his self-justification requires you to read other bios of the 37th President. From Jerry Vorhis to Alger Hiss to John Dean, a great take on postwar American history by someone who was there.



3. what this man did was wrong in terms of his involvement and his support of bullying in the whitehouse. This man was seen as one of the most liberal presidents and founded the Environmental Protection agengy as well as food stamps and strove to implement far reaching welfare reforms. He did many things we equivocate with democratic setbacks, and we have to wonder how much the nation suffered. He tried to protect himself under the presidency: Was he attacked? The FBI tried to sheild us from this man, and we have to wonder where the balance lies. Surely this man did great things perhaps as no president has done after him for social reform. Much to ponder. In later years, he confessed to wrongdoing and advised several presidents without want of attention or credit.I tend to like Mr. Nixon, but tend also to grieve his past actions against the war demonstrators in terms of actions he could not implement as he did not have the support of the FBI. The problem was the wire tapping of journalists, and the breaking into a psychiatrists office to try to get info on one of the journalists who oppose Nixon. Yes,much to think about. Am I bothered by racial remarks he's made on tape when he tried to institute the largest welfare program since FDR saved us from the depression? Save for perhaps Kennedy..No. I think his actions counterbalance the remarks he's made. The wiretapping and the break in are his shame, more so the wiretapping as I'm not sure about the extent of the involvement he had in that. I enjoy Mr. Nixon's attempt to guide the nation via advice of succeeding presidents and look forward to reading thE progressive social policy that's in his seven books.



4. It was risky business for Nixon to write an autobiography for at least a couple of reasons. First, his many detractors would clearly be quick to jump on any discrepancies in the work. Second, as more and more classified information is released by the government, Nixon stood to become a well-documented liar, assuming that there were a few stretchers herein -- and Nixon would have known that such information would be forthcoming someday. Still, he had the brass to write it, and it's a darn fine book.
   
   This autobiography is somewhat unusual in that, not only did Nixon write the book, he also wrote IN to the book, even though he, himself, may not have realized this. In other words, we can tell a LOT about Nixon just by reading between the lines of this one. We can detect when he felt adversarial about someone (the media, for example), and we get a clear feel for some of his well-known (and often well-deserved) paranoia.
   
   Some will bluntly say that Nixon was a crook. Perhaps this is correct but he was an incredibly intelligent and complex man and many positive initiatives were achieved during his long tenure as U.S. President. Of course, he covers all these events in the book and we get a feeling of having the inside scoop for having read about them in this work. So, really, this volume is an excellent "history book" for the era that it covers (essentially, the period from Nixon's birth up through the Watergate affair).
   
   Probably the most profound facet of "R.N." that I picked up on was that Nixon was a huge patriot. He fostered incredibly strong beliefs in manifesting his visions for a great America -- of course, his facilitation of some of those ideas is what got him into trouble.
   
   Nixon remained necessarily vague in certain details of the Watergate scandal and a few cracks in his story have already emerged as a direct result of Privacy Act releases. No doubt, a few more will be forthcoming. But honestly, many of these "events" are simply a matter of perspective, Nixon's paradign versus that of his enemies. In these cases, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
   
   I most enjoyed reading about Nixon and his family as he grew up which is a large portion of the book. Nixon was a hard worker and, frankly, I admire his achievement of becoming President, since he was one of the few who made this life-leap, absent a silver spoon.
   
   I read MANY books (3 a week for years) and "R.N." is one of the top 20 books I've ever read and it's in the top 5 of my non-fiction list. Don't be put off by politics in this instance -- this tome of an autobiography is a real page-turner and well-done.



5. I must first warn the reader that this book is 1000 page plus. Second, the 1000 plus pages are a great read. I won't write a very long review- 1) because I read this book over 2 years ago, and 2) I'll just go right to the main reasons why this book is great, 3) previous reviewers have good insight into the book for people who are considering reading this book and I've found their reviews well written.
   
   This book, unlike a few of the other presidential memoirs, begin with Nixon's birth to the end of his presidency. It spans his entire life before the Presidency, and his entire political career, not just his life in the White House. (Nixon begins the first chapter by saying "I was born in the house that my father built" or something to that effect). While Nixon wrote his first autobiography, Six Crisis, after losing his first bid for the White House to John F Kennedy- he repeats much of his explanations on the 6 crisis in this book as well.
   
   It is pretty fun following Nixon's career from Congress to the Vice Presidency to his bid for the White House, losing it, losing the California Gubnatorial (spelling?) race, his thoughts on the 1964 election and his life in the wilderness and then finally to the Presidency. I don't know if a ghost writer was used, but the book is very fluent and flows really well. It is not a tough read and reading it makes time pass well.
   
   Nixon doesnt spend too much time in great detail on unimportant aspects or policies, unlike some other presidential memoirs. His writing on the foreign policies that he took is great: the China trip is the highlight of this book. His discussions on the Vietnam War and the actions he took is extremely interesting. I am sure historians had great fun reading this book.
   
   Nixon goes on to describe very well why he started taping his own conversations on the phone and in the Oval Room. He begins by explaning how Lyndon Johnson showed him all the recording devices he kept.
   
   The book takes a downturn when Nixon begins to describe how he was completely innocent during and after the Watergate break-in. He goes onto extremely minute details to describe how he had absolutely no idea about the break-in and how he was in the dark for a long time after the fiasco. While Bill Clinton takes the blame full on to himself for the Monica Lewinsky scandal and admits guilt in his book, MY LIFE, Nixon uses various tactics and scenarios to indicate how he knew nothing. The descriptions go on and on, confusing the reader as to what the hell is happenning. But even when he goes on to begin describing the incident(s), it becomes obviously clear that he knew and was involved in the cover-up and the illegal actions that he took. He quickly skips over the part where the 23 minute (was it 23?I cant remember) is deleted and blames it on his secretary. Reading this book proved to me that Nixon was guilty.
   
   After I read the book, I was very fascinated by President Nixon. I watched Oliver Stone's movie 4 times in over 5 years. Nixon was definitely a complex character. He indeed was a man who could easily have been a great man. I do feel sorry for him; and am happy that by the time he passed away, he regained much of his stature - although as Nixon himself admitted, he will always be remembered for Watergate. As I mentioned above, after reading this book, I've become very interested in all things Nixon, like his movie, his other books, articles about him, his relationship to other Presidents, other world leaders and Henry Kissinger- and also on what they thought about him (Gerald Ford - "Sometimes I don't know why I pardoned the bastard"). For the political geek- this book is definitely a must read.

5 comments about Return to Dragon Mountain: Memories of a Late Ming Man.

1. This book is very well written and well worth reading. It depicts the life and the world of Zheng Dai, a well-educated bureaucrat (who did not go very high in the hierarchy but still managed to write the history of the Ming dynasty till its overthrow by the Manchus), but also many other interesting characters.
   An extract will show how much this book, though supposed to happen in the 17th century, is still very relevant today.
   "Within five years (...) this tea that Zhang and his uncle had named Snow Orchid had ousted its rivals from the conoisseurs' circles. But it was not long before unscrupulous businessmen began to market inferior teas under the Snow Orchid brand name, and those who drank it seemed not to know they were being gulled. A short time later, even the water source itself was lost. First, entrepreneurs from Shaoxing tried to use the water for wine making or else opened tea shops right by the spring itself. Next, a greedy local official tried to monopolize the spring's water for his own use and sealed it off for a while. But that increased the spring's reputation to such an extent that rowdy crowds began to gather at the shrine, demanding food, firewood and other handouts from the monks there and then brawling when they were refused. At last, to regain their earlier tranquility, the monks polluted their spring by filling it with manure, rotting bambo and the overflow from their own drains."
   Professor Spence is a great historian and we are all in his debt.



2. This book is an evocative depiction of Ming society in China through the eyes of contemporary historian Zhang Dai. It's not a history book or a biography, but rather a snapshot of life in the late Ming dynasty. Particularly fascinating are the details of everyday gentry life, particularly in its varied and colorful amusements and hobbies, such as staging plays, tea connoisseurship, how people celebrated holidays, music, boating, antique collecting, poetry, etc., and in the duties expected of gentry, such as studying for and passing the bureaucratic exams to hold office. Also very interesting were the descriptions of Zhang's various relations (grandfathers, uncles and cousins) who varied to extremes in character and revealed much about different expressions of human nature within the social norms of the times. I felt this book truly brought ancient China alive for the reader and that alone makes this book a worthwhile read.



3. According to the review by the Washington Post ,"historian Zhang Dai's long life, which began in 1597 and ended around 1680, spanned the Ming Dynasty's final, turbulent decades and its overthrow by the invading Manchus. His writings were an attempt to record a lost way of life. They include a Ming dynastic history, profiles of public figures and dreamlike sketches of scenes from his youth. Spence draws on these documents, additional research by other scholars and his deep knowledge of Ming culture to portray the inner universe of a remarkably versatile and sympathetic figure.".
   
   I have read many books by Jonathan Spence.His historical works on China in particular "Treason by the Book" are excellent.Spence said he took several years to research and write this latest work of his. Unfortunately he appears to have only scratched the surface. This is not a full biography.I finished this book knowing only sketches of Zhang Dai.In that respect i was disappointed with this book which i had earlier bought with great expectations.



4. I bought this book on a whim, partly because of interesting reviews.
   
   But once I got it, I got hooked. It is a very readable book about a man who lived in a very different culture from our own. It is organized by theme, rather than by date. That is, it is not so much a biography as a portrait of the man and his times and the culture in which he lived. There are mini-sketches of the struggle of the upper classes to pass the scholarly tests for admission to the bureaucracy (a struggle that sometimes consumed decades); of Zhang Dai's mini-adventure with a very special tea that he discovered; the role and prevalence of prostitutes in his culture; his trips to visit natural spots, shrines, and monasteries, and much more.
   
   I tend to dip into many books, but read very few cover-to-cover. This one I'm reading cover-to-cover and almost done. So on my scale of interesting-ness it rates high; much higher than I expected when I bought the book.
   
   It is a portrait of a very privileged but also a very human person. If the idea of spending a few hours with such a person appeals to you, then I think you'll enjoy this book.
   
   And if you're like I was -- only vaguely intriged -- I'd recommend that you give it a try. Give serendipity a chance to strike. :-)



5. As usual, Memories is a well researched Spence book. However, this reads more like a compilation of graduate student papers that were edited by Spence. It could also serve as a very long preface to the actual works. There are very few translated/paraphrased passages and a lot of interpretation and overview. We are told that the works themselves are huge and highly nuanced with important references to (for most western readers) obscure literary figures.
   
   The translated passages are evocative. The analysis is dry. I kept wishing for more first person memories.

5 comments about Barbara Jordan: American Hero.

1. IT IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!



2. Too often the reviews of biographies and history books end up reviewing the actual person or subject rather than the book. Barbara Jordan was a great, great woman. There's no doubt about that. Of all history's politicans, religious leaders, civil rights advocates, political figures and intellectuals, she is the one person who truly shows us all how we should handle the issue of race in this country.

   This book honored her. It was truly a great read. Descriptive, informative and thought provoking. Whenever I ask someone about Barbara Jordan, they always respond with something like, "Wow, have you ever heard her speak?" I was born too late to hear her more popular speeches. But, the author's effective use of excerpts from Jordan's speeches makes me feel like I was right there watching her. This well researched book gave me a deeper understanding of the events of the Nixon impeachment process, the Carter Administration, politics in itself and the plight of both African Americans and women in government. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.




3. This is a well written and effective biography of one of America's most amazing personalities. Mary Beth Rodgers tells Jordan's story with the advantage of being an insider; her access to those who knew Jordan well shows in her insightful and complete telling of Jordan's life.

   Jordan is widely remembered by her public persona, the booming orator from Texas - the intellectual constitutional scholar who presided over Nixon's impeachment. But element that makes this biography compelling is Rodgers' depiction of the wheeling and dealing that allowed Jordan to cross barriers and operate effectively in the good-old-boy white male backrooms of the Texas Senate. We get to see Jordan the idealist armed with the constitution in our nation's capital, but we also get to see Jordan the pragmatist cutting deals over a scotch in Austin Texas.

   An effective biography of an amazing American figure.




4. This was a very inspirational book. Barbara Jordan's life was really incredible and the reason she accomplished as much as she did had to do with her innate abilities as well as her willingness to deal with the enemy. She kept her overriding goal utmost - the welfare of the people of East Texas.

   Lots of what she experienced and spoke out against we see today. We could really use her moral voice of authority. She is missed.




5. I'm glad that Jordan is not hear to see how the gov't of the people, for the people, by the people has been so completely perverted by special interests and neo patriots, such as George W. Bush and John Ashcroft. I was only a boy, when like many, I was captivated by this incredible person. She gave me hope that govt could actually serve the people. This book does a great job to capture her spirit and remind us that govt was once a tool and not force for opression.

4 comments about Napoleon's Master: A Life of Prince Talleyrand.

1. I am writing this review on a fantastic book, and I'm not finished reading it. I expect to finish it within the next 24 hours, and can hardly put the book down. For years I've been intrigued by Talleyrand, but never bothered to delve further into his life. I concentrated, like many others, on Napoleon. However, this book changes my opinion of Napoleon, and turns Talleyrand into less of a "rascally fellow," but rather an astute politician diplomat who shaped the world from the French Revolution to today. The author quotes from primary sources (Napoleon and Talleyrand's words) and both have a contemporary feel. In fact, I've been making notes on Talleyrand's advice and social skills as he managed in difficult diplomatic times There are many scenes that the author includes--Talleyrand's putting up the deposed Spanish Royal family, and trying to get the young princes to "read," and his intriguing trip to America and a backwoods trip to upstate New York. Talleyrand was everywhere and saw almost everything. Even Napoleon regretted not taking his astute advice. Yet, at the heart of the man was his love of France, concern for Europe's balance of power, and peace.



2. A sympathetic biography of a statesman who was involved in French politics during the more interesting periods of that nation's history: the ancien regime, French Revolution, Directory, Napoleonic era, and restoration.
   Charles Maurice de Talleyrand (1754-1838) was a controversial figure (arch betrayer or practical patriot, depending on one's viewpoint) who served his country in a diplomatic manner during the tumultuous periods listed above.
   David Lawday's book provides the English reader with the relevant facts presented in a basically chronological manner. Many of Talleyrands's bons mots and anecdotes are included, and Mr. Lawday captures some of the statesman's style in his own prose.
   Other books, such as those written by Duff Cooper (Talleyrand) and Crane Britton (The Lives of Talleyrand), deal with the life of the statesman, but Lawday's book focuses on the pivotal relationship he had with Napoleon Bonaparte. Talleyrand helped to foster the career of the young Corsican, encouraged Napoleon's autocratic leanings, but ultimately opposed the emperor's expansionist foreign policy. The dispute over France's place in European affairs eventually led to a conflict where Talleyrand supported Napoleon's foreign adversaries. Furthermore, after Bonaparte's military defeat and exile, Talleyrand encouraged the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy as a preferable alternative. Yet Lawday emphasizes the mutual respect and admiration that both men had for each other throughout their interwoven lives.
   Napoleon's Master is a well-written, well researched book that can be enjoyed by those interested in French history, biography, diplomatic history, and political intrigue.
   Paul W.



3. I have been fascinated with Talleyrand since reading Duff Cooper's biography on Talleyrand when I was in college. I look forward to a new biography on Talleyrand because Cooper's biography is a bit dated. I have to admit I was disappointed in Lawday's treatment of Talleyrand, not because he was overly harsh; rather he seemed to have lost his objectivity concerning the subject of the biography. Talleyrand was an opportunist, slimy and lacking a moral compass. He was guilty of high treason, even though he claimed, to be a patriot protecting France from Napoleon. It is still treason, why, because he was serving in the Government. He refused no monies or awards offered to him by Napoleon. One interesting aspect is that at one point, Talleyrand was soliciting funds from Alexander I. Could you imagine the uproars if a former US Secretary of State was soliciting fund from Putin to pay off their debts. Read "Rites of Peace" by Adam Zamoyski to obtain an unbiased view of Talleyrand. Is this a bad book, no, it is a very entertaining read. In the final analysis Talley was not the patriot. Lawday makes him out to be, nor was Napoleon the buffoon that was portrayed in the book. I anxiously a wait "Talleyrand: Betrayer and Saviour of France" by Robin Harris to see another version of Talleyrand's life.



4. Talleyrand es un personaje controvertido, que vivió uno de los periodos más turbulentos en la historia de Europa.La caída del Antiguo Régimen, la llegada del Terror y,luego, la espectacular entrada en escena de Napoleón, sus guerras de talante épico y su dramática decadencia.
   El Sr. Lawday logra cautivar con su elegante prosa, su conocimiento acabado del personaje y, lo que es aún más difícil, devolver a la vida al Príncipe de la diplomacia.

5 comments about Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Pol Who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York.

1. Great book for those who love New York History. Or US history for that matter. From Sheriff of NYC to the White House! This book is an eye opener on how corrupt politics were and currently are.
   
   Question: Can this or does this still happen?



2. The story of Boss Tweed, one of the greatest political swindlers of all time, and how the New York Times and a cartoonist named Thomas Nast brought him down makes for a real page-turner of a book.
   
   This book is illustrated with many of Nast's cartoons and excepts from the Times (including the table showing the routing of money through various bank accounts--discovered through painstaking researxch and tracing of money and vouchers across many accounts and ledgers--which was the astounding smoking gun that finally did Tweed in) giving the reader a real feel for the story.
   
   Fascinating to see the man in all his complexity, he may have swindled millions from the New York coffers (at a time when you could live in comfortable affluence on around $5,000 a year) but he was also responsible for a great many public works, including the Brooklyn Bridge, and for helping the poor of his city.
   
   Those in power over his arrest and confinement don't acquit themselves with honours either making Tweed's tale even more morally complex, especially as none of his co-conspiritors were ever jailed. An interesting man living in interesting times.



3. Riveting, powerful biography of the life and times of Boss Tweed. Somehow this relentless recitation of the rise and fall of a politician both modernly generous and corrupt captures the spirit of the man and his contemporaries with humor and compassion. Couldn't put it down.



4. William M. Tweed didn't exactly invent voter fraud, patronage jobs, and grafting, but he made those shameful New York mainstays yield greater gains than ever before. In "Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Pol Who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York", Kenneth Ackerman revisits the dark side of the Gilded Age, a time when robber barons and shady financiers like Jim Fisk and Jay Gould hatched plots that nearly demolished the U.S. economy, such as Black Friday 1869.
   
   `Boss' Tweed's own underhanded bill-padding nearly bankrupted the city of New York, but unlike Fisk or Gould, he served the public while stealing from it. Recognizing that the influx of Irish and other European immigrants represented a tidal wave of voters, Tweed championed the working class and the poor, and turned Tammany into a semi-official welfare organization. He succeeded in accomplishing home rule for the City of New York and backed the development of Central Park and other beautification projects. But this appealing veneer was a smokescreen for his abuse of public funds, vendettas against political rivals, and gratuitous awarding of expensive `no show' jobs to friends. One especially flagrant abuse was the construction of the `Tweed Courthouse', which was budgeted in 1858 at $250,000 and ended up costing $12 million, with the surplus being pocketed by Tweed and other agents of the Tammany machine. It took the combined effort of New York Times owner George Jones, iconic cartoonist Thomas Nast, and future governor Samuel Tilden to expose him and put him behind bars.
   
   Ackerman has handled Tweed's story well. He resists the temptation to portray his subject as "Santa Claus with a diamond pin" as one contemporary dubbed the cagey politician, but doesn't dismiss him as a total villain either. "Boss Tweed" is a balanced look at an era when New York's political arena was a circus, and the corpulent Tweed was its ringmaster.



5. This book is an excellent biography of Boss Tweed. It makes history come alive.
   
   I remember learning about Boss Tweed in high school, but not in this level of detail. If school children had this type of biographical history in their hands, they would see how interesting and fun reading history can be. I especially found interesting - and I did not know - how Boss Tweed tried to escape justice and how he made his way down to Florida, then to Cuba, and then on to Spain. Only to be picked up by a US frigate dispatched to pick him up.
   
   This book makes for very interesting reading. You will learn some history of New York, about boss-type politics, the operation of political machines, and as someone trained in accounting and as a seecurities attorney I found the description of the financial fraud Boss Tweed and his associates committed very interesting, including the pictures of the actual ledgers, etc.
   
   Excellent biography. I highly recommend it.

No comments about 274 Things You Should Know About Churchill.

2 comments about The House of Mitford.

1. Mr. and Ms. Guinness' massive biographical study of their family is tremendously interesting to any devoted reader of the Mitfords. However, their attempts to rehabilitate the legacy of unrepentant fascists Diana (Guinesses' mother--so it's an understandable lapse) and Unity are nearly comical in their reach. They go to great lengths to discredit those who've criticized Unity and Diana's reprehensible involvement in and enthusiasm for Hitler and his British minions, including of course Diana's husband, Mosley; rather than adequately contextualize Diana and Unit's fervor, these attempts serve only to make themselves appear as familial apologists.

   As scholars, the father-and-daughter biographers are lacking in appropriate perspective and historical context; however, the "insider" information they impart makes the book a veritable treasure chest of Mitfordiana.




2. Really a fascinating study on one of the British Upper Class's most contriversial families. It really is the limit though, how the author tries to excuse the support of some of the sister's for the Third Reich, granted this was the feeling of most of the Upper Class at the time, they loved the idea that some people, namely themselves, were naturally superior to the rable. You see this in such films as Gosford Park and Remains of the Day. Having said that, this book is very good, it really lets you in to the lives of the British Aristocracy of this era. These woman are to the manor born and never let anyone forget it. They chose different paths, but I really don't think deep down they are all that different, as an American this is all so foreign, but fascinating non the less, though it makes me appreciate the Revolution.

2 comments about Memoirs of a Revolutionary (Sightline Books).

1. 
   As I have noted in my review of Leon Trotsky's memoir My Life (click see all my reviews) today's public tastes dictate that political memoir writers expose the most intimate details of their private personal lives in the so-called public square. Here, as in Trotsky's memoir, Serge will offer up no such tantalizing details. These old time revolutionaries seem organically averse to including personal material that would distract from their political legacies. That is fine by me. After all that is why political people, the natural audience for this form of history narrative, appreciate such works. Contemporary political memoir writers take note.
   
   Serge was a militant from his youth. However the October 1917 Russian Revolution is the real start of his political maturation and wider political influence. I believe the reader will find the most useful information and Serge's most insightful political analysis dates from this period. Serge became a secondary Communist leader after the Bolshevik seizure of power and in various capacities, most notably as a journalist for the Communist international, witnessed many of the important events in and out of Russia in the 1920's and 1930's. Moreover, for a long period of time he was a key member of the Trotsky-led Left Opposition to the rise of Stalinism which formed in the Russian Communist Party and later in the Communist International in the 1920's. Serge eventually broke politically with Trotsky in the late 1930's over the class nature of the Soviet state and organizational differences on the role of the revolutionary party in the struggle and in power. Serge's later politics and activities are murky, somewhat disoriented and the subject of controversy (see the Appendix in Memoirs and my review of Serge's book Kronstadt). However, Serge's analysis and insights as a witness to this period of history retain their value, especially his analysis of the, for leftists, very troublesome Stalinist purges and terror campaigns of the 1930's.
   
   Thus, as with Trotsky's memoir, you will find a thoughtful political self-examination by a man trying to draw the lessons of the degeneration of the Russian Revolution, the subsequent defeats of the international working class movement, the devastating destruction of the fellow revolutionary cadre who made and administered the early Soviet state while still defending the gains of that revolution. Overshadowing these concerns is a constant personal struggle to maintain one's revolutionary integrity at all costs. That is, not to wind up like Bukharin or Zinoviev and the like, compromised and lost to the struggle for socialism. All this, moreover, and perhaps hardest of all still maintain a sense of revolutionary optimism for the future organization of human society.
   
   Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin once commented that in the run-up to the October Revolution the political whirlwind stirred up by that revolution inevitably brought those individuals and organizations looking for the resolution of the revolutionary dilemma into the Bolshevik orbit. This was most famously the case with Trotsky's Petersburg Inter-District organization that fused with the Bolsheviks in the fateful summer of 1917. That same whirlwind later drew in the best elements of the Western labor movement as word of the revolution reached the outside world. Previously, Serge had been close to the French anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist movement but as happens in great revolutions he, like other militant anarchists, was drawn to the reality of the Soviet experiment despite political differences over the question of the state. Despite this he, generally, like the non-Bolshevik militants served the revolution with distinction. Thus, this fateful political decision to cast his personal fate with the Russian Revolution led him to the series of political adventures and misadventures that enliven his memoir.
   
   At the beginning of the 21st century when socialist political programs are in decline it is hard to imagine the spirit that drove Serge to dedicate the better part of his life to the fight for a socialist society. However, at the beginning of the 20th century he represented only a slightly younger version of that revolutionary generation of Eastern Europeans and Russians exemplified by Lenin, Trotsky, Martov and Luxemburg who set out to change the history of the 20th century. It was as if the best and brightest of that generation were afraid, for better or worse, not to take part in the political struggles that would shape the modern world. Those same questions posed at the beginning of that century are still on the agenda for today's generation of militants to help resolve. This is one of your political textbooks. Read it.



2. There is not a better record of the Left Opposition to Stalinism available. A moving, sincere, exciting and interesting memoir of a largely forgotten political current of the first half of the twentieth century.

5 comments about Eminent Mainers: Succinct Biographies of Thousands of Amazing Mainers, Mostly Dead, And a Few People from Away Who Have Done Something Useful Within the State of Maine.

1. This is the ideal reference tool for those doing research on Maine people and accomplishments, as well as a great source for browsing. Alphabetical arrangement is highlighted with topical indexes in the front; of particular note is the listing by birthplace. Subjects' schooling, business and professional credentials, connection to Maine and family-related tidbits bring these folks to life. In many instances even their burial places are given-handy for those who want to pay their respects! "Eminent Mainers" has over 500 pages of intriguing facts about thousands of people. What a delight!



2. This is really about a web of people, times, events and places that extends far beyond Maine. The power of Mr Stover's big set of little, though dense and concise, stories of people who just happen to be Mainers is really national and beyond in scope. I live in Atlanta, Georgia yet found several references to people with considerable and lasting impact on Atlanta's development and growth. It would be interesting to build an online community that follows all the threads that Stover begins to unravel for us.



3. What an incredible amount of work has gone into this unique book. It's about much more than Maine. Through succinct details of hundreds of lives it provides a snapshot of the creative energy that has made the USA what it is today.



4. This book is a great resource for teachers, especially those who teach history, government, literature, and biography. Teachers live by the stories they tell, stories that link to people, places, and events. Eminent Mainers
   is about Americans: native born, immigrants, and descendents. It it illuminating, hysterically funny, and most of all, useful! Buy it for every teacher you know and they will love you forever!



5. Lucky you are, you people of Maine, because you can enjoy in person the stories told by Doug Stover. But now, the publication of this book, Eminent Mainers, allows all of us to savor Doug's stories at our leisure. And what a delight they are. Who can forget Hiram Maxim and his machine gun or the man who knew he would be reincarnated as a sheep or the man who wore a handkerchief over his face? Please don't spend all your money buying copies of this book to give to your friends - we need to take up a collection so Doug could return where he grew up and compile another book, Fabulous Floridians.