No comments about War, Presidents and Public Opinion.

2 comments about Jefferson's Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello.

1. I got the audio CD edition of "Jefferson's Secrets" for a recent cross-country drive. It made the journey much more enjoyable and rewarding -- even the endless landscape of Texas passed by in no time!
   
   
   ABOUT THE CD PRODUCTION QUALITIES:
   The narrator, Simon Vance, does a superlative job. His voice is very easy on the ear, and his pacing and enunciation are ideal. The only minor niggle is that he pronounces the name of Jefferson's home as "montisello" instead of "montichello". (Dictionaries endorse both pronunciations, but Jefferson's correspondence suggests that he used the Italian version.)
   
   The book lends itself to aural consumption very well -- I found myself listening in "page-turning mode" in some sections, and in others, I was pausing the CD frequently to take notes and reflect. It makes for very comfortable and efficient absorption.
   
   
   ABOUT THE CD CONTENTS:
   Unlike other reviewers, I don't believe that "Secrets" requires extensive familiarity with Jefferson and his politics. My rudimentary knowledge of American history (I'm an immigrant) did not hinder my comprehension or enjoyment of the book at all. On the contrary, I think "Secrets" makes an excellent Jefferson primer because it covers those aspects of the man that he deemed most important himself (according to his epitaph.)
   
   "Jefferson's Secrets" is an immensely satisfying book -- one that leaves you wishing for equally thorough and insightful works on other prominent figures. Alas, few people have made their souls as accessible as Jefferson did. Indeed, it appears that most of his words and deeds were intended with a view to his legacy. By bringing Jefferson's later writings to light, Burstein is therefore fulfilling the founder's fervent wish that his contributions and convictions be properly understood.
   
   The book has a very effective structure. The first two chapters serve as a prelude, presenting a miscellany of information about Jefferson: his decidedly physiological view of life, his activities and afflictions, his relationships with family and friends, his highly rational and scientific mindset, his voracious reading and writing habits, etc. There is also much information about Jefferson's times, including the prevailing medical and scientific knowledge, attitudes, conditions, personalities, and language usage.
   
   This groundwork places the reader squarely inside Jefferson's head, which helps a great deal in understanding his views on slavery, race, gender, sex, politics, literature, and religion. In subsequent chapters, Burstein explores each of these topics thoroughly and unflinchingly. His well-founded conclusions answered my questions in full. Having finished the book, I feel I know Jefferson as well as might a family member or a close friend. I am now better able to appreciate his virtues, and I have a clearer understanding of his shortcomings.
   
   Yes, Jefferson's legacy is clouded because he was not able to rise above his times to become the emancipator of Blacks and women. Yes, he was uncharacteristically close-minded about race and surprisingly vindictive towards his political enemies. And yes, he was fiscally irresponsible in living way beyond his means (the quintessential American!)
   
   However, the salient image that emerges from the book is that of a man who was indeed "a mindful practitioner of the art of living life." He provided the mantra for the nascent republic, and his vision and awareness guided it during its early vulnerability. He was understated, principled, caring, curious, industrious, resourceful, optimistic, and reasonable. In a more enlightened time, I have no doubt that he would have written "all people are created equal".
   
   I am awed and inspired by all that Jefferson was able to achieve -- has there ever been a better manager of time? On the other hand, I am saddened to think that one of this country's greatest presidents would have no chance of being elected today (a non-religious widower would be a nonstarter.)
   
   "Secrets" is a positive and uplifting work. In a world of sound bites, it's a pleasure discovering research as comprehensive, even-handed, and well-written as this. Highly recommended!



2. The narrator's voice is almost as annoying as his continual mispronunciation of Monticello. As to the 'book' itself, the prologue is endless and serves only as a monument to the author's colossal ego. I've read perhaps fifty Jefferson books yet have never before found one that attempts so much and delivers so little. Skip this one.

No comments about Portraits from the White House: Presidents: Washington to Bush.

4 comments about Man of the Century: Winston Churchill and His Legend Since 1945.

1. Sir Winston Churchill had no shortage of admirers among the generation that knew, or saw, him during his Finest Hour, 1940-1941. And they have remained legion among later generations. But in the wake of the September 11 attacks, many people -- and especially many politicians in need of stirring rhetoric -- have turned to WSC again, attracted to his reputation, perhaps, more than to the strict details of his long and eventful life.

   John Ramsden's fascinating book is an analysis of how Churchill's reputation was born, was consciously shaped by the man himself, and how it has evolved in the years since his death. The bulk of the analysis focuses on the five English-Speaking nations, though Europe is included as well. Another large section looks at the famous "Iron Curtain" or "Sinews of Peace" speech at Fulton, Missouri, in 1946, and how it -- precisely as WSC intended -- transformed the world's view of him from heroic-but-passé war leader to very-much-active statesman, politician, and geopolitical strategist.

   A final section, which I found the most interesting, analyses many of the key Churchill biographies written over the years, from Randolph Churchill and Martin Gilbert's official biography, to Lord Moran, to Manchester, to Roy Jenkins' "Churchill: A Biography" (2001), which Ramsden predicts will remain "the authoritative single text for years to come" (p. 545). Ramsden also seems to have counted every Churchill memorial statue, street, pub, and park bench in the world. And while a catalog of these things could easily become tiresome, this author skillfully keeps it from doing so.

   This is no small accomplishment. People who write about Churchill are forced to deal with the sheer immensity of his life. Many respond by being prolix, or trite, or they oversimplify, or caricaturize, or fall into either blind hero-worship or equally unnuanced destructiveness. Ramsden does none of these. One way he manages this, of course, is by being fairly sparing of the details of most of WSC's life. Thus, this book will make a lot more sense to someone who already has a fairly good understanding of who the man was, what he did, and when. Another way is by filling his text with stories about, and insights into, Churchill and his contemporaries that are nearly all some combination of fascinating, entertaining, and memorable. Thus, while he's dealing with some Grand Themes, the author surrounds them with a bodyguard of anecdotes that in and of themselves almost guarantee this will be a fun read for any Churchill student or fan.

   Significantly, Ramsden is not an *uncritical* admirer of Churchill, though he is clearly an admirer. The Winston we encounter here is not sugarcoated, and some of his unattractive features do come through. That and the mountainous research on display are two signs of Ramsden's chops as a historian.

   Finally, as a many-year member of The Churchill Centre and its preceding organization the International Churchill Societies, I should note and commend Ramsden's coverage of this worthy organization. Far from the worshipful society of star-struck fans it is sometimes painted to be, Ramsden shows the CC to be a reputable and respectable association of clear-eyed admirers of the man of the century, warts and all.

   I am always amazed at the new aspects or corners of Churchill's life and impact that people can find to write books about. This one, no question, was a book that needed to be written. And for any Churchill student or fan, it's one that needs to be read.




2. THis is not a biography of Winston Churchill. This is something new and fascinating. Here we have a text that seeks to examine Churchill the legend, the man, the history of him and his relationship with the english speaking world since 1945. Chapters include investigations of Churchills funeral, 'operation Hope Not' and Churchill 'failure' to lose World War Two, the Finest Hour. Here we learn of Churchill's FUlton speech and also his famous relationship with America, as an honorary citizen no less.
   
   Most interesting are chapters on Churchills relationship with Australia and Canada as well as new anecdotes about why Castro and Guliani, who agree on nothing, both are admirers of Winston. This book also examines the many biographers of Churchill, including Manchester, Gilbert and Jenkins.
   
   THe conlusion is that Churchill is not simply the 'man of the century' but perhaps of the next one as well. This is a tour de force and every Churchill admirer must read it, in fact anyone interested in histiography or in the western egnlish speaking world since 1945 will enjoy this. Every conceivable person stars in this cast, from Isiah Berlin to Dean Acheson and Robert Menzies. The English speaking world will enjoy this book about one of its greatest champions.
   
   A last note, the chapter on Churchill and Europe and Churchill and the Irish are extraordinary in their new takes on the British and their relationship with these two neighboors.
   
   Seth J. Frantzman



3. Notwithstanding Time magazine's famous judgement, I think Winston Churchill was the man of the last century. So does John Ramsden, who has written a book that will be deeply appreciated by those with a lively interest in Churchill's impact on politics and culture following World War II and up to the present. The text is somewhat uneven in that the author meanders between quite keen insights on important issues, such as Churchill's role toward what became the EU, and the more dubious, such as listing the various streets named for the great man in Australia. While a first time reader on Churchill should read a good biography like that of Sir Roy Jenkins, this book will be worthy of purchase by any true acolyte of this great, and still relevant, figure of history.



4. John Ramsden wrote a book of uneven quality about Winston Churchill's legend since 1945. Ramsden clearly does not target readers with no prior, in-depth knowledge of this towering presence. In some chapters, Ramsden gets bogged down in detail that, over time, annoys readers. Ramsden should have written shorter chapters about Churchill and his relationship with countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Enumerating a large number of streets, pubs, parks, etc. named after Churchill in these different countries does not add much to the narrative. Ramsden is at his best in Part One when he focuses on the controversial personality of Churchill. Churchill understood very well that he had to write his side of the story to mold the minds of his contemporaries and remain relevant to future generations. Churchill has outshined most other memorable men and women in this enterprise. Many people around the world still want to claim a piece of Churchill by quoting him in a wide variety of settings. The ultimate power of Churchill lies in the richness of his parley and writings which can still stir emotions when reason fails to mobilize for decisive action.

1 comments about Thaksin: The Business Of Politics In Thailand.

1. Pasuk is one of the most renowned economist in Thailand. Her books are mostly in English (in collarboratin with her husband, himself also a renowned thinker, Chris Baker). Now they take on a subject of Thaksin Shinawatra, arguably the most famous prime minister cum businessman in Thailand.
   Most of Thaksin's biographies in Thai are, I dare say, bias. They always portray him as a white knight, a self-made billionaire, and a man with a perfect happy family, intentionally overlooking his early failure as businessman and his well-connected background. While this book has admitted that it has not been written with 100% objectivity, it turns out to be the most objective book about the subject. It sheds the up and down of his business and political life, as well as the good and bad of his policy.
   One of the most revealing aspect in this book is the discussion of "Thaksinomics" and "dual track" policies, both of which make him a rising star in internatioal politics. Anyone who is interested in such subject should not miss this book at all.
   However, there are flaws in this book. Foremost is that most of the inputs come from newspaper, and writers add few inputs from their thoughts. Secondly, this book wrote about in 2004, and it would miss the most landslide victory in Thai history by his party. Also, it did miss his fall because of waves of corruption scandal.
   I hope that they would write a revised version, once everything is settled.

No comments about The dramatic life of Abraham Lincoln,.

1 comments about Abraham Lincoln: The Complete Book of Facts, Quizzes, and Trivia.

1. Gordon Leidner's Abraham Lincoln collects the know facts assembled about President Lincoln, from his marriage and his personal interests to his favorite poem and his law practice. Filled with trivia-type details, Abraham Lincoln packs in facts, quizzes and trivia information any Lincoln buff will enjoy.

1 comments about Illustrated Gettysburg Address.

1. Lincoln at Gettysburg in the midst of the Great Civil War dividing the nation, and causing the loss of so many American lives redefines the goal of that nation, and promises it a new birth of freedom. In it he sets forth the ideal that will bind the nations wounds, and bring it together again in pursuit of that freedom and justice that is its founding goal. Lincoln at Gettysburg redefines America to itself , for the duration of that war and for the generations to come. He tells a people the essence of what it is in solemn deep and heartfelt tones that will reverberate not only in the hearts and minds of his own countrymen but throughout the world as a whole .
   Lincoln at Gettysburg is the American soul in liberty being told to mankind who may be inspired too to at last come to the day when government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from this earth.

No comments about Tiburcio Carias: Portrait Of A Honduran Political Leader (Eisenhower Center Studies on War and Peace).

No comments about The Last Lion Part A: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory, 1874-1932.