5 comments about Hillary's Choice.

1. This book really has nothing to do with Hillary or the Clintons -- it has everything to do with Gail Sheehy - her mean-spiritedness, her willingness to gossip, her jealousy, her arrogance, her pain. This book is not good journalism -- not recommended for anyone to read.



2. Believe it or not, I am one of the few in the country that is not intimately familiar with all of the scandals of the Clinton presidency. I had hoped that, in reading this book, I would understand a little bit more in depth what had happened to have the nation in an uproar and gain some valuable insights to Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, the bias is so evident in this book that I know that I do not have a complete picture as to what actually happened.

   In Ms. Sheehy's eyes, Clinton is a proverbial villian and she just assumes everyone else feels the same way too. While she could still present her case against him and not interfere with the integrity of the story, she takes every opportunity to make jibes and call him names. It is hardly objective to call him a philanderer incessantly - whether he is or not. However, the main problem with this attitude is that she lets this get in the way of reporting the evidence fairly. For instance, she makes reference to the stories of the State Trooper's quite frequently. She is overly eager to use their stories against Bill when it concerns his affairs. However, when the same sources indicate that there was an affair with Vince Foster by Hillary, she refutes their legitimacy. Then she goes on to refer to their allegations against Bill, seeming to forget that they also made allegations against Hillary. Which is it? Were they really discredited? Were parts discredited? If so, what parts and how? If they were discredited, why include a remark from an alarmed Bill Clinton to the effect that the AR governor should not be upset because he controls the state police? This only legitimizes their stories which gets us back to, so what's the deal with Vince Foster? As you can see, this book left me with many more questions than were answered.

   While I do have a clearer picture of Hillary Clinton, the picture painted of her while in the White House, gives me serious reservation about how she would act if she was actually the President. If this book's assertion that there was really nothing to hide is true, it means that Ms. Clinton can not be trusted to be forthcoming when she believes that the hand is being called - even if she knows she has a winning hand. It would have made more sense to lay out the evidence against her and then give her argument as to specifically why she was withholding evidence. Maybe I could have seen myself doing the same thing if faced with the same situation but this is presented as a woman's grudge against the media for no justifiable reason. Of course, she also nevers really hits the question as to whether records were withheld by Mrs. Clinton. She spends a few paragraphs on the possible reasons an administrative assistant might not come forward with a box if she had been asked to find it and, not finding it, found it under her desk months later. After spending almost a hundred pages on her early life and college years, couldn't we spare a few to address the questions that would undoubtedly be brought up by events during the presidency? It simply doesn' hold water in my opinion. People have to have a reason for doing what they do. Especially people with advisors.




3. I have had the dubious pleasure of reading and rereading quite a number of works addressing the life and times of Hillary Clinton.
   While I am not a great fan of Billie, I must admit to sort of an admiration for Hillary. Be-that-as-it-may, I enjoyed this book. It was well written and I thought pretty well ballanced. Many of the "facts" presented, will have to be tested by time, but for now, I feel they are probably as close to the truth we will get.
   Ms Clinton is certainly one of the more fascinating individuals of our times and I am quite sure history will continue to judge her as such. She is an interesting subject. In many ways, she is us. The author of this book is an interesting writer and between the author and the subject, we get a very interesting story. Thank you Ms Gail for writing it.



4. Read this book and you will understand why Bill and Hillary act as they do. ..... This book is much better than Hillary's fictional account of her life, "Living History". ..... "Hillary's choice is not to know what she knows." ..... A very enlightening account. ...... A "must read".



5. I must really confess that I can,t stand either women, either the author or the Clinton.
   When in college I was forced to read the Rhetoric by Aristotle.Thank goodness, he went on and on and on about how a speaker must first establish her/his reputation and give reasons why she/he should be listened to.
   Isn,t this the same Gail Sheehey who plagarized (read stole) important parts of her first novel Passages from a UCLA Psychiatry professor who was doing research on the subject.She settled out of court wisely, gave the good Dr. some dough, and must have laughed all the way to the bank.That was a long time ago and like Hilary she thought "wow, I can steal a lot of good stuff, not use some of it, pay the guy off and make a fortune." She has churned out book after book,none very good.She should have gone into politics in another country.Obviously, i was biased against the book but tried hard, really, to see if it had many redeeming qualities.
   There is a great deal of factual information about Hilary, her childhood, her relationship with BIll but the interpretations of why she is motivated to do such and such are pretty shabby. I am a psychiatrist and find her attempts at divining both CLinton,s adult personalities from their childhood truamas pathetic guesswork by an amateur. I dont, think the Clinton,s can really stand each other, has anyone seen ANY genuine affection between them for all the time they,ve been on the world stage?They stay together for political and financial reasons and both seem to have very small conscienses while now both getting filthy rich.
   Too be totally fair, some parts of the book are very interesting about many factual occurences Mrs.Clinton background but it didn,t change my mind about the author or the politician.

5 comments about The Life and Legend of Jay Gould.

1. Klein's in-depth Biography is a fascinating account of the life of businessman Jay Gould. Although accurate, Klein's analysis is too kind and almost invariably forgiving to the highly contrversial actions of this complex figure. I recommend this book very strongly!



2. Jay Gould is remembered as the worst of the 19th century "Robber Barons" - a destroyer of companies - yet as Maury Klein so ably details, this reputation was almost wholly fabricated by the media and bears little resemblance to a man obsessed with building a transportation and communications empire. Klein's book is more than about Jay Gould, it's about the vast gulf separating all-too-common media generated myths and the truth.



3. In the "Life and Legend of Jay Gould," historian Maury Klein seeks to resurrect the image of the archetypal -- but now largely forgotten -- early American industrialist.

   The names Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie and Morgan are familiar to nearly everyone, and in this 497-page biography Klein makes a convincing case that Jay Gould belongs in that pantheon of early American business giants. From his early maneuvers (which Klein claims permanently undermined his reputation) in fighting for control of the Erie Railroad and an attempt to corner the gold market, to his Herculean efforts to build and maintain a vast transportation and communications empire in the face of brutal competition and economic and political chaos, Gould emerges as a true pioneer in American corporate finance. Moreover, perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, Jay Gould was the personification of the so-called "robber baron"; the man and the myth were consummate.

   Yet, for all of its promise, this book is a huge disappointment. Klein is a classically trained historian and accomplished professional academic, yet this book reads as if it were composed by a fawning amateur. A project that began as an effort to "set the record straight," ultimately degenerates into a frustratingly air-brushed portrait of a very complex and capable man. Rather than a balanced and objective review of Gould's character and business acumen, the book takes on the form of a giddy valentine. Seemingly every move Gould makes is judged by Klein as "brilliant, masterful and unexpected," while his long list of formidable rivals are portrayed as bumbling morons. For example, after Gould ascended to a leadership position in the Union Pacific railroad, he moved to thwart the ruinous rate wars in transcontinental shipping that had erupted with the Pacific Mail steamship company, the Union Pacific's sole competitor in that market at that time. Shortly thereafter the Panama Railroad, the critical nexus upon which all of Pacific Mail's business depended, was acquired by another speculator and the transit contract with Pacific Mail abrogated. Klein describes Gould's actions in acquiring Pacific Mail and in getting out of the Panama railroad jam in glowing terms, but not a word is said about how someone with his supposed perspicacity could leave such a obviously vulnerable flank exposed in the first place.

   Also, the author almost totally neglects Gould's private life. Early in the book Klein confidently pronounces that "Two concerns dominated the rest of Gould's life, business and devotion to family." Yet, from that point forward, nary a word is spoken about Gould's relationship with his wife and family -- or specifically about his relationship with the son whose incapable hands the family fortune would be left to and squandered. In comparison to Ron Chernow's and Jean Strause's treatment of the private lives of John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, respectively, in recent biographies, Klein's performance in this regard is particularly disappointing.

   In closing, two things are clear after reading "The Life and Legend of Jay Gould": 1) Jay Gould was a giant of American business, easily on par with Rockefeller and Carnegie; and 2) the definitive one-volume biography of his amazing life has yet to be written.




4. This is book that one needs to purchase if you are interested in the guilded age and one of its smoothest operators. Rising from humble roots Gould camer to dominate the american railroad and finance businesses. Launching many famous raids on wall street, he teamed up with Fisk to try and corner the Gold market.

   Jay Gould is a classic american. A trader who was born and worked in a tannery and as an surveyor as a young man he rose to fame and infame. An amazing story, worth the read!




5. This book was very long and had very little information about the life of Jay Gould. It is very well researched. If you want to know the details of every railroad Gould bought, it is a blockbuster. If you want to know about what his life was like and who he married and where he lived, this book will not please you. There is very little personal information.

3 comments about Buffalo Bill Cody: The Man Behind the Legend.

1. Here is that rare kind of book that's equally rewarding to two kinds of readers -- people looking for a ripping good yarn, and serious students of the Old West. It's beautifully written in clear plain language that captures the epic sweep of the period, its tragedies, and even its bawdily comic moments. The text is tastefully sprinkled with excellent photos and illustrations. Thorough source notes are also included -- at the end, where they don't get in the way of your reading, along with a bibliography and useful index.

   "Buffalo Bill Cody, the Man Behind the Legend" is the first complete biography of this marvelous old cuss in more than 30 years, and far and away the most accurate one ever written. It traces the life and many careers of Buffalo Bill from ox-driver, prospector, and Pony Express rider barely out of his childhood to adult adventures as Army scout, Medal of Honor winner, and finally as the boozy myth-making old showman whose geniality could accommodate both Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley under the same tent.

   Buffalo Bill Cody knew virtually everyone worth knowing in the Old West, and most of those people make guest appearances in this book -- Wild Bill Hickock, Bat Masterson, George Armstrong Custer, and many others.

   Robert A. Carter manages to tell the vivid story of his subject while also treating the reader to insights into the sights, sounds, smells, and ethos of the period in general, and he does it in a writing style remarkable for its wit and charm. I intend to keep this book in my personal library, both as a reference and to read again.




2. Robert Carter has brought Buffalo Bill back from near oblivion, and presses his case that Cody was a major American figure in graceful and masterfully written prose.



3. This is an edit of my original review. I was chastised in a kindly manner by the author for some of my original statements, and as I reread my review I belive with good reason. Though I am entitled to my opinion I don't have the right to presume that which I do not know for a fact. Based on Mr. Carters comments I will remove the those which he has refuted or corrected. Mr. Carter, my humble apologies. The boys of my generation have a firm tribal memory of Cody. His career as a pony express rider, the "first scalp for Custer", the Wild West show performance before Queen Victoria is the kind of knowledge one just seems to "know". Perhaps the generations that have followed my own have forgotten and this book will redeem his reputation as well as rescue him from the haze of the 19th Century. It is a "good read" and is full of facts and anecdotes. Mr. Carter often presents the evidence and leaves it up to the reader to decide the verity of the story. This is a great technique and it leaves the reader with the feeling he has uncovered the truth. It might be called the multiple choice method of biography. However, it is the use of this technique that detracts from a well researched study. That said and in spite of some barbs on my part I do think this is among the finest and possibly best researched treatment of the man.

2 comments about The Real Billy the Kid: With New Light on the Lincoln County War (Recovering the Us Hispanic Literary Heritage).

1. Many books have been written about Billy the Kid and his exploits in New Mexico's Lincoln County War. Virtually all of these books, however, have relied on the same basic source of information, that being Pat Garrett's "The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid." Garrett, of course, was the man who killed Billy, and his book was written in part to justify the manner in which he had dispatched the Kid. Sadly, although based partly on the facts as Garrett understood them, his book reads more like a "penny dreadful," than a true biography, casting serious doubts on his book and those which followed.
   
   Fortunately for today's readers, Miguel Otero's book, "The Real Billy the Kid," doesn't trace its roots back to the Garrett book. Even better, it addresses Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War from an entirely new and unique perspective. Consider the following: 1) Otero actually knew Billy the Kid, although only slightly; 2) Unlike Pat Garrett, Miguel Otero had no axe to grind in writing his biography and, therefore, didn't need to embellish the story; 3) Since most of the people living in New Mexico at the time of the Lincoln County War were Mexicans, as is Otero, this book looks at the events of that war from an entirely unbiased point of view and a particularly unique perspective; and 4) In writing this book, the author interviewed those people, still living, who actually knew or were friends with Billy the Kid and who were living in and around Lincoln County at the time of the "war."
   
   This all led to what would appear to be a factual account with a minimum of fluff; Otero simply tells it like it happened. And here are a few other things which struck me about this book and the way it is written: 1) It puts the characters involved in the "war" in proper perspective and in the setting of their times; 2) It provides personal information about some of the participants in the war which I have never seen before; 3) It went on to explain what became of some of those who survived the war. The only disappointment to me about the book was in the way it ended. The author was discussing his interviews with those who knew the Kid, the questions he asked them and their answers. I kept thinking: "Ask this. Ask that." What valuable sources. I would have liked to have known even more. Bottom line - It's a good book and makes interesting reading.



2. The Real Billy the Kid, by Miguel Antonio Otero
   
   There have been over 800 literary and cinematic representations of "Billy the Kid" that present varying view from murdering desperado to Robin Hood of the Southwest (Walter Noble Burns). Otero's book is the first from an Hispanic viewpoint (he was Territorial Governor 1892-1906). Otero personally met William Henry Bonney Jr. Most of the fictional representations used Billy as a means to their ends of telling a story. [Most Westerns were written by Easterners to provide entertainment that is more modern than the Song of Roland.] Otero's book contrasts from the Pat Garrett narrative, and is little known. The 'Introduction' displays Rivera's erudition, but "romance" or "tragedy" is best left to the reader.
   
   The Lincoln County War was caused by the commercial rivalry between the Dolan-Murphy faction (allied to the Sante Fe Ring) and the McSween-Tunstall faction. Otero had his reasons for this book, originally published in 1936 (p.xxxv). So to did Garrett and Upson (p.xxxvii). The 'Foreword' uses an unnamed source to claim that "Billy the Kid had no gun". That is unbelievable! Billy was an escaped convict condemned to hang; he would never be without a gun handy, night or day, since his life depended on a gun. Pat Garrett presented Otero with an autographed copy of his book (p.5).
   
   Chapter I tells of Billy's early years. He was often a nice boy, but had a terrible temper and was dangerous when angry. The stories of Billy's early life show his willingness to kill. Billy was also a "first-class gambler" (p.13). Billy gained from other's winnings (p.14). Chapter II tells of his fights with the Apaches. It was the Lincoln County War of 1878 that made Billy's reputation (Chapter III). The Murphy-Dolan company sold cattle to the government, some of it alleged to have come from John Chisum's big ranch (pp.28-29). Otero was a business ally of the Tunstall-McSween Company. One fraudulent scheme involved cattle (pp.31-32). Success went to the faction that was close to the politicians (p.45). Chapters V and VI tell of Billy's criminal activities.
   
   Chapter VII tells of Pat Garrett's ambush of Billy and his gang at Fort Sumner in December 1880. Billy escaped with most of his gang. Chapter VIII has the statements from those who knew Billy and like him. Mrs. Susan Barber, the widow of Alexander McSween, told what happened to her attorney (p.93). Chapter IX has stories from Lincoln, like Hijinio Salazar who survived the attack on the McSween home. Garrett shot people when they were disadvantaged (p.98). George Coe told of his memories, and Frank Coe too (Chapter X). Testimony about Billy's death is in Chapter XI. Martin Chavez tells his memories of Billy and the Lincoln County War (Chapter XII). Billy was one of the kindest ... he was not blood-thirsty (p.126). Billy "never killed a native citizen of New Mexico" (p.129). Otero tells when he met The Kid (Chapter XIII). Garrett and his deputies captured The Kid and his gang, and brought them to the railroad station at Las Vegas. Otero was on the train to Santa Fe and found Billy likable (p.133). Chapter XIV concludes this history by quoting Pat Garrett's story. Chapter XV provides a postscript about the principals of the Lincoln County War. As Governor Otero banned John A. Riley form Santa Fe. [This book provides another view into a minor event that was greatly magnified by writers to provide entertainment and a distraction to the reading public.]

2 comments about Abraham Lincoln: The Observations of John G. Nicolay and John Hay.

1. A book for the person with an existing fair understanding of the White House years of Abraham Lincoln.
   
   Professor Burlingame provides a great service to those of us who are keenly interested in this great president, but who do not have the time to read the imposing and very dated ten-volume history produced by his two close aides, Nicolay and Hay. This book fills a specific void; it certainly should not be confused with a full biography.
   
   While it is surprising that so little was directly said by Nicolay and Hay about their chief in their history, I am happy that Professor Burlingame did the hard work of mining its ten volumes for the benefit of lazy readers like me.



2. The book was very short and only covered areas of limited interest on Lincoln's Presidency. Beside other titles on Lincoln that I have bought this was a major disappointement. There was no flow of quality prose to create interest in specific story lines which were too sketchy. The book's objectives were too limited from the outset and it's main merits are that it may serve as a useful reference book for later purchases. It will do little to add or detract to the legacy of Lincoln.
   Lorenzo
   Ireland

3 comments about States Rights Gist: A South Carolina General of the Civil War.

1. If not for his name (yes that was his real name), I rather doubt that States Rights Gist would be remembered today. He was one of the fatalities at the Battle of Franklin, which had more than its fair share of Confederate general officers killed or wounded. It ended a brief military career which had been moderately distinguished if not outstanding.

   Why only 3 stars? Simply put, the subject matter is obscure, even for the most devoted Civil War enthusiast, and I cannot really imagine how the man's rather short life merited a book. I only came across the book because it was a History Book Club selection. It is so specialized that only a select few would ever seek it out. The fact that no other reviews have been written on it bears this out. It isn't a bad book, just maybe an unnecessary one.




2. States Rights Gist is somewhat of a sidenote in Civil War history. As the previous reviewer stated, he is probably most remembered for his name above all else. However, upon reading this book, he could be remembered for a lot more. Gist actually led a very interesting career during the war and his marriage not too long before his death certainly adds some drama to the mix. Cisco's book does the General justice, but often times I felt like there could have been more. Gist was at the Battle of Secessionville, the largest battle fought in South Carolina during the war, but not much details come from the chapter. The Atlanta Campaign is glossed over. Even the battle of Franklin feels anti-climactic. Considering that Gist was one of the highest ranking men in the South Carolina militia, served in many of the wars major battles of the Western Theater, and was considered to have one of the best brigades in the Army of Tennessee you would expect more length and depth in the book. Cisco writes a decent book, but it reads too much like a college term paper when, it seems from Gist's life, it could have been so much more. Still recommended, though, because of such little scholarship on Gist.



3. My only problem with this book is that at 153 pages of text I feel cheated, I would like to have had more, a lot more. Perhaps Professor Cisco will write a more complete biography of General Gist soon.
   
   States Rights, yes that was his birth name, Gist was an officer in the Confederacy during the Civil War he was a General in the South Carolina Militia and moved over to the regular Confederate Army during the Civil War, he was one of the second or third echelon generals of the war, a group not that much is know about other then a pigion dropings covered memorial in some small town where they born or lived. Gist was a Havard trained lawyer by trade and became an officer in the militia before the war. Through politics, his father was governor for awhile, and good organizational skills he rose very quickly to the rank of general.
   
   When the war started he was reduced in rank to Colonel and commanded a Regiment that was somewhat less then distinguished in the field, but through losses to other officers he was promoted to general and at the time of his death at the battle of Franklin in 1864 he held the rank of Major general.
   
   Professor Walter Cisco who worte this book does a good job of describing the battles of the Tennessee theatre of operations and how Grant defeated the Confederates at Chattanooga and how the Rebels lost the advantage through poor generalship and in itself is reason to read this book.

4 comments about Cynthia Ann Parker: The Life and the Legend (Southwestern Studies).

1. Countless folk tales and sagas have focused on the story of Miss Parker, a captive of the Comanches for more than 15 years. Many of them deal only with her years as the mother of the famous Quanah Parker. Author Margaret Schmidt Hacker devoted five years to researching the life of the Cynthia Ann to reveal the history behind the myth. This is the tragic story of the abduction of a nine year old girl who returned reluctantly to white society when she was 24. A fascinating portrait of her life among the Comanches on the Texas frontier.



2. On May 19th, 1836 nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker, a member of a group of religious families occupying Fort Parker in Texas, witnessed the massacre of friends and relatives by combined bands of Caddos, Kiowas and Comanche warriors. Abducted by the Comanches, Cynthia was raised for the next 25 years as a tribal member and became "fully" Comanche, giving birth to Quanah Parker, the last Comanche Chief and one of the most influential intermediaries of his time, a representative of both the Native American and White cultures. Abducted a second time as an adult by a well-meaning Texas Ranger, Cynthia Ann was forced to return to White society, but mourned deeply for her Comanche family, ultimately starving herself to death out of grief.

   Much lore and legend has grown around the story of Cynthia Ann Parker over the years, and it has often been difficult to separate the myth from the reality of her dramatic story. However, Margaret Schmidt Hacker has done just that. Over a period of five years, Ms. Hacker painstakingly researched the archives in Texas, Oklahoma, California and Washington, D.C. and objectively weighed all the accounts of Cynthia Ann's life. The result of her efforts is what is considered the most authoritative book on the subject. Although scholarly, it is at the same time, a gripping drama of the Texas prairies, and very readable by anyone with an interest in the Old West. Highly recommended reading.




3. This is a compact history ... but it does just what you want - gives what history is known of Cynthia Ann Parker. This is an excellent resource if you are wanting to know about Cynthia Ann Parker from the settler's perspective - the people she left behind, the family she had come from, and the search for her that continued throughout her 'captivity'. The author seems to steer clear of any area of conjecture, such as why Cynthia Ann got shuttled between family members after her return or what may have happened to her pension, and sticks only to documentable history. She also avoided sidetracking into the history of Cynthia Ann's famous son or the other people in her life except for as far as they pertain to Cynthia Ann's life. Focus is very tight, very informative.



4. I suggest reading this book before reading "Ride the Wind". It serves as a chronicalled historical foundation before reading the novel "Ride the Wind" that will definitely prepare you for an unimaginable journey into the world of the American Indian of 150 years ago.

No comments about Lee and His Generals.

5 comments about First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Daviss Civil War.

1. A very disappointing book! Written by a feminist, 20th century liberal scholar intent on imposing her 20th century politically correct views on a 19th century subject, the book becomes a parody of what a truly historical biography should be. The author makes no attempt to maintain objectivity and interjects her own opinions, views and beliefs, trying to get the reader to believe that Mrs. Davis was the one who held them. I am truly glad I borrowed this from the library and didn't waste my money.



2. As has been mentioned in other reviews, there is a paucity of books on Varina Davis. Joan Cashin's book certainly fills that void. With all of the books on Mary Lincoln finally there is something about Varina Davis.
   Cashin has done her homework in research on her and clearly lays out her family's history and Varina's youth, exceptional education and marriage to Jefferson Davis. It is fascinating to read her letters to wives of famous men in history, some smuggled through the lines during the Civil War. She was well liked, well educated and certainly had mixed feelings about secession.
   Jefferson Davis does not fare well in this volume. He never appreciated Varina's intellegence or feelings. It seems then he needed her she was always there, but the opposite was rarely true. She endured her years in Richmond as some of her worst. After the war she suffered poverty and her husband's frequent trips. During much of his post war years he kept a semi-romantic relationship the a Mrs. Clay.
   Only after his death was Varina liberated from the imposed role of former Confederate First Lady. She moved to New York and established friendships with many former "enemies" such as Julia Grant, all to the distaste and chagrin of many former Rebel soldiers and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. A telling letter from about 1901, she related the the right side won the War.
   Varina endured all of this plus the deaths of many of her children with grace and dignity. It seems that maybe the Lincolns and Davis's married the wrong women. I enjoyed reading Cashin's very well book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the War or women in history.



3. interesting and informative study of a woman who was a northerner by birth and sympathies married to a complete and selfish maniac who didnt love her. she was much better educated and perceptive than he was, but she did her duty in every way. happy to see that she had some time to herself to pursue her own interests near the end of her life.



4. Through her extensive research, much of which had not been used before, Ms. Cashin brings Varina Davis to life. The details of her marriage to Jefferson Davis, her serving as the First Lady of the Confederacy, and her life after the Civil War give the reader a great appreciation of Varina Davis and the struggles she faced throughout her life. This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in the personal stories of this critical time in American history. Bob and Cherie Allen-Authors A "Guest" of the Confederacy The Civil War Letters and Diaries of Alonzo M. Keeler, Captain, Company B, Twenty-second Michigan Infantry



5. Joan Cashin's FIRST LADY OF THE CONFEDERACY is not only an excellent depicticion of the life of Varina Davis, but is is also another way of looking at Jefferson Davis. The research is outstanding and I found the book very readable. Several criticts state that Cashin is looking at Varina through 20th centuries eyes. The research is what is it. I find no value to those arguments.

3 comments about Mysteries of My Father.

1. Acclaimed historian Thomas Fleming has written popular histories of the Revolutionary War, several controversial re-examinations of such hallowed 20th century figures as Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and best-selling historical novels.
   
   No one, however, could have guessed that his personal history, as told in "Mysteries of My Father," would provide the material for arguably his most gripping and powerful work.
   
   "New Jersey" and "corruption" go together like "hot fudge" and "sundae." The phrase recalls cliched images of fat, cigar-smoking pols raking in the big bucks and stealing from the poor.
   
   Fleming's family memoir takes an inside look at the ultimate political machine run by Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague, a boss who had presidents coming to him to curry his favor. But the picture is not quite what the tsk-tsk tone of the stereotypical history book would suggest.
   
   Fleming points out that the old-fashioned political machines often were all that certain poor, ethnic communities had to stand up for them.
   
   Like Homer Hickam's "Rocket Boys" (the basis for the movie "October Sky") and Brian McDonald's "My Father's Gun," this is the story of an important subculture going through the pressure cooker of 20th century changes, told by a narrator who is close enough to the action to take an inside look but enough of a nonparticipant to have the distance required for a proper perspective.
   
   Above all, these books tell, at their heart, the universal story of sons struggling to make their way out of their fathers' shadows - very big shadows, in fact, cast by larger-than-life figures.
   
   At the center of "Mysteries" is Thomas "Teddy" Fleming Sr., who fought bravely in the trenches of France during World War I though he had little use for the cause. Irish-Americans at the time had no interest in saving Britain from Germany, and they had legitimate trouble with the argument that Germany was any more expansionist than the country that had occupied the auld sod for centuries.
   
   However, the war would pave the way for two fateful factors of Teddy's life. First, he was away while most young people his age married, and second, his heroic status brought him to the attention of the Irish Democrat political machine that held power in Jersey City.
   
   It was only logical that the city's most eligible bachelor and the most popular single girl would be thrown together by their friends. Kitty Dolan was a pretty socialite who still was available only because her fiance had fallen fatally ill.
   
   What even her friends and family did not realize, however, was that Kitty saw her beau as a ticket out of what she thought of as low Irish life and society.
   
   Like the politicians, Kitty saw the potential in Teddy and how she could use it to her ends. Unlike them, however, Kitty had wholesale changes in mind for her husband, while the political machine gave him a job that perfectly suited his abilities, personality and skills - and immersed him in the life that Kitty so despised.
   
   The war hero and the tragic figure seemed like the perfect couple to the outside world, but there's no loathing like self-loathing, and when Kitty turns it outward, it's breathtaking in its intensity. When their children were old enough to recognize it, they were not merely caught in the crossfire of a contentious marriage, but Kitty also tried to enlist them as combatants.
   
   Fleming presents his parents, warts and all, but also with affection. While showing Kitty as the aggressor, he refuses to take sides, as each person reacted in the exact wrong manner to make amends - perhaps because each was so ill-suited for the other and not prepared to change.
   
   By the time the usually taciturn elder Fleming -?hen a county sheriff and arguably the second-most powerful man in the nation's most effective political machine - tearfully exclaims to his sons, "You're all I have," the reader's heart will be as broken as if it were his own family's trauma.
   
   "Memories of My Father" shows the inside of ethnic politics, such as how genuine grievances become excuses for corruption though the justification of "It's our turn to get ours now." This manifests itself in vote-stealing (the author personally was responsible for keeping his deceased grandmother on the absentee voter roles for years), heavy-handed patronage and outright theft.
   
   Fleming also takes shots at the notion of "hyphenated Americanism," noting that no matter how much reverence is expressed for the Old Country, after a generation, immigrants invariably become so Americanized as to be completely alien to those in the country they left.
   
   This book has enough subplots for at least another couple of hundred pages. If he had chosen to, Fleming could have serialized his and his family's life like the great memoirist Tobias Wolfe. He takes a hard look at the role of the Catholic Church in the Irish immigrant culture of the time, and the author's Navy experiences during the fall of China undoubtedly could have filled more than just one chapter.
   
   "Mysteries of my Father" is a uniquely American memoir and a story as old as Genesis. As Father's Day approaches, this heartfelt, powerful and ultimately loving book is an ideal gift for the reader on your list.
   (review run in the Flint Journal, Flint, MI)



2. Ernest Hemingway observed that there is nothing more difficult to write about than a man's life. In Mysteries of My Father, novelist and historian Thomas Fleming superbly does just that, as he examines his father Teddy Fleming's entire life in "downtown" Irish-Catholic Jersey City in the first half of twentieth-century America. Soul, verve, wit and heart emerge throughout.
   
   
   Teddy Fleming, with an eighth grade education and an indomitable will, overcomes the limited opportunities of his impoverished environment by first leading men in World War I combat. There he learns to trust himself while at the same time accepting the role of luck, or fate, in life. Once home, he rises as a ward organizer for legendary political boss Frank "I am the law" Hague, who eventually appoints Teddy as sheriff of Hudson County, New Jersey.
   
   
   The author weaves family history with the shared experience of early Irish-Americans who struggle for security against Protestant domination. This rich document speaks of fathers and sons, urban politics in the Tammany Hall era, the education of a historian, the imperative of finding a vocation, the power and influence of the Catholic Church, the pressures of poverty in the days of "Help Wanted---No Irish Need Apply" signs, and most directly, the dissolution of the marriage between the author's mother and father.
   
   
   The first half of the book, which predates the author's birth, introduces many extended family relatives. The time you spend getting to know everyone is a modest chore as the son deliberately assembles his father's portrait. As we move toward the author's first person perceptions in the second half of the account, though, the book begins to sprint.
   
   
   We watch as Teddy courts and marries refined schoolteacher Kitty Dolan, who detests her husband's immersion in lowbrow political chicanery and the Hague machine's reciprocal hold on Teddy's identity. Kitty's frustrated desire to transform her husband from a "thick mick" into someone more upright and discerning informs her estrangement from him. She hardens her resentment with efforts to alienate father from son, and the author labors to find the cause of his mother's sorrow. Teddy Fleming, the man, is much more than the simple hack Kitty sees him to be, but the author never judges either parent. He accepts the love they can give.
   
   
   Thomas Fleming is an elegant writer with a raconteur's facility for storytelling, tempered by a historian's devotion to accuracy. The author tells it like it is, to the extent he can, given his involvement in the events. The writer's willingness to confront his parents' disconnections all but verifies this commitment. He takes us to dark places but thankfully never loses a sense of humor along the way.
   
   
   Lively tales of Teddy's varying roles as a Hague functionary and family patriarch are aplenty. Amid the systemic graft, massive corruption, and revolving cast of rogues, decency lies in Teddy's delivery of jobs for the needy and votes for the boss. Teddy Fleming, hardly a paragon of good government, is not without honor. He lives modestly and obeys his conscience so as to look proudly at "the guy in the glass"---his reflection---every day. Teddy's abetting of odiousness is secondary to his ethic of self-reliance. He is, at all times, true to himself.
   
   
   This dignity makes Teddy's drift from Kitty all the more crushing. His rise in the Hague organization corresponds to an increasing distance from her, and a free fall ensues.
   
   
   Thomas Fleming yearns to excavate his father's ways in the unforgiving political, cultural and economic landscape of Irish-Catholic Jersey City. To his son, Teddy Fleming's outward adherence to an iron code of loyalty, nerve and force conceals an inscrutable inner life which the author aches to know. The author's empathy and unforced voice are just right for this journey to find his father's spirit.
   
   
   In this tender account of a tough man's whole life, Thomas Fleming reminds us that to love is to risk pain but also to know the fullness of being.



3. This is an excellent book that mixes the talents of a good story teller with that of an historian. While the title has "An Irish-American Memoir" in it, it is certainly far more universal than that. It shows how people have to adapt to the world they live in not the one they wished they lived in, and how someones outward appearance can be quite different than the real inner person. This books works at several levels: the inner workings of marriages, parents and their children, making it in America as a newcomer or child of a newcomer, politics, and history. It's accuracy makes me realize how far we have come in 70 years but it also reminds me that for many of us our success and happiness traces back to some pretty tough, not highly educated, ward bosses like Teddy Fleming who cleared the way probably never fully realizing how much their day to day hard work would slowly change the world's major superpower to a more pluralistic and democractic country--even if some of their methods might shock our modern sensibilities.
   I recognized the authenticity of this boook immmediately. My grandfather was also, for a while, part of the Frank Hague machine but as county engineer. He eventually left to be county engineer for Bergen County because he refused to approve a sewer project that Hague wanted to give to a friend of Hague's who my grandfather felt was not qualified to do the job properly. With a degree in engineering it was much easier for my grandfather to pick and choose where he worked.
   Overall, a very enjoyable book at many levels.