No comments about The Antietam And Fredericksburg (Campaigns of the Civil War.).

5 comments about After the Ball: Gilded Age Secrets, Boardroom Betrayals, and the Party That Ignited the Great Wall Street Scandal of 1905.

1. "After the Fall," Patricia Beard's clear-eyed look into the excesses at the tag end of the Gilded Age, focuses around a costume party thrown in 1905 by then 23-year-old James Hazen Hyde, who was expected to accede to the presidecy of the Equitable Life Insurance Company when he turned thirty.
   
   It never happened. Instead his enemies, in the company and outside it, used the ball as an excuse to start a power play that would bring him down. As sometimes happens, however, they brought themselves down as well.
   
   The book is almost like a musical comedy in structure. The title is somewhat misleading as the ball itself comes in the middle of the book (imagine the ball as the big production number that brings the curtain down on act one). It begins with James's father, Henry, skips quickly through James's adolescence and early manhood (there'll be a production number having to do with James's hobby, racing horsedrawn carriages), the premature death of his father, and his rise to the first vice presidency of the insurance company, where, or so his father had hoped, he would be tutored by the interim president, James W. Alexander, who was nearing retirement age.
   
   When the curtain rises on act 2, you will encounter an array of schemers, some driven almost batty as they struggle for power, and a parade of the gilded age financiers, J. P. Morgan, E. H. Harriman, Henry Clay Frick, and James Fortune Ryan, as well as President Theodore Roosevelt, ex-President Grover Cleveland, and Charles Evans Hughes, who would some day be, thanks largely to his investigation of the scandal, Chief Justice of the United States.
   
   You'll maybe hear patter songs in your head as the robber barons form committees, make deals, break deals, and leak their doings to the press, as they scheme to acquire the faltering company for themselves.
   
   And when the curtain comes down on the tale as the chastened but hardly impoverished Hyde leaves for France--saying his goodbyes aboard the ship that's about to sail perhaps--it comes down, as well, on the Gilded Age itself.
   
   Notes and asides: The afterword, about Hyde's later life and that of his son, who was in the OSS during WWII should not be skipped.



2. 
   This is a well presented and gripping account of the clash of the titans of industry of a century ago. It shows them in their true, unsavory, colors, albeit a tad muted....
   
   We find the anything-but-poor, yet unsuspecting Mr. Hyde (heir in his 20s to the Equitable Insurance fortune) shaken from his elite complacency and thrust into the eye of a storm that is kept stirred by the machinations of Equitable board member Henry Clay Frick, one of the more amazing and alarming capitalists from Pittsburgh's steel days.
   
   In a bid to oust Hyde from control of the mega-insurance concern that his father founded with wit, skill and sleight of hand, Frick engineers a negative publicity juggernaut that calls Hyde's personal financial ethics into question and ends up in the courts. The Equitable goes into receivership-with some luminaries like George Westinghouse in temporary control-until, beset by the scandal, Hyde sells out, shakes the dust off of his well-heeled shoes, and departs for Pre-World War I Paris. He remains a Francophile expatriate for the remainder of his days.
   
   There is more to the story and some of it is here, and well worth the reader's time and attention, especially since Ms Beard had access to some privately held family papers and files that cast the story in a Schubert pink spotlight, with few shadows. The author, a personal friend of Hyde's granddaughters and a member of the same giltetry social set, goes easy on some of the tale. What is left on the cutting room floor is even more fascinating than what made it into this book.
   
   For, shadows there are, and there is oh so much more of the story to be told, ranging from the Johnstown Flood (this family is connected to the infamous South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club) to the crafty ire of Mr. Frick's European counterpart, the equally effective and furiously ambitious harridan, the Archduchess Isabella of Austria-Hungary (again, an extended family connection).
   
   What a yarn and all of it, true!
   
   Perhaps Miss Beard will muster the courage to follow up this book with a prequel about Mr. Frick's very similar, skillful machinations regarding Mr. Hyde's future father-in-law, and a sequel that more fully addresses the irony of World History that found Mr. Hyde's son among two generations of this extended family who served diligently, on both sides of W W I and W W II, some as top level spies. Then again, perhaps not.
   
   But if not, one hopes that other historians might take note, there is so much more to be told! This is a real life E Phillips Oppenheim novel. It would find as its centerpiece, Hyde's father-in-law, a rags to riches success - an orphan who rose to the top of the tree, on both sides of the Atlantic and who had his hands in many a pie, industrial and diplomatic....
   
   Now...The only question is: Who will be the first to tell it?
   
   Perhaps Martha Sanger, or Teresa Carpenter or Les Standiford or - of course - the incomparable David McCullough!
   
   If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction.



3. Well-written, interesting and sheds new light on a long-forgotten subject. The author has the gift of understanding and writing well about both Gilded Age high society and finance, and uses her gift to good advantage. Occasionally the inner manueverings in the Equitable drag a bit, but this is a hardly noticeable defect. Five stars +; buy and and read it with enjoyment.



4. "After the Ball" is a biography of James Hazen Hyde (1876-1959), Gilded Age aesthete, sportsman, patron of the arts and heir to the majority shares in The Equitable Life Assurance Society, which his father Henry Baldwin Hyde had founded in 1859. The emphasis is on the decisive event of James' life: His battle to retain control of his father's company that played out over the course of 1905 against Equitable's president James Waddell Alexander and its ruthlessly ambitious 2nd vice president Gage Tarbell. That battle commanded 115 front page articles in "The New York Times" alone and resulted in the passage of New York's Armstrong Laws in an attempt to regulate the insurance industry. Author Patricia Beard knew James Hyde's only son Henry Hyde -Henry was godfather to her son- which explains the late chapter dedicated to Henry Hyde's life.
   
   James Hyde became the majority shareholder in The Equitable at the age of 23 upon his father's death in 1899. Henry B. Hyde had planned that his son serve as 1st vice president under the tutelage of James Alexander before assuming the role of company president at age 30. But Henry had ill prepared his son for the murky realities and unbridled ambitions of the business world. And James was ill-suited to the job, being by nature a man of arts and letters and high society. James idolized his father and took his legacy seriously but didn't understand his responsibilities until it was too late. In 1905, frustrated by James' ability as majority shareholder to stifle his plans for the Society, unscrupulous, dogged Gage Tarbell recruited malleable and unstable James Alexander as his ally and launched a campaign to force The Equitable to mutualize (give shareholders voting rights) with the intent of ousting James. They expected James to resign, sell his stock, and move to France. Instead, he put up a fight.
   
   "After the Ball" provides a blow-by-blow account of The Equitable crisis and the attempts to resolve it, from James Hyde's lavish 18th century France-themed ball in January 1905 until his self-imposed exile in France a year later. Although it occasionally bogs down in minutiae, the battle for The Equitable is a page-turner. Histories of Henry B. Hyde, The Equitable, James' later life in Paris and New York, and his son's service in the OSS during World War II bookend the drama. Prominent industrialists and financiers from Wall Street's boom years of the 1890s-1920s are the cast, and The Gilded Age itself is a character. James' flamboyance, active social life, and ostentatious wealth exemplified the ideals of the era. He was praised for successfully juggling his business, social, and artistic pursuits. But he couldn't. "After the Ball" is the story of a doting father who gave his son an empire but neglected to teach him how to rule for fear that his image would be tarnished in the boy's eyes. It's the story of a son who inherited great wealth and power but little motivation to comprehend or exploit them and so fell victim to those more willing.



5. Historians of the Progressive Era will appreciate this biographical sketch of Henry Hyde and the founding of the Equitable Assurance Co. during the latter nineteenth-century. In a period of liberal corporate empire building by Hyde, Morgan, Biltmore, et al., Patricia Beard profiles the Hyde's desire to establish a "sacred trust" life insurance company for investors and policyholders. As the author notes in her sub-title, that trust was riddled with financial scandal and power brokering. Henry Hyde's heir apparent, James, is cited as a flamboyant, underachieving vice-president of the company and ridiculed for a wasteful spending ball in 1905. In truth James Hyde's rivals Alexander and Harriman are the true culprits of the Equitable's indebtedness when they establish trusts with railroad magnates and wealthy stockbrokers.
   Some highlights of the book that readers might find interesting are Charles Evans Hughes establishment of anti-trust legislation as governor of New York which set the foundation for the Armstrong Commission and contemporary rules of conduct, for corporations. Biographical profiles of the Hyde family covers James' early proficiency at coach racing to his son Henry's "exact" purpose in life while he served in the OSS during World War II. Future reviewers may speculate about why James did not heed a lesson from the famous Bradley-Martin Ball (1897) which caused those families embarrassment and exiile. Perhaps the implicit meaning of the word "Gilded" is appropriate here in that the thin layer of ornamentation that covered the rich and haughty was only a cover-up for their flawed character.
   Overall, Patricia Beard does a fine job proving the primary sources she uncovered in newspapers and family correspondence. She writes with the narrative style of Barbara Tuchman and her personal encounters with Henry Jr. and surviving members of the Hyde lineage adds panache. A good read for history book discussion clubs and perhaps a welcome addition to business history curriculums.

1 comments about Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of Survivors (Voices Of The Civil War).

1. Dr. David Madden founded the Civil War website at LSU and is a real student of the war. This book gives accounts by the survivors of the largest maritime disaster in our nation's history--more lives lost than on the Titanic. The disaster occurred so close to the Lincoln Assassination and Booth Chase and so near the end of the Civil War that it has been largely lost to history.
   
   Many of the soldiers were former prisoners of war at Andersonville (GA) and Cahaba (AL) and were weakened from near starvation. My ancestor was a private in the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry (USA) that had been captured by Gen. N.B. Forrest at Sulphur Springs Trestle, Alabama (near Athens, AL). He survived the disaster, floated to shore at Memphis (the sinking was eight miles north of Memphis on the Mississippi at the Hens and Chickens Islands), walked home to Monroe County (south of Knoxville) and fathered six children, my grandmother included.
   
   Dr. Madden's introduction to the book is worth the entire cost, as he covers the essentials admirably.
   
   Books by Jerry Potter and Gene Salecker give more details on the disaster, the packet boat itself and the trial attempting to assess the responsibility for vast overcrowding, but these first person accounts are priceless.
   
   The annual reunion of the Sultana Descendents will be held in Athens, Alabama on April 13-14, 2007 with Dr. Madden present and speaking.
   
   J.C. Tumblin, Past-President
   Knoxville Civil War Roundtable

5 comments about Lincoln's Greatest Speech : The Second Inaugural.

1. A proof should be as simple and as elegant as possible, yet at the same time it should be full and rigorous. Ronald C. White provides an insightful essay on Lincoln's Second Inaugural address. Unfortunately, his proof is in the form of a 256 page book. Though effective and thoughtful, White's work is bogged down by its excessive history.
   
   If White's work were in the form of a shorter paper, each paragraph would be meaningful and interesting. As it is, it is tempting to skim through White's work, as so much of it seems to serve only as filler and history to extend the length of the work and make it publishable in the form of a book. In a condensed form, White's arguments would simply be more potent.
   
   White's analysis and the content of his work are, however, effective and insightful. Though some bits are sketchy, most of his analysis makes evident the method behind Lincoln's Second Inaugural. Paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, and word by word, White breaks down the rhetorical devices which Lincoln used in his hope of reunifying the nation.
   
   White's analysis is rich, ranging from explaining the effect of Lincoln's diction to the appeal to religion made when Lincoln's speaks of slavery. White goes through parallelism and imagery--he thoroughly covers all of Lincoln's methods. For readers who love history and all that is Lincoln and the Civil War, I recommend this book. But for everyone else who believes nonfiction in this era should yield maximum knowledge and understanding with minimum time, Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural is simply tedious.



2. Ronald White does an outstanding job analyzing Lincoln's second inaugural speech, supporting his work with both historical context and social context. However, this book is presented in a way that has little to offer for the casual reader.
   
   Understanding the power within Lincoln's words, White breaks down this speech to reveal the methods Lincoln used to persuade his audience. He traces, from Lincoln's early history as an orator to his final years, the growth and development of our sixth president and the affect it had on his speech. White analyzes the strategies Lincoln employed to convey his message of reconciliation; instead of merely focusing on the speech, he also includes the responses it produced upon the listeners. He sheds light to many elements of the speech that are unseen by the average reader. With an overall solid argument, this book will leave the reader amazed at the power of Lincoln's subtle language, if only the reader could finish the book. And that is the trouble.
   
   Turing an analysis of a 701-word speech into a 265 page book means boredom. White's analysis is substantial and perceptive but by analyzing almost word by word, he has turned this book into a tiresome read. The unnecessary details that White sometimes includes are overwhelming at best. His arguments are sound but the extreme amount of support he provides reduces their impact. The reader gets carried away and lost within the paragraphs of history that White uses to support his claims. While there is much to be gleaned from his pages, the unnecessary length of this book is extremely unappealing. If White were to reduce his book to a summary of his claims with minimal but concise support, this book would be much more effective.
   
   This book is a worthwhile read as there is much to be learned from White's careful analysis but because of its length it is extremely unappealing and almost impossible to reader with interest.



3. Speeches are boring. Not much to say there. But what White has done is just plain horrible. 256 pages of horrible actually. Though White's essay/book is informational and effective, it is extensive and overfilled with pointless history.
   
   Breaking down Lincoln's speech, White provides powerful information about the rhetorical devices Lincoln uses to unify the nation. However, this `powerful' information is often drowned out by the incessant historical lessons. In reality, this story is more of a biography than an analysis on Lincoln' Second Inaugural address. Although this may excite some people, for most, myself included, this is more of a turn off.
   
   So if you want to read some history, go ahead, pick up this book. But if your looking for information on Lincoln's Second Inaugural, I strongly suggest that you go on the internet to get your information.



4. A book on analyzing Licoln's Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural by Ronald C. White focuses on the rhetorical strategies Lincoln employs in his speech. Although the book is very informative, this book is hardly deemed to be read for pleasure.
   
   White does a good job of providing enough context to let readers know what the nation was going through at the time. It allowed me to understand what White was trying to say when he was analyzing Lincoln's speech. It becomes much clearer why Lincoln chooses certain words to say when one is fully informed of the situation.
   
   For me personally, I learned a lot about history through this book alone, but I also learned more about rhetorical strategies and why certain words work and certain words do not in particular situations. The book made it clear what rhetorical devices were used and why. Although the book fully analyzed Lincoln's speech, I do feel White does go a little overboard with his analysis.
   
   A good book to read, Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural is good for teaching people rhetorical strategies, but it is one book I would not read for the pleasure of reading.



5. This entire book is a thorough analysis of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Speech given towards the closing of the Civil War. In a time of great turmoil, Lincoln's words offered peace and reconciliation to a nation who had faced nearly four years of bloodshed. White's analysis of the speech is very insightful, as he covers everything from his word choice to people who may have inspired Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln is one of the most revered presidents today and White portrays him as the eloquent speaker he was.
   
   I found the beginning of the book to be quite boring as White goes on to explain the historical context of the speech. Although this is important, I felt he dragged it out too much to a point where it resembled a U.S. history textbook. However, the real analysis comes shortly after in which White analyzes the opening paragraph of Lincoln's speech. I assumed it was just an introduction to get the audience pumped up, however, Lincoln failed to meet America's expectations as he blatantly admitted he would not punish the South for seceding. While disappointing many Americans at the time, I look back on this and realize that it was the appropriate thing to do given the harsh circumstances. White continues to break down the speech into small excerpts, going over each sentence in extensive detail. I found it quite interesting to learn that Lincoln used alliteration, parallel structure, words that were not inclusive, and allusions to God as methods of arousing hope among the American people. The speech was very simple, yet complex at the same time and I developed even more admiration for this humble president. It is evident that White did a lot of research to compile this book and I feel that I did indeed learn a great deal. This book convinced me that the Second Inaugural Address was truly Lincoln's greatest speech.

3 comments about The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long.

1. A slightly flawed account of the life of the Louisiana despot because it rarely takes account of the true feeling of warmth that many of his electorate felt for him. Focusing mainly on his political manouvering and manipulation of the media and the electorate puts his few good deeds in the shade. However, the wealth of sources and quotes are impressive - my favourite by Long's younger brother, Earl, talking about O.K. Allen who was governor when Long assumed his senatorship: "If a leaf blew in through O.K.'s window and landed on his desk he'd sign it."



2. Although it's readable, it's not as good as T. Harry's classic



3. I read and was mightily impressed by T. Harry Williams' 1970 Pulitzer-prize-winning Huey Long biography. but when I read it (July 5, 1970) I thought it was far too favorable to Huey. This book, fortuantely, corrects that and is far more chilling in illustrating the methods of Huey. We often wonder how the German people could have let Hitler attain power and even some wonder why he remained in power. Huey Long was not on the level of unmitigated evil that Hitler was, but in his disregard for the rule of law and the basic tenets of democratic government he was as frightening a phenomenom as has come across the American scene that I am aware of. And when one reflects how revered he is still in Louisiana--his statue is in Statutory Hall in Washington, anybody related to him got elected in Louisiana, etc.--it is apparent that his dictatorship was popular. Apparently most people thought his disregard for law and democratic behavior was ok because they felt they were better off because of it. In St. Bernard parish in 1932 Long's slate for state office received 3,152 votes. There were 2,194 registered voters in the parish. The opposition candidates received 0 votes. This kind of voter fraud makes Hitler's wins by 98%, etc., seem honest by comparison. This is a stunning book and should be read after reading Williams' book so that one gets the whole picture of a stunning situation in American history.

1 comments about Beloved Island: Franklin & Eleanor and the Legacy of Campobello.

1. Beloved Island: Franklin & Eleanor And The Legacy Of Campobello by Jonas Klein is a touching, memorable, biographical portrayal of two genuinely great figures of 20th Century American history. Here presented are the daily lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and how their summer home on Campobello Island influenced them, and rounds out an impressive and painstaking recreation of their personal experiences with anecdotes, personal letters, and the memories of aides, family, and friends. A welcome and much appreciated contribution to the growing library of literature dedicated to the life, thought, and achievements of this politically and socially influential (and often controversial) couple, Beloved Island is an informative and insightful study of the often-hidden inner side of these two remarkable American leaders.

1 comments about Raphael Semmes: The Philosophical Mariner.

1. I loved this book at the end. At the first of it, I was becoming tired of the author claiming Semmes was a 'rasict'. ( give me a break, during the 1800's 99% of all white people were, even Lincoln)

   The author, Warren Spencer quite obviously admires Semmes, and does a great historical job.

   This is a short version of Semmes own book, which is a little over 800 pages.

   Semmes was a very intelligent person, and an astute lawyer. His prowess upon the seas, still holds records to this day.

   The Germans were ordered to study the tactics of Raphael Semmes with their U-boats.

   I deduct one star from what could be a 5 star book, due to the aforementioned 'racist' nonsense. And secondly, the rareity of footnotes and primary sources.

   The author uses quotation markes, where he quotes Semmes; BUT, there should be a footnote, with the primary source, preferably on the bottom of the page. There are some of us Civil War buffs, that stive for accuracy, and demands primary sources. I know Mr. Spencer used them; but footnotes, previously mentioned would have been as asset.

   I wish to quote two very good lines from this book--

   --"Our Southern movement, in the eyes of Spain, was a mere political revolution, and like all absolute governments, she had no sympathy with revolutionists. It was on this principle that the Czar of Russia has fraternized so warmly with the Federal President." [from Semmes journal]
   [ authors note-'this is an insight into the diplomacy of the Civil War that has to date escaped the notice of authorities on the subject.]....If you're a Civil War buff, ( or a sailor) you should have a book, on Raphael Semmes, this book would be a good choice.

4 comments about Rebels from West Point: The 306 U.S. Military Academy Graduates Who Fought for the Confederacy.

1. In Rebels from West Point, Gerard A. Patterson has compiled information on some of the more intersting figures, as well as careers, in the War Between the States. Some mention has been made in larger works, including the movie Gettysburg, about the relationships between men from both sides of the conflict, but this work covers them all, albeit in small bits sometimes.

   In this work, however, the conflict between West Pointers and non-professional officers is more clearly covered. From the beginning, the "newcomers" felt looked down upon by their more rigorously trained compatriots. Here, we find this attitude contributing to one of the least known aspects of the war: the professional competition among officers in both armies, and in all grades. Sometimes these attitudes took precedence over conducting the war in a professional manner.

   There is also some coverage of the conflicts that rose up after the war -- and particularly after the death of R.E. Lee -- over who was to blame for losing the war. James Longstreet was particularly vilified over his conduct at Gettysburg and later over his friendship with U.S. Grant and membership in the Republican Party. Such things provided fuel for men who were still trying to promote themselves, sometimes beyond their capabilities.

   This book is a nice addition to any collection on the Civil War and would be particularly complementary to the biographies and autobiographies which are available in abundance.




2. Any Civil War buff would want to add this book to their collection. Patterson mainly follows the West Point grads who served with Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia. In doing so, that kind of makes the title misleading since this only covers less than half of the 306. At any rate, though, the book is valuable in discussing the rifts that grew up between the West Point grads and the non-professinal soldiers. Further, it discusses how pre-war friendships and animosities carried over into the war years. Possibly the most interesting chapter, though, is the final chapter about the fighting amongst each other that occurred, espeically over the Gettysburg Campaign, and how non-professional soldiers actually fared better socially and economically after the war than the West Pointers. Another interesting facet of the final chapter is how some non-professional soldiers blamed the West Pointers for the Confederacy's loss, saying that the professional soldiers were too interested in their image and not the cause. Most Civil War buffs probably won't learn a whole lot of new stuff because of the book being so short, but a fast paced, interesting, well written read just the same.



3. Apparently the author spent as much time thinking up a catchy title as writing the book which is very narrow and provides only tiny summaries of many of the commanders. It holds some interest as a reference.



4. Patterson captures the in-depth details of the Civil War experiences of 306 Confederate officers who had graduated from West Point Academy. In Rebels from West Point, West Point alumni from all over the country, from the quiet Wild West to the bustling and industrious north, gather to defend their home states when they hear of the southern states' secession. Although they were trained at the expense of the northerners' tax money at the northern institution, many deserted the United States Army and joined the Confederate cause. Upon arrival, the skilled elites faced the task in front of them: training disrespectful, lazy and inexperienced clutters of men to go up against the Union army. As expected, adversities sprung up right away in this bold endeavor. The West Point alumni were initially ineffective in controlling their troops. Harshness was one of few ways to round up the drunkards as they organized themselves into respectable threats. Otherwise, the army would lead a stationary and lax life. Throughout this chaos, Patterson introduces the barrage of officers, from the threatening, yet effective, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, to the face of the Confederates, Robert E. Lee, men who represent the only chance of winning against the powerhouse Union. Documenting the intangible challenges in addition to the basic obstacles of war, Patterson reveals internal conflict among the officers, the importance of troop morale, but all while presenting these men as a band of brothers who contribute different aspects to the Confederate effort through personal stories at Shenandoah, Gettysburg, and the final surrender after the deaths of more than 20% of the Confederate West Point graduates.
   
   Offering a more personal view into the Civil War of the 1860's, Patterson emphasizes the duality of success and failures for the "small body of men" responsible for changing the Civil War into "the costliest conflict in which the nation has ever been involved." Patterson has based his portrayal on a synthesis of primary and secondary sources, as he supplements the general works used for research to manuscripts offering a firsthand account of the past.
   
   For historical facts, American history textbooks offer the complete package, but for a mixture of personal stories with facts, I approve this source as an informative, yet mostly captivating, book. The facts are concise and somewhat, but not detrimentally, condensed, which results in fast, enjoyable reading.

2 comments about John Witherspoon and the Founding of the American Republic.

1. Among the American Founding Fathers, it is unlikely that there is a man more influential and yet less well known and studied than Dr. John Witherspoon. Prof. Morrison seeks to help correct this neglect in this brief volume. Dr. John Witherspoon was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who came to America in the late 1760s to become the President of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), where he played an active and influential role in American politics, religion and education in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. He was the only minister to sign both the Declaration of Independence and to ratify the Constitution. He was probably Madison's most influential teacher, and, despite his staunch Christian orthodoxy, appears to have enjoyed universally high regard by the other founders, even those such as Franklin and Jefferson who had little use for Biblical Christianity. This book gives an excellent account of a number of interesting aspects of Witherspoon's life and thought.
   
   Chapter 1 gives an overview of the importance of Witherspoon's career in America, including excerpts referring to him from the writings of many of his contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic. It discusses the significance of his religious alignment, which was orthodox, Reformed, Biblical, Presbyterian Christianity, and how Witherspoon's stature in the colonies influenced the major role that Presbyterians played in the independence movement (King George III called the American Revolution the "Presbyterian rebellion"). The chapter closes by discussing some reasons why Witherspoon has been largely ignored by scholars, such as a scarcity of surviving material, and the fact that most modern scholars will feel very uncomfortable being reminded of a prominent Christian minister who played such an active and influential role in early American politics and who saw no distinction between his religious and his political activities (Witherspoon always insisted on wearing his clerical robes when he attended the Continental Congress).
   
   Chapter 2 examines Witherspoon's religious views, and especially the role that he saw religion playing in the new United States. Witherspoon believed in political freedom of conscience, following the framers of the Westminster Confession, who say that "God alone is lord of the conscience." Nevertheless, he also shared the view common to the founders, that liberty, virtue and faith were equally indispensable in the foundation of a happy society. Witherspoon wrote that "Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand." Despite his belief in personal religious liberty, Witherspoon could write that "those who are vested with civil authority ought also, with much care, to promote religion and good morals among all under their government" and that "Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction."
   
   Chapter 3 discusses Witherspoon's influence as an educator, and the central place that education had in his day, when its importance for the prosperity and happiness of a nation was viewed as second only to religion. It examines his moral and philosophical teachings, which were drawn largely from Scottish common sense philosophy, and tended strongly toward pragmatism, which became a hallmark not only of early American politics, but also of American life and culture in general.
   
   Chapter 4 considers Witherspoon's role in the American revolution, in terms of both his activities and his theological and philosophical views of liberty and resistance theory. Witherspoon saw little or no distinction between religious and civil tyranny. As a result, his idea of revolution was founded on John Calvin's right of resistance outlined in the Institutes of the Christian Religion, but was also influenced heavily by Locke's generalization of Calvin's idea to civil resistance.
   
   Chapter 5 investigates Witherspoon's activity surrounding the development of the founding documents, including his vocal role at the Continental Congress and his advocacy of a strong and lasting union of the states. It discusses parallels between Witherspoon's writings and The Federalist Papers, his positions on economic questions, and his active role in the formation of the national Presbyterian Church in the United States and the drafting of the Presbyterian Constitution in 1787. In this context, Morrison discusses many of the parallels between the U.S. federal government and Presbyterian government, and he talks about Witherspoon's view of the very limited role that the federal government ought to play (he considered that the scope of the federal government was so limited that a permanent federal city was not a question of pressing importance).
   
   The sixth and final chapter of Morrison's book explores Witherspoon's relation to early American political thinking. It compares his ideas with those of other founders, and it looks at his influence on thinkers such as Madison. In particular, one idea central to Witherspoon's thought that was shared by many of the founders and influential in the framing of the Constitution was the Calvinistic idea of the sinfulness of human nature. The final chapter also considers the influence of various political theorists in early American politics, and discusses the strong pragmatic and empirical spirit that characterized the political views of Witherspoon and the other founders.
   
   If, as Morrison writes, "perhaps more than any other single founder, Witherspoon embodied all of the major intellectual and social elements behind the American founding", it is only to be hoped that we may soon have available a thorough biography of this "forgotten founder" to go along with Morrison's fine volume covering his political and social importance. However, in this oppressive age of political correctness, it is doubtful that a conservative Presbyterian minister will receive too much attention, however influential he may have been. This is an excellent book, and Morrison's rigorous scholarship is consistently obvious in the thorough footnotes (nearly 100 pages of the brief 220 page volume are devoted to appendices, footnotes, bibliography, and index). If you are serious about understanding the early development of the United States, this book will not disappoint you.



2. I come to this book by way of personal invitation, in fact scan down to the review labelled:
   A significant book on a neglected founder, February 4, 2006
   Reviewer: Alex Morden (Tucson, AZ, USA)
   
   it is his copy of the book that i have in hand. and if you haven't read his review, do it now. It is much more interesting and thorough than is mine.
   The book is basically a historical monograph, written to professional historians, to convince them to research Witherspoon. The theme of the book is on the next to the last page: "Perhaps more than any other single founder, Witherspoon embodied all of the major intellectual and social elements behind the American founding. This was partly circumstantial: Witherspoon was literally peerless among his founding brothers when it came to combining religious, education, and politics, and seldom in American history have so many key vocations been joined in one man. Witherspoon therefore offers us a chance that is genuinely incomparable, to trace the outlines of the american mind at the foundating..." Essentially i feel like an outsider reading over someone's shoulder with this book, it is addressed to and engages with professional historians. However it is not so dry nor so uninteresting a book that many of us amateurs can not gain from reading what is a short introduction to both the American Revolutionary War themes and Witherspoon, but beware it is not an exciting historical novel set in the same period. *grin*
   
   If you are looking to see if this book ought to be on your shelf, just read the first chapter, it is a read from front to back type of book. Mostly because he does not repeat himself and you'll miss something if you don't read it in this manner. I found myself getting up from my easy reading chair and googling people and writings by name, it is a well researched and documented book, as befits the audience and the purpose, so read with a pen or highlighter in hand. It is not an extensive introduction to Witherspoon, it is a tease, a hint of what could be done if Witherspoon got more academic attention, it is not the last word, it is the first word.
   
   So What? should i drop everything and study to become a Witherspoon expert? Maybe someone with the right outlook and right experience might very well read this book and do so, but i am not encouraged to do so. This book is enough Witherspoon for me, i pulled perhaps 50 quotes out of the book. Had a few nice thoughts about how theology and in particular, reformed and Presbyterian theology was influential beyond its numbers in both the lead up to the Revolutionary War and it its aftermath and constitution writing period. But this is not my major interest in history just an aside, if it is your interest this may rate an important read.
   
   The one big idea that i will take away is "the great effect of Scottish Philosophy especially in its Common Sense forms and its in particular it's effect on moral philosophy, and the rejection of divine right of kings, and religious liberty for dissenters" see: pg 127, this way the book firms up a few things i've read in Mark Noll and George Marsden and now i have the name Witherspoon to research more throughly if i desire. Plus because of the extensive apparatus of the book, it becomes an entry point into the literature, certainly a reason not only to own the book but to keep it in mind. So i don't feel that i wasted my time on the book, but it did not strike me like it did the person i borrowed it from, as a book worth recommending and pursuing. However i would like to write better reviews and i will take the one referred to above as an excellent example of how to write a book review.

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