5 comments about The Sweet Hell Inside: A Family History.

1. I found "The Sweet Hell Inside" to be an illuminating, informative read! Being an African-American especially interested in the black/white dynamics of American history, I found Edward Ball's story of the Harlestons of South Carolina hard to put down!

   The in-depth story of how the black Harleston family began, prospered, endured, and survived;the digressions Ball made re African-American parts in jazz, art, the funeral-home industry;the "Harlem Renaissance";and the very human traits of all the various characters, combined to make "The Sweet Hell Inside" a voyage of discovery and enlightenment for me. I think most other readers will find it likewise! This book is a treasure-trove of family, racial, and American history.

   I especially liked this book because the author allowed the characters to "speak" through their papers, records, and other memorabilia, and via his sixth cousin,Edwina Harleston Whitlock!




2. I was dazzled once again by the depth and scope of effort and research put into a book by Edward Ball. I was such a big fan of his first book, Slaves In the Family, I was doubtful he could equal his own work. What a nice to surprise to find that as good as Slaves In the Family was, The Sweet Hell Inside was even better.

   The book follows generations of the Harleston family of South Carolina from the early 1800s to the present. Harleston was a white ancestor of the author who took a black common law wife with whom he had five children. Being of mixed blood the Harleston family lived a separate, more priviledged life than other black South Carolina residents, but one that was also very separate from the white residents. The family history is fascinating with members working in various performing and visual arts, participating in the Harlem Reniassiance, and educating some children who would grow up to be pioneers in jazz music. Its astounding that one family could have had such an influence in so many areas and that they have the documentation to prove it. Much of the documentation and oral history come from Edwina Harleston Whitlock a direct descendant of white Mr. Harleston and his former slave/wife Katie. The compilation of material provided from Ms. Whitlock coupled with Ball's narrative talent make this a must read.




3. As a genealogist researching my ancestors from South Carolina I felt compelled to read this book. It was fascinating, although I had read Slaves in the Family, I felt like this was a continuation not to be missed. I felt deeply for the members of the Hairston family. It was sad see how Kate lost her inheritance which she deserved. All of the other slights the family is dealt but still some how the family went on. Its an important aspect of American history which you don't always see.



4. Author Edward Ball comes from a long line of plantation owners from the Low Country of South Carolina. In his first book, National Book Award-winner Slaves in the Family, Ball set out to trace the ancestors of slaves once owned by the Ball family. Little did he realize that this research would lead to the discovery of his own ancestors of color, and what a fascinating tale this would be. This story is the basis of his second book, The Sweet Hell Inside, which is one of the most moving, poignant and haunting books I have ever read.

   The Sweet Hell begins with plantation owner, William Harleston. Harleston never married, but took a house slave named Kate as his common-law wife. Together, they produced eight children. After the Civil War, William purchased a house in Charleston for Kate and the children, and even left her an inheritance when he died (something rare in the 19th century South). The story of the Harleston family is a study of Charleston's high yellow society, or the black elite. Not accepted into white culture, they were also not comfortable among their freed slave brethren. Ball follows four generations of the black Harlestons. We see that they were educated, sent to college, trained in various professions, and lived a very comfortable life. The members of this family were also multi-talented. They became businessmen, sea captains, artists, musicians, pastors, photographers, and influential members of Charleston's black society.

   Much of the success of the Harleston family begins with Kate and William's son, Edwin. Edwin started the Harleston Funeral Home to provide upper-class black families with the same services offered by white undertakers (who would not handle black clients). The short history that Ball provides about the mortuary business is fascinating. Several other family members stand out in this book. Edwin's son, Teddy, becomes a classically trained painter. Unfortunately, he is needed in the funeral business and his painting career suffers. Edwin's daughter, Ella, marries the Rev. Joseph Jenkins. Together, they run the famous Jenkins Orphanage. There are a host of other brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews that make-up the tapestry of this wonderful story.

   But for as fortunate as this family was, they also suffered more than their share of heartaches including infertility, economic setbacks, illness, and early death. They also faced discrimination in their hometown. A musician moved to Europe to earn the respect he deserved as a performer and composer. Teddy had to travel north to enjoy classic artwork in museums (Charleston's museums were for whites only). Also, his own city never recognized his artistic talents until after his death. Pneumonia, heart disease, a ruptured appendix and TB were among the maladies that cut down family members in their prime.

   The Sweet Hell was a book I didn't want to end. There is a family tree and many photos of family, places and even Teddy's artwork. But I wanted more. So on a trip to Charleston, I visited many of the places mentioned in the book. First, I rode by Kate Harleston's house (the original homestead). Since the book was published, this dilapidated house is now being renovated. I discovered that I have passed the Harleston Funeral Home hundreds of times, but never noticed it before. It is still in operation, although no longer run by the Harleston family. I found the Plymouth Congregational Church, where most of the Harleston's worshipped. The most moving sight was the old Jenkins Orphanage. The orphanage and the Old Jail both share a block. It was eerie walking in this now quiet, residential neighborhood, trying to imagine what it must have been like when hundreds of orphans and hundreds of inmates were both in residence. Add a Jenkins band or two, and it must have been a happening place!

   All in all, I just can't say enough good things about The Sweet Hell Inside. Edward Ball's new effort proves that he is a writer with an incredible voice.




5. Edward Ball did a wonderful job with this book. The story is well written and very informative. I am of Creole Heritage and I found the book to be similiar to my ancestery.

1 comments about A Coloring Book of Civil War Heroines.

1. In 56 pages there must be over 30 heroines discussed and drawn in this book. While originals are unclear for many of the images, the text is well written to give us an idea of who each was the role she played in relationship to the Civil War of the USA. I say "relationship" on purpose but not all of these women were soldiers or directly involved in the war. The illustrations are a bit too shaded and detailed for easy coloring.

5 comments about Crazy Horse: The Life Behind the Legend.

1. I was disappointed in this book. I have long been fasinated by the life of Ta-Sunka Witko (Crazy Horse), and have read everything I could find on the subject. This isn't a bad book, there just is nothing new said in it. I'm not sure why Mr. Sajna felt the need to write it.

   Much of the book talks about the historical time and setting of the life of Ta-Sunka Witko, but not about the man himself. In his preface, the author states he only used primary sources in writing this book. A quick scan of my bookshelf shows at least 6 books which are either sources sited in Mr. Sajna's book, or books which site those sources. While I found no particulary new information on the life of Ta-witko, I did find a lot of irrelevant speculation, and references to Lakota life, and the historical times, but no real biographical information. For example, in the chapter "Indian Boyhood" Mr. Sajna writes: "While still a boy, Crazy Horse most likely also was initiated to the real horrors of war. But how, where, or when that may have occurred is impossible to know."

   The historical information presented is well researched, and appears accurate, but if I am reading a book with the subtitle "The Life behind the Legend" I want more specific information about the man himself. Perhaps a better title for this book would be "A Historical Context for the Life of Crazy Horse".




2. No photos exist of Crazy Horse, and little was written about him during his lifetime. He, himself, left no written record. Much of what we know about him is a collection of highly romanticized and sometimes apocryphal stories told by friends, foes, and rivals. These have been grossly exaggerated and sometimes outright made up through the years. Sajna attempts, by using only verifiable primary sources, to separate the fact from the fiction. This reflects his long career as a newspaperman. Where he can't nail down something for sure, he presents all ideas and allows the reader to draw his/her own conclusion. This scholarly attempt is to lay down the true facts of this remarkable man's life, an extremely difficult task owing to the dearth of verifiable material on the subject. An excellent, scholarly work. It is high time this man was depicted realistically, instead of romantically.



3. For the most part I enjoyed this book. I did however get a bit tired of the " well there is no evidence so we dont know for sure attitude. perhaps a trained historian could have done a little better. Better than Sandoz book!



4. In 1942 Mari Sandoz published her biography of Crazy Horse. Some, like Stephen Oates, the famous Lincoln biographer consider it the best biography ever written. However, several scholars of American western history find fault with the fact that she often did not cite her sources, and she wrote only one version of events of which several varied accounts exist. However, it's not enough to simply avoid these to flaws in order to make a book "one of the most accurate accounts of the Oglala Chief," as this book is billed on its back cover. The author also needs to bring up some new information based on new sources. Add to this that Sanja tends to make his own definitive statements about debatable topics, and what you end up with is not of much value.

   First off, I or anyone else who has ordered most of the books available on the subject [...]could have just as easily written this, ie there's nothing new here. It is based largely on secondary sources, and though Sajna lists some unpublished sources in his bibliography, I don't see where he used them. He even quoted authors like Stephen Ambrose who himself relied on secondary sources for his book Crazy Horse and Custer.

   Second, Sanja while claiming to separate fact from myth, comes up with some uncorroborated ideas of his own. One in particular that stands out is his statement that"[s]peculation about Crazy Horse's sexuality also might be fueled by the fact that he did not marry until after Hump [his hunka brother] had been killed and that among his friends as a boy was Woman's Dress...a well-known winkte..."

   I suppose this is the kind of "juicey tidbit" that appeals to readers of the 21st century, but it shows a huge lack of understanding of Native American culture. A close relationship between a warrior and his, what we might call, protege, was not at all unusual. And while Woman's Dress did seem to display some effeminate qualities, that is not the same as being a Winkte. A Winkte was a more or less self-proclaimed homosexual, who dressed either in womens' or mens' clothing as it suited him. However, he spent most of his time with the women doing womens' work, though he could join a war party if he chose. There are various notions of how Woman's Dress got his name (as with most American Indian names) but it is not because he wore dresses. And, need I add, that by all accounts Woman's Dress and Crazy Horse were hardly bosom buddies.

   Sanja has every right (though one would question why he cares) to speculate on Crazy Horse's sexuality, but in doing so he should make sure he has something to base it on.

   The fact is that it is rather pointless for anyone to claim that they have written "the most accurate account" of Crazy Horse's life. Everything we know about Crazy Horse, with the exception of his death and military records that might refer to battles he took part in, is necessarily based on oral history. Those who knew the history are long gone as are those who interviewed them and recorded it.

   Readers can, however, read Sandoz, the Hinman interviews, Neihardt's interviews with Black Elk, as well as the wonderful collections of letters and eye-witness reports compiled in books like The Killing of Chief Crazy Horse and The Death of Crazy Horse, and come up with a much better idea of the "facts" than you will find in this book.




5. I'll be honest: I've not finished the book...but don't think I will. Author is boring me with background & never getting into subject which is supposed to be Crazy Horse. His research leaves much to be desired. It's no wonder people hate history when it's this boring.

5 comments about Woodrow Wilson: World Statesman.

1. Woodrow Wilson. Here was a president who put himself in the middle of European power politics in order to achieve the goals he had in mind. This book helps to suggest a man of action and persuasion at a time when most Americans were fed up with affairs that didn't concern them. Woodrow Wilson is regarded with respect, but at the time he was proposig the League of Nations as the answer to the world's problems, he was criticized left and right. We now know that his policies for peace and security were right, and if Wilson was president today, we could be made certain that the world would be at peace. This book, which was written in such a way as to paint a picture of a daring, courageous president, is by far one of the better books on Wilson that I have ever read. I would recommend this account of our 28th president to both the serious student of American Presidential History, and also to the laymen reader. This book is more of an outline of alreay well-known facts, and serves as an introduction into the life of one of our country's greatest presidents.



2. Kendrick A. Clements "Woodrow Wilson" delivers what it promises -an excellent introductory study of our 28th president - in just 223 pages of text. Some readers may want more intimate details about Wilson and the people in his life; for them there are 11 additional pages of pertinent bibliographical information. Clement's brief book, nevertheless - billed as the 'best available one-volume biography' on Wilson - provides the reader with that essential information that prompts many historians to rank Wilson in the top tier of U.S. presidents. We learn, for example, that Wilson (our only Ph.D. president) was one of just a handful of our truly intellectual presidents - i.e., he loved books and ideas and was a voracious reader of books and a prolific writer of books. He was the son of a Presbyterian minister who'd instilled in him a love of his fellow man and a desire to serve his fellow man. Wilson - like Theodore Roosevelt before him - came to believe that the federal government is an organ that must be involved in helping those unable to help themselves. As president he pushed through legislation that protected workers, women, and children from abuse and exploitaton in the workplace. He believed in the capitalist system and in the prerequisite free market conditions; consequently, he fought against any practices employed by business or industry designed to create monopolies or restrict free competition. As president he felt obligated to be deeply involved in both legislative and executive branch activities - in order to better realize his domestic and foreign affairs goals. Wilson was a decent man with a wide range of significant accomplishments: after acquiring his Ph.D. (political science) at Johns Hopkins University, he distinguished himself in a number of capacities - as a college/university professor, university president (Princeton), governor (New Jersey) and U.S. president (2 terms). While he was in office women got the vote, the Federal Reserve Bank was established, the mechanism for funding government activities was changed (the graduated income tax was adopted to suplement less effective tariff and excise tax revenues). When U.S. entry into World War I became unavoidable, Wilson vowed that the war should end with something positive - namely, with a non-punitive peace (provided for in his '14 Point Plan' for peace)and with the creation of an organization that could prevent world wars in the future (he proposed the League of Nations). Because U.S. congressional opposition was more powerful Wilson failed to achieve these goals - but he did win a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Nevertheless, Wilson was correct in warning the world that a punitive peace would cause serious trouble in the future (aka Adolph Hitler), and he was correct in predicting that the world would eventually be forced to create a collective organization of nations (aka the United Nations) to resolve international disputes and to punish nations who violate international law. We now see that Wilson was also important as the transitional president who helped the United States abandon its 19th Century isolationist positions - and he did his best to push the country into the modern era (20th Century) when it would eventually accept and assume its duties and responsibilities as a leader among nations.



3. "God helping her...she can do no other!"

   Unlike our current prez, Wilson was no war monger. He earnestly sought peace even as he committed our boys to the 20th centuries first horrific war. This is his story and I highly recommend it.




4. The writing in this book is good, but in places it jumps around in time. It is also slow paced and not light reading. However, it covers Woodrow's life pretty well for a one-book volume.



5. I am reading all the presidential biographies in order and just finished this book.
   
   Overall, I thought it was just "okay." I like my books to be in chronological order. This book was organized loosely chonological, but by topic. It made following the chain of events rather difficult. Also, the auther wrote the dates like this: 29 March 1917. Rather than March 19. That was a stumbling block and a distraction.
   
   This read more like a textbook than a biography, which made it rather flat and dull. He devoted page upon page to the intracacies of war finance, but breezed over and barely mentioned the death of his wife and his debilitating series of strokes in the twilight of his administration.
   
   If I can identify with the subject of a biography and feel as if I KNOW the subject, I can say "this is a great book." And, as corny as it may sound, I feel sad at the end when the president dies. In this book, there could have been several instances where I could have "felt" the book -- when his first wife dies, when he dies, etc. I didn't feel that at any point in the book, which means I didn't get close to Wilson.
   
   If you are reading all the presidential bios like I am, this is a good book to get a general idea of what Wilson was like so you can move onto Warren G Harding. You'll probably need to go back and read the multi-volme bios available on Wilson to really FEEL him or to undertsand the complexities of the events leading up to and including WWI.

1 comments about Young Frederick Douglass: The Maryland Years (Maryland Paperback Bookshelf) (Maryland Paperback Bookshelf).

1. Frederick Douglass wrote three biographies, or rather, he wrote his biography three times in different periods of life, each time recounting the story of his youth and escape from slavery, and then bringing the account forward to the date of writing. They are Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave (1845), My Bondage and My Freedom(1855) and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881). Of the three 'Bondage and Freedom' is the most detailed and reliable account of his early slave years. 'Life and Times' smoothed out some passages. While 'Bondage and Freedom' is the most reliable of his accounts it remains the least read, the tendency is to read 'Narrative' first and then for those wanting more detail to skip to 'Life and Times'.
   
   Douglass' 1845 'Narrative' was probably the single most influential American slave narrative ever written, it was widely read and well known in the decades leading up to the Civil War. However from its first publication many contested its veracity, in particular Douglass' former white owners on the Eastern Short of Maryland. For the most part historians have taken Douglass at his word, or excused certain things in light of the context that he was trying to raise sympathy for the cause of abolition. It was not until 1980 that historian Dickson Preston, who lived in Talbot County, Maryland, did a more scientific study of Douglass' early years in slavery, going back through the records and seeing what could be verified, what made sense. Because Dickson is not black he had trouble finding a publisher since it was thought at the time any new biography of Douglass should be written by a black scholar, but with the help of James A. Michener (who was also living in Talbot County at the time working on his book Chesapeake) they found someone to publish this excellent objective historical investigation.
   
   Dickson says in the Preface "this book began as an adventure in what might be called historical detective work. I had read his vividly written first autobiography.. and had been deeply moved by its stark recital of the grimmer side of Eastern Shore slavery. I had also read - and heard, for they are still spoken on the Eastern Shore - the denials, the insistence that Douglass was a charlatan who had made up most of his life story or had it written for him by his norther white benefactors. But what were the facts?" The book then is a re-telling of Douglass' narrative using supporting facts and logical conclusions to determine the accuracy and probable truths. Through this process we are afforded a much richer and deeper glimpse into Douglass' life.
   
   The main thing Dickson discovers is that Douglass for the most part was telling the truth, but that he tended to overplay his trials and tribulations through the sin of omission - he tells the bad things but not the good. Of course this is understandable given the context of the books dual purpose as a weapon in the war against slavery. Far from being a deprived child Douglass was, at major transition points in his life, given opportunities of advancement by his white owners, he was clearly an exceptional child and not the typical downtrodden field-hand. This is not to say he was not a self-made man because he really was gifted, but others saw in him early on his great potential and he was given privileged and room to grow very few other slaves had. In the end we get a more balanced and full view of not only Douglass but the whites in his life and ultimately slave culture in Maryland as a whole, the good and the bad.
   
   I found 'Young Frederick Douglass' to be essential to understanding who Douglass was and how he came to be. Douglass' narrative is gripping but leaves a lot of open questions - Dickson's research helps shed substantial light on what was happening behind the scenes, for anyone wishing to learn more about Douglass after reading 'Narrative' it would be hard to go wrong with 'Young Frederick Douglass'.

No comments about Archibald Grimke: Portrait of a Black Independent (Southern Biography Series).

No comments about Tempest over Teapot Dome: The Story of Albert B. Fall (Oklahoma Western Biographies).

3 comments about John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union: A Biography (Southern Biography).

1. Prof. Niven's book fails on a number of counts, but mainly on that of familiarity with the sources of Calhoun's political thought. For example, in describing Calhoun's indebtedness to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Niven says that neither document contemplated action by an individual state. To correct this impression, one need only consult Jefferson's draft of the Kentucky Resolutions; how anyone who had even read this five-page document could see it as anything other than a threat to interfere with enforcement of the Alien and Sedition Acts within the boundaries of Kentucky is beyond me. The book is full of similiar evidence of Niven's failure to acquaint himself with even the most basic sources. Try Bartlett's Calhoun biography, instead.



2. John Niven, professor emeritus of American History at the Claremont Graduate School, has shed new light on a statesman that history has long viewed as just another inconsistent headstrong Southerner, John C. Calhoun. Niven convinces the reader that this prominent politician of the antebellum south was much more consistent and levelheaded in both his public and private lives than his typical portrayal as a protean, stubborn hot-head from South Carolina would suggest. A lifelong advocate of the South, John C. Calhoun served as a member of Congress at the time of the War of 1812, secretary of war under James Monroe, vice president with John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, secretary of state under John Tyler, and then as a senator from South Carolina until he died in 1850. The key to Niven's success in bringing to life to this "cast iron man" is drawing on Calhoun's personal life and experiences in order to gain persuasive insight into the motives and stances of his political career. (back cover) Instead of telling the classic tale of Calhoun's shift from nationalism, during the War of 1812 and the tariff of 1816, to sectionalism and states' rights in later years, on the issues of the protective tariff and slavery, Niven convincingly exerts the original contention that Calhoun had always stood behind individual liberty and states rights. In Calhoun's view, as supported by his own papers, his apparent nationalistic support of the war and the tariff of 1816 was actually an effort to "provide for the common defense and to utilize the resources of all to strengthen the states as individual entities." (p. 127) When national policies began to benefit northern states at the expense of his home, the South, is when his states' rights sentiment began to manifest itself as sectionalism. The weakness of Niven's otherwise masterful biography is that "as a northerner, born and bred in New York and Connecticut," Niven is never able to completely shake his own predisposition against slavery and present Calhoun's feelings on the issue as being valid views with their own arsenal of support. (p. xv) Although he obviously attempts to be completely objective, Niven's own views show through in his portrayal of the slavery problem as Calhoun's resistance against the antislavery movement as opposed to the antislavery movement threatening Calhoun's southern way of life and ingrained teachings. John Niven's somewhat unconventional view of the career and motives of one of the leading spokesmen for the Old South, John C. Calhoun, is convincingly and understandably expressed in this original biography. He succeeds in depicting Calhoun as a very consistent man with a humanity and complexity entirely devoted to the preservation of the South.



3. In his opening remarks John Niven makes the promise that he would not undertake psychoanalysis of John C.Calhoun, Much to his credit, he is true to his word. What Niven has delivered is an eminently readable and straightforward account of South Carolina's greatest political figure. We forget all that he did: senator, secretary of war, secretary of state, and vice president, in a distinguished career that began in the early days of Madison's presidency and concluded during the Taylor-Fillmore administration, a span of nearly four decades.

   Niven's disclaimer, however, is telling. There is a tendency to use Calhoun's career as a sort of national inkblot. For constitutional scholars and ideologues of many stripes Calhoun's writings survive as either the last great stand of states rights or as a subversive manifesto for the tragic secession that would follow. For politicians and observers of human behavior, Calhoun is either the consummate patriot or his own worst enemy.

   From the data Niven provides, it can be said that while Calhoun may have been eccentric, he was not crazy. Everyone born in primitive eighteenth century America survived with a history, and Calhoun, born in 1782, was no exception. His family and his colony shared a history of terrible suffering at the hands of the British [those were Calhoun's people slaughtered in Mel Gibson's "The Patriot."] Calhoun himself was orphaned as a young teen and appears to have spent a studious but lonely existence until he studied law at Yale under the famous Timothy Dwight.

   Calhoun arrived home with his diploma just in time to ride a wave of strong Carolina resistance against the Virginia-New York axis that seemed to control presidential elections. This handsome, passionate, articulate favorite son soon found himself elected to Congress where he naturally became a leading advocate of war against the hated British. On June 18, 1812, Calhoun and other hawks got their war, but the thoughtful Calhoun quickly ascertained that the United States was woefully unprepared. Calhoun regretted his impetuousness, and nothing would absolve his guilt for this nasty war.

   Calhoun would do penance for his sins by serving as Secretary of War under Monroe. Niven commends him for an outstanding tenure during which Calhoun reformed the army's purchasing policies, developed stronger defense outposts in the west, and crafted an almost enlightened Indian policy. An ambitious man, Calhoun not unreasonably expected his War Department success to catapult him toward bigger and better things.

   But here one of the major themes of the book emerges: Calhoun was an unlucky politician. It was his bad fortune to reach his prime concurrently with an unusually large class of outstanding statesmen: Henry Clay, William Crawford, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren, to name a few. While he could console himself with the role of "everybody's favorite second" in the 1824 election, that convoluted contest left him tainted goods in the eyes of many, and an outsider in the Adams cabinet to boot.

   Calhoun reluctantly threw his lot with Jackson in 1828, but by this date the South Carolinian was having long thoughts about his home region. Cotton prices were low, and protective tariffs seemed to him to exact a crushingly heavy toll from southern growers like himself. And although he shared some of Clay's enthusiasms for internal improvements, most notably transportation systems for the inner reaches of the Carolinas, Calhoun became increasingly suspicious and hostile of the federal government, dubious about its ability and will to protect slavery and Calhoun's idyllic picture of the agricultural southern life. A highly sensitive man, he internalized what he saw as the political treachery of Clay, Van Buren, and especially Crawford, who raised Calhoun-baiting to an art form, for reasons never precisely spelled out.

   Calhoun began to write prodigiously on the subject of states rights and federal encroachments. As Niven observes, his writings were alternately brilliant and contradictory. Potboiler states rights speeches and pamphlets were common in America as the young nation sorted itself out. But how far could a politician really go on the matter of a state's autonomy? Until the Jackson era there seemed to have been a gentleman's agreement that the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions represented the boundary of political good taste. Calhoun crossed that line in his defense of nullification, increasingly preoccupied by perceived threats to his beloved South Carolina, In doing so Calhoun lost his national political base and a sense of the national pulse. No longer viable as even a regional candidate for the presidency, he assisted President Tyler by his skillful negotiating with Great Britain on the Oregon border question. But he objected to the Mexican War, not on humanitarian grounds but because he feared the socioeconomic consequences of the acquisition of Mexican territory, i.e., new free soil states. He was correct in his assessment that the consequences of the Mexican War would bring political turmoil to the United States. He had few horses to trade on the floor of congress as the Wilmot Proviso was debated, but his style till the end was magnificent.

   From Niven's account it is fair to say that Calhoun was never a universally recognized spokesman for the South during his own lifetime. The Richmond Junto despised him. Unionists were still a majority in the South at the time of his death in 1850. Moderate southern businessmen even in his home state found his philosophy antiquated and at times deleterious to their state's economy. Many found him unbearably pedantic. Only later, as the nation polarized, would his political philosophy become a revered creed for those who dared to think the unthinkable.

   Niven's work is a fine presentation for the casual reader and a more than adequate primer for those eager to delve into the mind and works of the consummate antebellum apostle of states' rights.

5 comments about George Washington: Anguish and Farewell 1793-1799 - Volume IV (His George Washington, V. 4).

1. This is volume #2 of the four volume masterpiece written by James Thomas Flexner on the life of George Washington. As we have read previously, George Washington was content living a life at Mount Vernon with his wife and family, but the tides are turning in the life of George Washington, bringing him to the forefront of leadership... albeit woefully prepared.

   Now, in the skillfully written volume, we see the wartime deeds and the soul searching that Washington goes through. A man thrust from the bosom of his home and hearth, a civilian who is now to lead the Continental Army for the American Revolution. An army that is hardly an army... more like a patchwork of the American cross section of life and skills. No formal training, little leadship, under equiped was the army Washington was to have.

   Washington at heart loved his army as they loved him is very evident. We see Washington's mood swings here, his wild furious temper... like an untamed bull, his mistakes, indiscretions,
   and a great deal of personal misery... we now have the man of Washington revealed. Washington's path was that of a mortal man, not that of an Icon, a man all-to-human, frought with inadequacy. Washington has to reach down deep to keep his dream alive and instill it in the men he has to lead.

   And to lead he did... being out-generaled by far superior forces was the norm for Washington, but nevertheless, always on the lookout for that shread of hope to call victory. Flexner writes of Washington's failures and the anguish of what Washington felt as the battles turned against him... but we also see the resourseful resolve coming to light, learning though trial and error... becoming the master of the American Revolution and the Continental Army.

   But Washington never happier to be at home with his wife Martha is not forgotten either. Martha seemed to know what was really troubling Washington.

   I found this volume much more interesting and with an impeccable eye for detail. Written in an engrossing and an engaging style that keeps you reading to find out the tidbits left out in your school's history books.

   This is a solid and well documented work.




2. This is the final volume in the set of four, in this series about George Washington, written by James Thomas Flexner; and the most intensely dramatic covering Washington's second term, his retirement and death.

   George Washington takes his oath for a second term as President of the United States, in a time when the young United States is growing following a time of relative peace and a policy of non-aggression with France and England. And grow the young Republic did, by leaps and bounds, but with this growth, evolved some discontent. Factions in the fragile government wanted to be self-serving... Hamilton's lust for power and control, contrasted by Jefferson's lack of anything having to do with a central overseeing government. All of this coupled with the growing friction between North and the South, East and West, Federalism and Republican views all differing wanting a better stake in the government. If this wasn't enough, the French Revolution... with its pro and anti French sentiments creating unrest throughout the republic.

   We see the ever dominent Hamilton trying to further himself at the expense of Washington... and again Jefferson wanting nothing further in the government... retiring to his Virginia agrarianism, but later both men working toward Washington's anguish and distrust. Washington wanting to retire himself and enjoy what little time he had left to him at his beloved acres... Mount Vernon.

   We see again Washington's self-doubts, but with his aging, his brilliance fading and his body wreaked with infirmities, we see his judgement being clouded and distrusted. This book gives us the contrasts of Washington the public figure and the private Washington... a man deeply hurt by his attackers, now apprehensive, and forced to remain in office and in power, in thought a man weakened by age. Yet his last major services to the nation were as vitally important as his previous services had been. A man that wants to retire and leave the running of the government to others... wanting the cycling of power to be peaceful... a demonstration that humanity could rule itself, the orderly relinquishment of power by one elected representative to his elected successor. This, making the cycle complete, vindication that the new government is viable.

   We next see Washington get his long awaited dream of retirement albeit shortlived and the freeing of his slaves as his final act to free ones bondsman. This is the most engrossing and engaging of all the books in this four volume set... knowing Washington as a man with real human emotions and feelings.

   I highly recommend reading this volume, but to get the whole picture, reading the four volume set is a must.

   What a fascinating man, brought to us in a brilliant and scholarlly work.




3. This is part four of a four-volume series of George Washington's life and this final installment is the strongest book of all. Flexner's narrative takes the reader up to Washington's last breath and his description of his death is particularly interesting. Despite the fact that there is a plethora of interesting material on Washington's ilness and death, this book brings out facts hitherto unknown. It is reliable and accurate, but one sometimes yearns for a more enlightened and exciting presentation of the earlier years. This is the personification of how history is usually taught: in a manner not designed to capture the reader or the student.

   One strong point is that Flexner successfully presents a balanced portrait of Washington. Any bias from the author is thankfully masked from the reader. When Washington deserves criticism or censure, the author soberly dispenses it. Praise and plaudits are similarly given. If you are deeply interested in Washington's early years, this is an adequate and trustworthy source. But if you are merely dabbling in Washington and prefer a swifter narrative, then this is not a recommended selection.




4. Okay, I admit it. One of the pleasures that I take as a leftist (not a liberal, mind you, but a leftist) in reviewing American history books is in the debunking of the hagiography that passes for the biographies of our great men.
   But for anyone who claims to want to look at history with a hard realist eye there is one uncomfortable fact that (like a well-aimed rock tossed by Clio herself) smacks you upside the head now and then.
   The truth is that there are great men and women. And that it is simply not possible to make these individuals seem small without fudging the facts.
   Flexner, in this his second volume of a four volume standard of American biography, makes the strongest possible case for the greatness of George Washington.
   Washington was a farmer, a man who delighted in his domestic life. He was also an exemplar of the classical mindset that was common among the founding generation. For these men and women, fame was to be sought as the founder of a just constitution or as the general who served his country to save it from foreign or domestic enemies not as a career or a means to power.
   In some ways, Flexner's Washington reminds me of his near contemporary, Tecumseh. Both men seemed to have sought power as a modality of service. Hard to even imagine in this the Era of the Millionaire Serving His Own. Among other virtues, this book serves to remind us that there are many types of patriotism and that some of them can be the foundational virtue for truly admirable lives.
   The structure of this book is quite brilliant. All but the last chapter is a straightforward narrative of the eight years that Washington spent as the Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Army. The last chapter, "Cincinnatus Assayed", serves as a summing up of Washington's quality as a general and an explanation of how that service prepared him for his Presidency to come. All of his points have been made by the preceding narrative and seem inconvertible.
   Two examples: Washington struggled throughout the war with the unstable financing of his army by the various States. Part of the problem was the fact that the continental currencies became increasingly worthless. Under the tutelage of his friend, Robert Morris, Washington gained an understanding of the need for a strong national economy and monetary system. This understanding would then influence his reaction to the Hamilton-Jefferson debates that were to largely mark Washington's Presidency.
   Another point that is worth pondering is how Washington's innate merciful nature served the development of a growing sense of nationalism in the various States. Whenever possible, Washington did not punish Tories, enemy soldiers, his own soldiers who violated his orders or civilians who lived in the areas where the war was being fought.
   He seemed to understand that if you want to win the hearts and minds of a people that it is necessary to treat them as much as possible as if they were your neighbors. Time and time again in Flexner's narrative it is apparent how much this policy of restraint added to Washington's prestige and effectiveness. Our current George should pay more attention.
   Finally, I would also like to recommend Charles Royster's great A Revolutionary People At War as a companion volume. Royster very effectively tells the history of the Army from the point of view of its soldiers. These two books together make it obvious just how lucky we were in the great founding generation. I can say this as a leftist and an American (not a contradiction and never has been): these were great men and women. We would do well to study their example.



5. An engaging, accessible biography of George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Major events such as the Conway Cabal and the defection of Benedict Arnold are treated with some detail and authorial analysis. Flexner's final evaluation of General Washington ("Cincinnatus Assayed") is excellent at presenting Flexner's conclusion on General Washington's military performance. This chapter is also quite helpful in teasing out and summarizing the multiple threads that, through the course of the conflict, led inevitably to Washington's transformation from general to president.

5 comments about Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie (Haymarket).

1. I grew up in central Oklahoma and can identify with many of the themes Ms. Dunbar-Ortiz writes about in Red Dirt. I think anyone who is on a journey of self-discovery or is attempting to reconcile his or her past will enjoy this book as much as I did. I rarely read literature about Oklahoma that makes me proud to be an "Okie" - this book does just that.



2. if you like books about the old way of living,you will love this book. it brings back memories of my childhood...



3. ...
   The best of autobiographical works are those that convey, in the telling of one life story, larger truths than those we experience as individuals. To accomplish this feat with seeming effortlessness, as Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz has done with Red Dirt, is to create not only a valuable historical record, but a literary work that is a pleasure to read. Employing the finest storytelling skills, Dunbar-Ortiz lovingly recollects her youth in Oklahoma and the family dynamics she experienced "growing up Okie" during the mid-20th-century. In the process, she touches upon a host of social issues--among them racism, sexism, and economic disparity--that have plagued the U.S. since its earliest days. Perhaps most importantly, she offers one resounding voice from among a vast population--namely, the white underclass--that consistently has been underrepresented in historical texts, and misrepresented in popular culture. Exploding the notion of 'poor white trash,' Dunbar-Ortiz offers three-dimensional alternative as she reconstructs through her personal memoir the history and struggles of the frontier settler class and its descendants. As we move into the next century, Red Dirt is a text of vital significance to our collective humanity



4. This book was my introduction to Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz. I read it before I learned more about her and her career as an activist for the past 40 years. She reflects on her life from birth until her move to California. She grew up in rural Oklahoma during some of the worst years ever. These were the years that shaped her, the launching pad of her feminist, anti-family, pro-socialist, anti-war, ... efforts.
   
   The reader can learn a good bit about the Socialist movement in Oklahoma in the early 1900's, the Green Corn Rebellion and the patriotic surge that accompanied World War I.
   
   Roxanne's grandfather, one of the less 'disfunctional' family members was a Socialist and strongly pro-labor and imparted his views to her. She remembers him fondly. It appears that her abusive alcoholic mother influenced her ideas about the family and church. She had very little to say about her mother or father that is not negative. Considering these influences, the dire poverty of her early childhood, and her marriage 'up' the social ladder her views on things are not too surprising. Simple - yes, but undeniably true, at least in part. And that does not take away from her drive, talent and desire to make a positive change in the world.
   
   You can learn more about Roxanne at her website, reddirt.com.
   
   I think I will read Outlaw Woman, the next volume of her story.



5. I could not put this book down. It is an engaging book. I read it for some background research on John Steinbeck and the Grapes of Wraths. If you have read Steinbeck's masterpiece you have to read Red Dirt. I think Roxanne's memoir completes the story of the Joads. The psyche of the "Okie" comes alive and the drive of Roxanne to break away and then come to terms with it is fascinating. I loved this book so much that I use it for the Ethnic studies classes that I teach. I believe that to understand different ethnic groups we all have to understand what makes White America tick. This book delivers a much-needed look at the class divide among white America and no matter how much the poor whites have been abused by their richer cousins they still stand by their side. Why? Because they are white. This was a great ride