5 comments about In His Own Right.

1. The role of Robert Kennedy in Cold War politics is becoming a popular topic in academia and the media. At a time of growing disillusionment with American government and politicians I find Palermo's research an inticing and important step towards reviving interest in grassroots approaches by politicians. This book was well-written and deserves a reading because it explores the political philosophies and actions of an amazing man and truly caring politician.



2. Palermo's book is intriguing because it takes a closer look at how Bobby's campaign really began with grassroots politics. As a reader I found myself rallying behind the campaign that was abruptly and tragically cut short. I look forward to further exploration into the motivations behind Bobby's campaign.



3. While reading this fine book, I found myself immersed in the politics and social upheavals of the 1960s. My understanding of Robert F. Kennedy's role in the mid-1960s as a leader of a coalition of social movements was greatly enhanced. It was a joy to read!



4. "In His Own Right", describes Robert Kennedy's political journey in the years after President Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Robert Kennedy suffered through a time of deep sorrow and grief after the death of his brother, and began a struggle to find his own political voice. RFK was in a unique position of national prominence, and many people looked to him to take the place of his slain brother. This book tells the story of how his political views began to change and evolve through very turbulent times both at home and abroad. Robert Kennedy had always been in the shadow of his brother, but he gradually began to stand in his own right. His own unique heart and spirit began to emerge, and it ultimately revolved around a sense of compassion and justice. By the time that he ran for President in 1968, there was much that Robert Kennedy could have given to America and to the world. This book explores that final political campaign, and the path that RFK always strived to find and follow.



5. Palermo's study of RFK on his own is well-researched and well-written, but it pays scant attention to the issue which dominated Kennedy's senatorial career - his attempts to do something about poverty in the U.S. While Vietnam is what drew him into his presidential run, poverty is the issue Kennedy spent more time on.

No comments about A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital Vol 2 (Collector's Library of the Civil War).

2 comments about Hero of Beecher Island: The Life and Military Career of George A. Forsyth.

1. The "hero" in the title of David Dixon's Hero of Beecher Island is George A. Forsyth, an Army officer and Renaissance man who, Zelig-like, seemed to be involved with every matter of import in turn of the century America. Friend of Custer and Bill Cody, enabler of railroad expansion, renowned Indian fighter, shaper of US Army Policy, explorer of Yellowstone, world traveler, enforcer of Reconstruction, and popular author, Dixon paints a picture of a Da Vinci with a Sharps rifle.
   There is much information contained within the book about the changing face of the US Army in which Forsyth served and later commanded. Dixon carefully details Forsyth's military experience. We begin to get a sense of what changes were going on in the Army during Forsyth's life. The evolution of the calvary under Forsyth's mentor Phil Sheridan is documented in chapter three "You Have Got A Bully Fight on Hand" (52). Dixon continues delving into this military biographia in chapter four, "I'll Shoot Down Any Man" (61). Although this chapter is mostly about the tense struggle of Beecher Island, the centerpiece of the book, it's what leads Forsyth to Beecher Island that stands as most interesting. Dixon brings out the idea that the railroad and the military were hand in glove in the old West, providing a late twentieth century reader to reflect on similarities between this paradigm of the Old West and the military-industrial complex of the Cold War era. Dixon infers a similar parallel at the beginning of chapter six, "The Armies of Asia and Europe" with the quote that the U.S. Army was, ". . . comparatively unknown, least appreciated, persistently misunderstood, and, for political effect, frequently misrepresented and occasionally even recklessly maligned in our national legislative hall" (122). The parallels to today's military are unmistakable.
   In "I'll Shoot Down Any Man," Dixon relates the battle of Beecher Island well, describing Forstyth as an incredibly brave, capable, and stoic commander; the glue that kept his Army irregulars together under withering Indian attack. It's a story as old as the Greeks, but Dixon handles its retelling with a light touch, drawing the reader into the tension filled atmosphere.
   Related in chapter eight,"To the Scandal of the Service" (168), Forsyth's fall from grace, brought about by shady business deals, is jarring. Forsyth's character needed to be more fully rounded out before the introduction of his court martial. Up to this chapter, there had been no mention of possible improperties. Indeed, Forsyth had seemed squeaky clean, a devoted father, husband and officer. Worse, there's no discussion of how prevalent economic speculation was in the time period. Questions arise. Was it primarily a military crime? Was it a civilian problem as well? How was it seen in the "elite social classes"(169) that Army officers traveled in as second-class citizens? Dixon attempts to make the claim that Forsyth's head wound, sustained in the Beecher Island battle, had caused an insanity that made him mismanage his money. It seems odd, however, that the only way that this "madness" manifested itself was through bad business sense. Although Dixon writes, ". . . there is little doubt that Forsyth was. . . seriously afflicted with some mental disorder. . ." (186), from the evidence presented, the only mental disorder applicable seems to be greed and poor business sense.
   Readers of Beecher Island are expected to have a good knowledge of turn of the century world history before picking up the book. Educated readers will be rewarded. Dixon tells a lucid story that is gripping at points and presented in a traditionally tragic style. Forsyth is portrayed as a great hero whose hubris eventually brings him low. However, a non-historian audience is bound to have problems. The book lacks contextualization of what was going on elsewhere in the world while Forsyth was shaping American culture. There's no sense of connectedness outside the biography, no asides that explain how Forsyth's opinion of the calvary compare to that of the calvary's place in the First World War. There's no sense of contradiction that a man helping to work for racial equality for Blacks in Reconstruction-era Louisiana could also help devise the Army's genocidal Indian policy. Dixon tosses around phrases like "The Burnt-Over District" (99) without defining them for the casual reader. He also has a tendency to not completely explain issues. In the chapter entitled, "The Armies of Asia and Europe," he mentions that Forsyth said that the Japanese army was 20 years ahead of anything in America but fails to explain why Forsyth thought so. (128) And finally, there's not enough convincing evidence to allow madness to explain the shoddy business speculation that brings Forsyth to end his life in shame. True, the book is a biography not a sociological study, but a man who was such a turn stone in such a far-reaching, influential part of American culture like the Old West, needs to be explored further for the non-professional historian.
   Dixon accomplishes what he sets out to do in the title: explicating the life and military career of an important man. Perhaps with a different title, signifying a different focus, the book would have appealed to a wider audience. All of Forsyth's exploits are summed up in the words of an unidentified member of Forsyth's Yellowstone expedition. After Forsyth foolhardily attempted to ford a raging river and had to be pulled from it, someone said, "The colonel must have had a charmed life" (140). It is this charmed life, mated with Dixon's attention to detail and capable writing that could produce a Forsyth book that would appeal to both historian and casual reader alike.



2. 
   Although George A. Forsyth participated in 88 engagements as a soldier in the Civil War and later was in many fights with the Indians on the Plains, it was for one encounter with the Cheyenne and Sioux that he is remembered: the Battle of Beecher Island, where he and a small force held off 750 besieging Indians on a small island in the Arickaree Fork of the Republican River in present-day Colorado for six days before help arrived. David Dixon relates this famous battle in full detail, but he also tells us the rest of Forsyth's life, which is pretty full and interesting.
   
   Forsyth was born in 1837 in Pennsylvania and entered the army in the spring of 1861. He rose in rank from private to brigadier general in various cavalry units in the Civil War before being made chief of staff for Gen. Philip Sheridan.
   
   After the war Forsyth was put in charge of an operation against the Cheyenne. It was in September 1868 that he had his famous fight on Beecher Island (named after Lt. Frederick Beecher who was killed there by the Indians). Forsyth was wounded three times. One strategic outcome of the action on Beecher Island was that Sheridan from this time on would utilize only large-scale campaigns against the Indians (Forsyth had been in charge of a small ranger-like force).
   
   Once again on Sheridan's staff, Forsyth was on the 1874 Custer expedition to the Black Hills, during which he kept a diary that was later published. In 1875-76 he was sent by Washington on an inspection tour of various armies in Europe and Asia. In the 1880s he was in the southwest campaigning against the Apaches and commanded Ft. Huachuca, AZ. It was here that Forsyth was court-martialed on money mismanagement charges, found guilty, and formally reprimanded. In 1890 he retired from the army. He authored two books which were published in 1900 and died in Rockport, MA, in 1915.
   
   Dixon is an excellent writer, scholarly but not dry and overly academic. He is obviously impressed with Forsyth's accomplishments, but not to the point of hero-worship. He relates his subject's story in detail, but keeps it interesting. The chapter on the Beecher Island fight unfolds dramatically in Dixon's hands. Those who are interested in army life in the Old West will find much to like about his biography of the "hero of Beecher Island."

1 comments about First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Laura Bush.

1. Betty Boyd Caroli has written a concise cultural history of our First Ladies. But her observations on how each era shaped the next was only mildly insigthful if not predictable hindsight.

   I was disappointed there was less information about our early first ladies than there was on our more recent ones. Either some of our first ladies did not leave complete records or Coroli simply felt the more recent ones deserved more attention.

   Overall, First Ladies is 80% hard research and 20% gossip of the day which will keep you turning the pages. And if you like, chapters can be read as separate essays. I found this a good book to leave out in guestroom or bathroom!

1 comments about George Washington's Legacy of Leadership.

1. The Legacy of Leadership is NOT just another biography about George Washington. After attending a lecture and book signing given by the author it is obvious that this book is a labor of love reflecting years of research. As stated in the preface "The purpose of this book is to bring George Washington back into the life of all Americans." Ward Burian has certainly accomplished that and more. This book is very readable, keeps your interest and fills in all the details you have long forgotten or never knew. I especially enjoyed the information provided on all the key players of the American Revolution and how they related to washington and to each other. Ward has done a great job of tying all the pieces together. A separate chapter on "The Genealogy of George Washinton" was most enlightening as I had never seen this information presented before. The chapter "Washington's Relevancy Today" confirms that this is not just a history book but that some ideas and principles are still valid for us in the 21st century. I most highly recommend this book for everyone. Even if you think you know a lot about Washington, be assured there is much more to the story then you ever imagined.

3 comments about Fallen Soldier: Memoir of a Civil War Casualty.

1. I am not generally a reader of Civil War books, but found this work to be an amazing insight into the life of a soldier, and into the human condition. Highly recommended.



2. Fallen Soldier is a portion of the Civil War diary of Andrew Roy. It is interesting as a portrayal of what happened to badly wounded men both on the battlefield and in later life. It certainly works as a story of medical incompetence (the result of low medical technology, not necessarily doctors' negligence). It really isn't particularly gory or harrowing to read -- very few Civil War memoirs are and this is consistent with the genre. What I found annoying about this book was the editing. The text has been cut down so as to only mention Roy's wounding and medical treatment, but the original document, as the editor admits in passing, was much longer. Some segments are given as appendices. Why not just give the entire diary as it was written, or at least include all the material not related to the wound as one appendix?



3. What a pity that Miller was so narrowly focused that he did not even mention the important reforms brought about by this early proponent of mine safety and the formation of labor unions in the United States. Roy, the first mining inspector for the state of Ohio, was the author of A History of the Coal Miners, The Coal Mines, and the Practical Miner's Companion.

   This self-taught Scottish immigrant went on to change the face of coal mining in America because his wound gave him the time to write and speak up for his friends underground in the mines.

No comments about Hoke Smith and the Politics of the New South.

3 comments about From Southern Wrongs to Civil Rights: The Memoir of a White Civil Rights Activist.

1. Sara Perry was raised as the typical southern white lady. She was to assume the role of dutiful wife, devoted mother and hostess for her husband's social set. As Sara Mitchell she carried out her role of the southern house-wife which included a lovely home, Negro maid and status in the upper class community of Buckhead in Atlanta, GA.

   All was going well for this southern white matron but the seeds of discontent stirred in her life. She wanted more out of life than a role. Slowly but surely a change was to occur which would change her life and the fabric of the world in which she grew up.

   Contained in these pages in the memoir of a woman who had it all but made the step to get involved in the battle for civil rights regardless of the cost. Her battle ground was the Atlanta school board, her church, family and marriage. Caught up in the fervor of the Civil rights movement we see how a woman of privilege made the steps of becoming an activist.

   Parsons' story is an eye-opener of the role southern white women played in the movement. Her being a part of the affluent class makes her story all the more remarkable due to the pressures she would endure. Her tale is one in which everyone should read to get an understanding of the thoughts and feelings of a woman who put her status at risk.

   What I find most interesting concerning her tenure on the Atlanta school board are the issues she addresses concerning education in addition to the integration question. The issues she addressed in the 1960s are the same ones with us in the year 2000. You will get an idea about how "concerned" the majority of the board was with education.

   This dynamic woman broke the rules of convention of her day. She of course is not a saint but an example to follow in having the courage and fortitude to step out for what is right. I highly recommend this as a primary text for those studying education, civil rights, and female empowerment.




2. I'm standing in the Great Hall of one of Birmingham, Alabama's largest cathedrals, chatting amicably with two nicely-dressed white women who are pillars and patrons of their church. Wonder how it is possible that these two genteel ladies turned out to be so very, very different form their contemporary, Sara Mitchell Parsons.
   These three women are Privileged White Class people, educated in the ways of the Old South, conversant with all-white country clubs, free from racial persecution of any kind.
   What made Parsons reverse direction, give up social standing and become an Atlanta civil rights activist in a day and time when to do so was actually a life-endangering act?
   Why did the other two women remain placid and content in their social roles and blatantly disdainful of all civil rights activities of black people, even to this day? "They (Those Black People) just aren't grateful. They don't appreciate the fact that we (White Folk) gave them good livings and brought them up from the savages they were."
   This book is a plain-spoken narrative about a white person's journey through the confines of bigotry, racism, intolerance, hatred and concrete-solid Tradition. Parsons comes out on the other side feeling a lot better about herself and a lot less tolerant herself--intolerant toward the status quo of Southern White Bigotry.
   Take a look at this modest book. It came out at a time when the McWhorter book about Birmingham got lots of well-deserved attention, occluding the release of smaller books like this. But this, too, deserves your notice. It tells a similar story, but without all the spice, lenghthy detail and scholarly overstatement. Both books should be issued together in a slipcase.
   (For a copy of the entire review of this book, contact me at jimreedbooks.com)



3. Sara Mitchell Parsons was one of the true heroes of the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta. As a white woman from a privileged background, she took on the racist status-quo of Atlanta as a school board member and constantly and intelligently challenged the city to provide quality education for black and white students alike and to integrate the schools. She knew when it was time to leave her hidebound racist husband and she knew when it was time to leave the Civil Rights Movement though she continued to work for equal education for her entire life. She was a courageous and forceful influence for many young men and women of the 60s in Atlanta. I was one of those.

No comments about A reunion in death: Gravesites of Quantrill's men and the James gang.

1 comments about Puritan Family Life: The Diary of Samuel Sewall.

1. Graham has crafted a warm and engaging portrait of family life among 18c. New England merchants and ministers. She reviews and challenges much past scholarship on childhood in early modern Europe and America. Popular readers may find the historiographical discussion tedious, but professional historians, local historians, and genealogists will appreciate Graham's painstaking research and common-sense assessment of Puritan parents' attitudes towards their children.