4 comments about Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown.

1. Most interesting. A story of the founding of Jamestown from the Indian point of view. It is a family tradition that we are descended from Powhatan, and the story meant a great deal to me.



2. The major theme of POCAHONTAS POWHATAN OPECHANCANOUGH: THREE INDIAN LIVES CHANGED BY JAMESTOWN revolves around truth. For each story that has been told about Virginia's Jamestown settlement or Pocahontas in general, its has centered on the Captain John Smith and Pocahontas legend and myth that has been overly romanticized in novels and in movies. At this time, no scholar has made the attempt to intertwine the Indian voice within the English story of Jamestown. However, Helen Rountree attempts to provide the Native American voice, but from letters and accounts by English colonists and foreigners. It is unfortunate that the Indians did not record their accounts of the arrival of these new world settlers, or as Rountree suggests, invaders. Nonetheless, Rountree places the three major participants' semi-biographical accounts at the forefront of this study in order to incorporate their contribution to the settlement as well as the invasion of white colonists to the Indian landscape.
   
   Rountree examines these three major actors and their way of life from anthropological perspective. Indeed, this is an historical narrative that deals with ethnohistory, but one that is " about one side only" (p. 6). Historians study their subject matters in order to get to the bottom of how an event occurred and its end result - think in terms of the past while writing in the present. Rountree takes the same approach, and studied the Powhatan side with why and how they acted the way they did. Rountree is critical and frank about past accounts of the Jamestown story as told by historian, William Strachey, HISTORIE OF TRAVELL INTO VIRGINIA BRITANIA and his plagiarized version of John Smith's narrative, GENERALL HISTORIE, which takes an English perspective that downplays the Indian presence. Rountree clarifies misconceptions that have been told within past narratives.
   
   Chronologically, the book covers the period from 1607 to 1644. With these periods, one has a time frame to work with. Rountree provides an in depth analysis of the inception and deterioration of relations between natives and colonists of the Virginia Company's settlement in Jamestown and the wars that concurred in 1622 and 1644. The book shows how life was like before the colonists, and the significance of Powhatan daily rituals. Rountree's expertise in so-called "digging deep" to the root of origins from an anthropological point of view allows the reader to understand how life was simple and structured for the Powhatans. Rountree suggests that life only later became complicated when the Indians had to provide and teach the colonists how to survive. In the process, both Indians and colonists discovered that their lifestyles and environments were different than what they had been accustomed to.
   
   For the sake of understanding, POCAHONTAS POWHATAN OPECHANCANOUGH will allow readers of history to see the bigger picture of the Jamestown story that took place three centuries ago. Although this history has already passed, its legacy and myths continues to engage readers. Helen Rountree should be commended for taken the task to reveal the real Pocahontas as human as possible and not as a Disney cutout, and to emphasize the predominant role of chief leader, Powhatan, and his successor or "brother", Opechancanough as essential actors in American history.
   
   
   
   



3. Everyone is familiar with the story of Pocahontas and British explorer/adventurer John Smith. They are romantic stories fed to us by the likes of Disney (10 yrs ago in the 1995 film) and countless romanticized versions in historical fiction novels. This "documentary" book exposes the truth about what really happened in the span of time that John Smith, Jon Rolfe and the Virginia Company founded Jamestown and dealt with the Indian tribes headed by Chief Powhatan and his brother Openchancanough. Since Thanksgiving is fast approaching, this makes a fine book to read if you are interested in the earliest British colonial period of the 1600's, when the pilgrims fist arrived in the Eastern coast of the United States. This period has been romanticized by movies and novels, evoking a thrilling time of danger, intrigue and romance, when Indians and colonists sparred and sometimes made peace, even made love. Princess Pocahontas was the daughter of Chief Powhatan. She was only fifteen or so when she first met Jon Smith and a romance was highly unlikely, even if perhaps the girl felt an attraction to the supposedly attractive adventurer. John Smith had traveled across the globe to foreign lands as a British explorer and was in his day a bad boy. That he may have gotten into trouble with Chief Powhatan and his people is probably true. Pocahontas was a diplomat, a healer/medicine woman and regarded as a peacemaker. Even if she didn't do a dramatic a thing as offer herself up as sacrifice to save John Smith's life, she did for a time lessen tension between the natives and the colonists. She married Jon Rolfe, a British nobleman, was converted to Christianity, learned to read and speak English. She journeyed across the Atlantic, leaving behind her old life in the tribe and became a popular figure in London society. She became a lady. Most people forget about this phase in her life and it must have been a very interesting story within itself. Did she miss her old life ? Was she as respected in London or did she experience a form of racism because she was not a white English lady ? Powhatan's life is documented well in this book. He was a very influential man in his time and he, too, was able to negotiate with the English. Jamestown brought these people together. They hoped that Jamestown would be an independent, Utopian society where English and natives could live and prosper. Unfortunately, Jamestown succumbed to disease and death. The dream died and conflict between natives and colonists resumed. If you're a big history buff, this book is for you.



4. I am fortunate to have read four excellent books on the Pocahontas / John Smith story. As I have read one after the other each has added seasoning, each has distilled the myth from the acts, each is a different perspective on THE seminal moment at the beginning of European history in America.
   
   The first book I read was "Captain John Smith: Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream" (Kindle Edition) by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. We learn from a thorough biography of Smith at what a full and tumultuous life he lived. If even one half of what Smith wrote about his exploits was true, then his life was one of the most storied and lucky of the century. No matter how you look upon his pre-American exploits, by the time he sets foot in Virginia he is a well seasoned and experienced soldier.
   
   The next book was "Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma" by Camilla Townsend. Full of very important information about Pocahontas, the author tends to vilify Smith as a boastful liar, her sympathies towards Pocahontas run as deep. We learn much about the Powhatan people and the times they lived in.
   
   The third book was "Love & Hate in Jamestown" by David A Price. He tends to take both Pocahontas at her word (the very few we actually know of) and almost all of John Smith's many words....at face value. All three of these books are very well researched but each draw very different stories and conclusions.
   
   Coming now to the fourth and probably the finest of them, "Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives changed by Jamestown" by Helen C Rountree, I think that I have finally realized as accurately as I can who these people were and what happened at Jamestown. Whereas Townsend tends to reveal a degree of rage and resentment against Smith, Rountree does not get as caught up in the heated debates that still go on among Pocahontas/Jamestown writers and scholars. Having worked among the remnants of the Powhatan natives for 35 years, Rountree has absorbed their history and it is well integrated with mountains of scholarly research.
   
   What do we learn from Rountree's book that might have been missing in the other three? First, her objective was to tell the reader what happened to the three main characters and she succeeds to the fullest of the known evidence. Their stories are, with the exception of Pocahontas, that of long lives (Opachancanough might be have been close to 100 when he died) and of seeing a completely unstoppable change to their society. We must remember that Native American tribes by their very nature spent parts of their histories fighting with and either conquering other tribes or in turn being conquered by them in turn. Some tribes were wiped out, others brought into submission to a Great King, like Powhatan. The changes that the Europeans brought to the Natives of America was very unlike their previous history, a history that might have been as old if not older than the Europeans. Powhatan died with an uncertain notion of whether his people could push the smelly white strangers off their lands. Opachancanough died knowing that their civilization was doomed.
   
   One of the most important insights that Rountree presents comes close to the end of her book. She states that in the final uprisings against the Jamestown area settlements, the Powhatan natives were largely supplied by young men who had never known a time when their ancestral lands were all their own. They grew up in an embattled and bloody time of transition when the end of Amerindian culture was making itself known.
   
   Keeping this in mind, the life of Pocahontas, as short and sad as it was, exposed her to the most striking of contrasts. Can you imagine what her father would have thought had he been convinced to visit England? Would he have been able to absorb the sense of enormity of European society, positioned as it was with cities full of rank and foul airs, open sewage, filthy children running amok in the streets, clouds of black smoke coming from coal fires. Would he not have imagined Europe as a hellish nightmare? Certainly Pocahontas was astounded but what is amazing is that it appears that she actually liked being in England, if not in the smoldering big cities. Her feisty nature relished the changes that she had been pushed into. This is a strange aspect to her personality that is hard to understand.
   
   Much of the book relates the relentless waves of incompetent settlers who came to the Jamestown area. What is clear about this story is that the White Europeans were going to come and nothing was going to stop them. Not sickness, nor hurricanes, nor savage natives, nor starvation. They would come and more would follow and the superior technologies of gunpowder, steel and huge sail boats, coupled with animal husbandry were more than a match for the hunting/gathering subsistence native life.
   
   One comes away from this history wondering if it could have been another way and I suppose the answer is no. The clash of civilizations was inevitable, with swashbuckling Captain Smiths eager for exploring new and hopefully cleaner lands more than enough motivation to get out and go. That so many native lives perished as a result and thousands of years of history pulverized is a sad legacy to the memory of Pocahontas, her father and her uncle. But, it is what happened and we should know of their lives. Rountree's book is full of insight into these people as they tried in vain to deal with these strangers. The mythologies about Smith and Pocahontas I think have been finally put to rest and need not be resurrected again. The real story is much more gripping and important. Excellent book.

4 comments about Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would be President.

1. This book made a deep impression on me, but it's also just fun to read. I can't recall when I've had such pleasure reading a work of non-fiction. The life of Belva Lockwood, presidential candidate and first woman to argue before the Supreme Court, is the stuff of an engrossing novel, filled with real characters and gripping "plots," and Norgren tells it with engaging sympathy, passionate drive, and first-rate scholarship. The book is filled with anecdotes, quotations, and stories that are alternately touching, bizarre, amazing, and outrageous. This truly is a book that is hard to put down, and it conjures up a past rich in context and immediacy. But at a deeper level, it dramatically brought to my attention, as a male who considers himself relatively "enlightened," a dimension of the struggle for human rights that I appreciated before only in a fairly general way. As such, the book has obvious bearings on contemporary issues and continuing struggles. In summary, this is a page-turner that made me think and see the world in a new way.



2. Belva is a forgotten heroine. A century before the barriers to law school admission began to fall, Belva beat on the doors of the legal establishment. Jill Norgren's fascinating and lively biography reveals the grit and determination that enabled this failed farmer's daughter to obtain a college education, a legal degree and support her family with a successful law practice. Anyone who is interested in why women have faced such opposition and achieved so little success in their attempts to participate in the political process should read this book and give it to their daughters.



3. Even if Hillary Clinton were not running for president and Nancy Pelosi wasn't the first woman speaker of the house, this book is a must read. The story of a woman of humble beginnings who would not take NO for an answer and became the first woman lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court and the first woman to run a serious campaign for President is told in an objective yet compelling fashion by author Jill Norgren. The research is exhaustive and Norgren does a great job of integrating Belva's home and family life with her professional achievements. Belva comes across as an extraordinary ordinary person, which makes her an inspiring role model for all of us looking toward the day when the American promise of equal rights becomes a complete reality.



4. In a moment of autobiographical reflection, Belva Lockwood once stated that while her work as an equal rights activist had failed to raise the dead, it had "awakened the living." Jill Norgren's biography of Lockwood, a little known but extremely important historical figure should and could awaken all of us to live a life of conviction and activism.
   
   At 232 pages long, Norgren eloquently and succinctly educates the reader on the story of the first woman to ever be allowed to argue before the United Supreme Court, as well as the first woman to ever launch two full scale bids for this country's presidency. Lockwood's place in history is far less prominent than many of her contemporaries, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but her contributions were significant and seem all the more important for study today as we witness a very legitimate bid by another woman for the United States presidency. As a woman who was deeply concerned with advocating for democracy, pacifism and equal rights, Belva Lockwood led a life defined by fighting for the causes she believed in and worked hard not only to further said causes, but at the same time had to support herself as a single widow of a young daughter. Lockwood turned her tragedy into an opportunity to exercise freedom and possibility with education and her voice. While little remains of Lockwood's personal writing and documents, she used the power of the pen tirelessly during her life and much of her writing was published and documented.
   
   Norgren's writing is engaging and her narrative is accessible yet rich with fact. Like her other book The Cherokee Cases, which makes difficult United States Supreme Court case studies accessible and engaging; Norgren could inspire all of us to become avid readers of historical biographies. Jill Norgren took an obscure historical figure who left few personal papers behind, and gave us a portrait of a political hero. At a time when heroism in politics is scarce, one can't help but read this book and recommend that we use Lockwood as an example that could awaken us to the possibilities and expectations we should have for those who desire to be a leader in this country.

5 comments about American Mourning: The Intimate Story of Two Families Joined by War, Torn by Beliefs.

1. If the authores would of just stuck with the story it would of been a 5 star for me. It had too many political judgements but all in all it was a good story. I heard they are thinking of making a movie out of this book. That I would like to see but I hope they focus more on the Soldiers and not so much on the politics.



2. I mostly read just Stephen King books, but this book was one that I had heard about and decided to purchase. I was very glad to read about one family that cared so much for their son that his father enlisted to avenge his son's death. Unfortunatly, reading about Cindy Sheehan only wanted me to get a gun and shoot her. She did nothing but lie and kept her family from mourning their son's death. I really enjoyed this book.



3. This book is one of the saddest pieces of "journalism" I have ever read. It is a smear job on both families. Not just Sheehan, but the ridiculous amount of personal stuff thrown out there on the Jackson's makes the reader wonder: What does any of this have to do with argument? All in all, a book that appears to be profiting from the death of two brave men. I am thoroughly appalled by the words and tactics of the authors. I am apolitical, so maybe I didn't enter this book with the frame of mind necessary to feel good about the dragging through the mud of two brave and decent soldiers families. Is this what they fought and died for? Flat ridiculous.



4. Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (2/07)
   
   Justin Johnson was raised in Georgia where boys are taught how to use a gun from an early age. Justin enlisted after 9/11. "Mom, things aren't good. It's scary. You wouldn't believe this place. It's messing with our heads. Mom, you just never know. There are kids, ten- to-twelve year-olds and they got machine guns. You don't know: are they friendly or are they the enemy."
   
   Casey Sheehan was raised in California. Casey's mother discouraged her son from enlisting in the army. He was loyal and loved his country. She offered to take him to Canada so that he could avoid Iraq, but he declined.
   
   Casey and Justin met at Fort Hood, Texas. The two became quick friends although they didn't have a lot in common. "Both were quiet, strong, patriotic, and God-loving young men." "Both young men prayed to God and hoped they would make it home to their moms and dads, sisters and brothers."
   
   Justin and Casey were both killed by radical Muslims.
   
   Joe Johnson wanted revenge on the terrorists. He signed up with a unit shipping to Iraq and "swore to God and to Justin that I would go to Iraq and kill as many of them as I could." Joe was filled with hatred. "I could kill all the insurgents and it would never bring Justin back, I don't think I'll really get anything out of it except for maybe that one moment of satisfaction when I finally kill somebody. But as far as long-lasting feelings of satisfaction, I don't think I'll find it in Iraq. There's hardly a day goes by that I don't wish I hadn't a spent more time with him."
   
   Cindy Sheehan was also filled with hatred but she took it a different direction. "She blamed President George W. Bush for Casey's death and called the Muslim radicals who killed Casey and Just "freedom fighters." "Cindy posted herself outside the president's Crawford ranch. She became a media phenomenon, thanks to a campaign by well-paid media experts from the Left." Her grief and the media destroyed her family.
   
   "A parent should never have to bury a child."
   
   Catherine Moy & Melanie Morgan expressively share the tragic story of two young men killed in Iraq, two families torn apart. Moy and Morgan capture and convey the pain and anguish the families are suffering. I found myself in tears as I read this book. The bravery of Justin and Casey is celebrated on these pages. I want to be careful not to state an opinion of the actions of the families for I would not add to their pain. After reading this book, the deaths become more than a news story. This book gives Justin and Casey a face and brings them into you heart. This book describes the divide in American opinion concerning the War on Terror. Regardless of which side of the divide you stand we must never forget the young men and women who are fighting this war. Ms Moy and Morgan are to be commended on their presentation of the heroic lives of these two young men. I highly recommend "America Mourning" to all.



5. This is a really bad book: formless, short on facts, and totally embedded in a pro-Bush, pro-Cheney defense of the war. Joe Johnson's murderous raging desire for revenge--prominent in the news stories at the time he went to Iraq to seek "vengeance" after his son's death in Bush's war--is concealed almost well as the US war crimes. (Fortunately, I held off purchasing until I could examine a library copy, and thereby saved the purchase price. I give it one star only because Amazon doesn't accept zero-star ratings.)

5 comments about John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father.

1. Thanks to an absent minded John Winthrop falling into a foul smelling peat bog and surviving (which he took as a sign that he should emigrate to the colonies) the settlers of the Massachusets Bay Company were blessed with a practical and efficient administrator. Elected Governor many times over, John Winthrop is portrayed as an honest and god fearing a man as any patriotic American would want.
   Although a good third of the book describes Winthrop's life in England, it is justified and necessary to see the religious and social preparations for his career in America. Once he came to America, his life was devoted to the preservation of his religion, his family and his colony.
   Those readers familiar with Boston and surroundings will enjoy the detail in this biography; the streets he lived on, the configuarion of the city, its growth during Winthrop's lifetime.
   And how easy it is to forget how little in the way of goods and services was available to the settlers in the 17th century. John Winthrop was not in the first wave of New Englanders in Plymouth, but even 10 years later he had to bring with him wheat, barley, oats, beans and peas for cultivation, potatoes, hop roots, hemp seed, tame turkeys and rabbits, linen and woolen cloth, bottles, ladles, spoons and kettles, among a long list of other essentials.
   In spite of harsh conditions and personal tragedies, Winthrop prevails and the reader will learn much about this "forgotten" Founding Father in this compelling and interesting biography.



2. This is a well-written and fresh look at John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Bremer derives his view of Winthrop from the "Model of Christian Charity" sermon, which Winthrop delivered sometime around his emigration to North America. Rather than the stern, unbending, and judgemental character that is the common perception, Bremer shows Winthrop as a pragmatic leader who often worked behind the scenes to reconcile diverging points of view. As portrayed in this book, Winthrop was a man of humility who strove to include anyone with a "spark of godliness" into the community.

   At 385 pages of text, the book moved along quickly. I was sorry to get to the end.




3. This is a wonderful book. The author demonstrates a rich, nuanced command of the period and the players. I especially appreciate how he works to portray the characters from their own perspective instead of juding people who lived four centuries ago by todays ideas. I appreciate that he goes to great length to provide historical context. Indeed, he provides so much context, beginning with the subject's grandfather, that the book starts out a little slowly. But once the book reaches the point of Winthrop's departure for America, it remains compelling up to the end. A wonderful book for a more complete picture of the settlement of our country and a valuable addition to a balanced view of the puritans.



4. Bremer has brought us a sensitive and balanced portrayal of Winthrop, one that is at the same time truly gripping. One of the significant contributions of the book is Bremer's attention to Winthrop's forty or so years in England prior to coming to New England, which helps create the sense of organic development and shows points of continuity between English Puritanism and that of the New England colonies. The relationship between Bremer's presentation and other scholarly opinions is covered in many of the endnotes, which makes it useful to the scholar but not burdensome for the average reader. Scholars, history buffs, and even those just interested in the human experience of life, will find this book rewarding. Highly recommended.



5. John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father
   
   by Francis J. Bremer
   
   Oxford University Press, published 2003
   
   Millerstown University Professor Francis Bremmer's John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father is the first major work on the Massachusetts's governor in over fifty years. It is an engaging and comprehensive volume serving as the author's attempt to provide a more balanced view of Winthrop than has been seen in other works. Bremer writes, "The Winthrop of modern histories has been constructed to suit particular agendas. It is time for biography that is interested primarily in John Winthrop himself." (pg. xvi) Bremer is well qualified to take on this task, as he is the editor of John Winthrop's papers for the Massachusetts' Historical Society.
   
   The narrative traces all of Winthrop's known ancestors in England. Almost a century before John was born, his grandfather, Adam, was a successful London cloth merchant. Adam profited handsomely from Henry VIII's reformation of the church. He purchased monastery lands from the government and established the family's seat in Suffolk. It was to this estate that Adam retired during the Catholic restoration of Mary I. The Winthrops were staunch Protestants and the move was designed to prevent retribution from the Marian government. The estate was to be the family's headquarters until John's departure for the new world in 1630.
   
   The family estate was located in the Stour Valley, which was a hotbed of reformed Protestantism. Bremer deliberately avoids using the term Puritan because he feels that it carries to strong a connotation to the modern reader. "Godly" was the description used most often by the Winthrop family and their circle. Like many others in Suffolk, the Winthrop's were non-conformists to the Anglican model and hoped for continued reforms of the church.
   
   John Winthrop was born in 1588. He attended college at Cambridge for two years and left without taking a degree. While he considered entering the ministry, his early marriage and family obligation precluded that career path. In 1605, he married for the first time. From 1605 through 1630, John Winthrop lived the life of the minor gentry. He was involved in running his estate, raising his family and practicing law. In 1615, his first wife died in childbirth and Winthrop soon remarried. His new wife died a year later in childbirth; John married again in 1617 to his third wife, Margaret Tyndal.
   
   Winthrop became involved with the civil government when he was appointed to the Court of Wards and Liveries. It was at this time he grew increasingly displeased with the corrupt state of the civil government. After considering emigration to Ireland, he and Margaret decided instead to join with members of the Massachusetts Bay Company and move to the new world. The venture was seen as a way to serve God and to make a profit. The founders of the company decided on John Winthrop as Governor for the colony. This is a reflection of the modest nature of the project in the eyes of the founders because, "if Massachusetts had been a larger, more important venture, he would not have been entrusted with the responsibility." (pg. 170)
   
   As Governor, Winthrop was responsible for seeing the colonists through the bitter early years and for establishing order among the colonists. It was at the start of the emigrating that his famous "Christian Charity" sermon was given. He compared the colonists endeavors to a "city on a hill" that all could see. This biblical reference is Winthrop's most enduring literary legacy and is often quoted by politicians to this day.
   
   Winthrop strove to live a good Christian life and to ensure the others the opportunity to so as well. He sought unity amongst the settlers but was willing to compromise and attempt to reach consensus. He was unwavering, however, in his principles and showed no reluctance to expel Roger Williams or Anne Hutchinson from the colony when their unorthodox theologies threatened the stability of the society.
   
   Winthrop served as governor for 12 of the 19 years he lived in Massachusetts. He was untiring in his efforts to promote the growth of the colony. In the winter of 1649, he became ill and died. Bremer sums up the man and his accomplishments, "Zealous but not a zealot ... he helped to prevent his colony from being blown off course by the winds of extremism and from being wrecked on the rocks of fanaticism." (pg. 385)
   
   Accessible to all levels of interested readers, John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father is a valuable portrait of an important figure in American History. Sources are extensive and meticulously documented. They primarily come from the records of the Courts of Assistants in Massachusetts Bay, Official Records of the Governor and Winthrop's own papers and journals. In addition, a host of sources from both sides of the Atlantic is employed in the work. The in-depth coverage of the Winthrop family background can be tedious to readers only interested in American events, but they provide needed insights into the English Reformation and the events that lead to colonization of New England. Bremer's work takes its place as the definitive biography of John Winthrop for the next fifty years.

1 comments about A Very Violent Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Ellen Renshaw House (Voices of the Civil War).

1. Two g-grand nieces of Ellen House discovered these diaries in her trunk upon the death of an aunt. What a find! Ellen House had strong opinions and voiced them. The Siege of Knoxville (November 1863) is covered and Sutherland's footnotes make for GOOD history. Don't think, you WWII GIs out there, that "scuttlebutt" started in "our" war. There was plenty during the Civil War, some preposterous. Sutherland provides good interpretive notes. Highly recommended! Four stars only because there are a few gaps in Ellen's coverage of the War in Knoxville, but who can blame her. Deprivation was the order of the day.

5 comments about Wild Child: Life with Jim Morrison.

1. As a work of fiction, this book is fabulous. Compelling, nice flow, keeps you interested. But its not true. I would've loved this as a regular old novel in the same way I would've loved Ms. Kennealy's book/cash cow Strange Days. But I cannot understand why she really thinks this stuff is true. Maybe she's brainfried or maybe shes trying to cash in on a chance meeting with a rock star. I dunno but it confuses me. Too many people have told this story and stuck their name in it! Get a life please and write some novels.
   Three stars for the incredibly brilliant web of lies.
   "Storytelling is just an elaborate form of lying." said someone whose name escapes me.



2. I haven't finished reading this yet but I love it! I can't put it down! It tells how Jim Morrison really was. I'm learning a lot about him.



3. gives u a view of how jim really was and what made him great beyond his music career



4. Jim Morrison has become such a mythic figure that it is almost impossible to take ANY biography about the man 100% at face value, but there are some excellent books which have come close to being complete records of the rock star's turbulent career, most notably James Riordan's epic, brilliant "Break On Through: The Life And Death Of Jim Morrison." Linda Ashcroft caused quite a stir with her own contribution, "Wild Child," not because it revealed anything of concrete value, but because from the first chapter it is obvious that this more a work of fiction than an actual memoir. Ashcroft is one of the many attractive, now aged beauties who claim to have had a passionate love affair with Morrison when his band, The Doors, was changing the rock world with it's dark blend of music and poetry. Before Ashcroft the most famous lover (aside from his famous girlfriend Pam Courson) was Patricia Kennealy, a wiccan who married Morrison in a pagan ceremony. Kennealy has photographs and even Doors band members admit Morrison did have some sort of relationship with her, but Ashcroft's book plays more like a well-written fantasy, a poetic daydream without any evidence to ground it in reality. Notice that she includes typical, basic concert photos and official Doors studio shots, and a photo of one curiously handwritten note "from Morrison." The book itself is a literate take on the virginal teenage girl meets wild man story as Ashcroft recalls meeting this poetic, yet dangerous leather-clad singer who breaks down her fears and takes away her virginity. Ashcroft even attempts at inserting herself into Doors history by claiming that Morrison wrote the song "Wild Child" for her, eventhough by better accounts it was written for Pamela Courson. There are some typical Morrison moments where he reads her from Ginsberg's "Howl," or chats about Kerouac. As a novel it is also well-assembled, but as biography it is just undigestable, especially when Ashcroft places herself in specific moments and events that Doors sources have already discounted. One should be impressed at how Ashcroft can keep it all going for 499 pages, as the affair tears her apart inside as Morrison dabbles in hard drinking and drug binges, and of course the 60s swirls around them with Vietnam raging etc. One of the disappointments in terms of fictional writing is Morrison's dialogue which is never believable, it never reads like a normal man talking, but Ashcroft simply writing lines for the mythical icon we've all come to know as The Lizard King. He says exactly what we would expect the Jim Morrison of the album covers, posters and Oliver Stone movie to say, never do we feel like these are two individuals sharing real, intimate moments, maybe because they never did. "Wild Child" has earned it's place among the notable Morrison books to be published in the last 10 years, at least because its so bold in it's invention. Three stars because it is a fun read and Doors fans would get a kick out of it, especially with Ashcroft's referencing of song titles and lyrics, but as a work of truth, this one doesn't pass the test.



5. I'm giving this 4 stars for the beautiful writing, what a pity Linda Ashcroft & her publishers labelled this book as non-fiction. She has the capabilities to be a wonderful writer of novels, which is of course what this book is. A powerfully evocative recreation of the intensity of teenage feelings & fantasies, with barely a fact in sight. I know the saying is "if you can remember the 60s you weren't there", but it's too unlikely that nobody from that era remembers Morrison's underage friend.Forget the outrageous claims & enjoy the classic story of the unawakened girl & the man nobody knows except her. Perhaps the writer will make enough money to get some therapy & develop her undoubted talents.

5 comments about Twelve Years a Slave.

1. A compelling and wrenchingly honest first-hand account of slavery, many
   times breaking my heart and making me think of the children of Africa
   today. A new book, "The Last Witness From a Dirt Road" which takes
   place in 1946, was given to me after commenting about Solomon Northup's
   narrative, and it could almost be a sequel to Twelve Years a Slave,
   written a 100 years later by the son of an overseer on a plantation
   along the banks of Bayou Bouef in the same location in Louisiana. Old
   social and economic orders seemed little changed from 1841 to 1946,
   tragic, heart rendering but both books are riveting and honest, are
   timely and universal.



2. This book presents its readers with a first-hand account of not only the cruelties of United States slavery itself, but more importantly it touches upon the ways in which other areas of social life were negatively influenced by the institution. Solomon Northup was a black man who was born a free black man in New York in 1808. In 1841, Northup was kidnapped in Boston and take to the south to be sold as a slave. He spent the next 12 years as a slave, and this book was written after he was rescued in 1853.
   
   Many people have associated this book with "Uncle Tom's Cabin" ever since the former was published. While the story line is not exactly the same, there are a lot of similarities. Most notably, both books have evil Northerners and benevolent Southerners, a feature that I think is too often overlooked. This adds credibility to Northup's account, insofar as he does not simply condemn all Southerners. Other themes, such as the break-up of slave families, the harsh treatment of slaves (especially female slaves who had the misfortune of handsomeness), and camaraderie between slaves also reflect those written about in "Uncle Tom's Cabin".
   
   In the past the credibility of Northup's work had been in question, especially since a newspaper worker helped him write his account. However, in light of the vast number of particular details the Northup provides and the extent to which those details match up with other records, historians generally view this work as an authentic and truthful account of a free man sold into slavery. This is an incredible read, and the fact that it is a real account makes it even more fascinating. This book should be required reading for high school or college American history classes that cover the Civil War era.



3. While browsing thru the Boston Public Library in 1970 I accidentally came across this book. I have read it at least ten times over the years, have kept in touch with the editor, Sue Eakin, an expert on the South and cultural matters of this kind. This book is an inspiration to everyone. You will be amazed at the tenacity and sheer courage of Northup as he makes his way thru 12 long years on the plantation, and remember that he did not KNOW it would be 12 years. Every Jan 3 or 4th I wake up and think to myself, this is the day Solomon was set free! This book is clearly a treasure that is relatively unknown. You will not read this book only once-----



4. I had to read this book for school and was very suprised because the story takes place in and around my hometown. I had always saw the "Northup Trail" signs but never knew what they were about until I read this book. I grew up in Avoyelles Parish so this story really hit home. It is an awesome but tragic story everyone should read.



5. I, like another reviewer, read this about 8 years ago when in a college Civil War course. I never sold mine back because I knew I would want to read it again. I also immediately bought copies for my mom and a friend that is a descendant of Caribbean slaves. I can't believe this book isn't more widely known; in fact, it saddens me because Solomon Northup's story is so riveting and deserves recognition.
   
   I was glued to the story from about the third chapter to the end. It was almost like a thriller or mystery because you want to know what happens! Much of it was heartbreaking, though. I had tears streaming down my face when he describes Patsey's predicament. The unending hope and love from his family really touched me, too.
   
   I think this account is even better than Uncle Tom's Cabin for 2 reasons. First, the plot is not as disjointed. Second, and most importantly, everything in the account is true. What's even more amazing is that the author, despite being stolen from his family and forced into servitude, remains somewhat objective about his ordeal. He is a natural storyteller. You can tell Northup was extremely intelligant and observant. His prose is beautiful and easy to read despite being written in the 1850's.
   
   Anyone with even a remote interest in American slavery or Antebellum/Civil War history should read this book.

5 comments about Hemingway: The Final Years.

1. The story of Hemingway's last years lets you enter a world of desillusion, faked grandeur and, ultimately, madness.

   It seems as if the reader was present at the scenes which are brilliantly depicted by Reynolds.

   Getting to know the life of Hemingway lets you add a supplementary dimension to the reading of his works.




2. Michael S. Reynolds' "Hemingway: The Final Years" is excellent and a worthy addition to any library, as are the previous volumes. I have read every Hemingway biography (I even have such paperback quickies as HEMINGWAY: LIFE AND DEATH OF A GIANT and THE PRIVATE HELL OF HEMINGWAY that were published shortly after Papa's death) since my father, twenty-two years ago, gave me a copy of Carlos Baker's 1967 authorized biography (which I also recommend; it gives you the a great overview of Hemingway's life and work and is very readable), and I have found Reynolds biographies to be wonderful and informative.



3. In all respects -- in terms of research, sensitivity, perception, analysis, and style -- Mr. Reynolds has written the finest biography of one of the most fascinating and complex personalities the world has ever known.

   Three citicisms, if I may: First, though very well written, there are occasional lapses in editing. Second, Mr. Reynolds owes it to his appreciative readers, as well as to himself, to provide somewhat more in-depth and revealing final thoughts than he has. My final "gripe" is admittedly extremely trivial. It irritated me, though -- in such a superbly researched endeavor, such a silly mistake should have been easily avoided. Hold on to your hats, ladies, because here it is: At one point, Mr. Reynolds mentions that Hemingway met Barbara Stanwyck and her husband, Robert Montgomery. Well, Robert Taylor, not Mr. Montgomery, was Miss Stanwyck's husband. A trivial mistake, to be sure, but why make it?

   Despite the mix-up with the Roberts (which can be easily made right in future editions), this is an outstanding biography, which I heartily recommend.




4. Reviewed by TOMA 1999

   Here's one to add to your Hemingway collection. Michael Reynolds tells us the story of Ernest Hemingway's last score years from the era of World War II to his suicide in Ketchum, Idaho on July 2, 1961. We have here the Hemingway hero we love and wish we personally knew: the articulate man full of high sentence, the man among men, the behemoth drinker, the virtuoso hunter, the dedicated idealist to his craft, the continent jumper, the fun-loving and cherished father especially to his three boys, the husband now going on his third wife in Martha Gellhorn and the literary lion in his last years where the Victor finally reaps the spoils of a lifetime pitted against the dragon called writing. Icon would be too small a word for such a colossal figure. Hemingway through all his own growling, fist-fighting, taunting of literary figures, strutting in and out of wars, promenading through world events, and arguing with his own publisher in Charles Scribner remains like the figure of the Greek Odysseus, the figure as Tennyson put it who set his life "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." This is why many admire this American son while others see him as full of sh--, a braggart, and fraud for having never truly experienced the larger than life adventures he immortalized in his war books: For Whom The Bell Tolls, To Have and Have Not, and A Farewell To Arms not to mention his slew of other relevant stories set in exotic locations. At the date marking the century of his birth and with the latest Hemingway piece-meal work to be drawn together by his son Patrick in True at First Light, and the dozen or so other "timely" biographies, fancy-covered reprints, and photobooks presented during the summer of 1999, Reynolds does his duty to his subject with skill, organization, and insight. Although sentiment is not always unbiased, for it is obvious this research has been a labor of love, this book marks Reynolds' fifth and apparent last volume in a series of the chronologically-based Hemingway biography. In this final version, Hemingway is never idolized but shown in the somewhat balanced color of black and white where Hemingway can not but create his own shadow like some vibrant oak towering above Finca Vigia in Cuba or with his skeleton crew of "agents" monitoring the inland waterways for German submarines or as the bespectacled ancient literary lion much like his own tiger at Kilimanjaro, worn and heavy, resting within the expanse of Idaho country far below the mountains at his Sun Valley Lodge. Other exotic landscapes nicely slip into view along the journey: Hong Kong, Venice, Paris, Key West, New York, and Mombasa like a set of snapshots upon a reel. We find the sensitive Hemingway trying to keep together a marraige that seems over just as it has begun. We have a vivid image of Martha Gellhorn, the reluctant housewife and bonafide journalist torn between the woman Hemingway wishes and the one she desires to be. We feel him sparring with Scribner's over language in his novels and courtroom battles. We get a feel for the atmosphere of Finca Vigia with its bug-ridden sunburnt rooms, and for the silent, pine-washed Ketchum ranch where the echo of a rifle blast stills remains today. Characters saunter in and out of the story like locals into their corner bar. The quoted material from various personages of the times has been expertly chosen to move the Hemingway legend along its way. These haunting voices create such atmosphere and setting that the imagination has little to do but continue to create a story that unfolds in cinemagraphic slow motion. Moreover, we seem to capture a panoramic view of our literary past so important to reflect upon as we step over the century divide. This is a joyous read especially for summer reading not only for the enthusiast but for the academic who wishes to gain a fuller insight into the one of our greatest literary figures this nation has ever produced.




5. There is little I can add to the above reviews. Long before this final volume of Michael Reynolds' masterpiece came out, he had already taken his place as our finest Hemingway scholar and one of the five or six greatest literary biographers of our time. This last volume merely confirms his position. Tragically, he succumbed to cancer shortly after this book appeared, but he left us a daunting legacy as a scholar. I doubt anyone ever understood the infinitely complex Hemingway as well as Professor Reynolds did. It is a cause for celebration when a major writer and a great biographer come together; these volumes will never grow old.

3 comments about Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle to End Slavery.

1. I met the author through a friend, and was intrigued at the wonderful conversations I had with Striner. As we discussed "Father Abraham," which at that point had not yet been released, I was very anxious to get ahold of it. Having finally acquired the book, I am nothing but impressed at the detailed information that backs every assertion made, and the very much conversational style writing that Striner uses. The book is an easy read and really gets the gears turning in your mind.



2. It has become fashionable in recent decades for historians and commentators from the extremes of the ideological spectrum to depict Lincoln as a cautious racial conservative, even a racist, only brought in the end to reluctantly embrace the destruction of slavery as a measure to win the Civil War. In such a view, Lincoln is far from the traditional "Great Emancipator"; instead he is limited to following in the wake of those persons more forward-looking, more morally courageous than Lincoln himself. Richard Striner's book persuasively demolishes such a picture and, on the contrary, portrays Lincoln as a dedicated enemy of slavery (and a friend to racial equality, at least in 19th century terms) who labored consistently and at great length to at last crush the hated institution. Striner does this with a careful survey of Lincoln's career from his earliest political days until his death. And Striner boldly takes on each of the quotes from Lincoln speeches and writings that are usually used to "reveal" Llncoln as a racial conservative who adopted emancipation much against his real will, showing those quotes in their broader contexts, describing not only what else was going on at the time and what else Lincoln was simultaneously doing, but also examining those quotes in context of what else was said in that particular speech or document. Lincoln was a politician of great skill, willing to publically advocate a course seemingly adverse to his real goals but, in the long run, laying down a pathway towards accomplishing those goals. And, perhaps more than any other American president, Lincoln was a master of language, sometimes crafting a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph that superficially says one thing while meaning, upon close examination, something else.
   
   Stiner also provides a valuable look at the very real fears that Lincoln and his associates had in the years leading up to the Civil War that slavery was on a road towards expansion, not extinction. Moreover, Striner shows that the South's leading spokespeople on the subject of tariffs (sometimes cited as the "real" underlying cause of Southern secession, instead of the uncomfortable issue of slavery) privately admitted that their real concern was slavery, with tariffs providing a convenient stalking horse at a particular moment. The shadow of slavery lay darkly over antebellum America, and Striner's book retores the portrait of Lincoln as a dedicated leader in bringing the country forward to the end of the "peculiar institution".



3. I picked this up in a general English language bookstore here in Bangkok, without any expectations, encouraged only by the fact that James McPherson strongly recommends it on the back cover. It's a beautifully researched, well-written, engaging, and convincing overview of Lincoln's attitudes to slavery and emancipation.
   
   The author has a strong thesis and a clear point of view, but whatever your views on Lincoln are at the start, you won't feel bullied (always my experience when I read anti-Lincoln books). The author demolishes all the old arguments for the view that Lincoln had no interest in ending slavery.
   
   The opening chapters were the best and clearest single summary of the build-up to the civil war that I have yet read.
   
   Let me mention two things that I did not understand before I read this book, that I now understand fully, and that most people still have serious misconceptions about.
   
   First, it is often claimed that the civil war was at least partly, and perhaps mostly, caused by an argument over 'tariffs' and only partly by the debate over slavery. Striner points out that John Calhoun, the most famous opponent of the tariffs, was at first very much in favor of them. He later reversed his position. Why? Because it dawned on him that federally funded projects might not just lead to things like roads and railroads (which he was in favor of), but also to publicly funded emancipation of slaves (which he was against). People like Calhoun also felt (and stated at the time) that the tariff issue was just a test case for blocking the power of central government in general, and that their only goal in blocking that power was to prevent any future constitutional interference with slavery.
   
   Second, I used to think that Lincoln 'only wanted to save the union' and saw emancipation as a means to that end. I now see that that was a very simplistic view. The threat to the union only arose in the first place because of the argument over slavery. Lincoln was against its expansion into new territories, because he (rightly) felt that its expansion meant its perpetuation, while its containment in the slave states held out the possibility of its extinction. Through his entire political career after the repeal of the Missouri compromise, he was driven by that desire to bring about the eventual extinction of slavery.
   
   Once his election had caused secession (because of his anti-slavery stance) he then insisted on saving the union, but not if that meant compromising his goal of extinguishing slavery, his original purpose in entering politics in the first place. His goal was to preserve a union still dedicated to what he considered its original principles of human equality and freedom. This account of his thinking seems to me to make far more overall sense.
   
   If you are cynical about Lincoln, or about politics in general, read this book and feel free to take a more positive view.

5 comments about The Man Who Warned America: The Life and Death of John O'Neill, the FBI's Embattled Counterterror Warrior.

1. This is an interesting book on an unusual subject. People like John O'Neill are not usually the subjects of biographies. He wasn't anywhere near prominent enough, and that usually means that someone like O'Neill winds up being a footnote in a book about someone else. Instead, O'Neill was the FBI agent in charge of International security in New York City, and spent much of the 90s as the guy in the FBI who was the most interested in and focused on capturing Osama bin Laden. Ironically, he retired in mid-2001, and took a job as head of security at the World Trade Center. He went back into the South Tower on 9/11 and was killed when it collapsed.
   
   O'Neill, according to the author, was a complex, driven man, a visionary who was one of the first US officials to decide that Osama bin Ladin was worth watching and perhaps capturing. While his FBI career was, in terms of his job performance, impeccable, he had two major weaknesses. First, he was occasionally forgetful, and violated various FBI rules and protocols. In the mid-90s, when Louis Freeh was running the FBI, any violations were punishable, and almost certainly would have a detrimental affect on a person's career. O'Neill was once caught letting a girlfriend onto an FBI secure facility, and giving her a ride in his car. On another occasion, he lost a briefcase full of classified material that shouldn't have been out of the office. Both of these incidents impacted his career and chances for promotion. Second, he had a penchant for chasing multiple women at the same time, concealing each liason from all of his other girlfriends. When he died, each of the women was surprised to find out that there were other women in his life.
   
   Much of the book is devoted to O'Neill's pursuit of bin Ladin, especially the investigation of the bombings at the African Embassies in 1998 and the Cole bombing in 2000. While O'Neill wasn't involved directly in the Embassy bombing investigations, he was in charge of the Cole bombing investigation. However, for whatever reason he ran afoul of the local US ambassador, a woman named Barbara Bodine, who started out asserting her control of the investigation and insisting that the Yemenis were offended by O'Neill, and that only she could smoothe things over. This was before O'Neill had met any of the Yemenis yet, but she insisted it was the case. By the time the investigation concluded, Bodine was so sure that withdrawing the FBI investigators was provocative that she ordered Marine guards to keep the FBI agents in the embassy, and had to be told by her superiors at the State Department to let the agents go. After she'd been transferred back to the States and 9/11 happened, the Yemenis became more helpful, and eventually began cooperating extensively with the US. Ambassador Bodine stuck to her guns, however, and even badmouthed O'Neill in an interview after his death.
   
   You have to wonder about this part of the book. Author Weiss was a friend of O'Neill's, and he clearly sides with him against Bodine. It's difficult to see how she could justify what she did (even if O'Neill was despicable, letting her opinion of him subvert this sort of FBI investigation is inexcusable). I expect that somehow she saw through his private life in some fashion. Weiss says that she had been introduced to O'Neill in New York before she became ambassador to Yemen. Perhaps she saw him at a restaurant with a woman other than the one who was escorting him the night they were introduced to each other.
   
   Regardless, this is an interesting book, even if the author, a journalist, occasionally makes a mistake around the periphery of his story. The one I noticed was the author saying that USS The Sullivans was named for some brothers killed on a "carrier" during World War II. The Sullivan brothers were killed on USS Juneau, an Atlanta-class Light Cruiser. Other reviewers have noted mistakes on the edges of the story, but they don't (in my mind, anyway) detract from the main message of his story.



2. John O'Neill was the most dedicated member of the FBI who committed his life to fighting crime and, ultimately, terrorism. His efforts were discouraged by bureaucracy, ignorance, and the Clinton administration. Read firsthand in this book how he was so close to saving much anguish, sorrow and death in the United States but was stopped in his tracks by others too inept to acknowledge the vision he had for stopping the unfortunate acts of terrorism in New York and Yemen. The cruelest irony is that he died in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers in charge of security after he retired from the FBI due to frustration.



3. John O'Neill grew up in Atlantic City, NJ watching the FBI on TV on Sunday nights. All he ever wanted to do was be an FBI agent and serve his country. The son of working class folks who ran a taxi cab business he dedicated himself to be the finest and fulfilled his childhood dreams. Jonh went to my high-school and lived 5 minutes from where I grew up, I never knew him but after reading this fine Murray Weiss biography I feel I know him as a brother. This book will infuriate you as John O'Neill tries to warn everyone in the government of an impending doom with Bin Laden, who he studied and profiled, much to his chagrin no one listened. How ironic that after so much frustration with the FBI bureacracy and a Clinton Administration consumed by the presidents personal travails that John O'Neill resigns to take over security operations at the World Trade Center one week before 9/11. He perished in the collapse of the towers after he was safely out. He ran back in to try to save people. This book will move you, John O'Neill's story will stay with you. Did he have his own style and personal troubles, sure, but his life is what you will remember, his dedication to his job and the fact that maybe if a few more higher ups had listened to him this tragedy could have been averted. With men like this, you'll believe our country is in good hands as far as the war with terrorism is concerned. It's upper management we should be worried about.



4. John O'Neill was a problem. A bull in the china shop. He was a womanizer and he was an exceptionally poor fit at the FBI, but if we had listened to him 3000 people, including him, would not have died at the World Trade Center, the pentagon and on three airline carriers. There seems to be less and less room in America for the mavericks. This book is no white wash. It paints the man in full warts and all. But at the end of it we realize that it was this wildman who was right and all the politicians, hypocrites, sanctamonious twits and stuffed shirt beaureaucrats who drove him from the FBI,or didn't pay attention to him were wrong. The execrable Barbara Bodine who single handedly ruined his mission to Yemen comes in for special criticism. She probably still doesn't think she did anything wrong. We are becoming a silly nation. We've become obsessed with beauratic rules, political correctness on the left, phony piety on the right, and we can't get anything done anymore. Don't read this book merely as a tragedy but look it as a wake up call



5. The book is not news to anyone who reads any New York newspapers. It is a cut and paste job from ON's drinking buddy. Better reporting done by author Peter Lance. Of course, nothing written by me detracts from the dedication and true grit of John O'Neil.