3 comments about The Secret Eye: The Journal of Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas, 1848-1889 (Gender & American Culture).

1. A Secret Eye was a huge disappointment. The characters were not as developed and colorful as one might expect. The diary/journal form became ho-hum after the first few entries. The dragging subjects and subject matter made the 470 pages difficult to wade through. Augusta has always been my home and I did enjoy some of the local history. I am certain a more interesting story could have been told about my hometown.



2. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! How often does one get to read someone else's diary? (Set during the Civil War, no less.) The author was a well educated, intelligent woman for her time and she is an excellent writer. So many aspects of this diary are completely fascinating. Her pampered southern lifestyle, her views on slavery (she calls herself a liberal re: slavery and yet, she is such a racist.), her feelings on male superiority and her longing to do more with her talents. The entries during the war and after are the most interesting... but DON'T read the introductory notes written by the editor...unless you want to spoil the ending! I wanted the diary to unfold one day at a time without knowing what was coming just as it did for Gertrude. After reading the diary I went back and read the editorial notes which add insight into the author's life. This is a story of a very strong woman enduring unbelievable hardships. If you enjoy history at all you will love reading this diary!



3. I totally diagree w/ the review above because apparently the reader did not understand that this diary is not a novel.
   
   It is true however that the diary does not reveal too much of Ella herself. This is not surprising to me since she states that she is not going to open up to her diary and tell her innomost feelings. Unfortunately!
   However, after she gets married, has children and is much more matured she does reveal a great deal about her life, feelings etc.
   One can only thank that someone took the trouble to record personal information during the antebellum time and afterwards for the readers of the 21st century to read. Thank you.

2 comments about The Civil War Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.

1. The only criticism here is that the editors saw fit to edit this masterpiece of American literature. This is a little like editing Shakespeare or the Bible. Don''t tamper with genius! This criticism aside...

   General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher, bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.

   Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."

   Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.

   Though Grant's Memoirs were written 113 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them in! their entirity 30 times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. A truly oustanding book.




2. Insight is key to this book written by Grant from basically his death bed. What we learn from Grant in this book gives us an opportunity to understand his intentions, strategies and how he worked with people. Grant tries to be very fair in his writing that covers his early days as a colonel to full-fledged commander of the US Army. His style is basic and easy to understand. At times the book feels like he is giving a history lesson about the war and sometimes is vague about triumphs or failures. I was looking forward to reading about Grant's work with the battle of Cold Harbor and he was completely brief in this book considering it was a major conflict. But, this was Grant's choice to write and memoir depth is subject to author decision. Grant does pack a lot of information in and also has interesting coverage in regards to Lee's surrender. Anyone studying Grant or looking for further insight owes it to themselves to consider reading this book.

5 comments about First Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country a World Power.

1. This book by a former U.S. Ambassador is an elegantly-written history of the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the United States acquired colonies in the Caribbean and the Pacific and emerged as a major world power. The nuanced, balanced narrative deals with "big picture" geopolitics and historical trends but never loses sight of the human factor or the role that ego and personal ambition played in America's rise to power. Zimmerman doesn't flinch from concluding that American troops committed atrocities in the Philippines or that our acquisition of Hawaii and the Panama canal zone was little more than theft. At the same time, he avoids ahistorical condemnations of turn-of-the-century imperialism. His book will leave leftwing revisionists and flag-waving rightists equally disappointed -- surely a sign of scholarly achievement.

   "First Great Tiumph" brims with insights into diplomacy and politics, based on Zimmerman's many years in the U.S. foreign service. Indeed, many parts of the book are eerily topical, such as the discussion of how war-lover Theodore Roosevelt seized on the sinking of the battleship Maine as a pretext for a war in Cuba. The book was published prior to the non-discovery of the much-hyped WMDs in Iraq but the parallels to current events are there for any intelligent reader to see. I gave the book four stars instead of five only because the "multi-biographical" approach is a bit contrived and results in the inclusion of much unnecessary biographical material in the first section of the book.




2. What do the above have in common? The answer is provided quite nicely in Warren Zimmerman's book "First Great Triumph". In it, he explains what 5 great Americans - John Hay, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Theodore Roosevelt, Hencry Cabot Lodge, and Elihu Root had to do with the forming of the American century (the 20th Century).
   
   Each of these men played his own role in creating Imperialistic America, starting in the late 19th century, and their contributions to American foreign policy continue through to this day.
   
   This is an important book for anyone that wants to understand the personalities of these five men and the actions that each took to make America the dominant player in world affairs that it has been during the last 100+ years.
   
   The book is divided into two sections; biographical sketches of each of these five men, and then a section on how America became an Imperalistic power, similar to Great Britain or any of a number of the European countries in earlier centuries. Starting with the Spanish American war, the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, and pushing through to American intervention in World War I, this book does a fantastic job of explaining the events that occured and the personalities involved.
   
   I now understand why Zimmerman chose these five men to study in this book - when I first started to read it, I thought that perhaps others, such as William McKinley or William H. Seward should have been included in the biography section, but Seward's contributions were too early to be included in this study, and McKinley was too reserved to be included in a group of men that firmly believed in American expansion, much as earlier Americans had proclaimed "Mainfest Destiny".
   
   I enjoyed the book greatly, and would highly recommend it to anyone that is looking for a study of early American foreign policy, or an understanding of why America played such a big role in world events during the 20th century.



3. Empire building is not necessarily a bad thing. As such the First Great Triumph tries to force the reader to understand our nations obsession with empire and empire
   
   building. The book starts off by telling us about the west. Our nation was growing and the American people were driven to move across the country to carve out homes
   
   and states west of the Mississippi. Once our nation grew from sea to shining sea the energies behind empire building became global. We could no longer focus our
   
   energies on the continent of North America, so we had to look outward. This incredible drive to expand, and the passions behind it, became a central part of the American
   
   spirit.
   
   But in order to bring our manifest destiny to the global scale we had to become a force that would be strong enough to hold on to our gains. As such we needed to
   
   become a first rate power. One who could compete among the nations of old for dominancy in this brave new world.In order to gain such power we needed leadership to
   
   guide us. Theirfore the First Great Triumph is not only about empire building but about the figures who helped bring our nation into this new found power. The author
   
   concentrates on five powerful Americans. They are ; Theodore Roosevelt, Alfred T. Mahan, Henry Cabot Lodge, John Hay, and Elihu Root. All of which , our author feels,
   
   were instrumental in guiding our nation onto the world scene. The belief the author has is that without these five, our nation would not have risen to our present status of
   
   a world power. Let us examine why.
   
   The top of the pyramid was Theodore Roosevelt. It was his leadership that made our nation's stature as a world power possible. An influential man both as a states
   
   man and president. It was he who had the vision to build up America's naval power and turn it loose upon the world. The great white fleet was assembled and sent out
   
   under his guidence. The showing of such a fleet of ships was enough to prove to the world that we had become a first rate power. Under Theodore's leadership we gained
   
   influence in both Latin America and the Pacific. This was due to Theodore's timely usage of naval power. Theodore had also assembled a cast of first rate leaders around
   
   him and was able to use them to the best of his abilities. Theodore was able to delegate his many tasks among the two others to help establish American hegemony.
   
   Root was given the task of setting up the government of our conqured territories while Hay was given the task of handling our nations diplomacy with the other forgein
   
   powers. Both performed admirably and were able to give Theodore a stable base from which he could direct his energies upon the world.
   
   John Hay was the statesman from which all diplomacy flowed. He was pro-europe but also an American. As such his unique perspective allowed him to see problems
   
   and solutions from both sides. As such he was an excellent diplomat and arbitrator. Theodore would view him weak, but in reality Hay's greatest strength was his ability
   
   to have patience. His skills with diplomacy , when used, would help smooth out problems the U.S. was having and as a direct result Hay would win wars with words
   
   instead of bullets.
   
   But diplomacy and leadership are not the only tools one needs to run a country. You need beauraucrcy, that day to day grind that makes politics and government
   
   possible. For that we had Elihu Root. Root was instrumental in creating new ways of governing our new acquisitions. They were not perfect but they showed us what
   
   could work, and what could not work. As such Root would be able to show our government how to administer conquered territories. Root's ability to do this paved the way
   
   for our country's dealings with later nations and later wars.
   
   While Theodore's trio was able to expand the power of the executive branch, Lodge was able to channel the energies of the legislative branch to greatness. Lodge was
   
   not only an incredible intelectual but he was a man of vision. He dreamed of an imperial American, one that could rival Brittain in both power and strength. As such Lodge
   
   dedicated his abilities into keeping the pressure up on the legislative branch. His dedication to empire building left a stamp on congress and Lodge's actions helped sway
   
   several presidents towards the battle for empire. His observations of the dying world regime helped stir the American public into understanding their new role in the world.
   
   Spain was dying and Brittain was winding down. As such the American star was rising and a key to world dominance would be by gaining American soverignty over the
   
   area in the Pacific.
   
   All of these thoughts for empire stem from Alfred T. Mahan. It was his writtings on seaman ship and Naval power that got this entire ball rolling. In order for a nation to
   
   be great you had to be able to control the Oceans. Mahan had based his writtings on history and how the ancients giants, throught time, all had control of the seas
   
   (Oceans). He argued that the United States would always be considered a second rate power as long as their Navy was second rate. To build up the NAvy not only meant
   
   new ships. It also meant the training of a profesional class of sailors, new technologies, and refueling ports / way stations for the ships to be based at. Only by combining
   
   these three points would the U.S. gain dominancy in the world's seas and as a direct result gain dominancy on the world.
   
   But in order to understand history we sometimes have to look at how the author presents his material. What I found at in this book was that it is not an enjoyable read.
   
   The author has fallen in love with the big five and treats them like lovers. Their faults are glossed over and their actions are heightened to god like epics. As such you
   
   agree with the author. After all the author believes that these five mortal men changed the face of America. By their labors, and their labors alone, they turned our country
   
   into a first rate power. But the author is biased. It is his thesis after all that these men made America, so he will do anything and everything to back it up. Now the author
   
   never lies about the five, but he does seam to make them heroic. Never the devil, these five are always building our country up and never bringing it back down. They are
   
   the "Music Makers" after all and to attack any one of these idols would be an assault to the author. One he could not stand.
   
   The author wants you to feel sympathy for the five as both men and Gods. As such he imerses you into their past. Hopeing to gain your sympathy and trust the author
   
   instead disgusts and bores you. After all the book will speak of the historic events these men made, yet instead of completing the story, our author has decided to fill you
   
   in on the history of the "music Makers" while in the midst of the story. Instead of breaking down the history of the characters in an orderly fashion, you instead are given
   
   snippets of the character's personality. Once the personality is constructed you are then given the history of the person. But this history is given piece meal and while the
   
   author is narrating a story. As such the reader can become confused and bored while learning about these heros. It is also obvious that the book was written for an
   
   audience already familiar with the five. As such amusing incidents are placed , like Easter eggs, throught the entire book. Instead of amusing, I found them unapropriate.
   
   The detracted from the content of the book since I was out of the loop and unable to figure out the joke.
   
   The book is also a racist book. This is not to say it is a bad thing but the book has been written with the gloves off. Theirfore it is shocking to read about. Now I did
   
   enjoy the honesty the author wrote about. After all it is rare now adays to read a piece of work that has not been cleansed by the censors. The author's dealings about
   
   empire building stir strong emotions in people. His objective look at how race influenced empire building was refreshing. All to often we stay mute on race. It is a tender
   
   subject. But you can not deny how the concept of race has shaped our nation. Learning that our nation of the past felt so strongly about white America helped shed light
   
   on these topics. The conflict of civil rights has always been a sore spot in our nations history. Now, at last, you can understand some of the pettiness and even some of
   
   the injustices. To know that our nation had dificulty dealing with our black population is one thing. But to finally learn that our nation thought all races but the white man's
   
   were beneath his was fascinating. And these ideas were ones our nation was building it's empire on. Even with all the bias and hero worship in this book I still feel that it
   
   is a must read. Simply for the way the book reaches you about race relations and how the White man viewed his world back then.
   
   The First Great Triumph not only teaches you about the founding of modern day America and the people who helped create it but it also teaches you the reader about
   
   his own personal history with the United States. As such a bridge is formed between past and present and we can learn about our American heritage in all its being. That
   
   being both monstrous and glorious.



4. If you want to know how the United States became a great power this is the book to read. The United States quest for empire and manifest destiny can be summed up by the five men covered in this book: TR, Elihu Root, John Hay, Alfred Mahan and Henry Cabot Lodge. The book focuses on conquest in the Philippines, Cuba and Mexico as well as the importance of the Panama Canal. It is a very interesting read that offers a lot about the course of US Empire. Imperialism and Americanism can be seen as one in the same during this time period and these five people acting together set America on a course to become not only a great power but eventually a super power. A must have for anyone interested in America's imperial past.



5. Warren Zimmerman uses short but trenchant bios of five important American decision makers and opinion leaders to tell a story about the beginnings of the American empire.
   
   John Hay, Navy Capt. Alfred T. Mahan, Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt are the principal actors. These men provided the intellectual atmosphere and the institutional framework that enabled the United States to step away from her traditional isolationism, recognize her place in the world as a power of the first rank, and take up that role. In order for that to happen the American people first had to understand the dangers that expansionist European powers presented to their nation. Zimmerman weaves the various strands that these five men bring to this story as well as the reluctantance of President McKinley and the objections of actors like Mark Twain and former senator and newspaper editor Carl Shurz, into an exciting and thoughtful work. The book is worth the price for the bios of the principals alone but it is the story of this interaction, as skillfully told by Zimmerman, that makes this book so interesting and such a quick read.
   
   For those who believe that America is not an imperial power (though not quite cut in the mold of European imperialism) this book will provide much to think about. For those interested in knowing how we became a world power in such a short time, this book is invaluable.
   
   The author is a former foreign-service officer who obviously has experienced the mixed blessings of the nation's global responsibilities.

5 comments about Life on the Mississippi (Penguin Classics).

1. In Life on the Mississippi, Twain recounts his river experiences from boyhood to riverboat captain and beyond. Encompassing the years surrounding the Civil War, this book is an excellent source of 19th-century Americana as well as an anthology of the mighty river itself. Replete with rascally rivermen, riparian hazards, deluge, catastrophe, and charm, Life on the Mississippi is another of Twain's stellar literary achievements.

   Wit and wisdom are expected from Twain and this book does not disappoint. It is equally valuable for it's period descriptions of the larger river cities (New Orleans, St. Louis, St. Paul), as well as the small town people and places ranging the length of America's imposing central watershed.

   The advent of railroads signalled the end of the Mississipi's grand age of riverboat traffic, but, never fear, Life on the Mississippi brings it back for the reader as only Samuel Clemens can. Highly recommended.




2. This book--at times disjointed, rambling, self-referential, and irreverent--is decades ahead of its time. It's an interdisciplinarian's dream as Twain takes on economics, geography, politics, ancient and contemporary history, and folklore with equal ease. Mostly though, one appreciates his knack for exaggeration, the tall tale, and the outright lie. It's a triumph of tone, as he lets you in on his wild wit, his keen observation, and his penchant for bending the truth without losing his credibility as a guide.

   The book's structure is also modern: He recounts his days as a paddlewheel steam boat "cub," piloting the hundreds of miles of the Mississippi before the Civil War, then, in Part 2, returns to retrace his paddleboat route. Although a few of his many digressions don't work (they sometimes sound formulaic or too detailed) most of the narrative is extremely entertaining. Twain seems caught between admiration and disdain for the "modern" age-but he also rejects over-sentimentality over the past. He writes with beauty and cynicism, verve and humor. Very highly recommended!




3. I've been reading a lot of classic literature recently, and I also recently saw the Mississippi River for the first time...so this book seemed liked the perfect one for me to read right now.
   This is a "non-fictional" book by Mark Twain. (I guess that means based on some truth but embelished in various ways?) In it he recalls the years he spent during his youth as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Then he suddenly jumps forward many years in the book to when he is an older man. As an older man, he decides to go back and travel on the Mississippi River again. He finds the river much changed. The course of time (the Civil War has come and gone, the expansion of the railroad, and the forces of nature) have greatly changed life on the river. The once thriving steamboat trade has almost disapeared.
   Besides his personal recollections, he also includes other interesting stories,history,folklore, talltales, and such. It is written in typical Mark Twain style - his dry sense of humor will bring a smile to your face. I really enjoyed this book.



4. Mark Twain (1835-1910) grew up along the banks of the Mississippi River, and he captures the feel of the mighty river during the steamboat era in this superb narrative and memoir. I particularly liked the earlier chapters, as Twain describes his youthful tutelage as an aspiring steamboat pilot in the years before the Civil War. Readers see what it was like guiding a steamboat over a river full of dangerous snags and sandbars - in clear daylight, through thick fog, and on moonless nights. The author then jumps ahead to his middle age - describing life along the river and in the South after the Civil War, and including politics, epidemics, and the supplanting of steamboats by railroads. The book's second half lacks a bit of the magic found earlier, but remains eminently readable and informative. This is a remarkable narrative by a great writer.



5. Twain's account of his years on the Mississippi is part travel book, part memoir, and part historical work, with a few sketches, stories, and tall tales tossed in for good measure. There is even an outtake from the not-yet-published "Huckleberry Finn," along with extensive excerpts from historical and contemporary accounts by other authors. This smorgasbord of material makes for an uneven book, but much of it shows Mark Twain at his humorous and humanistic best.
   
   The kernel of the volume (and its best, most cohesive section) is in chapters 4 through 17; this material appeared in the Atlantic magazine in 1875 and recalls his early life as a crew member on steamboats in the early 1850s. His adventures as a young man are fraught with danger, full of comedy, populated by a number of ornery, mischievous, and reckless characters, and occasionally embellished (although Twain is a bit obvious when he's fobbing off a yarn). As Twain later wrote in "Puddn'head Wilson, "if there was anything better in this world than steamboating, it was the glory to be got by telling about it."
   
   After he published the series in the Atlantic, Twain added another 46 chapters; much of it an account of his homecoming (incognito--or so he'd hoped) to the Mississippi River in 1882, when the steamboat had been rendered obsolete by the railroad. Many of these descriptions are unusually (for Twain) melancholy; he remarks upon the relatively emptiness of the river traffic and notes the transformations to the river and its banks that had made steamboat travel safer but less adventurous. His new journey provides opportunities to relate a number of stories--some allegedly told to him on the river and a few unpublished tales that he deemed relevant and worthy of inclusion.
   
   The material from other sources, unfortunately, tends to bog things down--and there are about 10,000 words of it commingled in the text and included as appendices. Twain gathered newspaper articles and historical documents; he also included travel writing from earlier visitors, primarily Europeans distracted by how Americans and their homes were horribly uncouth and dirty. (You almost get the feeling that Twain would have smacked "the once renowned and vigorously hated" Frances Trollope upside the head if he'd had the chance; she provides Twain with the most interesting, if snooty, descriptions of traveling along the Mississippi early in the century.)
   
   The material Twain wrote, however, more than compensates for the dryness of the extraneous stuff. As always, he is quotable, witty, amusing, and provocative. In spite of its excesses, nobody has done the Mississippi better.

3 comments about Lucy Breckinridge of Grove Hill: The Journal of a Virginia Girl, 1862-1864 (Women's Diaries and Letters of the South).

1. The diary is an excellent way to look into the eyes of a young woman during the Civil War years. She sounds like a typical teenager today, writing about boys, socializing, familys issues, lonliness, happiness, body image, sexuality, and just life in general; however, it also contains information related to the time, such as her views on slavery and the war. Unfortunately, what is missing from this book is an historical examination into the people, places, and events she wrote about.



2. For those of you like me who are not general history buffs but enjoy personal stories from bygone eras, this is a wonderful book. Reading along with Lucy, sharing her joys and pain during the days of the Civil War, she becomes a friend, and we her confidante. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Civil War, particularly women's views. In reading her story, we can relive a piece of America's past through the eyes of a young woman.



3. Maybe it's the name we share; maybe it's that we both hail from the Valley in Virginia....I really like this book. I doubt Lucy Breckenridge could have imagined her forthright, honest and innocent comments would survive, much less impact a reader with such treasure of insight and sharing of like feelings--regardless of the time passed. Sometimes a teenager; often a woman wise far beyond her few years. At once, new and intriguing glance backward, while a more than passing look inside ourselves. I'm so grateful she hid it in her skirts when the Federal troops----oh, you'll need to read it all yourself!

1 comments about Daughter of Boston: The Extraordinary Diary of a Nineteenth-century Woman, Caroline Healey Dall.

1. Caroline Healey Dall's (1822-1912) diary, written over 75 years, encompasses 45 volumes and most of the prominent people and ideas - Transcendentalism, slavery, women's rights - of the 19th century. As editor, Helen Deese has focused on the years from 1838 to 1865, distilling Caroline's output into one volume, well annotated and footnoted with a general introduction and summary prefaces to each new section.
   
   The late 1830s and 40s were heady times for a young, devout, affluent, intellectual Unitarian like Caroline. Most of Boston's elite were Unitarians and the Transcendentalist movement, with its rejection of hard-line Calvinism, was blossoming. By the age of 18 Caroline was hobnobbing with the likes of Margaret Fuller and Elizabeth Peabody (sister to Nathaniel Hawthorne's new wife) at Peabody's bookshop. She knew Emerson and Theodore Parker, the Unitarian minister whose denial of Biblical miracles and the divinity of Jesus created a furor. Always ardent, Dall was swayed by Parker and passionate in her defense of him. The Transcendental idea of finding God in everyone and every natural thing had a profound effect on her whole life.
   
   Her early years were sheltered by class and family, leaving Caroline free to pursue a life of the mind. She had a strong will and intellectual self-confidence to match, though these were frequently undercut by her demanding father, for whom her efforts were never enough, and her exasperated mother who found her domestic skills wanting. Fuller and Peabody, as well, were sometimes critical of her vocal participation in meetings of her elders. The reader will sometimes share their impatience, though her parents do seem rather cold and erratic.
   
   But when Caroline entered her 20s circumstances changed drastically. At the beginning of 1843 she looks back on a tumultuous year: "I was an heiress, somewhat a blue [stocking] - flattered and caressed and with few anxieties save - for the characters of my brothers and sisters, the sufferings of the poor - and a heavy care of my own reputation."
   
   Then her father, a merchant and speculator, went bankrupt, a younger brother died and the man she loved rejected her. Caroline became a schoolteacher in Georgetown, near Washington D.C. Unitarianism was suspect and slaves were ubiquitous. The diary takes on a deeper, more mature character over this difficult period. Although she stayed only a year, it was enough to change her laissez-faire attitude about slavery and to get her engaged to a likeminded, but weaker willed minister.
   
   From this point Caroline's diary is increasingly intense. While her father's financial affairs improved, her relations with him deteriorated over her abolitionist writing and activity, which he feared would harm him in business. Her husband was often disturbed by her forward behavior and his own politics made it difficult for him to keep a post. Caroline grieved that he could not provide her the emotional support she provided him, and poverty, pregnancy, drudgery and emotional turmoil all took their toll.
   
   Deeply ambitious, she was thwarted by gender, but was also a product of her times. "I desire to be a perfect housekeeper - but am always afraid lest in a higher love of better things, I should omit some necessary trifle. I would not add to the reproaches cast upon literary women...." Still, she read and wrote voraciously, publishing numerous articles (though she was mortified when she had to publish "for bread") on books, lectures, issues and ideas.
   
   As the years passed, her convictions became tempered with experience and her moral view - particularly on marriage - became more complex. But she remained proud of her iron will and steadfastness. Discussing Margaret Fuller's autobiography, she reflected, "Margaret says, `the lasting evil was to learn to distrust my own heart.' I could never do that. Instant is the decision of my nature in a given case, and I have never once had occasion to revoke or dismiss it." And "When my husband first knew me, he used to say that I reminded him, of two passages of Scripture, `for judgment - am I come' - and ` he shall judge the quick and the dead -` so trenchant were my decisions, and so absolute my convictions."
   
   Brilliant and rather Puritan, Caroline would not have been an easy person to live with. But her honesty and acute self-examination over the course of a difficult marriage make her absorbing and appealing. Personal passages - including a horrific birth, a long self-examination in comparison with Margaret Fuller, despair over relations with her parents and husband, wrestling with her feelings for another man - will capture the general reader.
   
   Caroline always intended her diary to survive her and be read by others, if only her children. Indeed, at the end of her life she arranged to donate them to the Massachusetts Historical Society. But except for some self-consciousness in the earliest sections, it never reads as if there's an audience in mind. Some of it is so raw and painful, in fact, it's surprising she did not rip out more pages (she did remove some). But that's part of the honesty that makes her interesting and sympathetic.
   
   Those interested in the political and social events of the time will find day-to-day mentions and interactions with most of the prominent politicians, literary and religious figures. Neither Caroline nor her editor explain much about the historical context of these interactions so those not already well-versed in 19th century history may find themselves googling some occasionally cryptic passages.
   
   But Deese's notes are extensive. She identifies everyone and every work or speech alluded to. For historians, the diary is a treasure trove. For everyone else it's a moving and fascinating portrait of a lonely, passionate, idealistic and conflicted woman who was very much of her times.
   
   --Portsmouth Herald

5 comments about Kentucky Lion: The True Story of Cassius Clay.

1. Excellent...This is a must read. This historic american novel will make a great movie or mini series for television. Richard Kiel and Pamela Wallace tell the life story of Cassius Clay with passion, romance and intrigue. I started reading this on my flight from California to Texas and could not put it down. The history that was researched for this book is truly amazing. It's a great story of a great american hero.



2. Kentucky Lion: The True Story of Cassius Clay
   This is an amazing book about one man who would not give up his fight for something that he believed in, despite many things being thrown in his path. Once you start reading it, you will not be able to put it down. I had never heard the name 'Cassius Clay' before reading this book, and now I will never forget him or the story of his life. It's definitely a book that everyone will find interesting given the many aspects of his life that are brought to life throughout the pages of the book.
   
   A definite MUST READ!



3. 
   What an incredible account that until now has gone uncovered! The astonishing true story behind the Cassius Clay story. Captivating and enlightening read.



4. I just got a copy of this book and upon opening it I could not put it down. Richard Kiel has done an astounding job of recreating in colorful details the life and adventures of this true gentleman. It is a page turner indeed! Once you start it you will see just how wonderful it is and just how hard it is to put down. I highly reccomend this book to anyone and I truly believe it should be included in a list of mandatory reads. There is much to be learned from this book. The authors have done an astounding amount of research into the life of this greatly overlooked individual. Richard and Pamela have created a true gem with this book. A masterpiece telling of the true life of Cassius Clay. A++



5. Maybe only a great character actor could write about a great American character with such warmth and passion. Maybe it's because Richard Kiel spent over a quarter of a century in putting this story together. No matter the reason, KENTUCKY LION is truly a grand story. The characters come alive in this womderful piece of story-telling; even if it wasn't 95% true, I feel like I got to know Cash. I can't wait to see the movie!

5 comments about Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life.

1. After any number of biographies about Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) aimed at adolescents, Beverly Lowry's new work takes its place among two other recent efforts: Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom (2004), by Catherine Clinton, and Kate Larsen's Bound for the Promised Land; Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero (2004). Tubman looms large as one of our country's greatest and most inspirational heroes. She's also a biographer's nightmare. Tubman was born as one of nine siblings into a Maryland slave family, she never learned to read or write, and reliable documents about her, especially her early years, are sketchy to non-existent. Thus in her author's note Lowry describes her work as "the story of a life as I have reimagined it." She tries to avoid "weasily qualifiers" about Tubman, rather unsuccessfully in my opinion, but one can hardly fault her given her subject.
   
   Born Araminta Ross, Tubman was rented out as slave labor when she was about six years old. She later escaped to the north at age 27, then, defying all odds, made as many as nineteen return trips back into slave-holding territories in order to rescue as many as 300 other slaves. She also served in the Civil War as a spy, nurse, and armed soldier. About a year after her death, in 1914 a bronze tablet was laid at her home in the central New York town of Auburn where she lived for forty years, which includes her own description of her life work: "On my Underground Railroad I nebber run off de track and I nebber los' a passenger." Stubborn and stoic, dignified and determined, it's hard to fathom the bravery and brilliance it must have taken to do what she did. Tubman saw visions, heard the voice of God, and dreamed dreams as a truly fearless woman of faith. She also suffered from acute narcolepsy. By the time she died she was famous, which left me wondering why Lowry ends her biography in 1868, when Tubman still had another 45 years to live. Her book includes 62 photos, illustrations, and maps, along with extensive bibliographical sources for further study.



2. Wonderful and inspiring read. The author explores Tubman's spirituality as she herself used it to live a truly outstanding life.
   
   In a 12-step program or love someone who is? This book exemplifies how to "live in constant contact with the higher power of your personal choosing (Alcoholic Anonymous Big Book)" and what an extraordinary and fulfilling life that can result. Case in point - Harriet's mom is not grateful to be saved from slavery and moved up north where it is cold all the time and never lets Harriet forget it. Yet she responds with serenity even as she hides in a closet to get away from her nagging. She then asks for and takes direction from her higher power. Bill W. could not have written it better.



3. Very insightful - brings history to reality; I'm at Amazon now looking for other books by this author. She has fit so many details found from so many places to truly work a story. The author, like "the General" herself, is an excellent story teller. I couldn't wait to read more each night! Too, I liked that the author used third person to tell the story in an artful way, allowing me to both enjoy the saga as well as to know fact from conjecture. A tremendous telling of an amazing woman - the likes of which our generation has not known! Enjoy!



4. This book is part research document, part biography, and part interview woven into a touching story about one of America's bravest women. Harriet Tubman, Imagining a Life, by Beverly Lowry is a patchwork combining subtle hues of Tubman's enslaved childhood and the shadowy escapes and rescues of fellow captives, finely finished with her lifelong efforts on improving the lives of others.
   
   Glimpse into her life as a unique and amazing trailblazer. Our heroine Harriet was born into slavery in 1821and named Araminta Ross (Minty). A bright and hard-working child, at six years of age she was hired out to care for children not much younger than herself. She preferred physically demanding outdoor work to cooking and childcare, but always made the most of every situation.
   
   Slaves changed their names once free. This made it more difficult for the slave hunters to find them. One night Minty made her way out of bondage, safe house by safe house, night after night, on foot, by boat, step by arduous step. This is where a life of freedom begins for Harriet Tubman.
   
   Harriet returned numerous times to aid the flight of her enslaved family and friends. She sang songs in the night the others recognized. Codes were embedded in the lyrics so they would know if it was safe to begin the journey from a life of oppression.
   
   Lowry states, "... she had great instincts and a natural head for logistics, unusual peripheral vision, an irresistibly engaging manner, a great sense of humor, a fearless and single-focus temperament." Many believed Harriet had psychic powers because of her keen intuition. All of these attributes coupled with her physical strength and good sense equipped her for what she believed was God's work.
   
   Proof that one person can make a difference; I found the retelling of a familiar life inspirational. Harriet was not born into a family of great renown, yet she seized every new day with vigor and unselfishness, even until the very end.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Powerful story.



5. Beverly Lowry does not intend for this book to be a book of intense scholarship, she just wants to share Araminta Ross Davis' (Harriet Tubman) story as she imagines it. Few exploit of free or enslaved persons capture the American imagination as deeply as Harriet Tubman's. The grandeur of her spirit is intensely sensational, almost mythical.
   
   Tubman's life spans some ninety-one years, from 1822-1913, which Lowry has divided into four electrifying parts. Tubman is still one of the most fascinating persons of the dark period through which so many suffered. And she has to be one of the truest representations of the 'women's movement' as will ever be seen. She was an escaped slave, lumberjack, laundress, raid leader, nurse, fund-raiser, cook, intelligence gatherer, Underground Railroad organizer, and abolitionist. Those periods of Tubman's life garnered names too numerous to cite. Two of the most familiar are Moses, as she led slaves to the promised land on the tracks of her legendary 'Railroad', and "the General", so dubbed by John Brown when she scouted for the Union army.
   
   You wonder if people today are interested in such a dark heritage or the horrific details that were our beacon to this station? But I digress. At the time of her interviews, Tubman lived in central New York State, in the town of Auburn. Since she could neither read nor write, she could not record any parts of her story, so aside from the interviews, much of it comes second or third hand. Yet, her story still offers a challenging opportunity for writers of nonfiction.
   
   In HARRIET TUBMAN: Imagining A Dream, Lowry creates a portrait that transforms the legendary icon into flesh and blood. Lowry brings this American hero through a vastly unpleasant life without the burden of too much detail and without going off-point. This is truly a reader's book, as Tubman takes us on slave-freeing raids and onto the battlefields of the Civil War; it invokes deep imagination and vicarious meandering. Lowry presents Tubman's story with good pace, good suspense, and the warmth of an enigma who literally gave her life to people. Humbling!
   
   Reviewed by aNN
   of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

5 comments about Story of Cole Younger: By Himself (Borealis Books).

1. Cole was a cousin of my grandfather and I remember him talking of Cole visiting them after he was released from prison. Therefore, this was a very interesting insite into the person that was Cole Younger. It also gave some information of his background that I did not know before. An interesting look in to the thinking of a person who most people know as a name but not as a person.



2. I must recommend this first hand account of Cole's own story. It is not the only story but must always be the most important source and story of someone's life. I would have given this book a 5 as I would have several other books of this time period were it not for the "out-of-place" intro. Someone must have decided that it was important to censor and disclaim Cole's first hand account at the very front of the book. As I have done in the past, I taped these pages of attempted censorship together and noted to subsequent readers my advice on just skipping this questionable intro. Since my books usually get passed around a great deal I felt this was necessary to preserve the great and rare first hand account that Cole provided us of his life.



3. Inside the mind of a Missouri guerrilla, that alone is reason to pick up and read this wonderful first-hand account of a sad and violent time on the Missouri-Kansas border. The events are real and the tempers do not quickly disappear. Both sides considered themselves in the right and some Confederates never truly surrendered though the cause was clearly lost. What happened to those men and women when the fighting was ended by officials? Read and find yourself drawn in to relate to those you may have previously despised.



4. interesting -- although need to keep in mind that Cole Younger was as big a liar as he was an outlaw.



5. THIS IS A MUST READ FOR HISTORIANS. ALTHOUGH COLE OMITS SOME OF THE UNLAWFUL EVENTS. IT'S A GREAT AND EASY READ.

5 comments about The Death of Ben Linder; The Story of a North American in Sandinista Nicaragua.

1. If you are one of the many people who risked their lives when they traveled to Central America during the 1980's this book is for you! If you missed that experience but want to know what would motivate someone to risk their lives for peace and social justice by going to Nicaragua and participating in the revolution then, this book is for you!

   During the 1980's U.S. foreign policy in Central America was driven by an obsessive effort to overthrow the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The Sandinistas had overthrown a dictator and were developing a society that put people before profits. They set up free health care, carried out a massive literacy campaign, and gave land to small farmers.

   This threat of "a good example" was countered by the U.S. which created a mercenary army (the Contras) who set out to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Tactics included killing teachers, destroying health clinics, and forcing the Sandinistas to spend more and more of their resources on the military.

   Ben Linder was an engineer from Portland who put his life on the line to support the people of Nicaragua. Ben was also a clown and often put on his red nose and clown make-up to juggle and unicycle in poor neighborhoods, where children had never seen a clown. He worked in a small rural village in Northern Nicaragua, maybe 30 miles from my communities sister city of Telpaneca, near the Honduran border. Like the Fresnan's who built a school in Telpaneca during the Contra War, Ben was working on a hydroelectric project trying in a positive way to support the revolution. THE DEATH OF BEN LINDER, THE STORY OF A NORTH AMERICAN IN SANDINISTA NICARAGUA is an insightful book that reminds us why people are willing to put their lives on the line for a cause they believe in. It shows the tragic results of U.S. foreign policy that seeks to make the world safe for corporations seeking to maximize profits.




2. The book is, predictably, awash in Left Wing garbage. I would not waste my time with it if I were you. Linder simply made the choice to align himself with the wrong people, namely, Red Danny Ortega's Communist punks. Ortega was in bed with the USSR, and why anyone would support Ortega's regime is beyond comprehension. President Reagan came along just in the nick of time. Too bad Linder got in the way, but sometimes we make bad choices that are very costly.



3. Anyone who wishes to understand the current administration's policies needs to read this book. At the time of Linder's assassination, the first George Bush declared his death okay because he was "on the other side". Pat Robertson blessed and funded his killers. The US State Dept. interviewed and released them. Their US controller in Honduras, Negroponte, remains big in the Bush administration and just got the CIA head, Goss, replaced after a personal conflict.
   
   I was in Nicaragua at the time with WItness for Peace working as a photo lab technician and translator. I received the first photographs of Ben's body and tried to recover something from the very poor focussing. I also served as translator as a US journalist from a major New York newspaper did an in depth article on Linder. I am very grateful for this book. We must never forget those times, nor Ben, a courageous, unarmed wtieness for peace and justice and progress. Never forget. Learn the truth. ACT.



4. This book contains page after page of detailed accounts of attacks by the U.S.-bought-and-paid-for FDN-Contras, which can ONLY be described as terrorism: military assaults on agricultural co-ops (with loss of men, women & children and burning of health centers and private homes); assassinations and kidnapping of health workers and teachers (mostly women), as they walk from village to village in the Segovia Mountains; public-transport buses hitting land mines; and dynamiting of food caches and fuel caches. I would like to hear a Reagan fan dispute the veracity of these accounts!
   
   So the U.S. is currently locked into its own "War On Terrorism", while the new "Sec. Def." of the U.S., Robert Gates, played a major role in sponsorship of terrorism, as he was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra affair.
   
   Ben Linder and his great internacionalist cohorts, especially Don Macleay (a genius) and Mira Brown, are real heroes.
   
   And how many times in the U.S. press do you read that Ortega "has renounced his Marxist-Leninst" past? Well, the Sandinistas always advocated a mixed economy and did indeed hold a fair election in 1984. Which is why such an individual as Reagan ever gained popoularity- because of the lies that are spread about.
   
   So, I highly recommend this book as a great source for knowing what it was like to be on the ground in the Segovia Mtns. during Reagan's War.



5. This book doesn't try very hard to hide its leftist agenda, but even if that's what you're looking for, this book is poorly written and an uninteresting read. I got the feeling that a family member or an ex-girlfriend commissioned it. This book sells itself as a persona-based history of that period in Nicaragua. It's weak on facts and gave me the feeling that Linder was too. Maybe it was poorly researched or maybe he really was just clowning around. Depressing on all fronts. Don't bother.