2 comments about Daughter of Fortune: The Bettie Brown Story (Women of the West Series).

1. Not a terribly sophisticated book, and somewhat star-struck in tone, but nevertheless a very interesting and thorough account of an early Galveston socialite.



2. After visiting Ashton Villa in Galveston, October 2003, I decided to learn more about its famous former inhabitant- Bettie Brown. The book was actually suggested to our group as we walked through the old house. The tour whetted my appetite, and when I finally bought the book, I devoured it in one sitting. Bettie lived a fabulous life of luxury, and was a truly modern woman. There are several pictures of Bettie and her family in the book, and of Ashton Villa which is just as important as Bettie herself. The book covers the span of Bettie's life, her family history, a very long family tree, and even the life of the house after Bettie died. The 1900 Galveston storm is a prominent event in Bettie and Ashton Villa's life, and it was very interesting to read about how it affected even the very rich way of life. I recomend this book not only as a peek into Galveston history, but also as a valuable biography of a true Texas woman.

2 comments about Edmund Burke: Volume I: 1730-1784 (Edmund Burke).

1. Of the various styles of biographies I've read, I think I prefer what Lock has achieved here. It's definitely not the kind of page-turner which Robert Caro delivers, nor is it heavily weighed down with details such as De La Grange has given us with Gustav Mahler. Instead, Lock gives us intelligently written background surrounding the issues and people as they arise; judicious use of Burke's letters (and letters to him) as well as his writings; and details that help bring the era to life. He also brings the themes together, which means the telling is not a simple chronology. Lock gives us all sides of Burke, too: not just the politician and the family man, but the brother and the farmer. What I also like about this book is that Lock does not hesitate to criticize Burke when his behavior is less than ethical or when Burke's arguments are disingenuous. It's a critical examination, and Lock doesn't dumb it down. (I can't wait for volume 2, although my checkbook can.)



2. This will become the standard biography of Burke - but this book is not just for scholars: anyone with an interest in 18th century politics and culture will benefit from reading this work. The narrative is well written, with much detail and necessary (but not too basic) background detail; overall it keeps the reader's interest. Burke's own works are analysed thoroughly, within the framework of his life.

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 Unbridled Cowboy.

1. I FOUND THIS TO BE A BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN PIECE OF WESTERN HISTORY BY A FASCINATING AND ACCOMPLISHED MAN, WITH HEAVY EMPHASIS ON "MAN"......BY THE WAY, JOE FUSSELL WAS MY MATERNAL GRANDFATHER!! JOSEPH B. "JOE" JOHNSON



2. Bob Fussell's treatment of his grandfather J.B. Fussell's autobiography brings to mind a word not often associated with literature: verisimilitude. What makes this account fascinating is that not only is it true, but it rings true. This book should be required reading for every 12-year-old boy and girl in America; boys need to know how to be men and girls need to know what to look for in a man later on in their lives. America could use several million J.B. Fussells about now.



3. Unbridled Cowboy is the autobiography of author Joseph B. Fussell, a free spirit who sought his own destiny in the wild American Southwest during the late 1800s. At the young age of fourteen, Joe Fussell took to the rails to escape the school and harsh authority that chafed him. He became a roving cowpuncher in Texas territory, rustling cattle, tilling land, working in stables, and hitting the road whenever wanderlust stirred. Unbridled Cowboy is filled cover to cover with riveting true tales of undercover work as a Texas Ranger, life on the railroads, and rough justice. A captivating true life narrative of the wild west.



4. Here's the skinny. I've read thousands of books over the years. I keep a few; the rest I give away to friends or the library. This book is a keeper. Why? I will read this book many times and still be astonished by the history, this amazing man Joe Fussell, and how far this once great country of ours has deteriorated in a century.
   The first thought that entered my mind on finishing this book was, "I wish there was more." The second thought was that a man like Joe Fussell would have made an incredible president. In TR's time, when a young man chose to ditch public school at age 14 because he had "itchy feet", he didn't get Ritalin stuffed down his throat--he left home to make his own way. Fussell was a man so full of common sense, intelligence and integrity that the USA would have been privileged to have someone of his ilk as their leader. But alas, with no "education" except life, he was destined to become a laborer. And labor he did.
   The chapter on Fussell's adventures in Mexico as a youth are more riveting than anything Hollywood will ever turn out. His depiction of his railroad career reads like you were switching cars alongside him. Fussell is a storyteller akin to Twain. I am still amazed he avoided jail, but then it was a century ago. Different times--a wonderful time in our country. Get this book. Its a keeper.
   Norman Woodworth, DVM



5. Unbridled Cowboy, the autobiography of Joe Fussell, is well written and brings the reader a vivid and realistic portrait of the man and his life. His story telling ability paints a vivid and sometimes raw reality. He brings to life a period of American and western history from a personal point of view that was fraught with change and upheaval.
   
   While reading I found myself sitting next to Joe and hearing him telling me his life story. The ease with which he wrote of his life makes this book an enjoyable journey with a fascinating man.

2 comments about Dinner with D. W. Griffith and Other Memories.

1. Review of Oglesby book
   
   Oglesby's "Dinner With D. W. Griffith And Other Memories" surely is both a literary and social history masterpiece. This is anything but the typical "coming of age" memoir -- largely because of the quality of its writing - although surely it presents many of the usual child-to-adolescent transitions. "Dinner" for me brought back a host of time-and-place memories, sweet in their intimately recalled details and the richness of the prose, without being sickly overwritten.
   As to the social history, Oglesby's memoir sketches the life of an American boy growing up in, and affected by, the Great Depression and World War II without his awareness of their lasting changes. The place was Louisville, "Gateway to the South," where first-hand memories of the Civil War still remained in the 1930s and 40s. Not the least of these is the author's recollection of a famous cousin at a family reunion, captured in the book title.
   There are views of social and cultural institutions long gone from the American scene: genteel fortune tellers, orphanages, amusement parks reached by electric streetcars, the Ohio River flood of 1937 - probably the nation's most serious until the 2005 inundation of New Orleans - of a child's perceptions of civilian life downsides in a war, and, finally some of the peculiar social rituals of high school students in that time and place.
   If there is a flaw with "Dinner," it is simply that there is not enough of it. At 120 pages, it could well be twice as long and therefore twice as enjoyable a read.



2. Everyone will have a favorite from this collection of sixteen stories covering people and events in the childhood and teenage years of author Joseph Woodson Oglesby. Mine is "The Two Faces of Love". But it's difficult to choose. The stories tracing his complex relationship with his father--"Tiger in the Alley", "The Great Flood", "Buttons", and Black Market Spy"--are all quite moving. Perry, his ally and best friend at school who lives in an orphanage, makes a poignant appearance in "The Tin Boy". Each of these stories contains a moment of strong emotion--a "growing up moment"--that shaped the author's life.
   We see a cousin, early Hollywood director D. W. Griffith, make a dramatic appearance at a Sunday dinner, which ends in an uproar. Another cousin is a suspect in one of the most sensational murder cases in the state. In "The Death Sentence", the young Oglesby is forced to carry a weight almost to heavy to bear.
   The writer grew up in Louisville and nearby towns. He writes in a clear and honest yet lyrical style that is easy to follow. Photos or other graphics accompany each story, making the characters he reveals and the events he chronicles even more real.
   No one else can lay claim to these memories, but this collection may stir a lot of readers to recall people and events in their own lives, no matter where or when they were born or who their relatives and friends were, that helped shape their lives.
   I highly recommend DINNER WITH D.W. GRIFFITH AND OTHER MEMORIES. It's a beautiful book.

1 comments about America's Rasputin: Walt Rostow and the Vietnam War.

1. Milne's biography of Rostow demonstrates the futility of creating a independent state without having any support of the native population. Rostow thought that is possible to end the Vietnam War by merely bombing North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese fearing for their industry would stop supporting the Viet Cong and bring NVA troops across the border and thereby an independent South Vietnam could be preserved. But this theory backfired and the North Vietnamese will strengthened and chaos erupted in South Vietnam. Still Rostow stayed true to his theory and persuaded Johnson to ignore offers of a bombing halt by Harold Wilson, Henry Kissinger, and members in Johnson's own cabinet. The only weakness of this book is that Milne ignores the influence of Thomas Schelling on members of the Johnson cabinet and their decision to bomb North Vietnam. Nevertheless one can see elements of Rostow's theory about bombing in order to create a stable state in John McCain's rhetoric about bombing Syria and Iran in order to create an American backed Iraqi state.

5 comments about Period Piece (Ann Arbor Paperbacks).

1. Four or five anecdotes save Gwen Raverat's "Period Piece" from being so sweet it gives you tummy ache. It is no surprise that this charming memoir has remained in print for nearly 60 years. It has the "Upstairs" cachet, relieved by the Whiggery of Raverat's family -- she was the daughter of Charles Darwin -- which fits comfortably with both American and English tastes now.
   
   Raverat was born in 1885 and her childhood ended about the same time the Boer War did, so there are plenty of horses, tea parties, country house theatricals and such to appeal to the romantics. Socially, the Darwins were middle class except for the snobbery and religion. Gwen's mother excepted, who was the type of ignorant American puritan who made H.L. Mencken's fortune.
   
   Thus, the aunts went in for prudishness (especially in front of the servants) and silly dress codes, which Raverat can play against, giving the important sense of superiority that appeals to secret snobs.
   
   In his memoirs of English society, a generation later, Peter Medawar alleged that Americans were wrong to imagine that P.G. Wodehouse country life really existed. But it did. There are no Georgian silver cow creamers in "Period Piece," but Raverat's aunts were every bit as dotty as Bertie Wooster's.
   
   For me the most memorable episode, because like the book as a whole it captures the confusion of childhood so well, was Raverat's understanding of J.M.W. Turner's "The Fighting Temeraire." She and her cousins thought the little black tugboat was the Temeraire.
   
   Raverat led a sheltered childhood and young ladyhood, but on occasion the grim features of the Victorian/Wilhelminian era intruded. It is these -- brutality to a peasant servant in Hamburg, animal torture in Cambridge, the lower depths of drunkenness in the alleys around the Slade School -- that raise "Period Piece" from idle gossip to seriousness.
   
   The book is illustrated with Raverat's line drawings, very much in the style of the slighter travel books of her time. They are not charming.
   
   .



2. Darwin fanatics and Jane Austen fans will gobble up this delicious dessert. Written by Darwin's grandaughter (Raverat was George's daughter born too late to know her illustrious grandfather personally)PERIOD PIECE contains both a wealth of Family Stories that helps humanize the usual image of the Great Victorian Sage and some real (although often tongue-in-cheek) insights into Late-Victorian/Edwardian Society. As Raverat says in the Preface, the book doesn't really have a beginning or an end, it is easily dipped-in-to at any point & you will have to be totally lacking in a sense of humor not to come away both charmed & informed.



3. An absolute masterpiece of comic writing. Ms. Raverat drawings mesh perfectly with her loving, but not pious, treatment of her eccentric aunts and uncles. A deft ironist, a great memoir of late 19th century Cambridge. I promise you will force this book on everyone you love and they will thank you for it.



4. This is a really lovely book, perfect for reading at bedtime or in the garden under the apple tree on a summer's afternoon. Gwen Raverat writes vividly with chapters by theme rather than chronologically and and gives a rounded view of her childhood experiences and the Darwin family of uncles and aunts.



5. Wood-cut artist Gwen Raverat was associated with the Bloomsbury group, and grew up with the Keynes children in nineteenth-century Cambridge. Here, she tells the story of growing up amid the fads and fetishes not only of academic and Victorian England, but of her extremely individual family, children and grandchildren of Charles Darwin. Raverat's wood-cut illustrations are as illuminating and funny as her text.

3 comments about His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France: The World War I Memoir of Warren R. Jackson.

1. I have read a couple WWI memoirs now. Before that I had read everything there is about WWII and Vietnam.
   
   You cannot imagine what WWI was like until you have read this. A very good first person account. These guys fought with no technological advantage. The only advantage anyone had here was who had the most guts.



2. Warren R. Jackson was a private then later a corporal with the 6th Marine regiment in France during World War I. What is so distinct about this book is the fact that Jackson fought in every major battle his regiment was involved in without once being wounded. He survived the entire war unscathed; according to Jackson only one other Marine in his company (the 95th) accomplished this feat.
   Jackson's narrative begins with his enlistment and training at Paris Island (yes Paris, it wasn't changed to Parris Island until after the war) Jackson's memoir is highly detailed, though incredibly readable as he recounts numerous episodes of life while training for war. Also refreshing is Jackson's lack of true enthusiasm for the war; despite volunteering for service. He was not a gung-ho soldier by any means, rather like many he felt that he had to do his duty for his country. His memoir is at times choppy, but his honesty and modesty more then make up for it. His account is often times quite humorous, such as his description of crossing the Atlantic; needless to say Jackson was not enthused about the journey. Another prevalent theme in Jackson's book is his attempts to secure food; his unit was not well fed during the war, a point he raises a number of times.
   Jackson saw combat in seven different engagements throughout the war, beginning with the trenches at Verdun in March of 1918, where the Marines were trained in the art of trench warfare by their French liaisons. He states that while Verdun was not an "active" sector of the line, it was still his baptism of fire. He also fought at Belleau Wood, where he provides an invaluable account of his experiences. For those not familiar with the name, Belleau Wood is a place of legend in the Marine Corps. Along with the 2nd U.S. Army division the Marines stopped the third and last major offensive by the Germans in 1918. He depicts the horrors of war, though in moderation, never sensationally describing what he saw. He vividly recalls the experience of being under shell-fire, and suffered shell-shock, as did many WWI soldiers, though not severely enough to be removed from combat. Next for Jackson was Soissons where in a matter of hours his company was decimated as was most of the 6th Marine Regiment; his company suffered over 200 casualties from shell and machine gun fire. Following this are his accounts of St. Mihiel, Blanc Mont, where he won all his decorations and finally the Meuse-Argonne, the costliest battle for U.S. forces in the war. He continues his narrative through the Armistice and on into the occupation of Germany, ending with a moving passage on his return home.
   Jackson never shies away from his fallibility in his memoir, often times illustrating his attempts to get out of harms way, and at several points he states that he "fell behind." However through this we see a brave Marine, a man who would win two Silver Stars and a Croix de Guerre, something he does not go into great detail about.
   In closing this is a valuable book, which along with Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die by Elton Mackin; give us an excellent portrait of the enlisted Marine in World War I. It is carefully and informatively edited by Mr. George B. Clark, a noted Marine Corps historian, and it is through his efforts that these memoirs are available. I highly recommend this book.



3. An incredible true story of Warren Jackson's life in Europe. How little this country knows what kind of conditions our fore fathers went through during World War I. Jackson tells his story from the heart, during the entire book. Some parts of his story, you'll be wishing there was more he would of said, but definately a good read.

1 comments about Antonin Scalia's Jurisprudence: Text And Tradition.

1. Accomplished scholar Prof. Ralph Rossum has penned a well-crafted book analyzing the legal opinions and writings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The result is a solid read about how Justice Scalia views the role of a judge and how he sees himself. At least, Rossum gives his own take on how Justice Scalia sees himself. Obviously, the only person who truly knows how he sees himself is Justice Scalia.
   
   One of the two most interesting chapters is Chapter 2: "Text and Tradition." It summarizes Justice Scalia's textualist approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation. In short, when deciding a given case, the plain meaning of the words contained in statutes or constitution provisions matters. Where the plain text is unclear, a jurist should consult the tradition behind the text to understand what the words mean to those who adopted it. The original understanding of the text rather than any original or even secret intent should be controlling. Justice Scalia's approach is tied to an emphasis upon the democratic decision-making process as the basis for legitimate exercise of governmental authority. Not judicial adventurism and second-guessing of democratic decision-making evidenced by statutes and constitutional provisions.
   
   This book is not lengthy. Nor is it written at a highly technical level. So although Rossum indicates on pg. 37 that Justice Scalia "simply has not developed a well-thought-out understanding of the principles of democracy," Rossum does not elaborate much on the point. One will just have to consult law review articles and the like for more in that regard.
   
   The other chapter making for the most interesting reading is Chapter 3: "Constitutional Structure and Separation of Powers." This portion transitions nicely from the previous chapter and underscores the importance that governmental structure plays in Justice Scalia's views of the constitution. During his SCOTUS confirmation hearings, then-Judge Scalia testified that our division of federal power into three branches with a system of checks and balances has been crucial to the defense of our liberties. Rossum proceeds to analyze important separation of powers opinions written by Justice Scalia, including his infamous, lone-ranger dissent in Morrison v. Olsen (1988) concerning the Ethics in Government Act's provision for an independent counsel. At issue was the constitutionality of vesting the independent counsel of executive power despite its detachment from the President. Also important is Rossum's analysis of Justice Scalia's majority opinion in Printz v. United States (1997). The case is typically known as an anti-commandeering decision, but Rossum highlights the separation of powers rationale that Justice Scalia includes in the opinion.
   
   Later chapters deal with Justice Scalia's approach to substantive individual rights and to individual procedural rights. Justice Scalia's textualist emphasis is to prevent "backsliding" or erosion of important freedoms by judicial re-interpretation of democratically-adopted protections.
   
   Some familiarity with Justice Scalia's opinions or his book, A Matter of Interpretation, makes Rossum's book more worthwhile. But it is not essential. One need not be a lawyer to follow Rossum's overview. Nor need one even agree with Justice Scalia's approach to law or decisions in the cases discussed in the book to benefit from reading this book. The book has a sympathetic tone towards its subject, but it is not an advocacy publication. Rossum even insists while Justice Scalia is remarkably consistent in his jurisprudence that he is nonetheless inconsistent in a few areas of law (e.g., state sovereign immunity.)
   
   Rossum set out to describe the jurisprudence of perhaps the most interesting and discussed jurist on SCOTUS today. The author succeeds and the product is an accessible, informative, and interesting read.

1 comments about American Treasure Hunt: The Legacy of Israel Sack.

1. This book, now twenty years old, is a special volume in my library. Harold Sack regales us with fascinating stories from the early days of dealing and collecting in the 20th century. I think any student of the American decorative arts should add this volume to their collection!