5 comments about Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West (Lewis & Clark Expedition).

1. I would recommend this book/audio to anyone.
   It is fasinating to any one interested in US History and elploration of American. The book manymaps to relate to during yoour read. I later listened to the audio a year later and I really enjoyed it so much the second time through. I had read book reviews before and this one was claimed to the best about Lewis and Clark. Thumbs up!



2. Read this as a first edition hardback---my Amazon reviewing is a little behind, to say the least---outstanding book. The best book on L&C in print. Ambrose collaborated on a book with Nat'l Geo that is spectacular as well. OUTSTANDING from cover to cover.
   If you read only one book on the topic, read this one---and prepare to be hooked.



3. Historical novels are one of my favorite types of text, and I have been an avid reader of Stephen E. Ambrose through his World War II works. Every American child knew about Lewis & Clark and the Louisiana Purchase (Thank you Schoolhouse Rock), but this book brings to life the true and amazing task these men went through to help open America into the vast and great nation she is now.
   
   After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France, President Thomas Jefferson, a man of knowledge and curiosity himself, issued a continental exploration Corps of Discovery to travel to the Pacific Ocean. If you could imagine walking across your own state, now imagine walking (horse/canoe allowed) across the country, no roads, no cellphone, no Walmart, no bathrooms, no electric lights, wild animals...the grizzlies read like monsters, potential attacks from hostile natives, the weather...it is unimagenable that any human could have survived or endured such hardships!
   
   It is important to realize that Lewis and Clark were the leaders, but also traveled with a large group of brave men, unique and talented in their own respects, including the female Native American Sacagawea and her baby, plus the sad tale of York, Clark's slave who shared the pain, dangers, and loyalty, but received none of the rewards, promises, or respects afterwards...this subject raises my ire, so I will not continue on York's betrayal by Clark.
   
   Regardless of whether you read this as pure history, this book reads like an adventure tale like Krakauer's Into Thin Air, a testament of man versus nature, the book is also a cultural exploration as the "White man meets the Red man" no disrespect meant. On so many levels this book will offer insight, information, and entertainment that few books balance so well. So you might as well read a good tale and actually improve your own academic knowledge.
   
   Thank you and keep reading.
   John Dae Min



4. What I liked best about this book is that it reads like a neighbor telling you all about his favorite nephew. Ambrose's descriptions and judgments and asides have almost an avuncular feel. If this is not your thing, the book will probably bug you.
   
   What I liked least about this book is Ambrose's unquestioning high regard for Jefferson, but since Ambrose's attitude reflects that of Lewis's, I can go with it.
   
   The outtakes of the journals, the excellent maps, and the good-natured commentary combine to make me LIKE the characters. I feel familiar with them after reading this book. I am impressed by their accomplishments, and feel I know them as people much better.
   
   It is also clear that Ambrose knows the areas where Lewis and Clark explored. Many of his notations tell how the area described look to present-day canoers or hikers, and he gives highway exits and directions to some of the less-remote campsites and overlooks. Ambrose's love for the beauties of western America comes through, and they add to the fond tone of the book.



5. I will keep it simple. Next to the Holy Bible ~ best book I ever read. I have since then read several of Stephen Ambrose's books and highly recommend them. He and his family put many years of research in before writing any book. I have travelled across the country all the way to Cape Disapportment as a result of reading the book and following the trail. Everything Mr. Ambrose claimed in the book is accurate, very interesting, and provides us a heritage for our country that everyone should be proud of.

5 comments about The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy.

1. This is a fascinating book, especially for those outside the US who may, like me, be almost wholly unfamiliar with the period of history covered. Morris is excellent at making detail interesting and compulsive to read. The book weaves the lives four very different men into a coherent story. The way in which these "Robber Barons" presage the emerge of Mr Gates (at Microsoft), Mr Brin and Page (at Google) was a very important message for me. This was something I "knew", but could not support, or articulate clearly. Morris has done the job and I am now keen to read his other books.
   William Forbes (Bedford, England)



2. Alas, I should have listened to my fellow Amazoners.
   
   They tried to warn me that despite the misleading title there wasn't very much in this book about the tycoons themselves. Well, I ignored them and blew the full retail price at a local store. If you want to read in minute detail about how a variety of engineering and manufacturing problems which had plagued industry were finally solved by the great minds of the second half of the 19th century, this book is for you. If you want to read about Gould, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Hill, Stanford, and Morgan, check out Matthew Josephson's classic instead. There's very little about any of the tycoons here.
   
   The editors of this book should have insisted on another, more accurate, title.
   
   As for the book itself, it's a pedestrian-like plod through history. Some books you can't put down after picking them up. This is most definitely not one one of them. I find myself taking taking one or two week breaks in between chapters while I devour other books in two consecutive evenings.
   
   If you want to learn about the background in which the robber barons operated this may be the book for you. Just be forewarned that there's scant little about them between the covers.



3. This is a great book for looking at the economic history of the United States. It covers mostly the four mentioned in the title but what was really fantastic and what deserves that extra star is that it covers the economic developments on the side. It looks at how our economy outpace Europe and the shift to make America that extra superpower. WE also have a look at how our ability to move west gave us an added advantage and that we did not have to resort to colonies. While we exported much we still made tremendous gains in internal improvements. He also grasp how the development of the coronation as an institution led to the rise of clerical and accounting positions creating hundreds of service jobs. This book is incredibly well written and really holds your interest. It offered the best explanation of Gould's attempt to corner the gold market I have ever read. It is very well researched and makes references to the top economic historians out there. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how the United States developed economically



4. I picked up "The Tycoons" to read, in one place, a chatty summation of recent research about Rockefeller, Gould, Carnegie, and Morgan, but instead found myself pulled through a keyhole onto a vast landscape new to me: how America invented mass-market manufacturing. We were the first country to figure out how to make two rifles so exactly alike that their components could be mixed and matched on the battlefield. The Silicon Valley of this period was the Connecticut River, navigable down to New York with access, via the Erie Canal, to the midwest markets. This river was the site of all the key water-powered factories where early automation and assembly lines created the first mass-produced items for daily life. Besides famous tycoons, we meet the forgotten engineers and efficiency experts who invented modern manufacturing and then spread its gospel to Europe. Through this book you are present at the birth of American economic dynamism. A readable and fascinating survey.



5. Charles Morris's "The Tycoons" is a good summation of the Industrial Revolution but is almost certainly poorly sub-titled with "How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould and J.P. Morgan Invented the Supereconomy". The New York Times did a review on October 2, 2005 and Todd Buchholtz hit the nail on the head writing "The Tycoons is not a path-breaking work of scholarship, testing new hypotheses against freshly uncovered facts." In fact a good part of Morris's book has nothing to do with these four very important men of commerce influenced anything. Rather he does show what the principal drivers behind such an economic explosion were. His writings on the four are based upon good, but not really extensive, research. For instance, much of his writing on Morgan is attributable to the best seller by Ron Chernow, The House of Morgan. While this was certainly a terrific book, to have it as THE principal souce or one of your main topics, is to short change any serious effort at research.
   
   He manages to get a plug on the book by I.W. Brands of the University of Texas, one of our most well respected historians on the period. Perhaps Professor Brands saw something I did not. That said, it is a quick read and a rather fun one. A bit more organization would have gone a long way.

3 comments about Zachary Taylor: The 12th President, 1849-1850 (The American Presidents).

1. If you have don't have too much time to devote to President Taylor. This is the book for you. Only here and there the author wrote more than I wanted to know.



2. Eisenhower handles Taylor's military career and his exploits in the Mexican War very neatly and offers selections from other Taylor biographers like Hamilton and Bauer to aid his case and offer the casual reader alternate windows into the life. A very neat summary of a very brief administration, Eisenhower's account never seems rushed or unduly cursory. The books in the American Presidents series vary wildly in quality. This particular volume is not a breath-taking small gem like Hans Trefousse on Hayes or a specialist treasure like Ira Rutkow's book on Garfield, but Eisenhower nevertheless provides a splendid small book on an unfortunately overlooked president.



3. Another home run in the superb American President's series. John Eisenhower paints a picture of Zachary Taylor that leaves us wishing he was among today's candidates for President. Had he lived, he may have been able to head off the Civil War, we will never know. In short, a great biography of a great man.

5 comments about Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker.

1. She loved sex and claimed that she always lived by the adage, "Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches." She made for good copy so reporters flocked around her and gave her the respect they bequeath on certain token freaks, like Quentin Crisp. But Stacy A. Cordery suspects there was more to "Princess Alice" than the woman who had that embroidered pillow that read, :If you have nothing nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me." Indeed she skillfully paints the picture of a woman who lived for politics and whose radical conservatism brought her to alarming places in the 1930s and 1940s, yet in other respects she was ahead of her time socially speaking.
   
   Her life wasn't easy in some ways, and yet of course fabulously privileged in others. If she felt scorned and abused by Edith Roosevelt, her stepmother, she sure got her revenge, didn't she, and she got to be "Alice Blue Gown" and twenty times more popular than Edith ever could dream of being. Beautiful and outspoken, she married a congressman from Ohio with a bright future but with severe drinking and cheating problems. Alice was from the American aristocracy, all of whom apparently thought nothing of sleeping around all the time, but when she gave birth to Senator Borah's baby girl, she was really playing with fire, and calling the baby "Paulina," a name which--as Cordery points out--any well-adjusted contemporary would have associated with adultery and illegitimacy, she was really playing up her wild streak to a strange degree.
   
   I liked finding out about Borah's secret lover letters and how Cordery decoded them. Talk about vain--Borah would attach reams of publicity material about himself to innocuous notes to Alice, but if you looked closely at the press puffery you'd see he'd lightly circled individual alphabet letters to form a message, which if spelled out over several pages, would say something like, "Oh my dear one I'm hot for you," etc.
   
   Alice Roosevelt was extraordinarily well-read and loved Pound, both for his Fascist views and for his modernism. She became one of the circle visiting him at St. Elizabeth's, and made it trendy to do so among the right wingers. Visiting Pound, Cordery reveals, "became a status symbol among some circles--a sort of conservative chic." Alice seems like she went around the bend after Paulina's birth and began ragging on her distant cousins, FDR and Eleanor, exactly like the sort of crank who wrote that book about John Kerry and the swift boats--I guess after FDR's death she sort of felt stricken by shame at her attitude, but in the meantime she had become a local "character," sort of evil, but not really. Cordery tells most of the story straight, though you never do find out what was really up with Paulina and why she decided to do away with herself so young, and sometimes her research (or is it name dropping) stumbles--identifying John Dos Passos as a poet, for example. Otherwise you'll learn something about compassion while reading this book, when tracing your own responses to an infuriating, ultimately poignant woman's life.



2. I have read several biographies over the years of nearly President of 20th century, and so the name of Alice Roosevelt Longworth commonly came up in these books (of Presidents starting with her father Pres. T. Roosevelt). She was usually mentioned, in reference to post-WWII years, in terms such as "the grande dame of Washington, " however I had no idea what a fascinating life she led. This very readable book provides an intimate look into her life, despite the limitations of the ultra-discrete manners of the post-Edwardian era in which she came of age, which must make the research into her letters frustrating. Nevertheless, we are let into such secrets as her husbands adulterous groin and the true father of "their" child.
   Given my great admiration of her cousin Eleanor and my prior reading of nearly haigiographic books on her and FDR, before reading "Alice" I was all ready to see her as a vindictive, nasty bitch, whining from the sidelines of D.C. on just about everyone else due to her own bitterness over not getting back into White House after death of her father. This book convinced me otherwise. Yes, she did have a biting, "cutting" wit, but the writer did convince me she never aimed her well-known verbal arrows at anyone weaker than her, or vunerable. Usually her barbs were for those well-entrenched in power and covered in hubris that she's more than willing to help brush off. The fact that most of politicians whom she famously critiqued were Democrats is not covered up, but neither does the writer looks more in depth into what was often her blind partisanship (e.g. Sen. McCarthy...Pres. Nixon, not coincidentally both Republicans.)
   Lastly, the book is well-researched and footnoted, and the writer is a talented story teller...I imagine she had problem deciding what stories to leave out.



3. I was very eager to read Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker by Stacy A. Cordery. I enjoy reading about the Roosevelts and Alice was certainly one of the more colorful family members. But I found Alice uneven and a bit of a disappointment.
   
   The story of Alice Roosevelt Longworth is fairly well-known. Alice was the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt. When Alice was only two days old, both her mother and grandmother (TR's mother) died within hours of each other. Unable to deal with his grief, TR dumped baby Alice with his sister and escaped out west. Three years later, TR married Edith Kermit Carow and they brought Alice to live with them. Soon, Alice was competing with five half siblings. With her emotionally absent father and her stern step-mother, Alice learned to seek attention by rebelling. When her father succeeded to the White House in 1901, Alice became "the first female celebrity of the twentieth century." The press couldn't get enough of the first daughter and nicknamed her Princess Alice. Her father once said "I can either run the country or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both." Alice eventually married Ohio congressman Nicholas Longworth. With her keen intelligence, sharp wit, natural curiosity and political astuteness, Alice remained a mover and a shaker for her 96 years. Her DC house was a gathering place for powerful people.
   
   I thought that Cordery did a good job of covering the political aspects of Alice's life. Unfortunately, I felt that the details of her personal life were lacking. I reached page 200 and realized that there wasn't much that I hadn't read in other sources. There wasn't that much about her interaction with her siblings. Her daughter, Paulina, is largely glossed over. Alice had an affair with Senator William Borah and he was allegedly the father of Paulina. But after lots of pages, he seems to just drop away from the story. What really happened to their relationship? Also, I'm a stickler for details. Was there a funeral for Alice? If so, where was it held? Where is she buried? Her father's death receives only one paragraph. For a book that is advertised as "the first full biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth," there are major holes.
   
   I enjoyed reading Alice, but I was just expecting more.



4. As Teddy Roosevelt's oldest child, Alice was introduced to the lifestyles of the rich and politically well-connected early on in her life. She never got over living in the White House. To read her correspondence on the subject, it was forever hers. Alice was a diva. She was the original "it's all about me" celebutant. Very few people ever denied her, and when they did, woe be unto them.
   
   She was married to the Speaker of the House, had a child by a distinguished senator from Idaho and held political sway over the inner circles of Washington, D.C. until her death in 1980.
   
   Stacy Cordery's new biography is voluminous, coming in at 608 pages, not including the references and bibliography. Cordery has done a thorough and sincere job, but even her meticulous efforts can't make "Princess Alice," as she was called, a likable creature. She may have been admirable from afar, but up close and personal, she was selfish, self-centered and hated sharing the spotlight with anyone.



5. In this biography author Stacy Cordery succeeeds in making her subject come alive. Alice Roosevelt was the pop star of her day just 100 years ago and was the center of attention in Washington DC from the time her father was in the White House until her death almost 80 years later. Using primary sources, Alice's letters and diaries gave the writer the opportunity to paint a vivid portrait in words. This book is recommended for anyone interested in women's history or in political drama.

5 comments about Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe.

1. Well worth the time to read. Break free from the State-run history taught in public schools!



2. Kudos to DiLorenzo for systematically presenting well researched arguments about the true nature of the Lincoln presidency. This book stands tall, especially when viewed in contrast to such works as Doris Kearns Goodwin' "Team of Rivals". "Team of Rivals" focuses almost exclusively on Lincoln's personality and political prowess, and misses essential points of the cause of the war (tarifs - not slavery) and Lincoln's desire to centalize power and authority (suspension of habeous corpus, shutting down of newspapers). This book focuses on Lincoln's actions, his political strategy, and unabashed use of Presidential power - at the expense of Congress, personal freedom, and ultimately thousands of lives. If you want to challenge your long standing understanding of the Lincoln presidency, this is the book!



3. I am an Australian who has admired Mr Lincoln from afar for most of my life. Mr DiLorenzo is not a Historian but a bare-faced apologist for a failed ideology from a putrid system that existed in the Southern States of the USA before the Civil War. Slavery.
   There are racists everywhere, even today and to assert that the 16th President was a despot and a centralist is to ignore several historical facts. For instance, DiLorenzo contends that the US was a 'loose association' of States that could come and go as they please and that Lincoln destroyed Jeffersonism and was anathema to the wishes of the founding fathers. Well, funny about that. If that is the case, why did the founding fathers start the 1787 Constitution with "We, the people of the United States, In order to FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION...??? Surely if it was loose association of States they would have said "to form an enduring free association..."
   Lincoln is accused of being rascist and that he strongly supported slavery yet there are numerous quotes throughout his political career "...as I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master...". "It is the same tyrannical principal throughout the world, that says you work and toil and earn bread and I'll eat it...", etc. Lincoln made it quite clear throughout his career that he was anti-slavery - for god's sake, that was one of the principal reasons for the South entering rebellion!!! Because an 'abolishonist' had been elected President!!!
   The sad thing is that if you read a little bit about this author, away from his books, you soon discover he is a Southern Independence Supporter (in this day and age) and advocates the dissolution of the United States and the creation/re-instatement of the CSA - A nation that never 'technically' existed.
   I would not waste my money.



4. Very good reading. It reiterates much of what I had learned in school many years ago, before society, as a whole, changed history books in order to become more "politically correct."



5. DiLorenzo offers nothing new: no new facts; no new argument. Rather he regurates poorly reasoned attacks on Lincoln that have been advanced by the Lost Causers for years and that have be soundly discredited by every serious scholar.

5 comments about Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different.

1. As with another of Gordon Woods' works, 'The Radicalism of The American Revolution' I'm sorry to say that, in both instances, I've been somewhat disappointed by the analytical style with which Wood approaches his subject matter. Unfortunately, for me, this is somewhat akin to reading a didactic analysis of a great story rather than the great story itself and I found myself struggling with boredom and counting the pages to the end of each chapter so that I could get on to my next book in my current obsession with the American Revolution. While I do not question Prof. Wood's academic capabilities, I do think that he tends more toward historical analysis than historical narrative. This analytical style leads inevitably to conclusions and statements that sometimes appear somewhat subjective. One example is the inclusion of Aaron Burr in this collection of character analyses. On one hand, Wood acknowledges that Burr is not generally considered a 'founder' of the United States yet repeatedly refers to 'the other founders' when comparing Burr with Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, etc. as if Burr were among them. His subsequent analysis of Burr's character as completely lacking the qualities of the true founders begs the question of why Burr is even making an appearance in this book in the first place. Another criticism I have is Wood's tendency to make passing references to individuals not generally well known to most readers, (such as the 18th century English literary figure, Samuel Johnson, to whom Wood refers three times as 'Dr. Johnson' and once as 'Samuel Johnson') without explaining who they are. This is a common flaw one finds in works by some academics who seem at times forgetful that they are writing for a readership that is somewhat broader than the professorial cliques within which they move. It is a rare scholar indeed who possesses both academic ability as well as a talent for engaging the reader. Prof. Wood appears decidedly better on the first point than the second.
   
   Also recommended: Washington's Crossing, Paul Revere's Ride'David Hackett Fischer' Alexander Hamilton 'Ron Chernow' America, The Last Best Hope 'William J. Bennett'



2. Here's what I think spawned this book: A brilliant historian with such a wealth of knowledge about the American Revolution had all these thoughts and opinions in his head, and he just had to get them out. So he wrote them down, and poof, there was "Revolutionary Characters" by Gordon Wood.
   
   I made the mistake of reading this book soon after it was released, and I just wasn't ready for the depth of the material because it had been a while since I was in college. After reading biographies on most of the key participants, I recently looked at this book again and got more out of it. It's a very interesting analysis of eight significant figures of the era -- I believe Aaron Burr was included over John Jay because he's more interesting, not because he was more important.
   
   If you're expecting short bios on these eight men, you'll be disappointed; it offers no such thing. It's almost all analysis, and to further that point, two of the longest sections in the book are the introduction and epilogue, which are essentially all analysis. The book is incredibly wordy at times, and it often reads like it was written for history professors.
   
   Basically, this is a useful book for those with knowledge of and interest in the late 1700s and early 1800s. But it's not for the average reader, and it in no way compares to Joseph Ellis' "Founding Brothers," or even "American Creation."



3. Wood's argues that the difference is that these Revolutionary leaders (the usual phalanx, plus Paine and Burr as exemplars of contrast) were set apart by the first-generation gentility, expressed in 18th Century Enlightenment terms, on the outskirts of the empirical centers in London and Paris, in the formation of their public character in a country where the government became not a derivative of the populace but a lent lease from the populace who retained it.
   
   In this way, expanding literacy and political discussion and voting rights empowered and raised public opinion to the level of gentlemanly discussion (if you were a Jeffersonian Republican), or dragged discourse down to the level of the common herd (if you were a Hamiltonian Federalist), which word to describe the common mass quickly became verboten.
   
   Not that well argued or written, Woods progresses from OK thumbnail biographies to his single-chapter conclusion in generalities instead of tightly-argued theses.



4. The chapters on each of the founding fathers Woods wrote on included a lot of detailed character information in this book. The book provided background information on each person as well as information on their character. It was interesting to read about the contributions these men made that still affect America today such as the banking system, election policies, etc.



5. Read "Revolutionary Characters" in combination with "Founding Brothers" for an excellent duo, and compare and contrast the two in their approaches and content. This is not a history of the revolution or a detailed analysis of our form of government. Wood has done what he claimed - a look at the character of the subjects, how that influenced their work, and how they were a reflection of, or an exception to, their times.
   
   Wood's work combines expansive praise and cold analysis. Each of the founders (Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, and Madison) is portrayed as a "great man", which of course each deserved, as well as a flawed individual or thinker. The praise and the more negative comments are done with a suitable tone, neither being excessive. For example, Wood describes how Washington was not an intellectual and how that affected his role and strategy, but not in a demeaning way, as Washington obviously contributed greatly in other ways.
   
   To me, the freshest perspective was on Madison, as Wood questions Madison's actual contribution to the Constitution, with an end result that bears little similarity to Madison's intent. Wood also tackles the apparent changes in Madison's thinking about the relationship of the government and the people. In fact, elite thought vs. public opinion is one of Wood's recurring themes.
   
   Hamilton comes across as the most modern of the founders, which is hardly original, so Wood points out some areas where Hamilton may be overrated in claims regarding his vision. Hamilton obviously outshined the others in his ability to turn vision into governmental reality.
   
   Jefferson gets the least positive treatment of the six. Wood recognizes TJ for his brilliance, yet Wood considers Jefferson overrated in American culture, as his vision of the American future was hopelessly impractical and outdated.
   
   Aaron Burr takes his lumps in a succinct assessment that will be familiar to readers of Chernow's Hamilton bio. Wood includes Burr as a counter-example to the positive character of the others, with Burr as a schemer void of known intellectual political thought or vision. No detachment for the good of society for Mr. Burr.
   
   The unexpected chapter on Thomas Paine was a surprising plus, explaining why Paine is not considered a true "founder". Paine was not the gentleman or the politician that his cohorts were, instead being an early modern intellectual and professional writer according to Wood. The chapter also served as a hint of the analytical final chapter, which emphasized the transition from the brilliant gentleman founders debating among themselves to the rise of the general public as part of the political process.
   
   As Wood said in his apt closing sentence, "In the end nothing illustrates better the transforming power of the American Revolution than the way its intellectual and political leaders, that remarkable group of men, contributed to their own demise."
   
   4.5 stars

5 comments about If I Die in a Combat Zone : Box Me Up and Ship Me Home.

1. In this memoir Tim O'Brien recounts the testing of his moral principles and the continuing broadening of his understanding of the concepts of courage and bravery. The author successfully presents the reader with compelling insights into the moral dilemmas encountered by a young man dealing with the entirety of serving as an American soldier in Vietnam, including, the draft, the expectations of family and a small mid-western town versus his views on being a part to an immoral war. Throughout the book he struggles with what it means to be courageous and brave. Mr. O'Brien imposes the time line of his experience over these struggles with his internal demons, and sets those struggles against real combat and real casualties. He captures the daily tedium, punctuated by brief episodes of terror with the matter-of-fact style of Solzhenitsyn's "One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich." He is skillful in capturing the reader in the milieu of complex ethical uncertainties and the brutality that was Vietnam. This is apparent by Chapter 10, where he rocks the reader back on his heals with a very direct and simply-written two-page chapter.
   Though it was written by a 21-year-old, this book may be the seminal Vietnam Era corollary of Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage," written when Crane was 24.
   
   Chip Auger - 7th Marines, RSVN 1967-68



2. More or less everything I know about the Vietnam War I have taken from American movies. This, I accept, is not the ideal grounding on the subject. If there is a decent Vietnamese account, on celluloid or in print, then I have never come across it. Not that I have been looking that hard.
   
   Tim O'Brien's book is the first piece of non-fiction I have read about the conflict. Written in 1968 as the grunt's eye view, I am sure it was hard-hitting and thought provoking at the time. Now, if I am being really honest, it seems a little tame. Perhaps the movies have numbed me when it comes to Vietnam. Maybe I have just grown up in a world where far worse things happen. I am sure the failing is all mine.
   
   It is a well-written book, I just couldn't connect to it in the way I have done with his fiction. I loved July, July and would happily recommend it to just about anyone. If I Die In A Combat Zone has perhaps become less shocking as the years have gone by. But it might just be me that thinks that.



3. Tim O'Brien fan and have not read this book? You will not be disappointed. Never read O'Brien? Get ready for a mind trip that will leave you addicted to what great literature is all about.
   Stunning and moving memoir of O'Brien's Vietnam years. It will move you. Period. If it does not, then you are not human.



4. Being much more familiar with Tim O'Brien's fiction, one may not know what to expect in his memoir about his tour of duty in Vietnam. Written in the same style with a wry sense of humor, O'Brien challenges the war in a way few have.
   
   Courage and morality are continuing themes that O'Brien explores through his actions as well as literary quotes. It is very clear that O'Brien was uncomfortable with the war even before being drafted. He even contemplates going AWOL. In a paradox, he lacks the courage to go to war or escape going to war. Nothing is more powerful than the last chapter. Going beyond patroitism and rituals, O'Brien is numbed as he returns home. The war has left a mark that is difficult to fathom.
   
   Tim O'Brien does not flinch at the brutality of the war nor the American soldiers. Major Callicles seems straight out of Catch 22, yet he is all too real. The cruelty to a blind civilian has the ability to disgust. While making a statement, O'Brien's writing is both enlightening and entertaining. It is a remarkable perspective on a disastrous war.



5. I've not read a ton of war books and picked up this one because it was on some list of best books of the century or somthing like that from Time. War must not change much, becuase the narrator in this book seems to be saying so much of what I have heard from soldiers coming back from the Iraq, etc. Lots of boredom with moments of great fear peppered in. I like this book a lot. The author's writing style is very matter of fact, but with as frugal as he is with his words, he says tons.

5 comments about My Life.

1. The incredibly frank autobiography "My Life by Bill Clinton" is good reading and give great insight into the man. Where was this president when we needed him? His time is now. Unfortunately he ran up against a hostile Congress that really diminished his effectiveness while President. However, he is one of the greatest orators of our time.



2. Honest and sincere. He was one of our greatest presidents. Regardless of what bad press he got this book tells all. How times have changed since he was president. This book is a testament to his wit and candor. He was a great politician, the real deal, but they just would not let him get the job done. Read this one.



3. As I read this passionate memoir it felt like that the author opened the door of his life and led me through his memory lanes (Bill Clinton is obviously gifted not only recollecting his childhood events but also in mental strength). By the time I finished the tour I had known him well, met his parents and other family members. When I came out of the door I no longer saw Clinton as a politician but as a man who upheld his family values by adopting his step father's name; I no longer saw him as the 42nd president of the United States of America but as a man symbolizing the American spirit.



4. When faced with impeachment after Monica rumor became The Story, President Clinton, to whom ambiguity was never part of his nature, took the worst situation to mean retreat from Office, which would not have relieved his soul.
   This autobiography is informative and tender in every corner. At times the ex-President aggravated his bitterness and despair; not a pleasing prospect for a vigorous man with an appetite for distinction. His excessive passions, one for his wife and the other for his daughter, at the end of the day had caused Miss Lewinski and partners to be removed from the White House. I believe the young lady was also a victim of irrational exuberance (Excuse me Mr. Greenspan)
   At times there is always some sort of melancholy demeanor than can grow daily more somber in high offices. President Clinton is telling us he could not possibly have been entirely impervious to the mounting evidence against him, such signs were motivated by political reasons from rival factions with nefarious ends - to hurt the Democrats from within.
   
   Clinton, once known for his vivacity, was now showing the strain of the shameful events.
   
   Clinton, the deep-rooted optimist who found it temperamentally difficult to resign from trouble, has had his face already sagging with worry as daily attacks compounded his sense of doom...
   
   At 55 he left office with a 65% approval rating. (One of the highest after WWII)
   However, the charismatic President looked a narrow-chest man with the face of a person much older in age. That did not at all resemble him nine years ago when he took that Office.



5. A long and interesting read, overly detailed on fairly mundane aspects of his life and unsurprisingly brief on more interesting times.
   
   Nevertheless, an engrossing read. Who knows where his road will end.

3 comments about In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography.

1. This one is unique! Was it Dr. Gartner's psychologist skills which elicited the raw information which makes this biography as engrossing as any beach read? Judging a book by its amazing cover? No graphics at all- just a contemplative Clinton close-up- I've never seen anything like it. The heat of the upcoming presidential election, Bill and Hillary's presence and impact at the DNC, and Bill's recent rounds on the talk show circuit re-sparked my curiosity about Bill being Hillary's biggest fan. It reads like a Hollywood classic- poignant and satisfying- historical events told with flourish- it wouldn't surprise me if HBO or Tom Hanks grabbed this one. Book clubs will be elevated to a higher level this fall, and I predict many Hillary-loving housewives grudgingly admit to the special beauty of the Clinton marriage, despite its well-known sordid journey. Infidelity may be common, but genuine, mutual respect in marriages is in short supply, and Gartner is convincing. Although the secrets of Bill's nuclear family are this biographer's "hook", the personal revelations-and there are a few doozies- were equaled by Clinton-intimates' personal insights into Bill's childhood & humanity extracted by Gartner through apparently exhaustive and revealing interviews/therapy sessions? Gartner's unapologetic hero-worship passionately re-focuses Bill's often-told story. It fits the reader with a pair of rose-colored lenses and tucks him into a cozy "once upon a time" kind of tale. The "psycho-journalist" Gartner apparently charmed juicy information out of a few old ladies, and manages to satisfy our bottomless craving to really "know" Clinton's heart and brain, for all of his wonder and warts. Highly recommended as a gift, for a book club or a trip to the beach.



2. John Gartner brings a rare degree of acuity and insight to his study of Bill Clinton. While most psychologists who write about politicians give us contrived armchair analyses because they don't really know their subjects, Gartner combines psychological analysis and journalism by having spent several years on the ground talking to the people who have known Clinton all their lives. The result: the first psychologist-journalist taking on the most intriguing political figure of our generation. If the first chapter doesn't hook you, nothing will.
   
   It's simply a magnificent book. Buy a copy and send a few to your friends.



3. Amazing! Thought provoking! Original! Personally intriguing, psychologically fascinating and politically astute at the same time! I couldn't put it down!

5 comments about The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 1).

1. I picked up this book because I had to read a book on a president for a history class. Am I glad I got assigned LBJ as it has made me cross path with quite possibility one of the best biography ever written.
   
   Although I have more then a passing interest in American politics, I would highly recommend this to anyone who is just mildly interested in a book such as this. The reason I say this is because the book is extremely detailed and covers all sorts of angles that bring to light a lot of areas which you normally don't on a typical biography book. The amount of information contained in this first book is staggering and you can tell where all the years Mr. Caro has spent has gone into.
   
   The style of writing is also extremely smooth and pleasing. You will not be bored from reading this book as it almost read like a well written novel. I am surprised and amazed at how well the information is conveyed to the reader in such a pleasing manner.
   
   One of the things I love about this book is the portrayal of some of the powerful men Johnson encounters. Caro explain the characters in a way that relates to Johnson and in the process gives you a deep angle into the motivation of both the character and Johnson.
   
   Politics is a complex subject is is hard to understand. Most of us are on the surface and have little access and understanding of all the nooks and crannies of politics. This first book does a great job of understanding local politics and how it relates to the bigger picture. All this is done just by studying such a complex character that is Johnson during a complex period of history.
   
   I will be reading the next two books which I'm sure will be as good as the first. Looking forward to learning more.



2. Robert Caro combines the skills of muckracker, tabloid journalist, and serious scholar to produce this magnificent volume. I read Means of Ascent 10 years ago and loved it, and Path to Power is even better.



3. Robert Caro's biography is one of the great series ever written. This first book looks at the things that shaped LBJ's early life. The first part is focused on the parents and grandparents of LBJ. The times growing up in Texas were very interesting to read about and while I was afraid this book would not be interesting I was proven wrong quickly. The hill country is a fascinating place and you can see the poverty that Texas experienced even before the depression. Most striking is Lyndon Johnson's childhood where he was an almost constant terror to his parents who loved him anyway. He would runaway constantly. After running away to California he came back and was involved in a series of local gangs and street races. His parents were finally able to talk some sense into him and he went to college
   Lyndon Johnson continued his pompous attitude at college and was notable for creating the political scene at Southwest Texas teachers college. He was constantly in debt during his college years but played the political game well becoming friends with the president of the university and other top students. Although leaving college several times hew as able to thrive there. He was able to gain a job in Washington DC as a congressman's aide afterwards and built his power base.
   Lyndon Johnson was an expert at the political game and he played it well in DC. This book categorizes his rise from congressman's aide to congressman in the 10th district. It shows how he built his network, worked with and against Sam Rayburn, FDR and his wife Lady Bird. Through it all he truly is shown as a manipulator and an expert political operator. He is morally reprehensible as a person throughout the entire book which was not something I expected to find. For a book about LBJ's early years this is absolutely amazing. It is so well written and you cannot wait to read what is in store next. I cannot wait to read the next three books in the series!



4. This is the second book by Robert Caro I've read, the other being Master of the Senate. Caro's work I'm sure is probably considered the most thorough and all-encompassing study on the life and career of Lyndon Johnson. Path to Power starts with the Bunton and Johnson families who moved to the Texas Hill Country. Caro's description of this region is impressive and very effective. Establishing this setting and its nature and its isolation, we get to learn about the early years of Lyndon Johnson. This book takes us up through 1941 when Johnson first ran (and lost) a race for the U.S. Senate.
   
   It's the Hill Country that receives a lot of attention in the first part of the book, what the land was like, how people's hopes and fortunes could be broken by it, and so forth. The nature of the Bunton and Johnson family lines, i.e. their habits, their ambitions and how they lived off the land. Anyway, these early years of Lyndon Johnson and his family, with special focus on his father who was a well-respected public servant in the Texas Legislature, are all detailed.
   
   The Lyndon Johnson that emerges from this book is nothing short of an attention seeking, power grabbing individual who would stop at nothing to achieve his goal. His way of courting and winning favor with older people, his political savvy that came into being at the Teachers' College at San Marcos, and so forth served as indicators of the sort of man that was developing. If his father was respected and known for his principles, the son would be known for his do and say anything approach to achieve power at a higher level. This is Caro's Johnson, maybe it's a bit rough and maybe too critical at times (though his interpretation could be head-on), but that's what you'll see in this book.
   
   To mention some of the periods in Johnson's journey to position and power, we read of his years as a teacher and debate coach, his years as a Congressional secretary, Johnson's role in the New Deal years as state coordinator of the National Youth Administration, his run for and election to Congress, his money ties to influential businessmen and lobbyists and others who would provide huge sums of money (at that time) for Johnson's political ambitions and on and on. His political skills in cultivating relations with people in power was certainly notable and his knowledge and use of political tactics and maneuvering are amazing to read about.
   
   The book culminates with his first run for a Texas U.S. Senate seat in 1941 upon the death of one of that state's sitting senators. This section of the book is utterly captivating in terms of the unfolding nature of the primary campaign, the characters involved, the voting fraud and its aftermath. Caro's work on the career and character study of Lyndon Johnson is an impressive body of work. His assessment of Johnson in this book is not flattering, though we do see the immense political skills possessed by this remarkably ambitious man who would indeed one day achieve the highest office.



5. It's no accident that the first two books by Robert A. Caro have the word "Power" in the title. Power is what interests him, and in Lyndon Johnson, Caro has the perfect figure for analyzing how power is amassed and used within a democracy.
   
   The first in a published trilogy extending to Johnson's election as Vice President in 1960, "Path To Power" presents Johnson as a skilled amasser and user of power for its own sake. No ideology bound him, no loyalty for God or man. He courted women based on their wealth and social standing, picked his associates by virtue of their acquiescence, and focused all his energy on personal glory.
   
   There was something inside him, Caro explains, that made him hard, beyond his simple and needy upbringing in the Texas Hill Country. It had something to do with a family on his father's side named the Buntons, people so cold that when Lyndon was born, his grandmother, a Bunton, tried to dissuade her husband from visiting their grandchild, believing, as Caro puts it, that "charity begins at home."
   
   Perhaps there was more to Johnson than such self-interest. If so, Caro doesn't say. Perhaps it comes out in later volumes, but it's clear here that Caro, for all his stellar, admiring prose of Johnson's rise, doesn't like the man. Fortunately, this wasn't so clear before the publication of "Path Of Power" in 1982, meaning that many of Johnson's closest friends and associates (including his widow Lady Bird) were willing to share honest insights about LBJ, who would have still been in his 60s at the time Caro began his research, just a year after the resignation of Johnson's successor as president.
   
   Caro does write pointedly about Johnson, but not without a sense of dramatic purpose. In fact, there's a kind of grudging admiration in Caro's narrative for a man who toughed out every day of his life in such an uncompromising manner. Like many readers here, I was struck by how like Shakespeare's Richard III LBJ is portrayed, not only that he's so amoral but presented so that we half-root for him to get away with such tricks as masking himself as a New Deal liberal to get Franklin Roosevelt's ear and playing up to the paternal instincts of House Speaker Sam Rayburn, whom he then knifes.
   
   Writing about his days at San Marcos Teachers College, where he transformed himself into a shadow leader with the help of a secret society, Caro writes: "He had won believing in nothing - without a reform he wanted to make, without a principle or issue about which he truly cared." Caro makes clear this didn't change at all when Johnson became a U.S. congressman, preferring to exercise his slick tongue in the cloakrooms and hallways rather than the House chamber itself, where entire years went by without him addressing his fellow Members from the floor.
   
   Caro's take on Johnson makes "Path Of Power" entertaining, but it's his broader view of the times LBJ lived that makes the book so compelling beyond the bounds of traditional biography. There are so many layers in Caro's narrative, such as the hard lives women led in central Texas during the Depression, various colorful Texas politicians LBJ aligned himself with or against, and the often underhanded way business and politics came together in the early 20th century.
   
   Is it unfair? Caro does dwell on the negative, and ignores at least in this volume the possibility Johnson had some redeeming qualities beyond his professional abilities. But that may have been a function of Johnson's growing as life went on; it's clear that he was a sneaky, ruthless, miserable character in his early days chronicled here. A couple of his underlings, though still devoted, have to excuse themselves to regain their composure as they recount their boss's hard ways.
   
   There are bios that connect the dots but bore you silly, others that use lives as platforms for wowing you with the author's eloquence. Caro writes masterfully but keeps your focus securely on the story and the real-life history behind it, making you feel like a passenger on Johnson's amazing journey. Even the footnotes are captivating. You will be surprised how quick a read 800 pages can be.