Review: Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide

Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book I would have enjoyed experiencing and writing. Right before the Civil War, Frederick Law Olmsted traveled around the South to gauge sentiments and thoughts and relay them to the North. The result was the book A Journey through Texas.

This book follows along the same path, to see how things and people have changed, and how peoples' views and opinions on race relations have diverged, as well as other details (what became of the Germantowns, crossing over the border, etc.). This book was written on the eve of Trump being elected, and so draw whatever parallels you wish.

The author also provides more background on Olmsted and his brother, which gave more context behind the first book.



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Review: The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans, As Told by Themselves

The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans, As Told by Themselves by Hamilton Holt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an interesting insight into lives of Americans, from immigrants to former slaves to native Americans to an Igorrote chief (the only non-American). These are memoirs that would have otherwise been lost to time, but were shared by millions of people in similar situations. Well worth a read by anyone who can get access to the book.


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Review: Comanches: The History of a People

Comanches: The History of a People by T.R. Fehrenbach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An extremely in-depth look into the Comanches and related "Amerindians". Rather than objective, I would call this subjective but from every point of view.

I obviously don't know enough to corroborate or disprove anything in the book, but the impression is that a lot of the facts are taken at face value (no sources seem to be listed). However, this means that, while the frontiersmen and "Tejanos" come across in an often unfavorable light, the Comanches certainly do too.

The advantage of this approach, however, is that it allows to view the world from what is much more akin to the Comanche point of view (in addition to the settler point of view), and we see why they could not adapt to the inevitable encroachment of white people.

Despite having been written over 50 years ago, this is probably the definitive book on this subject.



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Review: A Journey through Texas: Or a Saddle-Trip on the Southwestern Frontier

A Journey through Texas: Or a Saddle-Trip on the Southwestern Frontier by Frederick Law Olmsted
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The author of this book is a New Yorker (who designed Central Park) and took a trip to Texas, Mexico, and surrounding areas in the 1850s and documented his travels. This book is everything you could want and more. An outside gives his honest opinion of the people, places and of course the prejudices of the place. The prejudices are obviously on the side of the Southern white Americans, but also the author's, which become evident.

However, the author (and his brother) are very much against slavery, and you see their impression of slaveholders go from low to extremely low, especially after encountering the Germans, who tend to be against slavery (and are surprisingly many). I found myself going through Google and Google maps to follow along, so I was very happy to hear about the book "Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide", wherein someone follows along the same itinerary, giving an update on everything covered in this book. I look forward to reading that as well.

Also very interesting to read about crossing the border into Mexico, and seeing how race relations differed there (they pretended to be German, since they felt it was dangerous to be American there, given the acrimony). Their encounters with native Americans at the time were interesting as well, and I found myself wishing there had been more.


A very pleasant surprise to have found this book, and I'm amazed it isn't more well-known.




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Review: Act of Oblivion

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A true work of historical fiction. As the author states, all the characters are real save one (the bounty hunter). All of the major events are real, and Harris essentially fills in the gaps.

This is great insight into the United States as a British colony during the mid 1600's, and how it was progressing in relation to the continent.

It was also, incidentally, a riveting story.


Highly recommend, like all Robert Harris's books.


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Review: Prohibition: A Concise History

Prohibition: A Concise History by W.J. Rorabaugh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Concise and informative. Also quite interesting to read about the dynamic of prohibition and how it fit in with abolition, women's rights, political parties, the temperance movement, etc.




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Review: The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III

The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There were plenty of interesting points, such as how taxes had very little to do with the revolution, and much of the unrest was to benefit the American bootleggers who wished to retain control.

Also the fact that "Freedom" and "Liberty" were the cries of the revolution, while the United States then ended up keeping the slave trade for another century, while King George had abolished it.

Still, when the author sings the King's praises merely because he complimented George Washington, it starts being a bit much.

I understand King George is basically only known for having lost the United States and for being the "Mad King", and in fact in the US he is known for being an evil tyrant. So this biography added more nuance and background to this man.

However, the entire point of this book seems to counter every single criticism laid out against King George. So much so that it reads like a hagiography. I don't think the author found one fault with the king.

I recognize that when you spend this time researching a person you find reasons behind all of their actions, but that is why a discerning eye is needed, which I don't think this author had.

The book starts and ends with a discussion on the musical Hamilton and its portrayal of King George. One gets the impression that the author decided to write this book merely as a rebuttal.



2.5 stars






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Review: Shenandoah Secrets

Shenandoah Secrets by Carolyn Reeder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great compendium of stories from the Shenandoah valley area. I really enjoy reading stories like these, especially having recently been there. Actually, they make me want to go again and find some of these places.

Some interesting short stories:


"One autumn day, the teacher at the Simmons Gap
Mission School noticed an unpleasant smell and traced
it to one of her students. She sent a note home asking
the mother to give her child a bath. When nothing
changed, the teacher sent another note. Finally, she
told the child to ask her mother to bathe her. The next
day the little girl came back with a message:
her
mother said she'd been sewn into her clothes for the
winter and wouldn't be let out till June!"


"John Henry Bolen spent the Civil War
years
evading the conscriptors who
combed the area looking for men of
draft age. Once the conscriptors came
Beulah
in the daytime when John Henry was
in the house, and he had no way to
escape. Thinking fast, he sent his wife
outside and had her walk toward Pig-
nut Mountain hitting two shingles to-
gether. Since the conscriptors thought
she was signaling her husband to stay
away, they didn't bother to go into the
house.
When the conscriptors came on a
summer night, John Henry and a friend
took refuge in the chimney, one standing on the other's
shoulders. Mrs. Bolen slapped the baby playing on the
floor near the hearth so Its crying would mask any noise
they made.
Eventually, though, John Henry Bolen and his
friend were caught and taken to an army camp, but they
escaped and came home- wearing out their shoes on the
way."




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Review: Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power

Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power by Pekka Hämäläinen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely excellent. A history of the Lakota, but told from their perspective more than an outside one discussing different people. This is all-encompassing, at least as far as it can be with the knowledge we have. Highly recommended. 

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Review: How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy

How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy by Mehrsa Baradaran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ironically, I know of the author because of her book reviews here on Goodreads, which I follow and enjoy reading quite a bit, so when I saw her book on sale, I bought it right away. 

This book does a great job showing how Banks are not solely private enterprises, nor are they public, but they are (and need to be) a hybrid. They are codependent with the government, which, unfortunately, tends to give banks the upper hand. If banks risk going out of business, the government will step in, but the concentration is "on making banks profitable again", rather than providing a more public good to those in need. This, of course, creates confusion, which once again gives banks the upper hand. 

I appreciate the history of the banking industry, from the 1600's in Europe to Jefferson vs. Hamilton up to modern times. Also the history of credit unions, savings & loans, etc. 

The argument seemed quite convincing to me (although seasoned economists might poke holes in it I guess). The conclusion is then that Postal banks would be an optimal solution. Having grown up in Switzerland, I am a huge fan of Swisspost, which I think is the best type of Swiss bank account (despite the other types being famous for many reasons). In fact, all Swiss people have at least one postal account. So my initial reaction is to agree. Many of the benefits she lists are evident in Switzerland. However, I still hesitate to think it will work well in the US. Aside from the Politicians likely to call it "socialist", and other banks sure to be against it, I'm not all that sure the USPS is well-equipped enough to handle it. Maybe we could start with the USPS issuing certified e-mail (like Switzerland and Italy and other countries have), and if it can handle that change, then maybe it can pivot into banking services. 

Regardless, this book shows very clearly that the banking system in the US has very serious issues. 

4.5 Stars

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Review: Eisenhower in War and Peace

Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is where my presidential biography journey will end. It is a fitting one, since this is a president I knew little to nothing about. 

It is refreshing to have a biographer who is straightforward about when the subject was in the wrong. All too often I feel like they make excuses for the person they are writing about. 

Interesting how, having experienced war as a general, Eisenhower was dead against starting new wars, entering Indochina, using the atomic bomb with china and Vietnam (as he was advised to do), because he was against these. But then let himself get manipulated into subverting democracy and have the CIA carry out coups in Iran and Guatemala.

I feel like the second presidential term and later years were rushed through, with little to no detail. 

But all in all a great biography of a very interesting man, going through a pivotal time in United States history. Between the Korean war, desegregation, the cold war, in addition to Eisenhower's accomplishments during WWII, a lot of ground is covered here. 

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Review: American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the history here but I couldn't help disagreeing with many of the conclusions. They probably held water until around 50 years ago, but now I'm not so sure. As an example, I've lived in DC, Atlanta, Portland and Charlotte and I've found that, while these cities are all different and have their own flavors, the people there seemed to have more in common with each other than with people who might live just 30 miles away from their own city. I think the divide has changed to urban/suburban/rural now, or some variation thereof. He also argues that people naturally gravitate toward areas that suit them most, but I've moved everywhere mainly due to jobs or school. The one exception is probably Portland, but I really don't think that makes me more left-coaster. In fact, quite the opposite. 

He also says that much of the antagonism between Americans and Mexicans now (in the El Norte section) dates back to England's wars with Spain. But then how come modern England and Spain don't have the same animosity? 

Also some of his naming seemed odd. The fact that the "Yankee" region would not include New York (New Netherlands) seems rather weird. I agree with the fact, but maybe pick another name. 

However, as mentioned, the history is great. 

Interesting that John Adams basically abolished free speech "for the greater good". There was a difference between 'Freedom' and 'Liberty' back then, wherein one said everyone was free (more in the south and Appalachia, while the other said freedom was important for the community (more in the Yankee region). 

I would love an update for the post-Trump years. 

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Review: The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina

The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina by Milton Ready
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you have any interest in North Carolina history or in North Carolina in general, this is probably a must-read, mostly because as far as I know it is the only book out there specializing in general North Carolina history. For example, I found it quite interesting to read how Thomas Cary attempted a coup of the colony, since there is a city named after him now, or how William Tryon was generally a devious bad person (and much in the state is named after him). But if you're not in NC these names probably mean nothing to you. 

All in all I'm very happy I read it since it taught me much more of the background and history of the state I live in. 

Some of my notes:

North Carolina's original name was Virginia, and the first English person born in the Colonies was called Virginia Dare, after the state. 

Thomas Cary's attempt at a coup almost spelled the end of the colony (p. 44)

Blackbeard basically strong armed his way into the state, intimidated the governor and was able to get a royal pardon (since the governor was allowed to issue them). (p.45)

Virginia decided to invade North Carolina (p. 46)

NC split from SC in 1712

Raleigh was chosen as a capital despite there not being yet a city of Raleigh. It was a location (Lane's plantation) close to Hunter's Tavern, where many Westerners (who were in control at the time) liked to drink. The Easterners preferred an established city such as Fayetteville. (p. 152)

Thomas Jefferson hired Antonio Canova to create a bust of Washington for the Raleigh statehouse (p. 152)

The Conscription Act (1862) by the confederacy angered many in NC and throughout the south. It went against State rights. (p. 232)

"Reborn as North Carolinians and US citizens after the civil war, ex-slaves sought first not the right to vote, hold office, serve on juries, or own property, but the freedom to bind their families together, both legally and traditionally" (p. 261)

After the 1932 election, Democrats were the liberal party for the entire country except the South (p. 323)

Very interesting how segregation was seen as a progressive move by many. Since the KKK and the red shirts were terrorizing black people, and especially after the Wilmington massacre, it was thought by many that segregation would bring about peace and allow each race to continue with their affairs. 

"events of the 1930s tended to divide southern Democrats from their more liberal party members nationwide and to lay the foundations for the shift to Republicanism two decades later. Indeed, after World War II, some southern Democrats, unhappy with Roosevelt and Truman's liberalism, especially on civil rights, seceded from the Democrats altogether and established their own Dixiecrat Party in 1948" (p. 338)

Barry Goldwater took advantage of this situation. Republicans emerged as the States rights party. Goldwater believed Southern Democrats longed for change. Race was almost never mentioned, but would underlie almost everything (p. 353)

New code words replaced older more blunt vernacular of segregation and white supremacy (p. 355)

Some companies founded in NC: Pepsi, Cheerwine, Krispy Kreme, Food Lion, Ingles, Family Dollar, Belk's (p. 380-1)

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Review: Coolidge

Coolidge by Amity Shlaes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First off, as far as biographies go, this is, without doubt, the definitive one of Calvin Coolidge. The author did an excellent job compiling the information, collecting it, and telling us about his story. 

Having said that, this is hardly an exciting ride. It sort of seems like the story of a slight better-off-than-average fellow who is slightly smarter than average, and how his sense of duty leads him to politics and, pretty much by luck, to the white house. Once there he cuts spending more or less as much as humanly possible, while saying as little as possible. 

He is undoubtedly one of the most principled of the presidents, and more or less the polar opposite of Harding. 

All in all a good read, but nothing really riveting. 

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Review: Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding by John W. Dean
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Edit: Revising my rating down to a 2, just based on what I've been reading about Harding after having finished this book. As just one example, his parentage of a child during his extramarital affair has apparently been proven conclusively with DNA tests, (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-can...), and yet this was dismissed in the book pretty vehemently by discounting Nan Britton's accounts: "All that her papers show is a lifetime fixation with Harding and her undending effort to have him as the father of her child" (wouldn't this be her attitude if he were the real father as well?), and also stating his smoking gun: "Harding lamented to his friends and relatives that he was sterile and sadly could not have children". Well, the DNA evidence begs to differ.

This entire book has the goal of "setting the record straight" for this president, who has been much maligned.

However, without having read anything else about Harding, I couldn't help having the feeling that this book doth protest too much. Every single moment in which Harding had been criticized is torn apart in its details to try to deflect the blame, while other points seem to be totally glossed over.

For instance, in Woodrow Wilson's biography it mentions how Harding acted with great disrespect toward the ex-president, but none of that was mentioned here. And whenever members of his staff accomplished great things, he was given credit for having hired them, but whenever they were corrupt, involved in scandals and/or received payoffs, it merely says he wasn't involved personally. Not to mention an affair he had is just alluded to at the very end, when trying to discredit another person who claimed to have had an affair with him.

Despite all that, however, it is still interesting to read about his story.

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Review: Wilson

Wilson by A. Scott Berg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is refreshing to read about probably the most intellectual president since John Quincy Adams, if not Thomas Jefferson.

A man of letters, he attended Davidson, Princeton and Johns Hopkins, became the dean of Princeton and 'modernized' it, and was also one of the most popular historians in the country.

Herbert Hoover's reputation after WWI was excellent. He convinced Americans to save and be sparing, and people would "Hooverize" gladly for the war effort. He probably should have never run for president.

Very interesting to notice the parallels with today. Americanism, Jingoism and "America First" all featured prominently in the US during this time. However, Wison was an intellectual dealing with it, so the response was very different.

Also interesting to see how he, a very intellectual and academic president, is followed by Warren Harding, one of biggest failures of a president.

Also, Henry Cabbot Lodge deserves a lot more vitriol and hate from history books. He obviously didn't cause WWII, but I'm starting to think that his dogged refusal to pass the League of Nations for purely personal political aims is what eventually led to the possibility of a second World War. But we'll see how these biographies progress. I may be wrong there.

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Review: William Howard Taft: The American Presidents Series: The 27th President, 1909-1913 (American Presidents

William Howard Taft: The American Presidents Series: The 27th President, 1909-1913 (American Presidents by Jeffrey Rosen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Taft is a very interesting president for many many reasons. It's too bad we only know him for being overweight (at least that's all I knew him for).

He never really wanted to be president, but always wished to be chief justice of the supreme court. So when he was elected president he approached it from a judicial (read: constitutional) point of view. He didn't care at all about politics or popularity. In a way this served him very badly. Just as generals who become president and refuse to partake in party politics tend to perform badly as a result, the same could probably be said of judges. Interesting also to see how a president who wasn't automatically campaigning for a second term wasn't praised more for it.

I guess being in between Roosevelt and Wilson doesn't help, but he is definitely someone worth reading up about.

Of course, he finally did make it to chief justice, and was a much better chief justice than president.

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Review: Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt

Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First of all, this book is excellent. It portrays Teddy Roosevelt with all his eccentricities, his privileged upbringing and his tragedies (losing both his wife and mother to different diseases right after his daughter is born, on February 14th). It also discusses his family, the people around him and the times he was living in.

Unfortunately, this is not a biography, but just a biography through his 29th year. It only ever mentions his presidency and Nobel peace prize (and mayorship) in the afterword, and just very briefly. Having the subtitle "The story of ... the unique child who became Theodore Roosevelt" isn't exactly clear about not covering his adulthood.

So this just seemed misleading. Of course, calling it Theodore Roosevelt's life up to 29 years of age, or Teddy's youth, might not sell as many books.

Now I'm wondering if I should tackle another biography to actually read about his presidency, or just continue on to Taft.

Anyway, 5 stars for content. 1 star for being misleading. 3 stars overall I guess.

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Review: President McKinley: Architect of the American Century

President McKinley: Architect of the American Century by Robert W. Merry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

McKinley is probably the most underrated presidency thus far (n.b., I wrote "presidency", not "president", which I still think is Garfield), especially as regards international expansion (colonialism?). Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines and Samoa were all added/conquered during his presidency. Not to mention the meddling with China along with the Europeans and Japanese. To his credit, he disavowed colonialism, and actually tried to promote independence and elections in Cuba and the Philippines. NOT to his credit, he did no such thing in Hawaii, Puerto Rico or Samoa.

To be fair, it seems as though if the US hadn't taken control of Hawaii, Japan almost certainly would have (much like they did with Okinawa), with 30,000 Japanese immigrants already in Hawaii. And apparently Germany and Britain were also eyeing it.

This biography was excellent, in that it delved into much detail with regards to his presidency. In fact, I probably didn't need to know the maneuverings behind each and every bill and every trip he took to Canton. However, in some areas it seemed remarkably lacking. The taking over of Samoa only gets one paragraph and is never mentioned again.

Also, Mckinley's assassin, Czolgosz, isn't even mentioned until 10 pages before the end of the book (aside from a brief dramatic cameo in the introduction). It says he hung out with anarchists and was inspired to assassinate McKinley based on a speech by Emma Goldman, but almost nothing else about her. I can't understand why these points would be basically brushed aside.


Some interesting notes I took:

During the Spanish American war, combat deaths for Americans were only 281, while nearly 2,500 died from diseases (p. 320)

Interesting also to note how protectionist the Republican Party was back then. "Since its inception, the Republican Party, Mckinley's party, had been the party of protectionism" (p. 7). At some point it became the party of open markets and free trade, although now I guess it has come full circle back to protectionism.

Another interesting passage:
"Indeed Republicans were the progressive party, comfortable with the application of federal power in behalf of major national goals: protecting the voting rights of blacks..." (p. 106) Times have changed.

Apparently Mckinley was the first president to make his own campaign speeches (not write, actually make them, which wasn't done back then).

The author also doesn't seem to like Roosevelt, who apparently downplayed McKinley during his presidency, and presumably this is why we barely remember him nowadays. He may be right.


Edit:
After reading up a bit more on Leon Czolgosz and Emma Goldman I'm all the more perplexed as to why they didn't feature more in the book. Czolgosz had a history of mental illness and, while he identified as an anarchist, he wasn't accepted in anarchist circles. In fact, he showed up once at Goldman's house asking odd questions, so they assumed he was a government infiltrator and sent around notices to other anarchists to beware of him.

Once he was arrested he stated Goldman's speech inspired him, so Goldman was arrested and held for 2 weeks, but no ties were found between her and Czolgosz, so she was released. After release, however, she wrote an article comparing Czolgosz to Brutus, and so she was shunned not only by the public, but by other anarchists as well, and withdrew into seclusion.

At Czolgosz's trial, he refused to talk to his lawyers, so Loran L. Lewis, his defense attorney, made a 27 minute address, not defending Czolgosz, but defending his own status in the community (he didn't want to be villified for defending Czolgosz).

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Review: Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland by Henry F. Graff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good, concise book about a rather uninspiring president. The first democrat in the white house since Buchanan, prior to the civil war. Probably best known for serving two non-consecutive terms.

Some interesting tidbits:
One of his daughters, Ruth, died young, but Baby Ruth candy was named after her.
Built a house in a park North of the White House, now it's Cleveland Park.
The city, Cleveland, was named after his ancestor.
The whole story of the tumor in his mouth and having it removed in secret on a boat seemed fascinating.
He was against taking possession of Hawaii.



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