Tag Archives: History

John Adams by David McCullough

05 Wednesday May 2010

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This is the second book I’ve read by McCullough.  I enjoyed his work in 1776, and I enjoyed John Adams even more.  This book is a fascinating and enjoyable read about the second President of the United States.

Adams played a pivotal role in the first two sessions of the Continental Congress, debated fiercely for a declaration of independence, and was instrumental in most of the major decisions made before and after the Declaration, including naming George Washington as the commanding officer for the war.

He wrote extensively, as did his family, and luckily, most of the communication survives.  McCullough masterfully mixes in words that Abigail (his wife) and John wrote to each other and to their family to flesh out the literary portrait of his life.

Here are a few quick John Adams highlights:

  • Adams wrote the Massachusetts Constitution
  • Adams wrote extensively on the role of government
  • He travelled more extensively than any of his peers, making two trips across the Atlantic.
  • He worked with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in France to establish a peace treaty with the British that ended the Revolutionary War.
  • He was the first American diplomat in the Netherlands, where he secured a much needed loan from the Dutch.
  • He was the first American diplomat to England after the war ended.
  • He was responsible for the creation of the American Navy, correctly surmising that naval strength was the path to security at home and respect abroad.
  • Adams was the first Vice President of the country
  • Adams was the Second President of the country

The one item that I found most fascinating about the entire Adams’ saga was revealed not long after Washington became President.  It would seem to me that after the amazing accomplishment of winning Independence from England, that everyone would be on the same side and pulling the same rope to secure success for the fledgling country.  Surely the dissonance and infighting of our current system did not exist at the founding of the country!

And yet it did, and in some ways was even more ridiculous.  Two parties emerged, the Federalists and anti-Federalists, and a newspaper sprouted up for each group spouting off ridiculous, inflammatory, derogatory half-truths and fallacies.  It was pretty amazing to see the lengths the groups would go to in order to discredit the other group and revere themselves. Even the patron saint of Unites States Liberty, George Washington, was not immune to their attacks.  And great personas such as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were behind the scenes exhorting their peers and the papers to greater heights of infamy.

Reading the book, I have become more convinced that reaching common sense decisions on large topics is not possible.  There will always be vocal dissenters willing to spread misinformation for their own goals and gains.

I highly recommend you read this book. It is a great history of our country and will give you a new perspective on the political tomfoolery that is taking place today.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – it is not a 5 only because a book like this isn’t easy to pick up and read over and over again.

By the Sword by Richard Cohen

26 Thursday Mar 2009

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The subtitle of this book is A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers and Olympic Champions.  In the time honored tradition of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Cohen could have said Or How I’ll use a Couple of Interesting Chapters in Order to Make You Read a History of Fencing (citing the obscure reference).

This first few chapters of this book were really excellent.  Perhaps I should say that the Prologue was outstanding, and it slowly lost its momentum from there.  Cohen expertly describes one of his fencing meets. I was drawn in and brought the book home from the store.  I soon learned a bevy of interesting facts.

We shake hands to show that we are not reaching for our swords; a gentleman offers a lady his right arm because at one time his sword was at his left hip; a man’s coat buttons left over right, so that a duelist may unbutton it with his left, unarmed hand.

The culture of the sword, its history and evolution follow for the next few chapters.  My favorite was Chapter 7, Where the Soul is the Sword.  The history of the sword in Japan was explored and has always piqued my interest. Japan took it beyond honor, justice, and chivalry and made it a religion and way of life. 

Cohen does an admirable job of tracing the evolution of the sword.  He discusses the changes in technology, in use, in art, and in the settling of disputes through the years.  For the first two hundred pages, it is an expertly researched and written historical account of one of the oldest tools of war.  The change from historical novel to a book about fencing is subtle. As it begins to change, he draws you in to the history of sword play in movies.  For a while, it’s still interesting that it isn’t the sword we’re talking about, but rather what was being done with the sword outside of war and duels.  By the three hundred page mark, I was fully suspicious of what was going on.  I just didn’t care about the French school of fencing and how it differed from the Italians.  Or that the Hungarians became unbeatable in saber, but their top master was an Italian.  Fencing is interesting, but it should have been a chapter, not the second half of the book in my opinion.

I definitely recommend Part 1, From Egypt to Waterloo and Part 2, The Search for Perfection.  Part 3, The Duel’s High Noon and Part 4, Wounded Warriors were still pretty interesting. However, unless you are a true fencing aficionado, stop there.  Part 5, Great Powers, and Part 6, Faustian Pacts (cool name) are duds. I skipped through most of it.

Rating  2.5 out of 5 (Can I do that? I think I can, after all I made up the system.  A two star is wishing I’d given up at page 100. But I wish I had given up at page 300. I found parts of it pretty entertaining, which is close to a three….so 2.5. That just happened.)

By the way, I hope you like the new name of the blog.  Libzig may be a great site I built (shamless plug) for keeping track of your Library, but it doesn’t tell you much about the blog.  I think Judging a Book by its Cover is pretty appropriate.

The Ruin of the Roman Empire – By James O’Donnell

31 Saturday Jan 2009

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James O’Donnell brings us an extraordinarily well researched and detailed account of all of the problems to befall the Roman Empire from the late 400 CE onward.  His book offers insights and connections that the weekend historian would not stumble upon in the course of their normal reading.  I can say that with authority as I now consider myself a weekend historian.  

I have enjoyed many great books by Stephen Ambrose, John Keegan, and Rick Atkinson.  I’ve read ancient source material by Thucydides and Livy.  I considered myself a reasonably well-read aficionado of Roman history and culture.  After reading the majority of this book, I can see that I have a long way to go to become a serious Roman historian.

I did not finish this book. I made it through seventy five percent of it. I learned a number of interesting things about how Rome disintegrated over the course of a few hundred years.  I learned that at one point in the sixth century, Rome was not occupied for about forty days after a number of sieges devastated the ancient capital.  In the end, though, there were too many names, too many obscure connections, and too much political intrigue to keep my interest.

And when it comes down to it, I read books to be entertained.  Stephen Ambrose did a great job of presenting history and always making it interesting.  I can’t say O’Donnell has done the same here.  Let there be no doubt, he knows what he’s talking about and has obviously put an exceptional amount of time and research into this book.  Other experts on the subject will find it an insightful and useful tome.  I, however, did not.  So I shall put an end to it and move on to something more enjoyable.

2 star – see the book rating explanation here

Next Read – The Ruin of the Roman Empire by James J. O’Donnell

17 Saturday Jan 2009

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Just getting into this book and it’s taking longer than I would have liked.  Typically I can burn through a book in a week, much less if I get time to read other than just before bed.  When it’s a non-fiction book of substance, it may a month. It looks like we’re heading towards the month with this one, if we make it that far at all.

Typically, I give a book a hundred pages to catch my attention. If you can’t get me to stay interested after that, I don’t waste my time. Right now, I’m on page fifty, and Mr. O’Donnell has some work to do to keep me interested.

I like Roman history; I mentioned that previously in the Soldier of Rome blog.  Typically, though, I enjoy military history.  Books like An Army at Dawn by Rich Atkinson, or my favorite, Band of Brothers by Stephan Ambrose.  I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get that in this book.  From what I’ve read about it though, it is a good book.  So, since I just crossed into Part One and out of the introduction, I’m looking forward to it picking up.  I may even try to give it a read when I’m not completely sleep addled before bed.  That should help its chances.

I’m still trying to pick up the thread of O’Donnell’s narrative.  He’s discussed life in the ancient world – short, difficult, and ugly for all but the very few elite – the movement of ideas across the Mediterranean  and east to China, and a little about the city of Alexandria. It compared it to Paris, and Rome to Berlin or Washington D.C.  Alexandria was the cultural and intellectual capital of the world in the middle of the first millennia.

What I found most interesting in the first portion of this book was that Rome, while being the founding capital of the Empire, had become a backwater town.  There were still a dozen or so families vying for power in the Senate, but the Emperor was rarely in town.  Most of the Emperors were in moving capitals along the borders as the Armies strove to hold off encroaching enemies or other generals vying for the ultimate authority.  

Because of that, it is hard to nail down the final date of the Roman Empire.  O’Donnell notes that historians have placed the downfall of Rome from 202 BCE with their victory in the second Punic War all the way to 1806 CE when Napoleon finally put an end to the old imperial traditions to start his own empire.

Looks like the rest of the book with concentrate three sections to describe what happened to the Roman Empire. Hopefully, it will be good.