Book Description
The successful creation of the Constitution is a suspense story. The Summer of 1787 takes us into the sweltering room in which delegates struggled for four months to produce the flawed but enduring document that would define the nation -- then and now.
George Washington presided, James Madison kept the notes, Benjamin Franklin offered wisdom and humor at crucial times. The Summer of 1787 traces the struggles within the Philadelphia Convention as the delegates hammered out the charter for the world's first constitutional democracy. Relying on the words of the delegates themselves to explore the Convention's sharp conflicts and hard bargaining, David O. Stewart lays out the passions and contradictions of the often painful process of writing the Constitution.
It was a desperate balancing act. Revolutionary principles required that the people have power, but could the people be trusted? Would a stronger central government leave room for the states? Would the small states accept a Congress in which seats were alloted according to population rather than to each sovereign state? And what of slavery? The supercharged debates over America's original sin led to the most creative and most disappointing political deals of the Convention.
The room was crowded with colorful and passionate characters, some known -- Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, Edmund Randolph -- and others largely forgotten. At different points during that sultry summer, more than half of the delegates threatened to walk out, and some actually did, but Washington's quiet leadership and the delegates' inspired compromises held the Convention together.
In a country continually arguing over the document's original intent, it is fascinating to watch these powerful characters struggle toward consensus -- often reluctantly -- to write a flawed but living and breathing document that could evolve with the nation.
Customer Reviews:
The Summer of 1787.......2007-09-01
Most revealing on the individual character of each of the signers. Lots of good inside information. Well worth the read
summer of 1787.......2007-08-04
I thought that the book was very enlightening on what the founders of thid country went through.
History Alive!.......2007-07-30
This is one of the most readable and enjoyable history book I have ever read. It certainly depicts the tortuous development and atmosphere surrounding the process of writing the Constitution in a way that makes one feel part of it. I could not put the book down for any length of time!
Learn more about our US history.......2007-07-26
If your American History studies were like mine, they jumped from the Revolution to the election of George Washington with little mention of the years inbetween. Now you can learn just how twelve colonies (Rhode Island did not participate) met to form the basis for our nation. It is a very readable yet factual book, with plenty of footnotes. I would recommend it to any reader, young or old.
An important story, well retold.......2007-07-05
The general sense of some editorial reviews of this fine book, while rightly praising the author's stylistic dexterity and story-telling skills, was to question whether there was a need for another account of the great Constitutional Convention of 1787. This point of view finds its answer in the following verse, quoted in the preface of Catherine Drinker Bowen's earlier book on the same subject: "If all the tales are told, retell them, Brother./ If few attend, let those who listen feel."
David Stewart has retold well this most important of stories, and in doing so has brought the tale to a larger audience, and to a new generation. His judgment that this book was worth undertaking is amply justified by the result.
Book Description
George Mason (1725-92) is often omitted from the small circle of founding fathers celebrated today, but in his service to America he was, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "of the first order of greatness." Jeff Broadwater provides a comprehensive account of Mason's life at the center of the momentous events of eighteenth-century America.
Mason played a key role in the Stamp Act Crisis, the American Revolution, and the drafting of Virginia's first state constitution. He is perhaps best known as author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, often hailed as the model for the Bill of Rights.
As a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Mason influenced the emerging Constitution on point after point. Yet when he was rebuffed in his efforts to add a bill of rights and felt the document did too little to protect the interests of the South, he refused to sign the final draft. Broadwater argues that Mason's recalcitrance was not the act of an isolated dissenter; rather, it emerged from the ideology of the American Revolution. Mason's concerns about the abuse of political power went to the essence of the American experience.
Customer Reviews:
We Learn of Him, But Still Don't "know" Him..........2007-04-07
George Mason, truly an ignored Founder of whom Thomas Jefferson said was "one of our really great men", is treated in a fair and easy to read biography penned by Jeff Broadwater.
The book follows his political career touching upon the many important bills and concepts he introduced into the Revolutionary era Virginia Legislature. The book does a fine job shining a light upon what a key figure to our founding that Mason was.
In many ways, however, one gets a negative view of the man over his constant shirking of duty -- he too often arrived late or not at all to legislative sessions -- and his constant complaining over his health. Granted, if one knows much about the Founders and their era, health seems to be one thing they all constantly whined about. After all, men rarely lived past the late 30s in those days, so any pain or discomfort was feared to be death come a' knocking.
In any case, it was interesting to see the turmoil and difficulty that the state of Virginia had funding and supplying troops to the war effort. With history settled, it is always too easy to feel that the country was united with a single mind and all for the spilt with England as well as ready to sacrifice their last strengths to that effort. Reality, though, is a far different thing than the rose-colored glasses of popular sentiment.
One thing seemed missing from this book, as important as is the information contained within. Mason's voice does not come through in Broadwater's work. We never get as much of a feel for the man as we do for his end work and the times in which he lived.
It's a shame that Broadwater didn't give us more of Mason's own quotes so that we might see what his contemporaries saw in his applauded rhetoric. Perhaps not enough of his own words survive to have attempted that treatment and maybe Broadwater really only had Mason's legislative work from which to glean "the" man, but I still felt the book seemed somewhat detached from the man himself.
In any case, I recommend the book to those who are interested in a Founder who has missed out on the lionizing so many of his fellows have received.
Need a Reason to Struggle Through It.......2007-02-26
I was actively looking forward to a book about George Mason, whose home is a landmark I visited 40-50 years ago, and whose name in my area adorns a major street and a university. Who was he? This book helps explain that. An amazing tale, really, of a gent who had a surprising lot to do with the birth of our nation and its constitution, yet is relatively little known. (Author Broadwater notwithstanding, it's no mystery why Mason has been neglected; he may have been an influential, clear, brilliant, and nonpartisan thinker but he didn't support the Constitution and in general, shunned the limelight.)
The book is not just a biography, but a deep-reaching regional history. It tells a lot about the economic and social issues of the "American colonies" in the 18th century. Many of us overlook that, in the turmoil of creating a nation, there were a lot of ongoing matters of concern, such as the future of the lands to the west. Mason's careful husbanding of his economic and commercial interests augurs the role that commercialism has played ever since in the formation of our country. Finally, Mason's role in creating our Bill of Rights and some of the key elements of the U.S. Constitution cannot be overlooked, but his view that the inevitable tendency of "rulers" to augment their power leads just as inevitably to tyranny remains well worth keeping in mind today.
The writing is a bit turgid, and if you're not much interested in the finer points of constitutional law or legislation, this will likely be a boring book. The author's annoying reliance on "if" clauses, (about one per paragraph) rather than the simple "but", doesn't help.
Too boring to finish.......2007-01-10
I struggled for a long time to try and force myself to read this book. I finally gave up and donated it to our public library. It was boring beyond belief. Only 1 of our 7 member book club finished it, and he didn't like it either!
Good biography of one of the lesser known Founders.......2006-11-13
George Mason was an important figure, seemingly coming out of nowhere, just before and during the Revolution and up to the formulation of the Constitution. He is one of the lesser known founders, probably as much known for being one of the few who refused to sign the Constitution (along with such figures as Luther Martin and Elbridge Gerry).
One key aspect of Mason's personality (page 19): ". . .Mason possessed an incisive intellect and a commanding personality, but he was not inclined to suffer fools gladly or to compromise his own opinions. Given his nature, the mystery may not be why Mason initially showed little interest in the day-to-day business of government, but why he sought public office at all."
This book focuses on his consuming passion for business, including his tenacious effort to make the Ohio Company work. This land company intended to take land and develop it for the profit of the owners. It was a constant struggle and never panned out as desired. His political views had some quirky elements for the time, including a condemnation of slavery (although phrased in the context of the times), although he himself owned slaves.
Given his reputation as one of the leaders in the runup to the Revolution and through the Consitutional Convention, it is odd to see that he was not involved in politics in a major way until middle age. Yet, from 1774 to the Revolution, he bacame one of the major writers of Revolutionary tracts, laying out a critique of England and a case for freedom. While his relations with George Washington were sometimes frosty, he apparently worked well with other leading Virginians, such as Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, James Madison, and Richard Henry Lee.
After the Constitution was ratified, with Mason arguing against this document, his health began to decline, until he died in 1792. He grew disenchanted with the national government and disagreed with many of its policies after Washington became president. However, he appears to have remained on good terms with some officials, such as John Marshall and James Monroe. While he remained mildly active in local politics from 1789 until his death, he refused an appointment to the United States Senate.
In the end, Mason (page 251) "helped to make a respectable revolution." His legacy (page 251): ". . .his contribution to America's founding documents: the Declaration of Independence through the Virginia Declaration of Rights through his dogged opposition to a Constitution without one."
The book is not particularly elegantly written, but the style is serviceable. There is enough depth to the biography that the reader gains a pretty good picture of Mason, his life, his times, and his role in history. For those interested in the Founding generation and its major actors, this book would be a useful addition to one's library.
Book Description
Includes a complete copy of the Constitution.
Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. "The best popular history of the Constitutional Convention available."--Library Journal
Customer Reviews:
AP Government.......2007-08-27
I am a student in AP Government and was required to read this book as a summer reading project. Overall it was not bad...interesting at times, but i found it repetitive and confusing. I would not recommend it unless you absolutely love history or really want to know what happened on those dreary days in Philadelphia.
Enhances Your Respect Toward Founding Fathers.......2007-04-23
Simply written, this wonderful book is engaging and makes you not only appreciate the greatness of the men involved with the forming of our nation; but, more importanly, helps you appreciate the rich history our country is founded on. Many years ago, I enjoyed being taught by a brillant history professor. He made a comment that I found intriguing. He said the greatest minds our country has ever had lived within 50 years of each other. "Decision in Philadelphia" does a magnificent job illustrating this point.
A delight to read.......2006-10-03
The title of this review says it all. There are more scholarly reviews of the Constitutional Convention but none that reads as well. Take it to the beach. It's that readable. And it teaches. The Colliers have real insight into what happened during that hot but memorable summer in 1787.
A very readable and fascinating analysis of the 1787 Convention .......2006-03-04
I enjoyed reading this book. In it, the authors explain what happened at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Most enthusiasts of the period know about Madison and Hamilton and that the Convention was convened to write a new Constitution, but what many don't know is that there were many characters besides Madison and Hamilton that attended and held sway. And in bringing to light these other characters the book shines.
There are individual chapters on Charles Pinckney, Roger Sherman, William Paterson, Luther Martin, James Wilson, Elbridge Gerry, George Mason, and more. The chapters are written in a lively manner without getting bogged down in details. Collier and Collier give you the "flavor" and most important aspects of each of these characters. There was a lot of "juice". The reading never got dull.
There were also many issues that I was totally unaware of, such as the alliance of several southern states with the "big" states, as well as Connecticut's frequent alliance with the southern states. I was surprised that the issue of slavery, 80 years before the Civil War, played such a central role at the Convention. I enjoyed learning how each of the colonies fared during the period of the Articles of Confederation and how this affected their bargaining positions. It was fascinating to learn about the process itself, the vote counting among the representatives, and the pure politics that went on during the Convention.
All in all, the book was a very quick, informative, and entertaining read. It also fills a gap, as there is not much in the "popular" press written about the Convention. The book is appropriate for those who have already done some reading on early American history as well as those who take a passing interest.
What made the Convention work?.......2005-09-02
I doubt that Christopher and James Lincoln Collier have written the last book on the Constitution of The United States and the Convention that produced it, but they have certainly produced a good one. Decision in Philadelphia provides the reader with a detailed look at two main themes. The first is the political milieu in which the Convention delegates lived and worked. The second is the personalities of the delegates themselves and how they interacted during the hot summer of 1787.
The focus throughout is on the Convention itself. The Constitution is presented entirely as the document resulting from the months of tortuous and heated debates that more than once threatened to dissolve in acrimony. Thus we do not see a list of benefits of how, for example, Presidential powers are assigned to the executive. Rather, we see a discussion of how competing claims by the delegates produced said list in its final form. The reader familiar with contemporary civics will recognize the strengths and weaknesses for himself. Collier does periodically issue commentary on how today's government differs from that envisioned two centuries ago, but it is usually of the "See how much things have changed," variety rather than the "See how far we've fallen/risen," sort.
Throughout, the point is made that the Constitution was not written in any kind of sequential manner, nor were the points discussed one at a time. Compromise days in the making could be undone by a seemingly unrelated topic the following week, and no point was formally finalized until the very end. Collier treats the subjects topically, but has picked the order of presentation well, with the most entangling of subjects treated earlier. Throughout it is emphasized that the delegates represented sometimes-competing factions. Some issues that loomed large in their minds, such as the conflicts between large and small states, proved relatively unimportant in the later unfolding of history (possibly because they did their job well), while factionalism and parties were something they gave considerably less thought to.
Finally, no book about such a collection of great men would be complete without the biographies and personalities of the luminaries that were present. Some are well known to anyone raised in America. Others might be known vaguely as a name or not at all. Most would have shone brightly in any similarly sized group of men other than the Convention. Their backgrounds and personal beliefs, of course, had a daily impact on their actions. Many times were the activities of the Convention stalled or aided by the actions of these participants. The Constitution was very much a product of flesh and blood writers.
The final product is a compact and readable book sure to please any reader with an interest in the topic, and may even entice a few to greater appreciation for the fusion of the human and the intellect in political history. I, for one, found it a wonderful read and do not hesitate to recommend it wholeheartedly.
Book Description
The universe has fallen into bloody chaos now that the dread empire of the tyrannical Shaa is no more -- at the mercy of the merciless insectoid Naxid, who now hunger for domination. But the far-flung human descendants of Terra have finally tasted liberty, and their warrior heroes will not submit. Separated by light-years, Lord Gareth Martinez and the mysterious guerrilla fighter Caroline Sula each pursue a different road to victory in tomorrow's ultimate battle -- for the new order will be far more terrible than the old ... unless one last, desperate stratagem can hold a shattered galaxy together.
Book Description
The rousing, fascinating story of the rowdy political convention that produced the unlikeliest of candidates and thereby had the unanticipated result of saving the world from fascism
There were four strong contenders when the Republican party met in June of 1940 in Philadelphia to nominate its candidate for president: the crusading young attorney and rising Republican star Tom Dewey, solid members of the Republican establishment Robert Taft and Arthur Vandenberg, and dark horse Wendell Willkie, utilities executive, favorite of the literati and only very recently even a Republican. The leading Republican candidates campaigned as isolationists. The charismatic Willkie, newcomer and upstager, was a liberal interventionist, just as anti-Hitler as FDR. After five days of floor rallies, telegrams from across the country, multiple ballots, rousing speeches, backroom deals, terrifying international news, and, most of all, the relentless chanting of"We Want Willkie" from the gallery, Willkie walked away with the nomination.
The story of how this happened-and of how essential his nomination would prove in allowing FDR to save Britain and prepare this country for entry into World War II-is all told in Charles Peters' Five Days in Philadelphia. As Peters shows, these five action-packed days and their improbable outcome were as important as the Battle of Britain in defeating the Nazis.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting look at a man who defied his own party.......2007-09-15
This book provides an interesting account of the republican convention of 1940 and the effects it had on the country. The main contest in 1940 for the republicans was between Dewey, Robert Taft and Wendell Willkie who was a democrat turned republican in the final hours to seize the nomination. Dewey to an extent an Taft to an extreme represented the isolationist part of the republican party. This book takes the reader through the convention and the twists and turns that led to the nomination of Wilkie over Taft. This book provides a scattered analysis at times of the events that followed the Philadelphia convention. This is a great update to those people who have not heard of Wilkie and these events. The book provides a very good political analysis of the time and for those interested in convention history it does tell and interesting story. I wish there had been more related to how the votes switched but at times the book jumped around and skipped over details. Overall a solid book and a great addition to the historical political landscape of America.
Don't laugh. I found this book to be a real page turner. .......2007-08-29
The time frame for these historic event could not have been more compelling, the Repubican National convention of 1940. The lights had just gone out across Europe. France had surrendered. All that was left of the old world's free people was Great Britain. We didn't really give a damn. The Repubicans didn't, that much is certain. Many Democrats didn't either, except for the one that really counted... FDR. But he's a minor player in this story. The US was still nearly a year & a half from making this war truly a world war.
FDR, Churchill, Eisenhower etc. are credited with winning the war. Little notice is paid to a man who helped make their jobs easier pre-war, Wendell Willkie. He helped keep England alive. He stood out & stood up in the party of isolationism. He out foxed & out manuvered stronger canidates like Gov. Dewey, Senators Vandenberg & Taft. He's the only internationalist & non office holder of the potential nominees. Yet he was able to pack the convention & secure the nomination on the sixth ballot. He was closer to FDR on most of the issues of the the day, Lend Lease, extension of the the draft & war preparedness. This put the GOP at quite a diadvantage during the fall campaign. The whole story is humanized by the author, a young boy from New Jersey with an activist father who was a Democrat. Day by day activities in Philadelphia during the convention & mood of the the country are covered & makes for engrossing reading.
Stretched History with a Republican Womanizing Twist.......2006-04-12
Charles Peters tells a great tale, and it is a treat to read prose by one so gifted in the English language and so precise in his meaning. Well researched with a remarkable sense of grammatical timing, the book is an interesting piece of history that will become a mainstay for college students of American Political History. As politics, however, it leaves untold the story of exactly why the Dewey and Taft campaigns so misjudged the Willkie forces at the convention. As I read the jacket synopsis and internal photo captions, I began to expect to read that Franklin Roosevelt had undermined the Republican National Convention to install Wendell Willkie as a friendly nominee! Willkie's politics are no more a focus of this book than his womanizing, which, because of its long term nature, would be more of a story today than perhaps even Bill Clinton's. And while I like Willkie a lot after reading about him, I think the case for making a hero of his pro-defense stance is overdone.
While Willkie took a position that was unpopular with the isolationist Main Street Right Wing of the Republican Party, it is not a logical conclusion that he did so with patriotism in mind or that he fell on his sword for America. Now IF it could be shown that pre-CIA or pre-NSA operatives undermined the pro-Hitler isolationst elements of the Republican Party, THAT would be a story indeed. Or if it could be shown that Willkie, a Democrat until 1939, was a National Security operative to ensure that freedom was defended in the Hitlerian world. Perhaps Charles Peters is suggesting these possibilities for further study in the decades ahead. You do wonder why Willkie won the nomination in the face of two other strong candidates who more closely reflected the isolationist, peace-loving members of their own party.
It's a good story that is more history with personal rememberances than politics itself. Wendell Willkie would not be welcome in the Republican Party of today.
Where is Willkie today, when we need him?.......2006-02-12
This provides an excellent picture of presidential politics just before our entry into World War II. Somehow, Wendell Willkie rose in the Republican party to challenge a crafty and popular president and although he lost the election he helped to turn the country in the right direction.
Roosevelt was concerned with providing aid to Britain, and instituting a draft while we were not at war. Despite the knee-jerk reaction of the Republican leadership, which was dogmatic, myopic, and just plain stupid, Willkie supported the President's foreign policy goals, and his support allowed these measures to be instituted through a reluctant Republican congress.
One of the more surprising occurrences then, when looked at from today's political world, was how much conscience mattered. Many of the Democratic politicians were opposed to some part of Roosevelt's program. Some agreed with him on the draft, but did not think he should have a third term, some were in favor of the draft, but not in help to England. Roosevelt embraced all of these people as advisors, and even named a number of Republicans to his cabinet. It is unimaginable that the current President would tolerate different opinions in his political circle. At that time, conscience moved Roosevelt's advisors to say what they believed was in the best interest of the country, not just mouth an official line of thought and conduct.
The know-nothings of the Republican leadership, namely Taft and Dewey, would have prevented the draft, and would have forbidden any aid to Britain, and apparently were prepared to negotiate with Germany to keep us out of war. It was miraculous that Willkie, who pretty much agreed with Roosevelt's foreign policy, and who was a businessman, never elected to public office, was able to keep the Republicans from sabotaging Roosevelt's policies. If he had not, one could only imagine the results . . a German takeover of Britain, and an eventual war of survival with the USA, which could very well have led to the end of our society as we know it.
The modern Republicans have not changed very much. While there may be an occasional voice for sanity, in foreign and domestic policy, by and large, they follow along the party line seemingly unable to provide independent thought in the interest of the country. Their bringing us to war in Iraq before destroying the Islamists who have attacked us is one instance, and uncontrolled deficits are another, and doing nothing to control dependence on foreign oil is yet another. Where is Willkie when we need him?
Personal memoir combined with political history - interesting tactic.......2005-11-30
Charles Peters has primarily given us in his book Five Days in Philadelphia, the story of the Republican convention of 1940. In addition to recounting the convention, leading to the nomination of Wendell Wilkie as the GOP candidate for the Presidency, Peters also gives us some background information on the Presidency of Franklin Roosevelt and how Willkie allowed FDR to continue down the path of arming America and her allies for war.
Peters makes the argument that had any of the other prime candidates for the nomination been successful in their quest (i.e. Robert Taft or Arthur Vandenberg), such critical foreign policy manuevers as the destroyer deal of 1940 or the Lend-Lease act of 1941 would not have come to be, since the Republicans would have used these as a political weapons to attack the internationist (or interventionist) policies of the incumbant Democratic administration.
In reality, most of the book is spent on Wendell Wilkie - an interesting fellow that many people know little about. There is little, if any, doubt that his involvement in American politics played a large role in FDR's plans to send arms to Britain, or to quash many of the isolationist feelings that would have prevented the first peacetime draft in America's history. Despite this interesting man, the book just doesn't quite live up to its title - it comes pretty close, but after reading the book I am not quite convinced that the convention freed FDR to continue down the most interventionist path. Instead, I think that Wendell Wilkie, after the convention, allowed Roosevelt to take those steps he saw as necessary to try to keep America out of war and provide for her defense as much as possible.
Average customer rating:
- This Work Should be Read
- A VietNam-Era Story Still So Relevant Today
- A story of love, trust and devotion
- LaRue's Maneuvers: A Richly Rewarding Read
- A Strong Ambitious Novel
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LaRue's Maneuvers
James Isaiah Gabbe
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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ASIN: 1419652834
Release Date: 2007-02-26 |
Book Description
It’s the late 1960s, and the rock ‘n’ roll generation is coming of age in the oppressive shadow of an unpopular war. Tucked away in an army psychiatric ward, Jesse Danbar is hiding in self-induced amnesia, haunted by a tragedy shrouded in a “fearful darkness” of guilt and self-recrimination and decorated by his country for combat heroism he knows nothing about. Under the nom de plume ‘LaRue’, Danbar writes curious poems that evolve into a memoir he hopes will illuminate his past and release him from its clutches. From the Battle of Michigan Avenue to student rebellion in Paris to Age of Aquarius California to military headquarters and secretly tender and also sinister places in Vietnam, to a not-so-safe haven on the New England coast, he battles to find himself and the will to live. The truths he learns about war and life and love transcend anything he could have imagined. They are as relevant today as in another time when a well-intentioned America lost its way and stumbled into tragedy. The author is donating his proceeds from the sale of LaRue’s Maneuvers to veterans’ causes.
Customer Reviews:
This Work Should be Read.......2007-09-27
Jim, I really am impressed! This book is good - a substantial work. I enjoyed it very much. I do read a lot - but not very much fiction. When I do read a novel, I tend to be very critical.
I found the story plausible and with merit. I felt the characters developed nicely and simultaneously with the storyline. I don't know how much is based on your life experiences, but it appears there may be more than you acknowledged in Spain.
However, even if I didn't know you, I feel this book would and could stand alone.
I identified with the protagonist in more than a couple of his life experiences, although, obviously, not with his "in country" (Vietnam)experience. Yet, I believe we who are somewhat sensitive, compassionate, and continually questioning just about everything, are, like LaRue, most capable of a little self-induced psychosis. As my old boss (psychiatrist) used to say "there is a little sane in all of us."
Having benefited from LaRue's Maneuvers myself, I feel it will appeal to others as well. In fact, I feel this work should be read, and I'll recommend it to friends.
Obviously you paid attention in class; your work contained all the necessary ingredients to capture this reader's attention - although it did make me want to re-visit my existential philosophers.
Jim, I acknowledge the risk you took in writing LaRue's Maneuvers. It took a lot of reflection, insight and a willingness (need?) to explore intimate aspects of yourself and share them with the world.
Casey Boone, Denver, Colorado
A VietNam-Era Story Still So Relevant Today.......2007-09-25
James Gabbe has taken a theme (coming of age in the VietNam era) that we've all heard many variations on and made it new, real and touching. The device of moving back and forth in a timeline between two stories: that of the characters in their idealistic youth, and that of their later more complicated selves, is very successful. I was drawn in from the first page and didn't put it down till I reached the very believeable (and very satisfying) end. A great read just for it's compelling story, this book has added poignancy today as we as a country once again face the toll that a controversial war is taking on American youth.
A story of love, trust and devotion.......2007-08-30
Jim Gabbe's first novel is a wonderfully colorful narrative about a conflicted young soldier on the brink of manhood during a defining moment in both his and his country's history.
Set in the politically volatile Viet Nam era, Jesse Danbar, the novel's protagonist, moves from idealist to realist, and finally to activist in this emotional story. Love, both romantic and platonic, and the devotion and trust that love implies, are at the core of all Danbar's relationships. It is this love that keeps a damaged soul on track and, in the end, helps to save him. Because the book evolves as a narrative within a narrative, and there are multiple characters being developed, it takes several chapters for the parts to fall into place. When they do, the story takes off as Danbar finds his voice and ultimately his soul.
This novel invites each of us to ponder our own ideals and perhaps face personal questions with a new activism. When backed against a wall - what would you do?
Highly recommended.
LaRue's Maneuvers: A Richly Rewarding Read.......2007-08-03
This first novel by Jim Gabbe is a richly rewarding read for anyone who grew up during the tumultuous era of the Vietnam War and the societal convulsions of the 1960s. Who among us doesn't see pieces of themselves in Jesse Danbar, a.k.a. LaRue, the novel's protagonist, who walks a tortured path from youthful naivete to near-ruinous darkness and self-pity to enlightenment and self-discovery. "Life is a riddle wrapped in an enigma," muses LaRue, and by the end of this ambitious story we have a better idea why.
LaRue's Maneuvers is a coming of age story which ropes us in emotionally and never puts us down. LaRue becomes a foot solider in war he abhors, and the chilling images he conveys of a conflict that is both depraved and grotesque are as poignant today as they were back then. But the book's panoramic sweep goes well beyond Vietnam. We come face-to-face with the fragility of life, and why some individuals like LaRue are able to survive against all odds while others, like his close friend Tim McShane, succumb.
That conundrum is at the heart of this searching novel. In the end, LaRue comes to grips with a simple truth: no individual can save the world, or even his own soul, but "you have to dream and hope and love and try no matter what." LaRue indeed tries, and his cathartic journey - as brashly told by Gabbe - is what ultimately saves his life
A Strong Ambitious Novel.......2007-07-09
Jim Gabbe's novel is a complex narrative describing the hopes, confusion, and suffering of a group of friends coming of age at the time of the Viet Nam war. Though the trauma of combat plagues Gabbe's vet protagonist, the real "enemy" lies in the existential difficulties Gabbe's characters confront. While the protagonist heals himself through work, love, and art; others of the group are not so fortunate.
Gabbe's work represents a powerful effort to break through the stereotypes of 'hippies', 'vets', or 'straights' that have come to cloud our collective memory of those tumultuous years when society itself appeared to be disintegrating; a time during which so many of us found ourselves confronting our own demons after sterotypic enemy of "the establishment" had been defied.
Gabbe's novel recalls Robert Stone's early work, such as Dog Soldiers. While Stone's characters descended into violence and narcotics, however, Gabbe's are searching for answers, and occasionally finding them together before they are torn apart again. Despite the grim outcome for some, there is an underlying spirit of enterprise and optimism; although Gabbe's characters are rebels, there is something quintessentially American about them, and about the courageous, resilient, at times sprawling novel in which they reside.
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- An ongoing review in four parts, part 1: What it is and how to prepare to read it.
- The Real History of Our Constitution
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The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, Vol. 1
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0300000804 |
Customer Reviews:
An ongoing review in four parts, part 1: What it is and how to prepare to read it........2006-04-15
I am rereading these after many years. In working my way through these volumes, I realized that these books require some preparation on the part of the reader. I thought I would therefore tell you exactly what these books are and make some suggestions for preparing to read them. As will become clear when I explain what they are, for me to critique them would be presumptuous and odd.
WHAT THESE BOOKS ARE:
Max Farrand published the first 3 volume edition in 1911. He took all the available records from participants in the Constitutional Convention that were known at that time and published them together. These include the official journal of the Convention (kept by the Convention's secretary, William Jackson), James Madison's Notes on the Federal Convention, Robert Yates' Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Convention..., along with notes or papers written by Rufus King, James McHenry, William Pierce, William Patterson, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Pinckney, George Mason, and the Committee of Detail. These are arranged in a day by day format. So that on May 29th, the day that Edmund Randolph presented the Virginia Plan, we read the enteries for that day in the Journal, by Madison, by Yates, by McHenry and by Patterson. And so on until we reach the end of Volume 1 on July 13th. Volume 2 completes the Convention. Volume 3 and 4 provide supplementary material such as letters of the individual delegates, the various plans presented to the Convention, etc.
Volume 4 was added by Farrand in his 1937 edition and includes material discovered between 1911 and 1937. The whole set was reprinted for the Constitutional Bicentennial.
SUGGESTIONS FOR READING THESE VOLUMES:
1. Buy them all before you start reading the first. Or, at least, buy Volume 3 before you start reading Volume 1. There are too many references to readings in Volume 3. You need to be able to read the Virginian, the Pinckney and the Patterson Plans. You will also want to read the day by day correspondence. I recommend that you read a days entry in Volume 1 and then read whatever enteries are there for those days in Volume 3 and 4.
2. It is probably a good idea to do some preparatory reading. Farrand himself wrote a good narrative of the Convention. There are many others. Try to choose one that doesn't just indulge in hagiography. M.E. Bradford wrote A Worthy Company which is short biographies of all the delegates. Very useful. I also suggest reading some good intellectual histories of the Convention. I just finished reading McDonald's Novus Ordo Seclorum. McDonald is as opinionated as always but he is also very learned and no one writes about the Constitution without opinion. You can choose among Bailyn, Woods, Appleby, Banning, Pocock, Adair and many others for this sort of stuff. (I suggest you try to read somebody whose political bent you don't agree with. I did that purposely with McDonald. That way you might actually catch a whiff of your opponent's ideas when you read the Convention notes. Just a suggestion.)
3. Read these documents with organizing themes in mind. For example:
a. Small states versus large states.
b. Slave states versus less slave states. I have forgotten the exact number but I believe that in 1787 there were either only one or two states were slavery was illegal. I trust someone will write me with the correct information. In any case, it is fascinating to listen to all the ways the delegates talk about slavery without using the word. Not in their personal notes but definitely in their public utterences.
c. Democracy versus Aristocracy.
d. Liberalism versus Republicanism.
And so on. I am sure that all of you can suggest many more. Choose several and watch the ways your themes interrelate in one person or more during the course of that summer in Philedelphia.
I owe this idea to McDonald. He has obviously read his copy of Farrand many times with several different themes in mind. In Novus Ordo Seclorum, McDonald has an altogether brilliant section on Madison's constitutional theories (pp 204-209 of the paperback edition) which he concludes by pointing out that Madison may not have had as much influence on the finished document as people normally think. McDonald notes that on the seventy-one specific proposals that Madison moved, seconded or spoke on, he lost 40 times (pp. 208-9). Obviously, McDonald read his copy once keeping track of who won on what issue. You got to love the guy for that.
Anyway, those are my suggestions. It may seem like a lot of work. It is. But it seems to me that one thing that almost all of us (radical, liberal, conservative, libertarian) have lost sight of is that the Founders expected citizens to be participants. To give up a little for the greater good, to take some time to make the right choices, to be involved. To me that implies working a little to understand our history so that I am better able to participate in our democracy. That's my crazy idea and I am sticking with it.
The Real History of Our Constitution.......2001-08-17
Max Farrand takes the reader day by day through the butcher shop on the second floor of Independence Hall. Hear Alexander Hamilton wax eloquent on the virtues of monarchy! Hear Madison expound on the need for the Congress to have the power to "veto" any state law it considered "unconstitutional"! Hear Geo. Washington describe his main course at Dr. Franklin's table! Hear the great thoughts and ideas of countless men now obscure. You cannot claim to have any library of consequence on American History without these three volumes and the excellent supplement. The real deal.
Book Description
The dissenting opinions of Patrick Henry and others who saw the Constitution as a threat to our hard-won rights and liberties.
Edited and introduced by Ralph Ketcham.
Customer Reviews:
long over due.......2007-09-11
I read the Federalist Papers when I was in school. Both should be required reading today.
An often neglected companion........2007-07-27
This collection of Anti-Federalist Papers is a must for any serious student of our nation's founding. Too often studies of the period only use the better known essays found in The Federalist Papers. This collection of work brought together by James Madison biographer, Ralph Ketcham, can be used with the companion volume of The Federalist Papers to do the arguments justice. America had a dual founding, both sides, Federalist and Anti-Federalist must be studied.
A lot of history in here.......2007-05-07
So many people today talk about the wisdom of the founding fathers and how they would have believed in this or that. Well, read it for yourself in the founding father's own words - it's all in here, and just as important today as it was over 200 years ago.
Great But Incomplete.......2007-03-05
Everyone is probably familiar with what the Anti-Federalist papers are, and the other reviews do a great job of explaining this aspect for those who aren't, so there is no great need to do it again. Needless to say, familiarity with the basic Anti-Federalist arguments and their general themes is essential to understanding the foundation from which the Constitution arose and the twists its historical development would undertake. Believe it or not, but strains of Anti-Federalism are apparent even in today's politics, like the arguments for state power found in debates about topics like abortion or gay-marriage.
The biggest question to ask before buying this book, then, isn't why the information is important, but why you should pay money for something that can be found for free online. There are several reasons, for which I give this edition 4 stars:
First, it is an accompaniment to the Signet Classics edition of the Federalist Papers, and has a variety of cross-references to it. If you have both, it makes the search for certain topics and both sides' arguments in its regard much easier.
Second, it has a great introduction. The problem with approaching the Anti-Federalists without any editorial priming beforehand (whether from an introduction, a class, or both) is that one becomes liable to think of the group as nothing but a rag-tag group of guys with as many different opinions as there are men professing them, whose only point of unity is their opposition to Federalism. Their negative name--the "Anti-"Federalists--implies this, after all, and Madison himself tries to play off this point in one of his papers. The masterful introduction tries to prevent this, by expounding on the fundamental, unifying vision of the Federalists, the Anti-Federalists, and exactly how the two differed.
Lastly, there is a variety of tables of ideas that make finding specific points of opposition to specific topics that much easier.
For these three reasons, on top of the simple fact that it groups together all the scattered Anti-Federalist essays (making it more likely that you will actually read them), I believe this book is worth the $8 that it costs today.
It does have some issues, however. First, the paper quality is the same as of the Federalist Papers edition I reviewed before, with the same associated defect of leaving ink blotches behind on your finger. For some reason, it actually leaves less ink than the Federalist Papers, but the pulpy texture is still unpleasant. Second, and most important, is the relatively sparsity of the essays included. As it is, if you take a class that touches on this topic, you will invariably end up having to find several essays online that were not included into this edition. There presently seems to be no medium alternative between buying a sparse edition like this and a full anthology that can cost into the thousands of dollars, however, so you're not likely to find anything better.
Needs a footnote.......2006-02-23
Ralph Ketcham certainly some respect I had for him when he, in the middle of Patrick Henry's speech, inserted, "Here Mr. Henry strongly and pathetically expatiated on the probability of the president's enslaving America..."
If it were not for the fact that I've already highlighted and marked up this edition, I would buy a different version and use that as my primary source. Mr. Ketcham's remarks were not in good taste, nor was it proper historical method to simply leave out an argument from Patrick Henry, thereby disallowing a following historian to examine and evaluate its merits.
****Note****: About four weeks after I wrote the post above, I discovered that the insert mentioned above was not Ketcham's doing. But rather, the side note of a journalist present at the time of Henry's speach at the Virginia Convention. My apologies to Ketcham. Although, he should have inserted a footnote to make the readers aware of what appears to be an awful bias. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't allow users to edit their ratings and so this version of the Anti-federalist papers will remain at 1 star from me, although it should be a 4 or 5.
Regards,
Brandon K. Harnish
Book Description
Charles Peters's Five Days in Philadelphia tells the story the 1940 Republican convention in Philadelphia when charismatic newcomer Wendell Willkie campaigned as the only anti-Hitler candidate against three leading isolationists. After five action-packed days, Willkie walked away with the nomination-a turn that proved essential in allowing FDR to save Britain and prepare the country for entry into WWII. Where the other candidates would have opposed Roosevelt, Willkie supported him in giving Britain the military aid that enabled it to continue fighting and in enacting the draft that meant this country had an army of 1.6 million instead of just 270,000 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
As Peters shows, the Republican convention and its improbable outcome were as important as the Battle of Britain in defeating the Nazis. These were the five days that saved the Western world, and Willkie was the necessary man. Savvy in its politics, riveting in the stories told, and restoring Willkie to his proper place as an American hero, Five Days in Philadelphia is narrative history of the first rank.
Books:
- The Vision A Two-in-one Volume Of The Final Quest And The Call
- The Weapon (Freehold War)
- The Wisdom of James Allen : Including As a Man Thinketh, The Path to Prosperity, The Mastery of Destiny, The Way of Peace, and Entering the Kingdom (Radiant Life)
- This Moment on Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future
- Those Left Behind (Serenity)
- Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
- Warpath (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
- Weapons of Choice (The Axis of Time Trilogy, Book 1)
- Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex?: More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour
- Windows Vista: The Definitive Guide
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