Kansas Books

This book is an excellent summation of the Benjamin Harrison presidency and covers the tumultuous changes that were occurring in the 1890's. Harrison was the last of the civil war presidents to achieve the presidency and led with a military like clarity that was reminiscent of Grant. Harrison broke the rules of Gilded Age politicians by appointing a cabinet of unknowns and not answering to party machines and stalwarts alike. He was the true commander in chief managing the army at a time during the end of the Indian Wars and Wounded Knee as well as beginning the building of a navy that would allow McKinley to begin an American "empire". Benjamin Harrison also served as his own secretary of state due to the illness of Blaine allowing Harrison unprecedented control that Gilded Age presidents did not typically have. Overall this book hones in on these topics and more following the Harrison presidency and how it impacted America. It is an excellent and brief summation of an important Gilded Age president and well worth the read.

Not only is he one of America's lesser known presidents, Benjamin Harrison is not even the better known of presidents named Harrison. His grandfather, William Henry Harrison, bears the name most Americans remember if they recognize the Harrison name at all. Old Harrison made his name as a dashing military hero; his grandson decades later would fight well under Sherman and attained the rank of brevet brigadier general, but as events would unfold, the country was awash in brevet generals in 1888.

The University Press of Kansas began its presidency series with a treatment of George Washington's tenure in 1974, and as of this writing has brought the series as far along as the presidency of George Bush, Senior. A survey of the series indicates that coincidentally or not, all the volumes to date are remarkably similar in length, just under three hundred pages in most cases. Critics may argue that presidencies such as Lincoln's or FDR's might merit more ink than, say, Franklin Pierce or our subject at hand, Benjamin Harrison. Having read several volumes, I would say that the success of the series to date has been bringing the achievements of the lesser known presidents to more public prominence. Presidents such as Hayes and the second Harrison have done better by this series than have Nixon or Kennedy, whose volumes naturally have had to compete with the products of the likes of Sorensen, Manchester, Caro, Dallek, etc.

The University Press has attempted to stay focused upon the presidencies themselves, which has had the effect of dulling some of our more charismatic leaders and their colorful pasts. [One wonders how the editors will come to grips with Monica Lewinski, when that day inevitably arrives.] Diminishment of charisma is not a problem when treating of Harrison. He was Robert Taft before there was Robert Taft, a tweedy Midwest lawyer who successfully put the excitement of war behind him and nurtured a competent, unflappable, and predictable personality. He won and lost a senate seat prior to the Republican convention of 1888, and became an eighth ballot nominee when it became clear that his party's reigning Hamlet, James G. Blaine, would not run, apparently for reasons of health.

Harrison's pragmatism led him to undertake the formation of his cabinet as an exercise in party unity. One can probably argue that Harrison's presidency never really survived the selection process, for Harrison, in a gesture of perhaps insecurity and stubbornness, refused to allow state party bosses their traditional say in cabinet appointments. Harrison chose a cabinet of men like himself: Midwesterners, brevet generals, Presbyterians. And, until the very last moment, no Blaine. Maine's favorite son assumed himself a shoo-in as Secretary of State. Blaine, a master of denial whose illnesses compromised his effectiveness in Harrison's cabinet, and Mrs. Blaine, put out by her perception of Harrison's lack of reverence for her husband, were simply two of many disgruntled forces in the Republican Party. That the Democrats would storm back in the 1890 congressional elections--aided by a distinct lack of Republican enthusiasm--was predictable early in the Harrison presidency.

Harrison's domestic policy prior to 1890 focused upon issues which, to one degree or another, had been problematic since the Civil War. Tariff restraints, currency debates, civil service reform, civil rights, management of western territories, Indian affairs [including the battle at Wounded Knee], immigration, labor issues and safety were regular staples of government debate. With the House and Senate nearly evenly matched till the 1890 elections, there were no spectacular federal breakthroughs for which Harrison could claim victory. The authors do note that the president deserves more credit for his efforts to establish federal land reserves in the teeth of opposition from the lumber industry. It is also worth noting that more states were formed under Harrison's administration than under any other president; the northwestern alignment of states, as we know them today, took shape with apparently minimal controversy.

Harrison's alienation from party leaders, an unremarkable first two years, his administrative inexperience, and a rather cold demeanor did not augur well for a long tenure in the White House. The disastrous [for Republicans] returns of 1890 assured that Harrison in all likelihood would not lead the ticket in 1892. [His wife's illness and death in that year would make such considerations irrelevant when the time came at any rate.]

Harrison turned his attention to foreign affairs in the last half of his presidency. By 1890 it was beginning to dawn upon politicians of both parties that affairs in Central and South America were taking on an added importance in this country's commerce and defense. For most of the century America's chief concern had been the designs of foreign powers from across the sea. Now the necessity of an ocean-to-ocean canal involved this country more deeply into the relations of South American countries themselves. Harrison was not the first, and certainly not the last, president to assert American hegemony on the South American continent, and his warlike gestures toward Chile were of a cloth with McKinley and certainly Roosevelt, who admired Harrison's belligerence. Harrison also saw the importance of American military and fueling bases in the Pacific in the face of growing German interest in the region. It is not clear that Harrison fully appreciated the unfolding of the new international military order in the way that an Alfred Thayer Mahan or Theodore Roosevelt would, but he can be commended for fidelity to a policy that made the American position in South America and the Pacific much more tenable. And, it should be noted, Harrison conducted his foreign policy without the help of Blaine, who was too ill to assist and too proud to step aside.

Harrison was re-nominated by the anti-Blaine forces of his own party but without wholesale Republican support. The death of his wife during the campaign presaged the elector outcome and Cleveland's re-emergence.

The idea good is the enemy of great is discussed with suggestions for being great.

Dr. Berkner's book was an easy read and a book full of a wide range of ideas which were easy to apply to a variety of situations in any Pastor's career. While reading the book, I found myself asking over and over, is this "correction" or "advice" true to where I am now in ministry? The shot gun writing of a wide range of ideas and helps comes from a pastor's heart for the many shapes and sizes of the pastors he cares for and mentors. I think this book would be helpful to a new pastor because of some often repeated advice that bears repeating the whole of someone's career. The book takes the ideas and makes them applicable because of the author's call to do some goal setting, self-reflection (and the appendixes). Because of the good advice, the exhorting, and the pastoral mentoring, any new pastor or someone returning to the pastorate would ask, "Where am I now in the ministry?" "Where am I going?" "And how do I get there?" This book will help in maximizing the pastor's calling.

This fine book is, as Herbert Hovenkamp has called it, "a monumental achievement." If Ely has missed a connection between railroad law and any other important topic in American legal history, I am unaware of it--everything from the use of slaves to build railroads to insolvency, receiverships, and train robberies.

Ely is not intimidated by the reigning thesis that railroads were "smoking devils" run by ruthless capitalists who bent legislatures to their greed or the notion that judges fell over themselves to protect railroads from tort liability in the name of economic progress. Ely argues instead that far from "allowing carriers a free hand, lawmakers enacted a host of preventive measures and insisted that railroads must bear the cost of regulations to protect the public." (134) Refreshing and right on target is his description of the Mann-Elkins Act (1910) as a "regulatory straitjacket" that helped destroy the railroads.

The potential reader of this book should be warned that though clearly written, it is encyclopedic. Teachers of economic history, legal history, and transportation history will here discover a wealth of illustrations for their classes; a general reader with no absorbing interest in railroads will probably find the presentation overly academic.

James Ely's Railroads and American Law investigates then relationship between the courts and America's first "big business" and the impact railroads had on the American legal landscape. Ely states in the introduction how he wants to avoid stating a thesis (which seems to be a typical lawyer's ploy to avoid committment) but then establishes themes to support his case.

Ely challenges popular myth that railroads literally carried the courts and the lawmakers in their back pockets. The image of 19th century railroads taking land from people and getting all the laws and court decisions in their favor is simply not true. Ely demonstrates how some railroads won court cases while others lost. At times labor or the travelling public won cases while in others railroad interests prevailed. There is no set pattern of cases where one side prevailed over the other. Rates for freight are but one of Ely's examples. Another was railroad mergers and the application of antitrust laws.

This book is not for the casual reader. It is in-depth and at times kind of boring. But legal historians will enjoy the large number of Supreme Court cases referenced and how the author analyses each. I chose this book because I enjoy reading about both topics, railroads and law. Others in this same boat will likely find much offered here.

In Religious Freedom and Indian Rights, Carolyn Long examines the events surrounding the landmark Supreme Court case Employment Division v. Smith, and presents a case study on the struggle between governmental power and individual religious freedom. Using the story of a Native American man fired for worshiping in the manner of his religion, the author illustrates the ongoing struggle in this nation over the meaning of the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment, and its application in American government. As a case study, Employment Division v. Smith is an excellent choice, and Professor Long has done an admirable job of presenting all sides of the issue. By utilizing primary sources such as Justice Thurgood Marshall's personal papers, and through conducting many interviews with those involved with the case, she has written a text that is informative, balanced, and (above all) enjoyable. A great attribute of this book is that it is real; the interviews with Mr. Smith, his attorney, and Attorney General Frohnmayer add a "real life" dimension that many political science case studies lack. The reader walks away from this book knowing that Al Smith is a real person with real emotions and beliefs; that is a refreshing change. The book is a fairly easy read for college students, and the reader is kept interested by the regular "changes in scenery" between the Supreme Court, the attorneys, and the other players throughout the book. Religious Freedom and Indian Rights provides valuable insight into the inner workings of a landmark case and the various dynamics that come to play when one is allowed to take a controversy "all the way to the Supreme Court." This book will doubtless prove to be an asset to those seeking a better understanding of the First Amendment's free exercise clause, and would be a excellent choice as a text for a Civil Rights and Civil Liberties course.

Carolyn N. Long documents the events in the case Oregon v. Smith, the saga of Al Smith, and the Klamath Indians. All the people who played a part in this judicial/legislative/religious tug of war were treated with respect by this author. Long asks us to ponder the question, who is more powerful God or Caesar? The sacramental ingestion of peyote has been part of the Native American Church for centuries. This native belief clashed directly with state and federal laws propelling this case to the highest court in the land. This book is a remarkable work that articulates each argument in a concise manner that is accessible to readers from any discipline. For example, the portion of the book that explains the disagreement between Justice Scalia and Justice O'Conner. Scalia's conclusion that generally applicable laws did not invoke the free exercise clause, was as interesting as O'Conner's refusal to dismiss a century of First Amendment jurisprudence. Controversy and politics make this case especially enthralling. Long describes the legislative process that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act went through. Her focused writing explained how legislative actions sprout and are nurtured through the political process, one reason why this superb book compliments coursework in Political Science. Oregon v. Smith contained interplay between citizens, local politicians, special interest groups and high profile members of the judiciary. The intense political positioning throughout this case, was as intriguing as a good game of chess and more enjoyable than a great work of fiction. Bravo!

In having Dr. Ted V. McAllister as my Western and American Heritage Professor at Hillsdale College,I was able to fully appreciate his historical views on a personal basis. His knowledge of Niccolo Machiavelli and modernity, and the philosophy of Plato relating to Western history is unparalled. His views in his book are presented in a true and indepth fashion. After being his student for two semesters, I will truely miss his insight and knowledge pertaining to historical matters.

McAllister really seems to understand Strauss, which is more than can be said about many who write about Strauss (scholars and otherwise). This will serve as a useful antidote. And of course, Voegelin has long been neglected, so any work treating him seriously is a welcome addition. This should be in the library of serious political theorists.

Personal quotes from current and former rodeo participants enliven this look at one of America's oldest sports. Using the results of a questionnaire, you learn how they think of their lives and their jobs. The authors delve into the good and bad of rodeo, from the financial cost to the medical woes, from the exclusion of women to the changes in the sport, from rodeo history to its possible future. If you're interested in rodeo, you should get this book....

I just recently dicovered this book and boy was I surprised. Personally, I found this book very helpful for the fact that I am a bullrider myself and found the information within it's pages very useful and insightful. It explains the origins of rodeo to the very way to play the game! With in-depth pages on Saddle Bronc Riding, Bareback Riding, Bullriding, Barrel-Racing, and almost every other rodeo event, I don't think you'll find a clearer perspective on rodeo unless you started riding! Please take it from me, for the best book on rodeo, look to "Rodeo In America"

The book arrived in the estimated time and in the condition advertised by this seller.

Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense (SecDef) under George W. Bush from 2000 to 2006. Rumsfeld is chiefly remembered today for his consistently poor judgment and managerial incompetence, especially in the execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the subsequent occupation of Iraq. This book examines how such an excellent and intelligent manager with a brilliant track record (including an earlier (1974-1978) tour as SecDef) could have lost his way so badly. Herspring argues that for all his brilliance and drive, Rumsfeld in the year 2000 was consumed by arrogance, a desire for absolute power, and an unwillingness to learn from anyone. To demonstrate this argument, Herspring reviews how Rumsfeld managed his two most important challenges during his tenure, the Transformation of the U.S. Military and Operation Iraqi Freedom (and the occupation of Iraq). According to Herspring, Rumsfled and his senor assistants in the Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) engaged both challenges with an unfortunate mixture of overweening arrogance and ignorance.

Herspring also argues that Rumsfeld had an irrational dislike of the U.S. Army and its officer corps. He supports this allegation with antidotal evidence, but the reader is left to wonder if this charge is accurate or not. For example, Herspring states that Rumsfeld choose Marine General Jim Jones as the senior U.S. Military Representative at NATO as a deliberate snub aimed at army and, to a lesser extent, air force general officers. While this may very well have been Rumsfeld's motivation, the fact is that General Jones was highly qualified for the NATO position. He is fluent in French (English and French are the official NATO languages), experienced in dealing with high level foreign civilian and military officials, widely respected both in the U.S. and Europe, and equally capable of unambiguous command and diplomatic maneuverings. Perhaps Rumsfeld knew nothing of these qualities, but there is really no way to tell.

Rumsfeld by any standard is a complicated and not always agreeable person. This book is a serious attempt to examine his second tenure as SecDef. It is a good start, but far from the definitive work on the topic.

Every kid, especially black kids should read this book. They will learn what true struggle is, what teamwork is, what overcoming prejudice and hatred look like. Common white soldiers and their officers who had never seen a black person no less cared about them, came away astounded at the black soldiers' bravery and fortitude in battle. At their strong desire to learn how to read, how to be an independent human. Names like Cold Harbor and Fort Pillow will become almost sacred. This was how modern America was built: On a shared struggle for freedom. For evolution.

In this book Dudly Cornish tells about the role of black troops in the Civil War. This book is one of the most comprehensive accounts of a single section in the Civil War. Until I read this book I had no idea to what extent the black solider played in the war. The union may not have won the war if it were not for those black troops. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Civil War.

I really enjoyed "Second-Best Bride" In fact I've read it several times. It's refreshing to read ficton that challenges me as well as entertains. Miss P, The Lamb children, and Meg Shaw were interesting characters that I could relate to. I'm looking forward to reading more of Ruth Glover's books.

Like the rest of the Wildrose series, Glover introduces new characters and blends them with the familiar ones in the Canadian bush town of Wildrose. Meg has always lived in the shadow of her beautiful, more outgoing sister Marlys. As she watches Marlys toy with the emotions of homesteader Royce Ferguson, she realizes that Marlys actually has no intention of marrying him and moving to the wilderness of Wildrose. Meg, who knows that she will be happy even among the hard life and simplicity of Wildrose, eventually comes up with a plan to mend Royce's broken heart and to get out from under her sister's shadow. Meanwhile, back in Wildrose, "old maid" Miss P struggles with the fact that she is alone and has no family. As she takes care of many of the Wildrose citizens in some form or another, she eventually realizes that God has a plan for her and that some families are not necessarily made up of traditional parents and children. Back in Toronto, the Lamb family struggles physically and financially to be able to join their father in Wildrose, only to find tragedy awaiting when they arrive. For the Lambs, Miss P, and Meg, faith becomes reality as they strive to live out what they believe that God has intended for them. Second-Best Bride is a thoroughly enjoyable book about faith, love, and families.

Anyone who has ever been engaged in developing an innovative activity in a highly bureaucratic organization will appreciate the information provided in this book. What to do, how to do it, how to organize the activity, how to present the information, how to share it were all issues the Army, Navy, and national leaders of the United States and England had to resolve under the most difficult of conditions. Most importantly, who gets the credit for it was always a factor. The Navy and the FBI do not come out smelling like roses in this very thorough analysis of a critical chapter in the history of WW II. This is not a book for the novice; a familarity with many of the issues discussed is required for an appreciation of the information it provides. Nor is it a James Bond thriller. It requires attention, effort and a glass or two of good wine. It is a valuable addition to our body of knowledge and is well worth reading. Communication techniques have changed dramatically since these events of fifty years ago took place and one can only marvel at how much more complicated things must be in this field today.

Secret Messages is a meticulously researched, carefully reasoned, and well-written account of the United States government's attack on the diplomatic communications of foreign governments from 1930 to 1945, an attack that produced the most valuable secret intelligence on foreign relations and national security that the United States possessed during this period. Secret Messages is one of the first works to make extensive use of the Historic Cryptographic Collection (HCC), an enormous collection of nearly 1500 boxes of documents relating to United States cryptography and cryptanalysis before 1945 that was deposited into the United States National Archives by the National Security Agency in 1996. The importance of this collection to the history of United States code- and cipher-breaking before 1945 is ably demonstrated by Professor Alvarez, and makes very clear that works on United States cryptanalytic intelligence, foreign policy, and national security policy from 1939 to 1945 that do not take account of the HCC are to a greater or lesser extent (depending on the precise topic) both insufficient and out of date.

Secret Messages provides much fascinating detail on the United States's cryptanalytic attack against the diplomatic communications of foreign countries from 1930 to 1945, an effort that after Pearl Harbor became very wide-ranging indeed, and eventually seems to have included almost every country in the world in its list of targets. While the United States's main cryptanalytic effort before the end of the Second World War was directed against Japanese systems, a fact that was made known to the public shortly after the end of the war, and American collaboration with the British attack against German Enigma systems was revealed in the 1970s, details of the work on breaking into many other countries' diplomatic communications during the Second World War was regarded by the United States government as too important to United States national security (or too embarrassing) to be released until recently. Although few eyebrows would be raised at the account in Secret Messages of United States cryptanalytic efforts against the diplomatic communications of pro-Axis neutrals such as Argentina, Spain, and Sweden, more surprising is the story of the vigorous attempts to break into the official communications of more conscientious neutrals such as Switzerland and the Vatican. Most troubling of all is the material on the cryptanalytic assaults against the communications of staunch Allied governments, such as the governments-in-exile of the Free French, Dutch, and Poles. What strikes this reviewer as ironic is that this tremendous and unscrupulous effort, undertaken mostly by cryptanalysts in the army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) (but which also included the collaboration of FBI agents who burgled foreign embassies in search of cryptographic materials), was made with the full approval and support of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, the statesman who in 1929 as secretary of state in the Hoover administration had shut down an earlier United States cryptanalytic unit, Herbert Yardley's Cipher Bureau, on the grounds that it was unethical for the United States to read other countries' private diplomatic communications. Stimson's abrupt change of attitude is one example of the tremendous rapidity that marked the United States's transformation from isolationism to global superpower.

What effect did the intelligence produced by this ultimately massive cryptanalytic effort have on United States foreign policy and national security policy during the Second World War? Despite its great success in providing invaluable insights into the thinking and actions of foreign governments, enemy, neutral, and Allied alike, Professor Alvarez believes that cryptanalytic intelligence had little impact on policymaking. In part this was because the central figure in United States foreign policymaking at this time, President Roosevelt, had little apparent regard for cryptanalytic intelligence - Professor Alvarez recounts the president's usual practice of having decrypts read to him while he was shaving - and did not appear to distinguish between it and other less reliable forms of intelligence such as his casual conversations with old friends who had recently visited war zones. But this may have been an act on the president's part. Throughout his presidency Roosevelt was notorious for concealing his thinking and motives regarding decisionmaking from those around him and this may also have applied to his attitude towards intelligence, he may not have wished to reveal to people around him which kinds of intelligence he found more valuable and useful than others in case by so doing his thinking on policy matters might be deduced. Professor Alvarez's findings in Secret Messages strongly suggest to this reviewer that every major decision of the president's regarding foreign policy and national security policy during the Second World War needs to be carefully re-examined in light of the newly-released evidence on United States cryptanalytic work during the war. Even when it turns out that cryptanalytic intelligence did not contribute directly to a decision being made, it is still critical to take it into account when considering the president's underlying motives. For example the president's knowledge of the devastating impact of Operation Barbarossa on the Soviet Union in summer 1941, which was communicated to him primarily through the intercepted messages of the Japanese ambassador to Germany, Oshima Hiroshi, and that foretold the probable collapse of the Soviet state, tends to undermine the claims of historians who have argued that President Roosevelt believed right up to Pearl Harbor that the United States could contain or defeat the Axis powers merely by supplying anti-Axis countries with lend-lease aid. Cryptanalytic intelligence supports the view that President Roosevelt knew that without full United States intervention in the European War it was very likely that Nazi Germany would defeat all its enemies one by one. The thoroughness of Professor Alvarez's work on the United States's cryptanalytic attack on the diplomatic communications of foreign governments from 1930 to 1945 casts doubt on his conclusion that this kind of intelligence had limited influence on policymaking. Secret Messages is a significant contribution to the laying of the groundwork for a thorough revision of the history of United States foreign policy and national security policy during a most critical period.