Arkansas Books

Alright, I'll be the first to admit that as a die-hard political news junkie, I had a hard time passing On the Road with Hillary one up. When I'm looking to get the latest bit of political gossip (all the better to meticulously pick apart with a fine toothed comb and later blanch about in a heated blog post) I want it to be a clear cut, unimpassioned view of the issues. I apologize to editors everywhere but; opinions - especially political ones - are just far too messy. And, no, I don't miss the irony in that statement regarding the type of essay I'm currently writing. But as we all know, books are stuffy subjects and, upon picking this book up, I felt a bit of inflammatory rhetoric couldn't hurt, right?
Immediately, I could tell this one would be a doozy; and it wasn't the bright pink and neon yellow color scheme. No, a book on either of the Clintons was bound to be a wholly impassioned one. There was the chance of either a right-wing rail against the very fundamentals of the Clinton machine or a reproachful decry of the news media's special hate for the
ex-presidential family and undying loyal support that Clinton activists are famous for. Despite the cover sporting a look best described as "embarrassing", this book falls in the latter camp.
For many, this reading would be a bit of an outdated one. Published before recent political events, this book misses the time line entirely of Hillary: presidential nominee to instead trace the path of Hillary: presidential wife. This is apparent in the books subtitle: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Journey from Arkansas to the U.S. Senate. Told by one of Hillary's best advance men Patrick S. Halley, it becomes readily apparent that this would be for the most part a feel-good novel. And I'm not ashamed to confess that, putting aside all personal political stances, I felt good reading this.
Quick, with writing balanced by a rather well-paced, good-sized read, On the Road knows how to tell and entertaining story. And that is no small feat. Despite the rather frantic, heady life of those in the political arena - the work itself can be boring, monotonous and - well - make for a less than exciting tale. That however is not the issue here. Far less likely than this, you'll probably noticed instead the almost single-minded liberal slant that Hillary adopts. There is an attempt to make this seem like a natural outgrowth of years dedicated to the former first lady. Of course, one must realize that it would be hard to be around such company and not be caught in the excitement of their cause; but we are only ever given a sneering commentary of the right that edges on domineering.
The humor in On the Road with Hillary is dished out a mile a minute. At its best he reaches nuanced conclusions hitting on the ironies of the distressed political world. At its worst, well, you be the judge of such quaint jabs such as one chapter entitled "Cookie Monster" in regards to, of course, a certain line said by Hillary that certainly offended a large demography of stay at home moms. Its hard to come off hating the man though; he is just as quick to make a self deprecating joke after faulting on the opposing party's line. It doesn't hurt that his tone stays consistently affable and unabashedly his own throughout. He is quick to remind and the reader (should) know; the book is nothing more than an extended anecdote (along with a surprisingly enjoyable process analysis of the work involved in advancing) that takes on an unrelenting unashamed view exclusively from the left side of the camp.
His devotion with the stance, the Clinton campaign, and Hillary herself never falters and borders on more than one occasion with outright adoration. It is to be suspected that working personally with Hillary in a highly emotional, stressed environment would lead to more than just a professionally based connection. As he constantly shows: there will be sweat, blood, and tears. There is a certain level of discomfort placed upon the reader, however, as we are left to speculate upon just how closely he feels with the former first lady. Yes, he's worked with the woman for a good number of years and most likely receded his hair line back a few goo inches with the amount of stress involved; but we are given no mention of his wife back home after such sentimental remunerations of Hillary or even if he has a wife back home to mention. Off-putting as this may be, we are only subjected to endure this a few times throughout the entire course of the text and doesn't prove to be too bothersome.
Upon finishing On the Road, one is most likely to be left with a feeling of new appreciation (if not unguarded hate if you're the type of person that Halley likes to poke so much fun at) for the type of work involved, gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the political life, breathe a sigh of relief along with Halley after a particularly stressful advance job, or feel the heady rush of achievement upon success in the political campaign; for as in all campaigns, sweet victory is a battle won but it remains only a battle in the more far-reaching war.
On the Road with Hillary is not only a celebration of the Clinton family, a look into what really goes on behind the scenes, and a poke - however lighthearted and fun - at the right, but is, at times, an insightful piece too. There is a constant pervading sense that Patrick S. Halley is always on the cusp of some deeper realization. That is, when he puts aside the left or right-wing rhetoric and makes larger extrapolations on politics itself, his ideas are made substantial. However these moments are too far and few between and become obscured just as quickly as they appear by a self-deprecating jab; almost as if he feels uncomfortable when departing from tired ground to make his own view.
An interesting read but certainly not a running candidate amongst the echelons of great political writings, On the Road with Hillary should not be entirely dismissed. It is nhot for everyone to be sure, relying almost exclusively on opinion as its fueling force. But perhaps it is up to the reader to put aside their own opinions, here, and look at a side they may not have seen with a measured nuanced view where he does not. Perhaps there is no greater task asked of the reader than to share along with Halley in his sunny eyed recounts of politics in a celebration of its best, worst, and funniest moments.

I purchased this book so that I could learn what being on the "Advance Staff" was all about. Also I wanted to read something from the perspective of a relatively unknown staffer, one that wasn't being either touted or persecuted by the mainstream media. (Prior to this book I'd never heard of the author, though he apparently was on O'Reillys show.) In general, the book was interesting, though at times I thought it a quite partisan, and often came away with the feeling that the author had more than an employee/employer interest in Mrs. Clinton. (Maybe a bit of a crush on FLOTUS there Mr. Halley??) For that reason, I tended to take some of the book with a grain of salt.

Mr Halley is simply a stooge for the Clintons; he is their response to Drudge they hate so much for having first revealed the Lewinsky story; needless to say, Drudge is as a disgusting a character as anyone trying to balance out his role in the media at the behest of the Clintons who know no limits so far as manipulating public response to their doings is concerned;
nice try, Mr Halley--put on a cap instead of Drudge's stupid hat and make a few bucks along the way...

There is always a possibility that your stalwart support of Senator Clinton (D-New York)will yield a second-tier position in the future Clinton II administration.

Just finished this book. I found it to be a very honest account of Mrs. Clinton. A must read. I've always found it amusing that all the Clinton "haters" out there buy the books and read them!Interesting.

Patrick S. Halley's book On the Road with Hillary is a terrific, rollicking, fun read. For Hillary fans, political junkies, or just folks who want to know what really goes on behind the scenes, this is a great book.
I'm not a political junkie but I learned a lot from this book and enjoyed it...Halley is a great story teller, and he tells a story as if you were in his favorite pub in Boston, with him regaling you with tales of a trip just completed, laughing over a glass of his favorite potion, Guinness stout.
Halley is one of the pople that set up appearances for political figures. He prepares successful appearances for Hillary all over the country, from isolated rural college campuses to big city parades and fund raisers. He visits umpteen countries, suffering the hardships of dining in Paris and visiting the poorest places in the world, including Mother Teresa's orphanage in Calcutta. Through it all he never loses the pinch me sense of wonder of a working class kid who makes it good on his native talents but still can't believe his good fortune.
One of the best parts of the book is getting to look at Mrs. Clinton as a real human being. Halley is an unabashed Hillary lover, and he is right up front about that. The thing I liked though is the book does show her as a real flesh and blood human being, and not the one dimensional figure we get through the media at times.
Halley has a real talent for finding trouble and then getting out of it, usually in a daring and funny way. Some of his best stories are about how he wound up buck naked in the lobby of Tokyo's finest hotel, in a losing test of wills with an enraged yak, and in a shoving match with President Clinton while an aghast Mrs. Clinton looked on. But everyone will have a different favorite from this book.
So Hillary bashers, down a quart of maalox and loosen up a bit! But for Hillary lovers, Hillary neutrals, people who like politics, or just people who like fun, this is the book for you.

Not only did he place his own character on the line, but Mr. Brown has risked his life and that of his family in an attempt to set the record straight, and help uncover some of the dirt on the Clintons and their associates.

The book is an excellent read, and I hope to hear more from this author in the future.

On 10/31/98, L.D. Brown appeared before thousands on the Washington Monument grounds, plus a live national C-Span audience. He announced that what he was about to do, he was doing with reluctance, because of the increased risk that his disclosure would pose for his family. But he felt it had to be done. He announced that the investigation into the death of Vincent Foster could not be properly concluded until someone INTERROGATED Hillary Rodham Clinton about her affair with Vince Foster. "You've heard the rumors and the denials, but I'm here to give first person evidence that it was real. I saw it and talked to them both about it. And she's never even been interviewed!"

What was especially disconcerting was that this brave man's statement, about his observations as the state police driver of Governor Clinton's limo and, later, as the husband of Chelsea's nanny, was spiked nationwide. If this type of story can be made to disappear, who will carry the truth to the American people? When the "main stream" doesn't want such a story aired, it is up to witnesses to publish. This book's addition to the "body of evidence" in the public domain will make future analysts of the Clinton years even more incredulous that the national mass hypnosis has been so successful!

L.D. Brown writes a deeply troubling story, backed up by documentary proof, included in the book. These facts as well as other things which have become public since Clinton left office are defining for anyone who is willing to consider the evidence. The author writes in clear conversational english which makes the impact of the story that much stronger. It is one to which ordinary people can relate, particularly anyone familiar with the sometimes lethal ugliness of organizational politics. He takes the reader, step by step, through his relationship with Clinton-who went from friend and mentor to enemy and tormenter.
I voted for Clinton twice and staunchly defended him during the impeachment investigation and hearings. Eventually the evidence of his ruthlessness, greed, and amorality was too much to ignore. I highly recommend this book for anyone like me who had a hard time letting go of an idealized version of Bill Clinton and his equally appalling wife.

I found this book to be truthful. J D Brown writes about his illegal dealings with the CIA and Clinton. His life has been ruined by the Clinton Machine. In this book he shows how he witnessed the illegal activites in Mena as well as Little Rock. He writes how he has paid dearly for being close to that man, Bill Clinton. I found it hard to put this book down. My hope is that JD's family has peace when Cliton is out of office. This book is well worth the price. Don't miss it.

At potentially great risk to his personal safety and that of his family, Dr. L. D. Brown offers a disconcerting, inclusive, first person account of the moral duplicity and political corruption of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Crossfire is an intelligible, detailed disclosure of the the Clintons' insidious personal and political impropriety from the state level to the White House as experienced by Dr. Brown. He makes no effort to conceal his own involvement in order to protect his integrity and provides pertinent documentation to verify his claims.

I, for one, am grateful for his courage in offering the truth, as he knows it, to posterity by means of historical literature. I definitely recommend that anyone who is interested in insight regarding the Clintons and their administration read and consider the content of this book.

This is the third Banville novel I have read and I find his writing exceptional and challenging. I first read The Sea and then Kepler. Doctor Copernicus, while less poetic than The Sea, is my favorite of the three.

I think it is significant that Banville in his Acknowledgments mentions Thomas S. Kuhn's The Copernican Revolution as a major source. This becomes evident in the second half of the book where Banville does an exceptional job of integrating into novel form Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolution into the narrative structure of the novel. Yet, like the works of Iris Murdoch, the philosophy and science are woven seemlessly into the novel structure, never overpowering. John Banville will win the Nobel Prize for literature one day - mark my word.

There are several strenghts in this novel that I would point out.

First, Banville captured a medieval world of turmoil, disease, filth, ignorance, and death. Yet he also captures how exceptional intelligence may be embedded in this world, rise above squalor, develop an intellectual social network for passage of ideas, and produce a product that will communicate to the future ages. And yet, Banville's genius is also to negate these concepts by revealing that exceptional intelligence is still unable to grasp the thing in itself, the nature of reality. That human squalor is a reality in all times and that Copernicus distances himself from the human condition at a price. Copernicus is also a medical physician who is powerless against the horror of syphilis. Banville also allows us no illusion that science is a process of progress marching toward truth, but he has his character Copernicus recognize that his hypotheses in fact would soon be replaced by new truth systems and these new truth systems were only a micron closer to any final reality. Thus we are presented with a picture of human genius which is shown to be limited by the short life span of humans, our inability to focus and concentrate, the wild distractions of everyday life and the pain of the human condition.

The life of Copernicus takes place during a theological revolution with political ramifications. Copernicus lives in Ermland, a Germanic state ruled primarily by his uncle, the Bishop Lucas. This tiny state falls between the Prussian and Germanic Lutheran forces and those of the Teutonic Knights and the Polish Catholic king. Thus Banville has his Copernicus experience the terrors of a theological revolution, as expressed when Copernicus must list the names of the over 2000 victims of the struggle between the Germanic states and Poland for the tiny Baltic states that lay between them. Whereas Copernicus, a Canon of the Catholic Church, no longer believes in the Medieval construction of God, neither Catholic nor Lutheran, he does cling to the rituals of Catholicism and believes that some human truth resides in these ritualistic acts that are independent of the current theology but may be linked to an ultimate reality beyond human comprehension. Thus he knows the process of revolution and he knows the revolution that his work will stimulate and he knows the costs of revolution.

Banville creates a coldly calculating Copernicus, who uses the bright but egotistical Rheticus, to move his publications forward with strategic publications and timing. That this process was supported by Catholic Bishops would indicate that there is a sub-plot in the novel of subversion of the Lutheran faith and Germanic states by taking the manuscript deep into Lutheran territory for publication and distribution. Copernicus's theories were known and discounted by Martin Luther.

The form of the novel was marvelously post-modern, using a distant all seeing narrator in the early chapters, letters and correspondence in later chapters, the acount of the angry Rheticus in the third quarter of the book, and Copernicus' death bed hallucinations as the final chapter.

The character of Copernicus is dry yet we see how this orphaned boy, reared by the cold calculating Bishop Lucas, tortured by his hedonistic brother, and finally rejecting love that he feels for young Italian physician, prepare his cold soul for the distanced work of abstracting and producing his vision of a sun centered system of planetary motion. It is his angry rejected disciple Rheticus who tells us that the world has been fooled and that the Copernican model in fact does not place the sun at the center of the universe but only offers a model for planetary motion and that the sun now becomes a smaller force in a universe without a center. Thus the Biblical world becomes completely unhinged.

The character of Rheticus is wonderfully written for he is bright but egotistical and this leads to his downfall and his being used as the method by which Copernicus could publish in a politically treacherous time. The conversations between Rheticus and Copernicus reveal that Copernicus grasped the nature of scientific revolution and thus was able to see his own work as launching a coneptual revolution with wide ramifications which one day would be overthrown also.

This is an exceptionally well written novel, complex and rewarding.

Yes, I thoroughly agree with the other reviewers, this book is not Banville at his best. But, having said that, I must remind readers that Banville at his worst is a step above other writers at the top of their form. One might say, as a way of placing the book in Banville's oeuvre that this is Banville post-Nietzsche and pre-Proust. That is, this is Banville after he discovered Nietzsche (who, according to Wikipedia anyway, Banville regards as the greatest philosopher of our time) and before he discovered Proust, whose presence is so apparent in all of Banville's mature novels.

But what does this all mean for his representation of Doctor Copernicus herein? It means that Doctor Copernicus is a Nietzschean Ubermensch or Overman. He is, as one character herein explains, straight out of Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra, like a hawk gazing down at all the ignorant sheep of this world.

What this lends to the novel, in general terms, is a bleak, nihilistic view of the world, or, sticking with the German, Weltanschauung. Banville's Copernicus, like Nietzsche, doesn't believe that there is any absolute reality, even in his own seminal, mathematically elegant view of the world. There is no "thing in itself". There is only the creator, the Overman, and whatever values he posits on this bleak world.

And what do I think of it? Well, this view is contestable, perhaps a bit absurd, when it comes to empirical science and mathematics. But the world in which Copernicus lived was, to the modern reader, almost inconceivably bleak. It was headed toward the bleakest period in German history until the past century, the Thirty Years War, one of the most pointless and barbarous conflicts in human history. It left Germany a wasteland. The prose isn't up to the nuanced Proustian reveries of the mature Banville, but it can still sing. - But, again, what sticks with one after reading it, is a nihilistic, bleak picture of the world and of human endeavour, unredeemed by a delicious, oceanic remembrance of things past. It's not exactly a pick-me-upper.

I'll leave at that except to briefly point out that, early on in the tale, the young Copernicus is confronted with a logic problem by his teacher. The solution is not given in the book. For any compulsive puzzle-solver, like myself, this was a delight. It took me about 20 minutes to work out. Copernicus, young Ubermensch that he was, solved it, of course, instantly.

By now, I think I can recognize Banville's method. I've read all but "The Sea" and his first two novels; I tried "Birchwood" but found its Gothic gloom too dim. How does DC rank among his other novels? I found it matches "Kepler" not only in the obvious ways of scientific exploration within a dismal and largely uncomprehending society that lags considerably behind the driven pace that propels its restive intellectual misfits. In the use of exchanges of letters, of another perspective by a rival, and in the evocative opening and closing sections, the muddled middle is balanced by the clarity of the book's start and finish.

As with my reviews of his other novels, I will offer a sample of his prose style and his power of characterization. He introduces an early teacher of Copernicus: "his life was a constant state of vast profound annoyance. The ravages wrought by the unending war between his wilfulness and a recalcitrant world were written in nerveknots on the grey map of his face, and his little eyes, cold and still above the nose thick as a hammerhead, were those of the lean sentinel that crouched within the fleshy carapace of his bulk. He did not like things as they were, but luckily for things he had not decided finally how they should be. It was said that he had never in his life been known to laugh." (12-13)

Copernicus is another in Banville's long parade of unlikeable protagonists. The author seems more mired in the details that he brings into the Prussian/Polish/Italian/Teutonic Knights/papal power struggles that accompany first Columbus and then Luther's challenges to the status quo. That is, Banville in this rather early attempt at a historically grounded examination of one man's conceit and compulsion to expand upon and capture the visions in his mind more often than in his later novels gets too bogged down in minutiae. However factual the sources he consulted and adapted are, many of the diplomatic details, the sinister hangers-on, and the high-minded conversations only intermittently soar into the type of prose that, in the novel's beginning and end, remind you of the shifts that open Joyce's "Portrait" as well as a more accessible (barely at times) Beckettian attitude, one largely of contempt by the protagonist for his puny rivals.

This hubris, characteristic of a Banville figure, will bring Dr. C. down, and for a man who feels old at 28, the long slide does not make for a sympathetic or particularly engaging character study. Too much of the central part of the novel is taken up with languid descriptions and an air of lassitude. Less clearly even than in "Kepler," which is saying something, what Copernicus battled to present on paper remains too elusive. While this "failure to communicate" may be understandable in Banville's design to present the failure as well as the intermittent (and barely felt here) success of Copernicus, it does not make for much of a plot that pulls you in, much less a protagonist of interest to the reader.

The rival Rheticus comes to grouse and narrate for a time, as if Banville senses the doldrums, and the pace picks up considerably in the last two sections to match the opening's sense of wonder with a now dismal sensation of defeat in how one man tries to take on the whole universe and force it into his new conception of the nature of things. By no means a bad novel, and in portions rewarding, but not an equal to his later fictions of other bold failures and how they try to redeem themselves. And few novelists can match Banville's amazing ability to pull together in the last pages of his novels all of the themes and characters and poignancy that caps, it seems, his protagonists' declines and falls.

I decided to read this book because I very much enjoyed Mr. Banville's latest novel, The Sea, and I wanted to read some of his other work. As a physicist, I was immediately attracted to his three titles on some of the great scientists: Copernicus, Kepler and Newton. As Doctor Copernicus is the first book in the sequence, I started with it and found that I enjoyed it very much.

Of course, this book is very different from The Sea. Doctor Copernicus is one of Banville's early novels and it shows. It is a young man's book. His confidence as a writer is not as evident, his vocabulary is not so wide and the prose does not have the beauty and smoothness that it will come to have. On the other hand, this is a book that believably evokes the time period--the squalor even of the rich, the plagues & poxes, the political & religious intrigues. It is fascinating to submerge oneself into this world.

Mr. Banville also creates a number of excellent characters in this novel: Copernicus' brother, Andreas, and his uncle, the Bishop Lucas are two of the best though my favorite section is the one narrated by Rheticus, a fascinating man who had great influence on Copernicus' life and work. My only complaint is the character of Copernicus himself. Perhaps it is my own extensive experience with scientific history and biography, but the Copernicus Banville creates doesn't quite match up with the Copernicus I see in my head.

Still, how could I expect it to? This didn't stop me from enjoying the novel. I recommend it.

Perhaps, the most salient quality of Mr. Baneville's novel is the medieval context in which it placed. This is a world where syphilis is a terminal and disfiguring disease, where bandits and brigands roam the countryside raping and looting at will. It is a world still lost in the dark caves of superstition and ignorance humanity retreats into when the lights of science and reason have been lost. Baneville's focus and adroit recreation of the perilous setting of late medieval Europe highlights the ultimate importance of Copernicus's astronomical theories and why they were so much more than some abstract academic exercise.

I met Jimmy Carter in 1991, when he and I were in Zambia at the same time. It is hard to meet a former US Presdient, and ironic to meet him in Africa. I was resident in Kenya at that time, working as a linguist designing language and culture training programs for foreigners coming to work with Christian churches.

I happened to be visiting in Zambia at that time investigating local resources for organizing a language programs for the language of the Lozi people, who live along the Zambezi River in Zambia and surrounding countries. Jimmy was there with staff from his Carter Foundation monitoring the elections of the country for a transition to democracy after a long period under the first president, really a dictator, Kenneth Kaunda.

I was invited to attend a meeting of American missionaries he was scheduled to address. He was a wonderfully unpretentious and personable person, a real person meeting other real persons. He spoke formally and then informally at a general reception with us. After the meeting with the gorup, I had a further opportunity to visit with Jimmy personally. I joined the leader of the mission group that had arranged the meeting to talk informally with President Carter as he sat in the open door of his van, while waiting for the final security checks to be finished by his Secret Service officers before his departure.

In this book Jimmy Carter presents his experiences and memories of his one term in office as President of the United States. He expresses himself in the same personal, unpretentious and humble style he exhibited when speaking to us in person. He writes in an honest and confessional style to present his experiences. He writes not in terms of a catalogue of events, but in personal terms of his thoughts and feelings as the events unfolded.

He starts off with the Iran hostage affair, which was not finally resolved until a few minutes after he had already relinquished his office to Ronald Reagan at the January 20 swearing-in ceremony. It was clear to us who observed this sad situation from an overseas view that the Iranian Revolutionary government had conducted this affair over the last year of the Carter Presidency primarily to undermine the US, but specifically as a slap at President Carter.

This in itself is ironic, because the general reaction to President Carter from overseas, and epecially the "Third World," was that now we had a US president who could be trusted, who tried to meet the rest of the world on its own terms, and who wanted to do what was best for the whole world community -- to do what was right.

Carter expresses the same disappointed concept of the Iran hostage affair. Perhaps the Revolutionary government of Iran had already been given some word from the Reagan Republican campaign that they would get a special under-the-table deal on arms if Carter were defeated. Who knows why they thougth this was the right approach towards America and its conciliatory president?

In this book Carter reveals his approach to personal and international affairs. He wanted to be honest, consistent in his moral consideration for both private and public responsibilities and decisions. This approach to life and relationships was proven in the unprecedented success and acclaim he has been awarded in his post-presidential activities of international diplomacy, peacemaking and counseling to many governments, heads of state and the whole international community. These accomplishments and contributions far outstrip beyond what he do with the restrictions and political hobbles inherent in the jealousies of Washington.

Washington, and indeed much of the country at large, could not understand a leader who never hid his sincere, honest and consistent desire to be a moral person as the leader of the nation. They could not understand the approach that decisions were made on the basis of universal principles of right and wrong, not political advantage.

This book is inspiring, informative, endearing and challenging in its presenting of a goal of personal integrity in all aspects of life, expressed by this great man.

I am one of those people that has to finish a book once I begin, whether it's great or terrible. I wished I wasn't after the first page of President Carter's memoirs.

My opinion of Jimmy Carter as a President aside, this book is an exhaustively boring collection of boring anecdotes, embarassing international incidents, and cowardly Presidential acts and statements. I'm too young to remember the Carter Presidency in any detail, but I can only imagine how truly miserable a time that must have been for our nation with the author of these memoirs at the helm.

I've read many Presidential memoirs and autobiographies, particularly those of the last half century. Interestingly enough, I'd skipped right over Carter's, jumping from Ford to Reagan without much concern. The historical void that doing so created left me feeling better off than having now read "Keeping Faith." No other work authored by a president or past president has left me feeling more insecure at the thought of that man having been the most powerful in the world for a time.

Jimmy Carter is like Herbert Hoover in more ways than one. Hoover's memoirs are among the most lucid and insightful that any president has ever written. So are Carter's. Hoover was one of the most intelligent presidents we've ever had. So was Carter. Hoover translated Christian charity into concrete action all his life. So has Carter. But Hoover's presidency was one of the century's worst. Regrettably, so was Carter's.

The Camp David Accords and the Panama Canal Treaties were his only notable successes. These were grievously outweighed by his failures -- double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates, the ill-considered "crisis of confidence" speech, the fall of Nicaragua to the Sandinistas, and the fall of Iran to medievalist radicals. On this last point, Carter's refusal to let the Shah come to the US to die was motivated by a desire not to offend the Islamic militants who hated him. (Don't take my word for it; read Carter's own explanation in "Keeping Faith.") For all Carter's moral courage, this episode is one of the most despicable examples of moral cowardice in the history of the presidency.

The message of American weakness was not lost on the rest of the world. Our allies in Europe, doubting America's commitment to them, proposed to base intermediate-range nuclear missiles on their own territory, which led to so much danger in ensuing years. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan. And the Iranians seized the US embassy and held the hostages for 444 days. That they were released at the very moment of Reagan's inauguration was no coincidence.

Carter's book is not very candid. It lays much heavier emphasis on the few successes than on the areas of weakness and failure, and has a flavor of rationalization and self-justification. And his discussion of his meetings with Reagan during the transition after the election of 1980 is bitter and petty.

If he could rewrite his memoirs today, I suspect Carter would do it differently. His life since then has been so exemplary that he no longer needs to worry about history's judgment of his failed presidency. For that judgment will be eclipsed by history's judgment of him as a man.

Growing up in the 1990s, I was never familiar with President Carter or his specific policies. This book gives a very thorough and honest review of the major policy issues confronting President Carter in the late 1970s. If you think his presidency was a failure, you should at least take time to read about why he acted the way he did. He explains the seemingly endless energy debate in great detail and also what led him to give his infamous "crisis of confidence" speech. He gives a practically minute-by-minute account of the hostage crisis and how he worked (successfully) to win their release without nuclear weaponry or massive bloodshed. His coverage of the 1980 election was somewhat superficial so I suggest those interested in that election look elsewhere. If you are a die-hard Republican intent on bashing President Carter, this book is not for you, but if you are sincerely interested in knowing more about the Carter administration, then by all means buy it. Carter does try to justify his actions, but what presidential memoir doesn't? This is a great book that some of the other reviewers seem not to have read.

Jimmy Carter was a unique individual among recent US Presidents. In the wake of Watergate a man unknown outside of Georgia stunned the pundits by taking both the Democratic Nomination and the Presidency. He brought to the Oval Office a habit he shared with two of his 20th century predecessors, Nixon and Truman - that of writing dailiy entries in a diary. This he maintained, thankfully, throughout his presidency. It is from these entries that his memoirs are constructed.

The book is refreshingly open and honest abount the man's objectives, triumphs, mistakes and regrets. The problems that Jimmy Carter faced in the White House were tremendous. His solutions were thoughtful and long term. Thus we are left with the perception that Carter was a failure. He did fail in making Americans feel good, and he failed in the image game. He never came across well on television and came across preachy.

Had Ford won in '76 he too would have faced the same crises, and, perhaps would have managed them as well as did Carter. Ford would have done so with a Washington savy that smacked of competence. Carter won essentially because he lacked such Washington savy - I honestly believe he lost in '80 for the same reason. The This book succeeds where President Carter failed - in communicating his ideas.

Ironically, The Great Communicator's book fails where Reagan was most successful. 'Keeping Faith' is well written and worth the reading - this cannot be said of Mr. Reagan's memoirs 'An American Life'.

I started reading the book about a week ago, because I'm visiting New Orleans in a week, and I like to get into the mood and feel of a city or a place I'm going to visit. Once I started reading it, it just swept me away, it was a fast read, the characters were interesting and I got hooked right away into the story and what would happen to Amanda. I put it down for a week, and then I picked it up on the train home from downtown Miami, and I got wrapped up again, and its like the Buffalo River, it just takes you where its going to take you. I could relate to Amanda because I would like to be a writer, myself, and right now I'm studying Spanish, but not to become a translator like Amanda. I could relate to Amanda, and her feelings and her passions and her guilt and her freedom, wanting to be free and to find out who she is and make her own unique contribution to the world. I love that about Amanda. I like her sense of adventure and survival, going in that canoe down the Buffalo River. I was sad at the way it ended, Will dying in a car accident in a snow storm. Will had gifts too, but he couldn't seem to focus on them and was not as determined as Amanda to do his thing in music as she did hers in writing and translating. I liked the descriptions, the beauty of thought and place and honesty of emotion. I liked hearing the thoughts of the men when they were in love with Amanda and their emotional struggles. I've been in love this summer and I know a man who struggles with this heart and his passion for me. I liked all the people in the book, the masseuse, the doctor, the professor, the potter, the lawyer, all their struggles and feelings. I have two more of her collections of short stories I bought years ago, I am going to read, now, better late than never, Victory Over Japan and In the Land of Dreamy Dreams. I felt like a hooked fish, when I started to read her book, and I couldn't get off the line. My dad felt the way Amanda did about the Catholic religion. The book reminded me of a book my dad liked Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe. I hope to write a book, someday, that good, something that grabs your heart and your emotions.

I have twenty pages left to the end of the book and I'm savoring every last page. She creates such vivid characters and the story draws you in immeadiately. Great writer and great read.

I first read this book at the suggestion of a friend, and it was the first time I ever read anything by this author. I much prefer her short stories, and some of her other characters over Amanda. Amanda can be over-the-top in some ways, and at times I felt like I just wanted to slap her!

But, I found I couldn't put the book down and I loved Gilchrist's skill in evoking a sense of place -- both New Orleans and Fayetteville, Arkansas. I've been to both places and Gilchrist manages to capture the "feel" of both towns.

The ending is sad, but interestingly, in one of her later short story collections -- I think it's "The Age of Miracles" -- Gilchrist writes a short story that is a different ending to this book. And that ending I would have liked better!

I had never heard of Ellen Gilchrist but was given a tattered copy of "The Annuciation" by a friend. After the first page I was hooked. The writing is sharp and descriptive and the characters are intriguing. The story begins with the lead character, Amanda, as a little girl and follows her life through middle age as she searches for herself, her child and her passions. There's much to connect with for women and while there were one or two times when I thought things were a little far-fetched, overall it was a great read.

A great book. The first I have read of Gilchrist. I found it strange that I didn't really get attached to any one character and felt anger toward Amanda, the main character for many of the BAD choices she made again and again. If you don't want to know the ending before you read it, don't read the next review . . . she gives it all away!!!

A great story, albiet a bit dark.

This book is a summary by the former President on his experiences negotiating the Camp David Accords, his visits to the Middle East, and portraits of the Arab and Israeli leaders through his eyes. The former president actually maintains that peace in the Middle East must be based on Israeli recognition of the Palestinians' right to self-determination and Arab recognition of Israel's right to exist. If you wish to start to see how our Former President saw the Middle East, it is worth reading.

This book gives good insights and makes you under stand the middle east where the countries in the middle east are coming from. He examens Israel, Syria, Lebanon, The Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia and tell what there interests are. If you want to understand the Middle East better or are just interested in polotics, or history I would Highly reommend this book.

In this book, President Carter shares his experiences in dealing with Middle Eastern leaders as they attempted to create peace throughout the region. President Carter uses religious history to bring coherent insight to the reader about this conflict and proposed resolutions. Through his descriptions of the heads of state at the Camp David Summit, President Carter exposes each leader's humanity (including his own)giving the reader further understanding of this situation and politics overall. As one interested in what happens behind the scenes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and give it thumbs up to like-minded readers.

Jimmy Carter begins his demystification of the political, religious, and ethnic turmoil in the Middle East with a comprehensive chronology of the history of the region, dating from circa 9000 BC to the publication date of the book (1985). His introduction elaborates on the historical timeline and then branches out into his main thesis, a concise and personal explanation of the interrelational conflict between the countries of the Middle East, including Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. The consummate southern gentleman, Carter recounts his experiences with the kind of well-mannered, even-tempered prose to which Americans have become accustomed. The author deconstructs the complex issues of the Middle East with an open-minded, balanced approach in which he portrays each country's paradigm as legitimate. Not only does Carter give validity to each country's concerns, he also believes that each religious affiliation -- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- have legitimate claims in the various conflicts brewing in the Holy Land.

Former President Carter is one of the very few American statesmen whose words are taken in an unbiased manner by Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike, both in the Middle East and here at home. Perhaps this is why Carter was able to negotiate an Egyptian-Israeli peace deal between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. This moderate, cooperative persona of Carter can be seen patently throughout The Blood of Abraham.

Carter is known for having the tendency to be overly idealistic at times, but I found his approach in his book to be quite honest and forthcoming. Carter is not out to avoid hurting peoples' feelings, but does temper his criticisms by giving the benefit of the doubt to each sides ability to eventually reach a compromise. This is illustrated on page 47 of The Blood of Abraham where he calls the Israeli mindset intransigent, but then later in the same paragraph discusses how he believes most Israelis do long for a plurality that will be accommodating to both sides. Carter even hints that he believes the Israeli government relies far to casually on excessive military might which exacerbates the conflict. He also gently talks about how Israel's racist minority - or perhaps majority - must avoid treating the Palestinians as second-class citizens without rights. To Jimmy Carter, the most attractive option is granting autonomy and the right of self-determination to the Palestinians within most of the West Bank and Gaza areas, provided substantial demilitarization of the area occurs and there are adequate guarantees that Israel and Jordan's security will not be threatened.

Other neighboring countries viewpoints of the situation are also discussed. The general theme that Carter portrays of the near Arab countries is that Israel creates illogical reasons to expand it's scope of power. He believes local Arab countries have the viewpoint that Israel is a domineering country that continues to occupy new lands and sends excessive military power to reside in native, non-Judaic areas permanently to protect their Jewish minority. They believe that the blood shed by innocent Palestinians is not considered to have any value by the Israelis and the supporting American Government. Carter illustrates how the local Arab countries fear that Israel has become a pawn for the United States to dominate the Middle East for it's own economic gain and belief in it's own cultural superiority. Many Arabs must be appreciative of a former American president validating their strongest concerns and granting importance and concern for their struggles.

Jimmy Carter's writing shows strong Christian inflections. His deep, sincere belief in his faith is responsible for the connection he feels with the past and present events in the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Holy Land. In Christian tradition, a lasting peace must be achieved in Jerusalem before their savior, Jesus, returns in glory and creates a new heaven here on earth. Understanding Carter's deep religious convictions may help the reader understand how somebody like Carter who grew up far removed from the Middle East situation in Plains, Georgia could be so passionate and proactive about a lasting peace there.

As the title suggests, Carter believes this conflict originates all the way back to the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was supposedly not fertile and Abraham decided to have a child with his wife's servant Haggar. They had a child and his name was Ishmael. He was a wild sort according to the passages. Abraham later had another son with his wife Sarah when she become fertile again. Their son was called Isaac. Modern Arabs, according to some traditions, are descendants of Ishmael. Modern Jews, according to those same traditions, are descendants of Isaac. There is a prophecy in the holy scriptures which foretells that Ishmael and his descendants will always strike the heels of the descendants of Isaac. I believe the title shows that Carter takes this prophecy literally and wants to illustrate the interconnectedness of events in the Middle East, as a process that is under the control of God and his will. Although Carter's book begins with a historical timeline of the events, he never divides the history of the Holy Land into segments. He is more concerned with dividing the dissertation into near-timeless ideas represented by different countries and how to resolve them.

Because this is a personal account about Carter's ideas and experiences regarding the Middle East peace process, he doesn't often refer to secondary sources. In the appendix however, Carter includes many important documents, treaties, and speeches which are pertinent to what he discusses including Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and the Camp David accords of 1978 to create a lasting peace between Israel and Egypt.

This book is by no means complete in itself. It is only one man's view of the major problems and contentions the various ethnic groups in the area have and more specifically, the experiences that the author has had in trying to resolve them and what he has learned from them. The lasting impression one gets after reading The Blood of Abraham is the unflinching dedication of Jimmy Carter to the peace process, and his innocent, idealistic view on the capacity of the human nature to be cooperative even in the most competitive circumstances.

A must for understanding the middle east. Everything Jimmy Carter said in 1983 is still true today... "only more so."
A perfect blend of ancient and modern histories. His personal experience makes it come alive.
I couldn't believe how clear it was. Very understandable.

One of the most beautiful and important books ever written. I loved Stoner and this novel was just as stunning if not more so. If I had it my way this would be a must read for every person who was interested in the American West.

The novel is set around a Harvard graduate's search for self-understanding and initiation into manhood through participation in a buffalo hunt during the 1880's. While the setting and subject matter are clearly "Western" in nature, the novel shares few other similarities with traditional stories of the West. There are no encounters with Indians or shoot-outs with rival Cowboys. Instead, Williams' story brings to life the brutal nature of the hunt, the drab and barren existence of life in a Colorado boom-town and the mix of beauty and terrible ferocity of nature with an almost naturalistic approach similar to that of Zola.

A let down and disappointment after reading his novel "Stoner". This story is a rather boring example of "A boy's swell adventure" without much adult interest. I don't think the author was close to this subject. Some gruesome description of the slaughter of bison is not news to me but might enlighten those who still hold on to the myth of the west and its heroes. Such a contrast to "Stoner" which is brilliant and obviously an area close to William's experience and knowledge. I think "Stoner" is one of the best novels I've read in the last 60 years or so. Skip Butcher's Crossing and go directly to "Stoner".

This is the third of John Williams' major novels I have read, although it preceded his other two significant novels, "Stoner" and "Augustus." Williams is just amazing: this novel (purportedly about a buffalo hunt in Colorado in the late 19th century) is entirely different from "Stoner" (set in an academic setting in early to mid 20th century Missouri), which in turn is entirely different from "Augustus" which focuses upon the first real Roman emperor. Yet, each novel speaks with an authenticity that is truly unique. As is true with the author's other two novels, there is more at issue here than just a buffalo hunt. His carefully structured narrative raises issues of the closing of the frontier, man v. nature, loyalty and honor, and the dynamics of human interaction. His style is also different from "Stoner," which was as lean a novel as I have read; here there is much more description, dialogue, and setting the stage. This very fine New York Review of Books edition (which also published "Stoner") is well crafted and has a helpful introduction my Michelle Latiolais, a former student of Williams. Amongst other things we learn that Williams in effect smoked himself to death, dying from emphysema. What a loss. We also learn from her introduction that some consider this book "the finest western ever written." Well, I guess it is sort of a western, though the characters don't wear funny hats and carry six-shooters; I prefer to think of it as a great novel set in the west rather than necessarily a "western." A truly magnificant work of literary craftsmanship and a great reading experience.

If such a thing as the Great American Novel can be said to exist, it would very likely encompass the country's 19th Century westward expansion. After all, it was this irresistible land grab - with its ruthless expulsion and genocide of native Americans, its hunting to exinction of buffalo, and its struggles against Nature in search of the better life - that defined America's cultural personality and self-image for the following 150 - 200 years. The rootless but ever-hopeful individualist, the lonely conqueror of Nature, the rugged Marlboro Man begat the robber barons and industrialists, the real estate, oil, and hedge fund tycoons, the Internet entrepreneurs, and even the self-righteous, Iraq-invading neoconservatives.

Amazingly, John Williams's utterly brilliant BUTCHER'S CROSSING - perhaps, indeed, THE Great American Novel - appears to have gone largely unnoticed among the general reading public. Published in 1960, five years before the author's equally impressive STONER and 25 years before Cormac McCarthy's deservedly renowned BLOOD MERIDIAN, BUTCHER'S CROSSING encapsulates many of the American West's mythologies. Yet Williams is hardly a romantic in his interpretation. He presents the opening West as harsh and brutal, populated by socially challenged obsessives who view the land and everything in it as their private domains, seized by choice and held by force of will and gun.

Williams's ostensible hero is William Andrews, fresh from three years at Harvard and seeking an adventure in the West with a childlike enthusiasm and understanding. His mind filled by a romantic, Emerson-inspired view of Nature and his pockets filled with an inheritance from his uncle, Andrews heads for the decidedly uninspired, six-building town of Butcher's Crossing, Kansas. Within a matter of days, greenhorn Will has met the local buffalo hide trader McDonald and a long-time buffalo hunter named Miller. The traditional hunting grounds in Kansas have already been depleted to the point where only small herds of a few hundred animals can be found. However, Miller had discovered a hidden mountain valley in Colorado nine years earlier teeming with buffalo and has been waiting for enough money to finance the expedition. In return for accompanying the party as an apprentice hide skinner, Andrews underwrites the hunt. Miller recruits his neurotic sidekick, the Bible-beating Charley Hoge as the wagon man and a taciturn German named Schneider as their skinner. While Miller is away purchasing the necessary supplies, Will meets a prostitute named Francine. She falls for his soft hands and not yet hardened heart, but the immature Will is frightened off by her aggressive sexuality.

The bulk of BUTCHER'S CROSSING concerns the journey to find the buffalo, Miller's rediscovery of his Shangri-la valley, the hunt itself, the life-threatening storms the group endures, and finally, the difficult return trip to Butcher's Crossing to sell their hides. Along the way, Williams's book becomes a classic coming of age story, a discourse on ecology and species survival, and the story of an irrational, Ahab-like obsession that nearly ends in the men's destruction. In the end, Williams levies his own ironic form of judgment against Miller and McDonald for their repeated violations of Nature. Despite reconciling his feelings for Francine on his return to town, Andrews's future in the West is left deliberately uncertain. Perhaps he has finally learned to live with and respect Nature and will eventually find his rightful place. Or perhaps he, too, will be punished for his sins, forever banished to wandering the wilds alone, scarred by the real-life education he so enthusiastically sought from Miller.

Throughout the book, Williams's writing is sparse and direct, unsparing in its treatment of the men's deprivations and the bloodiness of the hunt. His characters are distinctive and memorable; although we never see deeply inside them, we know them for the archetypes they are. Dialog is limited and short, as these are men of few words. The overall effect of the writing remarkably prefigures that of Cormac McCarthy without the density and compound, run-on sentences, resulting in a highly readable and deeply engaging page turner. Fans of McCarthy will certainly appreciate Williams's accomplishment here, but I believe BUTCHER'S CROSSING merits a much wider audience. This is a magnificent but regrettably under-recognized work of literature that feels timeless in its writing style and enduring in its themes.

While some readers may find the storyline a little bawdy and maybe even a smidgen on the naughty side, BUTTERFLY WEED is a real literary treat and not to be missed. It is among Harington's best work. Set in the rural Arkansas Ozarks, readers are treated to the adventure-filled life story of Doc Swain, the venerable doctor of Stay More--that sleepy hamlet high in the mountains of Newton County at the center of most Harington novels.

Swain's popular medical practice involves, among other oddities, curing patients in his dreams! You'll meet the loves of his life, his family and foster father, his chief competitor, and of course the many other interesting characters of Stay More. His education in medicine and subsequent certification, we learn, are far from conventional.

The story is narrated by a real life historical collector of folktales, the late Vance Randolph, which makes for an interesting telling and an authentic dip into local vernacular.

Above all, this is a tale full of humor and magic and it will live in your soul for a good spell, long after that last page.

It's such a shame that Mr. Harington ruined what seemed to be a real good read. I quit reading it when Alonzo started having sex with his sisters & the f work was used constantly. As far as I'm concerned, he ruined it! It is possible to write a good book without the trash! I rated it a 1 because there was no 0!!

Butterfly Weed was my first foray into the works of Donald Harington and the town of Stay More. I got this book not knowing that it was part of a series of books; when I found out, I was worried that I wouldn't have the necessary background to enjoy the story. My worries were unfounded. The longer I read it, the more I liked it. I finished it wanting to know more about the Stay Morons mentioned in the book and craving more of Harington's folksy humor.

This book is incredible. It's written from the perspective of Vance Randolph, a famous Ozarks folkorist in real life, as he is telling it to Mr. Harington. There's more than a couple humorous references to Randolph's work, notably Pissing in the Snow, which is a collection of Ozark sexual folklore, and it's a pretty damn imaginative premise. Which serves well to describe the book itself. It's set in the unfortunately-fictional town of Stay More, in real, breathtaking Newton County, Arkansas. It is the story of one Doctor Colvin Swain, born and raised in Newton County, culminating in a beautiful romance. Harington never ceases to keep me reading, and beyond being a pleasure to read, it's often painful to pause. It's gripping. The majority of the Doc's story is a hilarious, libidinous, pastoral narrative told in past tense, which switches to the present and then future tense, which Harington does effectively, and with magnanimously powerful, emotionally resonant results. It's one hell of a book. I wouldn't hesitate to rate it up there with the best of anyone from Kesey to Steinbeck to Melville. It's that good.

I simply cannot believe that Harington himself and this book in particular are not more well-known. The strange lives and happenings in the fictional town of Stay More are never anything less than utterly entertaining. Harington's use of Ozarkian dialects really makes the characters pop out--they often say the darnedest things! One of his other books, "The Choiring of the Trees," is also an excellent read. I recommend them both with equal enthusiasm.

My wife's great-great-great grand father was killed at the Battle of Prairie Grove and the detail Banasik provides goes well with what we have been able to put together. Her great (3x) uncle wrote a letter home to inform the family of his brother's death and that letter and this book go hand in hand in detail. If you want to know about Prairie Grove and Cane Hill, read this one.

Banasik obviously put a vast amount of effort into his work and it shows! It details the war around Arkansas for only the last nine months of 1862, but from a huge list of sources, he's gleaned nearly 500 pages of information. For some it may be a tedious read (the Prairie Grove Battle is almost second by second and comprises over a hundred pages), but for those of us with ancestors in the battle it was exciting to relive the moment by moment action. The Prairie Grove Battle hasn't been built up like the Eastern battles, but Herron's heroic march and then the amazing luck when Blunt arrived in the nick of time to relieve Herron and the fact that Arkansas was saved for the Union for another year places it as a small but relevant piece of history.

The extended title of Michael Banasik's Embattled Arkansas: The Prairie Grove Campaign of 1862 is misleading, but in a very good way. The author does not just cover the Prairie Grove Campaign, instead extending his coverage to the entire war in Trans-Mississippi Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and the Indian Territory from just after the Battle of Pea Ridge through the end of 1862. And he covers this long neglected topic in great detail, supported by numerous maps and illustrations. Banasik makes clear in his forward that the book is mainly a military history, and he further states that the book is first and foremost a retelling of the military events that occurred in this area and time. He goes on to point out that the book is not meant to analyze these events so much as it is to describe them, saying "with few exceptions, [I] have left the speculation and analysis to others who might follow." In this and several other ways, Banasik's book reminds me of Ed Bearss' masterful 3-volume work The Vicksburg Campaign.

I read Banasik's rather large book in only several days. This is another set of campaigns with which I was only vaguely familiar before the battle, so the detailed discussion of events was much appreciated by this reader. I enjoyed the book and feel that I have a much better knowledge of the war in Arkansas and surrounding areas in 1862. The detailed orders of battle with unit strengths going down to the regimental level are a major plus. I have rarely seen better orders of battle, and wargamers will want this one if they plan to do any scenarios on Prairie Grove, Newtonia, or Cane Hill. Despite the large number of detailed maps, I felt the book could have contained a few more area maps depicting where certain forces were located. The absence of Cane Hill on several maps had me momentarily confused as well, though HPS Simulations' computer game Campaign Ozark (designed by fellow blogger Drew Wagenhoffer) cleared up that confusion quickly. I believe Drew based his map of the Prairie Grove / Cane Hill area at least partially on the maps in this book. Another oddity was the repeated use of the term "Feds" by the author to describe Northern troops. I kept thinking of Agents Mulder and Skully or a 1920's Chicago shootout, Al Capone style. This was a rather minor thing, and it didn't detract from the quality of the book. Despite the author's mention of little "speculation and analysis", I would have liked to have seen more discussion of the faults and qualities of the various commanders. With that said, this might have pushed the book into the "unprintable range" if the author wanted the book to be printed in one volume. Speaking of publishing, as far as I know only a hardback volume has ever been produced, making the book rather scarce and expensive. I managed to pick up my copy at the Shiloh National Battlefield Bookstore for its listed price of $40. This was several summers ago, so the book may no longer be available even there. I would recommend this book without reservation to anyone interested in the Trans-Mississippi Theater in particular or good Civil War campaign studies in general. If you can find it, that is.

Michael Banasik writes in a style that is detailed but very readable. The gist of this book deals with events in the extreme of NW Ark / SW Mo between the Battle of Pea Ridge and Battle of Prairie Grove - the two decisive battles for NW Arkansas. As a native son & student of the local history, those facts I am confident dovetail well with the focus of this book. The author does an excellent job of detailing both sides of the conflict without revealing a bias towards either. The maps are excellent & large print makes even the footnotes highly readable. The smooth chronological flow keeps the reader from getting lost. I found few mistakes - Lindsley's Prairie appears to be misnamed Lindsey's, a minor fact - and I would hope for more information on the Pin Indian troops that literally switched sides during the Battle of Pea Ridge & were the terror of civilians thru the following years of the Civil War but this work is excellent and well worth the buy.

This is not a book for the casual Civil War history reader! I say that for both the price, the level of detail and the style of writing. This is not a page-turner with easy to read prose that makes the pages fly by. Nor is it drudgery where each page is an unending chore. This is a very detailed, well-researched account of the Civil War in Arkansas during 1862. I knew what the book was and found mine in a National Park bookstore, almost pulling my shoulder out grabbing it before someone else saw it. I think four stars is a reasonable rating. I give it five stars for information and coverage of the subject but three stars for readability.

I found this book to be extremely information about life in the 1860s as I am into Civil War Re-enacting. There were so many interesting facts of everyday life, etc. that it was as if I had been transported back nearly 150 years.

A great book for students studying the Civil War (like myself). Gives amazing insight to the lives of people during the Reconstrucion era after the war. Pages of great information about soldiers' lives, homes, churches, schools, rites of passage, working life, daily woes, and enjoying life in the late 19th century. However, the info somewhat dry, and gets a little tedious at times, but the amount of details and great facts evens it out a bit.

This broad-ranging text covers daily life, customs, and technology in a variety of American settings during the Civil War and post-war periods. Inevitably, it doesn't give a whole lot of detail on each topic, but this is a very good place for general readers to start. The descriptions of farm life are particularly detailed and helpful. One complaint I do have is that the author does not footnote his quotes from primary sources, making it impossible to follow a reference up. Like most histories of daily life, this volume is short on information about mentalities and beliefs. Also, probably deliberately, it contains little information on political events and almost none on events in the South during Reconstruction. The effects of the Civil War on daily life and thought get rather short shrift. Nevertheless, this book does cover a lot of information and does so in a clear, useful fashion.

I bought this book because I had read "The Reshaping of Everyday Life : 1790-1840" by Jack Larkin. Both books were originally published in the 'Everyday Life in America' series. I really enjoyed "Reshaping" and hoped that "Expansion" would be of similar caliber.

Given the page constraints (170 pages of text) this book does a good job. However, given the vast increase in the size of the USA between 1840 and 1876, the coverage is necessarily thinner. Everything from the frontier to the South, to New York tenements to established rural districts is covered, the only exception being the extremely rich (who are well covered in other books).

The main problem is that so much is covered that a reader might feel that he knows all about living in the US during this time period, and that would not be accurate. Some areas are left out almost entirely. For example, the West Coast is almost completely ignored except for Virginia City. Unfortunately, the only solution I see is either a much bigger book, or several books covering each of the subtopics.

That is the reason this book only gets three stars: the coverage is broad but shallow. It is a good introduction to the time period, but that is all.

I think this is, perhaps, the finest book I have ever read on social history. I'm not kidding. After reading this "encyclopedia" (for that is what it truly is) on every aspect of life as it was during and just after the Civil War era, I actually feel as if I went back in time and visited the past first hand. Forget about "Everyday Life During the Civil War" and the other writer's guide books out there. "Expansion of Everyday Life 1860 - 1876" leaves no stone unturned, covering topics extensively such as the role of religion in the daily lives of the people, courtship, death, birth, clothing, prescription drugs of the era, what was eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, bathing, and schooling. Life in the city, in a town, and on the farm is covered pretty equally where the differences occur. The lives of the (freed) blacks is also mentioned throughout the text. Other topics covered include such taboo subjects as sex and abortion, homosexuality, as well as women's rights. But it is done not in the typical 21st century liberal PC style so prominent in current history books. One gets the impression that author, Daniel Sutherland, has a true passion for truth in social history and is not out to promote a political agenda. He does get a bit tedious at times (which I absolutely love - every detail of life is here!) but never dry, as another reviewer wrote. If you are a student of history, which I am, then I am sure you will feel the same as I.
There is not another history book of this era that I would recommend higher than this.