by Martin
The Unexpected President is an aptly named biography of Chester A. Arthur. The oft-used subtitle, The Life and Times of …, is also very fitting. Greenberger gives the reader a clear picture of what life was like in New York in the mid 19th century and highlights several of his subject’s contemporaries in telling Arthur’s story.
In fact, the book is as much about Arthur's times and contemporaries as it is about Arthur.
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by Martin
The Founders, however admirable, were people with faults and foibles. This might seem obvious, but for many biographers who devote years studying their subjects, it's easy to engage in hero worship without realizing it. Though she is not guilty of this, as a reader it's particularly easy to do when one reads Melanie Randolph Miller's biography of Gouverneur Morris.
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by Curtice Mang
There is big trouble at Berkeley. Sure, there is plenty of anti-free speech thuggery going on there, perpetrated by fascists – also known as the students and faculty. But that’s not necessarily what I’m referring to. Researchers at the University …
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by Curtice Mang
Hillary Clinton recently spoke at a “Women for Women†event in New York City. (I’m not sure if there is a competing “Women against Women†event, but never mind.) During the event, Clinton included a laundry list of those who …
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by Curtice Mang
Some time ago, Sophia Vergara, star of the ABC sitcom Modern Family, was sued by her eggs. No, I’m not kidding. I will leave any jokes about whether they were poached, scrambled or over easy to others. But it certainly …
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by Martin
I have enjoyed listening to The Similitude of a Dream all week on my commute to and from work.  My son was so excited about a scheduled tour, that he immediately bought tickets for the two of us to go. Figuring I'd enjoy the show more if I knew what to expect, he lent me the CDs. He flew into town this weekend for the concert. We're going to the show tonight
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by Martin
by Martin
This short biography of Nathaniel Green is packed with insight and erudition. Harry "Light Horse" sums up the impression with which Tucker leaves his reader:.. pure and tranquil from the consciousness of just intentions, the undisturbed energy of his mind was wholly devoted to the effectual accomplishment of the high trust reposed in him.
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by Martin
Sardonic and hilarious conservative novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and commentator Andrew Klavan has written an autobiographical account of his intellectual life. The Great Good Thing covers only those aspects of Klavan's life that relate to his metamorphosis from an anti-intellectual, secular Jew, to an intellectual Christian obsessed with knowing the "why" of things. His was an intellectual conversion as much as a spiritual one.
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by Martin
John Oller, author of, American Queen The Rise and fall of Kate Chase Sprague (reviewed here), has written a new biography of The Swamp Fox. Some of the most interesting parts of the book are the exchanges Oller references between Nathaniel Greene and the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion. In fact, in places the book felt like it was as much about Nathaniel Greene as about Marion.
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The posts are coming!