It's Monday, What are You Reading? Clouds of Glory

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Clouds of Glory

 

Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee
by Michael Korda

This post is the eighty-first entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]


This book was a gift from my daughter, Allison King. I've been wanting to read it. Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/Clouds-Glory-Life-Legend-Robert-ebook/dp/B00FJ3142G/

Book Description from Amazon:

In Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee, Michael Korda, the New York Times bestselling biographer of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant, and T. E. Lawrence, has written the first major biography of Lee in nearly twenty years, bringing to life America's greatest and most iconic hero. Korda paints a vivid and admiring portrait of Lee as a general and a devoted family man who, though he disliked slavery and was not in favor of secession, turned down command of the Union army in 1861 because he could not "draw his sword" against his own children, his neighbors, and his beloved Virginia. He was surely America's preeminent military leader, as calm, dignified, and commanding a presence in defeat as he was in victory. Lee's reputation has only grown in the 150 years since the Civil War, and Korda covers in groundbreaking detail all of Lee's battles and traces the making of a great man's undeniable reputation on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, positioning him finally as the symbolic martyr-hero of the Southern Cause.


Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? The Men Who Lost America

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

The Men Who Lost America

Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy

 

This post is the eightith entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]

This Kindle book was purchased with a gift certificate from my daughter, Arrion Rathsack. Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/Men-Who-Lost-America-ebook/dp/B00D6II29Y/

Book Description from Amazon:

The loss of America was a stunning and unexpected defeat for the powerful British Empire. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders and political leaders in Britain must have been to blame, but were they? This intriguing book makes a different argument. Weaving together the personal stories of ten prominent men who directed the British dimension of the war, historian Andrew O’Shaughnessy dispels the incompetence myth and uncovers the real reasons that rebellious colonials were able to achieve their surprising victory.

In interlinked biographical chapters, the author follows the course of the war from the perspectives of King George III, Prime Minister Lord North, military leaders including General Burgoyne, the Earl of Sandwich, and others who, for the most part, led ably and even brilliantly. Victories were frequent, and in fact the British conquered every American city at some stage of the Revolutionary War. Yet roiling political complexities at home, combined with the fervency of the fighting Americans, proved fatal to the British war effort. The book concludes with a penetrating assessment of the years after Yorktown, when the British achieved victories against the French and Spanish, thereby keeping intact what remained of the British Empire.


Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Louisa Catherine, The Other Mrs. Adams

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

Louisa Catherine, The Other Mrs. Adams

[http://www.amazon.com/Louisa-Catherine-Other-Mrs-Adams-ebook/dp/B00JDA9CFM/]

Louisa Catherine, The Other Mrs. Adams
by Margery M. Heffron, Edited by David L. Michelmore

This post is the seventy-nineth entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]

This book was a gift from my daughter, Annette Lamb. I've been wanting to read it. Thanks!


Book Description from Amazon:

Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, wife and political partner of John Quincy Adams, became one of the most widely known women in America when her husband assumed office as sixth president in 1825. Shrewd, intellectual, and articulate, she was close to the center of American power over many decades, and extensive archives reveal her as an unparalleled observer of the politics, personalities, and issues of her day. Louisa left behind a trove of journals, essays, letters, and other writings, yet no biographer has mined these riches until now. Margery Heffron brings Louisa out of the shadows at last to offer the first full and nuanced portrait of an extraordinary first lady.

The book begins with Louisa’s early life in London and Nantes, France, then details her excruciatingly awkward courtship and engagement to John Quincy, her famous diplomatic success in tsarist Russia, her life as a mother, years abroad as the wife of a distinguished diplomat, and finally the Washington, D.C., era when, as a legendary hostess, she made no small contribution to her husband’s successful bid for the White House. Louisa’s sharp insights as a tireless recorder provide a fresh view of early American democratic society, presidential politics and elections, and indeed every important political and social issue of her time.

Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Book Review: Spies, Patriots, and Traitors

Book Review of:

Spies, Patriots, and Traitors: 

American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War

by Kenneth A. Daigler

 

[Amazon link:http://www.amazon.com/Spies-Patriots-Traitors-Kenneth-Daigler-ebook/dp/B00K865NSU/]

 I read this book because I have read many books on the Revolutionary War era and each new one adds a new perspective or different angle on particular events or the activities of certain participants. This book by an experienced intelligence officer did that job very well. I had read a book focused on George Washington's intelligence operations in New York City, so it was especially interesting to see how Daigler reported on many of those same activities. His distinctive approach did add much to my understanding of those activities.

This book relies on both primary and secondary sources and does not purport to be a heavy academic treatment of the subject. Rather, it is a very readable overview of the subject and does this very well. For the reader who needs the summaries of military operations related to certain places and events, he provides that without burdening the narrative unnecessarily. While I would also like to have seen more details on certain operations, he saved that for future writings so as not to bog down his overview.

I highly recommend this book for readers already generally familiar with the war but interested in learning more, from this particular perspective. I hope this includes many readers.

*****This review was originally written for the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. I received an Advanced Readers copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)