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  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Our Lives, Our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor

It's Monday, What are You Reading? 

Our Lives, Our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor

by Richard R. Beeman

This post is the seventy-eighth 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]

http://www.amazon.com/Our-Lives-Fortunes-Sacred-Honor-ebook/dp/B00B3M3VB4/

This was a book I received at Christmas off of my Amazon Wish List.


Amazon Book Description:

In 1768, Philadelphia physician Benjamin Rush stood before the empty throne of King George III, overcome with emotion as he gazed at the symbol of America’s connection with England. Eight years later, he became one of the fifty-six men to sign the Declaration of Independence, severing America forever from its mother country. Rush was not alone in his radical decision—many of those casting their votes in favor of independence did so with a combination of fear, reluctance, and even sadness.
In Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor, acclaimed historian Richard R. Beeman examines the grueling twenty-two-month period between the meeting of the Continental Congress on September 5, 1774 and the audacious decision for independence in July of 1776. As late as 1774, American independence was hardly inevitable—indeed, most Americans found it neither desirable nor likely. When delegates from the thirteen colonies gathered in September, they were, in the words of John Adams, “a gathering of strangers.” Yet over the next two years, military, political, and diplomatic events catalyzed a change of unprecedented magnitude: the colonists’ rejection of their British identities in favor of American ones. In arresting detail, Beeman brings to life a cast of characters, including the relentless and passionate John Adams, Adams’ much-misunderstood foil John Dickinson, the fiery political activist Samuel Adams, and the relative political neophyte Thomas Jefferson, and with profound insight reveals their path from subjects of England to citizens of a new nation.
A vibrant narrative, Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor tells the remarkable story of how the delegates to the Continental Congress, through courage and compromise, came to dedicate themselves to the forging of American independence.

Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Comfort of Fences - Book Review - Virtual Book Tour

Comfort of Fences 

Book Review

Virtual Book Tour

 

 

 I am pleased to participate in this long tour - visit each of the sites, to get a great look at this fine book, starting here, with the complete schedule:

http://theteddyrosebookreviewsplusmore.com/2014/04/book-tour-giveaway-comfort-of-fences-by-stacy-overman-morrison.htm

Publisher: Telemachus Press (October 17, 2013)

Category: Contemporary Fiction/ Women's Fiction/ Family Saga

ISBN: 978-1939927569

Available in: Print & ebook,  244 Pages

Comfort of Fences explores the unconditional love between a trio of women: Ruth, the matriarch and builder of boundaries; Denise, her special-needs adult daughter with powerful secrets of her own; and Georgia, Ruth's best friend and source of strength and practicality. The dynamics of their relationships expose the ironies that the people we love the most can also be the people we most underestimate and that the strongest of loves has nothing to do with romance.

About Stacy Overman Morrison:

Stacy Overman Morrison was born and raised in Texas. She earned her Bachelor's and Master's of Arts degrees in English from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Upon completion of her Master's, she taught secondary English and adjuncted at the University. She took time off from her teaching career after the birth of her second daughter and has pursued her writing since. She continues to live in Texas with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, and two horses. This is her first novel and she is hard at work listening to the voices of her characters in her second.

Website: http://www.stacyomorrison
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stacyomorrisonauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StacyOverMorr

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+StacyOvermanMorrison


My Review:

I was really looking forward to the story of these three women as outlined in the book preview. I was not disappointed in the relationships built and expounded as the story proceeded. Each of the three had distinctive characteristics that I found especially appealing. I am strongy attracted to stories of "family relationships" whether the characters are blood relatives or not. This certainly applied here.

Interdependencies occur in so many different ways as are well demonstrated in these relationships. I was not surprised by the ending as much as satisfied that the they reached this conclusion in spite of all the occurred in getting there.

For me, the only deficit to the book was the use of the dialect language for the younger lady. For me, it was totally distracting and totally unnecessary. I understood an a primal level who she was… I did not need to be reminded every paragraph. It almost made me put the book away, frankly.

Otherwise, I highly recommend this book about relationship, if you can handle the one issue I found disappointing in the presentation.


Added note: Stacy was just on television to talk about the book.  It was uploaded to You Tube, so they can view it there.

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/H2TlNSjUkEM

Happy Reading,

Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Among the Powers of the Earth

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

Among the Powers of the Earth

Among the Powers of the Earth:
The American Revolution and the Making of a New World Empire,
by Eliga H. Gould


This post is the seventy-seventh 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 was a book I received at Christmas off of my Amazon Wish List. I read it a little earlier, cover to cover, and just realized I did not post it here, as I should have... ;-)

http://www.amazon.com/Among-Powers-Earth-American-Revolution-ebook/dp/B00838XRL0/

Amazon Book Description:

In this reappraisal of the American Revolution, Eliga Gould argues that the nation's founding was far from a straightforward bid for liberty and independence. Even as Americans strove to be free from Old World imperialism, they sought the recognition of Europe's imperial powers--and the authority to become colonizers in their own right and rule a New World empire.

Earlier, I wrote this about this book:
http://books.squidoo.com/full-of-meaning-for-today-as-well-as-200-years-ago
You may find this of interest, to learn more about the book, and why I liked it so much.


Happy Reading!


Dr. Bill  ;-)