History of the United States (Kindle book) by Charles A. Beard and Mary Ritter Beard

Originally published in 1921.

 As a classroom history teacher, I realize that I am out of my league in reviewing this book. Charles and Mary Beard are "name brand" historians. There are precious few historians that make it to that level, and for me, a classroom teacher, to deign to review the work of a historian that has an entire school corporation named for him (in his hometown of Knightstown, IN) takes some professional chutzpah on my part. It's the equivalent of a local bar band writing a criticism of the Beatles or a piano student evaluating Chopin.

Well, here's to chutzpah!

On a general level, the Beards' History of the United States is an excellent textbook. Two general themes of the Beards are:

1) economics is a dominant driver of history.

2) America is a story of expanding rights - more groups of people are securing their rights as time goes on.

The book focuses on social issues such as how things were manufactured and societal hierarchy rather than battles, wars and strategies. For example, the Battles of Lexington and Concord (the "Shot heard 'round the world") get four sentences, none describing the battle itself. This makes it rather unique in history textbooks, although most don't dwell on the battles for long, they do mention tactics, changes the war brought to technology, etc.

The book is well-written. It has two authors and does not suffer from the stifling over-editing of most modern history texts that render them sterile, dry and boring.

Some commentary based on notes I took while reading:

-A strong section on the colonies

Charles A. Beard (1874-1948)
in 1917.

-An especially well-written, if brief, commentary on the Declaration of Independence.

-From their commentary on a series of inventors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries: "...these men and a thousand more were destroying in a mighty revolution of industry the world of the stagecoach and the tallow candle which Washington and Franklin had inherited little changed from the age of Caesar." 

-Charles A. Beard is a big proponent of the theory that underlying economic issues (industrial/small farms vs. large-scale cash crop agricultural) caused the Civil War, not slavery. I think that is an unreconcilable position in that slavery was the basis for the South's wealth - so slavery is the root. Beard lets his dichotomy stand unchallenged in his comment: "While slavery lasted, the economy of the South was inevitably agricultural." (location 5008)

-There are two large comments on immigration that show that the worries we have nowadays are no different than those in the past.

-Native Americans (or Indians, if you prefer) are almost totally left out of the book.

-They skim over the backroom deal to end Reconstruction in the Tilden-Hayes Presidential election. They are more sympathetic to the plight of the defeated Southerners than newer textbooks are.


Mary Ritter Beard  (1876-1958)
in 1914

-Very good section on Women's rights. First-rate and better than anything I've seen in a current textbook.

The Beards are proponents of history being driven by economics, but they allow that their theory is not exact nor perfect. They note that the 13 Colonies were quite prosperous and secure just before the Revolutionary War. Despite the fact that their fortunes would be at risk, the Founding Fathers took the road to Independence. They note: "...mere economic advantage is not necessarily the determining factor in the fate of peoples."

It suffers from age a bit, which is to be expected from anything produced in 1921. First of all, it is missing over 100 years of history which, of course, cannot be helped. There are a few spelling differences and some different uses of language, such as referring to nationalities as races (the Irish race, etc.). There are understandable non-PC words, such as the use of the word "Negro", which are used without any intended bias, but an inexplicable repeated use of the adjective "savage" to describe the Indians (or Native Americans, if you prefer).
 
I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.
 
Reviewed July 14, 2009. This book can be found on Amazon here: History of the United States.

Note: Updated on January 5, 2025.

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede

Originally published in 2002 by William Morrow.

On September 11, 2001 the United States closed its air space in reaction to the 9/11 attacks because it was unknown if there were more attacks planned. While this certainly made sense it created certain problems for the planes that were inbound. Where would they go if they did not have enough fuel to return to their aiports of departure?

It turns out that Gander, Newfoundland had a ready-built solution for 38 planes carrying 6,595 passengers - a gigantic Cold War era runway that was big enough to be an emergency landing runway for a space shuttle.

Jim DeFede

Upon landing, the problem ceased to be a technical problem and quickly became a human problem - what do you do with 6,595 people in a relatively poor town of barely 10,000 people?

Jim DeFede relates the story of church groups, community groups, schools and local businesses rising to the occasion and welcoming strangers from all over the world for 6 days. They slept in their schools, churches, community centers and even in people's homes. Cars were loaned out, homes were left open for anyone to take a shower and people from all over Newfoundland brought food, blankets and towels to share.

This book re-opened the trauma of 9/11 for me but these simple acts of caring demonstrated by the people of Gander, Newfoundland also brought tears to my eyes multiple times. To quote page 7, "If the terrorists had hoped their attacks would reveal the weaknesses in western society, the events in Gander proved its strength."

Highly recommended.

I rate this book an enthusiastic 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon here: The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

Reviewed on December 22, 2010.

Stupid Christmas by Leland Gregory

Published in 2010.

Leland Gregory is a co-author of America's Dumbest Criminals: Wild and Weird Stories of Fumbling Felons, Clumsy Crooks, and Ridiculous Robbers, a book filled with a series of short, mostly humorous "filler on a newspaper page" type stories.

He follows this format with Stupid Christmas, a book full of short (1-2 pages) stories about Christmas. Some are amusing stories about Christmas history, some are about Christmas criminals, some are sweet and touching and some are just about Christmas oddities such as the middle school teacher that drove his student around town to vandalize Christmas displays, including putting some in compromising positions, so to speak.

Unfortunately, unlike the criminal themed book, which has the entire realm of criminal activity to draw from, this book feels a bit limited by the Christmas theme. Too many repetitive stories about drunken Santas. This is a great "bathroom book" - just something to pick up and read a little bit and put back down again without having to worry about plots, characters or having to remember what was going on the last time you were reading.
 
I rate this book 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon here:  Stupid Christmas

Reviewed on December 22, 2010.
 
Also mentioned in this review:  America's Dumbest Criminals: Wild and Weird Stories of Fumbling Felons, Clumsy Crooks, and Ridiculous Robbers

The Woods Out Back (Spearwielder’s Tale #1) (audiobook) by R.A. Salvatore

Published by Tantor Audio in 2010.

Read by Paul Boehmer.
Duration: 11 hours, 57 minutes.
Unabridged.

Gary Leger lives Massachusetts and is forced to make do with a miserable job in a plastics factory with no real prospects of doing anything but making ends meet at a job that offers little for his very active imagination. A natural athlete with no interest in sports, Gary finds solace in long walks in the woods behind his house and in his dog-eared copy of The Hobbit.

While on one of these hikes, Gary sits for a bit of reading and finds himself staring at a real life pixie who shoots him with a tiny drugged arrow that causes him to faint. When he awakens he is no longer in Massachusetts – he is in the magic-filled world of Faerie. Gary finds that he has been kidnapped from his own world by a leprechaun named Mickey McMickey in order to wear the armor and carry the broken spear of a long dead human king named Cedric Donigarten in an epic quest led by a grumpy elf named Kelsenellenelvial Gil-Ravardy (but everyone refers to him by Kelsey, a fact that makes him even grumpier).

Kelsey is convinced that if he can kidnap the best Dwarven smithy, subdue a dragon in single combat and use them both to re-forge the broken spear (using the fire of a dragon’s breath), the mere fact that it has come back in existance will inspire the people of Faerie to live up to the forgotten standards of their ancestors and restore some of the lost lustre of Faerie. Gary has been chosen to wear the armor because he is the first human that they found in our world that could fit in it, a fact that makes Gary doubt the soundness of the plan quite often. It is not clear why a human from Faerie was not chosen except that all of the humans we meet in the book are physically wrecked by disease and famine or are not of high enough character to fulfill the quest.

Written as a light-hearted adventure, The Woods Out Back (Spearwielder’s Tale #1) works because the reader sees the world of Faerie through his eyes and Faerie is just as new to him as it is to the reader. The customs of the humans, dwarfs, leprechauns, evil witches, goblins, trolls, dragons, giants and elves that Gary encounters confound Gary throughout but, with the help of his companions, Gary and the reader mostly muddle through. One of the most amusing aspects of the book is Gary’s well worn copy of The Hobbit. Mickey McMickey, the leprechaun reads it as they travel and he makes comments throughout.

R.A. Salvatore

When I first began to listen to the book I was trying to imagine parallels with the Wizard of Oz (Dorothy was taken unwillingly to a strange, magical land, she goes on a quest with strange companions, she wants to return home, etc.) but I soon enough realized that Salvatore’s true inspiration was actually The Hobbit. Like Gary Leger, Bilbo Baggins is forced out of his comfortable but very stale day-to-day life in order to go on a quest. Like Bilbo, Gary finds this quest to be eye-opening, fascinating, morally challenging and in the end he is a much better person than when he started.

This is not a perfect book – Gary is often guilty of just accepting the strange things that happen around him as they are rather than asking questions that would help the reader. The language is sometimes stilted with worn, overused phrases (“glowering eyes” was especially grating for this reviewer). The characters are straight from central casting of any Tolkien-inspired book. The audiobook format provides additional issues. Paul Boehmer is the reader and he does a truly great job of creating different voices for the characters. But, his reading of the actual narration of the book (all of the non-speaking parts) is quirky. Oftentimes, he emphasizes his sentences in an odd manner that was distracting for the first couple of hours.

Despite those issues, the book’s fast-paced, good-humored nature draws the reader in and makes the world of Faerie a fine place to visit – good thing there are two more installments!

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Woods Out Back (Spearwielder's Tale)

Reviewed on December 10, 2010.

The First Rule: A Joe Pike Novel (audiobook) by Robert Crais

A good, tight story

Published in 2009 by Brilliance Audio

Read by Robert Crais, the author

Duration: 8 hours, 15 minutes.

Unabridged.

I am a gigantic fan of Crais' Elvis Cole novels, a series that introduced Joe Pike to the world as Cole's enigmatic, tough and very quiet partner with a soft spot for mean old cats. But, I have been reluctant to get into the Joe Pike novels due to a fear that Joe's facade would be burst wide open and mysterious Joe Pike would be laid wide open and no longer be a mystery.

Not to worry. We learn more about Joe, but what makes Joe Pike tick is still a mystery. Plus, as a bonus we get a healthy serving of wise-cracking Elvis Cole throun in as a bonus to make the story even more fun.


Robert Crais

The First Rule's title comes from an Eastern European thieves code that demands that no gangster have a family so that their loyalties will never be divided (much like the story of Keyser Soze from the movie The Usual Suspects). A friend of Pike's from his days as a mercenary for hire is killed by professional home invaders. His entire family is murdered, including his chidlren and the nanny is left for dead with mutliple gun shot wounds. Pike is concerned because his friend had dropped out of that life completely and had become a legitimate businessman, a respected family man, and now the police suspect that he was using his old connections in a crooked gun deal gone bad and his reputation is being destroyed. Besides, no one messes with a friend of Joe Pike.

Crais does a solid job of narrating the book. The bonus of having the author read his own book is that you know the inflections and emphasis he intended.

Very enjoyable action thriller.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on December 18, 2010.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon here: The First Rule (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike Series)

The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization by Brian Fagan

Disappointing.

Published in 2004 by Basic Books.

I really enjoyed The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 (I gave it 4 stars). I was not thrilled with The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations (I gave it 2 stars) and I have to say that I do not care much for The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization either.

In fact, to be short and sweet let me just say that if you see my review about The Great Warming and add in an extended discussion about mankind in the Ice Age you will pretty much have the substance of The Long Summer. The two books could have easily have been made into one slightly larger book.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization.

Reviewed on December 18, 2010.

Bye Bye Miss American Empire: Neighborhood Patriots, Backcountry Rebels, and Their Underdog Crusades to Redraw America's Political Map by Bill Kauffman

While I am sympathetic to a point, Kauffman drives his point home with so much rancor and vigor that I ended up being both bored and repulsed.

Published in 2010 by Chelsea Green Publishing.

Bye Bye Miss American Empire takes what should have been a fun look at the various groups that want to split apart current U.S. states and/or make independent countries out of U.S. states and turns it into a long, repetitive, angry rant about American foreign policy, both Presidents Bush and the United States (indivisible, as the pledge goes) in general.

Kauffman starts off on the right foot with an introduction to these various splinter groups (or groups that wish to splinter America, to be more accurate) by taking the reader to a meeting of secessionist movements from all around the country in Vermont. For me, this was the first and last enjoyable chapter.

Kauffman then launches into an extended discussion of secessionist movements in America in which he "scores points" by making multiple snide comments about the Constitution's use of the phrase "more perfect" (just to clarify, it means that it is intended to push the Union closer towards perfection, not that it was already perfect and now it becomes even more so), advocates the murder of Founding Fathers (Alexander Hamilton on page 13) and gets into a political argument with a master politician (Abraham Lincoln, on page 34) that only serves to demonstrate that Kauffman has not truly listened to what Lincoln was saying. Lincoln declared that "secession is the essence of anarchy." Kauffman scoffs and fails to truly follow Lincoln's logic. If New York City were to secede from the United States (a popular notion, Kauffman notes,  several times in American history), what would make it stop there? Could the Bronx secede from New York City? Could an individual neighborhood secede from the Bronx? Could an apartment building secede from that neighborhood? Could a single apartment secede from that building? Could an individual person in a room secede from that apartment? That would indeed be anarchy and that was the argument that Lincoln was making.

Kauffman moves on to explore the idea of New York State and New York City separating. I truly have sympathy for the upstate New Yorker. The provincial, self-important thinking of NYC is difficult for anyone in "flyover country" to stomach -  being politically attached to it must be frustrating in the extreme.

The Great Seal of the
proposed State of
Jefferson.

Other secessionist movements covered in this book include Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, the South and various movements to create 2 or more states out of several states, including a very commonsense one to break California up into 2, 3 or even 4 states. Kauffman's description of the various attempts to turn northern California and parts of southern Oregon into the State of Jefferson is quite interesting.

Kauffman makes his points throughout the book and can write with an amusing twist. Unfortunately, he throws in so many other snide comments and forced witty observations that don't really tell the reader anything except Kauffman's political leanings that I found myself wondering if this book could have been shrunk by 40 or 50 pages if a strong-handed editor had taken control of this project. Kauffman tells you early on his opinion on Bush, the War on Terror and why the principle of "one man, one vote" is unfair (I am not sure why he thinks rural voters should get more representation than urban voters, but he does). He also tells you about these items in the middle and at the end of the book many, many times. Enough already! Is this a book about secessionist movements in America or a personal political rant?

Long story short - great topic, maybe even the right guy to write this book, with the proper editor. But, in the end, I found that the topic was overwhelmed by all of the other baggage.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Bye Bye, Miss American Empire: Neighborhood Patriots, Backcountry Rebels, and their Underdog Crusades to Redraw America's Political Map

Reviewed on December 18, 2010.