Shelved: Roundup of Book Posts August 16 - August 31, 2023

 

A Is For American: Letters and Other Characters is the Newly United States.  Jill Lepore. Knopf, 2002. 256 pages.

The concept of nationalism is rather recent in human history. The question of what makes a nation, what holds a group of people of together as a people, is still studied, discussed, and debated. All too often, the debate turns into violence and bloodshed.

In A Is For American, historian Jill Lepore looks at one element of culture, language, and its role in nationbuilding, specifically how a select group of individuals in the Early Republic period of the United States sought to use language as a tool for shaping the nation, or the world, to meet their vision. Noah Webster and Samuel Morse both wanted to create a uniquely American language to set the United States apart. Both were anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant and saw outside forces poised to destroy their country. Webster believed that an American language and spelling system would force immigrants to assimilate quicker. Morse may have been driven to develop his Morse Code as a secret weapon to ward off the international invasion led by the Pope that he feared.  Sequoyah developed a new alphabet to protect and preserve his nation, too, but his nation was the Cherokee,

William Thornton dreamed bigger. He promoted the use of universal alphabet to bring the whole world together in harmony. Thomas Gallaudet and Alexander Graham Bell devoted their lives to improving the lives of the deaf, and they developed new languages to that end. In a more personal story on a smaller scale, Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima, an aging enslaved Muslim man in Mississippi successfully used his Arabic writing ability to free himself. 

Jill Lepore has become one of my favorite historians to read, and she's written so much, on so many different topics. This was a very interesting look at language and nationalism.

David Grann book talk

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder. David Grann.  Doubleday, 2023. 352 pages.

On January 28, 1742, a thing that could very loosely have been called a boat - more like boat-ish, washed up on the shore of Brazil. On it were about thirty barely living men who had once been part of the crew of the British ship called The Wager that had left England in 1740 as part of a small fleet off to harass the Spanish in the so-called "War of Jenkin's Ear" or the War of Austrian Succession. They seemed to be all that was left of a crew of a couple of hundred, and they told the story of their wreck off the southern tip of South America, their survival on the desolate landscape for months, and their incredible 3000-mile-long voyage to Brazil. But, wait, there's more! Six months later an even sadder boat washed up on the coast of Chile, with just three inhabitants, including the ship's captain, and they added a new layer to the tale:  murder and mutiny.  When the survivors finally arrived back home in England, having been away from their loved ones for 4 or 5 years, accusations flew back and forth, various accounts were published, and the public was enthralled by the mystery and drama of what exactly had happened to The Wager and its crew. 

David Grann is the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, and he has established himself as one of the top writers of narrative nonfiction working today. His follow-up to Killers doesn't disappoint. The reader will learn a lot about life on a 1740s British warship and about how the command structure within the navy operated, but Grann also succeeds in bringing the men to life and telling their stories and how they dealt with their tragedy and hardships.  Some men behaved more nobly than others, of course, but all suffered. 

Grann also relates the story of the shipwreck and subsequent court-martial to the bigger picture: empire. This incident occurred at the time that the British empire was really in ascendancy. The British performance in the War of Austrian Succession and the possibly embarrassing public spectacle of a high-profile mutiny trial might have had a major impact on Brittania's rule over the waves, and the world.  Grann explores how all these big-picture ideas intersected with the very specific fears of some of the surviving crewmen that their careers and lives were at stake.  

(2022 discussion of book. Note presenter wearing masks.)

Illustrated Journal of the Plague Year:300th Anniversary Edition.   Daniel Defoe.  SeaWolf Press, 2020. 222 pages.

 The presenter of The Great Courses lecture on London history that we've been listening to recommended A Journal of the Plague Year for its historical value and as a truly "great psychological novel." It was written by Daniel Defoe, considered one of the first English novelists chiefly known for Robinson Crusoe.  Defoe was only a small boy in 1665 when the Great Plague swept through London, England's last major outbreak of the bubonic plague. It's estimated that 200,000 died or perhaps 2.5% of the English population.  Defoe published his work in 1722. It is written as a first-person account of the year 1665, recounting events and personal experiences of a narrator.  For over a hundred years, there was a debate as to whether the book should be classified as fiction, or if Defoe actually just  edited some personal journals and letters. Historians of the day noted that the historical details were accurate and could be corroborated in contemporary sources. Today, it is regarded as historical fiction.

 Defoe's narrator is a single man who worked as a saddler (maker of saddles and riding apparatus) who maintained a small London home and shop with a couple of apprentices and servants. He describes the outbreak of the disease from its beginnings, when people paid little attention. As the published death tolls mounted however, he describes the actions and reactions of London's citizens and government officials as they fought to make sense of the terror. Some fled the city, others found themselves locked inside their homes, with the infected and dying, by government orders to prevent spreading.  Disinformation spread as people tried all sorts of quackery to prevent illness, and some people purported to have secret cures and preventatives, for a fee. Some people risked their lives to treat and comfort the ill. Some people took nursing jobs or swept into abandoned homes as soon as they were able in order to steal all the belongings in the home, including bedding and clothing. Some people left the city and wandered the countryside, sometimes being driven away violently by frightened villagers, sometimes given food and assistance by townspeople. The economy was crippled. The narrator expresses skepticism about the "official" information released by the government, and he saw huge pits dug for mass burials, and bearers leading wagons through neighborhoods collecting the dead.  The narrator also speculates about the cause of the disease, taking the position that it was naturally transmitted and not some punishment for wickedness, a radical way of thinking in 1722.

Journal is a great work of historical fiction full of insights into the past and, as it turns out, into our present as well.

The Making of the Evening and the Morning with Ken Follett

The Evening and the Morning (Book 4 of the Kingsbridge series). Ken Follett. Viking, 2020. 928 pages.

I am a huge Ken Follett fan. His Kingsbridge series and Fall of Giants trilogy are, in my opinion, some of the greatest historical fiction ever written, with fantastic historical detail and exciting stories packing every page. The Evening and the Morning, published in 2020, is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth, and book 5 is set to be released this fall (already pre-ordered). I decided it was time to catch up and get around to reading Evening, set from the late 990s into the early 1000s.  

Well, it's another tour de force in storytelling as one would expect from Follett. However, honestly, there are lots of familiar notes. There's the extremely bright and talented peasant boy who falls in love with a beautiful, assertive, young woman who challenges all of the traditional roles and expectations of the time and is far above his station. He's friends and allies with a low ranking cleric who lives an exemplary life. Practically every other nobleman and church official is evil and corrupt, terrorizing, brutalizing, raping, and murdering anybody and everybody beneath him. And, of course, there are a few painfully awkwardly written sex scenes - I think Follett is one of the worst writers of sex scenes ever. 

Nevertheless, this book is a must-read for Follett fans, Pillars fans, and lovers of medieval history. 

Author talk

Beneath a Ruthless Sun:  A True Story of Violence, Race, and Justice Lost and Found.  Gilbert King. Riverhead Books, 2018. 432 pages.

No doubt about it, Florida has a horrible history of racial violence, and Lake County, in Central Florida near Orlando, has been the epicenter of much of it, thanks largely to Sheriff Willis V. McCall who ruled the county from 1944 to 1972 and has to be on any list of horrible and evil Americans of the 20th century. A few years ago, Gilbert King published Devil in the Grove, a great book about the Groveland Four, a rape case that made national headlines and brought McCall and Lake County into national prominence. King continues the story of McCall's reign of terror in Beneath a Ruthless Sun. 

In 1957, the wife of a prominent citrus and watermelon grower, and future politician, was raped in her bedroom. Within hours, McCall and his men rounded up dozens of young black men and carted them off to jail with no evidence or cause. Lake County was undoubtedly surprised when the young black men were ultimately released, and McCall declared that the rapist was a mentally challenged white teenager. Without trial, McCall and the duplicitous prosecuting attorney got the young man incarcerated in Florida's horrible state mental institution, Chattahoochee. The boy's mother fought the best she could and eventually found a strong ally, the woman publisher of the local newspaper who had begun a crusade against McCall. It took 13 years, and lots of twists and turns, but he was eventually freed. 

Sun also relates other horrors committed by McCall, who was probably directly responsible for a couple of dozen or more deaths and terrorized black and white citizens of Lake County so that almost none dared to oppose his will. He was targeted for investigation by multiple governors, the FBI, and the US Justice Department, but nothing ever stuck. Finally, in 1972, he was tried, and acquitted, of the murder of a black inmate and removed from office by the governor. That didn't prevent him from running for re-election, and he won the Democratic primaries but never regained the office. He never paid for any of the suffering he caused for decades. 

Beneath a Ruthless Sun is a well-written page-turner and proof that truth is stranger, more horrible, and more terrifying than any fiction.

Shelved: Roundup of Book Posts August 1 - August 15, 2023

 

100 Diagrams That Changed the World: From the Earliest Cave Paintings to the Innovation of the iPod.  Scott Christianson. Plume, 2012. 224 pages.

This is one of those books that you keep on a coffee table or side table, or, dare I say it, in a bathroom. Author Scott Christianson has assembled in chronological order what he considers the 100 most important and influential "diagrams" in world history, from primitive cave paintings to Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man to the complicated DNA helix drawn by Crick and Watson to the innovation of the iPod. Each diagram is reproduced in full color and accompanied by a one-page history and explanation of its legacy and impact.  It's entertaining and informative, and the reader can either read it through or dip in and out. The average reader will be familiar with some of the objects, but even the most knowledgeable readers can find something that is new and enlightening to them. It's ideal for people who have interests in science, technology, history, culture, engineering, and innovation.

Thomas Mullen Discussing Darktown

Midnight Atlanta: Darktown Trilogy, Book 3 of 3. Thomas Mullen. Little, Brown, 2021. 400 pages.

In 2016, crime and thriller fiction writer Thomas Mullen published Darktown, a fictionalized account of the lives and hardships of the first 8 black police officers in Atlanta, hired in 1948. Like the first 8 real men, Mullen's fictional characters were not allowed in the police station, relegated to the basement of a YMCA instead. They were not allowed to wear their uniforms off duty, drive police cars, or question or arrest white Atlantans, and they were only supposed to work in black neighborhoods.  Most of their fellow police officers were KKK members or at least sympathizers. Their beat was solely "Darktown," and their creation was largely was largely a political ploy to win black votes after Georgia's racist primary election system was dismantled by the courts.

He picked up their story again with 2017's Lightning Men, which focused on the conflicts caused as black families moved closer and closer to "white neighborhoods," conflicts enflamed by the KKK and by a Neo-Nazi paramilitary hate group called the Lightning Men, for their SS-style emblems.  Midnight Atlanta takes place a few years later, in 1956, with the backdrop of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the ascendancy of Dr. MLK Jr to leadership in the growing civil rights movement, and the Red Scare. 

Each story is extremely well told and stands as a good mystery thriller. Although Mullen is quick to point out that he is not an historian and doesn't try to be, his work is definitely influenced and inspired by real life and reflects how things were. The fact is, that although Atlanta's civic and business leaders worked hard to create the image of "The City Too Busy To Hate," there was still enough hate to go around.

(The Darktown trilogy's TV and movie rights were purchased in 2016 by Jamie Foxx and has been "in production" ever since. Current status unclear.) 

London: 2000 Years of History Part 1

London: A Short History of the Greatest City in the Western World.  Robert Bucholz. The Great Courses, Audible Audiobooks, 2013. 12 Hours and 18 Minutes.

As we prepare or an upcoming trip to London, my wife and I decided to bone up on London's history. We've both been to London, only more than 20 years ago, and there is so much of London to London. Planning can, and does, feel a little overwhelming at times.  We selected this version.

If you are an Audible member, you probably already know that Audible's catalog includes The Great Courses, recorded lecture series on practically any academic subject, delivered by outstanding lecturers and teachers. The courses deliver the goods, the equivalent of most college lectures, superior to some we've experienced. Courses often come with downloadable documents and notes as well. Over the years, I've heard quite a few Courses on various historical subjects, and I've not had a bad experience yet. This one is no exception. Dr. Bucholz has impeccable credentials as an historian specializing in British history, and he has many publications to his credit. His lectures begin with Roman occupation and go through the 20th century in just 12 hours. The pace is great, and it's a great survey course on London's history. He's an excellent lecturer, injecting humor and moving things along. 

Do yourself a favor and check out The Great Courses. They really are great, entertaining and informational, and you can learn while commuting, working out, or doing housework.

David Fleming on The Chris Voss Show

 

Who's Your Founding Father? One Man's Quest to Uncover the First True Declaration of Independence.  David Fleming. Hachette Books, 2023. 320 pages. 

Wow! Never, ever have I thought that I would enjoy a book written by a sports guy, an ESPN guy no less. David Fleming has proven me wrong.  This book is up there with Shakespeare Was A Woman as one of my favorite reads of 2023. Like that book, Who's Your Founding Father? takes an iconoclastic swing at a cherished and honored institution and totally backs it up. As a teacher, I loved challenging students' long held misconceptions and "elementary school teacher lies."

The challenged institution here is Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. No, not the truth that we should be celebrating July 2nd instead of July 4th (as John Adams felt). Whaaattttt?! Yes, the D of I was approved on July 2. The signers took the next two months to sign it, and some of the men who voted for it never signed it, and some of the signers never voted for it.  July 4th is just considered the day that it was made public. The question here is, was there an earlier Declaration of Independence that Jefferson plagiarized? Fleming presents a solid case that there was.

This is something that Americans don't know, and, in fact, various people have actively engaged in suppression and destruction of evidence over the last two hundred years in order to protect Jefferson's reputation. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Jefferson once existed at the summit of the American pantheon: thinker, architect, author, statesman. Today, his rampant hypocrisy and petty nature have chipped away at his reputation. He railed against the evils of slavery, but his whole life and fortune were made possible by slavery. He preached against race-mixing and how it would destroy society, but he had a decades-long relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemings, his dead wife's half-sister. Even during his lifetime, however, he was frequently attacked. Critics called his architecture style imitative and derivative. Fellow Congressmen remembered him as being dull, uninterested, and uninvolved, contributing nothing to Congressional debates and discussions. During the Revolution, he was accused of cowardice while other founders bravely served. 

So, what did he plagiarize? On May 20, 1775, a group of 27 Scots-Irish Presbyterian leaders met at the county courthouse in Charlotte North Carolina to draft a declaration of independence from Great Britain, severing all ties. The document was then sent to Philadelphia where the congressmen assembled replied that it was too early and ignored it. Or did they? Whole passages appear verbatim in Jefferson's D of I. Unfortunately, fire destroyed some of the evidence of the Mecklenburg D of I in 1800, and, despite overwhelming credible evidence of its existence, it has been intentionally erased from history, except in North Carolina. John Adams was even unaware until about 1819 when he questioned Jefferson in letters and wrote about it to others. Jefferson, of course, deflected or ignored the questions, but he did say that he was always tasked with "synthesizing" and "harmonizing" numerous inspirations and never tasked with writing an "original" document.

Who's solid evidence should thoroughly convince the reader of the truth about the "Meck Deck," and it is an incredibly fun and entertaining book as well.

Erik Calonius at the Ships of the Sea Museum, Savannah

The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails.  Erik Calonius. St. Martin's Press, 2006. 320 pages.

(Note: The story of the Clotilda, a slave ship which brought over 100 enslaved Africans to Mobile Bay in 1860, has become more well known and established since the publication of this book, making the Wanderer the next-to-last American slave ship, that we know of.)

On January 1, 1808, federal law officially banned the importation of enslaved Africans into the US, but that didn't stop the Atlantic slave trade. Up until 1860, American-owned slave ships, mostly operating out of New York City, made the trip to the Slave Coast or up the Congo River. In Africa, they found hundreds of imprisoned Africans, captured in raids and held in pens, or barracoons, awaiting purchase. Some southerners believed importation of slaves was necessary to drive prices down, enable western expansion  of slavery, and allow the South to catch up with the North economically.

Enter Charles Lamar, an arrogant Savannah aristocrat whose family fortune was built on shipping, railroads, and banking. He bought the Wanderer, a sleek and luxurious yacht, and outfitted for slavery. His captain successfully  evaded the joint British-American effort to interdiction slave ships and deposited 400 people on Jekyll Island, South of Savannah. About 100 people had died on the voyage. Federal prosecutors went after Lamar and his subordinates in the biggest such case in US history. 

It all makes for a very interesting read about a despicable act.

Author talk

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements. Sam Kean. Little, Brown, and Company, 2010.  400 pages.

Sam Kean is a science journalist who skillfully integrates history into his work, and he manages it to make interesting  and enlightening to both science and history lovers. He's published several books and created The Disappearing  Spoon podcast to tell even more stories.

The book, The Disappearing Spoon, is centered around the development of the Periodic Table of Elements. Each chapter is devoted to the fascinating background stories of the discovery and study of an element or elements. The stories cover the gamut of the human existence. It doesn't  matter if you're  team science or team history, you will enjoy this book, and all of Kean's work.

Metropolis. A Bernie Gunther Novel, 14 of 14. Philip Kerr. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2019. 384 pages.

British novelist Philip Kerr published a total of 30 novels before his untimely death in 2018. Fourteen of those books told the story of ex-cop turned private detective Bernie Gunther, taking readers from 1920s Berlin through World War II and into the Cold War, wrapping up in the late 1950s. Kerr died just before the 13th book was published, but Metropolis, the fourteenth, was in the pipeline and published a year later.

Metropolis takes us back to 1928 when Gunther was first promoted to the Berlin Homicide Division. Amidst the political, economic, and social turmoil that reverberated in Germany at the time, Gunther is assigned to the case of a serial killer preying on sex workers, specifically women forced into sex work from time to time just to pay bills or rent. Then, another killer seems to target handicapped WWI veterans who become panhandlers. 

As the investigation progresses, Gunther negotiates the Weimar insanity that was Germany: powerful criminal organizations, rampant drug use, the "anything goes" sexual revolution, the clash between modernity and traditionalism, the rise of antisemitism and the Nazi Party, just to name a few. Gunther is strongly anti-Nazi, just a man trying to be a good and decent cop. All of the Gunther books paint a very vivid picture of their setting, and you may want to be able to look up words and things that are sprinkled throughout. It's a great series for detective-fiction and noir lovers.