Author Talk
A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South. Peter Cozzens. Knopf, 2023. 464 pages.
Author Peter Cozzens never started out to write a trilogy of books about the Indian wars in the southeastern US around the beginning of the 19th century, but he found it necessary. Brutal Reckoning is the third book of the trilogy, focusing on the Creek War of 1813 and 1814. This too often overlooked war, he argues is actually one of, if not the most pivotal of the US Indian wars. The loss of life is greater, by far, than in any other Indian war, and the long-term results are extremely important in shaping the US. The Creek (or Muscogee) people built a confederacy of towns and dominated most of the territory of modern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi when white explorers and settlers arrived. The Creeks first traded with whites and intermarried, creating the Metis, a whole new class of mixed race people who maneuvered in both worlds. White encroachment, however, destroyed Creek social and economic structure, beyond just physically taking land. The desire to acquire white goods led to the upheaval of hunting traditions. Instead of hunting deer a few months in the fall, Creek men hunted more and more to acquire deerskins for trade, depleting the deer population, upending the traditional division of labor, and causing conflict with other tribes as they followed deer into other tribes' hunting areas. Mistreatment, abuse, and theft by white settlers further weakened and divided the Creek nation. Creek towns turned against each other. Inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and by hopes of British and Spanish aid, Red Stick Creek leaders went to war, and the results were devastating for all involved. Cozzens argues that if history would have been vastly different if Creek lands had been held, either militarily or diplomatically. Their land became the "back belt" or the "cotton belt.' Without it, slavery and "King Cotton" would not have developed as it did, and that would have carved a whole new path in American history.
This is a great book, a must-read for anyone interested in southern history or the Indian Wars. Check out the other books in the trilogy too.
Red Plenty. Francis Spufford. Graywolf Press, 2012. 448 pages.
This book confuses me so much. Even the author in his introduction states that it is simultaneously fiction and non-fiction. I even read a review calling it science fiction. There are real historical figures, characters inspired by real historical figures, characters that are composites of real people, and totally fictional characters. I don't know what it is exactly, but it was an enjoyable read, and seems like a plausible "history" of the USSR during and just after the rule of Nikita Khrushchev from the mid 1950s through the early 1970s. This period was an incredible transition in Soviet history from the harsh rule of Stalin and its climate of fear and persecution, forced collectivization, and the organized use of famine as a means of genocide to a more open society with an economy growing at a staggering rate (of course, the starting point was extremely low, so any advance is significant) . Khrushchev promised that the USSR would surpass its capitalist rivals, and Soviet citizens would live in a world of plenty.
This book is a collection of vignettes, like a collection of short stories, following the lives of multiple characters dealing with the Soviet system, from Krushchev and high ranking party officials to managers and bureaucrats to scientists, students, and black marketeers. The stories aren't really related, but each one describes the Soviet struggle of trying to deal with an impossible duality: achieving a true workers' paradise and land of plenty despite staggering corruption, brutality, greed, and stupidity. After reading the bigger book, I had a greater knowledge and understanding of Soviet history and the Cold War, but I still don't really know how to describe it or to encourage others to read it.
Author talk
The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice. David Hill. Picador, 2021. 416 pages.
Have you ever visited Hot Springs Arkansas? Perhaps explored the National Park designated downtown Bathhouse Row? Visitors can tour the old bathhouses and partake in the hot springs and spa treatments in modern, even luxurious, accommodations today, although I prefer the historic traditional style of the Buckstaff, built in 1912, the only spa that operates in much the same manner as when it opened. Some visitors may not know, however, that for much of the 20th century, Hot Springs was a "Mob" town, owned and controlled by organized crime figures. There were a few homegrown owners, but much of the illicit business was controlled by the mobsters we all know by name. As local and state officials looked the other way, or actively participated, Hot Springs became the gambling mecca of the South, with horse racing and casinos. Prohibition-era bootlegging and prostitution added more illegal activity. Hot Springs became a favorite destination, even a haven or sanctuary for mobsters. When things got too hot or stressful in Chicago, New York, or Atlantic City, and they didn't feel like going to Cuba or Miami, mobsters flocked to Hot Springs to enjoy the baths and to take in live shows starring the greatest entertainers in America, mostly free of fears of harm from rivals and free of federal investigators' scrutiny and harassment.
David Hill's book is a history of 20th century Hot Springs, told both through the historical record and through the author's own family history during the time. It was an interesting read, and I would probably give it 3 out of 5 if asked to rate it. Its appeal is probably limited to people who are specifically interested in Hot Springs and/or organized crime history.
Author talk
The Good Wife of Bath: A Novel. Karen Brooks. William Morrow, 2022. 560 pages.
My classmates and I read parts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in high school, and one of my major papers that year was about "The Miller's Tale." (Shout out to Mr. Tony Turner and my other English teachers. The quality of teachers of all subjects that I enjoyed in high school in rural south Georgia in the early 1980s was incredible, although I did not recognize how incredible at the time.) Those excerpts were challenging, and maybe they weren't thrilling, but they were intriguing glimpses into a long-ago age that revealed the humanity of humanity and the universality of the human condition, an important reason to study literature.
Karen Brooks, a writer of historical fiction, was inspired by the story of Chaucer's fictional Wife of Bath and decided to bring her to life in a new novel, telling her story, from her point of view. If you don't remember the original tale, this character is one of the standouts, mainly because she broke all the traditional constraints on women of the 14th century. She was assertive, bawdy, intelligent, and quite scandalous in the way that she lived her life and dealt with men. Brooks gives the reader the full story, back, front and all-around. The story begins when young Eleanor is orphaned and made a servant girl until she is forced into marriage at age 12 to a 60 year old man. Eleanor is a fighter, however, and she has a very keen mind for business. Thanks to her ambition and drive, a bit of good of good fortune here and there, and a life-long friendship with Geoffrey Chaucer, she navigates through five marriages, ups and downs, and many tragedies to build a family and quite a legacy, always in pursuit of the Holy Grail for women in 14th century England, her greatest desire: the right to control her own life.
This was a great read. We listened to the Audiobook version and found it to be exceptionally well done.
Author talk
Extinction: A Novel. Douglas Preston. Forge Books, 2024. 384 pages.
Douglas Preston is a favorite author of mine. A journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer, he always infuses his work, and his collaborations with Lincoln Child, with history and many of the -ologies: archaeology, anthropology, paleontology, psychology, and sociology. The result is usually a thrilling story, and his latest solo novel is no exception. Obviously inspired by his longstanding interest in paleontology and archaeology, this book reflects the rapid advances currently being made in those fields thanks to DNA and genetic research and new technology.
An eccentric billionaire has opened a resort in the Colorado mountains and makes it a preserve for Pleistocene Epoch mammals that have been "de-extincted." Wealthy patrons pay big money to see huge mammal herbivores roam as they did 2 million years ago, animals like mammoths, Irish elk, giant ground sloths, giant armadillos, and the largest land mammal that ever lived, the Paraceratherium which may have stood as high as 20 feet and weighed as much as 20 tons, 1.5 times as big as the mammoth. When a wealthy couple disappears while camping at the resort, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frankie Cash and Sheriff James Colcord are called in to investigate. Of course, they discover a huge illegal and unethical conspiracy that results in lots of bloodshed.
As you may have noticed, April was a bit of a reading slump for me, but I zoomed through this book in a few days. Yes, there are a few usual tropes here like the troubled agent trying to escape her past, the good-old-boy sheriff who turns out to be surprisingly progressive, intelligent, and competent, and evil billionaires, but it was a page-turner. I highly recommend to Preston, Preston & Child, and Michael Crichton fans (Yes, it reads almost like an homage to Jurassic Park, and Preston is not above plugging his own previous works in the book either.)
Author appearance on a podcast
The Wolf In the Whale. Jordanna Max Brodsky. Redhook, 2019. 560 pages.
I can't remember the last time I couldn't finish a book as highly rated with as many glowing reviews as this one, but I just couldn't do it. I made it a quarter of the way through, and I can't recall reading as much uninteresting, unmoving, bleak, meh in a long time. Nothing happened. Nothing made me care about anything. The book was as boring and unrelenting as the arctic landscape of its setting. And I am a big reader of books on Native American culture, history, and mythology.
The book is allegedly an exciting and magical fantasy inspired by Inuit culture and involving Inuit and Norse first contact (A quarter of the way in, there was no sign of anything Norse yet.) I saw none of that. I felt nothing at all that resembles anything in this publisher's blurb (which also had the temerity to compare it to Neil Gaiman's American Gods, one of my favorite novels):
"A sweeping tale of forbidden love and warring gods, where a young Inuit shaman and a Viking warrior become unwilling allies in a war that will determine the fate of the new world.
There is a very old story, rarely told, of a wolf that runs into the ocean and becomes a whale. . .
Born with the soul of a hunter and the spirit of the Wolf, Omat is destined to follow in her grandfather's footsteps-invoking the spirits of the land, sea, and sky to protect her people.
But the gods have stopped listening and Omat's family is starving. Desperate to save them, Omat journeys across the icy wastes, fighting for survival with every step. When she encounters Brandr, a wounded Viking warrior, they set in motion a conflict that could shatter her world. . .or save it."
Audiobook preview
The King's Assassin: The Fatal Affair of George Villiers and James I. Benjamin Woolley. Pan, 2018. 368 pages.
Much has been written about King James I, and there is much to write. He was the founder of the Stuart line and the first to jointly rule England and Scotland. He will forever be known for his role in the creation of the version of the Bible that goes by his name. You may have heard of his peculiarities of hygiene and physique - that he never bathed in his life and only occasionally washed his hands, that court observers recorded and visitors recorded seeing lice on his person if they stood too close, that his tongue was too large for his mouth causing food and drink to fall out at every meal, and that his tongue sometimes caused him difficulty in speaking (Supposedly, he is responsible for the now-standard pronunciation of the Thames as "Tims.") You may know that much of his energy was spent in attempts to rid Britain of two evils which he thought were destroying the country: tobacco and witchcraft. He saw himself as a divinely appointed warrior against witchcraft and even wrote books on the subject of detecting and destroying witches.
Another great passion that consumed much of his energy was his "Royal Favorite," George Villiers. Villiers was the most notable in a line of young and handsome men who became the closest companions, and most probably sexual partners, of James. Villiers came from a middling aristocratic family, long past any rank or influence, but his mother groomed him to become the King's favorite, seeing the opportunity for social climbing that it represented. Her scheming and George's charms caught the royal eye, and James was under George's influence from then on, granting George titles and powers that made others envious and resentful. Following James' death, George continued to be a close advisor to Charles I and a powerful lord as the Duke of Buckingham.
Benjamin Woolley's book is a detailed biography of Villiers and account of his relationship with James. The twist here, though, is that Wooley makes the case that Villiers actually caused the death of the king. It's a very interesting story and the basis for the current TV series "Mary & George."
Book Trailer
Cahokia Jazz. Francis Spufford. Scribner, 2024. 464 pages
I just finished reading one of the best and most original novels that I've read in a long time. It's the third book by Francis Spufford that I've read this year, and it's a 1920s detective-noir story combined with alternate history. Its set in Cahokia in 1922. Cahokia is a state occupying roughly southern Illinois and eastern Missouri, with a capital city of the same name, the name of the mound-building culture that occupied the Midwest and Mississippi River Valley a thousand years ago. In this world, Cahokia is a state of the United States governed by Native Americans, but Native Americans, European Americans, And African Americans live in relative harmony and prosperity. Then, a seemingly ritualistic murder is committed, and it threatens to destroy the political order. Detectives Joe Barrow, a Native American orphan raised without a connection to his Native American background, and Phineas Drummond, a white schemer with big plans for the future and questionable ethics whom Joe met in a World War I military hospital in France, are assigned to investigation. The investigation takes them into the complex web of Cahokian politics and culture, the speakeasies and bootlegging of the 1920s, gangsters, and the Ku Klux Klan. And did I mention that Joe was also a super-talented jazz pianist who is forced to choose between police work and music?
I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters; I could see a series of books and tv/movie adaptations. I have two faint criticisms: 1. I figured things out, mostly, long before the hero (but maybe I'm just brilliant 😉), 2. I kind of wish there was an introductory note explaining the alternate history world. I had to piece together the historical tidbits dropped throughout the book to figure out how Cahokia came into existence. The print editions of the book had two maps at the beginning, but I listened to the Audiobook and had to go looking for that. Nevertheless, I am sure that Cahokia Jazz will be one of my favorite reads of the year.
Crash Course: Florence and the Renaissance
The Ugly Renaissance: Sex, Greed, Violence, and Depravity in and Age of Beauty. Alexander Lee. Doubleday, 2014. 448 pages.
I have been fortunate enough to visit Florence Italy, a couple of times, and the experiences were mind-blowing for a history-lover like me. I love Florence. History is everywhere, all of the time, and the thought of how much history is contained in such a relatively small area ... the thought that you are standing and walking on the same ground and in the same buildings on which some of the greatest figures in history and art stood and walked verges on being overwhelming. But then, reality steps in, and you find yourself uncomfortably surrounded by crowds of tourists and peddlers and pickpockets that threaten to make your visit uncomfortable.
Today's Florence is unique in that the past and the present are always contemporaneous, existing simultaneously. The Ugly Renaissance seeks to clear away the "today" part and to transport the reader into the streets of yesterday's Florence, specifically the Florence that Michelangelo knew so well. It's a deep dive into the city and every aspect of it. If you are interested in Renaissance history, have visited Florence, or would like to visit Florence one day, this book is a great read for you. The author paints a thorough and detailed picture of the city's magnificence, sordidness, squalor, and unsavoriness.
