Devil In The Grove, King - A*

                                          This superb book recently won a Pulitzer.  It is subtitled 'Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America'.  Half of it is the background story of the life of the hard-driving, hard-living son of a railroad porter who changed American legal history.  He graduated from Howard Law School and had won his first case for the NAACP before the Supreme Court at the age of 32. He was famous for and was the mastermind of the NAACP's assault on Plessey v. Ferguson, the 1896 Supreme Court case that allowed 'separate but equal' to be the legal foundation of the Jim Crow south.  Marshall and the Legal Defense Fund that he supervised spent over a decade in their challenges and eventually prevailed in May, 1957 in Brown v. Board of Education.
                                         Concurrent with that civil effort was a career spent traveling south and representing blacks in criminal matters.  The depth of prejudice in the southern judicial system was such that obtaining a life sentence in a capital case was considered a victory.  It was a judicial system in which it was common for the defendants and lawyers to be referred to as boys or niggers. When he arrived for a trial, the local blacks would shuttle him from home to home to protect him from the KKK and others.
                                         The story told in this book is of the prosecution and persecution of four blacks in Lake County, Florida in the late 40's and early 50's.  A young white woman, of relatively low repute, asserted after a night of drinking with her dissolute, on-again, off-again husband, that she had been kidnapped at gunpoint and raped by four blacks. She had not been raped and two of the four were not even within miles of her and her husband. The local sheriff, Willis McCall, got his boys together, busted up the shanties the local black fruit-pickers lived in, and arrested two local men and a young boy.  After merciless beatings, they confessed. The fourth was tracked down, shot in a swamp, and his body dropped in a river.  Justice was miscarried throughout a kangaroo trial, with a hanging judge who overruled every defense motion and objection, while he whittled on the bench.  Marshall joined the appeal and had the conviction overturned.  The second trial was now a national news phenomenon that ended with the same result. Years later, a Florida governor, with an eye toward northern tourism, would commute a death sentence to life.  The beatings, the bigotry, the hatred, the bombing and murder of interested parties, the shot 'while trying to escape', the intimidation of witnesses and journalists, the threats, the cloaking of it all in legality, the sheer stupidity of it all is not what shocks. It's the fact that it happened all on one case, not in isolated instances. And the sheriff who did all of this between 1948 and 1955, ignored the FBI, evaded justice and wasn't voted out of office until 1972.  There are moments in this book, when you almost think the author is making it up. I highly recommend it.

How The Light Gets In, Penny - B +

                   This is the latest, the best, and conceivably the last, in the series about Armand Gamache, of the Quebec Surete.  There are  parallel stories in each book in the series.  The first is the crime that must be solved, and here it is in the mysterious death of the last of a quintet of sisters.  Although the author states that there is no correlation between her quints and the Dionne quints, for a non-Canadian, it is a fascinating tale. Apparently, the Dionne quints were Canadian royalty and lived their lives in the public eye.  Taken for their protection by the state at the age of 4 months, the Dionne quints were made into a Canadian tourist destination, wherein up to 6,000 people per day would come to look from behind one-way mirrors at their nursery and play areas.  The second theme in the Gamache books is his behind the scenes epic battles with corruption in the upper echelons of the police. That story is resolved and concludes quite dramatically here.

The Great Convergence, Mahbubani - B

                   The subtitle of this intriguing book is 'Asia, The West And The Logic Of One World'.  The author is the former U.N. Ambassador from Singapore, currently Dean and Professor at the School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.  He makes a very compelling case for a world with stronger multilateral institutions.

                   His starting point is that the world has undergone massive change in the last three decades. Death by war and disease has declined significantly. We live in a much more interconnected world than we could have ever imagined and just about everyone in it now strives for the creature comforts that we in the West have always taken for granted.  The rise of a world-wide middle class creates massive economic and environmental challenges. The tasks at hand necessitate global solutions that our existing 19th century nation-states are ill-prepared to manage.  He asserts that the 12% of the world, that is, the West, isn't ready to share responsibility with the rest of the world and consistently undermines the U.N., the  World Health Organization and other international agencies. He cites the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as entity that has succeeded because of a program of extensive multilateral cooperation.  Policy books, by nature, are not 'fun reads', but this is insightful and thought provoking.

The Devil's Cave, Walker - B+

                                          I mentioned this delightful series in January.  Once again, Bruno Courreges, the only policeman in fictional St. Denis, in the heart of the Perigord in southern France, solves a complex crime with international implications.  The plot involves an arms sale, a black mass, a cave that had been used by the Resistance, the usual cast of colorful locals and Bruno's subtle touches. The author has written a number of well received non-fiction histories, has moved to the region, and this series is his new focus. Kudos to him, as these novels are thoroughly enjoyable.

The Third Coast, Dyja - U

                   The 'U' is for uncertain or unsure, as this book about Chicago is one of the most confusing, erratic, and inconsistent books that I have ever read.  Yet, it is filled with delightful information about the city, whose suburbs and more recently, its downtown, I have called home for almost three decades. Indeed, I live in the building that is on the cover of the book ( it's a 2006 condo conversion of an  art deco landmark former office building).
                   The subtitle of the book is 'When Chicago Built The American Dream'.  The author's premise is that from the late 1930's through the 1950's Chicago produced much of what the world considers 'American'.  That is a phenomenally bold statement that he, I believe, can back up only in one instance.  The most successful case he makes is in the field of architecture. The creative force behind America's, if not the world's,  adoption of glass on steel skeleton skyscrapers worked at the Illinois Institute of Technology, his home after he left Berlin's Bauhaus.  Mies van der Rohe was an unquestioned talent, whose influence has been unparalleled in modern architecture. His work is everywhere and is one of the reasons we have one of the most distinct skylines in the world.  Much attention in the book is appropriately placed on Mies, his students, his projects and his influence on Chicago. (Mies van der Rohe Way is a block from my building).
                 The home of the atomic bomb? Well, yes, we all know that the first atomic chain reaction occurred at the U of C. But, what about the Manhattan project?   The sexual revolution? Well, yes 'Hef'  started 'Playboy' in Chicago, but I think there's more to it than his airbrushed centerfolds. 'Kukla, Fran and Ollie' and Dave Garroway started network tv? Wow, did anyone tell David Sarnoff or Bill Paley? Chess Records had a huge impact on rock'n'roll, as the home of Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. All of England's great rockers, including the Stones, the Beatles, and  Clapton  have acknowledged the impact Chess had on their appreciation of the blues and it's impact on them. But Elvis was in Memphis, not Chicago.  Ray Kroc's first MacDonald's was in DesPlaines and the company has always been headquartered in Chicago. But the first six stores of the MacDonald brothers were in California, which is where Kroc's franchising efforts were focused.  Defender Magazines photos of the open casket of Emmett Till "catalyzed" the civil rights movement?  Not sure about that either, particularly when his explanation just about substitutes initiated for catalyzes.
                When he turns to criticize the city, it seems to me that he lacks perspective. The author says the city fell from its place as America's  "second city" because  the first Mayor Daley's construction projects chased everyone out of town and into the suburbs. The jet plane and coast to coast travel made O'Hare obsolete.  Interestingly, O'Hare which powers a significant amount of the region's employment and tax base, is only mentioned in this inexplicable and absurd context.  The book is filled with open ended bombastic contradictions, leading nowhere and in need of  clarification.
                  The one point, though, where I believe he is correct in his criticism of Chicago is with regard to its racial divisions.  When the  black migration from the south began a hundred years ago, they were shunted into undesirable housing around the south side's steel plants and slaughterhouses.  Today, a significant number of their descendants are not part of the American mainstream.  Who is responsible? I do not know, but it certainly seems to be a cultural/American issue more so than one city's.
                  He criticizes the city for having lost population, while NY and LA have grown. I do not believe the comparison should be to the country's coastal international destinations.  The contrast must be to the cities of the industrial heartland that have been hollowed out by globalization.  Detroit? Cleveland? Pittsburgh? St. Louis? Buffalo? Milwaukee? Cincinnati? Dayton?  Indianapolis? Where does every kid  from a Big Ten school want to go  to when he/she graduates?  I hate to be a homer - but, "it's my kind of town".


 

Those Angry Days, Olson - B+

                                          Lynne Olson specializes in relatively short, focused histories about the years before WW2.  This is her third book and again, another superb one. It is subtitled 'Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over WW2, 1939-1941.  We have institutionalized the War as our finest hour and have enshrined its youthful warriors as our greatest generation.  Many have forgotten the bitter, partisan divide that was the state of our affairs in the 30's.  In the Introduction, the author quotes Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., the noted Harvard historian, who said that it was "the most savage political debate in my lifetime. There have been a number of fierce quarrels - over communism in the late forties, over McCarthyism in the fifties, over Vietnam in the sixties - but none so tore apart families and friendships as this fight"
                                         How bad was it? There were fist fights on the floor of the House. A Senator was hung in effigy on the Capital lawn. During the Lend-Lease hearings, which the editor of the Chicago tribune called "the war dictatorship bill," veiled women dressed in black went daily to the Capital to moan and weep. The British, with the approval of FDR and the FBI, conducted an active intelligence, spying, and lobbying effort.  The FBI wiretapped, bugged, opened the mail, and spied on foreigners and just about any American who they felt might be disloyal. J. Edgar Hoover had a full-fledged secret police state long before most of his later opponents were born.
                                         The military was very uncomfortable with Roosevelt's articulated support of Great Britain.  Numerous members of the Armed Forces assisted the isolationists, most famously Hap Arnold. The architect of America's air war and victory over the Axis could easily have been jailed in 1941 for passing top secret information to Sen. Burton Wheeler, who leaked it to the press in an attempt to show how Roosevelt was planning to fight Germany.  Olson claims that the German General Staff was so concerned about the information in the 'Victory Report' that they considered a halt of their march into the USSR. They thought it would be prudent to finish up in Europe and Africa, in order to be ready for America's might.  George Marshall, who comes off a bit weaselly in this book, protected Arnold and a cabal of others, who seemed to have forgotten their oaths.
                                         One of the heroes of the book is Wendell Wilkie.  Wilkie had nothing in common with the isolationists in his party and unselfishly supported Roosevelt by agreeing not to make a campaign issue of FDR's program of exchanging destroyers for the British bases in the Caribbean. In 1941, he was instrumental in convincing Congress to pass Lend-Lease. Later that year, he helped with the extension of the draft bill. The 1940 law said that the inductions were good for one year. The 1941 bill, with some crafty footwork by Speaker Rayburn ,passed the House 203-202.
                                        Olson credits Roosevelt with succeeding in his great balancing act, but ceaselessly points out how frustrated everyone (particularly the British PM and his own Sec. of War, Henry Stimson) was with his inability to follow through on his rhetorical flourishes.  His great Fireside chat on Lend-Lease included his coining the phrase 'arsenal of democracy' and  featured his famous analogy about lending a garden hose to your neighbor when his house was on fire. It was heard by 85 million people, an astounding two-thirds of the nation. Everyone loved it and agreed, yet he did nothing to initiate a program of constructing things to lend.
                                        The isolationists had a point, at least in the beginning, as two-thirds of Americans were initially opposed to any involvement in Europe.  Americans felt that they had been roped into WW1 by British propaganda and a duplicitous Wall Street. They were unhappy with all of the unpaid debts, and felt contempt for Europe's propensity to repeat its mistakes. Many Americans felt that the 1919 Peace was unfair to Germany and simply an invitation to a repeat performance. Irish-American constituents had no empathy for the British Empire. Midwesterners and farmers didn't particularly like the Brits and their east coast Anglophile supporters.  Thus, most of the opposition was in the western half of the country. The leaders were farm state senators like Wheeler from Montana, Borah from Idaho, and Nye from N. Dakota. However, events impacted opinion, and by the summer of 1941, two-thirds of the country were behind the President and ready to step up in Europe. As is always the case though, there are those who dig in and ignore the changing circumstances.
                                    And, the leader of that pack was the tragic Charles Lindbergh.  He, of course, comes off badly, but also to some extent, a victim of circumstances. At the age of 25, he became the most revered person on the planet, Time Magazine's first Man of the Year. Propelled to fame, wealth, and, most importantly, a public pedestal, he was just a poor airplane pilot who got lucky.  He was ill-equipped to deal with his place in the pantheon and unfortunately never understood that. He justifiably deplored the American press that haunted him and his family before, during, and after the kidnapping/murder of his infant son. The Lindbergh's  fled to Europe and, at the request of the US,  he spent a lot of time in Germany, inspecting and trying to find out about their air forces. He overstated their capabilities and had the misfortune of receiving a medal from Goering, commemorating his contributions to aviation. He liked the Germans, their efficiency and their respect for his privacy. He  concluded that France and the UK didn't have a chance in a future war. When he came home, he took up the cause of the isolationists and, famously in Sept. 1941, blamed the Brits, FDR and America's Jews for our opposition to the Nazis.  When war came, FDR left it to the duplicitous Hap Arnold to decline to let Lindy back in uniform. He did redeem himself  as civilian test pilot, consultant, and actually flew over fifty combat missions in disguise. Ike later reinstated him as a Brigadier General in Air Force Reserve. JFK made him his guest of honor at his first state dinner and had him stay in the White House. His autobiography, 'The Spirit of St. Louis' won the Pulitzer. However, the wisdom of age and the perspective of a long life never came to Lindy.  In his 1970 memoirs, he stated that the Holocaust was no worse than the US treatment of Japanese POW's.  The secretive, lonely old man would go to the Smithsonian several times a year.  He would hide behind a showcase and gaze up at the Spirit of St. Louis, riding above him.
                           
                             

The Black Count, Reiss - B

                                          This Pulitzer Prize winning biography is subtitled 'Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, And The Real Count of Monte Cristo'. It tells the truly remarkable story of the son of a Haitian slave mother and a dissolute French Marquis, who grew up to be a General of the Army in Revolutionary France.  Antoine de la Pailleterie brought his fourteen-year-old son to France from Haiti in 1776, after selling the boys' mother and three older sisters back into slavery.  The boy, known as Alex Dumas (his mothers name), was over six feet tall at a time when the average European was about 5'6" and was  immensely strong and a skilled horseman.   Although the French Empire was predicated on slavery, particularly in the sugar colonies of Martinique and Haiti, the influence of the Enlightenment led to a law establishing that once a person was present in the kingdom, their status was forever changed and they were free Frenchmen. After falling out with his father and abandoning his name, Alex enlisted in the army as a common soldier at the age of 26. Because of his physical endowments and the turmoil caused by the  Revolution, he was promoted from corporal to general two years later. Throughout France, full citizenship was extended to all persons of color and slavery was abolished in the Empire.  He achieved the highpoint of his career in 1794 as commander of The Army of the Alps, when he defeated a Piedmont force at Mt. Cenis and opened up Italy to French invasion. Against overwhelming odds, he later halted an Austrian invasion at Mantua in northern Italy. Unfortunately, he disagreed with the style of one of his fellow generals, his eventual superior from Corsica, and belittled the egomaniacal Napoleon. Although Napoleon personally disliked Dumas, he recognized his talents and made him General of the Cavalry for the ill-fated French invasion of Egypt.  Dumas was captured by  anti-revolutionary forces of the Kingdom of Naples when his ship floundered near their shores while trying to return to France.  Two years of captivity broke his health and he returned to Paris in 1800 to find his beloved  country in the hands of a dictator.  Napoleon had been supported by the colonial aristocracy and he re-established slavery and banned black officers from the Army. Dumas would never serve in the Army again, was refused any compensation for his time of imprisonment, and died in 1806, forgotten and impoverished.  However, he was adored by his son Alexandre, who wrote an unpublished biography of his father, upon whom he modelled his most famous character, Edmond Dantes.

Never Go Back, Child - B+

                                         This is the eighteenth book in the Jack Reacher series and the NYTimes thinks it's the best one so far. Lee Child began publishing these stories in 1997.  They are rather hard to characterize and sometimes I wonder why I, and so many others, are fascinated.  I think, at least for me, it is that the good guys always win and  do so emphatically.  There's something about righteous revenge.  In this one, Reacher heads back to the D.C. area to meet the current commander of his former unit.   Before he knows it, he's recalled to active duty, accused of a murder from almost twenty years ago,finds himself a defendant in a paternity suit, and tossed in the same jail as the woman who in now the CO of the 110th M.P.'s. Needless to say, he doesn't sit still for this, and off we go on a blast of a joy ride, in which he and his successor are exonerated.

Ready For A Brand New Beat, Kurlansky - B

                                          This short book is an homage to one of the true great and fun songs from the '60's -- "Dancing In The Street", by Martha and the Vandellas.  It's hard to imagine a Boomer out there who doesn't know the lyrics to this two minute forty second classic. I suspect most GenYers and Millennials know it too.  The song came out of Berry Gordy Jr.s Hitsville USA studio on West Grand Blvd. about a half-a-mile from the old GM headquarters building.  Motown may have been one of, if not the most productive record studios in history and this song came out in the summer of 1964, when they were at their peak. Interestingly, Martha Reeves was not supposed to sing it, but happened to be there that day and was asked to do the demo version that usually preceded the final take by the chosen singer. The producers knew they had a winner and asked the Vandellas to do the background the next day.  The book loses some of it's mojo when the author tries to make the point of its subtitle, 'How Dancing In The Street Became The Anthem For A Changing America'. The summer of 1964 was a bit of an inflection point: the Tonkin Resolution and the deaths of Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney, foreshadowing the  turmoil and violence of the next four years. Even almost fifty-years later, it is shocking to think of massive summer urban riots, campus shut-downs, Vietnam spiralling out of control, the Civil Rights movement turning violent, crime in the streets, and  assassinations becoming a kind of normalcy. H. Rap Brown and the Black Panthers may have liked the song, but I'm not sure it became an anthem for change. Nonetheless, it remains a fabulous song and one in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for records that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States."

Inferno, Brown - C

                                        Prof. Robert Langdon is at it again, this time in Florence, Venice, and Istanbul.  Who else can read a verse of Dante and use it to divine the intentions of an evil-doing madman?  Who else can see that a depiction of a Botticelli painting has been altered and, that it means that the quest must be moved to a different venue?  More importantly, why do I (and millions of others) read this stuff?