The reviews of this book attracted me because its theme is a conclusion that my amateur reading of history for the last half century has led me to. I have thought for some time that the expectations of almost everyone in this country, regardless of age, class, education or background are predicated on the illusion of the boom from the post-war era. It was temporary, and that is this author's premise. And quite depressingly, he asserts that the boom is not going to come back.
The author cites the quarter century from 1948 to 1973 as a time when the world economy expanded faster than ever before or since. In 1973, the average income per person around the world leaped 4.5%. "The almost universal feeling of prosperity quickly faded." The primary reason was a slowing down of productivity, without which economies and living standards do not improve. Theorists and politicians of every stripe have offered solutions, none of which have worked. Perhaps governments and central bankers can't fine tune economies. As this came to pass, most wealthy societies turned right and no longer saw collective solutions to problems. "Political leaders frequently understate the connection between large global trends and the individuals' well-being, first so they don't seem hapless while in power and second so they can blame the incumbents for economic troubles while in opposition." "As the Golden Age became a memory, so did the boundless optimism of an era of good times for all."
At the end of the war, 2 million mules plowed US farms and one in 175 Japanese homes had a telephone. By the mid-70's you could cross the Atlantic on a super-sonic plane in less than four hours. The US -funded Marshall Plan in 1948 jump-started the economies of the free world. Part of the reason for the beginning of the boom was pent up demand after almost twenty-years of depression and war. Millions moving from farms to factories was equally critical. It seemed as if labor, capital and government were together marching toward the future. Trade barriers fell, infrastructure was modernized, education became more universal and productivity doubled in the US, tripled in Europe and quadrupled in Japan. Capitalism and economic planning seemed to have created a new world.
The Seventies brought some new challenges to that prosperity. A US-based rise in inflation spread around the world because of the Bretton Woods system. Environmentalism raised its head for the first time and many, many people and nations began to reconsider just how they profited from the planet. Exchange rates became unglued after the US abandoned the gold standard in early 1973. The Yom Kippur War in October led to an almost doubling of the price of oil and an embargo on Israel's supporters. Add in the above-mentioned productivity decline (which this author cannot ascribe to anything in particular), and the party was over.
The mid to late seventies saw two defining changes. The first was the Japanese onslaught in almost very manufacturing sector that wreaked havoc throughout industrial Europe and America. Globalization had begun. The governmental response were protectionism, tariffs, and quotas, all of which raised the cost of living in the US and Europe by protecting failing businesses. The west's first and truly effective response was deregulation in energy, telecommunication, transport and finance. Better and better technology now came into play. Economic growth would no longer be driven by the massive industries of old. "The era of well-paid factory jobs for all was over; in the new economy, value would come from innovation, design, and marketing, not from the physical process of turning raw materials into finished goods."
As matters deteriorated, reducing the welfare state was not an option and in many countries tax burdens rose to provide continued support. This led to the swing to the right embodied by Kohl, Thatcher and Reagan. Thatcher's privatization of British industry moved 650,000 workers from state-subsidized jobs to the private sector and ushered in the UK's transformation to a service economy. She is deemed to have reversed Britain's slide, but to have only barely set it on an upward trend. In late 1979, in the US, Paul Volcker, Fed Chair, shifted the focus from monetary supply to bank reserves and saw interest rates skyrocket. Two years later, the Fed Funds rate was over 20%, the economy was in free fall and Ronald Reagan initiated a small tax cut, while borrowing heavily to increase the size of the navy. In August of 1982, Wall Street concluded that inflation had been contained and the great bull market in stocks and bonds began. The Reagan Revolution tamed inflation (thanks to the Democrat Paul Volcker) but made little difference to the well-being of the common man. "What the Reagan Revolution could not do was restore the broad improvement in living standards that Americans expected." Referring to the leaders of the eighties, the author states, "When it came to restoring the sense of economic security that had vanished along with cheap oil, their efforts were no more effectual than those of the less market-oriented politicians they drove from office."
In the closing chapter, Levinson again returns to the productivity theme. It boomed, then slowed down and no one knows why. He acknowledges that the micro-processor provided a temporary increase in productivity in the 90's, but has not established a long-term trend. He closes with a quote from Paul Samuelson. "The third quarter of the Twentieth Century was a golden age of economic progress. It surpassed any reasoned expectation. And we are not likely to see its equivalent soon again."
11.29.2016
11.26.2016
Blood In The Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 And Its Legacy, Thompson - A*
This is the history of the most important prison riot in US history. Much of the information has been accessed by a historian's good fortune, as NYS keeps most of it under lock, key and classified designation. I suspect his book is going to win a lot of awards - it is a masterpiece. The NYT reviewer refers to it as "a superb work of history." That said, it is a long tough slog, not because of the writing, which is excellent, but the topic, which is flat out horrible.
The State Correctional Facility at Attica was understaffed, the correction officers (COs) were not trained, and they were severely underpaid. The inmates were overcrowded, virtually starved, provided with a roll of toilet paper and a bar of soap per month, underpaid for their work, uncertain of the rules as inconsistency of enforcement was rife, allowed parole only if they had a job, seldom visited because of the distance from NYC, unable to communicate with common-law relations, proscribed from writing or receiving letters in Spanish, unable to read almost all outside material, free to listen only to three local am stations, completely lacked access to medical or dental services - essentially hopeless. Conditions were and had been horrible. Add into the mix a new black militancy among the prisoners and a power structure that felt obliged to suppress and fight them, and you had a burgeoning problem. "Warden Mancusi viewed prisoner activism as the work of black militant troublemakers who needed to be watched with particular care and shut up the minute they spoke out."
The summer of 1971 saw increased militancy. Riots had taken place in NYC and at nearby Auburn. Standing pat was Rockefeller's new man in charge, Russell G. Oswald, a wannabe reformer put on the defensive upon taking over the NYS system. The prisoners at Attica had sent a petition to Oswald. He told the men he would consider their requests to improve life at the prison. But, after the Attica Liberation Faction had wrote to the Commissioner, the guards began to strictly and brutally enforce all the rules. On the morning of Sept. 9, a combination of fear, confusion, change of routine and general sense of anxiety led to violence in A Tunnel and a full scale riot within minutes. Although there was no plan for a response to a riot, the COs and the State Police were able to re-take half of the cell blocks by noon. About half of the prisoners, approximately 1300 men, gathered in the Yard of Cell Block D and began to organize themselves.
Oswald arrived and immediately prohibited a violent re-taking. He was in the Yard by 4 pm. His primary concern was the well-being of the 40 hostages. He acceded to the demand that tv, newspapermen and outside observers be allowed into the prison. Ironically, it was only the presence of the outsiders that kept those clamoring to attack at bay. Outside the prison, the families of the hostages, local police and state troopers, as well as COs from around the region, gathered, waited, and were primed for revenge. The whole concept of observers turned into a circus within twenty-four hours. There were dozens in the prison including rabble-rousers and outsiders more radical than the inmates. Among the more notable observers were William Kunstler, Tom Wicker, Congressman Herman Badillo and State Senators John Dunne and Arthur Eve. Oswald spent a meaningful amount of time with the prisoners and agreed to the majority of their demands. However, the ongoing sticking point was amnesty, and unbeknownst to all inside, the forces of revenge were marshaling in Rocky's office. It was an era of law and order and the Governor could not be seen as lacking. Matters became more complex on the third night when Bobby Seale showed up to stir the pot and the officer hurt in the riot by the inmates, William Quinn, died. "By Saturday night, no one...thought that this standoff could continue much longer. Someone, somewhere was going to break." Discussions continued on Sunday but the prisoners wanted amnesty and the state would not budge. By 7 pm Sunday, Oswald had given up. Both the State Police and the Corrections Dept. left the planning and implementation of the recovery of the prison in relatively low-level hands, which the author suggests was a case of Rockefeller deliberately distancing himself from whatever the consequences would be.
On the morning of the 13th, the troopers who were readying the attack were characterized by a National Guardsmen standing by as "haggard" and "exhausted". They had had zero training in an action such as this, and had never handled the rifles given them. Those rifles were loaded with particularly destructive ammunition. The men were unfamiliar with gas masks, which would impede their ability to communicate. They were not instructed on how to accept a surrender, or what to do after they stormed the yard. No one had even recorded the serial numbers of the rifles distributed. Many were also armed with personal handguns. It was a classic snafu ready to happen. At about 9:40 am, a helicopter dropped cs gas on the Yard. The troopers followed and unleashed all they had, firing indiscriminately, often with intent to kill. One-hundrd and twenty-eight men were shot, nine hostages were dead, as were 29 inmates. The author, undoubtedly correctly, attributed the massacre to racial ferocity and animosity.
The State began spinning immediately, attributing all of the hostage deaths to the prisoners, who had purportedly slit their throats. The truth was that all but one had been shot. Throughout the day and the first night, the COs tortured and beat the inmates and Warden Mancusi denied them medical attention. It would take days and outsider's efforts to force the State to allow the wounded men medical care. As the first weeks passed, interest in what had happened grew and it became apparent that the state's coverup would fail, notwithstanding the public assertions of Rockefeller, Agnew and Nixon that organized militancy was behind the riot.
The Governor eventually assigned the Organized Crime Task Force to look into Attica. This commission became known as the Fischer/Simonetti Commission and was charged with assigning criminal responsibility. In December of 1972, Simonetti indicted sixty-three prisoners for 1289 crimes, which included the death of William Quinn as well as three prisoners who were murdered by their fellow inmates. The grand jury did not indict a single trooper or CO in the three dozen shooting deaths. Aligned against the state was the Attica Brothers Legal Defense (ABLD). It was more of a loosely organized movement than an entity, but it was able to change the trials' venue from Attica to Buffalo. The state lost the first two cases, but won the trial for murder of the guard, William Quinn, even though the evidence was patently fraudulent. The next trial for two murders of inmates was lost by the state. In the third trial, the state allowed a man to plead to 'time served' and not acknowledge his guilt. By late 1975, the state's prosecutorial record was a total failure and someone inside the prosecution team went public as a whistleblower. That attorney's actions led to more newspaper stories, a lengthy report, another commission and a Special Asst. Attorney General assigned to reconsider everything. In 1976, all cases except one against an inmate for murder were dismissed. The only indicted CO also had his case dismissed. At the end of the year, Gov. Carey pardoned or granted clemency to all inmates and attempted to "close the book" five years after the riot. Millions and millions had been spent and millions of pages of reports, affidavits, grand jury and trial testimony produced. But the truth was buried far from the public view.
Soon thereafter, the civil lawsuits began. It would take two decades for some semblance of justice to be provided. In January of 1991, a federal court in Buffalo, in a class action lawsuit, determined that the inmates civil rights had been violated during the retaking. The Judge in charge delayed the penalty stage of the trial for another five years. Big Black Smith, the lead plaintiff, did not have a chance to testify about his torture until June, 1997. After a day of deliberation, the jury awarded Smith $4,000,000. Smith's damage case was the strongest. Next the plaintiffs presented Frank Brosig's story, believed to be an average Attica case, and he was awarded $75,000. At that point, the state decided to appeal the original liability case, because they now knew they could be on the hook to the 1200 surviving inmates. In 1999, the Second Circuit reversed the liability judgement. It had been almost thirty years since the riot
The senior judge for the Western District took over the matter and forced the state (by now, Gov. Pataki after Mario Cuomo had refused to settle for 8 years) to pay $12m. The state never admitted guilt. Judge Telesca allowed every man to recount his story and thus place on the record the full saga of what had happened at Attica. The inmates and their lawyers were finally paid. The last chapter of the Attica tale is the pursuit of damages on behalf of the hostages, the families of the slain hostages and the now forty-year old-daughter of the slain guard, William Quinn. However, having previously received some monies from the workers comp funds, they were precluded from any other remedy. One woman had accepted $36 per week until her daughter turned 16 after being told by the state's lawyers they would be provided for for life. The FVOA ( Forgotten Victims of Attica) only had a political option and once again, a commission was authorized by Gov. Pataki. Hearings were held over the summer of 2002 and once again, the only thing that outweighed the depth of the damages suffered was the perfidy of the state. In January of 2005, the state agreed to $12m of damages - the same amount previously granted to the inmates. However, the state parceled out the money over six years, without interest.
Although, starting in 1973 NYS led the way with meaningful prison reform, it also led the nation into the era of mandatory minimum sentencing and the criminalization of previously civil matters. In 1996, Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act, severely restricting prisoners' access to federal courts. The incarceration rates around the country skyrocketed after Attica. NYS had 12,500 prisoners in 1971 and 72,600 by 1999. Both Congress and President Obama have begun to reverse this process. Nonetheless, we still lead the world in the percentage of our population incarcerated.
The author clearly takes the side of the inmates and relentlessly, in a manner reminiscent of Robert Caro, pours it on against the state. Although there seem to be points in the narrative where she is more than sympathetic to the inmates' activities, including brutal criminal acts, history has shown that the state treated the inmates horribly, viciously and indifferently murdered them and the hostages during the assault. It covered it up and cheated throughout all the legal proceedings and follow-up. I am reminded of the Kerner Commission referring to the events at the 1968 Democratic Convention as a "police riot." This is much more egregious government activity. I also cannot escape pop culture's most famous reference, as far as I know, to the riot, i.e. Al Pacino riling up the Brooklyn crowd with "Attica, Attica" in 'Dog Day Afternoon'. This is a great history book and one of the most powerful stories I've ever read.
The State Correctional Facility at Attica was understaffed, the correction officers (COs) were not trained, and they were severely underpaid. The inmates were overcrowded, virtually starved, provided with a roll of toilet paper and a bar of soap per month, underpaid for their work, uncertain of the rules as inconsistency of enforcement was rife, allowed parole only if they had a job, seldom visited because of the distance from NYC, unable to communicate with common-law relations, proscribed from writing or receiving letters in Spanish, unable to read almost all outside material, free to listen only to three local am stations, completely lacked access to medical or dental services - essentially hopeless. Conditions were and had been horrible. Add into the mix a new black militancy among the prisoners and a power structure that felt obliged to suppress and fight them, and you had a burgeoning problem. "Warden Mancusi viewed prisoner activism as the work of black militant troublemakers who needed to be watched with particular care and shut up the minute they spoke out."
The summer of 1971 saw increased militancy. Riots had taken place in NYC and at nearby Auburn. Standing pat was Rockefeller's new man in charge, Russell G. Oswald, a wannabe reformer put on the defensive upon taking over the NYS system. The prisoners at Attica had sent a petition to Oswald. He told the men he would consider their requests to improve life at the prison. But, after the Attica Liberation Faction had wrote to the Commissioner, the guards began to strictly and brutally enforce all the rules. On the morning of Sept. 9, a combination of fear, confusion, change of routine and general sense of anxiety led to violence in A Tunnel and a full scale riot within minutes. Although there was no plan for a response to a riot, the COs and the State Police were able to re-take half of the cell blocks by noon. About half of the prisoners, approximately 1300 men, gathered in the Yard of Cell Block D and began to organize themselves.
Oswald arrived and immediately prohibited a violent re-taking. He was in the Yard by 4 pm. His primary concern was the well-being of the 40 hostages. He acceded to the demand that tv, newspapermen and outside observers be allowed into the prison. Ironically, it was only the presence of the outsiders that kept those clamoring to attack at bay. Outside the prison, the families of the hostages, local police and state troopers, as well as COs from around the region, gathered, waited, and were primed for revenge. The whole concept of observers turned into a circus within twenty-four hours. There were dozens in the prison including rabble-rousers and outsiders more radical than the inmates. Among the more notable observers were William Kunstler, Tom Wicker, Congressman Herman Badillo and State Senators John Dunne and Arthur Eve. Oswald spent a meaningful amount of time with the prisoners and agreed to the majority of their demands. However, the ongoing sticking point was amnesty, and unbeknownst to all inside, the forces of revenge were marshaling in Rocky's office. It was an era of law and order and the Governor could not be seen as lacking. Matters became more complex on the third night when Bobby Seale showed up to stir the pot and the officer hurt in the riot by the inmates, William Quinn, died. "By Saturday night, no one...thought that this standoff could continue much longer. Someone, somewhere was going to break." Discussions continued on Sunday but the prisoners wanted amnesty and the state would not budge. By 7 pm Sunday, Oswald had given up. Both the State Police and the Corrections Dept. left the planning and implementation of the recovery of the prison in relatively low-level hands, which the author suggests was a case of Rockefeller deliberately distancing himself from whatever the consequences would be.
On the morning of the 13th, the troopers who were readying the attack were characterized by a National Guardsmen standing by as "haggard" and "exhausted". They had had zero training in an action such as this, and had never handled the rifles given them. Those rifles were loaded with particularly destructive ammunition. The men were unfamiliar with gas masks, which would impede their ability to communicate. They were not instructed on how to accept a surrender, or what to do after they stormed the yard. No one had even recorded the serial numbers of the rifles distributed. Many were also armed with personal handguns. It was a classic snafu ready to happen. At about 9:40 am, a helicopter dropped cs gas on the Yard. The troopers followed and unleashed all they had, firing indiscriminately, often with intent to kill. One-hundrd and twenty-eight men were shot, nine hostages were dead, as were 29 inmates. The author, undoubtedly correctly, attributed the massacre to racial ferocity and animosity.
The State began spinning immediately, attributing all of the hostage deaths to the prisoners, who had purportedly slit their throats. The truth was that all but one had been shot. Throughout the day and the first night, the COs tortured and beat the inmates and Warden Mancusi denied them medical attention. It would take days and outsider's efforts to force the State to allow the wounded men medical care. As the first weeks passed, interest in what had happened grew and it became apparent that the state's coverup would fail, notwithstanding the public assertions of Rockefeller, Agnew and Nixon that organized militancy was behind the riot.
The Governor eventually assigned the Organized Crime Task Force to look into Attica. This commission became known as the Fischer/Simonetti Commission and was charged with assigning criminal responsibility. In December of 1972, Simonetti indicted sixty-three prisoners for 1289 crimes, which included the death of William Quinn as well as three prisoners who were murdered by their fellow inmates. The grand jury did not indict a single trooper or CO in the three dozen shooting deaths. Aligned against the state was the Attica Brothers Legal Defense (ABLD). It was more of a loosely organized movement than an entity, but it was able to change the trials' venue from Attica to Buffalo. The state lost the first two cases, but won the trial for murder of the guard, William Quinn, even though the evidence was patently fraudulent. The next trial for two murders of inmates was lost by the state. In the third trial, the state allowed a man to plead to 'time served' and not acknowledge his guilt. By late 1975, the state's prosecutorial record was a total failure and someone inside the prosecution team went public as a whistleblower. That attorney's actions led to more newspaper stories, a lengthy report, another commission and a Special Asst. Attorney General assigned to reconsider everything. In 1976, all cases except one against an inmate for murder were dismissed. The only indicted CO also had his case dismissed. At the end of the year, Gov. Carey pardoned or granted clemency to all inmates and attempted to "close the book" five years after the riot. Millions and millions had been spent and millions of pages of reports, affidavits, grand jury and trial testimony produced. But the truth was buried far from the public view.
Soon thereafter, the civil lawsuits began. It would take two decades for some semblance of justice to be provided. In January of 1991, a federal court in Buffalo, in a class action lawsuit, determined that the inmates civil rights had been violated during the retaking. The Judge in charge delayed the penalty stage of the trial for another five years. Big Black Smith, the lead plaintiff, did not have a chance to testify about his torture until June, 1997. After a day of deliberation, the jury awarded Smith $4,000,000. Smith's damage case was the strongest. Next the plaintiffs presented Frank Brosig's story, believed to be an average Attica case, and he was awarded $75,000. At that point, the state decided to appeal the original liability case, because they now knew they could be on the hook to the 1200 surviving inmates. In 1999, the Second Circuit reversed the liability judgement. It had been almost thirty years since the riot
The senior judge for the Western District took over the matter and forced the state (by now, Gov. Pataki after Mario Cuomo had refused to settle for 8 years) to pay $12m. The state never admitted guilt. Judge Telesca allowed every man to recount his story and thus place on the record the full saga of what had happened at Attica. The inmates and their lawyers were finally paid. The last chapter of the Attica tale is the pursuit of damages on behalf of the hostages, the families of the slain hostages and the now forty-year old-daughter of the slain guard, William Quinn. However, having previously received some monies from the workers comp funds, they were precluded from any other remedy. One woman had accepted $36 per week until her daughter turned 16 after being told by the state's lawyers they would be provided for for life. The FVOA ( Forgotten Victims of Attica) only had a political option and once again, a commission was authorized by Gov. Pataki. Hearings were held over the summer of 2002 and once again, the only thing that outweighed the depth of the damages suffered was the perfidy of the state. In January of 2005, the state agreed to $12m of damages - the same amount previously granted to the inmates. However, the state parceled out the money over six years, without interest.
Although, starting in 1973 NYS led the way with meaningful prison reform, it also led the nation into the era of mandatory minimum sentencing and the criminalization of previously civil matters. In 1996, Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act, severely restricting prisoners' access to federal courts. The incarceration rates around the country skyrocketed after Attica. NYS had 12,500 prisoners in 1971 and 72,600 by 1999. Both Congress and President Obama have begun to reverse this process. Nonetheless, we still lead the world in the percentage of our population incarcerated.
The author clearly takes the side of the inmates and relentlessly, in a manner reminiscent of Robert Caro, pours it on against the state. Although there seem to be points in the narrative where she is more than sympathetic to the inmates' activities, including brutal criminal acts, history has shown that the state treated the inmates horribly, viciously and indifferently murdered them and the hostages during the assault. It covered it up and cheated throughout all the legal proceedings and follow-up. I am reminded of the Kerner Commission referring to the events at the 1968 Democratic Convention as a "police riot." This is much more egregious government activity. I also cannot escape pop culture's most famous reference, as far as I know, to the riot, i.e. Al Pacino riling up the Brooklyn crowd with "Attica, Attica" in 'Dog Day Afternoon'. This is a great history book and one of the most powerful stories I've ever read.
Europe In Autumn, Hutchinson - B
This fascinating novel is a traditional spy/thriller with an interesting wrinkle - it's set a few decades in the future, after Europe has closed its borders because of a drift to the right compounded by the Xian Flu, which has taken 30 million lives. The continent keeps spawning more "progressively smaller and crazier nation-states." Our protagonist is Rudi, an Estonian chef working in Krakow and recruited to be part of Les Coureurs, a sort of a supra-national messenger service. His travels, travails and adventures take us from Krakow to Silesia to Potsdam, back to Estonia, then to London and finally to a game preserve near the Belarus - Poland border. It's the first book in the Fractured Europe series, of which there are three so far. It's a delightful diverting bit of fun.
11.15.2016
The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the LA Dodgers, Leahy - B -
At the dawn of the decade, baseball ruled the world of sports in America, a domination that was decades old and seemingly in place forever. The NFL and the NBA were the minor leagues. Baseball changed in the sixties and the focus of this book is on seven of the core players of the Dodgers teams that went to three World Series in four years and won two of them - Sandy Koufax, Maury Wills, Tommy Davis, Wes Parker, Jeff Torborg, Dick Tracewski and Lou Johnson. The truth be told though, this book is not really about the 1960's or the Los Angeles Dodgers. This book is about the most legendary Dodger of all-time, number 32, Sandy Koufax.
Wills made it to the bigs in 1959 after eight years of race-baiting torture in the minors, having worked his way up from the D League. The MVP of the 1962 season had few friends on the team but was close to Sandy Koufax. They screened each other's hate mail, as being either black or Jewish wasn't particularly popular. The Brooklyn-born Koufax had joined the team as a 19-year-old 'bonus baby' in 1955. If bonus babies were sent to the minors, there was a chance another team could poach them. So, Koufax rode the pine in Brooklyn and LA and never got to learn his craft in the minors. The first half of his brief career was a struggle, but he blossomed into a star in 1962 and started game one at Yankee Stadium in the '63 Series. He struck out 15, a Series record, and took his first steps towards baseball immortality. Followed by Drysdale and Roebuck, he pitched game four of the first sweep of the Yankees since 1922.
Tommy Davis, a Brooklyn born and raised center fielder, was a star on the same team, while Dick Tracewski was a light hitting utility infielder from rural Pennsylvania. Joining them at Vero Beach in 1964 were two college graduates, first baseman Wes Parker from USC and catcher Jeff Torborg from Rutgers. The 1964 season saw the beginning of the end for Koufax's majestic left arm. He was in pain and struggling. Unlike today, that meant he was not rested to conserve the future, but rather over-used to assure current usefulness. It was not unusual for the Dodgers to pitch him on two days rest. By August, his season was over. A month later, LA would close a losing season in sixth place.
The Dodgers bounced back in 1965 even though Tommy Davis broke an ankle early in the season. He was replaced by journeyman Lou Johnson, a black man who swung ferociously at the ball because it was 'white'. Unlike all the black men on the Dodgers, Johnson didn't just roll with prejudice, he fought back, particularly with the racist locals at Vero Beach. The author had the good fortune to be at Chavez Ravine the night of Sept. 9th, 1965. Sandy Koufax's perfect game was viewed by a select few because O'Malley did not allow home games to be televised. In a pennant race for the ages, the Giants ran off a 14 game winning streak and the Dodgers won 15 of their last 16. Koufax pitched 335 innings. He started game 7 against the Twins on two days rest and notched his second shutout in three days. He had won a game 7 on the road and did it on a day he did not have his curveball. He pitched almost all fastballs.
One of the overriding themes of this book is how deceptive and mean-spirited GM Buzzie Bavasi was on behalf of the tight-fisted Walter O'Malley. Bavasi was in charge of annual salary 'negotiations' during which he insulted, intimidated and abused the men of one of the greatest baseball teams ever assembled. Whether it was the mighty Koufax or the lowly Tracewski, Bavasi had in his back pocket baseball's reserve clause. If you wanted to play professional baseball, you played for the team that signed you and did so until you retired or they traded you. Not even Koufax, the 1963 Cy Young winner, World Series and regular season MVP had any leverage at all. The smiling, affable O'Malley was pulling in over two million in attendance every year, with a big league payroll of about $500,000. The author refers to his position as morally indefensible. After the performance of Drysdale and Koufax in 1965, Bavasi and O'Malley still thought it was business as usual.
The two pitchers held out 'together' and skipped spring training. The Dodgers buckled and paid Drysdale $110,000 and Koufax $125,000. That same spring, Marvin Miller started making his rounds and by the end of the season was the Executive Director of the Major League Players Association. Baseball was about to change. Koufax had already made up his mind. He was only thirty but he knew 1966 would have to be his final season. His arthritis was debilitating and he couldn't go on. He is the only pitcher to win the Cy Young in his final season and led the league in ERA, wins and strikeouts. However, the team was exhausted and barely won the pennant in the second game of a last day double header. Everyone was looking past the Series to a mandated month long, eighteen game trip to Japan with a $4000 pay day attached. O'Malley let Koufax and Drysdale and a few others out, but there had been an implied threat ; go, or run the risk of being traded. They were swept by the Orioles in the World Series, and shut out in the last three games. Maury Wills was so badly hurt that after four games in Japan, he left and returned to the US. In November, Koufax retired and O'Malley retaliated against Wills by sending him to Pittsburgh. It was over.
The players moved on, as did the franchise. The were, and still are one of the most valuable sports brands in the world. Drysdale became a Dodger announcer and died in his mid-fifties. Although feelings were rubbed raw at the end of their careers, both Maury Wills and Sandy Koufax remain regulars at spring training and at Chavez Ravine. As this was 'my' baseball team as a kid, I've enjoyed this.
Wills made it to the bigs in 1959 after eight years of race-baiting torture in the minors, having worked his way up from the D League. The MVP of the 1962 season had few friends on the team but was close to Sandy Koufax. They screened each other's hate mail, as being either black or Jewish wasn't particularly popular. The Brooklyn-born Koufax had joined the team as a 19-year-old 'bonus baby' in 1955. If bonus babies were sent to the minors, there was a chance another team could poach them. So, Koufax rode the pine in Brooklyn and LA and never got to learn his craft in the minors. The first half of his brief career was a struggle, but he blossomed into a star in 1962 and started game one at Yankee Stadium in the '63 Series. He struck out 15, a Series record, and took his first steps towards baseball immortality. Followed by Drysdale and Roebuck, he pitched game four of the first sweep of the Yankees since 1922.
Tommy Davis, a Brooklyn born and raised center fielder, was a star on the same team, while Dick Tracewski was a light hitting utility infielder from rural Pennsylvania. Joining them at Vero Beach in 1964 were two college graduates, first baseman Wes Parker from USC and catcher Jeff Torborg from Rutgers. The 1964 season saw the beginning of the end for Koufax's majestic left arm. He was in pain and struggling. Unlike today, that meant he was not rested to conserve the future, but rather over-used to assure current usefulness. It was not unusual for the Dodgers to pitch him on two days rest. By August, his season was over. A month later, LA would close a losing season in sixth place.
The Dodgers bounced back in 1965 even though Tommy Davis broke an ankle early in the season. He was replaced by journeyman Lou Johnson, a black man who swung ferociously at the ball because it was 'white'. Unlike all the black men on the Dodgers, Johnson didn't just roll with prejudice, he fought back, particularly with the racist locals at Vero Beach. The author had the good fortune to be at Chavez Ravine the night of Sept. 9th, 1965. Sandy Koufax's perfect game was viewed by a select few because O'Malley did not allow home games to be televised. In a pennant race for the ages, the Giants ran off a 14 game winning streak and the Dodgers won 15 of their last 16. Koufax pitched 335 innings. He started game 7 against the Twins on two days rest and notched his second shutout in three days. He had won a game 7 on the road and did it on a day he did not have his curveball. He pitched almost all fastballs.
One of the overriding themes of this book is how deceptive and mean-spirited GM Buzzie Bavasi was on behalf of the tight-fisted Walter O'Malley. Bavasi was in charge of annual salary 'negotiations' during which he insulted, intimidated and abused the men of one of the greatest baseball teams ever assembled. Whether it was the mighty Koufax or the lowly Tracewski, Bavasi had in his back pocket baseball's reserve clause. If you wanted to play professional baseball, you played for the team that signed you and did so until you retired or they traded you. Not even Koufax, the 1963 Cy Young winner, World Series and regular season MVP had any leverage at all. The smiling, affable O'Malley was pulling in over two million in attendance every year, with a big league payroll of about $500,000. The author refers to his position as morally indefensible. After the performance of Drysdale and Koufax in 1965, Bavasi and O'Malley still thought it was business as usual.
The two pitchers held out 'together' and skipped spring training. The Dodgers buckled and paid Drysdale $110,000 and Koufax $125,000. That same spring, Marvin Miller started making his rounds and by the end of the season was the Executive Director of the Major League Players Association. Baseball was about to change. Koufax had already made up his mind. He was only thirty but he knew 1966 would have to be his final season. His arthritis was debilitating and he couldn't go on. He is the only pitcher to win the Cy Young in his final season and led the league in ERA, wins and strikeouts. However, the team was exhausted and barely won the pennant in the second game of a last day double header. Everyone was looking past the Series to a mandated month long, eighteen game trip to Japan with a $4000 pay day attached. O'Malley let Koufax and Drysdale and a few others out, but there had been an implied threat ; go, or run the risk of being traded. They were swept by the Orioles in the World Series, and shut out in the last three games. Maury Wills was so badly hurt that after four games in Japan, he left and returned to the US. In November, Koufax retired and O'Malley retaliated against Wills by sending him to Pittsburgh. It was over.
The players moved on, as did the franchise. The were, and still are one of the most valuable sports brands in the world. Drysdale became a Dodger announcer and died in his mid-fifties. Although feelings were rubbed raw at the end of their careers, both Maury Wills and Sandy Koufax remain regulars at spring training and at Chavez Ravine. As this was 'my' baseball team as a kid, I've enjoyed this.
11.11.2016
Revolution: The History Of England From The Glorious Revolution To Waterloo, Ackroyd - B
This, volume four of a wonderful history of England, opens with the succession of William of Orange, who brought to the throne in 1789 a detestation of France, who he had been fighting for over a decade and with whom he initiated a nine-year war that, on and off, would continue for over a century. The parallel theme of the book is the sorting out of power between the monarchy and Parliament, which had granted William a crown with considerable limitations, the antithesis of divine right. 'William's War' required financing, and Parliament created the world's first national bank when it passed The Bank of England Act. The establishment of the Bank of England is considered one of the seminal acts of the age, and was the financial foundation upon which England's ability to wage continual war and later build an empire was established.
Anne, the last Stuart, succeeded in 1702 and Parliament had already decreed that the crown would later pass to the Protestant House of Hanover. England and Scotland soon agreed to an Act of Union. Adam Smith later attributed the 1707 decision to the economics of creating the largest free trade area in the world. "In effect the treaty created a single sovereignty between the nations and a single parliament, including Scottish representatives, but it also preserved the Kirk, Scottish law and Scottish local administration." Soon thereafter, the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 ushered in an era of peace, established Great Britain as a world power and, a year later, the Protestant succession was forever assured when George I took the throne.
The 18th century saw a blossoming of growth that propelled England to its position as the world's leading country. Commerce began to boom, trade grew, the nascent industrial revolution began, towns around the country became cities, merchants became esteemed members of society, schools and hospitals were built, and the professions flourished. The fuel for these massive societal changes was something that England had an abundance of - coal. The UK had more coal than any nation in Europe, and a system that allowed its unfettered usage and deployment. Newspapers and magazines carried advertisements for consumer goods created by Joseph Wedgwood and many others. In 1776, Adam Smith introduced the world to the invisible hand of the marketplace in 'Wealth of Nations', setting forth ideas that would dominate social and economic thought for a century. There were many downsides though to industrialization and urbanization. Gin was mother's milk to many of the poor and a true curse upon society. There were 8,659 gin shops operating in London at mid-century. The Gin Act's attempt to restrain consumption led to riots. Only a crop failure that led to price increases slowed down gin's conquest of the city. As coal ash filled the sky and the waters, and as people flocked to the growing urban centers, there many more problems would follow.
Robert Walpole had managed the Commons and the government of George II by diligently pursuing peace. Not so the Great Commoner, William Pitt. Seventeen fifty-six saw the Seven Years War start because of conflicts in North America, and soon it spread around the world. "Pitt had a vision of England and of the nation's destiny, bound not by the narrow frontiers of Europe but by the global trading empire that would ensure the nation's commercial and naval supremacy." The Prussians defeated the French in Silesia and the British defeated them in Africa, India, Canada and the Indies as the decade closed. In the fall of 1760, George III began his sixty years on the throne. England did not have an imperial policy, but after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, it had an empire and the songs 'Rule Britannia' and 'God Save The King'. Matters quickly came a cropper. To pay for the war and future defense of the colonies in America, Parliament imposed taxes. After the Tea Party, the British punished the Bostonians, who pushed back, and soon there were shots heard around the world and revolution. The King and his ministers were convinced that they were entitled to tax and rule their colonies. There were many in the UK, particularly those underrepresented in Parliament or not represented at all, who agreed there should be no taxation without representation. American victory was assured after the victory at Saratoga garnered the support of France and Spain. In January of 1783, "Britain acknowledged the thirteen United states to be free, independent and sovereign". It was generally concluded that "it was better to trade with the Americans than attempt to rule them, and this salutary lesson became the single most important principle of the second British Empire.." It was much better to have a string of trading posts that "would be guarded by the navy in the world's first maritime empire."
It was industrialization, in conjunction with trade, that propelled the UK to the forefront of the world in every conceivable calculation of wealth and success. The steam engine harnessed 'power' for the first time and the English rocketed into the future. They created firsts in just about all manufactured goods and led the world in iron and steel production, textiles, food processing, brewing - everything. Why England? As mentioned above, England had abundant natural resources. The non-Anglican dissenters, particularly the Quakers and Methodists, had limited career opportunities and pursued the new opportunities with a vengeance. The government made no attempt to regulate or control the process. Capitalism was running unconstrained.
Revolutionary France declared war on the UK in early 1793 and the two nations would be at war, with a brief truce, until June 1815. The war would enshrine Nelson and Wellington in the pantheon of English immortals. Peace made the UK "the foremost power in terms of territory, and its empire included Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Australia and the Caribbean. It ruled, therefore, a large proportion of the earth's surface". Nonetheless, an exhausted nation, ruled by a King who had finally slipped into dementia in 1810, faced major political challenges in Ireland, cries for parliamentary reform, and the consequences of industrialization. That said the UK's greatest century was to follow.
Anne, the last Stuart, succeeded in 1702 and Parliament had already decreed that the crown would later pass to the Protestant House of Hanover. England and Scotland soon agreed to an Act of Union. Adam Smith later attributed the 1707 decision to the economics of creating the largest free trade area in the world. "In effect the treaty created a single sovereignty between the nations and a single parliament, including Scottish representatives, but it also preserved the Kirk, Scottish law and Scottish local administration." Soon thereafter, the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 ushered in an era of peace, established Great Britain as a world power and, a year later, the Protestant succession was forever assured when George I took the throne.
The 18th century saw a blossoming of growth that propelled England to its position as the world's leading country. Commerce began to boom, trade grew, the nascent industrial revolution began, towns around the country became cities, merchants became esteemed members of society, schools and hospitals were built, and the professions flourished. The fuel for these massive societal changes was something that England had an abundance of - coal. The UK had more coal than any nation in Europe, and a system that allowed its unfettered usage and deployment. Newspapers and magazines carried advertisements for consumer goods created by Joseph Wedgwood and many others. In 1776, Adam Smith introduced the world to the invisible hand of the marketplace in 'Wealth of Nations', setting forth ideas that would dominate social and economic thought for a century. There were many downsides though to industrialization and urbanization. Gin was mother's milk to many of the poor and a true curse upon society. There were 8,659 gin shops operating in London at mid-century. The Gin Act's attempt to restrain consumption led to riots. Only a crop failure that led to price increases slowed down gin's conquest of the city. As coal ash filled the sky and the waters, and as people flocked to the growing urban centers, there many more problems would follow.
Robert Walpole had managed the Commons and the government of George II by diligently pursuing peace. Not so the Great Commoner, William Pitt. Seventeen fifty-six saw the Seven Years War start because of conflicts in North America, and soon it spread around the world. "Pitt had a vision of England and of the nation's destiny, bound not by the narrow frontiers of Europe but by the global trading empire that would ensure the nation's commercial and naval supremacy." The Prussians defeated the French in Silesia and the British defeated them in Africa, India, Canada and the Indies as the decade closed. In the fall of 1760, George III began his sixty years on the throne. England did not have an imperial policy, but after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, it had an empire and the songs 'Rule Britannia' and 'God Save The King'. Matters quickly came a cropper. To pay for the war and future defense of the colonies in America, Parliament imposed taxes. After the Tea Party, the British punished the Bostonians, who pushed back, and soon there were shots heard around the world and revolution. The King and his ministers were convinced that they were entitled to tax and rule their colonies. There were many in the UK, particularly those underrepresented in Parliament or not represented at all, who agreed there should be no taxation without representation. American victory was assured after the victory at Saratoga garnered the support of France and Spain. In January of 1783, "Britain acknowledged the thirteen United states to be free, independent and sovereign". It was generally concluded that "it was better to trade with the Americans than attempt to rule them, and this salutary lesson became the single most important principle of the second British Empire.." It was much better to have a string of trading posts that "would be guarded by the navy in the world's first maritime empire."
It was industrialization, in conjunction with trade, that propelled the UK to the forefront of the world in every conceivable calculation of wealth and success. The steam engine harnessed 'power' for the first time and the English rocketed into the future. They created firsts in just about all manufactured goods and led the world in iron and steel production, textiles, food processing, brewing - everything. Why England? As mentioned above, England had abundant natural resources. The non-Anglican dissenters, particularly the Quakers and Methodists, had limited career opportunities and pursued the new opportunities with a vengeance. The government made no attempt to regulate or control the process. Capitalism was running unconstrained.
Revolutionary France declared war on the UK in early 1793 and the two nations would be at war, with a brief truce, until June 1815. The war would enshrine Nelson and Wellington in the pantheon of English immortals. Peace made the UK "the foremost power in terms of territory, and its empire included Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Australia and the Caribbean. It ruled, therefore, a large proportion of the earth's surface". Nonetheless, an exhausted nation, ruled by a King who had finally slipped into dementia in 1810, faced major political challenges in Ireland, cries for parliamentary reform, and the consequences of industrialization. That said the UK's greatest century was to follow.
Night School, Child - B
This Reacher goes back in time to the end of his Army career, specifically 1997. I wonder if we will be seeing more of this from Lee Child. He gives up Jack's year of birth, 1962, placing Reacher deep into the AARP crowd. How long can a guy in his mid-fifties live Jack's rogue, revenger lifestyle. In this one, Jack is assigned to an NSC joint-op involving the CIA and FBI in a hunt for Muslim terrorists in Hamburg. Throw in some ultra-nationalist Germans and there's plenty of muck for Jack to straighten out. There's probably a lot more deduction than force here - but, as usual, a great and timely escape.
11.08.2016
The Wrong Side of Goodbye, Connelly - B +
The author, who is now 60 and Harry, who is old enough to have fought in Vietnam (but I can't quite piece together how late in that war), both get better with age. Harry is completely finished with the LAPD, doing some P.I. work, and a volunteer reserve officer with a small LA area jurisdiction police department. He winds up working a very interesting private case involving a missing heir as well as a tough case for the San Fernando PD. His insights save the day, and more importantly, Connelly's skills now tell great stories without some of the frightening background that was featured in the earlier books. Connelly worked the police beat for the L.A. Times and paints an always sublime picture of the city.
10.29.2016
The Whistler, Grisham - B +
The reviewers are saying that Grisham is back on his form. I've never felt that he stumbled, although the book from two years ago was weaker than most. That said, he continues his marvelous career of entertaining us with legal thrillers. This time we have a heroine who works for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct. Of course there is way more involved than a crooked judge: disbarred lawyers, an embittered court reporter, bad cops, hit men, a mastermind and a slew of Indians some very bad, some good, and their Casino, the source of a lot of cash and a lot of trouble. Perhaps, the best thing though, is that the bad guys always get hoisted on their own petards and the good guys win (often with a cash reward).
10.24.2016
The Invention Of Russia: From Gorbachev's Freedom To Putin's War, Ostrovsky - C
The book tells the story of how Russia has evolved into a mirror of the old USSR. The author, a Cambridge PhD. and native Russian states that "old fashioned nationalism in neo-Stalinist garb" has taken over the Russian Federation. It is a disheartening tale and he lays much of the responsibility at the feet of the media: the journalists, editors and television executives in charge of the "message". Russia has long been a society where language and communication are the foundations of power. The western-like media of the 1990's slowly became part of the establishment. The first thing Putin did was to take control of television, and it is through the visual medium that he controls the state today.
The USSR fell, not because of outward pressures, but because the lies that upheld the state were exposed and undermined by glasnost. The newspapers in the big cities, along with television, were partially freed when censorship was loosened after Chernobyl in 1986. As glasnost and perestroika freed up the political system but failed to put food on the shelves, the failure of Gorbachev's reforms were out front for all to see. The 1989 Party Congress was the first ever televised and featured speaker after speaker calling for the abolition of the Communist Party. Television showed the breaching of the Berlin Wall, and two years later, the arrival of tanks at the Russian White House, heralding the coup against Gorbachev. Televising Yeltsin standing on those tanks ended the coup, but since neither Yeltsin nor Gorbachev had a plan for the post-Communist era, the USSR soon ended in ignominy.
As matters fell apart in the early 1990's, America and its insidious influences were an obvious rallying point for Russian nationalists. "The disintegration of Soviet Empire was blamed on the west..." The nationalists and communists attempted a coup in late 1993 and almost succeeded. Yeltsin managed to hold them off. Soon thereafter, NTV took off as Russia's first totally free from interference news station and made a name for itself during the First Chechnya War. The people followed NTV and not the official Channel One. Knowing that a Communist election victory would put them out of business, NTV cast Yeltsin favorably in his remarkable 1996 election comeback victory. They had been backed by the oligarchs who soon started to shower the NTV journalists with cars, flats and cash. Igor Malashenko, the man who ran NTV and the man who had defeated the war party in the Kremlin and the Communists in the election, was offered the Premiership by Yeltsin. A liberal forward thinking journalist turned the succession offer down and has lived to regret his decision ever since. The job eventually went to Vladimir Putin instead.
In 1999, Chechen terror attacks in Russia's big cities propelled Putin to the top. Touring devastated buildings, he assured Russia on tv news that this would be stopped. He acceded to the Presidency on the eve of the new millennium and assured people he would restore, and make great again, the Russian state. This is what 55% of them wished to hear. Within days of his winning reelection in March 2000, NTV's offices were raided. Within a year, a new iteration of the station was his mouthpiece. Throughout his decade and-a-half at the top, he has ruled ruthlessly and always with an eye toward how it plays on television.
At the end of the day, this book is written by a Russian, and although the language is English, I suspect he targeted audience is Russian. There's way too much detail on way too many characters in the media industry. The most telling take-away for me is that the 1990's were not a time of detente that Putin later revoked. It was just a truce in the ongoing animosity toward America that is a core creed of the Russian mind.
The USSR fell, not because of outward pressures, but because the lies that upheld the state were exposed and undermined by glasnost. The newspapers in the big cities, along with television, were partially freed when censorship was loosened after Chernobyl in 1986. As glasnost and perestroika freed up the political system but failed to put food on the shelves, the failure of Gorbachev's reforms were out front for all to see. The 1989 Party Congress was the first ever televised and featured speaker after speaker calling for the abolition of the Communist Party. Television showed the breaching of the Berlin Wall, and two years later, the arrival of tanks at the Russian White House, heralding the coup against Gorbachev. Televising Yeltsin standing on those tanks ended the coup, but since neither Yeltsin nor Gorbachev had a plan for the post-Communist era, the USSR soon ended in ignominy.
As matters fell apart in the early 1990's, America and its insidious influences were an obvious rallying point for Russian nationalists. "The disintegration of Soviet Empire was blamed on the west..." The nationalists and communists attempted a coup in late 1993 and almost succeeded. Yeltsin managed to hold them off. Soon thereafter, NTV took off as Russia's first totally free from interference news station and made a name for itself during the First Chechnya War. The people followed NTV and not the official Channel One. Knowing that a Communist election victory would put them out of business, NTV cast Yeltsin favorably in his remarkable 1996 election comeback victory. They had been backed by the oligarchs who soon started to shower the NTV journalists with cars, flats and cash. Igor Malashenko, the man who ran NTV and the man who had defeated the war party in the Kremlin and the Communists in the election, was offered the Premiership by Yeltsin. A liberal forward thinking journalist turned the succession offer down and has lived to regret his decision ever since. The job eventually went to Vladimir Putin instead.
In 1999, Chechen terror attacks in Russia's big cities propelled Putin to the top. Touring devastated buildings, he assured Russia on tv news that this would be stopped. He acceded to the Presidency on the eve of the new millennium and assured people he would restore, and make great again, the Russian state. This is what 55% of them wished to hear. Within days of his winning reelection in March 2000, NTV's offices were raided. Within a year, a new iteration of the station was his mouthpiece. Throughout his decade and-a-half at the top, he has ruled ruthlessly and always with an eye toward how it plays on television.
At the end of the day, this book is written by a Russian, and although the language is English, I suspect he targeted audience is Russian. There's way too much detail on way too many characters in the media industry. The most telling take-away for me is that the 1990's were not a time of detente that Putin later revoked. It was just a truce in the ongoing animosity toward America that is a core creed of the Russian mind.
The Venice Girl, Smith - C
After all these years, Martin Cruz Smith is still at it, and this time the setting is Venice in the spring of 1945. Cenzo is a fisherman who pulls an apparently dead young woman out of the lagoon one night. However, Giulia is alive, Jewish and on the run. At his dock, an SS officer tries to grab her and Cenzo skulls the officer, disposes of his body, and all of a sudden, is hip deep in the war and managing a big problem. The plot moves to beyond unbelievable when the local fascists send Cenzo to Salo, capital of whatever is left of Mussolini's world. The few insights on the last week in Salo are the only saving graces of this novel.
10.18.2016
The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran, Cooper - B
The author tells the history of the thirty-seven year reign of the last Shah and its climactic end. He asserts that the Shah's excesses have been greatly exaggerated, that he was a force for stability and modernity. He transformed a nation, built the infrastructure of a modern country, took his people out of poverty and ignorance, created one of the most powerful militaries in the world, fostered the rights of woman and engineered the 1973 oil embargo, which transferred the wealth of the west to the oil powers of OPEC. He believes that what has transpired since his ousting is a travesty, responsible for much of the regional debacle that is the Middle-East.
Mohammad Reza Khan, son of a Cossack brigadier in the service of the Shah, was born in 1919. His father overthrew the government in 1921, appointed himself Prime Minister in 1923 and Shah a few years later. The dynasty was called Pahlavi. Mohammad attended boarding school in Switzerland while his father began the modernization of the rural and impoverished but proud Shia monarchy. He returned after five years in the west and took the throne in September, 1941, a month after an Anglo-Russian invasion led to his father's abdication. As Shah, he accepted a socialist Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq, who allied with the Shiite clergy and nationalized Britain's Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. The UK was nearly bankrupted by this turn of events and sought to overturn the decision. The Truman administration demurred. However, Eisenhower and Dulles were much more anxious and concerned about the USSR taking over Iran's oil. The Shah approved the 1953 CIA-inspired coup that deposed Mossadeq and at that point, decided to rule rather than just reign. One of his first acts was to accede to an American takeover of Iran's oil industry.
Iran's long history of Shiite clerical extremism exploded into street violence in 1963. Mohammad Shah was implementing policies of land reform and modernization of the lives of women and children and ran smack into the extremist Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Shiite radical called for demonstrations, and it took the imposition of martial law to quell the violence in the streets. Throughout the decade, the plans to improve and modernize the country, called the White Revolution, proceeded apace funded by massive amounts of oil revenue. But the unrest and opposition to the Shah's American inspired totalitarianism never wavered and in fact increased as time went on. The Shah was seen as despotic, and Khomeini as the "Iranian Che Guevara", even though his personality was that of a right wing "medieval tyrant". One of the regime's many problems was corruption in and around the extended Pahlavi family. A weak man unable to confront his siblings and their families, the Shah let it go. He surrounded himself with sycophants and lost track of the realities of the country he purportedly ruled. In 1971 as the Shah celebrated the 2500 year anniversary of the Persian state and King Cyrus the Great, Khomeini, exiled in Iraq, first called for the abolition of the monarchy for being incompatible with Islam.
The Shah led OPEC's doubling of the price of oil in response to US support of Israel in the 1973 war with Egypt. Iran's oil receipts went from approximately $4B per year to $20B, and the Shah plowed the money back into the improvements across society that were his focus. The more money put into the country, the worse matters got between the middle class and the monarchy. Fearful of westernized modernization, the people turned to traditional religion. The Shah's attempt to liberalize political life also backfired, because it exposed the corruption in and around the regime. For as many women as he educated and took out of the past, just as many took the veil.
The year 1978 was the last full one of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's reign. It opened on a high note with a New Year's Eve visit from the US president. Within weeks, there was a massive pushback from the clerics and the revolutionaries when the security forces published a letter criticizing Khomeini. There was blood in the streets. Those who could afford it were buying real estate in Europe and America, particularly in California. Foreign observers were torn; the US Ambassador thought he would last, and the Israeli's advised Tel Aviv to start looking for a different source of oil and to prepare to extradite the many construction workers in Iran. In August, Khomeini's revolutionaries launched full-scale riots and fire-bombings in every city in the country. Terrorism, regardless of who propagates it, is terrible, vicious and violent, but Khomeini's men were outright brutal extremists. The tactics of revolutionaries are often similar and here, by combining violence with propaganda and lies, one is reminded of the Bolsheviks in 1917. The Shah was shocked at his people's ingratitude and made slight changes to the regime that were comparable to the old cliche about shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. In September, he told his inner circle, "If my people don't want me, I won't stay by force." If I may continue the Bolshevik comparison, Khomeini was a minority within a minority. The majority of the clergy were vehemently opposed to his extremism. In November, martial law was imposed, but like every other response from the Shah, it was weak and ineffective. Inscrutable, indecisive, determined not to shed his people's blood and wracked with cancer, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left Tehran for the last time on January 6, 1979.
Khomeini returned from exile and implemented the Islamic Republic. A reign of terror followed. By the middle of 1980, the Shah was dead. The Carter administration which dithered throughout the crisis and had been hampered by horrible analysis on the ground in Tehran and at the CIA was out of office within two years.
This has been an excellent read and learning experience. I should remember more about Iran and all that happened there, but I don't. The second oil shock had a major impact on finances and life in America. Interest rates were sky high, the economy was in a stall and there were lines at the gas stations. I remember the Iran Air terminal at JFK going from being packed to a ghost town in 1978.
One disappointment in this narrative is the very limited discussion about geo-political matters. The Cold War barely rates a mention. Since Iran bordered the USSR, this seems to be a bit of an oversight. Similarly, Saudi Arabia, Iran's Sunni competitor, is discussed only tangentially. The only review at length that I can find was in the Times. The reviewer, an Iranian journalist, feels that Cooper went too easy on the Shah and understated the severity of the security forces. Since the author does not do a very good job explaining the disconnect between a regime that poured money into a society that hated said regime, perhaps the NYT reviewer is correct.
Mohammad Reza Khan, son of a Cossack brigadier in the service of the Shah, was born in 1919. His father overthrew the government in 1921, appointed himself Prime Minister in 1923 and Shah a few years later. The dynasty was called Pahlavi. Mohammad attended boarding school in Switzerland while his father began the modernization of the rural and impoverished but proud Shia monarchy. He returned after five years in the west and took the throne in September, 1941, a month after an Anglo-Russian invasion led to his father's abdication. As Shah, he accepted a socialist Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq, who allied with the Shiite clergy and nationalized Britain's Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. The UK was nearly bankrupted by this turn of events and sought to overturn the decision. The Truman administration demurred. However, Eisenhower and Dulles were much more anxious and concerned about the USSR taking over Iran's oil. The Shah approved the 1953 CIA-inspired coup that deposed Mossadeq and at that point, decided to rule rather than just reign. One of his first acts was to accede to an American takeover of Iran's oil industry.
Iran's long history of Shiite clerical extremism exploded into street violence in 1963. Mohammad Shah was implementing policies of land reform and modernization of the lives of women and children and ran smack into the extremist Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Shiite radical called for demonstrations, and it took the imposition of martial law to quell the violence in the streets. Throughout the decade, the plans to improve and modernize the country, called the White Revolution, proceeded apace funded by massive amounts of oil revenue. But the unrest and opposition to the Shah's American inspired totalitarianism never wavered and in fact increased as time went on. The Shah was seen as despotic, and Khomeini as the "Iranian Che Guevara", even though his personality was that of a right wing "medieval tyrant". One of the regime's many problems was corruption in and around the extended Pahlavi family. A weak man unable to confront his siblings and their families, the Shah let it go. He surrounded himself with sycophants and lost track of the realities of the country he purportedly ruled. In 1971 as the Shah celebrated the 2500 year anniversary of the Persian state and King Cyrus the Great, Khomeini, exiled in Iraq, first called for the abolition of the monarchy for being incompatible with Islam.
The Shah led OPEC's doubling of the price of oil in response to US support of Israel in the 1973 war with Egypt. Iran's oil receipts went from approximately $4B per year to $20B, and the Shah plowed the money back into the improvements across society that were his focus. The more money put into the country, the worse matters got between the middle class and the monarchy. Fearful of westernized modernization, the people turned to traditional religion. The Shah's attempt to liberalize political life also backfired, because it exposed the corruption in and around the regime. For as many women as he educated and took out of the past, just as many took the veil.
The year 1978 was the last full one of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's reign. It opened on a high note with a New Year's Eve visit from the US president. Within weeks, there was a massive pushback from the clerics and the revolutionaries when the security forces published a letter criticizing Khomeini. There was blood in the streets. Those who could afford it were buying real estate in Europe and America, particularly in California. Foreign observers were torn; the US Ambassador thought he would last, and the Israeli's advised Tel Aviv to start looking for a different source of oil and to prepare to extradite the many construction workers in Iran. In August, Khomeini's revolutionaries launched full-scale riots and fire-bombings in every city in the country. Terrorism, regardless of who propagates it, is terrible, vicious and violent, but Khomeini's men were outright brutal extremists. The tactics of revolutionaries are often similar and here, by combining violence with propaganda and lies, one is reminded of the Bolsheviks in 1917. The Shah was shocked at his people's ingratitude and made slight changes to the regime that were comparable to the old cliche about shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. In September, he told his inner circle, "If my people don't want me, I won't stay by force." If I may continue the Bolshevik comparison, Khomeini was a minority within a minority. The majority of the clergy were vehemently opposed to his extremism. In November, martial law was imposed, but like every other response from the Shah, it was weak and ineffective. Inscrutable, indecisive, determined not to shed his people's blood and wracked with cancer, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left Tehran for the last time on January 6, 1979.
Khomeini returned from exile and implemented the Islamic Republic. A reign of terror followed. By the middle of 1980, the Shah was dead. The Carter administration which dithered throughout the crisis and had been hampered by horrible analysis on the ground in Tehran and at the CIA was out of office within two years.
This has been an excellent read and learning experience. I should remember more about Iran and all that happened there, but I don't. The second oil shock had a major impact on finances and life in America. Interest rates were sky high, the economy was in a stall and there were lines at the gas stations. I remember the Iran Air terminal at JFK going from being packed to a ghost town in 1978.
One disappointment in this narrative is the very limited discussion about geo-political matters. The Cold War barely rates a mention. Since Iran bordered the USSR, this seems to be a bit of an oversight. Similarly, Saudi Arabia, Iran's Sunni competitor, is discussed only tangentially. The only review at length that I can find was in the Times. The reviewer, an Iranian journalist, feels that Cooper went too easy on the Shah and understated the severity of the security forces. Since the author does not do a very good job explaining the disconnect between a regime that poured money into a society that hated said regime, perhaps the NYT reviewer is correct.
10.15.2016
Everyone Brave Is Forgiven, Cleave - B-
This is a superb WW2 novel recommended to me by Dennis Grindinger. It is set in London and Malta, involves a handful of intersecting lives, the Blitz and the siege of Malta. The lead character is a young woman, daughter of an MP, fiercely independent, and terribly witty school teacher. There's a well-done telling of the evacuation of children from London and the actual bombings that haunted the city in the second year of the war. Mary North teaches the down-and-out and later serves as an ambulance driver. The book effectively conveys the anguish of being constantly bombed for the year of the Blitz. Malta was under siege for two-and-a-half years. Through the eyes of Alistair Heath, London based restorer of pictures at the Tate and somewhat reluctant artillery officer, we get a sense of what is like to starve on a rock in the middle of the sea and suffer the same incessant, endless bombing that was going on at home. Men are constantly killed, supplies are occasional and for a very, very long time, there is no end in sight. This is a fine read.
10.09.2016
Belgravia, Fellowes - C +
I did not know that the famed creator of 'Downton Abbey' was also a novelist. For reasons unremembered, I downloaded this and sincerely wish I had done my usual research. Although set in the London of the 1840's and with some pretense toward being a historical novel, it is but a soap opera. I guess I can only conclude that soaps are much more interesting on PBS than in written form.
10.03.2016
The Edge of Empire: Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall, Riley - B
This hypothetical travelogue is told through the eyes of Julius Severus, who the Emperor Hadrian appointed as governor of Britain in AD 130. The-newly appointed were expected to leave Rome by April 1 in order to be at their new assignment around July 1. The first leg was a day-long trip to the Tiber ports on the Mediterranean. From there, his ship hugged the coast and sailed for a week to Narbonne, a port on the coast of Gaul. Overland transport brought our second century traveler to Lyon, chief city of the province. It then took approximately two weeks to reach the channel port of Boulogne, home of a Roman fleet. Crossing to Dover was a 6-8 hour sail. It took one full day to reach Londinium from the coast. London was the capital of the province and the seat of the Roman government. As Britain was a frontier province, military affairs were paramount and it was necessary to head west to Wales and north to Scotland. However, a day's ride from London, on the way to Wales, was the most Roman of towns and temples on the island. Due to the underground springs, the thermal baths in Bath were surrounded by extraordinary buildings and temples. The baths of Bath were so spectacular that they actually rivaled those in Rome. On to the west and north went Severus as he approached the true end of the earth. Hadrian's Wall stretched from coast to coast and delineated Pax Romana and all it stood for against the barbarism to the north. At this northwestern most point of the Roman Empire, Severus was approximately 2,000 miles from the Empire's eastern reaches on the Black Sea. Perhaps that is just one of the many reasons the Empire's success still fascinates us two millennia later. This is a brief and enjoyable read. It's hard to characterize: part history, travel guide, commercial treatise, cultural guidebook, social commentary and geography lesson. In any event, I feel it's been fun.
So Say The Fallen, Neville - C +
The author is from Belfast, and all of his previous half-a-dozen or so novels have dealt with the Troubles. I've viewed him a master of taut tension, the explainer of the hate between the Catholics and Protestants, a storyteller of the violence and bitterness that is Northern Ireland. Everything about this title implies that that was where he was again headed. Here though, he attempts to write a 'Crime and Punishment' about a Protestant priest who, goaded by the affections of a beautiful woman, does in her bedridden husband, a survivor of a car crash that left him a double amputee. Father McKay tortures himself until he too meets a grisly end. The last third of the book focuses on the travails of the woman detective trying to sort it all out. All in all, I guess it's not that bad, just not what I was expecting
9.28.2016
The Wolf Of Sarajevo, Palmer - B
In his third book, Palmer turns to the Balkans, specifically Bosnia-Herzegovina, a hell hole of religious and ethnic conflict decades after the Dayton Accords. The Bosnian Muslims, the Croatian Catholics and the Serbian Orthodox Christians hate each other and the fact that they are tied together in an ungovernable artificial state. The focus of the story is an attempt by the UN to broker a deal to avoid a second conflagration. Opposed are the Serbs in a province looking to create havoc and secede from B-H. The Serbian leader has turned against the deal, because he is being blackmailed. Who is blackmailing him? Whose side is the State Dept. on? Even more important - whose side is the CIA on? This is a solid read with a goodly amount of historical background provided. Whenever reading about the Balkans, their blood-soaked history going back centuries, Turk versus Christian, Hapsburgs v. Ottomans, and everybody lost in medieval superstition and hatred, I think of Bismarck. The Iron Chancellor purportedly stated that the Balkans weren't worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier.
9.23.2016
Secrets of State, Palmer - B -
Obviously, I've gone straight to the author's second book. This one is set in Washington, D.C. and Mumbai (Bombay). The background information is on the conflict in Kashmir and the now almost seventy years of contretemps between India and Pakistan. A behind-the-scenes American group called the Stoics (think of a Tom Hanks or John Travolta movie about blue-blood movers and shakers in a 200-year-old organization with ulterior and evil secret motives) is planning on using a Pakistan nuclear terror incident on the sub-continent to 'snatch' the Pakistan nuclear arsenal. This one feels a bit too speculative to be truly good.
9.21.2016
The American Mission, Palmer - B +
This is the debut novel from a few years ago by a career Foreign Service officer. The book has two protagonists: Alex Baines of the State Dept. and Marie Tsiolo, a Congolese mining engineer. The setting is the Congo of about a decade ago, a country in the hands of a corrupt president and an American mining company that is totally without conscience or morals. Baines and Tsiolo save her village from Consolidated Mining's plans to strip mine an entire valley. Along the way, they join forces with a spurious CIA agent and a local warlord and oust the president in a bloodless coup.
I must admit that I pay little attention to sub-Saharan Africa and know next to nothing about all of the horror in that part of the world. This is a well-written thriller that along the way sheds some light on the conflicts as well as the culture of the region.
I must admit that I pay little attention to sub-Saharan Africa and know next to nothing about all of the horror in that part of the world. This is a well-written thriller that along the way sheds some light on the conflicts as well as the culture of the region.
9.16.2016
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, Isenberg - B -
This book is about the history of class in America. It refutes the theory and founding myth that the United Sates is a classless society. The underclass has been part of our history from the beginning. English decision makers viewed the New World "as a giant rubbish heap" and the place to send their undesirables. "Expendable people -waste people- would be unloaded from England; their labor would germinate a distant wasteland." Criminals, indentured servants and lower-class discharged soldiers were more plentiful than the yeoman classes that crossed the ocean. This was less so in the Bay Colony, where many intact families migrated, but was certainly so in Virginia, Georgia and the Carolina's. Indeed, North Carolina was populated by people drifting south from Virginia and living in and around the Dismal Swamp. It is characterized as "the first white trash colony". Georgia was actually "founded as a charitable venture, designed to uplift poor families and to reform debtors". Although 1776 saw the venerable phrase that "all men are created equal", Jefferson believed and lived in a very structured world in which he was very much part of the gentry. He agreed with Washington who said "only the lower class of people should serve as foot soldiers". Class distinctions were alive, well and embedded in the new nation. As people poured into the trans-Appalachian frontier, the terms 'squatter' and 'cracker' entered the lexicon to describe the impoverished, landless settlers of the early 19th century. "Over the two decades leading up to Andrew Jackson's election as president, the squatter and cracker gradually became America's dominant poor back country breed." "From the foothills of the Appalachians into the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, the nation leaned backward. The squatter was frozen in time. His primitive hut represented his underclass cage."
As the Civil War approached, the appellation 'white trash' came to apply to southerners stuck in a cycle of poverty, who were believed to have been marginalized because all the quality land was tilled by slaves. In contrast, northerners had opportunities through access to land because their soil was 'free'. The south was littered with an underclass unable to climb out of the hopelessly sordid world they lived in and looked down on by all. After the war, the term 'redneck' came into use. "It defined the rowdy and racist followers of the New South's high profile demagogues of the late 19th and early 20th centuries." The condition of the uneducated, often ill with diseases like hookworm and pellagra, white trash led to the eugenics movement, which peaked in the late 1920's. The New Deal tried to tackle poverty in the south and programs like Rural Electrification and the TVA made some headway. The Civil Rights conflicts of the 50's and 60's pitted the poor white redneck against the poor black. Orval Faubus and George Wallace played what the author calls 'the redneck card' throughout their careers. LBJ's Great Society's war on poverty attempted to tackle the similar problems of the nation's blacks and the Appalachian whites.
In the final chapters of the book, Isenberg presents the thesis she calls 'redneck chic' discussing Jimmy Carter, Tammy Faye Baker and Dolly Parton. In the 80's and 90's, "a growing chorus sought to clean up the image, to make 'redneck' a term of endearment". Like Johnson, and to some extent Carter before him, Bill Clinton epitomized the American Dream by rising from southern poverty to the pinnacle of success. However, as a member of the class of poor southerners, he was an easy target for the hatred that poured out of the conservative right. He had not the class of Reagan or Bush - a pauper had replaced princes. "Beltway reporters said they had never seen such vitriol before." Starr went after him over Lewinsky because "he had been caught in a tawdry sexual escapade suited for a trailer park". Notwithstanding the thrashing Clinton took, redneck chic survives as evidenced by innumerable reality tv shows featuring, well, rednecks.
Today, the vast amount of poor whites vote against their self-interest because the power elites have convinced them that they are unique and victims of the liberal establishment. "We are a country that imagines itself as democratic, and yet the majority has never cared for equality. " "White trash is a central, but disturbing thread in our national narrative." "They are who we are and have been a fundamental part of our history, whether we like it or not."
This book is a highly acclaimed bestseller. However, there has been some criticism. The 'Atlantic' reviewer disapproved of her failure to address poor whites outside of the deep south. Similarly, a NY Times reviewer asked about the downtrodden Asian immigrants, who were subject to similar insults and prejudice. I also have a few concerns. For the non-academic, forays into philosophy and political theory tend to dull one's attention. At times, I kept wondering where the book was going and what the point was of many chapters. I had also hoped to see this book address the evolution of the Scots-Irish in America and she barely touches the topic. In one of the more noteworthy books I have ever read, the author of 'Albion's Seed' sets out the religious, cultural, social and economic consequences of five different migrations from the United Kingdom. The fifth and largest group treated in that book are the Scots-Irish, described as border people in the UK, used to fighting and clan warfare and the backbone of the American 19th century westward settlers and the US military. In the end, Im not recommending this one.
As the Civil War approached, the appellation 'white trash' came to apply to southerners stuck in a cycle of poverty, who were believed to have been marginalized because all the quality land was tilled by slaves. In contrast, northerners had opportunities through access to land because their soil was 'free'. The south was littered with an underclass unable to climb out of the hopelessly sordid world they lived in and looked down on by all. After the war, the term 'redneck' came into use. "It defined the rowdy and racist followers of the New South's high profile demagogues of the late 19th and early 20th centuries." The condition of the uneducated, often ill with diseases like hookworm and pellagra, white trash led to the eugenics movement, which peaked in the late 1920's. The New Deal tried to tackle poverty in the south and programs like Rural Electrification and the TVA made some headway. The Civil Rights conflicts of the 50's and 60's pitted the poor white redneck against the poor black. Orval Faubus and George Wallace played what the author calls 'the redneck card' throughout their careers. LBJ's Great Society's war on poverty attempted to tackle the similar problems of the nation's blacks and the Appalachian whites.
In the final chapters of the book, Isenberg presents the thesis she calls 'redneck chic' discussing Jimmy Carter, Tammy Faye Baker and Dolly Parton. In the 80's and 90's, "a growing chorus sought to clean up the image, to make 'redneck' a term of endearment". Like Johnson, and to some extent Carter before him, Bill Clinton epitomized the American Dream by rising from southern poverty to the pinnacle of success. However, as a member of the class of poor southerners, he was an easy target for the hatred that poured out of the conservative right. He had not the class of Reagan or Bush - a pauper had replaced princes. "Beltway reporters said they had never seen such vitriol before." Starr went after him over Lewinsky because "he had been caught in a tawdry sexual escapade suited for a trailer park". Notwithstanding the thrashing Clinton took, redneck chic survives as evidenced by innumerable reality tv shows featuring, well, rednecks.
Today, the vast amount of poor whites vote against their self-interest because the power elites have convinced them that they are unique and victims of the liberal establishment. "We are a country that imagines itself as democratic, and yet the majority has never cared for equality. " "White trash is a central, but disturbing thread in our national narrative." "They are who we are and have been a fundamental part of our history, whether we like it or not."
This book is a highly acclaimed bestseller. However, there has been some criticism. The 'Atlantic' reviewer disapproved of her failure to address poor whites outside of the deep south. Similarly, a NY Times reviewer asked about the downtrodden Asian immigrants, who were subject to similar insults and prejudice. I also have a few concerns. For the non-academic, forays into philosophy and political theory tend to dull one's attention. At times, I kept wondering where the book was going and what the point was of many chapters. I had also hoped to see this book address the evolution of the Scots-Irish in America and she barely touches the topic. In one of the more noteworthy books I have ever read, the author of 'Albion's Seed' sets out the religious, cultural, social and economic consequences of five different migrations from the United Kingdom. The fifth and largest group treated in that book are the Scots-Irish, described as border people in the UK, used to fighting and clan warfare and the backbone of the American 19th century westward settlers and the US military. In the end, Im not recommending this one.
9.09.2016
City of Sedition: The History of New York City During The Civil War, Strausbaugh - B +
"New York City would play a huge role in the war, but it would be a confused and conflicted one. No city would be more of a help to Lincoln and the Union war effort, or more of a hindrance. It would be a city of patriots, war heroes, and abolitionists, and simultaneously a city of antiwar protest, draft resistance and sedition." The city was home to the nation's largest port, its greatest emporium, the continent's banking houses and was the source of the vast majority of the country's revenue. NY was also inextricably linked to the South, as its primary financier and a major cotton exporter. "It was estimated that on the eve of the Civil War the South was pouring at least $200 million a year into the city's economy. Because of cotton, no city in the North was more pro-South, anti-abolition, or anti-Lincoln." At the bottom of the booming city's economy were the 12,000 free blacks and the eventual hundreds of thousands of famine Irish, vehemently competing for the same menial jobs and developing an intrinsic hatred for each other.
The speech Abraham Lincoln made in February of 1860 at Cooper Union propelled him to the front of the ranks of Republican candidates and endeared him to Horace Greeley, the most profound influencer of opinion in the country. Yet, in the city and Brooklyn, he was outvoted 2:1 and after his election, there was public discussion of the city declaring itself 'free' and in sympathy to the South. After Sumter though, most rallied around the cause. German immigrants, many of whom had come over after the failed revolutions of 1848, enthusiastically supported the Union. The Irish were somewhat less committed, but their leaders, particularly Archbishop Hughes, thought it was an opportunity to show that they were true Americans. When a third of the North's casualties at Bull Run were NY'ers, the flag-waving abated a bit. A year later, the Irish Brigade, consisting of NY'ers and men from Massachusetts, took heavy casualties at Antietam. In March of 1863 as the war ground on and the Union lost battle after battle, Lincoln signed a bill establishing a federal draft. A week after Gettysburg, the first drafts took place in the city, which had been wracked by violence on the docks, particularly against free blacks. Within days of the first names' announced, an angry mob attacked* and destroyed the offices with the draft lists. The mobs grew, overwhelmed the police and lit fires throughout the city. "The city was under siege from its own citizens." A week long rampage that destroyed fifty or sixty buildings and killed many blacks** only ended when four thousand federal troops came to New York.
"Unhappy Northerners would resist the draft through evasion rather than draft riots. The specific combination of conditions that caused the rioting - long standing Southern sympathies, racial hatred, class conflict and extreme labor unrest - seemed peculiar to New York City." The following year, the city again gave Lincoln about a third of its votes. In the following spring, 160,000 NY'ers would pass by his casket and half a million would take to the streets to stand on the procession route. The war had been a boon for the city, as it had been the arsenal of democracy, the shipbuilder extraordinaire, and the clothier and financier of the war. Those earnings propelled NYC into the Gilded Age. The nation, and in particular the city, moved on. This has been a wonderful book that I've thoroughly enjoyed. As a native NY'er, I'd have preferred more on the city and less on the general background. That said, this is an excellent and, thankfully, only a 372-page read.
*I first learned of the draft riots from Ken Burn's 'Civil War' and later read of them in a novel by Kevin Baker. I thus concluded that my Irish-American predecessors in NYC had little enthusiasm for their role in the great conflagration. I've since learned that my great-grandfather, David Barry, joined (or perhaps was drafted to) the Union cause in 1863. I suspect his ardor may have been limited.
**The official death count was 119, but most historians believe the number to be significantly understated.
The speech Abraham Lincoln made in February of 1860 at Cooper Union propelled him to the front of the ranks of Republican candidates and endeared him to Horace Greeley, the most profound influencer of opinion in the country. Yet, in the city and Brooklyn, he was outvoted 2:1 and after his election, there was public discussion of the city declaring itself 'free' and in sympathy to the South. After Sumter though, most rallied around the cause. German immigrants, many of whom had come over after the failed revolutions of 1848, enthusiastically supported the Union. The Irish were somewhat less committed, but their leaders, particularly Archbishop Hughes, thought it was an opportunity to show that they were true Americans. When a third of the North's casualties at Bull Run were NY'ers, the flag-waving abated a bit. A year later, the Irish Brigade, consisting of NY'ers and men from Massachusetts, took heavy casualties at Antietam. In March of 1863 as the war ground on and the Union lost battle after battle, Lincoln signed a bill establishing a federal draft. A week after Gettysburg, the first drafts took place in the city, which had been wracked by violence on the docks, particularly against free blacks. Within days of the first names' announced, an angry mob attacked* and destroyed the offices with the draft lists. The mobs grew, overwhelmed the police and lit fires throughout the city. "The city was under siege from its own citizens." A week long rampage that destroyed fifty or sixty buildings and killed many blacks** only ended when four thousand federal troops came to New York.
"Unhappy Northerners would resist the draft through evasion rather than draft riots. The specific combination of conditions that caused the rioting - long standing Southern sympathies, racial hatred, class conflict and extreme labor unrest - seemed peculiar to New York City." The following year, the city again gave Lincoln about a third of its votes. In the following spring, 160,000 NY'ers would pass by his casket and half a million would take to the streets to stand on the procession route. The war had been a boon for the city, as it had been the arsenal of democracy, the shipbuilder extraordinaire, and the clothier and financier of the war. Those earnings propelled NYC into the Gilded Age. The nation, and in particular the city, moved on. This has been a wonderful book that I've thoroughly enjoyed. As a native NY'er, I'd have preferred more on the city and less on the general background. That said, this is an excellent and, thankfully, only a 372-page read.
*I first learned of the draft riots from Ken Burn's 'Civil War' and later read of them in a novel by Kevin Baker. I thus concluded that my Irish-American predecessors in NYC had little enthusiasm for their role in the great conflagration. I've since learned that my great-grandfather, David Barry, joined (or perhaps was drafted to) the Union cause in 1863. I suspect his ardor may have been limited.
**The official death count was 119, but most historians believe the number to be significantly understated.
8.30.2016
The Devils of Cardona, Carr - B +
This is a superb historical novel set in 16th century Spain. The country is wracked by the conflict between the old Catholics and the Moriscos, Muslims professing Catholicism. The Inquisition* is in full bloom, a national institution that knows no limits, and which literally takes no prisoners because just about everyone they interview winds up on the rack and at the stake. When a corrupt, evil priest is murdered in Aragon, near the French border in the Pyrenees, Bernardo Mendoza, a Royal magistrate, is sent to investigate. Aragon is torn between the Moriscos and the Old Catholics. The priest's murderer has declared himself to be the Redeemer, a Morisco avenging against evil. But it turns out that he is a Catholic trying to stir up conflict and start a full-fledged assault on the Moriscos and foment civil war. Mendoza skillfully navigates the twists and turns as he tracks down the numerous evil-doers and brings them to justice. The author is a historian who has turned to novels. I hope he has plans to make this a series.
*It is somewhat shocking to read a reference to the Index of Forbidden Books and its prominent role in the infliction of medieval terror upon unwary souls. I am reminded that the Index was still alive and well during most of my Catholic education and not terminated until 1966.
*It is somewhat shocking to read a reference to the Index of Forbidden Books and its prominent role in the infliction of medieval terror upon unwary souls. I am reminded that the Index was still alive and well during most of my Catholic education and not terminated until 1966.
8.26.2016
Eamon de Valera: A Will To Power, Fanning - B +
Edward de Valera was born in NYC in 1882 to an Irish domestic and a Spanish father. Within three years, his father was dead and his mother shipped him to Bruree, Ireland to be raised in rural poverty by her brother. He earned a scholarship to Blackrock College in Dublin and became a teacher of mathematics. In 1910, he married Jane (Sinead) Flanagan, a teacher of Irish, and he adopted the name Eamon. He joined the Gaelic League and was soon running guns in anticipation of an armed revolt. He was an officer in the Easter Rising and one of seventy-five condemned men whose sentences were reduced. During a 13-month confinement at Dartmoor Prison in England, he adopted the position that he was the 'senior' survivor and entitled to leadership because of his age and education. Upon his release he won a by-election in East Clare and became the leader of Sinn Fein. His goal was an independent republic. In the spring of 1918, he led the fight against English conscription in Ireland. Sprung from a second English imprisonment by Michael Collins, he left for America, hoping to raise funds and support for Ireland's 'self-determination'. In late 1920, the UK Parliament divided Ireland and gave the south home-rule. The Irish refused, took up arms in acts of guerrilla resistance and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) cracked down. It was at this time that his rift with Michael Collins began. Lloyd George met de Valera in London and later, offered "a Conference to ascertain how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire can best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations." In a decision that has been criticized for a century, de Valera left himself off the negotiating team and sent Collins as the leader. Their instructions were to refer terms back to Dublin, although de Valera gave them no direction, and in particular was silent on the question of Ulster. Worn out, exhausted, frustrated by the lack of assistance from Dublin and threatened with war, the delegates signed Lloyd George's proffered treaty on Dec. 6, 1921. The Irish Free State, the seventeen counties in the south, would be part of the Commonwealth.
The Irish Parliament (the Dail) and the Cabinet approved the treaty. Most historians feel that de Valera's opposition was not to the substance of the treaty, but to the process - they signed without his approval. In a huff, he resigned from the Cabinet and the Dail. Many in the country, particularly the IRA, were opposed to the treaty and de Valera fanned the flames of violence with a series of incendiary and provocative speeches around the country. The Irish Civil War soon broke out. Michael Collins was the most prominent casualty. The Republicans continually were outmanned and out-gunned by the Provisional Government, and after two years, in May of 1923, the civil war was over. That summer, de Valera took command of Sinn Fein again and was elected to a seat in the Dail. His plan was to participate in the government of the Irish Free State, but he would not take an oath to the King and would ignore the London-appointed Governor General. He did not want Ireland to be part of the Commonwealth. He left Sinn Fein, created Fianna Fail (the Republican party), won an election in 1932 and formed his first government in March. His objective was complete independence. A revised Constitution in 1937 accomplished his goal of further separation from Great Britain. A 1938 treaty with the UK eliminated Britain's right to use certain naval facilities in Ireland. The right to conduct one's foreign policy was de Valera's definition of independence, and he asserted independence by maintaining neutrality during WW2. It was, however, a benign neutrality, notwithstanding Churchill's bitter comments, and one in which Ireland secretly cooperated with both the US and the UK. In 1948, he was maneuvered out of the Prime Ministership and resigned from the Dail. He made a comeback in the 1950's and was later president of Ireland. However, matters of economic development were not his concern. He had achieved Ireland's independence and nothing later in life ever engaged him as much.
This is an extremely well-written and informative book. The author, an Irishman, asserts that only de Valera had the strength of will to exact the total freedom from the UK that he and many others craved. Yet, he lays the civil war at his feet and paints a picture of a very difficult and thin-skinned leader. He lived until 1975 and saw Ireland and Great Britain join the EU.
The Irish Parliament (the Dail) and the Cabinet approved the treaty. Most historians feel that de Valera's opposition was not to the substance of the treaty, but to the process - they signed without his approval. In a huff, he resigned from the Cabinet and the Dail. Many in the country, particularly the IRA, were opposed to the treaty and de Valera fanned the flames of violence with a series of incendiary and provocative speeches around the country. The Irish Civil War soon broke out. Michael Collins was the most prominent casualty. The Republicans continually were outmanned and out-gunned by the Provisional Government, and after two years, in May of 1923, the civil war was over. That summer, de Valera took command of Sinn Fein again and was elected to a seat in the Dail. His plan was to participate in the government of the Irish Free State, but he would not take an oath to the King and would ignore the London-appointed Governor General. He did not want Ireland to be part of the Commonwealth. He left Sinn Fein, created Fianna Fail (the Republican party), won an election in 1932 and formed his first government in March. His objective was complete independence. A revised Constitution in 1937 accomplished his goal of further separation from Great Britain. A 1938 treaty with the UK eliminated Britain's right to use certain naval facilities in Ireland. The right to conduct one's foreign policy was de Valera's definition of independence, and he asserted independence by maintaining neutrality during WW2. It was, however, a benign neutrality, notwithstanding Churchill's bitter comments, and one in which Ireland secretly cooperated with both the US and the UK. In 1948, he was maneuvered out of the Prime Ministership and resigned from the Dail. He made a comeback in the 1950's and was later president of Ireland. However, matters of economic development were not his concern. He had achieved Ireland's independence and nothing later in life ever engaged him as much.
This is an extremely well-written and informative book. The author, an Irishman, asserts that only de Valera had the strength of will to exact the total freedom from the UK that he and many others craved. Yet, he lays the civil war at his feet and paints a picture of a very difficult and thin-skinned leader. He lived until 1975 and saw Ireland and Great Britain join the EU.
8.19.2016
Twilight of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Picasso, Stravinsky, Proust, Renault, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, and Their Friends through the Great War, McAuliffe - B-
This book's predecessor was reviewed here last month. It had the political and historical events as a framework; the artistic side was supplementary. This book is the opposite. There is much greater attention to the group biography of the artistes than to world events. While the painters painted and the musicians composed, businessmen also prospered. The men behind Coty and L'Oreal began to manufacture and distribute perfumes and hair dyes, respectively. Renault and Citroen were building automobiles and the Curies won a Nobel for their scientific research. Michelin manufactured tires and published a travel guide to enhance the driving experience. But this was the city that saw an explosion of artistic creativity and those events are center stage.
The Entente Cordial, whereby the UK and France made an alliance, is the first significant political news reported and even then, not until the sixth chapter. Nationalism in France had once been the exclusive property of the far right. This was particularly true through the long Dreyfus Affair and its aftermath. As the first decade of the century passed and international tensions rose throughout the Balkans and northern Africa, all sides of the French body politic viewed Germany warily. In early 1914, Georges Clemenceau told an American reporter that his readers "scoff at talk of war" and, "Paris is gay, elegant, luxurious....Paris is now the important place for unimportant things." In August, like people around the continent, Parisians hailed the coming of war. "Vive la France and Vive l'Alsace" rang out. Such enthusiasm quickly faded as the Germans almost reached Paris and the war began its grinding, lethal stalemate. The Germans shelled and bombed the City of Light and reached the Marne, just forty miles away, in August 1914, and a second time in 1918. Now Prime Minister, Clemenceau rallied the nation and became known as 'Father Victory'.
"It was as France began to realize the depth of its war-inflicted wounds that its prewar world increasingly acquired the aura of a golden age." "The Belle Epoque had never been as radiantly perfect as enshrined in memory." Life in the capitals of pre-war Europe has been idealized as the ultimate 'fin de siecle'. That is true of London, Berlin and particularly St. Petersburg and Vienna. But no city of the era shines quite as brightly as Paree.
The Entente Cordial, whereby the UK and France made an alliance, is the first significant political news reported and even then, not until the sixth chapter. Nationalism in France had once been the exclusive property of the far right. This was particularly true through the long Dreyfus Affair and its aftermath. As the first decade of the century passed and international tensions rose throughout the Balkans and northern Africa, all sides of the French body politic viewed Germany warily. In early 1914, Georges Clemenceau told an American reporter that his readers "scoff at talk of war" and, "Paris is gay, elegant, luxurious....Paris is now the important place for unimportant things." In August, like people around the continent, Parisians hailed the coming of war. "Vive la France and Vive l'Alsace" rang out. Such enthusiasm quickly faded as the Germans almost reached Paris and the war began its grinding, lethal stalemate. The Germans shelled and bombed the City of Light and reached the Marne, just forty miles away, in August 1914, and a second time in 1918. Now Prime Minister, Clemenceau rallied the nation and became known as 'Father Victory'.
"It was as France began to realize the depth of its war-inflicted wounds that its prewar world increasingly acquired the aura of a golden age." "The Belle Epoque had never been as radiantly perfect as enshrined in memory." Life in the capitals of pre-war Europe has been idealized as the ultimate 'fin de siecle'. That is true of London, Berlin and particularly St. Petersburg and Vienna. But no city of the era shines quite as brightly as Paree.
The House By The Lake, Carey - C
This novel slips back and forth the between the late 1930's and 2010. The narrator's 94-year old grandfather is the common thread, as he asks her to return to the home he grew up in just east of Berlin and recover the engagement ring he was never able to give to his beloved. I felt as if I was reading a young adult iteration of a love story, and the war that intruded. How an editor could allow three references to the Russians coming to Schloss Siegel in 1940, and then, later have them coming after the war is beyond comprehension. The only saving grace is the half of the story tied into Marthe de Florian's apartment in Paris. The true story of the apartment and Marthe play a role in the novel. A few years ago after the death of Marthe's granddaughter, the apartment was opened. It had been decorated during the Belle Epoque and untouched since 1939.
Before The Fall, Hawley - C +
This is a summer read that starts with a private plane taking off from Martha's Vineyard and plunging into the Atlantic eighteen minutes later. On board is the 56-year-old founder of a news network that sounds like Fox News, and his family. A NYC money manger and a local painter tag along. The painter survives and saves the son of the newsman. Everyone else perishes. The aftermath focuses on developments that are both indicative of the America we live in and appalling in their banality. The news channel's top on-air personality goes on an emotional binge blaming the crash on ISIS and raising over-the-top insinuations that could be appealing to only tv-addicted morons. The NTSB decides to focus on the painter who saved a four-year-old boy simply because they don't understand him, his life style or how he wound up on the private plane. And in the end, the reason for the crash is flat-out hackneyed. This novel starts out gangbusters and finishes very flat.
8.08.2016
The Letter Writer, Fesperman - C
This novel clearly did not work for me. It is set in 1942 NYC and does provide some interesting, obscure background information. After the 'Normandie' burned in NY harbor and was lost to the government as a troop transport, there was a very heightened sense of anxiety about sabotage on the docks. That led to an unlikely alliance to keep the harbor safe for the war effort. The Manhattan DA's Office and US Naval Intelligence joined forces with Lucky Luciano's and Meyer Lansky's Mafia mob to secure the waterfront. The existence of this alliance is set against the efforts of a police detective and the letter writer to unearth some unseemly conduct. As indicated by my grade above, I think the book flopped.
7.31.2016
Fatal Pursuit, Walker - B +
In the latest novel featuring Bruno Courreges, Chief of Police in fictional St. Denis, the backstory is about cars, specifically the Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic. Only four of the cars were ever manufactured at the Bugatti factory in Alsace in the 30's. The whereabouts of three are well known. Ralph Lauren owns one that has been so spectacularly restored that it is estimated to be worth $40M. A famous British race driver who was in the SOE during the war is believed to have driven the car out of occupied France into Vichy-ruled territory. The whereabouts of the car remain a mystery seventy-five years later. Since the author is an accomplished historian, that was enough to build a modern murder mystery. Add in Bruno's varied and constructive civic responsibilities, and once again, you have a delightful book.
7.28.2016
The Hapsburg Empire: A New History, Judson - C +
The author states that the historiography of the empire has changed significantly in the last thirty years. Instead of focusing on the national divisions within the empire, there is a new appreciation of the institutions of empire. This book "investigates how shared imperial institutions, administrative practices, and cultural programs helped to shape local society in every region of the empire, from the late eighteenth century until the first decades of the twentieth century."
In the mid-1700's, the Empress Maria Theresa realized that a state needed to be forged from the Hapsburg lands that had been haphazardly accumulated over the preceding five hundred years. She initiated and implemented a massive reformation of society with a focus on the peasants, reducing their feudal obligations and mandating public education. She centralized the state, established a standing army, reigned in the R.C. church, established a system of taxation and created a sense of nationhood and citizenship that she bequeathed in 1780 to her son, Joseph II. This led to "a radical transformation of the individual...to a citizen whose legal relationship to the state was the sole determinant of his legal position..." Reform culminated in the 1804 declaration by Francis I of the Austrian Empire and the 1811 laws that transformed all of the empire's subjects into equal citizens before the law. The empire survived the quarter-century of war caused by the French Revolution; however the Emperor, Francis I, and his principal advisor, Count Metternich, ruled conservatively, in fear of revolution erupting on their watch. Instead, "Austrian society itself took up the challenges of creating social and economic change.." In essence, the body politic replaced the cautious, frugal state as the prime agent of change. The revolutions that swept Europe in 1848 were manifestly different in the various parts of the empire. The Hungarian nobility wished to further separate themselves from the German-speaking Austrians. Elsewhere, civic elites sought a greater voice in their own governance, peasants desired to throw off the last vestiges of feudal obligations, and disposing of Metternich was foremost on many minds. The Emperor Ferdinand capitulated to Hungarian demands for self-governance within the empire, the royal family ran Metternich out-of-town and a new constitution was promised. How the state would move forward from the tumultuous year would be left to the new Emperor, the eighteen-year-old Franz-Joseph I. He propelled a liberal agenda forward by centralized and autocratic means. Eventually, the weight of foreign policy failures, highlighted by an expensive mobilization during the Crimean War, and defeat at the hands of France and then Prussia, put an end to his dreams. After losing the war with Prussia, the Emperor acceded to the dual monarchy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. The dichotomy between the Austrians and Hungarians would dominate the dialogue of managing increasing social mobilization and conflict in the last half-century of the empire. Also, language as the defining concept of nationhood took center stage. Nationalists used it to promote their goals of independence; the empire used it to point out the advantages of diversity in one empire. The state modernized throughout the last decades of the century. Infrastructure projects, railroads, universal military service, education, hospitals and other avenues of progress were all implemented by the centralized state. Universal manhood suffrage finally came in 1907. On the eve of war, only the conservative elites despaired for the empire's future, and, when war broke out, they envisioned it as an opportunity to turn back the clock. However, the empire failed in it's responsibilities to its people. Militarily, the empire suffered astronomical casualties. And on the home front, it could not sustain and feed its people. "The war was not the proverbial final straw that broke a failing empire's back. It did not accelerate an inevitable collapse. It did, however, create heretofore unimaginable new conditions in Austria-Hungary that in a few years time made collapse not only possible but also likely. A state that could not ameliorate its people's intense and dramatic suffering imperiled its popular legitimacy." "With its resources strained to the extreme after four long years, the empire's capacity to inspire hope for a different future - let alone guarantee physical survival in the present - finally collapsed."
The 18th century reformers (Maria Theresa, Joseph II and Leopold II) were very progressive rulers. They appear to have taken up the ideas of the Enlightenment with more enthusiasm than anyone else in Europe. However, the costs of fighting the French hamstrung the empire for decades, and fear of revolution burgeoning at home meant that the 19th century ruler's turned their back on 'enlightened' governance. Whether or not a progressive approach to all the challenges of nationalism the empire faced would have kept the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual empire in some semblance of cohesion in the face of war is a matter of conjecture.
Whether or not the author achieves his stated goals is beyond my skill level. I thought I had a reasonably good understanding of the era. However, after completing this very informative, but incredibly detailed narrative, I do not feel particularly enlightened.
In the mid-1700's, the Empress Maria Theresa realized that a state needed to be forged from the Hapsburg lands that had been haphazardly accumulated over the preceding five hundred years. She initiated and implemented a massive reformation of society with a focus on the peasants, reducing their feudal obligations and mandating public education. She centralized the state, established a standing army, reigned in the R.C. church, established a system of taxation and created a sense of nationhood and citizenship that she bequeathed in 1780 to her son, Joseph II. This led to "a radical transformation of the individual...to a citizen whose legal relationship to the state was the sole determinant of his legal position..." Reform culminated in the 1804 declaration by Francis I of the Austrian Empire and the 1811 laws that transformed all of the empire's subjects into equal citizens before the law. The empire survived the quarter-century of war caused by the French Revolution; however the Emperor, Francis I, and his principal advisor, Count Metternich, ruled conservatively, in fear of revolution erupting on their watch. Instead, "Austrian society itself took up the challenges of creating social and economic change.." In essence, the body politic replaced the cautious, frugal state as the prime agent of change. The revolutions that swept Europe in 1848 were manifestly different in the various parts of the empire. The Hungarian nobility wished to further separate themselves from the German-speaking Austrians. Elsewhere, civic elites sought a greater voice in their own governance, peasants desired to throw off the last vestiges of feudal obligations, and disposing of Metternich was foremost on many minds. The Emperor Ferdinand capitulated to Hungarian demands for self-governance within the empire, the royal family ran Metternich out-of-town and a new constitution was promised. How the state would move forward from the tumultuous year would be left to the new Emperor, the eighteen-year-old Franz-Joseph I. He propelled a liberal agenda forward by centralized and autocratic means. Eventually, the weight of foreign policy failures, highlighted by an expensive mobilization during the Crimean War, and defeat at the hands of France and then Prussia, put an end to his dreams. After losing the war with Prussia, the Emperor acceded to the dual monarchy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. The dichotomy between the Austrians and Hungarians would dominate the dialogue of managing increasing social mobilization and conflict in the last half-century of the empire. Also, language as the defining concept of nationhood took center stage. Nationalists used it to promote their goals of independence; the empire used it to point out the advantages of diversity in one empire. The state modernized throughout the last decades of the century. Infrastructure projects, railroads, universal military service, education, hospitals and other avenues of progress were all implemented by the centralized state. Universal manhood suffrage finally came in 1907. On the eve of war, only the conservative elites despaired for the empire's future, and, when war broke out, they envisioned it as an opportunity to turn back the clock. However, the empire failed in it's responsibilities to its people. Militarily, the empire suffered astronomical casualties. And on the home front, it could not sustain and feed its people. "The war was not the proverbial final straw that broke a failing empire's back. It did not accelerate an inevitable collapse. It did, however, create heretofore unimaginable new conditions in Austria-Hungary that in a few years time made collapse not only possible but also likely. A state that could not ameliorate its people's intense and dramatic suffering imperiled its popular legitimacy." "With its resources strained to the extreme after four long years, the empire's capacity to inspire hope for a different future - let alone guarantee physical survival in the present - finally collapsed."
The 18th century reformers (Maria Theresa, Joseph II and Leopold II) were very progressive rulers. They appear to have taken up the ideas of the Enlightenment with more enthusiasm than anyone else in Europe. However, the costs of fighting the French hamstrung the empire for decades, and fear of revolution burgeoning at home meant that the 19th century ruler's turned their back on 'enlightened' governance. Whether or not a progressive approach to all the challenges of nationalism the empire faced would have kept the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual empire in some semblance of cohesion in the face of war is a matter of conjecture.
Whether or not the author achieves his stated goals is beyond my skill level. I thought I had a reasonably good understanding of the era. However, after completing this very informative, but incredibly detailed narrative, I do not feel particularly enlightened.
7.23.2016
The Run Of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, Toobin - B
I decided to give this twenty-year-old book a whirl because of the recent, extraordinary ESPN documentary. Jeffrey Toobin is a journalist, a lawyer and a helluva writer. There is no doubt that O.J. was flat out guilty from moment one, but his lawyers managed to obtain his shocking acquittal because the defense team turned the trial into a referendum on the LAPD. Race was the only issue, as almost all of black LA (if not black America) thought O.J. innocent and all the whites were confident of his guilt. The defense's first lead lawyer, Bob Shapiro, decided to play the race card and LA's best known black lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, played it masterfully. The DA's office represented by Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden were cocky, arrogant and close to incompetent. The judge did not control his courtroom and thus, a year-long three-ring circus played out around the world on Court TV. The sequestered jury, the majority of whom were black woman, freed the 'Juice' on its first day of deliberation. As well-written as this book is, it's hard to get too excited because the story is a demoralizing travesty.
7.21.2016
Dawn of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and their Friends, McAuliffe - B
This is the history of Paris' recovery from the devastation of the Franco-Prussian War (1870), when the city was bombarded by the Germans, and then wrecked by the anarchy of the Commune and its violent suppression. Napoleon III had fled to England, the Empire was over, and the French were burdened with a 5 million franc indemnity to the Germans, who continued their occupation until they were paid in 1874. Although the Republic was established, there was still a battle royal between the forces of liberty and progress and the monarchist reaction led by the church and the military. Building the Sacre Coeur on Montmarte was a victory for the right. It was built on the grounds where the Commune had begun. However, in the 1879 elections, the Republicans succeeded, reinstated 'La Marseillaise' as the national anthem, and moved the government from Versailles to Paris. They secularized hospitals and schools, banished religious from the classrooms and dissolved the Jesuits. A year later, July 14 was reinstated as a national holiday and the Communards were granted amnesty. The forces of liberty, equality and fraternity had momentarily triumphed.
The 1880's saw the construction of two of the most famous edifices in modern history. Liberty Enlightening the World was built in the middle of the city and presented to the US Ambassador in 1884. Lady Liberty was disassembled, packed and shipped off to New York, where she would be dedicated on Nov.1, 1886, while a million people cheered the fireworks celebration. And in anticipation of the centenary of the Revolution, Eiffel constructed his iconic tower on the Champs de Mars.
The last decade of the century was dominated by the scandal surrounding the bankruptcy of the Panama Canal Company. The de Lesseps were sentenced to jail and Eiffel's reputation was completely besmirched. The political fallout cost Clemenceau his seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Next followed the Dreyfus affair that sent the innocent Jewish artillery officer to Devil's Island. The rift between the right and the left in French society was deep and each side continued their virulent, bitter campaign against the other. That the wrong man was convicted in a bout of anti-Semitic misbehavior is and has long been beyond refute. The men who finally turned the affair around, and are the heroes of the story, are Emile Zola and Georges Clemenceau. Zola wrote the pamphlet that summed up the complex case and the army's duplicity and Clemenceau came up with the title that resounds through history - 'J'accuse'. Three hundred thousand copies of what was an open letter to the government were distributed in Paris. Immediately, Zola was prosecuted for libeling the army and convicted. Later in the year, the officer who had forged the letter behind the entire affair confessed and committed suicide. Notwithstanding that, Dreyfus, after his appeal succeeded, was convicted a second time. The army continued to manufacture evidence and the church supported them. Dreyfus was pardoned after over four years on Devils Island. The book closes with the Impressionists finally receiving their due, Dreyfus and Zola honored, and Clemenceau headed for higher office.
I found this book while looking for 'Twilight of the Belle Epoque', which my brother recommended. So, thanks for a twofer. What is interesting about this book for me is information on the physical transformation of the city, the blossoming of the artistic and musical culture of the day, and the intense conflict between the left and the right. To characterize the conflict as intense does not do it justice. Zola's 'J'accuse' led to violent outbursts, riots and the murder of Jews in the countryside.There was a real possibility of an army coup. The country could've been torn apart. It seems a wonder that the 3rd Republic survived. My knowledge of French history is limited and this has been an eye opener.
The 1880's saw the construction of two of the most famous edifices in modern history. Liberty Enlightening the World was built in the middle of the city and presented to the US Ambassador in 1884. Lady Liberty was disassembled, packed and shipped off to New York, where she would be dedicated on Nov.1, 1886, while a million people cheered the fireworks celebration. And in anticipation of the centenary of the Revolution, Eiffel constructed his iconic tower on the Champs de Mars.
The last decade of the century was dominated by the scandal surrounding the bankruptcy of the Panama Canal Company. The de Lesseps were sentenced to jail and Eiffel's reputation was completely besmirched. The political fallout cost Clemenceau his seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Next followed the Dreyfus affair that sent the innocent Jewish artillery officer to Devil's Island. The rift between the right and the left in French society was deep and each side continued their virulent, bitter campaign against the other. That the wrong man was convicted in a bout of anti-Semitic misbehavior is and has long been beyond refute. The men who finally turned the affair around, and are the heroes of the story, are Emile Zola and Georges Clemenceau. Zola wrote the pamphlet that summed up the complex case and the army's duplicity and Clemenceau came up with the title that resounds through history - 'J'accuse'. Three hundred thousand copies of what was an open letter to the government were distributed in Paris. Immediately, Zola was prosecuted for libeling the army and convicted. Later in the year, the officer who had forged the letter behind the entire affair confessed and committed suicide. Notwithstanding that, Dreyfus, after his appeal succeeded, was convicted a second time. The army continued to manufacture evidence and the church supported them. Dreyfus was pardoned after over four years on Devils Island. The book closes with the Impressionists finally receiving their due, Dreyfus and Zola honored, and Clemenceau headed for higher office.
I found this book while looking for 'Twilight of the Belle Epoque', which my brother recommended. So, thanks for a twofer. What is interesting about this book for me is information on the physical transformation of the city, the blossoming of the artistic and musical culture of the day, and the intense conflict between the left and the right. To characterize the conflict as intense does not do it justice. Zola's 'J'accuse' led to violent outbursts, riots and the murder of Jews in the countryside.There was a real possibility of an army coup. The country could've been torn apart. It seems a wonder that the 3rd Republic survived. My knowledge of French history is limited and this has been an eye opener.
Black Widow, Silva - B -
Eerily, Allon's antagonist here is ISIS and an imaginary operations chief nicknamed Saladin. Although Gabriel is one day removed from taking over the Office, he is called back into the field when the French request his help in avenging an attack in Paris. His op is based on recruiting a French-Israeli doctor, who speaks perfect Arabic, as an undercover infiltrator. She is trained by Allon and his team and placed in a clinic in a banlieue in Paris, where an ISIS recruiter signs her up. On an excursion to Syria, she is called in to save Saladin's life after he is caught in an air attack. She is then recruited and sent to Washington, DC to be part of an attack intended to incur American wrath. ISIS pretty much blows up half of Washington, the Israelis get out of town after exacting a degree of revenge and finally, finally, Gabriel is ensconced in the top job at King Saul Boulevard.
Through sixteen books, the chronicler of the mythical Allon takes appropriately pro-Israeli positions,\ that I've always been comfortable with. In this one, though, he articulates some very strong anti-Administration opinions, trashes the Iranian nuclear deal, belittles our foreign policy in general and wishes we were back in the Middle East with boots on the ground. I found it a bit unsettling.
Through sixteen books, the chronicler of the mythical Allon takes appropriately pro-Israeli positions,\ that I've always been comfortable with. In this one, though, he articulates some very strong anti-Administration opinions, trashes the Iranian nuclear deal, belittles our foreign policy in general and wishes we were back in the Middle East with boots on the ground. I found it a bit unsettling.
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