I read this gem on the eve of the 250th birthday of the United States. It’s far and away the shortest book by Walter Isaacson that I’ve ever read. It’s just 80 pages, which include the full text of the Declaration of Independence and related historical writings from Rousseau, Locke and others. Here, Isaacson parses every word of this famous sentence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
In short, vivid chapters, he explores the Founding Fathers’ debate and intentions for the formation of this country. In a time when our country is so politically divided, Isaacson encourages all of us to look for ways to find common ground in our positions. There’s a lot to think about here.
A riveting history of the people and events of the American Revolution from the perspective of arguably our most important forefather. This is timely reading to remember the causes of revolution and the original intentions of the U.S. Constitution as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
I had been lulled into thinking of our Founding Fathers as selfless and intrinsically wise. McCullough dispelled any notion that these men were perfect, including Adams. The revolution led to heroic moments, for sure, but time has glossed over the miscues, indecision, and backstabbing that plague all of humanity. Adams stands out as a beacon of honesty and decency in a sea of selfishness, pompousness, and betrayal. No spoilers, but I will never feel the same about Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson!
Beyond the American history lesson, I enjoyed learning about Adams as an attorney, farmer, father, devoted husband, voracious reader, and lifelong scholar during a time of incredible turmoil and uncertainty. He achieved tremendous success and suffered utter heartbreak throughout his life, all while staying true to his personal values and beliefs. Adams embodied the very best of what it means to be American.
A meticulously researched history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Keefe delves into the motivations behind the horrible actions taken by both sides of this decades-long conflict, which I had never really understood. Ultimately, the book is a tale of tragedy and woe for both sides of a pointless war.
There were necessarily a lot of names, places, and dates included in this account, which for me didn’t translate as well in an audiobook. Reading the physical book would have been a better experience, though I loved the Irish accent of the narrator.
There can be no better role model for resilience and fortitude than Winston Churchill in the years preceding the Second World War. The British public, Parliament, and His Majesty’s Government considered Churchill a fool and a war monger due to his constant warnings about Hitler and Nazi Germany. Students at Oxford heckled him off stage. Newspapers lampooned him. Parliament leaders walked out of his incredibly eloquent (and prescient) speeches. And two prime ministers spurned him from any role in their cabinets. Down deep, they must have been profoundly afraid of Churchill and what he believed.
No strongly centralized, political organization feels altogether happy with individuals who combine independence, a free imagination, and a formidable strength of character with stubborn faith and a single-minded, unchanging view of the public and private good. — Isaiah Berlin (about Churchill)
Reading this second volume of Manchester’s biography of Churchill is both a pleasure and a frustration. A pleasure because Manchester writes like a poet trapped in a historian’s body. He intersperses vignettes of everyday life that enliven the dates, places, and names of typical history. And Churchill is certainly a riveting figure, brought to his bigger-than-life persona before our eyes by Manchester’s evocative writing style. I loved the parts of Winston’s life at Chartwell: his hilarious morning bathing ritual, the lunches and dinners, the marathon writing sessions to cover his extravagant lifestyle (“experience had taught him that budgets did not work with his family. The reason—though he would never have acknowledged it—was that he was the family spendthrift”).
The frustration stems from knowing, with perfect hindsight, how incompetently and disastrously British government leaders acted in their appeasement of the obviously evil Adolph Hitler. Again. And Again. And Again. There were so many opportunities for England and/or France to stop Hitler, if only …
The biography concludes with Churchill becoming prime minister during one of the darkest periods in European history.
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat … You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength God can give us…. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. — Winston Churchill, First Address as Prime Minister
Cutting off the biography at this critical date provides almost no sense of redemption or vindication for Churchill’s sacrifices, and hardly any I told you so moments. I knew from history that this would necessarily be the case, but I felt disappointed. I wish that Manchester had been able to stretch this further into the war or the end of it.
Manchester left Churchill’s revenge for the final volume of the trilogy: Defender of the Realm, covering the war years through the end of Churchill’s life. Manchester suffered a debilitating stroke about a third of the way through writing the book. He asked his friend and journalist, Paul Reid, to complete it. Manchester died before it was published. By most accounts, the book is well written, but it necessarily lacks Manchester’s style. I’m torn on whether to read it or not, but I probably will. Even without the deft hand of Manchester on the tiller, getting more time with Churchill and finally reading about his hard-earned vindication will be worth it.
A concise summary of the tactics used by totalitarian governments to suppress freedom and democracy. Clear examples from twentieth-century despots support each of the twenty lessons. Reading this on the heels of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich helped me crystalize the most significant actions taken by Hitler to assume his reign of terror.
I read this classic to learn about Nazi Germany and the rise of fascism to understand better any parallels we might be seeing in the United States today. The first third of the book revealed many examples of Hitler’s power grab that felt very eerily similar to Trump. So many that you could make the case that Trump used Hitler as a role model for his political ambitions, as scary as that sounds.
The eleventh and final volume of the Story of Civilization, covering the years from the beginning of the French Revolution through Waterloo. Napoleon’s rise, dictatorship, stunning victories and ultimate defeat were thrilling to read.
From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step. — Napoleon
In 208 eloquent pages, Durant shares his views on death, religion, education, war, politics, spirituality, and, through it all, the meaning of life. Truly a gift to humanity from a scholar who devoted his long life to the study of history.
The tenth volume of the incredible Story of Civilization series by Will and Ariel Durant. This one, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1968, provides an immensely readable history of Europe leading up to the French Revolution. Reading this series has been such an education. My only wish is that I had read them sooner.
Continuing my quest to read all eleven volumes of Will Durant’s Opus, The Story of Civilization. Volume IX centers on science and philosophy overtaking religion through thinkers like Voltaire and Diderot. The church did its best to stop it, but in the end, the French Enlightenment steered the faithful away from religion toward the beginnings of existentialism. While this movement addressed religious corruption and the horrors of inquisitions, there is also a feeling of great loss as civilization let go of its rudder of morality and faith.
