All We Say by Ben Rhodes

ALL WE SAY by Ben Rhodes, a New York Times best-selling author, highlights “The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches.” He divides the book into three chronological parts: from the Revolution to Civil War; from Reconstruction to the 1940s and beginning of the Superpower era; and from Civil Rights to MAGA. The speakers and their topics are sometimes well-known (e.g., Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, Louis Brandeis, or FDR’s “Four Freedoms”), but Rhodes has included a variety of speakers who were well-known in their own time like Red Jacket’s “We Have Always Lived Here,” delivered in 1805, or Mary Lease speaking about how “Wall Street Owns This Country” in 1891. Speeches from several other female activists (Maria Stewart, Anna Dickinson, and Dolores Huerta) are presented.  Plus, Rhodes deftly contrasts the oratorial might of Confederate Alexander Stephens and Abraham Lincoln and later Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. More modern-day speeches by Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump are also provided. In each chapter, Rhodes supplies some background and historical context as well as the experiences that shaped the speakers; gives the text of the speech itself; and then additional analysis. He is not a neutral observer by any means and chose these speeches to illustrate a 250-year argument about what it means to be American, contrasting “a story that views the nation as inherently right from the beginning” with one that “views the nation as engaged in a struggle to live up to that founding promise in the Declaration of Independence: a multiracial democracy founded upon the idea of human equality.” It is interesting, too, to reflect upon the ways that technological change has impacted both the audiences (size, attention span, common access) and delivery. Be forewarned that the text is rather dense although avid readers will appreciate the Selected Bibliography and Notes (roughly fifteen percent of the text). Much to ponder here.

The Westerners and The Gunfighters

As we look this year to America’s 250th anniversary, here are a couple of lengthy and ambitious non-fiction texts worth exploring. 

THE WESTERNERS by Megan Kate Nelson is subtitled “Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier.” Nelson, whose The Three-Cornered War was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, chooses to profile seven individuals who represent the diversity -- Indigenous peoples, Black Americans, Mexican Americans, and Canadian and Asian immigrants -- which is often ignored or forgotten but was present out West during the 1800s. She weaves together and overlaps stories featuring a biracial fur trader; the richest woman in Santa Fe; and Sacajewa, plus others like Little Wolf (a Northern Cheyenne chief); a soldier and gold miner; and female immigrants who remained resilient in the face of prejudice. Kirkus says that this very long title (464 pages) “sometimes plods,” but provides “a useful survey of the ‘messy, complicated lives of the real people who built the West.’” Booklist called it “a uniquely compelling look at the dynamism and conflict that defined the West.” THE WESTERNERS received a starred review from Publishers Weekly for its “richly layered portrait of the 19th-century frontier.” Nelson’s Epilogue section reprises how white Americans distorted facts and created myths in order to “fit a narrative that was compelling to them.” She concludes by stating, “If we do not acknowledge this expansive history of the West as a pivotal part of the nation's past, this erasure will continue the work of the frontier myth and usher us into an unjust future.”

THE GUNFIGHTERS by Brian Burrough is another thoroughly researched and well-written text. In contrast to Nelson, Burrough focused on the violence associated with white male dominance and some of the more memorable characters (many familiar names) from the nineteenth century. I read this as part of a Texas book group, and it helped me to better understand some of the cultural underpinnings for Texans. For example, there is an apparently locally well-known song about Sam Bass, but even Burrough acknowledges that “perhaps the gunfighter legend is dimming.” He hypothesized that “A gunfighter's fame endures, in almost every case, in direct proportion to his engagement with the written word, because he either talked to a journalist or two, as Hickok did; wrote an autobiography, John Wesley Hardin’s route; fired off letters to governors and newspapers a la Jesse James and Billy the Kid; or became involved in a shootout so spectacular it drew national attention … Wyatt Earp” Beverly Gage (This Land is Your Land) says Burrough “tells his story as only a loving -- but conflicted -- son of Texas could.” Several maps, numerous footnotes, references, and an index are included.

This Land is Your Land by Beverly Gage

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND by Beverly Gage presents “A Road Trip Through U.S. History.” Gage, an award-winning author who teaches American History at Yale, sets out to look at American history by visiting some key locations.  She begins her journey in the Philadelphia area where, of course, the Declaration of Independence was signed. From there, she pursues a rough chronology, visiting presidential homes in Virginia and later Nashville (Andrew Jackson’s adopted hometown).  Subsequent chapters inform readers about the Alamo and central Texas and then upstate New York (focusing on the early to mid 1800s when the Erie Canal and other events contributed to the “Silicon Valley of its day”).  Further stops include The Dakotas, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Los Alamos, Selma, and even Disneyland.  I found Gage’s writing to be relatively entertaining and even amusing at points. She has a talent for sharing many facts without overwhelming or boring her readers. Gage is right to comment upon negative aspects of American history (e.g., the ownership of enslaved people by many Founding Fathers, treatment of indigenous people, etc.) and I agree with her that “it’s possible to hold both sets of ideas—to know your history and still love your country. Americans can be patriots and critics, citizens and dissenters, all at once.” That openness makes our history more real and relevant, but she seemed to stress these aspects again and again which will be off-putting for some readers. The Wall Street Journal reviewer notes that “the book doesn’t quite deliver on its promise; this ‘warts-and-all’ look at the American past dwells, a bit predictably, on the warts.” Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, called it “a marvelous deep dive into the American psyche.” Hopefully, THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND does spark dialogue and reflection, while increasing interest in visiting many of these locales. By her own count, Gage visited “approximately three hundred historic sites, museums, battlefields, parks, monuments, and roadside attractions.” For added perspective, readers may also want to read or listen to titles such as The Great Contradiction by Joseph J. Ellis, The Agitators by Dorothy Wickenden, or The Last American Road Trip by Sarah Kendzior, but they should also look at the multi-page list of Recommended Reading that Gage has compiled.  In addition, her notes comprise approximately ten percent of the text.

New titles about the American Civil War

The first national observance of Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868. Then known as Decoration Day, the holiday was proclaimed to honor the Union soldiers who had died in the Civil War. Here are reviews of three excellent books which deal with the Civil War time period.

WIDE AWAKE is a newly published book by Jon Grinspan who is Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Grinspan’s love of history and his devotion to scholarship shines through as he relates steps in his research on “The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War.” I was intrigued by his comments of looking into newspaper databases and was able to locate over one hundred and fifty front page newspaper articles from 1860 or earlier about this paramilitary group. They wore uniforms, had banners with a wide-open eye (see image of certificate below), marched (often with torches), and widely supported Lincoln and other Republicans in the 1860 election. Almost all ended up eventually joining the Union forces. Commenting on the echoes of history, and this “grassroots force pushing elite leaders into action,” Grinspan writes that the “Wide Awakes of 1860 wrestled with the same forces -- mass democracy, public protest, free speech, political violence, slavery, and race -- that we grapple with today.” Booklist gave WIDE AWAKE a starred review and Kirkus describes his well-written text as “a welcome study of an overlooked aspect of the Civil War and the events leading up to it.” Extensive notes and references comprise roughly twenty percent of this text.

THE AGITATORS by Dorothy Wickenden (Nothing Daunted) is about “three friends who fought for abolition and women's rights.” Readers may be familiar with stories about Harriet Tubman, a famous underground railroad conductor, but are likely less well-versed about Martha Coffin Wright, a Quaker (and sister to Lucretia Mott) who criticized Lincoln’s position on slavery and organized women’s rights conventions with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The third member of the trio is Frances Seward; as the wife of Governor, then Senator, and then Secretary of State William H. Seward, her influence was often largest behind the scenes. The three friends lived in Auburn, New York and Wickenden traces their efforts from the 1820s onward through 1875 in a detail-filled text. Her afterward, extensive notes, and selected bibliography together comprise at least a fourth of the book. THE AGITATORS received starred reviews from Library Journal (“Filling a gap in the telling of women's and abolitionist history, this highly readable book gives these three women their due.”) and Publishers Weekly (“an essential addition to the history of American progressivism”).

Finally, THE DEMON OF UNREST by Erik Larson (The Splendid and the Vile) is subtitled “A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War” and the best-selling author definitely chronicles the exploits of some unsavory characters. For example, Larson recounts James Henry Hammond’s sexual abuse of his nieces and subsequent selection to Federal office, serving as Senator for South Carolina. Often commenting on other parallels to today’s headlines, Larson writes, “I had the eerie feeling that present and past had merged. It is unsettling that in 1861 two of the greatest moments of national dread centered on the certification of the Electoral College vote and the presidential inauguration.” This text, too, is extensively researched with approximately twenty percent devoted to a lengthy bibliography and detailed notes. THE DEMON OF UNREST did receive starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. While highly regarded, it did not feel as compelling as earlier works by Larson, however.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley is a unique debut novel which has received quite a bit of “buzz,” including being named a LibraryReads selection for May, the #1 pick on the Indie Next List, and a starred review from Kirkus. I was excited to learn that it will become a six-part series for the BBC. Looking for time travel, romance, espionage? Then this book may be for you. Bradley, a British-Cambodian writer and editor based in London, has produced a work of which Ron Charles (Washington Post book critic) writes “Imagine if The Time Traveler’s Wife had an affair with A Gentleman in Moscow.”  This new tale actually features five “expats,” people who have been transported from their time to present day London and their “bridges,” the Ministry staff assigned to be “day-by-day dictionaries” and help with assimilation in the 21st century. The unnamed female narrator is the bridge for Graham Gore, also known as eighteen forty-seven, who was an Arctic explorer and Bradley’s inspiration for this innovative novel. There is a slow burn chemistry between the two and several ethical questions develop. The first third of the book, filled with banter is especially fun: “‘You have enslaved the power of lightning [electricity],’ he said, ‘and you've used it to avoid the tedium of hiring help.’” But the tone changes as it turns more philosophical with THE MINISTRY OF TIME offering an intriguing perspective on time travel: “This was one of my first lessons in how you make the future: moment by moment, you seal the doors of possibility behind you.” 

The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt by Edward F. O'Keefe

THE LOVES OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT is a new book in which Edward F. O'Keefe chooses to tell the story of this influential President by focusing on five women who greatly shaped him.  First, there is Roosevelt’s mother, Mittie, a resilient Southern belle transplanted to New York and living there during the American Civil War. Two sisters, nicknamed Bamie and Conie, were sources of strength during his childhood illnesses and also surprising sources of political advice throughout his career. It is said of Bamie that had she been a man, she would have been President instead of TR. And then there are Roosevelt’s two wives. Alice, who died tragically at twenty-two just days after giving birth to their first child, is portrayed in part through correspondence in newly found love letters which O’Keefe discovered when researching this text. TR’s second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, is often credited with developing the role of America’s First Lady and noted for her ability to guide TR without him realizing it.

O’Keefe also reflects on the ways in which Roosevelt’s time parallels our own:  massive technology changes (e.g., airplanes, driving in cars, electricity), plus evolution from an agrarian to more industrial society, accompanied by a wave of immigration, debates on rights for women, and resulting effects on cultural norms. Readers will enjoy this text because of - and despite - its brimming with obscure facts and details. The length (over 460 pages) may be a bit daunting as well. However, O’Keefe clearly admires Roosevelt and this unique perspective is a labor of love, adding to the stellar writing by historians like Edmund Morris and David McCullough.  An interview with the author is available from PBS NewsHour:

Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki

FINDING MARGARET FULLER by Allison Pataki (The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post and Beauty in the Broken Places) provides a fictional look at the life of a journalist and author who was famous during her lifetime (1810-1850) but is much less well known today. A contemporary and friend to writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and later Louisa May Alcott, Fuller crafted works such as Woman in the 19th Century. Fuller was even rumored to be an inspiration for Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne. Sadly, she met an untimely death in a shipping accident, but Pataki is a master at imaging and recounting events in Fuller’s life during her visits to Concord and while living in Boston and in Europe (there, Fuller was a foreign correspondent for Horace Greeley’s newspapers). Fuller’s feminist leanings are explored as well as her romantic trysts although modern readers may tend to cringe at Emerson’s seeming manipulation of her. FINDING MARGARET FULLER received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly (“full of lush details about the life of an overlooked contributor to Transcendentalism and women’s rights”).

A Most Intriguing Lady by Sarah Ferguson

A MOST INTRIGUING LADY by Sarah Ferguson is surprisingly entertaining historical fiction combined with a series of mysteries. Set in Victorian England (spanning five years in the 1870s) and featuring Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott, the novel crafts a fictional account of one of the Duchess of York’s relatives. As the author’s note explains, little besides the dates of her birth and marriage are known about Lady Mary, but that allows the Duchess and her co-author, Marguerite Kaye, to offer a story with a strong mix of suspense and romance involving a young woman feeling constrained by society’s expectations and determined to find and follow a purpose. She is attracted to Colonel Walter Trefusis who helps in her endeavors despite his own battles with PTSD-like symptoms. Filled with rich description of shooting parties, estate life above and below stairs, and potentially dangerous espionage, A MOST INTRIGUING LADY received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. This new title can be read as a standalone, although the authors previously collaborated on a companion story: Her Heart for a Compass. 

Not directly relevant, but I had to at least mention the Budgie books also written by Sarah Ferguson – intended for children and published in 1989 about a helicopter named Budgie; we still have our copies of those fun adventures!

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

HESTER by Laurie Lico Albanese offers a captivating hypothesis about the inspiration for Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne. This new novel is set primarily in 1829 in Salem, Massachusetts and while Hawthorne is one of the characters, the story mainly centers on Isobel MacAllister Gamble. She is a Scottish lass who has inherited synesthesia, the ability to see words and sounds as colors. She becomes a talented seamstress and her unusual (but misunderstood) abilities greatly enhance her needlework artistry which Albanese is so adept at describing. Being different is often a source of concern, though; Isobel and her ancestors (including Isobel Gowdie who lived in 1662 and was accused of being a witch) face potential ruin. The need for secrecy is key, yet Isobel struggles, asking, “But how can I live and be silent? How can I speak and be safe?” HESTER is historical fiction which confronts discrimination involving race, immigrant status, and gender. There definitely is a feminist message and the constraints which women encountered are shown especially when Isobel is betrayed by her husband and other cruel or weak men, further reflecting The Scarlet Letter. Learning to rely on herself and other women takes courage. At one point, Isobel muses, “I have begun to learn how a woman apportions and gathers what she needs to survive; what she sacrifices for beauty, sustenance, health, or children.” This novel was deservedly chosen as a LibraryReads selection for October. There is an extensive author’s note with many references. For those intrigued by the experience of synesthesia, look also for the middle-school novel A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Moss. 

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

BOOTH by Karen Joy Fowler (We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves) is a work of historical fiction that spans several decades in 1800s America. Beginning in 1822, the story focuses at first on the often absent, often drunk, and somewhat unhinged patriarch, Junius Brutus Booth.  He has run off from London, leaving behind a wife and young son. Instead, he travels to Baltimore with a mistress, Mary Ann Holmes, who eventually had ten children with him before they were married in 1851. These children, include the gentle, long-suffering Rosalie, future actors Edwin, Junius Jr., and John Wilkes, plus Asia, a writer. Fowler explores their lives prior to and after the assassination.  She cleverly weaves in parallels to today’s issues, particularly rights for women, racism, and “celebrity culture” in the 1800s. One is forced to wonder about the impact of such an unstable upbringing, alcoholism, and the elder Booth’s death when John Wilkes was only fourteen. Revealing both tragedy and triumph for this family, BOOTH received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly.