My wife and I were out and about yesterday and hit two book stores: Babbitt’s Books in Normal, a fantastic used book store with thousands of fairly off beat volumes and a black cat as a charming guard cat for the establishment, and the Barnes and Noble in Bloomington. As faithful readers of this blog know my wife and I are dedicated book packrats. Here are the books I purchased yesterday:
From Babbitt’s:
1. Thaddeus Stevens by Ralph Korngold-A 1955 biography of the great abolitionist Congressman from Pennsylvania, who was usually an adversary of Lincoln, sometimes an ally, who reshaped Reconstruction in a punitive direction after Lincoln’s death and came close to unseating his successor. A great man, but one whose impact on the country ran contrary to the goal he wished to accomplish: full equality for blacks. A Greek tragedy of a life in many ways.
2. The Racial Attitudes of American Presidents from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt by George Sinkler-A 1971 study of how these presidents viewed racial minorities, particularly blacks. Considering how much is written about race in this country, I believe this is the only book I can recall on this aspect of the topic. I have begun to read it and it looks fascinating.
3. A History of Apologetics by Avery Cardinal Dulles-A 1999 reprint of the 1971 book by Dulles. I have never read anything by the late Cardinal Dulles without coming away dazzled by his intellect, and I doubt that this will be any different.
On to Barnes and Noble:
4. Strategy by Lawrence Freedman-I am always excited when I come across a new book that I was not aware of. This 2013 history of strategy looks like a 751 page gem.
5. Old Mars-A new science fiction anthology edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardiner Dozois which has stories about the colonization of the Red Planet, but not the Red Planet as it exists in fact, but as it existed in the minds of science fiction authors in the 40s and 50s when it was assumed that it would be suitable for humans to live on without terraforming.
6. The Cave and the Light-Arthur Herman’s just published study on the impact of Plato and Aristotle on Western society down through the centuries.
7. The Greatest Brigade-A prize from the marked-down books. Thomas Craughwell’s first rate study published in 2012 on the Irish Brigade. Over 7,000 men served in the Irish Brigade during the War, almost all of them immigrants, and some 4000 of them were killed and wounded, the Irish Brigade sustaining one of the highest level of battlefield casualties during the War of any brigade. To an American public often hostile to the Irish, they demonstrated a heroism and love for their new land that only the most bigoted could not cheer.
In the comboxes please tell me about your recent book purchases. Our books tell much about ourselves, so let the revelations proceed!
Donald:
I was gifted a Kindle last year, and have discovered the wonders of free Kindle Editions. So, I have been getting into some of the classic horror / fantasy writers, such as Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, and William Hope Hodgson. I have also purchased one (and read many more) of the Jack Reacher novels.
–Jonathan
Forgotten treasures of yesteryear as to Blackwood, Dunsany and Hodgson, Jonathan!
I suppose most people’s idea of Thaddeus Stevens has been coloured by Thomas Dixon Jr’s satirical depiction of him as Congressman Austin Stoneman in “The Clansman.”
If most Americans know him at all it would be through the Lincoln film last year. Tommy Lee Jones captured a bit of the spirit of the man, but only a small bit.
I recently picked up, for a pittance at a garage sale, a surprisingly well-preserved paperback copy of Ted Sorensen’s JFK biography, published in 1965. Sorensen billed this book as his attempt to approximate the memoir JFK had planned to write once he left office. Although rather long and boring in spots, it does provide a rather fascinating glimpse into the political world of the 1950s and 1960s, and documents that in many ways JFK’s brand of liberalism would be unrecognizable to today’s liberals (for example, he didn’t get along very well with organized labor due to his and brother Bobby’s determination to uproot racketeering from the Teamsters and other unions).
Only fair Elaine that Sorensen would write Kennedy’s memoir since he wrote Profiles in Courage! That book demonstrates also how liberalism has changed. It salutes the Republican senator, Edmund G. Ross, whose vote saved Andrew Johnson from conviction and removal from office. The theme was what a good thing reconciliation was between the North and the South and how courageous Ross was to risk his political career in that cause. No uber liberal like Ted Sorensen, who was a pacifist during World War II, would dare say such a thing today, because of Johnson’s willingness to give short shrift to the civil rights of blacks and his private racism. In praising Ross, Sorensen was sounding a traditional Democrat theme, while concern for the civil rights of blacks was traditionally a Republican theme. This was changing even as Sorensen was writing Profiles in Courage, but the book was clearly intended to boost Kennedy’s eventual run for President and neither Sorensen nor Kennedy were going to alienate Southern electoral votes if they could avoid it.
So many books, so little time! I have at least 20 in holding pattern.
It’s worse since I got my Nook, there’s so much free content available, then B&N keeps e-mailing me $2.99 specials, the latest The Atlantic by Simon Winchester which I’m reading now.
Anyway I’ll have to check out Racial Attitudes of the Presidents.
PS Don, are you a speed reader? My late father was a lawyer like yourself & could go thru books pretty quickly, I wonder if it’s a survival skill.
Actually Thomas I am a plodder when it comes to reading. I can skim a document swiftly when I have to, but when I read for pleasure I linger over each page like a diner enjoying a fine meal.
Donald McClarey: A History of Apologetics by Avery Cardinal Dulles. Be careful reading Dulles as he was dyed in the wool against capital punishment. Justice. I must be willing to suffer the death penalty for homicide or all men are not created equal. Some men can be put to death and other men can be allowed to live. This is especially current with the tsunami of legalized euthanasia about to engulf all of our culture while we sit on the beach waiting for the first wave. As a priest, separation of church and state would have spared Dulles the business of capital punishment but he had yet to realize it, as he defended an indefensible position. No, I have not read the book. This is my opinion of his work.
I have just received and been devouring Sesame and Lilies and
the Ethics of the Dust by John Ruskin, with a side of Ivanhoe. Yum!
I purchased Dulles’ “History of Apologetics” about 4 years ago, when I also purchased his “Models of the Church” when i was studying for the Diaconate. I read “Models”, but have not yet turned a page on “Apologetics”. Must do, as I have been involved in apologetics now for about 15 years – but when I finish the house alterations, and wean myself off blogging – well partially, anyway. 🙂
Have just finished Pat Buchanan’s ” Suicide of a Superpower”. A bit scary, as we witness what he wrote a couple of years ago gaining momentum in the USSA (United Socialist States of America) under Obama-nation.
“The Dependency Agenda” Kevin Williamson of National Review. Brief discourse on how the Democratic Peoples’ Party hijacked the civil rights movement in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Includes the famous quote by LBJ regarding who would be voting Democrat for the next 200 years.
“Pivot of Civilization” Margaret Sanger. Falls squarely in the “Mein Kampf” category. The founder of Planned Parenthood spells out in no uncertain terms how “reproductive rights” becomes the tool used to cull the unfit masses from the population so that the Glorious Revolution can begin in earnest. Horrifying stuff; it should be required reading in high school.
“kNOw Stealing” M. Shane Coley (self-published.) A treatise on how the corruption of monetary systems in the evolution from asset-based precious metals to debt-based fiat money parallels the gradual change in Scriptural language, most notably in the translation of the Hebrew ‘keseph,’ which the author claims means “silver” but increasingly is translated to “money.” A small difference superficially but he treats the subject with an appreciable depth (albeit a little clumsily.)
“Candles in the Dark: The Father Ho Lung Story” Joseph Pearce. Great read on an amazing priest who is regrettably too little known here in the American Empire. A Jamaican of Chinese descent (there’s a rather large Chinese ex-pat community in Jamaica. Who knew?) and a 10-year Jesuit who walked away and formed his own order, the Missionaries of the Poor. A chart-topping reggae composer and musician whose songs are pointedly Catholic, he also has composed full-length musicals and started charities the world over. I was sad to reach the end of this book.
More on Fr. Ho Lung: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e_HnsK9BAw
“Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Vols 1-6.” Directly attributable to the main contributor of this blog. Interesting reads, especially when you consider how the man who kept the Union together is the same one slicing some back-water newspaper editor to shreds.
On the docket:
“Economics of Freedom” by Frederic Bastiat
“True Freedom,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
“The Case Against the Fed,” Murray Rothbard
“The Story of a Soul,” St. Therese of Lisieux
“Candles in the Dark: The Father Ho Lung Story” Joseph Pearce. is probably at Eternal Word Television Network as Father Ho Lung is often in episodes giving retreats. His voice is very pleasant.
“kNOw Stealing” M. Shane Coley. If silence is golden and speech is silver and these concepts are taken into account, one may realize a connection with Holy Scripture and our (bankrupt) economy. When speech is less than moral, silence is destroyed. When speech speaks the truth, silence is enjoined and prosperity ensues.