Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

 

Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William T Sherman

In turns fascinating and boring. General Sherman wrote a valuable memoir for historians, but too much minutia for the casual Civil War buff. Sherman includes innumerable orders and other correspondence and describes his entire command structure every time there is a significant change or battle. Although historians, especially military historians, will find this invaluable, it can often be dull reading. Sherman frequently allows these documents to tell the story without presenting a description in his narrative. This means the reader must at least review the correspondence to gain a sense of the events.

Disappointedly, Sherman seldom shares his opinions or even thoughts about significant issues. It’s sort of the Jack Webb version of his life. When Sherman does express an opinion, it’s pure gold, especially the chapter when he recounts what he believes are the military lessons from the Civil War.

Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

Killing Lincoln was better than I expected. The breathless style at the beginning was a bit off-putting, but it settled down to a clean narrative. This was a fun read because Maelstrom will end when Lincoln leaves for the Ford Theater, which meant I took no notes and allowed myself to get absorbed in the story.

Some historians have criticized the accuracy of Killing Lincoln. I disagree. The book does not purport to be an academic treatment and appears accurate when describing relevant events and details. My only serious concern is that O’Reilly included asides that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton might have had a hand in the intrigue. I find Stanton’s involvement dubious and the inclusion unnecessary.

It may surprise many to discover the extent of the conspiracy, which went beyond Lincoln to include attempted assassinations of the vice president and secretary of state. Bad people do conspire to do bad things. 

There are so many Lincoln books that authors have begun to address a single event in his life. Considering the title, I don’t believe I’m revealing a spoiler to say that this book is about Lincoln's death. Killing Lincoln does a good job of describing the assassination in a readable style that makes the book hard to put down. 

If you are interested in Lincoln, conspiracies, or American history, you’ll enjoy this book. 

Lincoln Book Review: Lincoln by Gore Vidal

I’m not a Gore Vidal fan. I thought Burr was a hash, especially from a historical perspective. Lincoln is a better novel, but still blemished due to Vidal’s penchant for showing off. A novel is a story, and the cardinal rule of storytelling is to never jerk the reader out of the story, but Vidal continuously interrupts his characters mid-scene to take a bow. Witty asides, overly clever dialogue, meaningless gossip, and focus on the trivial when the reader yeans for the big picture, are bad enough, but the near absence of transitions is jarring. Vidal goes from one scene to another with a whole different cast of characters without even a “by your leave.” It is like, “Hey, I veered off over here, catch up.” And you do, but it takes the rereading several sentences. By then the magic is gone.

The book is titled Lincoln, but Ol’ Abe comes across as a side character. He is explained by countless others that surround the supposed protagonist. Most of these characters come across as untrustworthy narrators. Characterization is not a Gore Vidal strong suit. Everyone seems similar and each carries a little of Vidal’s rapscallion nature. Vidal likes rogues, scoundrels, and outright villains and ascribes his characters' motivations to the dark side of human frailty.

Some historians have taken issue with the historical accuracy of Lincoln. As a historical novelist, I know strict adherence to facts presented in their proper order does not always lend itself to good storytelling. In this readers opinion, Vidal’s may skew events and people to his viewpoint but, for the most part, his violations are inconsequential. This is a well-researched book and Vidal’s relaying of events, large and miniscule, is generally accurate.

If you prefer history presented as a story, Lincoln is the best novel about Lincoln available ... until I publish Maelstrom.

The Myth of Voter Suppression, The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections By Fred Lucas

 

The Myth of Voter Suppression exposes the imbalance between the voter suppression and voter fraud controversies. Although Lucas cites examples of voter suppression in our past, today, voter suppression is a myth. Voter suppression is illegal, minority voting is statistically growing, and extremely few cases of voter suppression have been adjudicated. On the other hand, Lucas demonstrates that voter fraud is real and has a long history in this country.

My favorite historical episode of fraud goes back to the Civil War. For the first time, soldier were allowed to vote by mail. On September 27, Ulysses S. Grant wrote to the Secretary of War: “The exercise of the right of suffrage by the officers and soldiers of armies is a novel thing. A very large proportion of legal voters of the United States are now either under arms in the field, or in hospitals, or otherwise engaged in the military service of the United States … they are American citizens, having still their homes and social and political ties binding them to the States and districts from which they come … In performing this sacred duty they should not be deprived of a most precious privilege. They have as much right to demand that their votes shall be counted in the choice of their rulers as those citizens who remain at home.”

New York Democrats saw an opportunity to use fraudulent votes to defeat Abraham Lincoln. Lucas relates how McClellan’s supporters used forged names and signatures on crate after crate of fake ballots that supposedly came from soldiers. One conspirator even said, “Dead or alive, they all had cast a good vote.” The vote fraud conspirators in this particular case were sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Despite the preponderance of voter fraud being perpetrated by the Democratic Party, many Democrats claim voter fraud is nonexistent or so rare that it’s inconsequential. HR1 demonstrates otherwise. The Democratic Party leadership tried desperately to pass a nationwide voting law that would make cheating easy ... and an easy way to amass or hold political power would unquestionably lead to fraud and the destruction of our republican form of government. Prior to reading The Myth of Voter Suppression, I didn’t know the devilish details of HR1, the “For the People Act.” The name is the exact opposite of the bill’s intent. If properly named, HR1 would be called the “For the Politicians Act.” Lucas’ chapter, “Legalizing Fraud through Voter Rights Legislation” ought to be required reading for every registered voter. Any politician that supports HR1, or one of its derivatives, does not believe that the citizens of this nation should be allowed to pick their leaders. 

This is a well-researched book on a very important subject. I highly recommend it.