Audiobook Review: Irena’s Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo

Irena’s Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo
Unabridged, 10 hr. 31 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
Amanda Carlin (Narrator)
September 27, 2016
★★★★★

Genre: Non-Fiction

Source: Received the audio download from the publisher for review

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow Clicquot comes an extraordinary and gripping account of Irena Sendler—the “female Oskar Schindler”—who took staggering risks to save 2,500 children from death and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II.

In 1942, one young social worker, Irena Sendler, was granted access to the Warsaw ghetto as a public health specialist. While there, she reached out to the trapped Jewish families, going from door to door and asking the parents to trust her with their young children. She started smuggling them out of the walled district, convincing her friends and neighbors to hide them. Driven to extreme measures and with the help of a network of local tradesmen, ghetto residents, and her star-crossed lover in the Jewish resistance, Irena ultimately smuggled thousands of children past the Nazis. She made dangerous trips through the city’s sewers, hid children in coffins, snuck them under overcoats at checkpoints, and slipped them through secret passages in abandoned buildings.

But Irena did something even more astonishing at immense personal risk: she kept secret lists buried in bottles under an old apple tree in a friend’s back garden. On them were the names and true identities of those Jewish children, recorded with the hope that their relatives could find them after the war. She could not have known that more than ninety percent of their families would perish.

In Irena’s Children, Tilar Mazzeo tells the incredible story of this courageous and brave woman who risked her life to save innocent children from the Holocaust—a truly heroic tale of survival, resilience, and redemption.

Irena’s Children was a powerful reading experience. I don’t think you get a true sense of the devastation of WWII and the Nazi regime until you read a book like this, written about those or from those who were out there doing everything they could everyday to save those being threatened. Putting their own lives on the line everyday knowing that one wrong move could not only end in the loss of their own life, but that of many others in their network too. I had of course heard stories of those individuals who were saving others, and of course had heard about Oskar Schinder and seen Schindler’s List, but I had never heard of Irena Sendler and her equally amazing story.

Sendler’s story is amazing not only because of what she did (saving over 2000 Jewish children) but also what happened to her. She was arrested for her actions and sentenced to execution, but thanks to some of the inner workings of her network, she was able to escape and lead the Nazi’s on a chase for her while still helping to save more children. It’s equally amazing that her contributions to the effort were not recognized officially until 1965 and even still her name is not well known (I took several college and Masters level classes on WWII and her name and organization never came up once in all my readings and discussions). Of course she didn’t do it for fame and notoriety, but failing to recognize the contributions of her and her organization is a gaping hole in the history in my opinion.

Mazzeo beautifully renders this story and brings Irena to life. I felt that I was able to get to know this woman and what drove her day in and day out to continue doing this extraordinarily tough job. I felt a hint of what it would be like to be afraid of everything falling down around you, the stresses of the daily danger, and hoping that you could make it work, a world bigger than her own existence. Her associates, many of them, are given the same treatment and Mazzeo gives us their story as much as possible too. This book made me really feel for these people and brought tears to my eyes a few times.

This is a compelling and page-turning book. While not written in a narrative style that usually is the most successful at driving a non-fiction work forward, the sense of danger that is created here from Irena’s life takes over that responsibility and made we want to keep reading more.

★★★½☆☆

I definitely had a struggle with this narrator at the beginning of my listening experience. Especially in the opening chapters she almost sounds robotic or computer generated. Many of the words sounded over enunciated and there was a staccato speech pattern. My enjoyment of the text of the book made it more tolerable to listen to. However, either I became used to the sound of her voice or it changed some, I’m not sure, it because easier to listen to the further I went on and I didn’t find that I was noticing the robotic feel that stood out in those earlier sections. I don’t know it this was a production type thing or what, but I’m glad it resolved itself.

You can check out a sample of this audio book below:

 

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Story Sanctuary
• Girl About Library

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Tilar J. Mazzeo:

The Widow Clicquot

The Hotel on Place Vendome

The Secret of Chanel No. 5

Find Tilar J. Mazzeo: Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Isabel the Queen by Peggy K. Liss

Isabel the Queen: Life and Times by Peggy K. Liss

e-Book, 496 pages
University of Pennsylvania Press
December 1, 2004
★★★★☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

Source: Personal purchase for my Masters class

Queen Isabel of Castile is perhaps best known for her patronage of Christopher Columbus and for the religious zeal that led to the Spanish Inquisition, the waging of holy war, and the expulsion of Jews and Muslims across the Iberian peninsula. In this sweeping biography, newly revised and annotated to coincide with the five-hundredth anniversary of Isabel's death, Peggy K. Liss draws upon a rich array of sources to untangle the facts, legends, and fiercely held opinions about this influential queen and her decisive role in the tumultuous politics of early modern Spain.

"Isabel the Queen" reveals a monarch who was a woman of ruthless determination and strong religious beliefs, a devoted wife and mother, and a formidable leader. As Liss shows, Isabel's piety and political ambition motivated her throughout her life, from her earliest struggles to claim her crown to her secret marriage to King Fernando of Aragon, a union that brought success in civil war, consolidated Christian hegemony over the Iberian peninsula, and set the stage for Spain to become a world empire."

My knowledge of Isabel, Queen of Castile, has been limited to what you learn about her involvement in the “discovery” of the Americas and the Inquisition and the fictional interpretation of her life in The Queen’s Vow by C.W. Gortner. I endeavored to read this book as an assignment from class and selected it from the class syllabus, but I was very pleased to find out that this book was referenced as one of Gortner’s sources in his novel.

Isabel the Queen brings the reader into the world of Isabel by introducing the rule and times of her father, Juan, and half-brother, Enrique. The author includes this information as a means of establishing what Isabel had as her professional examples and to show the differences when Isabel became the Queen. I think that this worked well, but I did get a little tired reading statements like, “and it proved a costly mistake whose lessons would not be lost on Isabel” (Kindle loc. 757). The author makes it VERY clear with these kinds of statements to draw the divisions between Isabel and her brother especially.

This book was chock full of information on not just Isabel as a person, but also the world of Spain and Europe around her. It was very dense and not a book that you finish in a short period of time, believe me, it will take you awhile to read it all; this is certainly more of a research book than a fun reading book. However, you will come away from it with a new knowledge and appreciation of the time.

Any discussion of Isabel inevitably wades in the water of controversy with the portrayal of the Columbus expedition as well as the handling of the Spanish Inquisition and persecution of the Jews and Muslims. Liss doesn’t shy away from these controversial subject and does lay out the information, both positive and negative, but she doesn’t take a firm stance in either direction. As the book was originally published around the 500^th anniversary of Columbus’ expedition and then was republished around the 500^th anniversary of the death of Isabel it makes sense that she treads carefully around these subjects in order to take advantage of these dates.

I came away from this book with a much more concrete sense of who Isabel was as a person and as a Queen. I would recommend this book, but just know it might be a little denser than you are looking for.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Freelance History Writer Notes and Reviews

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia


**Read an Excerpt**

Also by Peggy Liss:

Atlantic Empires

Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Woman Who Would Be King by Kara Cooney

The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney
Unabridged, 10 hr. 22 min.
Random House Audio
Kara Cooney (Narrator)
October 14, 2014
★★★☆☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

Source: Personal purchase via Audible

An engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power in a man's world.

Hatshepsut, the daughter of a general who took Egypt's throne without status as a king's son and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty, was born into a privileged position of the royal household. Married to her brother, she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father's family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her inconceivable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of king in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular twenty-two year reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother Hatshepsut out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne. Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays with the veil of piety and sexual expression. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut had to shrewdly operate the levers of a patriarchal system to emerge as Egypt's second female pharaoh.

Hatshepsut had successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt's most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her images were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power--and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. "The Woman Who Would Be King" traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.

Egypt is one of those locales of which I inhale anything that I can find – be in fiction or non-fiction. Non-fiction that focuses on the royal women of Egypt is a rare sight indeed and I was excited to see The Woman Who Would Be King would be taking on the subject of Hatshepsut. She was such a fascinating woman who was one of the most powerful women of her age and I have been fascinated by how after her death it was attempted to erase her from history.

This book addresses both the life of Hatshepsut as well as the time and place around her. The setting was well brought to life and I learned so much about Egypt during the preceding reign as well as her own. However, my struggles came with regards to the discussion of the life of Hatshepsut, the part I was most interested in here. So much of her life is an unknown and that is part of the problem, albeit one that the author acknowledges. In her discussion of Hatshepsut’s life, so much that is presented is done so in the form of a question or in terms of speculation, worded such as “perhaps she did this” or “perhaps she thought that”. If that usage was merely sprinkled occasionally throughout the text I would not take issue with that, as of course there are things that may not be known, however, it is entirely overused here. Coming away from this book I felt that all I learned was even more speculation, and I was hoping for more. It also made for the text to be a little clunky as each “perhaps” stood out to me.

There was certainly great research done here into the time and place, it came to life, and if this was a book about Hatshepsut’s times, I wouldn’t have any issues with the book. It never felt like a book on Hatshepsut though.

★★★★ ½☆

This book is narrated by the author, which always leaves me a little hesitant as I have had good and bad experiences with self-narrated books. I can attest here that this was an occasion where the author did a great job with narrating her work. Based on her experience as an Egyptologist I fully believe her pronunciation of those difficult Egyptian names. Additionally, I thought that she pulled off a perfect pacing and cadence to her narration.

If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out listening to this excerpt of the book?

You can also watch the author speak about the book in the video below:

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Melissa Martin’s Reading List

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia



Find Kara Cooney: Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

 


Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Rebel Yell by S. C. Gwynne

Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S.C. Gwynne
Unabridged CD, 24 hr. 57 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
Cotter Smith (Narrator)
September 30, 2014
★★★★★

Genre: Biography, Non-Fiction
Source: Received from publisher for review

“From the author of the prizewinning New York Times bestseller Empire of the Summer Moon comes a thrilling account of how Civil War general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson became a great and tragic American hero. 

Stonewall Jackson has long been a figure of legend and romance. As much as any person in the Confederate pantheon, even Robert E. Lee, he embodies the romantic Southern notion of the virtuous lost cause. Jackson is also considered, without argument, one of our country’s greatest military figures. His brilliance at the art of war tied Abraham Lincoln and the Union high command in knots and threatened the ultimate success of the Union armies. Jackson’s strategic innovations shattered the conventional wisdom of how war was waged; he was so far ahead of his time that his techniques would be studied generations into the future.

In April 1862 Jackson was merely another Confederate general in an army fighting what seemed to be a losing cause. By June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western world. He had, moreover, given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked—hope—and struck fear into the hearts of the Union. 

Rebel Yell is written with the swiftly vivid narrative that is Gwynne’s hallmark and is rich with battle lore, biographical detail, and intense conflict between historical figures. Gwynne delves deep into Jackson’s private life, including the loss of his young beloved first wife and his regimented personal habits. It traces Jackson’s brilliant twenty-four-month career in the Civil War, the period that encompasses his rise from obscurity to fame and legend; his stunning effect on the course of the war itself; and his tragic death, which caused both North and South to grieve the loss of a remarkable American hero.”

The Civil War has never been my strong point in history – but knowing that, I decided that it would be a good thing for me to make an effort to better understand this part of US history, especially from the side of the Confederacy. Stonewall Jackson is the only other Confederate General I could have named besides General Lee, and all I could have told you was his name. Well, now having read Rebel Yell I have come to admire this man in such a way that he has become one of my favorite figures is American history. It feel weird to make that previous remark – I have been born and raised in New England with all of the northern states history that comes with that. While I may not agree with the defense of slavery, I find him admirable for his passion, commitment to his cause, and the defense of his homeland and way of life. And while I think he might have been just a tiny bit crazy, there is no doubt that he was an amazing military commander.

It is clear that S.C. Gwynne has done his fair share of research on Jackson. The man comes to life from the pages and I felt like this was someone that I actually knew. I will admit to actually shedding a tear or two when I found out that he had actually died during the war and didn’t get to live out a long life. Gwynne does a fantastic job of getting into this man’s head. I have been expounding facts about Stonewall Jackson to pretty much anyone that would listen for the several months it took me to finish reading it. However, at no point did the book feel like I was being overwhelmed by facts put there for purely the purpose of the fact.

I learned so much about the actual battlefield war of the Civil War, whereas previously I knew mostly about the political battlefield. Sometimes reading about battles can get bogged down in technicalities, which is not so here. In Rebel Yell, Gwynne adequately describes battles enough for a layperson to understand, without simplifying it too much.

This was a great read that I can’t recommend enough.

★★★★★

I had an interesting experience reading/listening to this book. Apparently the tracks got jumbled on my i-pod and for a good 8 hours I was listening to chapters out of order. So then I re-started the book all over again, this time on the actual CDs that I had received. The narration was very well done and I could feel the narrator’s passion while reading the text. His pace and tone were well matched to the text. The only thing that I would have liked would be for the narrator to actually sing the song, Stonewall Jackson’s Way, instead of just reading the lyrics.

You can also watch this book talk segment from the LBJ Library:

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Faye’s Reading/Writing/Reviewing Basket

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

  Also by S.C. Gwynne:

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

Find S.C. Gwynne: Website | Twitter | Facebook


Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Mr. President by Harlow Giles Unger

Mr. President: George Washington and the Making of the Nation’s Highest Office by Harlow Giles Unger
Unabridged, 6 hr. 57 min.
Blackstone Audio, Inc
Dean Robertson (Narrator)
October 29, 2013
★★★★☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Presidential Biography

Source: Received for Review from Audiobook Jukebox Solid Gold Reviewer Program

“Although the framers gave the president little authority, Washington knew whatever he did would set precedents for generations of his successors. To ensure their ability to defend the nation, he simply ignored the Constitution when he thought it necessary and reshaped the presidency into what James Madison called a "monarchical presidency." Modern scholars call it the "imperial presidency." A revealing look at the birth of American government, "Mr. President" describes George Washington's assumption of office in a time of continual crisis, as riots, rebellion, internecine warfare, and attacks by foreign enemies threatened to destroy the new nation.”

Unlike the prior books I have read on President George Washington, this book focuses primarily on the issues of the presidency, rather than on his personal life – almost to the point of ignoring his personal life entirely. While it was nice to focus on the intricacies of the developing role of the presidency, it left something to be desired because it was much more difficult to connect with the person being presented; a little cold and distant if you will.

The development of the presidency was presented in terms of the “pillars of power” – war, finance, law enforcement, and foreign affairs – that Washington assumed for the President. These “pillars” guided the progression of the book and kept it narrative rather organized. The book was rather short – just under 7 hours of narration (equivalent of approximately 288 pages). Despite the short format, I feel like the author presented enough information about the evolution of the role of the president to make a cohesive narration. If the book was any longer, I actually think it might have felt too dense to read because of how much information was packed within those few pages.

This book is a tightly focused history where Washington the man is less of a focal point and the politics of the day are highlighted.

★★★★☆

The audiobook narration was nothing spectacular. It didn’t make the material any less dry or any more exciting. Rather standard.

Author Harlow Giles Unger also has written The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness, John Quincy Adams, Lafayette, Lion of Liberty: The Life and Times of Patrick Henry, American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution, John Hancock: Merchant King and American Patriot, Noah Webster: The Life and Times of an American Patriot, and Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution. You can visit Unger’s website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

You can watch a video of Harlow Unger speaking at a Book TV segment about Mr. President at the following link.

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2014 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg

Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg
Unabridged, 31 hr. 8 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
Lloyd James (Narrator)
September 10, 2013
★★★★½☆

Genre: Biography, Non-Fiction

Source: Received from the publisher for review

Few American icons provoke more enduring fascination than Charles Lindbergh - renowned for his one-man transatlantic flight in 1927, remembered for the sorrow surrounding the kidnapping and death of his firstborn son in 1932, and reviled by many for his opposition to America's entry into World War II.

Lindbergh's is "a dramatic and disturbing American story," says the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and this biography - the first to be written with unrestricted access to the Lindbergh archives and extensive interviews of his friends, colleagues, and close family members - is "the definitive account."

Lindbergh is one of those people who has always fascinated me – however after reading this book I realized just how little I actually knew about him. I pretty much started out just knowing the headlines – his trans-Atlantic flight and the kidnapping/murder of his first child. I learned that he was a prolific writer, very political, and had an interesting family dynamic. And he lived an oh-so-fascinating life of travel! He made so many contributions to different areas of society – from medicine, to the development of the airline industry, and more.

Berg does a great job of bringing Lindbergh the untouchable hero down to the accessible man. We see the things that shaped who he was and what drove him. We are given an in-depth look into his relationship with his wife, kids, and other various family members. Berg isn’t afraid to delve into the not-perfect person that Lindbergh was. He shows the good as well as the bad. And this book is not just about Charles – but is just as much about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the aviator’s wife. She is certainly not just a periphery character here and we learn a lot about her emotions, passions in life, and how she handled being Mrs. Lindbergh.

While that iconic flight and the kidnapping are of course featured events, they are neither the focus nor the bulk of this book. As in life, they are just stops along the way.

There was only one point in the book where it felt slow to me and that was toward the beginning. In establishing the familial roots for Charles Lindbergh, Berg spent possibly a little too much time in getting his ancestors to the US from Sweden. Once young Lindy came into the picture it took off from there (pun intended).

It is obvious that this book was written prior to the revelation in 2003 that Lindbergh had fathered 7 children out of wedlock because there is no mention of this.

★★★★☆

The audio narration here was great. While non-fiction can be difficult to put emotion or emphasis into, the narrator kept the story moving forward and not dry in his tone. My interest never waned because of the narration.

Author A. Scott Berg also has written Kate Remembered, Wilson, Goldwyn, and Max Perkins. You can visit Berg’s website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

My reviews of other books by this author:

• Wilson

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Sheila Variations
• Turn the Page

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

Other posts as part of Charles Lindbergh Week:

• Speeches Made by Charles Lindbergh
• The Lindberghs in Print
• Lindbergh in Song

 

Copyright © 2014 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Unabridged, 36 hr. 42 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
Edward Herrmann (Narrator)
November 5, 2013
★★★★☆

Genre: Non-fiction, Biography

Source: Received from publisher for review

“Doris Kearns Goodwin, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of Team of Rivals, captures the Progressive Era through the story of the broken friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, culminating in their running against one another for president in 1912.”

I selected this book because it included both Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. I figured that would kill two birds with one stone on my Presidential reading list. Nowhere in the description above, which I found on Goodreads, did it prepare me for the in-depth story of the muckraking journalists working for S.S. McClure; I was caught off guard by the equal amount of time spent on the journalists as the Presidents themselves.

Being as this is a book that has three foci there was a little bit of the tennis game whiplash transitioning between subjects. Sometimes these individual sections were so lengthy that by the time I got back around to a subject I had entirely forgotten what was happening with them. As mentioned above, while I didn’t know that there was going to be a significant focus on the journalists at McClure’s, I found myself enjoying this portion of the book the best. There were so many distinct personalities within that group and their contributions to journalism had a huge impact on the political atmosphere.

Goodwin handled the relationship between Roosevelt and Taft in a way that is not typically portrayed in presidential biographies. Their lives were intertwined extensively during both of their presidencies and they frequently relied on each other, until a rift arose between the two of them. While I’m sure that both presidents received approximately equal time in the book, I felt that I got to know Roosevelt much better – this could be just because he was such a “big” personality while Taft was quieter.

Overall, a worthy read, although it did take quite some time. It was so dense with facts that it took me just shy of two months of listening – so that is not based on my pace of reading. I just didn’t want to pick it back up all the time.

★★★★½☆

The narration here was very well done, as I would expect. This narrator has narrated several other big name non-fiction works including: John Adams by David McCullough, Einstein by Walter Isaacson, and Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham. He wouldn’t have worked these without a great performance.

Author Doris Kearns Goodwin also has written Team of Rivals, No Ordinary Time, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, and Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream. You can visit the author’s website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book? Or would you rather hear an excerpt of the audiobook?

Below is a video clip of Goodwin on Q&A on C-SPAN talking about The Bully Pulpit:

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Presidential History Geeks
• The Disgruntled Individual

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2014 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Wilson by A. Scott Berg

Wilson by A. Scott Berg
Unabridged, 32 hr. 29 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
Jeremy Bobb (Narrator)
September 10, 2013
★★★★☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

Source: Received from Publisher for Review as Part of Audiobook Jukebox Solid Gold Reviewer Program

“One hundred years after his inauguration, Woodrow Wilson still stands as one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, and one of the most enigmatic. And now, after more than a decade of research and writing, Pulitzer Prize-winning author A. Scott Berg has completed Wilson--the most personal and penetrating biography ever written about the 28th President.

In addition to the hundreds of thousands of documents in the Wilson Archives, Berg was the first biographer to gain access to two recently-discovered caches of papers belonging to those close to Wilson. From this material, Berg was able to add countless details--even several unknown events--that fill in missing pieces of Wilson’s character and cast new light on his entire life.

From the scholar-President who ushered the country through its first great world war to the man of intense passion and turbulence , from the idealist determined to make the world “safe for democracy” to the stroke-crippled leader whose incapacity and the subterfuges around it were among the century’s greatest secrets, the result is an intimate portrait written with a particularly contemporary point of view – a book at once magisterial and deeply emotional about the whole of Wilson’s life, accomplishments, and failings. This is not just Wilson the icon – but Wilson the man.”

The period of time in which Wilson was President is a time I was not all that familiar with and I knew even less about this President. Surprisingly I did know about his stroke while in office and how integral his wife, Edith, was at keeping his illness a secret. When I saw this title available for review, I knew that I had to take advantage to learn more about this remarkable man.

The book covered Wilson’s life from childhood through death, with intense focus on his time as President of Princeton and as President. Both of these periods were very interesting. I’m glad that the author spent ample time discussing his Princeton time period; it gave a precursor view of what he might be like as US president. The time he spent overseas while working on the peace to end WWI was fascinating and most interesting was seeing just what he was up against while trying to obtain a reasonable peace. As mentioned above, I knew that Wilson suffered a stroke while in office. His medical history was indeed discussed throughout the book creating a build-up of understanding that lead up to his stroke and the drama surrounding how that was handled while he was in office.

With regard to both of Wilson’s wives, I feel that Berg spent enough time introducing the reader to both of them and showing how they affected Wilson’s life/decisions. Ellen was his support structure in getting him through Princeton and into the White House, while Edith was his support in the White House and during his illness.

There was only one aspect that I found a little jarring while reading this book and that was the first chapter. This wasn’t titled as an introduction, it was titled Ascension, but it somewhat served as one. It jumped right in to a period where Wilson was President of the US and already married to his second wife. I found it confusing as to where we were or placing it chronologically. The second chapter however begins back with the early life of Wilson – so in essence I just forgot about the first chapter and moved on. It would have been better titled as an introduction or without the chapter all together.

Overall this book certainly covers all the necessary aspects to get an excellent understanding of Woodrow Wilson as both a man and the President. Are there areas that could be explored further? Yes; but for the average person who wants to understand that time period and this President, I think it served its purpose.

★★★★☆

The narrator of this book did an admirable job narrating this non-fiction work. I find that non-fiction can be a very tough book type to turn into an audiobook production. While he didn’t need to voice different characters, he still kept the book flowing without causing the reader to fall asleep.

Author A. Scott Berg also has written Kate Remembered, Lindbergh, Goldwyn, and Max Perkins. You can visit Berg’s website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Berg’s website also includes some great additional reference material such as timelines, audio clips of speeches, and photos.

You can watch this video clip of the author, A. Scott Berg, speaking about his book:

My reviews of other books by this author:

• Lindbergh

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Oligarch Kings
• Booking Mama

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2014 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter Borneman

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America
by Walter R. Borneman
Unabridged, 13 hr. 13 min.
Recorded Books
Alan Nebelthau (Narrator)
April 8, 2008
★★★★☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

Source: Borrowed audiobook from my library

“In Polk, Walter R. Borneman gives us the first complete and authoritative biography of a president often overshadowed in image but seldom outdone in accomplishment. James K. Polk occupied the White House for only four years, from 1845 to 1849, but he plotted and attained a formidable agenda: He fought for and won tariff reductions, reestablished an independent Treasury, and, most notably, brought Texas into the Union, bluffed Great Britain out of the lion’s share of Oregon, and wrested California and much of the Southwest from Mexico. On reflection, these successes seem even more impressive, given the contentious political environment of the time.

In this unprecedented, long-overdue warts-and-all look at Polk’s life and career, we have a portrait of an expansionist president and decisive statesman who redefined the country he led, and we are reminded anew of the true meaning of presidential accomplishment and resolve.”

I must confess that Polk was not someone that I remember learning about in school, but he came to my attention rather recently when doing some research on various First Ladies, and in particular, Sarah Polk. There is also a song my fiancé likes to sing about Polk which keeps him in my mind too, but more on that later this week. So as I endeavored to read about all the presidents, and I was organizing who I wanted to read about, I put Polk toward the top of my list.

I can’t even begin to explain how much this book taught me – not only about Polk himself and his method of politics, but the mindset of the time and his contemporaries. At times this felt beneficial and other times completely overwhelming. The author spends ample time on the political atmosphere surrounding all the presidents from John Quincy Adams up through Polk, giving the reader a solid understanding of just what Polk was walking into as President. The author also had a good source of insight into the President as Polk kept a diary of the days in office. Central to understanding many of Polk’s decisions is understanding the politics of Andrew Jackson, Polk’s political mentor. I do somewhat think that the author needed to bulk up the narrative a little bit seeing as Polk dies within 6 months of leaving office; there was less physical time that needed to be told about his life.

Whether I agree with Polk’s political philosophy or not (which isn’t the issue here), I admit that I admire the man for the fact that he campaigned on a platform, succeeded on making those 4 platform issues happen during his presidential term, and then decided not to run again because he did everything he felt his duty called him for. That is something the majority of the other presidents cannot say.

With regard to time spent on the First Lady, I have to give some kudos to the author. From what I know there is only one, very short, biography on Sarah Polk, so he didn’t have much to work with here – but he covered what I consider to be all of the important points and paints her as important to the President.

★★★★☆

I thought that the narrator did a commendable job with this book. The most important thing in my opinion about narrating a non-fiction is to not let it feel boring with all of the facts. Nebelthau keep it interesting and has a great speaking voice.

Author Walter Borneman also has written several other books including: The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King—the Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea, 1812: The War That Forged a Nation, The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America, Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land, and Rival Rails: The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad. You can visit the author’s website for additional information about the book.

You can also watch a discussion with the author about this book – it was a feature on Book TV in 2008 (it wasn’t embeddable so you will have to go to the Book TV link).

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Practically Historical
• The Skoalarian

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Battleship by Dorothy Ours

Battleship: A Daring Heiress, A Teenage Jockey, and America’s Horse by Dorothy Ours
E-book, 368 pages
St. Martin’s Press
April 30, 2013
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography, Sports History

Source: Received through Netgalley from the publisher for review

“The youngest jockey, the smallest horse, and an American heiress. Together, near Liverpool, England, they made a leap of faith on a spring day in 1938: overriding the teenage jockey’s father, trusting the boy and the horse that the British nicknamed “The American Pony” to handle a race course that newspapers called “Suicide Lane.” As a result, Battleship became the first American horse to win England’s monumental, century-old Grand National steeplechase—the smallest National winner ever. At age seventeen, British jockey Bruce Hobbs became the race's youngest winner.

Hobbs started life with an advantage: his father, Reginald, was a superb professional horseman. But Reg Hobbs also made extreme demands, putting Bruce in situations that horrified the boy’s mother and sometimes terrified the child.  Bruce had to decide just how brave he could stand to be.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the enigmatic Marion duPont grew up at the estate now known as James Madison’s Montpelier—the refuge of America’s “Father of the Constitution.”  Rejecting her chance to be a debutante, denied a corporate role because of her gender, Marion chose a pursuit where horses spoke for her.  She would be pulled beyond her own control by Battleship and leave her film star husband, Randolph Scott, to see this quest to its end. With its reach from Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight to Cary Grant’s Hollywood, Battleship’s story is an epic true adventure.”

This book might not have originally caught my attention except for the fact that I recognized the horse’s name from my visit to Montpelier last year and the visit left such a lasting impression on me that I immediately had to read this book that was connected to it. I loved horses as a kid, did some riding in my teen years, and before my love of historical fiction came my love for horse-themed novels. This book takes the whole horse experience that I loved to read about as a kid and made the people and animals real.

The narrative starts out with three distinct threads – one following Marion DuPont (horse lover, owner, socialite), one following the Hobbs men (the father Reginald and son Bruce who were horse trainers and jockeys respectively), and one following an unknown, Battleship (the horse at the center of the book). Through these threads you can watch the perfect storm come together as these three eventually are brought to each other and reach for the stars. You get a little bit of everything: the life of a wealth socialite in the early 1900’s, a little Hollywood glitz and glamour, and are immersed in everything horse related. Even with my knowledge about horses, I did look up quite a few things.

For the most part I think that the author did a good job of carrying off two very different types of stories – a story of both human and animal lives – and each was just as interesting as the other. I did find some strange elements – for instance, somehow the author brings references to Charles Lindberg into the story but I didn’t find that there was any purpose to it. I also thought that the ending wrapped up much too quickly following the competition at Aintree. It was one of those plot maps with a very long exposition, quick climax, and then even faster resolution. I would have liked to know a little more how they spent their days following the competition.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has a love for horses and also loves the story of an underdog. Stay tuned for some Battleship related posts later this week, including a story relating my personal connection to this book and a particular passage from it that grabbed me.

Author Dorothy Ours also has written Man O’ War: A Legend Like Lightening, who was Battleship’s father. You can visit Dorothy’s website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• A Book and A Review

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Lincoln by David Herbert Donald

Lincoln by David Herbert Donald
Unabridged, 30 hr. 27 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
Dick Estell (Narrator)
November 7, 2012
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Presidential Biography

Source: Received from publisher for review

“David Herbert Donald's Lincoln is a stunningly original portrait of Lincoln's life and presidency. Donald brilliantly depicts Lincoln's gradual ascent from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to the ever- expanding political circles in Illinois, and finally to the presidency of a country divided by civil war. Donald goes beyond biography, illuminating the gradual development of Lincoln's character, chronicling his tremendous capacity for evolution and growth, thus illustrating what made it possible for a man so inexperienced and so unprepared for the presidency to become a great moral leader. In the most troubled of times, here was a man who led the country out of slavery and preserved a shattered Union -- in short, one of the greatest presidents this country has ever seen.”

I have to admit that I wasn’t planning to read about Lincoln until much later in my challenge mostly because there are SO many books about him available. You have books that cover his entire life as well as those that are focused on a smaller segment of his life. I know some things about him (as most people do) – so where to start? As luck would have it, Simon and Schuster contacted me with the offer to review Lincoln by David Herbert Donald on audiobook, so I jumped at the chance and the decision was made.

I really appreciate the approach that Donald took when writing this book. In the introduction he lays out the following: “In tracing the life of Abraham Lincoln, I have asked at every stage of his career what he knew when he had to take critical actions, how he evaluated the evidence before him, and why he reached his decisions. It is, then, a biography written from Lincoln’s point of view, using the information and ideas that were available to him. It seeks to explain rather than judge” (preface). He really seeks to keep the focus on Lincoln himself and not get tied up in all of the turmoil that was going on around him – which is something that other books tend to do. You won’t really find tangents on the specific battle of the Civil War here, unless it was something important to what Lincoln did or where he went.

The bulk of the book (and it certainly is a chunkster, with a page count of 720 pages and over 30 hours of audio) focuses on the time prior to the presidency – particularly his time as a lawyer in Illinois. While I appreciated understanding where Lincoln came from and how he grew in popularity to even become president sometimes I thought this section was a little too in-depth. The author went on to talk about the specifics of almost every case that Lincoln tried. I didn’t need these details. I think it would have been more effective to choose a few of the cases that were most important to some aspect on Lincoln’s development and focus on those. It got to a point where it was an endless list.

I appreciated learning about the relationship between Abraham and Mary – it made her a real person. Typically we see Mary following Lincoln’s death as a grieving widow, but Donald makes her a complex creature. It was also eye-opening to learn that most of the other politicians of the time period thought that Lincoln was doing a terrible job as president and that he almost wasn’t re-nominated for a second term. He is typically viewed as the greatest of our presidents by the modern American public. It makes me wonder how more recent presidents will be viewed once we are further removed from their term of office. If this book does one thing, it really gets you into Lincoln’s head which is a great feat since he kept his own mind most of the time.

I would recommend this book for someone looking for a complete life of Lincoln. However, be aware that the book ends almost immediately following the assassination, so do not expect an analysis of that issue.

★★★★☆

The audio narration was overall very well done. I thought that the narrator kept my attention throughout the book. My only complaint would be with regard to the production. There would be times where I was listening and the voice would seemingly change. I think, if this was done intentionally, it was to denote the reading of a footnote so as to help the listener differentiate from the text. Whatever the case, I found it to be a little jarring. I would have preferred if they were reading a footnote to say something like “footnote: blah, blah, blah”.

David Herbert Donald also has written several books about Lincoln and his times, including: We Are Lincoln’s Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends and Lincoln At Home: Two Glimpses of Abraham Lincoln’s Family Life. You can listen to an excerpt of the audiobook here.

Below is a segment from Book TV with David Herbert Donald discussing his book, Lincoln. This interview was a few months before his death in 2009.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Life is Short Read Fast
• Occam’s Razor

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: Marie Thérèse, Child of Terror by Susan Nagel

Marie Thérèse, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette’s Daughter by Susan Nagel
Unabridged, 18 hr. 14 min.
Books on Tape
Rosalyn Landor (Narrator)
March 4, 2008
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Non Fiction, Biography

Source: Downloaded the audio from my local library

“The first major biography of one of France's most mysterious women--Marie Antoinette's only child to survive the revolution.

Susan Nagel, author of the critically acclaimed biography Mistress of the Elgin Marbles, turns her attention to the life of a remarkable woman who both defined and shaped an era, the tumultuous last days of the crumbling ancient régime. Nagel brings the formidable Marie-Thérèse to life, along with the age of revolution and the waning days of the aristocracy, in a page-turning biography that will appeal to fans of Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette and Amanda Foreman's Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire.

Nagel's gripping narrative captures the events of her fascinating life from her very public birth in front of the rowdy crowds and her precocious childhood to her hideous time in prison and her later reincarnation in the public eye as a saint, and, above all, her fierce loyalty to France throughout.”

I have not spent much time previously reading about the time period surrounding the French Revolution and accordingly I did not know much about Marie Thérèse, Madame Royale, either. When I have seen her appear in historical novels she is typically a child with an apparent attitude problem – and I was sure that there was more to her than that, however until now I didn’t know just what it was. Nagel’s book follows Marie Thérèse from the opulent Bourbon court, to incarceration at the Temple Prison, to exile at various courts of Europe, Restoration in France, and to the final exile and her death. There was SO much more to this woman’s life than I had any idea of!

The woman that evolves from Nagel’s portrait is a very strong woman who would do anything for France. Even after all that she went through during the Revolution she forgave the people and wanted to go back to bring the country back to glory again. She had more resolve and forgiveness than most people. By the end of the book you truly come to know Marie Thérèse is her own right – not just as the daughter of Marie Antoinette. She is truly someone that more people should know about – especially in her later life.

The first section of the book dealt primarily with the retelling of the life of Marie Antoinette – how she came to France, her petit Trianon, issues with her marriage, etc. There was little mention of Marie Thérèse throughout this section. I felt that with this being a book of Marie Thérèse, not Marie Antoinette that this section was WAY too long. I understand that the author needed to set up the scene and establish Marie Thérèse’s deep love for her mother – but it felt like I was reading a Marie Antoinette biography instead.

I also had an issue with the Dark Countess portion of the book. There is one rumor that Marie Thérèse was switched with another at some point after leaving the Temple Prison and that the real Marie Thérèse was actually this person known as the Dark Countess living far afield and that the person who was portrayed to the world as Marie Thérèse was an impostor. This was all explained more in the afterword, however throughout the book when this thread was brought up, I had no idea what this had to do with anything and found that I couldn’t connect it. I think it would have been more effectual to place the whole discussion of the Dark Countess in the afterword.

Overall, this was a wonderful biography of a woman who is lesser known than her mother, but whom more should be known about.

★★★★½☆

The narration here was excellent. The narrator had a French accent which made the story being told feel more natural. It was also great to learn pronunciations of names and places that I have always struggled with. I actually found myself repeating after the narrator to learn how to say things.

You can listen to a sample of the audiobook below (links to Audible):

 

Reviews of this book by other bloggers: 

• Chrisbookarama
• Tea at Trianon

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Susan Nagel:

Mistress of the Elgin Marbles

Find Susan Nagel: Goodreads| Blog |

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court