Have you ever wanted to read 460 dense pages - pages with microscopic font and with no discernible space between lines - about a single year in American history? Have you ever wanted to learn, on a state-by-state basis, about every single surviving recorded statement on whether the young United States should scrap the Articles of Confederation and adopt the Constitution? Well, if so, then this is your book.
They're all here. James Madison, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson (from France), the Adams Family, Patrick Henry, and scores and scores of lesser-known contemporaries. Ms. Maier leaves no comment unturned as she lays out the minutiae of the debate in each state between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
I found it all a great bore and I suspect you will too. Yes, it was interesting to read the one paragraph in this tome regarding the patent clause in the Constitution. Sure, I was surprised to learn that - in the heat of the battle in New York over whether to adopt the Constitution - the Federalists delayed their July 1788 parade by a day so that it would not interfere with some obscure Jewish holiday. (Who knew the Jewish lobby had so much influence in 1788?) But such nuggets were few and far in between.
Stay away from this book. When you see last week's obit in the NYT about Ms. Maier (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/us/pauline-maier-historian-who-described-jefferson-as-overrated-dies-at-75.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ) do not be fooled or swayed by sympathy. This book is deadly. Plus, as my mom said when she saw me reading "Ratification" when I was back home in June, "you know how it ends!!!!" Well, here's a newsflash: Publius won -- "We The People" scrapped the Articles of Confederation and adopted the Constitution! Bryna Pernick was able to tell me in 5 words what it took Pauline Maier eons to explain.
They're all here. James Madison, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson (from France), the Adams Family, Patrick Henry, and scores and scores of lesser-known contemporaries. Ms. Maier leaves no comment unturned as she lays out the minutiae of the debate in each state between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
I found it all a great bore and I suspect you will too. Yes, it was interesting to read the one paragraph in this tome regarding the patent clause in the Constitution. Sure, I was surprised to learn that - in the heat of the battle in New York over whether to adopt the Constitution - the Federalists delayed their July 1788 parade by a day so that it would not interfere with some obscure Jewish holiday. (Who knew the Jewish lobby had so much influence in 1788?) But such nuggets were few and far in between.
Stay away from this book. When you see last week's obit in the NYT about Ms. Maier (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/us/pauline-maier-historian-who-described-jefferson-as-overrated-dies-at-75.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ) do not be fooled or swayed by sympathy. This book is deadly. Plus, as my mom said when she saw me reading "Ratification" when I was back home in June, "you know how it ends!!!!" Well, here's a newsflash: Publius won -- "We The People" scrapped the Articles of Confederation and adopted the Constitution! Bryna Pernick was able to tell me in 5 words what it took Pauline Maier eons to explain.
The Swerve: How The World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
This one was great. Mr. Greenblatt takes what might seem like boring subject matter and turns it into a gripping story of literary detective work.
Mr. Greenblatt explains how much of the world's great literature and science from Greek and Roman times had been lost through the centuries. A handful of epic works survived, but humanity was only aware of most of antiquity's greatest authors and their scholarship because of references to them. The actual texts were long gone and the world's most powerful institution, the Catholic Church, wanted to keep it that way. But a small group of humanists in the 15th and 16th centuries had a passion for pagan thought, and they strived to keep the flame alive - and, more importantly, to fan the flame.
Mr. Greenblatt's particular focus is on Poggio, a Florentine humanist who - although not a priest or cardinal - rose within the ranks at the Vatican, and eventually became the Pope's secretary. (That is a very powerful position.) In his spare time, Poggio was a "book hunter." Humanist book hunters like Poggio would go on treks to remote hill-town monasteries in France and Germany to pore through libraries looking for vestiges of the pagan classics.
Mr. Greenblatt's thesis is that Poggio changed the course of intellectual history when he uncovered a previously lost classic: "On The Nature of Things" by the Roman poet Lucretius. The Swerve examines why Lucretius' poem was groundbreaking, why the Church tried with all its might to suppress it, and why Western thought owes a huge debt to Poggio. Read this book.
Mr. Greenblatt's particular focus is on Poggio, a Florentine humanist who - although not a priest or cardinal - rose within the ranks at the Vatican, and eventually became the Pope's secretary. (That is a very powerful position.) In his spare time, Poggio was a "book hunter." Humanist book hunters like Poggio would go on treks to remote hill-town monasteries in France and Germany to pore through libraries looking for vestiges of the pagan classics.
Mr. Greenblatt's thesis is that Poggio changed the course of intellectual history when he uncovered a previously lost classic: "On The Nature of Things" by the Roman poet Lucretius. The Swerve examines why Lucretius' poem was groundbreaking, why the Church tried with all its might to suppress it, and why Western thought owes a huge debt to Poggio. Read this book.
A subtle yet brilliant parry to Ira's comments on the movie review! Just when he thinks you've let it go, you spring two book reviews on him! And it's even better that they're about two books that nobody in their right mind would ever read. Too bad you will now likely wind up with fewer readers than Car Talk has listeners, but that's a small price to pay for getting in the last word.
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