Alexander Moss is right to pick up on the increasing support among both Republicans and Democrats for the division of the United States into regional Alexander Moss is right to pick up on the increasing support among both Republicans and Democrats for the division of the United States into regional entities in an effort to avert civil war. It's a movement in its infancy and may well stay there, but books such as this one are helpful in the initial stages of any new project, as Moss explains. This book is really just a sketch--a more extensive work called "A More Perfect Union (Essays)" is mentioned, but I couldn't find it at the link that Moss provided. Nor are the individual essays footnoted in the text readily available. As an alternative, I suggest Andrew Tanner's excellent essays on the same subject on Medium (Tanner also provides additional ways of dividing up the country). This book could have benefitted from basic editing or even proofreading, and one always has to wonder what lack of attention to basic presentation says about the ideas that an author is trying to convey. However, overall, Moss and Tanner demonstrate, each in his own way, that the idea of dividing the country is one that deserves a fair hearing and shouldn't necessarily be dismissed out of hand. A quick read, befitting a very general but readable introduction....more
Beginning with the "Mormon spring" of the 1970s, an ever-increasing number of books has examined the orthodox version of the history of the Church of Beginning with the "Mormon spring" of the 1970s, an ever-increasing number of books has examined the orthodox version of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and found it wanting. This 2002 book by then-Mormon scholar Grant W. Palmer (who taught my wife social studies at the Church College of New Zealand when she was growing up) is not the longest or most footnoted or most detailed of the lot, but it is one of the most accessible, although some familiarity with the doctrine and official history of the Church would help most readers. Despite being disfellowshipped (but not excommunicated) in 2004, Palmer remained positive toward as many aspects of the Church as he could but was then put into an untenable situation in 2010 and ended up resigning his membership (see the Wikipedia article on Grant H. Palmer). The story of Palmer's relationship with the Church cries out for a separate telling, but this book is not that telling. It is, instead, a convincing marshaling of current historical evidence that Joseph Smith, for whatever reasons (reacting to Church crises being among them), seriously embellished the accounts of his personal experiences and that events such as his First Vision, his production of the Book of Mormon, and his claims to priesthood authority were presented differently at the beginning and were interpreted through nineteenth-century sensibilities. He makes a reasoned and ultimately convincing case, one well worth reading. I have read much about early Mormonism, and most of what I've read has been valuable, but if I had to choose just one book to summarize in fewer than 300 pages the important developments in history as applied to the Church, this would probably be it. Highly recommended!...more
An excellent treatise by Masha Gessen, who knows her subject from personal experience growing up in the Soviet Union and then seeing the resurgence ofAn excellent treatise by Masha Gessen, who knows her subject from personal experience growing up in the Soviet Union and then seeing the resurgence of totalitarianism in post-Soviet Russia. It's sobering to realize how much more relevant this book is today (late August 2020) than when it was published in June of this year. Because each day brings its own new unravelings of norms and examples of heretofore unthinkable behavior, we tend to become inured to how egregious this behavior really is; we normalize it. Gessen reminds us how these developments are signposts along the road to autocracy. Her analyses are chilling, but she also prescribes countermeasures; for me, the most inspiring chapter was Chapter 21, "The Power of Moral Authority." Whatever one may think of AOC and "The Squad," they reframed the discussion for both sides of the aisle (despite being vilified by one side and marginalized by the other) in a way that Gessen thinks we needed, and need. I agree. A surprisingly fast read, and a vitally important one....more
This autobiography became something of an instant classic after it was published in 1938. Its author, Arthur Hertzler, AKA "Pa" Hertzler (I learned frThis autobiography became something of an instant classic after it was published in 1938. Its author, Arthur Hertzler, AKA "Pa" Hertzler (I learned from another source), had a reputation for being a crusty, opinionated old Kansas doctor beloved of his students. I had professors and preceptors like him in medical school and know the type, although each example is unique. I very much enjoyed the first five chapters, in which he concentrated on telling the reader how he grew up, went to school and eventually medical school, and braved the Kansas plains in his horse and buggy and sometimes on foot. He spent most of Chapter 6 giving his own analysis mostly of female patients, and in a way that evinced a keen sense of the psychology behind many medical complaints but at the same the misconceptions and sometimes misogyny of his times. (His sometimes callous treatment of animals also largely reflects his times and his culture, although that's not excusing him.) The remaining chapters were also weighted with his social and political philosophizing and often somewhat self-pitying complaining. I think that the chapters beyond Chapter 5 (there are ten chapters in the book) are worth reading for the insight into the way that this country doctor, never a part of the traditional medical establishment and yet recognized as a consummate surgeon and surgical pathologist, viewed the world. But for me the real joy of this book was in those first five chapters, and for those alone I'd recommend this book....more
I couldn't say it better than Michael Austin and Lisa have; I agree wholeheartedly with their reviews. This is a book that every American should read.I couldn't say it better than Michael Austin and Lisa have; I agree wholeheartedly with their reviews. This is a book that every American should read. I've read the negative reviews and understand that no book, this included, is perfect; but on the whole it's fair and balanced and doesn't deserve any rating less than a four. Levitsy and Ziblatt call out Democrats as well as Republicans in their analysis of American history; and their criticisms of President Trump appear to me to come not from partisan politics but from a real concern that he has aided and abetted an accelerating process of damaging the guardrails of American democracy. The historical analysis is not limited to America, though, and ranges throughout the globe. One fascinating takeaway from U.S. history--an idea that I haven't found emphasized elsewhere--is the observation that the end of Reconstruction, while tragic for civil rights, actually allowed Democrats and Republicans to work together once they had agreed to put issues of race onto the back burner. A century later, the Civil Rights Act championed civil rights again but reopened old wounds and restarted a polarization of parties along racial (and eventually religious and cultural) lines.
This book is best read by the light of more recent analyses of the biological and social underpinnings of polarization (see, for example, "Hidden Tribes" at and "The Psychology of American Populism: A Bird's Eye View" at ); the themes of all three dovetail quite nicely.
The historical analyses lead up the final chapter, Chapter 9, "Saving Democracy." No solutions are going to be easy or guaranteed to succeed, but I think that the authors are on the right track here, and their recommendations for both Republicans and also Democrats (including the admonition to go easy on big guns such as impeachment, which might well backfire) are a good beginning. Coalition building across the chasm that currently separates the right and left extremes of the American political spectrum (see again "Hidden Tribes" for more detail) will undoubtedly be difficult, but we have to encourage and promote it vigorously at every opportunity. The chapter begins with a succinct statement of the authors' thesis:
"Writing this book has reminded us that that American democracy is not as exceptional as we sometimes believe. There's nothing in our Constitution or our culture to immunize us against democratic breakdown. We have experienced political catastrophe before, when regional and partisan enemies so divided the nation that it collapsed into civil war. Our constitutional system recovered, and Republican and Democratic leaders developed new norms and practices that would undergird more than a century of political stability. But that stability came at the price of racial exclusion and authoritarian one-party rule in the South. It was only after 1965 that the United States fully democratized. And, paradoxically, that very process began a fundamental realignment of the American electorate that has once again left our parties deeply polarized. This polarization, deeper than at any time since the end of Reconstruction, has triggered the epidemic of norm breaking that now challenges our democracy."
Following a restatement of E.B. White's answer to a World War II request of the Writers' War Board for a short definition of democracy, the book concludes:
"The egalitarianism, civility, sense of freedom, and shared purpose portrayed by E.B. White were the essence of mid-twentieth-century American democracy. Today that vision is under assault. To save our democracy, Americans need to restore the basic norms that once protected it. But we must do more than that. We must extend those norms through the whole of a diverse society. We must make them truly inclusive. American's democratic norms, at their core, have always been sound. But for much of our history, they were accompanied--indeed, sustained--by racial exclusion. Now those norms must be made to work in an age of racial equality and unprecedented ethnic diversity. Few societies in history have managed to be both multiracial and genuinely democratic. That is our challenge. It is also our opportunity. If we meet it, America will truly be exceptional."
I hope that those excerpts, plus the details from Michael's and Lisa's reviews, intrigue you enough to read this book. It's not only important but it's also fascinating and an engaging read. My highest recommendation!...more
This was for me an exceptionally enlightening (pun intended) and enjoyable read--and listen: for parts of the book, I listened to parts of the iBooks This was for me an exceptionally enlightening (pun intended) and enjoyable read--and listen: for parts of the book, I listened to parts of the iBooks audiobook narrated by the author and found his voice and tone to be suggestive of both care (with proper enunciation, pronunciation, and inflection) and also caring. I've read several of the reviews on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and understand how some readers can accuse Batchelor of trying to remake Buddhism to his own ends, much as Thomas Jefferson cut up a Bible of his to expunge all of the supernatural-sounding elements of the Gospels, leaving only the moral teachings of Jesus. Of course Batchelor's scholarship is tinged with his own desire to reinterpret the dharma for a secular age, and of course he may have gotten things wrong in some of his interpretations; but putting old wine into new bottles is a time-honored and essential activity, with some sanction, it seems, from the Buddha himself. Batchelor is always careful with his conclusions, open with his admissions of his own perspective, and respectful in his approach. And I for one found his recreations of parts of the lives of Gotama and his associates very humanizing and down to earth. An excellent read and a book that I highly recommend....more
Yale historian Timothy Snyder's little book, which I read in its entirety late last night, reminds me of another of my favorite books, Eric Hoffer's "Yale historian Timothy Snyder's little book, which I read in its entirety late last night, reminds me of another of my favorite books, Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer." "On Tyranny" is shorter than "The True Believer," but both are pithy and present strongly held personal views without outside referencing or buttressing. As an academic, I'm used to treatises that carefully document their statements and allow the reader to look up primary sources. But that doesn't mean that there's no time or place for plain, simple distillations of a career of scholarship and experience. In that sense, "On Tyranny" is like a commencement address, and a very timely one right now. It unfortunately will probably not make much of an impact on those who applaud the direction in which our country is currently heading, but it's not meant primarily for that segment of the population. It's preaching to the choir, but preaching new things, and old things in new ways, and things that need to be said, and in this way. The twenty lessons are short but well worth repeated reading and reflection and action; and although I found the discussion, in the epilogue, of the politics of inevitability and the politics of eternity a trifle more convoluted and a bit more debatable, I still found the concept helpful. This is an important book. It's not expensive and it's not long, but you will (I sincerely hope) keep coming back to it as a touchstone before it's too late....more
Writing this today (15 November), in the wake of the Friday-the-thirteenth terror attacks in Paris, I'm conscious of how there were similar wanton atrWriting this today (15 November), in the wake of the Friday-the-thirteenth terror attacks in Paris, I'm conscious of how there were similar wanton atrocities commmitted in Paris and in the rest of France during World War II. "The Nightingale" is a well-written account of two sisters, their family and friends, and the French Resistance before, during, and after the occupation of Paris, the northern half of France, and eventually the entire country by the Nazis. I am reminded of "Suite Francaise," a novel that was written during the occupation and that has a few of the same plot points (including the relationship between a billeted German officer and a Frenchwoman). "The Nightingale" is, I think, less literary but also more directly accessible. Hannah does not spare us either the evil or tedium of life in wartime France, and telling the story as a old woman's recollections adds an extra dimension and perspective. A touching tale, which I highly recommend....more
This is a delightfully and refreshingly written graphic novel, one that reminded me in tone of Megan McNeill Libby's equally endearing "Postcards fromThis is a delightfully and refreshingly written graphic novel, one that reminded me in tone of Megan McNeill Libby's equally endearing "Postcards from France." Since I myself spent a total of five to six weeks in Israel in two separate trips since March, I found lots that resonated with me. Sarah, the autobiographical protagonist, started her Taglit-sponsored birthright visit to Israel with much the same liberal political and social perspectives that I have, so it was easy for me to identify with her. And her reactions to what she experienced paralleled mine as well. She made friends, she listened, she thought a lot, and she came away, as did I, with a better appreciation of the complexities of the situation. The book wisely provides more questions than answers, but the right questions are extremely important right now. Sarah herself is still confused by the end of the book but despite remaining true to her core beliefs has learned important things. And in the process she's endeared herself to me. (Near the end, there's also a really good scene in which she is surprised by a lecture given by a rabbi.) Highly recommended!...more
The Penguin Classics edition has a very informative introduction, which, it appears, Christopher Tolkien mined for his introduction to The Legend of SThe Penguin Classics edition has a very informative introduction, which, it appears, Christopher Tolkien mined for his introduction to The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun. A very readable version of the great Norse epic!...more
A truly scholarly work this is not, and Day overreaches with many of his parallels. Nevertheless, the breadth (rather than the depth) of his coverage A truly scholarly work this is not, and Day overreaches with many of his parallels. Nevertheless, the breadth (rather than the depth) of his coverage of ring-related themes in history and mythology makes this book worth the read....more
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