John James Audobon, The Making of An American by Richard Rhodes

I haven't been keeping up very well, and I will do better. After a months-long break from reading I realized I needed to start over. It had been too long to pick back up where I left off on the book I was reading, so I grabbed a fresh one.

My wife gave me a book about John James Audubon, titled John James Audobon, The Making of An American. by Richard Rhodes. Neither of us are sure what made her choose this book, other than the fact she knows I love history and biographies, and she sees how much I enjoy my birdfeeders in our back yard. She's very thoughtful. At any rate, the book was great in that it was very insightful not only on Audobon, but it is a narrative into the 19th century culture in a developing American west. It was very well written, used wonderful sources, and was overall very enjoyable. There were some parts, however, that became a bit slow, but none of those parts lasted too long. As it has been a while since I've finished it, I won't take the time to delve too deeply into this book. However, it was definitely worth the read if you are interested in either the history of Birds in America or 19th century U.S. culture.

The one theme I kept noticing was how much of a normal person this famous naturalist was. He was born wealthy in France, ran away from the draft during Napoleon's era, and came to America. After unsuccessful business attempts he decides to do what he loves, art and birds. He put the two together during a lifetime of collecting specimens and painting portraits and the rest was history. He struggled as did most frontier-life families did, his wife worked as a teacher to support the family, and in general he was a hard worker who put his passion to work, and it ended up with a great result.

I'd recommend this book to those who either love birds or history (or both), but if one doesn't enjoy such reads I wouldn't suggest this one. Since I love history, I loved this book, and was very glad I read it.

Dangerous Doses - Katherine Eban

Dangerous Doses is an alarming story to say the least. I read this book at the request of a colleague and am now wondering about the entire industry America depends on for their health. Wow.

Unknown to the majority of the American public, prescription pharmaceuticals are passed through many, many, hands on the way to the local pharmacies. There's the bohemeth pharmaceutical companies who sell to hundreds of wholesalers, then the wholesalers sell it to either other wholesalers, pharmacies, or hospitals. The problem enters when the wholesalers are not regulated by much more than a statement of integrity and the remote possibility of a $250 fine if things go afoul. That's where Dangerous Doses comes in.

Through a set of wonderfully written stories (all true) and characters (all real), Eban artfully portrays what was happening in Southern Florida's wholesale pharmaceutical market. Be forewarned - it will shock you. A team of investigators who dubbed themselves the "Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and a handful of determined prosecuters take on the thousands of self-made crooked millionares selling pharmamceuticals out of anything from the trunks of their cars to elaborate inter-state multi billion-dollar distribution networks. In the end, their successes, and failures, made it all the way to Washington, D.C. and influenced the passing of new legislation regulating the industry. A success story.

I recommend this read to anyone who has an interest in where the medications they ingest come from. One may be quite suprised.

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill - Mark Bittner

One rarely comes across a story so moving as this. From his romantic simplicity to the classic "why are we here" complexity, the self-titled dharma bum Mark Bittner tells the story of his life in this book.

I was reluctant to read this book at first. It was a little below my haughty-taughty arrogance in choice reads. However, it was a gift from my girlfriend as a result of my recent fascination with my backyard birdfeeder, and I felt inclined to read it. The cover of this book states, "A love story...with wings." A quote from a review from Elle magazine also appears on the cover stating "..the perfect read for anyone who believes that success means more than a corner office." So, I was a bit hesitant given the last book I read was about an industrial era tycoon who obliterated his competition and become more wealthy than all of freaking Europe - and I loved it.

However, despite my doubts, I loved this book. Yes, it was moving, and no it wasn't a Bambi story. This is a tale about a guy who had the balls to be himself, and has an ending that makes you believe everything is going to be o.k. despite life getting in the way.

At first, maybe because of my arrogance, I thought the book was a little slow. It delves into some distant concepts and I actually felt sorry for the guy for falling into some out-there ideas. Then it goes into how he "fell in with a gang of parrots" and from there on tells story after story about a fun group of parrots. Each little tale is exhilarating in itself, but after awhile I started searching for the book's point. Then it hits you without you ever realizing it. Bittner writes with such simplicity and ease that you would think he was a veteran author.

I don't care if you are a reader of textbooks, steamy romance novels, or don't read at all, you need to read this book. If I learned a lot from Titan, I learned more from The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

Titan: The Life Of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. - by Ron Chernow

Whew! What a read. I feel like I need to take a breather after this 676 page behemoth. I say that not as a negative sentiment, but as a statement one would say after riding in a race car for 2 months.

Despite this book's length, it moved rather quickly and was very entertaining despite it's informative intent. I was never too familiar with Rockefeller. Honestly, all I knew was that he was involved in oil a long time ago and that there is a really, really, big building in New York City named after him. I also knew that he had given a lot of money to charities. But, I never knew why, what, or how all this came about. Looking back on this story and how much I learned about U.S. businesses today, I am almost annoyed that I didn't know more about this fascinating man and what he did. Why is it that our history books choose to leave him, for the most part, out?

One reason I assume is that the Rockefeller name has become synonymous with a couple of things. The ironic thing is that these two things, Charitable contribution and industrial-era power, greed, etc..., are so completely opposite each other. The latter is why he may be left out of the history books and the former is what they call a false sense of philanthropy to make up for other wrongs. And, so, his eternal punishment is to be left out of high school classes and for me to be annoyed that I didn't know more. However, this dichotomy is representative of Rockefeller's life altogether, and Ron Chernow writes with a wealth of insight to point this out to his readers.

Enough of my ranting. If you enjoy history books, business, or just plain leadership, read this book. Yes it is long and yes you will feel like you had just run a marathon after having finished, but it is worth it. Rockefeller is responsible for making the word "trust" unmentionable in US history books without the word "anti" in front of it. From my point of view and what I think is Ron Chernow's as well, he was only playing the game by the rules, or lack thereof, of his day. In fact, without being biased, Chernow goes to great lengths to undo conventional thought regarding Rockefeller greed, power, and unfair business practices. Of note, Rockefeller's philanthropy was not out of guilt, but out of strict religious belief that it was his duty to disperse riches among society.

I learned so much from this book. From interesting Jeopardy tidbit answers to our current business laws and anti-trust issues I have learned things that I would have thought would be important to learn a long time ago. I very much enjoyed it, and at risk of making a cliche statement, I am more knowledgeable about U.S. business history and the entire industrial era for having read it.

If you don't enjoy reading for knowledge, you may find yourself lost in a sea of nearly seven-hundred pages. If you do, this is as good as any John Grisham tale ever written.

Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea - Gary Kinder

In the year of 1857 the SS Central America was headed on the return leg of its regular trek between Panama and New York City. Now, being that it was in the mid 1800s, and being that it was picking up a load of cargo coming from San Francisco, you can imagine what was on this ship. There were some 21 tons of gold straight from the western United States aboard this side-wheel steamer. The ship runs into one of the biggest hurricanes the world had ever seen and ends up going to the bottom of the sea in 8,000 feet of ocean. Kinder spins the tale of the sinking ship as well as any novelist, and then gets to the meat of Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea.

Skipping ahead some 130 years, Kinder's story picks back up in the late 1970s and goes through the entire decade of the 80s. It is a tale of invention, of a guy named Tommy who is one of those people that has that certain something that nobody else gets, and his relentless quest to find the Central America. The problem, however, is that at the time this story takes place the technology to do what Tommy wants to do is just not available. So, being the unique individual he is, Tommy creates the technology himself, along with an entire array of experts in various fields of engineering, Sonar technology, mechanics, etc... One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was Tommy's remarkable ability to look at a problem and solve it, whether or not the leading scientist in what ever field he/she is engaged in says it is impossible or not - time and time again. I look at Tommy and think, how can I apply that problem-solving aggressiveness and undying persistence in my own endeavors.

The development of technology, the treasure hunt, the competition, a shipwreck, and 21 tons of gold make this book as good as most any treasure hunt tale one can read nowadays. The fact that it is a true story makes it more remarkable. This book was an unexpected find on my reading adventures, and came up as a surprise. Nevertheless - I would recommend it to anyone who likes shipwreck tales, treasure hunting, technology, is looking for a book of remarkable leadership or just a good ol' read. I give this one a full five-star rating.

Now I'm off to read another book recommended to me by the same person who recommended this one. I'll be starting Titan, which is a biography of John D. Rockefeller. Until then....

His Excellency George Washington - Joseph J. Ellis

As was the work by McCullough, Joseph J. Ellis' text on this historical figure has won a spot on the 'keep-and-read-again-later' bookshelf.

However, in contrast to the work by McCullough, Ellis dives into the more elusive side of Washington - that side that was outside of the revolutionary war, as well as that side that was.

Ellis starts in Washington's early years as a British officer who is entrenched in the complex battles of the Western frontier of the colonies. He details his struggles, his blunders, his few successes, and his close attention to what worked and what didn't, and how those lessons learned applied throughout his life - even into the war with Britain. Ellis goes so far as to hint that much of what made Washington Washington can be traced back to his time in skirmishes with the native American tribes as well as the French.

Washington greatly became successful, as Ellis points out, by the misfortunes of others. In his rise to rank in the British military, his marriage, again in the colonial army, and again and again in his later-lived political career. This is an interesting point, which can be seen as a theme to the new nation's sheer luck in surviving at all. If it weren't for the slightest little happenings that could have been for none other reason than chance, Washington would have been a different historical figure, the nation could still be having tea in the afternoon and driving on the wrong side of the road, and we could all be saying "God Save the King." Ellis masterfully suggests this theme throughout his book without the slightest defamation of Washington's success.

And, no complete biography of the life of George Washington could leave out his political career, the precedents he set, the discipline he carried, his dislike of the political game, and how he was thrown into a world of backstabbing, broken promises, and empty rhetoric without even running for office. Ellis points out that not only was the political landscape as precarious as it is in today's world, he shows that it was most lively within even Washington's own cabinet. For example, the feud between Hamilton and Jefferson that was raging and what turned out to be the origin of the two-party system Washington was so careful to keep from being born.

From beginning to end, this book is typically Ellis-informational and cuts right to the heart of the issues that shaped the social and political thoughts of the time - and what they mean to us today - a la Gordon S. Wood. I'm on a roll here with the great books - go out and read His Excellency George Washington.

1776 - David McCullough

David McCullough's new historical masterpiece, 1776, leaves me in great want of a book called "1777." The book is well put-together and flows through Washington's experiences as the new general of a new nation's so-called army with expertise. McCullough isn't afraid to point out the immortal Washington's human blunders - and masterfully shows why those mortal mistakes kept a nation alive...and how they came so dearly close to allowing George III to crush the infant nation in its cradle.

This book is also great in that it doesn't read as a biased 'we beat them' story narrating the colonies' defeat over the British Empire. It goes to great lengths to show the thoughts of George III as well as his officers in the field making the decisions that nearly defeated Washington's army - it is a two-sided story from a viewpoint I've never read before.

As many biographies that have been written on Washington, the reader can easily see how elusive his character can be to the author/historian. As careful as the first "Mr. President" was to leave not a shadow of evidence he was anything less than what was his contemporary public opinion, McCullough is just as exacting and determined to make the reader miss that point. McCullough examines the situations of the battles of Boston, New York, and the surrounding forts, the accounts of Greene and other officers and even the enlisted militiamen in order to get to the heart of what made 1776 Washington's dullest and yet somehow most glorious year of the revolution.

1776, if it isn't obvious by the above text, earns a full five stars. McCullough does it again by authoring another must-read for any fan of U.S. history.

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life - Walter Isaacson

Although not the work that Wood authors on Franklin, this was nonetheless an intriguing read. Isaacson puts together several sections of 'chapters' that basically chronicle the life - and events - of this patriot and his times.

A great read in that there is more of the personal aspects to Mr. Franklin and his opinions, but lacking in contrast to Mr. Wood's work in that it does not master the cultural and political effects Franklin undoubtedly had on the young nation. The book details more of the personal relationships with his famous lady friends and his peculiar troubles with his own family.

I very much enjoyed this read for that reason. For the astute historian looking for cultural reasoning and the circumstances that created a revolution, Wood's work will be preferred. However, for the casual reader looking for a great read on Franklin and his time abroad, his relationships with his family, ambassadors, the British, and royalty abroad this is a must have selection.

The Americanization Of Benjamin Franklin - Gordon S. Wood

This, another of Wood's works, is a historical mastery deserving a spot on any historian's bookshelf. I, not being the professional book reiewer nor as talented as Publishers Weekly, have included their thoughts below:

"Wood's purpose is to supplant our common knowledge of Franklin as the iconic, folksy author of Poor Richard's Almanac with a different, richer portrait, a look at how a man 'not even destined to be an American' became, paradoxically, the 'symbol of America.' What emerges is a fascinating portrait of Franklin, not only as a forefather but as a man." —Publishers Weekly

That's about as good as any review I've seen written on this work. Wood explains the irony of Franklin. He was the most loyal royal subject right up to 1776, until he was humiliated by the English aristocracy - and is now the symbol of America. He details Franklin's themes from hard work and industry to his extremely rational ideas.

In this account of Franklin and his views, not so much the whimsical exploits of "jolly ol' Franklin", Wood goes great lengths in explaining the society's mindset of the day. In fact, it goes great along with reading Wood's "Radicalism..." in that it shows these societal thoughts at the individual level, an influential individual who had been helping to shape a nation well before 1776.

Again, an enlightening read from Wood. And, consistent with other works from this great author, it is quite in-depth and historically revealing from the standpoint of who we were and what we have become as a society. And, like "Radicalism..." will tend to point out to the reader its' superiority over other works on Franklin - and the time period.

Again, Wood gets two thumbs up from This Is The Life Book Review - I hope you have a booklight.

The Radicalism Of The American Revolution - Gordon S. Wood

This is a wonderful read, by far the most informational of any of the colonial period I've read. Granted, this is no light reading, but for a lover of history such as myself, and for one who has a basic understanding that the revolution was more than just a squabble with England over the taxing of tea, it will keep you up reading into the wee hours of the morning.

Wood begins his account by pointing out the American Revolution was indeed very radical, despite some contemporary historians' claims that it was not, especially in comparison to the French Revolution which occurred soon after. He then goes on to point out why, and exactly what, was so radical.

First, the American Revolution was the end of Patronage - he explains how the social movement of the time was the cause of this. Without going into detail - read the book - it is a very enlightening piece of information that gives great insight into who we were 200 years ago and how that shaped who we are now. The radicalism of this, the great radicalism of this, is that we still actually thought of ourselves, and in most cases indeed enjoyed being a monarchy up to as short of a time period as 10 years before 1776. Wood does an excellent job in the first part of the book explaining how and why our entire social network, hierarchy, ideas of self, and structure were completely changed during the years leading up to and following the revolution, and how it resulted in the obliteration of monarchical mindsets and thus ties to King George III. A complete society without a monarchical mindset in the 18th century: the most radical political social movement ever to have happened thus far.

The middle part of the book deals with how this newfound absence of monarchical thought led to the loosening of society, of patronage being not as influential and all-powerful, of the aristocratic elites' loss of power - and more importantly, why, and he masterfully lays out and explains the effects this had on society - and how this led to democracy.

Democracy was something new, and in this book Wood cites how the new government and way of life was completely disconcerting for the founding fathers, who had intended for the revolution to produce a government still dominated by liberally educated elites, or 'gentlemen.' What they found, and what Wood shows his readers, is this lack of monarchy, lack of patronage, and lack of aristocratic power was being substituted for a new middle class order (somewhat similar to what we have today) led by artisans, merchants, and groups of laborers. Again, a completely radical thought, much less actual social trend, in the 18th century. Basically, we changed the world.

Wood deservingly won the Pulitzer for this book. I would suggest it to anyone who enjoys reading history, but not to those who don't enjoy academic reading. Beware though, I have found after reading this book several other biographies and historical accounts seem less researched, less founded, and indeed some of the things I have read since have made me laugh at the 'skewed correctness' of their conclusions. Nevertheless, the read is well worth anyone's time and gets two thumbs up from This Is The Life Book Review.