Books by H.W. Brands
language
English
review 1: Great biography. I knew very little of Grant prior to this book and a lot of what I thought I knew was wrong or distorted. For example, although rumors of his drinking problem persisted throughout much of his life and color his legacy, there is very little actual evidence of it a...
Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (2008)
language
English
review 1: My country was such a different place before FDR and World War II. It is a struggle to see that world through 19th and early 20th century eyes. FDR's responsibility for the transformation cannot be underestimated and this book does an estimable job of reviewing his life and work....
language
English
review 1: I am not sure if it counts but I listened to the book on CD. One thing I did not know about Grant was that he ultimately became a strong advocate for blacks. He forced the south to adopt the 15th Amendment to the Constitution prior to re-admission to the Union. The booked touc...
language
English
review 1: All in all, not a bad book. A little preachy at times, but overall pretty balanced. I wish it went into greater detail, but I suppose depth must sometimes be sacrificed in the name of breadth. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the Molly Maguires and the Pinkerton detectives. ...
language
English
review 1: Wow, this was a good one. I'd say, like, 4.6 or 4.7 stars. Don't judge it by how long it took me to get through it -- I had a very strange month and multiple weekends of travel and didn't read a page for days at a time three different times. When I did read, I was fascinated by F...