What Book Are You Currently Reading? (2.0.)

[Aurelius]

"Champlain's Dream" by David Hackett Fischer. Taking a break from the presidents while Andrew Jackson is stuck somewhere in post office purgatory. It's a biography of Samuel Champlain, the founder of New France. I'm halfway through and so far it's excellent.

[Aurelius]

"Champlain's Dream" by David Hackett Fischer. Taking a break from the presidents while Andrew Jackson is stuck somewhere in post office purgatory. It's a biography of Samuel Champlain, the founder of New France. I'm halfway through and so far it's excellent.

Champlain's Dream: 🟊🟊🟊🟊½

Now reading "The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini.

[Aurelius]

Now reading "The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini.

One of the finest presidential biographies in my opinion.

So far it's excellent. I'm reading the abridged version because I'm sticking to one volume per President (except Lincoln, who will get Burlingame's two volume series). If I didn't do that this would take me a decade probably.

[Aurelius]

On that note, the presidential bios I've read so far:

"Washington" by Ron Chernow (5 stars)
"John Adams: A Life" by John Ferling (4 1/2 stars)
"Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power" by Jon Meacham (2 stars, huge disappointment)
"James Madison: A Life" by Ralph Ketcham (3 1/2 stars)
"James Monroe: A Life" by Tim McGrath (4 stars)
"John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit" by James Traub (4 1/2 stars)

[Aurelius]

On that note, the presidential bios I've read so far:

"Washington" by Ron Chernow (5 stars)
"John Adams: A Life" by John Ferling (4 1/2 stars)
"Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power" by Jon Meacham (2 stars, huge disappointment)
"James Madison: A Life" by Ralph Ketcham (3 1/2 stars)
"James Monroe: A Life" by Tim McGrath (4 stars)
"John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit" by James Traub (4 1/2 stars)

"The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini (4 stars)

Now reading: "Martin Van Buren and the American Political System" by Donald Cole.

[Aurelius]

On that note, the presidential bios I've read so far:

"Washington" by Ron Chernow (5 stars)
"John Adams: A Life" by John Ferling (4 1/2 stars)
"Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power" by Jon Meacham (2 stars, huge disappointment)
"James Madison: A Life" by Ralph Ketcham (3 1/2 stars)
"James Monroe: A Life" by Tim McGrath (4 stars)
"John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit" by James Traub (4 1/2 stars)

"The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini (4 stars)

Now reading: "Martin Van Buren and the American Political System" by Donald Cole.

3.75 stars.

Now reading: "Old Tippecanoe" by Freeman Cleaves.

[Aurelius]

"President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler"

[Aurelius]

120 pages in... I did not expect a book on John f***** Tyler to be so engaging. Maybe my baseline is skewed after 350 pages of a 1939 book on William Henry Harrison with a deliberately archaic writing style that reads more like 1889.

-snip-

Read the first one about a month ago. Excellent book and a great character study.

[Aurelius]

Finished John Brown's Body.  This is truly one of the best things I have ever read.  The First Manassas scene is one of the best things I've ever read.  I was glued to my seat on the metro reading it.

The epic poem by Stephen Vincent Benet?

[Aurelius]

"2001: A Space Odyssey". Taking a much-needed break from the presidents. It's become much more of a slog since Van Buren, now that the presidents are mostly venal politicians instead of great statesmen. Might read another scifi or two before jumping into Polk.

[Aurelius]

Blew through that one in a day.

"Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America". Walter R. Borneman.

[Aurelius]

"Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest" by K. Jack Bauer.

Polk was surprisingly interesting, pretty good page turner. Top 4 or 5 of the bios I've read so far. I suspect Taylor will be more of a slog.

4 more till Lincoln, the big prize.

[Aurelius]

"Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President" by Robert J. Rayback.

The preface calls him "a statesman with only a handful of White House rivals", so this will certainly be an interesting read. My impression coming in is that Fillmore, while the least bad of the Terrible Trio leading up to Lincoln, was a doughface who was too conciliatory and too weak of character to handle the acute challenges facing the Union in the 1850s.

[Aurelius]

"Abraham Lincoln: A Life (volume 1)" by Michael Burlingame.

I finished Fillmore and Pierce still hasn't arrived in the mail, so I'm reading Lincoln up to 1852 in the meantime.

[Aurelius]

In addition to my ongoing non-fiction reading, I picked up Solzhenitsyn's In The First Circle which I am quite enjoying.

Reminding myself to get to that one eventually.

[Aurelius]

"Abraham Lincoln: A Life (volume 1)" by Michael Burlingame.

I finished Fillmore and Pierce still hasn't arrived in the mail, so I'm reading Lincoln up to 1852 in the meantime.

Started volume 2 a few days ago.

This is a weighty read chock-full of information, so I'm giving it the time it deserves.

[Aurelius]

Finally finished Burlingame's Lincoln. Magisterial, and worth the high effort required.

Now taking a long break from presidents for some lighter fare.

[Aurelius]

Just finished "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck.

[Aurelius]

Read "Empire" by Niall Ferguson.

Now reading "So Far from God: the U.S. War with Mexico, 1846-1848" by John S.D. Eisenhower and "Boone" by Robert Morgan. Eisenhower is a dense and fairly difficult read so I'm taking it slow, a few chapters at a time and interspersing other, easier fare.

[Aurelius]

Read the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.

About to attempt Heidegger's "Being and Time". Key word being attempt.

[Aurelius]

Currently reading:

"Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty" by John Boles
"Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin
"The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia" by James Scott
"Legal Systems Very Different from Ours" by David Friedman

[Aurelius]

The Oxford History of Britain, 2001 edition.

[Aurelius]

The Oxford History of Britain, 2001 edition.

Up to the 12th century. Money quote: "The rise of the lawyer, itself the result of changes of one sphere of life, made it harder to change things in others." Just as true today. GOMEZ DAVILA: "Stupid ideas are immortal. Each new generation invents them anew."

[Aurelius]

About 2/3 of the way through "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution" by Simon Schama.

I'm up to the Stuarts in the England book but I put that aside for now because this is much more interesting.

Can't help but wonder how things might have been different if Mirabeau had lived.

[Aurelius]

^Any recommendations for books on the Vendee rising?

Paging our French Revolution experts:

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