I have no excuse for where those last few months disappeared to, but, fortunately for me, they did include some reading! I seem to be stuck in a historical frame-of-mind as everything I've read (outside of my Mix Club selection) seems to be of the historical nature. So, if you are anti-history, stop reading now. Just kidding. Keep reading, you might learn something, just like I did!
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks is a true gem of historical fiction. Brooks yet again embraces a time and place often gone untouched by historians, and I now feel smarter for having read it. Just as in The People of the Book, she skillfully pains us a picture of a people and a time gone but not forgotten.
Caleb's Crossing is loosely based on what little is known about the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Native American graduate of Harvard College. In the 17th century, on the island now known as Martha's Vineyard, a young girl named Bethia struggles to balance her innate intelligence with the subservience expected of her by the Puritan society in which she lives. She begins an unlikely and secretive friendship with Caleb, a "savage" boy who is a member of the Wompanoag tribe. Learning one another's language, they also introduce one another to their vastly different ways of life. Bethia tells both his story and her own through many triumphs and tragedies, both on their unfriendly island and on the mainland as she follows both Caleb and her brother to Harvard. Bound by the chains of her womanhood in that time and place, Bethia operates within those confines while still seeking knowledge and equality at every turn. It is at Harvard that she finds true "enlightenment"...and love...all the while supporting and facilitating Caleb's endeavor to become the first "savage" to graduate from the first and only college in America. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus continued the Native American theme, just jumping ahead a few centuries. I am always intrigued with books written in the journal format, and this book was no exception. Loosely based upon an historical even that never acutally happend, the author draws upon history to create a beautiful picture of "What If?"
1,000 white women for 1,000 Native American horses. That was the deal. A highly esteemed Cheyene chief suggested this transfer between the Great White Government and the Cheyene tribe in order to introduce and integrate the two cultures. As a matrilineal culture, that would mean that the babies which would inevitably spring forth from this arrangement would be raised in their mother's culture, thus joining the societies irrevocably. Historically, this never happened. It was suggested and quickly dismissed as utter lunacy. However, One Thousand White Women is the account of what MIGHT have happened if it actually had happened.
May Dodd captures her account of this unique adventure. Committed to a Chicago insane asylum by her upper-class family for loving a man beneath their standards, May finds her path to freedom by agreeing to particpate in this secret program where women from the "civilized" world are to become the brides of "savagee" Cheyenne warriors. Through the pages of her journal we trace May's passionate romance with a young Army captain, her marriage to the tribe's cheif, Little Wolf, and the great conflict and pain that arises from being stuck between two worlds and having loyalty to both. The friendships May forms with the other women who accompany her on this adventure provide her with love, support, and a real family for the first time in her tumultous life. With a cast of truly memorable and unique characters, Fergus has painted a vivid yet disturbing picture of the American West during a time of great conflict and carnage.
Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz jumps us ahead another few centuries in history and leaves behind the Native American theme, instead delving back into one of my other favorite historical events, the Civil War. A non-fiction book born from the author's boyhood passion for all things War-Between-The-States, Horwitz sets forth on a search for the places deep within the South that still embrace the Lost Cause with ritualistic zeal and an almost religious fervor.Horowitz starts his journey in Virginia with a band of hard-core reeenactors who go to amazing lengths to recapture the authenticity of the time. Employing strategies such as crash dieting, sleeping in the freezing cold with only one another's body heat to keep warm, and using their own urine to achieve the proper patina on their uniform button, we meet many colorful and "enthusiastic" individuals whose one goal is to accurately re-create the exact circumstances of that day. He visits Andersonville and learns about the infamous prison's commander. The man, who was executed as a war criminal is actually held in high esteem and viewed by most as a martyr and hero in this town. From Klu Klux Klan rallies in Kentucky to Gettysburg to Appomattox Courthouse, Horwitz brings many of the battlefields, towns, and courthouses to life as he seeks out those whose undying quest is to keep them alive for our future generations.
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assissination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
I was really excited to read this book as I'd heard many good things about it, but in the media and from people I trust. Or, should I say...TRUSTED. Billed as a "new Lincoln assissination thriller, " I supposed it does hold up its end on the "thriller" part of the bargin. However, I could not get past the glaring factual inaccuracies that were throughout the book. As a student of history by choice, there are certain things that just cannot be flubbed. Just a few examples of egregious inaccuracies:
1. There were many scenes in the book set in the Oval Office. However, the Oval Office was not built until 1909.
2. The book states clearly that Lee and Grant never met at Appomattox. Howeve,r this is false. They actually met many times to discuss many things.
3. And, less terrible....the fire at Ford Theater happened in 1862, not 1863.
Honestly, as a story, I enjoyed tracing the timeline of Lincoln's last days and the war itself through the last two weeks of his life. I did learn a few things about Grant's pursuit of Lee from Petersburg to Appomattox. However, even that leaves me wondering: "Was it true?"
I'd not recommend this to a student or even a friend as misinformation is worse than no information at all. As much as I wanted to really, really like this book, you'd be better served to just stick to the history textbooks
