Reviews (1)

Ali deserves better
Okay bio, but it's kind of hard to go wrong with a life story this good and a personality this dynamic. I hoped the book would be better, because I really like Ali. ... Read more

Book Description

Rahel Varnhagen (1777-1833) lived during the crucial period of assimilation in Germany, when it seemed imperative for Jews to escape their Jewishness.
... Read more

Reviews (1)

Must read for any Arendt Fan
Intertwining Identities

Hannah Arendt's Rachel Varnhagen: The Life of a Jewess is the biography of Varnhagen that simultaneously attempts to define Rahel Varnhagen's gender and national identity as a resident in early 19th century Germany in Varnhagen's own terms, while Arendt refines her political theory. Rachel Varnhagen is portrayed throughout the book as a complex character; a Jewish woman in a German society at the dawn and immediate following years of the Napoleonic Revolution. Arendt is an accomplished political-philosopher who despised being called a philosopher. Arendt's rise to academic prominence came when she wrote Eichmann in Jerusalem; Eichmann was where she coined the phrase "banality of evil" in reference to the famous trial of the Nazi Adolph Eichmann. Arendt was on assignment in Jerusalem for the Eichmann trial as a reporter for Harper's because she could not attain a university teaching position. Arendt had not successfully completed the monograph that was to be her Ph.D. dissertation. During the National Socialist ascension to power in 1933 Arendt was forced into exile, therefore hindering the completion of the biography of Varnhagen and her doctoral dissertation.

Arendt studied under Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger the later of which she had an affair. She is most known in political philosophy circles for her study of totalitarian regimes in Origins of Totalitarianism. Arendt collected the published and unpublished letters of the famous salon, bourgeoisie-oriented Varnhagen to map Varnhagen's identity through the inner voice she reveals in her letters. Through reading the letters it is evident that Varnhagen is practically apolitical, but she struggles with her German-Jewish identity and her life as a woman. Arendt explores the complexities of this dynamic through attempting to slip into Varnhagen and convey to the reader Varnhagen's existence. While in the process of amalgamating the various stories of Varnhagen, Arendt also devises her political theory.

Varhagen was at the center of an aristocratic salon where literature and culture were often discussed and she was viewed as a Jewish exception to anti-Semitism. It was believed at the beginning of the nineteenth century that all anti-Semites had their exceptional Jew, and for the many attendees of Varnhagen's salon it was Rahel. In adding her political theory into the construction of Varnhagen's biography Arendt spares Varnhagen no sympathy, often thinking that these very exceptions furthered the anti-Semitic cause.

In essence what Arendt has done is constructed a philosophical-psychological biography delving into the subject's mind, breaking the barrier between subject and observer by using the letters as a background to reconstruct the thoughts of Varnhagen. Varnhagen wrote her letters as a narrative, waiting and watching for life to unfold, unwilling to participate in introspection. Fearing that contemplation of the past might lead to her rejecting her identity and denial of her self-asserted uniqueness.

Varnhagen befriended many of the most prominent novelists and poets; her salon suggested a milieu of sophistication. However, Varnhagen's letters allowed Arendt intense introspection on the feeling of being a Jew in a largely anti-Semitic culture and being a woman in a misogynist culture. Arendt's political theory is never more evident then when she wears the skin of Varnhagen and talks about the Jewish question. Arendt believes that the common Jew attempted to escape their Jewishness (Varnhagen was baptized) only to allow other Jews to flounder in their Jewishness; each individual sought to break from the community at the cost of leaving the others to be victims of virulent anti-Semitism. Arendt is at her sharpest when she philosophizes on the impact of the Napoleonic Revolution on Jews, "it would be incomparably more difficult to escape from a reformed Judaism than from orthodox Judaism; that association for the assimilation of the Jews could lead ultimately to nothing but the preservation of Judaism in a form more suited to the times (179)."

In the preface to the book Arendt says, "It was never my intention to write a book about Rahel; about her personality, which might lend itself to various interpretations according to the psychological standards and categories that the author introduces from outside; nor about her position in Romanticism and the effect of the Goethe culture in Berlin, of which she was actually the originator; nor about the significance of her salon for the social history of the period; nor about her ideas and her "weltanschauung," in so far as these can be constructed from her letters. What interests me solely was to narrate the story of Rahel's life as she herself might have told it. (81)

Rahel believed she let life happen to her and simply observed and recorded her situations. She was, "letting life rain upon her." She was an prophetic individual that simply aspired to convey what happened to her as destiny. But in this role as intermediary recorder of the past she observed and her unknown, but unconscionable future destiny she thought she was an exception; one that must succumb to destiny, but not attempt to influence it. An individual that was so shortsighted that she failed to consider the fact that the destiny that awaited her, the history that was being revealed and shaped her life was less important than her own life. She was romanticized by contemplation of the past and its unraveling into the future of which she only thought she was a part. Varnhagen was a paradox; waiting like everyone else for history and life to happen but yet she continued to assert her uniqueness. Varnhagen attempts to solve the paradox by waiting for history to unveil, but not discover who she was-only what she could be. In the physical world Varnhagen could not deny her Jewishness, but she aspired to be malleable, devoid of shape and identity, traveling on the waves of history as they splashed on the shores of her continuously unfolding destiny. Arendt best summarizes Varnhagen by saying, "she wished to stand outside reality, to merely take pleasure in the real, to provide the soil for the history and the destinies of many people without having any ground of her own to stand on (145)." ... Read more

Book Description

Focusing on John Quincy Adams’s extensive role in American foreign policy, including his years as Secretary of State and as President, this new book provides a brief but comprehensive study of Adams’s foreign policy.  In particular, the book analyzes Adams’s accomplishments between 1817 and 1825—the  eight years he was secretary of state during the negotiation of the Rush-Bagot Agreement and the Transcontinental Treaty, the recognition of the Spanish-American republics, and the development of the Monroe Doctrine.  The book also scrutinizes Adams’s single term as President from 1825-1829.   The core belief that defined Adams’s long and complicated career in foreign policy is his understanding of the nature and function of the American union, which emerged from the crisis of the 1780s and the years of embargo and war between 1807 and 1814.  Like many of his contemporaries, Adams believed that the existence of a single political union encompassing all of its independent states was necessary to prevent North America from repeating the European experience of political, commercial, and military conflict among sovereignties.  Adams believed in the centrality of the union to American happiness.  This book casts new light on the logic behind many of Adams’s accomplishments and also exposes the sources of some of his failures. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A new study of the statecraft and life of John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams blends history and biography in presenting a new study of the statecraft and life of John Quincy Adams, policy-maker in the early American republic. It's recommended reading for high school and college undergraduate students, as well as any non-specialist general radeing studying early American history and politics. ... Read more

Book Description

1926. Other volumes in this set include ISBN number(s): 0766161536. Volume 1 of 2. John Wanamaker earned money for seventy-five years. In 1922, the man of eighty-four jumped out of bed eager for the day's work. He did not die of old age. When the last severe cold compelled him to stop going to his office a few weeks before his death, he was mentally alert and physically vigorous, and he was holding in his own hands the many threads of his vast business, religion, and public interests. He did not think that his work was finished. He was not ready to retire. That he was going to die never entered his head. A well-known businessman, Wanamaker started a men's clothing business with his brother-in-law, Nathan Brown, and within ten years it developed into the largest retail clothing store for men in the United States, which was later expanded into a department store. He also served at the Postmaster General during his long and prosperous life. These volumes tell the story of this fascinating man and the life he led. ... Read more

Book Description

Marie Thérése Louise de Savoie-Carignan, Princess de Lamballe, was fated to be not only an eye-witness but a victim of the Reign of Terror.She was born in Turin in 1749, was married in 1767 to Stanislaus, Prince of Lamballe and son of the Duke of Penthiévre, which brought her into the relationship of sister-in-law to the Duke of Orléans.Her husband died within a year, leaving her, as she expresses it, "a bride when an infant, a widow before I was a mother or had a prospect of becoming one."A marriage was proposed between the Princess and Louis XV, but it fell through.In her retirement she gained the friendship of Marie Antoinette, who appointed her superintendent of the royal household on the accession of Louis XVI.This official connection grew into a sisterly intimacy of the most cordial kind.Their youth of brilliant promise was soon overshadowed by ominous troubles.The lighter temperament of the Queen was happily balanced by the philosophic gravity of the Princess, who foresaw the bitter fruits of the conditions in which her royal mistress had been reared and would not radically change.This journal-record of experiences and reflections is as pathetic a tale as has ever been told. ... Read more

Book Description

By his own account, St. Augustine of Hippo (A.D.354-430) lived a life of sin until his conversion to Christianity at the age of 32. Twelve years later he gave a personal account of his search for truth in The Confessions of Saint Augustine. ... Read more

Book Description

1926. Other volumes in this set include ISBN number(s):0766161528. Volume 2 of 2. John Wanamaker earned money for seventy-five years. In 1922, the man of eighty-four jumped out of bed eager for the day's work. He did not die of old age. When the last severe cold compelled him to stop going to his office a few weeks before his death, he was mentally alert and physically vigorous, and he was holding in his own hands the many threads of his vast business, religion, and public interests. He did not think that his work was finished. He was not ready to retire. That he was going to die never entered his head. A well-known businessman, Wanamaker started a men's clothing business with his brother-in-law, Nathan Brown, and within ten years it developed into the largest retail clothing store for men in the United States, which was later expanded into a department store. He also served at the Postmaster General during his long and prosperous life. These volumes tell the story of this fascinating man and the life he led. ... Read more

Download Description

Destined for the same kind of sweeping success as his Pulitzer Prize-winning Truman, John Adams. is a powerful, deeply moving biography that reads like an epic historical novel. Breathing fresh life into American history, it takes as its subject the extraordinary man who became the second president of the United States and whose adventurous life and spirited rivalry with Thomas Jefferson encompasses both the American Revolution and the birth of the young republic.Deftly and with a brilliant eye for detail, McCullough describes the childhood, youth, and coming of age of Adams, the fiercely driven Massachusetts farmer-lawyer whose marriage to Abigail is one of the great real-life love stories, and of his rival Jefferson, the Virginia planter and slaveowner. Through their lives, McCullough explores the extraordinary factors that transformed thirteen colonies into a united nation and that eventually brought these two distinctly dissimilar men to the presidency.Sweeping the reader from America to Europe, and combining a cast of compelling characters with probing explorations of politics, courage, idealism, love, friendship, and life, John Adams. is bound to be the most talked-about book of the season. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Garbled sentence
On page 29 of this excellent book is
an amazing sentence.

"Only one, the seventh and youngest
of Henry Adams's eight sons remained
in Braintree."

DOES NOT COMPUTE.

History made interesting!
I must confess I was not very interested in history in my college years and recently determined myself some what of an American History illeterate. Thus, I decided it was time to learn and "John Adams" was a great introduction. It wasn't the dry history I remember. The fact that these great men and woman (Abigail) actually documented history in the making made me feel like I knew these great people. I have subsequently read Josph J. Ellis' "The American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson" and "Founding Brothers" and found that I understood them much better having read "John Adams" first.

John Adams
For all those people out there who find American history boring...I strongly urge them to read one of the most fascinating and best written books on Ameican history in a long time...John Adams...It not only probes into great detail as to the life of this key individual but also gives one a both very interesting and highly detailed picture of the times in which John Adams lived. Kudos to David McCollough for his mastery of the challenging craft of making American history interesting to not only the history lover, but also the novice.... ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Abigail Adams -- At long last !!!
At last, a well written, well researched book on one of America's most fascinating ladies, Abigail Adams. Based on carefully interjected original research and letters, this book provides a long needed look at the issues and challenges that faced Abigail Adams. The author portrays her as a woman, very much in love with her husband, very much in love with her country, and very willing to try to balance the needs of both. It is striking to realize how totally independent she became in financial affairs, and in domestic issues. The book reminds you of the challenges of communications and distance. It also makes you aware of the personal sacrifices this family made for the young, emerging nation. The focus of the book is on Abigail, but sufficient information on the political events and political players is provided. An excellent look at a very important person. Don't miss it if you enjoy this period of history and are anxious to understand more about its key players.

Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams by Phyllis Lee Levin is an excellent companion work for David McCullough's John Adams.

Throughout life Abigail and John were inseparable, best of friends, and each others life. Through circumstances John was away in the service of forming a government and the duties to a new nation, but Abigail was not far from his heart, nor he from hers.

We see an unabated ardor in her for her "Best Friend" in life. Abigail Adams saw and wrote with clarity about the time leading to and after the Revolutionary War, and events following and her humanity. We have a unique perspective of the life and times of this period through her eyes written for posterity through her letters to a variety of people surrounding her life.

Not since Barbara Bush, has a woman been both a wife and mother to a President of the United States, even though she dies before John Quincy is elected. Abigail kept her family close to her heart and was the one to keep the family together and the family homestead viable in John's absence.

This is a well written book, solid in research, flowing prose and good details. This book captures Abigail Adams and shows us her intellegence and her perceptiveness of the events of her times. She wrote letters to Jefferson and had comments about all of the people, albeit caustic or poignant, close to John's work and life.

She loved John and missed him greatly when he was away, her letters attest to that, but when she was at his side both flourished. This book gives us a great insight into how Abigail was as a woman and how she coped with private and public life.

I recommend reading and enjoying this book. ... Read more

Book Description

This remarkable memoir written by Prince Hassan Hassan (1924-2000), a junior member of the former royal family, is a charming and evocative account of a time and social class before 1952 that no longer exists. Fascinating insights are chronicled not only of the rulers, from Muhammad Ali to King Farouk, but also of royal wives, cousins, aunts, uncles and their associates. 75 black and white illustrations ... Read more

Reviews (1)

New Perspective
Published soon after Prince Hassan's death, this entertaining collection of personal memories and family reminisces gives shape to an often misunderstood and much maligned period of Egyptian history and its ruling family.

Told in a chatty, familiar - almost gossipy - style with plenty of black and white photographs, this work provides insight into a past of privilege that survives today in the memory of a select few. Suprisingly, little information is available about a royal familty that was once counted among the wealthiest in the world.

It is the trend in current Egyptian literature to shun recording anything remotely positive about the Muhammed Ali family. However, their accomplishments and failures did help to shape this ancient country that still struggles for its own identity today. It is an important - informal - look at a period in history through a different perspective.

A note to potential travelers to Egypt. With patience, one can still visit some of the royal palaces Prince Hassan mentions, although in a neglected state or converted into modern hotels. ... Read more