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SusannaG

SusannaG - Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady

Just another GR refugee.  Other than that, I had a stroke in 2004, and read almost anything I can get my hands on, though I have a particular weakness for history, mystery, and historical fiction.

Currently reading

Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition
Paul Watson
Progress: 6 %
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
Ed Yong
Progress: 40 %
Wizard's First Rule
Terry Goodkind
Progress: 49 %
Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant
Tracy Borman
Progress: 14 %
Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life
Helen Czerski
Progress: 20 %
The Hanover Square Affair
Ashley Gardner
Progress: 10 %
Medieval Tastes: Food, Cooking, and the Table (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History)
Beth Archer Brombert, Massimo Montanari
Progress: 10 %
Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth
Holger Hoock
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari
Progress: 9 %
Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years
John Guy
Progress: 20/512 pages

The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln, by Sean Wilentz

The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln - Sean Wilentz

An interesting book, and an ambitious one, but flawed. 

 

Wilentz is seriously in love with Andrew Jackson (to the extent of trying to whitewash the "Trail of Tears" as not that bad for the Cherokee), and, to a lesser extent, Thomas Jefferson.  But obviously Jackson is his culture hero to be worshiped.

 

A secondary issue was that if Wilentz referred to the Democratic Party as "the Democracy" even one more time I was going to slap somebody.  (Probably either Mr. Wilentz, or his editor.)  Yes, I know it's an accurate period usage.  But used consistently over 800+ pages, it became very annoying. 

 

Perhaps I just expected more from a Bancroft Prize winner.  Still worth a read.