The Most Dangerous Man in America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur

by Mark Perry

This book is largely limited to an account of the Pacific war during World War II and the part MacArthur played in it. MacArthur is treated quite fairly - despite the title. For instance, he did not ‘flee’ Corregidor - a calumny often expressed - he was ordered to leave. 

It was Roosevelt who called MacArthur “the most dangerous man in America”, realizing early on that he had ambitions to one day be Commander in Chief. Unlike Roosevelt, MacArthur was a conservative. He was also autocratic and prone to clashes with others of high rank. Men like Marshall and Eisenhower disliked him, yet MacArthur and Roosevelt  were able to - more or less - work together with minimum clashes. They had a mutual respect despite their differences.

It is amazing that MacArthur was successful in the Pacific Theater. The European war took precedence with Washington and it was like pulling teeth to obtain the men and supplies he needed. In addition, he had to cope with the Navy which tried to claim ascendence over the Army - considering the Pacific “their war”. There was so much infighting between the Army and Navy that’s it’s a wonder we won!

The accounts of various battles, the invasion of island after island are harrowing. The men were fighting through tropical conditions on thickly forested islands, enduring terrible heat. The Japanese would not surrender. They preferred death - some officers, facing defeat, committed hara kiri - disemboweling themselves with their Samurai sword. 

The account ends with the surrender of Japan and mentions MacArthur’s governance of Japan but does not go into the Korean War or his ultimate removal from command by President Harry Truman.

George Washington's Secret Six

 by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

This is an account of Washington’s little known, organized spy ring operating out of New York City during the Revolution. It’s also a fascinating account of what New York City and environs were like during the British occupation. The men who were recruited were ordinary citizens and businessmen who served with some trepidation but served faithfully. The authors had to do some real ‘digging’ since little was known about them - not even their names in some cases. Most lived on Long Island and at least one lived in New York City, where he maintained a printing shop and was known as a Tory sympathizer.

Long Island was occupied by the British who moved into the homes of citizens. They were often abusive to those known as Patriots as opposed to the Tory families who favored the British. The descriptions of life on the Island - and in the city - at that time are vivid.

Everyone knows the story of Benedict Arnold and Major Andre. Arnold, who was the hero of Champlain married a woman from a Tory family. He was later given command of West Point, the crucial fort on the  Hudson. He always felt that he was not appreciated and - with the probable encouragement of his wife - plotted to turn West Point over to the British. 

What is so interesting is the detailed account of the personalities of both Arnold and Andre. Andre in particular comes to life here. The reader will be surprised by many of the vivid details of his apprehension and trial. I recommend this book as both a ‘good read’ and most enlightening.

*An amusing footnote: I bought the book before reading the back cover where various notables wrote blurbs — words of praise. I was stunned when the names read like a roster of Conservative stars, among them: Karl Rove (!), Donald Rumsfeld and (oh my) the eminent ‘birther’, Donald Trump. Author Kilmeade himself is host of “Fox & Friends”! It made me approach the book gingerly. Shame on me.

Kings Mountain by Sharon McCrumb

This is what I would call a narrative history - the events and the names of people are real - but the words and many actions come from the imagination and supposition of the author. I saw the 'Battle of King's Mountain' reenacted on the television series "The Revolution" - so I could easily picture in my own mind the action taking place. This is the back story. What these men - all volunteers - endured on the march over the mountains to and from the battle site is incredible. The great anger on both sides led to a virtual massacre of the British troops who were not about to give up to men they considered so inferior to their trained and uniformed army. It's well known that the Americans had the advantage in the site and the fact that they fought like Indians against the robotic formations of the British gave them a huge advantage. Well worth the read.

The Devil Amongst the Lawyers: A Ballad Novel (Ballad Novels) by Sharon McCrumb

This book is also about an actual event but the author imagines virtually all the events surrounding the 1920's trial of a woman of the Tennessee mountains who was charged with the murder of her father. The plot deals mainly with the big city reporters - and one lad representing a local paper - who covered the trial. The ways in which they manipulate the facts to fit a preconceived idea of what the public wants and what will induce that public to follow events avidly are really the main story. Reading, one can't help reflecting that nothing has changed since the Spanish American War - often called 'Hearst's War' because the war mongering newspaper editor whipped people into a nationalistic frenzy - to the present day. Readers are ruthlessly manipulated - and to hell with the truth.We still deal with it.

Guest of Honor

by Deborah Davis

This slim volume is an account of what happened when Teddy Roosevelt invited Booker T.  Washington to have dinner with him and his family at the White House.

It also, in the  initial chapters, recounts the lives of both men - Booker T. who was born a slave and educated himself and TR who was born an aristocrat from a monied background. I had already read much about TR but very little about Booker T. The biographical accounts for both men are extraordinary - just as these two men themselves were.

The news of the dinner, which occurs well into the book, was received by the public as scandalous - even in the North and especially in the South. The general public was stirred into a frenzy by the media, (sounds familiar), which built up and kept the ‘scandal’ going with scurrilous cartoons and text.

Both men were astounded by the ruckus - even Book T. who was used to ‘walking on eggs’ where whites were concerned.  Though in England, he had been invited to Tea by Queen Victoria, he expected no such respect in his home country. TR however was surprised and appalled. He had been using Booker T. as a consultant on the appointment of southerners to various government jobs in an attempt to exclude the most intractable racists. The relationship was not publicly known but after the dinner brouhaha, it continued with greater secrecy.

Now, one hundred years later, we have a black president living in the White House. Things have changed. Right? They have, haven’t they……………….?

The Glory and The Dream

by William Manchester

Published in 1973, it is now out of print and accordingly is relatively high priced. Luckily I snagged this tome from a used book website for a pittance. When it was delivered, I was intimidated by its size. Not only was it two thick volumes but the text, though not small, was dense and the paragraphs long. Formidable! I ‘tackled’ it and found that each evening, I looked forward to reading it, as one would a good novel.

It covers our American history from 1933 to 1973 - forty very eventful years encompassing the Great Depression and three wars. Since I was born in 1931, all the historical names - places, politicians, events - were familiar to me. What was fascinating were the nuances and machinations behind these events. Sometimes the details were jaw dropping. "I didn’t know that" - went through my mind many times as I read accounts of  the background of events I remembered. The author, who died in 2004, explored the culture of the times as well as events and politics. Those parts are great fun.

The Depression, Roosevelt, World War II, Truman, the atom bomb, the Korean War, Eisenhower, the years of post war affluence, Kennedy, Viet Nam, Johnson, Nixon. It covers the McCarthy era with an account of how everyone was cowed by the man who was an obvious charlatan. Even the United States Army backed off over special treatment demanded for David Schine, one of McCarthy’s minions. It was attorney Joseph Welch who eventually brought McCarthy down with the words “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

The politics then was as dirty as it is now. Some things never change. In a sense, it’s a ‘tell all’ book because it records all the political maneuvering behind decisions through these forty years and the social changes in mores, manners and morals. The latter passages have an almost ‘gossipy’ feel.

The book ends with Watergate which is presented here as an incredibly ‘bollixed’ up plan that - in detail - reads like a Keystone Cops comedy of errors. Hindsight shows it as terminal stupidity which was destined for failure from the beginning and it was so unnecessary, since Nixon was at the height of his popularity. The book ends before Ford’s presidency. I closed it with regret and wished for more.

Dakota Blues by Lynne Morgan Spreen

This first novel by Spreen held my interest from beginning to end. The author was brought up in North Dakota but this doesn’t mean it’s a memoir. It does mean that she has a fine sense of the place and its people. The main character is Karen, a fifty year old woman, who goes home for her mother's funeral in North Dakota. Karen has a high pressure job and while there she is informed that she has been 'let go'. To make matter worse, she's in the throes of a divorce.

When she is about to return home to California, she is persuaded to drive a camper belonging to a ninety year old woman, who is in ill health and who wishes to see her new great granddaughter. Reluctantly she agrees to sidetrack to Denver and leave the woman with her daughter, with the promise that then the camper will become her property and she can proceed to California.

Gradually her impatience gives way to a curious bonding with the woman. At that point, it turns briefly into a 'road trip' story with an unlikely duo. The two meet assorted people at the various campgrounds and even have a narrow escape in one instance. After finally depositing her companion in Denver Karen drives on to California, faces what awaits her and makes a decision - a surprising resolution to her problems.

I look forward to another book by this author.

Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power by Thomas Meacham (A Pulitzer Prize winning book)

Most of us see the 'founding fathers' as graven stone images - or stiffly portrayed in old paintings. They put together the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution with skill, dignity and equanimity.  Right? Wrong. Birthing a nation can involve long & arduous labor. This book presents a view of events as they really happened. There were prickly personalities, feuds, anger and personal animosity - just as we see in politics today.

There were two 'parties' then - as now. These were the Federalists and Republicans. The conservative Federalists leaned toward a reunion with England or a monarchy type of government and the more liberal Republicans toward a freely elected, representative government. Jefferson personified the latter view. It caused breaks with many of his former close friends - John Adams among them. (Adams succeeded George Washington as our second president). 

An extremely controversial act was passed during the presidency of John Adams - the Alien & Sedition Act. It provided for anyone who criticized the president or the government to be liable to fines and imprisonment. It's hard to believe it was signed by Adams. It was clearly a templet for dictatorship. Jefferson rescinded it upon ascending to the presidency and pardoned those who had been imprisoned.

His administration was notable for some outstanding achievements. He quickly seized upon the purchase of Louisiana when the French offered it for sale at a 'bargain' price, roughly doubling the size of the country. He also commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition to the northwest, establishing a claim to that region.

What makes this a good read is the fact that you are drawn into the personal lives of these iconic figures. You see them - warts and all. It was astonishing that so many men of brilliance lived and worked in one time period. 

Jefferson was beset by doubts and lack of confidence - a conflict between modesty and a desire to see his name writ large in history. Jefferson's wife extracted from him a deathbed promise not to marry again. (This wasn't quite as selfish as it sounds - her own mother died when she was two and she was brought up by a succession of stepmothers. Evidently she wanted to protect her own children from a similar situation). He never did marry again but was not celibate. While serving as the country's representative in France, he carried on a long standing affair with a married Italian aristocrat and notably fathered several children by his slave, Sally Hemmings.

Jefferson viewed slavery as a vice that should be eliminated - and yet he never freed his own slaves. He did free the children he had with Sally Hemmings when they reached the age of twenty one. After his death, Jefferson's daughter gave Sally a house and she was in effect freed.

 Jefferson lived into his eighties in reasonably good shape with intellect intact. Memorably, both he and John Adams (with whom he had repaired differences later in life) died on July 4th, 1826 - the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

American Lion

Andrew Jackson in the White House

John Meacham

Andrew Jackson was one of the more interesting tenants of the White House. For starters, he was the first 'non-aristocrat' to hold the office of president. Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, Adams, were all well educated, landed gentry. 

Jackson's father died the year he was born; his mother when he was about ten. He and his two brothers served as couriers during the Revolution and were captured by the British at one point. After his mother's death, he was passed to various uninterested relatives and finally took up the study of law in his late teens. He embarked on a military career and became the hero of the War of 1812 when he defeated the British in the battle of New Orleans. 

Later, his law practice prospered, and he became a land owner and slave holder in Tennessee, but he never lost the rough edges. He was quick to anger and take physical action but he also became known as a man who stood up for those who served with him - hence the nickname 'Old Hickory' - solid as a hickory tree. He served in the House and Senate variously, representing Tennessee, before his election to the presidency.

The book is interesting in its exploration of the forces that shaped him. A vendetta against his wife during the campaign may have contributed to her early death after he was elected but prior to his assumption of office. He never fully recovered and relied heavily on his niece and her family during his eight year tenure. The fact that he was looked down upon socially didn't help.

Jackson closed the National Bank in Philadelphia - which was run by Nicholas Biddle. His reason - Biddle was using the funds to support his political favorites. Was He? Probably. I feel the book is remiss in not expostulating on that. 

He was volatile and his loyalty often led him to take a course that was against his best interest, but he averted the secession of S. Carolina over a tariff (plus the slavery) question thirty years before the Civil War through his threat of a military action. Knowing his temperament, the leaders of the secession movement - Clay and Calhoun - did not doubt his determination - and backed down. It was during his administration that the modern day two-party system evolved, with his founding of the Democratic party. There were two assassination attempts on his life - the very first on a president. In the second one, he actually fought back with his cane.

His reputation has suffered greatly because of his treatment of the Indians native to the region and the Seminoles of Florida, with whom he was constantly at odds. It was he who instigated the infamous 'Trail of Tears' that removed the resident tribes to areas west of the Mississippi - with high casualties along the way. If not for this, his place in the pantheon of 'greats' would be much higher.

Upon reading this over, it sounds like a review of Andrew Jackson rather than the book. If so - that's good. I knew absolutely nothing about the man before, even thinking that his nickname was 'Stonewall Jackson'. (Nope). American Lion is well researched, perceptive and interesting and - thanks to it - I now 'know' Andrew Jackson…

Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

I was bemused when I read the title of this book. Am I the only person old enough to remember the move 'Lifeboat' (1944, directed by Alfred Hitchcock; adapted from a story by John Steinbeck)? Look it up on Wikipedia. Note this line: "The film … follows the lifeboat inhabitants as they attempt to organize their rations, set a course for Bermuda and coexist as they try to survive. The characters start out being good-natured, cooperative, and optimistic about rescue. However, they descend into desperation, dehydration, and frustration with each other." Exactly the course of events in this book. 

I read on. In the book, rescue is followed by a trial of the principal character and two others for murder. That differs from the movie.  There is a hint of a backstory which I thought sounded more interesting than the story I was reading. The novel has been praised for the quality of the writing and several critics have spoken of not being able to 'put it down'. It seemed disconnected to me. My assessment is certainly influenced by having seen the movie but I did not find this 'Lifeboat' at all compelling.

Catherine the Great by Robert Massie

Unless one has studied Russian history, all many of us know about Catherine is that she was a powerful ruler with  a prodigious libido. This book brings her to life - and it's a real page turner!

She came to Russia at the age of 14 and was promptly married to the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Peter. The purpose was to beget an heir to the throne - promptly. That did not materialize. Peter, who was a real piece of work, did not touch his bride for 17 years. Those years were a period during which she was subjected to much humiliation and disrespect by her strange, child-like husband and his mother, the Empress Elizabeth. Catherine finally was seduced by a courtier and produced a son, Paul - who promptly was accepted as heir to the throne. Elizabeth, happy with an heir at last, then channeled her energy into jealousy of the young couple and especially of Catherine.

When Elizabeth died, the unpopular Peter III ruled very briefly before forces loyal to Catherine rebelled and crowned Catherine as empress. Shortly thereafter, Peter was killed, apparently by overzealous supporters of the new empress. Massie seems to absolve her of any involvement.

Catherine was great. She was highly intelligent and during her long years left to herself, she had read voluminously and made contact with Voltaire, Diderot and many western philosophers and men of letters. Influenced by their culture, she brought Russia into contact with the rest of Europe during a period called The Enlightenment. She was responsible for collecting the fabulous art in Russian museums. She cared about her people and attempted to reform the serfdom system. In this, she was circumvented by the nobility who considered the serfs their property. Practicality induced her to drop the issue or lose her supporters (her 'base' so to speak). Through successful wars and alliances, she vastly increased the land holding of Russia and made it a power to be reckoned with.
Footnote: The serfs of Russia were freed two years before our slaves were freed.

Catherine did have several children by different lovers - or 'favorites' as they were called, a practice almost universal in all the ruling houses of Europe and England, most of whom were male. It always has amused me to reflect that, given the pyramid effect of genealogy, we all are descended from royalty! Think about it....

Ruminations on A Painted House by John Grisham

Did you ever read this book? It's quite unlike Grisham's usual work. I read it some years ago and it made quite an impression. So much so that I wonder now if I actually saw it adapted for TV - or am remembering the vivid picture he painted.

It's based on his youth but I found that hard to believe - it's so evocative of what we know about The Depression years. Grisham was born in 1955. Then I remembered an account of a Thanksgiving my husband, Dwight, spent when he was stationed in Texas during the Korean War. It was about 1951.

The men had a four day pass and, of course, no money or time to get home. A fellow airman lived in Oklahoma and invited Dwight and two others to come home with him for the holiday. They accepted gratefully.

"Home" was a one room house. Curtains partitioned it to make 'rooms'. The foursome were warmly received and the family shared their Thanksgiving dinner with their guests.

Remembering this - it was 1951 - it becomes quite believable that Grisham had the childhood he wrote about in Arkansas.

5 Stars - "The Girl...

...With The Dragon Tattoo"
...Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest"
...Who Played With Fire"

By now, most of you are familiar with Swedish author Steig Larssen's best selling trilogy and his sudden and untimely death after completing the three books. I've read all three and they certainly are what is termed 'a good read'. The main characters are well defined and intriguing, the plots are original, as is the location. "I couldn't put it down" certainly applies.

The 'bad guys' range from corrupt bureaucrats to deranged psychopaths - sometimes embodied in one person. The descriptions of perpetrated violence are harrowing compared to the average crime novel in which the leading character takes a beating that would disable a person for weeks but immediately gets up with a 'few aches and pains'. Not so in these books.

The only thing that bothered me were the many characters named in the book- often with names so similar that it was easy to mix up the characters. And the street names. When a character travels around Stockholm or the countryside on foot or in a car, every street, highway and alley enroute is named - and believe me - nothing as simple as 'Elm St.' A minor kvetch to be sure.

It's sad that there will be no more books by Larssen.

It should be stated that I am hugely interested in English history (as well as American History) and am delighted with books like Carolly Erickson's "Royal Panopoly: Brief Lives of The English Monarchs". Indeed they were generally brief, in fact - as well as in the accounts in this book.

As an account of every day life, it is fascinating. Their lives were colorful, if brief - and through much of English history it's evident that even minimal intelligence was not a prerequisite to ruling. War was constant, the masses led miserable lives. When a king was dethroned - it was seldom with dignity. Many met ghastly deaths at the hands of their own courtiers. The kings had so many bastard children by various mistresses that we all have to be descended from princes, as well as peasants. Sounds grim but it makes fascinating reading.

The pace is so fast that's it's hard to keep track of 'who's on first' but to trace the history of a country through such a span of time, starting with William the Conqueror, demands brevity

"the fiddler in the subway" by Gene Weingarten

I recently read "the fiddler in the subway" by Gene Weingarten (the lack of caps is his idea). Weingarten is a humor columnist for The Washington Post and has snagged two Pulitzers for his columns.

The title column rose from his speculation of what would happen if a world class violinist - Joshua Bell - was in a Washington subway station, playing. Would anyone notice? They did not. While there is a wry humor in his writing - there is something else - something touching. He writes about his stay on a small, isolated island just off the coast of Alaska. In the Bering Sea, it is closer to Siberia than Alaska. The native people there live without any promise of the future and smuggled alcohol is a constant source of woe. Yet they persist.

Another essay deals with his assignment to find a town that could truly be called 'the armpit of America'. Butte Mountain, Nevada won hands down according to Weingarten's research. (Interestingly, that town was one of the places where Jeannette Walls and her nomad family of "The Glass Castle", alighted for a brief period). He captures the feel of such dead end places perfectly with humor - and empathy.

Getting back to that violin player. Many years ago we visited Washington DC, spending several consecutive days on The Mall. Each day when we headed for the subway to take us back to our hotel, a tall black man stood at the entrance, playing his classical violin. On the last day, I halted my husband, said 'wait a minute', hauled a $5 bill out of my wallet, placed it in his violin case and said 'thank you'. He nodded and said the same thing to me...

It surely is a 'different kind' of book but one that held my attention.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I couldn't put this book down but it was a bit like watching a train wreck from which you can’t look away! It traces the strange story of a family of six that moves around the country aimlessly while the persistently jobless, alcoholic father promises them a great future in a fabulous house that he will one day build.

He 'skedaddles' every time they have unpaid bills or a brush with the authorities, and they often wind up sleeping in the car or on the ground or in shelters scrounged from whatever is available - but the family continues to love and believe in him. Both parents are highly intelligent and encourage inquiring minds in the children and independence to the point of endangering them. Until the children get older and begin to question their life style, they maintain unquestioning loyalty and love for these two eccentrics.

The author seems to keep an emotional distance in her account - especially when she recounts her father’s attempt to set her up as a sexual decoy for his bar room gambling when she was a teenager. Her reaction was not shock or anger but rather… annoyance. In the beginning of the book, the author states that it was her husband who convinced her that she should write the story of her background. My guess is that the only way she could do this was with a certain detachment - by putting space between the remembered facts and the emotions that must have been engendered.

Whatever - she’s tells a wicked good story! You keep reading to see what happens next! I highly recommend it.

Borderline - a mystery by Nevada Barr

Barr's books are always a 'good read'. This is the latest in her series about National Park ranger, Anna Pigeon. Barr knows her terrain since she has worked as a NPS ranger. I enjoy reading her books because of the authenticity of her locales and in spite of the sometimes preposterous twists and turns of the plots.

This book is set in Big Bend National Park in Texas. Anna and her husband have undertaken a rafting trip on the Rio Grande River while she is recovering from the trauma of her previous assignment. Naturally, murder and mystery ensue. It's an exciting (and over the top) journey to the resolution of the mystery and in the aftermath, Anna's confidence and peace of mind, which had been sundered by her previous assignment, are restored.

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton - the latest of her 'alphabet' mysteries

Aaah - opening a book by Grafton is like sinking into a comfy chair with your feet up. I love Grafton and her newest book is up to and beyond her best. It employs a device - going back and forth between the present and the past in alternating chapters - that can be confusing and/or annoying. In this case there may be a feeling of confusion/disorientation at first - but it becomes more and more interesting as the book progresses. I finished it with a feeling of sadness - for both the innocent and the guilty - an almost unheard of reaction to the 'bad guys' in any book.

There are only five more letters in the alphabet. What in the world will she do with 'X'? A crime takes place within Xerox? A murderer who plays the xylophone? (I'm getting goofy here). And what about when the series finishes with 'Z'? Will the author stop writing and rest on her laurels and her bank account? If so, she will be sorely missed.

Books waiting to be reviewed:

I've been back on a mystery reading spree - a respite from some of the 'heavy lifting' reading I've been doing. For pure relaxation, there's nothing like a good mystery by a favorite author. I've read "Borderline" by Nevada Barr and "U is for Undertow" by Sue Grafton and they are in line for review and I'm reading "The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest" now. I'm always skeptical of 'best sellers' but the latter has grabbed me by the throat and won't let go!

Lives Like Loaded Guns by Lyndall Gordon

Until I read this book, I knew virtually nothing about Emily Dickinson other than the fact that she was a reclusive, 19th century poet whose work was highly acclaimed. Now - thanks to Gordon - I know a lot more.

Like most biographers of long dead subjects - especially one so reclusive - there is much supposition and detective work involved in the biography. Curiosity aroused by the book led me to research Dickinson on Wikipedia where I found a very lengthy essay about her life and poetry. Much of it correlated with Gordon’s work, naming people & incidences familiar from the book.

Some salient facts: Emily Dickinson was plagued by unnamed periods of ill health throughout her life. Gordon makes a good case for epilepsy - which would have qualified as a reason for her mysterious withdrawal from society, especially if the seizures became more frequent. Her family largely recognized her genius early on and did not discourage her. I suppose poetry was deemed a satisfactory pursuit for a genteel Victorian lady.

It is about half way through the book, after Emily’s death, that things take a dramatic and quite lurid turn. It seems that the entire family 'took a viper to its bosom' in the lovely form of one Mable Loomis Todd, who proceeded to seduce the entire family with her charm and finally – literally – seduce Emily's brother. The feud between the brother’s wife and children and her brother and his mistress and her family was long and bitter and its effects proceeded well into the twentieth century. What is amazing is that Emily’s work survived. It had been parceled out into caches in the custody of the various warring factions - some of it unavailable until decades after her death. I would assume that only the hope of great financial rewards kept it from destruction. Most of the poems that did come to light were heavily edited to conform to prevailing notions of proper form and the poet’s intentions were circumvented till much later editions published from the original copies. This would have been a formidable project since the poet wrote her poems on any scraps of paper she happened to pick up. Only a few had any form of organization.

Gordon’s scholarly treatment and research are thorough but two things make it a bit of a dense ‘read’. In the early portions of the book, the author seemed to frequently lapse into language that would be used by educated mid-19th century women. Perhaps she experienced what I call the ‘Immersion Syndrome’. It may have been a total immersion in the era that inspired the author’s language, particularly since she often quotes lines from Dickinson's poems and letters. Toward the end of the book, the account of the machinations of the many various competing factions seeking control of Dickinson’s papers tends to become repetitious. Certainly, by its nature, it was complicated - many different groups and personalities were involved.

As an account of the manners and mores of the era and in its account of Emily Dickinson’s life, I found the book interesting and thought provoking and would recommend Lives Like Loaded Guns.