Book Review: Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America: An Enduring Masterwork on American Life, Politics, and Morals by Alexis de Tocqueville
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sent on a mission by the French government to examine the American prison system, two men studied American society instead with one of them writing a book about how that society and democracy interacted. Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville is a two-volume book that examines the democratic revolution and its effects over that past century with the United States his primary source of evidence.

Tocqueville argument throughout the book, though more in the first volume than over the second, is why republican representative democracy had succeeded in the United States. Focusing on the puritan tradition in New England that eventually found its way into the Federal Constitution, spreading over the nation even in some way the South whose economic model led to a different culture. Throughout the entire book, Tocqueville always came back to America’s founding when comparing it and the European democratic revolutions as the latter were transitioning from an aristocratic society on various subjects why they differ so much. While volume one is focused more describing how representative democracy in the United States is influenced by society along with influencing it, in my personal view Tocqueville in volume two focuses on how representative democracy affects civil society particularly when moved from an aristocratic government. Tocqueville’s analysis led him to some startling accurate predictions about the end of slavery in the United States and the eventual rise and rivalry of the U.S. and Russia in the form of the U.S.S.R. Upon competition of this book, it’s no wonder that universities and colleges across the West make it apart of political theory syllabuses.

Democracy in America by Alexis Tocqueville is probably the best book written about the political society of the United States.

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Book Review: Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress by James Morris

Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress by Jan Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Victoria ascended to the throne, there was a question of if the empire was worth having by the time of her Diamond Jubilee that thinking had changed. Heaven’s Command: An Imperial Progress is the first volume, though the second published, of James Morris’ Pax Britannica trilogy that chronicles the rise of the British Empire from the East India Company’s first steps in India to its climax at Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

Morris divided the first sixty years of Victoria’s reign into three segments in which British attitude towards the Empire changed and as it did, so did the policy and strategies that either led to reform movements, expansion, or the destruction of cultures and people. With only 540 pages of text, this isn’t a comprehensive detailing of the empire’s expansion and how it happened militarily, nor an outright political history though both are featured when Morris chooses. Besides the famous, or infamous depending on the telling, colonial wars written about and featured in documentaries there are the less well known such as the Red River Rebellion in Canada that Morris highlighted to show how different cultures viewed oncoming empire. The different peoples of the empire were covered like the Irish that included the native Gaelic, the Anglos with descent from the earlier Norman crossing, and the Ulster Protestants whose view of their place in the empire was “complicated”; or the sad fate of the Tasmanians who were hunted like animals, taken from their homeland, and then allowed to return to die out. And Morris gives some political background to how situations developed including how the rivalry between Disraeli and Gladstone shaped policy on the ground or vice versa. Though Morris covers sixty years through a variety of incidents both famous and obscure, the advance of the British is always at the forefront even if it seems they are defeated, if only temporarily.

Heaven’s Command reveals the various locations, wars, and reforms that brought the British Empire the pinnacle of global power at the end of the 19th Century. James Morris writes an engaging account of events from across the globe over the course of sixty years.

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Book Review: Punderworld (Volume Two) by Linda Sejic

Punderworld, Vol. 2 by Linda Šejić
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, what happens when an overprotected young goddess accidentally ends up in the Underworld with the socially inept king of the domain, what could possibly go wrong? Punderworld (Volume Two) by author-artist Linda Sejic finds Persephone and Hades attempting to get the former out of the Underworld as Demeter begins looking for her daughter.

The main arc of this volume is Persephone and Hades’ attempts to get the former out of the Underworld and back among the living so she can return to work on keeping things alive, however whatever they try it doesn’t work. This leads Hades to make a sacred oath to find a way for Persephone to leave the Underworld to reassure her, however it now endangers the Underworld itself if he can’t fulfill it. The secondary arc followed Demeter as she looked for Persephone so her daughter would agree with her side of things like always only to find her missing, which leads her to Hestia’s abode leading to a very interesting discussion that explains things and sets things up for later. Sejic includes a potential foreshadowing of how she plans to mimic the myth but in a unique way will Biblical allusions. The art is fantastic and I’m just not saying that as a superfan of Linda Sejic’s work, but in this type of media if the art isn’t good then it doesn’t help the narrative. Overall, this was a very good continuation of the Sejic’s retelling of the Persephone and Hades myth.

Punderworld (Volume Two) continues a modern retelling of the well-known myth, but with characters that are socially awkward and that adds a slight to certain character dynamics.

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Book Review: The Rise of Industrial America by Page Smith

The Rise of Industrial America by Page Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After fifteen years in which the future of a portion of the populace was at stake, a deal was made that forgot them and let the country move on into a bright golden future that turned out to be just a gilded age. The Rise of Industrial America: A People’s History of the Post-Reconstruction Era is the sixth volume of Page Smith’s A People’s History series covering American history starting in 1877 to 1901 which sees capital battle labor, reformers turn their attention to numerous causes including women’s right, the rise of radicalism and populism, and finally the sudden arrival of the reform movement to power.

This volume covers a remarkable quarter of a century of history that not only shows how the nation attempted to reunite after a devastating 15-year period, but as Smith covers in almost 1000 pages as transform it into more moral nation which to many meant non-regulated capitalism. Throughout the volume, Smith’s main theme was “capital vs. labor” with side tangents on reforms a few of which admittedly did touch on that theme though many didn’t. Yet Smith quite literally skipped over a huge element that not only impacted capital and labor, but farmers, the South, the West, cities, and yes politics. Smith’s dismissing of the monetary issues—Gold Standard and Free Silver—that were embedded quickly in his chapter covering the politics of this period was part of this. In his concluding retrospective Smith says he follows the simple adage “Tell what happened” over trying to write history based on a theory, but by neglecting showing the effects of the deflation Smith removes an element that helps explain what happened. While overall Smith’s writing is fantastic as always and his analysis of cultural, societal, regional, racial and ethnic, athletic, and other numerous elements of the United States during this time period is not only top notch but informative, his lack of at least properly giving a good overall description of the economy that played a role in how things were shaped is a big hole.

The Rise of Industrial America seems to be a transitionary phase in American history from the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s time to the rise of Theodore Roosevelt and dawn of the American Century.

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Book Review: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A young female warrior-ruler from a barbarian northern country is called out of exile by her grandfather to become heir to the evil global empire that’s their family has governed for at least 1000 years as decreed by god, with so many tropes in one sentence that one is intrigued to see what it comes out as. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is N.K. Jemisin’s debut novel and the first of The Inheritance Trilogy which follows Yeine as she arrives in the floating castle that her family rules the world from and wonders why her grandfather has called her to be one of his heirs if he wanted her dead like her recently deceased mother.

I’ll be honest, the book was a page turner but was I satisfied with everything once finished? Not really. Yeine is the typical fish out of water and everything she does to help her native Darre is no use because events were started way before the book that would crush it, even before she was summoned by her grandfather. Yeine’s family are the typical spectrum of evil and were written fine, but it was easy to see what was being set up. The fascinating aspect is the inclusion of gods bound in mortal flesh after losing a divine war, which is connected with the main plot of the book which ended the only way it could though the twist at the end made one question if there was a massive plot hole given the worldbuilding connected with this part of the story. The only thing I really got annoyed about was the seemingly over reliance on sex—and talk of sexual relationships or speculations on said relationships between two characters—to take up word count and add book pages to the overall work. Honestly, I could see reason for some of the amount given but not all of it. Overall, this was an okay read, but I didn’t feel any need to continue reading the series.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin is an okay debut novel, I wasn’t really blown away by anything and if my one major annoyance had not been there it wouldn’t have changed my view of the book that much.

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Book Review: The War for the Union: The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865 by Allan Nevins

The War for the Union: The Organized War to Victory 1864-1865 by Allan Nevins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Confederates had to turn their entire economy towards total war to gain independence, the Union organized its war effort with one arm tied behind its back and as a result the Union was victorious. The War for the Union, Volume IV: The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865 is the eighth and final volume of Allan Nevins’ Ordeal of the Union series covers the last year of the Civil War which saw U.S. Grant’s multiple offensive strategy to stretch the Confederate’s resources to the breakpoint as the United States held a national election in the midst of a civil war, which both saw the collapse of the rebellion.

Throughout 404 pages of well-written and researched text, Nevins covers the military and political history during the last year of the war along with the “home fronts” and economic realities that each side faced during this last year then a glance in the immediate aftermath before concluding with a summing up of how the United States had changed in over four years of war. While Nevins coverage of Grant and Sherman’s campaigns were excellent, in particular the decision-making and preparation surrounding the March to the Sea, as was his writing on the 1864 Presidential election to me the most interesting chapters covered the Southern war effort in one and how it compared to another when Nevins detailed what Northerners were doing besides participating in the war effort, the juxtaposition between how both sections home fronts were like during this last year of the war was startling. The last chapter, “Toward a Mature Nation”, is Nevins glance at the United States in the aftermath of the war and how it had changed, though Nevins planned to write about Reconstruction but passed away before he could this chapter highlights how the nation changed over the course of 18 years in which he covered in the eight volumes of the overall historical series he wrote over the course of 24 years.

The War for the Union, Volume IV: The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865 culminates a near quarter century of writing by Allan Nevins to detail how victory in a war against Mexico lead to Civil War and the birth of a new United States.

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Book Review: Lore Olympus Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe

Lore Olympus: Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Persephone is sheltering in the Underworld, and the rift of the realms is happening with a trial on the horizon, but when that trial starts the twists and turns come from all directions. Lore Olympus Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe finds Hades and Persephone getting to know one another better as well as dealing with their family and friends, drama around Apollo and his shenanigans continues, and other minor characters find themselves making discoveries that readers have been waiting for them to find out.

Covering episodes #153-179 of her webcomic, Smythe’s continues showing Hades and Persephone learning about each other which gives readers backstory without info-dumping the reader. The introduction of Leto and her own angle to things which helped lead to the trial was a nice way to add tension, especially as it plays into everything connected with Apollo. Once at the trial several minor characters get to add their spin on things and then surprises start dropping including an effective cliffhanger for this volume. Smythe’s art continues to be top notch, how Smythe presents characters in flashbacks is a nice way to show their “evolution” in their long lives, and how Smythe uses well known myths but with a spin of her own given the story arcs she’s created. While I enjoyed this volume as the main characters were given more depth; minor subplots were either completed, thrown on their head, or started with interesting potential.

Lore Olympus Volume Seven brings changes in Rachel Smythe’s webcomic as Hades and Persephone getting closer even as trouble continues percolating in the background or at a trial.

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