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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Book Review: On War by Carl von Clausewitz

On War by Carl von Clausewitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is the most influential yet incomplete and unrevised book of military history and political theory as its readers developed the opening strategies that would lead to stalemate in 1914. On War by Carl von Clausewitz distilled his experiences in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars as well as his career long study of military history into book of on the nature and meaning of war in all it’s aspects.

Since his widow published his uncompleted work, in which only the first chapter of Book One was revised to his satisfaction, Clausewitz’s features discussions on strategic and tactical doctrines, engagements, a military force, and the basics of defense and attack. While many other 19th century military writers covered the same things, Clausewitz however took note of the differences of absolute and limited war, the violence of war, and most importantly that war is “just the continuation of politics by different means”. Clausewitz style is markedly different between the first chapter of Book One and almost the rest of the volume, except Book Eight, due to the unrevised nature of the text that doesn’t reflect the dual focus Clausewitz introduced at the beginning of the book. While numerous chapters deal with what lay readers would take to be military minutia, for those in the military who realize Clausewitz’s overall objective they understand why. Potentially for those like me who are civilians and want to read this book, it’s because of Clausewitz’s tying military theory with political theory with an eye to understanding how it influenced the Western way of war since its publication. Yet this aspect which was covered in essays and commentary by Michael Howard, Peter Paret, and Bernard Brodie informs the reader that the Imperial German generals and their French counterparts in the lead up to the First World War misinterpreted Clausewitz and emphasized the offensive and not the defensive as the author intended nor did they understand the author’s typing in of the political aspect of war. While reading the book with this knowledge it was a great help in understanding what Clausewitz was talking back.

On War is one of the most influential books of the 20th Century due to its use by those in the military who misinterpreted the intentions of author Carl von Clausewitz, even though the book is incomplete and not revised to the author’s satisfaction. The Everyman edition with essays and commentary really helps laymen like me understand what the Prussian intended to leave to future military professionals.

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Book Review: The Letters of John by Ekkehardt Mueller

The Letters of John by Ekkehardt Müller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Of the five books in the New Testament written by the Apostle John, the three short letters near the end of the Bible are often overlooked but they are offer many of our descriptions of Jesus. The Letters of John by Ekkehardt Mueller is the companion book of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study (3rd Quarter 2009) in which he aims to reveal John’s wish for believers to know the correct understanding of all aspects of Jesus. Mueller divides his topic over 13 chapters in which a chapter is an overview of the letters focusing on Jesus, ten chapters dedicated to a breakdown of 1 John and an overview of important themes, and then a chapter each for 2 and 3 John. Throughout the 119 pages dedicated to text, Mueller gives pinpointed analysis to give the reader an excellent resource to use in during their own Bible study of these letters or like myself wanting a short but knowledgeable read.

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Book Review: Lore Olympus Volume Six by Rachel Smythe

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

The fallout of Zeus’ arrest warrant for Persephone and Demeter along with Persephone’s disappearance in the Underworld, meanwhile Apollo hides his true self from Artemis with the help of their mother, and then Minthe finds herself in some crosshairs. Lore Olympus Volume Six by Rachel Smythe sees Hades offer protection to Persephone after Zeus’ arrest warrant which allows them to slowly get closer, unfortunately when Minthe goes to confront Hades who wants to move on she says too much in front of the wrong person.

Covering episodes #127-152 of her webcomic, Smythe focuses on Persephone and Hades revealing to each other their dark secrets and traumas while Zeus, Hera, Apollo and Artemis continue their own arcs while Minthe’s arc appears to have come to an end. As Smythe really focuses on the relationship building between the two protagonists, it isn’t the “romantic” cliché tropes but something that aims to incorporate their traumas and secrets to build trust, which is something nice to read—not the traumatic stuff obviously just how it’s incorporated—that makes this series unique in my reading so far. Persephone’s situation puts a rift between Hades and Zeus, a split among the Olympians which doesn’t seem like it’ll end well especially given the latter’s bad marriage with Hera who Persephone confides in about Apollo’s pictures. Persephone starts coming between Artemis and Apollo, each of whom view her for different things. Then finally Minthe confronts Hades about being replaced and in her anger reveals what she instigated with Zeus, unfortunately in front of Persephone and the result isn’t good for Minthe. Persephone being the inciting incident to various subplots is par for the course for this genre, but how Smythe crafts the twists and turns independent of Persephone after that gives this story more depth. Yet if the glimpses seen in these episodes, Smythe is laying down clues of what could possibly happen in the future of the overall story. I was really engaged throughout this volume, and I can’t wait to get to the next.

Lore Olympus Volume Six by Rachel Smythe seems like the webcomic is a transition point as the protagonists are starting to really invest in one another while dealing with other issues that are happening in reaction to them either as a couple or individually. The artwork by Smythe continues to be fantastic, which given it was why I was drawn to the first volume is a relief.

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Book Review: Wind and Truth (Stormlight Archive #5) by Brandon Sanderson

Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The culmination of journeys, discoveries, and struggles on the planet of Roshar occurs in a showdown between the champions of two gods as their forces battle up to the moment of the confrontation. Wind and Truth is the fifth book and concluding installment of the first arc of Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series as the forces of Honor and Odium struggle over ten days for the control of territory before a Contest of Champions is set to hopefully settle the war between the two Shards for good.

Sanderson had a three-fold challenge of crafting an ending to the first arc of his signature series while simultaneously planting the seeds for the second arc throughout along with establishing the connections with the wider Cosmere already hinted at in other series and standalones. Add to all of that the fact that Sanderson firmly established the early history of Roshar in this book along with glimpse of the Spiritual Realm via the visions that numerous characters experienced. Of all the point-of-view character arcs that have featured throughout the five books, Sanderson seemed to highlight three—Dalinar, Kaladin, and Szeth—because they came to an end or a major transition point that’ll affect the second arc. The 1344-page book has the typical multi-prong climax that one expects from a Sanderson novel of this scale and a series of scenes covering the aftermath. Honestly, my opinion on this book has changed a lot since I finished reading it and thus influenced my rating of it on its own, so my rating reflects it as a concluding volume at this moment however when the series resumes and ultimately concludes it could widely change.

Wind and Truth is a colossus of a read, but it completes the first arc of Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series and changes the complexion of the Cosmere that had only been hinted at in recent entries in other series and standalones.

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Book Review: 1919: The Untold Story of Adventism's Struggle with Fundamentalism by Michael W. Campbell

1919: The Untold Story of Adventism's Struggle with Fundamentalism by Michael W Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The turn of the century, the rise of modernism and its challenge to Biblical interpretation, the most destructive war seen to that time, and the death of Ellen G. White caused the start of an identity crisis in Adventism that needed to start being addressed. 1919: The Untold Story of Adventism’s Struggle with Fundamentalism by Michael W. Campbell covers the six weeks in which 65 Adventist leaders, editors, and Bible teachers discussed the movement’s identity in rapidly changing times whose records were buried in the archives until 1974.

Through 116 pages of text, Campbell sets the stage, covers the major issues, and gives the aftermath of the 1919 Bible Conference that took place on the campus of Washington Missionary College (now Washington Adventist University) and presided over by long-time General Conference president A.G. Daniells. Hanging over the conference was the death of Ellen White and interpreting her prophecies and the rise of Fundamentalism within American Christianity, this would see the polarization of theological “progressives” and “traditionalists”. Ironically the “progressives” were made up of mostly the older generation while the younger generation made up mostly the “traditionalists” and the debate over “verbal inspiration” and inerrancy in White’s writings. Campbell brings out that the two groups were closer than they appeared but in debating they were pulled further apart. For all the discussions that happened in 1919, the conference was nearly forgotten including what transpired until the late 70s when excerpts of those transcripts that survived were published much to the consternation of Adventists of the day and later. Yet as Campbell’s history of this conference shows the debate that continues in Adventism about Ellen G. White, which makes this short book a very important read for those Seventh-day Adventists interested in our history and how the ministry of Ellen White has been viewed both during her life and after her death.

1919: The Untold Story of Adventism’s Struggle with Fundamentalism covers a conference whose importance had been forgotten until what was said there was published in independent Adventist publications. Michael W. Campbell gives the reader the important details of the debates from the records available as well as giving text, interpretation, and analysis of everything in a to-the-point manner for all readers.

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Book Review: Gospels in Conflict: Paul's Letter to the Galatians by George R. Knight

Gospels in Conflict by George R. Knight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The earliest epistle from Paul predates one of the most important councils of the early Church as recorded in Acts and covers what is needed for salvation—faith or works. Gospels in Conflict: Paul’s Letter to the Galatians by George R. Knight is the companion book of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study (3rd Quarter 2017) covering Paul’s authority, the plan of salvation, and unity. Through 14 chapters, the first of which focuses on Paul and an overview of the letter to Galatia, covering 125 pages, Knight covers the entire book of Galatians that focuses through sections from the book and gleams the most important things from them for the reader. While not exhaustive as Knight’s own Exploring Galatians & Ephesians given this book’s length, it is a handy commentary for someone studying Galatians. This was the first of two consecutive Adult Sabbath School Quarterly Bible Studies by Knight with the second focused on Romans due to the 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation as Martin Luther was influenced by both of epistles by Paul.

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Book Review: The War for the Union, Volume III: The Organized War, 1863-1864 by Allan Nevins

The War for the Union, Vol. 3: The Organized War, 1863-1864) by Allan Nevins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As the war turned from simply restoring the Union to a revolution to restore the Union as it should always have been, the military stalemate finally broke on the same day in July on opposite ends of the war with the fallout being a breaking of the Confederate’s back while the other resulted in the most famous speech in American history. The War for the Union. Volume III: The Organized War, 1863-1864 is the seventh volume of Allen Nevins’ Ordeal of the Union series as the nadir of Northern hopes disappear in the taking of Vicksburg and the victories of Gettysburg and Chattanooga while the Confederacy finds itself increasingly shunned internationally.

Throughout 513 pages of well-written and thoughtful writing Nevins related the turning point year of 1863 in which the results on the battlefield, actions at sea, and domestic economical and industrial weight of the North turned the war in its favor. Barely over two-fifths of the book covers the military developments of the conflict before turning the rest of the volume over to the various domestic and international issues both sides confronted. It was this latter part of the book which I personally found more interesting, especially when it came to the economic boom that North experienced as it built up the industrial capacity in response to the war effort, not only employing more men even as others went to fight, but the increase of wages and profits for all concerned. A fascinating feature of the war I didn’t realize until now was how much illicit trade between North and South there was, especially when it came to cotton especially in the Union army but given the corruption going on in American public life at this time I shouldn’t have been surprised. Once again, I can’t emphasize how even though this book is over 65 years old it is very detailed and gives a total picture of the events of that time that anyone interested in the history of the American Civil War.

The War for the Union, Volume III: The Organized War, 1863-1864 reveals how the North finally organized to conduct war at “home” while turning the tide on the battlefield through the excellent writing of Allan Nevins.

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Book Review: 1 and 2 Peter by Robert K. McIver

1 and 2 Peter by Robert K McIver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Two letters are churches in Asia Minor from one of the closest to Christ during his time one Earth and important leaders in the early Church, while small they are packed with powerful themes. 1 and 2 Peter by Robert McIver is the companion book of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study (2nd Quarter 2017) covering Peter’s practical advice to Christians living in a time of uncertainty. Through 119 pages of text, McIver covers such topics of as Peter myself, the Major Themes of 1 and 2 Peter, Jesus in 1 and 2 Peter, and pointed lessons in each epistle over 13 chapters. Though the two letters from Peter are short, McIver brings out many powerful lessons for the ready to take with them this book.

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Book Review: Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life by Ivan T. Sanderson

Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life by Ivan T. Sanderson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Leaning on his training in botany and zoology, Ivan T. Sanderson examined the reports and data available on the topic of abominable snowmen from around the world in the early 1960s and later in that decade and the result is one of the classics of cryptozoology and sasquatch literature. Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life examines reports of unknown hominoids on five continents and if there is anything to them.

Sanderson begins by chronicling how the Abominable Snowman got its name in popular culture in 1921 then explored of reports of incidents and sightings in the Himalayas before that. Then over much of the book Sanderson covers vast stretches of the globe in which similar hominoid reports and stories are told before concluding that there were four man-like species with humans on the planet as of his writing. The rest of the book covered various geographical and biological elements that Sanderson believed helped explain why reports that he covered happened where they did. While the reports, stories, and local folklore were invaluable and Sanderson’s explanation of physical characteristics of the earth were insightful, there were several issues that made this book a tad painful to read. The first issue was Sanderson’s sometimes over-the-top snark filled comments on everything from both sides of the cold war being idiots to the sensationists in the press, but the biggest target and frankly where it got the past the point of “I get it, move on” was on scientists who professed skepticism of things in the outside world while they kept their pasty white butts in their comfy offices—if he had just put all of that in one chapter of his book it would have been more impactful but he just kept on with it. The second was Sanderson’s terminology for different types of humans—actual homo sapiens—that honestly today wouldn’t be allowed but some of the stuff he used was nearly crossing the line even in the 1960s. Another thing that isn’t a critique but is something that must be stated is the scientific names of early human ancestors used in the book, which a lot are not used today because they’ve changed a lot with various discoveries by paleoanthropologists in the 60+ years since the book was first published.

Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life is a look at worldwide reports of what today would be called relic hominins, it’s one of cryptozoology’s most famous books by one of the field’s founders, Ivan T. Sanderson.

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Book Review: The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin

The Americans, Vol. 3: The Democratic Experience by Daniel J. Boorstin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After the Civil War, the United States transformed from a country looking for a national identity to one whose democratic experience spread to everyone. The Americans: The Democratic Experience is the third and final volume of Daniel Boorstin’s trilogy which features the American experience after it found a national identity and creating a democratic culture.

Throughout the 600 pages of text of Boorstin’s work, his working thesis that after finding a national identity Americans looked to create a democratic culture in which everyone had access to the same quality of products and experiences no matter their income or pedigree. Covering such diverse things like how all Americans were able to get access to fresh beef, how education from primary school up through college—including the creation of high school—for all became a national obsession, how clothing went from being a mark of status to mass produced equality, and so much more Boorstin made the case that Americans looked to make things for everyone either for profit or for the betterment of society but through this democratic pursuit to create for everyone it resulted massive efforts to do things collectively on a large scale leading to the atomic bomb and the landing on the moon roughly a century after the country had nearly torn itself apart while also spreading it’s democratic outlook to the world. Of the six books I’ve read of Boorstin’s this is the one in which his consensus view of history really stands out with his focus on inventors and entrepreneurs in this book even while expressing his loathing of the vulgarities that crept into American culture and advertising through this democratization process. As the concluding installment of his trilogy of looking at American history through how the physical environment of the continent shaped—from the beginning of colonization to the late 20th Century—American society and how it reflected on how individuals interacted with their society, it’s been informative especially one little discussed individuals and trends that would influence those more well known to us.

The Americans: The Democratic Experience completes Daniel Boorstin’s trilogy on the cultural history of the United States by showing how in the shadow of a war that nearly destroyed a country a culture aiming to spread to everyone was formed.

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Book Review: Uniting Heaven & Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians by Clinton Wahlen

Uniting Heaven & Earth: Christ in Philippians & Colossians by Clinton Wahlen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Two short epistles that sometimes are hard to find, which you miss as your flipping through the New Testament when looking at them, but when you find them the words of Paul deliver powerful messages. Uniting Heaven & Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians by Clinton Wahlen is the supplemental book of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study (1st Quarter 2026) covering two of Paul’s letters that he wrote while in a Roman prison. Whalen begins the book with a chapter focusing on Paul’s circumstances when he wrote these two letters, then dedicates a chapter on aspects from both books that are in common, and divides the rest of the eleven chapters, five for Philippians and six for Colossians, for in-depth lessons from the books themselves. Though this supplemental book is only 128 pages long, Wahlen gives the reader insights into the messages that was not only relevant in Paul’s day but for us today.

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Book Review: Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Growing up the son of a blacksmith, becoming the right-hand man to the most powerful man in England after the King, then surviving his mentor’s fall to end up the King’s able servant after getting him a divorce, but now he’s expected to get the King out of his second marriage. Bring Up the Bodies is the middle installment of Hilary Mantel’s historical fiction trilogy chronicling the rise and fall Thomas Cromwell which immediately follows the end of Wolf Hall and runs through the fall of Anne Boleyn.

Mantel covers essentially a year from fall 1535 to fall 1536, but it’s a year packed with all lot of important events in the reign of Henry VIII and for Cromwell’s position and future. The first-person point-of-view was the same framing device as the previous novel giving the audience an inside view of Cromwell’s thoughts and keeps the narrative close to him even as he works to end Henry’s marriage to Anne while setting him up with Jane Seymour though Mantel gives Cromwell an attraction to her. My one complaint from the previous book of Mantel not using quotation marks to denote Cromwell speaking to other people wasn’t an issue in this book and resulted in a smoother reading experience. Given the shorter timeline than previous book, the little 400 pages of the novel was just right given the political intrigue going on.

Bring Up the Bodies is an excellent middle volume for this historical fiction trilogy, Hilary Mantel’s characterizations and well-written narrative create a page turner that’s hard to put down.

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Book Review: The Origin and Principles of the American Revolution, Compared with The Origin and Principles of the French Revolution by Friedrich von Gentz

The Origin and Principles of the American Revolution, Compared with the Origin and Principles of the French Revolution by Friedrich von Gentz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For over a decade the French Revolution had raged within the country, and they had spread it throughout Europe with their massive armies, all the while claiming inspiration from their American predecessor, but one conservative disagreed. The Origin and Principles of the American Revolution, Compared with The Origin and Principles of the French Revolution is Friedrich von Gentz’s essay on the two great revolutions of the 18th Century and why one was legitimate and the other wasn’t.

To conservative Europe the havoc of the French Revolution had one direct cause, the American and its war against their lawful king. However German diplomat Friedrich von Gentz not only defended the American Revolution in his essay, showing that it was a legitimate war against a monarch that had sided with a usurping power to oppress his own subjects. Gentz took it for granted that the reader of his day knew the events of the French Revolution but given that it had been almost a quarter century since the beginning of the fighting of the American Revolution, and nearly four decades of the political resistance that preceded it, he focused on recounting the events in America then doing short comparisons to those in France. The four points of view that Gentz contrasted the American and French on—the lawfulness of origin, character of the conduct, quality of object, and compass of resistance—were like all were presented from the lengthiest to the shortest, yet all of them were strongly argued. The one critique was Gentz handwaving away of the American use of natural and unalienable rights along with popular sovereignty as superfluous rhetoric that the Americans used not their actual beliefs, which for a few was true while others it was not.

The Origins and Principles is a well-written defense by a 18th Century European conservative of the legitimacy of the American Revolution especially when contrasted with that of the French which claimed to be inspired by it.

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