Although it will not displace the biographers topping the list (Chernow, Ellis, Ferling), Baier touches all the bases.
Fox News chief political correspondent Baier adds to the groaning bookshelves of Washington biographies.
Baier has already written multiple books recounting significant events in American political history, including Three Days in Moscow, Three Days in January, and To Rescue the Republic, so a volume on Washington was inevitable. Born a member of the minor Virginia gentry, he attained a modest reputation as an officer in the French and Indian War, and he married a wealthy widow to become a leading figure in the Virginia establishment and the opposition to British policies. As commander of the Continental Army, his combination of persistence, political skills, and French support led it to victory and made him a national idol, a position he still holds. As president of the 1787 Continental Convention, he worked hard to avoid the appearance of bias. Taking office, he not only oversaw the creation of a national government from scratch (he was “painfully aware that every organizational choice he made set a precedent”); he also showed vision and good sense in leading the nation through difficult times. Thanks to Washington, the nation was stronger during the even more troubled subsequent administrations of Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. Readers uneasy about the author’s Fox News connection can be reassured that he adopts the traditional admiration of the Constitution and deplores today’s vicious political divide without assessing blame, adding that politics was no less nasty during Washington’s time. Perhaps the book’s most original feature is the concluding chapter: a 2020 experiment in which three teams of constitutional scholars (conservative, progressive, libertarian) were assigned to rewrite the Constitution. Surprisingly, they found common ground for many reforms, including term limits for Supreme Court justices (18 years), and “conservatives and progressives agreed that the president should be elected by popular vote through a ranked-choice system, dissolving the Electoral College.”
Although it will not displace the biographers topping the list (Chernow, Ellis, Ferling), Baier touches all the bases.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780063039582
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Mariner Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
IN THE NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
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