Great men and politics history at its best.
A delicious account of English politics in the decades after Elizabeth.
Historian Hughes-Hallett, author of Gabriele d’Annunzio: Poet, Seducer, and Preacher of War, concentrates on the relations between middle-aged, unattractive but competent James I (reigned 1603-1625) and Henry Villiers (1592-1628), Duke of Buckingham, his “favorite.” The word is passe, but even today’s national leaders have a chief of staff or special advisor who owes their power to that leader alone and is often sacrificed to placate the populace. English monarchs in that era enjoyed great land wealth and executive authority but did not have absolute power and were usually short of money because taxes were temporary and required parliamentary approval. James had the enormous advantage (in our eyes) of being opposed to war and easygoing in matters of religion. This put him at odds with parliament, dominated by Puritans who considered British Catholics to be traitors and Catholic Spain a loathsome enemy. Mostly, he tried to rule without parliament. He had run through several favorites before Villiers joined the king’s bedchamber in 1615. All were handsome young men, and modern scholars now accept that James was homosexual. Villiers and James developed a passionate relationship that seemed both sincere and physical. James showered him with estates, titles, and offices, provoking jealousy from peers and salacious commentary from the populace. This had little effect until 1624, when Britain went to war against Spain with enthusiastic support from parliament, Buckingham, and young Charles, who succeeded his father the following year. Combining lively prose and skilled scholarship, Hughes-Hallett describes the catastrophic military debacles that followed. With attacks on royalty off-limits, blame focused on Buckingham, but newly crowned Charles cut short charges by dissolving parliament, beginning the interregnum that ended with civil war and his own execution long after Buckingham himself had been assassinated to widespread applause.
Great men and politics history at its best.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780062940131
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: yesterday
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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