yet another broad look at jefferson, from political career, near-romantic encounters, family life, friends & correspondences. the writing is crystal clear & fast-paced. you get a snippet of tj's sharp epistolary hand. no huge controversies being discussed here altho i think there were some defenses made for the slavery issue. pick up this book. it's one of the better ones for introducing yourself to tj. good b&w photos of his favorite haunts & some skeletons in the closet.

Back in the musty corners of used book stores and library storage facilities, you'll often find shelves of books from the 1920s and '30s, grouped under a subject heading like "The Eastern Question." By and large, these books are forgotten. Even ones lucky enough to be republished, like this title was in the 1970s, attract little attention. That's too bad, because by cracking one of these old books, the interested reader can learn a lot about the American mindset, military and civilian, in the decades before World War Two.

This particular title was a good one to reprint, for Colonel W. Jefferson Davis gave us a fine example of the genre. First published in 1927, "Japan: The Air Menace of the Pacific" combines military and naval analysis with a look at domestic American politics. Many of his strategic arguments were right on, if not absolutely original, and focus on the need for the U.S. to develop a strong air arm to counter the growing strength of Japan. If his emphasis on the vulnerability of the Panama Canal seems overstated today, much of it is the benefit of hindsight. Still, it's hard to fault (apart from some of the language) a conclusion like, "What does this mean to America? It means that the Yellow Ace of the Imperial Islands will dominate the Pacific; that her bombing planes will make our battleship a thing obsolete; that she can at will take the Philippines and Hawaii, ... no doubt in time we could wear her down, but it would be a long and humiliating struggle" (p. 65).

Another element of this genre is a question often forgotten today: the concern that American treatment of Japanese immigrants to the U.S., and the passage of laws limiting their rights and restricting their movements, could provide a pretext for a declaration of war by Imperial Japan. Colonel Davis takes for granted the "unassimilability" of Japanese immigrants, their loyalty to the Empire, and the right of the American "race" to protect itself from an influx of foreigners. Here, again, he is typical of his genre. But in fairness, I should note that -- apart from, as I mentioned above, some language no longer considered acceptable -- Davis's book notably lacks the scurrilous racism evident in some other titles on this theme.

For readers interested in the cultural conditions in the era before the War, as well as a fairly clear-eyed assessment of the military challenges we faced, this book is a good primary source. Readers wanting to discover the era in its own words could do worse than to add this to their reading list.

I found Vol.2 less interesting than Vol 1 because the Civil War years have been covered in so many other works. The book also bogs down in tedious defenses of some of the controversal accusations levelled against Davis after the CW. It fact some of the more interesting parts are what are left out of the book as it appears Varina could not bear to discuss some topics, but at the beginning of the book she does honestly discuss some of her husband's shortcomings.

A short account of the final days of the Civil War where Grant forces Lee into bloody battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. Grant forces the Confederates to use their most precious resource--manpower, and wins the Civil War. Good insights on how Lincoln backed Grant to the full degree in his waging of the war. Also a good overview of the final days in both Richmond and Washington D. C. For those who doubt Grant's genius, they should read this book.

Glimpses into the private lives of some of the Presidents of the USA, and their love affairs...not quite up to date, but still not a bad book. A sort-of combination of history and scandal.

I had trouble finding books to enhance my first real trip to Paris - Henry Miller just didn't do it- so I bought this book to help me to put together the pieces of my week there. Although there wasn't quite enough name dropping about places we Americans had been, I enjoyed it. Seductive Journey (not a very good title - seemed like something the publisher came up with to sell it) is a very well researched book about what Americans had enough money to travel to Paris in what era, how they got there, and what they did when they got there (rich men in Jefferson's time raising consciousness on fine art, wives of industrial magnates there for their first experience in shopping off the rack and dining out; then, as touring becomes cheaper, middle class women off to the Louvre etc etc). This largely is carried off through quoting diaries of travelers, which must have been de rigeur a century ago. There is a lot of literature review of classic travel logs - good references to Henry James and Mark Twain. Also included is a healthy dose of the French love-hate relationship with their tourists. Although not particularly informative as to places to go and things to see it turned out to be an unexpectedly enjoyable sociologic survey of a particular class - traveling Americans.

yeah this is an interesting, and staunchly Anti-Jeffersonian Biography from 1883. His vantage point makes this book a pretty groovy read, though maybe not the best for facts

I had to read this book for my AP U.S. History class. I like history, but it was hard to follow the political points of the book because they weren't fully dicussed. It skipped around a lot.

This book was excellant for a report I did on Jefferson. It is a pretty simple biography, easy to read. It gives basic information on Jefferson, but is not extremely in depth. Still,it was informative and worth reading.

Kaplan clearly likes Jefferson. His recounting of Jefferson's foreign policy tend to give Jefferson the benefit of the doubt. This book is very informational and fairly short at around 200 pages. I harbor many Jeffersonian ideological thoughts, however, I'd have preferred Kaplan to be a bit more critical of some of Jefferson's actions. Even so, the book still stands out as a good survey of Jefferson's foreign policy. 3 stars for a good book- but not exceptional.