Geoffrey C. WardReseñas

Very well written, but I found the narcissism and irresponsible behavior of Ferdinand Ward and his missionary parents was too unbearable (and reminiscent of Donald Trump) to finish reading this book. Even skipping the middle section of the book to reach his imprisonment offered to relief; he continued to ruin the lives of those around him.

Manche Bücher betrachte ich der Bilder wegen und weil die gewählten Zitate so unendlich klar und erhellend sind, so dass man magisch und tief in den anderen Text hineingezogen wird.

Ganz am Anfang stehen diese drei Aussagen:

Man kann es so sehen: Der Jazz ist ein gutes Barometer für die Freiheit.... In ihren Anfängen brachten die Vereinigten Staaten v0n Amerikan bestimmte Ideale für Freiheit und Unabhängigkeit hervor, aus denen sich schließlich auch der Jazz entwickelte - eine Musik, die so frei ist, das manche Menschen sie für den einzigen ungehinderten, unverfälschten Ausdruck völliger Freiheit halten, den dieses Land je hervorgebracht hat. Duke Ellington

Es ist krasser Individualismus in Reinkultur. Es bedeutet, raus auf die Bühne zu gehen und zu sagen: Völlig egal, wie es irgendjemand vor mir gespielt hat - ich werde es nach meiner Fasson spielen und nicht anders. Garry Giddins

Wer einem Jazzmusiker beim Spielen zusieht, der sieht einen Forscher, einen der experimentiert, einen Wissenschaftler, und dies alles gleichzeitig - denn dieses Spiel ist die Inkarnation des kreativen Prozesses. Albert Murray

Amerika wird in weiter Zukunft in Erinnerung bleiben wegen der Verfassung, Baseball und Jazz, sagte Gerald Early. In diesem Buch mit fast 500 Seiten wird die Geschichte des Jazz in 10 Kapiteln erzählt, visualisiert und weit darüber hinaus jene Seele ausgelotet, die Amerika entstehen ließ, errichtet im Kampf zwischen Haben und Nichthaben, Schwarz und Weiss, Underdogs und Big dogs, die Musik der neuen Welt, nach dem Krieg zu uns herüberfloatend, die Freiheit vom Untertantendasein im Gepäck.

A book mainly of photographs of the legendary Michael (Nick) Nichols, from the National Geographic, naturally with the superior production qualities expected. The text, by the equally renowned Geoffrey Ward, is somewhat rudimentary, but does present a world map with tiger habitats color-washed, and there is summarized information on the status of the tiger in some of the other tiger-range countries apart from India, which is the focus. The highlight is undoubtedly the glimpses of the intimate family life of Sita, the large-hearted mother in Bandhavgarh, and her cubs, which bring out the beauty, controlled strength, loyalty, courage, and pathos of the situation this noble animal is in today because of the greed and callousness of humans.

This book was a rather painful one in the initial chapters, as it started with the author's own blood-thirsty shooting of wild animals around Delhi in his childhood days in the late 1950s- he was already 13 years old the ear I was born. Then when he visits again in 1984, he waxes eloquent on how the countryside has changed and all those happy theaters of his youthful escapades have been ravaged. Reading his account of his trigger-happy friends and utter blood-lust in the company of the rich and royally connected of Delhi, I can only thank my stars that I joined the forest service when this license to kill had been considerably curtailed and wildlife protection laws had been set in place under the patronage of Indira Gandhi. I don't think the author claims any tiger trophies himself, but one wonders at the utter lack of compunction of those, British and native, who revelled in killing thousands of completely unoffending and innocent creatures going about their lives in the jungle, some of them over a hundred tigers and leopards, including the vaunted Rajah of Sarguja who shot the last three cheetah cubs that his fellow-royals are now desperate to bring back. However, this initial falling out of sympathy with the blood-stained author should not prevent us from appreciating his skillful marshalling of history, his own personal experiences, and his empathy with the conservationists (some of them former hunters of big game) who campaigned for the protection of the tiger and its habitat.

Only two hours and excerpted from the PBS documentary series. After listening to an hour, I found the series on Netflix and started watching. Still finished up the audio book, though, because it's interesting.

Great Western history book.

1 Norah Jones– American Anthem
2 Leonard Slatkin & The London Philharmonic Orchestra– The Death Of Falstaff
Composed By – Walton*
3 Benny Goodman Sextet– The Wang Wang Blues
4 Wynton Marsalis– Movin' Back
5 Count Basie– How Long Blues
6 Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush & Mike Marshall (2)– In The Nick Of Time
7 Bing Crosby With Les Paul– It's Been A Long, Long Time
8 Wynton Marsalis– America, My Home (Excerpt)
9 Kay Starr Accompanied By The Capitol International Jazzmen*– If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)
10 Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble– Blue As The Turquoise Night Of Neyshabur (Excerpt)
11 Wynton Marsalis– Until I'm In Your Arms Again
12 Kalle Randalu– Variations For The Healing Of Arinushka
Composed By – Pärt*
13 Count Basie & His Orchestra*– Basie Boogie
14 Duke Ellington & His Orchestra*– Solitude
15 Benny Goodman, Aaron Copland & Columbia Symphony Orchestra– Concerto For Clarinet, Strings, Harp, And Piano (Excerpt)
Composed By – Copland*
16 The King Cole Trio*– If You Can't Smile And Say Yes
17 Amanda Forsythe & Bill Charlap– American Anthem

Gift Uncle Jack 1990

Great archival footage tells the story in three parts: an increasingly drunken America and the crusade to ban the sale of alcohol; the successful passing of nationwide prohibition and the millions who ignored it; and the increasing crimewave fueled by the money from illegal alcohol sales that leads to a repeal movement that uses many of the same arguments the prohibitionists used themselves. Burns and writer Geoffrey Ward are to be praised for making a film about prohibition without a single mention of Elliot Ness, although Al Capone is a central character. There are lots of well chosen quotes read by famous actors whose voices you probably won't recognize. And lots of talking head historians and writers, of whom Pete Hamill and Daniel Okrent are the best. Overall, not as entertaining as some of his other works, but not as long either!

This is a first class biography. A pleasure to read.

audio playaway / nonfiction (history: ww2). personal accounts from families in Luverne, Minnesota; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama from the Ken Burns documentary.

This seems to be fairly well done, to Ken Burns standards; my main issue with it is the length of the tracks (an hour or longer each), which makes it difficult for me to find my place again after I've drifted off to sleep (which I do a lot during audio books; it is why I like the format so much).

So while I've heard the entire book several times over by now, I was only conscious for small parts of it, and that's probably about as much as I'll ever "read" it.

NA

The companion volume to the seven-part PBS series by Ken Burns.
The vivid voices that speak from these pages are not those of historians or scholars. They are the voices of ordinary men and women who experienced—and helped to win—the most devastating war in history, in which between 50 and 60 million lives were lost.

Focusing on the citizens of four towns— Luverne, Minnesota; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama;—The War follows more than forty people from 1941 to 1945. Woven largely from their memories, the compelling, unflinching narrative unfolds month by bloody month, with the outcome always in doubt. All the iconic events are here, from Pearl Harbor to the liberation of the concentration camps—but we also move among prisoners of war and Japanese American internees, defense workers and schoolchildren, and families who struggled simply to stay together while their men were shipped off to Europe, the Pacific, and North Africa.

Enriched by maps and hundreds of photographs, including many never published before, this is an intimate, profoundly affecting chronicle of the war that shaped our world.

I have long regarded Franklin Roosevelt as one of the greatest American presidents, but I don't think I fully appreciated him as a person until I read Ward's book while I was in college. While the preceding volume, [b:Before the Trumpet|641176|Before the Trumpet The Young Franklin Roosevelt|Geoffrey C. Ward|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|3344880], is good, it's this second one, which covers FDR's life from his marriage to Eleanor Roosevelt to his successful campaign for the governorship of New York in 1928, that is truly brilliant. Credit is due not just to Ward's skills as a writer, but the insight he brings to FDR's life as a fellow polio victim. After reading it it's impossible not to appreciate the role the infliction of the disease played in making FDR who he was as president.

A masterpiece. A sad, visual, riviting, calm masterpiece.

Informative and highly entertaining account of key jazz players and the many mutations jazz has made since the 1920s. This never got dull, even for a moment.

Tried to read, but found it too detailed. It just wasn’t holding my interest.

In the introduction to his biography of Jack Johnson, Geoffrey C. Ward indicates that his primary source was newspaper articles. And indeed, this biography reads much like a very long newspaper account of the life of Jack Johnson. This isn't good or bad, but an apt description of what it is like reading this biography. In fact, Ward has done a commendable job in weaving what he had to work with into a very readable, informative, and enjoyable work.

Jack Johnson was the boxing world heavyweight champion from 1908-1915. And he was the first black heavyweight champion, which dominates the story of his life inside the ring and out. Johnson became heavyweight champion at a time when boxing was just barely out of the bare knuckle era, and while more organized as a sport, was still a rough and tumble and often illegal activity. Boxing, even as it is today, was often surround by unsavory characters. During that era throwing fights for money or to set up matches wasn't uncommon. Johnson learned his craft literally starting from the bottom up in local tough man or boxing contests and his skills eventually lead him to the top of his sport.

What make Johnson's story so interesting are two things - race and his profligate lifestyle. Race played a key role in his life even though he himself ignored race and didn't let it interfere with how he behaved or what he did. He often sported white women on his arm and eventually married a white woman, and did not defer to anyone, black or white. This made him an even more incendiary figure for the race conscious press and America at the time. Many white heavyweights wouldn't fight Johnson - most notably Jim Jefferies who held the title at a time when Johnson was the obvious deserving opponent for a shot at the champion. Eventually Jefferies retired and "conferred" his title on Tommy Burns, a bulked up white middleweight. Johnson chased after Burns and through the pressure of the press he eventually landed his title shot and dominated his lesser opponent, winning the heavyweight championship of the world.

This eventually lead to one of the most pivotal heavyweight boxing matches in history - and certainly the most pivotal fight of Johnson's career - a match with former heavyweight champion Jim Jefferies. Jefferies was obviously reluctant to come out of retirement to fight the new champion but pressure from friends and many in the press and boxing world, who didn't want to see a black man hold the championship, more or less forced his hand. The fight eventually took place on July 4, 1910 in Reno, New Mexico. Thousands were in attendance but millions throughout the country waited for the result. Johnson dominated Jefferies through much of the fight, eventually knocking him out in the 15th round. Johnson's win legitimized his title as heavyweight champion. Unfortunately, it also touched off violence against blacks throughout the country.

Jefferies utter defeat also lead to a search for a "great white hope" to defeat Johnson. Eventually, Johnson was beaten by a huge but less skilled Jess Willard in Havana, Cuba on April 5, 1915. Johnson probably lost as much because of age, he was around 37 at the time, and the rather unfortunate events in is life from the time of the Jefferies victory to his match against Willard in Cuba. During that time he appears to have spent most of his money, married a white woman who eventually committed suicide, and married another white woman against the violent protests of her family. This led, in a rather convoluted way, to his fleeing the country with his new wife in tow after being brought up on charges of violating the Mann Act. During all this time, and the only reason to mention the ethnicity of his wives, was the vilification Johnson received in the press across America and the hatred he engendered among some, including those in law enforcement, who wanted to bring him down. Thus, Johnson had to go through convoluted negotiations and travel arrangements to even defend his title again Willard in Cuba. Eventually, Johnson decided to come back to America but had to face a jail sentence, which he served. After getting out of jail, broke because he spent most of his money, he mostly earned a living through boxing exhibitions and similar activities.

Johnson's lifestyle some would call raucous. He made a lot of money for his era and he spent it freely on clothes, cars, and the women he kept as companions some of which were prostitutes or former prostitutes. One can look up to Johnson for not letting racism stand in the way of living his life the way he wanted to live it and kowtowing to no one. One could also look askance as his philandering, spendthrift way of life, but who are we to really judge? Undoubtedly Johnson brought some of his problems on himself. Also undoubtedly he was treated unfairly because of the era in which he lived in. Had Johnson lived today he might get some negative press, but more likely he would have a legion of fans who willing to overlook some of the things he did in his private life.

Cars were relatively new invention in early 1900's and Johnson loved cars and bought several of them. He often liked to drive fast. This too eventually caught up with him as, while speeding, he swerved to miss a truck and rammed his car into a tree. He died in 1946 after an adventurous 68 years.

Note this book is the companion to Ken Burn's documentary of the life of Jack Johnson using the same title.

A fascinating true story of a sociopath and how greed can be manipulated by one. Also, Wall Street does not seem to have changed much in over 100 years. And . . . Our economy is still too influenced by the casino we call "investing in securities". A good read which makes me think and feel about family dynamics, religion, community, and "doing business".

Detailed illustrated history of the RVN war.

A tough read---there were atrocities and heroes, sages and fools on all sides. If you have done any significant reading/research, you will not learn anything dramatically new here--but the stories and then overall perspective from this distance all make this a worthy read. For those to whom this is all new, a must read. We are who we are today in the US and in Vietnam because of this war--for better or ill.

follows the lives of Teddy, Franklin and Eleanor. Well written

It was NOT the best of times — it was damn near the worst of times. The Vietnam war tore the fabric of American society asunder. Moreover, despite the loss of more than 50,000 American lives and more than 1 million Vietnamese lives, the war was nearly a total failure from the American point of view.

This book, informatively, if not cleverly, titled The Vietnam War, by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, vividly brings that unpleasant time back to life. It is accompanied by a film series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. The book follows fairly closely the narrative of the famous Pentagon Papers that originally appeared in the New York Times. Although it doesn’t have much if anything new to say about the war, what it says does so forcefully and graphically. The authors effectively employ the broad overview of an omniscient narrator intermixed with poignant asides from some of the “little people” most affected by the war, such as the grunts who fought, the surviving family members of those who did not return, and some Vietnamese from both South Vietnam (our allies) and North Vietnam (our enemy).

Especially moving is the depiction of the final days of the South Vietnamese Republic. The North Vietnamese army was ineluctably closing in on Saigon while the American government was doing its best to rescue the few remaining Americans. But it had all but abandoned its former allies to their uncertain fate at the hands of their enemies.

Discussion: Some reviewers have criticized this book (and the accompanying series on PBS) for shifting attention away from the militarism behind for American intervention and focusing on sentimental stories of survival and perseverance.

I don’t disagree with their criticisms. But the anecdotal approach taken by the authors to accompany the drier histories is not without merit .

I do not agree, however, with their contention that America is still divided over Vietnam. The country is divided over plenty, but I don’t see Vietnam at the top of the list. It would be more accurate, in my opinion, to say that America is still divided over the Civil War.

I also was disappointed that the authors did not give more attention to the use of Agent Orange by the Americans. Between 2 and 5 million Vietnamese people were exposed to the toxic chemical, which poisoned the soil, river systems, lakes and rice paddies of Vietnam, and entered the food chain. Large tracts of that land remain degraded and unproductive to this day.

Moreover, birth defects in those who were exposed have been extensively documented, both among the Vietnamese and the American pilots who disseminated the agent. As Propublica reported, “the odds of having a child born with birth defects were more than a third higher for veterans exposed to Agent Orange than for those who weren’t.” You can read more about harm to American veterans here and here. Needless to say, the profound lingering effects on the Vietnamese are even greater.

This important “legacy” of the Vietnam War deserves as much attention as any other.

Note: There is a PBS website to accompany the book and television series which includes resources for veterans, a reading list, photos, videos, and music lists.

Evaluation: This book is a good introduction to the war for young people who did not live through those times and a decent, if sometimes unpleasant, reminder to those of us who did.

A Few Notes on the Audio Production:

I listened to the audio version of the book, capably read by Ken Burns, who excels at media presentations. Many of the interviewees are also featured in the recording, which added auditory interest.

(JAB)½

5 stars goes to the actual documentary DVDs and 4 stars to the book. I started reading the book and made it 300 pages in when I decided to watch the DVDs instead. Incredibly awesome. Teddy Roosevelt always held such fascination for me, so learning more about him was engaging and Franklin I did not know quite as much about but I am enjoying learning how this man, paralyzed from polio at age 39, turned his life into a triumphant and ended up being one of the greatest Presidents in American history.½