Whatever else you want to say about this work, it is a complete life of Polk, starting with family history, and taking you from boyhood, to crisis of faith at West Point, through a career as a churchman and planter, the hardening of attitude as a Southern nationalist, and the controversial military career. What Horn doesn't do is make any personal judgements himself, which always seems like something of a cop-out to me, but a stance I sometimes see in books dealing with Confederate topics, most notably in writers who are old enough to have been influenced by the efflorescence of writing during the centennial commemorations of the American Civil War, when the battle for Black civil rights drove something of a nail through the coffin labeled "Reunion." Also, since Horn is an Episcopalian churchman himself, perhaps he's writing in a spirit of not throwing the first stone.

As for myself, I will pass the judgment that Polk might have thought that he was doing his duty when he accepted a general's commission from Jefferson Davis, but a man with more ruthless self-judgement would have recognized that the sin of hubris was about to be committed. Then again, that was a common enough fault in the leadership of the Confederacy. Horn makes enough sardonic asides to suggest that he is not totally sympathetic to all Polk's quirks and prejudices. I will say that if you need to read a study of Polk, this is probably the book you want to read. ( )