Michael Farquhar
read with Erica!
This book was pretty hitormiss for me, Some of the subjects chosen were good picks such as the guy who saved the Declaration of Independence or the Midnight Rider who WASN'T Paul Revere but others were frankly uninteresting and perhaps should have stayed in obscurity.
Somehow, the people I found boring had the longest chapters, while the ones I wanted to know more about ended after just a few pages.
This book had a hard time holding my attention the longer I read it, and I started to just skim towards the end.
I enjoyed the other book I read by this author, but this one was just ultimately too dull too often for me.
History Light.
An entertaining book that lives up to its title, Good light reading for someone interested in history, While some of these are truly unknown, many can be found mentioned in main stream texts,
A good introduction for someone who decries history as BORING! Reading this might change their mind,
And sometimes books get written in more or less equal amounts about the people, their times, and their situations, Such books can be found in the back of the text in the Selected Bibliograghy, These are people who have effected some influence or significant amounts of influence, just not a lot of obvious influence, Perhaps Farquhar inte ded to entertain and inform both, After some thought, Farquhar has done a good job of entertaining and imforming, Everytime I think he should have included this or that as well, I figured out how much thought the writer had put into this work.
A good book for relaxation time, Interesting. I knew the stories of a couple of these individuals, but most of their stories were completely new to me, American history is so strange at times, As the cover blurb reminds us, countless fascinating characters are relegated to the footnotes of history, a situation that Michael Farquhar tries to remedy in this entertaining book.
Farquhar shines a light on
thirty characters who would otherwise remain shrouded in the mists of obscurity, with mixed results,
One obvious problem is that some people deserve to languish in obscurity, Despite Farquhar's enthusiasm, not everyone profiled in this book lived an interesting, let alone a fascinating, life, A useful test question would have been "Is this someone I would enjoy sitting next to on a plane" Had the author applied it, several characters would not have made the cut, and this would have been an infinitely better book.
Farquhar, or his editors, should have realized that:
The sadly pedestrian criminal behavior of John Billington does not become interesting just because he was a passenger on the Mayflower.
It's a shame that Mary Dyer was hanged for her Quaker beliefs, but a mildly remarkable death doesn't mean her life was interesting.
That evangelist Zilpha Elaw was a black woman might be unusual, but doesn't make reading about her call to Jesus, and subsequent proselytizing, any less tedious.
You wouldn't invite Mary or Zilpha into your home for a riveting discussion of their religious enthusiasms reading about them is no less unappealing.
The lives of Richard Johnson and Clement Vallandigham do nothing to dispel the conclusion that most unsuccessful politicians earn their obscurity.
A single accomplishment e, g. inventing Mother's Day, or the Fosbury flop may deserve nothing more than a footnote in history,
Excluding the duds would have allowed a more expanded account of the genuinely interesting lives, I for one, would have liked to learn more about these fascinating characters:
Anne Bonney, pirate of the Caribbean
Louise Boyd, socialite and Arctic explorer
Mary Jemison, "white woman of the Genesee"
Sarah Winnemucca, "Paiute princess"
William J.
Burns, "America's Sherlock Holmes"
Gaston B, Means, "American scoundrel"
Beulah Louise Henry, "the female Edison"
Elizabeth Bentley, "Red Spy Queen"
James Callender, muckraker for the First Amendment
Isaac Parker, "The Hanging Judge"
Edwin Forrest, "First American Idol"
Guy Gabaldon, "Pied Piper of Saipan"
Each of these chapters left me wanting more.
In particular, devoting fewer than three pages to Beulah Louise Henry seemed almost criminal, Vignettes of more even length, dedicated to themost interesting characters, would have made for a much better book,
But let's not quibble,out ofis a pretty decent batting average, Farquhar writes reasonably well, with an enthusiasm that is engaging, The format of the book makes it ideal for occasional sampling, Although your choice and mine may differ, I'll wager that there will be at least half a dozen vignettes that will charm the pants off you.
Furthermore, if the chapter on Guy Gabaldon, theyearold marine who singlehandedly took hundreds of Japanese prisoners at the end of World War II, isn't in that top half dozen, I'll eat my hat.
: or any other similarlysized garment, of your choosing, An interesting book. Just as the title suggests, snippets of Forgotten Americans, or some never covered in school, Purchased in JFK Int'l Airport for a return flight to Phoenix in, it was the perfect book for the flight, But I only readof theshort stories in the book, Doomed as a airline book in sat on a shelf waiting for the next flight, . . I saw it this year,years later and I completed the reading, One notable and totally unknown to me was, Louise Arner Boyed: The Socialite Who Conquered the Artic Wilderness, She spurred my imagination to read more about her!
This should have been a really interesting read, but somehow, it just didn't happen.
Overall, an entertaining serious of brief biographies, Most of the subjects are interesting people, with interesting stories, who have made a genuine impact on American society,
While anyone with a casual interest in American history will likely enjoy the book, it's important to note that the props is pure entertainment, not nessisarily education.
Some of the anecdotes shared are more legend than fact, and there's little attempt to caution the reader in this regard,
Still though, I did come away with a list of people and events to look further into the author certainly piqued my curiosity and desires to know more.
After reading 'A Treasury of Royal Scandals' and being somewhat disappointed with it, I'm pleased to say I enjoyed this Farquhar book much more! Most of these people I'd never heard of.
Some I had seen little snippets of on the History Channel such as Mary Surratt and Anne Bonny, but never knew they're full claim to fame, so to speak.
I really enjoy Mr, Farquhar's style of writing, and he tells each story as if he were sitting in front of you telling it, I also liked this about 'Royal Scandals', my issue with that book was mainly about content,
Some of the chapters each one about a different person were very short, I'm assuming this is because, while the person may have done something big, there is very little information available about their life.
Other's were much longer like the story of William J, Burns America's Sherlock, his life seems to have been very well documented, Some people I was completely uninterested in and would get annoyed at how long their stories were Richard Mentor Johnson comes to mind, while others I hated to see end Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, Gaston B.
means.
Overall, if you're interested in reading this, I say go for it, It's a great collection of people plucked from American historical obscurity, and through Mr, Farquhar, have voices one again though some of them may not deserve to due to their truly evil deeds, I look forward to 'A Treasury of American Scandals', the last of this threesome I have left to read, Ive been “currently reading” this for over two years now, I think its time I accept that Im just not going to finish it, Its not a bad book or anything I just dont have the motivation to finish it,
DNFMarFun history lesson about some people throughout American history that are entertaining but may have slipped through the cracks of history taught in schools.
Some of them I recognized, some others the details were vague and this helped bridge that gap, No story about each one is too long, so you could take your time and read a little about each one, Short, witty biographies of historical American figures that may not have written the Declaration or fought at the Alamo but are well worth noting just the same.
This book was awesome little digestible tidbits that were interesting and engrossing, Perfect for those of us who comprehend at an adult level but prefer not to read with a dictionary and thesaurus in hand.
An entertaining collection of biographical sketches of varying depth on a handful of interesting and lesserknown or generally forgotten individuals who had an impact on American history or a level of notoriety.
Some I knew of, a couple I had never heard about, and it is always good to hear a new story or to have old ones refreshed and possibly even enhanced.
The one I liked best was about a MexicanAmerican, who had been partially raised in a JapaneseAmerican household, who managed during the battle for Saipan to coax hundreds of Japanese soldiers away from futile certain death to give up to the Americans, whom they feared as they had been indoctrinated to believe were vicious brutes.
I picked this book up because it was recommended in the bibliography of another book I read, Being the history buff that I am I wasn't sure that I would learn much of anything from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Though some of the people featured are fairly wellknown, the majority of them are people you won't read about in any history books.
The book is irreverent and funny, but unlike the Royal Scandals book by the author, everything was true as far as I can tell.
The book was also organized chronologically which made for easier reading, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the notsofamous figures of American history, .
This book was pretty hitormiss for me, Some of the subjects chosen were good picks such as the guy who saved the Declaration of Independence or the Midnight Rider who WASN'T Paul Revere but others were frankly uninteresting and perhaps should have stayed in obscurity.
Somehow, the people I found boring had the longest chapters, while the ones I wanted to know more about ended after just a few pages.
This book had a hard time holding my attention the longer I read it, and I started to just skim towards the end.
I enjoyed the other book I read by this author, but this one was just ultimately too dull too often for me.
History Light.
An entertaining book that lives up to its title, Good light reading for someone interested in history, While some of these are truly unknown, many can be found mentioned in main stream texts,
A good introduction for someone who decries history as BORING! Reading this might change their mind,
A lively, compulsively browsable collection of neglected notablesfrom the bestselling author of A Treasury of Royal Scandals
"History," wrote Thomas Carlyle, "is the essence of innumerable biographies.
" Yet countless fascinating characters are relegated to a historical limbo, In A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans, Michael Farquhar has scoured the annals and rescued thirty of the most intriguing, unusual, and yes, memorable Americans from obscurity.
From the mother of Mother's Day to Paul Revere's rival rider, the Mayflower murderer to "America's Sherlock Holmes," these figures are more than historical runnersupthey're the spies, explorers, patriots, and martyrs without whom history as we know it would be very different indeed.
And sometimes books get written in more or less equal amounts about the people, their times, and their situations, Such books can be found in the back of the text in the Selected Bibliograghy, These are people who have effected some influence or significant amounts of influence, just not a lot of obvious influence, Perhaps Farquhar inte ded to entertain and inform both, After some thought, Farquhar has done a good job of entertaining and imforming, Everytime I think he should have included this or that as well, I figured out how much thought the writer had put into this work.
A good book for relaxation time, Interesting. I knew the stories of a couple of these individuals, but most of their stories were completely new to me, American history is so strange at times, As the cover blurb reminds us, countless fascinating characters are relegated to the footnotes of history, a situation that Michael Farquhar tries to remedy in this entertaining book.
Farquhar shines a light on
thirty characters who would otherwise remain shrouded in the mists of obscurity, with mixed results,
One obvious problem is that some people deserve to languish in obscurity, Despite Farquhar's enthusiasm, not everyone profiled in this book lived an interesting, let alone a fascinating, life, A useful test question would have been "Is this someone I would enjoy sitting next to on a plane" Had the author applied it, several characters would not have made the cut, and this would have been an infinitely better book.
Farquhar, or his editors, should have realized that:
The sadly pedestrian criminal behavior of John Billington does not become interesting just because he was a passenger on the Mayflower.
It's a shame that Mary Dyer was hanged for her Quaker beliefs, but a mildly remarkable death doesn't mean her life was interesting.
That evangelist Zilpha Elaw was a black woman might be unusual, but doesn't make reading about her call to Jesus, and subsequent proselytizing, any less tedious.
You wouldn't invite Mary or Zilpha into your home for a riveting discussion of their religious enthusiasms reading about them is no less unappealing.
The lives of Richard Johnson and Clement Vallandigham do nothing to dispel the conclusion that most unsuccessful politicians earn their obscurity.
A single accomplishment e, g. inventing Mother's Day, or the Fosbury flop may deserve nothing more than a footnote in history,
Excluding the duds would have allowed a more expanded account of the genuinely interesting lives, I for one, would have liked to learn more about these fascinating characters:
Anne Bonney, pirate of the Caribbean
Louise Boyd, socialite and Arctic explorer
Mary Jemison, "white woman of the Genesee"
Sarah Winnemucca, "Paiute princess"
William J.
Burns, "America's Sherlock Holmes"
Gaston B, Means, "American scoundrel"
Beulah Louise Henry, "the female Edison"
Elizabeth Bentley, "Red Spy Queen"
James Callender, muckraker for the First Amendment
Isaac Parker, "The Hanging Judge"
Edwin Forrest, "First American Idol"
Guy Gabaldon, "Pied Piper of Saipan"
Each of these chapters left me wanting more.
In particular, devoting fewer than three pages to Beulah Louise Henry seemed almost criminal, Vignettes of more even length, dedicated to themost interesting characters, would have made for a much better book,
But let's not quibble,out ofis a pretty decent batting average, Farquhar writes reasonably well, with an enthusiasm that is engaging, The format of the book makes it ideal for occasional sampling, Although your choice and mine may differ, I'll wager that there will be at least half a dozen vignettes that will charm the pants off you.
Furthermore, if the chapter on Guy Gabaldon, theyearold marine who singlehandedly took hundreds of Japanese prisoners at the end of World War II, isn't in that top half dozen, I'll eat my hat.
: or any other similarlysized garment, of your choosing, An interesting book. Just as the title suggests, snippets of Forgotten Americans, or some never covered in school, Purchased in JFK Int'l Airport for a return flight to Phoenix in, it was the perfect book for the flight, But I only readof theshort stories in the book, Doomed as a airline book in sat on a shelf waiting for the next flight, . . I saw it this year,years later and I completed the reading, One notable and totally unknown to me was, Louise Arner Boyed: The Socialite Who Conquered the Artic Wilderness, She spurred my imagination to read more about her!
This should have been a really interesting read, but somehow, it just didn't happen.
Overall, an entertaining serious of brief biographies, Most of the subjects are interesting people, with interesting stories, who have made a genuine impact on American society,
While anyone with a casual interest in American history will likely enjoy the book, it's important to note that the props is pure entertainment, not nessisarily education.
Some of the anecdotes shared are more legend than fact, and there's little attempt to caution the reader in this regard,
Still though, I did come away with a list of people and events to look further into the author certainly piqued my curiosity and desires to know more.
After reading 'A Treasury of Royal Scandals' and being somewhat disappointed with it, I'm pleased to say I enjoyed this Farquhar book much more! Most of these people I'd never heard of.
Some I had seen little snippets of on the History Channel such as Mary Surratt and Anne Bonny, but never knew they're full claim to fame, so to speak.
I really enjoy Mr, Farquhar's style of writing, and he tells each story as if he were sitting in front of you telling it, I also liked this about 'Royal Scandals', my issue with that book was mainly about content,
Some of the chapters each one about a different person were very short, I'm assuming this is because, while the person may have done something big, there is very little information available about their life.
Other's were much longer like the story of William J, Burns America's Sherlock, his life seems to have been very well documented, Some people I was completely uninterested in and would get annoyed at how long their stories were Richard Mentor Johnson comes to mind, while others I hated to see end Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, Gaston B.
means.
Overall, if you're interested in reading this, I say go for it, It's a great collection of people plucked from American historical obscurity, and through Mr, Farquhar, have voices one again though some of them may not deserve to due to their truly evil deeds, I look forward to 'A Treasury of American Scandals', the last of this threesome I have left to read, Ive been “currently reading” this for over two years now, I think its time I accept that Im just not going to finish it, Its not a bad book or anything I just dont have the motivation to finish it,
DNFMarFun history lesson about some people throughout American history that are entertaining but may have slipped through the cracks of history taught in schools.
Some of them I recognized, some others the details were vague and this helped bridge that gap, No story about each one is too long, so you could take your time and read a little about each one, Short, witty biographies of historical American figures that may not have written the Declaration or fought at the Alamo but are well worth noting just the same.
This book was awesome little digestible tidbits that were interesting and engrossing, Perfect for those of us who comprehend at an adult level but prefer not to read with a dictionary and thesaurus in hand.
An entertaining collection of biographical sketches of varying depth on a handful of interesting and lesserknown or generally forgotten individuals who had an impact on American history or a level of notoriety.
Some I knew of, a couple I had never heard about, and it is always good to hear a new story or to have old ones refreshed and possibly even enhanced.
The one I liked best was about a MexicanAmerican, who had been partially raised in a JapaneseAmerican household, who managed during the battle for Saipan to coax hundreds of Japanese soldiers away from futile certain death to give up to the Americans, whom they feared as they had been indoctrinated to believe were vicious brutes.
I picked this book up because it was recommended in the bibliography of another book I read, Being the history buff that I am I wasn't sure that I would learn much of anything from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Though some of the people featured are fairly wellknown, the majority of them are people you won't read about in any history books.
The book is irreverent and funny, but unlike the Royal Scandals book by the author, everything was true as far as I can tell.
The book was also organized chronologically which made for easier reading, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the notsofamous figures of American history, .