The author, who finished this book just before his death in 1965, was a Harvard professor of considerable stature as well as the father of Arthur, Jr. From a scholarly point of view, the book sidesteps the preludes to the domestic, democratic revolution which developed concurrently with the War of Independence; instead, Schlesinger merely claims that everyone took a class structure for granted. But then legislative struggles lie on the periphery of this study. It is a social history in its best and largest descriptions. Bundling, smuggling, coping with sewage and crime, the colonists seem as vital a bunch as we were brought up to believe. There is an adumbration of the darker side (Yankee slave-traders as well as Southern masters) and a few cliche-busters (only a minority formally belonged to any church). Yet it's principally the sweeter, lighter side—scant mention of the French and Indian Wars; a claim that the aristocracy was benign and unresented; little about taxes and governmental structures; and little inkling of the half-hearted support for the Spirit of '76. It's an utter delight to read; no substitute for classics like the Beards, Dorfman or Jameson, much less new, rigorous scholarship—but a worthy complement.
Pub Date: Oct. 22, 1968
ISBN: 0241017149
Page Count: -
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1968
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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