A thorough but idiosyncratically narrow Boy Scout history with a limited appeal.
A history book explores Boy Scout Troop 11 in Houston.
Boy Scout Troop 11 was first established in 1914; its inaugural scoutmaster was John Dixie Smith. The First Presbyterian Church began its sponsorship of the troop in 1920. This sprawling history of the troop commemorates a century of its association with the church. The troop is now the oldest continuously operating one in Houston, and its proud history parallels the last 100 years of the nation. Davis furnishes a remarkably detailed account. The book is structured like a combination of a scrapbook—there are historical photographs and news clippings scattered throughout—and a meticulous chronological record that clearly aims to present a comprehensive account rather than a thematically unified narrative. There is no bit of minutiae too small to warrant the author’s attention—individual awards and citations, scoutmaster profiles, meetings and luncheons, relay races and deaths are all documented with punctilious scrupulousness. Davis escorts readers through a century of these events, all the way to the disruptions recently caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. (The work does not address the recent sex abuse claims filed against the Boy Scouts of America.) From this bundle of facts emerges a sense of the philosophy fundamental to Boy Scout life, including its religious commitments: “Religious liberty is essential to a free people. Scouthood is not worthwhile unless it continues to struggle for religious liberty. It’s not much of a religion that does not allow you to follow your conscience worshipping God. The only requirement for scouts is that they worship God.”
At its best, Davis’ account provides a parallel commentary on American history writ large. For example, Boy Scouts suffered a “heavy toll” of casualties during the nation’s participation in the major wars of the 20th century: “During both World War II and the Korean War,” Troop 11 “served in many types of semi‐military auxiliary work while its graduates fought all over the globe. Quite a few former scouts who went into service became professional military officers and are still stationed abroad.” Readers will truly become immersed in Boy Scout culture, including a taste of its admirably lofty ideals as well as its quotidian affairs. But the price to be paid for this microscopic thoroughness is the history’s readability—this is a massive data compilation rather than a story. Even the most enthusiastic readers are likely to feel interred under a mountain of miscellany. Only the most ardent student of the troop will want to read about the importance of keeping purple neckerchiefs clean or a trip to England in 1929. Davis’ overriding aspiration seems to be the creation of an encyclopedic record, a reference book that can be consulted in posterity, either for administrative or nostalgic purposes. But it doesn’t seem to be intended to be read in the way one typically peruses a book—all at once, from start to finish. For those who have some personal connection to the troop, this could be a source of happy remembrance, and for those who work for the Boy Scouts, it’s a potentially valuable resource. But it’s hard to imagine this granular volume will appeal to a readership beyond those two groups.
A thorough but idiosyncratically narrow Boy Scout history with a limited appeal.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 228
Publisher: First Presbyterian Church
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.
A coffee-table book celebrates Michelle Obama’s sense of fashion.
Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Obama’s chatty latest book begins with some school portraits from the author’s childhood in Chicago and fond memories of back-to-school shopping at Sears, then jumps into the intricacies of clothing oneself as the spouse of a presidential candidate and as the first lady. “People looked forward to the outfits, and once I got their attention, they listened to what I had to say. This is the soft power of fashion,” she says. Obama is grateful and frank about all the help she got along the way, and the volume includes a long section written by her primary wardrobe stylist, Koop—28 years old when she first took the job—and shorter sections by makeup artists and several hair stylists, who worked with wigs and hair extensions as Obama transitioned back to her natural hair, and grew out her bangs, at the end of her husband’s second term. Many of the designers of the author’s gowns, notably Jason Wu, who designed several of her more striking outfits, also contribute appreciative memories. Besides candid and more formal photographs, the volume features many sketches of her gowns by their designers, closeups on details of those gowns, and magazine covers from Better Homes & Gardens to Vogue. The author writes that as a Black woman, “I was under a particularly white-hot glare, constantly appraised for whether my outfits were ‘acceptable’ and ‘appropriate,’ the color of my skin somehow inviting even more judgment than the color of my dresses.” Overall, though, this is generally a canny, upbeat volume, with little in the way of surprising revelations.
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593800706
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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