Fans of Follett and cathedrals alike will enjoy his exploration of the great Parisian edifice—and will want more.
A survey of the storied history of Notre-Dame Cathedral, a victim of a devastating fire in April 2019.
Follett (Edge of Eternity, 2014, etc.) knows a thing or two about medieval cathedrals, having structured his Kingsbridge series around the building of one such architectural wonder. It’s for that reason that when Notre-Dame, the jewel at the heart of Paris, caught fire, the media flocked to the author for commentary. He began informally, he relates here, tweeting to friends and followers that it’s not hard for a gigantic tower of stone to catch fire: “The rafters consist of hundreds of tons of wood, old and very dry. When that burns the roof collapses, then the falling debris destroys the vaulted ceiling, which also falls and destroys the mighty stone pillars that are holding the whole thing up.” Though badly damaged, the cathedral’s pillars held up, and French President Emmanuel Macron has promised that the damage will be repaired within five years. Follett casts some doubt on that optimistic timetable while noting, “it is always unwise to underestimate the French.” In this slender essay, he connects the events of 2019 to the building of Notre-Dame over a century, beginning in 1163. It was, he writes, the equivalent of a space launch today, benefiting whole segments of the society and economy and yielding tremendous technological advances. However, he writes, “when you add up all the pragmatic reasons, they’re not quite enough to explain why we did it.” Indeed, generations of builders would die before the cathedral was finished in 1345, yet they threw themselves into the godly work. The proceeds from this book, which touches on such things as Victor Hugo’s novelistic celebration of Notre-Dame and Charles De Gaulle’s celebrated Te Deum there on the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation, are being earmarked for the restoration, another space launch–worthy mustering of our better angels.
Fans of Follett and cathedrals alike will enjoy his exploration of the great Parisian edifice—and will want more.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-984880-25-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
A solid, balanced portrait of the radical fringe of New England abolitionists who bankrolled John Brown's ill-fated but pivotal raid at Harpers Ferry. Was Brown the righteous ``angel of light'' eulogized by Thoreau or a cold-blooded killer and petty thief? A shepherd leading slaves to freedom or an opportunistic wolf who fooled the age's leading intellectual lights? Renehan (John Burroughs: An American Naturalist, 1992) doesn't tackle the paradoxes of Brown's character head-on. Instead, he chronicles the maneuvers and schemes of the northern intelligentsia who supported ``Old Brown'' as he cobbled together a ragtag army to fight his holy war on slavery. Renehan remains steadfastly objective, eschewing interpretive speculation in deference to primary sources—most significantly, the large body of personal correspondence that survived despite the conspirators frequent injunctions to one another to ``burn this.'' Suspicion and self-preservation were characteristic of the six principals, who ran the gamut from impoverished ministers to millionaires. Renehan's evidence suggests the abolitionists, grown weary of finding a political solution to the slavery problem, backed Brown despite believing his plan suicidal, then abandoned him when their fears proved true. After the raid at Harpers Ferry, the six vacillated between outlandish rescue schemes (one called for kidnapping the governor of Virginia and ransoming him for the condemned Brown) and fleeing to Canada. Summoned to testify before Congress after Brown's execution, those who did show perjured themselves, denying involvement. While Renehan sheds little new light on the enigmatic Brown, he provides an important historical corrective regarding the events that helped precipitate the Civil War: Northern abolitionists, not the renegade Southern states, were the first true rebels in the battle over slavery. (23 b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-517-59028-X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
The ``great man'' approach, ferociously but ploddingly revived. In the second volume of his history of the US presidency, Riccards (President/Sheperd College; A Republic If You Can Keep It, not reviewed) takes the story from Theodore Roosevelt to George Bush. He analyzes chief executives through the lens of five presidential models: Federalist (nonpartisan magistrates asserting power in foreign policy); Jeffersonian (working through consensus with legislative leaders); Jacksonian (using strong ties to the citizenry to exercise control over the government's agenda); Whig (deference to legislature); and Lincolnian (strong control over domestic and external affairs as a result of necessity). Nevertheless, based on secondary sources, Riccards's analysis offers no new insights or information. The first Roosevelt was scoffed at as ``that damn cowboy'' when he assumed office, but he asserted presidential power at home and abroad, busting trusts and building the Panama Canal. The conservative Howard Taft was Teddy's handpicked successor, though TR would eventually proclaim him a ``fathead.'' Woodrow Wilson skillfully maneuvered America into a world war and international leadership, completing a process begun during the Spanish-American War. A series of Republican nonentities followed him, leading to the towering figure of the 20th-century presidency, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The author gives Dwight D. Eisenhower credit for opposing Joseph McCarthy and keeping the US out of war in Indochina. He sees JFK as a dark figure and LBJ as the last president with a truly creative domestic agenda. A dull reading of grand history. (First printing of 50,000)
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-56833-042-1
Page Count: 424
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
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