Just the Facts
A Review By Charles King
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Just the Facts |
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1603 | New Religions | Gangsters, Swindlers | Skeletons | Whale and the Supercomputer |
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During the past few years, a new variant of popular history has grabbed the public’s attention and pocketbooks; concise studies of sometimes trivial subjects whose historical effect far outweighed their apparent importance. Dava Sobel’s Longitude was one of the first of this new breed, followed in short order by similarly structured works by authors including Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman), and Mark Kurlansky (Cod). Besides being entertaining and well written, such books appeared to touch a peculiar nerve among readers for whom time is an increasingly precious commodity. These books are essentially undemanding in their requirements for sustained study or attention, and can be consumed piecemeal or in short order as a reader’s busy schedule allows. A natural outgrowth of the success of these books is an even more abbreviated approach to history, in which thematic compendiums organize information into easily consumed and digestible chunks. Here are a trio of entrants in this newest popular genre, as well as a pair of more conventional, and excellent, histories. |
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The death of Queen Elizabeth I marked more than just the passing of the Tudor line to the English throne. It also set into motion a series of events that would usher Great Britain out of medievalism and into the age of empire, spark settlements in the Americas, and lead to the first organized murder of a European regent by his subjects. Christopher Lee attempts to get his arms around this tumultuous age in 1603 (St. Martin’s, $29.95), a study of the first year in the reign of James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots, who ruled over a nation of diverse subjects including Sir Walter Raleigh, William Shakespeare, and Oliver Cromwell. Oh, and toss in a healthy dose of the Black Plague and the writing of the King James Bible just to make things interesting. Lee enriches his text with material taken liberally from a range of sources including private diaries and letters, as well as a host of public documents. The question though is, was 1603 a sort of über inflection point in the history of European civilization? To this reviewer, the evidence is pretty thin. The real problem with Lee’s thesis is that while a number of interesting people began doing interesting things in 1603, many or even most of those things came into full bloom years or even decades later. Without a stronger concept driving the narrative, 1603 reads a bit like a compendium of fascinating, vaguely connected bits of information. That said the book provides a window into a time largely pushed aside by history teachers anxious to jump from Elizabeth I to the Civil War or the Restoration, and is likely to inspire some lively cocktail party conversations. Overall, if you enjoy British history, 1603 offers a tasty and often entertaining cup of tea. Buy this book at:
Religion is driving much of the news these days, whether it is sparking events across the Middle East and Central Asia, spurring central issues in this year’s presidential campaign, or spinning out of celebrity profiles in People magazine. But while people are being exposed to an increasingly wide and confusing variety of religious sects and beliefs, many of them relatively new or even esoteric, where can they go to satisfy their curiosity about these groups and find answers to their questions? A good place to start, it turns out, is in New Religions – A Guide (Oxford, $40.00). Edited by Christopher Partridge, a British professor of contemporary religion, New Religions brings together scores of informative, entertaining essays by over 50 scholars. Partridge has arranged the material thematically and chronologically. For example, the section devoted to Christianity begins with an overview of historical events, essential doctrines and established sects in the Christian church, then delves into the origins and beliefs of related groups which have arisen over the past two centuries. Aside from the exceptional quality of its writing, what is most notable about New Religions is the absence of axe grinding among the essayists, who make every effort to discuss the organizations and beliefs they address with measured terms and balanced tone. A few readers may be disturbed by this seeming lack of editorial side taking, especially as regards some controversial, even volatile subject matter, but the willingness to present religions of all kinds clearly and concisely imbues New Religions with a notable degree of credibility. While it does not have the space to address its subjects in depth, New Religions offers curious readers a good starting point to explore alternative beliefs and believers.
The guys in the white hats may win the battle, but those in the black hats seem have more fun on the field. At least that is a reasonable conclusion to arrive at from most any investigation of modern western culture. What is it people like so much about villains? The simple matter may be that the bad guys get the best lines (as well as most of the chicks). The love of villains has reached a curiously American crescendo during the past century or so, with robbers who play Robin Hood in the public mind, and psychopathic killers who receive reams of love letters from adoring fans. Gangsters, Swindlers, Killers, and Thieves (Oxford, $26.00) profiles fifty notable criminals in short essays taken from the American National Biography and edited by mystery novelist Lawrence Block, who also provides succinct, witty introductions to each essay. As such, Gangsters, Swindlers, Killers, and Thieves offers a shallow look into the lives it portrays, but the view is as often entertaining and enlightening as it is sad and pathetic. A host of well known bad guys (and girls) is here, including Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, Bugsy Siegel, and Joe Valachi. But Block has also chosen characters whose heinous acts are more the products of self-delusion or mental illness than some grand criminal vision. Oh particular interest is the part the media played in the aggrandizement of so many miscreants. Life magazine devoted nine pages in a 1957 issue to serial killer Edward Gein, the brutal prototype for Buffalo Bill in Thomas Harris’ Silence of the Lambs. Newspapers across the country published Bonnie Parker’s poem “Suicide Sal” the year before she and Clyde Barker met their deaths at the business end of 167 bullets. It is also notable to see who Block left out of this motley collection; Charles Julius Guiteau but not Lee Harvey Oswald? In all, Gangsters, Swindlers, Killers, and Thieves provides the cast of a “hit” play that cries out for a bloody sequel.
Author Dean
King’s reputation has rested largely on illuminating the works and lives of
authors of nautical fiction. Dean’s first books of note were companion
lexicons for Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels, and atlases that
illuminated the voyages central to those books. King followed these works
with A Life Revealed, a well-received biography of O’Brian, and also
edits Holt’s Heart of Oak series. King stretches his “sea”
legs a bit in Skeletons on the Zahara (Little, Brown, $24.95), the
fascinating true story of the experiences of the crew of the American
merchant brig Commerce who were shipwrecked on the shore of North
Africa in 1812. Captured by hostile local tribesmen, the sailors were sold
into slavery and force-marched into the Western Sahara on a journey filled
with brutal, awful, sometimes fatal events. Months later, with the critical
assistance of a Muslim trader, a handful of the crew including Captain James
Riley arrived in the trading outpost of Swearah (on the coast of modern
western Morocco) where they met an American consular official who insured
their repatriation. Back home, Riley and other crew members published
narratives of their torturous enslavement that enjoyed great popular
acclaim. In fact, Abraham Lincoln noted that Riley’s account was central to
his own understanding of the literal evils of slavery. But like most stories
that capture the public’s imagination, interest in the fate of the Commerce
died away and the crew’s ordeal was largely forgotten until King discovered
a copy of Riley’s memoirs. Working from Riley’s and other first hand
accounts, stories in the popular press, and official documents, King’s
Skeletons on the Zahara is likely the best and most accurate rendition
of the events suffered both by the crew of the Commerce and the
efforts that resulted in their eventual journey home. King should be
applauded both for his narrative skills and for proving that largely
forgotten historic tales can be resurrected in remarkably compelling ways.
Though not strictly a history, the basis of Charles Wohlforth’s The Whale and the Supercomputer (North Point, $25.00) rests on the largely unexplored connections between historic memory and analytical science. Wohlforth focuses his attention on Barrow, Alaska’s northernmost village deep within the Artic Circle. Barrow is the home base for hundreds of native Inupiat Eskimos who for generations have survived on whaling and other subsistence practices, and have successfully made a home of one of the most inhospitable spots on the globe. But Barrow is also the location of some of the most pioneering scientific inquiries into the causes and effects of global warming. The basis of The Whale and the Supercomputer rests in Wohlforth’s investigation of potential intersection points between generations of Inupiat experience and the sophisticated studies carried out by modern researchers. The recent, tangible effects of global warming are obvious to both groups; winters are shorter, once solid pack ice is unstable, species of warmer weather plants and animals never seen in Barrow are becoming increasingly common. But the lack of meaningful communication between the natives and researchers is striking. To most Inupiat, the scientists are clumsy outsiders interested in little more than the collection of data and enrichment of their careers, and who then move on with nary a backward glance or concern. To most researchers, the Inupiat are gifted assistants with practical skills critical to the success of research expeditions, but whose hard earned knowledge is difficult or impossible to quantify scientifically. Wohlforth finds some exceptions; a young Inupiat leader schooled in California who works to create closer bonds; scientists well aware of the valuable knowledge the locals possess, but the disconnection between the two groups is striking. By focusing on this inherent tension, Wohlforth turns what could be a relatively dry examination of global warming into a human drama played out on a stage that is changing literally beneath the players’ feet. Overall, The Whale and the Supercomputer is a superb book that deserves a wide audience.
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