Author: szfreiberger

BASEBALL AS IT WAS: BUILDING CHAMPIONSHIPS BEFORE FREE AGENCY by John Ferling

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The Boston Braves meet the Cleveland Indians in the first game of the World Series before 40,135 spectators at Braves Field in Boston, Ma., Oct. 6, 1948. Boston won, 1-0. (AP Photo) 

(The Boston Braves meet the Cleveland Indians in the first game of the World Series before 40,135 spectators at Braves Field in Boston, Ma., Oct. 6, 1948. Boston won, 1-0).

When I find a seasoned historian authoring a book on baseball history it spikes my interest.  In the past I have enjoyed the works of Charles Alexander, an Ohio University professor who wrote biographies of Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Tris Speaker, and John McGraw, in addition to the impact of the Great Depression on baseball among other historians.  The books were deeply researched and insightful.  John Ferling who taught history at West Georgia University has been noted for these traits in his many books dealing with the American Revolutionary period and when I learned he had tackled baseball history I was intrigued.  His effort entitled, BASEBALL AS IT WAS: BUILDING CHAMPIONS BEFORE FREE AGENCY CHANGED EVERYTHING was a wonderful stroll down memory lane..

Ferling’s work focuses on the twelve years following the end of World War II when baseball was in a period of transition highlighted by integration, the movement of franchises, to new cities, and owners dominating labor, or the lives of their players.  Ferling’s interest rests on how baseball rosters evolved to effectively challenge for a place in the World Series.  His main focus is on the Boston Braves who would move to Milwaukee and the Cleveland Indians providing intricate details and many astute observations.

One of the key themes in Ferling’s work is today’s game and how it has changed from the post war decade.  It was a time when baseball was truly the national pastime – a transformative period before players obtained a great deal of labor freedom with the end of the reserve clause that owners used to dominate their playing chattel.  Ferling states that he chose the Braves and Indians because after years of mediocrity they rapidly developed into championship contenders.  The author focuses on General managers like John Quinn and Hank Greenberg and how they approached building a winning roster, why they succeeded at times, and why some of their moves failed.

The 1940s and 50s produced players that are viewed as iconic even from today’s perspective.  The names Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Joe Di Maggio, Henry Aaron, Bob Feller, Willie Mays and a host of others easily come to mind.  It was also a period when baseball finally integrated  with only one team waiting until the early 1960s – the Boston Red Sox with Pumpsie Green.

Johnny Sain, right, of the Boston Braves, shakes hands with Cleveland’s Bob Feller, before the two hurling aces took mound, Oct. 6, 1948 at Braves Field, Boston, for the opening game of the 1948 World Series. (AP Photo) 

(Johnny Sain, right, of the Boston Braves, shakes hands with Cleveland’s Bob Feller, before the two hurling aces took mound, Oct. 6, 1948 at Braves Field, Boston, for the opening game of the 1948 World Series)

After a brief history of the pre-war period Ferling develops a number of important themes.  First, the sport would enjoy a boom in popularity and attendance after the war as players returned and the quality of baseball lacking during the war improved immensely.  Second, the author constantly discusses his topic in the larger context of American history.  Third, Ferling integrates many topics that are not generally discussed by most books of this genre.  For example, attempts by the Mexican League to lure players from the Major Leagues.  Commissioner Albert “Happy” Chandler threatened any player who made the move to Mexico and later tried to return to the major leagues they would be blackballed for five years.  Ferling also delves into the failed attempts by players to unionize succumbing to threats by baseball owners.  Perhaps the best book on this topic is John Helyar’s LORDS OF THE REALM.

Ferling successfully examines the lives of many of the payers and how they dealt with the environment with which they were often confronted.  Larry Doby’s struggle with racism even after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier; Ted Williams loss of at least five seasons to fly bombers during World War II and the Korean War; Satchel Paige’s elevation to the majors after years in the Negro Leagues are among the many portraits offered.

The author develops many interesting points.  One in particular stands out in that most players were not homegrown – “they were acquired hither and yon.”  The reason for this is that many men who would have grown up playing baseball were off fighting in Europe and Asia resulting in a lack of experienced players.  Interestingly, pitchers who stood out for the Braves and Indians during the 40s and 50s fought in the war – Warren Spahn, Johnny Sain, Bob Feller, and Bob Lemon. 

Bob Lemon Cleveland Indian pitching in World Series game, Oct. 7, 1948. (AP Photo) 

(Bob Lemon Cleveland Indian pitching in World Series game, Oct. 7, 1948)

Ferling dissects each season by following the pennant races and the performance of key players examining their strengths and weaknesses of the most important teams.  In the late 1940s Cleveland was in a race with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant.  By the early 1950s the Yankees dominated except for the Indians unseating them in 1954.  For the remainder of the decade, they went to the World Series except for 1959 when the Chicago White Sox met the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.  For the Boston/Milwaukee Braves their main opponents were the St. Louis Cardinals in the 40s and in the 50s it was the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants (before they moved to California).  The Dodgers would dominate the decade until the Braves emerged on top in 1957 and 1958, and the Dodgers won the World Series in 1959.

The issue of race is an underlying theme throughout the book.  Even as late as 1955 with the arrival of Henry Aaron in the Braves locker room had an invisible line in the clubhouse that white and black players would not cross. Ferling explores the attitude of certain General Managers and managers toward race.  George Wiess of the Yankees was known for not allowing the team to sign black players.  He would succumb to pressure and bring in Elston Howard, a young catcher in 1955 which would spark their manager Casey Stengel to remark, “when I finally get a nigger, I get the only one who can’t run.” 

Aaron poses with New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle in 1957. That season, Aaron was named the National League's Most Valuable Player and his team defeated the Yankees to win the World Series.

(Henry Aaron poses with New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle in 1957. That season, Aaron was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player and his team defeated the Yankees to win the World Series)

Ferling concentrates on the building of the Braves through the lens of John Quinn, their General Manager who was able to combine trades for opposing players with signing and developing prospects.  Names like Lew Burdette, Billy Burton, Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron come to mind who would lay the foundation for the World Series teams of 1957 and 1958.  Quinn comes across much better than Cleveland General Manager Hank Greenberg.  Quinn knew had to build a team and make important trades, two trades stand out; the acquisition of Joe Adcock from Cincinnati in 1953, and one that probably brought the Braves the pennant in 1957 by acquiring Red Schoendienst from St. Louis Cardinals.   Greenberg, a former all-star slugger in his own right, his eight years in Cleveland only produced one World Series appearance. Ferling’s evaluation of Greenberg’s reign is dead on as he was seen as inflexible,  cheap in rewarding players; fearful in  making trades especially any of his top pitches like Mike Garcia, Bib Lemon, Early Wynn, or Bob Feller.  The trades he did make did not pan out like trading Larry Doby, who was black, trading Minnie Minoso, and trading for Chico Carrasquel to the White Sox.  One incident beyond Greenberg’s control should be mentioned, the unfortunate injury of Herb Score, who at the time, was probably the best pitcher in the American League was struck in the eye by a line drive by Gil McDougald of the Yankees.  He would not return to the mound in 1957 and never was quite the same pitcher.  As a result, attendance continued to decline and he eventually was forced to resign.  One of the reasons the Indians could not catch the Yankees was that the Kansas City Athletics who had moved from Philadelphia constantly traded players to the Yankees who allowed them to fill holes in their roster.  A case in point is Bobby Shantz and Art Ditmar to New York in 1957.  Interestingly, Parke Caroll, the Athletics General manager had worked for George Wiess and saw his as a close friend!  In 1959 Roger Maris was traded to the Yankees who would go on to break Babe Ruth’s home run record of sixty-one in 1961.  Lane would be fired after three years before he could do any more damage.

Aaron holds his MVP award with Braves pitcher Warren Spahn, who won the Cy Young Award that year.

(Henry Aaron holds his MVP award with Braves pitcher Warren Spahn, who won the Cy Young Award that year).

The decline of both franchises after the 1958 season resulted from the dismissals of their General Managers.  In the case of Cleveland, they would hire “Trader” Frank Lane who would ruin team prospects by living up to his nickname by dispersing Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito, Early Wynn, Al Smith, and Roger Maris.  If you are knowledgeable about this period in baseball history you are aware of the later accomplishments of these players.  In the case of the Braves, team owner Lou Perini forced Quinn out of his job even though the team made the 1958 World Series in which they lost to the Yankees in seven games.  Ferling goes on to describe the machinations of the sale of the team and its move to Atlanta in 1966.  Interestingly, Perini’s reason for selling, low attendance +-would reemerge in the southern mecca of baseball!

Overall, Ferling has created a wonderful walk down memory lane for a “senior” baseball fan.  Though I was familiar with most of what the author had to say there are a few important vignettes of which I was not aware.  If there is a criticism of the book it is that at times too many facts and numbers are thrown at the reader.  I for one have no problem with that approach, but others who might want a more general account could.  In conclusion, Ferling’s work provides an updated history of the period by an exceptional historian.

Cleveland Municipal Stadium, former home of the Cleveland Indians

(Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium)

IN THE ARENA: THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN WAR, PEACE AND REVOLUTION by David S. Brown

szfreiberger American Diplomatic History, American Political History, American Social History, Biography Leave a comment
A black and white photo of Theodore Roosevelt seated in front of the porch of his home, wearing a dark suit and riding boots.

(Theodore Roosevelt at his Sagamore Hill home).

There are numerous memorable biographies of Theodore Roosevelt.  The best include the three volume work of Edmund Morris, Henry Pringle’s Pulitzer prize winning effort, David McCullogh’s National Book Award MORNING ON HORSEBACK, and Kathleen Dalton, H.W. Brands, and Nathan Miller’s critical works, among others.  There are also a series of books that focus on critical aspects of Roosevelt’s life.  Among the best include Douglas Brinkley’s discussion of Roosevelt’s environmental work to Candice Millard’s incredible adventure of Roosevelt’s exploration of a tributary of the Amazon.  Based on this summary, why should I read another book on Roosevelt?  For me, the reason is clear, it is because of David S. Brown whose biographies include subjects like Henry Adams, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Hofstadter and Andrew Jackson, which are exceptional.   When his latest endeavor appeared; IN THE ARENA:THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN WAR, PEACE, AND REVOLUTION I was hooked.

After consuming Brown’s work, it is clear that it is well written, researched, and prepared for the general reader in addition to scholarly historians.  Roosevelt’s life is fully captured with all of its positives and warts.  Brown successfully integrates wonderful personal vignettes regarding Roosevelt’s life, along with his speeches, letters, and writings.  My main concern is the depth that certain aspects of the book present.  Though some areas are given complete attention, i.e., Roosevelt’s break with Howard Taft and the Election of 1912  his relationship with his father, Roosevelt’s attitude toward American entrance into World War One I wish he had spent more time on Roosevelt’s presidency, his philosophical evolution toward a progressive agenda, and his racist views and how they impacted his policies as for me they form the core of who he was as a person.  I am not suggesting these areas are not discussed, but I wish the author had delved into them more completely.

Brown does argue convincingly that Roosevelt was a dichotomy; he was an imperialist, possessed racist ideas, whose upbringing was one of privilege and wealth.  At the same time, he was a reformer whose progressivism led him to at times stand up to plutocrats by pursuing antitrust actions against monopolies, setting aside public lands for conservation, and future government assistance programs.  He embodied a strong domestic program and a personalized foreign policy whose popularity rested on his charisma.  Brown is correct that his subject can be seen as a bridge between the Gilded Age and the new industrial era as he captured the attention of the middle class making him a beloved leader.

The Theodore Roosevelt Family

(Theodore Roosevelt and his family)

At the outset Brown takes the reader through Roosevelt’s early years as he evolved from a blend of “northern hustle and southern Huguenotism” which created family tension dating back to the Civil War.  Brown presents the traditional exploration of his childhood and stresses his relationship with his father and how impactful it was for his development.  He absorbed a “decidedly Victorian world view” and his father would not tolerate selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardness or untruthfulness, principles Roosevelt mostly followed throughout his life.


One of the most interesting aspects of the book is Roosevelt’s intellectual development, carefully focusing on his childhood travels , education at Harvard and his own writings as he developed as a historian.  Brown successfully created the atmosphere surrounding Roosevelt’s life’s work, in addition to dissecting his writings and how we can see his later actions as a function of his earlier intellectual pursuits.  Roosevelt developed into a Social Darwinist, though he was uncomfortable with the massive accumulation of wealth he experienced during the Gilded Age.

One of the main themes of the book is Roosevelt’s belief in moving on whether dealing with tragedy, the end of his presidency, or political defeat.  Following the death of his mother and his first wife on the same day, despite the fact he had a baby daughter Roosevelt had little time for tragedy and refused to sit still and engage in a long mourning process – he always seemed to live in the moment drawn to the next event as was the case when he abandoned his family and left for the life of a rancher/cowboy in the Dakotas.  This trend can also be seen upon the conclusion of his presidency in a detailed chapter entitled “African Exile” when Roosevelt spent a year traveling and hunting big game.  Lastly, after  his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon.

Brown discusses most of Roosevelt’s pre-presidential  career from serving as a New York State Assemblyman, his role as New York City Police Commissioner and  the Civil Service Commission, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and his involvement in the Spanish-American War.  All are explored sequentially with each experience leading to the next as if they are linked.

Lodge, Henry Cabot

(Senator Henry Cabot Lodge).

Roosevelt’s friendship with Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Corporate banker and Secretary of War Elihu Root, and Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary, and later Secretary of State John Hay who are important because of their attempts to influence Roosevelt and keep him from making poor political decisions.  This is especially important as Roosevelt wages his battles with what he perceives to be the influence of the Railroad, oil and steel barons.  Roosevelt engaged in many battles apart from corporate types, but in a sense they are linked as the plutocrats like Mark Hanna and the Republican “Old Guard” tried to control him.

Roosevelt’s role as an imperialist is developed by Brown through his friendship with Lodge, Alfred Mahan and Brooks Adams who are described as forming a ”jingoistic social club” as they all lobbied for a large naval fleet and the overseas possessions that would be needed to implement an American Empire.  The pursuit of empire is another major theme with racist overtones as the seizure of the Panama Canal is discussed as are events concerning Cuba, and the Philippines.

Brown makes many salient points that help the reader understand Roosevelt’s raison ‘d’etre in many areas.  For example, he argues that Roosevelt was not a true progressive until his inability to convince corporate leaders to see reason drove him toward a more reformist agenda.  In the end his developing Square Deal, the breakup of trusts, ending mine strikes are emblematic of his approach as he plays a major role in the evolution of classical liberalism to New Deal liberalism.  As much as Brown highlights aspects of the Square Deal and later Roosevelt’s New Nationalism, both could have been dealt with in greater detail.

Brown successfully uses Roosevelt’s “ego” as a tool to explain his approach to policy and negotiation as we witness in his role in the Treaty of Portsmouth that brought the Russo-Japanese War to conclusion.  As his daughter Alice remarked, “my father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening.”  Roosevelt’s ego is fully on display as he bolts the Republican Party and runs for president under the banner of the Bull Moose Party in addition to his attitude toward Woodrow Wilson and American entrance into World War I.  Once the United States entered the war Roosevelt’s pressure to create a regiment to fight in Europe reconfirmed how large his ego had become even in his late fifties.   Perhaps had he controlled this personality flaw he could have influenced American history more favorably than he did.

In the foreign policy sphere Roosevelt was very insightful with a tinge of racism.  In dealing with Japan, he saw them as “Asian whites” who he eventually worried eventually would become a competitor in East Asia.  He did not trust the Slavs, Russian in particular, and worried about the Germans.  He would warn his contemporaries about these three countries and many of his fears would come to fruition.

President William Howard Taft

(President William Howard Taft)

At the conclusion of the book Brown attempts to draw a comparison of Roosevelt with Donald Trump.  There are some similarities in terms of ego and presidency, but Roosevelt never used the federal government and the American people as tools to line his and his families pockets.  Further, the corruption that surrounds Trump and his minions is in no way similar to Roosevelt.  This one page comparison dulls my overall favorable opinion of Brown’s efforts.

Woodrow Wilson

(President Woodrow Wilson)

In conclusion, Gerard Helferich’s December 29, 2025, Wall Street Journal book review, “In the Arena’ Review: The Enigma of Teddy is well worth consulting.  “More than a century later, what are we to make of Roosevelt’s crowded life in the arena? (The phrase comes from a speech he gave in 1910.) “It is from contrary opinions,” Mr. Brown writes, “that we often come upon insight, balance, and unexpected perspective.”

Roosevelt is a paradoxical figure. He was a political progressive who abhorred radicalism, an anti-monopolist who recognized the inevitability of large corporations and chose to regulate rather than ban them. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Roosevelt expanded U.S. military power, promoted imperialism and exploited his status as a war hero for political gain. While espousing America as a land of opportunity, he professed bigoted views concerning nonwhites and non-Europeans. He was a nature-loving conservationist and an unrepentant big-game hunter, a Victorian moralist who betrayed his own party and skirted the law when it suited his purposes.

Faced with such a multifaceted figure, the best biographies of Roosevelt strike a balanced portrait of a man who was forward-looking but not immune to the prejudices of his times, an individual who, though admirable in many ways, was undeniably flawed. Taking his cue from Richard Hofstadter, an influential 20th-century American historian and Roosevelt revisionist, Mr. Brown hews largely to contrary opinions. The author cites Roosevelt’s critics prominently, and his own approval is grudging and qualified.

Mr. Brown gives short shrift to Roosevelt’s unparalleled record on the conservation of public land. Roosevelt’s challenge to Wall Street, he writes, “was largely a bully pulpit affair, with rhetoric exceeding action.” He faintly praises foundational laws regulating corporations and protecting workers as “real if measured achievements.” As to character, Mr. Brown portrays Roosevelt as a “flaming exhibitionist” with “megalomania” and “Napoleonic swagger.” Other detractors have made similar points, and though exaggerated, the criticisms bear a germ of truth. But Mr. Brown, in his refusal to credit counterbalancing positives, such as Roosevelt’s prodigious intellect or his genuine empathy for the less fortunate, risks reducing TR to a one-dimensional straw man.”

Picture

1873: THE ROTHSCHILDS, THE FIRST GREAT DEPRESSION, AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD by Liaquat Ahamed

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Engraving depicting the closing of the doors of the New York Stock Exchange on its members, during the panic of 1873.

(Mad money)

To begin with I usually find books on economic history difficult to process and complete.  However, at a time when the United States national debt has surpassed $40 trillion it is incumbent upon us to try and understand what is taking place and what are the implications of our current economic policies.  An administration which has increased the debt more than any in American history apart for spending during World War II with its “Big Beautiful Bill,” tariff policies that make no sense in our interconnected world and only increases the costs to consumers, and launching a war which was not correctly planned out and budgeted for does not bode well for the future if something is not done.  The result of this thought process brought me to Liaquat Ahamed’s latest book 1873: THE ROTHSCHILDS, THE FIRST GREAT DEPRESSION, AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD.  Ahamed, a Pulitzer Prize winner for his previous work, LORDS OF FINANCE: THE BANKERS WHO BROKE THE WORLD about the lead up to the 1929 Great Depression, previously an economist at the World Bank and is uniquely positioned to tackle his latest topic and integrate certain aspects of our current economic plight.

There are many watershed dates in world history, but few are as important as 1873 from an economic vantage point.  When we think of the economic crisis we tend to focus on 1929 and the Great Depression which was only overcome by massive government spending accompanied by World War II, and the 2008 economic downturn, widely known as the Great Recession, officially lasting from December 2007 to June 2009. It was the longest and deepest U.S. recession since World War II, triggered by the collapse of the housing market, subprime mortgage defaults, and a severe global financial crisis.  As Ahamed points out, he “Crisis of 1873” is important to explore because of the similarities of the preceding stories.  “The real estate bubble, stock market mania, careless lending, cascade of defaults, financial disruptions ricocheting across the ocean, drastic austerity programs and ensuing social unrest carry a familiar ring.”  The economic events of 1873, like 1929 and 2008, were preceded by an extraordinary boom and were followed by a period of economic instability and political and social upheaval.

Alphonse James de Rothschild

The similarities of these crises to 1873 rests on self-inflicted wounds.  Ahamed explores the pre and post 1873 period in great detail integrating commentary that relates to our contemporary economic world.  In his focus on 1873 he correctly points out that the economic implications of what occurred should not have been as drastic and lasted for over two decades.  In his view it was due to the major economic powers blundering into a totally unnecessary reordering of the global currency system.  This resulted in a giant squeeze in the volume of global liquidity and had many unintended consequences.

According to Ahamed the major error occurred in Europe as the major economic powers abandoned silver as a foundation of its monetary system at the same time the United States suspended the use of silver as a form of money.  This resulted in half the world’s monetary reserves being under a cloud of uncertainty as bimetallism ended.  The situation was exacerbated as the decision was made during the 1873 crisis creating a long period of deflation, severely reducing profits and incentives for investment creating a malaise in the world economy.  Further a massive redistribution of wealth occurred from debtors to creditors, businessmen and farmers to bankers and financiers inflaming populist anger.  Further repercussions included the discarding of free trade replaced by protectionism, and the Grant administration’s feckless response to the economic crisis in the United States and the resulting political and social implications.

As Ahamed’s title suggests one family emerged as dominant during this period – the Rothschilds.  The author takes the reader through the family history throughout the 19th century focusing on certain family members, their economic expertise, how they accumulated their enormous wealth, and how they impacted governmental policies in the countries where the different branches of the family were deployed.  The Rothschilds were spread across Europe, from London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, to Naples, and in each office they were able to avoid or temper governmental policy errors and avoid decisions that would detract from their wealth.  Ahamed delves into the attitudes of family members and their influence on the major politicians and policy makers of the period and concludes they were not always shaping global markets.  They made no great push to get off silver, and they avoided bad bets on Cairo and Constantinople.  They would emerge from the crashes in Berlin and Vienna unscathed, because Anselm von Rotschild cautiously avoided buying into the boom.  At the same time Ahamed points to the errors the family mostly avoided and their impact on populations in general.

Muhammad Tewfik I
محمد توفيق باشا
Tewfik I, c. 1882
Khedive of Egypt and Sudan

Ahamed delves deeply into the most important decisions that individual Rotschild bankers made which greatly impacted history.  Beginning with Nathan Mayer Rotschild’s accumulation of a fortune through smuggling to evade the Napoleonic blockade of England to Alphonse Rotschild’s influence on the negotiation of reparation payments following the Franco-Prussian War to Lionel de Rothschilds loans to control Egyptian debt to the purchase of a controlling interest in the Suez Canal Company the author provides important commentary that the general reader will easily absorb.

The key events were brought about by the losses suffered by hundreds of thousands of novice investors who lost their savings in the Berlin and Viennese stock markets who then sought scapegoats for their losses leading to a wave of antisemitism.  The role of the Rothschild family is interesting here in that they were substantial players in this period, but they were deliberately conservative in their loans and largely hidden from public view.  But over and over, when markets crashed, when economies collapsed, there were always people making their fame or fortune by accusing the Jews.  Meanwhile the debt defaults by the Ottoman Empire and Egypt, were not due to Jewish bankers but the incompetence and avarice of Sultans in the Ottoman Empire and Pashas in Egypt which upended the strategic map of Europe which in the end resulted in the spread of the British Empire into the area as it took control of the Suez Canal Company.

Gerson von Bleichröder
Gerson von Bleichröder
A cartoon of a giant figure named 'Panic' clearing garbage on Wall Street, 1873

The impact of the post-Civil War railroad expansion in the United States plays an especially important role in the boom and bust cycle which will emerge.  The financing of the transcontinental railroad in the United States and the machinations of Jay Gould and James Fiske to build a Northern route are delved into as these men mirrored the actions of the Rothschilds in Europe turned to the low margin business of underwriting government bonds in order to finance railroad construction.  Scandals such as the Credit Mobilier receive their just do.  Ahamed discussion of Mark Twain is priceless as the American writer coined the term the “Gilded Age” to describe this period of opulence and corruption.

Personality studies abound, some have been told before and offer little that is new, for example, German policy under Otto von Bismarck and how he relied on a Jewish banker for decisions, then turned to antisemitism when it was politically expedient, or how English Prime Minister William Gladstone, a liberal anti-imperialist agreed to send troops to Egypt to protect the Suez Canal to protect his own personal financial investments which helped touch off the “Scramble for Africa.”  President Ulyssess S. Grant does not escape Ahamed’s microscope though once again little that has not been presented previously is discussed.  However, a strong synthesis of Grant’s inability to make the proper decisions, his fecklessness in appointing cronies to important positions, and the resulting corruption are all discussed.  In the end the American political system would suffer with the “Corrupt Bargain of 1876” ending Reconstruction and harboring the return of southern racism towards blacks as the region recaptured much of its influence lost because of the Civil War.

The author possesses a unique ability to make economic history interesting and almost fascinating!  His ability rests on his command of history, though he relies too much on secondary sources, insightful analysis and easy to digest writing style.  Further he has the ability to integrate statistics to support his conclusions without becoming overly pedantic.  If there is one drawback to the narrative is that Ahamed never really conveys proof that the Great Depression of 1873 made the modern world as he strongly implies, however he presents fascinating details about important historical decisions that make his work of economics interesting and understandable for the general reader.

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND: A ROAD TRIP THROUGH US HISTORY by Beverly Gage

szfreiberger American cultural history, American Political History, American Revolution, American Social History Leave a comment

(Mount Vernon, Va.)

At a time when the President of the United States orders the Smithsonian Institution to post signs at exhibits reflecting his own distorted view of American history it is important to be cognizant of what really occurred in the past, its significance, and not allow a misrepresentation of what America has experienced because of the whims of one man.  We must do our best to present history in an objective and factual manner and allow people to make up their own minds when thinking about our history.  Describing museums, national parks, and other representations of American history and culture as woke, whatever that means, is devious and has no place in our lexicon as we celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary.  In our current bifurcated political environment, it is important for historians to present our history in a meaningful and honest way a task that Yale University historian Beverly Gage and author of a phenomenal biography of J. Edgar Hoover has done with her latest work, THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND: A ROAD TRIP THROUGH US HISTORY.

Gage presents a historical travelogue encompassing thirteen sites she visited as she traveled across America.  She describes it as “a guide for anyone who wants to get out there and see the American past for themselves.”  Gage follows her own advice and offers a description of places on her itinerary and for each site, character, or important historical event she revisits she offers a concise historical background, an explanation of any controversies involved in the presentation of where she is visiting, and insightful commentary.  Gage encourages the reader to explore our imperfect past  despite the pressures to downplay the “negative aspects” of our history and put forth the courage and intellectual curiosity to ask important questions and reach their own conclusions.

The breadth of Gage’s coverage takes the reader to sites pertaining to the American Revolution and the role of George Washington, a man who personally believed that he was the unifying force to unite the states after the revolution.  Gage is correct in stating that he would become the great “living symbol of America.”  The reader will pass through Philadelphia, Mount Vernon, Monticello, the Hermitage, the Alamo, through the Midwest, culminating in Disneyland.  Along the way she offers important commentary along with lending a personal touch to her observations.  One of the major themes of the book is how these sites have been transformed to reflect the vision of certain historical figures and the myths they created in order to foster their own vision of history.  The Alamo is a case in point.  A major defeat for Texas and a stunning victory for Mexican General Santa Ana it was quickly transformed from a military route to an inspiring myth that stresses how the Texas Revolution brought men from a dozen states and many nations to fight for democracy making no mention of racial slavery or indigenous land rights.  Gage correctly argues how the history following “Remember the Alamo” leads to the Mexican War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and created the first anti-war movement in American history led by Abraham Linclon’s Spot Resolution and the work of Henry David Thoreau.  The Mexican War produced numerous states exemplifying the extension of slavery and imperial conquest.

mansion and grounds

(The Hermitage, Nashville, TN)

Henry Ford, George Pullman, and Walt Disney are presented as men who wanted to create their own myths associated with their work.  Gage presents brief biographies of all three, as she does with most important characters she explores, and goes on to describe each person’s vision of what the past or the future would look like.  Ford does so in his Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan; the Pullman National Historical Park located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. Established in the 1880s, it preserves America’s first planned industrial company town, the site of the 1894 Pullman Strike, and key manufacturing grounds for the Pullman Palace Car Company, lastly Disneyland with its vision of the past and future in a series of grouped theme parks.

Despite the commentary of certain politicians slavery is ingrained in our history and cannot be shuffled to the side negating its impact.  Gage integrates the history of slavery through a major portion of her monograph as she explores the role of Charleston, South Carolina, the work of John C. Calhoun, the abolitionist movement, John Brown’s Raid and other important components of this aspect of our history.  The controversies centering around Civil War monuments and statues to southern heroes are analyzed in terms of their meaning for local populations in addition to the people who are still negatively affected by their presence.

Another negative aspect of our history that is explored is that of Native Americans and their plight in dealing with removal from areas sought by white men seeking new territory for slavery, mining interests, ranching, and a host of others.  The lives and sites devoted to accomplishing their removal is fraught with massacres and forced removal under the auspices of men like President Andrew Jackson.  Further, General George Armstrong Custer and Little Big Horn are visited and are another example of myth this time perpetrated by Custer’s widow, Libbie who set out to make her dead husband an American hero. 

greenfield-01.jpg

(Greenfield Village, Dearborn, MI)

The west plays an important role in American history.  After delving into Theodore Roosevelt, the Badlands, and Mount Rushmore, Gage points out that the idea that “the west is America and America is the west” dominates historical sites in the region.  Further she points out that Buffalo Bill Cody did his best to ensure the meaning and identity of American history through his traveling expositions depicting a bygone era.  A place Gage briefly mentions is Cody, Wyoming which houses the Smithsonian’s Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a group of five separate museums that focus on different aspects of Native American culture, America’s gun culture and other topics.  Further, if you drive a few  miles out of town you can visit the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, a World War II Japanese Internment camp.

Mount Rushmore

(Mount Rushmore, Rapid City SD)

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Gage’s travels is her description of the importance of upstate New York intellectually and economically in the 19th century.  Her travels along the Erie Canal route and its impact are forgotten in most textbooks.  In addition, Gage focuses on the work of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, among others, which produced the Underground Railroad and the Seneca Falls Convention.  Interestingly as compared to sites in Virginia and Texas, sites in upstate New York are more modest.

At the end of the book Gage delves into Orange County, California and the role of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s presidential libraries.  Nixon is important, in part because of Watergate, but more so because of our contemporary political world as he forged a republican coalition that took advantage of the Sunbelt’s booming population while drawing in disaffected white southern and northern working classes.  He stressed limited government and also had an enemies list and voiced a great deal of hatred for intellectuals and anyone who crossed him.  Though his popularity would collapse after he left office in 1974 his political coalition outlasted him and his mantle was in part taken by President Trump.

Today as we celebrate our 250th anniversary as a nation it is rather disingenuous for the Trump administration to cut funding and chastise the very programs and institutions that preserve our heritage be it the National Park Service, the National Archives, the National Endowment for the Humanities and many others – when I thought the government was supposed to make history accessible.  The key as Gage concludes is that “much of the task of celebrating the 250th will fall to the rest of us…ordinary citizens who will have to do what we can with what we’ve got where we are,”  because it appears there are forces who would like is to disregard facts and just follow along to go along.

West-Front_Monticello-JLooney-26aug2013-0056_work.jpg

(Monticello, Charlottesville, Va.)

THE SILVER BONE by Andrey Kurkov

szfreiberger Historical Fiction Leave a comment

(The troops of General Bredov entering Kiev at Sophia Square, 31 August 1919)

In the first volume of his Samson Kolechko series entitled THE SILVER BONE, award winning historical novelist Andrey Kurkov begins his story with a horrifying scene where Kolechko’s father is murdered, and Kolechko himself has his ear sliced off with a saber by marauding Cossacks.  Kurkov’s novel is set in post-World War I Ukraine in the city of Kyiv as the fighting for control of Russia after the “revolution” continues into 1919.  The death of Kolechko’s father follows the deaths of his mother and sister leaving him an orphan.

The novel accurately portrays a city of 500,000 who live in fear and poverty and are afraid to walk the streets.  Remnants of the White Army and other factions opposed to the Bolsheviks threaten the city as the Red Army tries to gain control of the streets.  The Red Army is requisitioning any private property they feel will enhance the revolution and people have nowhere to turn.  Peasants are forced to enlist in the Red Army, and it is difficult to understand how certain characters believe in the tenants of the revolution.  Enters the hero of the novel, Samson Kolechko, grieving because of the loss of his father he wanders the city and ensconces himself in his flat grieving the loss of his family.  Samson is an electrical engineering student in need of a job and stumbles into a police station after soldiers requisition his father’s sacred desk.  In an absurd scene he is recruited as a detective by Comrade Nayden, a sleep deprived Commissar because of his writing talent, but again very little makes sense in1919 Kyiv as Kurkov’s Vonnegut Esque approach to storytelling is wonderful enhanced by his by the author’s knowledge of Ukrainian history and detailed knowledge of the city’s streets.  Nayden hires Samson because he believes he supports the Socialist cause – the new worker’s state and he seems committed to outlawing disorder.

Samson is upset as two Red Army soldiers have absconded with his flat and he is forced to live with them.  He has placed his severed ear in a metal box which continues to hear and is located in the room where Anton and Fydor, the soldiers are sleeping.  The ear plays a major role in the story as it is used as a superb intelligence device!   Samson learns that the two soldiers are preparing to desert and informs Comrade Nayden about enhancing his reputation.  Samson will stumble into a world of murder and intrigue as he discovers a wider conspiracy involving a mysterious foreigner and a silver bone.

Andrey Kurkov.

(Author, Andrey Kurkov)

The elements of an authoritarian regime are on full display as individuals must produce identification documents at will and one could not question the state.  In this tense atmosphere Samson investigates a theft that evolves into the pursuit of a murderer who kills a police colleague named Semyon Glukhov, and Friedrich Balzer, a tailor, who also almost kills him.  He is aided in solving this crime by Nadezhda Trofimovna, who works in the census office providing a glimpse into the Bolshevik bureaucracy.  Soon Nadezhda moves into Samson’s flat, though at first their relationship is quite platonic.

Samson and other characters live in a barter economy that involves frequent blackouts caused by the theft of firewood that fuels Kyiv’s power plant.  The city also suffers from food and water shortages leading to a great deal of crime. 

Kurkov has authored an atmospheric novel in a droll style which exhibits a great deal of dark humor at the same time Samson battles personal tragedy and a corrupt system as he navigates being an inexperienced detective.  At the same time Samson must deal with two important cases.  First, arresting Anton and Fydor, the Red Army soldiers and trying to  ascertain their link to his second and more important case of locating the killer of Balzer, the tailor, and Semyon, his colleague.

The author is a wonderful storyteller who based his novel on Bolshevik secret archives.  These traits are expressed through a series of playful, and at times serious scenes.  One of my favorites is at the dinner table in Samson’s flat as Nadezhda has moved in and her parents led by her irrepressible father, Trofim Sigismundovich questions Samson’s intentions.  Kurkov employs extreme sarcasm as the conversation shifts to the techniques involved in gathering census material-who knew census taking could be so funny!

There are a number of important characters on display in the novel and each impacts the eventual conclusion.  Comrade Nayden provides insight into the bureaucratic nature of Soviet police work.  Sergius Kholodny, a priest turned policeman offers commentary about the existence of god.  Nestor Ivanovich, a retired police fingerprinting expert.  Luc Jeanovich Jacobsen, Balzer’s roommate, is in search of a doctor to transform his ruined leg.  Vera Ignatyevna Gedroits, a doctor in the male dominated Soviet medical system.  Dr. Nikolay Nikolaevich Vatrokhin who treated Samson’s loss of an ear and provides a great deal of advice throughout.

The novel is expertly translated by Boris Dralyuk, a fellow Ukrainian like the author who returned to Ukraine having escaped Putin’s invasion to fight the authoritarian Russian autocrat.  As one reads the novel you should keep in mind that the story takes place in a country which has amazing similarities and relevance to our contemporary world.  The Ukraine of 1919 was fighting off the yoke of the Red Army, and though the country achieved its independence in 1991, today it is confronted by the Russian Army as Putin tries to recreate the boundaries of the former Soviet Union.  In both cases people clamor for a normal existence, but war and a tyrant’s ego must be overcome first.

(Leon Trotsky inspects units of the Red Army in Kyiv, which was occupied by the Russian Bolsheviks, June 1919.)

DAYS OF LOVE AND RAGE: A STORY OF ORDINARY PEOPLE FORGING A REVOLUTION by Anand Gopal

szfreiberger Middle Eastern History Leave a comment
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels stand on the back of a truck at Manbij countryside

(Turkish-backed Syrian rebels stand on the back of a truck at Manbij countryside, December 29, 2018. Turkey-backed rebels have been mobilizing for an attack on Manbij in nearby areas that have been under Turkey’s control since it swept into northern Syria in 2016, part of its effort to roll back the YPG).

Syria is a country that has been at war with itself for almost fifteen years.  It survived the Assad family which ruled Syria for more than five decades. Hafez al-Assad seized power in a 1970 military coup, creating a brutal, authoritarian regime. Following his death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad assumed the presidency.  Bashar, who was educated in England raised hopes that his reign would be more liberal than his father.  But that was not to be.  He callous rule would foster the brutal suppression of the 2011 protests which triggered a civil war.  This resulted in a government that sought to retain power at any cost and committing incalculable atrocities against its own people including the use of chemical weapons.  There were a number of rebel groups that sought to overthrow Assad, including extremist factions and the rise of ISIS.  In his new book, journalist Anand Gopal creates a far reaching, disturbing, and novelistic account of the Syrian Civil War entitled; DAYS OF LOVE AND RAGE: A STORY OF ORDINARY PEOPLE FORGING A REVOLUTION.

Head shot of Bashar al-Assad

(Bashar al-Assad in 2018)

Gopal focuses the northern Syrian city of Manbij and a small group of people who developed a movement to try and overthrow the Bashir al-Assad dictatorship.  The author collected over 2000 interviews, viewed hundreds of war-time videos and read a myriad of books to tell the story of six ambitious people from a remote provincial town that many Syrians have never heard of until these rebels helped unleash a war and the revolution that encompassed it.  Among the rebels are a pair of best friends torn apart by political polarization, a mother who stands up to a misogynistic culture, and a worker who risks everything in the hope of establishing a democracy.

Gopal’s work provides the reader an insightful approach to the horror that was Syria as people tried to overthrow the Assad regime, the ensuing civil war that created many factions, many of which turned against each other, and produced another brutal dictatorship in the form of the Islamic State of Syria.  Gopal focuses on a group of individuals who lived in Manbij, a strategic city in the northeast Aleppo Governorate of northern Syria, located roughly 30 kilometers west of the Euphrates River and 12 kilometers from the Turkish border. Historically an ancient and diverse hub, the city became part of the battleground that was Syria during this period.  The fighting produced a Revolutionary Council to govern the city made up of elites which led to an opposition under the heading of the Revolutionary Youth Movement (RYM) which believed that the needs of the masses were not being addressed.  The factionalism that eventually evolved pitted friends and relatives against each other as the fabric of the city fell to extreme poverty and violence.

The key characters include Ibrahim Kasem, who originated from the village of Little Hyena where his family worked on the land until they learned of the construction of a dam that would submerge his farm and fostered a rage within.  Kasem and his family would move to Manbij as a laborer where his anger increased against far away forces he did not understand.  Nasan Fefi, lived in Manbij and loved to read and write poetry.  He would be arrested and tortured by the Assad regime and was sent to the notorious Palmyra Prison where he was offered his freedom in return for spying for the regime.  Abdul Qader Oseb, a Kurd who lived in a hamlet near Manbij was known as Abel O.  A laborer and karate expert he left home very young and returned when his father died taking over his business.  He would be sucked into dealing with loan sharks who got the regime police to pressure him.  Mina Saba , a teacher would try and improve the condition for women within an Islamist society and will eventually create a women’s freedom movement.  Gopal offers wonderful chapters describing these characters and how their experiences eventually brought them together to overthrow the regime in Manbij.  Gopal explains the dual nature of Syrian society where a small rich class centered in Damascus supported Assad and the smaller cities and villages throughout the country that resented the regime.  Over the years poverty and drought were not dealt with by the regime resulting in a lack of bread and other necessities.  By 2008 and the world economic crisis would devastate the Syrian economy.

Author photo of Anand Gopal

(Anand Gopal)

In February 2011, the Arab Spring had broken out in Tunisia and would spread to Egypt giving people in Syria false hope for a better life.  Men like Oday al-Hema had always supported Assad because of the government’s modernization program and services it offered.  However, when the masses in the south did not experience any benefits torture, beatings, and murder on the part of the regime turned Oday against the government.  Soon demonstrations against the Baath Party headquarters in Damascus broke out.

Gopal does an effective job weaving aspects of Syrian history into his narrative to highlight contemporary events.  For example, the massacre of demonstrators at Daraa is juxtaposed against Hafez el-Assad’s destruction of Hama were 50-60,000 people were killed.  By 2012 a massacre in Homs and reports of other massacres and shootings by regime soldiers helped radicalize many who had been supporters of Asad.  Among those are Oday and Abel O.  These men would ally with others to create “flash demonstrations” against the government resulting in their arrest.  Gopal goes on to describe in detail the horrors faced by these men in Assad’s Gulag and how prisoners were forced to depend on each other for survival.

As the narrative continues Gopal introduces more characters who greatly impacted the overthrow of the regime in Manbij.  Abdul Hadi Bisher, a former promising soccer player was convinced by Abel O. and Oday to join a protest movement against the government.  Another ally of this developing group was Abdul Hadi would be arrested by security forces as was Oday and others were they would be tortured and forced to admit they were terrorists to gain their release.  Increasingly, more protests developed and a burgeoning military component against the regime was formed.  The end result is the regime is over in Manbij is overthrown leading to the 2011 Syrian uprising in the city. Gopal will chronicle a remarkable 18-month democratic experiment before being torn apart by political polarization and economic inequality.

When the citizens of Manbij overthrew the regime, they created their own grassroots system from the ground up. For a brief window, this included citizen assemblies, free civic organizations, and local newspapers to replace forty years of authoritarian silence.  The problem that developed was that people grew tired of waiting for things to improve as bread prices skyrocketed and the masses blamed the new Revolutionary Council as being elitist and not addressing the economic needs of people and focusing too much on creating overly democratic institutions.  This will spark an opposition which will split Manbij and create an opening for the arrival of ISIS by 2013.

Gopal will trace the fighting against the Assad regime and the horrors it perpetrated against the Syrian people.  The situation was exacerbated by the defacto embargo on weapons by the Western powers who feared radical Islamists and terrorist groups benefiting from their aid as opposed to damaging Assad.  With the Arab Spring, the Gulf states feared for their own regimes. As Iran sent Hezbollah to fight to save the Assad government the situation in the small cities and villages deteriorated further.  Finally, Jordan and Turkey would begin to arm the rebels.  The Obama administration did little and even after he announced a “Red Line” if Assad resorted to chemical weapons – once sarin gas was used Obama did nothing.  This was after a period when the CIA worked to make sure rebel groups did not acquire lethal weapons.

The ISIS-controlled area of Deir-ez Zor appears to be greatly damaged by artillery and aerial bombing, while the government section of the city has suffered relatively minor damage. An explosion was possibly caused by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a government position, May 24, 2015.

(The ISIS-controlled area of Deir-ez Zor appears to be greatly damaged by artillery and aerial bombing, while the government section of the city has suffered relatively minor damage. An explosion was possibly caused by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a government position, May 24, 2015)

Within Manbij a civil war of its own broke out between elements of the Revolutionary Council and the RYM over who was in charge of the city.  Both sides were guilty for intransigence in trying to reach a settlement in what can be seen as a class war as Abel O upon reflecting on events compared life in prison to life dealing with the split between the Revolutionary Council and the RYM.  The debate according to Gopal centered on what type of government Manbij should have.  The author develops the arguments over democracy, freedom, and a more authoritarian rule.  The issues of secularism on Islamism come center stage as Islamists argue that secularism is what led to the brutal Assad regime and an inability of the Revolutionary Council to meet the needs of the people.

As these debates and conflict proliferate Gopal does an exceptional job discussing how ISIS was able to ingratiate itself into the Manbij community.  However, once some of their efforts emerged the people of Manbij threw them out only having them return a month later taking over the city as the price of bread skyrocketed.  ISIS would take over the RYM and the result was a split between Abdul Hadi and Oday and their followers highlighting the convoluted political situation in Manbij that was in the background throughout 2012 and 2014.  The factionalism that was on display is a major theme of the book and a reason for the devastation caused by the Assad regime and the arrival of ISIS.

A young woman crosses a street in Ghazi Ayaash, a residential neighborhood of Deir-ez Zor a few hundred feet from the frontline, after a mortar attack from an ISIS position. The city is an outpost of modernity surrounded by ISIS-controlled areas where strict Islamic law is enforced, May 20, 2015.

(A young woman crosses a street in Ghazi Ayaash, a residential neighborhood of Deir-ez Zor a few hundred feet from the frontline, after a mortar attack from an ISIS position. The city is an outpost of modernity surrounded by ISIS-controlled areas where strict Islamic law is enforced, May 20, 2015.)

One of the many strengths of Gopal’s work is his description of what it was like to live under ISIS rule.  He is particularly effective employing Mina’s experiences in dealing with day to day life under extreme Islamist rule i.e., the almost hourly arrival of trucks with loudspeakers blaring the rules that one must live by under the new ISIS regime.  Gopal explained that people came to follow ISIS because they needed security and were willing to trade for freedom.  The Islamic State achieved what the Revolutionary Council could not.  For Oday, people succumbed to a collective delusion.

As Gopal describes the fighting for Manbij in 2014 as American backed Kurdish forces and other rebel groups fought ISIS he delves into Oday’s seizure.  Once he is taken he is tortured by ISIS which is emblematic of the split between the old revolutionary embodied in Oday and his former compatriot, Abdul Hadi.  The author describes Oday’s courage and unshakeable commitment to freedom which eventually results in ISIS’ defeat which at the same time chronicle’s Abel O’s fight for survival under a reign of bombs.  The most interesting character at this point is Abdul Hadi who founded the RYM and morphed into an ISIS leader.  As the slaughter and bombs he experiences extreme guilt for his life’s path because of his belief in the Caliphate.  Gopal portrays these friends on different sides of the revolution who have come full circle.  It is a morose description of what war can do to friendship and commitment to the same cause.

Charles Glass’ review in the March 5, 2026, entitled, “This Story of Ordinary Syrians Who Fought Tyranny is a Masterpiece” in the New York Times captures the essence of what Gopal achieved in his excellent monograph that at times reads like a novel.  As Glass writes he captures the dichotomy the people of Manbij faced; “As Gopal follows his characters around the city streets, he interlaces personal dramas with political conflicts, hopeful gatherings of aspiring democrats with the torture of young idealists, citizens uniting for liberty with families torn apart, the poor fighting for a share of resources against extortionate merchants, of government apparatchiks switching allegiances to join the revolution, of local soccer and karate heroes finding themselves on opposite sides of the barricades, of hope as much as despair.  Many of the young people who emerged as revolutionary leaders were at first loyal followers of Assad, of whom they said, “Our president is a good man.” Government attacks on peaceful protesters requesting simple reforms turned them into rebels determined to rid the country of a leader and a system they blamed for the wretchedness of their lives. Gopal plays fair, pointing out that Baathist rule provided the peasants of Manbij with electricity, education, roads, health care and land reform that took them out of feudal bondage. In exchange for security, all they sacrificed was freedom.”

Demonstrators in Daraa rally in celebration after Bashar al-Assad's collapse in December 2024 (Mahmoud Sulaiman/Unsplash)

(Demonstrators in Daraa rally in celebration after Bashar al-Assad’s collapse in December 2024)

Glass accurately evaluates Gopal’s monograph as he brings Manbij to its present situation; “As they had fought Assad, the people of Manbij turned against ISIS and, with the assistance of the Free Syrian Army and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (S.D.F.), expelled it in 2016. The largely Kurdish S.D.F. proved as repressive in Manbij as Assad had been. “The Syrian Democratic Forces were democratic in name only,” Gopal writes. “There was no freedom of speech or assembly, no free and fair elections. The government in Manbij was a dictatorship.”

Politics can be a dirty business, but in Days of Love and Rage, Gopal makes the enduring optimism of his subjects movingly clear. For 40 years, everything from labor unions to chess clubs had been subject to the dictatorship. “Yet when the people of Manbij overthrew the government, independent councils and assemblies and newspapers and charities and unions appeared overnight,” Gopal writes. “In other words, the people of Manbij started doing politics.”

Despite falling under tyranny again, the city’s inhabitants learned from their mistakes and banished the subservience to power inherited over four centuries of Ottoman rule, 26 years of French occupation and, since 1949, local dictatorship.

When Assad fled to Moscow in December 2024, ending the civil war, Gopal and many of the town’s exiles returned to Manbij. A new council, Gopal writes, “appointed officials who had been tainted by corruption allegations during the revolution.” The people protested, marching and chanting in the streets and squares. “They came out simply because it is who they are,” Gopal concludes, “because of what has been awakened, because of the fire that cannot be put out.”

A woman holds a bag on her head at a souk in Manbij city

[4/20]

(A woman holds a bag on her head at a souk in Manbij city, December 29, 2018. Manbij has changed hands three times since the Syrian conflict began in 2011. Free Syrian Army rebels seized it from President Bashar al-Assad’s government early in the conflict. Then it fell to Islamic State which declared it part of its ‘caliphate’)

REGIME CHANGE: INSIDE THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY OF DONALD TRUMP by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan

szfreiberger American Political History Leave a comment

(The construction for the ballroom on the White House’s East Wing as seen from the top of the Washington Monument, Nov. 17, 2025).

When Donald Trump announced his goals to justify his war on Iran he described it as an “excursion” and regime change was on the top of his list.  Fast forward three months and it appears the United States defeated Iran militarily but lost the geo-strategic battle as Tehran has emerged victorious as it now controls the Gulf of Hormuz and can negatively impact the world economy at will, something that did not exist before Trump’s “excursion.”   Further, Iran’s theocratic regime remains intact, the government maintains its missile capabilities and retains thousands of drones.  It is clear from the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding that the United States has lost the peace.  It appears Trump has grown tired of the war and needs to put it behind him because of the upcoming mid-term elections.  As a result, he has agreed to lift oil sanctions on Iran, allow Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz, promised billions of dollars in rebuilding funds a.k.a. reparations, and the release frozen Iranian assets.  In addition, nothing has been agreed to pertaining to Iran’s nuclear assets.   One must ask, how did this situation come to fruition so quickly?  Many of the answers to these questions and other aspects of the Trump administration’s policies can be found in New York Times’ journalists, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s new book, REGIME CHANGE: INSIDE THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY OF DONALD TRUMP.

From the book’s title one would gather the narrative focuses on Iran, but that is just one component as the authors focus on the Epstein Files, Trump’s revenge tour against perceived enemies, immigration policy and the actions of ICE, foreign influence, the enriching of the Trump family, corruption, and the overriding concept of loyalty which dominates any relationship with Trump and his administration.  The authors also engage in analyzing why Trump behaves as he does.  From the outset they argue that Trump has always created his own reality and then proceeds to force others to submit to his version of events.  Trump lies constantly and absurdly; but what began as fantasies often blurred and morphed into a reality of his own making.  With increasing frequency, and the help of sycophants, Trump spoken word is truth.  Trumps adamant refusal to accept reality laid the foundation for his comeback in 2024.  His obsession over the election of 2020, his ability to draw many into his mindset that the election was stolen, and that January 6th rioters were patriots out for a “Sunday stroll” dominate his world view and if you do not succumb to the gestalt you are not allowed into his world and administration.

(President Donald Trump (L), Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (C), and Secretary of State Marco Rubio monitor the U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites from the White House Situation Room on June 21, 2025)

Regime change is normally associated with foreign countries.  However, based on the use of executive power what we are now experiencing in our country is regime change when one examines administration policies and actions, and Trump’s rule by his “gut.”  The monograph is very concerning in that it is well researched and sourced.  One could not imagine the types of events, personalities, and actions that are described, but they are part of our political fabric and policies that makes one wonder what the future holds.

In reading REGIME CHANGE  it is difficult to discern which event or policies are the most disconcerting.  But what is most important is the issue of accuracy.  To this point there has been little push back from Trump administration supporters concerning the narrative.  There are the usual criticisms focusing on personal attacks against the authors but little if any questioning of the substance of what the authors present.  The most important criticism voiced by Tunku Varadarajan in his June 26, 2026, review of the book in the Wall Street Journal states that “the book relies largely on sources who spoke exclusively on ‘deep background,’ journalism jargon for the pinky-swear promise of eternal anonymity. We’re asked to trust the writers but have no means to verify their disclosures, some of these purportedly from the very heart of the presidency.”  If this criticism is accurate why has no one questioned the core of what has been uncovered?  Further, based on the record of honesty associated with the Trump administration who should we believe?

(Senior White House policy adviser Stephen Miller watches President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office. Emails leaked to the Southern Poverty Law Center appear to reveal Miller’s familiarity with white nationalist texts and thinkers).

The book itself is a cornucopia of the last 365 days.  If you are a news junky like I am I was pretty aware of most of what the book discusses.  What I wasn’t cognizant of were the deep sourcing taking the reader inside meetings, arguments, and written components of the topics at hand.  This is where the Trump administrations actions become unsettling which is due in large part by Trump himself but also the characters around him who have been given power.  Chief among them is Stephen Miller who has risen to be Deputy Chief of Staff for policy and the keeper of all executive orders, placing him in charge of domestic policy.  He has become the most powerful White House staffer in modern history.  He is laser focused on cutting through the traditional bureaucratic obstacles in the federal government to push through Trump’s agenda.  He has recruited lawyers who stretch the law to illegalities to implement Trump’s wishes – clean out the federal work force from “Trump haters.”  Miller was in charge of the flurry of executive orders at the outset of the administration by overwhelming the opposition as to their number be it ending birthright citizenship or pausing funding of federal agencies.  In the realm of immigration, Miller has set daily quotas to round up and deport people to the tune of 3000 per day.  The promise was that only criminals would be seized and deported, but to reach the one million per year that Miller sought regular people, some of whom are citizens and others who are here legally have been rounded up by ICE.  It was clear racial profiling was used which went along with Miller’s view of race and wanting to facilitate the creation of a white republic.  The authors delve into Greg Bovino, Dan Bongino, Tom Homan, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi and others who have facilitated this process.

Another character portrait which is beyond the pale centers on Elon Musk who spent $300 million to get Trump elected in 2024.  He created DOGE, the Department of Governmental Efficiency and began to gut the federal work force and certain programs.  With little knowledge of the labyrinthine federal system, nor how the budget functioned, with even less interest in the Constitution, he sought to reengineer the government as he imagined.  He usurped the powers of Congress; impounded billions already appropriated and overrode cabinet members.  A case in point was getting rid of USAID, the heart of American soft power overseas which probably caused the death of thousands by slashing funding for medicines and other aspects of disease control.  Further he even blocked funding for an ISIS prison that held over 300 terrorists.

(ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – MARCH 02: U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on March 2, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. Secretary Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)

The list of characters associated with the implementation of Trump’s agenda is long and disheartening especially on the domestic front with the use of ICE, and the deployment of the military to try and occupy certain cities – all of which are heavily minority and democratic.  The first test case was Los Angeles, then Chicago, Washington, DC, and of course the fiasco that resulted in the death of two American citizens in Minneapolis. 

The authors present the rationale for other programs including the unleashing of tariff wars as Trump maintains the 1950s belief that doing so would bring back manufacturing to the United States.  Trump’s tariff policy rekindled the horrors of the Hawley-Smoot tariffs of 1930 which greatly contributed to the Great Depression but free trade once the hallmark of the Republicans just melted away.  It began a trade war with our allies, a process that would also include Trump’s agenda to rely less on traditional allies, break up NATO, and force them to recalibrate any reliance on Washington.  This also had a negative effect on the economy as by increasing tariffs the result is an increase in the cost of consumer goods resulting in higher inflation.  Trump blames inflation on the Biden administration, or he rationalizes that it would only be a short time problem as tariffs would produce great revenues to offset the pain for the consumer.

Haberman and Swan’s discussion of Trump’s domestic agenda are disturbing enough but his foreign policy has been a disaster.  According to Trump he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours.  His kowtowing to Vladimir Putin is part of the historical record.  His treatment of Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been abhorrent particularly the scene in the Oval office in February 2025 as Trump tried to force the Uranian president to give into all of Putin’s demands.  The treatment of NATO allies is well known as is Trump’s obsession with obtaining Greenland and the obnoxious tactics pursued.  But it is the current situation in Iran and how we went to war which is most disturbing.

It is clear that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neteyahu was able to convince Trump to go along with the plan to attack Iran.  The June 2025 Israel attacks in Lebanon and Iran showed Trump what success could look like and since he always wants to be associated with a winner, so he joined Israel in going after Iran’s hidden nuclear capabilities.  After the success against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro Trump thought he could decapitate Iran’s leadership, and a new regime would give into his whims.  We all know how that turned out with Iran controlling the Gulf of Hormuz and Trump succumbing with his Memorandum of Understanding, a strategic victory for Iran, though a military victory for the United States.

Official Portrait of the 22nd Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Dan Caine.

(General Dan Caine, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Apart from domestic and foreign policies Haberman and Swan’s research into the accumulation of Trump family wealth and those of the presidents friends are unprecedented.  Deals for Jared Kushner, Steve Wycoff and his son, Erick and Donald Jr. have brought in billions from drone contracts, crypto deals, and other projects.  Donations based on coercion of Corporate CEOs have brought in billions to Trump’s political actions committees to fund some of his outlandish desires reflecting the fear Trump has instilled.  Yesterday, in fact it was announced that Trump had earned over $2 billion of personal wealth during his first term.  The media has been no exception as Trump wants to remake how news is reported.  If that is not enough Trump wants to change how we view our history – the author’s discussion of the Smithsonian is a case in point.

The scariest section of the book is entitled “Retribution” in which the authors recount how Trump has gone after anyone he feels criticized him in the past.  If you did not agree with the 2020 election conspiracy or the categorization of the January 6th participant there was a target on your back.  Law firms, former Homeland Security or FBI officials, universities, newscasters, nighttime comedians, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, John Bolton, John Brennan, James Comey and his daughter, and Federal reserve Chair, Jerome Powell all fit this criteria as do a host of others.

One would think that the MAGA world would never oppose any action or inaction taken by Trump, but the Epstein Files finally created an opposition which to this day has not gone away.  The work of Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche to block the release of the files is well known and the authors sprinkle in greater detail.  Especially intriguing is the chronicling of the Situation Room meetings to develop a strategy to deal with the Epstein files that included Vice President Vance, Susie Wiles, and many other important figures.

Donald J. Trump standing with Todd Blanche.

(Donald J. Trump with Todd Blanche outside Manhattan Criminal Court, where Mr. Blanche was the president-elect’s defense lawyer in the hush money case. The two bonded over the several weeks of the trial)

The depth of detail in Haberman and Swan’s narrative amazes.  From their description of Trump as an interior decorator with his gold touches, to Trump’s annoyance at Vice President Vance’s position on Iran (maybe that is why he was put in charge of negotiations to end the war!) to reactions to the killing of Charlie Kirk, to how Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and others ingratiated themselves with Trump, to a myriad of other examples the authors take the reader inside an unimaginable world.  Significantly, Vance and Miller wanted to use the murder of Charlie Kirk as an excuse to go after anyone they perceived to be enemies of the administration.  Thery issued a National Security Presidential Memo/NSPM-7 which was designed to label all leftist elements in American politics as a terrorist threat arguing that most violent acts were committed by leftists while the facts reflect it was the American right which was most responsible. 

The authors provide many keen observations in the run up to the attack on Iran.  They focus on the debates within the administration as to what action should be taken.  The focus on CIA Head John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine are most disconcerting.  Ratcliffe warned Trump that Netanyahu’s presentation to justify war and his objectives did not pass the smell test, and others described them as “bullshit.”  The Israeli Prime Minister had his own agenda separate from the United States and was able to convince Trump of a quick and relatively easy victory.  Cain warned Trump that war would heavily deplete America’s weapons and munitions stockpiles presenting the cost of an Iranian drone v. US missiles as a case in point.  This would lead to Defense Secretary Pete Hesgeth’s repeated lies about America’s inventory once a ceasefire was agreed to.   The authors unequivocably state that at no point during the deliberations that resulted in war did Caine tell Trump that war with Iran was a terrible idea, “though some of Caine’s colleagues believed that was exactly what he thought.”  In the end, as per usual, Trump went with his “gut” and did what he wanted expecting a second Venezuela result.

One could never write a Hollywood script to describe a presidency that people would believe if it were based on this book.  However, until someone proves that what these authors have written is false we as a nation  have a president who puts himself, his legacy, his wealth, and his “gut” feelings ahead of the needs of the American people.

(A general view of the White House East Wing entrance in Washington in 1906).

IKE AND WINSTON: WORLD WAR, COLD WAR, AN EXTRAORDINARY FRIENDSHIP by Jonathan W. Jordan

szfreiberger Biography, Uncategorized, World War II Leave a comment
Winnie And Dwight

(Churchill and Eisenhower)

Jonathan W. Jordan has written a superbly blended dual biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Winston S. Churchill entitled IKE AND WINSTON:WORLD WAR, COLD WAR, AN EXTRAORDINARY FRIENDSHIP.  He focuses on their relationship from the time they met in 1941 carrying through World War II and the Cold War.  It is carefully researched and written for the general reader rather than the professional historian as there is little that is new, though to the author’s credit he highlights the most important components of their relationship.  The monograph explores their enduring and complex relationship as disagreements abounded, but they always seemed to come together exhibiting a genuine respect for each other.  The differences center on their backgrounds as Eisenhower was an amiable man from the Midwest, Abilene, Kansas who could also exhibit a cold and ruthless drive to achieve his goals which could be hidden by genial facial expressions.  Churchill, on the other hand, was a charismatic aristocrat who often came across as a 19th century figure as he did his best to preserve the British Empire.  Despite differences in approach to war and diplomacy they worked closely together to defeat Nazism and deal with the crisis that emanated from the Cold War, but in all cases they seem to have their own agendas.

At the outset Churchill held the upper hand as Prime Minister of England as a wartime leader who held his country together in its darkest moments fighting Nazi Germany.  Eisenhower was a career military officer who worked his way up the bureaucratic chain of command behind a desk and never held a military command.  As World War II evolved their positions in the hierarchy of power and influence shifted dramatically as Churchill became more dependent on the United States to defeat Nazism, and Eisenhower with the support of General George C. Marshall became the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe who developed the ability to say no to Churchill’s whims and desires.  At times there was great tension between the two particularly over Eisenhower’s refusal to kowtow to Churchill’s wishes in Greece as the Prime Minister believed Eisenhower owed him deference because of his previous support for the general.  They would also come to larger heads over planning for an invasion of France to create a two front war and how to approach Russia as it conquered Eastern Europe as its army moved west.

Jordan delves into the bureaucratic machinations associated with Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion deftly as Eisenhower wanted to use a bombing campaign near the beaches to block any German reinforcements in the area.  Eisenhower wanted to make the  landings as safe as possible by preventing the Nazis from strengthening their positions in the area.  The problem was the thousands of French citizens who would be collateral damage which Churchill refused to agree to fearing for the postwar hatred of the French toward England.  Jordan presents the different personalities and arguments accurately as Churchill unhappily gave in to Eisenhower who was willing to sacrifice French lives to save the lives of American soldiers to win the war.  His view was clear – if the bombing did not take place even more French citizens would be killed by the Germans.  As the debate unfolded Eisenhower was dumbfounded by Churchill’s opposition.

(George C.Marshall, Field Marshal Sir John Dill, Churchill, and Secretary of War Henry Stimson viewing airborne training at Fort Bragg, NC).

Throughout IKE AND WINSTON Jordan pits “Winston the romantic against Ike the realist.”   Eventually Churchill would admit a grudging respect for Eisenhower, recognizing he possessed “a great creative, constructive and combining genius.”  However, Churchill was often angered and puzzled over Eisenhower’s analytical coldness in his decision making.  Eisenhower’s refusal to take the Greek Island of Rhodes in 1943 facilitating Churchill’s overall view of the Balkans was a case in point as Eisenhower viewed it as a distraction and unnecessarily as it withdrew troop strength from Italy.

Jordan should be commended for his ability to describe the private lives of his two main characters, their numerous meetings and conversations, and their overall opinions of each other.  He takes the reader inside their relationship providing a greater understanding as to how they interacted and reached the decisions they did.  Many insights are offered as at first Eisenhower would develop exceptional physical and intellectual stamina to keep up with Churchill whose daily schedule was the opposite of most people.  As the war progressed and Churchill began to realize that the United States might take over Britain’s preeminent position in the world he needed a voice to influence Roosevelt and Marshall, and that would be Eisenhower.  An interesting insight is offered as Churchill believed Eisenhower was out of his depth in dealing with the French be its Generals Henri Giroud,  Francois Darlan, and Charles De Gaulle in 1942, so he sent Harold MacMillan to advise Eisenhower and steer him the right way.  If we fast forward to the Suez Crisis of 1956 it would be Eisenhower who would help install MacMillan as English Prime Minister after the failures of Anthony Eden.  From the time Churchill sent MacMillan to be at Eisenhower’s side in 1942, the two men would develop a strong friendship.

World War II produced a number of outsized personalities Eisenhower had to deal with aside from Churchill.  Chief among them was Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery whose ego knew no bounds.  Montgomery believed that he should be in charge of all land forces in Europe and was not shy about complaining to Churchill and others that he was not.  Once the Ardennes Forest (Battle of the Bulge) fiasco took place in December 1944 it provided Montgomery with the fuel to go after Eisenhower’s command once again.  His letters and other correspondence with Eisenhower were demeaning and insulting constantly, accusing Eisenhower of “failure.”  Eisenhower resented Montgomery’s ill treatment of General Omar T. Bradley and finally read the British general the riot act.  Eventually a contrite Montgomery would back off, but he never would change his opinion of the Allied Supreme Commander.

Winston Churchill and Field Marshal Montgomery visiting men of 79th Armoured Division, March 1945

(Winston Churchill and Montgomery visiting 79th Armoured Division after the Rhine crossings, 1945)

In terms of ego, it is hard to discern whose was larger Montgomery or the leader of the French Free forces, General Charles De Gaulle.  Eisenhower repeatedly had to deal with disagreements with De Gaulle especially over the French city of Strasbourg.  When Eisenhower would not cave to De Gaulle’s wishes the French general threatened that he would pull the First French Army out of the allied fold and fight on its own.  Eisenhower had vowed never to shortcut military objectives to please political leaders, and when Eisenhower threatened to cut De Gaulle’s supplies, a compromise was reached.

Jordan argues that the most important disagreement between Eisenhower and Churchill emerged at the end of the war over who should seize the city of Berlin.  Churchill wanted to beat the Russians to Berlin and seize as much eastern territory as possible.  The issue became a bone of contention when Eisenhower decided to halt his army at the Elbe River.  Churchill was fresh from the Yalta Conference, and his distrust of Stalin was growing, fearing for the post-war world.  Eisenhower’s viewpoint was purely military, arguing that the most efficient way to finish off the Nazis was to drive through Leipzig and Bavaria.  Churchill had no choice but to back off and despite his anger he would defend Eisenhower from criticism from the British Joint Chiefs as no matter how  many riffs existed Churchill valued Eisenhower’s friendship and usual support.  Despite these feelings Churchill never got over Eisenhower’s Berlin decision as he knew it signaled trouble for the future.

Jordan does not deal with the post war era in as much detail apart from Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech on March 5, 1946, in Fulton, Missouri, and a few other events.  He picks up their relationship substantively as Churchill returns to 10 Downing Street on October 26, 1951.  He had concerns about Eisenhower in that his supporters for the presidency were bankers, lawyers, and corporate types who were more concerned about money and profits as opposed to military matters.  Further, he believed he did not trust John Foster Dulles and his moralistic approach to foreign policy.  Lastly, he feared he would not be able to maintain the special relationship with his wartime ally.

The main point of contention between Eisenhower and Churchill would center on the Prime Minister’s obsession with having a summit meeting with the Russian leadership, a recreation of the “Big Three” especially after Stalin died in March 1953 and Eisenhower assumed the presidency.  Eisenhower would refuse any summit until the Russians took steps to lessen tensions in Austria and Eastern Europe.  When Churchill tried to go it alone and meet with the Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers, Georgy Malenkov, Eisenhower rejected his plan.  Churchill would blame Dulles for manipulating the President and the two held very low opinions of each other.  The idea that Dulles was the most prominent architect of US foreign policy is a misnomer.  In my own research for my monograph DAWN OVER SUEZ: THE RISE OF AMERICAN POWER IN THE MIDDLE EAST 1953-1957 documents clearly show that Eisenhower was in charge and at times had to rein in his Secretary of State. 

(Sir Anthony Eden)

If there was an area that the two agreed it was over events in Iran.  When Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossedegh nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1953 an Anglo-American coup took place as it was feared that Mossadegh was creating inroads for Russia in the region.  However, the summit issue with Russia would drive them apart as did Eisenhower’s new approach to defense.  “The New Look” would rely less on conventional weapons due to their expense and put the emphasis on covert operations by the CIA and arguing that threats of small nuclear weapons would save money.  Churchill was horrified as he believed if it came to a nuclear showdown with Moscow, London would be one of the first Russian targets.  The Prime Minister would argue with Eisenhower over the possible use of weapons of mass destruction repeatedly.  More and more Eisenhower saw Churchill “as a man past his prime.  A cavalier in an atomic age….Winston is a curious mixture of belligerence and caution, sometimes amounting to almost hysterical fear.”  Churchill could not accept he had lost his influence over Eisenhower and continued to blame Dulles.

Jordan correctly delves into the ideological split between the two men which rested on the issue of “colonialism.”  Eisenhower feared that Moscow was taking advantage by promising to break the chains of old world oppression – chains forged by England and France.  To keep Moscow from exploiting populist rage, the United States needed to show support for independence movements and self-determination when speaking in public.  England was seen as the epitome of underdeveloped world bullying.  The example of Egypt and the Suez Canal reflected this reputation as Egyptian President Gamal Nasser was able to use American pressure on England to agree to the “Heads of Agreement” to gain greater control of the Canal, a topic that Jordan does not discuss in enough detail.  As far as French colonialism is concerned, events in Vietnam which produced the disaster at Dienbienphu, and the deterioration of their Algerian colony created hatred for France throughout the underdeveloped world.  Eisenhower would have to navigate a public stance of sympathy for colonialist oppression and in private he would engage what Blanche Wessen Cooke argues in her book DECLASSIFIED EISENHOWER being ”the coup president,” as was seen in Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954.

Churchill finally agreed to leave office and turn 10 Downing Street over to his Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in April 1955.  Jordan will recount the Suez Crisis in detail reflecting how Eisenhower refused to go along with the Sevres Agreement whereby England, France, and Israel agreed on a plot to recover the Suez Canal which Nasser had nationalized.  Eden believed he would have Eisenhower’s support and twisted their communications to reinforce this pipe dream.  Jordan discusses the main aspects of the crisis and the final pressure by Eisenhower that would force the three conspirator countries to withdraw from Egypt by March 1957.  What he leaves out is the hypocrisy of the Eisenhower administration which had its own coup planned for Syria at the end of October 1956 the same week the Israeli invasion of Egypt took place.  At that point, the coup had to be called off.  Further in December 1956 Eisenhower would work behind the scenes for Harold MacMillan to replace Eden as Prime Minister when Eden was visiting Jamaica.  Some might call it a coup!  It is clear that the US was actively working to replace English domination of the Middle East with American control.  With the issuance of the Eisenhower Doctrine in January 1957 which would be first tested in Lebanon the transfer was complete.

In evaluating Jordan’s work, he has produced a wonderful synthesis of the Eisenhower-Churchill relationship, one in which remained a true friendship despite the lack of agreement on a myriad of issues over the years.  The book is written in a style that the general reader would enjoy, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in one of the most important personal relationships of the 20th century.

Image: Dwight D. Eisenhower and Winston Churchill, 1946

(Churchill and Eisenhower)

THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF SPIES: THE ARCHEOLOGISTS WHO FOUGHT THE NAZIS AND SAVED THE TREASURES OF ANCIENT GREECE by Stephan Talty

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Nazi German flag being raised over Acropolis, 1941.

(Nazi German flag being raised over Acropolis, 1941.)

Most people with a knowledge of history are aware of the Nazis insatiable appetite to steal and destroy the cultural artifacts of others.   Whether we are speaking of the art works stolen from the Louvre in Paris, the personal possessions of Jews, archeological treasures from museums, and a host of other sources the Nazis had to be outsmarted by those who sought to save their countries treasures.  A special example of how a group of people made up of archeologists, academics, epigraphers, classists, and other vocations did so in World War II Greece which is wonderfully portrayed in Stephan Talty’s latest book, THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF SPIES: THE ARCHEOLOGISTS WHO FOUGHT THE NAZIS AND SAVED THE TREASURES OF ANCIENT GREECE.

Talty’s monograph is broken into a number of subjects.  First, the problem of the relics and how to keep them from the Germans.  Second, a useful description of how and where the relics would be hidden and preserved.  Third, the recruitment of individuals to serve as agents for the Greek Desk created to oppose Nazi actions.  Fourth, the conduct of the missions needed to defeat and block Nazi attempts at destroying relics or shipping them back to Berlin.  Fifth, the introduction of the most important individuals, their training, and missions to thwart the likes of Adolf Hitler and Herman Goering as they attempted to seize Greece’s cultural heritage.  Sixth, a section on the status of relics following the end of the war.

Donovan, William J.

. (William J. Donovan).

Talty immediately introduces the reader to Rodney Young, the first of many important characters that are developed.  Young was an American archeologist, an east coast blue blood and heir to the Ballantine Beer fortune whose mother had a passion for Latin and Greek culture.  Young earned a Ph.D from Columbia in the Classics and Archeology.  He rejected the life of the “social register” to pursue his chosen field in Athens.  He would be based at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.  He would be recruited by OSS head William Donovan to set up a spy ring to thwart the Nazis in Greece.  Young would recruit an unusual cadre of people who would be known as “the Greek Desk.”

Once the Germans arrived in Greece many American archeologists returned to the United States as Hitler in particular made plans to seize as many artifacts as possible.  The Nazis had taught their followers that Ancient Greece had been built by their own ancestors.  The Nazis wanted to curate Athenian ruins and see what they could bring back to Berlin as Hitler and his cohorts were fixated on Ancient Greek artifacts.  Hitler believed that the Aryan race had given birth to Ancient Athenian culture.  He wrote in MEIN KAMPF that a racial kinship connected Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Nazis in a straight line.  Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS created a German Ancestral Heritage Society and charged scholars to locate the missing links between the “true German culture.”  Alfred Rosenberg, Hitler’s racial theorist would order teams of archeologists to central Greece to locate “pre- and post-historic” Germanic and Slavic finds which would prove the connection between Ancient Greece and early Germanic culture.  By using what Talty describes as archeological strip mining, the Germans located 10,000 relics which they argued proved the missing links were found.

This well-known photograph of Rodney Young at Gordion shows him in his excavation “uniform” of jodhpurs and high leather boots, 1953. UPM image #101533.

 (This well-known photograph of Rodney Young at Gordion shows him in his excavation “uniform”)

Talty delves into the Greek government’s plan to bury their relics under the National Archeological Museum in Athens.  Before he met William Donovan, Rodney Young was one of the volunteers.  Fearing a full German invasion the volunteers had to work quickly to bury artifacts in the ground under the museum and throughout the city.  In addition, homes, bank vaults ,and air raid shelters were also used.  By April 1941, the most important items were taken from the museum which then stood empty which did not make the Nazis happy.

Donovan played a major role in blocking the Germans as he believed that a classic spy network was needed.  He was convinced that conventional methods could not alone defeat the Nazis.  His plan was to create a series of guerilla units to be drawn from Greek immigrant communities in the United States, train them in sabotage, and have them infiltrate their ancestral homeland.  Once Young was chosen he recruited a number of important colleagues.  Among the most important were Dorothy Hannah Cox, an excavation architect and numismatist; Jerome Spirling, an archeology professor at Yale with great experience excavating Troy in Turkey; and Jack Caskey, fluent in Greek he spent part of his youth in Athens and was a trained archeologist.  Except for Cox, among Young’s two dozen classist recruits, most were overwhelmingly male, Wasp, and from monied families.

Talty does an exceptional job explaining how the Germans went about looting relics and shipping the ones they did not destroy back to Berlin.  For example, items that were too large to ship or were attractive enough were ground up and used for military purposes, since marble and stone made for excellent building materials for bunkers and other needs.

Young’s headquarters were in Cairo and Talty goes to great lengths describing how agents were recruited with new identities provided, how information was gathered, and how cable traffic was managed.  Young created his own merchant marine using Caiques, traditional Greek fishing vessels to transport agents, information, and the tools that a spy needed to operate.  The Greek Desk created German documents employing a separate team of counterfeiters.  The OSS bureaucracy was of little help, and neither were the British who saw the Balkans being part of their sphere of influence.

(Nedjmettin Bekhtori, age 12, and Dorothy H. Cox, architect of the expedition, washing an Amphora (vase) just excavated by Miss Cox).

Talty is correct as he explores British distrust of American agents in Greece.  Cox reported that Winston Churchill saw Washington as interlopers in the Balkans who supported liberal elements rather than King George II.  She believed that the British pressured the Turks not to cooperate with American agents.  Once the Germans were defeated and withdrew from Greece Churchill wanted to forbid elections and hold on to power.   Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met in Moscow from October 9 to October 19, 1944, at a summit codenamed the Tolstoy Conference. Their discussions defined the postwar map of Eastern Europe and produced the “Percentages Agreement,” on October 9, whereby Churchill and Stalin negotiated a secret “spheres of influence” deal for the Balkans. Churchill wrote percentages of dominance on a piece of paper (i.e., granting the Soviet Union 90% control in Romania and 10% in Greece). Stalin famously reviewed the list and simply marked it with a large red tick.  The agreement was made without Franklin Roosevelt’s approval.

The reader is introduced to a number of remarkable characters.  Cornelia Kapp whose father was an Abwehr agent posing as a diplomat switched sides and worked with the Americans spying on Ludwig Moyzisch, the German attaché in Ankara, Turkey.  Helias Doudoulakis sent by Young to set up a network of spies and operators in Salonika, and his brother George was effective in obtaining valuable information about German rail and Caiques schedules, bridge locations etc.  Nikolaos Platon the head of the Heraklion Museum on the island of Crete refused to give into the demands of Nazi Commander Julius Ringel whose stolen relics were mostly recovered after the war.

Doundoulakis in 2012

(Helias Doundoulakis in 2012)

Talty is very critical of the British role after the Germans withdrew and their refusal to cooperate with Greek leftists and allow elections which led to a bloody civil war fostered by the emerging Cold War.  It would take until 1948 for the National Archeological Museum to reopen in Athens after three years of excavating and recovering relics.  Despite the retrieval of thousands of objects, thousands more were not, though over the years many were returned. 

Talty’s work tells the story of two sets of agents sent to Greece.  Each had a distinct mission.  One was to harass and kill Germans by blowing up trains, calling in airstrikes and passing on military secrets.  The other group was to safeguard Greece’s treasure trove of archeological riches.  Talty does well as he describes the work of these agents and how they survived and were able to make a major contribution to the war effort, in addition to recovering Greece’s national treasures.

Greek soldiers descend a slope during the war with Italy

(A group of Greek soldiers descends a slope during the war with Italy)

THE FIRST ALLSTAR GAME: BABE RUTH, FDR, AND AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS by Randall Sullivan

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View of Comiskey Park, former home of the Chicago White Sox

(Comiskey Park, Chicago, IL)

By 1933 the United States had arrived at a crossroad.  The country was in the midst of the depression with unemployment at 25% and breadlines blocks long in major American cities like Chicago where despite Franklin Roosevelt’s implementing a New Deal people were growing desperate.  Overseas Benito Mussolini embarked on his imperialist goals, Adolf Hitler consolidated power and opened Dachau, and Japan had seized parts of Manchuria two years earlier. 

As the American people sought hope to overcome their economic troubles they elected Franklin D. Roosevelt as president to replace the growing hatred toward Herbert Hoover, a man who seemed to lack empathy for the masses.  Two days before his inauguration Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt while visiting Miami, however the man who shared his automobile, the mayor of Chicago was killed.  As things seemed to go from bad to worse even one of America’s opportunities for escapism, baseball was also experiencing a severe downturn.

As the situation in the United States grew increasingly dire a newspaperman developed the idea of playing a baseball game with the best players competing against each other as part of Chicago World’s Fair.  It would offer people something to take their minds off their troubles, even if it was only a few hours.  In THE FIRST ALLSTAR GAME: BABE RUTH, FDR, AND AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS, historian Randall Sullivan explores how the game came about as he weaves together the storied characters and personalities  that dominated the news cycle at the time.  Sullivan’s monograph is a blend of economic, social, and political history with baseball’s development up to 1933.  The author blends the most important aspects of the depression integrating the roles of important figures such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, John McGraw, Connie Mack, and of course Babe Ruth and a host of others.

(The American League prevailed in the first AL vs. NL All-Star Game on July 6, 1933, in Chicago, defeating the NL 4-2. The man in the suit is Arch Ward)

Sullivan brings a sharp focus on the city of Chicago and how it navigated through the depression.  The author astutely points out that Chicago had overcome a Depression before as the crash of 1873 which continued on and off into the 1890s with the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.  The story begins with the introduction of the role of Franklin Roosevelt whose reforms were pushed through Congress zeroing in on the crisis in banking, unemployment, farm foreclosures, industrial production and labor.  Next we are introduced to Arch Ward, a journalist for the conservative Chicago Tribune owned by Colonel Robert McCormack, who as a sportswriter and promoter came up with the idea of presenting an Allstar game.  Lastly, we are introduced to Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a federal judge who became Commissioner of baseball following the 1919 Black Sox scandal as eight players on the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series against Cincinnati.

Sullivan’s monograph is deeply researched with wonderful vignettes concerning the major personalities of the period.  The author carefully introduces each character by presenting a brief biographical sketch and integrating the lives he discusses with the economic and societal forces that dominated the period.  Sullivan also explores a number of important aspects of his subject that are critical to his story but seem ancillary, but quite entertaining and important.  One that comes to mind is the discussion of whether Babe Ruth was of “black” ancestry.  In a chapter devoted to race the reader after learning all about Ruth’s life earlier in the book learns that Ruth was one of the few white ball players willing to play with blacks be it on barnstorming tours or other exhibition games.  Sullivan discusses in detail the growth of negro baseball dating back to the 19th century introducing men like Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson and whether black players were equal in performance to those in the white major leagues.  Later in his career, Ruth was castigated for his interactions with blacks especially by Commissioner Landis, who was a known racist who suspended Ruth for two months at the outset of the 1925 season.

Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth team up for final championship together.

(Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth)

Apart from t players, the careers of John McGraw and Connie Mack are exceptionally important to the development of baseball.  Sullivan describes McGraw’s flawed personality, “will to win,” and overbearing personality all subsumed in an amazing career.  Mack’s ownership of the Philadelphia Athletics provides a window into the economic impact of the depression and a championship baseball team that Mack had to repeatedly take apart selling his players to meet the bills and then reconstituting his team as a champion and taking it apart again.  As we are exposed to other aspects of baseball history men like Ty Cobb, Jimmy Foxx, Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez, Frankie Fritsch, Al Simmons, Lou Gehrig, Carl Hubbel, Bill Terry and Pepper Martin, Mickey Cochrane, Hack Wilson among those discussed are integrated into the larger story of the Allstar game and make for wonderful reading for any baseball historian or aficionado.

When you pick up the book and explore its title the reader gets the impression he or she is about to embark on a sports journey.  However, Sullivan does an excellent job broadening his topic to create a panorama of the United States from the early twentieth century to 1933.  Whether the author is discussing the economic greed and poor decision making that led to the depression, its impact on the economics of baseball, the desegregation of the sport, or the special impact on the American population whether dealing with the Dust Bowl or putting food on the table and locating shelter Sullivan portrays his topic vividly and insightfully.

Connie Mack-John McGraw 1933 All-Star Game

If there is a criticism to be made it centers on Sullivan’s proclivity spending too much time on “social banditry” or “criminal anti-heroes” introducing Pretty Boy Floyd, Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, among others.  I understand the societal element that made these personalities important, but it does not deserve the time the author devotes to it.  Further, the discussion of the Black Sox scandal is too drawn out, but upon reflection I understand why Sullivan dug deeply into that aspect of the sport since a number of players including Ty Cobb and others bet heavily on games during the period.

As for the game itself which took place on Thursday, July 7, 1933, before 49,000 excited fans at Comiskey Park, Lefty Grove came on in the seventh inning to toss three scoreless innings of relief and earn the save for the victorious American League, 4-2. Fittingly, and to the fans’ uncontained delight, the aging Ruth’s two-run third-inning home run provided the victory margin.

Despite a few flaws, Sullivan has written an incredibly interesting book, but whether you come at it from the perspective of a baseball fan, an American history buff, or simply someone looking for an enjoyable, but at the same time thought provoking read, Randall Sullivan’s effort is a book well worth reading.

(Connie Mack and John McGraw)

(Comiskey Park, Chicago, IL)