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stephanie now owns To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette.
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stephanie rated The Princes in the Tower 4 hours ago.
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Sam is ghost-writing a novel about my life... I think I'll feature my chins on the cover :-)
I've read bios on about fifteen presidents so far, most of which were pretty good. I'll tell you which ones weren't that good, too, so you don't waste your time.Washington - The Indispensable Man by James Flexner was good, His Excellency by Joseph Ellis was too short.Adams - John Adams by David McCullough is excellent.Jefferson - American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis was not very thorough.Jackson - American Lion by Meacham was not at all thorough and not very good, in my opinion.Buchanan - The Presidency of James Buchanan by Elbert Smith is very good, and covers all of the major issues leading up to the Civil War.Lincoln - Team of Rivals by Goodwin is great. It focuses mainly on the presidency, but it gives bios of Lincoln and all of his cabinet. I'm still looking for something massive on Lincoln. I plan on reading a multi-volume history.T. Roosevelt - The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex by Morris are very good and extremely thorough. There's a third volume that covers his life after the presidency, but it's not out yet.FDR - I read called FDR but I don't remember the author and I don't think it's in print anymore.Truman - Truman by David McCullough is fantastic, and Truman has since become one of my favorite presidents.Eisenhower - Eisenhower by Ambrose is good, but I think it's too biased in favor of Eisenhower and doesn't cover the civil rights stuff very extensively.Kennedy - An Unfinished Life by Dalleck is very good.Johnson - I've read Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which was very interesting. Goodwin knew Johnson, so she interprets things through her own personal experiences. I feel like I want to read more on him.Carter - The Presidency of Jimmy Carter (author unremembered) was extraordinarily boring, so I wouldn't recommend that.There are a lot of books that aren't specifically bios but which cover the presidencies very well. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow is one of the best history books I've ever read, and it gives a lot of good info on the Founding generations. The War of 1812 by Donald Hickey covers that aspect of Madison's presidency. Battle Cry of Freedom is the best book on the Civil War and covers the presidencies leading up to it.I could go on, but I'm guessing that's more than enough info.
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