Young Stalin (Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2007)

Subject matter seemed interesting, and I had much liked what the author did with this book.  So gave this one a try.  Not great - but interesting, entertaining, worthwhile.  Stalin is a completely amazing character.  Book is based in large part upon relatively newly-available material as state archives open up (somewhat) in Russia and Georgia.

Some thoughts:

1.  Georgia is really far away from Moscow or St. Petersburg.  Stalin grew up in a very different world.

2.  Georgia was a pretty wild place in those days; probably still is.

3.  Bolsheviks needed money, and Stalin had a knack for organizing large-scale heists with his trusted, and so-wild, Georgian comrades.  A bank robber before a politician.

4.  His oft-noted seminary days - possibly a religious calling, mostly because this was the one place where some education could be obtained.  Stalin was not good at obeying authority.  Forbidden books, such as Balzac, Thackeray, Schiller, etc.  Even Gogol and Chekhov were banned there.

5.  A poet!

6.  Infighting among Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.  Czarist secret police were actually pretty effective at infiltrating all groups.  Led to climate of suspicion, finger-pointing, witch-hunts - premonitory of  Stalin in the 1930s.

7.  Amazing adventures during several exiles to Siberia; the last time, all the way up in a tiny village well north of Arctic Circle (Kureika - living with aboriginal tribesmen).

8.  Where he managed to twice impregnate an underage girl.  Seemed there was a trail of affairs wherever he went.  All skillfully covered up in later years.  But not very good at conducting his marriage - neglected a young wife who died.

9.  Early conflicts with Trotsky.  Didn't end until the ice pick incident.

10.  Hitler, Stalin, Lenin living in Vienna simultaneously in 1913.

11.  His amazing willingness to slaughter - developed during these early years presumably - photo section has an interesting example of the way that group photos changed over the years in Soviet Union as group members fell out of favor over the years.

12.  Very interesting summary of Bolsheviks taking power from Kerensky government; this was an extremely close-run thing.  Not inevitable!  Lenin with incredible will power; Stalin always ended up going along.

All this very much larger than life, interesting throughout.

The History of Love (Nicole Krauss, 2005)

Book club selection (via Nick).

One of the advantages for me of this little "book club" is that I am forced to read stuff I otherwise would not select - such as modern fiction.  This book fits that category, and was worth reading.  Even if it didn't entirely fit together (or maybe I just didn't follow well).

Young Jewish lovers in Poland; the guy (Leo) writes a book ("The History of Love") to/for his girlfriend (Alma); Nazis close in and Alma (pregnant though this is unknown to Leo) goes to America; Leo goes into hiding in Poland; Alma ends up marrying son of owner of business where she works (concluding Leo must be dead and the kid needs a father); Leo eventually makes it to America, learns of Alma's situation, watches Alma and his son (who became a famous writer) pretty much from afar; takes up locksmithing via Polish contact; does a little more writing; grows old in obscurity.

The manuscript for The History of Love was entrusted to Leo's childhood friend in Poland; he emigrates to South America and eventually publishes it in Spanish in a limited edition under his own name (also thinking Leo was dead); and gained some notoriety thereby.  A key character is a young girl named Alma (after the lead character in Leo's book, which book was beloved by the parents of Alma #2); she has an annoying brother nicknamed "Bird"; their father had died young; Alma #2's efforts to be a matchmaker for her mother lead her to research the origins of her name, which process brings elements of the story into focus.  Finally.  Somewhat.

Story is told through several narrators and bounces around in time and geography.

Best parts of the work were written in Leo's old-man voice.

King Lear (William Shakespeare, between 1603 and 1606 (with later revisions))

My "Shakespeare project" continues.  (And I continue to think it's well worth the little time that it requires.)

King Lear = famous tragedy.  Universally admired.  But I had a problem:  the tragic side of this is just too tragic for my taste.

King Lear has three daughters - bequeaths his kingdom to the older two (Goneril and Regan), cutting out the much-beloved younger sister (Cordelia) because she wouldn't play along with whatever game he dreamt up at bequeathing-time.  (But the King of France marries her nonetheless.)

Goneril and Regan are the grasping type; they quickly tire of hosting the ex-king and his knights (which was part of the bequeathing-deal).  Loyal Duke of Kent and Duke of Gloucester (with his loyal son Edgar and disloyal bastard Edmund).  Invasion from France.  Edmund successfully flirtatious with both Goneril and Regan, which was a little weird.  Kent and Edgar are in disguise for big chunks of the play.

Cordelia loyal.  Lear descends into madness.  Quite a few folks die.

Days of God - The Revolution in Iran and Its Consequences (James Buchan, 2012)

Gift from PJr and Nedda.

Author focuses on the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.  With a great deal of very useful background about 20th century events in Iran that led up to 1979.

A good reminder of the special kind of power that religious leaders (whether sincere or using religion as an avenue to power) hold over the faithful (or gullible, or whatever descriptor you prefer).  In many ways the success of Khomeini et al reminded me of modern U.S. politics - where belief systems seem to trump quaint concepts like listening carefully to those with whom you disagree, exploring alternative viewpoints, etc.  (Or as commencement season warms up:  the now-quaint idea of permitting speakers at the graduation ceremony who may not have 100% litmus test scores on points of college orthodoxy.) (Sigh.)  Where traditional religion loses its hold, it seems that other religious-like belief systems quickly step in.  (Which in turn reminds me of the Bolsheviks as I just finished reading a biography focused on ex-seminarian Josef Stalin's early adventures.)

Be that as it may - the book itself was really quite good, I ended up constantly dog-earing pages.  Definitely would recommend it.

Some thoughts:

1.  For all Persia's historical glories, I hadn't realized how thoroughly backward the country had become as 19th century turns into 20th.

2.  Pahlavis did not have a long pedigree; oft-criticized; but it seems like they did accomplish quite a bit through several incredibly challenging decades in the 20th century.  Reza Pahlavi - Iranian Cossack background!

3.  Challenges with new-found oil reserves, initially cutting bad deals with the Brits.  Oil wealth thus was not a factor until much later than I had realized.

4.  No active modern tradition of a centralized state - the bazaars were incredibly important.  And funded the Iranian clergy, which in turn became even more powerful.

5.  Useful explanation of Khomeini's rise, and why he turned on the U.S. as Iran's worst enemy - when the U.S. had really been a bit player compared to esp. Britain.  (The author says that the excuse was what seemed like a fairly insignificant set of rules about diplomatic privileges and immunities for U.S. citizens in Iran.)

6.  Petrodollars started gushing due to better deals with Brits et al, higher worldwide petro use, then the 1973 embargo.  Incredible growth; incredible spending (much on military); but as always in these situations - sustainable economy cannot be bought.  Not likely the necessary institutions will take root now.

7.  Stories of the Shah's departure, Khomeini's installation, the hostage crisis, the war with Iraq.

What a mess . . .

The Moon is Down (John Steinbeck, 1942)

This was quite unusual, and I didn't even know anything like it existed.  Steinbeck, of all people, as government propagandist?  CPG (Steinbeck fan) recommended.  It's a short book, and the plot involves a takeover of a northern European country by an aggressive neighboring power.  Pretty clearly:  Norway and Germany.  The locals fight back, surprisingly effectively.

As I read it, I was pulled up regularly by the notion that it wasn't the great writing I normally associate with Steinbeck - somewhat cheapened by what seemed like obvious propaganda dimensions.  (Also:  we've since learned that a large percentage of the population in the occupied countries were all too happy to collaborate with the occupiers - even if they all claimed to be resistance or partisan heroes after the war.  So that makes it a little tougher to accept the images of heroic resistance that suffuse this book.  (And I say this without the slightest negative judgment on anyone in those circumstances, I'm mostly grateful I never had to face those choices.))

And who would ever have thought of Steinbeck as a propagandist in the first place?  Even further:  he had no special knowledge of Europe or the war or the conditions in the occupied countries.  Yet it is clear that somehow this book hit a responsive chord across Europe.  It was translated into many languages; outlawed by the Reich; smuggled regularly; etc.  I don't know if these things can be predicted or planned, but Steinbeck somehow "got it" in terms of communicating effectively with Europeans in occupied countries, in a way that the professionals at this sort of thing simply didn't.

So that's pretty cool, even if the book will be remembered as effective propaganda rather than a grand literary achievement.

Which means it met the author's goal.

Dostoevsky - A Writer in His Time (Joseph Frank, 2010)

At this point I'm pretty sure I find Dostoevsky more compelling than Tolstoy - which is saying a lot.

The author spent the better part of three decades putting together a 2500 page biography of Dostoevsky; his work later was condensed to the 900-page version described here.  I thought it was quite wonderful, quite compelling throughout.

Dostoevsky could hardly be a more interesting character.  His temperament or personality was of the type that deeply soaked up his life experiences - so deeply that I would think this contributed to some of his ongoing health issues.  And this temperament was fed with a succession of life experiences that provided endless fuel for his novels.

There's also the time-and-place in which he lived - Russia in the throes of continuing social and political ferment during second half of 19th century - Dostoevsky deeply interested, and playing a meaningful role for several decades.

The life experiences are just amazing:  adored mother dies while he is very young; domineering if well meaning father continually imposing will, though dies when Dostoevsky is only in late teens; unhappy experiences in military engineering school attended per father's diktat; continual shortage of funds; some early success among highest literary circles in Russia but it doesn't stick; gets caught up in the political turmoil of the day, including materials not appreciated by a repressive state; arrested, questioned, spent some time in prison; sentenced to death and taken to prison courtyard to be executed, only to have sentence commuted to exile in Siberia (authorities planned commutation all along but Dostoevsky didn't have an inkling - the near-death experience was entirely real to him); shipped to Siberia; in jail in exile with population consisting primarily of serfs (his first exposure of this nature, and he drew some dubious conclusions about the depth of character of these folks); unhappily married to a woman met in Siberia (she dies); eventually had his civil rights restored and resumes writing; constant money problems; severe gambling problem; had the good fortune to meet a second wife who probably can be said to have saved him; loss of infant child; dealing with severe epilepsy throughout his adult life; deadline pressure when writing for monthly publications; financial pressure never really solved; Crime and Punishment a break-through event; develops and sticks to a deep belief, from Siberian days, in Christ - but a Russian version; staunch supporter of the tsar (notwithstanding earlier views - this is linked to the serf-Russo-Christian belief set however that's described); embarrassingly anti-Semitic; monthly publication Diary of a Writer dominates Russian political discussion for a couple years; young people somehow relate to an aging and now-conservative voice; famous and revered in later days; unthinkable evolution from convicted exile to tutor to members of tsar's family; the public reading at the Pushkin memorial that moves those in attendance so deeply.

The life story is just too amazing if not surreal.

This book also goes into a lot of detail about Dostoevsky's novels, and links them to events in his life and in Russian society, culture and politics.  The right sequence here is to read the biography after reading the novels - this made for a fascinating re-visitation of the books.  And pretty much demands a complete re-read.  Applies to all of the major novels, but especially to The Brothers Karamazov - the background provided here makes the book far more astonishing than I could have imagined.  I liked the book but definitely didn't "get it" in terms of most of what Dostoevsky was doing.

Do any modern authors attempt anything remotely like what Dostoevsky sought to do in The Brothers Karamazov?  (Even just the portion involving the legend of the Grand Inquisitor?)

Those who follow today's political debates - including the blandishments of the progressive wing - would benefit a great deal from reading the 19th century version of the discussions.  There's so little that's new.

There is an incredible amount of useful, interesting material here.  Not sure how to process all of it.  Highly valuable book.

Cousin Pons (Honore de Balzac, 1847)

Another novel in The Human Comedy grouping.  Which is a wonderful title and a strong concept; Balzac understandably successful and widely lauded for these novels.  A bit more background about the author in summaries of the other two Balzac novels I've read:  here, and here.  

This one is quite late in his list of works. A gentle old faded bachelor musician (Pons) - with some connections among the aristocrats and wealthy - falls out of favor.  No longer invited for opulent dinners - his passion.  Has a staunch German musician-friend, but nevertheless experiences depression over his declining circumstances.  Pons was a quiet connoisseur of fine arts throughout his life and had amassed a collection that those around him belatedly recognize as quite valuable.  Machinations of lawyer, landlady, relatives, etc. as Pons's health fails comprise much of the story line. 

I think it's too cynical.  Not one of my favorites.

2666 (Roberto Bolano, 2004)

Well.

I just don't read things like this very often . . . modern fiction . . . not even sure how to identify worthy items in this category.  (When it comes to fiction, I typically stick with works that have stood the test of time - I'll never work through that list anyway, and the hit rate for quality is very high.  But this was a referral, and a good one.)

The author - who died before this project was entirely finished - wrote five separate novels, and probably intended to issue them as such.  Some overlapping elements across the five; more not-overlapping elements.  Differing styles across the five novels.  His executors decided to publish it all together in one 900-page book.

If there's a center to the book, it is the fictional city of Santa Teresa in Sonora (Mexico) - across the Arizona border; a growing, changing maquiladora town from the 1990s (if that term is still used).  Industry, narcos, unsophisticated workers drawn from villages.  Modeled on Ciudad Juarez (though that's across the border from El Paso).  Anyway, literally hundreds of women were killed in Ciudad Juarez in largely unsolved crimes in those years, and fictional Santa Teresa is going through the same trauma.

Book 1:  four professors who made a career out of literary criticism of the works of a long-unseen, aged (if still alive), obscure (until these four raised his profile) German novelist named Archimboldi (odd pseudonym) decide to track him down.  The trail leads to Santa Teresa; they are hosted around town by Amalfitano, who teaches at the local university.

Book 2:  Amalfitano is having a hard time in Santa Teresa; back story about his emigration from Spain and his wife leaving him (she also doesn't have it easy); Amalfitano is raising their daughter, experiencing great tension in the city especially with a growing-up daughter; losing it mentally.  A book hangs on his clothesline.

Book 3:  Fate; an African-American journalist doing a story in Detroit; ends up in Santa Teresa to cover a boxing match because the sportswriter for his publication died; he learns of the killings, meets up with Amalfitano and his daughter; encounters creepy characters; I got really nervous wondering how this would play out.

Book 4:  the crimes - the author goes into details about the murders (taking place in 1990s into early 2000s) - I just dealt with this in a manner similar to how I deal with too-violent movies - though skipping graphs instead of covering my eyes.  Law enforcement struggles; corrupt or incompetent or whatever; the atmosphere in maquiladora towns in those days; a very tall 40-something American citizen (emigrated to the U.S. from Germany) ends up in prison accused of murders, but the killing doesn't even pause while he is in jail.

Book 5:  Archimboldi's story; he grows (very tall) up in interwar Germany and loves being in the sea; various odd jobs as washes out of school; a series of searing experiences in the 1930s continuing as he works his way through WWII in the German army - mostly eastern front (Romania); encounters a baroness who he had met at one of his first jobs; falls in love with a mentally ill girl; living in bombed-out Cologne in post-war years; does some writing and after quite a bit of struggle is identified by a respectable publishing house; eventually a bit of a link to some elements from other stories.

The several plot threads are one thing, and plenty fascinating in their own right (and leave one mulling, just on that level).  But there's much more.  The reader encounters various asides and detours of gorgeous writing and imagination - for example just out of book 5 - Ansky's notes or the typewriter renter's ideas about writing.  I need to go back through some of those riffs and try to understand why the author included them, how they fit into the plot lines, etc.  Plus they're just fun to read.

The graphic and poetic intermingle somehow, if that communicates anything.

Threads are not tied together, no resolution to much of anything, characters show up and are skillfully developed to where I'm interested in them, then they disappear.  The reader is left to do a lot of mulling, which is what I like.

Glad I own the book, will go back through and flip, and think, or wonder, or something.

The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare, between 1596 and 1598)

Continuing to work my way through Shakespeare's plays.

I read this in short chunks over the course of a few months, so perhaps lost the flow.  But I didn't like this as much as Julius Caesar or Richard III, when I thought I remembered liking it quite a bit.

Shylock - the avaricious Jew - yet given perhaps the best speech in the entire play ("Hath not a Jew eyes?").  Fuel for anti-Semitism; but it seems to me that Shakespeare had a more nuanced view.  (I do like the use of this speech in Ernst Lubitsch's movie "To Be or Not to Be").

Always interesting, but mostly saddening:  the incredible continuing definition of the Jew as the "other", or the "outsider".  And not just in Christian Europe - I suppose one could carry this story back to the book of Exodus, to the Babylonian Captivity, to any long list of occurrences.  Not clear how much this particular viewpoint is shaped by the formation of the State of Israel in 1948 - seems like "not much."  Amazing, frustrating, how little things change.  What's up with this?

Usury as a flash point in those days.

Portia with her famous - and really, quite lovely - speech about mercy.  "The quality of mercy is not strained:  It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath.  It is twice blest:  It blesseth him that gives and him that takes."  [etc.]

Then, in disguise, she switches to some fancy legalese.

Shakespeare = so worth reading.

The Monuments Men - Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History (Robert M. Edsel, 2009)

Book club selection (via POC).

Author recounts the story of folks - generally taken from the art world - who were attached to various army units, mostly starting around D-Day, and charged with helping the army minimize unnecessary destruction of historically significant objects.  And to help track down art objects looted by the Nazis.

It really is quite a story, and an excellent companion piece to this narrative of the war in the west.  Also fits with this really great story on this topic, based on Gustav Klimt's most famous work, in Vienna.

Hitler as the failed artist - but with an eye on building a collection for the ages.  Goering also a collector, but moreso based on greed.  The Nazis were incredibly systematic looters.  Some materials hidden in mines.  Quite a bit of focus on famous works such the Bruges Madonna and the Ghent Altarpiece, among others.

The "book club" folks - per POC's fine arranging - also attended the movie on its opening weekend.  Let's say George Clooney took some massive liberties with the story line in the book, or maybe I just didn't read it carefully enough.  In a story that would have been plenty compelling without being converted into a buddy movie, or whatever Clooney was trying to do here.

"The Rape of Europa" started it all with this author, and remains the most compelling work we've seen in this genre.

I Kiss Your Hands Many Times - Hearts, Souls and Wars in Hungary (Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, 2013)

Author's parents and grandparents came through difficult times in WWII Hungary.  Author, growing up with extended family in NY, had limited understanding of family background until she arranges translation of stacks of letters after her parents died.

I've read lots of WWII stuff - but the story that she frames is one of the most interesting and unique of all.  Partly because it is centered in Hungary - relatively safely away from the fighting until the last year of the war (which I had never thought about).  And Hitler had enough other things keeping him busy such that he didn't put the hammer down on this semi-reliable ally until late in the game.

"I kiss your hands" - a traditional Hungarian departure gesture, also used in the closing of letters.  Aladar - typically guarded in his communications - expressed a bit stronger feelings toward Hanna by adding "many times" in closing letters to her.  Nice.

A few of the threads running through this:

1.  Author's father - Aladar - rising political star in Hungary, from a Christian family.  Encounters Hitler in a couple settings while on government business.  Pretty outspoken against Nazis - which naturally enough didn't help him at certain points in the story.

2.  Author's mother - Hanna - belongs to a Jewish family - incredibly successful business operators, supposedly their operations constituted about 10% of Hungary's GDP (hard to believe).  Wealthy, aristocratic, assimilated, some converted to Christianity - but still, Jews.

3.  As Aladar and Hanna fall in love, anti-Semitic legislation makes the match nigh-impossible.  Hungarian government goes slow on attacking Jews; Nazis finally force the process in 1943 or 1944; too many Hungarians were way too glad to assist.  The Nazi Jew-killing machine was in top condition at this point, and - with plenty of local assistance - murders of Jews in Hungary were accomplished with incredible efficiency.

4.  As the Nazis advance and then, in short order, the Russians start to attack - Aladar ends up in Dachau.  A political prisoner of the Nazis.  Awful experience; he's there when the U.S. army arrives.  Budapest itself badly wrecked, including blowing up beautiful-historic Danube bridges.  The war finally hit home in Hungary with full force.

5.  Prior to Aladar being taken away:  Hanna's family is bargaining with a Nazi - in a deal that was approved by Himmler himself - family members already in camps are released and with most of the rest are allowed to emigrate to Portugal.  In exchange for most of their assets.  Though with a few hostages left behind to make sure the rest behave once outside Hungary.  Aladar not aware of how this is turning out.  (Author explains why Nazis didn't just steal the assets, something to the effect that they were still putting up a show of limited interference with their allies.)

6.  Very touching story in the immediate postwar era - Aladar and Hanna reconnect.  Married in the wreckage of Budapest.

7.  Pretty much immediately after the war, Aladar (still highly thought of) is appointed by the new government to be ambassador to the U.S. - so he and Hanna move to DC.  Hopes for democracy.  Hopes for U.S. intervention.  But the Communists take over Hungarian government in their typical 1940s-thug-style as applied throughout Eastern Europe.  And the U.S. had other priorities - Hungary pretty clearly a lost cause in terms of Soviet domination.  So Aladar is out of a job.  And returning to Hungary is not possible.  But his in-laws start showing up, and they still had both money, and business smarts.  So no danger of missing meals.

8.  Aladar - something of a nervous personality - didn't thrive in the wake of all this.  Not surprisingly.  Did work for Radio Free Europe and Voice of America in relation to Hungary.  It was effective that the author didn't sugarcoat his problems.

9.  The quoted correspondence is pretty amazing throughout.  Hard to imagine educated, articulate folks writing to each other in these circumstances.  Quite wonderful to read.

Author didn't realize until it was too late:  but her parents had quite a love story under truly extraordinary circumstances.

The above doesn't do justice to the book.  I dog-eared dozens and dozens of pages - lots of ideas about history, and just plain nice moments, that I want to keep track of.

Robert Schumann - The Life and Work of a Romantic Composer (Martin Geck, 2010)

As with this book by the same author, I'm trying to read stuff that might give me some kind of window into how composers work.  It's not really working (though the books are enjoyable enough in their own right).

A few Schumann thoughts:

1.  His efforts (successful) to marry Clara Weick are pretty well-known.  Hard to say that Clara's piano-teacher father was wrong to be a bit wary of young Schumann - who seems at least in his early days to have had a Werther-type Romantic personality.  Which seems to have gotten worse over time.

2.  Schumann was a very successful and creative writer in addition to his composing efforts.  Didn't have any idea he was doing so much musical criticism.

3.  I do find quite interesting the lives of these young folks in Germany in the post-Napoleonic years, the run-up to the 1848 disturbances, etc.  Schumann definitely caught up in this.

4.  The struggles of German composers to live up to, or move beyond, Beethoven.  Haven't appreciated how high his stature was - seemed to make it very difficult or impossible for others to even attempt symphonies.

5.  Interesting stories of his efforts to romance Clara - using pseudonyms etc. to work around the recalcitrant father.  Clara as quite an impressive figure - virtuoso pianist, incredibly supportive wife willing to subordinate her career.  They had a large family.

6.  I've found Thomas Mann's discussions of music very interesting (especially in his take on Faustus); this author refers to Mann's capacity to do this well, and uses an illustration from Buddenbrooks.

7.  How much these folks loved Bach (whose work was rediscovered, if that's the right term, by Schumann's contemporary, Mendelssohn)!  Schumann wrote out The Art of Fugue as a way to try to understand it.  Devoted to  The Well-Tempered Clavier and The Musical Offering as well.

8.  Friendly with Mendelssohn and Liszt.

9.  Became very close to Johannes Brahms - maybe 15 years Schumann's junior.  And who ended up very much in love with Clara, it seems.  This author wasn't pushing to develop a scandal-theme (and who knows if there was much of anything to support it anyway).   Certainly was a helpful support as Schumann deteriorated.

10.  Anxious, nervous personality - ended up in asylum, and died there in 1856 (age 46).  Clara lived another 40 years.

Still don't know much about how he went about doing his work.  Oh well.

The Fall of the House of Dixie (Bruce Levine, 2013)

I seldom pick Civil War-era books, in part because I think I already picked up a fair amount of information about the topic.  Incorrectly.  Levine pulls together all sorts of primary source material to create a highly interesting discussion of what was going on in the South - social and political stuff, not so much from the oft-reported battlefields. I liked it a great deal.

And it wasn't just another consciousness-raising exercise about the awfulness of slavery (not to downplay its awfulness, but that topic has been done quite a few times).  The author gives lots of context around the various social classes in the South, their sometimes-overlapping and sometimes-diverging outlooks, etc.  Very helpful.

Philosophical underpinnings of slavery - how blacks were better off enslaved - did anyone really believe this (or just profess it for convenience sake)?

The power of the Southern states from Revolutionary War era on through the run-up to the Civil War - strong representation in all branches of government.

Complex politics of the Republican Party - the belief that slavery would die a natural death if prevented from spreading to new territories (thus Lincoln's aversion to outright prohibition in existing states).  Southerners believed this as well, leading to border wars and fights over opening up new states and territories to slavery.

Didn't realize that both sides desperately needed the manpower represented by blacks.  Confederacy refused to use them (other than the most menial of labor-support tasks) for pretty obvious reasons:  can you trust armed slaves?; how can you make them a soldier if you believe they are dimwitted, docile and incapable of independent action?; implicit equality with white fellow soldiers is a big problem in this belief system; etc.  North record not the greatest, but some blacks were given the opportunity to fight and took full advantage of it.

The very different uses of (and attitudes toward) slavery within the South.  Plantation society in just a few areas.  Lots of upland whites with no real investment in slavery - their enthusiasm for the war dimmed much more quickly.

Slave owners willingly sending their own sons to war, but refusing to release slaves for support activities.

How Northern attitudes (including Lincoln's) changed over the years - to unabashedly pushing for abolition.  Realized the middle ground didn't exist.

Democrats undermining Republican efforts.  On-the-ground challenges in the South - how to ensure that the war wasn't lost after the South surrendered?  This didn't work out so well (not the topic of this book, though there is another new book out on the topic of Reconstruction).

Touching stories of blacks being freed; families reunited after separation via slave sales; etc.

The South - burdened with, but dependent upon, an indefensible institution - with no choice but to defend it.

Titus Andronicus (William Shakespeare, between 1588 and 1593)

[read in October 2013, summary to come]
[didn't much like this]

King Richard III (William Shakespeare, 1592)

[finished in August 2013, description to come]

“Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.”